Youthful Speak

last night i sang guang liang's tong hua .

twice.

the mtv damn sad.

if your nose bleeds means you are going to die. but my fren says its cuz she wear jacket scarf and headwarmer-thingy on auditorium stage(its supposed to be damn hot up there) then kenna heatstroke. hmm...

then there is the part where her blood(or maybe she was holding tomato ketchup in her hand) drips 3 times on the exact same spot. where got such thing wan? she lng(lai na ge) meh? and we even analyse that if drip from nosebleed means that her nose bleed so jialat until flow from nose to mouth then neck(which her clothes would have soaked up) then maybe down arms and then drip from fingers. either that or while he carry her her face facing downwards like sweat drip then maybe could drip from her chin. hmm...

next time if a girl grabs your head and screams(saliva et al) in your face bang wo ban jia!, you really must help cuz firstly, she knows she is gonna die and you don't, and secondly she must like you, so dunt act dumb and act cute.

one other possible reason she might have died is cuz she sit at the back of the lorry. stupid eeediot, everyone knows taiwan's air so darn polluted lor, want to sit outside also wear a facemask like everyone else mah! hmm...

and the last part after she hear his song over the handphone we suspect it was touching/lullabyish that she fell gently to sleep. so sweet. hmm...

even after last night we are still debating whether the girl really got die in the end anot. each time we watch the mtv the last part gets cut off halfway wan. knn.

lousy ktv.

oh yah and i can proudly say that i have an ex-colleague who is an f4 and energy die-hard fan *swoon*, got go for all concerts, buy most expensive tix, rent hotel to stake them out and go for all their autograph sessions.

only never go airport welcome them thats all.

that makes her just a pseudo-fan.

The MP110 Canon

yesterday was a quirky day.

breakfast was at a little coffeeshop at jalan besar, really old and rundown. it only had 3 stalls open, including the drink stall itself. the other was a 24-hour prawn mee stall, and a chicken rice stall selling chicken rice balls and dishes served kway chap style.

interesting.

anyway chun and i had a really nice old-school breakfast. i had prawn mee. and we shared old-school kaya toast and half boiled eggs along with teh-c for me and kopi-o for her. damn long never had such a breakfast liaoz. those of you from my generation should remember that our papas used to teach us to pour our hot tea into the saucer where we ate our half-boiled eggs and drink off the saucer. that's right, our father's all went to the same father training camp to teach their kids these kinda cool things. no wonder ya kun so popular.

breakfast was nice cuz we were dry and everyone coming into the coffeeshop wuz wet since it was raining jialat jialat outside. would've been even better if i had the sunday times with me. but an enjoyment nonetheless.

when the rain stopped we walked over to sim lim square. only 5min walk. super alot of people. and we started our search for a new printer. we actually had our eyes fixed on the canon mp110 model liaoz which was retailing for $229(no free gifts) in courts that we saw the day before.

so like super aunties in a bargain store, both of us went straight to the top floor and worked our way down. i think they had computer products all the way down to the 4th floor. so wherever we saw that canon model we would ask for a price and bargain abit first to 'test water'. of course we also took note of other similar models by other brands - canon mp110 was a low-end 3-in-1 printer - pretending to compare the epson x-smtg3500 and another hp version as well.

after combing the 4 levels, our search narrowed to a store that quoted us $205(haven't bargain for free gifts, no usb cable), one that quoted $199(no free gifts/usb cable, if want free gifts, $219) and one that quoted $210(free gifts + usb cable). the free gifts were a simcard back-up reader and a 128mb thumbdrive.

we decided to go back and whack the $205 to see if we could get all the gifts and cables, else we will buy from the $210 one. the guy at the $205 one was an old man and he drives a really hard bargain. i mean i really think i'm not bad a bargaining(quite good in fact!), when me and chun powers combine all uncles(chun+) and aunties(me+) sure die jialat jialat wan. but the old man killed both of us with his sob story.

he started by saying he was an honest man and would not charge us any more than what he should(everyone says that), but then we said if he threw in the usb cable for free then we would buy it straightaway. but cannot! the usb cable is originally $5 but he will give us $3 since we drive a hard bargain. wah piangz but when we asked him to give free again he this time sprang his killer story.

he told us he really was earning very little commission liaoz and he was juggling 2 jobs besides this one. on weekends he works in sim lim, weekdays he works in bras basah selling sports equipment and at night he works as security guard.

why?

cuz his son is studying in australia, daughter going to ntu this year, and one more kid in sec 2 only. need to earn lotsa money to support all his kids and wife.

xianz.

lose liao.

chun and i look at eash other. i look at her. she look at me.

lose liao.

to add oil to his fire power, he gave me his name card.

on the front is his name with his bras basah cmpny name and logo.

on the back is his name with his sim lim cmpny name and logo.

nothing to say.

so it ended just like that. no more bargaining. final price for the canon mp110, $208 + simcard back-up reader + 128mb thumb drive + usb cable. the uncle still very nice. say if we need badminton racquets or even badminton lessons, go look him up at bras basah.

he will give us discount.

-----------------------------------------------------

okie so uncle won. but then me and chun also quite gan yuan to let him make our sale. anyway it was the best deal too, and at the end of the day it was only a coupla dollars difference just to satiate the ego. after listening to his power pitch, i wouldn't even mind paying a few more dollars if it all went into his commission.

anyway...

so we were dandy and happy at the good printer deal and the free gifts and all. now the problem was in collecting the free gift. we had to go to canon's head retail office at funan, formerly the it mall, now the digitalife mall.

so we decided to walk to funan since there wasn't a straight bus there. and it was quite near. taxi wuz hard to get.

and there we were, two super aunties lugging the humongous box all the way to funan. as the box had two handles on each end, chun carried one end while i held on to the other, walking abreast along the pavements.

i think alot of people were staring at us as though we were advertising for canon, cuz people had to avoid us when we were coming through.

haha.

the printer wasn't THAT heavy, just that is was quite large and came in a gigantic box thats all.

by the time we reached funan we were so glad for the aircon man!

the canon retail shop looked like they were expecting us. however, the 128mb thumbdrive was temporarily out of stock! :( so i had to fill in my address and they would mail it to me in 2 weeks. then i was also entitled to a sure-win scratch draw which i won some crap photo paper, but also got chance to win car leh! dun pray pray!.

so that was that.

after it all, we lugged the printer to the busstop and took the no36 home.

the printer works great! and now its sitting pretty in my room!!!

and thats the end of my quirky story.

The Last Time

today was my last day at work.

somehow feel abit quite sad that i'm leaving afterall. its been almost 10mths of good fun, vast experience gained and lots of learning. i went around like the paparazzi taking photos with the whole world for memories sake. i sure am gonna miss everyone.

this is me with my fav buddies yvonne and serene! too bad i can't post more pix but i'll treasure all the memories and experiences forever!

*sobz*

oh and...erm..well...its my birthday too 

V Is For Volunteer

Hi,

I read with interest your article in today's Straits Times of the participation of the Nature Society at Semakau Landfill.

I am currently serving out my final week at my present job in a bank and will only be starting my new job in another bank only 3 weeks later and henceforth am quite interested to volunteer my time during this transitional period to help out in any projects that your honourable society may be running at present, preferably one that would allow me to experience more of nature.

I am an avid nature fan and enjoy hiking and trekking and have gone on trips within the SEA region as well as the United States and am physically fit. I'm also good with most hands-on volunteer efforts and have participated in numerous volunteer activities previously.

I look forward to a positive reply and can be contacted either by email or handphone at 9XXXXXXX most times of the day. Thank you for your attention.

Regards,

Lum Chee Yong

4th Last Day

today is my fourth last day in office.

wah.

3 weeks of bumming after that.

wonder what i can be up to?

Rockson the Rockstar

picked up this blog thru mr brown. his blog about the nkf basically says all that i ever thought about expressing in words. in fact i liked what he said so much i even left this comment:

wah rockson your blog damn power siah...

i am also one of the rest of singapore who kenna swindled, somemore for the last 8 years since i was a small kid in jc just hoping that my peanuts can really make a difference to some needy person's life...

i really salute to all singaporeans siah. 2005 will be known as the year everyone kenna dua by nkf jialat jialat...

and now we know why there are 3 nkf shows this year...1st one is to pay ttd his annual fees, 2nd one is for the board of directors, then the 3rd one is to thank every mother son and daughter for contributing to the ttd and board fund(3rd one no need to show how much is raised, but if got donations then it will go tothe board)

doesn't it make u wonder if ttd got 12mth bonus, does the entire workforce at nkf get 12mths? i really dun mind if the nurses who always help out the needy patients get 12mths bonus cuz i seen them work damn hard and they can still give u a smile after a hard days work.

doesn't it make u wonder does ttd and the board of directors ever make any donations themselves to nkf or any other charities?

my hope now is that the needy patients will not have to suffer because of ttd and his board. i cancelled my mthly donations after 8 yrs. i really am sorry to all patients under nkf but i promise i will donate to another charity that i feel is more needy. i just cannot tahan the fact that i have been lied to all these years...patients numbers, the reserves, and yet ttd still refused to admit that he and his board had lied to the public(he kept trying to give an open-ended answer in court) in my eyes ttd and his board made all the needy patients their pawn to get more donations in to fund their excessive lifestyles.

but i think this whole incident has made singaporeans closer to one another. i am proud to be singaporean and i love singapore!

right.

when i grow up i also wanna be ceo of nkf.

Yao jiu ling ling your chao chee bye lah!

rally cry of 2005.

count on me man, singapore.

McDay

ok i admit it.

today i only had two full meals.

both were macdonald's $5 value meal of the week: the big mac EVM.

wah seh i even use their acronyms.

max member points.

i am ashamed.

Keys To My Heart

The Keys to Your Heart

You are attracted to good manners and elegance.

In love, you feel the most alive when your partner is patient and never willing to give up on you.

You'd like to your lover to think you are loyal and faithful... that you'll never change.

You would be forced to break up with someone who was emotional, moody, and difficult to please.

Your ideal relationship is traditional. Without saying anything, both of you communicate with your hearts.

Your risk of cheating is zero. You care about society and morality. You would never break a commitment.

You think of marriage as something that will confine you. You are afraid of marriage.

In this moment, you think of love as commitment. Love only works when both people are totally devoted.

What Are The Keys To Your Heart?

okie so its my off day from work today...just lemme be boliao...*whines*

Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind

just watched the dvd last night.

i've gotta say i really didn't like it at first. somehow it all looked like a typical indie artsy flick to me. some boring drama i don't normally appreciate. in fact i skipped a scene and jumped to scene 5 where the movie credits began(told you it was artsy) and the movie kinda started for me.

i dunno what is it with the show but by the end of it i was thinking to myself what a good and powerful show this was. its the kinda show like magnolia(tom cruise) and the butterfly effect(ashton kutcher), the make-you-think-about-alot-of-what-ifs-and-whys kinda show. i don't normally digest these shows so easily.

i thought the concept was refreshing. if there was a day that technology allowed for the washing away of a certain memory in our lives and we'd wake up the next day not having any recollection of the memory one bit. would people bite into this trend like a hungry cow? or would we all shun it for any perceived lack of ethics. i dunno. i do wonder to myself if there're bitter memories that i would like to erase, events that i'd like to seriously think that it never happened before. i dunno. i was up till abit late. but no leh, couldn't come up with anything. my memory may be like a sieve but whatever i have inside for better or worse i'd like to keep, thank you.

so maybe thats why it was only when joel realised that he'd lose forever certain memories of clementine(oh my darling, oh my darling) that he thought he wanted to lose because they were bitter and spiteful, that he wanted to take them all back. perhaps there were things in these upsetting events that were worth keeping? perhaps there were little things in these memories that contributed to the person he is today. and without those memories, would a person be the same again after they were erased? i don't think so.

perhaps that is why they say there is a silver lining around every dark cloud. in the optimistic point of view, regardless of how sad, bitter or miserable an event has occured, there is always something positive to look forward to. but only if you care to find it. the end of something is always the beginning of something else. a better thing perhaps? depends on how you look at it. many people get down and depressed easily these days. they get knocked and they fall by the wayside, thinking life is no use going on. but the strong rise again to face the next, tougher challenge. what doesn't kill you will only makes you stronger. and stronger you will definitely be for every experience point gained in the course of your life, be it mentally or physically(well mostly mentally would be best)...

okie so i liked the movie. i liked the movie so much i went back to the start and watch the movie all over till the opening credits of scene 5. then i couldn't sleep for quite long.

haha.

on a lighter note, i'm just back from my ippt at bedok camp.

almost died running the 2.4km. but lo and behold, i did well enough to earn $200!! whoohoo! kudos to lincoln for encouraging me and inspiring me to cheong the final lap(i thought i didnt have a chance in hell!). felt super faint and had to rest by the steps for quite awhile before i could stagger to the upper east coast hawker centre for drinks. still, it was an ippt worth going for. yay money!

lincoln the chao turtle may be inspirational. we were doing sit-ups and now at bedok sibeh hi-tech siah all the stations all computerised and every sit-up or chin-up got sensor wan leh...mai xiao xiao. anyway the chao turtle and i were side by side doing sit-ups then we hit 40 and we had max points but he did one more, so i did one more to tie his score, but upone seeing me do so he did one more...so i did one more again and he noticed and did one more...on and on until i hit 43 sit-ups and he hit 44 and i gave up. sibeh boliao. haha. you win lah!

going for basketball at vjc next!

Nostalgia

okie so i can't stop blogging this easily. some things are just too blog-worthy.

went for dinner with the whole family today. been quite long since we've eaten out together all five of us. went to lavender food court and all of us ate turtle soup with yam rice et al. its been a long time since i ever had that stuff(you can see where this is going). not since we stopped eating at our regular turtle joint opposite katong mall because of some reports that turtle soup was high in mercury content(wait. was that shark's fin?!) anyway yeah, haven't eaten chao turtle for such a long time. and then we also had roasted chicken wings(the after midnite cheong at bak chor mee blk 85 type), some costly fishcake and finally some recommended pancake, courtesy of mom and dad.

talked about what i'll be doing in future, talked about fen and chuen's entering university, talked about the singapore economy, talked about chuen and fen's course and future. quite alot of stuff.

its been awhile.

so anyway we had a great dinner and chit-chat. then it was time to go home. then just on the way back, dad reminded me that his old house was just around the corner and how we used to go there for family gatherings. so i just asked if it was still around and one thing led to another and before you know it we turned a right and went into the dark banglah area in search of the site of my dad's old house.

now his old house used to be the gathering place for everyone in my dad's side of the family when my dad's mom was still alive(dad's dad passed on before i was born). i can roughly remember the times, playing with my cousins and everyone making merry over mahjong peanuts and beer(not for the kids though). absolutely old school bell-bottoms yonex shorts and all. back then it was the tallest new hdb flat(6 storey) in the jalan besar area. pretty swank if you'd ask me.

its since been torn down quite a good 10 years ago to make way for new and taller hdb flats liao. however when we reached there we still saw certain things that were familiar to me. like the old shophouse where i used to buy sweets from. i remember they cost 10c for 3 crummy sweets. the old couple who owns it actually still owns it though i doubt they remember me. apart from that the only other surviving construction i could remember was the alley way past the old playground. nothing much about it except that i've seen it enough to remember it. aside from that everything else was now flat soil. construction still underway.

i think about 10 years ago when they decided to tear this place down dad did bring me over one final time to take a look and he kinda videotaped the place just for memories sake. wonder if we still have those tapes.

aside from that we also drove past the new world amusement park. if anyone recollects anything about this place do let me know. i only know that i used to go there pretty often with my cousins and with my parents. details i dunno. for now, only the run down chained up entrance serves as living memory of its existence. mom says there're building something else in there.

from there we thought that it might be a good idea to visit the first house that my parents bought! it was pretty close by, at serangoon, called jalan riang. which was beside jalan ria. haha imagine trying to direct friends to your place - "you said ria or riang?!".

now this place hasn't changed much but that the people living there have renovated the place quite abit. old terrace neighbourhood. landed property. pretty lousy location if you'd asked me. i think i remember dad saying this place wasn't very 'clean'. still for the life of me i never could remember where on earth this place was until today. and not much has changed. its still bloody ulu.

by then i thought my bro and sis were kinda bored so i kinda suggested that since we were all together we might as well visit some place that even fen could remember. so we decided to make a trip down to fairways. our third place of residence prior to us moving to mandarin gardens. those were pretty grim times but even then dad still tried to make things work out. i mean fairways was a good condo mind you. just that its situated in telok blangah, a far cry from the serenity of the east if you'd ask me. then again it was near to dad's workplace and my primary school(where else but blangah rise pri sch).

we got to the gates and the guards thought we were residents(i think alumni residents get in free of checks too) so he let us in. we decided to go in and walk the grounds abit. dad could still remember we lived on the 8th floor. unit number #08-09. so auspicious. no wonder the times got better for us. the place hasn't changed much. everything looks alot smaller now that we're so old. bro's able to recollect more of what's been going on. fen was born while we were living here only to move a year later so she's still not seen anything familiar.

we even took the lift up to the very apartment we lived in! the walk from the lift to the old apartment was really familiar to me. and i did like that place. had a really good friend there though i never did bother to keep in contact with him. can't even remember his name.

*sigh*

finally we found that the whole market and shophouses behind fairways have changed so much we just had to drop by to take a look. gosh boy has it changed. the market is undergoing semi-renovation, but everything else looks so dead that the place looked like a ghost town. somehow people say the fengshui of the place has been turned bad by the reconstruction of the place.

the surprising part was that some of the shopowners actually recognised mom and dad! dad even had a pretty long chat with the old spectacle shop uncle and auntie he used to visit. but everyone says the place has become a ghost town since the renovations and reconstruction. true enough the feng shui of the place seemed to have altered quite alot. really just doesn't feel good around there.

in any case dad bought some durians to celebrate he occasion(he always does when he thinks its a good occasion)!

so the whole trip was a pretty nostalgic trip down memory lane. really good bonding session with the family, and got to relive some old memories. all in all we had a great family today. i'm so blessed with such a wonderful family.

*sigh*

and i'm almost past a quarter of a century old already. into the next phase i go...

so the new blog of mine should appease more people. and hopefully people are satisfied with what i've changed in my blog.

back to work tomorrow.