I realised that......

some of you have left comments on Daily Gripe. 'bright smile'

He has a caustic wit and a most lovely sense of humour does he not? Makes for great reading. Many bloggers there are now, but writers are few and far between.

Other than Raman Laser whom I've known for 11 years, Daily Gripe is my only other old friend (8 years) who keeps a blog. Strangely enough, both are guys and both their writings reflect a brain, loads of wit and humour as well as a flair for writing.

I wonder why many say girls are the ones who keep blogs. Check out my links and you will know why.

Oh yeah, I also noticed that Daily Gripe has linked me on his blog. *wink wink wink*

To Turtleland

Am going off to Penang for New Year. Will be back on 2 JAN 06. Time flies does it not?!

Happy New Year friends. May you have many things to cheer about in the next 365 and 1/4 days.

What will your New Year resolutions be?

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas friends!

Am off to Malacca for Christmas..... =)

I am off......

To Bangkok...... =)

Leaving for airport in less than 3 hours time. Yet to pack. =)

Not doing much shopping this time. More of a see the world go by holiday. Will be bringing Islam: A Short History by Karen Armstrong there for a leisure read. Duck thought I was mad. *grin* Well, dear Duck, I would never have the patience to plough through such a book in Singapore, with so many things to distract me.

Very sleepy still. Went to catch Pride & Prejudice yesterday. Lovely! Had a great laugh. I feel so inspired to read the book again. And realised that Jane Austen is a brilliant writer. Women's suffrage has progressed much since for which I am thankful.

Something for you to ponder while I am gone.... What does Hua Ze Lei from Meteor Garden and Mr Darcy from Pride and Prejudice have in common?

"It is a truth universally acknowledged that every man in possession of a fortune must be in want of a wife." - Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice

How far we have come since then......

Ciao

Kauri Junior

Kauri's son was born on 3 DEC 2005.

Congratulations to Kauri.

I asked if he had thought of a name for the kid. He said no. I read his blog and found one super cheem Chinese poem on Cambridge written by Xu Zhi Mo (at least I think it is by XZM). Had to study the poem during a pract crit class in my first semester. Given Kauri's personality, I know whichever name he gives his boy will be an interesting and unique one.

Btw, I found the place where I went to drink with Kauri. It's called Wine Flair @ Thomson. Something like it. Now must grab Kauri to go drink again, before he flies off to work. The only thing is, I think he will prob want to spend more time with his son than go drinking.

Double booking

Argh!

Memory is going. I have unconsciously double booked myself for a few appointments these last few days. Not one, not two, but .... oh damn, the exact number slips me -AGAIN. This always happens when I do not get my required 8 - 10 hours of snooze time every day. *sob sob*

Just watched TAR. Next week's TAR looks exciting. I will be in Bangkok then..... *happy smile*

Meeting a friend later for tea at Fosters. Called a few mins ago to make a reservation. Staff told me they take reservations for tea only from 3 - 330 pm. He suggested I do a walk-in, and said they would not be crowded on a weekday. Duh! So why cant you take my reservations then? Rules are man made are they not?

I love English teas, especially if you can do it either with book in hand or with a group of friends. Pinky, Duck, Ongie, KC and I did the Conrad tea earlier this year. I wonder how will Fosters measure up, given all the reviews on Fosters. 'keeping fingers xxx'

Meeting Pinky and Duck this Friday for dinner. Have not met them for the longest time. =)

Separately, I am amused by the reactions to my post on MT. Am not commenting on MT's deliberate evasion of NS, but more on the views put forth by the writer in the article and people's reaction to him. It's MT's choice how he wishes to live his life. In any case, as what a reader pointed out, he is now a Brit citizen and he has been punished. You can choose to evade NS. I can choose to buy concert tickets. But I cannot comprehend how any Singaporean will want to buy a ticket to MT's concert. That was what I was blogging about.

I really hope that if you leave a comment on my blog, you will id yourself. This way, at least I know who you are. It doesnt have to be your real name. Just something which will enable me to id you will suffice.

My life is not an open book for the world to read. I am a private person, despite my flamboyant mannerisms. Which is why if I can, I will never leave comments on other blogs using my blogger id. I seek not to get blog traffic. This blog is for my friends, acquaintances and myself. It scares me when I know strangers have access to my thoughts. It's an idiosyncracy. Please bear with me.

The importance of NS

Was reading TODAY this morning over brekkie.

One article was on the lessons we can learn from the Melvyn Tan saga. Was quite amused by the writer's views.

Firstly, let me point out that no matter how world class a talent MT is, the fact remains that he evaded NS. Allow me to paraphrase WC, who like Jade Falcon, is from armour. He said that many of his platoon mates always joke about the excuses they will give to miss reservist, but every time they get recalled, the whole platoon will show up. This is what I call ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country. They say that actions speak louder than words. People like MT tell me in the loudest of voices that should one day we get invaded, they will not stay to fight for our HDB estates, our hawker centres, our Changi airport, and everything else that makes our country Singapore.

Hence, I cannot believe that there are people who will BUY his concert tickets. There are some things in life that money cannot buy. Integrity is one of them. If you have integrity, nothing else matters. If you dont, nothing else matters too. How can you support someone who shows so little regard for your country? The writer said we have lost a world class talent via our reactions. Only one question crossed my mind when I read the article. Are we so hard up for world class talent? I would much rather cheer for Jing Junhong in the Olympics semi finals thank you very much.

Remember new water? Up till now, I have refused to drink new water, no thanks to my friends who have tried it and made a face. But you know what? Should the day comes where we have to drink it, the same friends who made a face every time you mention new water, will rather drink new water than drink water from you know where.

The writer went on to add that we should learn from this and try to improve NS. Perhaps those who were gifted in music or poetry could serve in those departments; somewhat like medical students, who could go on to read their medicine degree before serving NS. In this way, he argued, we would not lose our talents to other countries.

I felt he totally missed the rationale behind such a decision, as well as the reason for NS. Medical students who graduate to become doctors will prove useful on a battlefield where casualties are a certainty. Our NS policy is to give us a ready army to protect the country should the need arises. Not pianists nor poets. On the battlefield, there is no place nor need for pianists or poets.

As for those who refuse to stay to do their NS, you are welcome to go.

Spy Camera

I bought the Nikon S4. Have been playing with it for the last 5 days. Colin says he will give me free tutorials on it. Yipeeeeeeeeeeeeee...Now my devious mind is trying to wrangle a bike ride from him. Sometimes he seems so mature despite being my junior. Especially when I keep hearing his repeated admonitions on safety.

Took leave today. Have too many days of leave to clear. Believe it or not, I'm clearing 2004 leave still. Yeah, go green!..... grin

Went blading at East Coast this morning. Dad dropped me off and went to visit my grand uncle. East Coast is pretty relaxing, peaceful and tranquail on a weekday - no crowds, no screaming kids, no cyclists on the track.

Am seriously tempted to go blading again in a few days time, have brekkie there, and read papers. I love having brekkie at East Coast Mac. It allows you to watch the world go by and contemplate your life.

Today, while my eyes follow the flight of the dragonfly in front of me, I formally bury all hopes of getting a class 2b license. It's way too dangerous. Rollerblading and karting gives me a similiar adrenalin rush minus the danger. Oh well, at 26, it's time I learn to treasure life a teeny weeny bit more.

Met up with KK and friends at Settlers Cafe. Had loads of fun.

Am now terrribly sleepy but cant go off to lalaland, at least not till I finish this huge bowl of soup in front. =p