When I Slack

Completed 山おんな壁おんな (Yama Onna Kabe Onna) last last week:

Very funny, yet not too low-class. Flying buttons, resting bosoms on the table, handbag with tits... >_<

Currently on 火舞黄沙.

Almost exactly the same cast as 金枝欲孽, also about people scheming against one another and revenge after revenge. Quite addictive lah. 32 episodes in all, I chiong!!! Because coming up next in the queue is...

Galileo.

I don't even know if it's nice, but I'll find out in due time *watches the % completed bar fill up*

Ajitei - Real and Fake Food

Met up with W and J again! It's been such a long time... and it's been a long time since I last saw open shops in a mall. Ya, lifeless, I know.

Carrefour@PS. Just stretch your hand in when you are thirsty. Wonder if there's a sensor above the entrance though.


Food time! Main course first.

My jaws were TIRED from eating this. It didn't help when I finished most of it. It's not soft like tofu by the way.

Raw salmon~~ *Slurp*

A slice of smooth and soft tofu covered in melted cheese. This dish is sinfully oily. We also had the potato version, which I preferred.

W had a bowl of salmon rice and J had some sushi with cheap ingredients, as we called it.

Desserts!


Really admire the Japanese for coming up with such realistic-looking fake food displays, which look better than the real thing sometimes. We wouldn't mind so much even if we had to queue for a table, can slowly think of what to eat! How come Singaporean restaurants don't do this?

Maybe because the portions we get change over time, cannot give us false hope.

A delicious-looking shop in Kappabashi Market, Tokyo.


As if all that weren't enough, we went to Daiso and looked at more FOOD! Bought 2 new Tohato snacks, but couldn't find the 黑糖 candy I had before... :( Passing criteria is a chunk of 黑糖 in the centre. Where... 在哪里 >_<

I'm *Almost* Affluent!

From the ST:
"Affluent S'poreans are mostly 'executive warriors'
THE affluent in Singapore are mostly 'Executive Warriors' - typically middle-aged male, like golfing, and travel frequently for business purposes, a survey by global research company Synovate has found.

The regional survey of 11 Asian countries, tracked 1,700 Singaporeans with a minimum monthly household income of $6,500 and grouped them under five main consumer segments - the Executive Warriors, the Work to Live's, the Gimme's, the HUMmers (Hungry, Urban and Mobile) and the Luxury Loyalists.
....
"

Minimum household income of *only* $6.5k is considered affluent? Their household got 1 person only right?

Time to Start Shopping!

Limited choices of overpriced earrings. Being ripped off by having to pay $2 PER HOOK (WTH!!!) for requesting to change the hooks to silver. A not-so-bad time when it's $1 per hook at SOC bazaar. Yes my ears have expensive taste, but I won't have anymore of this crap! Where can I buy cheap sterling silver hooks so I change them myself?

I came across a spree to buy jewellery components at Firemountain Gems.

The cheapest and simplest hook. USD1.49 for 5 pairs. If shipping isn't too ex, it would be worth it. *crosses fingers*

Browsed around and saw many interesting designs. Why not add more variety instead of hooks, hooks and hooks all the time?

Hinged earwire, USD1.60 per pair. Aiyoh so ex...

Hoop earwire, USD2.84 per pair. I dunno what I can hang on it, but for the sake of variety! Heartpain...

Decided against getting studs to save the trouble of working with glue.

$11.73 items + $1.44 shipping + $0.83 GST + $0.70 postpac + $0.50 postage = $15.20

Surprise #1: How come GST is 6.3%? How they count one? But since it's less than 7%, I'm fine with it heehee.

Surprise #2: Firemountain sealed the items very nicely in plastic packets. Must cut open one.

Surprise #3: After factoring the extra costs, my primary objective (the hooks) cost $0.61 per pair! Yay! But if anywhere is selling cheaper, I would like to know. And oh, fuck that pushcart in Bugis Junction for charging me $2 PER HOOK. Hope they have closed down already.

Should have asked not to use postpac. Don't think my items can get smashed since they are flat to start with. Unless they got twisted lah...

Can start expanding my collection now!

The I-Was-Here Evening

The HR organized a BBQ at a club near my office, commencing at 5pm. I think everybody didn't feel like going because they didn't enthusiastically reply "I'M COMING!!!" to the RSVP. I know, we get to get out of the office early, but we already have too much work to do and would rather not. What more, it's not for going home. I think our boss know us very well lah, he said we should recognize HQ's efforts and go if we can make it. What a subtle hint.

As much as I would like to be as late for the BBQ as possible, I had to leave for it at 5.30pm because I had to lompang my boss' car over. If I purposely missed the ride, I think it would be too obvious lah. Nevermind, I plan to leave at 8pm latest!

Food was not bad. Got mee siam, fried rice, fried beehoon, salad, packet Yeo's drinks, the usual fare like chicken wings, otah, marshmallows, and unusual stuff like sotong, salmon, crayfish, brocolli, lamb, beef.

It was really a show-face event. Almost everybody from a particular department has disappeared by 6.30pm. Some people want to lompang other other's car, so they left with the driver who happened to have to leave early. Some big bosses came and also left soon. By 8.15pm, there were probably not more than 15 people at the pit, excluding any who might be in the chalets.

Home-sweet-home.

Edited on 01/01/2008: That night, I was offered a lift home by a new guy claiming to be my new boss. Looks too young (and the car too beng, as I found out when I saw it XD). I was thinking "Are you sure you are my new boss? Do what one?" the whole time. Hope it wasn't written all over my face *whistles*

Sweets Review

Bought some candies from sprees recently. I dunno why, but each of the sprees were fraught with difficulties.

From USA, Tootsie Rolls and Brach's Root Beer Barrels.

From Japan, 王妃の白葡萄 (Ouhi No Shirobudo).

Tootsie Rolls
I originally order Tootsie Rolls Midgees during the period that I was super busy with work. So busy that I neglected to send the spree organizer my address, and this person also never remind me. Think I'm gonna treat you to candies? Wait long long! I emailed her about it and she took ages to reply me that my candies were no longer available (expected, I think they would have melted if she were so honest as to keep them for me) and she could either refund me or send me Tootsie Rolls in replacement. So I opted for the replacement.

So my sweets came via mail... the envelope broken. Apparently the postman tried to stuff it into my old-style mailbox, so hard that a wee bit of chocolate could be seen almost-oozing out of the wrapper. Got 20+ sweets for $3, inclusive of postage.

Review
Tootsie Rolls are chocolate flavored chewy candy, meaning I'm supposed to chew them, but they stick to my teeth, so I would rather suck. The chocolateness fell short of my expectations. Must put in the fridge or it will melt in my room.

Will I Buy Again?
No, I'm not that into chocolate-flavored candies anyway.

Brach's Root Beer Barrels
First, the supplier the spree organizer ordered from forgot her order. When he was reminded of it and sent out the candies, they got sent back to New Jersey because her address was written wrongly. It would cost USD73.50 to ship back. WTF!! But after investigation, it was found that the supplier was at fault phew~ They finally arrived, like more than 1 month later.

10 sweets*$0.20 + postage $0.50 + handling fees $0.20 + bubble-wrapping $0.30 = $3

Review
Brach's Root Beer Barrels are made with real concentrate from A&W Root Beer, to give you great old-fashioned root beer taste. It's a hard candy, melt-resistant. Yeah I taste the root beer, but it's a bit like Sarsi (which I don't like) minus the fizz.

Will I Buy Again?
No. Real root beer is cheaper.

王妃の白葡萄
Spree organizer emailed on 28 Aug (Tue) that the candies have arrived and said to give her till Friday (31 Aug) to mail out. But by 9 Sep, there was no word on whether she has actually done the mailing and nothing has arrived. I emailed her about it.

The very next day, I had a bulky package note on my table. Must be it already! It's my last outstanding spree. The postman had given up on stuffing it into my mailbox and no one answered the door when he went up to my house. Either my mum was out, or she couldn't hear the door (sometimes they "shout" like ants) or my sister was still sleeping (I won't be surprised). Anyway, I didn't want to risk the above 3 scenarios from happening again if I requested a resend, so I told my sister to collect from the post office.

Review
The brand is Kasugai, never heard of till now. Made from a mixture of chardonnay flavor and concentrated juice of highly prized white grapes. This is one special candy man! Upon opening the package, I could smell the wine-like aroma. This hard candy is actually FIZZY (funny that this is fizzy while those root beer candy makers cannot do the same). The strong flavor and fizz lasts from the outside right to the centre, where there's jelly. Chew on it! I love sweets with centres! It has 106g of vitamin C, but I don't care about this.

I left it on my table for everybody. My sister said my mum took one and later returned to grab a handful. Does she know it costs $0.38 per pcs -_-;;

$6.90 + postage $0.70 = $7.60. 20pcs in each packet.

Will I Buy Again?
YESSS! But not from sprees if I can. I think the organizer ripped me off. I googled a few websites and if I did not misunderstand the Japanese, each packet costs 180yen, which is approximately $2.40. The price disparity is so great! $4.50 for shipping? Yeah afterall, the organizer stated that the candy price is inclusive of shipping. But if shipping will not jack up the cost by 87%, I would like to import it myself. Is anybody going to Japan or has somebody in Japan?

Edit: The back of the package

Porte

Mmm~~ Light and airy cookie.

First 歌台/Auction Experience

Haven't met up with J and W for a long time. J suggested going to AMK Botak Jones, so there we went. It's the Hungry Ghosts Festival, but who says we shouldn't go out at night?

I could hear a 歌台 as I approached, but I didn't expect it to be right outside the very Botak Jones coffeeshop! Japanese-like hokkien songs, voices with no power shouting out songs... we didn't want to listen, but we had to.

The worst was yet to come. The auction ran concurrently with the 歌台. Sitting in between the 2 stages, we were blasted left and right. The auction was exceptionally loud for unnecessary human reasons (maybe they wanted to attract ghosts from afar). Maybe they were helping the sound system rental company test the limits of their systems, because I'm certain it wasn't that loud when they were doing the testing 123. As per industry standard, the host talked non-stop, promote the item, how much, repeat the current bid price *100, let out a HUAT AH, promote again, say 来，repeat the bid price again, ask people to bid.... but the people below were more interested in the food. Made the host look like 自high.


They sold a trophy for $2k. Said to help students score and do well in school. That person's kid needs it so badly? Aiyoh trophy got use meh? At least charcoal can be used in a bbq.

Needless to say, we couldn't hear ourselves the whole night.

Need a Better Name?

Looks more like Daily Giving.

CurL

Yeah, the Challenge ur Limits actual day! Learning from previous experience, I was "late" on purpose. Supposed to meet at 9am but I reached at 9.30am. Changed into the event tee and went for a spin at the pasar malam to look for breakfast. The oyster mee sua was not bad.

Before I had time to finish applying my sunblock, it was time for the preliminary race already. Like the previous time, it was just a man-powered cruise down the river for me. We came in second, which meant we qualified for the finals at 2pm. At this time, the sky darkened very quickly.

The floating platform. Don't bother looking, I'm not there.

I think this is a fireworks firing gadget.

Shortly after we got out of the water, it started raining. Sianz. We waited at a corridor to be told which holding room to go. The coordinator tried to occupy us by suggesting that we play peace by the river.

...

Thanks for the effort, but I think I've already outgrown that.

We were ushered into a carpetted, air-conditioned room with some sofas. Wow not bad! I played game on my handphone, chatted with the rest, stoned, but it soon got boring. It was just noon. The speed time passes is inversely proportional to your expectation.

Packet lunch came to occupy us. Rice with fried chicken, egg tofu and chilli kangkong I think. Not bad! Next up was goodie bags. Got not-so-nice JJ drink, beef 午餐肉, salty biscuit, mints, 1-for-1 happy hour voucher at Echoloft (dunno where), gym vouchers, some other stuff and the best of all, free scoop of Haagen Daz azuki ice-cream! But they purposely said not valid at Esplanade. Win liao lor.

Waited and waited and waited. Entertainment was balloon sculpturing, caricature drawing and face changing. The face changing fake one lor, I could hear a click, swoop and the face disappeared into the fellow's costume. Looking closely, he had layers of mask on his face -_____- 骗小孩子one.

It was still raining at 2pm. Upon enquiry, we found that we were to wait until 4pm for the prize presentation where everybody would be a winner. WTF? What medal? Boey tahan liao! Must get out!

Went Marina Square! Bought jeans! Smell perfume till my nose turned numb! Then to Millenia Walk, then to Suntec. Looked at Nissan cars. Dinner was at Sizzler. Quick, before the crowd comes!

The current Sizzler meal promotion comes with vanilla ice-cream potatoes! How special!


The ribs are dryyyy.

While we were blissfully eating, hungry souls queued outside. Wait for us, ya?

Do our stuff weigh 40kg?

Now to get home before the fireworks crowd did. For the first time, we made a mistake of calling a cab instead of queuing for one. Our cab seemed to be stuck in the Suntec roundabout jam while the taxi queue was shortening...

End of the day :D More like shopping trip hurhur.

Work <-> Life

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 2^nd 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.

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 2^nd Sep 2007:
More inequality from my 2^nd box of grapes.

I find that ordinary grapes no longer taste as good as before. Hmm...

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 stomach and 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 to look 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.

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.

Auntie Sotong

Got to know from a forum that Triumph would be having a warehouse sale from 27^th to 29^th 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*

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

• 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.

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 to eat 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.

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.

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.

You Are Asking Me?

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.

You Know 20070616 is Auspicious

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

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

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

Tried my new cheap items:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sliced ab·a·lo·ne with spinach! Mmm~~

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


BooOooO~~ I've killed the red shaker!

Blah

I can't go hungry in my office.




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

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

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

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

The Visitor

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

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

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

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

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

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

Crap and Classic

明明

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

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

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

Rating: Er..erm...


白い巨塔

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

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

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

Citibank REALLY Cares For Your Pocket

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Citibank Cares For Your Pocket

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

But too bad, still not interested :P

Played Out By Machines

**WARNING - TECHNICAL POST AHEAD**

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I resolved to go home only if I solve this.

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

9pm already.

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

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

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

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

We Must Make Up Our Minds

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

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

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

下一站…吃什么

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

Ricciotti
Indian Wok

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

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

I'm Lovin' AMK

5 days away from home and counting...

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

I Am Now In A Happy Company!

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

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

Duh.

Reaching Out to the Older Generation II

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

根据我们的记录，您有资格获得$Z (请参考英文信件第二段的数额)。

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

I Know Why He Wants To Quit!

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

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

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

Sotong Lives in a Pokka Warehouse

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

Cheers.

Reaching Out to the Older Generation

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

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

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

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

Maybe their letter generator program cannot handle foreign languages?

TMRB

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

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

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

A Preview Of My New Colleagues-To-Be

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