Today at my company's annual brain-washing session, the big big big boss announced that they are going to focus on work-life integration.
Work-life integration indeed.
Non-stop OT since May.
Occasional Saturdays.
Work from home so that I can see the office 1 day less a week.
I miss having my dinner at 8pm.
I miss my friends.
I miss my computer.
I have a backlog of entertainment.
I have a backlog of blogs to enter and I don't wish to forget what I want to write. This entry is a backlog too btw, it's made on 2nd Sep actually.
My work is becoming my life. I congratulate my company at their success.
Impossible deadlines, with the complexity of the system. Rephrasing, I'm incompetent.
This is really a weird place.
People who cannot differentiate between reason and excuse.
This guy is from the Pastes team, the project I joined when I first joined the company.
CM: Why did this-this-this happen?
Me: Because like-this and...
CM: That is not an excuse.
Me: I know this is my mistake and this is what happened. I don't mean this as an excuse.
CM: So what is your reason?
Me: (names reason #2)
CM: No, that is not an excuse. Can you stop finding excuses?
Me: (so wtf should I be saying? Care to tell me your idea of a reason?)
The moody middle-aged woman
She's been mentioned before here. When she's in a good mood, she's very nice and takes good care of me. But when it's foul, ha! Luckily she doesn't act up often, but it could become more frequent with age.
L suddenly popped by to say there's a problem with my work.
Me: Yes, I'm aware of that already. I am fixing it with the next release.
L: Ok, so let me test something else. (*press press*)
Me: No no, you can't do that yet, that problem is affecting the rest.
L: (angrily) Why can't I do that? I want to do that. (continued pressing) Why is it not working?
Me: ... (will I be insulting her intelligence if I repeated myself?)
The PM who knows his Math.
A conversation between PM and R at noon.
PM: So how long will you take to finish this?
R: 7 days.
PM: So today is Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, next Tuesday can finish lah?
I wasn't sure if the PM was joking.
BTW, the brain-washing session was a total waste of time. Dangerously crowded, I had to wade through a sea of people to register myself, wade through another ocean to get to the buffet which I can't eat because I was standing, and punish myself by standing for almost 45min to wait for the fucking doors to open. Then listen to the big big big boss talk about the company's achievements and how they aim to do more for the people. Ya, whatever they are going to do, I'm sure will not apply to contracts. I should have just stayed behind to get more work done, impress my boss and maybe become a perm. And do I care how well the company is doing? Got bonus for me meh? Doesn't matter at all, unless it's doing so badly that they are retrenching.
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Saturday, August 11, 2007
No Grape Is Created Equal
2 champagne grapes from the same bunch. The smallest vs the biggest. There are many raisins too, but no pictures of them, because they look like, well, raisins. And taste like raisins too.
By the way, champagne grapes are yummy. It's so fresh that there was even a dead spider among them, complete with something white, which I assume to be its web. It better not be bird shit or what...
Edit on 2nd Sep 2007:
More inequality from my 2nd box of grapes.
I find that ordinary grapes no longer taste as good as before. Hmm...
Sunday, August 05, 2007
Equinox + 店小二 + Gloria Jean's
Equinox
The day didn't start off well. I almost wanted to cancel the reservation, but in the end, my family made it for the high tea at Equinox to celebrate my mother's belated birthday.
Our table was at private dining area on the 69th storey. Not that I specially paid extra for it or something, just that they were out of tables at the main area. Might as well, since the lift stopped right outside. If we got the main area, I would have to walk down a flight of steps. Although the buffet was a distance away, I'm not the one doing the walking :P It's just a pity that the table was not right next to the window :\ In a corner of the room was a table with well-behaved children eating quietly. Why, I was pleasantly surprised. Such well-brought up children!
Aha, no pictures of the food. There was main course food like porridge, sushi, which I didn't have much, because I was there to pig out on desserts :D~~ There was fresh, crispy waffle with MMM~~ ice-cream, wa dunno what brand one! The carbonara pasta was thick and creamy. Nice, but good thing it came in a small serving. The thin-crust pizza was delicious, but hey, I think it's hard to go wrong with pizza :X There's a chocolate fountain, but I only had a strawberry. No point filling myself up with fruits! Not into chocolate fountains at all. It's just chocolate-coated food, which means you eat more of others than the chocolate.
Lots of desserts but unfortunately I neither have their names nor their pictures. Most are tasty. A memorable one was an airy puff soaked in dunno-what (and you can't tell visually that it's soaked) which melted in my mouth. For drinks, there were the usual coffee and tea, Dilmah infusion teas and punch. There's only so much that a 25-yr-old stomachand entering decline can take. O I found that chamomile tea is excellent for washing away flavours so that I could eat somemore.
O ya, those "well-behaved" children went wild after they filled their stomachs and had nothing to do with their recharged bodies. So the usual running around, screaming and laughing ensued, their parents throwing half-hearted "hey, stop it, sit down" because they were too busy talking. The parents finally did something when one kid started bawling. Ya the usual ending.
The bill which gave me a shock.
What is that Mineral charge that costs a whopping $15?! Water? Their water so expensive ah?
Went to admire the view and took some photos before leaving.
Actually, if my mental sums skills are decent, I would have realized that everything still added up to $35 each. Luckily I didn't make any noise about it. It's not my nature anyway.
Something interesting: There are fruit flies in the restaurant. Neh, the drosophila lor. Very irritating.
After that, I went for a spin at Raffles City Convention Hall tolook for a toilet while away time before meeting my friends. Wow they have nice, big and clean toilets. There are even comfortable sofas. Next time can get a drink from downstairs and laze here! Cheaper than Starbucks, less people and noise.
Met my JC classmates at 店小二 for early birthday celebration for E. Learning from our lesson, we ordered a set meal meant for 8, although we had 10 people. Or make it 9. Sigh, actually I suggested that place partly because I haven't ate there before, but I was too sugar-overloaded to eat anything already. I just had the white fungus pork soup (can taste the MSG), a piece of mushroom because it looked toooo inviting, and the dessert. The dessert was honey sea coconut, with SPRITE. Yeah, fizzy sprite. Peculiar. We were allowed to eat in peace. No over-zealous table clearers. Very good.
Then it's Gloria Jean's coffee. Shared a ice-blended chocolate with E. Not nice one. Spinelli~~
Partially described in my JC class blog.
The day didn't start off well. I almost wanted to cancel the reservation, but in the end, my family made it for the high tea at Equinox to celebrate my mother's belated birthday.
Our table was at private dining area on the 69th storey. Not that I specially paid extra for it or something, just that they were out of tables at the main area. Might as well, since the lift stopped right outside. If we got the main area, I would have to walk down a flight of steps. Although the buffet was a distance away, I'm not the one doing the walking :P It's just a pity that the table was not right next to the window :\ In a corner of the room was a table with well-behaved children eating quietly. Why, I was pleasantly surprised. Such well-brought up children!
Aha, no pictures of the food. There was main course food like porridge, sushi, which I didn't have much, because I was there to pig out on desserts :D~~ There was fresh, crispy waffle with MMM~~ ice-cream, wa dunno what brand one! The carbonara pasta was thick and creamy. Nice, but good thing it came in a small serving. The thin-crust pizza was delicious, but hey, I think it's hard to go wrong with pizza :X There's a chocolate fountain, but I only had a strawberry. No point filling myself up with fruits! Not into chocolate fountains at all. It's just chocolate-coated food, which means you eat more of others than the chocolate.
Lots of desserts but unfortunately I neither have their names nor their pictures. Most are tasty. A memorable one was an airy puff soaked in dunno-what (and you can't tell visually that it's soaked) which melted in my mouth. For drinks, there were the usual coffee and tea, Dilmah infusion teas and punch. There's only so much that a 25-yr-old stomach
O ya, those "well-behaved" children went wild after they filled their stomachs and had nothing to do with their recharged bodies. So the usual running around, screaming and laughing ensued, their parents throwing half-hearted "hey, stop it, sit down" because they were too busy talking. The parents finally did something when one kid started bawling. Ya the usual ending.
The bill which gave me a shock.
What is that Mineral charge that costs a whopping $15?! Water? Their water so expensive ah?
Went to admire the view and took some photos before leaving.
Actually, if my mental sums skills are decent, I would have realized that everything still added up to $35 each. Luckily I didn't make any noise about it. It's not my nature anyway.
Something interesting: There are fruit flies in the restaurant. Neh, the drosophila lor. Very irritating.
After that, I went for a spin at Raffles City Convention Hall to
Met my JC classmates at 店小二 for early birthday celebration for E. Learning from our lesson, we ordered a set meal meant for 8, although we had 10 people. Or make it 9. Sigh, actually I suggested that place partly because I haven't ate there before, but I was too sugar-overloaded to eat anything already. I just had the white fungus pork soup (can taste the MSG), a piece of mushroom because it looked toooo inviting, and the dessert. The dessert was honey sea coconut, with SPRITE. Yeah, fizzy sprite. Peculiar. We were allowed to eat in peace. No over-zealous table clearers. Very good.
Then it's Gloria Jean's coffee. Shared a ice-blended chocolate with E. Not nice one. Spinelli~~
Partially described in my JC class blog.
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Certified!
The blur, lazy programmer is finally a Sun Certified Java Programmer!
As previously posted, I originally resolved to get my certification before I got -argh-, but the planned got shelved because there was no crisis. So I slacked and studied on-off, never intensively, thus it my skills never seemed to improve.
The final push came when my exam voucher was approaching expiry. We are talking about $266.70. Unfortunately, I have been very busy of late, OT-ing almost daily and obviously not in the mood to study after I got home. Left with no choice, I booked my exam for the very last valid day. *the power of procrastination*
So it's more intensive studying than usual for 3 weeks. I bought my exam during a promotion where I can retake once for free should I fail, but it would be more convenient to pass it at the first sitting, right? No movies! Cannot watch my new Jap drama! T_T
I was primarily practising at the JavaRanch Rule Round-up Game, where I should be scoring 100% before attempting the exam. Horrors of horrors, I was scoring like 60% or worse consistently. I seriously suck at modifiers, classes, interfaces, inheritance, threads... Aiyah sibeh jialat lah. It's like I'll still fail CS1101 now, and that I've learnt nothing during my years of work. So demoralizing. Practised repeatedly, until I sort of memorized some answers and starting scoring 100% more often. Moved on to a 45-page Word document of practice questions I compiled when I was last enthusiastic about it. Only had time to go through half of it.
The big day came. I took annual leave instead of exam leave because I didn't want anyone to ask me about it. Like, what if I failed? So paiseh right!
My test centre was NTUC CertCentre@International Plaza. Took my sister's precious Nike jacket along as I recalled almost freezing to death doing an interview test 3 years ago. The staff is friendly and helpful. They have colored CCTV! Wa seriously, no cheating! There's even a switch on the table to buzz the staff to come in. I settled down, familiarized myself with the exam format (my FIRST time seeing the format *blush*) and off I went.
Time whizzed by and it was over. I decided to be kind and fill up a feedback questionnaire, which had odd questions like how I found the temperature of the room. Can change meh? Light a fire? I know can change a test centre, but I doubt they would go to that extent. I received my result slip at the reception (yes, it's instant) and went back to work. Yeah, although I was officially on leave. I didn't want to be accused of slipping the project schedule. Haven't looked at my results yet. Shall save it for later, when I get home.
Yeah my result. What if my boss ask me how come just pass only? *stress* Glad that it's over, and I didn't waste my money lah.
As previously posted, I originally resolved to get my certification before I got -argh-, but the planned got shelved because there was no crisis. So I slacked and studied on-off, never intensively, thus it my skills never seemed to improve.
The final push came when my exam voucher was approaching expiry. We are talking about $266.70. Unfortunately, I have been very busy of late, OT-ing almost daily and obviously not in the mood to study after I got home. Left with no choice, I booked my exam for the very last valid day. *the power of procrastination*
So it's more intensive studying than usual for 3 weeks. I bought my exam during a promotion where I can retake once for free should I fail, but it would be more convenient to pass it at the first sitting, right? No movies! Cannot watch my new Jap drama! T_T
I was primarily practising at the JavaRanch Rule Round-up Game, where I should be scoring 100% before attempting the exam. Horrors of horrors, I was scoring like 60% or worse consistently. I seriously suck at modifiers, classes, interfaces, inheritance, threads... Aiyah sibeh jialat lah. It's like I'll still fail CS1101 now, and that I've learnt nothing during my years of work. So demoralizing. Practised repeatedly, until I sort of memorized some answers and starting scoring 100% more often. Moved on to a 45-page Word document of practice questions I compiled when I was last enthusiastic about it. Only had time to go through half of it.
The big day came. I took annual leave instead of exam leave because I didn't want anyone to ask me about it. Like, what if I failed? So paiseh right!
My test centre was NTUC CertCentre@International Plaza. Took my sister's precious Nike jacket along as I recalled almost freezing to death doing an interview test 3 years ago. The staff is friendly and helpful. They have colored CCTV! Wa seriously, no cheating! There's even a switch on the table to buzz the staff to come in. I settled down, familiarized myself with the exam format (my FIRST time seeing the format *blush*) and off I went.
Time whizzed by and it was over. I decided to be kind and fill up a feedback questionnaire, which had odd questions like how I found the temperature of the room. Can change meh? Light a fire? I know can change a test centre, but I doubt they would go to that extent. I received my result slip at the reception (yes, it's instant) and went back to work. Yeah, although I was officially on leave. I didn't want to be accused of slipping the project schedule. Haven't looked at my results yet. Shall save it for later, when I get home.
Yeah my result. What if my boss ask me how come just pass only? *stress* Glad that it's over, and I didn't waste my money lah.
Saturday, July 28, 2007
Auntie Sotong
Got to know from a forum that Triumph would be having a warehouse sale from 27th to 29th July, at Jalan Pemimpin! So near my house! Must go! I know I just bought 1 new bra barely 2 weeks ago, but 1 is not enough! And I still want to get more panties :P Told the other ladies in my family about it and they couldn't resist as well.
Plan for the day: Hit the sale once it opens in the morning at 10am, grab something within 30min, pack lunch and fly off to work. Perfect.
The organizers gave us transparent bags to hold our trophies. There weren't many people when I reached, so I browsed leisurely. So wrong I was. The crowd swelled quickly and it wasn't long before I had to squeeze my way to the baskets. It was hot (would have been worse if the sun were blasting), stuffy (at the lower deck of a double-storey carpark, which provided shade, ironically), crowded and tiring. So I just looked at the design and dispatched my sister to find one of my size (the reason why she HAS to come). At a sale, you just want to buy everything, so we put anything we vaguely wanted into the bag first. Take first, think later. Chiong ah!
The panties section was horrible. Everything was in a heap and women were furiously performing the routine of fishing-inspecting-discarding/keeping. I joined them. So auntie.
When we were done, we went to a side to filter the stuff. If only I could afford all, then no need to waste my brain cells to think and 忍痛割爱. Shape a bit funny, out. Color too bright, dunwan. No, cannot keep this, got a similar one already...
I think I spent more time filtering than grabbing. Went to take a seat around bored men and children while my sis and mum paid.
I ended up leaving the place at 11.30am. My mum was so happily shopping that she decided to forgo an interview, but ended up the interviewer was late, so she still had the interview. I went for lunch before leaving for work.
Total damage $58 only. Impressive! *applause*
Plan for the day: Hit the sale once it opens in the morning at 10am, grab something within 30min, pack lunch and fly off to work. Perfect.
The organizers gave us transparent bags to hold our trophies. There weren't many people when I reached, so I browsed leisurely. So wrong I was. The crowd swelled quickly and it wasn't long before I had to squeeze my way to the baskets. It was hot (would have been worse if the sun were blasting), stuffy (at the lower deck of a double-storey carpark, which provided shade, ironically), crowded and tiring. So I just looked at the design and dispatched my sister to find one of my size (the reason why she HAS to come). At a sale, you just want to buy everything, so we put anything we vaguely wanted into the bag first. Take first, think later. Chiong ah!
The panties section was horrible. Everything was in a heap and women were furiously performing the routine of fishing-inspecting-discarding/keeping. I joined them. So auntie.
When we were done, we went to a side to filter the stuff. If only I could afford all, then no need to waste my brain cells to think and 忍痛割爱. Shape a bit funny, out. Color too bright, dunwan. No, cannot keep this, got a similar one already...
I think I spent more time filtering than grabbing. Went to take a seat around bored men and children while my sis and mum paid.
I ended up leaving the place at 11.30am. My mum was so happily shopping that she decided to forgo an interview, but ended up the interviewer was late, so she still had the interview. I went for lunch before leaving for work.
Total damage $58 only. Impressive! *applause*
Sunday, July 22, 2007
三盅两件
Partially described in my JC class blog.
Went to the AMK Hub branch for my belated birthday celebration with my JC class. Wanted to go to NYNY, but they were so yaya that they wouldn't seat us if the majority hasn't arrived, hence the change of plans.
I was late. Got out of the house late because my dad was still bathing -_-;; but might as well, so I wouldn't have to queue. Then the lousy carpark was full as usual so we couldn't get in. And which idiot designed that building? The interior is handicapped-friendly, but what good is it when there isn't any handicapped access to get into the building? All I could see is stairs man! Maybe they thought the travellator was a good idea, but sorry, it's not.
The nice thing about 三盅两件 was they allowed us in although attendance wasn't full yet. Got 稀客! I haven't met CX since we finished JC can! And there's HY, it's been almost 1 year.
One must place order with a firm mind. There were 2 versions of the 10-man meal. I think the cheaper one has no dessert or something and some of the dishes are different, but I had no idea how much better the food would taste for that premium, so we decided on the cheaper one. But the waitress was well-trained. She persuaded us to upgrade our meal as our chosen set serves pork bone soup (iirc) while the set she's recommending serves freshly boiled chicken soup, which they just cooked today. Also we would get dessert. So we were just looking at one another and she promoting the dishes, until someone said ok and the rest followed suit. :|
The chicken soup came. Sweet and fragrant, delicious chicken wing. Breast meat was tough, but it's breast meat what. Ok, sounds like a better deal than the other whatever soup (Look, I don't even know what soup and I'm comparing. Ha.ha.).
O yeah the Samsui chicken. Wrap it up with a piece of lettuce, put some sesame oil-soaked ginger and eat! Salty, tender and BONELESS.
There was a super oily potato leaves (all vegees outside are oily, so I'm cool), a freaking big steamed fish, fried rice (bowl filled to the brim OMG!) and some other dishes. Dessert was white fungus with ginko nuts.
We are (nearly) all in our mid-20s and can't really eat anymore. I barely touched my rice (sorry...).
Tricks to make us go away soon
So ya, I'm a slow-eater. If given time, I could have at least finished my portion. Didn't even finish my dessert. Boo. The food is nice, but could have been better if I could savour in peace.
After we got out, I noticed that there was still a queue. Afterall, it's 8.30pm only.
Walked around as some of the guys wanted to buy things. E and S bought Anderson's ice-cream and said it wasn't tasty. Noted.
Went to the AMK Hub branch for my belated birthday celebration with my JC class. Wanted to go to NYNY, but they were so yaya that they wouldn't seat us if the majority hasn't arrived, hence the change of plans.
I was late. Got out of the house late because my dad was still bathing -_-;; but might as well, so I wouldn't have to queue. Then the lousy carpark was full as usual so we couldn't get in. And which idiot designed that building? The interior is handicapped-friendly, but what good is it when there isn't any handicapped access to get into the building? All I could see is stairs man! Maybe they thought the travellator was a good idea, but sorry, it's not.
The nice thing about 三盅两件 was they allowed us in although attendance wasn't full yet. Got 稀客! I haven't met CX since we finished JC can! And there's HY, it's been almost 1 year.
One must place order with a firm mind. There were 2 versions of the 10-man meal. I think the cheaper one has no dessert or something and some of the dishes are different, but I had no idea how much better the food would taste for that premium, so we decided on the cheaper one. But the waitress was well-trained. She persuaded us to upgrade our meal as our chosen set serves pork bone soup (iirc) while the set she's recommending serves freshly boiled chicken soup, which they just cooked today. Also we would get dessert. So we were just looking at one another and she promoting the dishes, until someone said ok and the rest followed suit. :|
The chicken soup came. Sweet and fragrant, delicious chicken wing. Breast meat was tough, but it's breast meat what. Ok, sounds like a better deal than the other whatever soup (Look, I don't even know what soup and I'm comparing. Ha.ha.).
O yeah the Samsui chicken. Wrap it up with a piece of lettuce, put some sesame oil-soaked ginger and eat! Salty, tender and BONELESS.
There was a super oily potato leaves (all vegees outside are oily, so I'm cool), a freaking big steamed fish, fried rice (bowl filled to the brim OMG!) and some other dishes. Dessert was white fungus with ginko nuts.
We are (nearly) all in our mid-20s and can't really eat anymore. I barely touched my rice (sorry...).
Tricks to make us go away soon
- Serve the dishes fast and furious -> no space for the incoming dishes -> discard unclaimed food
- When a dish was 3/4 gone, come to ask if we still want it, then while we stun, collect the plate
- If more than half the people have put down their chopsticks after the last dish, clear the table of everything. No bowl, no chopstick left behind. You can't resume eating even if you want to. Ask to serve the dessert. The slow-eaters will catch the hint and discard their food.
- Do the same for the dessert.
So ya, I'm a slow-eater. If given time, I could have at least finished my portion. Didn't even finish my dessert. Boo. The food is nice, but could have been better if I could savour in peace.
After we got out, I noticed that there was still a queue. Afterall, it's 8.30pm only.
Walked around as some of the guys wanted to buy things. E and S bought Anderson's ice-cream and said it wasn't tasty. Noted.
Saturday, July 21, 2007
Happy Birthday to Me!
2004: Haven't started working yet
2005: Job too eng, a waste to take leave. Colleagues treated me to Cafe Cartel and super alcoholic cake. Anyway I was going to Ikoi in the evening, can go straight from work.
2006: Job too eng, a waste to take leave. Colleagues treated me to Gelare because it's Tuesday -_-;; But add this add that, also ended up quite ex lah.
2007: Went to work on this annual event, just like the previous years. Not that I like to bully myself, but I could make full use of time the if I were to "postpone" it to Friday. Taking leave on a Wednesday is such a waste. Wake up at 11am, and have to make sure I get back by 11pm and be in bed asap so I can still make it through the day with a cup of coffee the next day. So there.
The day was ok. Solved a few problems and let myself home earlier than usual. 7.30pm, that is. W sent me a mms with an animation of a cake. I couldn't play the song that came with it. Must be the phone. It made me think if I should get a cake, but... I think no need lah.
O the stupid Citibank called me about you-know-what again. But I forgot to scold them. Next time. Sure got next time.
When I got home, I saw an envelope on my table. My spree item has arrived! So 准! It's as if I sent a present to myself.
As I had guessed, my brother got me a cake :D After allowing my dinner to settle further down, it's time toeat the cake/blow out the candles/cut the cake/have the celebration!
The mmm~ chocolate cake. Only remembered to take photo of it after I started eating, so pardon the dirty and obviously licked spoon. Very moist! The biscuit-like sticks on top are actually sugar.
HSBC sent me a "present" too. I had a late charge dated exactly on my birthday. How cool is that huh. It's my own fault. I did try to pay last month, but didn't notice that the bank transfer didn't go through because I busted the daily transaction limit. But actually, it's the bank's fault too, for not displaying the warning in font 30, bold, red and flashing. I shall act apologetic and ask them to waive the charge. Else I shall transform into an unreasonable bitch and threaten to cancel my card. Heehee! But before that, I shall redeem all my points with Haagen Daz vouchers. Like, $60 worth.
So on Friday, I slept till almost noon and headed to Pasta de Waraku at The Central for lunch. The loooong wait was worth it, although it could have been avoided by waking up earlier. Tasty corn soup. Creamy, filling pasta. A half-portion pasta coming with a whole egg. Reasonable pricing. What more can I ask for? Too bad the desserts are limited and don't look interesting.
Then I went to Vivocity for the first time when shops are actually open. Tried Starbucks' Azuki Frappucino. Nothing special. In fact, I felt it tasted the same as the Mocha Frappucino, just that there were bits of red bean to nibble on. It was too sweet although I didn't put whipped cream. Coffee Bean's promotion looked better.
Bought 2 pairs cheap earrings at Harbourfront. Dapao Shih Lin's oyster mee sua to try and went home. Because not hungry enough for dinner :|
Settled my card! All it took was part 1. It's as if it's their company to waive by default. Phew.
2005: Job too eng, a waste to take leave. Colleagues treated me to Cafe Cartel and super alcoholic cake. Anyway I was going to Ikoi in the evening, can go straight from work.
2006: Job too eng, a waste to take leave. Colleagues treated me to Gelare because it's Tuesday -_-;; But add this add that, also ended up quite ex lah.
2007: Went to work on this annual event, just like the previous years. Not that I like to bully myself, but I could make full use of time the if I were to "postpone" it to Friday. Taking leave on a Wednesday is such a waste. Wake up at 11am, and have to make sure I get back by 11pm and be in bed asap so I can still make it through the day with a cup of coffee the next day. So there.
The day was ok. Solved a few problems and let myself home earlier than usual. 7.30pm, that is. W sent me a mms with an animation of a cake. I couldn't play the song that came with it. Must be the phone. It made me think if I should get a cake, but... I think no need lah.
O the stupid Citibank called me about you-know-what again. But I forgot to scold them. Next time. Sure got next time.
When I got home, I saw an envelope on my table. My spree item has arrived! So 准! It's as if I sent a present to myself.
As I had guessed, my brother got me a cake :D After allowing my dinner to settle further down, it's time to
The mmm~ chocolate cake. Only remembered to take photo of it after I started eating, so pardon the dirty and obviously licked spoon. Very moist! The biscuit-like sticks on top are actually sugar.
HSBC sent me a "present" too. I had a late charge dated exactly on my birthday. How cool is that huh. It's my own fault. I did try to pay last month, but didn't notice that the bank transfer didn't go through because I busted the daily transaction limit. But actually, it's the bank's fault too, for not displaying the warning in font 30, bold, red and flashing. I shall act apologetic and ask them to waive the charge. Else I shall transform into an unreasonable bitch and threaten to cancel my card. Heehee! But before that, I shall redeem all my points with Haagen Daz vouchers. Like, $60 worth.
So on Friday, I slept till almost noon and headed to Pasta de Waraku at The Central for lunch. The loooong wait was worth it, although it could have been avoided by waking up earlier. Tasty corn soup. Creamy, filling pasta. A half-portion pasta coming with a whole egg. Reasonable pricing. What more can I ask for? Too bad the desserts are limited and don't look interesting.
Then I went to Vivocity for the first time when shops are actually open. Tried Starbucks' Azuki Frappucino. Nothing special. In fact, I felt it tasted the same as the Mocha Frappucino, just that there were bits of red bean to nibble on. It was too sweet although I didn't put whipped cream. Coffee Bean's promotion looked better.
Bought 2 pairs cheap earrings at Harbourfront. Dapao Shih Lin's oyster mee sua to try and went home. Because not hungry enough for dinner :|
Settled my card! All it took was part 1. It's as if it's their company to waive by default. Phew.
Monday, July 09, 2007
Battered Coin
Today I asked my colleague to help me dapao lunch. This is what I got back for my change.
A bit blur, but you get the idea.
Contrast with this "normal" coin.
So seldom seen, that I asked my colleague what happened to her coin the moment she gave it to me. I wonder what the coin could have gone through to wind up like this, looking like a piece of crumpled Al.
Or maybe it's just counterfeit. I should feed it to something that wouldn't ask the question I asked my colleague, such as a vending machine.
A bit blur, but you get the idea.
Contrast with this "normal" coin.
So seldom seen, that I asked my colleague what happened to her coin the moment she gave it to me. I wonder what the coin could have gone through to wind up like this, looking like a piece of crumpled Al.
Or maybe it's just counterfeit. I should feed it to something that wouldn't ask the question I asked my colleague, such as a vending machine.
Saturday, June 30, 2007
Last Chance for NUS 2004 Graduates!
Dear Graduate of the NUS Class of 2004
Entrance fees for the National University of Singapore Society (NUSS) just went up to $3,000.00 and will go up further to $5,000.00 by March 2009.
BUT... graduates who join within the first three years of graduation only pay $2,000.00. As a graduate of the Class of 2004, your three years is running out!
So wait no longer! Join before 1 July 2007 and enjoy the reduced entrance fee of $2,000.00 which can be paid through 25 interest-free
instalments of $80 a month! Exclusively for the NUS Class of 2004, you will also receive $1,000.00 worth of free NUSS F&B vouchers when you join us before 1 July 2007!
What's more, membership is transferable!
NUSS is Singapore's premium graduate club with not one but three clubhouses located at Kent Ridge, Adam Park and Suntec City Mall. Enjoy comprehensive sporting and recreational facilities, dining options, in-house events and much more when you sign up with NUSS.
NUSS is exclusive to university graduates and professionals. By March 2008, you will enjoy the use of a spanking new $32-million clubhouse at Kent Ridge and a $2-million clubhouse just beside the Botanic Gardens.
This is an offer not to be missed. So what are you waiting for? Contact us NOW for an obligation-free preview:
CALL 6586 3777
EMAIL marketing@nuss.org.sg
SURF www.nuss.org.sg
Please click here to download the application form
The world of NUSS welcomes you.
No thanks.
Entrance fees for the National University of Singapore Society (NUSS) just went up to $3,000.00 and will go up further to $5,000.00 by March 2009.
BUT... graduates who join within the first three years of graduation only pay $2,000.00. As a graduate of the Class of 2004, your three years is running out!
So wait no longer! Join before 1 July 2007 and enjoy the reduced entrance fee of $2,000.00 which can be paid through 25 interest-free
instalments of $80 a month! Exclusively for the NUS Class of 2004, you will also receive $1,000.00 worth of free NUSS F&B vouchers when you join us before 1 July 2007!
What's more, membership is transferable!
NUSS is Singapore's premium graduate club with not one but three clubhouses located at Kent Ridge, Adam Park and Suntec City Mall. Enjoy comprehensive sporting and recreational facilities, dining options, in-house events and much more when you sign up with NUSS.
NUSS is exclusive to university graduates and professionals. By March 2008, you will enjoy the use of a spanking new $32-million clubhouse at Kent Ridge and a $2-million clubhouse just beside the Botanic Gardens.
This is an offer not to be missed. So what are you waiting for? Contact us NOW for an obligation-free preview:
CALL 6586 3777
EMAIL marketing@nuss.org.sg
SURF www.nuss.org.sg
Please click here to download the application form
The world of NUSS welcomes you.
No thanks.
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Slurp~
Hougang BLK 804 Western Food
While I was still staying at Hougang, I asked Houganger for food recommendations. I got my sister to pack chicken cutlet for me immediately that night. Boy I so did not regret it. If it still tastes good after surviving a bicycle trip, it must be damn good if eaten on the spot.
And so I did. Located in a coffeeshop opposite Hougang Plaza, obviously more crowded than the Kopitiam chain. There's 秋莲板面 and a duck rice which is supposed to be good too. The western food stall is manned by a few ah bengs who don't look like they belong behind stalls. The obese one was standing and had one leg propped up on a stool. You get the idea? Wonder what car they drive.
My mixed grill was served on a sizzling, overflowing hot plate. Got chicken and forgot what other meat, potato with melting butter, fries, salad, sunny egg, onion... any other? It's just good lah! How often do you get hot plate at coffeeshops?
Tampopo
J had ramen craving, so J, W and I went to this place at Liang Court B1 which sells delicious ramen in pork bone soup which takes 2 days to boil. I had Kyushu Jangara Ramen, which comes with cod roe(kind of regretted stirring it into the soup without tasting more of it), one BIG slice of pork that spirals with fat and one whole hard boiled egg which miraculously still has partially running yolk and white! I usually don't eat pork fat but this time I did, because I paid for it and there would be nothing left if I extracted the fat. Didn't regret it! Now I know what it means to have meat melt in your mouth. A downside is that when the ramen cools, I could taste a tinge of bitterness. Should be the noodle's alkali. I think the ramen costs $12.80.
J and W had a spicy version that comes with pork strips instead. I think mine is better :D W loves the egg so much that she ordered an extra :O
We got 2 desserts to share. I think one of it was a cheese cake but it wasn't outstanding, thus forgettable. The other was a jelly that comes in a hollowed orange, made with real orange juice and chunks of pulp. Mmm~
Congratulations to J on her engagement!
Jelly Belly
Bought this from a spree. I shouldn't have bought the soda pop shoppe! Because I forgot there wouldn't be any fizz -_-;; The burst of flavor only lasted a few chews and worst of all, the beans stick in teeth. The Sours flavor looks more promising in terms of taste, but I still don't think I will buy again. Meiji tastes good and the best thing is, they don't stick to my teeth.
While I was still staying at Hougang, I asked Houganger for food recommendations. I got my sister to pack chicken cutlet for me immediately that night. Boy I so did not regret it. If it still tastes good after surviving a bicycle trip, it must be damn good if eaten on the spot.
And so I did. Located in a coffeeshop opposite Hougang Plaza, obviously more crowded than the Kopitiam chain. There's 秋莲板面 and a duck rice which is supposed to be good too. The western food stall is manned by a few ah bengs who don't look like they belong behind stalls. The obese one was standing and had one leg propped up on a stool. You get the idea? Wonder what car they drive.
My mixed grill was served on a sizzling, overflowing hot plate. Got chicken and forgot what other meat, potato with melting butter, fries, salad, sunny egg, onion... any other? It's just good lah! How often do you get hot plate at coffeeshops?
Tampopo
J had ramen craving, so J, W and I went to this place at Liang Court B1 which sells delicious ramen in pork bone soup which takes 2 days to boil. I had Kyushu Jangara Ramen, which comes with cod roe(kind of regretted stirring it into the soup without tasting more of it), one BIG slice of pork that spirals with fat and one whole hard boiled egg which miraculously still has partially running yolk and white! I usually don't eat pork fat but this time I did, because I paid for it and there would be nothing left if I extracted the fat. Didn't regret it! Now I know what it means to have meat melt in your mouth. A downside is that when the ramen cools, I could taste a tinge of bitterness. Should be the noodle's alkali. I think the ramen costs $12.80.
J and W had a spicy version that comes with pork strips instead. I think mine is better :D W loves the egg so much that she ordered an extra :O
We got 2 desserts to share. I think one of it was a cheese cake but it wasn't outstanding, thus forgettable. The other was a jelly that comes in a hollowed orange, made with real orange juice and chunks of pulp. Mmm~
Congratulations to J on her engagement!
Jelly Belly
Bought this from a spree. I shouldn't have bought the soda pop shoppe! Because I forgot there wouldn't be any fizz -_-;; The burst of flavor only lasted a few chews and worst of all, the beans stick in teeth. The Sours flavor looks more promising in terms of taste, but I still don't think I will buy again. Meiji tastes good and the best thing is, they don't stick to my teeth.
Saturday, June 23, 2007
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:
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!
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!
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
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!
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!
Tuesday, June 05, 2007
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.
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.
Monday, June 04, 2007
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!
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!
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
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.
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.
Sunday, May 27, 2007
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
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
Friday, May 25, 2007
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.
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.
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
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.
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.
Thursday, May 17, 2007
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...
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...
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
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 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.
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*
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*
Saturday, May 05, 2007
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??
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?
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?
Wednesday, May 02, 2007
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.
Tuesday, May 01, 2007
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?
Saturday, April 28, 2007
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!
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~~
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~~
Monday, April 23, 2007
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.
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.
Sunday, April 22, 2007
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. :\
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. :\
Friday, April 20, 2007
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.
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.
Thursday, April 19, 2007
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.
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.
Sunday, April 15, 2007
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.
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.
Saturday, April 07, 2007
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
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 amurderous 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.
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
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.
Monday, April 02, 2007
Sunday, April 01, 2007
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.)
(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.)
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