Reply to comments

Dear friends,

The lovely pictures were taken by a friend of mine. His name is Colin Tan, not to be confused with the Colin who posts comments on my blog. Colin is a freelance photographer who has kindly allowed me to snitch my favourite works from his collection for uploading. If you are on the look out for a photographer for various reasons, I can link you up.

Have realised that my recent burst in blogging renders it troublesome to view the comments in past entries. Hence, have consolidated what I wish to say. In alphabetical order.....

Colin - Yet to know results. I hope I pass. The idea of sitting for re-exam is trumatising enough. As you can see, Chinese isnt my forte. One word looks like another. Especially when they sound the same. If only I can bribe you to take the exam for me. =P

Dan - I still think you are the one who left the msg. Not many of my friends would have heard of the poem, let alone pen corrections. *bleah*

Elvina - ONZ. I shall chio you when I need kakis for musicals and MJ sessions too. =) Esp since you live nearby. Glad to read that you enjoyed your trip. KK was telling me his friend backpacked in god knows which country for 1 year. Sounds cool eh! I think it might just be do-able, even if con-able rich men dont come along.

Goethe - HK??? A friend I know is going HK to work too.

JF - I prayed for you you know when I saw you replied to Pinky's comments. My friend is known for her caustic wit. I have seen guys cringed before her when she casts disapproving stares at them. She must have mellowed, or was being polite. Yeah, I told Kauri to check out your cues cos he blogged an entry on how frivolous my cue is.

Kurakat - Thank you for your comments. Southpaw is a slang for lefthander. It's also a term used in boxing I think. In reply to your query, allow me to borrow another quote from boxing, 'dance like a butterfly, sting like a bee'. I am easy going as long as you dont tread on me toes.

Pinky - I miss Shannon, Dustin, and basically the whole experience. Arghhhhh.....and my dear girl, after 8 years of being friends, only now do you realise I am not a picture person? Yes, I think you mentioned the investment fella. We had a good talk over it as I recall. You know, the other night when we msged each other at 2 plus in the morning? For one moment, it felt like we were back in JC. =) And which reminds me, I went to Changi Naval Base the other day, and guess who I saw? - HS!

Pete's Place

Met up with PY, ZS and Dee on Sat for brunch at Pete's Place. Ok, it was supposed to be lunch since we agreed to meet at 1130am. However, I slept till 1030 am before waking up with a start. Then began the Mad-Rush-To-Get-Out-Of-House. In 30 mins, I flew out of the house. Not bad, though I was still late. *pat on back*

Dee wanted our opinion if she should wear the 'buffet dress' she bought from CK while in Bangkok (I was the devil's advocate...hee hee) to a wedding. I was trying to convince her and PY to go and buy something Indian to wear to weddings. PY almost rolled her eyes out of its sockets *=p*

PY related a horror story about Intercontinental, where at a wedding she attended 2 weeks ago, they served the guests chocolates which had insects flying out of it. *yucks!!!*

ZS remarked that it was strange to call it 'Pete's Place' since to the best of her knowledge, 'Pete' is not an Italian name. (That is so ZS, smile)

ZS and I made PY try all the various veg to find which leaf was nutty and which was bitter, cos we could not id the rocket leaves. *hee hee* Then we played around with the bread to try the butter. They had unsalted, herb and sun-dried tomato butter.

If all goes well, just possibly, we may go on a holiday together at the end of the year. *keeping fingers xxx*

And I so so so do not believe this. They did not serve a single ounce of chocolate for dessert. sob sob ...I dont know about you, but to me, desserts are meant to be sweet. At the very least, you give your diners a choice of either sweet or sour desserts. Not a choice between sour raspberry cheesecake and lemon meringue!!! Thank god for the strawberries and grapes. This is perhaps the proverbial every cloud has a silver lining.

By chance, we saw the photo exhibition outside Liat Towers. It makes the dormant travel bug in you rear its head. Some of the places look really inviting. PY remarked that it depends. Some places make good pictures and good pictures only. She quoted an example of taking a breathtaking scenery picture from a mountain but could not recall the experience other than feeling very exhausted from the hike up. Every cloud has a silver lining indeed!

Ah Neh Land and Pool Junction

Skipped to Ah Neh Land during lunchie on Friday. Nana wanted to buy something Indian to wear to a wedding. SM and I tagged along as interested bystanders. I am seriously contemplating tailoring a sari. The colours are all so pretty. *note to self - resist temptation*

When we got back, my Indian colleague gave us a short lecture on saris and punjabi suits, which I may blog about one day if time permits. Somehow the conversation went on to flowers and she remarked that 'a huay by any other name will smell as sweet'. I told her that sounded like something the educated Ah Beng will say and we all laughed. (It's a private joke)

Met WT later that evening for dinner and a game of pool. We waited for more than an hour before we gave up and left. The queue was THAT long. Never, never, never play pool on a Friday unless you go early. So I had to lug my cue back.

Was almost reduced to having to crawl home by this time. You would too, if you have been on your feet the whole day, in 3' boots. I need to appreciate my feet more. *note to self*

Far East Square, China Square and Aglio Olio

The weekend where I bumped into my uni friends, KK and I were going to check out this pasta place - Aglio Olio at China Square.

We were there early. My wonderful friend who did an archi x-fac module, gave me a brief tour of Far East Sq and its design (which was based on the 5 elements of fire, water, metal, earth and wood). He had to write an essay on it, so I had fun picking his brain. It reminded me of what he said long ago, on Prof Chua's paper on the concept of space and its centre. The brilliant Professor sat at Taka for 2 days and wrote on people and their interaction with the atrium (ie the big rectangle at B2, at least I think it's called the atrium but I stand being corrected).

Anyways, Algio Olio's food was great. Unfortunately our timing was not. Erdinger was having an Oktober Fest celebration that day, and the noise was deafening. Their breaded mushroom is yummy, but skip the chicken wings, though they recommend it. KFC's chicken wings taste better. Their service is excellent too and the price reasonable. We had 2 appetisers and 2 main course. Bill came up to about 30 bucks. They had a good crowd though it was a Saturday, which to me, speaks more about the place than all the reviews you can read.

Later on, due to a breakdown in communication, KK and I walked for almost an hour to get to Straits Cafe. I love walking, especially when you have someone to talk to. But not when it's hot and humid. Grin! Basically we walked the opposite and adjacent of a triangle when we could have just walked the hypotenuse and save ourselves a lot of trouble. On 3' boots, it was no joke. My feet almost died by the time we got there. But that place is fun!!!!! Huge collection of all kind of boardgames. But it's best to go in a group to have a wider selection of games to play. =)

What Do I Like Part 2

Realised I forgot to add something to my list of likes.

I LOVE chocolate and playing MJ.

The above will fall under Pt no 13. =)

Back to basics

Am on mc today for a sprained back due to a fall.

Went blading yesterday after I got back from office. Yes, on a Sunday. Tell me about it. =( No, we are not going to war. Anyways, I did something stupid...was not concentrating. The end result was that I fell. My threshold for pain isnt too high. So when my body was going 'ouch ouch ouch', I thought nothing of it.

Later in the night, after my MJ session with Dad, back ached terribly. Went to the doc this morning. He said I sprained it. No blading, no carrying of heavy things, and a few more donts to remember. Got back home, grabbed my Conan Doyle and plonked self on bed to read the ache away. Even lying on the bed causes discomfort. *resigned sigh*

Looks like plans to go kayaking with PY will have to be shelved till the ache goes away. Was supposed to go Minds Cafe with KK and friends today, but had to cancel it. Mentor msged me to ask how I was and suggested I lay off playing pool too. *horrors of horrors* Apparently this back business can have long lasting consequences if I'm not careful. PY said the same thing.

I have never appreciated my back till now. *bleah*

Oh yeah, after last night's mj session, my Dad got incredibly tired of my luck at the mj table and now prefers to play pool with me. *happy smile*

Something old and something new

Something borrowed and something blue......

Yum Cha

What do you think of when you see this?
My mind conjurs up pictures of Chinese teahouses, old men reading newspapers/playing chess and sipping tea as well as Lu Xun. Dont ask me why.
Oh yes, as well as circles and lines. No, not the Circle line.

Say Cheese

He sent me this directly after the scenery picture below. For one moment, I thought it was another scenery picture till I looked closer. Will never look at a cheesecake in the same light again. Nice hor...

Owe him big time for this. Because I shamelessly asked permission (demanded more like it) to upload the picture, and then whined that the earlier picture was in bmp rather than jpg. So he offered to convert and resent it. So nice!!!!!!

只是近黄昏，西阳无限好

I gushed over this. Till friend gently said this was where many drowned when the Tsunamis hit on 26 Dec 04.
Hence, I reversed the lines of the Chinese poem which forms the title of this entry.
And of cos this did not come from me. My Chinese standard is not that good. One of my Chinese lecturers from China said when you reversed the lines, sometimes a message of hope appears and quoted this as an example.

The Right Note Part 5

Does this bring to mind Casablanca and Gone With The Wind?

The Right Note Part 4

Felt very zen when I saw these two shots......

The Right Note Part 3

This shot reminds me of some beer/hard liquor advertisement.

The Right Note Part 2

He prefered the guitar shot, but the piano one has my vote. What do you think?

The Right Note Part 1

When I first saw this, I felt the vastness of space that was captured by the shot. However, when I subsequently viewed the picture again, the experience was never replicated. View it and see if you feel the same way I did.

Friend of mine took this picture. He used it as his msn pic. I love it and asked to snitch it for my blog. He kindly agreed. *happy smile*

Keys To Your Heart

The Keys to Your Heart

You are attracted to those who are unbridled, untrammeled, and free. In love, you feel the most alive when your lover is creative and never lets you feel bored. You'd like to your lover to think you are loyal and faithful... that you'll never change. You would be forced to break up with someone who was emotional, moody, and difficult to please. Your ideal relationship is lasting. You want a relationship that looks to the future... one you can grow with. Your risk of cheating is zero. You care about society and morality. You would never break a commitment. You think of marriage as something precious. You'll treasure marriage and treat it as sacred. In this moment, you think of love as something you thirst for. You'll do anything for love, but you won't fall for it easily.

What I Like

JF and Elvina came up with a theme - What I Like - and requested we do a post on it.Their request brought back fond memories.

This is the 2nd time in 3 years that someone has asked me what I like. The first was at my polygraph test during the polygraph interview section. My answer was 'I like living'. My polygrapher blinked. Not long after, I found the quote by Agatha Christie which sits below the title of this blog.

Hence, when I saw JF's comments to hurry and blog on the theme, I wondered if it was a tad superfluous for me to do so. At the same time, I do not think they were looking for a blog entry with 3 words in it - What do I like? I like living. Ok, make it 6.

It is not easy to blog on the stuff one likes. Had a minor headache trying to list them. Hence the words do not flow and the sentences are jerky. Please bear with me.

What do I like? Please see below.

1. I like living.
I like living and all that life has to offer. Life is beautiful in many ways - beautiful sunsets, full moons, stormy nights, quiet evenings, sunny afternoons, the terrible earthquakes, the raging fires, the destructive hurricanes and devastating tsunamis. Life makes you acutely miserable, wildly despairing and racked with sorrow. It brings hope for tomorrow, faith that things will be better, dreams to keep you going and freedom to explore, as far as your mind and feet can go.

2. Reading
Reading has always been a favourite past time. My favourite authors include Agatha Christie, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, David Eddings, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Tom Clancy, Ian Fleming, F.R. Rowling, Charles Dickens, Roald Dahl, Rudyard Kipling, Louis Cha and the list goes on. Sometimes I like only a particular piece of work, think Lord of the Rings, Jane Eyre, Pride and Prejudice, The Magician. Currently am reading 'Beyond Cloak and Dagger' By Copeland Miles and 'The Duke of Mount Deer' by Louis Cha. Have not had much time to read lately. Have you ever noticed that it takes 3x as long to read a Chinese book? Make it 100x.

3. Solitude
I love solitude, especially at the end of the day, where one reflects on the journey in life so far, and the person one has become. Most people think I am an extrovert with too bubbly a personality, job interviewers included. They cannot be further from the truth. When you are the only child, you enjoy your own company best. Or rather, you learn to.

4. My room and my bed
My room is my sanctuary. It has seen me through my extreme emotions. If it could talk, I would need to enforce a gag order. Interestingly, there is no clock or stereo in it. Peace and tranquality rules. I love the round balcony in my room where I can watch the moon and stars at night or the world go by in the day. My parents will say I should list my bed as one of my favourite items though I beg to differ. Yes, I am one of those people who float to lalaland the minute their heads touch the pillow. One of those people who can sleep round the clock, wake up and go back to sleep some more. One of those people who are dead to the world when they sleep. *grin*

5. Music
My choice of music is very much influenced by my Dad. I am ashamed to say that my dad has heard of Westlife, Bread, Lisa Ono and many other singers BEFORE I've heard of them or even know they exist. Like what a colleague said 'Your dad is cool. You are not.'. There is a slight reversal of roles at home. My parents will turn on the radio. I will hollar at them to turn it off. I love Elvis Presley, Andy Williams and Englebert Humperdinck. AW and EH are my Dad's fav singers. Go figure. Oh yes, since we're on this. No one, absolutely no one, can do Moon River like Andy Williams. Go listen.

6. Musicals
I LOVE musicals. (My dad does not. He complains they put him to sleep. So I have no kaki.) Have not seen many due to high ticket prices. Many is relative, depending on which end of the spectrum you fall in. Would love to see more. Les Miserables was EXCELLENT. Phantom of the Opera is a sad imitation of the book. 42th Street had lovely dance moves. Oliver made me want to re-read Oliver Twist. Forbidden City: Portrait of an Empress saw me tearing and trying to convince my partner I was having a sinus attack. (I used up 3 packets of tissue...hahaha) Mama Mia had me and PY on our feet. The Sound of Music was a walk down memory lane. I think the movie was better though the movie was inspired by the musical.

7. Movies
Another love. I like shows that make you go all warm and fuzzy inside think The Sound of Music, Love Actually, Sleepless in Seattle, You've got mail. Yes THAT kind. I also like shows which make your heart race. Think LOTR, esp THAT scene where Legolas swung himself up the horse. You know, THAT one. I watched that movie twice I think, just for that scene. And the scene where they lit all the fire beacons.

8. Adrenalin
I love doing things that give me an adrenalin rush. Think karting, watching The Amazing Race/formula one/soccer, hearing the sharp short sound a cue gives off when you hit a cue ball, waking up in the middle of the night to catch those unearthly soccer matches, feeling the wind in your face when you rollerblade...the list goes on. Previously, I used to plan my social schedule around the EPL/World Cup/EuroCup matches. When you bring formula one into the picture, it made making plans on weekends difficult. My friends were quite patient with me then. I must thank them.

9. My Dad
Between both my parents, I like my Dad more. Which is why you will notice that I talk more about my Dad. He is my accomplice in crime. We do a lot of things together like drink, play pool, watch soccer, play mah jong, eat non-Chinese food, check out gadgets, read articles on cars. Sometimes I think I am the son my Dad always wanted but never had.

10. Odd numbers/the left side of me
I like odd numbers. My IC no comprises only odd numbers. My birth time is made up of only odd numbers. I favour the left side of me more because I was born a southpaw.

11. History
Studied the subject all my life. I never thought I would do it as one of my majors in uni. Life has a strange way of making you eat your words. Love Military history and Chinese history. My favourite dynasty is Tang. My favourite Chinese Emperor - a close fight between Li Long Ji and Ai Xin Jue Luo Hong Li. The former you will recognise if I mention Yang Gui Fei. The latter if I say Qian Long.

12. Boots, Indian/Peranakan heritage
I love boots. They do everything a dainty heel can do to an outfit and so much more. I have 5 pairs of boots. 4 black and 1 reddish brown. Out of the 4 black - one is 2.5' calf length, one is pointy 3' mid calf length. The other 2 are 2.5' short and 3' short. For the last 2, which pair I wear, depends on how long my pants are, and how much of a backache and foot pain I am willing to tolerate. My parents have banned me from buying more boots. I shall quote Oscar Wilde 'I can resist everything but temptation.' I love Peranakan sandals too. They are so pretty. The reason why this is not titled shoes is because I am no Imelda Marcos. I only like boots and peranakan sandals. Full stop. Period. I like the Indian Punjabi suit, Thaveni, Sari, Chinese cheongsum as well as the Nonya Kebaya. Am too short to carry off a thaveni and cheongsum properly. So will settle for the punjabi, sari and Kebaya. I love the Peranakan cuisine and culture.

13. All other things that fit not into the categories above

I love my friends. They have brought much joy into my life and have been very patient during my neurotic moments. What will I do without them. I love travelling and people watching. There is nothing more I love to do than sit in a cafe somewhere and watch the world go by. I like mental stimulation in the form of caustic wit, world weary eyes, being spontaneous...etc etc etc.

This has exhausted me more than I care to admit. Plodded on till I hit no 13.

Am back to office tomorrow. Hopefully I still remember my log in passwords. *grin*

Till then, life is beautiful.

Cheers!

The 32 Type Dating Test

Got this from Elvina's blog.
My results below......

The Priss
Deliberate Brutal Love Dreamer (DBLDf)


Mature. Responsible. Aristocratic. Excuse me. The Priss.

Prisses are the smartest of all female types. You're highly perceptive, and confident in your judgements. You'd take brutal honesty over superficiality any time--your friends always know where they stand with you. You're completely unfake. Don't tell me that's not a word. You're also excellent at redirecting internal negative energy.

These facts indicate people are often intimidated by you. They also fall for you, hard. You have a distant, composed allure that many find irresistible. If only more of them lived up to your standards.


Your exact opposite:
The Playstation

Random Gentle Sex Master

You were probably the last among your friends to have sex. And the first to pretend that you're pregnant. LOL. Though you're inclined to use sex as weapon, at least it's not as one of mass destruction. You're choosier than most about your partners. A supportive relationship is what you're really after. Whether you know it or not, you need something steady & long-term. And soothing.


ALWAYS AVOID: The Playboy, The Loverboy

CONSIDER: The Manchild

The 32-Type Dating Test by OkCupid - Free Online Dating.
My profile name: fairlady350

Amused

Just checked Kauri's blog to see if he has updated it.

And laughed.

My blues are now gone.

Kauri blogged one entry on my cue stick. I am surprised he would waste a blog entry on my silly cue. 'amused smile'

Kauri, I actually have a post in draft folder on all the ribbings you gave me the last time we played pool. You beat me to it.

Before you roll your eyes and go 'girls!', check out JF's cues first.

Will reply your blog questions another time.

Lalaland here I come......

Perplexed

Read the comments on my blog. Am a tad perplexed and disturbed.

JF has a link to my blog from his. Elvina and Kurakat vist his blog frequently. I post on JF's blog using my blogger id due to the settings in his blog. Hence I understand how they could find my blog.

Richard and Ghost are readers of Elvina's and Kurakat's blog respectively. When I post in Elvina's blog, I go by the nick, 'Life is beautiful'. When I post in Kurakat's blog, I had to use my real id once again due to the settings. However, when I posted in Ghost's blog, I used 'Life is beautiful'. There was no reference at all to my blog when I used 'Life is beautiful'. Neither was there any reference to 'Life is beautiful' when I used my blogger id.

So how did Richard and Ghost find my blog?

Msged JF to ask. As usual, he gave me an answer that had my fingers itching to wring his neck.

Btw, JF, I have already linked Elvina's blog to mine. Look carefully at the links on the left, under 'Full Speed To'. Yours is there too. So is Kurakat's.

Am now off to read Ghost's stories. Looks like the What I like post will have to be KIV-ed one more day......

Musings

Colin dropped me an offline ICQ msg. I read it and was surprised.

Colin, I do not feel very strongly about things and life in general. Even when I do, I do not write with strong feelings or conviction too. In some ways, I view life from a detached platform. Which is why most friends who read my blog remark that I seem to be trying hard to find things to say. That is not the case. I just do not blog my thoughts. As I've told many people, my life is not an open book for the whole world to read.

A couple of friends after reading the entry on links and lifetimes have asked why bother blogging when the blog entry has nothing to do with the thoughts swimming in my head. Because dear friends, when I re-read the entries, they serve to remind me of what I was thinking then.

To give you a few examples, on the blog entry 'On links and lifetimes', I was actually thinking about the fraility of life and how unpredictable it is. Selena had sent me a mail the day before to say her colleague passed away. I was thinking how planning for tomorrow is a luxury we all will never have one day; how unpredictable life can be when it brings back people you never thought you will meet again; how true the phrase que sera sera is.

On the entry 'What age do you act', I was thinking about Junior and the curve balls life has thrown him.

On the entry 'Freedom', I was reflecting on what Kauri had said to me with regards to living one's life, and how I will be saying yet another goodbye to yet another friend when he leaves the country.

And as for this entry, I am musing over the sms Mad sent me last night before he left for a short trip today as well as my Myers-Briggs result. I wonder how well do I know myself.

Have not had much sleep the last 2 days. Sleep time suffers when you try to squeeze more things into your schedule. Lack of sleep tends to make me blue.

Happily Ever After???

This morning, while on the train, I mused over the entries I would pen later in the day. There was the weekend to write about. It had been fun and would like to remember it. In addition, JF and Elvina had an unusual request - To write on what we like. I marvel at how they could update their blogs so frequently. Have quite a number of backdated entries, which I fear will never see the light of day. Time, I need more of it.

Was on course today. Will be on course for the next few days. *happy smile* But I am digressing. Something happened during the course which made me put all other entries on hold. Course was on the Myers-Briggs personality framework. For one of the exercises, the course coordinator, Angeline, showed us an obituary.

It was dedicated to a Susan Eu, at the first anniversary of her death. The memorial was written in the form of a letter to her by her hubby, Vincent. That was in 1999. Angeline said she chanced upon it due to the eye-catching colours (it was all black). Every year from then till now, on 24 October, one would appear without fail. There was a mad scamble for today's ST. And there it was. There were also a few new additions, like a website address.

1999 - 2005 is 6 years. Despite my other comments on the memorial and the hubby, which I shall politely refrain from blogging, I was like wow. If you have seen Desperate Housewives, you will remember some of the more memorable lines, other than the babes and the lovely 350z. One of them goes along the lines of 'yes, the vow is simple (Mary Alice's voice goes on to recite the vow). Finding that someone to make the vow to is not. But when you do, that is when happily ever after begins.'

Then half way into writing this blog entry, a friend wanted my opinion on which shirt to wear for a seminar tomorrow. So whilst waiting for him to model the shirts in front of the webcam, I checked out the website. The site address is http://susaneu.netor.com.sg/. I shall leave you to form your own opinions, as how I have formed mine.

On links and lifetimes

I like writing late at night. It is peaceful and quiet. The words just flow, continously. The thoughts just come, unhindered.

Contrary to what most people think, I have no love for writing. One writes to express ideas, thoughts, feelings amongst other things. I write to maintain one's ability to pen one's thoughts and to track the more memorable episodes in life. Hence the blog's name "As time goes by", hence the blog's link "the fundamental things apply". If you are wondering, they came from the lyrics of a song, from a movie, Casablanca. "A kiss is just a kiss; A smile is just a smile. The fundamental things apply; As time goes by." And yes, when I blog, the blog entry usually has little relevance to the thoughts swimming in my head. In a sense, I blog for numero uno, to borrow a headline from TNP.

Have you noticed how working life has dulled the senses and numbed the brain? Have you noticed how it has mutated our writing styles from being uniquely one's own to officious-sounding propaganda? Have you noticed how we produced much better pieces while still in school?

Today I bumped into 2 people, both from uni days. One was a blind girl who was in my tutorial class for the module on history of modern China and Japan. The other was a guy who was in my tutorial for the module on Cold War. The girl I knew only by name and despite being in the same tutorial class for one whole semester, we never spoke. The other used to be a good buddy of mine. We could talk for hours on the phone, from night till dawn.

I was reminded of a Chinese calligraphy talk which I attended early this year. The speaker related a story. He had been invited to a conference in Japan. They requested him to write a Japanese saying. The words translate to mean something along the lines of when your sleeve brushes past a stranger in a room, it is the culmination of many lifetimes' karma.

Looks like my 'fate' with some people have yet to end.

What Age Do You Act?

Got this off Junior's blog. The last time I tried it, my age was much younger. Perhaps being too sloshed with alcohol makes one more mature. Just got back from a drinking session. *grin*

You Are 28 Years Old

Under 12: You are a kid at heart. You still have an optimistic life view - and you look at the world with awe. 13-19: You are a teenager at heart. You question authority and are still trying to find your place in this world. 20-29: You are a twentysomething at heart. You feel excited about what's to come... love, work, and new experiences. 30-39: You are a thirtysomething at heart. You've had a taste of success and true love, but you want more! 40+: You are a mature adult. You've been through most of the ups and downs of life already. Now you get to sit back and relax.

What Age Do You Act?

Freedom

I am finally free from trying to decipher the nouns, predicates, verbs and other related stuff which make up a Chinese sentence. Is this called the syntax?

The last time I went through such a nightmare was in EL1101. Remembered promising self never to go through it again. Life has a strange way of making you eat your words does it not?

Am finally free. Am also shackled by thoughts of whether will I pass the module or not. *keeping fingers xxx* Oh well, que sera sera.

Back to work tomorrow. It's Friday. *happy smile*

On course next week. Have to start prepping for month long trip to Indon.

Cheers to freedom and zen like state.

Which Dynasty Warrior Are You Part II

Am having fun with this quiz. Sent it to a few of my friends.

Colin is Cao Cao. I cannot believe it. He always chooses Cao Cao when he plays Romance of the 3 Kingdoms. The words 'yeah right' were forming in my head when he told me his results. *incredulous*

Dan is Lu Bu. And I thought he was refering to Lu Bu Wei. *sheepish grin* (yes, laugh)

JF is Guan Yu. Wow, awe inspiring.

Kurakat who is JF's friend, is Zhao Yun. Could some kind soul enlighten me on who is Zhao Yun.

Kurakat...who is Xing Cai? Have never heard of her prior.

WT is Guan Yu too. Guan Yu appears to be a popular result.

The saga continues......

Took the test again.... hee hee

Which Dynasty Warrior Are You?

A lovely lazy morning......

Wanted to wake up early today to catch The Amazing Race direct off satellite. Slept till 9 plus instead.

Dad and I bought waffles yesterday while doing grocery shopping. Had yummy waffles for brekkie. Read the papers. First time in a long long while I have had time to read the papers.

From then till now, I've read enough Chinese words to see stars. Have another 60 chinese idioms to memorise because my masochistic lecturers think it is too wimpy to allow candidates to bring a dictionary into the exam hall. After that, I need to make some sense of how to de-contruct a Chinese sentence into verb phrase and noun phrase. *bleah* Alternatively I can opt to not do that portion of the paper, and throw the marks away. Have yet to calculate the magic number for this paper though.

After 1700 hrs tomorrow, I am free..... free till next semester. *happy smile*

Should I make plans for tomorrow or come back home and pack room? *ponder ponder ponder*

On Friday night, will be meeting Kauri for drinks and pool before he flies to HK. Sat meeting KK for dinner. Checking out a new pasta place.

Jade Falcon - the pig costs $75. They require you to place a $100 deposit, which will be refunded once you return the pig. Brewerkz sells the pig (8.5l) and the keg (30l). The keg costs 100+ if I remember correctly. Paulaner sells the keg only - 20 litres and 30 litres. 20l costs 160 and 30l cost 200 bucks. The prices between Brewerkz and Paulaner are similar. However you need to place orders beforehand for them to ensure they have the beer.

Buying the pig and keg is much cheaper than what you pay when you drink there imho. I'm never drinking there again if I can help. YJ tells me that Brewerkz has happy hours during the afternoons, where 1 pint of beer costs $3.

Office culture

What is your office culture?

Ever since we got a pool table, a pool culture has evolved. People whom you cannot imagine playing pool can either play darn well, or are learning how to play. Case in point for the former being all the uncles, and the latter all the aunties.

Then everyone started to buy their own cues. Previously, you differentiated the players by: those who have cues cannot play well, but those who dont can play like the devil. Now the better the player, the cheaper his cue and more 'proletariat' it is. If you thought my Firebolt was a frivolous indulgence, some of my colleagues bought their cues overseas. hah!

The best of them all was Uncle Thomas who not only wrote me a mail on how to choose my cue, but also called all the chaps in his section who can kick ass in pool for their advice for me.

Then after I got my cue, only had time to play with it twice.

bleah!

NB. Dad checked out my cue and said it was nice. Then I learnt that Dad used to own a Walter Davis, whatever the heck it is. Skeletons in the closet indeed...... So now I can leave the cue case ard and no longer have to sneak here and there. *smirk*

Raindrops on roses

Am sipping lemon grass and ginger tea as I type this. What a wonderful relaxing feeling. It would be perfect if it was raining outside now. Reminded me of what Dee said the other day at Haagen Dazs.

What have I been busy with. Details as follows:

Last week of September and first week of October - planned an Oktober Fest party in office.

We celebrated Oktober Fest in office. Ordered a pig from Brewerkz. Pig as in the drink version and not the makan version. What is the difference between a pig and a keg? Both are draft beer. A pig is a smaller verion of a keg. The pig held 8.5 litres. The keg can hold 20 - 30 litres. We choose Golden Ale though YJ wanted Indian Pale Ale. The girls won. Girl Power indeed. Ordered Pork knuckles and sausages from Espirito Santo, a Brazillian meatery (is there such a word?) at River Valley. They grilled and delivered it to our office. The delivery was free, but not the grilling, which was 10 bucks. Speedy and San cooked mashed potatoes. They cheated by using the instant ones but it was sinfully yummy. Didnt know that instant mashed potatoes could taste so yummylicious. In our drunken stupor, we contemplated the next party. Halloween, Thanksgiving, Deepavali......the list goes on. Contemplated going to Ah Neh land again, so that we could get outfits for Deepavali. Our obession with all things Indian is getting quite alarming.

Oh yeah, Dee could not make it for her bday celeb. So we postponed it.

Second week of October - Retail therapy and Dee's bday celeb

Went Ngee Ann City with parents on Sunday. Parents wanted to check out Taka sale. I was feeling way too broke to shop at Taka and wondered around the rest of Ngee Ann City, which proved to be a costly mistake.

Celebrated Dee's birthday at Shaslik. Had a nice surprise prior. Dont ever order the osyter appetisers. It's interesting, but you wont die without experiencing it. Try their soup, the one which starts with a B. Dee tried it. She survived. And it looked and smelt good. Their steaks were nice, always ask for medium if you want medium rare. Skip the Baked Alaska. Once again you wont die.

Went to Haagen Dazs for desserts. They were playing an Andy William song, whose title I cannot remember. Dee said if it was raining now, all would be perfect. I remarked that rainy days, ice cream parlours and melancholic moods go hand in hand. We all giggled. Made plans to go kayaking and do the tree top walk. Then when we all got home, PY remembered she had to attend a church wedding on kayak day. *bleah*

From then till now - Ping and Karen's BDay celeb, Google box and making post exams plans

Celebrated Ping and Karen's bday at Black Angus. Once again, my lack of topo had me going to The Fullerton instead of One Fullerton. Their fried mushrooms and potato skins were yummy. So was the salad. The only disappointing thing was the steaks, which was quite an irony. Did I mention the fudge cake?...No? So you know lah......But the service staff were fantastic.

Bought the Legend Of the Condor Heroes. My reviews will wait for another post. Spent the entire weekend watching it. I think I will buy the book when Kino have their 20% promo again. Watched all my recorded tapes of Qian Long Wang Chao. If I find the VCDs when I'm in Shanghai, I will buy all 3 sets (Kangxi, Yongzheng, Qianlong). Made plans with Smelly KK to meet up for dinner. Found the Pete's Place brunch and emailed to PY, ZS and Dee. Dee asked if it meant we all were going before I left.... *happy smile*

Yesterday and today -

Squid msged to ask if we wanted to go for some play. We contemplated going for some other event, musical I think, starring Laura Michelle Kelly. Canned it in the end as I wont be in country then. Squid asked me to go retail therapy on Friday. I replied with a cheeky msg. hee hee hee She will wring my neck I think.

All I need now is rain. Then all would be perfect. =)

I am a prized ass

Have not blogged for awhile due to a mountain of work in office. Yes, I have been too busy to log on to the net. Too busy to even feel the withdrawal symptons of being internet-less.

So busy that the days flew by, that it is now almost halfway into October but I still feel as though I'm living the final days of September. THAT busy.

Ping, I delete spam comments and only spam comments. Of cos I would show up for your bday celeb.

Goethe, thanks for your concern. Did not realise so many people visit your blog till I saw your latest posting. 'sheesh'

I am a prized ass.

Have been too busy to check mail for the last 3 weeks. As such, I missed the deadline for module evaluation and module registration for NEXT semester. Did not even read the mail till one day after the closing date. Went down to register today after exams. Next sem, I have lessons on Monday and FRIDAY! Not again! *bah* *disgusted snort*

Was too busy to check if exams were open book or close book exams. Called the admin office to check only one day prior to exam. And yes, was too busy to do much studying other than flipping through 1/4 of the textbook. The magic number for this paper is 46 (once again). This means I need 46 marks out of a possible (but highly impossible) 100 from the final paper to clear the whole module. *keep fingers xxx*

Went down for exams and did not bring mid term assignment along. Ended up, had to re-do a few questions from scratch where I could have copied wholesale from my assignment.

Was so stoned that from 1630 hrs onwards, I was just writing to fill the mintues. And silently urging the clock to tick faster to 1700 hrs so that we would have to put the pen down.

Have been too busy to plan for trip to Indon.

Have clean forgotten to thank beano for his long mail and keychain from US.

Lastly, I think I wished Ping and Karen Happy Birthday ONE day after their actual bdays.

Prized ass indeed!