Days of my life

I have moved!

2007-10-09T17:25:00.001+08:00

We have moved (No idea why i use we, but I sounds weird)!

Please proceed to Aaronpeng.org for your daily doses of blogging action from yours truly!

Now you can actually post comments after every post! Voila!

Site is only 50% up, but most of the things are there, so yay! hang on for more updates!

Remember, I have moved. So don't stay here. Proceed over to Aaronpeng.org now!

60 signs you've been in Singapore for too long

2007-10-05T14:11:00.000+08:00

Taken from talkingcock.com again, source

60 signs you've been in Singapore too long, especially if you come from a Western country :

1. You know that "cum" means something completely different from what you originally thought.

2. You've lost your sense of irony, sarcasm, and cynicism.

3. You don't know what's lame and what isn't anymore.

4. You think there's nothing wrong with putting chili sauce on everything you eat.

5. You wait for instructions from people in authority before doing anything. Always.

6. You join queues without knowing or caring what the queue is for.

7. You know what "queue" means!!

8. You can type an SMS on your phone as quickly as you would if you had a regular keyboard.

9. Your idea of a good night out consists of having dinner at a hawker centre, drinking beer, and then going to another hawker centre and eating again.

10. You've lost your ability to criticize people in higher positions than you, even if they're wrong.

11. You would buy a $20 product you don't need if it's on sale for $10 just to save the money.

12. You forget to say the last consonant in words like "faCT", "aTE",etc.

13. You think it's okay to have only one meaningful choice on a ballot.

14. Every task you take on and every group you form is incomplete without a mission statement and a cheesy slogan.

15. You think that in a country where young people have little privacy, pornography is completely banned, music and movies are censored, students of the opposite sex in a dorm can't stay in the same room without open doors, and everyone works so much, that people should still want to get laid.

16. "Crossing the country" means taking the MRT to the end of the line.

17. You don't just know what "kiasu" means, you have become it!

18. You think that corn and beans are dessert foods.

19. You would cross the entire country all day to find the places that make the perfect fried noodles, or roti prata, or ice kacang, or chili crab. And none of these places would be close to each other.

20. You have a high tolerance for nagging.

21. Most or all of these acronyms make sense to you: NUS; NTU; ERP; SDU; PAP; MRT; LKY; GCT; PRC; TIBS; SBS; SMS; JB; JBJ; AMK; AYE; PIE; ECP; ISD; ISA; 5 C's; CPF; CHIJMES; SPG; CWO.

22. You use too many acronyms when you talk, or you create new ones.

23. You think that nothing makes a girl or guy more attractive than to dress exactly like hundreds of thousands of other girls and guys who all dress exactly like girls and guys in malls.

24. You think that $100,000 is a reasonable price for a Toyota Corolla and $1,000,000 is a reasonable price for a bungalow, but $5 for a plate of fried noodles is a barbarous outrage.

25. You believe that not being able to get decent roti prata outside Singapore is enough to keep the best and the brightest people from leaving.

26. You see nothing wrong with forming committees of select elite people to deliberate and study ways to stimulate creativity and spontaneity.

27. You justify every argument with the phrase "in order for us to be competitive in the 21st century".

28. You think everything should be "topped up".

29. You have a naive belief that the war against ants will somehow be won.

30. You don't think any dish of Western food is complete without baked beans.

31. You see nothing unusual about an organization of trade unions spending more time owning and operating supermarkets, drugstores, amusement parks, nightclubs, and financial services outlets than planning the next strike.

32. You believe that a lack of land is enough justification for the goverment to do what it wants.

33. You wear winter clothes indoors and summer clothes outdoors.

34. Durian and belachan no longer stink to you.

35. You like to have fun, but not too much fun, since you need to correctly gauge the amount of fun necessary to achieve the optimal result. Any more fun that that would bring shame to your family and your country.

36. Seven french fries with lunch are more than enough for you.

37. You forgot what a city organized around a grid looks like.

38. In a country where people use smart cards for public transit, you have no problem with construction workers riding in the open backs of pickup trucks.

39. You think paying $50 for a bottle of booze that costs $15 at home is a bargain.

40. You're not confused by a street naming system that locates streets like Clementi Road, Clementi Street, Clementi Crescent, Clementi Lane, Clementi Drive, Clementi Way, and Clementi Avenues 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 all within walking distance of each other.

41. You think that skinny girls and guys are the most attractive of all. (How did they get so skinny in the first place?? Do you know how much oil is in nasi lemak, char kuay teow, duck rice, and your average curry??--ed.)

42. You get irritated if you don't see a sign telling you how long your wait's going to be for a bus, a train, or the expressway to take you where you want to go.

43. You're certain that Holland Village is for hippie bohemian artist types and not overpaid yuppies.

44. When you cross the border into Malaysia, you automatically and deeply fear for your life and your wallet. Especially your wallet!!

45. You think that no vegetable should ever be eaten raw for any reason. Except for cucumbers.

46. No matter what you're doing at the moment, you'd rather be shopping.

47. No matter how miserable you may be here, you thank God you're not in Indonesia.

48. You're impressed by high-rise apartment buildings with actual lobbies instead of bare exposed pillars on the ground floor.

49. You don't have a problem with four different direct payment systems spread out over seven different cards in your wallet.

50. You forgot what chewing gum tastes like.

51. You say "handphone", not "cellphone" And you think there's no such thing as a handphone that's too thin.

52. You're not bothered by the fact that government cares whether you know how to use a toilet or urinal correctly. (People squatting on toilet bowls? What the...???--ed.)

53. You're sure that the best way to change social behaviour is through consistent and comprehensive government-sponsored campaigns that permeate as many aspects of daily life as possible. And when they don't work, you never speak of them again.

54. You think chicken floss, corn, mayonnaise, and tandoori spices are proper pizza toppings.

55. You agree that what the government thinks of your personal habits and lifestyle should determine whether you get a condo and how much you pay for it.

56. You've become a fan of either Arsenal, Man. U., or Liverpool when you barely knew what soccer was before you came to Singapore. And you don't care that none of these teams are Singaporean!

57. You think a bus is incomplete without a TV.

58. You accept that expressways here are cleaner than toilets rather than the other way around.

59. You know why this list needs the following disclaimer:
"This list is intended only as an amusing, light-hearted, and exaggerated look at life in Singapore and is not meant to be taken seriously. There is no intention on the part of the author of this list to make any untrue, misleading, or defamatory statements concerning any person in particular, nor to make any statement intended to cause offense. If any such offense has been caused, the author apologizes and retracts the offending statement. In any event, the author's NOT WORTH SUING, so don't trouble yourself."

60. You understand everything on this list!!

Singaporean Women and the 5 C's

2007-10-05T14:08:00.000+08:00

I knew i said i wouldn't blog much, but i saw this on talkingcock.com and i couldn't resist!

Singaporean Women and the 5 Cs
What you'll never hear Singaporean women
say to their boyfriends or husbands in this day and age:
Honey, I don't care what you do for a living, you can be labourer for all I care, what matters is that I love you!!

I don't care about money! As long as we're together, everything will work out fine; love will see us through!

When we get married, I'll be the best cook and we'll have lots of kids!

Aiyoooo! This Ang Mor fellow at the office try to chase after me you know! I told him I already got a boyfriend!! So disgusting! I damn scared of Ang Mor, eekkk! So big size and hairy like a gorilla!!

Don't worry about these things like a big house and a car, as long as I have you, I'll be the happiest girl on earth!

It's OK, we'll use the money from my personal savings account - my money is your money!

Please put away your wallet dear, since you still haven't got a job after being retrenched, I'll pay for dinner. Please don't feel bad about this.

Aiyah, why you always want to take me to restaurant to eat! Let's save money and eat at the hawker center instead lah!

Alamak, please lah, we can take the MRT home, no need to call a taxi!

Your mother can move in with us, darling. We all have to make sacrifices as a family.

source

Free Burma

2007-10-04T09:32:00.000+08:00

For my dear readers that doesn't know what's happening in Myanmar now. The monks have risen against the millitary government, who has been in power for the past 40+ years.

There has been a media blackout in Myanmar since a few days ago, but reports can be seen floating around the internet, that thousands of monks have been rounded up, thousands killed, and many of them have gone into hiding as civilians.

Basically this feels like a repeat of the Tiananman massacre some time back.

I do not condone violence, and killing of thousands of people who are just protesting peacefully is wrong. Wrong!

The junta in myanmar should TALK to the monks and negotiate! Instead of shooting them on sight!

Free burma!

Pictures for the earlier post

2007-09-28T10:20:00.000+08:00

The Four Hosts, with their mikes toned up to the max.

The "Opera" Singer

Chinese Dance

Snacks, lanterns, candles, everything in one goodie bag.

A little close-up

Mooncakes or...

"Tau sar" bun?

A "Qoo" lantern, just one of the many patterns lying around.

The stage.

Little close-up at the stage

No, these aren't food, but cups for tea~

Queueing up for the walk-about with your lanterns with Mr Low.

You'll never guess what this is..

A little close-up, can you tell?

Garlic and Lemon Mussels..

Chang'E a.k.a Birthday Girl

Seafood platter for one~

Design done by the great 'mixer'

I helped with this! Happy Birthday!

Another angle~

We wrote our troubles on a box, and it all burned away. Now we're trouble free!

Pictures..

I'm not going to stick my tongue out again.

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Collation done by Jaslyn~

updates - 21st to 26th Sept

2007-09-28T10:18:00.000+08:00

I suppose its time I updated you guys about my happenings of the past few days… namely what happened from Friday til yesterday, Wednesday.

I’ve been really really busy lately, and when I reach home I just don’t feel like blogging. Even now I’m feeling so nua, but for the sake of some of my loyal readers (you know who you are!), here’s what I did.

Friday –
Stayed back later at work cause I was persuaded to attend the mid-lantern festival celebration by the Chinese cultural group of my work/school.

The thing started at 7pm, so I went over and reached at around 7:05pm. They started introducing the VIPs, and had half of them give speeches. Phew.

By the time the first performance started, it was 7:30pm.

The beginning was a song performed by a young lady with amazing vocal talent. You know the old Chinese songs where people starts screaming? Okay, that’s a very bad term for it. Think… Chinese soprano. Yeap.

She was really good. But unfortunately the people who were paid to do the backup for sound did not know WHEN to turn down the volume, so despite it being a wonderful performance, most of our eardrums nearly shattered.

In quick succession were various dances (hip-hop, break dance, random weird dances, Chinese dance, latino), song singing, xiang sheng (the unofficial toilet breaks), and yea, that’s about it.

All in all, it wasn’t that bad. I didn’t mean to stay til the end, and was supposed to join Jack for badminton at 8+pm. But when I called him, there wasn’t any reply, so I safely presumed he was sleeping.

After the event ended, I cleared up a bit with Kelvin, before we made our way down to Clementi for dinner.

Only at 11:30pm, after my dinner did Jack call, awake from his slumber.

I was feeling pretty tired at that time, so I said see you next time…

Went home, checked for mails, pinged a bit, then went to sleep.

Saturday –

Met Zacky at PS for lunch at around 3+pm. We caught up a bit, he passed me the brochure for the mass comm. Degree in SMa, which I’ll most likely be doing, and we walked around PS to look for his clock after that.

Walked around til it was time to leave for my event, so I bade goodbye to him and took the NEL to Hougang.

I got my directions messed up a bit, and arrived at the wrong place. Argh. Eventually got my bearings right and got there. Basically I was in charge of distributing the goodies, and also to make sure that the lantern walking procession was okay later.

Well, the whole event was pretty fun. I must say I saw around 150-180 residents turn up. And they looked like they had fun. I ate some ice cream too, and thoroughly enjoyed our little walk holding up the Qoo, Hello Kitty and Doraemon lanterns~

Won’t elaborate too much on this, else this entry will take forever to complete.

Waited for Kelvin to fetch me later, and he came together with Michael, Jaslyn and Cat. Actually went to DBL-O, but Michael was in slippers, so we went to a thai pub in golden mile instead.

Oh my, it’s the first time I’ve ever been to a Thai pub, but it sure was interesting. Lets just say it was much better than heading over to some normal pub and trying to dance. I’m just not a dancing person k?

Throughout the time we spent there, we had quite a lot to drink. Just beers actually, but yea, I drank a lot.

Went to had some prata afterwards, and then Kelvin drove me home. I was so tired I just laid down on the backseat… and vomited twice at home.

I tell you, it’s the first time I ever drank so much. And the feeling sucked like hell. Thankfully I didn’t have any hangovers the next day. Despite sleeping at 7am, I woke up at 12+, only to sleep again a bit later.

Woke up at dunno what time, and headed over to Jack’s place (no, not the restaurant), to pass him some stuff. We then walked over to the infamous Monkey Tree at Jurong West St.42, and I realized that the trees were directly opposite a Taoist temple. Interesting.

Most of the trees were pretty empty, although they were adorned with many fancy Buddhist trinklets?

The main attraction was the monkey tree itself of course, where a man there was well, to give him some respect, infused with the monkey spirit, and was just walking and chit-chattering around.

Walked over to the Prata place near the Polyclinic where we had some prata, and then walked back to his house, before taking the bus home.

I reached home feeling pretty tired =/ But satisfied :)

Monday –
Normal work day, just that I had to go down to HQ at night for a “wrap-up meeting” for the Children’s day event on Saturday.

Sweebee, Lilian and me actually had dim sum for dinner oen of the nearby shops. It was pretty affordable and the food is quite nice. Definitely worth going next time.

I stayed on for half an hour after the meeting, talking to Shawn and Perry, before heading home.

Told mom & dad what I decided to study, and then went to sleep.

Tuesday –

Comtemplated about quitting, and finally got the letter done up.
It wasn’t until Boss was about to leave that I told him about it though.

Somehow it was very hard for me to gather that last bit of courage to tell him I want to quit. It was like trying to tell a girl you liked her.

Thanks to help from Lilian and Mandy, I eventually told him about it though.

I think he saw it coming, so he didn’t say much.

Today’s the day where I meet Jaslyn for her birthday dinner (even though it wasn’t until Sunday).

Met her at Fish & Co, and we had a pretty sumptuous dinner of a ‘Seafood platter for one’ and a plate of ‘Garlic & Lemon mussels’.

Surprisingly, it was pretty filling. That despite having it with a girl mind you.

It was a pretty relaxed dinner. I tell you ar, Jaslyn is someone you can just er, relax yourself to? How do I put it. I don’t have to pretend to be somebody I’m not, or go out of my way to entertain her lor. She entertains herself (and myself), and my comments entertain her. And that’s what I like about going out with her.

Maybe its because we’re both Librians~ Easy to get along mah.

After the dinner in which I used my Citibank Clear card for the first time (I thought got 15% discount? Weird, how come don’t have ar?), we walked back to her area, trying to look for battery operated lanterns on the way.

Despite our best efforts, it was not meant to be. Just couldn’t find any battery operated lanterns.

So we walked up to a carpark, and played with some candles and sparklers.
It was slow relaxing fun. And I feel young again :D

I joined weiquan, budee, qs, choykeet and Jo at the Canal after that, and we just talked, played with sparklers again, and had some moon cake~

Reached home at 12+, and slept at 1am.

Wednesday –

Did up my resignation letter, called HR about it at around 12. They were going to have a meeting at 2pm to discuss about my confirmation, but I think they can save it. I won’t be staying long here.

The official reasons is that I’m going to study mass comm at SMa, secondary reason would be the below market rate pay they’re giving me.

Unofficial reasons are too many to list.

Anyways I’m just really glad I’m leaving this place. My morale shook up by 100% actually~

Met up with Kefeng and Bendy at JP for dinner, and also to get a pair of No.3 shoes from Kefeng. Supposed to go to subway, but as there was a very limited seating capacity, we decided to go to Crystal Jade instead.

Waited for a few minutes before we went in, and who did I see but Colin and Darkforce. Small world eh? We chatted a bit, promised to meet up for badminton, and I rejoined them.

All in all we had quite a lot of fun catching up with each other. And I’m thankful I’m not there with them now, because our resident Sgt has become much more unbearable now that he’s in charge.

He always had a bone to pick with me, so it gave me an easy reason to dislike him.

Oh, enough about the past, time to move on to the present.

After the dinner, we escorted Bendy down to get his XXL chicken cutlet, and then Kefeng and I took the bus back.

I played some P3 on my ps2 (I’m so glad to see you up and running old friend), and slept pretty late.~

And that’s all for Wed.

Pictures at the next post.

Young punk spits on Cat, what next?

2007-09-27T19:46:00.000+08:00

No, there are no pictures. But i am SO enraged!

As i took bus service No. 198 from home, the bus stopped at every bus stop, thanks to an unknown trigger happy kid.

And when i saw a trio of 3 noisy young kids alight, i had no doubt in my mind that it was they who pressed the bell.

They weren't that young either, around 14-15 no doubt.
2 young boys, 1 young girl. The girl was in her secondary school t-shirt. But i shall not disclose them, since i'm not STOMPing here.

The poor cat was in the middle of the bus stop, sitting serenely. While i must say the cat had no reason to be there, THAT DOES NOT GIVE YOU THE RIGHT TO SPIT ON THE CAT! The kid just looked at his two friends in bewilderment when he saw the cat, then nonchalantly spitted on it.

I was seriously very tempted to whip out my phone, or to go out and shout at the young punk. But it happened too fast, and do you really want to see how they look like?

This incident happened at around 5:48pm at the bus stop at the overhead bridge besides Parc Oasis.

I told Karen about it, and she identified the cat as a weird one who likes to hang out there. She saw the spittle on the cat as well, and helped to wipe it off.

Reports (unsourced) say that people who mistreat animals when they are young will end up similarly abusing other humans when they grow up.

I have no doubt in my mind that he'll spit at a younger kid if the kid is smaller than he is.

They are our future? I'm crying inside.

Recent Coffeeshop topics, CPF-Annuities

2007-09-26T09:05:00.000+08:00

http://freedom-for-man.blogspot.com/2007/09/letter-to-today.html
http://freedom-for-man.blogspot.com/2007/09/cpf-lies.html

One of the better entries i've seen detailing what actually happens in the two most talked about coffeeshop topics: Annuities, and also about changes to our CPF.

Guys, stop saying bo bian! Ever wondered why and how this word gets uttered so often?
Whenever the govt implements something that's unfavourable to us, or we think its ridiculous, we say bo bian, suck thumb.

That's a passively stupid attitude if you ask me.
However, that also happens to be my attitude for a long time. I'll say this is part of what makes us Uniquely Singaporean as well.

There IS a choice. Its right there in front of you. And its just waiting for you to reach out to her.

Oh, and not to mention what happens 3-4 years down the line of course.

I don't even want to say 'what next', because i'm afraid. There hasn't been anything positive so far, and even if there is, its because of the greater 'bad'.

Deep down, i'm still waiting to see how GST helps the 'poor'. And also why, when our economy is in its 'golden peak', is our employer CPF contribution not raised back to 20%.

I couldn't resist

2007-09-24T22:36:00.000+08:00

Taken from WackySingapore.com Exact article can be found here.

SG couple decides to go big on wedding day.

This couple definitely made heads turn. What is to be a boring, dull, and flower speckled bridal car is further ‘zhnged‘ (enhanced) with huge decals of their wedding photos. We would like to extend our heartiest congratulations to newlyweds Jessica Kwan, 35, and Michael Phoon, 46. If only we had their plate number, we’d definitely give a big angpow if we strike it big.

Isn't it cool? I think everyone will know he's getting married. Haha.

The Wedding Dinner of Thomas Yeo and Mandy Tan - 20th Sept 2007

2007-09-23T14:04:00.000+08:00

Pictures at the bottom.

Instead of going in my work clothes, i went back home for a shower, refreshed myself, wore my new slightly more fancy clothes, sprayed some perfume, and took a cab there to Orchard Parade Hotel cause i didn't want to be late.

The cocktail starts at 7pm, while the solemnization ceremony started at 7:30pm.

I reached at 7:15pm with a cab fare of $13.30, and slowly made my way inside.

There were a few people around, and i greeted Mandy, the only person i know, and passed her my very first angbao. I feel like a part of my innocence just flew away at that exact moment.

Haha, compared to the $2 and $4 red packets i received during the new year, this one really takes the cake. Anyways, *cough*, back to the topic.

I registered, got my table number, signed a 'best wishes' thing on the card at the registration counter , and went in to a half full ballroom at around 7:30pm.

I was the only one at table 5, so i just took pictures of the table, the ballroom, the chocolate (oh no. its still in my bag!), and drank some tea.

At around 7:45pm the solemnization ceremony started, in which they said, "I do" to each other, and also alot of words in which i didn't hear, purely because the table on my left was making so much noise despite being asked to be quiet.

That being done, it was time to idle again. I was actually so bored and tired that i decided to sms/call my friends. Had a 20 minute chat with O' Zacky, and some 5 minutes with Kelvin. Not to mention some smses. During the chat with Zacky, a couple came in and sat on my table. That was around... 8:15?

Food was served at around 8:40 after the 'march-in', and at 8:45 another 3 people came onto our table. And that's it. 6 people in the table for the entire night.

Somehow i felt quite disappointed. I mean, its not my wedding, but if all my friends so late and miss half of everything i planned for them... its another show of dis-respect isn't it? It just means you don't care~

Okay, maybe its just me, no wait. It IS just me. Why do you think i made the effort to come down on time, give the ang bao, stayed til the end despite not knowing anyone? Its because i care and i respect you as a friend, and want to be a part of your happy moment~ Think i too siao on liao.

Anyway back to topic. Rest of the events consisted of the 'champagne parade', and a collection of photos of the bride and groom collectively.

We started leaving at around 10:30pm. I said my goodbyes, and here's wishing them a happy honeymoon!

In no particular order; (please forgive my poor camera shooting skills again)

The first dish~

2nd March in

Thomas and Mandy on our table

Another photo

Dessert, the most anticipated dish for our table

Table setup

Solemnization Ceremony

WP updates (Workers' Party, not Wordpress)

2007-09-21T11:13:00.000+08:00

I saw this article a few days back, a bit late i know, but here it is.
WP will be celebrating their 50th anniversary on the 3rd of November 2007, and today did a weekend exclusive last weekend?

source

By the way, if you're interested, i believe there are still some tickets left for the dinner event. Tickets cost $50 a piece.

Click here for more details

20th September 2007 - growing up a bit -

2007-09-21T10:47:00.000+08:00

I feel much older today.

Despite feeling horrible, i had to come back to work because something important was happening back in the company, and yea, i'm a little part of it.

The bad part is that though i feel horrible, i couldn't rest at home.
The good part was that, i missed 25 minutes of work, and i also grew up a bit. Its a bit hard to explain, but just look at my white hair and maybe you'll understand it a little.

Since i was at work, I actually managed to get a whole load of work done as well.

Heck, i even walked to IMM, posted some letters, and came back for lunch.

Though i felt nauseous while having lunch...

Left a bit early, at 5:30pm cause i had a wedding to attend, and 2 groups of tourists actually asked me for directions!

Guess its been too long since someone asked, so they took turns i suppose~

After the wedding (separate post), i walked to Cineleisure and waiting for sis to finish her work. Took 502 home after that, and we had quite a good talk.

Can't remember the last time we actually sat down and talked actually, so its a good 'update' session.

My take on the doughnut craze

2007-09-21T09:55:00.000+08:00

Pictures courtesy of onedoggiegoodie.com and jupiterimages.com

Yes, you've seen them around, you've seen people queueing up for them in Citylink, in Raffles city, and hey, you can see queues for doughnuts for almost everywhere that sell doughnuts.

First, lets look at what doughnuts actually are. As quoted from Wikipedia "A doughnut, or donut, is a sweet, deep-fried piece of dough or batter. The two most common types are the torus-shaped ring doughnut and the filled doughnut, a flattened sphere injected with jam/jelly, cream, custard, or another sweet filling. A small spherical piece of dough, originally made from the middle of a ring doughnut, may be cooked as a doughnut hole."

What's it about really? Why are people suddenly so crazy about the sugary coated deeply fried dough with practically no nutritional values whatsoever? For the sugar rush? because it looks nice?

Is it just me, or have we all forgotton about the Bubble Tea and Breadtalk's Revolution?

I think give it a few more months, and when people start getting fatter like what they did during the Bubble Tea era, this thing may start to become a norm.

And perhaps there will also be less queues, and i'll be able to get MY doughnut, or not.

Aqua Timez - Sen No Yoru Wo (A thousand nights)

2007-09-19T12:12:00.000+08:00

The MTV's nothing much, but i really love the song ever since i heard it from the Bleach Movie.

Here are the lyrics in English (the one in Jap is being shown in the video):

"I want you to love me, but I dont think you will."
I wander around as I repeat this to myself
It's the only answer I have, even if I'm scared of getting hurt.
I'll say "I love you" to the one I love

Do you love me or not?
I don't care what the answer is, I just need to know!
No matter how badly I desire to be with you
There are many unchangeable things in this world
and my love for you
can't be stopped by anyone

As 1000 nights pass, I long to tell you
I have to let you know
"I want you to love me, but I don't think you will."
I wander around as I repeat this to myself
It's the only answer I have, even if I'm scared of getting hurt.
I'll say "I love you" to the one I love
Putting these feelings into words is so scary
but I'll say "I love you" to the one I love

The happiness we chance upon in our lives can't be expressed in words
That's why we can only smile
Why we sing "do re mi" among the vivid autumn colors
With winter at our backs, and the spring sunbeams peeking through the leaves
as to protect someone who's just been reborn

As I looked at the road I'd traveled and the path ahead,
my eyes were filled with cowardice
I wanted to look into your eyes, but was afraid I wouldn't be honest
I didn't want to know that you didn't love me
and live the rest of my days alone
That day, I kept on loving you without getting hurt

As 1000 nights pass, I long to tell you
I have to let you know
"I want you to love me, but I don't think you will."
I wander around as I repeat this to myself
It's the only answer I have, even if I'm scared of getting hurt.
I'll say "I love you" to the one I love
Even if my feelings aren't returned, I can say "I love you" to the one I love
And that's the most beautiful thing in the world

10 reasons Why singaporeans are not dating

2007-09-19T00:33:00.000+08:00

I took this from felix's blog, and thought it was very true!

So i'm reposting it here.

1. Lack of Confidence.
Have you ever woken up early in the morning, looked at yourself in the mirror and wonder: “Who will ever love me?”

Low self-esteem and fear of rejection can cause such episodes to cripple anyone’s love life! As long as such thoughts are foremost in the mind, singles will be unable to take the all-important step to initiate a date or accept one.

2. Clueless In Love.
Gone out with a date who looks like he just woke up, has not brushed his teeth, does not open the door for you and picks his nose at the table? You’re probably not alone.

Lack of grooming and communication skills, social and dating etiquette can spell disaster for any potential social opportunities. If you want to network, impress someone on a date or connect with anyone in a relationship, better pick up a copy of Grooming and Etiquette for Dummies.

3. Denying the Coming of Age.
Mummy’s boy and Daddy’s princess. These big kids can’t admit that they are adults and of marriageable age. They are comfortable in their roles as mummy’s pets and daddy’s little girls. Either too spoilt or too sheltered to take the next big step, the day they actually decide to settle down would be the day you strike lottery.

4. Bo-Chap! (Can’t Be Bothered).
Some singles think it is cool to ‘act cool’ about their singlehood. When their motto is “Singles have more fun!” there really isn’t any impetus to get out of this comfort zone. And even if they do want to get attached, they expect their other half to accept them as they are, warts and all. Don’t expect these singles to change for the better or settle for compromises.

5. Consistently “Not Ready for a Relationship”
This is the most commonly heard ‘default’ reason for ‘un-dating’ singles. They are simply “Not Ready for a Relationship”, and are extremely reluctant to do anything constructive to get themselves ready. But as long as you are not ready to prepare yourself for a relationship, you will never find yourself in one.

6. Kia Pai-Seh, or Afraid of being Embarrassed.
Afraid of taking the first step, kia paiseh is known as the fear of ‘losing face’. Sufferers of such a syndrome will not be caught dead asking someone out for a date or attending any singles events to try and know more people, even self-improvement courses such as dating etiquette.

These activities are akin to announcing to the whole world that they are desperate to get out of singlehood. Grow up! There is nothing wrong with wanting to get hitched. Human beings are born to procreate. Be proactive about your dating lives! Truth is, it is much more practical to attend social events and get to know more single friends then to sit around and wait for a life-partner to drop onto your lap!

7. The Fear of Commitment
This phobia is the inability or unwillingness to share their life with someone else or resolve their past hurts. While it can be a valid and emotionally debilitating phobia, a lot depends on whether the single in question recognizes the phobia for what it is. Once they do face up to it, there are life coaches, counselors, self-help books, forums and informative websites that singles can turn to for help. The trick, as always, is to first recognize that you do have that problem.

8. No Money to Date
The financially insecure among us will lament: “No money to buy expensive dinners, how to date?” or “No money to doll up, how to impress anyone on a date?” Well, the good news is dating is about having fun. There are many ways to have fun without spending a lot of money. Sometimes, fun is all about looking into each other’s eyes, sharing a laugh or a moment together.

9. Too Busy
All drained after a hard day’s work and too caught up with other commitments to find time for romance? Find the well-spring of strength and stamina that is inside everyone. Being busy not just a Singaporean affliction. The youth in Hong Kong work as hard as Singaporeans and their lifestyles are as stressful as ours. But they adopt a work hard, play harder mentality which makes them such a vibrant population.

Their singles still make the time and effort to date. The question is: How much is companionship worth to you?

10. Haven’t met someone suitable yet
There are 600,000 singles out there in Singapore. If I had a dollar for each single out there, I would be very rich. I am sure you can find one among the 600,000 whom you can relate well with. But are you making the effort to meet them?

Source: asiaone

I will take this advice to heart. Personally :D

18/09/07 - Not your everyday day - Pool with Boss - Kedy chatup -

2007-09-18T23:55:00.000+08:00

Today is definately not usual.

First off, boss asked if we play pool, then at 12 jioed us to do just that.
That was quite a last minute stunt haha, luckily i was able to get Kelvin to join me, else it'll be quite... awkward.

The thing is Boss is amazing with Pool. He did some amazing tricks which was as exciting as watching people play on ESPN. Could tell he cut us some slack at certain parts of the game, else things would have ended too fast.

This may be the last time i play pool with him, for various reasons.

And work continued as usual til it was time to go home.

I was waiting for the lift, when a lady that i've been noticing joined me on the way down. I just said hi, i've seen her around, and just started chatting.

She said hi back, said she hasn't seen me around, asked if i actually worked here. Wah lao. I told her if i'm not, then why on earth would i be in the building?

Sooo walk walk walk chat chat chat, ended up i realised she's in a different department then i thought she was, and i found out more about the other people she hangs out with purely for lunch.

Realised she was from Hainan, which explains the Taiwan accent she had. Ohh i miss Taiwan! The way the girls talk are sooo cute and 'teh'. But that's off the topic. I learnt a few stuff as well, some obvious things like how China people don't visit Taiwan because its hard to get a visa, and less obvious things like .. was there any to begin with? Haha. Oh right, she said i looked 18, very young. So.. what's new?

It so happened that we were both alighting at the same station, and we chatted all the way to Tanjong Pagar. Really so ciao or not? Usually i don't even take the train but the day i take, end up alight together.

This made me realise something.

I am Yandao! Okay, that's BHB of me, and maybe that's just for self motivation, but the more important thing is that i learnt.

I learnt that hey, its not that hard to strike up a conversation with a random stranger lar. Or people i see everyday. It just depends on Whether i want to take the step or not.

Why do i have to keep reminding myself of this?

Guess i'm just too passive a person.. i need to get myself out of this mode! *kicks self*

Oh.. i helped hold her umbrella when she wasn't feeling too good on the way back, and we really chatted alot! She told me a secret too! And for obvious reasons i'm not going to share~ haha.

Not going to touch on the part after i reach though. What a day..~

Blogger's block

2007-09-16T15:56:00.000+08:00

A lot of other stuff happened through the week as well, but i'm too sian to blog.
Blogger's block!

They'll just have to remain in my memories for now.
Most likely i won't be penning them out, so yup.

If you're really interested though, which i highly doubt :), you can always ask~

Right, so take care you guys~

Ping.sg Outing at Essential Brews on 15th September 2007

2007-09-16T14:56:00.000+08:00

The Ping.Sg outing. Initially supposed to be at NYDC or something, but eventually settled down at Essential Brews.

Since i walked from the MRT station in this hot summer afternoon, i was half drenched by the time i reached. And because i was expecting to see Xizor, i actually walked around the entire place, and even up before i 'acknowledged' daphne and gang.

Granted we were supposed to meet at 2:30, but it wasn't until 3:30 that we began to order, and around 15 minutes later before our food/drinks came.

The Cajun Dory that i ordered was pretty nice, but it wasn't filling to say the least. Well, it IS a dory, so what was i expecting? The jasmine rice with er, green tea sauce tasted kind of weird. Maybe it IS an 'acquired' taste. Haha. It cost around $14 and some $5 for my Camomile tea.

The 'Cajun dory'

The 'Camomile' Tea

You're supposed to pour the honey in, else it doesn't taste sweet.

And if you look carefully, there's a ball of wire inside the tea, which i suppose is the Camomile leaves itself. After some explanation from Jzin, i was supposed to take it out when i'm satisfied with the taste. Truth is i'm not used to this, and i'm better off with instant lipton Camomile tea i suppose. HaHa..~

The erm, food that jzyn ordered. Keep thinking its pumpkin rice, but i'm pretty sure its not! (After looking at his blog, i realised that its carrot soup with 2x servings of jasmine rice.)

A few sides

The tea that Xizor drank.

A little close-up

All in all, we had daphnemaia, jzin, xizor, xinyun, brennan, me, paced and daphne's friend ~~Eugene~~ Gerald!.

As with any other ping outing, we had a lot of fun, and its nice to have a face to attach to the nickname you see in the shoutbox~

We left later, and xinyun and xizor had went off together too. Last i heard they went exploring Holland V on their own =)

(Disclaimer: I'm pretty sure it wasn't a date, but hey, you'll never know!)

Jzin took some pictures of his own, and daphne took some pictures as well~

Election candidates wanted! (NSP)

2007-09-13T16:18:00.001+08:00

I was just surfing through various blogs, and while looking at NSP's website, saw this.

Just click on it to see the poster.

Do you have what it takes?

Source and credits: www.nsp.sg

Longest life expectancy (Andorra)= 83.5 . Singapore is ranked 5th.. which means..

2007-09-13T14:49:00.000+08:00

That most Singaporeans won't reach the age of 80, much less living past the age of 85. Really food for thought for the annuity thing isn't it?

Source

Improving relationships (interpersonal)

2007-09-13T14:46:00.001+08:00

I got this from a forum, which the TS got it from somewhere else in the net.
Look for yourself and see if it helps you.

1. Do Not Expect Others to Bring You Happiness.
All by yourself, you are a complete and perfect creation. All the answers you need are within you. Do your spirit work. Nurture, cherish, honor, and feed your spirit. Another person cannot fill a hole in your soul that exists if you do not love yourself. Reach out to help others. Extend love to them. Give, and you will receive.

2. Make Friends and Be a Friend.
Don't sulk because your friends don't call. Everyone is busy. Call them; they will really appreciate it. Make different kinds of friends. And they don't have to be friends with each other. Join your area's Community Centre, Yoga class, Scuba Dive... etc Just get out there and meet people.

3. Extend Yourself (Go Out of Your Way for Others).
Call someone who is lonely or sad. Take a friend to lunch. Bring flowers to someone. Open the door when a person needs help. Let someone go in front of you in the market when they are in a hurry. Stop for pedestrians. Be patient and considerate. Don't take it personally when another person is a grump . . . maybe they just got bad news or they are sick. Be the good guy. You'll love yourself.

4. Do Not Gossip.
We all do stupid things. Your importance is not increased when you belittle another. In fact it makes you look ugly. Gossiping is petty, hurtful and low. It can become an ugly habit. Try doing something nice for someone else instead. You'll feel better about yourself.

5. Look Out for Toxic Petty Little People.
You know the type. They complain, are negative in their outlook, are unkind, depressed, mean, and self-centered. They cheat you and make use of you in a friendship. They will suck the joy right out of you, and you can't fix them. They are the only ones who can resolve their issues. Protect your own well-being by avoiding their destructive and negative energy. Don't be a victim.

6. You Cannot Solve Other People's Problems.
People will come to you with their tales of woe. You can offer them kindness or be a sounding board for them, but they are really the only ones who can solve things for themselves. You cannot travel their journey for them; we must each walk our own path.

7. Do Not Let Another Person Crush Your Spirit.
Some people are hostile, negative or angry all the time. If you live or work with someone like this, it can destroy your spirit. You begin to feel hopeless and defeated. You deserve better. Do not let these people trick you into thinking that you are the cause of their difficulties. Negative people need to take ownership of their own emotional baggage, problems, and issues. You have a right to be happy. You deserve it. You will spread joy and radiate love.

8. Keep Your Own Free Will.
We all have responsibilities and obligations. We can't always do exactly what we want or get our own way. Some of this is good because we are growing and learning how to cope. But if you feel your own needs are never being met, or you are feeling devalued, or if you have to give in to another's wishes more than to your own, then that relationship is probably destructive to you. You do not deserve to be mistreated by anyone.

9. Look Beyond a Person's Actions and Try to See Their Goodness
Some people are hurting and sad, and they act like jerks. Most people don't want to act jerky; in fact, they probably hate it and themselves. If you can see that spark of goodness in them, then you will be free of being hurt by them. Can you reach out to them with kindness and see how far it gets you? Maybe there is a wonderful person inside of them struggling to get out, and you just might help open that door. (Note: If a person is abusive to you, that is not okay. Leave that situation immediately.)

10. Don't Let Anger Take Over in an Argument.
You'll regret what you say; and you will resolve nothing. Everyone will shut down. So keep a cool head. If necessary, detach yourself. Don't take anything personally, and try to reach a resolution or compromise and be in control. "When anger enters, reason flies out the window."

10th - 11th September 2007 - 5 years older - Children's day outing meeting - Soccer -

2007-09-12T17:01:00.000+08:00

Monday - 10th September 2007

I didn’t know where I got the willpower to wake up, but somehow I did. I felt immensely blue the entire day, and maybe due to that, I had a Ajisen Ramen treat from dear Da Jie Lilian~ Thanks!

Nothing much happened during work, and after work I went and took the train to Hougang, where I was to meet Lilian and Sweebee for dinner. The food is actually quite nice, and quite worth it. I will definitely try the rest some day. I had beef noodles that evening, complete with hot green tea and white fish as a side.

And yea, Swee Bee said I looked 5 years older that day. So did Edward.
So did I actually. I wonder why I look so horrible despite having more sleep than usual. Something’s wrong somewhere… must be the pimples and longer hair.

I need to do something to my hair … soon~

After dinner we had the meeting at Blk 850A, to talk about the Children’s Day event we’ll be organizing for Gracehaven. Not going to bore you with the details, so.. the meeting lasted til 8:30, where they had their CEC meeting.

Lilian, Joyseng and I then went to KFC at hougang mall to talk about the games and prizes. We talked til about 10pm, before I took the train back together with Joy Seng.

We talked about the Circle line a bit, and it seems like it spawns everywhere. I hate to imagine the crowd in Dhoby Ghaut MRT station in the future… that’s all I can say.

Eventually slept at 12+

Tuesday – 11th Sep 2007

Work as usual, though it was hard to wake up again. In the evening we played some soccer, actually there was just 4 of us, so we played 2 a side.

It felt kind of weird actually, but suffice to say it tired me out enough. Drank up, talked to Kelvin a bit, and walked home, which took some 30 minutes.

Decided to clear up some stuff that I have been putting off, so I wrote a letter to Min Yi. Right, today was the day I got my Citibank Clear Card as well, so people who have the card, can invite me to go Zouk on certain days since its free for me. Haha.

Played some Persona 3 (I really like this game!) again, and slept at 1am.

9th September continued - Ewan Almighty - Free arcade - Kbox -

2007-09-12T17:00:00.001+08:00

I reached JEC at around 6:15pm, to meet up with Edward. We were supposed to sing ktv, but somehow he suggested that we watch a movie first, and so we bought tickets to Evan Almighty, and because we had 1 hour to spare, he suggested going to the arcade.

The good/bad/weird thing is, they were having a NeBo card promotion, and the arcade is free access to anyone with a NeBo card, or a MIP card holder. Since I’m a MIP card holder from God knows when, I didn’t have much trouble getting in. However, Edward wasn’t, he basically walked around a bit while I decided to see how it feels like playing free games in the arcade for once.

Actually there’s a game I really wanted to play, but they took it away. Afterburner Zero or something. The rest of the games were games I’ve played numerous times, and the more popular ones were being occupied all the time, so I went out pretty fast.

We bought some food, then went into the Cinema.

Evan Almighty is nice, and I had a few laughs, but its just your typical feel good flick. I didn’t watch Bruce Almighty despite borrowing it several times, but I think/feel its better.

As I told Edward, I would rate this just 3/5 stars.

Decided to kbox after that. Since it was a Sunday night, all we had to do is to buy a drink, and our cover charge would be waived. We could sing from 6pm-3am if we wanted to actually.

Although we didn’t do that, we did sing from 9:20-1:45am. And boy was it cold. I forgotten just how cold it could be, and also how much I missed singing.

Definitely need to kbox more in future. Haha~ The bill came up to around $14 each for a drink and tidbits, so its worth it. The problem is finding people to kbox with though. So if you’re reading this and you’re interested, just give me a sms or mail or something.

I reached home at 2+am, feeling dreadfully tired.

9th September 2007 - Ping.sg Island Creamery outing -

2007-09-12T16:58:00.000+08:00

Sunday –

Slept til 12+ again, did I play Persona 3? I just took it easy til it was time to meet the people at Ping.sg for the ice cream outing.

I knew which bus to take, but I overshot the stop =/ had to take a cab back.
Don’t blame me! I’ve never really been to Serene Centre actually.

Anyways, the place we went to was called Island Creamery, and at 4+, it was pretty crowded. The 10 of us shared 4 tubs of ice cream, Reversio (sorta like dark chocolate), Teh-Tarik, Burnt Caramel(yes, there’s really a burnt taste), and Nutella(which tasted like green/red bean).

Truth be told, while the ice-cream here are interesting (especially the Teh-Tarik one. I came here just to try that), I still prefer Ben & Jerry’s. Still, it’s a refreshing change and it has been a long time since I ate some real ice-cream, so yeap.

The people present were; in no particular order, Chillycraps, ntt, arzhou, rinaz, Attilo, Paced, Dhope, malique, Claudia, ethan, and me. Think it wasn’t the first time most of them have met, and most of us were quite friendly either way, so we had quite a lot of fun.

Truth be told, this place has a lot of pretty girls. Haha. In fact, the table beside us had 2!

The place is not very big, but its roomy enough to fit some 10 tables inside, and another 5-7 tables outside. Oh yes, and on the walls are pictures of the people who had fun here. Hundreds of pictures actually.

Ah yes, this was the first time I’ve seen a shaver/taser/recorder thingy. Alright, it’s a voice recorder. Supposedly, this $400 device records your voice very well, and is perfect for things like podcasts.

It looks cool! I want one!

Pity I can’t get my phone to connect to my computer. What on earth is wrong with the thing! Hopefully re-installing it later will help.

I left at around 6 after taking a group picture while they stayed. All in all, it was another successful Ping.sg outing. This would be my second one since I joined in late August.

Picture taking of our 4 'guests'

This one in close-up.

The whole wall was full of photos!

CC doing the 'big gulp' with ~~ntt~~ malique! i meant malique! watching in amazement.

Group photo of those who were still there at 5:45pm~

Here’s to more Ping outings ahead!

Pictures taken from below~ links to other related articles:
Claudia
Arzhou
Chillycraps
Malique
Rinaz