Tweet Me

    follow me on Twitter

    Saturday, October 18, 2008

    Idiots in the Office

    Decided to blog on "Idiots in the office" coz I am sure we encounter similar situations at least once in our working life.

    Notice 1:
    If you happen to know the situations described below or know the people I am describing, please do not feel offended or upset about my post. I mean to share, not to upset.

    Notice 2:
    If you happen to be one of the Idiot I am talking about below...well, I guess you probably won't know that I am talking about you and therefore won't feel upset.

    Notice 3:
    If you happen to not understand what I have describe below...hmmm...I think you are probably the Idiot.


    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Boss asked A and B to destroy certain old documents by removing them from the files and tearing them into 2 before discarding.

    A and B proceeded to tear the papers when I comes along and asked them what they are doing (I being a busybody aka KPO).

    I: What are u two doing?
    A & B: Tearing paper
    I: Why?
    A: Old documents, boss asked us to destroy and throw.
    I: Why not use the shredder?
    A: There are too many staplets (staple bullets...aiyah watever u call them) in there, if use shredder, it will spoil the machine.
    I: Oh... (and I walks away)

    Second Day...

    A and B were still tearing the papers. I again came to them.

    I: U all still tearing ah...I still think u should use the shredder.
    A: Already told u, cannot use shredder because got too many staplets. It will take far more time to remove the staplets then to just tear. Anyway, Boss also told us to just tear into half and throw can already.
    I: This too slow lah, use shredder faster.
    A: Cannot la.
    I: Ok but I think this is not the right way to destroy documents. Should shred them into pieces la.
    A: Boss said can. U go tell her la.

    A gives up explaining and I walks away.

    Then, A was having lunch with C and telling her about this incident with I.

    C: Oh, I also came to me and talked to me about that. He told me that the papers shouldnt be just torn into 2 parts and thrown because people can paste them back and that we should shred the papers instead.
    A: I give up. Told him cannot shred already...got so many staplets.
    C: Yah, and Boss was the one who said can tear into half. Boss also tear into half.
    A: Yah, wat is wrong with him? Hard to understand wat we said?

    Do you understand????

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


    A and I are engineers in the same company. Their work involves working with figures and solving equations in real life situations.

    One day, A asked I to solve a mathematical equation that involves substitution. (Honestly I dont quite recall how to do substition but am sure I can work it out if given time.)

    After a long time, I passed A wrong answer and A looked at him in frustration and told him that its wrong and asked I to find out where he went wrong.

    Here is a simple explanation (which I came up with) showing the part where I has gone wrong:

    Problem:
    a/b + c/d = ?


    I's Answer:
    (a+c)/(b+d)



    Got wats wrong? Lets just put some figures in...

    The correct answer:
    1/4 + 3/8 = 2/8 + 3/8 = 5/8



    using I's Answer:
    1/4 + 3/8 = (1+3)/(4+8) = 4/12 = 1/3


    Gosh...this is primary maths....and I is an engineer.....and guess wat? Think he still dun get where he went wrong...

    Hong Kong - 1 to 4 October 2008

    Finally decided to start on this post detailing my Hong Kong trip early this month. The photos for my HK trip are much easier to arrange and edit coz there just werent many as compared to my firm's trip to Vietnam (I will post my Vietnam trip pics another day...just the pics.

    About my HK trip...hmm...it wasnt as expected and I would have done everything differently if I can turn time around. Some of u my frens would have heard abt my trip (thanks for ur listening ears frens) but I shall keep it simple and just on wat I have seen, heard and tried in HK.

    DAY 1
    Reached our hotel in the afternoon and it was the nicest hotel I have stayed it. Wouldnt have expected less coz its a 5-star hotel which my fren, A insisted on - Intercontinental Grand Stanford Hotel 海景嘉福酒店.

    Stay at the Intercontinental Grand Stanford Hotel 海景嘉福酒店


    After unpacking, we took a walk in Tsim Sha Tsui 尖沙咀 heading towards Harbour City 海港城 direction, shopping a little along the way. Harbour City is a huge shopping building housing mostly big brands such as "Louis Vuitton", "Chanel" and etc...

    There was a nice area outside the top of the building overseeing the harbour area.

    View from Harbour City 海港城 in Tsim Sha Tsui 尖沙咀


    Wanting to watch the Fireworks tat day scheduled for the National Day celebration in HK, we decided to loiter around in Tsim Sha Tsui near the Victoria Harbour.

    I took a pic of the clock tower at the Victoria Harbour, recalling that I took pics of the clock towers in Perth and Gold Coast as well. ^_^

    The Clock Tower


    Then A recommended dinner at The Peninsula which is a rather posh hotel. We had Chinese food there which tasted quite good but different from our Singapore taste of Chinese food (aiyah, I dunno how to explain lah).

    Doesnt the hotel look fabulous at night?

    The Peninsula


    Table setting in the Chinese restaurant is also pretty, with a cute gold plated 'Sailing Boat' chopsticks stand and a small pot of bamboo plants on every table.

    Dinner at Chinese Restaurant in The Peninsula


    After our dinner, we headed towards the Victoria Harbour for the Fireworks and found a HUGE crowd of people and local police officers setting up the road blocks when we exited the Peninsula.

    We waited for an hour plus before the Fireworks started at 9pm. I am not much of a fan for fireworks but they do look grand 壮观.

    However, I was a little disappointed that there werent many types of fireworks used there and only plenty of colours and noises came from the fireworks.

    Fireworks at Victoria Harbour


    Pics of the busy streets of Tsim Sha Tsui and a magnificent looking building.

    Tsim Sha Tsui Streets at Night


    And a pic of the Victoria Harbour from near our hotel.

    View at Victoria Harbour



    DAY 2
    The 2nd day was our planned trip to Hong Kong Disneyland ("HKD") 香港迪士尼乐园.

    As HKD is only open from 12noon, we woke up later and decided to go shopping at Tung Chung 东涌.

    Upon exiting from the Tung Chung MTR station, A was attracted by the signages there introducing the Ngong Ping 360 Cable Car 昂坪缆车 and insisted on taking a ride.

    The cable car ride was about 25 mins up the hill and another 25 mins down. They have a small village up there called the Ngong Ping Village 昂坪市集 where we found beautiful scenery, restaurants and cafes, some souvenirs shops and a Monkey's Tale Theatre.

    We didnt however take the "Walking With Buddha" trail and took the cable car down after taking some pics and eating ice cream.

    Ngong Ping 360 Cable Car Ride 昂坪缆车



    Ngong Ping Village 昂坪市集 & The Giant Buddha 天坛大佛


    It was already 3pm plus when we took the MTR to Sunny Bay 欣澳 station and change to the Disneyland Resort train.

    Even the trains are different :)

    Train Ride to Hong Kong Disneyland


    HKD is really a dream come true for kids and an experience for adults to relive their childhood.

    Even the entrance is cute! (hehe...I am cute too...see my chubby face -_ )

    Entrance to Hong Kong Disneyland


    Its October and they are celebrating Halloween in HKD.

    Halloween @ Hong Kong Disneyland


    Lots and lots of visitors at HKD.

    Hong Kong Disneyland...busy busy busy...


    Saw some really gorgeous castle models in one shop there.

    Which do u think is the prettiest?

    Castle Models


    HKD is split into 3 parts after u walk past the Main Street: Tomorrowland, Adventureland and Fantasyland.

    A and I only took some rides which were recommended by her cousin who had been to HKD.

    Tomorrowland:
    1. Space Mountain-Ghost Galaxy (an indoor roller coaster ride)
    2. Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters (this one is fun, like being in the game urself shooting stuffs)

    Fantasyland:
    3. Mickey's PhilharMagic (a 3D adventure show...interesting)
    4. Its A Small World (a ride around the world in minutes while the music for the song "Its a small world" keeps repeating over and over again)

    Its A Small World




    Adventureland
    5. Jungle River Cruise (a guided boat ride...not really interesting..can give it a miss)

    We didnt have much time to try out most rides and places but have concluded that HKD's rides are not as good nor exciting as those in Gold Coast (haha...the latter is famous for its theme parks anyway).

    They had a parade along the streets in HKD at abt 6pm plus but we were busily shopping then so din take much notice of it.

    The Fireworks at HKD started at 8pm in front of the Castle at the entrance of Fantasyland.

    Only 1 word to describe their fireworks display:

    WOW!

    The previous fireworks I saw on my 1st day in HK cannot compare to this at all!

    The fireworks in HKD even matches in tune with the loud music they broadcasted throughout HKD.

    JUST MARVELLOUS!!!

    Fireworks at Hong Kong Disneyland


    Finale


    Haha...I caught this pic at the end and doesnt it resembles a Spooky Castle? Suits the Halloween theme...

    Spooky Castle???


    As we left HKD at about 9pm, we had time to head down to the Ladies Market 女人街 for shopping.

    Late Supper in a Cafe



    DAY 3
    The 3rd day was our shopping day followed by going to the Peak.

    Woke up early and went for a "merry go round" trip in Hong Kong Island.

    Firstly, we went to the Western Market (near Sheung Wan 上环) early, thinking maybe there are some interesting stuff but the shops were barely open.

    Then we took a cab to SoHo 荷南美食区 which is a famous district for its wide selection of restaurants and cafes, thought we could have our brunch there. But atlas! The place was like a ghost town...think the restaurants and cafes mostly operate at night....boo hoo hoo...

    Next was the Central 中环 district. Had a nice breakfast at a posh cafe in a posh shopping complex (forgot the names la!), did some shopping until it started to drizzle.

    We took shelter from the rain in McDonalds and to my surprise they actually serve Pork Ribs Burgers there! McDonalds is not Halal worldwide?!

    Went up to the Peak 太平山顶 at abt 3pm plus and it was foggy and still drizzling...not a good weather that day. See how foggy everything looks...and the cold winds were blowing straight at us....brrr....

    The Peak 太平山顶


    Visited the Madame Tussauds Hong Kong 香港杜莎夫人蜡像馆 at the Peak Tower. I have never been to any of Madame Tussauds Wax Museum before, so its interesting to see those lifelike models of famous people whom I recognize. Even saw our MM Lee Kuan Yew there...hehe...

    Madame Tussauds 香港杜莎夫人蜡像馆


    After loitering at the Peak for a few hours, we decided not to wait for sunset as the place was so foggy, it was impossible to see any lights from the buildings below at all. No beautiful night scenery for memory T_T

    Took the tram down the Peak...there was all this hype abt the tram going up and down the hill at 45 degrees but it was really nothing...chey...

    Tooks pics of some buildings including the City Hall in Central.

    Interesting Zig Zag Building


    City Hall


    After we returned to Tsim Sha Tsui, A wanted to stay in the hotel to rest her feet, so I took a night stroll in the busy streets of Tsim Sha Tsui alone. ^_^

    Nothing beats a nice stroll in parts of the world unknown to u and absorbing the sights, sounds and smell of the place.

    I stopped at a cute Charlie Brown Cafe near our hotel for dinner. Had actually wanted to try one of the HK cafe to have some local delicacies but I ran out of HK$ and din want to change more currency.

    No regrets...the Charlie Brown Cafe was cute and quiet (there was only 1 other customer when I entered but I think I brought in more customers...coz the place was full after that).

    Charlie Brown Cafe


    And I sat on a "Linus Van Pelt" table...reminds me of a certain Linus back home...haha....Goon!



    DAY 4
    Last day and our day of departure from HK. Our flight was in the afternoon so we stayed in and had our dim sum lunch in the Chinese restaurant at our hotel.

    Had my first taste of Roasted Pigeon and it taste almost like spring chicken but the meat is smoother and Q. Only problem is that the dish is a bit salty for me. I love their Organic Glutinous Rice with Chicken "Lor Mai Kai" 糯米鸡 though. They used brown glutinous rice instead of the normal ones and its fragrance really came out with the lotus leaf that wraps the rice with the chicken chunks. Their egg tarts were really good too...soft and sweet. Felt out of place to take out my camera to take pics there...so too bad!


    Its been 2 weeks since I returned to Singapore and am settled back into my life here real quickly. No nostalgic feeling for HK unlike my previous trips to Australia...normally I still feel out of place after a few weeks back in Singapore. Haha....

    Wednesday, October 08, 2008

    M.I.L.K Alert

    With all the hype and attention on the "melamime" issue with milk products from China, people are fast staying away from consuming milk, anything tat contains milk or milk by-products.

    I personally LOVE milk. I can finish a whole 1 litre packet of milk in a day easily, treating it as I would plain water.

    It is only after I read the following article from an email a fren forwarded that I am having 2nd thoughts abt drinking milk (read below).

    Some months back, I was drinking milk regularly...a packet of HL milk a day! In fact, I usually finish my daily packet of milk by early afternoon. Then after some time, I kept having these recurring chest pains in the late afternoons and/or evenings. It occurred to me tat I may have consumed a little bit more lactose than my body could take and tat was the reason I stopped tat daily milk consumption.

    Come to think of it, maybe it wasnt just the lactose wearing my body down...maybe the other contents in the milk are also not good when I overconsume milk.

    Ok, I should remind myself this "Everything should be in proportion". Of coz, this include the food we eat...


    ~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~

    By Prof. Jane Plant, PhD, CBE ­ "Why I believe that giving up milk is the key to beating breast cancer..."

    Extracted from Your Life in Your Hands, by Professor Jane Plant.

    I had no alternative but to die or to try to find a cure for myself. I am a scientist - surely there was a rational explanation forthis cruel illness that affects one in 12 women in the UK?

    I had suffered the loss of one breast, and undergone radiotherapy. I was now receiving painful chemotherapy, and had been seen by some of the country's most eminent specialists. But, deep down, I felt certain I was facing death. I had a loving husband, a beautiful home and two young children to care for. I desperately wanted to live.

    Fortunately, this desire drove me to unearth the facts, some of which were known only to a handful of scientists at the time.

    Anyone who has come into contact with breast cancer will know that certain risk factors - such as increasing age, early onset of womanhood, late onset of menopause and a family history of breast cancer - are completely out of our control. But there are many risk factors, which we can control easily.

    These "controllable" risk factors readily translate into simple changes that we can all make in our day-to-day lives to help prevent or treat breast cancer. My message is that even advanced breast cancer can be overcome because I have done it.

    The first clue to understanding what was promoting my breast cancer came when my husband Peter, who was also a scientist, arrived back from working in China while I was being plugged in for a chemotherapy session.

    He had brought with him cards and letters, as well as some amazing herbal suppositories, sent by my friends and science colleagues in China.

    The suppositories were sent to me as a cure for breast cancer. Despite the awfulness of the situation, we both had a good belly laugh, and I remember saying that this was the treatment for breast cancer in China, then it was little wonder that Chinese women avoided getting the disease.

    Those words echoed in my mind. Why didn't Chinese women in Chinaget breast cancer? I had collaborated once with Chinese colleagues on a study of links between soil chemistry and disease, and I remembered some of the statistics.

    The disease was virtually non-existent throughout the whole country. Only one in 10,000 women in China will die from it, compared to that terrible figure of one in 12 in Britain and the even grimmer average of one in 10 across most Western countries. It is not just a matter of China being a more rural country,with less urban pollution. In highly urbanized Hong Kong,the rate rises to 34 women in every 10,000 but still puts the West to shame.

    The Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki have similar rates. And remember, both cities were attacked with nuclear weapons, so in addition to the usual pollution-related cancers, one would also expect to find some radiation-related cases, too.

    The conclusion we can draw from these statistics strikes you with some force. If a Western woman were to move to industrialized, irradiated Hiroshima, she would slash her risk of contracting breast cancer by half.

    Obviously this is absurd. It seemed obvious to me that some lifestyle factor not related to pollution, urbanization or the environment is seriously increasing the Western woman's chance of contracting breast cancer.

    I then discovered that whatever causes the huge differences in breast cancer rates between oriental and Western countries, it isn't genetic.

    Scientific research showed that when Chinese or Japanese people move to the West, within one or two generations their rates of breast cancer approach those of their host community.

    The same thing happens when oriental people adopt a completely Western lifestyle in Hong Kong. In fact, the slang name for breast cancer in China translates as 'Rich Woman's Disease'. This is because, in China, only the better off can afford to eat what is termed 'Hong Kong food'.

    The Chinese describe all Western food, including everything from ice cream and chocolate bars to spaghetti and feta cheese, as "Hong Kong food", because of its availability in the former British colony and its scarcity, inthe past, in mainland China.

    So it made perfect sense to me that whatever was causing my breast cancer and the shockingly high incidence in this country generally, it was almost certainly something to do with our better-off, middle-class, Western lifestyle.

    There is an important point for men here, too. I have observed in my research that much of the data about prostate cancer leads to similar conclusions.

    According to figures from the World Health Organization, the number of men contracting prostate cancer in rural China is negligible, only 0.5 men in every 100,000. In England, Scotland and Wales, however, this figure is 70 times higher. Like breast cancer, it is a middle-class disease that primarily attacks the wealthier and higher socio-economic groups ¨C those that can afford to eat rich foods.

    I remember saying to my husband, "Come on Peter, you have just come back from China. What is it about the Chinese way of life that is so different?"

    Why don't they get breast cancer?

    We decided to utilize our joint scientific backgrounds and approach it logically.

    We examined scientific data that pointed us in the general direction of fats in diets. Researchers had discovered in the 1980s that only l4% of calories in theaverage Chinese diet were from fat, compared to almost 36% in the West.

    But the diet I had been living on for years before I contracted breast cancer was very low in fat and high in fibre. Besides, I knew as a scientist that fat intake in adults has not been shown to increase risk for breast cancer in most investigations that have followed large groups of women for up to a dozen years.

    Then one day something rather special happened. Peter and I have worked together so closely over the years that I am not sure which one of us first said, "The Chinese don't eat dairy produce!"

    It is hard to explain to a non-scientist the sudden mental and emotional 'buzz' you get when you know you have had an important insight. It's as if you have had a lot of pieces of a jigsaw in your mind, and suddenly, in a few seconds, they all fall into place and the whole picture is clear.

    Suddenly I recalled how many Chinese people were physically unable to tolerate milk, how the Chinese people I had worked with had always said that milk was only for babies, and how one of my close friends, who is of Chinese origin, always politely turned down the cheese course at dinner parties.

    I knew of no Chinese people who lived a traditional Chinese life who ever used cow or other dairy food to feed their babies. The tradition was to use a wetnurse but never, ever, dairy products.

    Culturally, the Chinese find our Western preoccupation with milk and milk products very strange. I remember entertaining a large delegation of Chinese scientists shortly after the ending of the Cultural Revolution in the1980s.

    On advice from the Foreign Office, we had asked the caterer to provide a pudding that contained a lot of ice cream. After inquiring what the pudding consisted of, all of the Chinese, including their interpreter, politely but firmly refused to eat it, and they could not be persuaded to change their minds.

    At the time we were all delighted and ate extra portions!

    Milk, I discovered, is one of the most common causes of food allergies . Over 70% of the world's population are unable to digest the milk sugar, lactose, which has led nutritionists to believe that this is the normal condition for adults, not some sort of deficiency.

    Perhaps nature is trying to tell us that we are eating the wrong food.

    Before I had breast cancer for the first time, I had eaten a lot of dairy produce, such as skimmed milk, low-fat cheese and yoghurt. I had used it as my main source of protein. I also ate cheap but lean minced beef, which I now realized was probably often ground-up dairy cow.

    In order to cope with the chemotherapy I received for my fifth case of cancer, I had been eating organic yoghurts as a way of helping my digestive tract to recover and repopulate my gut with 'good' bacteria.

    Recently, I discovered that way back in 1989 yoghurt had been implicated in ovarian cancer . Dr Daniel Cramer of Harvard University studied hundreds of women with ovarian cancer, and had them record in detail what they normally ate. wish I'd been made aware of his findings when he had first discovered them.

    Following Peter's and my insight into the Chinese diet, I decided to give up not just yoghurt but all dairy produce immediately. Cheese, butter, milk and yoghurt and anything else that contained dairy produce - it went down the sink or in the rubbish.

    It is surprising how many products, including commercial soups, biscuits and cakes, contain some form of dairy produce. Even many proprietary brands of margarine marketed as soya, sunflower or olive oil spreads can contain dairy produce .

    I therefore became an avid reader of the small print on food labels.

    Up to this point, I had been steadfastly measuring the progress of my fifth cancerous lump with callipers and plotting the results. Despite all the encouraging comments and positive feedback from my doctors and nurses, my own precise observations told me the bitter truth.

    My first chemotherapy sessions had produced no effect - the lump was still the same size.

    Then I eliminated dairy products. Within days, the lump started to shrink.

    About two weeks after my second chemotherapy session and one week after giving up dairy produce, the lump in my neck started to itch. Then it began to soften and to reduce in size. The line on the graph, which had shown no change, was now pointing downwards as the tumour got smaller and smaller.

    And, very significantly, I noted that instead of declining exponentially (a graceful curve) as cancer is meant to do, the tumour's decrease in size was plotted on a straight line heading off the bottom of the graph, indicating a cure, not suppression (or remission) of the tumour.

    One Saturday afternoon after about six weeks of excluding all dairy produce from my diet, I practised an hour of meditation then felt for what was left of the lump. I couldn't find it. Yet I was very experienced at detecting cancerous lumps - I had discovered all five cancers on my own. I went downstairs and asked my husband to feel my neck. He could not find any trace of the lump either.

    On the following Thursday I was due to be seen by my cancer specialist at Charing Cross Hospitalin London. He examined me thoroughly, especially my neck where the tumour had been. He was initially bemused and then delighted as he said, "I cannot find it."

    None of my doctors, it appeared, had expected someone with my type and stage of cancer (which had clearly spread to the lymph system) to survive, let alone be so hale and hearty.

    My specialist was as overjoyed as I was. When I first discussed my ideas with him he was understandably skeptical. But I understand that he now uses maps showing cancer portality in China in his lectures, and recommends a non-dairy diet to his cancer patients.

    I now believe that the link between dairy produce and breast cancer is similar to the link between smoking and lung cancer. I believe that identifying the link between breast cancer and dairy produce, and then developing a diet specifically targeted at maintaining the health of my breast and hormone system, cured me.

    It was difficult for me, as it may be for you, to accept that a substance as 'natural' as milk might have such ominous health implications. But I am aliving proof that it works and, starting from tomorrow, I shall reveal the secrets of my revolutionary action plan.

    Extracted from Your Life in Your Hands, by Professor Jane Plant.

    Madonna - Give It 2 Me

    Heard this song during a commercial break featuring the new season of "Desperate Housewives".

    A rather familiar song which I don't recognize except for the repetitive
    "...on and on and on..."

    Liking the song, I decided to put it into my blog entry to share it with you guys. So, I took quite a long time to search for the song on both youtube and imeem until I finally caught the words "give it to me" when the commercial reran on TV.

    Was happy to learn that Madonna is the singer for this song...who would have guessed! Ok, Madonna was my favourite English Pop Singer in the past when I was listening to english songs, so the familiarity makes it more favourable.

    Please enjoy this music video...

    Tuesday, October 07, 2008

    Kallang Paya Lebar Expressway (KPE)

    Hey all, for those who are not aware, I am back in Singapore!...actually I was back on Sat...so am now trying to settle back into my job.

    Before I starting posting pics for my Hong Kong trip, decided to jot this short post.

    Was working late just now and took a cab back home coz I was lazy and trying to save a little time.

    The cab driver helpfully suggested going by the KPE as an alternative route from my usual CTE journey. I was then pleasantly surprised to find out that the KPE had just been opened on 20 September 2008. Yeah!

    Excited to see how the new expressway looks like, I decided to go along with his suggestion. Bad bad decision...apparently the driver doesnt know the route well (having only been on KPE twice) and came out from the exit named "Bartley Road East". While exiting, he kept mumbling that he never heard of the road and wonder if its new (obviously right, since he's a cabby and never been on the road).

    So he ended up driving round and round in Kaki Bukit area while trying to find the right route to bring me home -_-

    My cab fare turned out to be S$16+....NOT CHEAP LOR!!! NOT SHORT ROUTE LOR!!!

    Friday, September 26, 2008

    "Boxes"

    It has been a busy few weeks, pre-holiday buzz I hope...

    Anyway, I am watching the Formula One (F1) trial race on TV right now while I blog. Ok, not so much watching than listening...coz it gets rather boring after watching a few rounds of the cars going round and round. Gosh, those race cars looks like TOYS! Haha..Plastic looking and all...

    I know I should be really excited abt my upcoming trip to Hongkong but strangely, I am just looking forward to the break. Need some time away from the tiring work. And maybe if I am lucky, I may be able to see some fireworks on my first day to Hongkong...hmm...well, we shall see...will TRY to take more pics.

    Sidetrack...I did some interesting recording. Trying to understand how much time I spend looking at "boxes" (as in TV, Computers, PSP...anything with a square screen), I decided to note down the number of hours I look at these "boxes" in a week.

    Day One (Sat)
    9am+ to 10am+ : 1 hr PSP
    10am+ to 12pm: 1 1/2 hrs Computer (Mapling)
    12pm+ to 1pm: 1/2 hr PSP
    1pm to 2pm: 1 hr Computer (Mapling)
    2pm+ to 3pm+: 1 hr TV
    4pm+ to 5pm+: 1 hr TV
    5pm+ to 6pm+: 1 hr PSP
    11pm to 11pm+: 1/2 hr PSP
    1am to 3am: 2 hrs TV & PSP
    9-1/2 hrs

    Day Two (Sun)
    12pm to 1pm: 1 hr Computer (Mapling)
    4pm+ to 5pm+: 1 hr PSP
    6pm to 1am: 7 hrs TV
    9 hrs

    Day Three (Mon)
    8am to 8am+: 1/2 hr PSP
    9am to 6pm: 7 hrs Computer (Work)
    7pm+ to 12am: 4 1/2 hrs TV & PSP
    12 hrs

    Day Four (Tue)
    4am+ to 6am: 1 1/2 hrs PSP
    7am+ to 8am+: 1/2 hr PSP
    9am to 6pm+: 7 1/2 hrs Computer (Work)
    8pm+ to 11pm+: 3 hrs TV & PSP
    12-1/2 hrs

    Day Five (Wed)
    7am+ to 8am+: 1 hr PSP
    9am to 8pm+: 10 hrs Computer (Work)
    9pm to 11pm+: 2 hrs TV
    13hrs

    Day Six (Thu)
    4am+ to 7am: 2 1/2 hrs PSP
    9am to 7pm: 9 1/2 hrs Computer (Work)
    8pm+ to 11pm+: 3 hrs TV & Computer (Mapling)
    15hrs

    Day Seven (Fri)
    7am+ to 8am+: 1/2 hr PSP
    9am to 7pm+: 9 hrs Computer (Work)
    7pm+ to 8pm: 1/2 PSP
    10hrs

    81 hrs a week!!!

    Gosh...I din expect tat figure...ok tat was abt 2 weeks ago and probably one of the rare weeks when I dun sleep well and woke up real early...4am!

    Ok, it might seems like I am spending too much time on the "boxes" and dun have a life.........oh wait! Yah! I dun have a life!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

    Friday, September 05, 2008

    Jokes Time

    Decided to share some laughters with all of u...here are some jokes I lifted from emails that have been forwarded around. Hope there will be no issues of infringement of copyright coz I have no idea who are the authors of these jokes.

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

    THE SIZE OF HELLHELL EXPLAINED BY CHEMISTRY STUDENT

    The following is an actual question given on a Washington State University chemistry mid-term.

    The answer by one student was so 'profound' that the professor shared it with colleagues, via the Internet, which is, of course, why we now have the pleasure of enjoying it as well :

    Bonus Question: Is Hell exothermic (gives off heat) or endothermic (absorbs heat)?

    Most of the students wrote proofs of their beliefs using Boyle's Law (gas cools when it expands and heats when it is compressed) or some variant.

    One student, however, wrote the following:
    "First, we need to know how the mass of Hell is changing in time. So we need to know the rate at which souls are moving into Hell and the rate at which they are leaving. I think that we can safely assume that once a soul gets to Hell, it will not leave. Therefore, no souls are leaving. As for how many souls are entering Hell, let's look at the different religions that exist in the world today. Most of these religions state that if you are not a member of their religion, you will go to Hell. Since there is more than one of these religions and since people do not belong to more than one religion, we can project that all souls go to Hell.

    With birth and death rates as they are, we can expect the number of souls in Hell to increase exponentially. Now, we look at the Rate of change of the volume in Hell because Boyle's Law states that in order for the temperature and pressure in Hell to stay the same, the volume of Hell has to expand proportionately as souls are added. This gives two possibilities:

    1. If Hell is expanding at a slower rate than the rate at which souls enter Hell, then the temperature and pressure in Hell will increase until all Hell breaks loose.

    2. If Hell is expanding at a rate faster than the increase of souls in Hell, then the temperature and pressure will drop until Hell freezes over.

    So which is it?

    If we accept the postulate given to me by Teresa during my Freshman year that, 'It will be a cold day in Hell before I sleep with you,' and take into account the fact that I slept with her last night, then number two must be true, AND thus I am sure that Hell is exothermic and has already frozen over. The corollary of this theory is that since Hell has frozen over, it follows that it is not accepting any more souls and is therefore, extinct......leaving only Heaven, thereby proving the existence of a divine being which explains why, last night, Teresa kept shouting 'Oh my God.' "


    THIS STUDENT RECEIVED THE ONLY 'A'


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

    THE HUSBAND STORE

    A store that sells husbands has just opened in New York City, where a woman may go to choose a husband.

    Among the instructions at the entrance is a description of how the store operates:

    You may visit the store ONLY ONCE! You may choose any man from a particular floor, or you may choose to go up a floor, but you cannot go back down except to exit the Building!

    So, a woman goes to the Husband Store to find a husband.

    On the first floor the sign on the door reads:
    "Floor 1 - These men have jobs and love the Lord"

    'I wonder what is on the next floor' she goes to the second floor and the sign reads:
    "Floor 2 - These men have jobs, love the Lord, and love kids."

    'Maybe the next floor will be better' she continued up to the third floor and the sign reads:
    "Floor 3 - These men have jobs, love the Lord, love kids, and are extremely good looking"

    'Wow,' she thinks, but feels compelled to keep going. She goes to the fourth floor and the sign reads:
    "Floor 4 - These men have jobs, love the Lord, love kids, are drop dead good looking and help with the housework."

    'Oh, mercy me!' she exclaims, 'I can hardly stand it!' Still, she goes to the fifth floor and the sign reads:
    "Floor 5 - These men have jobs, love theLord, love kids, are drop- dead gorgeous, help with the housework and have a strong romantic streak."

    She is so tempted to stay, but she goes to the sixth floor and the sign reads:
    "Floor 6 - You are visitor 5,363,012 to this floor. There are no men on this floor. This floor exists solely as proof that women are impossible to please. Thank you for shopping at the Husband Store. Watch your step as you exit the building, and have a nice day!"


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

    LIZARDS

    If you have raised kids (or been one), and gone through the pet syndrome, including toilet flush burials for dead goldfish, the story below will have you laughing out loud!

    Overview: I had to take my son's lizard to the vet. Here's what happened:

    Just after dinner one night, my son came up to tell me there was "something wrong" with one of the two lizards he holds prisoner in his room. "He's just lying there looking sick," he told me. "I'm serious, Dad. Can you help?" I put my best lizard-healer expression on my face and followed him into his bedroom.

    One of the little lizards was indeed lying on his back, looking stressed. I immediately knew what to do. "Honey," I called, "come look at the lizard!"

    "Oh, my gosh!" my wife exclaimed. "She's having babies."

    "What?" my son demanded. "But their names are Bert and Ernie, Mom!"

    I was equally outraged. "Hey, how can that be? I thought we said we didn't want them to reproduce," I said accusingly to my wife.

    "Well, what do you want me to do, post a sign in their cage?" she inquired. (I think she actually said this sarcastically!)

    "No, but you were supposed to get two boys!" I reminded her, (in my most loving, calm, sweet voice, while gritting my teeth).

    "Yeah, Bert and Ernie!" my son agreed.

    "Well, it's just a little hard to tell on some guys, you know," she informed me. (Again with the sarcasm!)

    By now the rest of the family had gathered to see what was going on. I shrugged,
    deciding to make the best of it. "Kids, this is going to be a wondrous experience," I announced. "We're about to witness the miracle of birth."

    "Oh, gross!" they shrieked.

    "Well, isn't THAT just great? What are we going to do with a litter of tiny little lizard babies?" my wife wanted to know.

    We peered at the patient. After much struggling, what looked like a tiny foot would appear briefly, vanishing a scant second later.

    "We don't appear to be making much progress," I noted.

    "It's breech," my wife whispered, horrified. "Do something, Dad!" my son urged.

    "Okay, okay." Squeamishly, I reached in and grabbed the foot when it next appeared, giving it a gentle tug. It disappeared. I tried several more times with the same results.

    "Should I call 911?" my eldest daughter wanted to know. "Maybe they could talk us through the trauma." (You see a pattern here with the females in my house?)

    "Let's get Ernie to the vet," I said grimly. We drove to the vet with my son holding the cage in his lap. "Breathe, Ernie, breathe," he urged.

    "I don't think lizards do Lamaze," his mother noted to him. (Women can be so cruel to their own young. I mean what she does to me is one thing, but this boy is of her womb, for God's sake.)

    The vet took Ernie back to the examining room and peered at the little animal through a magnifying glass.

    "What do you think, Doc, a C-section?" I suggested scientifically.

    "Oh, very interesting," he murmured. "Mr. and Mrs. Cameron, may I speak to you privately for a moment?" I gulped, nodding for my son to step outside.

    "Is Ernie going to be okay?" my wife asked.

    "Oh, perfectly," the vet assured us. "This lizard is not in labor. In fact, that isn't EVER going to happen . . . Ernie is a boy. You see, Ernie is a young male. And occasionally, as they come into maturity, like most male species, they um . . . um . . . masturbate. Just the way he did, lying on his back. " He blushed, glancing at my wife.

    We were silent, absorbing this. "So, Ernie's just . . . just . . excited," my wife offered.

    "Exactly," the vet replied, relieved that we understood.

    More silence. Then my vicious, cruel wife started to giggle. And giggle. And then even laugh loudly.

    "What's so funny?" I demanded, knowing, but not believing that the woman I married would commit the upcoming affront to my flawless manliness.

    Tears were now running down her face. "It's just . that . . . I'm picturing you pulling on its . . . its . . . teeny little . . .." She gasped for more air to bellow in laughter once more.

    "That's enough," I warned. We thanked the vet and hurriedly bundled the lizard and our son back into the car. He was glad everything was going to be okay.

    "I know Ernie's really thankful for what you did to help him, Dad,"he told me.

    "Oh, you have NO idea," my wife agreed, collapsing with laughter.

    Two lizards: $140.

    One cage: $50.

    Trip to the vet: $30.

    Memory of your husband pulling on a lizard's winkie: Priceless!

    Moral of the story: Pay attention in biology class. Lizards lay eggs.


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

    FIRST DATE

    On her first date... something embarrassing happened...

    Jay Leno went into the audience to find the most embarrassing first date that a woman ever had.

    The winner described her worst first date experience. There was absolutely no question as to why her tale took theprize!

    She said it was midwinter...Snowing and quite cold...and the guy had taken her skiing in the mountains outside Salt Lake City , Utah . It was a day trip (no overnight). They were strangers, after all, and truly had never met before. The outing was fun but relatively uneventful until they were headed home late that afternoon.

    They were driving back down the mountain, when she gradually began to realize that she should not have had that extra latte. They were about an hour away from anywhere with a rest room and in the middle of nowhere! Her companion suggested she try to hold it, which she did for a while.

    Unfortunately, because of the heavy snow and slow going, there came a point where she told him that he had better stop and let her go beside the road, or it would be the front seat of his car. They stopped and she quickly crawled outbeside the car, yanked her pants down and started.

    In the deep snow she didn't have good footing, so she let her butt rest against the rear fender to steady herself. Her companion stood on the side of the car watching for traffic and indeed was a real gentleman and refrained from peeking. All she could think about was the relief she felt despite the rather embarrassing nature of the situation.

    Upon finishing however, she soon became aware of another sensation. As she bent to pull up her pants, the young ladydiscovered her buttocks were firmly glued against the car's fender.

    Thoughts of tongues frozen to poles immediately came to mind as she attemptedto disengage her flesh from the icy metal. It was quickly apparent that she had a brand new problem due to the extreme cold. Horrified by her plight and yet aware of the humour of the moment, she answered her date's concerns about "what is taking so long" with a reply that indeed, she was "freezing her butt off"and in need of some assistance!

    He came around the car as she tried to cover herself with her sweater and then, as she looked imploringly into his eyes, he burst out laughing. She too, got the giggles and when they finally managed to compose themselves, they assessed her dilemma.

    Obviously, as hysterical as the situation was, they also were faced with a real problem. Both agreed it would take something hot to free her chilly cheeks fromthe grip of the icy metal! Thinking about what had gotten her into the predicament in the first place, both quickly realized that there was only one way to get her free.

    So, as she looked the other way, her first-time date proceeded to unzip his pants and pee her butt off the fender. As the audience screamed in laughter, she took the Tonight Show prize hands down. Or perhaps that should be "pants down." And you thought your first date was embarrassing.

    Jay Leno's comment..."This gives a whole new meaning to being pissed off." Oh, and how did the first date turn out? He became her husband and was sitting next to her on the Leno show.

    Tuesday, September 02, 2008

    Little Imps

    I decided to share this little incident which happened on Teacher's Day.

    Child care centre was closed and my mum had to babysit my niece and nephew. They came over early in the morning when I was about to leave home for work.


    I joked with Charmaine and asked, "敏敏,要陪姑姑去做工吗?"

    "不要!" Charmaine answered immediately.

    "你可以站在旁边,姑姑会拿东西给你photostat" I continued.

    Charmaine giggled and repeated, "不...要!"

    Then I turned my attention to Ray and said, "弟弟,不然你跟姑姑去做工啦。"

    Ray shook his head vigorously and giggled with Charmaine.

    I turned back to Charmaine, "来啦,敏敏,快点陪姑姑去做工。"

    Charmaine replied, "我会把你的东西弄乱!"

    I said to Ray, "弟弟,走,快跟姑姑去做工。"

    "我会把你的东西撕掉!" Ray said mischeviously.

    。。。从头到尾,他们一直在笑。。。



    Haha...dunno whether I ought to laugh or cry at their response...where did they learn all that from???

    Saturday, August 30, 2008

    Korean Belle

    I got into a debate with my colleague recently abt which Korean actress is pretty.


    Limited by the K-dramas tat we have watched so far...we came to consensus that we like Choi Ji-woo 崔智友 and I personally find Kim Tae-hee absolutely gorgeous (both actresses acted in the K-drama "Stairways to Heaven"...their pictures are below:

    Choi Ji-woo

    Kim Tae-hee

    Maybe I am a little bias since Kim Tae-hee is Lee Wan's sister...Gorgeous siblings!

    Anyway, the debate started when we touched on the topic about the main actresses:

    Juhua 菊花 from Hearts of Nineteen "加油!菊花" (some know this as "十九岁的清纯")

    VS

    Jinshun 金顺 from Be Strong-Geum Soon "加油!金顺".

    Both actresses in the dramas started off somewhat looking like country bumpkins but improved with the progression in the shows.

    Just to prove tat beauty is in the eyes of the beholder and differs from person to person.

    Let's vote!



    Who do you think is prettier?
    Koo Hye-seon a.k.a. Juhua
    Han Hye-jin a.k.a. Jinshun
      
    Free polls from Pollhost.com

    Tuesday, August 26, 2008

    A New Look ^^

    A new look for me....

    240808_2

    A new look for my blog..."gone are the pigs, leaving a trail of fallen leaves"

    ~ ~ ~

    After years of keeping my hair longer than shoulder length, I finally had it cut short. Got some good feedback from friends and colleagues that I look younger and fresher with this new look...wat do u think?

    Am just damn glad tat I dun turn out looking like a tomboy just like wat I did when I last had short hair in my Secondary school days...phew!