My New Week Resolution 1

To SLEEP at 11pm sharp every night.
To LEAVE the house at 8am on the dot.

This must be the curse of my life. With less than 8 hours of sleep, I am practically a walking zombie for the next day. Hopefully, this new resolution will be able to relieve the mental and physical stress of rolling out of bed and peeling my eyelids open.

As for the 2nd half, it is to prove to everyone (who has given me looks of disbelief, when I announced it) that I CAN DO IT! *fold arms, glint in the eye... !!zing!!**

Yet another *CNY

It is Chinese New Year again. Once upon a time, these words conjured up visions of new clothes, sweets, cookies and best of all, *ang paos! Even the tedious, respectful chants of "Great grandaunt" and "Cousin Ah Kow" (who is perhaps 10 times removed), the dangers of being suffocated by enthusiastic hugs, the drop dead boring waiting sessions (when old folks reminisce about their youthful exploits about 60 years ago) could not diminish the lure of the red packets. (See! We have been taught to be $$$minded at a tender young age!) Anyway, we didn¡¯t have much of a choice. What could little 8 year olds do in situations like that, except to put on a brave face and endure the ordeals?

20 years later, the thoughts of having to elbow my way through the mad crowds during sales (For some reasons, there are always sales at this period of time!) for new clothes, the high cholesterol and calorie levels of sweets and cookies and sitting through droning of 80 year old adventures (YES!! They never tire of repeating the same story every year!) seem drearier as CNY draws near. The pluses gained through the ang paos simply do not justify the agonies anymore.

Is it due to the fact that I am holding a job now and the ang paos aren¡¯t attractive anymore? Or is it due to the erosion of my grasp to my ethnic roots (as my father lectures us on the degeneration of traditional values of today¡¯s youths)? Or now that I am 28, I have the means to more choices and mobility?

Somehow I just do not see the point of sitting there, nodding my head eagerly to stories which I have heard for more than 20 times or making small talks to people whom I have either never met in my whole life or kept asking me if I have eaten already. To me, they are people whom I will not keep in contact with after my grandmother and my parents have passed on. Everything is mechanical and emotionless. Does this really endorse the true spirit of Chinese New Year? To me, it is a season to get together with close family members and friends. And the above certainly does not subscribe to this.

CNY gives a different meaning to my generation. There is no debating on if it is a merit or a minus because it is a change to our way of life. It is here to stay.

*CNY = Chinese New Year = Celebrated by the Chinese, in accordance to the Lunar Calendar
Ang Pao = Little red envelopes filled with money = Usually given by the older folks to the younger unmarried ones for good luck.

We Meet Again!

It has been more than a month since I have updated my blog. In fact, I did try updating it a while back, but apparently, the blogger server was going nuts that day and I couldn't get my posts up. After which, I confess that I have forgotten about it for a long while. Getting used to the whirlwind of acitivities, realigning my haphazard schedules and trying to beat the rule of "no using of internet for pleasure during office hours" (Yes! I am one of the parasites who (used to!) blog during office hours!!) took some time. However, after a full month of practice, I have finally mastered the art of gorging down my lunch within 30 minutes and thus relieving a teeny weeny bit of time for blogging.

Cutting the tedious matter short... I AM BACK!!!

Leaving Germany

Full of anticipation and eagerness, I started on my one year's journey to Germany. Friends and family were sad and tearful at my leaving, but as for me, I felt only a strange feeling of zest and impatience, to kick off my next chapter of life. I left them behind me, in the departure hall of Changi Airport. It seemed like yesterday, when I first set foot in Germany. Has it already been one year?

Everything went by so fast, that it became so surreal as if it had never happened before. Mainz, the dom, the meandering streets of the old town and the Rhine river, then to USA, the quiet little town in Massachusetts, the harrowing drives to Niagara, to Landshut, the Bruecke, the Christmas Market, the little shopping street which I loved so much, and then poof! I am back in Singapore. Soon I will ask myself, "Have I ever been there?", then I will start to forget the names and faces of the people whom I have met here, then the feelings, memories......

I am going to miss all these -- the quiet moments beside the river, the messy little apartment, the mindblowing bicycle rides, the solo moments to myself. Soon these will be replaced by the bustling activities of the city, dinners, movies, friends, family and slowly they will fade away. I will never come back here, as part of the town. Instead, I will be back as a visitor, an observer, detached from the people and places.

I should be intoxicated with happiness at the very thought that I am going back into the embrace of my homeland and the familar warmth of family and friends. However, strangely, I have felt a perpetual ache in my heart, since the last day of work, knowing that I will miss this town, the people and most of all, my tranquil life and brief taste of freedom. I wish that all these do not need to come to an end, but sometimes the choice is not mine.

This will be my last night in Germany. WIth this last entry, I close the page for this chapter of my life. Auf Wiedersehen!


You will miss this place,
But will it miss you?
Ah Wei
23th December 2002

refreshing o'blogs

I have just added a new section "refreshing o'blogs" on the left sidebar. I have come across some rather interesting blogs. However, since I do not know their owners personally, I have grouped them into a section, separated from the flogs. Pleasant reading!

Bringing Ironing to New Heights

The link to Extreme Ironing has been given to me by Tripps. He has never ceased to amaze me. He has been able to conjure up various links related to the subject we talked about, all in one minute. He claimed that he had a troupe of little green men on his payroll, searching for these links! Haha! Try harder, Tripps!



Anyway, coming back to the subject on Extreme Ironing. According to the website, it is "a new outdoor activity that combines the danger and excitement of an 'extreme' sport with the satisfaction of a well pressed shirt. It involves taking an iron and board (if possible) to remote locations and ironing a few items of laundry. This can involve ironing on a mountainside, preferably on a difficult climb, or taking an iron skiing, snowboarding or canoeing." (Totally ripped off from the FAQ of the website. Am I infringing some copyright laws here?! Hmm...)

Well, I am not too sure about that. In the first place, I hate ironing! If I get to go to one of these exotic places, why would I bring along an ironing board?! Or perhaps I can do this on Singapore's tallest mountain, Bukit Timah Hill, standing at 163.63m. Now, wouldn't that be REALLY EXCITING?!

Incredible Feat

New Year Resolution: I shall endeavour to complete all my tasks way before time. Hey! Doesn't this sound familiar? Yeah sure! I have made this resolution every year, for the last 20 years.

It is 8am now, and no, I didn't wake up early to blog. I haven't had my owed sleep yet!!!

I should thank my dilly dally nature for it. I have enrolled into a writing course, spanning across 3 whole months. Yesterday was the drop-dead deadline for all submissions. Yikes! I was going to fail my course! Therefore, I had to cram 1 and half month's worth of homework into one night. The whole of last night was spent squeezing words out of my saturated brain and *hugging the Buddha’s familiar leg (We are buddies! I have done this same task for more than 20 years! SO you can imagine the kind of friendship we have!!). I am sure my *GP tutor will be doubly proud of me, knowing the number of essays I have churned out in record time!

Tragically, I am a person who can only work under time pressure and I am probably the most ill disciplined human being, I have ever met. I confess to this sin. Then again, I must never let my boss read this article, or else, I will have short deadlines for all my projects, thus causing my blood pressure to rapidly increase, bursting my brain and finally grey matter will flow out of my ears. Eeewww.. Gross!

Anyway, I am beginning to sound incoherent. I need at least 8 hours of sleep per night. I calculate that last night’s activity has led to a deficit of 8 hours plus 50% interest from the sleep bank. I have a loan shark for a sleep bank. Sigh….

*Hugging the Buddha’s leg comes from the Chinese phrase "hugging the Buddha’s leg during the last minute", meaning… that one keeps procrastinating doing one's work, until it is too late and so has to hug the Buddha’s leg, hoping that help will be given.
*GP = General Paper = English

Last Day.....

Today is the last working day before a 2 weeks long holiday. Usually, last days should be a big celebration (Yep! We partied with red wine and gourmet food, in the office!!) and all. Yet, today, I felt a tinge of nostalgia. The regrets which accompany the impending departure from Germany were deeply felt. As I shook hands with half the people in the plant, wishing people a Merry Christmas (half of which were heartfelt), and received well wishes of having a safe flight back, hope to see you again etc(Which I am sure, only half of them was sincere, as well), it suddenly dawned upon me, that I would never work here as a regular staff again.

I waved goodbye to the friendly security guard and walked out of the gates. I turned and stood there for a full 5 minutes before I made a note in my heart and reminded myself that a subchapter of my life is closed.

Waiting at the bus stop, I took in the scene of a busy bustling street, people rushing around, doing last minute Christmas shopping. I simply wondered, "How many of these people have lived in this little town for their whole lives? Have they ever left this place? What kind of emotions would that stir up in their hearts?" Would I ever come back here and live as I had, again? Probably not. The bus passed by the landmarks which I have rode past on my bicycle, over the last few months. I would never ride here again. I realised that I was more sentimental than I have ever thought myself to be.

I hope I would look back on this entry, years later, and still be able to remember the passion I had once felt. I dedicate this page to everyone whom I have worked with, smiled with, in this little town, beside the Isar River.

Today is.... Virgin Snow day!!!!

They must have heard me up there! I have been lamenting to my colleagues that I would not get to see snow before I leave... blah blah....

Today, just as I stepped out of my front door to get to the laundry place (Ta dah!!!), snow fell lightly from the sky and the ground was blanketed with a thin sprinkle of it. Yikes! "Virgin SNOW!" I yelled. Dropping my laundry, I ran upstairs, called my friends in Singapore (They don't get snow there. *evil cackle*) and bragged about it. After being blasted by their envious swears and curses, I hung up the line with much satisfaction and snatched up my digital camera from the midst of my mess and hopped outside for a photo mania! Anyway, I finally remembered my forgotten mission and made my way to the laundry place, dumped my clothes into the automated washing machine and ran outside for another photo snapping spree! The trees were really a pretty sight, especially the Christmas tree look-alikes. I walked around a little, letting the white flakes settle upon me. Bliss!!

The darkness came really swiftly in winter and that put an end to my joyride. Since I had to wait for 2 hours, for the slowpoke machine to be done with the clothes, I decided to drive home, instead of loitering around the streets in the dark. The light snow has become heavier by the second by the time I returned to the car. The innocent white layer on the roads has become killing machines. Besides, I suspected that they have not fitted winter tyres onto the car! As I made my first turning, I could feel it skidding to one side, onto the opposite incoming traffic! I hurriedly swerved it back again (perhaps a little too hard and sudden, which incur another skid!) and decided to go really slowly. However, it went totally out of control, whenever turns on parts of the roads, where the snow was thick, were made. I was a bundle of nerves when I finally crawled up the steps of my apartment. I was a newbie to all these difficult driving conditions - winter, driving on the wrong side of the road.

I dreaded the time when I had to collect the clothes. After 2 hours, the streets have become horribly dark. Even in Singapore, where the streets were brightly lit up, I had difficulties with directions at night. Somehow, to me, everything looked totally foreign in the dark. I had to manoeuvre through the darkness, slippery snow (skidding a few times, after which, it didn't look so pretty anymore!) and the lack of road lanes (they have been covered by the snow).

Touched down at home base half an hour after I left for the 2nd trip. Phew! Still in one piece! If I were a cat, I would have only 1 life left after all those heart stopping skids (I counted!!!) Anyway, I'd better return the car to the company tomorrow, as it is a really cranky antique piece. It died a few times on me today, due to the extreme cold. Car towing doesn't quite appeal to me.

bulogs -> flogs

I think I am a failure at naming things and, therefore, will leave the difficult task to experts out there. JH emailed me about my 'bulogs', and said it sounded like 'bollocks'. I made a search in the dictionary and this word has 2 meanings - nonsense, or a certain organ of the male anatomy. Ooppsss....

Ok ok, FLOGS it shall be.

New Bulog!

Added Etel's blog to my bulog section. Christmassy look for a warm season in Singapore. Love the snowflakes falling off the page... Hmm.. shall ask her how she did it. *scribble reminder onto notebook.*

Reordered my bulogs. Nana's goes down, considering that it hasn't been updated for 2 months.

Toilet Tussle! Ack!

Ah Wei's list for Top 3 Most Important Rooms in an Office


1. Office (Of course! I spend about 1 third of my waking hours there!)

2. Toilet Meeting Room (Ok ok, I am shifting the toilet down the list, since I have tonnes of meetings. Hey! Is this MY list or YOURS?!)

3. TOILET!!!

Oh yeesss! I spend loads and loads of time in the toilet. Naturally the squeaky clean kind, with good ventilation, comfortable temperature, soothing level of lighting and the list goes on..... What? What can I do in the toilet?! Answer nature's calls, what else?! *gasp* You do it in the flowerpot beside your desk?! How delightful! *giggle*

Besides the normal peeing and shitting business, toilets can be rather conducive for :
1. Day dreaming
2. Catching up on lost sleep
3. Eavesdropping on gossips (Statistics have shown that the toilet is the best source of information! Want to know who backstabbed you? Go shit! Want to know who stole the credit for your project?! Go Pee!!! )
4. Excuse for getting out of a sticky situation in a meeting
5. Folding cranes with the toilet paper

As you can see, toilets are of utmost importance!!! So far, lucky ME have spanking clean and friendly toilets, but ever since I moved into this building (I suspect that it is the oldest one in the company estate!), going to the toilet has been a nightmare! It is no longer a delight that I look forward to, everything is done in a hurry. Run in, push the door open (making sure that it is empty first. Oh yes... you will be surprised!), finish the business, wash hands, back to the sanctuary of the office -- all in a 5 minutes dash. If there is some kind of toilet dash competition, I am sure I will secure the first place. Rushing in and out of the toilet can be really depressing and detrimental to productivity. Can you empathise with the agony of a worker who cannot enjoy her daily business in peace and serenity?!

Let me tell you the reason why a toilet lover like me has to stoop to such underground levels. A corridor leads from my office to the toilet. There is a door at the end of the corridor, it usually blocks the cold wind from entering and thus keeping the passageway reasonably warm. Once you go past the door, brrr... an instant change of 10 degrees, just in a matter of split seconds. Then you open the toilet door, thinking, oh great! A warm toilet to escape from the cold. Suddenly, the icy blast of air hit you. All negative 5 degrees Celsius of it. First you flick the switch on, (they practise energy saving here), the 'cheery' lights illuminate the sparse place and then sputter into oblivion, then you go by a weird sink with iron bars across it (I suspect that it is used by the cleaning lady) before entering an icy cubicle. Have you ever tried sitting on a frozen toilet seat!? It is so cold that it literally freeze up the pelvic muscles and nothing can be released, prima! As a result, you have to wait a few seconds more, while shivering in the cold, for the business to come. Then you wear your pants with the then numbed fingers and turn right for the sink. There you see it! The window is opened, letting in the sub zero air! There is a huge heater there, but the little dial is turned to the snowflake sign! The rationale totally escapes me. In a fury, I punch the window shut and turn the dial of the heater to full blast (all after I have washed my hands of course! What were you thinking of?!) Grinning in glee, I anticipate the next warm toilet excursion.

2 hours later, with visions of warm toilets, I go to my 3rd favourite room. Brrr... cold! Isn't the bloody heater working! Stomping to the heater, I glared at it, preparing to give it a few of my famous Weeeii kicks to get its ass moving. Argh! The dial has been turned back to snowflake! AND the blasted window is opened AGAIN! %$@@^ Who is the fricking idiot who has done this! With a vengence, I slam the window shut and again turn the heater up to max! I WILL PERSERVERE! WE SHALL SEE WHO HAS MORE PATIENCE!

This morning, after 1 week of intense battle, cursing and swearing, the toilet was warm and it was my FIRST toilet expedition of the day. *triumph*

Section Renamed! Kaboomz!

I tried very intense dreaming last night, but still no earthshaking ideas on my new blog layout. Therefore I have to content myself with making mincingly minor changes. I changed 'my buddys' to 'bulogs'. Sounds a little like Sandra Bullocks' blog though. Anyway, that is not what it meant. I have come across newly coined terms for blogging, some really innovative ones, like Flogs... Sounds cruel yeah? But take the F and the logs apart, it evolves into a new term for Friend's Blogs. I wanted to incorporate Buddy's and Blogs together, but by taking the first letter, I would end up with the same name, not too constructive there. Next attempt - Budlogs. Errh... sounded like Buttocks when it was read quickly. Last try, Bulogs. I figured that, being mistaken for certainly Sandra beat references to asses (unless they are yummy pert ones *wolf whistles*) hands down.

Rather sick of this doggy layout, still massaging my head, hoping that this will help generate ideas and initiate the flow of my nonexistent creative juices. Maybe the new layout will come to me in my dreams (or nightmare, whatever..). Next, I will have to set up the whole new template. Looks dubiously at calendar. 5 essays to finish, one whole room of junk to pack up, skiing trip to be planned, workplan for the next fiscal year to be set up (Take note! Work comes last!). Arghgh! Why can't there be more than 24 hours in a day, or more accurately, I wish I don' t have to waste my time sleeping. THen again, that would mean that the new ideas won't come. They come only when I dream or daydream (I have managed to perfect the art of daydreaming during work. Perfect!). Life is a contradiction.

World Class Companies

Have you ever wondered, why companies create websites and print brochures? The most obvious reason to me, is to spread the names of their firms to the whole wide world and then.... that's it?!

Then why have they stopped at that point? Why spend tonnes of money on advertising, when they neglect (or forget) to leave their addresses, fax, emails, websites, etc behind? What is the rationale behind the beautiful glossy pages, mind boggling websites (with flash) and all, when the customers cannot locate which hole they have been buried under? The advertising companies or, perhaps, the people who have given these projects the green light, ought to be shot! They have brilliantly helped their firms lose potential customers and millions of dollars from sales, just because, they are idiotic enough, not to leave their contact details behind! Looking on the bright side, maybe it is a good thing that they have accomplished that, for who knows what they will do with the tooling if they are lucky enough to clinch the deal. Or even better, they might keep the tooling but misplace the machine. DUH! Oh great! Just great!

I have been complaining to Ern about these morons, for wasting my precious time, hunting around for their bloody blackhole. A smart quip from him, "Oh! This is a perfect chance for you to join them and transform them into world class companies!"
"Yeah, so where can I send my resume to?!" *Roll eyes*

Light Bulb, Procrastinate, POOF!

Light bulbs burst over my head umpteen times (at very inappropriate times e.g. daydreaming while I was working, taking a break in the toilet, walking in negative 5 degrees conditions) a day. Yes! Surprise surprise! I do have aspiring ideas for my blog in every single hour. Righto dude I will write it, the very first thing I will do, I swear, when I touch base tonight. Awww....! I am hungry, no wait, gotta do the daily routine to halt the lateral growth. Huff Puff! Can I make it 3 sets?! Oh forget it. Squeezing the latent muscles, that should be enough. Time to encourage the growth. Cook (consists no more than popping instant food into the oven), eat, surf net, watch vcds, laze around, on my back, on my belly, watch the minute hand on my watch tick away, argh.. wash the plates just in time to prevent the flies from breeding. Look at laptop screen, groan, mind blank, time for bed.

My pathetic attempts at blogging every night!

Parting...

There! I have done it, I am the heartless animal owner. I have given Hammie away to one of my friends, who is staying in Munich. Somehow, along the way, I have grown attached to the little bundle of problems and its ingenious disappearing acts.

It has, finally, started to respond to my touches and caresses. During its good hair days, it would let me pat it and scratch its fat belly, while reclining in bliss. Not only that, I have begun to recognise its eating patterns as well. The pesky rodent simply adored sunflower seeds, hated the healthy nuts and practically went crazy at the sniff of the sinful Nutella.

The space where its cage had been, seems emptier than ever. Sigh... I am going to miss the brat.

(I hope it is not giving its new owner a difficult time. It had managed to escape in the darkness of the very first night of my ownership. Its escapades will go on, but it has been passed on to yet, another unfortunate soul.)

The ending of a love-hate affair.....

In some mornings, have you ever slept for 8 hours the night before, and yet does not feel recharged in every way? Simply sitting there, staring but not seeing, thinking but have no thoughts running across the mind, feeling yet not feeling anything. Just remain motionless on the same spot as everything flows by.

Spoiler :
The next time you glance at the clockface, argh! You are terribly late for work!

Looks rather zen eh? Well, it is definitely not part of my meditation routine.

Kinky Ironing Board

Something to cheer myself up with... oooh Kinky stuff... *whistles*

This link was enthusiastically contributed by Pig, who is extremely well-informed of my perverted preferences. Presto! An Ironing Board! Specially tailored to the needs of my domestic skills, I am set to become one of the top "ironers" in the world. The "What the **** is this confounded crease doing on the other side of the shirt! Heck! No one will see it there anyway! *pretends that the crease is not there*" statement will never spill out of my mouth again. Not only that, I will industriously create creases, oops, and iron them out again, all because of this wondrous board. I wonder how long it will take for the novelty to wear off.

Anyway, as I was telling him, I prefer the Asian look. For a Bae Yong Jun/Louis Koo board, I will gladly resign from my day job and become a professional 'ironer'!!

Life Sucks!

Call it PPPMS (Pre pre... Menstrual Syndrome)... call it winter depression, the underlying statement is still - Life SUCKS, in fact, it sucks big time! Maybe some of you read my site for the entertainment of the day in your busy lives, sorry about this lousy, ugly, depressing piece. Well, people who know me (or maybe they do not really know me at all), may not believe it, but I am not optimistic and cheerful for all 365 days for the past 20 odd years. I succumb to the occasional depression BUG too. This piece of truth bothers me, yes, it is like the splinter in my thumb, I can feel it, but am unable to get rid of it.

However, in actual fact, I am already luckier than a lot of people in the world. I am not living in a war torn country, nor am I starving in poverty. Living in an almost developed country should give me freedom in my choices in my miserable life, but have I? Most of the time, I am living my life based on obligations. Well, it is unfair to accuse the people around me of forcing their expectations on me. In reality, I am the one who is binding myself down with it. So, who do I have to blame? I do make my own choices. Yet, I am sick, SICK of doing the right things, at the right time for the right people. I want to be wrong and well, absolutely, extremely terribly wrong. Being the coward that I am, I will never be able to accomplish it.

As I am writing this piece, I experience an unexplainable wave of numbness, tired of feeling for anything and everything around me. The constricted feeling around my heart just refuses to go away. I feel the urge of leaving everything behind and escaping into oblivion.

One more thing...

Eh! Comment (constructively, of course!) leh! Or else, email me leh! No response, very de sian leh!

*leh (Singlish) - just a typical slang at the end of every sentence.

2 Different MEs

My friend commented, "Interesting. I nearly couldn't recognise the voice, you sound like you're in a different world and living a whole different life. I almost couldn't recognise it." (Sorry Ed, I plagarized it from our email.)

I read through every single entry, wondering if I really sound different from the ME in real life? Then again, is the ME in reality the real ME, or is the blog ME the real one? Confusing issue, when it comes down to one's own identity.

Well, probably the ME here is twice as insulting and sarcastic as in real life with triple extra dosages of courage to write things I might not have dared to express in front of everyone. Of course I might be sued if I am not careful, but scribbling it out on a computer monitor is much easier than saying it out LOUD and CLEAR. Evidently, I am turning into a computer nerd. After tete-a-tetes with the computer for 9 hours at work everyday, I come home joyfully into its arms. No-lifer, people would have commented.

Or probably, it is just this ME who is living far far away from people I have known for my whole life. And, the different way of living and culture is being reflected in the way that I write (doubtful but still...). Therefore, logically, I should revert back into my old self when I return to Singapore (willingly or reluctantly).

Hey, buddys (or is it buddies?!) do I really sound UN-ME here?

The Ultimate Puzzle!



Ok ok. I have seen this riddle some donkey years ago, but have just received it again by email. I love puzzles and this is a personal favourite of mine, so people, start your heads cracking!

This is supposedly a puzzle set by Einstein! You know the brilliant guy who dreamed up the relativity theory? Here goes...

There are 5 houses located in a row, in 5 different colours. In every house, lives a person with a different nationality from the rest. The 5 of them, each drinks a certain type of beverage, smokes a unique brand of cigar and has a different pet. No 2 owners have the same pet, smoke the same kind of cigar or drink the same beverage.

The mind boggling question... ssshh... *whispers * Who owns a fish????

Here comes the clues!
1. The Brit lives in the red house.
2. The Swede keeps a dog as pet.
3. The Dane drinks tea.
4. The green house is on the left of the white house.
5. The owner of the green house drinks coffee.
6. The person who smokes the Pall Mall rears a bird.
7. The owner of the yellow house smokes Dunhill.
8. The guy who stays in the house, in the middle, is a Mommy’s boy, he drinks milk.
9. The Norwegian lives in the first house.
10. The man who smokes blends lives next door to the one who has a cat.
11. The guy who owns a horse lives next to the Dunhill guy.
12. The Bluemasters smoker also drinks beer.
13. The German smokes Prince.
14. The Norwegian lives next door to the blue house.
15. The man who smokes Blends has a neighbour who drinks water. (Personal opinion : anyone in the world who doesn’t drink water?? Duh!)

According to Einy, 98% of the world can’t solve this riddle. Well, apparently the world has changed. Anyway, I belong to the 2% of the old world! Not bragging here, but I have to solve it before I can verify the answers that you will send to me, right? I wouldn’t have the audacity of posting an unsolved riddle and risk physical violence from all of you out there, although I hardly think that you will be able to find me. The world is big!

Deadly Stares

Don’t people know that it is impolite to stare, with 2 eyes (oh yeah, luckily humans have only 2) unblinkingly at others?!

I can understand that I am some sort of a novelty when I visit little rural villages in Europe and probably, most Japanese tourists (Oh yes, I am sick of the ‘moshi moshi’ that locals smartly throw at me! Let me clarify, I am definitely not a Japanese!) do not trek through these dirt tracks. They do stare, very briefly at me before looking away. Well, at least they have the decency to shift their line of sight and manage to look guilty for it.

As for my reaction, that really depends on my mood, whether it is a joyous day or a bad hair day (which is more often the case, figuratively and literally, when they defiantly persist in unruly curls and haphazard spikes, which tonnes of water, gel, brushing can never discipline.) On a smiley day, I will ignore them, IF, it doesn’t reach an excessive level. On the days when I get off the wrong side of the bed (you see, my bed is against the wall, so there can only be one correct side and to get off by the other way will produce disastrous results.), they will receive a double (or is it triple? I can never be sure.) dosage of rude stares back, with raised eyebrows and insolent tilt of my eyes (Believe me, I have had years of practise with it. Ask Nick.) Right there and then, a glorious battle of stares will take place. (Lethal staring is a high possibility for fist fights) I will stare till the other party drop their eyes and scuttle away in defeat. The triumph simply makes my day. Ah! The little joys in life!

Recently, I visited a trade fair in Munich, an international one. A weird phenomenon – I received stares from the Asians and not from the rest of the world. Is it because Asians simply have an insatisfiable sense of curiosity that extends to the looks of their fellow ethnic group members? Don’t I have 2 eyes, 2 ears, 2 nostrils, one mouth, the same slanting eyes and black hair (ok ok it is a little reddish, but that can’t account for the total number of stares). I hate it when people stare at me, have I grown horns on my head or mushrooms on my face? Hardly not, since I am a regular humanoid and I do bathe everyday.

Therefore, I can only conclude that Asians can be so very rude and the best thing is, they do not seem to feel any remorse in this impolite act! As you can imagine, 8 hours of walking through the halls (and still unable to cover all grounds), 40% of the people were Asians (be it exhibitors or visitors), I had the time of my life practising my piercing stares (I am sure, by now, I have mastered a module in the art of ESP – Eye power, and be able to drill a hole in steel with a flick of an eye. Now, let me find a sheet to practise...). It sort of relieved the weariness from the endless trek through the uncountable halls. There! I derive joys from the pains of others. A perfect definition of a sadist. But, I LOVE IT!

Globetrotting

Really late now, supposed to be in bed. However, I will not be around for the next 2 days, so it will be better for me to pen it down, before random amnesia kicks in.

Sitting crosslegged on the bench in the terrace just outside the deserted Herreninsel museum (in Chiemsee, a really beautiful town with a clear sparkling lake) (no one, except me, was insane enough to brave the winds and leaves swirling in the air and ground), the realization of my change in mentality struck me.

The old me would never have done that. Before reaching a destination of interest, a schedule would have already been planned beforehand. Then I would march from one place to the next with sheer willpower (usually after I start feeling numbness in my legs) and determination. The motto was 'Cover all grounds or drop dead'! With singlemindedness, I combed the entire town til near exhaustion. Scorning at the people sitting around on benches and drinking coffee at the cafeterias, I stalked on with conviction.

Perhaps I have more time for exploration, as compared to the short 3 weeks I had during previous travels. Now, I have the luxury to pick the season and weather to brave my adventures. Or perhaps, my new found (hopefully not a 3 minutes interest) hobby of photography has allowed me to look at trees, blades of grass in a different light. There are times when I simply stand around, roam aimlessly and shoot at anything that interests me. Sitting at a sidewalk cafeteria, sipping a cup of hot chocolate and observing the people around me, has ironically become my favourite pasttime. Now, I find the prowling tourists amusing and feel a sense of deja vu. Nothing beats having the idleness of afternoon tea and scribbling thoughts (evil ones as usual *cackle*) in my notebook or diary.

People may think I am so atypical but yes, castles are rather special to me. I simply love sitting on a bench, looking out at the far scenery (if it is possible) under the shade and muse about what great kings thought about when they were lounging there (or perhaps, the benches were not there in their era, but nevertheless....). Well, it doesn't have to be kings, any normal person of that time would do. What would they be thinking and doing? How was life before the invention of electricity and modern equipment? Were they contented with their lives for most of them had to work til they died? Nah, don't worry, I am not going crazy, yet.

Those are the joys of solo travelling. Some people looked at me in horror and exclaimed, 'Isn't it boring?!' Well, truthfully, it is a totally new experience for a person like me. Perhaps, my subconscious self is more introvert than I realise and sometimes, not having to make conversation can be happiness in itself. Instead of expanding my brain power on conversations, it is turned inwards on self reflection and generating new thoughts and questions. If I were to confess that solo travelling is totally fun, there will be 2 kinds of conclusions derived by people around me. 1. I am totally mad. 2. I am totally selfish. What am I? A mixture of both, or none at all? I like to believe that it is just me.

Homecoming

After almost a year in Germany, I am going home in 1 month's time. I am experiencing a mixture of feelings -- reluctance and eagerness.

I have looked upon this one year as a reprieve from my hectic life in Singapore, as I have time, a lot of time to myself, indulging in activities that I have been too busy for, in the bustling city. Reading books, surfing the internet, watching movies and vcds, walking in the park, taking photographs, writing my thoughts, and something unimaginable... simply sit back, do nothing and daydream and the list goes on. I will miss the 4 seasons, the serenely white winter, the blushing spring, vibrant summer and solemn autumn. Down to the more mundane things, the freedom to leave my mess on the floor, on the table, in the cupboard (you name it, you get it). Eating horribly cooked meals and still enjoying them as if they are platters from heaven. This time represents freedom to me. As I look back and think, I am going to lose all these. I will lose my assuring anonymity, my lack of responsibility and a small part of me, which has always yearned to break free.

On the other hand, I am looking forward to my return to my homeland. I have made plans, dreamed up fantasies, just waiting to burst free, the moment I step foot on Singapore. Whether they will succeed or fail, I can't tell, not until I have executed them. This will be a back-to-the-reality time. To put behind me all the sweet memories of freedom and prepare to bound myself in the chains of responsibilities and burdens. Yes, I can understand that this is part and parcel of life. I am already luckier than most, having had my brief taste of the free air. What about the rest who would never have the chance to experience it like me? Are they still living their lives out to the fullest, knowing what they have missed? Right now, I am mentally preparing for the challenges that I would meet as I leave this unreal world and hurtle back to practical Singapore. I swear that I will never look back and yearn for the life here, my brief fling with freedom. I must never live in the past, as some of my friends, who would never recover from the shock of moving from tranquil studying world in Europe, back to the harsher one in the little city, does. ANyway, I can foresee that I will be kept so busy that I probably would not have the time for regrets or reminiscing.

So much for the PEP talk. Chin up, face the world, Singapore, here I come!

Celebrity Review 1 - Floppy hair, droopy eyes...



As the credits of Nottinghill rolled out 5 mins ago, I tried to recall, a time when everyone around me was gushing over the show, over Julia (This I can understand) and over Hugh Grant. Floppy brown hair, droopy blue eyes, clipped English accent. 10 years ago, I had believed that he was irresistibly cute as he blundered through a funeral and 4 weddings. So did the rest of my girlfriends. "Oooh, he is sooo cute. Why did Liz leave him!? Why isn't there any Hugh-lookalikes in Singapore!" groanings echoed in the wake of Nottinghill.

Have I ever consider him cute? The floppy hair looks lame to me now, so do the droppy eyes. Have I outgrown my schoolgirl fantasies? Because life is more real right now, with room for more problems, but less fantasies. He looks so ordinary to me, Nottinghill feels so normal too. What has happened to the magical feeling of fairy tales of princesses falling in love with commoners? Have I misplaced it as I trudge through the chores of everyday? Nah, I have grown up and left Hugh behind, in the era when I was still 17. BUT, I still love his sexy, clipped English accent, over the drawling American ones. Ab-so-LUte-ly Se-xy! Some things just never change! Wink!

Computer Blips

Idle surfing brought me to this article.

Let me see, 11 hours, I have spent on computers today. Therefore, that makes me a cock-eyed, erratic, bad tempered hunchback!! Imagine this -- a whole world filled with psychopaths like me. All in all, it makes a perfect excuse to get off work and make time for more tea breaks! Cheers! Gosh! I am a perfect crackpot by now, time for tossing and turning in bed.

Back with a Vengence!

One week of holiday and it takes me another one week to get my steam back. I guess all that whirlwind of activities went over my head. Breakfasts, lunches, dinners, good news, bad news, accidents and what-have-yous. Everything seems to pass me by in a zap. One short zap and everything is gone. There goes 2 weeks of my insignificant life.

A pleasant surprise I had, when I checked the webcount. 920 hits for a website that has been dead for 2 weeks. Not bad, I would say! (Psst! *holding up 2 fingers* I swear that I have not been hitting the pages myself! I have not logged on to the internet for the 2 whole weeks! I swear I swear! *squeak!*) I thank all of you for the encouragement and support (even though there might have been accidental hits. I have read that finger cramps happen often to heavy computer users.). *Bow head in appreciation*

Anyway, here I come again. *crack knuckles* Be prepared for a steady flow of sarcasm and idiotic antics! The morons win the day!

O'Sweet Advice!

I really ought to be packing my bags for my long trip back home, but what am I doing now?! Scribbling on my blog. Duh! Just want to take this down, before it pops out of my mind and this happens really frequently now. I wonder if my brain cells are degenerating.

I have frequently distributed advices to my friends (of course carefully thought advices, not irresponsible ones!) and well, sometimes, they do not really need it, but for a second confirmation. Oh, my advices are great -- practical, logical, morally and politically correct. Great advices!

But, when the misfortune falls on me, will I have the guts and will to carry out my own advices? I can self righteously declare, yes yes, thou shalt not sin, blah... blah.. the 10 commanments. When it really happens to me, can I take myself mentally out of the fit, reconsider all my choices and act upon the best. Frankly speaking (My negotiation class lecturer would say, you mean you have been lying all along? Well, I have not!), there is a possibility that I cannot make good my own advices.

Therefore, here comes me to my conclusion :
Advices are freely given but not easily practised.