I Screwed Up...

I screwed up not once, but TWICE in the space of 2days!!

1st incident : I un-intentionally stepped on a close friend of mine's tail. I'd hereby like to offer my apologies to that person involved. I didn't mean to do that to you. I guess I lost it...

2nd incident : Was supposed to meet-up with another close friend for drinks on Xmas Eve. However, at 'the last moment', I feel like going for BC, of which I told her. She told me she'd go there alone first and I'm to meet up with her once I'm done. To be honest, I do not like the idea of her being there alone waiting for me. Perhaps I'm being MCPish here but knowing how the pubbing environment can be like, I somehow just do not like the idea of a lady-friend of mine drinking there alone, let alone a close lady-friend! Anyway, I told her I'd decide whether if I'm going to join her after gym. Besides, knowing Hero's condition and the potential absence of my sis due to them going to Xmas Eve Mass. In such a case, I would definitely be activated for 'duty'. Not wanting to surprise her with an aeroplane at the very last minute, I pre-empted her about it. She got extremely pissed thinking that I had other programs which I would very much loved to attend and thus tried to think of 'excuses' to reject her. I don't really blamed her for this. Anyway, I didn't explain things to her too because I do not wish to be seen as giving excuses. I ended up not being activated and thus went down to the pub at about 10pm but didn't see her there....

Thinking back on these 2 incidents, perhaps I could have better handled them..... What a Xmas for me :( Hope it can get better next year.

The Lost Room

Anyone out there had seen The Lost Room? I copied it from a colleague of mine for the sake of copying and left it lying there in my HDD. Last weekend, I was extremely bored as I've gotta take care of Hero and that's how I ended up watching the 1st episode of this 3 episode mini-series by the Sci-Fi Channel.

This show is about how a once typical room at a 1960s motel along U.S. Route 66, having been the site of "the Event", the Room now exists outside of normal time and space. The show's protagonist, Joe Miller, is searching for these objects to rescue his daughter, Anna, who has disappeared inside the Room. Hundreds of everyday objects such as key, specs, pen, etc attained special powers as a result of "the Event".

I was hooked on the show after finishing the 1st episode. By 11pm the same day, I couldn't resist the urge further and started on the 2nd episode. I followed that with the 3rd and final episode, finally finishing the entire series at about 4am and went to work with barely 3hrs' sleep! You can imagine how hooking the show was to me to cause me to want to lose sleep over it. After completion, I still keep thinking about it such as which object would I love to have and how would I use it :p

For sure, I'd love to have the "Key". Imagine being able to have Tim Sum in Hong Kong at 9am before being back at my desk at 930am to continue doing work as usual. Spaghetti for lunch along the Grand Canal in Venice, back in the office by 2pm. After work, pop over to Taipei's Shilin Night Market for a walk and grab a bite of the XXL Chicken Chop. I did consider how and what would I do with the pen... come to think of it, having the pen and using it is akin to murder. So I guess I'd just keep it from anyone's hands.

I was telling Mich about it but she only knows how to pour cold H2O... GRrrrrrrrr

IT Tips...

Maybe its an occupational habit but I simply can't resist posting IT Tips here whenever I find something which may be useful... Here's a few more :

1. 6 Tips for Reducing Email Overload
2. Top 10 Most Useful Secret Ninja Moves in Office (2007)

Enjoy...

Underground Nuclear Power Plant??

Check this out!!

I can't imagine next time 1 power station is enough to power the entire CCK or AMK for 40yrs at a stretch. No doubt they will bury it, but I cant imagine the implications if an accident were to ever occur.

SG is not very big to being with, even if studies shown that you can build deep underground and the earth would be able to contain the fallout, but can you ever be sure? Have you even purposely engineered a fallout accident to test the 'insulation'? Relying on data models is as good as guess-work!! Besides, even if you managed to contain the site, how else are you going to build another reactor nearby the failed one? Won't it also means with the potential health hazards of staying near a reactor, the property prices is likely to be low, very low.... ?

Hope NEA, PUB, etc will be able to turn to other cleaner source of fuels...

Aother Feeling of Nostalgia....

Thanks to a YouTube Video posted by MF, I'm all nostalgic again....

---

周杰伦-说好的幸福呢
词:方文山曲:周杰伦

你的绘画凌乱著
在这个时刻
我想起喷泉旁的白鸽
甜蜜散落了

情绪莫名的拉扯
我还爱你呢
而你断断续续唱著歌
假装没事了

时间过了走了
爱情面临选择
你冷了倦了我哭了
离开时的不快乐
你用卡片手写著
有些爱只给到这真的痛了

怎么了你累了说好的幸福呢
我懂了不说了爱淡了梦远了
开心与不开心一一细数著你在不舍
那些爱过的感觉都太深刻
我都还记得

你不等了说好的幸福呢
我错了泪干了放手了后悔了
只是回忆的音乐盒还旋转著
要怎么停呢

怎么了你累了
说好的幸福呢
我懂了不说了
爱淡了梦远了
我都还记得

---

Those of you who know me well enough to know what I've been thru recently would be able to understand why I posted this song....

Body Combat Playlist For December 2008

Body Combat Playlist for December 2008 :

---

• Track 01 : BC1611, Nessaja
• Track 02 : BC3002, We're Not Gonna Take It
  
• Track 03 : BC3103, 2 Dream
  
• Track 04 : BC2204, Holding Out For A Hero
  
• Track 05 : BC3505, You Can't Stop The Beat
  
• Track 06 : BC3206, Leave Me Alone
  
• Track 07 : BC2707, So What
  
• Track 08 : BC3308, You Are My Phantasy
  
• Add-On 1 : BC3408, Believe In Me
  
• Add-On 2 : BC1503, Calling From Tokyo

---

Compiled by Uncle Law...

Pwned by Adidas Bibo City

Grrrrr..... Was in Bibo City earlier in the day for a movie appointment with CK, decided to walk around see see look look since its still early. Saw Adidas having a 30% sale, so went inside to check it out. A sleeveless top caught my eyes and seeing the red tag it, i was enticed even further. Seeing there were 2 colours, I opted for the red one and happily tried it out. It felt great to the skin and I decided to purchase it since there is a 30% discount, or so i thought...

At the cashier, I just happened to want to check the receipt because signing on the credit-card slip. I saw only a 10% discount which is meant for the usage of the Citibank Card! "I thought this top is on 30% off?" I asked the cashier. "Nope, the discount applies only to the black top, not the red one." I was surprised at this! I quite like the top, so I bought it anyways...

:p

Tom Cruise in Tropic Thunder

Anyone saw Tropic Thunder and completely missed out seeing Tom Cruise in it? I did... And I never knew about it until Gary told me about it. In the movie, he played the fat, bald and fouled-mouth executive behind Tropic Thunder.

Here's a clip of him dancing at the end of the movie....

Hero is Back!!

Having stayed in hospital for the past 11days, Hero's finally certified fit for discharge. He's currently staying over at Mat's place to facilitate his recovery care since Mat's got a Foreign Domestic Helper. He is making good progress; his wound hurts less now, stitches removed, tummy no longer bloated, able to walk better now but needed help and he's now on soft diet (ie. porridge).

The whole issue with Hero's hospitalisation is due to a blockage in his small intestines. According to his Doc-in-Charge, Dr Cheong Wai Kit, a blockage is usually caused by a growth in the intestinal walls, scarring which may occur naturally and in very rare cases, mal-alignment of the disgestive system. It turned out that Hero happened to belong to the 2% of the population which may have mal-alignment of the digestive system. To get a rough idea of what his ailment actually is, please refer to the earlier URL. If you noticed, the Appendix of a typical person is on the bottom left corner of the diagram but Hero's appendix is located in the top right corner! Dr Cheong removed it anyway during the op as a precaution against a future inflammation. On 2nd thought, its an astute move because the inflammation might never be correctly diagnosed if it ever occurs in future.

This episode had also taught me 2 very very important lessons :

1. The strength of a family's ties can only be tested when there is a crisis. I'm glad to announce that the 4 of us siblings were able to understand this point without having to go through a quarrel before we come to understand this point. Somehow, we simply kicked into action and took turns to stay by his side, shared information on Hero's status and adjusted our schedules immediately upon Hero's admission.
2. The importance of a Hospitalisation Insurance. Hero's total bill came up to about $3000+. However, we need not pay a single cent because it had been covered by his MediSave, and if insufficent, mine will be activated. The MediShield that Mat had purchased for him will be acted upon after his discharge by the CPF Board to claim whatever amount claimable and deposited back into the affected CPF Accounts. The impact of the insurance in this case might not be big, but imagine if there is no Medisave or Insurance to draw upon, the cash payable by us could well come up to be a substantial sum. As such, if you have the means now, PLEASE DO GET A HOSPITALISATION INSURANCE.

By the way, my Brother-in-Law is doing insurance, anyone need me to help you link up with him?

Hero Hospitalised

Have you ever looked into the eyes of a man, 73yrs old, as he was being pushed along the corridors to the operating theatre? I did, a few days back... and the feeling I get is one of fear, uncertainty and confusion. His eyes tells me he felt the same as I did, but with more... "Will I still be able to wake up after the op? Will I still be able to see my children after the op? Will I be able to survive this?"

This man, is my father.....

If you have never experienced this before, let me tell you that this is NOT some kind of experience which you would ever want to gain. NEVER! As such, I sincerely hope that you, my friend, will never ever get to go through what I've been through this week.

Funny Thai Ads

:)

Journey's End

Journey's End is book/play written by R. C. Sheriff back in the early 1900s. The storyline is set in the trenches at Saint-Quentin, France, in 1918, and gives a brief glimpse into the experiences of the officers of a British Army infantry company in World War I.

The reason for such a post today is very simple... Somewhere towards the end of the novel, a last bomb hits the trench, causing its collapse and leading the reader to assume the cast perish. In the same way, a part of me and my experience had come to the Journey's End....

USA Part 3 - Las Vegas

And so... we were once again back at Long Beach Airport on Day 9 for our Jetblue flight to Vegas, sometimes referred to as the Sin City. If you look down on Vegas from the plane as it flies in from the west, you can see that Vegas is actually nothing more than a city in the middle of a desert, Mojave Desert to be exact.

Unlike the previous 2 cities where we had either booked our transfer to the hotel or met a kind lady to show us to the Metro, we had to find our own way to Luxor Hotel. Had it not been Lyn Soon who recommended this hotel to me, I might have gone the ways of motels like in SF & LA. As you can see from their webby, Luxor is a pyramid shaped hotel located near the southern end of the stretch of Vegas where all the mega-resorts (and casinos) are located. This stretch is commonly referred to as The Strip. The casino takes up the majority of the concourse space. One can see rows upon rows of slots machine as well as the various table games. Going into the elevators, you'll realise the most interesting thing; the elevators are not vertical-lifted, they are side-lifted. As they move, you can feel the motion going sideways! The hotel room doors are inward facing towards the hotel concourse just like either Oriental or Mandarin Hotel in the Marina area. Our room had a slanted window facade, something which one do not see in a typical building, much less hotel... To be honest, I'm extremely thankful to Lyn Soon for her recommendation.

Having freshen up from our 'long' journey from LA, we hopped across the street, 2blocks away to the Showcase Mall where outlets such as the M&M World & The World of Coca-Cola are located. M&M World is a 4-storey retail store where you can find M&M merchandise from their signature M&M milk chocolates to clothings to kitchen-ware to beddings to glassware. At the end of the estimated 2hrs we spent in there, our 'loot' consisted of chocolates, tshirts for her, poker cards and a very interesting black-coloured coffin-shaped Halloween-themed cookie jar. We were halfway thru at Coca-Cola when I received a call from a long-time-no-see friend, Mel, who happened to be studying in Vegas. I'm supposed to ring her once I reach Vegas but as luck would have it, I was unable to make calls from my HP despite having enabled my auto-roaming. I was intending to go back and use the room phone to contact her for a meet-up either on the next day or the next next. Well, since now she called and suggested dinner, why not?

She arrived in a grey toyota without a proper license plate together with her classmate, SP. Somehow, we keep forgetting her name until she said something abit 'lame' which did the trick for us to remember her by.... its goes : Those who SIN, PAYS.... :p Mel drove us to this place located in the southern end of The Strip called Townsquare Mall. Seeing there were boutiques there, SO's eyes immediately lit up like a cat having smelt fresh fishes nearby. Luckily, its rather late by now (9ish) and most of the shops just about to close. Mel recommended this very interesting store, Yogurtland, for a snack since all of us weren't hungry nor full. What I find interesting here is that you get to mix and create your own frozen yogurt, complete with toppings! I always enjoy mixing and matching, coming up with my very own creation! :) I figured that this place must be extremely popular judging from the queues at the self-served frozen yogurt dispenser. Enjoying cold yogurt on a cold evening (despite the place being in the middle of a desert) reminds me of my trip earlier this year to Shanghai where I ate ice-cream out in the blistering sub-10 degrees cold!

With most, if not all the shops already closed for the night at Townsquare Mall, the only options left were to either retire to hotel or to explore The Strip. There is only 1 very obvious decision here. Mel drove us down the entire stretch of Las Vegas Blvd, aka The Strip. Not too sure who was it but I suspect is Mel who hatched the CRAZY idea of trying out the rides located at the top of the Strastophere! SO supported the idea wholeheartedly while SP and myself were trying to wriggle our way outta it. Can you imagine being suspended 109 storeys in the air? THAT IS CRAZY!!! Under intense persuasion and coaxing, SP and I reluctantly went along with them for Insanity, The Ride. It was at this precise moment that I kinda regretted meeting Mel up :p The ride isn't actually that scary, except for the moment when you are suspended up there waiting for the ride to begin & at the end while waiting for the robotic arm to move the suspended portion of the ride off the suspended area. Mel drove down the other side of The Strip again on our way back to Luxor. We passed by the famous Bellagio Fountain and saw a huge crowd lining the entire length of the fountain watching the on-going show.

Day 10's gonna be another long day and I'm fearing for my legs... According to the itinary, we're going to the Outlet Malls in Downtown Vegas. Knowing how SO shops, it'd probably mean being there from dusk till dawn.... Waking up bright and early, we popped over Bellagio for their famed buffet breakfast and it indeed is! One can't complain about the lack of variety here for you have the usual sausages, bread, pastry, cereal, etc... and much more such as pizzas and prawns. This is truly one of the best breakfast buffet I've had around in ages! The Forum Shops next to the Caesars Palace was our next stop. I needed to help Mat get a Coach bag while SO wanted to get a bag from Kate Spade. Taking about an hour to accomplish our targets, I suggested dropping off the bags in your room before heading out to the Las Vegas Premium Outlets, which we did.

Getting there is straightforward, take The Deuce to the intersection of Sahara Ave and Las Vegas Blvd before alighting, cross the road to the bus-stop behind Denny's and board Route 108 to South Grand Central Parkway. This is the place where I've been waiting to raid since the merchandise here are expected to be lower priced. Some of my prized catch included a pair of Levis for 32USD, 2 Banana Republic dress shirts for 60+USD and some other items which I can't recall at this moment. No doubt I managed to grab some bargains here, I'm somewhat disappointed by the lack of items which caught my eyes. Perhaps the general perception of an outlet store is for 'clearing old stocks', which explains the apparent lack of variety or latest range of merchandise. Despite this disappointment, it still took us about 4-5hrs to cover the 100 over shops here before Mel & SP met up with us for dinner which we had at Denny's. For a while, I thought Mel is going to suggest the Strastophere again. Lucky she didn't or I'd be tempted to knock her on the head :p She brought us to The Venetian instead. There is an interesting anecdote on why the ceiling of The Venetian were painted the colours of the sky, complete with clouds... "It's so that the punters here would gamble all day and lose track of time due to the never-changing sky-colour". This sounds logical enough but I thought the punters would look at their watches instead of the sky for time. Hmmmmm...... I stepped into this shop selling interestingly worded tshirts for about 25USD. The 4 of us walked out of the place with a tshirt each. According to SP, the same tshirt retails for about 60SGD at that Ah-Gua shop, NewUrbanMale, seemed like we've gotten ourselves a good bargain. We later on invited Mel & SP up to our room to 'watch' TV since they claimed they do not possess a TV back in their dorms.... poor thingys :p

We're going to the Grand Canyon on Day 11 of our 'USA Western Adventure'. Boarding the bus at the coach drop-off/pick-up point in the neighbouring Excalibur Hotel at 630am is no joke! We had to get up at 530am while sleeping around 2am. It was an estimated 3hrs drive to the canyon from The Strip, passing by Boulder City, Lake Mead and also a 10min photoshoot at Hoover's Dam. According to the boring-toned elderly lady who was our driver cum guide for this tour, we have another nearly 1.5hrs to go. Unlike the rest who proceeded to dreamland, I stayed awake to enjoy the scenary along the way. :) The was nothing really fantastic along the way but I kind of enjoyed the scenary anyway. I remembered the coach driving pass this town in the middle of the desert called Dolan Springs. I saw a Sheriff's office, a bank and a few ranches here. I find this sight rather interesting as in that how often do we get to see a desert dwelling? Must less a ranch! The coach came upon a 14mile unpaved stretch of track not long after driving pass Dolan Springs. The track is narrow with barely enough space for 2 vehicles to pass each other, plenty of dust churned up from the track whenever a vehicle drives over it and also, its an extremely bumpy ride. Those who were awake around this time most probably did so due to the 'turbulence'. I can't imagine walking or even driving with the windows down along this track. Personally, I can't wait for this 14mile to end. After what seemed like eternity to me (and most?), we came upon paved roads again! Yippie!

We finally reached the drop-off point where we are supposed to hop on to a 'Grand Canyon Shuttle' to the 2 nearby lookout points (Eagle Point & Guano Point) in the Grand Canyon West Rim. Boarding the shuttle, our first stop was Eagle Point which is so named because of a rock formation there which resembles an eagle spreading its wings. It's also here that the Grand Canyon Skywalk is located. This is a horse-shoe shaped structure which allows one to walk out over the canyon at a height of about 1200m. SO & myself went on it. From my understanding, the flooring of the Skywalk is separated into 2 sections; one with CLEAR glass, the other with FROSTED glass. I initially thought I would freak out slightly due to my fear of heights (extreme heights in this case). However, I wasn't having jelly legs at all and was even able to stand over the CLEAR glass portion and admire the sights 1200m down! Forget it if you're thinking of snapping plenty of pictures here as all photography except for the 'official' ones are prohibited. We bought our 'official' picture from them at 30USD and it comes nicely framed up. Not too bad for a keepsake but the price is abit steep I feel. Anyway, its once a lifetime kinda trip, so I shan't complain too much.

Hopping back on the shuttle after completing the Skywalk, we arrived at Guano Point. This place is so-named because bat dung (guano) used to be mined from a cave across the canyon and transported back on cables. Some of the mining relics still exist and are very interesting. Lunch is served here and we were able to dine at picnic tables outside under a large tarp. It was comforting to see the natives and workers also eating the same meals. We were able to do some hiking and discovery after a 'heavy' lunch. By far, this was the highlight of the tour, and provided many perspectives of both the solitude and natural beauty of the Grand Canyon and Colorado River. As with the other sites, caution should be exercised as no fencing or railing is provided along the paths. There were also many vendors offering handmade Hualapai Indian jewelry and art for sale. The prices seemed reasonable but are negotiable.

We arrived back at The Strip at about 630pm, passing by the same places as we did earlier in the morning. This tour is easily one of my favourite as I've finally been able to visit yet another 'Wonders of the World' after I did Rome's Colosseum back in 2004. As there were no stops along the way for snacks, we were pretty much famished by the time we head out to the Fashion Show Mall along The Strip for dinner.

Day 12 is our last day in Vegas. Our flight back to SG departs from SF at 1am the next morning while the flight back to SF from Vegas departs at 6pm. We basically have until 4pm to 'waste' until we first say bye to Vegas followed by USA. We spent our time going to Townsquare Mall once more and stayed there till 3plus. Thereafter, its a long journey back home. 28hrs from Vegas to SG, inclusive of 22hrs of total flight time.

Here's the last set of pics...


MGM Grand, heard inside got lions on display, not sure how true is that....


Bellagio... 2 things worth your time here... the buffet and the fountain show at nite.


The bright lights of Vegas as seen from the top of the Stratosphere


Lobby of Luxor Hotel....


My favourite shot of the Grand Canyon.


Hummer



Hoover's Dam at dusk....



Our loot from the war...

USA Part 2 - Los Angeles

And so we landed at Long Beach Airport, LA in the afternoon of the 5th day. Long Beach Airport is a typical, small domestic airport where you walk to/fro between the plane and the airport building. There is nothing impressive about this place EXCEPT that the baggage claim belt in IN THE PUBLIC!! Coming out from the 'Secured Area', turn left and there is the belt. Non-passengers who where there to fetch their loved ones or friends where less than 20m away. I'm extremely stunned by this means that someone walking in and steal your luggage is probably going to be able to succeed. Poor security...

We happened to run into a lady whom we met whilst on our Yosemite National Park trip. She was on the same flight as we are, going back home in San Pedro, LA. Knowing that we were clueless getting around the place, she offered to drive us to the nearest Metro Station so that we can catch the Metro to our hotel (Hollywood Downtowner's Inn) along Hollywood Blvd. Along the way, she purposely drove past the more scenic parts of the area for us to have a look. We were cautioned to be careful whilst in Hollywood because there are many 'weird' people, according to her. She finally dropped us at this boardwalk along the waterfront called the Shoreline Village. It was a short walk from here to the Metro Station, cutting across the LA Convention Centre. The Metro is a no frills, decent communter train service much like our MRT except that it runs entirely on road level and stations are totally unmanned and 'un-gated'. So its pretty much based on trust and integrity. However, if you are caught without a ticket, be prepared to pay a hefty fine!

Having heard from her friends as well as that lady we met about how cautious we needed to be whilst in Hollywood, she got worried and suggested to change hotel if possible. I was rather annoyed at the idea at first although I kept those thoughts to myself. However, after some thinking over the matter during the journey to our hotel, I convinced myself that even if I disregard my safety, I mustn't compromise her's. With that, we agreed to stay in the current hotel for 2days before moving to a hotel near Disneyland for the next 2days until we depart LA. Luckily for us, the hotel proprietor, Bernard, is a friendly, helpful and very accomodating person. He's totally cool about it when we cooked up a story about why we're staying 2days short at his property. Immediately after checking in, we went to a cybercafe few doors away and started looking for hotels in Anaheim (where Disneyland LA is located). We managed to secure a booking for a room at Holiday Inn Express Anaheim Maingate which is about 10mins walk from Downtown Disney.

Having settled the hotel arrangements, we proceeded to The Grove, a local shopping mall for dinner and some shopping. Following tips from Bernard, we took Metrobus 28 from outside the hotel. As always with any Free & Easy trip, one is bound to have to get lost at least once. This was exactly what happened to us. Following the rough map we had, we alighted accordingly and proceeded in the direction where we think our destination was. We still don't see any signs of the place despite having walked a few blocks. Finally, a kind Mexican we approached pointed us in the right direction saying The Grove is 3blocks away. The time is now slightly past 8pm and we're both pretty hungry and tired having not eaten since 7am. 3blocks away... Its a decision between walking or waiting for the bus. I prefer the former, she wanted the latter. She opted to go with my preference but we soon got to regret it as the 3blocks seemed more like 3 GIANT blocks! Usually, a block in the US is about 100m long, however, this time it seemed more like 500m per block! We finally reached The Grove at about nearly 9pm and some of the shops had already began closing for the day.Grabbing a quick dinner, SO launched into shopping mood again... Had it not been for the time being late, we wouldn't have been able to leave the place just 2hrs after arriving!

Day 6 brings us to Universal Studios Hollywood, a movie-themed theme park located just north of Hollywood. I initially thought there would be plenty of visitors but I was wrong. The crowd seems not too bad. SO decided our first ride of the day to be the 4D Shrek thingy. This is easily one of my favourite item here due to the effects they dished out! Imagine watching a 3D show with LIVE effects such as 'real wind blowing from behind you', 'seat rocking' and the best part : while the spiders crawled up the legs of the movie characters, one can feel wind from beneath the seats and felt like creepy crawlies!! Our next ride, the Studio Tour, made us waited 45mins or so due to the huge crowd going for it too. This Studio Tour takes you to some of the sets that were used in the TVs or Movies. Later on, you can see a picture of 1 of the sets created by Steven Spielberg for War of the Worlds. Lunch was at Bubba Gump Shrimp Company which was another 'must-try' from Gary. We had a Blueberry Lemonade, Cajun Shrimp for appetiser and a Tilipia thingy with rice to share. We had a few more rides after lunch such as The Mummy, an indoor roller-coaster in the dark at times and Jurassic Park, a water-based ride.

We left Universal Studios early about 4pm SO wanted to hit The Grove once more but again, we got 'lost'. We took the bus in the wrong direction, bringing us back towards our hotel direction instead of towards The Grove. It seemed like we ain't fated to go to The Grove. Firstly, we got off at the wrong stop and now we took the bus in the wrong direction. I suggested since we're back to near our hotel, why not we go to the supermarket nearby and buy dinner back to our room and eat? And so we got frozen pizza, vegetable salad and a small packet of milk (upon request by me) back for dinner. Guess what? SO mistaken the 12mins indicated on the pizza-box to be microwave timing instead of defrozing. By the time 12mins went by, whatever's on the rotating plate in the microwave oven is burnt pizza and an intense burnt-smell! We laughed our heads off... Luckily the oven was too small to cook the entire pizza at shot, which means we still have about 1/2 of our pizza still uncooked and we were better able to experiment with how to cook it.

We moved to Anaheim on Day 7. As the check-in timing at Anaheim Maingate was 3pm, we need not leave Hollywood Downtowner Inn so early. Our plan is to check-out about 12noon to proceed to the Amtak Station for the 40mins train ride over to Anaheim. Lugging several pieces of heavy luggages, it's impossible to walk from the Anaheim Amtrak Station to our hotel 2miles away. Hopping onto a cab, SO thought she saw the meter jumped by 60cents! I brushed her off saying she might have seen wrongly... I took a sustained look at the meter and INDEED it jumped by 60cents!!! OMG.............. The short trip over to the Holiday Inn Express cost USD10 odd. The hotel DOES have standards that one come to expect of the Holiday Inn brand at 100USD per nite and I'm extremenly satified with what I'm getting so far. Having settled down, we proceeded out to the Anaheim Garden Walk via the hotel shuttle.

Day 8 is Disneyland Day! Yippie.... As mentioned earlier, it was less than 10mins walking from hotel to Downtown Disney. There were 2 parks, the Disneyland Park and the Disney's California Adventure Park. We opted for the latter as it offers more thrilling rides as compared to the mostly 'kiddy' rides by the former. First ride of the day was the Hollywood Tower Hotel. This is an 'elevator' type of ride where one is being hoisted up in the lift before a series of sudden drops and lifts. This is also the very ride which scared 1/2 the hell out of me!! :S We went for a couple more other rides before having this thingy called the Corn Dog for lunch. This is actually a hotdog wrapped in corn-batter before being baked or deep-fried. I initially thought there would be a huge crowd on a weekend, which also means a longer wait for the rides but it seemed I was wrong. We had gone on most of the rides we had wanted to by the time we had lunch about 2pm.

With no more rides we were keen on, we left the park for Downtown Disney, intending to hang around until 5pm before returning to the park for the Pixar Play Parade, which we did. The main reason why I opted to visit Disneyland on a Saturday is due to the fireworks display at 930pm on weekends. According to the hotel staff, we can watch the fireworks from the hotel carpark. We standby at the carpark at 920pm but it wasn't 945pm before the first shot went off. The display is nowhere as spectacular as what we usually have in SG, but it was nevetheless a nice sight to have. I've always loved fireworks because I viewed fireworks as 'painting in the sky'. Tonight is our last night in LA as we'd be departing for the Sin City (Las Vegas) tomorrow afternoon via Long Beach Airport (again).

Please stay tuned for Part 3 of this triology. In the meantime, do enjoy the following photos taken in LA!


1 of the set for the filming of Desperate Housewives...


the set of War of the Worlds built by Steven Spielberg.


Blueberry Lemonade from Bubba Gump.


The highly recommended Cajun Shrimp from Bubba Gump...


A customary pic of the Hollywood sign in LA :p


The 1st ride we tried at Disneyland California Adventure Park which scared the shit outta me!! Imagine being dropped and lifted in the darkness!!!


Pixar Play Parade....


Pixar Play Parade....


Pixar Play Parade....


Pixar Play Parade....


Pixar Play Parade....


Pixar Play Parade....


Pixar Play Parade....


Pixar Play Parade....


Pixar Play Parade....


Pixar Play Parade....

USA Part 1 - San Francisco

We departed SG on 27th Sept to Hong Kong on a CX plane for transit to San Francisco. The entire 18hrs flight was pretty un-eventful except that on the HK-SF plane, I was seated next to an idiotic Indian Guy. He's not that kind of BLACK Indian, he looks more like the fairer type, but still black! Back to him, he's BIG sized and he sits in that same position throughout the flight. His arms are rested on the seat-rests and that intruded into my 'turf' because of the size of his arms. I was feeling extremely un-comfortable all the way and certainly showed my displeasure in the hope that he would do something about it. I was wrong, he can't seemed to be bothered at all! Luckily SO offered to swap her window seat with me so that I could be more comfy. She, being smaller sized than me, sat beside that FAT-ASS without much trouble. Not too sure if its me or my luck... but what a way to begin the vacation.

We landed in SF at about 6pm local time. The view from the air is breathtaking. I've always enjoyed looking down on land from way up there! Once we're on the ground, no time was wasted as we proceeded to check-in at Travelodge Golden Gate and headed out towards Ghirardelli Square on foot. It was a 30mins walk at temperatures of about 15degrees (Celsius). There wasn't many shops still opened by the time we reached. However, there's this famous shop selling Ghirardelli Chocolate. Popping in for a look, we came out with 10USD worth of chocolates! We popped by this fastfood joint called Johnny Rockets for a (big) sandwich on our way back to our room.

We were out and about early next morning at about 7am; destination : Palace of Fine Arts & the Golden Gate Bridge. The former is within walking distance according to the map. But as it turned out, we not only walked to the Palace of Fine Arts, but an additional 3miles or so to the Golden Gate Bridge as well! The bridge looks VERY impressive. But as luck would have it, that morning happened to be extremely foggy, covering the tops of the Golden Gate Towers. I'm pretty disappointed by this San Francisco Fog. :( Nevertheless, we still made it to one of the most prominent landmarks in the world. After all that walking, I demanded breakfast and we settled it at an eatery called Mel's Drive-In which is a stone's throw from our room. The rest of the day was spent walking, sight-seeing, shopping at Fisherman's Wharf before going over to Union Square towards the evening. Union Square is where SO's shopping onslaught began. I witnessed at close range how SO can shop! We walked into Banana Republic, spend about an hour plus inside and came out with about 700USD worth of merchandise including about 400USD for a bag that she helped a friend to buy. Her modus operandi can be closely compared to that of an Antivirus software which scans every single file by default. Anyway, we took a cab back to hotel as we were too drained to shop/walk further. There's a Cheesecake Factory outlet on Level 8 of the Macy's Dept. Store but I was too drained to even think about wanting to go there for a look or a meal.

We went on a tour to Napa & Sonoma Valleys on Day 3. These are the famous wine regions of California, maybe even the world. The tour brought us to 3 vineyards, 1 in Napa, 2 in Sonoma. The host at the vineyards gave a short introduction of their estate, how they made the wine and of course, granted us all some wine tasting. Please do not think its complementary, the tasting fees were included in the package! SO wanted to go to Union Square again because she didn't have much time to shop yesterday due to the early closing of the shops on a Sunday.

We went on yet another tour on Day 4. This time to one of USA's first wilderness park, the Yosemite National Park. This park is 2-3hrs drive from SF and I bet everyone on the tour is eagerly awaiting the entry into Yosemite. The tour allowed us a few stops for photoshoots and for lunch. I managed to catch some picturesque shots with my trusty Lumix Camera. There's also a shot of one of the residents of Yosemite! SO and me ended up at Fisherman's Wharf where we intended to have dinner. I wanted to have some seafood for dinner but SO wanted to try the In-N-Out Burger since Gary strongly recommended it. And so, we decided to try out In-N-Out Burger since we managed to spot an outlet right before us. Stepping inside and in front of the ordering counter, we were surprised to see only 3 Burger items on the menu. Thinking that this could be a scaled-down outlet, that may explain the limited items on the menu. Having decided what each of us wanted, we proceeded to order and soon settled down to savour Gary's recommendation. 5mins later, we only have this to tell Gary, "In-N-Out is NOTHING fantastic. Just so-so only!". So if you're thinking of trying this out the next time you're in the States, you may wish to think twice....

We bidded farewell to SF and say "Hello!" to Los Angeles on Day 5! We flew From SF's Oakland Airport to LA's Long Beach Airport via JetBlue, one of the domestic airlines in the States. I'd be putting up Part 2 & 3 of my USA Trilogy soon. Do stay tuned! In the meantime, do enjoy some of the pictures taken in SF...


SF Aerial View.


Palace of the Fine Arts.


Egg Benedict from Mel's.


Can't recall the name of this dish which I had for breakfast. However, I do know I like the scrambled egg portion very very much!


The stretch of Lombard Street where it's known as the crooked-est road in the world with a series of 8 consecutive hairpin turns.


The famous Boudin's Sourdough Clam Chowder Breadbowl.


Noisy & smelly sea-lions of Fisherman's Wharf.


Grapes ready-to-eat from one of the vineyards in Napa Valley.


This is not the natural colour of the grapes. Its the colour of the grapes heavily costed by dust!!


A very scenic view from one of the Sonoma vineyards looking down onto its estate.


A waterfall with some trickling water in Yosemite.


My favourite picture out of the entire USA Trip! This was taken in Yosemite.


A resident of Yosemite National Park.


Our In-N-Out Burger Dinner....

Singapore Grand Prix

For the first time since the 70s, the F1 is coming back to SG! This time, it's going to be held at night! This is yet another first for SG, the world's 1ST NIGHT FORMULA 1 RACE! How's that for a 1st-loving SG?

Please pardon me for show-boating abit today but I'm really excited and proud to be one of the 1st in the world to watch the F1 cars in action at night. Thanks to my bro-in-law who mistakenly bought 3 Marina-Bay Grandstand tickets for his staffs. He handed me 3 Friday Passes and I went crazy. I've been waiting to see the F1 on TV and now I'm going to see it live!

I was in the underpass on my way to the Grandstand when I heard the cars already going at it. The engine sound is thunderous, yet to the thousands present (me inclusive), this is music to our ears.... Over at the Grandstand, I was fortunate to be able to grab a spot near one of the turns where the cars will have to slow down before exiting the Grandstand. Not only can you catch the cars in slower motion, but you will also be able to catch the 'aroma' of burnt rubber from the tyres. You may think that is crazy, but to me and many others too (I'm sure), what's a car race without having smelt burnt rubber?

Enjoy the following pictures taken by my pal CK....

Renault's Fernando Alonso, winner of the Singapore GP 2008

McLaren's Lewis Hamilton

Ferrari's Felipe Massa

A Feeling of Nostalgia....

For those who born in the 70s and 80s. Fond memories......

1. You grew up watching He-man, MASK, Transformers, Silver Hawk and Mickey Mouse. Not to forget Ninja Turtles, My Little Pony and Smurfs too..

2. You grew up brushing your teeth with a mug in Primary school during recess time. You will squat by a drain with all your classmates beside you and brush your teeth with a coloured mug. The teachers said you must brush each side 10 times too.

3. You know what SBC stands for.

4. You pay 40 cents for Chocolate or Strawberry MILK every week in class.

5. You watch a very popular Malay dubbed Japanese drama on RTM1 about schoolgirls who possess powerful skills in volleyball called Meoro Attack.

6. You find your friends with pagers and handphone cool in Secondary School.

7. SBS buses used to be non-airconditioned. The bus seats are made of wood and the cushion is red. The big red bell gives a loud BEEP! when pressed.. There are colourful tickets forTIBS buses. The conductor will check for tickets by using a machine which punches a hole in the ticket.

8. Envelopes given to us to donate to Sharity Elephant every Children's Day.

9. You've probably read Young Generation magazine.You know who's Vinny the little vampire and Acai the constable.

10. You were there when they first introduced MRT here. You went for the first ride with your parents and you would kneel on the seat to see the scenery.

11. Movie tickets used to cost only $3.50.

12. Gals are fascinated by Strawberry Short Cake and Barbie Dolls.

13. You learn to laugh like The Count in Sesame Street .

14. You longed to buy tibits called Kaka (20 cents per pack), and Ding Dang (50 cents per box), that had a toy in it and it changes every week. Not forgetting the 15 cents animal crackers and the ring pop, where the lollipop is the diamond on the ring.

15. You watched TV2 (also known as Channel 10) cartoons because Channel 5 never had enough cartoons for you.

16. Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, The Three Investigators, Famous Five and Secret Seven are probably the thickest story books you ever thought you have read. Even Sweet Valley High and Malory Towers .

17. KFC used to be a high class restaurant that serve food in plates and let you use metal forks and knives.

18. The most vulgar thing you said was asshole and idiot and THE MOST EXTREME WAS 'super white'... you just couldn't bring yourself to say the hokkien relative.

19. Catching was the IN thing and twist as the magic word.

20. Your English workbooks was made of some damn poor quality paper that was smooth and yellow.

21. CDIS were your bestfriend.

22. The only computer lessons in school involved funny pixellised characters in 16 colours walking about trying to teach you maths.

23. Waterbottles were slinged around your neck and a must everywhere you go.

24. Boys loved to play soccer with small plastic balls in the basketball court.

25. Teng-teng, five stones, chapteh, hentam bola and zero point were all the rage with the girls and boys too...

26. Science was fun with the balsam and the angsana being the most important plants of our lives, guppies and swordtail being the most important fish.

27. Who can forget Ahmad, Bala, Sumei and John, eternalized in our minds from the textbooks. Even Mr Wally & Mr. Yakki. What abt Miss Lala??? And Zaki and Tini in Malay Textbooks?

28. We carry out experiments of our own to get ourself badges for being a Young Zoologist/Botanist etc.

29. Every Children's day and National day you either get pins or pens with 'Happy Children's Day 1993' or dumb files with 'Happy National Day 1994'.

30. In Primary six you had to play buddy for the younger kids like big sister and brother.

31. We wear BM2000, BATA, or Pallas shoes.

32. Your form teacher taught you Maths, Science and English.

33. The worksheets were made of brown rough paper of poor quality.

34. You went to school in slippers and a raincoat when it rained, and you find a dry spot in the school to sit down, dry your feet, and wear your dry and warm socks and shoes.

35. School dismissal time was normally around 1 pm.

36. There would be spelling tests and mental sums to do almost everyday.

37. Your friends considered you lucky and rich if your parents gave you $3 or more for pocket money everyday.

38. You see Wee Kim Wee's face in the school hall.

39. You freak out when the teacher tells you to line up according to height and hold hands with the corresponding boy or girl.

40. Boys like to catch fighting spiders.

41. Collecting and battling erasers was a pastime for boys.

42. Autograph books were loaded with 'Best Wishes', 'Forget Me Not', and small poems like 'Bird fly high, hard catch.Friend like you, hard to forget'.

43. Class monitors and prefects loved to say 'You talk somemore, I write your name ah!'

44. There were at least 40 people in one class.

45. Large, colourful schoolbags were carried.

50. You brought every single book to school, even though there was one
thing called the timetable.

**********************************

Those were the days.... I'm guilty of those in green :p

PS : Does it mean I'm very uncle since I've got so much in green?

ERP

aka Electronic Road Pricing
aka Every Road Pays
aka Even Reverse Pays

I found some pretty funny 'doctored' pictures that our creative fellow Singaporeans had came up with regarding their take on ERP....

Ok, perhaps the last 2 pictures were abit too extreme :p Anyway, don't say I didn't warn you.... the last I read, LTA is starting to install the 2nd Generation of the IU for new vehicles being put onto the roads. These IU are GPS capable, meaning that your vehicle can be tracked via satellite when the weather conditions permit.

My personal opinion for the future of ERP in Singapore is such :
There will be no more ERP Gantries nor Road Tax. The GPS-enabled IUs will be embedded with a CPU, a metering device like the cabs and a storage media. The metering device tracks the distance and time travelled. When combined with the GPS system, the CPU will be able to compute the 'zone' you are travelling in as well as the time and distance in this 'zone'. With 'ERP' rates beamed down via GPS, the charges you'd need to pay will be computed and stored in the storage media for 'upload' to LTA at a stipulated time, most likely via GPS too. LTA (or a 3rd party) will then consolidate and bill you accordingly. You may also opt to pay via Giro. :)

This situation is not far stretched. The technologies are all in place. Its only a matter of putting them all together to form the 'perfect' solution. In case you're unaware, UK is proposing the idea of 'Pay-as-you-go' with help from the satellites. Knowing Singapore loves to be the first in everything (eg. F1 Night-Race, ERP, Changi Airport, etc), we could very well beat UK to it and be the first to implement such a plan. Come to think of it, the benefits are all there on the table for the authorities :
1. squeeze more dollars from us
2. deter vehicle owners from driving, thus reducing congestions
3. encourage usage of public transport
4. saving money on building/maintaining gantries (est. S$1m - S$1.5m each)
5. implementing ERP now is very easy (few clicks on the computer and that road is now ERP-ed)

Anyone would like to bet against my vision?

Manchester City

*Extracted from the 7th Sept STi*
---------------------------------------

Dear _______ (Sir/Madam/Manager/Owner/Fellow billionaire/To whom it may concern) of _______ (Manchester United/Chelsea/Arsenal/Liverpool/Real Madrid/Barcelona/AC Milan/Inter Milan/Juventus/Bayern Munich)

Allow me to introduce myself.

I am Sulaiman Al-Fahim.

I represent the Abu Dhabi United Group for Development and Investment, the new owner of Manchester City.

I am also known as the 'Donald Trump of the Gulf' due to my real estate company and my hosting of a TV series in the Middle East which looks like The Apprentice.

However, I would be just as honoured and pleased if somebody considers me the _______ (Bill Gates/Warren Buffett/Don Corleone) of Abu Dhabi.

Let me clarify first.

Although it sounds like it, Abu Dhabi is not the name of a midfielder in Arsenal or a prison in Iraq where people are tortured.

No, you are confusing us with Abou Diaby and Abu Ghraib.

We are a very wealthy emirate, one of the seven states which make up the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

You may have heard of us - the stadium at Arsenal is called Emirates Stadium and one of our fellow emirates, Dubai, is hoping to buy Liverpool once the American owners there declare _______ (bankruptcy/ insolvency/foreclosure/a fire sale/a suicide pact).

As you are probably aware, we are in the process of transforming Manchester City into the biggest football club in the world.

We are already the richest club in the world, overtaking even Roman Abramovich's Chelsea.

We do not want to boast, but our financial muscle of US$_______ (1trillion/2trillion/3trillion), depending on the price of oil, is more than Mr Abramovich's who, by the way, is welcome to join forces with us as our _____ (assistant/trainee/butler/ jester/falcon trainer).

As you are probably aware, we have just bought Robinho of Brazil.

_______ (Pele/Maradona/Cruyff/ Beckenbauer/Dr Phil) may question Robinho's judgment and sanity, but he is our first superstar at Manchester City.

I can assure you, sir, that he will definitely not be our last.

I am writing to you now because we are very keen to add to our collection to form the Greatest Team Of All Time.

As such, we wish to buy _______ (Cristiano Ronaldo/Fernando Torres/Francesc Fabregas/Kaka/your best player) from you.

He is a wonderful, wonderful player, befitting the ambitions of The Biggest Club In The World.

We are very eager to acquire him as our coaches have already engaged the services of _______ (Usain Bolt and the entire Jamaican Olympic sprint team) to train him to be even faster.

You should be pleased that your player is heading to a better place.

At Manchester City, we call our home New Paradise, we have a former Thai prime minister on our board, and part of our development plans is to include similarly powerful people such as a _______ (president/king/emperor/United Nations secretary-general/American game-show host) in our committee too.

Please remember, sir, that in our business dealings, money will never be an object, a subject or a reject.

We do not concern ourselves with such trifle matters.

There is no question of how.

Abu Dhabi United Group is used to getting who, what, where and when it wants, and we are very happy to have invited ourselves to come and play with you.

Please name us a price for your player but again, as I have stated, do not be intimidated by the extra penny or two.

US$ _______ (100/200/300/400/500) million will be wired to your Swiss bank account.

If you prefer the amount to be in more tangible terms, we can always throw in _______ (Hull City/Stoke City/Newcastle United/Tottenham) too.

Our manager, Mark Hughes, will be in touch.

If he does not call due to his busy schedule, kindly contact _______ (Kevin Keegan/Alan Curbishley) who is now part-timing with us in view of his recent resignation from _______ (Newcastle United/West Ham United).

I would appreciate if you could reply to this letter soonest.

Bearing in mind that kick-off next Saturday is at 5pm.

Thank you,
Sincerely yours,
Sulaiman

PS: Please call me _______ (Donald/Bill/Warren/Don Corleone the Godfather)
---------------------------------------

Looks like we're going to see an abundance of Man City fans around soon.... :(

Biggest Physics Experiment on Earth

"An international team of over 2,000 scientists, led by Professor Tejinder Virdee from Imperial College London's Department of Physics is stepping up preparations for the world's largest ever physics experiment, starting next year at CERN near Geneva, Switzerland."




Those people at CERN seemed to be very free and can afford to make rap in their spare time. Wondering if any rap's going to emerge outta XXX anytime soon :p

If you had read Angels & Demons by Dan Brown, you couldn't have missed the backdrop on which he had based the novel upon. I completed the novel about 3yrs back and I actually did googled CERN back then. I've never expected that the "Anti-Matter" thingy that Dan Brown had in his novel is actually a reality in the making! You gotta read his novels if you have the time and energy to do so. Don't need to read all, just "Da Vinci Code" & "Angels & Demons" will do. Actually, its recommended that you read "Angels & Demons" before you proceed to "Da Vinci Code" as they are somehow vaguely related.

Before you bash me with things such as the above 2 novels being anti-Christ, I would like to clarify that as long as you read it with the mentality of reading a storybook, I'm sure your faith, no matter how strong or weak, will not be shakened.

Coming back to the topic proper, CERN is experimenting with re-creating the Big-Bang. Should anything go wrong along the way, the facility will most likely blow up, with the potential fallout (nuclear?) affecting hundreds of thousands of innocent lives around the vicinity. However, if the experiment goes well, the potential benefits to the human race could be in-measurable....

World running out of Iron ore, no problem... CERN can produce some!

Ugly Cinema Goers

Today's post is about the typical ugly side of Cinema goers according to a report by the Straits Times. There is a wall of text below. Carry on at your own peril....

*Extracted from the 3rd Sept STi*
---------------------------------------
TEN minutes. That's all the cleaning brigade has as cinemagoers walk out.

In that time, before the next screening, scattered popcorn kernels and paper cups - and even spilt drinks - have to be cleaned up.

Even condoms have been left behind.

The Straits Times staked out a popular cinema chain's complexes in Orchard Road and Bugis one Saturday night, and saw the spills amid the thrills.

Engineer Foo Mee Lin had just caught the film Mad About English and wasn't too crazy about the idea of taking her trash out with her. The 34-year-old said there were cinema cleaners who swooped in once the lights came up.

'It's their job and they're expected to do it,' she said.

The cleaners did move in - fast.

Mr James Tan, 54, a cleaning supervisor at the cinema for the past four months, explained the need for a speedy mop-up: The cleaners have only 10 minutes before the commercials kick in for the next show.

It is especially tough for them on Saturday nights, when it is full-house for most screenings. Resources are strained.

Small cinema halls get two cleaners, and the bigger ones have four.

Mr Tan drew a link between the kind of movies and the mess left behind. He said: 'The arthouse film crowd don't really make a mess.'

But it is a different story for blockbusters and movies that appeal to teens and young children, he said.

Mr Mohd Isa, 35, a supervisor at the cinema's complex in Bugis, backed Mr Tan's observations. When asked to name recent movies that yielded the most mess, he said without hesitation: 'Iron Man, The Dark Knight and Kung Fu Panda.'

These are movies more popular with the younger set - the ones who make life the hardest for people like Mr Tan and MrMohd Isa.

Five minutes before the closing credits rolled on the thrill-spiller film Death Race, MrTan and his crew were already waiting outside the cinema hall, armed with brooms and giant red buckets.

As the lights came up, The Straits Times saw the cinema hall dotted with empty shells of popcorn cartons.

The floor had not been spared either - two rows of seats were covered with kernels. An empty cup of Coke had been turned on its side, and its sticky trail of liquid stretched across five rows.

Mr Tan and his crew quickly mopped up the mess. He said that teenagers were the biggest culprits.

'Sometimes when I do a check while a movie is going on, I see them throwing popcorn at one another. They don't realise how difficult it is for those of us who have to pick up after them.'

Mr Tan said that caramel popcorn is a particularly annoying snack for cleaners. The sticky kernels are difficult to pry off the carpet and make cleaning more time-consuming.

He recalled a school-organised screening which left the cinema really messy.

'What's worse was that the teachers didn't do anything to stop the kids from throwing popcorn around!' he said, emptying his fourth dustpan of popcorn into a red pail.

That night's screening saw Mr Tan's four-man crew haul out buckets laden with empty cartons, drink cups, popcorn and potato chip remnants, and more.

Despite signs clearly indicating that food other than that bought from the cinema's food kiosks is not allowed in, moviegoers have not been deterred from 'smuggling in' fast-food meals such as burgers.

Ushers said it is difficult to catch these offenders because they are not allowed to search the bags of customers.

Cinemagoers The Straits Times spoke to said that the problem lies with the fact that cinema halls here do not have dustbins for people to dispose of their trash, which is why the option of leaving their rubbish behind is more convenient.

Mr Kay Chan, 34, who works in marketing, believes Singapore cinemas should emulate their American counterparts. He said: 'There, the ushers will carry in large bins and start shouting for people to throw their trash as they exit. We should do that here.'

Technician Mohamad Isa, 31, suggested putting up signs to tell people to take their trash out with them. He feels his suggestion will work. 'It works on the MRT because Singaporeans are generally quite obedient.' He carried his empty popcorn cartons out with him.

An American couple, who declined to be named, said that a year of living in Singapore had cultivated in them the local habit of not clearing their own trash. With higher ticket prices now, they added, having someone pick up after them should be 'part of the service'.

The cleaning supervisors said they occasionally find 'interesting' items left behind.

Mr Mohd Isa has had to sweep up condoms, presumably left behind by less-than-discreet couples in the back rows of the darkened cinema.

Mr Tan said he has come across a pair of shorts and the smelly insoles of someone's shoes.

He said: 'It's very unpleasant. Just because they're paying customers, they think they can do whatever they like.'

But Mr Tan is hopeful. He said: 'Good values need to be instilled from young. That way, people will behave with consideration and respect in any circumstance.'

Clutching his broom and dustpan, he then made his exit, stage right. Till the lights come on again.

---------------------------------------

Damn irritating, right? Ok, I admit I do usually leave my trash in the theatre for them to clean up. BUT.... my trash is usually limited to only UPRIGHT drink containers & pop-corn packs. Can you imagine? Even condoms are found in there! Wonder how the couple is able to carry out the act without generating 'extra' noise or to get detected.

I hate it when :

• the persons around me takes up more then his/her fair share of space
• the persons around me keep talking to his/her companion
• the phone rings during the show (I sometimes wished they can install jammers in the theatres)
• eat/drink, making lotsa noise in the process
• sit very upright, thus blocking those behind (me)
• slouch on the seat and prop both knees against the backing of my seat
  
• keep rocking the seat back and forth
• keep walking in and out of the seats be it my row or the row in front of me

Am I very mean? I doubt so because I believe the above are reasonable requests such that everybody can enjoy the show. Be considerate for others, not be self-centred!

Do I need a Lappy?

Eyeing the MSI Wind... but am caught in a dilemma due to the following....

For :

• the current PC is nearing 5yrs old. its time to upgrade
• the MSI Wind is so chio
• can get it @ special price
  
• I've always wanted a laptop
  

Against :

• my existing PC is still alive
• 'nuff said...
  

How now, brown cow?

Stupidity by XXX Staff

XXX staff are at it again (as usual)... How come they always like to 'chut pattern'? This time, its about some clowns attaching classified documents when they book meeting rooms.

In case I missed out in my earlier postings, XXX is a very security-inclined organisation. They locked-down on many things. Documents are classified according to its Project Classifications, pretty much military-styled place in terms of security.

I received an email from my boss yesterday asking me "are there any new or better ways?". Reading further down the appended content in the email, it seemed that a well-intentioned staff had alerted the relevant people about a potential security loop-hole he had found. What he pointed out is a valid loop-hole whereby a user can book Rooms for his usage, at the same time attaching relevant documents to the appointment. However, users may not be aware that these Rooms' Calendar which they are actually booking for is shared and viewable by everyone, so too the attachments. Imagine if the attached document is a Top Secret thingy, isn't the content as good as exposed to the whole world?

I also gathered from the email that my department used to inform the users in the past NOT to attach documents along with the Room booking due to security issues. However, seemed like some clowns simply do not understand English. Wondering if we should switch to talking to them in 1s & 0s.... If after reminder, people are still doing it, ain't they simply asking for it?

I sometimes really can't stand the level of stupidity in XXX despite those 'esteemed' researchers being the 'cream of the crop', they are unable to practice some simple information safety.....

What a Saturday!

Today doesn't seemed to be my lucky day... in fact, not even my day at all!

Waking up first thingy in the morning, I felt this irritating ache in my right shoulder, resulting in controlled, restricted movement in the shoulder blade. Each time I make any major movement, you'd see me cringed in agony :(

Worse was to follow in the afternoon. I was contemplating between attending Joeson's class @ GWC or Sue's @ Suntec. Decided to go for the latter as I needed to get some gift vouchers for my niece's 13th birthday. Reaching the gym early, I decided not to do any weights training to prevent aggrevating my shoulder. Thats crap you may be saying... As I was sitting outside the studio reading, Uncle Tim came along and commented that it wasn't Sue in the studio teaching BP! I was momentarily stunned because that could 99% mean Sue is not doing BC too! There was still time to hop over GWC if driving. However, we stayed on since already at Suntec... IT WAS A WRONG CHOICE!! The replacement instructor was horrid! He didnt seemed to know his stuff well enough, stole some rest during the class by tell us to 'do it on our own' or "it's your turn" in his own words. I sensed something wrong since the 1st track and had wanted to leave there and then. But I stayed on to see if the rest of the tracks would be better or not. But looks like I was wrong. The tracks are ok, but the style of the instructor ain't! And so, I endured an hour of horrid BC.

My eldest niece, Jamie was born 13yrs ago today. There's a BBQ going on over at her place this evening. My other sister, together with me, decided to get her $100 worth of Swatch vouchers so that she could buy a decent watch that's to her liking. However, both the Suntec and City Hall outlets had sold out the vouchers. I wanted to pop over Bugis but the rain detered me. I ended up getting the same amount worth of vouchers from MPH City Link.

Walking back to City Hall MRT, there's this part in City Link just outside Charles & Keith where you'd need to take the escalator down, walk 20m and then take the opposite escalator up? Well, as I approach this section of the mall, I noticed a large crowd at the escalator, so I took the stairs. As I descended down the steps, I saw to my horror, the entire 'middle' section of the underpass filled 'to the brim' with people. Some going towards the MRT, most towards Suntec for Comex I think. Its all a mess of humans. The worst part : the downwards escalator was still in operation, nearly causing a human crush at the bottom of the flight!!! Luckily someone was quick-minded enough to press the STOP button, otherwise, I would have been one of the eye witness of a pretty bad stampede.

The HUGE volume of human traffic is expected as Comex is going on at full swing in Suntec. But the crowd today is beyond what I had ever seen before. Perhaps the rain helped push crowds into the underpass. it took me 15mins to get from Charles & Keith to BreadTalk (if you are familar with the vincinity).

Someone please remind me to avoid Suntec the next time there are any major exhibitions going on. Thanks :)

My Rules of Share Investments

Rules that I follow when I play shares....

1. Do your homework.
2. Go for companies with strong fundamentals.

3. Buy only companies whose business you are familar with.
4. Do not chase a stock. Wait for the next boat (if any) should you missed the first one.
5. Never invest using borrowed money!
6. Do not be greedy.
7. Know when to cut loss (I'm still learning).
8. Buy when others are selling, sell when others are buying...

Happy playing.... :)