check out my latest posts at my other blog site... ask me if u duno the url :P

I was chilling out at Embargo before going to centro last nite and suddenly, i heard the shattering of glass and the sounds of argument coming from the back of some plants that divided embargo from another cafe so i couldn't get a view of what was going on. The argument got more heated but too bad, i couldnt see anything. darn. After some time, it died off and as it got later into the nite, we headed down to centro which had rather boring music and crowd. There were too many uni students and it kinda bored us coz we expected the crowd to be fulla models and pilots which it once used to be famous for. It didnt turn out to be as sophisticated as we thought would be so we decided to order the drinks and leave after that. Well, the bar was kinda screwed up. On one hand, they accepted my fren's order of a shirley temple with her drink coupon and yet when another fren ordered a shirley temple with another bartender with a similar coupon, he said that the coupon doesn't include mocktails. At first, he was too daft to even know what she wanted, he heard her saying temple and he said no such drink and duh, he should have guessed that she wanted a shirley temple. When she made it clear she wanted shirley temple and he rejected her order, she was pissed and told him that her fren managed to get the drink at the other bar counter so why couldn't she get. She said that if he doesn't give her the drink, she will order from the other counter and complain to the manager so she said in her classic aussie slang: So r u gona get it for me or not? He had no choice but to relent in the end. So after gulping two rounds of drinks one after another and feeling saccharinely saturated, we headed down to liquid room at gallery evason hotel. We knew that there was no cover charge but we did not expect that there was no escape from ordering drinks as we were so bloated after drinking two straight rounds of drinks. My friend wanted to get her fren who was already partying there to convince the bouncers that he had already ordered drinks for us but they didn't take that crap. Darn, I never expected the bouncers there to evolve so quickly in terms of their intellect coz the last few times, we alwiz got away with ordering drinks. It's a great place with better music, british techno helps us to get high more quickly than the sucky music at centro. But i must say that the music is several decibels above most clubs and it's really heart-thumping when u r dancing near the DJ. The crowd was tonnes better with more expatriates and an older crowd. The place had a psychedelic feel to it and it was packed. Everyone was doing sleek dance moves and there was no synchronized dancing, thank goodness. As my toe on my left foot already had a blue-black clot under its nail, I was rather careful about being stepped on but some overly enthusiastic energy-bunny kept dancing and treading on that particular toe! I was quite mad so i moved to somewhere safer where there was more space. At the new spot, there was this loser who had enough dancing space for himself but he kept bumping to my frens and i. It was deliberate and worse still, he danced as if he was doing a gym workout as some moves looked like he was pumping iron. I glared at him and he knew that i was glaring but he continued bumping into us and i nearly wanted to slap his face and tell him off. My fren was doubly unlucky as some idiot burnt her with a cigarette butt while dancing. I wish these ppl burn themselves up so that they would know how painful it is. After a few bumps here and there, we got tired and disgusted and decided to leave. I was tempted to go to mdm wongs but my fren over there had just left the place so I was resigned to my fate and got home at abt 3 which was too early. Perhaps we are getting old and impatient of such ppl in such places, perhaps we are more suited for chill out places where we can just be sloths and drink. Perhaps, perhaps perhaps.

I was quite disgusted with the taxi driver when i went to ritz carlton for xmas eve dinner with my family. Before entering the driveway of the hotel, there were security guards scanning each vehicle with a machine to check for dangerous weapons etc. Upon realizing this, the cab driver simply complained that it's a waste of time and my mother chipped in too. I was quite mad at them coz it's a necessary precaution in such turbulent times and esp when it's xmas eve. If Mandarin hotel is stepping up its security, i don't see why ritz, being a 6 star hotel, should not do this. If some big shot gets assasinated there, ritz's reputation will go down the drain. My mum assumed that the chances of Sg being hit are low and that's too myopic thinking. However, I suppressed my disgust in order to build up a great appetite for the dinner and the incoming xmas presents :P

It was wonderful that the restaurant bothered to get VJC's students to sing the carols to us during dinner and it was a lovely sight as they held the candles and sang with such professionalism. Following that, we had santa walking around every table, giving out candies to kids and shaking hands with the adults. Before he headed our way, my sis wondered if he would give us any candy despite our age. When he headed over, he asked us if we would like any candy and my sister immediately got hysterical and said yes so loudly that it embarrassed me as some of the diners stared at us. Anyway, he handed us a candy each and we were on cloud 9. Good old santa, though he seemed like he underwent a successful dieting program Ho Ho Ho! I am glad I wasn't in santa's naughty list

This is one heck of a confusing and mind-boggling movie. though i watched part one, i was rather confused by this entire show. I can only roughly say that in this movie, Andy Lau reminds me of Smeagle as both suffer from mental confusion. Andy Lau keeps hallucinating and seems to be unable to differentiate reality from desire. The change in time frames was confusing and this show seemed disjointed. The director wanted to show the other side of the story of part I but i feel that it was unsuccessful as he did not recap what happened in part I to enable us to digest what is going on in part III. Most of us had a tough time figuring out who's who as we could not recall who is called what. The addition of new characters confused me further as they were not given a proper introduction. I can't even recall who died in part I so the show became rather taxing to watch and i could hear qns of confusion among the audience. Perhaps the director's idea is too avant garde but i would say that he is daring to experiment such a way of showing this disjointed movie. Don't expect this to be as exciting as part I. There is NO action at all but there are alota guessing games for u. Even the nature of some characters in the show could not be clearly seen as whether they were evil or not. If u have a very complex mind, u may understand this. If not, u would either snore during the show or u will be scratching ur head like a monkey (till your hair falls out) thruout the show. Thank goodness the big names in this movie acted commendably so they were the saving grace. Well, Good luck in viewing this movie. Persevere and u will see the light at the end of the tunnel!

I am so fucking unlucky. I lost my wallet in a cab and that really freaked me out coz i have lotsa cards in it. Wasted lotsa time and hp bill calling the cab co to trace my wallet :( I am very worried now that my impt cards will be stolen blah blah, made a report at the NPP and now praying hard that i will get back my stuff. :( ARGH! Thank goodness i noted the cab number, 8007. Not gona buy 4D with it since it brought me such bad luck. I was even musing about the glass shield separating the driver from the passenger, wonder why the hell would they need that dumb looking thing. It's not gona stop SARS from spreading. Anyway, I really am praying hard that i will get my stuff back b4 Xmas or i will spend a v painful and sad xmas :( *POUTS*

My relatives and I were shopping at marina sq's metro outlet and purchased some chocolates. At the cashier, we were informed that there is 15% discount off the chocs upon payment made by OUB credit card. Upon hearing this, we pointed out to them that OUB is merged with UOB, so UOB credit card would also warrant that discount. However, the cashier insisted that it's oub and not uob. A sales person nearby who heard this also defended her colleague and went to check with the chocolate promoter. She came back and told us that the promoter said there isn't any discount. By then, the cashier could not be bothered to check about this and simply charged me the full amount. Though 15% isn't much of a discount, the integrity of the cashier and the salesperson was questionable. As both my aunts work in the bank, they told them off, saying that they are in the bank industry and know very well that oub is the same as uob. My sister commented that she is embarrassed for the salespeople not to know such simple general knowledge. Where have these people been living? The salesperson did not even bother to get the promoter to come here and clear things up, she just simply asked us to look for her. What kinda sucky service is this? So, we went to the choc counter but didn't find her so my aunt took down the poster which says 15% off uob credit cards and brought the poster to the cashier and slammed it on their counter. By then, the salesppl were cringing in embarrassment (Serves them right) and my aunt pointed out that it stated uob, not oub. Of course, those ignorant fools quietly acknowledged their mistake but they did not even apologize to us so they had to void the earlier transaction. Now, usually other places will void the transaction first before charging the new cost. Instead, they charged me with the new price first before voiding it. That's not the way to serve customers especially when they made sucha huge mistake and wasted our precious time. In fact, till now we are disgusted that these ppl did not even bother to check with the higher management about the credit cards and expected us to go and find it out ourselves. Such service is really the bane of Sg. Perhaps the cashier was too young and ah-lian as evident from the way she behaved so she probably did not read the papers about the merge of the banks BUT the salesperson, a middle-aged woman should jolly well know that! And even if she didn't know, she should do the checking instead of hiding at some corner after telling us to look for the promoter. This shopping experience was really unpleasant and im sure that the paragon branch has better service becoz many tourists go to paragon and that the people there are more knowledgeable about such payments. I think these dept stores should seriously train their staff on the knowledge of different card payments and how to serve the customer well.

Don't u think that the salesppl could not be bothered to provide good customer service?

The Return of the King is really good but it didn't feel like a 3 over hour show probably becoz it had a very fast moving storyline. As usual, the make up artistes did a really great job in constructing the faces of the orcs and trolls etc. Andy Serkis made a debut appearance in showing how he gradually transformed to gollum. His acting never failed to impress me and it was good that the director concentrated on gollum's character. The internal conflict between gollum and smeagle was both entertaining and sympathetic. I could feel very strongly and put myself in the shoes of gollum. The treachery behind the bad hats is so strong in this show that u can almost sell the evil aura in the cinema. The lighting in this movie played an important role in illuminating the good with white or light colours and shadowing the bad with darkness. The journey to The Eye was filled with adventures and once again, Froddo and Samwise have proven their love for one another. They hav too many gay scenes together. When Froddo looks at Sam and kisses him on the forehead followed by looking at him in such a way that he looked like he was gona give him a french kiss. Froddo Baggins proved to be a hell of a useless hobbit as he was so weak and could hardly move yet sam could carry him despite being fatter than him. There were scenes when I wished that Froddo got killed as he was too freaking useless. All his expression ever showed was fear or wide eyed innocence (rather, stupidity). However it's the scenes betw him and sam which entertained me, and i believe that sam is the male while froddo is the female. I was quite amused when froddo told sam that he had to leave because sam should not be torn between him and his wife. hehe. That's blatant proclaimation that sam is bisexual.

Then, we have the other pair of gay partners, Pippin and Merry. Are all hobbits gays or bisexuals? gee... Anyway, this time a little more focus was given to these two hobbits to show their strengths but still, i think that hobbits are generally useless.

Gandalf, never loses his old charm. At some point, he even looks like jesus christ with a staff. Blame it on his stature. However, i am disappointed that he does not seem to have that much magical power in this show. However, he acted very well as a leader to motivate his troops to fight. Seeing him was like seeing hope.

Aragorn, the rugged all-time favourite of many fans. He as usual had his gung-ho aura about him and he ascended the throne after fighting the battle with gusto. Liv Tylor needless to say, was drop dead gorgeous and so perfectly matched for him.

Legolas really turned on his charm big time and the scene when he attacked an elephant by jumping so nimbly on it was really an eye-candy. However, I felt that there wasn't enough focus on his character in this series.

The relationship between the king of Rohan and his daughter was so strong that you would feel moved during one of the scenes in the battle. The test of friendship among the characters was touching and this show is really worth watching! There is never a moment u will be bored because there is so much tension, anticipation and exciting adventures that u may keep guessing the wrong outcome. Or at least i kept guessing the outcome of certain characters wrongly :P

When the eye was destroyed, I was amused by the process as it looked as if it was having some kinda eye infection or the eye pressure was shooting up high.

Anyway, I am satisfied with the way this trilogy wraps up yet feel sad because the cast have good screen chemistry and the storyline is great though true fans of tolkein may protest that this movie has deviated big time from the real story. Oh well, I believe that both should be just as good. And yes, I shall not reveal more about the storyline in case u have not seen it and once more I recommend u to catch this movie.

"Bless my bark!" - Tree beard

I had a very very heated debate not argument with my friends over coffee today about religion. I know it is a v sensitive issue but we were very open about it. My friend was wonderin why her sis broke up with her bf juz coz her bf could not accept her sis if she did not convert to christianity. My christian friend (let's call her C), said that christians can only accept 1 God and that's jesus but I retorted and said that if Buddhism can embrace other religions, why can't christianity? Must it be so mutually exclusive? Aren't they discriminating against non christians? Then we got into a debate about why christianity is different from buddhism. Here's the conversation:
C: christianity is different because jesus wants his people to accept him into their life whereas buddhism doesn't.
Me: What makes u think that Lord Buddha doesn't want his people to accept him into their life?
C: Because buddhism isn't a religion, it is a teaching
Me: Yes, it is a teaching but it is also a religion because there have been cases of divine help from Buddha
C: But u pray and therefore buddha helps, u serve him therefore u get ur wishes
Me: Not true, buddha helps when he knows u need him. I had personally dreamt of him myself and therefore i think it is something divine
C: Jesus is different, he sacrificed his life to save mankind. Did buddha or any other religions do that?
Me: No, not in history but the different buddhas reincarnate themselves into humans to descend on earth to help the needy
C: Then have u ever questioned the real motive of why these ppl wana help others? It's because they believe that doing good will lighten their karma, it's not because they really wana help
Me: Nope, doing charity will not help to lighten your karma that much, it's meditation with God that helps to lighten the karma
C: Then what is meditation? How does it lighten your karma?
Me: That's when enlightenment comes in, it frees u and u can see beyond the world and by conversing with buddha in meditation, u learn more and u spread his teachings, that will lighten the karma.
C: Then, buddhism is all about being detached from others. Whereas in christianity, jesus wants us to help one another. He is kind and wants to help. Did Buddha find enlightenment because he wanted to save the world? He simply wanted to find the way to life but he did not save the world. In fact, he is a mortal who is deified, he is not god. He did not create the world.
Me: No, Buddha found enlightenment so that he could spread his discovery of the way of life to others and alleviate suffering. to me, god is one who has divine powers, so there is more than one god. So why can't christians accept partners from other religions?
C: Because we do not believe in pantheism, there is only one god
Me: How would we know? Becoz the old and new testament say so? What proof is there that these embody the truth? We should respect the existence of other gods in other religions and accept other religions. Why must we be so narrow minded and marry only within our religion? There are happy couples from different religions getting together. There is what religious tolerance and respect is all about.

And so, the night went on with this debate among C, me and another gal. Two vs one in favour of buddhism as a peaceful religion. Our main argument was that as long as all religions teach us to be good, we should not see one religion as being more superior or unique than the others. Well, my perception of christianity is not coloured, in fact i was very objective and accepting of my peer's beliefs about christianity and as a result, we had a very satisfying debate about religion (considering the number of eavesdroppers from other tables who were listening to us) as we eventually respected one another's faith. I feel that religion should not be the barrier to our friendship but still, i believe that a couple should not impose their religious beliefs on each other because it is not worth breaking up over religious differences. In fact, we should take whatever we learn abt our religion with a pinch of salt, rather than be so myopic in our beliefs or allow ourselves to be brainwashed.

Don't u agree that it is rather silly for a couple to break up because of religion?

click on one of the links to access my other blog entry

I received a call today informing me of the death of a person I know, not personally, but someone I have been bumping into for the past few weeks. She looked so healthy, young and alive that I would not expect her and her son to drown while on holiday. I hope that her soul rests in peace... pls click on one of the links to access my other blog entry

oh yeah, the link is finally out in tis site, pls click on the relevant link. If u still duno which link to click on, then i tink u r hell of a hopeless case.

yes, i have set up another blog site for me to air my grievances abt my wrk. For those of u who noe me, u will noe why i set a separate blog. I tried to put a link here to my new site but i havent seen it come up yet so a hint to u regarding the url is, i have got two hotmail email add, look at the one which has the first two alphabets that are similar to my once often used irc nick. :P if u r sucha blockhead n still duno the url, juz icq me n i will tell u :P

People are always comparing themselves with others, lovers comparing their partner to others, parents comparing their child to other kids. The feeling of being compared to others sucks, it sucks especially when the closest person to u compares u to another person who is vying for the same prize. It makes one feel so insecure, so unappreciated, so inferior. If only people are more sensitive to others' feelings and stop comparing.

Teardrop

Teardrop.
A stain,
Of the past.
A reflection,
Of memories.
A mirror,
Of thoughts.
A symbol,
Of shattered dreams.
A pool,
Of emotions.
A lover's tears,
A child's disappointment,
An adult's fears.
Drain the well of tears,
Leave an empty heart,
Void of passion.

I just got back from a chalet at tanah merah safra. It was terribly fun as there were more than 20 of us crammed in a double storeyed house, turning the whole place upside down and fighting over the bathrooms. Mind you, it was not easy controlling my bladder when you have ten others in the queue ahead of you. When it was night time, we switched off all the lights and lit up tea lights all around. At first, we looked like an entire group of cult members waiting for satan to manifest in the dim room but the ambience slowly became more romantic except that there was no melancholic violin to accompany the lovely atmosphere.We were also tense as we had to watch out for the tea lights not burning up anything in the chalet. The last thing we want is a burnt up place. We were supposed to have a karaoke session but two smart alecs lent out our karaoke microphones to a bunch of kids from another chalet so we were left high and dry. Thank goodness, one brought a vcd which featured sammi cheng and andy lau looking grossly fat. The really amusing part was them eating a tapeworm to lose weight. Don't ever try that because you will suffer from malnutrition. The show was mostly amusing because it was funny to see how they wobbled about and how they really gorged on their food. Oh man, it's scary to see a person eat sucha spread of food. This show is a good reminder for me to eat less. Apart from the immense humour in the show, there are also touching scenes where andy sacrifices so much just for sammi. This story has a great and amusing ending and hey, i have derailed into a movie review instead. Anyway, some girls in the chalet were darn corny. They imitated sadako from The Ring and started crawling up the stairs. The stupid part was they started screaming at themselves because they were scared. Don't you think that's absolute madness? They enjoyed scaring themselves by talking about ghosts and blah blah. I wonder why it seems to be a tradition to talk about ghosts during chalets. What's the kick? The strange thing was, after they finished scaring one another, the lights at the back porch outside our chalet suddenly went off and none of us switched off the light. They freaked out and got me to accompany them outside to look for the switch. Then there were also the gluttons who only ate non stop, ranging from instant noodles to potato chips despite having a sumptuous dinner of 6 different dishes, pizza and drinks which I personally mixed and refused to drink much because it was gross mixing tap water with ribena syrup. I swear that the stomachache that a few of us got was probably from the drinks. There were the snorers who snored like a thunderstorm while there were violent sleepers who inflicted internal injury to others sleeping nearby. Of course, the majority didn't sleep because they were busy scaring one another or playing cards. It was a whirlwind of activities getting everybody to wake up this morning and once again, the fight for the toilet ensued. Imagine, I even went out of the chalet to use the toilet at the swimming pool. I must be really unlucky this morning because when I tried to withdraw some money, the ATM retained my card for no freaking reason. Worse still, the dumb shuttle bus arrives hourly so when we checked out and got into the queue, we were right at the back of the amazing queue. Of course, we were stuck behind because the bus was full so we had to wait for another hour! Imagine our horror when the bus came back an hour later and did not stop to let anyone board which meant that we had to wait again for another hour. We were screaming by then and were about to mouth unmentionable words. We had no choice but to pass our time, taking pictures of ourselves with masks and doing really corny kung fu actions. Imagine ultraman vs teenage mutant ninja turtle. Yes, we were providing free entertainment for others. The bus finally came and the driver had a sucky attitude. I was helping my friend to put a bag on top (it's like how tourists would put their bags in the shelves above their seat) and the dumbfreak of a driver shouted to me to put the bag down and sit down. I was embarrassed as the entire busload of people stared at me and also angry coz he was such an ass. What's wrong with putting it up on the shelf? What is the shelf meant for then? For breeding cockroaches or for storing his bedtime snack because his wife doesn't allow him to snack at home? Anyway, I was glad I was outa the bus really soon and back to home sweet home.

marketing strategies

I believe that most of us have been good and effective salesmen/women since young. Remember the days when you beat around the bush just to justify to your parents why you deserve a holiday (the art of persuasion and brainwash)? Remember using force (the most effective sales strategy) to get your parents to buy u that expensive toy by embarrassing them through your loud wailing? And do you recall the times when you lavished praise on your parents and rushing to puke out your food once you get what you want (the glib talker)?

Oh yeah, I do remember those times. Remember this basic rule when you are selling: suckers are born every minute so the chances of getting a sucker to buy your product are very high. I was once involved in a fair whereby I had to persuade people to buy satay and otah from my stall. Don't snigger yet. Selling satays is a very dignified job too and involves marketing strategies especially when the fair has many other stalls selling the same stuff.

What did I do to market my food?
I told the customers how much effort was put into bbqing the food and that they were deserving customers who should try the best food (though I thought that most of them needed serious dieting).
If children were spotted near the stall, I cornered them and cajoled them by saying, "Wana try our delicious satay and otah?" and I waved the food in front of their nostrils, causing their mouth to water. Thus, always use children as your bait to get the parents to buy stuff from you. Look out especially for the spoilt brats who would get what they want.
Next, brag about the quality of your food so much that people would water at the thought of it. I said about how the food is made from high quality meat and that this is sucha good deal which you can't get anywhere else. This is a good brainwashing technique as customers would believe you. In fact, I sold each stick of satay and otah at $1 each and I sold alot. I told you, suckers are born every minute.
I gave promotional discounts and specials for those who bought more sticks by giving them a free barley drink which they needed badly on a scorching afternoon. Therefore, cater to your customers' needs. You would never know when a person buys stuff from u coz he needs the free gift more badly than the stuff he buys from u.
Needless to say, I was friendly to the customers, always smiling to them (even the smiley faces can't beat me). Warning: Many people do not know how psychotic they look when they grin like an idiot, so please smile the right way, don't be plastic as it will scare the crap outa customers.
Another strategy I used was singing while selling with my co-stall holders. Imagine the bunch of us singing happily. But please note that it is not advisable to get those who cannot even sing basic tunes like Mary had a little lamb coz you will never know when a child would buy your stuff because u can sing her favourite nursery song. Do not attempt to sing heavy stuff like UnforgivenII or your customers will seriously never forgive you because not everyone can stomach heavy stuff or your coarse singing. Do not even think of dancing while singing because you will end up looking like a lost gypsy who is trying to audition for a job in the circus.
Last but not least, believe in the product you are selling so that you can show people that your product is worth buying. Otherwise, go fly a kite.

I hope the above serious marketing strategies are of help to u. Due to time constraint, I am unable to list my hundred other strategies. Plus, I do not wish to tire you out. If you are ever left high and dry on how to sell your stuff, think of the tactics u used to cheat or con your parents into buying things for u when you were young. They still work.

Good luck in your sales!

I was very amused when my friends cancelled their reservation at a steamboat seafood buffet because it was too expensive. Mind you, it costs only 6.80 per head. That's dirt cheap. They settled for five bucks catered food for their party. Ironically, all of them sport branded clothes and shoes etc. I guess there is always a scrooge in us. It depends when that scrooge surfaces. For example, a person can be generous when it comes to eating but when it gets to shopping, he may scrimp on clothes. It is really difficult to manage finances because we tend to splurge on stuff we like. I notice that many guys tend to splurge on food or spend hundreds on the latest technology while whining about the pricey $50 shirt. As for women, needless to say, their spending is on clothes, facials, spas, food and then gym fees. Note that the gym expenditure comes after days of binging on food.

As for me, I have my mood swings. Sometimes I scrimp on food because of health reasons. Other times would be when i scrimp on buying clothes. So how should we balance ourselves so as to make sure that we spend reasonably?

Here's some food for thought:
First set aside money for your parents. They will complain if you don't give them some allowance.
Next, calculate the total amt needed to pay for inevitable bills such as hp bills, transportation fees, insurance bills (pay them regularly or your life will be worth nothing).
Then, measure your weight. Ask yourself if you are putting on too much weight and need to eat less. If so, plan your daily diet which should consist of only vege. Salad is the cheapest food in town, coleslaw from KFC is your best bet! In this way, you have a healthy life and a healthy wallet. If your friends want to meet u for dinner at an expensive place, say yes to them 1st. Then, make sure u have a filling dinner at home and when u meet your friends, tell them u had a late lunch and that u don't wish to eat anything now. To avoid suspicious glances or whispers, order a drink or dessert.
Next, look through your wadrobe and see what are the different combinations you can mix and match your tops and bottoms with. If most of your clothes can be matched around within the space of your wadrobe, don't look any further. Start playing with your clothes combination so that you don't have to buy more clothes to add variety to your dressing. You should also avoid reading fashion magazines in order to restrain your basic instincts. Please avoid getting a walk-in wadrobe because the danger lies in trying to fill it up which means endless expenditure on clothes.
If you fancy a cool gadget such as the latest digicam though u already have one, use emotional blackmail on yourself. Tell yourself that your very own digicam has feelings too. It will feel abandoned and betrayed by u if you buy a new one, then your sentimentality will set in and u will soon get rid of the idea of buying a new one. If u still can't resist, tell yourself that this new gadget can wait because there will be better ones. I told myself that whenever I saw a new hp till my old one died on me. Or you can make a list of the weaknesses of the new gadget, do not think about its strengths coz that will be the end of the road.
Most importantly, do not forget to set aside a few hundreds each month to be put into the bank. The best form of restraint is to put the money in fixed deposit for a few years so that there's no way u can take the money out of the bank.

Remember, do not eat or shop like there's no tomorrow. It can cause immediate depletion of your financial resources and worse still, bankruptcy and failed relationships. Money is the root of all evil so keep the money locked in a bank so that it won't cause mischief and evil in your life

My colleague recently gave me a truly authentic list of shakespearean insult sheet flown in from Stratford upon Avon, England.

Here goes:
1. u bawdy, bunch-backed canker-blossom!
2. u brazen clay-brained clotpole
3. u churlish dog-hearted crutch
4. u distempered empty-hearted cutpurse
5. u fitful evil eyed dogfish
6. u gnarling eye-offending egg-shell
7. u greasy fat-kidneyed gull-catcher
8. u grizzled heavy-headed hedge-pig
9. u haughty horn-mad hempseed
10. u hideous ill-breeding jack-a-nape
11. u jaded, ill-composed malkin
12. u knavish, ill-nurtured malignancy
13. u lewd, iron-witted malt-worm
14. u peevish, lean-witted manikin
15. u pernicious, lily-livered minimus
16. u prating, mad-bread miscreant
17. u purpled motley-minde moldwarp
18. u queasy muddy-mettled nut-hook
19. u rank onion-eyed pantaloon
20. u reeky, pale-hearted rabbit-sucker
21. u roynish paper-faced rampallion
22. u saucy pinch-spotted remnant
23. u sottish, raw-boned rudesby
24. u unmuzzled, rug-headed ruffian
25. u vacant, rump-fed scantling
26. u waggish, shag-eared scullion
27. u wanton shrill-gorged snipe
28. u wenching sour-faced waterfly
29. u whorseon, weak-hinged whipster
30. u yeasty, white-livered younker

Pardon me if any of these insults are too vulgar for u. I have no idea what the full meaning of each sentence is. I only know part of the sentence. Well, this is really useful for u if u wana insult someone in a sophisticated manner.

a belated description of my hobbies:

If you love watersports, you've got the wrong person. Watersports isn't my forte. Neither is trekking nor bar top dancing. I have such a phobia of heights that when I walk on a bridge that is over a pond, I will gag. This is why I am not into bar top dancing. I do not wish to fall into the hands of sticky and grubby swaying bodies.

I seem to have weird fetishes such as examining my left toe which is blue-black and looks like half-painted nail polish. Another fetish is looking for rashes on my skin because I am paranoid about getting chicken pox. Other than these fetishes, I believe that I am a very normal human with the correct number of eyes, nose and limbs. I am like any Internet junkie, I eat junk food when online. If I am not surfing, I must be sleeping or eating. Other productive hobbies would include trying to empty my bowels (as i suffer from stubborn bowels), reading, playing a musical instrument and doing more work.

I enjoy working only when i have the mood to do so and I hate it when work = catching darts aimed at my back. Don't ever ask me what is my occupation because it is a highly confidential and sensitive job whereby my life is at stake especially when I go to town. I have to duck undercovers when I see a dangerous target approaching me and screamin out my name and running towards me. Trust me, you wouldn't wana be in this line.

4/12/2003

An unfortunate lady friend of mine was travelling on the train, lugging huge bags of stuff and had no place to sit. So like a fat ballerina awkardly doing her pointe, she unsteadily balanced herself with the bags in the crowded train. Just like all drama serials which have to feature the vehicle lurching forward suddenly and the passenger falling onto the opposite sex followed by blooming love, the train jerked. Unfortunately, unlike the blooming romance that was to follow, she stumbled and accidentally stepped on a man's toes. Albeit apologizing profusely, the man threw her a dirty look (he shouldn't have because he looked dirty and ugly enough) and said to her, "Are you clumsy or are you having problems balancing yourself?"
She was fuming mad as she had already apologized so she deliberately apologized loudly again to make sure that he heard it.

Like a dormant volcano, she suppressed the ugly words from forming on her lips. She was tempted to say: Are you deaf or are your ears just having problems working properly?

When he was about to alight the train, her friend piped in, "It's because of people like you that the Tourism Board has difficulty attracting tourists". Indeed, she is right. It's because of these dumb asses which give this country a bad image.

I would have retorted back to that man if I were my friend with these few lines:
Are you dumb or do you not understand the word "Sorry"
There is a saying "never step on a sleeping dog", do you happen to fall into the animal category?
Roses are red, violets are blue. Rabid dogs bark, so do u.
In reply to his question: Oh yes, I have problems trying to figure out where my center of gravity so that i can balance myself. OR Oh yes, I am clumsy but at least that beats being rude like u. OR I am having problems calculating the pull of gravity and trying to figure out the force needed to reist this pull so I am sorry if your foot seems to be the source of this gravity pull.

Such scums of a bag are surely not needed in this country. These people really have no right to be arrogant when their behaviour resemble that of primitive cavemen. I can visualize such people as unevolved apes dressed in tuxedos, trying to act in a sophisticated way. Perhaps a better label to describe such creatures would be "low life".

Most taboos come from our fears which are not well rationalised nor justified. Taboos have served to enforce rules by societies since time immemorial. Let's say a society back in time is conservative, it can conjure unjustified or irrational taboos to prevent people from being so liberal such as kissing leads to pregnancy, therefore abstain. With the lack of scientific knowledge, societies can exploit people's need for safety by instilling fear in them so as to get them to conform to societal values.

In this age and time, we are bombarded with scientific knowledge but yet we are subconsciously perturbed if we say or do something that is taboo. Why? Is it because of the thrill of fearing that we ignore the fact that our fear is irrational? Or is it because we are insecure beings who have not discovered the workings of the divine yet?

Personally, being the typical kiasu Singaporean, I choose to be safe than sorry. I recognize that there is no link between giving someone a clock and how it spells death. Ironically, our literacy ability has enabled us to link the names of objects to words associated with death and other negative stuff, thus instilling more irrational fear.

If fear is rational, then it must be because we are definitely sure that something bad will happen based on evidence. If fear is irrational, it can be dangerous, leading to discontentment and severe paranoia or even manic depression.

I believe that irrational fear stemming from taboos will never be totally eradicated because there will always be a paranoid side in us which prevents us from thinking rationally. For some of us, it is the thrill from this fear that keeps taboos alive. With exploding avenues of communication, they will never be exhausted where the passing down of taboos is concerned. A sacred respect descends on the taboos as they build up reputable historical evidence that something bad happens when something is done. Even more respect is paid as the taboo is passed down by our ancestors who are seen to be wiser.

If taboos continue to perpetuate in society, i hope that someday it will breed an interesting race of cynical believers.

I agree with what the Master and the Commander said about tyrants in history: That the excuse of disciplining the people or the subordinates has always been used by tyrants to gain power and control.
This is also used as an excuse by Napoleon in Animal Farm to gain more power and become corrupt eventually.

I read an article on people being conned at the yahoo online auction with horror. I was not horrified that the conmen were so daring but rather horrified at how gullible the victims were. I think if the rating of the seller in the online yahoo auction was very bad right from the start, the buyers should have been more careful. But then again, they may have overlooked the ratings or they need corrective reading glasses. It is because of the existence of such gullible buyers that the colony of conmen is flourishing. I know I sound terribly apathetic to these victims but hey, they were aware that the deal was too good to be true and yet they happily paid a 300$ deposit for their non-existent handphone. Worse still, one victim did not plan to report this to the police as he blamed his loss on his bad luck. This is why conmen are never short of suckers. I guess there is a huge need to educate the public about the importance of security in online auctions and how people should remember that cash on delivery is the safest way to trade online.

I must have such an absence of humour that I wasn't in the least amused by the movie "Looney tunes back in action". The movie's popularity can be ascribed more to the popularity of the cartoon characters rather than the storyline or humour. I guess the only times i laughed were when the characters did absurd actions but unfortunately, their lines were not impressive. So what happened to the looney tunes? Are they looney only in their actions and not in their words? I guess so, since most of them are animals, therefore lacking greatly in wit. I was rather disappointed as I expected sarcasm from Bugs bunny and ingenious traps set to punish the bad guys. The other saving grace of the movie was the appearance of the various looney characters which made the audience excited. Otherwise, this movie was a rollercoaster of emotions for me, ranging from empty laughter to pure mockery. However, I still recommend this movie as most of us have special childhood memories of watching looney tunes when we were young, instead of studying our schoolwork at home :)

Are self improvement books really effective? Or are they just another avenue for money making or an avenue for fanatics to spread their ideals and brainwash the masses? I feel that most self improvement books are written from the author's perspective which is derived mostly from his life experiences. As he has the money to publish his work, he has the power to influence people to behave or think like him. But does this work for everyone? No, one size doesn't fit all. In fact, we have to select our self improvement books carefully in order not to fall into the trap of some crazy fanatic. Imagine some terrorist (in disguise of a decent chap) writing a book which subtly tells the human consciousness to do the wrong things or teach the wrong values. Won't this translate to more danger?

Recently, my organization told the staff to read a book which can be categorized as a self-improvement book. At first, i was very moved by the values found in the book which seem to emphasize togetherness in a company and how everybody has to have the same company vision. After reading, i attended some meetings and in most meetings, the boss kept stressing on how everyone should have the same vision. Now, the boss obviously was making strong links between what we read to what she was saying. As the book was very convincing, the boss knew its prowess and used this to "hypnotize" the staff to follow her vision. Her vision may not be agreeable to everyone but because of the value of the same vision taught in the book, she no doubt had succeeded in convincing people to follow her vision if these people were not alert to her hidden agenda. I of course did not agree with her vision (as usual) and despite having read that book, I reminded myself that this is all brainwashing tactic.

Thus, I would dare say that many bosses may realize the power of such books and use these books to help them in their propaganda of their goals. As a result, subordinates may simply become reliant on such books to help them think rather than think through what the book had said and improve themselves. Then again, it really depends on how alert the reader is. *Shrugs*