Wednesday, 31 December 2008

Fearing Safety of Teens

I read a news paper article on Monday and was quite shocked to see that the statistics show that nearly 2 in 5 teens have been sexually propositioned online. Though the statistic population survey is quite small but seeing such figures make me worry about the younger generation.

The teens are really at great risk. But there's a saying that "if the cow does not want to drink, you'll never be able to push its head down". I believe teens are attracted to the attentiveness, protectiveness, materialism and sweet talk of the older guys. Being clouded by these and sexually naive, teens seems to be more willing to accede to sex requests.

In the era of online proliferation, many teens use various social websites and online gaming sites. These places seems particularly easy for predators to "take their pick". Even if it is easy to hook up a teenage girl, guys shouldn't take advantage of this and satisfy their desires. Such acts will greatly affect girls' mentally, physically and emotionally. Even if some teens are open and willing, one shouldn't take as an excuse to commit something that violate morality issues.

Friday, 26 December 2008

Why so Serious?

Read a dating newsletter recently and mentioned telling guys not to be too serious when talking and dating ladies. It also mentioned that a "dating guru" is able to attract a girl to be his girlfriend within 7 days and he has not flipped a single page of any dating book in his life. He is successful by going through life and not taking himself too seriously. This has actually helped him charm his way to success with gals.

Well, anything can happen and there will always be someone better. I guess this is a advertising gimmick. It'll attract many guys to try to seek advice from this "self-learnt dating guru" and his concept of "Why so serious?".

Hmm... I guess this refers to being and having fun during the 1st few dates instead of being too serious. This will create a relax environment for both to enjoy the time together. But I believe once the relationship starts to settle in, it will become a serious affair. There's only two ways to search - to cast a net to catch many or to use a fishing rod to identify one. I prefer using the fishing rod with specific fish bait. If one knows what wants, there'll no need to go for so many dates and will be able to narrow down the search to the more specifics.

Understanding a person takes more than a few dates. Various forms of communication and asking issues that one places high importance can be used to understand a person better. The individual him/herself is the key because if one does not have a good character, no matter how many dates he/she goes, it'll still not bear fruit. Even if it bear fruit, it might not be a long lasting one.

This is something I've realised over the years from seeing the things that happen to people around me.

Thursday, 25 December 2008

Merry Christmas and Big feast

Merry Christmas!!!!
Merry Christmas everyone. This is the 1st blog recording christmas. Christmas is one of my favourite public holiday. Gotta decorate christmas tree, buy presents and have christmas dinner.



My Christmas tree (hehe... a short one only 4ft but took 2 hrs to do it up)


One of my fav christmas presents - cookies (very delicious) hmm... seems all my christmas presents are food. Must have seen that I've shrunk quite a bit and want me to gain weight. Oh... I've just dropped to my ideal weight. Can't regain back those weights again. But I'm gonna finish this cookies.



Christmas eve dinner with family - cooked spaghetti (learnt from my bro, still not so bad for the 1st time) Side dish done by my bro - squid cooked with sweet sour chilli sauce (brings out the taste) Oh ya... we found a small fish inside the squid. I guess it must have a full dinner before being caught by fisherman.




Hehe.... my grandma's christmas dinner (a little plain and not so sumptuous but she enjoyed it. Quite long since she had big feast)




Delicious christmas dinner (beef steak, pizza and pork strips)



Had a very relaxing day on christmas and had 2 sumptuous dinners. Oh... hope I don't grow fat after these 2 days of eating. And there's new year and CNY next month. Hmm... Gonna start my exercise regime. Otherwise I'll lose target of my ideal weight. Hehe...

Wishing everyone a wonderful and smooth year ahead.

Monday, 22 December 2008

Problem Solved

I've no problem at the moment and there's no problem that has not been solved hehe...

The reason for putting up this topic is because I was travelling on the mrt today and I saw this t-shirt design that has two pictures. Ok... I know visualizing from words is a little difficult but please try to. Couldn't take the picture of it though as I might be being questioned by the wearer.

There's two pictures. One indicates a problem, the other indicates that it is solved. The picture indicates the problem shows that a figure of a woman shouting at a man. The other picture shows the man wearing a headphone while the woman keeps on shouting. Haha... seems stereotyping here. Woman is the one nagging and shouting while the man is the one bearing with all this. Putting on a headphone will not solve the problem it will only cause rift between the two as this is running away from the problem rather than facing it.

Yes the pictures are for fun and I should not take it so seriously but these pictures will impart certain things to others who take them as it is and eventually will never learn to resolve the problem.

Sunday, 14 December 2008

Nice Desserts

Remembering my mum was craving for black sesame dessert for the past 2 weeks but I was busy preparing for my exam so I didn't buy for her then.

A little headache where to get nice desserts as I'm not really a dessert lover but I remembered a recommendation from my good friend and as I was free yesterday afternoon, I decided to make a trip down to Chinatown to stop her craving. Haha... hope it doesn't sounds like addiction. A search at the online food website and streetdirectory and I have located this shop which is located in Temple Street. Anxious to know the name? It's Mei Heong Yuen.

Got a direct bus around my workplace to Chinatown but the trip still took an hour. When I reached there, I was startled. It was crowded and I knew my good friend made a fantastic recommendation. I stood near the counter and checked the menu. After awhile, a waitress asked me in cantonese to take my order. I was a little startled. Hmm... why would she think I'm able to speak cantonese? Maybe I got a "cantonese" look. Haha... Lucky I could speak cantonese otherwise I'll have to tell her in mandarin what my order is.

Walnut

Almond


Gui Ling Gao - for my bro as he's always studying till late into the night

Black Sesame - my mum's favourite dessert

We like to share and I tried all of them. The walnut, black sesame and almond pastes are all very smooth, taste very good and one of the best dessert I've had. My favourite is almond as I like its taste better. Its worth the money and the time to get the dessert. Of course, not forgetting to thank my good friend for the recommendation.
















A Wet Sunday (a busy one too)

Oh.... cool sunday... Its raining since the early morning. Remembered that on last Monday which is Hari Raya Haji, it was also raining and as I was listening to the radio, heard the DJ saying that it is also a wet holiday and thus many people sms to her that the mood has been spoilt by the rain and they were lazing around the house and feeling bored.



Is there really nothing to do at home or it never occurred in people's mind to find something useful or meaningful to do at home instead of lazing around? Well, a look around the house has kept me busy the whole public holiday and at the end of the day had "bones cracking" from the packing of books, clearing tables, etc to mopping the floor. Haha... Can't be the reason of "lao le". I've not crossed the mark of half my lifespan (presume 65 one lifespan hehe....) I guess I had not worked out and doing physical stuffs the whole day has strained my muscles and bones.



A busy sunday for me. Alarm bells are ringing already.... Chinese New Year is just 6 weeks away. Gotta start some spring cleaning otherwise can't finish the cleaning up of the house. Oh... the thought of that and I'm feeling my bones starting to crack and muscles aching already.



Hmm.... in the past, I'll start with the glass windows first. Since today's a wet day, I can't possibly stick my head out to do the cleaning of windows right. So now, plans changed and I'll start with internal first. Don't wanna wait till the weather's good or next week as procrastination is no good and doesn't get things done.

Friday, 28 November 2008

Schedule date

I just need a place to rant and here I am.

Finding a date comfortable for everyone is really tough. After setting a date, if one of the major person can't make it, have to reschedule a date again.

It will be really difficult for coordinators as they are unable to know when the stakeholders are available or not unless the coordinators are told the dates that are available and to schedule a date from there. The stakeholders should play their part by informing and confirming the dates beforehand to avoid repetitive work for coordinators.

But it seems many people are just not thinking from the coordinators' point of view and will only inform the coordinator that they are unable to make it after the date has been set.

Well, I guess there isn't a choice but to work around this problem by doing repetitive work, confirming the date again and informing respective parties of the change. Who ask that the person unable to make it is a major stakeholder.

Haha... Its very interesting to note that after ranting it out, one can feel more at ease.

Sunday, 23 November 2008

Lesson learnt

Last week, I realised that I had a lot to learn on handling complaints. Two guys came up to the reception which I was there at that time. They were quite agitated the moment they started talking. I asked them to calme down before explaining the situation. After understanding the situation, I offered to look into the matter.

After that, I reflected on how I handled the situation, I was a little defensive at the start. I believe I could handle it a little better by giving more assurance and also to tone down my expression. I should have realised how they have felt when they were being stopped by the security guard when they have actually paid their season parking. Being treated like a trespasser is not really a good feeling.

Well, its a good learning experience for me. And I hope that I'll be able to handle such situations better the next time.

Interesting Article - Love: A Market Analysis

I found this interesting article when I was looking through the pile of newspaper over the past week. An analysis of the type of guys that ladies in their 30s can select from. Hmm... why didn't the author do an analysis for the type of ladies whom guys can select too. Haha... some journalist might write it.

Its quite interesting to know that the author has classified ladies into segments of: 1) ladies who are content to be single, 2) ladies who have given up due to past experience (single-but-given-up group), 3) ladies who do nothing and hope some guy will make the move first (single-but-secretly-hoping group), 4) ladies who are seek partners and approach dating they do their job.

There are 5 categories of men that ladies in their 30s can search their partner in.
1) Fathers of young kids
2) Younger men seeking financial security
3) Older divorcees seeking fresh lease of life
4) Married men
5) Single men

If I'm a lady, I'll rather narrow down my selection to the group of 1, 3 & 5. I'm actually curious to find out why ladies would select from groups 2 & 4. This group is a much higher risk group of guys and chances of being hurt can be very high. So if the relationship doesn't end well, these ladies might fall into the group 2 category (single-but-given-up category) after repeated failure.

My take is that younger guys, yes they can be very fun to be with but thinking of the long term, if the guy just only wanted to have fun and financial security, ladies will be the one to lose out in the long run. A couple coming together is not only about fun but more of going through the trials in life together. Succeeding in these trials hand-in-hand together can be more enriching and fulfilling than having fun. But I can say that if ladies are able to find younger men who are fun and willing to go through the trials together would be a great blessing. But how many such guys are there? I guess everyone knows the answer.

Married men a good choice for a partner? Wow... it seems like the lady is not ready to commit. I believe there are lots of single guys but just that many single guys are not very appealing (maybe not fun to be with, not good enough, etc). Read on a chinese newspaper recently that one guy who was a director in a company drove dangerously to stop another vehicle driven by "love rival". He came out begging, hitting the car, etc in hope to win back the lady's heart. These 2 guys are actually married men with family and children. More parties got hurt in the end. I believe this lady is quite pretty and fun to be with, that's why both guys would rather give up their families to seek the feeling of having "fun". But is it truly fun? The meaning of fun refers to a source of enjoyment, or pleasure. To the lady, it might be fun but to the guys, its definitely not fun as consequences have already surfaced.

To conclude, I'll rather hope ladies will market themselves to towards groups 1, 3 & 5. Because I believe ladies can seek companionship from these groups and find someone who'll be able to love them truly and sincerely.

Tuesday, 18 November 2008

Foreign workers are also humans

Was on the way home on the bus and a bangladesh worker was sitting in front of me. He was sitting there quietly the whole journey but out of a sudden, a fat guy seated behind me walked to him and scolded him "moxxxxfxxxer" and ask him "see what see!!". Thereafter, this fat guy just pushed this worker's head and slapped his face. Once, his head was knocked onto the glass window.

I was quite shocked as for nothing, this fat guy just came up to him and slapped him. The bangladesh worker didn't retaliate and sat there stunned. I guess he was too stunned to react.

Foreign workers are also humans, even if they did anything wrong, we should not use force against them. And moreover, I didn't even see any wrong done by this bangladesh worker. He's not in the wrong to look around. Coming to a faraway place and get bullied, is quite a sad thing. I believe they too have their woes and stress.

Sunday, 9 November 2008

Karaoke Website

Was reading the newspapers and read this website www.karaokeparty.com.

Anyone who is a karaoke enthusiast can try out this website. There's only english songs so chinese song lovers have to search for other websites (if there is any).

It's very interesting. I've tried it and its quite fun. Scores will be taken during the singing and will let you know how you fare on the song.

Tuesday, 4 November 2008

Five Hundred Thousand

When will a normal person accumulate five hundred thousand dollars? What will you do if you have a windfall of five hundred thousand dollars? How long will it take to use it up?

An article I read on the newspaper mentioned that this teenager won first prize in Toto and he used it up within a year.

Based on the assumption that a person were to save $1000 per month, a person will only get half a million in forty-one and a half years later. When I first read this article, my jaws dropped. One year and its gone!!! A windfall gone with the wind.

Would you want to be so happy for a time and next you know you're in the shithole? I wouldn't like such a feeling. I prefer to have two feet on the ground and make an honest living. One will definitely savour the results that one has obtained through hardwork. Such a feeling is definitely better.

Saturday, 1 November 2008

My Little Nephew

Today is the first time I had a real good time playing with my little nephew. I met my cousin and her husband at grandma's house for dinner today. This little nephew of mine is going to be a year old this coming december. Ever since he's born, he doesn't seems to like me. I couldn't carry him for more than ten minutes and he'll be crying. Hmm... not sure why. Maybe he doesn't feel comfortable with my carrying skill or I might be too skinny now. Haha... But I must say I've got some experience in tackling babies and kids.

I remember when I was a teenager, I played with my baby cousin that time and he's like screaming and laughing with joy as I carried him high up and let him touch the beam in my grandma's house. I would chase him round the glass table and we'll have lotsa fun and laughter. That time, actually I started to like kids and babies. They are just so lovely and innocent. As I grow up, I actually harbour the thought of being a kindergarten teacher. After some thought, I decided not to pursue this as I find that I'm not up to scratch to teach anyone as I myself am not really a person with excellent character. So I think I'll be contented with playing with my kid cousins and also other people's babies. Hehe....

Oops... I must have taken the time machine fifteen years back. Coming back to the present, its very happy feeling to see my little nephew smile and laugh. Today, a record breaking smiles and carrying time I had with my little nephew. But I must say, he's rather heavy. Aching in the arms after carrying him for too long and flying him around. Its an enjoyable dinner time today. Oh, Ryan is my nephew's name.

Friday, 31 October 2008

Weird Stuff

Saw a news article http://news.sg.msn.com/oddities/article.aspx?cp-documentid=1759292. Its about a designer of lingerie who has put in this Global Positioning System (GPS) thingy into lingerie. When I first read the headlines, I was thinking is there any one so crazy to let other people know where they are and even put it into the lingerie.

It mentioned there was a password and even if the girls give the password to their husbands or boyfriends, the wearer can still switch it off to prevent other people from knowing their whereabouts. If such lingerie are bought by guys as a present then their wives or girlfriends will not know they are being kept under the watchful eyes. Haha... vice versus too. I guess guys will oppose GPS being put into the underwear. Wives or girlfriends keeping tabs on your movement!! It would be the end of the world. Haha... Guys beware of wives giving underwear for present as it might be installed with GPS. Actually, its quite a good device. Guys will think twice of hanky panky. Haha...

Then a thought came to my mind. Its quite a scary thing to do as this actually breaks the foundation (TRUST) that a couple builds on to strengthen their relationship. Its no point carrying on the relationship if either party is wary of the other. With the creation of such devices, its actually very sad to find that the world no longer see morality as a basis to keep everyone in line.

Sunday, 19 October 2008

Hectic Sunday

It was a really hectic sunday for me today.

Its work after breakfast. Mop floor and wash toilet. Got ready to leave for Tampines Ikea to purchase gift vouchers for my friend who's an ex-colleague too. From Tampines station, I took a feeder bus to Ikea and once I got it, I've to return to Tampines Interchange to take 969 to Woodlands interchange. Its the longest expressway I've traveled. Its distance is almost 20mins on the expressway. I was lucky that upon reaching Woodlands interchange, 962 which is the bus I'm suppose to take arrived. There's no waiting time for me. Waiting is the most dreaded thing I hate. That's why I do not like to travel by bus. It seems taking forever to arrive. This whole bus trip (3 buses to take) took me an hour and a half. With MRT, I'll have travelled from one end of Singapore to the other end.


As I reached my friend's condo, I was actually impressed by the interior design and its accessories.

The bulbs seems to be on fire. Its actually the bulb's design.


Ceiling lamp that blend in with the surrounding

High table and chairs (a new way to have dinner with legs not touching the floor) Pub concept

Dangling crystals make the disco effect (when lights are switched on)

Bedroom wall lights - very exquisite

The feel is very nice but me being a practical person feels that its difficult to maintain. Well, everything has its pros and cons. It depends on what the person wants. To each of his own. For my home, I'll like to balance the nice and practical issue. Try to balance them and bring out the best on both sides.

After the visit, I rushed back to my grandma's place for dinner. What a day I had on a sunday.

Most expensive Birthday dinner

It was rather rush day I had on Friday. Got to take two buses to attend my 6th uncle's birthday dinner. Whew!! Lucky I was not late. Otherwise I'll have missed a lot of good and expensive food.



Most expensive dish (lao shu ban)

The most expensive of the whole meal is the fish. The price tag is $350. When I heard it, my jaw dropped and had to fix it before I could carry on eating. I was like wow!!! so expensive. When I started eating, I finally realise that its really very nice. There's lotsa meat. Meat's smooth and its juicy. The chef cooked it well and we ordered rice to go with. I think I can actually eat a bowl of rice just with its gravy alone.

Shou tao
4 ingredients soup (scallop, fish maw, small abalone and veg)

Champagne chocolate dessert


Some of the other dishes were also exquisite too. Beneath the big "shou tao" are the mini "shou taos" where we eat. The big "shou tao" is not edible and can be reused. Haha... we actually thought it has to be cut open. Cantonese cannot do without soup so we ordered a soup that has 4 ingredients. That's what the name is. The soup is nice. The final dish is the dessert that so exquisite I must mention. There is champagne within this round ball. It has 3 layers. The inner most layer is chocolate, the middle layer is the texture like "muah ji" and the outer most layer is the coating of sesame seeds. When I put it into my mouth and the champagne "squash" out, I was like Oh... my nose. Haha... champagne has alcoholic content that's why.

Before this meal, I remember having the most expensive dinner too. Now it is overtaken. I remember that quite a few years back, my aunt was celebrating her birthday too and she ordered a birdnest dessert for everyone. We thought it was not very expensive but when the bill came, we realised that we had the a meal oabout 700+. Our jaws dropped and it was coz the birdnest cost 30 bucks per bowl and it takes up half the cost. Up till now, I've had 2 most memorable dinner. Haha... human being are greedy. I hope there's more to come.





Wednesday, 15 October 2008

Curse of the crabs

Yesterday, I had a crab feast. It was cooked by my brother to celebrate my birthday. He cooked chilli crab. It was very nice. There's lotsa meat and the meat was sweet and juicy. Had a very wonderful dinner.




But today, I myself became a cooked crab. Oh.... I must have ate too much crab and they are now looking for me revenge their compatriots. Haha.... Actually, I was out in the sun the whole morning and thus became like this....


Oh... an invisible watch??
The "watch" was the colour of my skin. Hoo.... sob... sob... what red skin I have here...

Saturday, 11 October 2008

Another Article by Dr Pat Love

I guess she's a famous relationship counsellor otherwise not only the new paper (written in my previous blog article) but I saw Lianhe Wanbao interviewed her too.

This mandarin article is much more in-depth. I feel it would be good to share it here. This article wrote that through her many years of counselling, she has come up with two words to give to ladies and guys.

To Ladies, its STAR.
Sex - Studies show that males will be able to produce Oxytocin (will feel more in love) during sex.

Touch - Males feel the closeness to the person through touch

Appreciation - Females should appreciate what males have done as males will always want to make bring happiness to females. The more appreciative the ladies have towards their male counterparts, the more the guys will do to make the ladies happy.

Respect - Respect the daily routine and habits of males.

To Males, its ROCK.
Routine - Males should make it a routine or rather a habit to show their affections through little acts.

Open up your heart - As the phrase is "Open up your heart", means males should express what and how they feel not only through words but also through little gestures, acts, etc.

Contact - Let the ladies know that you miss her through phone call, sms, etc.

Keep it positive - Ladies are very sensitive towards negative expression so guys have got to be more restrictive on such expressions.

After reading this article, I find that her insights are good knowledge so I decide to drop by the library to take a look at the books she has written. Should be interesting and hope to learn something too.

Interesting News Article

Yesterday being TGIF, I was somehow slacking a little and picked up my colleague's new paper to read and saw this news article about "Latest SDU Speaker - You can call her Dr Love".

Couldn't believe that there's a person by the last name "Love". But anyway, her name's not the interesting news.

Excerpt from the article. What is Love?
"Love is not chemistry, not infatuation, not attraction, not sexual desire. Love is the wish to make someone happy. It's altruism, it's generosity." What she has mentioned in the article made me review my understanding of what love is. I had always thought that to love a person one must have chemistry and attraction (emotional, mental, physical and soul). If what she mentioned is true, then what I'm trying to look for is not correct anymore.

Well, I pulled my brakes and stopped to think for awhile. My conclusion is that chemistry and attraction are the ignition to the relationship. The wish to make this person happy comes in as he/she will be the "precious" of your life and to make this person happy, one has to provide selfless concern for the welfare of this person. Suddenly it struck my mind that such love is also related to the parental love, siblings love and children's love for their parents. Parents give all to their children and siblings care for each other.

From I Corinthians 12-13 - "And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love". Love (any type) is most wonderful on earth.

Monday, 6 October 2008

Memories (Little Brother)

As I look at my little nephew and his short soft hair, I remembered the times when I was playing with my cute little brother.

There was one day at my grandmother's house, I had come back from school and was playing. I saw my cute little brother and suddenly I thought of the monk's 9 dots on his head. I looked at my little brother's hair and took a pair of scissors. Guess what I was about to do.

I started to cut the hair on my little brother to simulate the 9 dots on the monk's head. I guess I must have watched too much tv. I was cutting the dots and my brother was sitting on the wheeler. He didn't move as I was cutting his hair but all of a sudden, he just walked off in his wheeler and went to my mum's side. I must have made him uncomfortable and when my mum saw what I had done to my brother's hair, my name was called.

Haha... I was like "Oh no!!!" Next thing I knew, my head got slapped and my ear was burning and red. I got a scolding from my mum.

Thinking back, I'll still laugh at this scene and how stupid I was.

Saturday, 4 October 2008

Man Must Be Crazy

The two events that shocked the world. Big banks collapsing and tainted milk.

Both events have caused chain reaction. I didn't think such a great effect that the issue of sub-prime market will have on the financial industry. But after thinking a little deeper, I've seen some light to it. Due to the property boom time in US, banks are lending out to people and many were not checked for their credibility. As the values of the properties go up, property started changing hands and loans keep getting bigger. When it comes to a point where the borrowers are unable to pay back the mortgage, the crisis starts.

What goes up must come down. The property value starts to drop and many people are unable to fork out the difference (amount borrowed and lower actual value of property). Defaults starts to come in, banks are unable to provide interest payment to lenders and thus investors and depositors are affected.

The financial industry works like this. There must be people to lend and to borrow. There are banks, investors, etc who have the money and will invest on such investment packages. Such packages derived from banks packaging a whole lot of mortgages into investment products for investors to put their money in. Just like the Lehman Notes that DBS issued. When defaults occur, the banks holding such products are unable to fulfill their obligations to investors and incur debts (either interest payment or principal payment). Thus investors are affected with all their investments wiped out.

Banks borrow from other banks to finance mortgage loans and thus this domino effect that banks start crumbling as defaults rack the high notes, banks can't pay other banks. Debts will incur and thus the situation is similar to investors. The investments were wiped out and banks start to crumble.

The root of the problem is actually the greed of man. Individuals want to earn the extras through buying and selling, in the process loans are obtained from banks. Banks seeing such huge interest will definitely ride on the bandwagon and accept loans as their target is to earn the interest that individuals promise to pay (i suppose irregardless of credibility). And thus everywhere people are jittery about the financial outlook.

The tainted milk is also another case of greed. Low costs, high output equals huge profit will have drive many unscrupulous merchants to mix melamine with milk to produce high protein milk powder and products to earn the profits. People use efficiency in the wrong way. For the same amount of milk can produce more milk powder with the combination of melamine. There is no ethics in these merchants.

The victims are actually the cow farmers and consumers. From here we can see that the rotting part is actually the "in-between" of this whole process. To earn the difference, such acts to improve protein count by adding melamine is being used. We can foresee other "creative ideas" coming up and causing further damage to mankind. Man is truly crazy.

Wednesday, 1 October 2008

Financial Advisers!!!!

I guess I can't be soft on those financial advisers who always try to push their products to customers. Saying as we age the premium will be higher and try to advise me get the product before I turn 30 so that I do not need to pay a higher premium.

I had previously turned her down to purchase the policy as I'm cash strapped. Its really frustrating to hear her say the same thing again on the phone to ask to meet me up to explain the policy further. I was like if I agree, I'll have to waste another couple of hours and if I'm soft hearted, I'll have to squeeze from my savings to pay for the premium.

Other advisers are about the same. As I told them I had allocated all my income accordingly and I do not have extra cash to purchase the policies they recommend, they'll look at my allocation and advise me to cut this, cut that, take out my savings to purchase, recommend only products suitable for the individual needs, etc.... But I can only say I will look at the products when I've got extra cash but at the moment I'm cash strapped once again. Now I dread to see my financial advisers. As such a session can last at least 2hours. What a waste of time!!!

But I do learn something from this. Financial advisers are really a pain in my ass. Though some of my friends say that I realise it a little too late but for me is, it is better to learn it late than never learn at all.

Happy Hari Raya Puasa and Children's Day

Children's Day
Children are you feeling short-changed. Haha... A combination of two holidays into one day. That sure dips a little mood here.

After enjoying so many children's day, I didn't feel the urge to find out why there's children's day. So today I decided to look up why there is a children's day. A search on wikipedia found that it is actually a day that was set by the UN General Assembly in 1954 that all nations to observe a Universal Children's Day as a day of worldwide fraternity and understanding between children and of activity promoting the welfare of the world's children. Each country is responsible for passing legislation providing a day and name appropriate for compliance with UN resolution and in Singapore it is on the 1st October.

Welfare of children is to provide a good environment for their normal development in aspects of health, education, emotional and social. It is easier to achieve the physical aspect such as health and education. But the spiritual aspect like emotional and social are much tougher to achieve. In Singapore, children are provided with good medical and education assistance. The development of spiritual falls on parents. But due to societal changes, it seems parents still need to work harder to achieve spiritual development of children.

Hari Raya Puasa
Happy Hari Raya Puasa to all Muslims. Since I'm searching on children's day, I might as well search on Hari Raya Puasa too. Haha.... its a good learning experience.

This festival is a day to rejoice. It is also known as Edil Fitri in Arabic. It is a celebratory occasion after a month of fasting (Ramadhan) and not as some mistook it for a new year of muslims. It is a religious period for Muslims. Before this day, Muslims read the Quran, fast, abstain from sensual and worldly pleasures. The purpose is for Muslims learn to appreciate the finer aspects of life and incline towards giving to the less fortunate.

Fasting is expected of all adults but flexibility is practiced where old people, the sick and pregnant women are not required to fast. Make up for lost days are allowed too where one is has fallen ill, required to do physical work all day, etc. The method of fasting follows how Prophet Mohammed broke fast. Young children are trained to fast at the age of 6 where they fast for half a day to prepare for full fasting when they are adults. Family members and friends are brought closer during this daily fasting as at break of fast tarawih prayers are conducted. Friends take turns to exchange invitations to break fast known as majlis berbuka puasa meaning "breaking of fast" as one big happy family. It is a time of forgiveness within the Muslim community and a time for strengthening of bonds amongst relatives and friends. New clothes, decorated houses and exchange of invitations between friends and relatives commemorate Hari Raya Puasa. Children salam (greet) their parents on the morning of Hari Raya Puasa and ask for forgiveness and blessings.

The first three days are the days of "open policy" where friends and relatives visit. (Oh no wonder, some mistook Hari Raya Puasa as a new year for Muslims. Its similar to chinese celebrating CNY). Muslims will visit the dead too. There's a ceremony called Malam Tujoh Kikur (all souls night), where 7 days before Puasa, a lamp is added each day and by the seventh day there are seven lamps lit in a complete row. These lamps are meant to welcome the souls of the departed who are supposed to be visiting their families in the night.

On Hari Raya Puasa, food is prepared and everyone had a heartly meal. There will be beef rendang, ketupat and lontong. There will also be desserts like cookies cakes and pineapple tarts.

This day is really very meaningful where Muslims go through the process of enduring, hardship, etc to remind themselves not to take things for granted. And with the celebration with family members, relatives and friends, no wonder Muslim society is still closely knitted.

Sunday, 14 September 2008

Many Photos (Finally a new post)

Sweep!! Sweep!! This blog is covered with dust. Haha!!! Its been a month after my last post.
Here I present to everyone the photos taken during the fireworks 2008. This is the 1st time I attended a "Live" fireworks show. My house's near the stadium so I get to see "free" fireworks display in the comfort of home but this year I get to have a feel of the atmosphere of seeing it actual. The feeling is really different. Back home, the excitement is not there. At the actual ground, everyone's excited to see the display of fireworks. Adults and children are all awed to see the fireworks. Here's part of my photo collection. Too lazy to put up all lah...
Fireworks 2008
Too excited!! Can't hold camera still.
Balloon
Spectacular

Oh too much smoke make the later fireworks pale off among the cloud

Took it at the exact moment

My bro and I had a fun time. Besides the visual feast, we treated ourselves with a feast of food. Weather's cold so we had "ma la fishball" and other hot stuff (though we suffered some heatiness later). Well, its really a wonderful feeling to eat hot stuff in such cold weather.

That day it was raining for quite a while. And luckily the rain stopped sometime before the show otherwise the display's not going to be nice. In actual fact, the display is not really that spectacular because the moist air has made the smoke linger longer than usual and causes the later fireworks to be covered in an air of cloud.

The whole display of fireworks lasted about half an hour. The display is segmented into various themes with different accompanying music. One of the music comes from the Korean drama serial "Da Chang Jin". Pardon my lack of knowledge. Erm... the rest of the songs, I don't know where's it from. The fireworks went on to the beat of the music. Instrumental music is a great match for such display.

Timing's just right on that day. Rain starts again after the display, everyone starts leaving.


Common Scene in Singapore

It is not only in developing and 3rd world countries do one see such scene but it is a common sight in prosperous Singapore too. I had my fair share of such scenes. Where I see it? HDB void decks and in construction sites are a common sight. There's no need to be alarmed about it.

But I heard from a conversation between 2 of my colleagues that they find such sight a cultural shock. One went to India on overseas business trip and saw people just lying on the ground to sleep. Is it really cultural shock or just that the person didn't get to experience such sights which is a common sight in Singapore? Singaporeans are well-educated and some are in a world of prosperity and comfort which explains why there's a cultural shock. People should come of this comfort world to look around and experience. I've seen a little but I must confess that I do need to have more of such experience too. This will broaden and make me realise a lot more things. It is a learning experience.

When one keeps an open mind and gain more exposure, it'll be more of a learning experience than a cultural shock.

Sunday, 17 August 2008

Different Emotions

Capturing this thought that suddenly came to my mind.

The same story but the medium of transmission is different. One's a book, the other's a TV program.

The emotions derived from watching the story unfold on TV is entirely different from reading the book. I remember that when I was reading this book, my thoughts were only on moving on to the next page as it was very exciting and addicting. But watching the TV program brings out an entirely different feeling. Its not only exciting but it gives me an undescrible feeling that the book could not give.

The book doesn't provide that much feeling and emotion as compared to the TV program. I guess I'm a more visual person. Or maybe the script writer added different dialogue that creates such emotions. No matter what, in my opinion, its really a nice program to watch.

Wednesday, 13 August 2008

Two Families

I read an article in the morning about more cases of men leaving families here to set up another family overseas.

It seems there are more and more cases of men disappearing without any trace. Not that they are being kidnapped or anything but the report states that they are setting up another family overseas and thus abandoning the first family here. The men did a disappearing act by "poof" and they are no longer contactable and traceable. Wives have gone through the police, etc to search for their "missing husbands". But apparently to no avail and have taken the drastic action to hire private investigators to find their husbands.

This "disappearing act" has actually caused distraught to wives and children. I don't think I can comprehend the actions of these men. But it might not be difficult to comprehend why some wives have to resort to check on their husbands and requires counseling (an article in the evening chinese newspaper). This action of irresponsibility alone has lead to numerous problems. One of which is that the child is affected. It is really sad to read such an article. A couple of questions popped out. Is the word "responsibility" no longer in the dictionary? Why is there such a selfish act? Whose to blame for this?

But I think, everything boils down to a person's moral convictions. And such convictions seems eroding away. An analogy just came into my mind. Choosing a life partner is not like choosing a handphone. Every few years, there'll be new, more sophisticated, more slick, more beautiful and better handphone models entering the market and a decision to change a handphone can be at a flick of the fingers. There's a high turnover of handphones. It seems that there is a turnover too for partners. I should say the correct phrase should be "life partners". A decision to marry the other party to be wife or husband is actually a decision that is suppose to be made once in a lifetime. There shouldn't be any "turnover" at all.

The selection of life partner should be taken seriously and effort required to sustain the relationship.

Tuesday, 5 August 2008

Role of Man and Woman in a Family

Read an interesting article today on Straits Times titled "Yes, honey it's your turn to look after the kids tonight". The results are really interesting. Taking a half full or half empty concept. It seems that only 1 in 4 working women requires the help of their husbands. That is to say, only 25% requires help, the other 75% can do without the help from their husbands.

Hey, guys, you've got 25% of chances you'll marry a lady who needs you to do housework. Haha... its really wonderful news for guys. Higher chances of pushing the housework to your partners and can have more time for a drink. Will it be better this way?

I'll think not. The society has changed. Looking back, ladies are the ones staying at home and depending on their husbands to bring back the money. They are required then to tend the kids and look after the family.

Moving forward, ladies now are earning their share and advocating "equality status". The society will be or is at this stage now. Looking at the form up of a family. There are two working adults and the standard of living is very high. To maintain a family, it requires the effort of the couple and not rely on one. Looking from another angle, doing housework can also be enjoyable. I believe it is right for husbands to have a fair share of the housework and tend to the children. Having a more or less balanced "work-housework" life will do good for the couple too. Besides doing housework together can help improve the relationship of the couple. It is also good to husbands to set an example for the children and cultivate their sense of responsibility. Being able to see the growth of children is actually a very wonderful process. Don't you think so?

In life, work is not the only thing that one live for. The other part to a person's life is his/her family. Career is only for a period of time but the family will be forever.

Sunday, 3 August 2008

Capture a passing thought

Loving your partner should be considered more than loving your parents and siblings.

I believe it is so.

I find it a little incredible if one love his/her partner without first learning to love one's parents and siblings. I doubt the person will be able to love his/her partner well enough. Without being able to give your care and concern to your parents and siblings how can one love his/her partner wholeheartedly.

A simple analogy. If a child is not able to pass primary one, how can he/she go on to primary two. Its the same as loving one's partner. Without first loving one's parents and siblings, how then can one be able to love his/her partner?

Just like there are many different standards in primary schools. There are many different benchmark to this "love" because each individual is different. But moral values and personal feelings are the universal rules to loving those around you.

Its Sunday

Haha... today did some cooking. You must be saying "Again". This time I'm trying out hainanese chicken rice and potato patty.


Potato Patty

Chicken Rice!!!

It took me most of the whole morning to cook these dish. I like the chicken and chilli the most. Its very nice and tasty. Hmm... as for the rice, there's still room for improvement. Chicken taste not that strong. Might have something to do with the gravy. I'll put on my scientist cap and do some experiment next time.

Haha... Giving my own comments might seems "mai hua zhan hua xiang" but its individual thoughts. So how nice smelling the flower is depends on the individual. My aim is to improve my cooking skills and to learn something besides books.

The bottomline to work hard is just to put food on the table. I'm trying to put food on the table now. Haha...


A day of walking

Though I do find shopping a form of relaxation, but yesterday's activity tire me so much that I took a nap when I was on my way home and it is those automatic eye closure one. Haha... maybe its the bus environment that's conducive for napping.

Objective - VCR or VCR/DVD-R combo
Starting point - Pearl Centre
Ending point - Liang Court (Audio House)
Timing - 2hrs

Many will ask "A VCR? Is there anyone still using VCR?" Yes. I'm using one and my aunt too. VCR's actually more reliable than DVD-R. Basically, there's no incompatible player. For DVD-R, after recording, there can be cases of player unable to read. Quite fustrating. Anyway, I've got a lot of tapes too. Maybe a VCR/DVD-R combo can reduce my storage space.

Been looking for the VCR or the combo for quite long but many stores do not sell VCR anymore. Heard that there's a shop selling VCR at Outram so I tried to look for it. Walking from Pearl Centre, to People's Park Complex, to People's Park market, to People's Park Centre and finally to Liang Court. It was quite some walking under the hot sun. Nearly melted.

I should say, these 4 shopping centres are quite wonderful. I discovered that if People's Park market sells a lot of ladies fashion and they are quite nice. The price is quite reasonable too. Ladies, if you wanna shop for clothes, you might want to consider People's Park market. Though it is not airconditioned but there are quite a some nice and fashionable clothes.

When I was at audio house, I found that the staff there are quite unprofessional. Maybe with a low price for sale, they couldn't get better staff and training for them. There's this sales person who told one of the shopper to "come to the back" which I see he meant please move back" to feel the difference in the colour and effect of the different brand. I wanted to laugh when he said this. Oops... me bad. I shouldn't talk bad about people but i just can't help mentioning it. Haha...

It was quite a fruitful walking for me.

Calcium in bones

Comparing a man in his late 60s and a woman in her early 60s, who will be complaining of difficulty of walking? My thought is that the man will be the one complaining the most.

But the truth is, the woman is the one complaining more. Why? The reason is very simple. Woman is more susceptible to calcium lose in bones. And as one advance in age, the bones have difficulty in absorbing and storing calcium.

Now when I see my mum walking so and complaining of aching in the knees, its really sad to see my mum like this. When I saw this "EBENE", a knee guard, I decided to buy it for her. I was at Guardian looking out for this and when I found it, the sales girl recommended a cream to which is easier to absorb into the bones. I bought it even though it is more expensive than the knee guard.

But prevention is better than cure. A few decades ago, there's no advice on having milk young. Nowadays, there are many ads on calcium retaining milk. So LADIES START DRINKING MORE MILK WHEN ONE IS STILL YOUNG.

AIDS test before Marriage

It's been quite sometime since my last post and I've accumulated quite a few thoughts. Its time to "upload" the thoughts.

This topic seems quite interesting. Do we do a test or not?

This test, on one hand is to check one's health status and on the other hand, is to put your partner at ease about this issue. When one has a clear conscience why do one not do it. Putting your partner at is should be your utmost concern before marriage. This will display your confidence towards the "abstain from sex" issue but what is more important is honesty and sincerity towards your partner.

To me, it is not about the issue of trust. During the discussion of this issue, some will ask this question of "You don't trust me?" will pop out immediately. To put the reason of trust will show that one has something to hide. This will demonstrate a sign of defence.

This being a sensitive topic. Defence will lead to more questions. Any miscommunication will lead to different perception and misunderstanding will lead to argument.

Its the same for every issue. When there is a defence, misunderstanding will follow as it will show that one has something to hide. Suspicions will set in and many perceptions will form and might lead to arguments.

Saturday, 26 July 2008

Some thoughts

A friend once say to that he's very surprised that I keep a blog. Yes, I'm sort of a more "private" person who doesn't really express myself.

Doing things isn't for others to see but more of having a clear conscience. I do not need to say it out to people which causes people to have this impression.

Here, I'm writing my blog to record what my thoughts are. Its up to the rest of the world whether they'll want to read.

Difference between liking and loving
I believe when a someone likes a person, he/she will be able to list down the things that he/she likes about this person. But when someone loves a person, there is no reason/explanation and it will be difficult to list down the qualities/character that he/she likes or dislikes. The question of "What do you like about me?" is really redundant in a relationship.

Why this question? Its a thought that suddenly comes to my mind and would like to record it down.

Sunday, 20 July 2008

Personal Photos

With the advancement of technology and internet, information is very easily stored, distributed and readily available. But because of this, it has also invaded into many people's privacy.

The most shocking and top news will be the sex photos that Mr Edison Chan has stored in his harddisk. It is shocking and top news because it involved many HK actresses and nude photos. Going a little further into the past, there's the sex scene of a poly student and her boyfriend. And the recent news, I was browsing a blog and found that a link "Hong Kong Stewardess Joan Photo", was curious and clicked on it. Out comes personal photos of the stewardess on a blog.

I must admit, I'm curious to find out more and did a check on the web. Many blogs had uploaded these photos and commenting on them. It suddenly struck me that such photos are uploaded onto so many blogs. Yes, blogs are personal thoughts and comments but I was quite stumped and feel such photos and videos should not be loaded onto blogs, websites and other internet applications. Commenting will be enough to for a blogger to bring his/her views across readers. There's no need to upload them onto the blogs too. It is proliferating, distributing and making such things more readily available to the world.

I wouldn't want to have my private photos being seen by people. Standing from her point of view, we should feel sorry for the victim and feel the stress, pain of the victim and not proliferate, distribute the personal photos further. Yes, the lady shouldn't have taken such photos but even if she had taken, we should show support to her by not distributing them.

Durian Season

"Mao Shan Wang"

"D24"


The durian season is here.

There are durian sellers who sell durians at prices in the upper range and there are sellers who sell it at 10 cents!!! Its such a great difference. The "Mao Shan Wang" I had cost $15 per kg. Our family feasted on 5 "MSW" and 3 D24 at $130. Though its a hefty price to pay but its worth it. The seeds are small, the flesh is fragrant and yummy. Hmmm... its the quality that counts. I don't want to buy 50 durians, eat them and after that contract a phobia of durians from eating too much. Haha...
The quality of durian depends on the weather. If the weather is hot and seldom rain, the flesh will not be soft and watery.
A check on the internet shows over 20 types of durians. Haha... and I must say I've only tried not more than 10 types. It will be good to have a go at all the types of durian. It should be a wonderful experience having to try all.
The stalls in Geylang are so packed with people buying durians home or having it fresh on the spot. The road which has 4 lanes has virtually become 2 to 3 lanes. These drivers are so inconsiderate. Parking along the road, enjoy their durian feast and leaving the other drivers feeling fustrated and in danger of accident. I think the government's initiative to build a KPE to reduce the traffic congestion might not have considered this small stretch but it really caused a congestion along the road.

Saturday, 12 July 2008

Basics of Love

I was following a Hong Kong drama serial. A scene had actually made me realise the basic thing of Love.

Here is how it goes and to cut the story short, I'll start at the episode's argument. The wife was being accused of seeing her ex-husband and get back together. This husband was suspicious and confronted her. The wife had done nothing wrong. She was very furious and scolded the husband for being suspicious and ill-tempered. The husband scolded her for being stubborn and didn't know how to be understanding. The husband's uncle added oil to fire and fanned the flame bigger and caused the argument to get even more heated up. The wife left to stay at her family's place.

Her mother-in-law knew she's not such a woman and went with her son to help stabilise the relationship. The couple argued again when they met up. The mother stepped in and asked each a simple question, look into her eyes and answer truthfully. To the wife, she asked "Do you love him?" To the husband, she asked "Do you love her?" Both answered that they still love each other. The mother then say, if you love each other, why does it have to lead to a divorce. There are so many people in this world, it is very difficult to meet each other and be a couple, having going through so much to get married. Just because of this incident which got misunderstood deeper as the argument goes on, divorce came to their mind. Is it worth it? No one is perfect. Why can't both come to a common standing, endure and patch up? Loving each other is the pillar of strength for a couple to overcome each and every situation in life. Giving each other support, stepping into each other's shoes to see their position and communicate each other's view should be the key to understand each other better.

I was actually very touched by the mother's words and understood that loving each other is the basics to a long-lasting relationship. Such love also refers to kinship. Loving your family members is the same to loving your partner.

Sexual Harrassment

Oh there are quite a few articles in the newspaper over the past week.

Sexual harrassment doesn't seems to be gender specific but rather its about power. Guys in the lower job position are harrassed by their lady bosses but ladies are getting it worse from more directions. Bosses, colleagues and even subordinates. In most cases, the guys who are the perpetrators. Guys are more sexually inclined physically that's why such things happen.

But I believe that its all in the mind. If one has strong moral values and is able to control such thoughts, such things will be fewer. There'll be excuses of girls are wearing less, being flirty and more "open". But if one can differentiate what one can do and what cannot do, these excuses can't be used as a strong case to argue.

I'm not a lady and it'll be difficult to interpret why ladies are the perpetrators. But my take is the lady perpetrators might have misunderstood the signals sent by guys and thought to be an invitation.

Its better to be more careful and don't let others misinterpret wrongly.

LUP

My estate is voting for LUP. I hope it'll go through and all will have lifts to the level where we stay.

I've been staying in this estate for the past 17years and I really welcome this programme with wide open arms. My parents are quite old already and it'll be better if this can be completed soon. Slugging big and small bags after grocery purchases and climbing the flight of stairs is a killer. Bulk delivery or removal will be easier and more convenient.

Its really very cheap. Got to pay only $2k plus. Co-sharing with government paying the bulk of it and town council and us sharing the remaining amount equally. Its really worth it. Once its through, its whether to decide on full payment or by instalment. Hmm... i prefer full payment. Coz there'll be an addition of $300 plus to pay for interest over the next 5 years. Its not as if there'll be opportunity cost if I pay in full. My money's sitting in the bank anyway. The interest's not much and I don't think I'll take it out to do investments.

Small price to pay for a big advantage. I pray that this LUP will go ahead.

Tuesday, 8 July 2008

Baby Nephew

Last Saturday, my aunt brought her grandchild or rather my baby nephew to visit my grandma. He's 7th month but he weighs as heavy as a packet of 10kg rice. A look at him, he's very cute and chubby.
The whole family's attention is on this little precious. He's really a precious. Pampered by my aunt and his mother. Cries if he is put on the bed. Needs to be carried most of the time. Can't sleep without the aircon.
I was wondering what I will be like when I have my own baby. Will I be like my cousin to pamper the baby? It's easy to advise others not to do this, or do that. But when it comes to your own self. It might be a different story. So I'll keep my fingers cross and in future, I'll have to remind myself. Haha... but its no point thinking about this now. It's too far-fetched. I've not even found a gf. Nevertheless, at least I've given it some thought and put it at the back of my head. Will bring it out again when the situation comes.
I should say that my baby nephew really has a loud voice. When we take away the new toy which we tried to grab attention (which apparently we did), he'll scream and face will turn red. Haha... it's really fun to disturb my nephew. We had such a great time disturbing him that after some time he felt tired and cried to sleep. Do I sound like a monster? Haha...

But thinking back, when I was playing with my cousins when they were babies, I've no problem making them laugh but when it comes to my nephew, I'm at wits end. He'll only play with his toys, look around, look for my aunt and not smile. I guess he's shy. Maybe I should interact more with him so he'll feel comfortable with me and maybe I can bring out my charm as I did with my cousins and make him laugh.
It's really a joy to see babies laugh. The feeling is really good.

See, he doesn't smile. What a headache!!

Grrgh.... He knows I'm taking a picture of him and he purposely looked away.

Oh!! I give up!!

I'll try again next time. I don't believe I can't take a nice pic of him. Hehe... gonna try other ways.

Monday, 7 July 2008

Show Marathon

I had wanted to watch the movie "10 promises to my dog" so after a day's studying, I decided to do so and after that I came home to carry on with the "yang warriors".

Hmm... comparing the 2, I still find the "10 promises" better. It was a very touching show and I've realised and learned a lot from it.

It's about a girl whose father is very busy with work and comes home late, while her mother had contracted cancer. The small little puppy just came into the scene (actually it was staged by her mother to look like it is a lost puppy). Her mother told her 10 promises she must keep. I feel the easier the promise, the more difficult it is to keep. I shan't talk much about the show as it is for all to find out.

I would like to share what I've learnt from this show.

Having a pet, especially a dog, is akin to have a new family member. When the dog or pet dies, it is akin to have lost a loved one. When I see the dog passed away due to old age, I suddenly feel as if it is one of the family member of the girl that have died. Sometimes, I feel there's no different between an animal and human. Through interaction with animals, one can be able to understand humans better.

People seems to want and have more happy times but when it comes to times of trouble, the relationship can be easily broken. The girl remember one of the promises is to play with the dog, she answered without thinking that she had fulfilled this promise very often. But it is going through such troubled times that a relationship can grow steady and strong.

Treasure the loved ones around you. Don't wait till it is too late before realising that one has a lot to say, to do and to be with your loved ones. Those you treasure will always be in your heart and memories.

Promises are to be kept, commitment are to be upheld and responsibilities to be undertaken.

Enjoy the show. It is what was learnt that is most valuable not the lament of the death of the dog.

Sunday, 6 July 2008

An example of Determination, Endurance and Forgiving

Read an article on the chinese newspaper and I'm awed by the lady's determination, endurance and forgiving.

Determination and endurance for being able to live 12 years when the doctors say she had only 2 years to live due to 3rd stage breast cancer.

Forgiving for being able to forgive her ex-husband who as a doctor didn't give her a fair diagnosis to go for treatment when she was found to have symptoms of breast cancer. Her ex-husband was such a selfish person that he used his excuse as a doctor to tell her there's nothing wrong with her and that she should trust his judgement. In actual fact, he is indirectly "killing" her to get rid of her so he could be with his mistress, a nurse. He even ask his wife to help him pursue the nurse.

This doctor, having studied so much does not have a sense of respect for her. Its really one good example of people failing morally.

It should be a good example for people to look for partners with open eyes. Take this lady for example, the couple had many happy moments when they were together but in the end, the marriage was a disaster. It made me realise that people are able to have good times together but is unable to journey down the road when there's problems. Having many happy moments together does not ensure a everlasting journey together. A person's character is very important.

Many will say love is blind. But a little tinge of rationality should be able to open one's eye to choose correctly and to take a route to happiness instead of disaster.

Dress Code

Saw an article on the newspapers today about dress code.

Should we wear the appropriate dress code for the occasion? I believe we should. Being appropriately dress shows respect to ourselves, the occasion, and other people. Though it is more comfortable to dress casually and Singapore's weather is hot, there are clothes that will be able to serve both purposes.

Anyway, its better to provide more than less.

Saturday, 5 July 2008

OLD

BEING OLD

This morning as I was travelling on a bus, there's an old man who get on a bus, tapped on the ezlink machine and sat down. Next the bus captain called him to tap again as there's error in his previous tapping. Its the error sound again and the captain asked him to make cash payment. He's in no wrong to ask him pay. Seems to me the old man wants to take a free ride. The old man was searching within his pockets for 5 mins before being able to pay. During this 5 mins, to me he seems quite pitiful and I had the urge to pay for him but I realise, helping him pay his dues is not helping him realise his mistake. 1st - make sure card's topped up, 2nd - be more considerate to others. Why?

Here's why. I believe being old is not an excuse to not pay dues. Looking from another angle, the bus captain is doing his job. If any of the passenger is caught not paying, the bus captain will have demerit points and might lose some incentive. It should be the onus of oneself to ensure that there's enough to pay the dues. Not hope that others will take pity and waive off the payment or help to pay.

On the same bus, I noticed something else. There's a pretty lady seated a row in front of me, there's an old man alighting. During this time he was standing at the door, he stared at the lady. I know the lady's pretty but there's no need to stare at her for so long and even after he had alighted, he turned round to look at her another time. Yes, I agree that pretty ladies are good to look at. For me, people staring at me, I'll feel uncomfortable. Maybe I'm a little too sensitive about the staring but I feel he shouldn't have done that as it might her feel uncomfortable. Or, haha... she likes it? But I doubt so. A respectful look at the pretty lady once for a couple of seconds should be enough for admiration.

There's a limit to everything, so don't overdo it.

Haha... seems like today I see a couple of things that I find not right about old people.

Talking about old, I really feel old a couple of days ago. I sprinted almost 100metres to catch a bus and I was panting when I took a seat. Haha... I should say, its more lack of exercise than being old. MM Lee being over 80 years of age is still able to swim, jog and is energetic. Exercise is the key. I think I should schedule in an exercise regime to keep fit.

Always remember, to be able to look after others, one must be able to look after oneself first. It's not fair for others to look after you when you have the ability to look after yourself.

Wednesday, 2 July 2008

Families

Have anyone thought about how many families will a person have in his/her life?

In my opinion, there are 3 families that a person will have in his/her life.
1) Parent family
2) Parent-in-law family
3) Own family

When a person enters into a relationship or even have a family together with another person, there are another 2 families that come into the picture and must be taken into consideration. Everyone has to accept this fact. A marriage is not only about 2 individuals but also the members of the 2 families. When one like the person, he/she has to accept, love and take care the family members too.

Neglecting or even leave them out of the equation can and will cause drift in the relationship. An effort has to be made to mingle with the other members so that the person can be blended and accepted into the family.

A blissful relationship involves more than 2 persons.

Sunday, 29 June 2008

Using New Technology and latest photo taking

I'll be using my handphone to take pics more often now. Haha...

There's this latest technology gadget that my bro bought in Hong Kong and its called Bluetooth. As I do not have a built-in bluetooth device in my desktop or laptop, this gadget is very useful to me. Haha... a little late right. I'm always a step slower but the thing is I've at least sat on the tech boat and updated myself a little. Better than not up to date right.


Previously, I've got to switch off my HP, take out my mini SD and download onto my computer. Now, I just need to plug in the bluetooth device into my computer and I'll be able to download without much hassle. Its just like a thumbdrive.

Happy to add it to my technology inventory. I'll use it very often now.


And I used it to take a couple of cute photos. Hehe... Just snap and download. As easy as 1,2,3. Haha...

I'll take up a nice pose for you to take my picture.
Does the cat look familiar. Haha.... I've snapped this cat before. Its during the night when I was walking home from work.

Oh the sun's too hot. I need a nap. Don't disturb. I've found a cooling place under the hot sun to enjoy a nap.

There'll be more pictures coming up. I just love tech gadgets.

Back date to 21 June 08

Haha... need to back date a post. I think I'm plain lazy to write last sunday.

My uncle brought my grandmother and our family to the restaurant that we frequented. Had dinner at this restaurant in Clarke Quay. The event was to celebrate my brother's belated birthday and also to bring my grandmother out after a few days' stay in the hospital.

The name's called Metropole Herbal Restaurant. We usually have quite unique dishes that were the products of one of the manager there. I believe I'm advertising here but nice food is for all to share.

I must say I don't like the smell of lamb meat but I've taken a liking for this lamp chop that the restaurant serves. There's no "lamb smell". I couldn't help it but take a picture of it. Pardon my photo taking skill.
From the looks, it is already very appetising. The meat's tender. Do you see the small white dots. They are actually light green dots not white. Its peppermint cream. Mix with the meat, it gives off a peppermint smell and combine with the meat, there's a cooling taste. Its very tasty and delicious.

We had a wonderful dinner. Look forward to go there again.

Saturday, 14 June 2008

Happy and Sad

There's happy and sad events this week.

I prefer to talk about the sad issue first leaving the happy event to the last.

Sad event
A small injury to the toe has caused my grandmother to suffer. Due to her diabetes and the poor blood circulation in the veins and arteries, the toe has blackened. Doc said that to be save her life, the leg above the knee has to be amputated but the operation can take its toll on her heart and might die or set in a coma during the operation. If operation is not done, the toe will dry up and fall off, the bacteria might go into the blood stream and once it travels to the heart, death will not be far.

After hearing this, it was like both hands are tied and there is no way out. I suddenly feel lost and sad. I almost wanted to cry out but bottled it. But after listening to what my aunt said, I feel letting grandma to go through the painful knee operation is very selfish. It's much better to have less pain and go off peacefully then go through all the pain and still go off in the end. I know that everyone has to go someday and I feel that the least painful death (pass away in sleep) will be most peaceful way to go. I've come to accept terms and hope that my grandmother will go off peacefully.

From here, I learnt one thing. One has to take care of own's health before being able to take care of others and also not to cause others unhappiness and worry. Too extreme, but this should be on one's mind so that even if the target's fall short, we are still able to take care of others without much problem.

Happy event
There's two though. One, I'm very happy that my chilli plant is bearing chilli. Through this, I've actually learnt that one needs to constantly take care of the plant for plants to blossom flowers and bear fruits. Its the same for relationships. It takes constant effort to sustain any relationships be it family, friends or even couples.

Two, my brother's back from Uganda. He's been away for 10 weeks. Finally, he has come back. The house is much more lively. Haha... and can help to lessen my household chores. Hehe... But its really good to have him back.

I pray for my grandmother.

Wednesday, 11 June 2008

A little meal

Actually, I really admire the perseverance of people who make dinner for their family after work. I tried it last week. After I reach home, I sort of feel half dead already (walking from the mrt station back home). Lucky, I borrowed a helping hand i.e. my mum. I asked her to help with washing the veggies and defrost the wantons and crabmeats. Otherwise, I don't think we can have dinner at 7.30.

Why do it then? So tired after work and still come back to cook the meal and still have to ask mum for help. Its worth it. Well, its my dad's birthday. Cooking noodles on birthdays represent long life. My dad prefers food so food as a present is suitable. Though its a simple dish but its the sincerity that counts. When my bro's back, we'll whip up something more happening to celebrate father's day too.
My first time doing dried wanton mee. Haha... a little plain. Need to add more soy sauce. A feedback from my mum. There's still more room for improvement. Next time will do better and get good chilli sauce to mix the noodle.

Sunday, 8 June 2008

Landmines!!!

There are landmines even in the time of peace!!!

Before you look at the picture below, can you figure out what the landmine is?

Haha... its animal shit found in the middle of a footpath junction.



I find it really funny... Animal shit at cross-junction. This place can no longer be a cross-junction coz pedestrian has to skirt round the landmine in order not to have a shoe smell of shit. Eeeee.... so smelly. Haha...

Talking about pedestrians. Have you seen a pedestrian being fined for flouting traffic rules. I saw not one but five pedestrians being asked to take out IC and lectured by the traffic police what offence they have committed and telling them not to do it again. It happened at the bus stop opp. Eunos MRT. That place is actually a landmine too. A couple of steps away is the traffic light but many do not use that and would cross illegally as it is faster. I guess it is human nature to take short cuts and it is the design that forces people to take the short cuts as it doesn't make sense to walk further up and use 3 traffic lights when one can cross illegally to reach the opposite of the road. Nevertheless, after this incident, I think I better stick to the rules and not flout the law otherwise the law will one day catch me. Haha... I am very "kiasi" hor. What to do? I don't wanna claim my insurance so young and I do not want to have a brush with the law.

Old Age and Health

Yesterday, I went to visit my grandmother in TTSH. I looked around her room and a few other rooms and I found that most of the patients are ladies older than 50 years of age.

It got me thinking. Old age and health really comes hand in hand. Just like machines, the older the machine, the more servicing and repairs it will need. But I have a little thing to add-on. That is, when a person does good maintenance and servicing during its young and prime years, the chance of getting sick is relatively reduced.

Good maintenance I believe is to stay healthy, not to indulge in vices, eat healthily (I know its difficult and occasional indulges should be fine coz without such indulges, life will be very meaningless), engage in sports & other activities and a conscience in everything you do. Even if at the end of the day, something bad happen, at least I know I've tried my best to stay healthy but its some other factors that cause me to fall sick. Whatever happens, nobody and nothing to blame. To recover it is important to have the support of the family and have a survival mindset.

Chemistry

I found an article written by Toni Coleman about what chemistry is and I find that the explanation is an acceptable one. It's important to have a basic knowledge of what real chemistry consists of.

Chemistry has two components: the physical attraction, where a person will feel breathless, excited and weak in the knees, palms sweat, heart races and bondy tingles with nervous anticipation when meeting this person and the other dimension is the values, beliefs, personalities and worldview of this person.

Physical attraction can be so strong to overcome the rational thinking to find out the other party's character and views. Take a step back fro a minute and find out who the other party actually is before going deeper into a relationship. Actually, its all in the mind. It'll be better to use both heart and mind to find out if the other party has initial suitability.

Of the two components, I feel the latter holds a greater percentage in the makeup of chemistry but physical attraction does play a part too.

"Spiritual affinity" is what Kahlil Gibran defines the latter. It's the hidden element of chemistry. It's when two beings meet and connect on a deeper level. It can only be felt in the heart and soul. It's about friendship, respect and humor and the feelings of warmth and contentment that come when you are in his/her presence. This "deeper level" is made up of the family, surroundings one grow up in, values being imbued into and other factors tangible and intangible. Even if you can connect on this deeper level but will one be able to accept it is another story. It all boils down back to the basics. Maybe each individual's "basic" criteria is different but I would feel that some of the basics are happiness, food, enjoyment, care and concern, stability, focus, sincere, honest and supportive. Only when one has the basics, then it is possible to look out for other things in life.

It's time to think what is your basic if you've not done it.

Sunday, 1 June 2008

Exercise

I would usually jog every week and now after a day's of mugging my textbooks, I decided to go for a jog. Anyway, I need to build up my fitness and to maintain my new weight.

It's been 2 week since I jogged due to illness and have only recovered recently. Arghh.... Like a car's engine not started for quite long, pace is small and slow. Limbs a little weak I guess so I decided to run 2 rounds. Firstly, not to push myself too hard. Secondly, I don't think my muscles can take it. Haha... thirdly, I need to touch wood first, I hope I don't follow the others who passed away while jogging.

Weather's pretty good today. Not so humid and its rather windy so its not very strenuous on me. I prefer the outdoor jogs as I can enjoy the scenery. Gym's a rather boring place and I have to pay. Hehe... a miser in the making. After the jog, its rather refreshing and stomach feels empty.

Time for dinner. Haha... remember 70% full is all I need. Otherwise, I gain weight again.

Saturday, 31 May 2008

Ladies' Fashion

I chance upon an opinion from a lady saying "It doesn't matter what you do or what you wear, nobody deserves to be raped".
It started me thinking of the current fashion trend of ladies. I truly agree with this lady's opinion. Come to think of it, I remember when I was young, I always ask why must ladies wear so little clothes. Shouldn't they cover more to protect themselves from oogling (mild) to rape (extreme) by men. I feel back then, I was truly narrow-minded and very conservative then. Why do I say so?
From all the TV drama, I was somehow "imbued" with the concept of "nan nu shou shou bu qing" i.e. its inappropriate for guys to touch girls. The girls will all be covered up leaving only the face for people to see. And not to invite any lustful thoughts and acts, ladies should be covering themselves up. I know that guys are in the wrong to rape.
As I grow up, I start have a deeper perspective. Guys are in the wrong but this wrong has nothing to do with girls wearing more or less clothes. These lustful thoughts and acts are all in the mind. The mind controls the acts. If one do not have such thoughts, there will not be such acts. I must reinforce that the root of the problem is not with what ladies wear or act.
If one respects fashion and ladies, its very obvious to see why ladies wear them. Its for their confidence, beauty and own admiration and choice. There are certainly more reasons than what I've listed. A lady's beauty is for all to admire. Wearing these fashionable clothings are to bring out and reinforce their beauty. Not to seek and certainly not to invite destruction.