You Know 20070616 is Auspicious

... when you get invited for 2 wedding dinners on the same day. When I knew that J&F and D&S were having their ADs in June, I thought it wouldn't be such a coincidence, so I agreed to go when D asked me. It's a good chance to meet some university friends that I haven't seen since I graduated mah. Honestly, I prefer J&F's as the crowd would be more fun, my sister might get to meet her idol and I have more confidence in Tung Lok 金玉满堂's food vs Hotel Rendezvous (although I have eaten neither before). But promised already, dun upset people's plans lah :| Pakat with W and M to give $80. Cannot appear giam siap or too generous.

I was blur enough to keep thinking 16th is a Sunday, until Friday night.

Got home from work at 1.30pm. Got my sister to help dye my hair coral pink, which was a disaster throughout. The dye kept flowing down my neck (think she put so much that being non-drip didn't help) and the color didn't come out well. Well because I had some regrowth and I chose to be lazy and ignored the instruction set for regrowth, so the color came out uneven. But even the regrowth looked undyed! The conclusion is that coral pink only looks good on the box.

Tried my new cheap items:

• CARE Pre-makeup cream $3. Sure felt very smooth after applying. Actually I just don't want to look like oily kuali. It better work.
• e.l.f. Brightening Eye Color, Silver Lining $3.03. Got a damn lot of color with 1 swipe. Will it stay? Only time will tell.
• e.l.f. All Over Color Stick, Persimmon $3.03. EEKS! Why is it so silvery?? Supposed to be dark orange-red I thought? Cannot use as lipstick lah. Used as a highlighter instead.
• Blusher from Daiso $2. Also very pigmented. Looked too wayang at first try and had to mute with foundation. This is so much better than that lousy $12 Maybelline one which you can spend a lifetime swiping and nothing shows.
• Burt's Bees Beeswax Lip Balm $6.03. Actually, I hate lipstick. Confirm will drop off since I eat so chorlor-ly. Just put something to prevent my lipskin from peeling then.

First stop was 金玉满堂 to wish J. 6.45pm and she hasn't dressed yet. F was having his hair styled strand by strand. Took a photo with her, passed her a token angpow (why am I so nice?) and left. My sister didn't get to see her idol. Ran into the guys attending her dinner as I was leaving.

Next was Hotel Rendezvous. It's so near, yet so far! So much traffic and traffic lights that it was almost 7.30pm when I reached. But as usual, banquets never start on time. I think it was 8-something when we went in. Dropped my $80 angpow into a donation box lookalike. Didn't know it's like that now. Like quite impersonal.

Sharing the table was poopee, bug, WL, KT and wife. M flew plane because he had a stomachache. Xuelanghu got event. Razor... dunno why. Not sure if there's a 10th person.

It was the usual proceedings, usual food. Most of the time, my table was served relatively later than those around. I think it's my aura. W left before taking the I-was-here photo :(

The sharksfin was noteworthy for a generous amount of crab and dried scallop shreds and long sharksfin fibre than the previous few I had. And of course the 2nd helping since there were only 6 at the table :P

I didn't have the prawns because I didn't want to dirty my hands. It's delicious, according to the rest :(

Had 1 slice of roast chicken with sour plum sauce. Juicy meat, crispy skin, but slices that are ready to pop into the mouth are rare.

They turned off the light to screen the AD video while we were having the steamed fish -_-;; The funniest was the poor little boy commissioned to open the car door for D. He looked extremely pale, half-closing eyes and dark eye rings!

Sliced ab·a·lo·ne with spinach! Mmm~~

闷香菇. Not good, the mushrooms are tasteless inside. Must be didn't 闷 long enough.

生面. Worst. Tasteless gravy and squid. But it has peeled prawns!

Or-nee. Yummy! But it's very rich, so I could only have 1 helping. I would love to take the rest home but I didn't bring plastic bag.

Bug and poopee are big eaters! Thanks to them, we did not throw away 60% of the food. (4 people not here, W left early and I didn't really eat)

I didn't touch the booze. Wedding booze confirm taste bad. KT's wife was slightly sick towards the end. Did she have too much too fast, or it's really... bad? I acted cultured by drinking chinese tea.

People were gone in a blink after they finished their dessert. So 现实. Stupid sky was pouring. It was this time that I discovered that none of us at the table has a driving license *gasp*; KT paid $90 at Mac with his army friends and didn't get a cent back *OMG*

O yes, D's wife is very pretty, for that night at least.

The lousy cream isn't up to my expectations. Eyeshadow partly dissolved, but still visible. Worth the $3.

The gift that we took a good while to figure out the use. It's a salt and pepper shaker.


BooOooO~~ I've killed the red shaker!

Blah

I can't go hungry in my office.




Ikea's stuff are cheap because you have to DIY. The same goes for the letterings on this keyboard. This helps to keep costs down.

I have spent an atrocious sum in May and June. Both needs and whims.

I have done something dishonest. Or rather, I have not done something I rightfully should have. Continue to feign ignorance.

My beloved SE K750i has retired. The above are the last few pictures taken by it. It's sturdy, withstanding the countless falls from heights. I found a bug with the business card function. Upon edit, the phone reboots. But ok lah, doesn't bother me much. Overall, it has served me well. Thumbs up!

The Visitor

As I entered the guest's area of my office in the morning, an Indian guy looking lost, approached me.

Him: (In a heavy accent) Hi I am looking for Par-vri-ahn.
Me: Sorry I don't know who he is. Maybe he's from a different department. Do you have his number?
Him: O yes. (Takes out a crumpled piece of paper full of scribblings aka waste paper and shows me) Here.
Me: O Adrian! Yes yes I know. I go get him, take a seat please.

I went in and told Adrian that his interviewee was outside. Adrian mumbled that he was supposed to come at 9am, but it's 9.30am already.

How come that guy didn't call although he has a number? Odd.

When Adrian returned,
Adrian: You understand what that guy was saying ah? I don't ley.
Me: No?
Us: Hahaha!

I wonder what agency my company is using. I have never seen a single Chinese come for interview, much less employed. Am I racist? Maybe slightly, but you should see my team for yourself.

Crap and Classic

明明

Comments: Er... I gave up on it after 30min. Does this count as a comment?
Ok if I really have to say something, to give this movie the benefit of doubt, I'm too shallow for this deep movie full of boring dialogues/monologues and what-not. I couldn't connect with it because the story is disconnected. Like I dunno why 明明 must go and steal a box lying on a counter when she was there for $5m and ended up preferring the box to money, and o btw, why is something so precious so carelessly left on the counter for everybody to steal?

People say 王家卫's movies have no story at all. Ya lah, but it's not as bad as this 明明 lor. At least superficially, 王家卫's movies have beautiful people like 梁朝伟, 王菲, 金城武 and 木村拓哉 to keep superficial people watching. Not that 吴彦祖 is not handsome, but most of the screentime is taken up by some ah beng bloke. Bleah.

Give it a miss, if you like slapstick comedy like me. It's not even worth downloading. I must apologize to my harddisk for putting it through such unnecessary torture.

Rating: Er..erm...


白い巨塔

It's 白い巨塔, not 白色巨塔 hor. First of all, I don't watch Taiwanese shows and secondly, I have zero confidence in shows starring 言承旭. But I must thank 白色巨塔 because I almost wanted to watch it when I saw the trailers on channel 8, since I heard the Japanese version was very popular. As luck would have it, 白い巨塔 became available on *ahem*, so why settle for an imitation?

There is no female lead. No cool, young men. No found-in-your-dreams-only romance. Politicking and bribery. A congregation of fake middle-aged women with irritatingly high-pitched act-cute voices. Limited soundtracks, sombre at best. An exciting plot that leaves the viewer more stressed than relaxed is what there is. Well this series lived up to, and surpassed my expectations.

Rating: 10/5! It can have 明明's stars as well!

Citibank REALLY Cares For Your Pocket

This afternoon, a lady from Citibank called me. Well, what other matter could it be, apart from showing concern for my pocket once more?

So what made them call me again barely 2 working days later? I must have spent 2 working days reconsidering spending money on softdrinks? Or Citibank is so confident about 100% take-up that their database schema is like this:

Table Credit_Card_Customer
Name varchar(66) NOT NULL
Contact_No varchar(30) NOT NULL
Signed_Up_CS char(1) NOT NULL Default(N)

Then execute this:
SELECT Name, Contact_No FROM Credit_Card_Customer WHERE Signed_Up_CS<>'Y';

And they will keep calling the people that appear in the query? TELL ME CITIBANK, IS THIS WHAT YOU DO? Seriously, they should add 1 more column, Persuaded_But_Rejected so that they would stop trying to help me!! I CAN LOOK FOR HELP ON MY OWN WHEN I NEED LAH! Like sign up with them when I think I cannot pay my bill soon heehee.

Anyway, back to that lady on the phone. I interrupted her saying that they had called me before and I am not interested. I should have told her that her colleague just called me 2 working days ago and it's too quick for a follow-up. I swear I will lash out at the next person who calls me about this same thing within 3 months.

Although I'm still not sure how the premium is calculated, not interested in finding out lah. It's like finding out about life insurance when I will never get one.

Citibank Cares For Your Pocket

Last Friday during lunch, I received a call from a lady from Citibank. In a very serious tone, she said that from their records, (was she was going to ask why I haven't spent a single cent yet, is it because I haven't receive my card) I didn't apply for Credit Shield (CS).

Eh? Simi CS? The lady probably figured that I didn't know what it is, so she asked if I have heard of CS. No, I said, and she proceeded to introduce it to me.

Quoted from Citibank's Q&A
Q: What is CreditShield?

A: CreditShield is an insurance cover, exclusively for Citibank cardmembers and Ready Credit account holders.

CreditShield frees you and your family from worrying over your credit card or Ready Credit payments should the unforeseen happen. It pays the minimum amount due on your account for up to 6 months, if you are totally and temporarily disabled. Or your entire account balance up to S$40,000 in the event of death or total permanent disablement.

You pay only $0.36 for every $100 of current balance on your monthly statement of account. When your current balance is zero, you pay absolutely nothing.

It is easy to enrol and no medical examination is required. To be eligible, you have to be between the age of 21 and 60 years.

Actually I recalled everything by the time she got to the first sentence of the second paragraph, but I just let her continue anyway. I had indeed passed up the chance to apply for it while applying for my credit card (CC). Maybe I should hear her out first. Maybe there's a free trial or free gift if I sign up with her? Haaa.

She said that Citibank strongly recommends that all customers sign up for CS.

I didn't like the tone and wording of the last sentence. This product is obviously designed for compulsive shoppers, and I'm definitely not one of them, although the possibility of me joining the dark side is there, judging from how much I have spent in May *blush*. What is the likelihood of me spending till I cannot pay up? Even if something happened and I had to bleed my savings, I still don't think it can get to the point that I have to default on CC payments. Even if I'm so suay, CC bills will get top priority simply because of the exorbitant interest rate. I know the premium is insignificant, but I could use that money to buy a few cans of soft drinks ok! Throw away a few dollars monthly, 积少成多 can! Singapore's Visa default rate was only about 4% in 2003, so Citibank is scheming to collect free lunches from 96% of their customers! Hah! I won't fall for that!

I asked the lady if it's compulsory. She said no. I asked if there's any preclusion clause. No also.

But too bad, still not interested :P

Played Out By Machines

**WARNING - TECHNICAL POST AHEAD**

On a Friday evening, I wanted to finish coding this portion before going home.

public HashMap combine(Timestamp[] a, String[] b, String[] c) {
/*The objective is to group together each of the elements in
*arrays a and c, using c as the key.
*Arrays a, b, c contain the same number of elements and have
*been pre-processed such that c[0] maps to a[0] and b[0]
*and so forth.
*The resulting HashMap will be passed to a jsp page to be
*printed
*/

HashMap hm = new HashMap();
Vector v = new Vector();
for(int i=0; i<a.length; i++) {
v.addElement(a[i]);
v.addElement(b[i]);
hm.put(c[i], v);
}
return hm;
}

--
Expected output, assuming size of result is 4
Key: 1
Object: [28/05/2007, A]

Key: 2
Object: [29/05/2007, B]

Key: 3
Object: [30/05/2007, C]

Key: 4
Object: [31/05/2007, D]

Actual output
Key: 1
Object: [31/05/2007, D]

Key: 2
Object: [31/05/2007, D]

Key: 3
Object: [31/05/2007, D]

Key: 4
Object: [31/05/2007, D]

Knowing how blur I am, I thought I did something wrong when retrieving the HashMap and printing in the jsp. Nothing wrong.

Printed out the HashMap within combine(), before return. OMG! It's already giving the wrong output! No wonder everything is haywire at the jsp.

Something wrong with my loop probably? But nothing seems wrong. In fact, nothing can be wrong, coz the function is so basic that even a noob can do it.

Added v.clear() to ensure the Vector is totally empty at each iteration. Didn't work.

Changed v.addElement(Object) to v.add(position, Object). Didn't work.

How can? I added line-by-line println. The correct values are being added into the Vector ley... So how did they end up with the correct key but wrong contents?

Ok. This time I iterated through the whole HashMap each time I added to it. Surprise! Everything is correct. The question just got bigger. Why was everything correct in the for loop, but wrong once it's out? Baffling.

I was supposed to have completed this task like 1hr ago, but I'm still stuck. I'm very certain it's not my fault, but somehow things are not working.

Is it some synchronization problem, somehow? Problem ran too fast and screwed up? Sounds unlikely, but well, who knows, since I'm having an impossible problem already. API said HashMap is unsynchronized, but Hashtable is. Ok. Faster change to Hashtable see how. But still not working!!

Feel like giving up already. My father has arrived and was waiting for me. But how can I just leave the problem hanging? I have to face it again if I come tomorrow. Would I want to waste a Saturday afternoon on something seemingly trivial? End a day without completing a task?

I resolved to go home only if I solve this.

I wrote a simple java program to test if HashMap really works the way I want. Basically the same as the code above, except it's using the oh-so-familiar public static void main and hardcoding the elements in the Arrays. Worked as expected. Frustrating is the word.

9pm already.

The server console stopped printing output. Damn, now I have to waste 1min to restart it.

Server up. Added more printlns. I must get to the bottom of this.

The jsp prints correctly now. I DID NOT FUCKING CHANGE ANYTHING. Nothing. Zilch. It just decided to start working after I restarted. What can I say? Stared at the screen in disbelief. I don't even know what to blame. The computer? Java compiler? IBM for this server? Myself for not deciding to restart the server although it seemed fine? I wasted 2hrs of my life on nothing.

Great, now I can go home. The mood to work tomorrow is totally shattered.

We Must Make Up Our Minds

... about what drinks to have in future. Cannot say "whatever", "anything", 随便 anymore, or we might just get Whatever or Anything for real.

Haven't tried it yet. I will consider. Dunno when, not curious about it.

I didn't see its super ultra creative advertising campaign anywhere. Maybe because I'm asleep on the road most of the time. Too bad it's being dismantled before it's due, because people have been picking the empty cans as scrap. I thought the company behind this drink is called Out of the Box Pte Ltd? Seems like they have been living in a box and didn't know that drain covers, road signs and lightning conductors have been disappearing off the streets.

下一站…吃什么

I just realized that I have been to 2 of the eateries recommended by this tv programme hosted by 许振荣 and 赵彩菱.

Ricciotti
Indian Wok

Maybe next on the list is 小旋风 at Hougang Mall? Since I'm just nearby.

Edit
I went! The 拉面 is so-so only. There's a 黄飞鸿香辣鸡, not bad! And not spicy at all. The 小笼包 was good too, but I still like 鼎泰丰 best. They forgot my bro's noodles for the longest time and had to remind them, only to find that the order was not taken. But they remembered to charge for it later :| Forget must forget 到底what...

I'm Lovin' AMK

5 days away from home and counting...

I take 1hr to get to work now. I don't know how people living in Hougang (and beyond) and working in the west survive. I refuse to trade AMK for less in future.

I Am Now In A Happy Company!

Because my company made me paste a smiley sticker at the back of my tag. It is supposed to show that we are in a happy company. We are not to paste it over our faces. Preferably on the flipside.

Will the money spent on the stickers be better spent employing a temp from China to help me with my work, so they can have a happy worker in the happy company?

Duh.

Reaching Out to the Older Generation II

After the Workfare bonus, the time has come for the GST Offset Package. As before, the letter is sent in 4 languages. Nothing much has changed, but I am glad to see a slight improvement.

根据我们的记录，您有资格获得$Z (请参考英文信件第二段的数额)。

They tell you where to find the figure now. Well done!
*clap clap*
*throws confetti*

I Know Why He Wants To Quit!

Overheard this telephone conversation between a TL and the HR about making an offer to a new colleague-to-be.

Have you seen the quotation I faxed over?... Is it too high? His previous pay is $2k only ley... Just give him what he wants ah?... ok ok... This person is quite good you know? He has masters...

:O Which evil company has been underpaying this poor fellow??

Sotong Lives in a Pokka Warehouse

Fancy 3 cartons of jasmine green tea, 2 cartons of melon milk and 1 box of green tea peach?

Cheers.

Reaching Out to the Older Generation

Some time ago, my mother received a letter from CPF informing her of her Workfare bonus. As the targeted audience is the older generation, CPF was thoughtful enough to send the letter in 4 languages.

English
We are pleased to inform you that you have been awarded the second portion of Workfare Bonus for work done in 2006. The amount is $999.99. (the actual sum has been censored by me, of course)

中文
我们很高兴地通知您，根据您在2006年的工作记录，您将可领到第二次发放的花红，数额为$XXX。

The sum printed is also $XXX for Malay and Tamil. Not that useful if you can't read English. So much for getting the message across to the English-illiterate.

Maybe their letter generator program cannot handle foreign languages?

TMRB

New York has TMNT. My house has TMRB - Teenage Mutant Red Bean! Planted by my sister, the seed leaves didn't rise with the stem and leaves failed to grow. We'll see how long it will last.

This variation is good for 银芽. Saves the effort of plucking out everything but the root! But it's unfortunate that it won't be able to reproduce itself.

Added on 5 May: The TMRB has stopped growing eversince.

A Preview Of My New Colleagues-To-Be

People have been coming to over for interviews. I only saw people of the race starting with I. Is it plain coincidence or my boss' obsession?

Meeting Friends (and Food)

22 Apr - Jc meet-up
At the suggestion of Mr L, I initiated an outing. It's been long, since January since we last met? Longer for some of them. I thought it was slightly untimely since it's almost the end of the semester, but since he said so... I'm fine with anything, small turnout included. Postponing wouldn't make any difference. All except me are eternally busy.

Stella was going to participate in a Spanish event. But there was an entrance fee of $15, not sure if food was included. I can't be on my feet for too long too.
In the end the suggestor couldn't make it. ~_~

Had a hard time coming up with the venue. Q suggested somewhere in Lim Chu Kang, where I foresee lots of protests and Brewerks. I was keen on Brewerks but it's out of budget for a few of us. So where is cheap, accessible and new? Crab beehoon is far, expensive and long wait on a Sunday, so it's out. How about the ramen I've been wanting to try? Upon on googling, I realised there are many ramen shops in Cuppage and even in Orchard Plaza next door. Not sure which one I should go to. Revenue House sushi buffet? Menu a bit limited. How about Ricciotti? I don't mind going back again! But I eat before already ley. The serving is small. And it might not be easy to find. Aiyah I dunno lah! Don't think already.

I was still undecided on the morning of the day. Z asked me where we were going. Yes, make him decide for me! I asked him if he wanted Jap or Italian food. He picked the latter since he had Jap food lately. Ok decided! I sent out a sms with directions. Cross the underpass at Central Mall's exit at the river. Walk 30m. Should be ok ba, don't think can get lost.

All of us were late. Nothing new. I ran into Q while on our bikes. Not literally, ok? What a coincidence! My worry came true. There was no drop-off near the restaurant. I had to drop illegally again, something I do everyday.

3 out of 6 people were lost. The confusion was Riverside Point, like the taxi driver. So... it's not such a convenient place lah.

We looked through the menu. Being lc people, we:
- asked what discounts there are for credit cards. 15% for UOB.
- confirmed that there was no 1-for-1 for UOB. It's 3-6pm, Just missed it!
- asked what time the desserts would go on discount. 9pm.

We should avoid that place for the next 3 months, until the present waiters quit or something.

People in life science sure talk about strange things. Like how many fridges they have.

Food time!

• 1 of the sandwiches. Didn't get to taste it. It's REAL small.
• Tagliolini Neri & Capesante. Quite a mouthful, but it's squid-ink noodle lah. Nobody's teeth turned black. Can eat in peace, no need to bring toothbrush.
• Mine was marinated salmon pizza, thin crust. Gosh it's big! I think the diameter stretches from tilde to backspace. I stopped myself after the 5th slice to save space for dessert.
• Parmigiana, which is baked eggplant and tomato. It's like a lasagne. The eggplant tastes no way like what I have eaten before.
• Agnello, the lamb shank.
• Ravioli di vitellio. It's veal ravioli with mushroom and brown sauce. Kid's serving.

They are all GOOD. I wanna eat everyday!

When we finished, it was still a long way to 9pm. Gelato won't be on discount, so we got 6 scoops to share. The coffee flavour is the BEST I've ever had! It tastes like good coffee? Ok bad description, you should try it yourself. The lemon super sour! Wa felt like dapaoing back, but cannot lah, still got ice-cream at home. There was a bit of ice crystals in the strawberry, but all is forgiven when it's delicious.

9pm! No vultures descended upon the dessert showcase as we thought. We got tiramisu, morbida and limoncino. Sadly, I thought the tiramisu wasn't moist enough. Is it supposed to be like that? I should try Prego's soon. Limoncino was ok, not a big fan of anything that looks like white cream.

Dapao for breakfast! Not. Save money.

The bill came. We were only given 15% off the desserts. Cheats! But couldn't be bothered to haggle with them. It's only like, 80 cents.

I'm hungry now~~

Sotong is AGAINST Corporate Branding

As part of the my company's corporate branding campaign, all PCs and laptops NOT located at the main office shall implement the corporate wallpaper and screensaver. I've used the colour of my ink as my wallpaper for the longest time. I shudder at the thought of being forced to use a colourful wallpaper with no purpose other than obscuring icons.

My plan for Monday morning was to print out my documents for my credit card application and get my father to mail out immediately. My pc took a dreadfully long time to load. Nothing wrong with that, it has 1 leg in the coffin already.

Finally the desktop appeared. But there's a patch of white just beside the rightmost icon.

Then the pictures loaded. The contents of the intranet website filled up the white space, complete with clickable hyperlinks!

Finished loading is it? Kns, take so long. I opened Firefox. Clicked on my shortcut to Yahoo mail. Cannot load! All my other tabs also cannot load! Firefox kena ban or what? I opened IE. My default page has been changed from about:blank to the company's intranet. What the! They even want to dictate the default page! Tried to load Yahoo mail and failed too. Unable to connect to MSN and Yahoo messenger as well. Internet down? But cannot be ley, everybody else seemed fine. Only me?! The sys admin wasn't at his table, have to wait for him to return. I scrapped my plan.

A while later, the sys admin wasn't back yet. Or should I say he wasn't even here to start with? He's on leave today AND tomorrow! So far only the intranet was working. Living without internet access for 2 days is unthinkable. I must do something!

Forced by circumstances, I checked all that I could, but of course there wasn't much I could do. Gave up. Maybe I should change my default page back to blank. Should be ok right? Won't get into trouble with the people who came up with this funny idea right? Who needs the intranet everyday anyway?

I reversed the change and noticed that my wallpaper has turned into a white patch. O, so the wallpaper is linked to the default page! But the patch is so ugly ley... aha! I can make my default page black! I happily went to Paint to make a black picture and set it as my default page. Didn't work. IE asked if I wanted to download the picture. On the other hand, it did not show up on my desktop at all. 该如何是好？

How about my browser settings?

Something new there. What's this proxy.pac? I copied and pasted the path and saw the problem - I'm using Win2K, so it should be C:\winnt instead of C:\Windows. Who is this smart alec, conveniently copying the settings meant for XP to 2K? Win liao lor! (Is it my sys admin? Aiyer don't wanna destroy his image in my mind ley) Never test before declaring the job finished? It's obviously not working!

I corrected the path. Still didn't work. Opened up the file. It looks like a script to decide which proxy to use. Something like this below:

function FindProxyForURL(url, host) {
if (shExpMatch(url,"*.foo.com/*")) {return "DIRECT";}
if (shExpMatch(url, "*.foo.com:*/*")) {return "DIRECT";}

if (isInNet(host, "10.0.0.0", "255.255.248.0")) {
return "PROXY fastproxy.foo.com:8080"
}

return "PROXY proxy.foo.com:8080; DIRECT";
}

Nahh I don't wanna debug this. Tried each of the proxies. None worked. So what are they for?

One last thing to try. I noticed the unchecked proxy server setting. Checked it.

And it works! Put it in Firefox. Can surf with Firefox too, no need IETab¹ already! Whee!

2hrs of anguish in exchange for a happier future. Ok lah quite worth it.

I mouseovered the top of my NEW wallpaper and accidentally revealed a status bar, with the minimize, maximize and close buttons. CLOSE NOW! HAHAHA! Good riddance to the idiotic wallpaper!

Reversed all my company's efforts. No corporate branding on Sotong's work pc!

¹Something was blocking Firefox from the internet. I needed tabs, so I had been surfing using IETab.

Credit Card Shopping

A family factor pushed me to seriously think about getting another credit card. Been lemming for UOB or Citibank, but for the longest time, UOB has no welcome gifts and Citibank was under the delusion that a facial and having to go through a potential barrage of package hardselling and a free iron (the kind for clothes) was attractive. I went to their websites again. As usual, UOB is acting dao1. Citibank finally wake up their idea! 3 years waiver and $100 Tivoli voucher! I know can just call to waive one lah, but I lazy mah. I also know when they give $100 voucher, it means you cannot get anything for $100. Get the cheapest item lor, better than an iron right? Mustafa sell so cheap only. Still got coffee voucher if I sign up for the biometric payment! Can link all my bills to Citibank! Can pay the credit card bill by GIRO! Ok Citibank!

Now the question is which card to get.

Clear Platinum (CP)

It's oh-so-pretty, on the picture at least. 5X rewards points with certain merchants, with the unfortunate being that there's very few of them.

No supplementary cards.

Dividend Platinum (DP)

Cash rebate just for spending. 5% rebates for petrol! The downside is a minimum payout of $50, every quarter. If I have only $49.99 by the 3rd month, sorry ah, please wait 3 more months. Eeks.

EMV enabled. It's a global standard for chip-based debit and credit transactions, supposed to make it more secured.

The card is plain, even uncle-ish. Unglam like my gim-gim HSBC.

Supplementary cards available. There's a promotion of 1 year waiver now.

DP: You know from experience, you always charge $0 to your own card. It's the supp cards doing the spending.
CP: I got 5X rewards.
DP: I got rebates!
CP: The rewards merchants got er, Coffee Club and Cartel! Your rebates ah, dunno when can make it!
DP: You know how many times a year you actually go Coffee Club and Cartel or not? 2 nia?
CP: ... I'm PRETTY!
DP: I got EMV, you ley? Don't even know have or not, never say!
CP: I'm PRETTY!
DP: ¬_¬"

So I applied for both. No need to think.

The Citibank exchange rate is $5 for 1 reward point. HSBC is 1-1. Crystal Jade $20 voucher is 3800 points on HSBC, 1000 Citi Dollars. :\

More Blabbers

On 16 Apr, my team had a dinner at Indian Wok to congratulate ourselves for working non-stop since October last year and not having our names appear in the A01 and A04 messages for Insane Man Hospital¹. Good food! The fried cauliflowers is DELICIOUS! Considering that I don't really like cauliflowers. I think I like it because it didn't taste like cauliflowers.

Another thing about Lobby Court@Swissotel. The waitress who took our orders has a GOOD memory! She memorized all 7 drinks, no pen and paper at all! I was waiting to see if she could serve correctly later, but to my disappointment, her colleague did the job.

There's actually Japanese buffet at Revenue House! And it's cheap at $18+++ for weekend lunch. Although the menu looks slightly limited, but as long as there's salmon sashimi...

Did I mention that I finished the Cipro?

¹A01 and A04 are used for patient admissions.

Blabbers

Accumulated over a few days.

People sitting around me moved to another room on 12 Apr. Now I'm alone in an area that can seat 6. It's now MY personal office (minus the boarding up)! Even bigger than my boss' boarded-up cubicle! But boss said there would be newcomers. Don't come, don't come :P

Ordered a chicken dish to be shared among 8 at Crystal Jade Macau. The waitress suggested upsizing it and I said ok. Turned out that dish was a whopping $38! It was a bit too big and we couldn't finish it. Should have asked how big and how much first :|

Starbucks raspberry with tea is too strong to be drunk at night.

Don't take charsiew, Starbucks raspberry and deep purple dragonfruit on the same night if you don't want to scare yourself the next morning (assuming your bowels are regular).

Prego is good.

Lobby Court@Swissotel is also good.

Organizing 2 outings are tiring. Makes me unenthusiastic about meeting a 3rd group.

Long Time No Sick!

My Friday morning routine was broken by a visit to the toilet the moment I reached office. Tried to eat my breakfast but couldn't. The coffee smelt good but I didn't feel like drinking it. Felt a faint urge and went to the toilet first just in case the feeling grew exponentially and I was glad I did so. Was alarmed by the reddish stools, but they looked too thin to be blood. It's probably the charsiew, Starbucks raspberry or reddish-purple dragonfruit from the night before. But still, it's the third visit to the toilet in 2hrs. The toilet is not 3m away from me like at home. I'm more tired from walking around so much than having a high output-input ratio, so I decided to call it a day.

The clinic I always went to had 18 patients in the queue and didn't accept phone registration. I thought last time they said can? And the rude woman hung up on me. O well nevermind, not that I still have anything to say. My father took me to a clinic in the Jurong East area. I didn't know I was having a fever. 37.1­­°C. Cool, something to prove that I wasn't faking it. He tapped my abdomen. Sounded hollow all over. I must learn the meaning 1 day. The doctor told me not to consume coffee and dairy and to go on a soft diet for the next 5 days. Yeah, the normal advice. But 5 days? Dunno can tahan or not. I was given 2 days' MC and some drugs. The lady said I must complete the course for 2 out of the 4. I wasn't really listening. Can't remember one lah, just read the labels later lor. Didn't see any charcoal pills. Odd. $34. So expensive!! Even with the company claim, also have to pay $14.

When I got home, I took the drugs and looked for the 2 which I had to complete. Eh, the labels never say! Walau! I googled for help.

Lactobacillus sachets
At first glance, I thought it was isotonic drink and almost chucked it away. No new knowledge gained. No indication for this. But should be ok to eat all lah, only 4 sachets.

Dhacopan tablets
Each tablet contains hyocine butylbromide BP 10mg. For diarrhoea and cramps. Didn't say if I had to finish it. But I guess not, since it looks like it's for the symptoms.

Colodium (loperamide hydrochloride)
For diarrhoea. Again, nowhere was it mentioned if I had to finish it. What's the difference between this and Dhacopan? I guess no need to finish?

Cycin (Ciprofloxacin.HCI)
An antibiotic for killing bacteria in the intestines. Patients should not consume dairy and caffeine. Wow do I need antibiotics for diarrhoea? Maybe it's because I told him about the abnormally coloured stools. O well. And now then I know the advice about dairy and caffeine was due to Cycin. All the more I should stick to it then. I wondered how Cycin and lactobacillus go together, but the doctor give me, then I eat lor. The doctor didn't say if I should eat them separately, so I just swallowed them together.

Conclusion
My guess is that I must complete Cycin. The identity of the other drug remained a mystery. How? Eat all?

I was supposed to meet my ex-colleagues in the evening. I think cannot go already. Boohoohoo~ cannot eat Prego already~~ I told M about it, but she told me to make the decision later in the evening, in case I got better.

Went to sleep. Got up at 4 something as I had to make a decision and also because I was hungry. My sister cooked 粥水 for me. Essentially, it's a bowl of water with 3 mouthfuls of porridge. Lapped it up happily. Ok, appetite seems to be returning, no more LS, means ok can go lah? :D Just have to be careful not to be spotted by my colleagues.

It's sad having to choose a dish with no dairy in an Italian restaurant. And had to stay off oil and seafood. The menu is so happening, but I could only have tomato-based pasta :( It tasted good nonetheless. Later we had drinks at Lobby Court. No booze, but a smoothie for me. Why~~~

There's a mint mocha which looks like Fe²⁺ solution. The mint is only the aftertaste. I should remember not to order that since I will most likely be disappointed.

Today, mykrobe, a pharmacist-to-be, came to my rescue.

Dhacopan tablets
Dhacopan is for cramps. But funny ley, I didn't say I got cramps what, how come I got that? Ok can stop this already.

Colodium (loperamide hydrochloride)
From opiate class, reduce bowel mobility. Ok can stop this already.

Cycin (Ciprofloxacin.HCI)
Cipro turned out to be a strong antibiotic, coincidentally used for treating anthrax too. Wa. And one of the side effects of Cipro is diarrhoea. :O

Lactobacillus
Milkless Yakult? This tastes bad. I was breathing them in while emptying the sachet into my mug. Nothing much about it, I've finished the course by then.

No wonder $34 so expensive. And all these for mild diarrhoea. Maybe I shouldn't visit him again. Too bad, he seemed like a nice guy.

If I complete Cipro, I might feel worse. If I don't, I will be contributing to the global antibiotics abuse. How? 怎么办?

And I already forgot about the warning and had teh-peng. And of course I'm back on a solid diet. And I am hungry now.

Birthday Outing

Went out to celebrate my brother's birthday! It's a good excuse to go somewhere out of the way for something new.

Originally wanted to go try the ramen at Cuppage Plaza, but later I thought I shouldn't be so cheapskate lah... he had it before also. And it's centralised, so I can have it any other time.

Looked around the HSBC website... 1-for-1 deals! Cream Bistro looks good... but it's the usual western stuff, nothing interesting. The Cathay Restaurant... oops too expensive. Six-course set menu at S$68+++ per person --> SIAO! Cannot lah, wait till I qualify for platinum card first. Menotti Italian food... good location @ Raffles City! Went to it's homepage, for the menu but another outlet under the same group caught my eye instead. Riciotti Italian Deli & Pastry. Desserts! Got main course too! Affordable even if HSBC bluff me got 1-for-1! Never eat before! Ok pass!

Got into a Merc cab and said we wanted to go to Riverwalk. The driver asked where we wanted to drop, at taxi stand or Merchant Court? I was confused as I didn't recall seeing Merchant Court anywhere near it on the street directory. Maybe I blur. So taxi stand lor. We dropped off and... couldn't find Riciotti. I saw Liang Court and thought something was wrong. If I remember correctly, it should be quite far away. We were confirmed to be at the wrong place upon seeing Central Mall on the same street. We dropped at Riverside Point. O well. Took bus 11 to our destination and passed by many Jumbo Seafood outlets. Seriously trying to project itself as the choice seafood in Singapore to the angmohs.

Riciotti was not crowded at all, despite a weekend. Nice deco, full of wines and other products on the walls. Desserts and gelato are on display to entice the weak. I checked with the waiter and to my disappointment, only got 1-for-1 for UOB. Sian. Stupid bank bluff me. I should get a UOB. Ordered a set lunch, Agnello, Torino hot chocolate and a mango tea. 2 main courses for 3 people. The shortfall will be made up with desserts :D~~

Set lunch

• Linguine with a creamy sauce. There's a proper name for this dish lah, but forgot already. The serving is quite small, BUT the sauce is incredibly cheesy and creamy! Not tasteless like elsewhere. The sugar crystals-coated cheese shavings are something new.
• The tea came in a pot, served with steamed milk. Dilmah tea, red tag. I think it's English breakfast tea.
• Dessert - coming soon

Agnello
Lamb shank with mash potatoes and mint (don't know where the mint was, couldn't taste it). It's like the lamb stew from Secret Receipe. SR's lamb drowns in the gravy, making you want to eat a spoonful of gravy with each mouthful. Ri's gravy is modest and lighter, but the lamb is still juicy on its own. The mash potatoes are buttery and fragrant. The bone marrow still looks delectable, but too bad I don't feel comfortable eating it generally.

Torino hot chocolate
99% of chocolate beverages sold outside taste like diluted milo. Seeing this is an Italian restaurant with proper-looking desserts, I decided to give them a chance. I was delighted when it was served as concentrated chocolate (stir the powder in a little milk to form a sticky lump) in a cup and a jug of frothed milk. Yes that's the way man! My sister tried to make latte art but you can guess the outcome.
The only other place selling qualified chocolate that I know of, is Spinelli.

Mango tea
Came in a pot. It's just infusion tea lor, can get from the supermarket to try yourself. I'm not so into such teas.

Next was to choose the desserts. My sister spotted a cake with a broken top, called Soffiato. Its clones looked the same so it should be no accident. A check with the waiter confirmed that it was the cake that oozes chocolate when you cut it. She's dying to try that! But we never knew that the chocolate has to be poured in through a hole probably with an instruction "insert chocolate here". Haha!

I thought this golden cake looked delicious. The waiter said it has a mocha centre. The Morbida, I shall get.

They covered up the gap with icing. Comes with a scoop of ice-cream. Not gelato, unfortunately.

When taken out of the display, it looked greenish. O well.

Watch the soffiato ooze! My sister was disappointed. She thought chocolate would GUSH out of it, like on tv, but now she only got a capillary cut. Now we know it only happens on tv. The cake is warm and has absorbed much of the chocolate.

As I bore deeper into my golden-turned-green mousse (it's not a cake), I encountered a hard centre. Not wanting to have my money dart across the restaurant, I got my sister to cut it open with a murderous butter knife. Guess what we got!

My mousse BLEEDING chocolate like a punctured vein! That was unexpected. Thin, crispy wafer lined the centre. The chocolate ball is hollow, not very tasty, nothing special about it.

I was sugar and chocolate overloaded halfway through the desserts. I still had my chocolate drink. But they are all too nice to waste :D~~~

Surprise #1 - Didn't know there's 15% off pastries!
Surprise #2 - They charged the more expensive dessert to the set!

Overall: 美味しい! Affordable! Recommended!

Next stop was Central Mall. Not fully opened yet. A LOT of Japanese restaurants. Many clothes there, but not in clothes-shopping mood. Wanted to get earrings since I haven't gotten any for the past 1 1/3 years, quite a feat. And perhaps a necklace too. As usual, the earrings were too cheap for my expensive ears. And don't know how to choose necklace.

Before leaving, I decided to just take a look at Girl's Talk! at level 1. Lots of not-cheap-looking earrings, but they were stainless steel. Not sure if I can wear them. I was directed to a small section of silver. More expensive-looking, with a corresponding pricetag. Up my budget lor...

The salesgirl said it has diamond dust on it. Hope it stays there. Happy with it :)

Next stop, AMK Hub. The NTUC Xtra sells live seafood. Joined the crowd to watch a worker catch prawns. Many shops! Looks like a good place to go shopping. Finally AMK is happening! As it was evening, snaking queues formed outside all restaurants. Even this odd prata shop. People were just queuing to take-away.

Met my brother and his friends for dinner. Went to Ramen Ten at Jubilee. Please don't ever go there. The soup is add milk one. Eeks. At least it's not MSG-laden. Cheap at $65.25 for 5 people with 2 side dishes and no GST, and that's about it.

Then my first time drinking MOS burger teh-peng. Good!

Then... go home.

Sotong the Spendthrift

I blew almost $7k in 1 day!!

So poor now~~

Special Requests

Please count tablet in front of patient.
(aiyoh who wanna cheat your pills?)

This patient is very impatient. Always serve first.
(What the! I also want to be impatient!)

Call patient by Chinese name doesn't like English name.
(So is her English name Maria or Lucy?)

Mrs {VIP's name} mother. Mrs {VIP's name} wants bill to be split into 2. 1 bill to be about $100, so that her mother doesn't worry.
(Aww so filial. But can I get the same treatment too? Split into several bills, max $20 each, dated differently so I can claim from my co.)

Sotong Got Lucky

PM: Your contract is ending right?
Sotong: Ya.
PM: We will renew it for 1 year.
Sotong: Ok! Thank you. (Har, means contract again)
PM: Is there anything you would like to change for the contract, like the benefits?
Sotong: No? It's ok. (Actually, I prefer a to be a perm so I can get more leave and bonuses. But you sure say cannot one, right?)
PM: No need to change ah? Everything ok ah?
Sotong: Ya.
PM: Ok, I will give you $xxxx ($150 more than present) for the new contract.
Sotong: (W..What? Sure or not? I so blur, you still want to give me raise? I thought it's already heng you never dock my pay!) Thank you!

Luckily my PM is not some miser, I say no need then he keep quiet and keep the money! Not bad eh, now I don't regret giving up There Star interview so much already.

At a meeting later, the boss mentioned that bonuses will be given soon but of course, contracts do not get a share. But there will be a project incentive bonus (dunno when) that contracts will be eligible for, and AiFarm is doing ok so far. Wonder how long I have to stick around to get...

Change Team Again?

The PL from another team approached me to ask if I was interested in joining his project, which is going to roll out in June. Basically the same job scope, just no VB.

• I don't have anything against this prospective new project or AiFarm.
• I don't love AiFarm so much that I do not want to leave.
• I have to start all over if I switch team, both project and people familiarity wise. Not as if I already know AiFarm inside out anyway.
• I am sitting too far from the prospective new project. I don't want to give up my window seat, reasonably shielded from the boss.

So I said I'm ok with it. The PL said he would go talk to my PM.

I'm just worried about having 3 projects in 6mths. Like a tennis ball. O well, see if my PM wants to let me go.

Done...

... with Karei naru ichi zoku. The people speak too fast (i.e. the subtitles move too fast) for me to understand the complicated plot and people relationships. When I thought I'd finally understood something, the series came to an end. Totally unfunny and dark.

But it's still nice.

Crabs!

Feeling deprived after that MD crab at Seremban, W's recommendation of a super delicious crab beehoon place was like a beacon of hope.

Mellben Seafood
BLK 232 Ang Mo Kio Ave 3

It's the kopitiam right opposite Sheng Siong. Great! I know how to get there! I reached there at 7.10pm and the place was already full, complete with a snaking queue. There were even tables on reservation - in a kopitiam! :O

While it was easy for me, it wasn't so for J and W. The rain made it worse. Didn't matter, it's 东张西望 time.

I was sitting in front of the crab tank. Lively crabs, a sign of health! The crab catcher lady picked up the crabs, weighed them, threw them (talk about animal cruelty) into a basket with the order form and put the basket in the to-cook queue. When the crabs were put on the weighing scale, they tried to crawl away, as if they have discussed it while waiting for their turn. If they did succeed, they would fall to the ground. Ouch.

The crab catcher lady got pricked. I just read about the man who contracted flesh-eating bacteria after getting pricked by a crab.

Photos of the stall with celebrities, signed crab shells decorated the wall. Slurp~

A group of people came to take photos and the stall owners gamely allowed them to. Reporters?

A middle-aged woman next to my table was eating crabs wearing plastic gloves <_< Don't need to do that ba, got wet towel (yes, they give wet towel. I came prepared with wet tissue, but guess no need liao) and toilet 10m away nia! Where got taste if you eat like that?

One of the helpers carrying a stack of plates and bowls said, "Lai, sio ah!" to make people give way. The same old trick people always fall for.

W and J arrived. We ordered crab beehoon, butter crab and fried tofu. The waiting time would be 1hr. It's ok, we can yak. The drink stall helper came to take our orders. 3 Heaven and Earth green tea, which costs $1.20 EACH. Eh this stall thinks it's in Sentosa ah!? That's freaking expensive man! $1.20 for all 3 is more like it! People, this drink stall is a 黑店, don't buy from them!! Should have waited for the crab beehoon's soup!

Fried tofu - Nice! Got seafood inside.

Crab beehoon - The highlight of the day did not disappoint. Coming in a claypot, the soup is thick, flavourful, and best of all, not too salty and there seemed to be little/no MSG since I didn't feel thirsty later. Don't know how to say, very nice lah! The crab is not hollow (haha), but not as tasty as steamed crab as some of the flavour probably leached into the soup. Not to worry, it's not dry and inedible. I could have the whole claypot to myself.

Butter crab - A bit spicy at the beginning, but got used to it. Felt like drinking the gravy, but it's butter... you know... Anyway the crab beehoon soup was more attractive.

All that for $75.

Poor green tea, neglected throughout. Only when I was done, I thought of the $1.20 and gulped it all down.

Ah~~

Damage:

No pix of the food. Had to attack it before it turned cold. Anyway there's plenty on google. 少我一个不少.

By about 9.30pm, the whole tank of crabs was GONE. They even had to refill with another 2 layers of crabs.

Satisfied. Already wanna go again.

Blind Driver on the Loose

SGL3521Y exited PIE into Lornie Road with no regard to oncoming vehicles. Please lor, Toyota nia, he think he can accelerate out of danger?

O wait he will get a dent in his butt at most. It's the 2-wheeler that was in danger.

An Unwanted Holiday

*Warning* Long and blabbering post ahead

5 March
After my boss told me he had something new and urgent for me this week, my family told me that I had to be on stand-by to go Ipoh as my maternal grandmother's condition was not too optimistic. My mum had already gone ahead first. I informed my boss that I might need to disappear for about 5 days anytime, hinting that he should not assign me any urgent task. (Meaning no work for me since everything is probably urgent). Anyway, I still had some old tasks left at hand.

I really don't fancy going to Ipoh. The journey is long, there's nothing there, I dread my relatives. In short, spending money and not enjoying myself. The only good thing is that I would be away from work.

6 March
I finished my old tasks. As expected, no new work! The evil sotong slacked.

7 March
I started to feel uneasy slacking. What if nothing happened within this week, or worse, drags on? Would I be slacking indefinitely? Wait my boss think I bluff him, how? Cannot ley... I decided to ask my boss for less urgent and simple tasks after lunch. Why not immediately? Procrastination lor.

As luck would have it, before lunch, I received news that the unfortunate has happened and we would be leaving the next morning. Wa heng I never act hardworking man! I read up on the HR policy. Compassionate leave is 3 consecutive working days, starting on the day of death or the day after. Requires death certificate as proof. So I can start from Thursday, then Friday, weekend! And then Monday. 5 days! Cool! Even though today is Day 1 of 3 of the funeral, I wouldn't be so silly to not consume all the free leave available. If I return with the necessary document, that is. I doubt the efficiency of country M.

I applied for leave, wrapped up my work, told my team that I would be on leave and left on the dot. A colleague told me to enjoy my holiday. No offence taken, since I didn't say what kind of leave I was taking and my grandmother is no more than a stranger with blood relations.

The night was spent packing and preparing enough entertainment to last 5 days.

8 March
My family left for Ipoh at noon. It was the first time in 3 yrs 9 mths that I left Singapore. Pathetic right? No money mah. The weirdo country M customs officer stamped my passport in the middle of nowhere instead of using the next blank page. I know I can never finish the pages, but no need to do that mah...

We picked up 2 cousins in JB and had lunch first. No lunch for me, saving my appetite for something later hehehe. Just had a few sips of super sweet teh-peng.

The North-South Highway is probably the smoothest road in country M.

I got a call from work. Sigh why still got people disturb me... I hope it wasn't some 烂摊子 of mine. Hope he realised I'm in country M from the change in ringtone and not call me again.

I think we reached this gem-in-the-desert pitstop at about 3pm. A&W!! Yeah! A reminiscent of my childhood. It used to cost an air ticket at home, but now it's totally extinct. Double-scoop rootbeer float, double-scoop ice-cream waffle and curly fries :D~~

We resumed the journey. Long and boring. Road works, hazy mountains, palm trees and more palm trees. My sister saw 2 horses. We saw some cows (not sure got males or not, but let's just call them cows because I can't think of a word encompassing both genders). Birds were a rare sight. Traffic was congested at some sections. Zzz... The most beautiful part was KL city. A true blue city dweller I am.

In the evening, my mum called to tell us to have vegetarian food when we arrive. But oh~ we wouldn't be able to put up with hunger till our projected arrival of 10pm, especially the older adults, who would probably collapse from lack of rice and meat. The solution? Pit-stop again! The older adults went to look for hawker fare while the younger generation looked for more happening food. Sad to say, the KFC sucks. Tasteless, dry chicken breast meat. The thigh wasn't any better. Mock fish fingers and nuggets which I took only 1 bite (they filled it with too much flour instead of 100% meat). Bland whipped potato. Yucks. The Baskin Robbins dessert was much better. It's yet another food establishment extinct at home. The ice-cream pales in comparison to the other premium brands I eat, but it's cheap, still tasty, allows sampling and tastes better than KFC! The uncle with us said country M's KFC tastes different at different outlets and Holiday Plaza's is the best. Ok...

When we reached Ipoh, it was past the shops' closing time. The place looked the same as all the other times I had seen it - asleep and boring. Hopefully it would be different on a non-CNY daytime. The city looked like Chinatown. No tall, spanking new buildings. While getting lost cruising around, I looked around for hotels. Spotted a nice-looking Heritage Hotel, but it should be far from the wake since we encountered it soon after exiting the highway. Spotted Excelsior Hotel from afar. The rest are old shophouses or sleazy-looking, you know, those with KTV and has Christmas lights running all over.

Reached my uncle's house. The moment the lights in the van came on, I spotted 2 cockroaches!! Can't believe we were sitting among cockroaches. But it's the small kind found on SBS buses lah, not so gross.

It was a Buddhist wake. Not noisy and unpleasant. No gambling. Vegetarian food.

There were many relatives that either I have forgotten or I have never met before. Afterall, I haven't met most of them for 9 years. The commonest question encountered was if I work. Well of course I do! Why shouldn't I be? It would have been better if they had asked my occupation instead. But I found it weird that they did not ask my salary, which I felt is a natural follow-up question. Just as well, saved me a lie on my part.

I observed that nobody was obviously sad. Instead, there was plenty of chatter and laughter. It could have passed off as a gathering. My lifespan probably shrank by a few hours for that night. Cigarettes everywhere. Don't know why those people like to smoke so much. So rich, give me your money lah.

Cactus mineral water was served. Just poke the plastic cover with a straw and drink, like bubble tea. The slogan was "Live on with Cactus". O well... :|

The dinner waiting for us was fried beehoon and buns. I'm glad we sinned before coming.

My mum said we would be staying at her relative's hotel. It better be a decent one.

Good news! Today is Day 2 and tomorrow is the last day.
Bad news! Our driver isn't free this weekend, so we must return to Singapore by Friday. There goes the KL jalan-jalan plan.

The hotel my mum told was about is Hotel Ipoh City. 6 storeys high, not lok kok, only RM150 for a family suite, not bad. But the moment we entered the room, at least 3 cockroaches (same type as the van's) greeted us. WTH! First thing was to catch cockroaches lor! Got clean the room one or not... tsk tsk. But acceptable lah, RM150 only. Can only get a small room over at Heritage lor.

I nearly froze while bathing. I can't tahan when there's aircon flowing in lah. I was freezing in bed too, despite wearing long pants and a jacket. Covered my face with my blanket. Still didn't work. Coupled with 2 men's snoring, I barely slept *_*

9 March
I was looking at that tall and skinny funeral worker. He had an ugly tie strung around his neck. Just loose and hanging. His collar wasn't even buttoned. For goodness sake, if you want to wear a tie, wear it properly, or don't wear lor. Seriously, I doubt anybody will notice that it's missing if he didn't wear one. But a messy tie is just screaming for attention.

After the rites at my uncle's house, it's 三宝洞 for the cremation. The "furnace" (don't know the proper name) is a concrete pavilion-shaped structure with airholes at the roof. One of the furnace was burning and spewing smoke (and probably the deceased's ashes as well) up the mountain. I looked at the haze blanketing the area :-O

My grandmother's furnace was lighted. We took turns to throw a wooden stick into it and to step over a fire and wash our hands in pomelo leaf water. I was at the end of the queue to avoid holding up the rest.

-_- #1: My mum wanted me to go over the fire. Siao! The fire so big lor, wait I become like the furnace, how?
-_- #2: MY MUM WASHED MY FACE WITH THAT POMELO WATER, AFTER A ZILLION PEOPLE HAVE WASHED THEIR HANDS, ARMS AND FACES IN IT!!! ARGHHH!!! I wiped my face furiously after that. Fuck lah I'm not like 10yrs ago, roll in mud also no pimples one lor!

Next on the programme was a sodium-laden vegetarian meal at the canteen. It's effects were to linger for the afternoon.

We returned to my uncle's house for the final rites. Again we had to wash our hands in pomelo leaf water. I washed just my finger tips. The water is yucky, remember?

-_- #3: MY DAD WASHED MY FACE WITH THAT POMELO WATER, AFTER A ZILLION PEOPLE HAVE WASHED THEIR HANDS, ARMS AND FACES IN IT!!!
Why! Why!! WHY!!! Again, I wiped my face furiously after that.

The death certificate and requested copies were delivered to the doorstep. Not bad eh! Now I can confirm... not go to work on Monday :D

My siblings and I roasted at the porch waiting for the final rites to complete.
Na + H2O + heat --> bloated stomach X|
Finally we went under a tree. And came a packet of coke. Shiok!

And then my mother told us actually everything was over some time ago and we could leave already. ¬_¬" She stayed behind to see to other matters.

We had just driven onto the main road when my teen cousin realized her 宝贝 bolsters were left behind and promptly WAILED. Reminded of my sister when she was younger. We turned back to retrieve without delay. But I can understand her anxiety. If she had found out any later, they would probably be forwarded to KL and she would be getting another from Giant instead.

Saw the same things on the highway again. Banana chips, roller coaster and Dunkin Donuts saved the day. I don't eat bananas because they are dry and have a weird feel on the tongue, but I eat banana chips that are even drier?? I think it's the first time I'm having DD. Nice!

At KL, we encountered a storm which was so heavy that the vehicle in front had all but disappeared. I was impressed that I didn't see any accident. In Singapore, confirm got pileup.

I didn't know the highway is FOC for motorcycles.

We stopped by Seremban for seafood dinner. Our driver took us to a restaurant he often brought his tourists to. He told the boss/waiter/whoever (let's just call him waiter) that we are his friends not tourists. Did that mean we wouldn't get chopped? The waiter asked what we would like to have... without giving us the menu. So we asked for the menu, but upon laying our hands on it, we realized why it wasn't given to us - it was pathetic. No 铁板豆腐. Gave up reading it. We asked the waiter. He said don't have. My aunt asked how a seafood restaurant can not serve this dish. On hearing this, the waiter said they have that dish. He's good at 看风使舵 huh. We ordered steam crab, must have meat one. He said ok sure of course. The 咕噜肉 would be made with chicken, no pork in the restaurant. Waa HALAL seafood restaurant wor! We also ordered steam fish, kailan in oil and oat prawns.

While waiting for the dishes to be served, I noticed that those patrons around us were mostly Malays.

The dishes:

• Steam fish - Not bad
• 铁板豆腐 - They forgot the egg. How could they! FAIL! But it's still better than a restaurant in JB that uses the cheapo square tofu from markets.
• 咕噜肉 - Came in a fried beehoon bowl, how special. Weird with chicken, but it's alright
• kailan in oil - Ok. If you can go wrong with that dish, I think can close down liao. Even my sister can cook that.
• oat prawns - Don't think can go wrong with this dish too. The oats were great, until I saw salt crystals in them
• steam crab - A HUGE DISAPPOINTMENT. The crabs didn't taste sweet. Neither were they salty. Tasteless lah. A consolation was that they were not undercooked or overcooked. There was a surprise for my sister.
  
  A crab with muscular dystrophy!

It probably was kept in the tank for too long. The waiter insisted that it just came from the market this morning. O yeah? I wonder if A*STAR would like to investigate this. It can perhaps improve the yield of crabs. GM crabs, anyone? The dinner was quite cheap though. Wonder if we got discount for the MD crab. Probably not.

It was already night. Stars in the sky! Too bad no star map with me. Actually have also no use, I can't read it! Haha!

Reached JB at 12 midnight. Went to my aunt's house for a while before continuing. First time I went through the bus lane without having to get down like the rest of my family. I was probably declared as goods. I'm just a strip of sotong afterall.

Home sweet home at nearly 3am.

11 March
I did not miss the Science Centre exhibition! I thought I would, due to work. Had Sakura for dinner. Very salty, filling and sinful.

12 March
I skipped work as planned. So happy! Waa shiok.

When I returned to work, I found that the team worked over the weekend, from the numerous emails sent. I could have come... but... :)

Had a 5-day break right? I think I should scrap the plan to slack for 1 week when my current contract ends. Boohoohoo. Why am I so cruel?

Guess Where He Gets His Haircut From?

"And yes, he gets his hair cut at Passion, celebrity hairstylist David Gan's salon-to-the stars, though not by the man himself."

O_O

Work! Work!

Finally, I have time to finish relaxing and type this.

This probably happens to most people in my line once every few weeks, whereas I took 2yrs to kena... :D May get boo-ed by others, but still, I must complain!

After the extra long CNY weekend, as if it's payback time for all the slacking, for the first time in my worklife, I had to work over BOTH Saturday and Sunday, till 2am and 11pm respectively!

24 and 25 Feb. Sotong, remember this.

On the Friday preceding that weekend, I was asked to join a meeting, where I was informed that I was needed on Saturday to stand-by for the testers by creating data for them when requested. No problem with that, since everybody has been doing weekends and it will be the first time for me.

Don't know who negotiated the project delivery dates, making the team rush like this. Must be some cost cutting measure.

I reached office on Saturday at 2pm. I have a program to complete, albeit with insufficient information on the requirements. It's funny that the whole project is going to UAT the following week, yet my program was still left hanging and nobody set a deadline for it. So I worked on it at a relaxing pace, peppered with internet-surfing. Actually I do this all the time lah.

At 7pm, the testers were not going to be done soon yet. No idea when I could go home. Shit. I think my outing tomorrow 泡汤 lor. Sianz.

At 9pm, the testers began testing a module that I have a share in, partnered with another guy, A. A's part had some bugs which he had to fix before I could test my portion o_O. Which meant I wouldn't be going home soon. Dinner was Mc, prosperity burger. If only it really brings prosperity :|

At midnight, the module was ready for testing again. It worked, and revealed problems on my part. Well I have never had the time to test with A, you see. But still it's my bad, because it's due to sotongness and I should have discovered it myself. Easily fixed, no problem.

At 2am, a tester's pc blacked out in protest. So most people went home in frustration, resigned to the fact that we all have to return the next day. I still wasn't feeling sleepy despite having only a dose of coke. Sotong in overdrive. Took a depressant to help me sleep.

It's only irish cream lah.

On Sunday, I reached office at noon. Things were pretty much the same, ad hoc data creation, programming slowly and surfing net a lot. Nothing much to do.

I don't know why all shit must happen after evening.

I had a task to write a batch job to insert data into the database (which I completed a few weeks ago). Another person, B coded the screen to display the data. Throughout the whole development process, whenever B needed data for debugging, I would create for him. And so on Sunday, B went home after finishing his work. And of course I did not have this luxury because I must wait for the testers to test it.

I pumped in the data, and they did not show up on the screen.

I was the only person around who is related to that screen. The leader (L) asked me why. I checked the database. The data was there. But I did not know how the underlying code in the screen works. So I said I didn't know because I did not do the screen.

L: Didn't you test the module with B?
Me: Yes, I created data for B. He will then verify himself.
L: I mean, you did not verify the screen with him?
Me: No.
L: Why didn't you do so?
Me: My work is to create the data. I don't know how he coded the screen.
L: Why didn't you ask him? How do you know your part is correct if it doesn't show on the screen?
Me: If it's in the database, it is correct.
L: But now it is not on the screen. How can it be correct?
Me: .....

**
L: You should have tested with him. Why didn't you do so?
Me: (felt no point replying) .....
L: Why?
Me: ..... (boiling)

Repeat ** a few times.

But when I announced that my batch job was done, I mean the batch job ONLY! Not the batch job + screen! I admit, I should have made sure everything was working myself because to people like L, they look from a modular point of view, and not component-wise like programmers. But seriously, I feel verifying the screen is NOT my job. And worse, getting the arrows because B was not around.

L called B to bug him about the issue. L didn't bug me anymore that night. I hope it's because she realised it's not my fault, not because she didn't want to talk to me. L is quite scary when she's stressed sia.

Still not sleepy when I got home at 11+pm despite having 0 caffeine that day. Depressant needed again.

Then still have to go to work earlier on Monday because they wanted to deploy my stuff before 9am. *grumbles*

The suayness did not just stop on Monday morning. I got a call asking why the program I was taking my own sweet time at, wasn't completed. Huh! Nobody said anything what! Sigh ok lor, my fault also, never ask. Faster do! Went home around 8pm.

On Tuesday, I realised the program was far more complicated that I had expected. It's really unfair when the users just throw a sample file at me and say I had to "just insert it into the database", when they really expected updates to database as well. Fuck. And I know if I protest, they will say I should have asked.

OT everyday from Tuesday to Thursday till at least 9pm everyday lor. Go home only because I couldn't think anymore and unconstructive to stay on. Dinner, bathe, continue programming without a compiler at home. I thought it was inevitable to come back again on the weekend...

On Friday evening, the development database was synced with the SIT database. To my horror/pleasure, there was a change in the database that will DEEPLY impact my work. It will uncomplicate my task if the change were to stay. My previous efforts would be unnecessary, but at the same time, I would not need to continue testing the parts I have not finished testing because they wouldn't be needed anymore.

Since it's evening, those users sure go home liao, cannot confirm with them. I was done at 8pm, the earliest for the week. I scrapped my weekend plan.

Wonder how this new week would be like...

Nice Song

I don't know why I feel it's nice. Just that it managed to captivate me among all the others in the album. I don't know if the mtv is nice too though. I didn't watch it. I'm just making use of the audio available.

Grooming the Future of The World

Haven't been to Toys 'R' Us for a few years. Guess what I found!

Inedible Yummy McDonald's Deluxe Mealtime Set!

The 6-2353535 Pizza Hut Deluxe Play Food Set which implicitly teaches kids to play with their food!

Fast food galore!

The ultimate target for our future of the world.

We all know that children have amazing learning abilities. Of course fast food corporations know that too. Now fast food colonization has its arms even in a toy store. Or just that I didn't notice it before.

Having grown up with fast food in my life, I'm a living testimony that early exposure works wonders.

I know Pizza Hut's delivery hotline by heart after it was drummed into my head with a catchy jingle but I still cannot remember McDonald's hotline. Maybe I will know it after doing more OT.


This didn't work. I still haven't sworn off McDonald's after hearing a doctor in the movie say that one should never eat fast food at all.

I remember watching a video clip off the internet about how cows and chicken suffered in the farms. Of course I am still eating beef and chicken. Didn't work at all.

O actually I only eat McDonald's a few times a year. Not that bad lah. Doesn't include the times I ate Pizza Hut, Mos Burger, KFC...

Next on the scare-myself list:

Thanks to my sister for modelling for those pictures. Not sure if she wanted her face plastered over the internet though.

A short complaint:
IMDB is making it hard for me to copy images from that silly slideshow. Why did I have to do a View Source? Just give it to me lah!

Today Then I Know...

Polyclinic got express queue one... *hehehe*

Sheng Siong's Irony

Promotion: Get 1 lucky draw coupon for every $30 spent!

Condition: Each coupon must be attached with a receipt.

Sotong Looks Into The Crystal Ball...

And predicts that she will be on MC next Monday!

Long weekend!

Next week is CNY!

2 long weekends in a row!! Yippee!

First (free) Laptop

No free lunch? Yeah kind of. They take away the drumstick from your meal set.
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