Sotong Got Lucky

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

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

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

Change Team Again?

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

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

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

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

Done...

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

But it's still nice.

Crabs!

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

Mellben Seafood
BLK 232 Ang Mo Kio Ave 3

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Fried tofu - Nice! Got seafood inside.

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

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

All that for $75.

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

Ah~~

Damage:

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

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

Satisfied. Already wanna go again.

Blind Driver on the Loose

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

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

An Unwanted Holiday

*Warning* Long and blabbering post ahead

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The dishes:

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

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

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

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

Home sweet home at nearly 3am.

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

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

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

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

Guess Where He Gets His Haircut From?

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

O_O

Work! Work!

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

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

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

24 and 25 Feb. Sotong, remember this.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

It's only irish cream lah.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Repeat ** a few times.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Wonder how this new week would be like...

Nice Song

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

Grooming the Future of The World

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

Inedible Yummy McDonald's Deluxe Mealtime Set!

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

Fast food galore!

The ultimate target for our future of the world.

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

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

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


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

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

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

Next on the scare-myself list:

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

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

Today Then I Know...

Polyclinic got express queue one... *hehehe*

Sheng Siong's Irony

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

Condition: Each coupon must be attached with a receipt.

Sotong Looks Into The Crystal Ball...

And predicts that she will be on MC next Monday!

Long weekend!

Next week is CNY!

2 long weekends in a row!! Yippee!

First (free) Laptop

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

Sad, Sad Drinks Near Office

No coke, only pepsi. And it costs $1.20 (if I remember correctly). Maybe it's normal to people working in town, but it's 5 times more expensive than my previous workplace. I know my previous workplace is abnormal, but used to it lah. It's alright, I'll use this as an excuse to stay off soft drinks.

Papaya milk, diluted. Sigh. Disgusting. I'll rather they give me 1/2 a cup.

Teh-c, unfresh milk. Got that funny smell when you keep the milk for more than 1 week. Bleah.

STI Has No Spellcheck?

An excerpt from an article in STI:
----------------------------------
Jan 23, 2007, 2.20 pm (Singapore time)
Youth Challenge under fire for irregularities, chief resigns

Mr Lam, who was the founder of the teen group, quit amid revelations of irregularities, poor governance and mismanagement, as well as a lack of transparency and misleading information on renumeration.

...

Fat Ass SCL8798E

A rainy evening again. My father and I were travelling along Lornie Road, towards that super busy junction at MacRitchie, occupying the whole lane. This driver who has no idea that he's driving a car with a fat ass, sped up from behind and came up on our right. Maybe he has a bursting confidence about his driving skills and my father's, but that's so not funny. Maybe he's 赶着去投胎， but if anything happens, the people going to 投胎 will not be him.

Impressions of 2 Movies (Again)

Babel

Not funny, scary or exciting. Brad Pitt is not handsome here. But it makes you want to finish the whole thing. 4 different stories told non-linearly, but did not confuse a low-IQ sotong.

Verdict: Thumbs up!

Snakes on a Plane

HAHAHA!

Verdict: I don't know what to say.

My Crazy PC

My PC at work. The one that hangs 4 times a day when it acts up.
Ghost icon


It's everywhere...


I still have a sound clip of it making ghostly noises, but nowhere to put it.

Food! Food!

Maybe I should blog about what I have eaten so that... whatever.

Hawaiian BBQ (2006/11/19)
It's at Turf City, beside 7-11. They only open at night. Went there for my father's birthday. He was having a bad stomach but didn't tell us -_-

The shop looked very dark. I thought it looked closed, but the tables and chairs outside were a tell-tale. The shop is their kitchen. No aircon, but got fan.

It's a buffet but the different thing is they bbq the food and bring to you in platters. If you like certain food, you can order more of it.

Food (that i can remember) All food are bbq-ed, except the obvious like soup:
- Chips (fish and chips that kind of chips), fried breaded fish fingers. The fish fingers is GOOD.
- Garlic bread, Mushroom soup with mushroom in it. It's not the salty starchy cheapo kind. Of coz not high class like Marche lah, but I grade it above average.
- Pasta. Scared will be too full so I din eat. I think the noodle looked like linguine, don't really fancy it.
- Lamb chop (tastes a bit like satay)
- Hot dogs. Although it's the canned kind, they still bbq till VERY NICE! Must be the bbq sauce
- Chicken. They only served thigh and wings, suit my taste perfectly. The meat is very well marinated. This is the best dish IMO.
- Dory (yummy!), squid, prawns
- Corn, mushroom, onion, caspicum
- Bbq Banana with melted cheese. I don't eat bananas but I ate it!!!
- Bbq apples
- Iced pineapple tea, refillable. There's a huge slice of pineapple at the tall glass which made it very holiday-like. Maybe the pineapple juice was supposed to diffuse into the tea.

4 people ate, after all the +++ and 1-for-1 promotion, it was about $89. Very worth it! The good thing is that it's not crowded at all, good for a bunch of friends to meet and pig out, provided you can be bothered to get your ass there. But the bad thing is that it means business is not optimistic and I won't expect it to be around for too long.

Photos? What photos? *busy attacking food*

Verdict: Can repeat visit.

Ramen Ramen (2007/01/05)
I heard about their cheese ramen and I was sort of craving for ramen, so I went to the branch at Atrium@Orchard with W and J.

My evil colleague told me that I have a deadline on the following Monday and it was advisable not to miss it, so I left office 30min later than planned. Not that I've finished my work. It's Friday and I don't care.

I ordered mushroom ramen with cheese. It came with the corner of a slice of cheddar cheese peeking out of the soup. A bit disappointed since I was expecting something really cheesy :| Aiyoh! If I had known, I would have brought my own cheese instead of paying $1 for it. I stirred the soup to melt the cheese, which disappeared into the already-milky soup. Couldn't really taste it liao. But the soup was good, much better than Ajisen's sodium-laden version. I could have drunk all of it. The noodle neither melted in the soup nor stuck to my teeth. So is that considered good? Don't know how to comment on springyness.

Nah, photo!


Only remembered to take after I finished the ramen. This is my 2nd cup of green tea...


Bill for 3, affordable I must say.


Their free ramen card. So blur lor, never print the phone number! And when they have to use red, of all colors, to fill it in. Surely blue or black are more common?

Verdict: Can repeat visit.

Misc
BK cappucino. Like that lor. I took the 3 sticks of trans-fat-full creamer home.