Super Super Mario Brothers 3!!!!

Does this ring a bell? If yes, congrats *shake your hand*!! We belong to the same nintendo Mario butt kicking generation!! Never mind the 3D games which are available now.  Super Mario Brothers (SMB) still has that magnetic draw for me.  Images of shelled geese, evil mushrooms, the red and green little men with moustaches etc.

I have played the game for hours and hours during my teething years, however, I do not ever recall ever completing it.

However, now, thanks to Yy, I now have a short media file on how to complete SMB3 within 11 mins! Do I hear someone mumble, "Nah! It's impossible!!" Well, this jaw-dropping demonstration will certainly prove that nothing in this world is impossible. 

So, marvel at the player's impeccable timing and superb knowledge of the SMB world. 

By the way, one more thing to take note of, whenever I managed to get a 1 up (increase in life), I could feel tears of joy and satisfaction forming behind my eyelids.  BUT, for this guy, he accumulates lives like nobody's business!!!!! In fact, he has even accrued more than the max. number (which is 99, for that matter) allowed! Life is just so unfair! Hmpf!

Catching up!
 
Wowee! Just checked the date. Realised that I have been MIA-ing (Missing in Action) for the whole month. 

Yeah. My poor toe was so sore that I couldn't hobble over to the computer to type. A little update on the injury - the pain is gone, but it looks like I may  be losing the nail soon. I will try not to go into the gross details but it seems to be clinging on to the flesh by just a wee bit. I still can't imagine how my big toe will look like without the nail. Argh!

Now, on to my blog.  Surprise surprise! The counter is still ticking even after I have stopped posting.  For a while, I thought that, "Gee! I really have these die-hard fans out there!" These self delusions were dashed when Rosa revealed that they have been using my blog as a link bookmark to everyone else's blog. Duh! So much for a Ah Wei Fanclub in the making. I am very much reassured that at least my blog still has a little use in this world. I guess the way to keep it going is not to post more but to add more links to it.  Sigh, oh cruel world!!

Just Another Bloody Toe!

This is the sequel to the "Sweat it Out" posting. It is based on a true story which happened a few hours back. Be forewarned that there will be much blood and gore mentioned, definitely not for the faint-hearted........

The left toe suffered a crushing defeat by the mightier Asics track shoes. Dejected, it limped off the battlefield covered in blood and bruises. Gungho as usual, it thought nothing of its injuries.

It started off with a little throbbing pain. Within a few days, it escalated into a full-blown pain-in-the-ass (oops, toe) and swelled big time into twice its former self!! It was in such pain that it writhed and thrashed at night, unable to get a decent night's sleep.

Something had to be done. It didn't help, with all the horror stories contributed by various helpful sources, e.g. the nail falling off, infection, toe being amputated etc etc.

It decided to seek professional help. It held its breath as the doctor dished out the cure... "please please, not an amputation". Luckily, it wasn't beyond healing and the doctor proposed to drain the blood out, instead. Clasping it under firm hands, the doctor wielded a thick, fat needle, which had a hole in the middle. He drilled gently on the top of the nail. In the very instant when the needle broke the bottom surface of the nail, there was a sharp pain which was felt in the very bones and blood spurted out from the miniscular hole. (Just imagine the scene from Kill Bill 1 when Uma started cutting up Lucy's henchmen. Yeah yeah, the blood spurting scene, as if the limbs were water hoses.) All in all, the doctor drilled 4 holes into the nail and right into the toe, as well. At that very instant, the toe regretted its vanity which led to the battle between the kept nail and the shoe(as always, men seldom escaped unscathed when their kept women were found out).

There was blood everywhere, the napkins were soaked in it. It's surprising how much blood could gather between that layer of nail and flesh, even though there was a bulging below the nail, where more blood probably gathered. Yucks!

The doctor predicted that there's a 50-50 chance that it might get to keep the nail. "The nail is just like the hair. You won't feel any pain if it falls off. REALLY!!!" the doctor comforted the toe, as it looked at him in horror. What... no more nice nail polish (on what?! if the nail falls off?!), no more nice open toe sandals... WHy... this spells the end of life for the vain toe. Alas, to keep its life (and save itself from being amputated), it meekly submitted to the doctor's advice.

Once again, pedicures and sports don't go together. Take heed of this advice, or you will regret as deeply as the repentent toe.

Sweat it out!

Would you believe it?! I actually played netball today! Yeah! Miss Butter-fingers cum Contact-sports idiot played netball today! I hardly believed it myself!

All in all, it felt good to practically sweat it out! Something which I haven't done for ages, decades, centuries! (Yeah... I didn't stick to my twice-a-week-workout resolution. Stop rubbing it in!)

Amazingly, I escaped pretty unscathed. Just one minor sprain (the fourth finger on my left hand, where the netball went smack on it.) and one major internal bleeding under the nail of my big left toe. Sigh... Considering what an accident proned person I am, all the above are trivial. (Believe me.) I could see the blood clotting beneath that pale pink nail polish and it hurt like crazy, after 1st half of the game. It's amazing that I could still hobble over the courts for the next session. Hmm... Anyway, it all goes to show that pedicure and sports can never go together.

Pedicure, sweat, pedicure or sweat?! Darn! What a tough choice! (You will probably be wondering, duh... how bimbotic can this person get?!) Too much air in the head, oooh, I'll probably think about it tomorrow. Tomorrow will be a better day. (Fluttering of eyelashes.)

Whatever.. it hurts like hell now. Probably have to give the toe a break and see what happens next. Hope the nail doesn't fall out or dangle from the flesh. (shiver. That sounds totally grossed out.) I have never had such experiences before though, because my nails are usually rather short. Vanity, vanity, the price one has to pay or it.

Changes Changes Changes

Just 3 months away and everything changes. The Blogger website now looks totally different, more user friendly with a far cooler interface. I have yet to explore the new features.

Why am I back?
1. I have received loads and loads of fan mails and smses begging me to bring them their daily entertainment tit bit. (Ha! Like real!)
2. My computer suddenly sprang back into life after months of hibernation.

Well, believe me, I was just bullshitting you.

The real reasons:
1. I am experiencing an extreme emotion.
2. I have a computer nearby.
3. I have stopped procrastinating.

Have you ever felt so angry that you feel blood gushing up your head, your ears, to the ends of your hair? Well, I have and pretty often. I find myself experiencing the outbursts more and more often, and rather difficult to keep it under control. Well, I have always been hot tempered but this is way too often for comfort. I like to attribute it to my thyroid condition which is messing up my hormonal balance. However, this in a way is also worsening it. Chicken and egg problem.

When I feel the heat climbing up my neck, I tried counting to keep it down. Recently, it seems to have lost the desired effect. Maybe I should start counting sheep, even if it doesn't work for insomnia. Damn damn damn, I hate that feeling, the feeling of losing control, as I feel the heat creeping up, my heart making little staccato beats and tears forming behind my eyes. I despise people who make a scene in public and yet I'm turning into one.

Maybe I should start picking up yoga. Breaking my bones (trying to perform those yoga stunts) certainly beats losing emotional control. Sigh... I have a bad bad feeling that my thyroid blood count this time round will swing way out of range again and the dosage will have to be increased. Why me?!

Brief "Hallo!!" from Greece

Managed to access the internet from one of the ulu Greek islands. They are charging me 1.50 euros for a miserable 15 mins!!! Since I still have 5 mins left, I felt that I should let everyone out there know that I'm still alive and kicking somewhere on earth.

Damn! It's difficult to type with long extended fingernails with french manicure. Will tell you how I almost poked my eyes out when I tried to remove my contact lenses. Long nails are huge pains in asses. I will leave the exciting story till next time! Meanwhile, ciao! And keep your eyes on the space for more interesting tales from Greece!

FINALLY! I have found a site where I can put my photos up and link over to them.... You will expect to see an avalanche of photos! Hehe... Now.. Where's the photo of my cute hamster...??

Yeah!!! I did it!!! 20,000 points!!!!
Hop hop hop!!!!

Gobble Bobble

A Great way to pass a Friday Afternoon, especially when all the bosses are away.
Just feed the Bobble the stuff on the left and right. Find the right combination and chalk up points!

Contributed by the God of Links, Duma (*bows* May he keep the blessings.. eh hem.. the links coming... I worship the very ground he walks upon...), he claimed that the max is 20000. So far, my best record is 13900. Well, if anyone ever reaches 20000, please email me the secret combination!!!

My friend commented that depression's one of the effects of thyroid. I told her that I wasn't depressed until I saw the blood test results. Maybe it's a chicken and egg thing.

When will I ever get well?! Sigh...

About a year and a half ago, it was diagnosed that I had a thyroid condition. It was a devastating piece of news as I had always considered myself a very healthy person. Also, I couldn't accept that there was actually something wrong with me..... I was also rather upset that I hadn't discovered it sooner as I had been staying alone for almost a year and being a rather careless person, I paid little attention to my appearance. The symptoms were all there - the sudden increase in weight (to a girl, getting fat is worse than death), the swell around the neck, the bulging of my eyes, the trembling of my hands.... Not only that, when left untreated, it was life-threatening.

Later, I discovered that it's actually a rather common ailment as everyone started confessing to knowing an aunt, a relative or friend having it. OK.. So a lot of people out there had it as well... Oh well, at least it's not cancer....

So I dutifully went for the ritual blood test, took the horrible medicine every day, gave up my favourite pastime - diving.... After a year, the symptoms started to subside, except for my eyes.... (So if you see someone with 2 eyeballs bulging from the sockets, that's me). The doctor said that they may never revert back to their original position, but the condition's improving. OK ok, I can accept that... I've always wanted bigger eyes, haven't I?!

Half a year ago, the blood count went back to normal. I was estactic. I was finally back to normal. If the next blood count was normal too, then I was on the road of recovery. Everything looked so hopeful...

I just took my blood test yesterday, another big fat test tube of blood. The doctor just called to give me the bad news. Sigh... The condition has worsened and I have to increase my daily dosage.... I thought I would have been immuned to this kind of bad news after rounds and rounds of blood tests etc. But, still, I can't help but feel depressed that after a hopeful 6 months, I'm still not well yet. Ok, and very disappointed as well...

Most of the time, I just bitch a lot on the blog. Frustrations and anger... but this must be the most depressing posting I have ever made.... (Considering that I was too (and even more) depressed the first time round to even record the outcome of my very first blood test.)

Fairy Tale.. what?

There isn't a single comment on my fairy tale, which I painstakingly took the whole day to write (in between a lot of alt-tab to keep the nosey parkers out of my life). I simply cannot comprehend the reason for this.

Is my fairy tale written too "chim" for everyone? Or is it soooo boring that everyone nodded off to sleep even before they were done with the 1st paragraph?

My brother claimed that he had read it, every single word of it.
"So did you manage to grasp the deeper meaning behind this fairy tale?"
"Har? (The omni-powerful word which all Singaporeans are familiar with. "Har" can mean ANYTHING! E.g. What the f*** are you talking about?)
"The d-e-e-p-e-r meaning?"
"Like what?"
"I mean... which nation is famous for white sausages & beer??"
*Blank Look*
"What about the changes in the surroundings due to their procrastination?"
"Oh... You mean there will be global warming etc?"
*Pulls hair out*

I wonder if he's my brother. I'm now doubly sure that my Mom rescued him from one of the rubbish bins in KK hospital about 25 years ago.....

Blabbers & Cheerios

Woah. Lotsa postings today (for me!). Just added another website to my list.

Blabbers & Cheerios is put up by Justina (I knew her from the hamster forum). A girl with a really big heart and lots of pets. I have always believed that all animal lovers are nice people. Coupled with great models (her hamsters) and great photography skills, her blog is a must for hamster lovers. Look out for her little beauties!!

One of her masterpieces!

A Not so Short Fairy Tale

Once upon a time, in the village of Tiddlywinks, there lived a bunch of people, whose pastime was to drink beer and eat white sausages. The villagers produced beer and used it to barter for white sausages from the next village, Winkytill.

One fine day, as of any normal day, the villagers cheerfully loaded their little carts with barrels of fine TW beer, looking forward to having fresh white sausages for their dinners. They simply loved the white sausages, which was their only source of pleasure in a hard day’s work of beer making.

Whistling happily, they pushed their carts with vigour, on the winding path to Winkytill. Suddenly, the whole procession stopped. There was a great big giant tree, right smack in the middle of the vital path to Winkytill!! They just couldn’t believe their eyes. How could a humongous tree grow overnight?! (This is a fairy tale, ok?!) They rubbed their eyes in disbelief! What’s worse! It had cut them off from their precious supply of white sausages! This was atrocious, ridiculous and… UNTHINKABLE!!

The villages wrung their hands in despair and pulled their hairs out. They pushed their carts dejectedly back to their village and sat in a circle despondently. One of the villagers stood up and exclaimed,” We need a giant axe to cut down the giant tree!” At this statement, the fire returned to everyone’s eyes. “That’s a brilliant idea!!” They patted the smart aleck on his back.
“Now, where can we get this great big axe from?!”
“Hmm…..”
“I know! Ah Wei from the RoarRoar town nearby can do it! She can find ANYTHING!”

So, they contacted Ah Wei . She became an employee of the Tiddlywinks subsidiary located in the RoarRoar town and they entrusted upon her the important task of getting a giant axe, so that they could cut the tree down and get to their precious supply of white sausages.

Efficient as she always was, she managed to find someone who had this great big axe in an amazingly short time.
“Yo yo! I have a seller who’s willing to sell his great big axe for 1 dollar!! It’s such a good deal!”
The villagers of Tiddlywinks exclaimed,”1 dollar?! But we don’t have 1 dollar! We only have a lot of good TW beer! The best beer in the region!”

After much cajoling, persuading, even to the extent of begging, Ah Wei managed to get the seller to barter his great big axe for a barrel of good old TW beer. The seller reluctantly accepted the bargain, although he’s allergic to beer and would develop red ugly rashes from drinking it. Nevertheless, he’s no match for Ah Wei’s persuasive powers.

Now, the villagers sat around the great big axe. It’s so big that 30 people were needed to lift it up. What’s the best way to cut the tree down?
“We should do it the top-down method!”
“No no! It should be the left-right method!”
“No no no!! It should be ……”
The villagers spent 4 whole months, arguing over the best way to utilise the great big axe. After much fighting and debating, they finally agreed on a method. So they set off to conquer the great big tree.

When they reached the very spot where the great big tree rested, they discovered that, because they had spent so much time arguing, the entire landscape had changed! Instead of a great big tree, a great big river cut across the path!!!

They shouted, they lamented and they hopped around in anger, for 4 months without the white sausages had left them very miserable indeed. Furiously, they trudged back to the village.

“Ah Wei!! We don’t want the axe anymore!! We want a great big pail to bail the water out!”
“What.. what?! Then what should I do with the great big axe?!”
“We don’t care! Just barter it for a great big pail! By hook or by crook! We are your bosses so you must do what we say!”
“But but but…” Ah Wei had no choice.

She found a seller with a great big pail. After much effort, she managed to persuade him to exchange his pail for the axe. Wiping her sweat off her brows, she gave the pail to the villagers. Yet again, the villagers took another 4 months to decide on the best way to bail the water out with the pail. It’s pretty amazing to find so many indecisive people in one village. They should have made an entry in the Guinness book of Records.

So, off they go again, to the river, grumpily shoving each other along the way. They were suffering from the withdrawal syndrome, being deprived of the white sausages for 8 whole months. Yet again, the world waited for no one. While they were gone, due to forces of nature, the river was replaced with a mountain! “Our white sausages!!!” The villagers hollered in anguish.

They went back to Ah Wei and demanded, “WE WANT YOU TO EXCHANGE THIS GREAT BIG PAIL FOR A GREAT BIG SPADE!!”
“What..what?! This is unreasonable! First you wanted a great big axe, then a great big pail and now a great big spade! Do you know what you want!?”
“We don’t care! The natural forces have changed, we now want a spade! We can’t use the pail on the mountain!!”
“If only you had observed the natural trends and taken less time to react to the changes, then all these would be unnecessary!!!”
“So what?! Do you question our actions!? You are our employee and you must follow instructions, no matter how stupid they are! We pay you to do what we want you to do!!”

Fed up with their unreasonable demands and tired of having to pacify the irked sellers, Ah Wei finally released her pent up frustrations! Conjuring up a handful of *fried cuttlefish (Reminder: This is a fairy tale.), she stuffed them into the villagers’ mouths! Taken aback by surprise, they were too shocked to move. She boxed them in the ears, punched them in the face and kicked them in their shins.
“I CHAO your YOU YU!! I have companies lining up to employ me and I will not sit here, wasting my time to follow the instructions of a bunch of procrastinating fools!”
With amazing strength, she turned the great big pail over the heads of the villagers, slapped the dust off herself and walked off.

She had not experienced such great satisfaction for a long long time….

*fried cuttlefish = Chao3 You2 Yu2 (in Chinese) = Sack the employer = resign = whatever = you get the idea!

The blogout comment thingy has completely broken down. I had to replace it with another comment box script. *Sigh* There goes all the previous comments.

Anyway, I'm still trying to figure how to add the options for smilies in.... I know I know, I'm not exactly the most web savvy person here. Give me some time leh!!!!

The ST Headline screams : It PAYS to Study, especially in S'PORE!!

Study finds that worker here gets 13.2% more for each extra year of schooling - higher than in Japan, Australia and US.

IT PAYS to stay in school, a joint study by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) has found.

For every extra year of schooling, a Singaporean worker earns on average 13.2 per cent more, which is significantly higher compared with countries like the United States, Japan and Australia.

Broken down by educational qualifications, the return on every year of schooling rises as an individual goes up the education ladder.

A first-degree holder, for example, earned about six times more than that of a worker who did not even have primary-level education.

The study found that a university graduate with a first degree would earn on average 17 per cent more for every extra year that he spent in school.

In comparison, a worker with only primary school qualifications would only earn on average 1.5 per cent more for every year he stayed in school.

The paper, written by two MAS and two MOM economists, also found that the wages of more highly educated people in Singapore increased at a faster pace than those of less-educated workers.

The salaries of less-educated workers doing manual jobs also peaked earlier, in 31 to 40 years of working, while the wages of more highly skilled workers continued to rise with experience even after they reached 50.

The study used data from an MOM survey in 2000 on education qualifications.

At that time, 13.5 per cent of the workers here had a first degree or better, while 30.7 per cent had primary school education or none at all.

The average number of years of schooling for both males and females was 10.1 years, while the median monthly wage for a graduate with a first degree and 11 to 20 years' experience, was $5,320.

The paper noted that the rate of return on education was higher in Singapore than in other countries.

Citing research conducted in other countries, the paper said that the returns for each additional year of schooling in Australia were 5.1 per cent for men and 5.2 per cent for women.

The figures were 12.7 per cent and 13 per cent respectively in Britain.

For Japan, they were 7.5 per cent and 9.4 per cent respectively; while in the US, they were 7.4 per cent and 9.6 per cent.

Another study, a World Bank policy research paper, had reported that the average return on each additional year of schooling was 9.9 per cent in Asia, 11.7 per cent in sub-Saharan Africa and 12 per cent in Latin America and the Caribbean.

The authors concluded that the study showed that there was a substantial pay-off to education in Singapore.

'As Singapore restructures itself and shifts from a technology-oriented society to a knowledge-based info hub, there will be increasing demand for high-skilled workers,' they said.

'The premium on investing in higher education should encourage and provide greater incentives for individuals to pursue such qualifications.'


I came across this particular article in our national newspapers, the Straits Times, this morning. For anyone who's interested in the original e-copy of it, you may click on the link.

At first sight, I thought, "Hey! This is part of the government's campaign to encourage the people to further their studies. Hmm.. And to tell the world that we have a whole crate of highly educated people aka workforce in the country!!"

However, upon second thoughts, this probably reflects the stereotyped thinking of our citizens. Why would such a phenomenom arise? Now, wait a minute, is this all part of the *whispers*government's propaganda ?? *whispers* Ssshhh...!

Education. Education is the first criterion which the Singaporean employer goes by. This standard has been kindly set by our very own civil service. Therefore, if you are not a university graduate... Bah! You are out! Jeez... You have lousy grades... Boom! You are also out! They do not care if you have other redeemable qualities such as leadership, good communication skills etc. So what happens? They recruit people who top their classes, mug well and regurgitate the exact wordings of the textbook. Forgive me, but this is really how the Singapore educational system works. Not much room for creativity here. I do not deny that, among the smart alecks, there are some who excel in both IQ and EQ. However, by taking results and educational standard as prime criteria, many other talented people have been left out.

Not only that, the appraisal and promotional chances an individual has, in civil service depends not only the experience and contributions he has chalked up in his years of service but also on his O Levels, A Levels and what-have-yous. Therefore, if he acquired a D grade in either his 'O's or his 'A's, it may well plague him for the rest of his working life in the public sector!!*shiver*

Now you know why children commit suicide due to educational stress in this meritocratic system. Because, they know that if they make a bad grade in primary school, they will be haunted by it for the rest of their lives. How do they know?! Our national newspapers said so....

20 QUESTIONS!!

Came across this quirky little programme. Remember how we used to play 20 Questions when we were little (hmm.. or not-so-little)?? That's how it works! And consistently when it is unable to guess the answer, the user will put the new item into its database and thus enabling it to grow. In a way, it serves as a learning cycle.

Anyway, I managed to beat it in the 1st time! I was thinking of the "trigger fish". Hehe. Hey...! I wonder if I have told you my trigger fish adventure. Let me scroll through the past entries. If not, I will do so in my next entry.

Keep your eyes on this space!

CHINESE ZODIAC SIGNS....!!

My Mom has just bought the new chinese zodiac signs prediction book for the coming New Year... It has been written by some famous fengshui master (His face appears on the cover of the book. Decent-looking, bespectacled guy) from Hong Kong.

Therefore, everything has been written in CHINESE! It takes me about 3 times the length of time I need for reading English. Anyway, I painstakingly read through the first paragraph (the most important one because it sums up the general outlook). YIPPEEE!!! Rabbit (Yep yep! I was born in the Year of the Rabbit, the cute little white furry animal.) will enjoy luck and prosperity in the coming year, especially in career and studies. It's one of the top 5 lucky animals!

Being the nosy parker that I am, I read through the rest of the zodiac signs (only the 1st paragraph of course!).

The top 5 lucky animals are :
Rabbit
Horse
Snake
Ox
Forgot the last one. Sorry. Hehe.

Anyway, I was pondering over this issue while I was driving to work this morning. I know that the English horoscopes (the stars) originated from the formation of stars. But.. but... what about the Chinese zodiac signs?? Where did they come from??!!

Butter Fingers!

Darn!!! I was eating a piece of papaya while reading a blog and halfway through the huge piece of papaya toppled from the plastic bag, onto my WHITE T-shirt, before sliding down, SPLAT on the table!!!!

Even as I whipped out the tissue paper a mere split second later to salvage the damage, my WHITE T-shirt has been stained by orange spots!!! How am I going to face the public later!!!

And the worst thing was, I had to dispose that piece of sweet, juicy, orange papaya. SIgh...! Nothing pains me more than wasting food, even though it has stained my favourite white T-shirt. Sob sob...

Maybe I should wear my cardigan back to front to cover the stains?! Sigh....

Christmas! (Half a month late....)

Yes yes... I know that Chinese New Year (22-23 Jan 2004) is approaching and I am still posting Christmas links.

Again, from YY's website (Hmm... I wonder where she got all these links from.. Truly amazing!!)

A brief description of the game :
You get to be Santa (Yeah!) and your task is to give the presents to the children and throw chunks of coal on the evil elves. (Again! I used to think that elves were the kindly serfs of dear O'le Santa. I'm totally disillusioned, but, nevertheless...) You have to avoid evil reindeers (huh?!) from running you down and avoid falling off the roof.

Simple right?! Wait til you start playing it and try figuring out the mambo jumbo of keys. My highest record on my third try was 4635. My brother beat me with 5700 points using my very own strategy! Hmpf! *fold arms*

Violent Game...

Found the link of this game from YY's website.

The aim of it is to blow the pesky Christmas elves to pieces!

Well, I am not exactly the world's best shooter, so it actually took me 4 times to win the game. *sheepish look* So, you should be able to imagine the feeling of triumph and satisfaction when I FINALLY completed it!! I raised my fists up in the air in victory!!!! YES YES YES! Guess what?! I managed to slug my brother (who was actually standing behind my seat, watching me play.. ) in his mouth! He doubled up in pain, because my fist ploughed into his 2 front teeth and his nose. I suffered a cut on my knuckles (compliments from his bugs bunny teeth) with a bonus of his teeth imprint on them.

If you value your life, DON'T PLAY THIS GAME!!

Book Releaaassseeee!!!!


The article on book release in the LIfe today got me all flushed and excited! That's a totally brilliant idea! I have quite a few books at home just for this very sole purpose! I have read them once and yet I doubt they would interest me to read a second time. I have a strange fetish of keeping books which I have read at least twice. Since these do not qualify for this criterion, there's no reason why they should stay on my shelves. Yet, it's a pity to discard them.

Therefore, after reading about book release, I thought,"YEP! THIS IS IT!!"

Step 1 :
I eagerly registered myself at both the Bookcrossing website (I have decided to let my book gain some international exposure. I mean, wouldn't it be totally cool if my book actually has the chance to travel across oceans and continents?!) and at the Passiton website (Being a Singaporean, I should show some support for the local website and the interest group. Patriotic eh?!)

Step 2 :
I made a stringent check of my bookshelves and selected 2 lucky books to experiment on. "Roses are Red" and "Violets are Blue".

Step 3 :
I bugged my brother to print the Bookcrossing release book labels, snipped them into tidy little rectangular pieces (well almost as I'm not the world's "straightest" cutter. So, they turned out to resemble little trapeziums instead. Hmm....). I stuck them smack on page one (with a stick of purple UHU glue. My brother claimed that the purple glue's not superior to the white one, he got it because he's *heow). Following the instructions in Bookcrossing, I filled in the BID number.

Step 4 : (The MOST IMPORTANT Step!!)
Ponder ponder... Hmm... hm... I have registered myself. I have the books and have even labelled them. Where's the best place to release them??

A few places came to my mind:
- on a bench beside the reservoir? (It might rain and the poor book will get all wet and soggy!! Nah... I should choose a sheltered area!)
- in an SBS Bus?? (What if nobody picks it up at the end of the day and they end up at the SBS lost & Found?!)
- in the MRT? (Hmm.. If I left it there and someone picks it up and runs after me, telling me that I have forgotten them... Should I tell him that I'm.. eh hem... releasing them in the "wild". He will probably think I'm nuts, if he hasn't read the article!!)
- in the post box?! (Where only the postman will find it?!)

Argh argh!! I have got everything but nowhere to release them....

Being the ever cheapskate I am, something just popped into my mind... How about STARBUCKS?! Since Pass it on is advocating it. I might as well do it, then I get to register this action in both websites! Whee! I can simply kill 2 twittering birds with one book, oops, I mean stone. Ah wei! How smart can you get! *A pat on my own back* There there....

Step 5 :

What's left now, will be to release the 2 books in Starbucks cafe on Monday.

Mission Completed...

*heow = Vain (in Singaporean context)

I have decided to keep the current template, until I have time to scout around for nicer ones, OR get down to doing one myself (which might take another 99 years...).

The Mystery of the Missing Templates!!

Funny, why are there so few templates to choose from? Wonder where all the nice old ones have disappeared to?!

Getting pretty sick of having the same template for the past one year. So, bear with me while I'm getting it changed. I'm not the best html person in the world. Sigh....

No Man's Land...

Another addition to the flogs... Someone whom I got to know from the Hamster Forum.

Had the urge to make new postings recently but the ailing Blog server just killed all my inspirations and enthusiasm... Hehe, another case of finger pointing.

(Monstrous) Creativity Unleashed!!

Creativity.. Creativity, an overused word touted by our modern educationists and frequently debated on in the national newspapers. Our children, our youths, the 4 million population of the country, Singapore, lack this omni-important ingredient - creativity!

What do we have?! A nation of robots, mass-produced by our ISO 9000 certified schools, only capable of following the book and walking in a straight line. This probably accounts for the lack of graffiti on our pristinely clean walls. Ta dah! Yet another blatant example of lack of creativity. (Ooops, should I think of a synonym for "creativity"?? Nah.. I don't think I'm capable of it, being a true blue product of this uncreative society).

Parents lament over this and send their children to expensive, inefficient (from the looks of it) creativity classes all over the island. They even go to the extent of enrolling their children in schools at the other end of Singapore, bravely enduring the torment of traffic jams. (Well, since Singaporeans are even willing to trot across the island in search of gourmet dishes, this is a small price to pay, in exchange for children who will ooze creativity after attending the classes.)

Ahhh... BUT!!! Little do they know that, the best kept secret to funneling the essence of "creativity" is actually in this website. I present to you, the zenith of creativity (contributed by the God of Links, I totally worship him!!!) - Mr. Picassohead. Once you port over to this amazing website and start putting lines on the blank screen, you will positively feel the elixir of creativity gush into you.....

Finally, here is my very own masterpiece (For people who do not know how to open links, please click on the linked word-masterpiece to see my drawing. Sharon Law (she has kindly reminded me to put her surname in, since Sharon is such a common name), this remark is specially added for YOU!!). A new artist of the Impressionist era has been born..... *fireworks*

Psst... I have had my eye on this Picasso drawing for ages... Since it's going to be Christmas soon... GET THE HINT?! Nah.. You don't have to give me the original piece, just a nice decent printed copy will do. GET THE 2ND HINT?!

T'is the season to be jolly... Tra la... la la la....

T'is the Season to be Jolly. La la la la....

Ho ho ho! Yes! It will be Christmas in 8 days.

Well, I must admit that I'm not a very Christmassy person. I was when I was little because Christmas equated to presents, many many presents. Right now, Christmas means that I have to trudge through masses of people just to buy necessities. Orchard Road is a madhouse nowadays. It seems that the whole of Singapore is there. SIgh....

Still, it's a day to be celebrated, else I wouldn't have a paid non-working day... Arhh.. That is bliss.... not having to go to the office and pretend that I'm working. Some information for people who simply love their jobs : Pretending to be busy is much more torturous than being really busy. *shrug*

Since it's the Christmas season anyway, here are 2 links, contributed by Duma (See! I have the decency to acknowledge friends.. unlike SOMEONE... that SOMEONE knows whom I'm referring to! *folds arms*)

1. Snowfight!!
Somehow, it reminds me of SouthPark... Kenny in particular. The agonising shrieks emitted by the cute little fellows are rather disturbing... That goes for the unnatural cackles at the end of the game.

2. Snow Globe
Watch the little ones fly in the air in agony as you shake the globe. *evil laugh*

Where have all the cobblers gone?

As usual, my shoes gave way at the most unexpected time. Well, 2 nails fell out and the rubber sole at the heel was flapping (a little), and the very last nail threatened to join his brothers on the floor. Somehow, the old men (the cobblers), located at every corner of the town centres, just had to pick this appropriate time to go on vacation....

The nearest and definite place I could think of, was the Mister Minit at Thomson Plaza. Carefully stepping on the dislocated rubber, I finally made my way to the booth tucked away in a corner. Heaving a sigh of relief, I handed my shoe gingerly to Mister Minit.

"How much does it cost and how long do I need to wait?"
"$13.80 and half an hour."
*Eyes widened* "What?! You charge $13.80 for putting 2 nails into my shoe?! You have got to be kidding!!"
"No, I will be changing the whole rubber sole."*flashed 2 rubber pieces with Mister Minit logos liberally peppered across*
"I don't need new ones."
"They are already worn out."
"There is still one big chunk left!! Ok. Thanks for the information."
Mister Minit shrugged nonchalantly and went on with his chores.

I limped into NTUC Fairprice (a supermarket chainstore) and bought a big bag of nails for ONLY $1.90. I managed to put 2 fat nails into my heel (narrowly missing my fat fingers). It seems that I have the makings of a cobbler. *Beam* *Pat on my back*