Business Too Good!

I think these days, business is too good for most F&B outlets in this glorious Island of Acronyms! Age limit for women over 35 at St James Powerstation for ladies nite, meaning if your are over the hill you are not welcome to the establishment. They only want young hot patrons there! Old hags exit stage left please and do so quietly!!!! Business is just too good to cater to these old women who still think they are hot enough to party at their club. Even though they may be single, divorced, hot and damm loaded and willing to throw money there!!!!!! But the management say cannot because their club is exclusively for women below 35.

But the place has like 5 sub clubs in inside which caters to different genres of music like jazz, ching chong canto beng pop and also normal club rooms with house and retro music. SO, the ladies could possibly be interested to go to the Jazz bar no? It's ladies nite so why not let them let their hair down and enjoy themselves? Not as if the the clientele there is uber hi class and elites........business too good hor!!!

Also, personally I also had this experience sometime ago at this micro brewery called the Pump Room at Clarke Quay. We were there after work fr a drink or two to celebrate the birthday of one of our colleagues. We got ourselves a tower and that time was around 930, so by the time we finished our tower at abt 1000, we decided to get another one. But the special offer for the tower ends at 10 and by the time we ordered, it was already 5 pass 10. So we got the waiter over and asked if they could extend us the offer as it was only a few mins passed the time limit.
The answer was NO!.

Fark!! talk about bureaucracies at the BAR!!! WTF!!!....if I own the bar, and bars are supposed to be a happy place, I would have extended and gave us the beers because after that, we would feel well treated, happy to get the beer and we would have recommended this place to our mates instead of me now bitching about it on me blog!!! Business too damm good la!!!!

Also, the farking place got no nuts or tidbits to go with the beer and when we asked the waiter for some, dude look at us like we killed his entire family like that!! He then shoved us the menu and said they only serve finger food after 10 and now they only serve proper dining food!!!....we felt like we were in Alcatraz.

Anyways, business is indeed to good for these outlets la.....well, let's see how long they can tahan with this attitude coz what they dont realise is, us consumers have a LOT of options to throw our money at....business is never too good.....

The I-RACK!!

April Showers

Tomorrow Never Comes...

Time waits for no one but tomorrow will always come. We always feel, yeah, we can always do it tomorrow, talk to our loved ones tomorrow, express our love and appreciation for the people dear to us till tomorrow, put things we need to sort out till tomorrow, say we are sorry till tomorrow, do our taxes till tomorrow, arrange our lives till tomorrow because there's always a tomorrow.

Yeah tomorrow, how wonderful it is that we always have a tomorrow for we are just too self absorbed now to be giving a hoot to all this stuff till tomorrow.

But what if tomorrow never comes? Tomorrow is actually finite! There aren't too many tomorrows actually and tomorrow's are actually not determined by us!

Damm, I better do my taxes now.....because like people always say, death and taxes are always certain! Whether tomorrow comes or not....these two will for sure come!

Love/Laugh

Funny how these two words start with the same letter. They go hand in hand. What is life without laughter and what of a life without love. Is it that illusive to learn how to laugh and love in some parts of the world that these two words does not exist anymore?

All that's left are tears, suffering and aches never ending. Life becomes cheap and death is but a statistic. Why do we fight for an ideology when such an ideology is flawed and complex with too many rules and caveats when the basic caveat that we should have is to live a full life governed by love for fellow humans and one that is filled with laughter?

Dusk....

Day's end, day's gone,

Hated Monday's tomorrow,

Most feel as I, so am not alone,

But I guess it has to come,

For Tuesday to follow,

And the weekend will come soon,

To end our sorrow....

So that the weekend will

Jakarta Floods

Bird Flu?

This was taken during the Jakarta floods in February. The guy in the motorbike was transporting a bundle of wet dead chickens behind his bike.

Asking for it?

Crossings

As we journey through life, we often cross paths with many different people and only a handful of these people mean something or anything to us. Others are just strangers who happen to walk into our way or we meet at certain intersection of our journey.

Last Friday, I happen to come across such an intersection and meeting 2 people, whom I do not know personally but they happened to be close acquaintance of a friend of mine. How interesting I thought, that this couple would sit a few tables away from me, and that I have heard of their "tales" through my other friend and yet I am a complete stranger to them.

Is there something more that fate probably has a hand in but have yet to reveal? Or is this suppose to be some sort of sign that I need to be doing something, somehow, somewhat?

But then as I tucked into my delicious oysters, I thought to myself, well the universe has always a way to work things out so, if it is for a reason then the reason will be revealed in time. So in the meanwhile, I'll just take a deep breath, to feel alive, and slow time down for awhile to enjoy the food that's right in front of me.

Joggers

On the way home today, I saw a couple (male and female) happily jogging along a busy road. Looking ever so lovey dovey, smiling at each other, flirting with each other and smacking each other in the butt ever so often to cheer each other on.

All this activity goes on with their Ipods firmly strapped to their arm and headphones to their ears as the bounce along the road like two bounding jackalopes! Perhaps they are even listening to the same lovey dovey tunes....so romantic....isn't it? To be able to exercise and yet enjoy each other's company.

But then, a thought came to me. These two fellas are jogging along a busy road, stacked with cars and what not crawling down the road spewing all this dirty exhaust fumes, churning out dusts and grime.....I mean how romantic can that be?!?!

I think, the best way to exercise and still to be able to enjoy each other's company in a cosy environment is to.......just.....shag!!!

Don't ya think so???

What Are You Doing For The Rest Of Your Life...

What are you doing the rest of your life?
North and south and east and west of your life?
I have only one request of your life
That you spend it all with me.

All the seasons and the times of your days.
All the nickels and the dimes of your days.
Let the reasons and the rhymes of your days.
All begin and end with me.

I want to see your face,
In every kind of light,
In fields of gold and
Forests of the night;
And when you stand before
The candles on a cake.
Oh let me be the one to hear
The silent wish you make.

Those tomorrows waiting deep in your eyes
In the world of love you keep in your eyes,
Ill awaken whats asleep in your eyes,
It may take a kiss or two..

Through all of my life..
Summer, winter, spring and fall of my life,
All I ever will recall of my life
Is all of my life with you.

Home

"Home"

Another summer day

Has come and gone away

In Paris and Rome

But I wanna go home

Mmmmmmmm Maybe surrounded by a million people

I still feel all alone

I just wanna go home

Oh, I miss you, you know

And I’ve been keeping all the letters that I wrote to you

Each one a line or two“I’m fine baby, how are you?”

Well I would send them but I know that it’s just not enough

My words were cold and flat

And you deserve more than that

Another aeroplane

Another sunny place

I’m lucky I knowBut I wanna go home

Mmmm, I’ve got to go home

Let me go home

I’m just too far from where you are

I wanna come home

And I feel just like I’m living someone else’s life

It’s like I just stepped outside

When everything was going right

And I know just why you could not

Come along with me

'Cause this was not your dream

But you always believed in me

Another winter day has come

And gone away

In even Paris and Rome

And I wanna go home

Let me go home

And I’m surrounded byA million people

I still feel all alone

Oh, let me go home

Oh, I miss you, you know

Let me go home

I’ve had my runBaby, I’m doneI gotta go home

Let me go home

It will all be all right

I’ll be home tonight

I’m coming back home

Truism

They say ignorance is bliss and curiosity killed the cat.

How true is that!!!

The fellow who came out with that is indeed a darn wise fellow. But then maybe it's 2 fellows instead of one.

To enjoy the bliss, he had to be the one who survived due to his ignorance.

Meanwhile for the other fellow who was curious, well, God rest his soul, coz he is sleeping with the Kitties for eternity.

So in summary it is still ONE wise fellow at the end of the day.

The stupid one. Ignoramus Hippopotamus!

I Don't Like Mondays

The silicon chip inside her head
Gets switched to overload
And nobody's gonna go to school today
She's going to make them stay at home
And daddy doesn't understand it
He always said she was as good as gold
And he can see no reason
Cos there are no reasons
What reason do you need to be shown

Tell me why I don't like Mondays
I want to shoot
The whole day down

The Telex machine is kept so clean
As it types to a waiting world
And mother feels so shocked
Father's world is rocked
And their thoughts turn to
Their own little girl
Sweet 16 ain't that peachy keen
No, it ain't so neat to admit defeat
They can see no reasons
Cos there are no reasons
What reason do you need to be shown

Tell me why I don't like Mondays
I want to shoot
The whole day down

All the playing's stopped in the playground now
She wants to play with her toys a while
And school's out early and soon we'll be learning
And the lesson today is how to die
And then the bullhorn crackles
And the captain crackles
With the problems and the how's and why's
And he can see no reasons
Cos there are no reasons
What reason do you need to die

Tell me why I don't like Mondays
I want to shoot
The whole day down

- The Boomtown Rats (aka Bob Geldof)

Light Bulb Blues....

I am singing the blues today....and here are them blues :-

What is this world coming to?
When a light bulb cost 22!!
She says I need bulbs all 42!
All my money goes down the loo......

Oh what is this world coming to???....
All me money say to the loo!
Coz bought the bulbs then I am blue!
No more money left in my shoes....

The End.

Clarity

Kindness / Weakness

Kindness does not equal weakness. Often times we cant differentiate between the two.
But in reality, the line between the two is not gray.

Kindness is white, weakness is black. Once given, kindness does not ask for compensation nor adulation. Kindness needs no recognition but do not mistake kindness for weakness.

Aaargh!!! and Sir Winston Churchill

Today is one of those days that things just dont, I repeat DON'T want to go your way.

Dammits!!....sigh....

What then is there to do when such days happen??? I feel like pulling all my hair out and exploding like a mini big bang, perhaps big enough to create a black hole to suck it all in!!!

BUT, luckily for me, Sir Winston Churchill was at hand to share some wisdom....he once said....

"Every day you may make progress. Every step may be fruitful. Yet there will stretch out before you an ever-lengthening, ever-ascending, ever-improving path. You know you will never get to the end of the journey. But this, so far from discouraging, only adds to the joy and glory of the climb. "

Sir Winston Churchill

Memories

Sometimes we wish we had a delete button installed somewhere in our physiology. So that we can dump unhappy memories and keep only the good ones in our brain.

However, be glad that we don't have one because memories are not meant to be forgotten even the unhappy ones because it is these collective memories that we collect along our journey in this lifetime that defines who we are.

Hopefully, enough to show us the path to do the right thing for the future.

We Are All Part Of The Weave

Individually, we seem disconnected. But truth is, collectively, human beings are part of the the same weave. We are connected in more ways than one. But as an individual, we fail to see where we fit into the bigger scheme of things.

However, the fact remains, our actions have consequences and to act with a mind of such consequences is more important than to think our actions affect no one and nothing in nature other than ourselves.

Often times, humans take time to react and acknowledge the adverse effect of our actions. And often times, it takes a reckoning for us to finally see the collective effect of what we do to each and everyone on this planet that we live in.

Ramble

This is a ramble of my thoughts that are in my head now that I am putting on paper for no one to read but if you choose to read them and if you get pissed reading this ramble coz there will not be any full stop at all, then I suggest you stop reading now before it's too late and your blood pressure goes up until you feel your head adding on some kilos, numbness in your fingers and toes and shortness of breath, because I surely will not take any responsibility for your condition, heck, even I myself wont take responsibility for that happening to me because if it ever happens to me, it is because I am too darn lazy and tired and lacking of time to do any exercises these days but then again I think it is just an excuse on my part not to do any exercises because I can clearly rememeber a time when I played in almost all kinds of sports and whatever happened to those days you may ask, is, well, most of my kaki's got married, too old, too fat, too lazy, too important to steal any time whatsoever to play with me a game of soccer, tennis, handball, hockey, rugby so on and so forth because I can't find them anymore or maybe that is just my excuse or maybe that is the same excuse we are telling ourselves so that we can don't exercise or meet up for any purpose whatsoever because most likely after awhile, we kind of pass that stage where we need to get together now that we have so called our own life to lead whereas when we were still back in school or whatever we kind of shared something in common which is either playing truant or scoring A's for our parents until one day we realise that school or even university serves no actual purpose in determining whether your life will turn out great or turn upside down because that is something that no one else can do unto us except ourselves and that is our God given right to choose how we end up living this life, where we can spend all of our time here on Earth being pissed at each other or start accepting that each and everyone of us is different and similar at the same time in order to see beyond our percieved differences and recognise the unifying factor that all of us are flesh and blood regardless of culture,race,language and religion because when we are happy we laugh and when we get hurt we cry and that itself is a miracle don't you think so?

Haze

When our forest burns, we suffer from the ashes, the remains of life once rich. Even though we may be hundreds of kilometers away, our eyes still tear. Tears from the ashes, brought to us by the wind to remind us that somewhere not too far away, something living has passed on by.

The Departed

To lose oneself is akin to selling one's soul to the devil. Most literature both modern and old, dealt with this topic and the reason behind it is mainly for fleeting selfish wants and indulgences. The one moment in time where we become weak and succumb to unnecessary wants, is the time we lose our goodness, our values and principal. That is the moment we will sign on the dotted line the contract with the horned one.

From that moment on, we are doomed. Condemned. Not by God or anyone, not even the Devil but by ourselves. We betrayed ourselves. We lose ourselves in the endless chasm of discontentment and disappointment.

Mending Fences and Second Chances

Nobody is perfect. Everyone makes mistakes once in a while.
Everyone of us will have our moment of weakness in any given point in time, whereby we may have wronged someone close to us, a loved one, a friend or perfect stranger even.

The most important thing is then, is to realise our mistake and make amends to right the wrong. I think all us do know how to differentiate what is right and what is wrong. Once we realise our wrong and when the dust settles, that is the time to mend fences and for second chances.

Alone Time

We all have our own time. Time to be with people, time to be by ourselves. We spend most of our days interacting with people from work and play and the days seem to past in the blink of an eye. Before we know it, another day has past and before long another year has past.

However, when we have time to be by ourselves, time seems to slow down. Everything moves according to our whim and fancy. We have time to reflect. We have time to relax. We can spend such time in our own space or share such time with mother nature. Let our guard down and just in that space, be ourselves again and be one with our surrounding.

A time of rediscovery, a time of peace.

Epiphany

On the 21st of September 2006 at around 530pm.

This too, shall pass, she said....

Big Red Hot Chilli Crabs!!

My what big crabs!!!!!

32 Hours - The First Quarter

The 1st Hour :-

I came to this world fragile and weak.
Nearly gone in less than a minute.
Luck was on my side and hence,
I past my hour with love and care from my mother and father

The 2nd,3rd,4th,5th hour :-

During these hours, most of everything was a blur.
I remember a metal push car here and a Dog called Mao Lui there.
I remember running around with my King Kong toy and a T shirt to match.
I remember taking the bus with my mother in the morning.
I remember my father carrying me as I looked at his footsteps as he walked ahead.
I remember watching movies with my parents and it was great.
I remember giving my Grandpa back knocks and massages.
I remember he would always catch either me or my cousins to massage his back whenever we are in his vicinity.

The 6th/7th hour :-

These are the hours which brought forth my formal introduction to the world at large.
At the 6th hour, I was exposed to the language called English. Made a new fried (late friend now, RIP Alan) called Alan. His name I feared due to a movie called Alien which my parents took me to watch. Around the half hour mark of the 7th hour, my fear subsided and he became my first good friend. Around the 6th hour, I also met a girl who will eventually be my only link to my days here in the kindagarten. Her name is PS.I remember the 7th hour. The first minute of this hour, fear again struck me as I was now leaving the 6th hour school, into the 7th hour school called the Primary school.I remember my mother, bringing me to school. I remember the moment class began and I remembered how fearful I was to see her leave. Though the seconds spent in school are insignificant, I felt the fear of losing her then, which seems more real than anytime else. I remembered crying and not letting her go. The seconds however, slowly passed. My fear of losing her passed as well. School became routine.
Made friends, good friends, built sand castles in the sky while the teacher taught, all these I did. PS was with me in the same school. I remember my mom bringing me fresh shirts during recess as I would play with my friends and would perspire until my shirt is drenched. I remember how my mother made friends with the canteen operator. And everytime I order food from her, the auntie would give me extra servings and sometimes I would get a treat from her. Either a pack of twisties or O' ya. It is also in the 7th hour that I lost my first grandparent. Rest in peace - Kung Kung. It was the first time I had to deal with death. I remember my father coming to school to pick me up. I asked him why in the car he wouldn't say. And when we reached home he told me Kung Kung has passed away. It was also the first time I see my mother cry....

The 8th/9th/10th/12th hours :-

These are the hours best remembered for my academic results. Seldom I am below 5th in the class rankings nor the school rankings. But then again, in my school before the 12th hour, there were only 2 classes in my same grade :P. It is in these hours,that I kept falling ill most of the time before each examination. It is in these hours that I also realised how my parents were actually happy with my performance at school. I remembered having came back being number 11 in class and school. I remember the feeling of disappointment that my parents would have had of me. I also remembered how wrong I was to assume such. They were not disappointed with me. They thought I was mad to give oneself so much shit. During these hours, I had a lot of fun, played soccer almost everyday at 6pm. I remember riding my BMX around the neighbourhood with my little biker gang. I remember before riding my BMX I had a smaller bike. I remember trying to whack a mosquito on my leg while riding the bike. I failed to hit it, lost balanced and fell to the ground, hitting my head on a rock. I remember seeing blood drip from my head. I was not afraid, my cousin came to bring me back. I washed my wound and drenched my t-shirt with blood. My mother came and saw my bloodied t-shirt, she almost fainted. It was also the first time I got stitches. I had 8 stitches to my head. I remember camping outside my house, getting scared and cold and wanting to go back in but not allowed to by my father because he spent 100 bucks to buy me the tent! I had to use it because it was my request. I remember how small things like planning to go for walks in the morning is to me. How excited I would get excited about waking up early in the morning before the sun rises. Which at the 32nd hour is something that I absolutely do not miss!! I remember how quiet it is in the morning. I remember how beautiful it is to see the colors of the sky when the sun starts to rise. I remember how tasty my first bowl of supper maggie noodle was when I was allowed to stay past midnite once with my cousin staying over. We were watching Sapphire and Steel and my mom cooked us maggi that night. I remember how the dark nights, when the power was out, I would go over to my neighbour's house to listen to Grannie tell us tales of her younger days. She brought up her only son by working in a tin mine. Now she's got a daughter in law and 3 beautiful grand daughters. I remember how fearful I get whenever my parents fought and I remember how somehow, whatever they fought about seems to get resolved whenever it rains. It is also in the 9th hour, my brother was born. During this particular hour, I felt so much love from my mother and father, I thought I was the happiest kid on the block. I remember my father went to open a video account at Home Video and we would rent videos to watch during the time when my mother was in hospital about to give birth to my brother. I remember seeing my mother at the hospital, I remember the distinct smell of her room in the hospital. I remember one night we brought porridge for her, it was raining outside and I found this little gazebo just outside her room. It was rainy and it felt nice and cool. The next minute or so, my brother was born. I remember seeing him in the hospital and I remember how small he is. From that minute on, I have a brother. The 10th/11th/12th hour I saw how fast he grew and how cute he was when he was young. His head was bigger than his body, and he was quite a chubby baby. We called him Tua Toa Kia. During these hours, I also remember my birthday celebrations. All my family would come and my mother and my aunt will prepare the food. Sometime we would have BBQ but others would be great food whipped out by all my aunts. I remember the presents, I remember playing with my cousins. Soon came the 11th hour and at this hour we had to take a national exam. My other Grandpa promised to give me 10 ringgit each for every As I scored. I came back with straight As and I got 50 ringgit. I felt happy and before long I got to experience my first change. I changed school. It was really traumatising for me then because I lost touch with my good friends and teachers that I have grown to love. This happened in the 12th hour. This was also the first time I got to experience riding in a school bus. At first I was apprehensive but before long, it became fun. At the new school, I got to make new friends and it is these friends whom I still keep in touch with till this day. At this hour, I got to find out my skills with a hockey stick. I somehow got into the school team and we went all the way to become 2nd in the state primary school category. I remember my coach telling me that I am the "King of the field". I remember scoring my best one touch goals ever. I also remember getting hit in the head by my opponent's hockey stick, falling into the grass, blacked out and saw stars for the first time when I came around. I remember also at this time, besides hockey, I can run. I can run pretty fast and I dont feel tired. I felt invincible. And before long, I got to join the 4 X 100m team. It was exhilarating to compete with people from other schools. I felt strangely proud of wearing my school colors then. And it was at this hour that I start to talk a lot with one particular girl. I didn't know why then, but it seems there are a lot of things to talk about with her. It is also odd that I will feel anxious whenever I see her. And before long the 12th hour ended. And so is primary school. We moved on to secondary school in the coming hours.

Corporation Organisational F**k Up!! Beware

When you start a business on your own and you grow it, you can see its progress and you are close to the people on the ground, your staff, your suppliers and your customers. And they love you for your kindness, strenght, respect you for your business acumen and inspirational leadership.

However as the growth of your company goes out of control, and your business grew from a 1 man shop to a 200,000 people corporation, you lose touch of the ground as you are now sitting on the moon looking down at the earth. Neglecting the people who helped you out and unreachable to the folks back on earth who may mean something to you should you bother to know them. From that point onwards, you work based on assumptions and you rely on others to help your eyes see what you cant see. And you start to lie to yourself and you become drunk with power and mesmerised by ass kissers.

All you care about then is the financial reports cooked up by your employees. You dont really give a shit about who churns the gains or the losses and you are blinded by organisational firewalls set up by your managers and yourself all in the reason of being focused on the big picture. Well, I think that's a f**ked up thing to do innit??

You walk around carrying the BIG BOSS tag and you lose your real self in it, you become distant, heartless and last but not least STUPID! Stupid not because you remain a BIG BOSS to grow your business but STUPID because you lose your human values and virtues to do the right thing. You betray yourself and your people and hide behind tons of excuses trying to justify all the shitty things that YOU know YOU SHOULDN'T do!!! All in the name of enhancing some shareholders value and your own bloody pockets!!

And the strangest thing is, when your company starts to lose money, the first thing your management board recommend is to cut cost! YES! that's the light at the end of the tunnel for your company - CUT COST!!! and ironically, the people that got cut are always the ones getting paid pennies while the ones spending the dollars remain! Hooray for cost cutting!!!....Guess in such an organisational f**k up, the shit doesn't go as nature intend it to....they come spewing out from the mouth.....why? Coz of the stupid management (the ones that should really be handling the shit instead of pushing it away) firewalls that prevent the shit from passing through to the right channel....and guess what will happen to your company if your company keep shitting through its mouth??? YOUR COMPANY WILL CEASE TO EXIST!!! So wake up and smell the goddang shit!!! Call HOUSE now and STOP lying to yourself before its too late!!!!

Storm Of The Year!!

Last night, while I was deep in slumber, flitting about in the land of dreams -(dreaming that I was piloting my giant robot and taking on Godzilla!!!), I was rudely woken up by a blinding light that pierced through the shrouds of my inner consciousness. I thought at that time it was Godzilla shooting his powderful spine death ray at me!!!! But it was not!!

After the dust seem to have settled, I struggled to open my eyes and sieze on to the waking world. To catch a glimpse of all the racket and flashes that went on outside my window and wonder if it was indeed just a dream. The loud bangs of thunder and lightning raged on with an intensity to which I have never witnessed before. There was neither Godzilla nor my giant robot, but a freaky thunderstorm!!at 5am!!

It was the storm of the year and it was indeed one of the freakiest thunder storm that I have ever experienced. The intensity and frequency of the lightning and thunder is very intense. It was as if Singapore was under heavy aerial bombardment!!! or being attacked by Martians!!!

When the thought of martians came into my mind, I start to freak myself out!! And the safest haven that I could think of to protect myself from the uncertain event outside my room, was, my comforter!!

The one hit that freaked me out the most while I was cowering under my sheets was the one that hit across my window at a tree!! The sound is like none that I have ever heard before! and the flash lit up my room like a million watts!! It was freaky as heck!! And somehow, I managed to seek asylum back in my dream world...and before long...I was gone....only to be greeted 2 hours later by the beeping sound of my phone alarm....sighs......back to the grind...again.....

Damm, being woken up with such a BANG! and getting all excited in the middle of my slumber is not conducive for a normal work day!! And not to mention, now I will never know the outcome of my deathmatch between me and Godzilla!!! :(

Still A Longer Way To Go.....

Still A Long Way To Go...

The Root of all Evil...is NOT money.

The root of all evil is not money. Money is just an excuse. The real culprit is Fear. Our fear of everything. That is the root of all evil.

Superman Returns? More like Superman Remixed

The movie is good, not great...It just didn't give me the kick,..you know that, wow! I am gonna get the DVD when it's out or something!!

Perhaps if it were shown way before, like back in the 80s and before all the other heroes hit the screen it would have, but after Batman, X-mens, Daredevil, Hulk, Blade and the upcoming Ghost Rider.....Superman seems......lacking...the hero action fighter...it comes across more like a love story cum drama. Which somehow I feel (of coz this is just me opine) is not the the right package fr a superhero movie these days?

I mean, Superman is a SO Dang powerful and his villains in this movie are from the Care Bear camp! I mean Lex Luthor, and his partner Kitty, is there to provide what, comic relief? Yeah they do the usual world threatening thing but I mean they are just aint menacing enough and there's not really any moment of true suspense in this movie version..come to think of it, the Lex in Smallville is scarier than the movie version (btw is more or less a revamped version of Superman with Christopher Reeves in it)....oh I dont know...guess after the movie, there's just a feeling of "Oh so much, but yet, Oh so little..."

I guess Bryan Singer would have fared better directing X-3 and let maybe Chris Nolan or even David Lynch to put a new take on Superman.....

Ok that aside, casting Brandon Routh as Supe...is a good choice....Kevin Spacey could have done so much more...and in my humble opinion, they should just do away with Kitty. She's just so irritating!!

Lazy Dog - Copyright Protected 2006

Bowelation Correlation

Had coffee with a bunch of friends last night and the topic of conversation was that one of our friend, whom I shall call Obiwan, apparently needed to answer the call of nature 3 to 4 times a day!

Now that of course set my logical mind to think. Due to my natural concern for my buddy's health, the thought of something seriously not working then sprang into my head! Immediately I went on to suggest that maybe something could be wrong with his bowels?? My companions on the table comforted me that it is not likely the case and that apparently hitting the pool to drop your friends off 3 times a day is a pretty common affair.

However, my mind was still trying to seek a logical explanation to this predicament and finally I struck gold!! You see my friend Obiwan is of a certain height and hence, that could explain his digestive tract could be shorter than others. Due to that, his food goes through faster and hence 3 times a day!! There you have it, another of life's mystery solved!!

The Human Drama

Life is filled with dramas. Some unavoidable and most are self made. The Human drama. This has been a week of endings and beginnings. Of passing and of birth. Everything happened within just this 1 week alone. The week beginning the 30th of May 2006.

It was surreal and yet, it felt right and it was unavoidable. It was as if Life had decided to pick me up and throw me to the deep end and said to me "Sink or Swim!".There were happy times and there were sad times but all in all, everything ended as it should be and ended well.

In between all the drama swirling through my life during that week, I also noticed another kind of drama unfolding, the kind whereby, it is self made. Whereby Life, didn't bother to give a hoot about. I guess some people feel life is just too boring without having to manipulate people and environment to create some drama in their day to day life.

Too much television perhaps?

Well in anycase, it was an interesting week indeed. Life is indeed too short. Too short to not be happy and too short for all these dramas. And heaven is not too far away, it's actually in our own backyard. Take a peek once in awhile....

Bad Decisions....

Bad decisions are......

a) When the Durian decided to sue the Paper, and we all know what happened to Durian after that. Enough said.

b) When Creative Technology decide to sue Apple for alleged patent infringement (wanting to make a quick buck from the lawsuit perhaps?). Apple, naturally went on a counter suit against Creative immediately. For sure such a process will drag on and on, probably for years and the only true winner here, will be the lawyers. This kind of lawsuit is as if them lawyers have behaved like little good boys all year round and Santa decided to drop an early visit with goodies!

c) When Sony decide to make a grand unveiling of their latest Playstation 3 model and took out the rumble from the wireless controller and worst of all, pricing the damm thing at USD 599 in the US and 425 pounds in the UK (meaning 1000 bucks ++ over here!!). and the best thing is, after the grand unveiling, they have managed to push their target consumers more towards their competition. What they can offer, both Nintendo and Microsoft has already offered and more.....so, the only other plus point is the blue ray player. WHY THE HECK WE NEED A BLU RAY PLAYER FOR A GAMING CONSOLE ANYWAYS??.....Best thing is, they are telling GAMERS that this is a "cheap" blue ray player so go get one!!!....(err...I thought the point is in the games, no? Sony, no? yes? No? No? No?)

Why sometimes we ponder such decisions are made....

April Showers!

Someone asked me why I like the rain so much. Well, here's my top ten 10 reasons why I like it so!!

Ten reasons why I like April showers :-

10) It allows Big Foot in Johor to leave footprints so that I can get my daily Big Foot fodder on the newspaper!! (Otherwise news in Singapore is damm boring....)

9) It reminds me of Autumn in Melbourne 2001 and it brings much relief from the heat... :)

8) It gives me a reason not to have me car washed so often!! (lazy la - HA!)

7) It gives the lot of people an excuse to be late for work in the morning! (if it rains in the morning that is, not that it applies to me of course!)

6) It gives me a reason to not play tennis (HA HA HA HA - which I really should be playing actually!!)

5) It's nice to drive at night when the streets are wet and the city lights are reflected off the wet road...especially now with my DLO!

4) It gives people the reason to have longer lunches than usual ( Eating halfway - Damm! rain! oh well, coffee?....)

3) It drives away the haze! Brings back the fresh clean air!

2) It gives couples a chance to cuddle in public under a brolly!!

1) It's nice to sleep at night when the air is cool and the bed is cozy.......Yeah! ;)

There you go, top ten reasons why I like April showers so much!

Life is....

Life is pretty farked up sometimes, one man's demise is another man's gain. Is this how the world, the universe does its checks and balances?? Or perhaps we have not yet see the point to the way things are meant to be as yet? Or maybe there is no point in a pointless debate.

Perhaps that is the reason. Perhaps what we have, the so-called free will is but an illusion and at the end of the day we are part of a larger weave. We are but a thread on a weave of life.

Perhaps that is the point? Are we anything but pawns in life's game of chess? Perhaps because the beginning and the end are the same except for the victor. But what would it mean for the victor in a game of chess, which is nothing but loneliness in a land with nothing more to conquer?

How so then the scale balances itself? At the end of the road, we know what awaits I guess so in the meanwhile perhaps its wrong for us to assume that life will balance itself out, perhaps it is more prudent for us to balance OURSELVES out first.

Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps.

Slow Dance

Slow Dance
By Anonymous Works.

Have you ever watched kids on a merry-go-round?
Or listened to the rain slapping on the ground?

Ever followed a butterfly's erratic flight?
Or gazed at the sun into the fading night?
You better slow down.
Don't dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won't last.

Do you run through each day on the fly?
When you ask How are you?
Do you hear the reply?

When the day is done do you lie in your bed
with the next hundred chores
running through your head?

You'd better slow down
Don't dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won't last.

Ever told your child,We'll do it tomorrow?
And in your haste, not see his sorrow?
Ever lost touch, let a good friendship die
Cause you never had time to call and say hi?

You'd better slow down.
Don't dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won't last.

When you run so fast to get somewhere
You miss half the fun of getting there.
When you worry and hurry through your day,
It is like an unopened gift...
Thrown away...

Crash Part II

Thinking back, it could have been me who may have been crashed into as I was behind the SUV. Somehow I swerve at the last minute to side of the SUV. What would have happened then?

Crashed

A car crashed into another right in front of me today. Not exactly in front but it was the car beside mine that got smashed into. It was pretty surreal, I turned around to my left and I saw a stationary SUV at a red light. Next thing I see was a car, without even braking, a Honda City, smashing right into the rear of the SUV.

Needless to say, the front of the honda was totalled. Next thing I know was, the driver of the Honda came out and started yelling at the driver of the SUV and she kept saying, "I can't stop, why did you stop!??! I can't stop!!". She was a young Indian girl and next to her sat her mother.

At this point, I wound down my window as the lady of the SUV stepped out and said that she was stationary because of the red light. But the young Indian girl kept yelling the same thing. At this point I got a tad pissed so I said to the girl, "Look its a red light! You are supposed to stop and you didn't"

And then afterwards, I told the lady of the SUV to drive aside and try to settle the matter. The mother of the girl was more calm and agreed to talk after moving away from traffic.

Green light and off I go. Leaving them to their own devices.

The observation is, we both stopped at the light, why didn't she? She did not even brake. I saw her coming at a constant speed smashing into the back of the SUV. Just like how it was in a crash test.

The next thing that came into my mind, was the movie Crash. 4 person came together at that point today in the afternoon through an accident in a split second, I don't know them, neither will I know if our paths will cross again, but this thing brought us into an interaction of some kind. Otherwise, we will just be strangers in our own world.

I guess we do crash into each other sometimes. For what reason or purpose I don't know but one thing I do know is that, the people around us apart from our family and friends, the strangers we presume, are REAL people and not some sort of object or an It factor which we usually ignore or take for granted as we go about the world with our self interests.

We breath the same air, we feel the same emotions and we are a reflection of them and likewise us. Warts and all. And that is the reality.

Lots Of Voluntary Effort

I have been a tad lazy to blog much these days but I did come across this story from one of my friend....

So here goes... :-

Story of My Friend

One morning when my friend's father was driving her to school, she asked her father "Dad, what is love?". Being the cool dad that he was, he answered her matter-of-factly without taking his eyes off the road,

"Love... is lots of voluntary effort. L.O.V.E. Lots of voluntary effort lah."
"That's all? Love explains itself?"
"Yeah. Simple. When you love someone, it's a commitment to volunteer. You volunteer to make that person happy, to keep that person from harm, to have that person's best interests at heart, to share dreams or build a life together... That's why love is different from like. Understand ah?"
"Hmmm... I think so."
"Good."

So there we have it folks!........and so many brain cells have to die before we understand that! :)

Presumption

Presumption is the mother of all fook ups!

So don't presume :)

The Road...

What do you do when you know that fate has dealt you a deal whereby you know that no matter what you do, your time is up.
How do you deal with the inevitable? All of us know that, the moment we are born, we are destined to meet death but usually, we go about our daily life without even thinking about it. As the thought would just stifle us from living.

Furthermore, death is often viewed as a passage from a ripe old age and not before. But what if the time comes and you are not prepared? I am not talking about the possibility going off in a plane crash or a car accident but more of an incurable disease and that you only have a matter of years or months or weeks to live. Would you spend your days left feeling angry and fearful, that life dealt you a raw deal or that you would embrace it as it is, and live the balance days with acceptance?

I guess in a way, certain things happen because they are meant to happen as we travel down Life's windy road. Perhaps it is already pre-programmed in our genetic data that, at some point certain events will occur. This is perhaps what we call Fate or Destiny and that it is in the hands of the Almighty to determine.

As for me, I don't know what I would do, or how anyone would feel when faced with this situation. Different people react differently I guess. I try to think about it, but I cannot come up with any form of rationalization now. But I guess the only thing left to do is acceptance and perhaps to live life to the best of our ability in a good way. After all, our time here is finite, but our soul is infinite. In my opinion at least.

Rainless No More!

The rains came! Finally! Woke up this morning to the sounds and smell of rain. The pitter patter of rain drops washing away all the dirt and taking away all the heat and humidity!!

Reminds me of the movie, Be With You, I am going to hang all the sunshine "ghost" dolls upside down so that the rains will continue! But can't for too long or this place will definately flood! Can't have that now can we?

Anyways, thank god for the rain, as said in V for Vendetta, God is in the rain......maybe he is, rain coupled with sunshine gives life.

Guess life is all about balance...finding the center. The sun had it's fun, now the rain needs to do its thing!.

Rainless Clouds

For the past week I have been seeing ominous looking rain clouds bearing down on us, hoping for a great splash to bring some relief to the heat but to no avail!!

However, despite such rainless clouds, we still get drenched if you take a walk outside!! Yes! I guess the rain is actually all around us, in the form of 90%+++ humidity!!

That probably explains such rainless rain cloud formations!

To Love...

To love someone is to love without self,
To love someone is to love without conditions,
To love someone is to love without fear,
To love someone is to love without measure,
To love someone is to love without guarantees,
To love someone is to love without boundaries,
To love someone is to love without needing a reply,
To love someone is to love as it is,
To love someone is to love without possession,

To love someone is to love with an open heart....let your heart be no matter the season nor the weather...

Dear Child

Dear child,
Why are you crying?
Are you lost as you wandered through paths unending?
Are you seeking the way home?
Or are you seeking just some understanding.

Dear child,
Whatever your worries, lay it down,
Lay it down on the ground.
Lighten your load and you shall be light again,
For what strength you waste carrying that load,
You will now retain, to swim in life's ebbs and flow,
For you'll be home soon.

Famous Last Words

After the wash
Before the fire
I will decay
Melt in your arms
As the day hits the night
We will sit by candlelight
We will laugh
We will sing
When the saints go marching in

A for a heart
B for a brain
Insects and grass
Are all that remain
When the light from above
Burns a hole straight through our love
We will laugh
We will sing
When the saints go marching in
And we will carry war no more

All of our love and all our of pain
Will be but a tune
The sun and the moon
The wind and the rain
Hand in hand we’ll do and die
Listening to the band that made us cry
We’ll have nothing to lose
We’ll have nothing to gain
Just to stay in this real life situation
For one last refrain

As the day hits the night
We will sit by candlelight
We will laugh
We will sing
When the saints go marching in
And we will carry war no more

Arranged Marriage

Just got back from India and heard a colleague of mine, N, is finally getting married. Of course I immediately assumed that it would be with his girlfriend which he had told me about. However to my surprise it is not! It seems his family had found someone for him and likewise the family of the girl to have them marry each other!

I asked him, how does this work, and he said that, the whole thing basically was arranged by both their parents and he seems to be happy and accepting to the choice of his parents and seemingly she is too. Right now according to him he and her are being "friends" and getting to know each other till their big day in December. That is when they will be officially married after a 7 day wedding ritual/banquet.

Later in the day, I went around the office and found out almost the whole lot of them had their marriages arranged. One of them said it was for the better, because at that time, he was working so hard, he hardly had the time to go out and find someone to settle in a "Love" marriage (as they put it).

When his parents introduced the girl to him, his first impresion was that she is a very down to earth lady and very well educated. And till now, he said, as each day that passes, he is growing to love his wife more and more. They both have a son who is 5.

Well as for N, he seems happy and he offered me the statistic that, it seems the rate of divorce in a "Love" marriage in India is higher than that of an arranged marriage. And arranged marriage is indeed very common in India.

Well, whatever the case may be, I wish him and his future bride all the best and may they be happy always!

3 Gee....sheesh

Got my first 3G phone the other day. Funny thing is, I was pretty excited before the phone came about. Reading about all the cool features that 3G technology can provide and connectivity and all. But somehow, after getting the phone and having it in my hand. It's hard to discern the technology from the existing 2G or 2.5G phone that I had. It was not so exciting after all...... :(

Except for 2 things though.

The so called video phone feature and the so-called "Live" TV viewing feature. The Live TV is line provider exclusive content. Say if your phone company which you subscribe to does not have TV Mobile, then it's just as much content and use as a feature that you have but cannot really capitalise on!!!

It's like buying a house with the most advance broadband infrastructure built in, but in a land with no internet access like in the Sahara desert!!!

And finally the video phone!! It's a damm cool feature as I have tried it with the Gazelle! It's really cool and it's streaming is smooth and in real time!!! This is so futuristic!!! Like something you once see in the movies but now it's being realised!!!

And I am holding this magnificent device in my hand!!! Video calling! WOW!!

But then a brick fell on me head, and I realised.......it's only me and the Gazelle have the video calling phone.

Sheeesh....go on all of you! Get yourself a 3G phone so that we can all do video calling!!! or not!

From Eloisa to Abelard - An excerpt...

May one kind grave unite each hapless name,
And graft my love immortal on thy fame!
Then, ages hence, when all my woes are o'er,
When this rebellious heart shall beat no more;
If ever chance two wand'ring lovers brings
To Paraclete's white walls and silver springs,
O'er the pale marble shall they join their heads,
And drink the falling tears each other sheds;
Then sadly say, with mutual pity mov'd,
"Oh may we never love as these have lov'd!"

Hate

Hate is a powerful emotion. Hate is a wasteful emotion.
Hate begets hate. So whats the point of hate?
What good will come when we will have more and more hateful people.
As they chant cries of pain and anger!
Picking up swords for vengeance but for what relief?
Will washing your hands with the blood of your enemy bring you peace?
Will it end the hate you have inside once he is gone?
Will you then see the light at the end of the tunnel?
Lay waste to this emotion as it will lay waste to your soul.
Let it be free of hate and your soul be spotless.
Tainting yourself with hate will never ease the pain.
Only time will. So why hate?

Looking and Seeing

A lot of us are looking but not seeing. We look at an object but we do not see what and how the object came about.

It is like when you are in a car and you look out the window at the scenery whizzing by you. You only look at the scene but do not see the story behind. The people you see, the structures you see and the building you see, they are just things we look at.

Imagine however, if you could just stop looking and take a minute to see our surroundings, we can probably learn a lot more about the people and things around us.

Imagine all the story each and everything have and what they want to tell us by letting us see. Imagine what we can learn and how much more we can understand....

Life / Movies

If your life is like a movie, what would you want that movie to be? A romantic drama, an action blockbuster, a horror film, a tragedy, a monster flick or just a simple feel good movie about the normal joe?

Well, I doubt most of us would want our life to turn into a horror flick ala Land of the Living Dead or Friday the 13th or a tragedy/disaster movie ala the Titanic or the Poseidon adventure.

I think most of us would want it to either be a feel good movie or an action blockbuster where the hero/heroine always saves the day. Or even a comedy!

Such movies are often associated with certain trials and obstacles along the way for the characters involved to face before they are rewarded with the final goal, the ultimate ending and the famous last word that often are associated with such movies. Like in Casablanca, where Humphrey Bogart's famous last word was "This is the beginning of a beautiful friendship" after sending of Ingrid Bergman. Or like in Jerry Maguire, where Jerry says to the one he loves "You complete me..."

Are movies a reflection of life and all it's whimsical nature printed on film and projected onto a canvas for all to see and admire? I think it is, I mean after all, these are stories written by real people. They get ideas from the things they see around them and often times also of their own experience and the people they know. Add a bit more imagination either to make it more exciting or bring it to a different planet, the core relationships in all these movies are the same.

And they are always very humanistic in nature. Don't you think so? Anyways, just a random rambling for me on a Monday night.....

Happy Juice!

Happy juice happy juice,where are you?
Happy juice happy juice, i miss u!
Happy juice happy juice, I need you!
Happy juice happy juice, I’ll find you!!!

Howie is Grouchie

Howie is Grouchie,
Coz his car got a bumpie!
But now he is alrightie,
Coz his car got fixies!!!

Home...

I was home after driving 5 hours and dodging speed traps and patrol cars along the way. It was a pretty good drive except them freaking trucks and lorries who are pulling so much weight and yet, they still wanna go neck and neck with each other and would just swerve out at 40 kmh to overtake the 30kmh truck in front....while I was driving in excess of the speed limit coming from behind!!!!

But at least that kept me awake for the journey home. Somehow the hours flowed by without making the drive seem too long...I looked around the highway and enjoyed the scenery and also saw some wildlife as well along the way. Some monkeys were monkeying around on the trees and some lay dead by the roadside. I also saw some eagles flying above me and some dead spotted cats along the road.....

And before long I was home.........

I'll Stand By You

Oh, why you look so sad?
Tears are in your eyes
Come on and come to me now
Don’t be ashamed to cry
Let me see you through
’cause I’ve seen the dark side too
When the night falls on you
You don’t know what to do
Nothing you confess
Could make me love you less

I’ll stand by you
I’ll stand by you
Won’t let nobody hurt you
I’ll stand by you

So if you’re mad, get mad
Don’t hold it all inside
Come on and talk to me now
Hey, what you got to hide?
I get angry too
Well I’m a lot like you
When you’re standing at the crossroads
And don’t know which path to choose
Let me come along
’cause even if you’re wrong

I’ll stand by you
I’ll stand by you
Won’t let nobody hurt you
I’ll stand by you
Take me in, into your darkest hour
And I’ll never desert you
I’ll stand by you

And when...
When the night falls on you, baby
You’re feeling all alone
You won’t be on your own

I’ll stand by you
I’ll stand by you
Won’t let nobody hurt you

I’ll stand by you
Take me in, into your darkest hour
And I’ll never desert you
I’ll stand by you
I’ll stand by you
Won’t let nobody hurt you
I’ll stand by you
Won’t let nobody hurt you
I’ll stand by you

Life's too short...

Life's too short to love
Life's too short to not love
Life's too short to laugh
Life's too short to not laugh
Life's too short to have fun
Life's too short to not have fun

Heaven and Hell

Ever wondered what heaven or hell is like when you die?
We all will die eventually and that is a given but are you afraid that you will end up in hell?

And what do we think heaven would be like if we live our life constantly doing good deeds due to our fear of hell.

Does it make our heaven better to be in or is it left to the greater scheme of what heaven should be, in terms of our own individual religious beliefs and how it was dictated to be?

To me, one thing is certain. Our life is like a candle. The moment we are lit, we will burn and shine and shine the brightest to lit up the dark as we go on burning. However, eventually we will fade back into nothingness just like how we emerge from nothingness.

So what then is heaven? Of course the candle thing is just an analogy! We dont emerge from nothing! DOH! We are a product of copulation between a male and a female, unless of course you are a product of a hermaphrodite. But still, it's something....cellular.

Anyway, back to the concept of heaven. To me, all of us are taught about the concept of good and evil since young. Regardless of race, religion, culture, creed and whatever. Heaven and Hell is a universal concept for mankind. (except maybe for some..)

But what do they mean? Is there really a place called heaven for the good people and a place called hell for the bad people?

To me, heaven is the moment, when we are about to pass on, where, in that instant we can look back at our life and tell ourselves that we have lived it to the fullest with love, with joy, with no regrets, with no wrong done to a fellow man/woman, with respect for others and with peace in our hearts; as we close our eyes and return to the soul of the world, of the universe and back to God.

While as for hell, well I guess it is the flipside of the above.

Little Things

In today's world where the pace of life is getting faster and faster, we often lose sight of our surroundings. We just trudge headlong towards our immediate objective and goals without stopping for a second to see and appreciate the little things around us.

Yesterday, while I was driving back home after a day in the office, things around me started to slow down. Maybe it's coz of the traffic. Maybe it's because of the music that I was playing in my car. I was listening to Clair de Lune and Nocturne by Chopin.

I started to look at the trees that lined the AYE as my car was inching on the AYE. I started to gaze at the street lamps that hid behind the trees. I saw the orange tinge from the lamp dancing against the swaying green foliage of the trees as I move past them one after another.

I then looked ahead at the horizon and I saw the grey puff of rain clouds that seems to be edging towards me. I saw the mesh of colors which emitted from the setting sun as it struggled to shine through the blanket of puffy rain clouds. I saw the light of dusk bathing the buildings and all my surroudings.

And it was beautiful.

I felt a strange sense of calm and peace which I have since long forgotten. It's like how when I was little and it was raining outside. I cant go out to play and I have nothing to do. I would just sit there by the window and sulk. However, somehow as I was staring at the rainfall,I would often times find myself to be happy.

In that instant I realise it was a moment to appreciate life's simple pleasures and beauty. It is around us all the time.

Endless Nights

The stars that shine in the endless nights,
May they come in the most beautiful of sights...

Ominous

I took out the gun,
And I shot the man,
I realised it,
Only when the bloodied warmth,
reaches my hand,
Ominous, the rushing of life,
And to death.

Seasons

The warmth that it brings,
Will cometh in Spring,
The chill that it shatters,
Will happen in Summer,
The gloom that consumes,
Will happen in Autumn,
The snow that falters,
Will happen in Winter.

Life's too short...II

Life's too short to not be sad,
Life's too short to be sad,
Life's too short to not be worried,
Life's too short to be worried,
Life's too short to not regret,
Life's too short to regret,
Life's too short to not be angry,
Life's too short to be angry,

Friend

Friend

I have a friend,
He, who lends a hand,
Whom, I could not comprehend,
He is a foe,
When I do not know,
For the price I have to pay,
That I cannot say,
For once he is a friend,
Then be it till the end.

Friendships and Blue Chips

Friends. They are the people that we hang out with to have a good time and depend on when the going gets tough. Recently a friend of mine came out with a financial analogy for friends.(Brilliant thought Mindy!)

In her view, we can look at friendship in two categories. Old friends and new friends. Old friends shall be referred to as Blue Chips and new friends shall be referred to as IPOs.

For friends of old, they tend to be more like the blue chip stock because they are usually reliable, stable and will always nett a good return and are relatively risk free. Likewise their level of friendship; always dependable, reliable and relatively hazard free. And thus, require lesser time and effort to maintain and monitor. Plus they have withstood the test of time.

As for new friends, they are more like IPOs, new and exciting, present enormous possibilities and potential for growth. But, as most IPOs go, they are more risky than blue chip stocks. The risk of crashing and getting your arse burnt with new IPOs is much much higher and so is the return especially for the first couple of quarters but whether can it withstand the test of time, is a another matter altogether.

For some people, they cherish the blue chips but for others, blue chips are more prone to be ignored because they are boring. Same old routine, same old expected returns. Slow and steady. They prefer the more exciting IPOs! They enjoy the thrill because of the expectation of better returns and potential.

But more often than not, IPOs tend to tank more than succeed. They are exciting prospects but in my humble opinion, I think as far as friends go, don't you think investing in blue chips is better than IPOs?

Bad Luck Struck...And That's Why the Helmet

Today is Helmet day coz the sky might literally just fall on me! Somehow on the 3rd day of 2006, I woke up to a bright sunny morning which I thought, well...isn't it nice out there today.

However, to my dismay it's not to be, coz first I dented my bumper! (sobs!) and second my office pc crashed on me and thirdly, my handphone battery died on me for no ryhme or reason!! Murphy's Law...bad luck happens in 3's?

So I decided to risk no further me life and me possessions...hence me now is camped somewhere safe with a helmet on...

Hoping the sky wont fall on the Grouch no more....... :(

Quote

" The world is made round, so that we don't see too far down the road"

200-5/6

We are once again at the end of another year. Somehow, year end holds for a lot of people some sort of significance. Like some sort of milestone that one passes and of course for all of mankind, we are also getting another year notched into our age.

All these are the fault of time. We invented time, had we not have time, there would not be any such milestones to pass and events to celebrate or to mourn. Why cant we not have time?

For some, time passes very quickly and for others time does not seem to move at all.

It's all relative at the end of the day as we go about the cycle of each day from sunrise till sunset. Day in, day out.

However, have you once paused to wonder what does all these means? All the things that you have done and all the things that you want to do but not have the time for and all the things that you did and regretted. What does all this means when we are at this milestone, this end of year? When we are all getting older but do we get any wiser?

Why must we reflect only now and not earlier of our actions and events? What is so special about this particular time of the year? If there's no time, there's no such thing as an end to a year.

For me the answer should not be found at this particular time, the answer should be looked out for all the time. It's not easy but we should reflect on our actions all the time and make less any deeds that are wrong and make more deeds that are good. Not take each sunrise and sunset for granted and people for granted, cherish each day as if it's the last.

Because in the larger scheme of things, our universe, however "big" we think it is, is nothing but a speck of dust darting across a treacherous sea of rocks and poisonous gasses.

But since we are saddled with the event of time, let me take this opportunity to wish one and all...

Happy New Year and May All Your Dreams and Wishes Be Found!

Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year

Dear all,

It is again near Christmas time. I would like to share with all of you, my favourite song of the season....which I think conveys all the essence and spirit of this time of the year....so here goes..................

Have yourself a merry little Christmas,

Let your heart be light,

From now on, our troubles will be out of sight

Have yourself a merry little Christmas,

Make the Yule-tide gay,

From now on, our troubles will be miles away.

Here we are as in olden days,Happy golden days of yore.

Faithful friends who are dear to us

Gather near to us once more.

Through the years,

We all will be together,

If the Fates allow,

Hang a shining star upon the highest bough.

And have yourself A merry little Christmas now.

Merry Christmas, God Bless, May peace be with all.

24 is X'mas Eve and 24 hrs Singapore II

Ah..yes....tis the time of the year again where the lites down Orchard road is again lit ever so brightly and ugly...(it's nice to the tourist but to us it nver change!! damm, if they gonna lite it up, make it nicer la, plan properly la!! Dammit!!).

In fact, the part from Rendezvous Hotel, near SMU is much nicer than Orchard Rd, why cant they do and set the same standard....sighs.....

Remember my posting abt a 24 hrs Singapore, well, we are getting a taste (somewhat) of that now, as shops open till 1 am and there are more and more people on the street down good old Orchard Rd... good! good! Perhaps they should continue.........

Crazy Horse is in town as well......now all that's left is for the Casino to finally get on with the show before all the bidders pull out for a buzzing buzzing city!!!

Prayer and Hope

A moment of prayer...a moment of hope.

Drive...

Went for a drive today. Somehow while you drive, you feel you are headed somewhere and there will always be the sense of anticipation when you think about the destination that you are heading towards.

As for me, I ended up somehow back in my old university hall. Raffles Hall..

I walked down the steps and as I turned round the bend, I looked up and I can see my old room where I spent my last year in Uni.....

The memories just came crashing back as if it was just yesterday and strangely enough I felt as if I was really back to the time when I was staying there. Surrounded by friends and familiar faces....

I walked to the old public phone area in block 5, where we used to scream at the top of our lungs for people to come answer their phonecalls.

The wall around the telephone still bears a lot of familiar scribblings of my friends' "achievements" and "advertisements"....I was happy they were still around......somethings should remain as they are....

The faces I knew, are no longer around but yet, the soul of this place still remembers me and us..and welcomes me back to its surroundings....showing me how it was when I used to call this place home all over again......

Little Chicken - updated!

Updated! Inspired by nursery ryhmes...and of course the latest Chick flick...

1) Lipid David
2) Spindy Mindy
3) Sianne Lianne
4) Shah Bhah
5) Sheepish Jagdish
6) Teensy Wuensy
7) Harvie Norman
8) Seashell Michele
9) Slippery Jemerry
10) Smiffy Jeffy
11) Tennis Bennis


Will add more when I think more....

XBOX 360 - Complex Machine....err

"It’s a few reports of consoles here and there not working properly," said Molly O’Donnell, a spokeswoman for Microsoft’s Xbox division. "It’s what you would expect with a consumer electronics instrument of this complexity

Above was an excerpt from a news article regarding the XBOX 360 with some console having problems and crashes during gameplay.

Well, if you go by above reasoning, if you buy a car and a car being a complex instrument, and if the brakes don't work and the car crashes and kills the driver, it is to be expected???

Or better yet, if you buy an airplane and the airplane is even more complex than the car, the airplane crashes and it is to be expected???

What the FARK is this MOLLY woman yapping about?????

24 Hrs Singapore!!

Just saw MM Lee on TV talking about Dubai and his views on how fast that place has progressed and how impressed he was with the growth of the city!! It's a busy buzzing little City in the middle of conflict lands! A shining diamond in a pool of oil!!

MM Lee was there just one week after me and both me and him hold the same views! Great minds do see and think alike...hehehe somehow!!!

Anyways, enough of that but seriously! Just look at their airport and our airport! It's so alike but yet, one is lazier than the other. By that I mean the shops! Inside the Dubai airport, shops open 24 hours for 24/7. Here in Changi, it's a great airport by the way, the shops closed at 12am. Why?? Electricity too high?? It's not as if they switch off the lites and air conditioning anyways and there are still passengers taking off and arriving late at nite, why not open the shops there for 24 hours as well?? You can do more business there from the transit passengers for 24 hrs for 7 days a week!! As to the cost vs the returns, am sure the returns will justify it no?

Why not then even allow and make it compulsory for more shops like Mustafa center with 24 hrs shopping? Just imagine, a 24 hrs Orchard Road!! or at least a late nite Orchard road like say on Friday and Saturday where shops all open till 12am? This should bring more tourist and keep businesses operating longer!! Maybe I am wrong, but but but, Singapore do lack the buzz....

I cant explain the buzz! But it's something that I don't really feel in Singapore. All is nice and hunky dory on the outside but seriously, the question is what next? What's buzzing next? I don't mean the freaking bees!! I mean, what's there to keep us entertained next? What's there to look forward to besides the same old, same old? Yes, Singapore will soon have the Casino (provided they sort out the intricacies) and yes, Singapore will have Crazy Horse, but what about now? What can we change now to bring out the buzz??

A 24 hrs city is my answer! 24 hrs shopping, 24 hrs cinema, 24 hrs bar and restaurants, 24 hrs clubbing, a city that never sleeps! That should put the buzz on!.....at least for awhile, till we have the 24 hours CASINO!! Wooooooooohoooooooooooo!!!!

Coz, seriously, the infrastructure is all there and great, why not maximise it?.......

The Desert Pt II

This is a prove that there is Life in the desert!!!
Driver's beware!

You know how a lot of people who came back from Australia have that yellow sign with the Koala label that they stick in their cars??

Wonder if I can make this one with the Camel as popular!!!

Kerching Kerching!!

The Desert

Ali Baba Land

I was in Alibaba land (well not exactly but actually somewhere real close!) for about a week! This is my first time ever to set foot in the Middle East and despite all the bad press about the middle east, this particular country is truly amazing and I must say, I was both impressed and amazed at how fast this country grew from a poor port city to becoming a cosmopolitan country in the Middle East. This city is Dubai which is part of the United Arab Emirates.

Dubai is a stark contrast to some of its neighbours in terms of personal freedom, world standing and stability even though you are in the middle east(images of terrorism and war is the label for the Middle East), the country sets itself apart from the rest of the middle east country by adopting clearly a Globalised approach to its development in terms of its economies and civil liberties. It is indeed a melting pot of different cultures from around the middle east to the west of africa, to the north Europe and to the Far East.

You can feel the buzz of the city the moment you step into the airport which houses a 24 hours duty free shopping arcade. As you drive into the city, you can clearly see that this is a city that keeps reinventing itself to keep ahead of the competition and distance itself from its feudalistic and oppressive neighbours.

The question that begs to be answered is then how come, its neighbours cannot adopt the policies that the Sheikh has to make this place truly a great city for all to live in and maintain peace and prosperity?

Why cant we as humans live in peace and practice tolerence and moderation?

Why must everything be in absolution? We are people of the world, with different skin color, different languages, different features and different cultures but we are still human.

The Wounded Gazelle

Last Saturday me and Fatness decided to test drive the Astra Turbo and take it out for some zoom-zoom! Ate our lunches, downed our tehs and kopis and off we go heading towards the show room for the zoom zoom!! But that was not to be coz Fatness forgot his licence and we need to take a little detour back to his bat cave to retrieve said licence.

Fatness moved with his usual swiftness, jumped out of the car and poof off he goes bouncing like a gazelle in the african plains to his apartment to get the danged licence.

5 mins passed and me was tweedling my thumbs in the car. Where was the swift bouncing gazelle that sped off so quickly awhile ago. Hmmm....It shouldn't take so long to complete the detour task.

Then I saw Fatness's roommate charging towards me in the car to relay the news that the bouncing gazelle had a little accident. It seems the light footed Fatness of a gazelle (contradictory no??) had bounced a little to high and knocked his poor head on the low ceiling ledge...and his kepala pecah (head broke)!!!! His head was attacked by the ceiling and it broke!!

I saw Fatness, like a poor gazelle kena maimed by the lions, lying helplessly on the stairs of his apartment with blood spurting out from his horrendous wound. It was a CSI moment for me as I study the blood spatter pattern on the floor and the walls and his wound to determine where exactly and how did the Fatness came to be in his condition.

After determining that he can be safely moved I got a few towels, gave it to him to cover his wound and to soak the blood and marched him to the car to take him the hospital!

I managed to zoom zoom alright that day but not in the Astra Turbo, but by sending the wounded Fatness Gazelle to the hospital to have him stitched up. In the end, the doctor determined that the wound is not that serious and all it needed was 5 stitches thats all.

The real problem was the dressing. The orderly looked at me while holding the dressing and asked "How to wrap his head ha??" I said, just make like Ninja la..so it wont come out...or wrap like mummy also can!

The Link : Day 2 Log

We moved past the high mountains with our equipment and rations and come across the City. We walk through the ruins of the City and thoughts came rushing into my mind of people and life that used to inhabit the city. We are heading north. Always heading north.

How can we, who were capable of such magnificence, come to what we are today? Half our clan are in cryo status as a means to conserve our valuable natural resources, which was brought on by the Life Suspension Act 2012, which was passed by the now defunct United Nations after the 3rd world war.

The 3rd World War was a meaningless war fought over trivial matters. Over the politics and arrogance of men, as survival as a race was never in question at the time. Now, the fruits of their arrogance brought us to our knees. To where we are today and the survival of the human race hang by a thread.

I adjusted my Enviro goggles to get a wide-spectrum scan of the ruins ahead to detect if any unwanted visitors will give us a nasty surprise. Scan shows none. For the time being.

Although all of us are packing the cannon each, minions from The Deep can be quite a handful.

We were 5. 5 of us were awakened for this journey. And lets hope that 5 of us will make it back in one piece. For the time being, I just want to get away from the City's cramp quarters to more open ground should any encounters take place.

End of Day 2 log.

Kena Played Out!!!! Pt II

Saturday came and I felt much better after whupping the Fatty's backside for playing me out. As I planned out my day, I was thinking of going to catch Beyond's farewell concert at night, but somehow it slipped my mind, I don't know why but it did. Probably because of the immense hurt, anger and disappointment from Friday night's betrayal from Fatness! Pundek kia.

In the end, I went for drinks with Fatness and Jin at night. In the middle of drinks, suddenly I realised that, the concert was going on now! I had forgotten about it!! DAMM! Diiuuuuuuuu!!!!!!!Tibai!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"Ah Faaaaark!!! I forgot about the concert!! diu!!!" I said

"What concert?" Jin asked

"Beyond's farewell, final, pre break-up concert!!! Diiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!!!!" I replied

"Oh, that concert, I had tickets for them....and I gave it away." Jin replied.

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YOU GOT TICKETS FOR BEYOND'S CONCERT AND YOU GAVE IT AWAY WITHOUT TELLING ME?????" anger came back..........anger came rushing back.......aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh!!!!

"Who u gave them too?????" I asked

"I gave them to the "I-WANT-FREE-STUFF-THAT-I-DONT-USE-BIATCH"....sorry...." answers her meekly

(THE I-WANT-FREE-STUFF-THAT-I-DONT-USE-BIATCH is an apt name that I bestow upon that thing because she is indeed one such biatch)

Aaaaarrgh, kena played out again!!!!!! basketball!!!! I asked Jin, how can she do this to a friend of more than 10 over years!! How can she gave them priceless tickets to a "fren" of less than 1 year without thinking about me first, why, why, why????

"Blardy hell! I bet you that biatch did not go to the conert!!!! If that's the case I will be even more pissed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" I said

"No la, I am sure she is at the concert now enjoying herself." answered Jin

Waah, angerness when I hear that! " Ok fine, sms her abt the concert" I said

"Err, no la, probably it will be too loud for her to get the sms" Jin said sheepishly.....

"SMS her NOOW!!!!!!!" demanded I and she proceeded to sms her as fast as her fingers can press the tiny buttons on her mobile.

A few minutes later.

"Beep Beep". An sms came back. I saw the look on her face and the grin of Fatness's face I knew the answer.

THE I-WANT-FREE-STUFF-THAT-I-DON'T-USE-BIATCH really didn't go. Nia Seng!!!!

Now my anger quadrupled, not so much at Jin now, but at that BIATCH!!!! I can't understand why some people take free stuff with no intention to use it. Fark, if you don't want it, don't take it!!!

And you know what her reason for not able to go??? It was her MOTHER's BIRTHDAY!!!
Diu Nia Seng!! Fa Lat!! Double Diu!!! Why then did she take the tickets earlier?? Coz she forgot about the mother's birthday???? Then she is indeed a BIATCH!! If not then what was her reason? I tell you what, it's because she is a FREE SHITE hogging selfish BIATCH!!!!!!!!! CHEAPSKATE!!!!!

Basket, last nite one time, tonite another time!!! Kena played out twice!!!! actually thrice, I also play myself out by forgetting about the friggin concert!! And I already set aside the money to pay for the concert...took it out from my account now and nothing to spend on....Diu! Guess I will go to my favourite game shop later and buy something to help CHILL my angerness!!

DIU!!!!!!

Kena Played Out!! Pt 1

As usual, Friday came and I was planning of something to do for the night. Hence, I messaged Fatness to see what he's up to. I then suggested to go watch the new Jacky Chan movie, The Myth, as I was planning to watch it earlier but Fatness warned me vehemently to wait for him as well to watch it. The tibai fella farked me upside down and said that he'll kill me until I die from it if i watch it without him. In the end, I waited till Friday.

We agreed to watch the 1030pm show. I asked Fatness to book the ticket but Fatness said confidently " No need, sure got one!".

I asked " But what if don't have, then how?"

Fatness replied " Sure have one!!. So long already showing, nobody will watch it one"

I asked again " You didn't answer my question, what if DON'T HAVE"

Fatness, confidently replied " Sure HAVE ONE!"

We left it at that, and 10pm came I made my way to the cinema. As I was progressing towards the cinema I got a call frm Mel, (she was also watching with us).

And she said " Errr...there's no more tickets!, and Fatness is now hiding behind me saying that u will kill him"

Fark, the movie really turned out to be just a MYTH!! Diiiiiu!!!!

I was seething inside!! That tibai pundek, knnccb fella played me out!!! Furthermore, to add salt to the wound, Mel had volunteered earlier to go pick up the tickets as she was around the area but this tibai pundek fella Fatness answered " No need la...".

Fa lat bugger!!!

I made my way up to the cinema, most wanting to stick my foot into the pundeks backside and tears its apart!!! but I couldn't see him!! All I saw was Mel, then out of the corner of my eye, I suddenly noticed a strange sight as somehow, Mel's hip seems to have grown wider! how come suddenly her backside become so big??

Which cant be coz Mel's got a great figure!

Took 2 more steps forward and I realise it was the Fatness's gut sticking out as he hid behind her!

Fatness Hurt

D says: have been damn busy man

Grouch says: oki

D says: not yet eat lunch evens

Grouch says: good u get skinny faster

D says: farker

Grouch says: but but but is true wat

D says: hurtness lah

Grouch says: why la

D says: becos u say me fatness

Grouch says: but u are wat, but now u losing the tummy though. Can see improvement

Grouch contnued to say : love and accept who and wat u are n u will be happy

Grouch says: nver read my blog ha?

D says: i read ur bloig already but still sadness..........

The Link : Day 1

Day 1 : 13 Oct 2055

The missing link has been located by Agent 171 from Unit Azzeqial. The crucial piece of the puzzle that has been haunting us for so long. It's almost within our grasp. Our unit has been given "awake" orders and we are now making preparations to proceed to the sacred point to retrieve the link which will eventually help us solve the puzzle of our existence.

Like fire was to prehistoric men and how it was supposed to change the evolution of mankind. We are on the verge of another leap in human evolution. Hopefully.

According to Agent 171, we are to proceed towards a coordinate given pointing towards the north pole. Which exact location, I am not at liberty to divulge for now.

But one thing is clear, play time is over. Mission orders will be given shortly. Meanwhile, preparations have to be made.

I am sure our enemy from The Deep will also discover soon what we have learn thus far. They too will be making their way north. We should move fast and swift to retrieve it before they do. If we fail. The consequences will be dire.

Nightfall will be upon us soon. Preparations need to be made now.

End of day 1 log.

You and I

Have you ever stared at the mirror and wondered who that person staring back at you really is? Have you ever wondered if there were no mirrors in the world, would you be able to "see" or tell how you really look like or recognise yourself if you happen to chance upon one?

When you stare at the mirror, the person staring back at you is actually, you. And this is the face that you carry around and this is the same face that you use to express your emotions. This is also the face that people either love or hate.

However, when we look at the world through our very own eyes, we see everyone else but ourselves. Why is this so? Why cant we see ourselves and find out who we really are without mirrors?

You and I, the person in the mirror, are basically the same.

Regardless of race, culture, religion, ideology, we are the same. We walk around this Earth with our self indulgent needs and wants stepping on the small people, licking the balls of the big people but at the end of the day, look at ourself in the mirror, are we happy?

What is our true reflection? Is it the person we see in the mirror everyday when we wake up?

Do you like who you see? Are you happy with what you see?

Our true reflection is through the faces of others as seen through our eyes towards our action and deeds. Hate or love, they will show us how they feel.

Your true happiness is shown the moment you look at yourself in the mirror. If you are or not, you will know and your face will tell you, as all the deeds that you do, will show on your face.

The face that you carry around for others to see.

To reach the heavens....

Bali II

The streets of Bali...

Bali

This is the Bali that I know, peaceful and serene.

Evening crowd

BEST CONSUMERS!!!

You know who are the best consumers in the world? If you are in marketing, you should target these blokes because they will believe everything that you tell them and buys it with no second thoughts.

If you tell them that your toaster is actually a DVD player, they will believe you. Really! And if you tell them that the new XBOX can play PS2 games as well as Nintendo games, they will also believe you!! They will buy it and goes home feeling happy about it!!

And the best thing is, these blokes wont even have the chance to use them to find out the truth because, as part of their day job, once their job is finished, they would have been dead already. These fellas are the suicide bombers. They will believe anything you tell them and they even believe that killing innocents will buy their way to heaven...since when?

GODZILLA 2005!!! Finale

As I walked through the maze of alleys in the streets of Tokyo, something finally caught my attention as my atomic radar homes in on the signal.

I thought I saw it! Finally, the creature itself, GOJIRA!!! cast in stone and shrunken from its original size to hobbit size!! Diiuuuu...what a letdown!

No wonder these days we don't hear about GODZILLA terrorising the city of Tokyo no more. The Japanese have somehow managed to contain this threat by casting it in stone, while borrowing techniques from the headhunters to shrink it down to hobbit size and turning it into a tourist attraction instead.

No wonder the Japanese have such national pride these days because they manage to defeat the ultimate threat to their society!

They have somehow managed to harness the powers of either Ultraman, Astro Boy or the Masked Riders to defeat its greatest threat! An Abomination that was created by the evils of Atomic weapons - Godzilla!!!