Phenom Blog!

Top 10 ideas for things to do when you feel bored...

2008-07-22T00:09:00.001+08:00

1. Surf your friends blogs.
2. Go facebook and zap, hit, sell, buy, race, fight, build all your friends. If you have extra time, poke and superpoke everyone on your friends list.
3. Think of something u'd like answered. Wiki it. Then yahoo answers it. And if you're still not satisfied, search for a related forum and make a post in the forum. Then sit patiently and wait for someone to answer it.
4. Catch an old movie u missed on http://www.watch-movies.net/
5. Experiment on different ways of making fried rice i.e. vary the salt, no of eggs, etc.
6. Find an instrument in your house, pick it up and try to compose a song. If u don't have an instrument, just whistle.
7. Bite your fingernails.
8. Locate the person on your messenger or msn list that u least speak to, click on him/her, and try to initiate a conversation.
9. Clean the house.
10. Post a blog post!!

HR Memo

2008-07-21T23:57:00.000+08:00

This is pasted on the wall of the coffee shop beside Rendang Corner.

To all Employees:
Effective TODAY

Dress Code

1. It is advised that you come to work dressed according to your salary. If we see you wearing Prada shoes andcarrying a Gucci bag, we assume you are doing well financially and therefore do not need a pay raise.
2. If you dress poorly, you need to learn to manage your money better, so that you may buy nicer clothes, andtherefore you do not need a pay raise.
3. If you dress just right, you are right where you need to be and therefore you do not need a pay raise.

Sick Days

We will no longer accept a doctor's certificate as proof of sickness. If you are able to go to the doctor, you are able to come to work.

Holidays

Each employee will receive 104 personal days a year. They are called Saturday & Sunday.

Compassionate Leave

This is no excuse for missing work. There is nothing you can do for dead friends, relatives or co-workers. Every effort should be made to have non-employees attend to the arrangements. In rare cases where employee involvement is necessary, the funeral should be scheduled in the late afternoon. We will be glad to allow you to work through your lunch hour and subsequently leave one hour early.

Toilet Use

1. Entirely too much time is being spent in the toilet. There is now a strict three-minute time limit in the cubicles.
2. At the end of three minutes, an alarm will sound, the toilet paper roll will retract, the cubicle door will open, and your picture will be taken.
3. After your second offence, your picture will be posted on the company notice board under the 'Chronic Offenders'category.
4. Anyone caught smiling in the picture will be sanctioned under the company's mental health policy.

Lunch Break

1. Skinny people get 30 minutes for lunch, as they need to eat more so that they can look healthy.
2. Normal size people get 15 minutes for lunch to get a balanced meal to maintain their average figure.
3. Chubby people get 5 minutes for lunch, because that's all the time needed to drink a Slim-Fast.

Thank you for your loyalty to our company. Remember we are an employer of choice and we are here to provide a positive employment experience. Therefore, all questions, comments, concerns, complaints, frustrations, irritations, aggravations, insinuations, allegations, accusations, contemplations, consternation and input should be directed elsewhere.

A new home...

2008-07-20T23:25:00.004+08:00

I'm out of Villa Verde, and finally shifted in to the new house. It's pretty empty now, and it sure does feel wierd staying alone in such a big place. I guess staying with others isn't that bad after all. It gives u a sense of company. And having so much space, it takes time to get used to.

Well, on the brighter side, I can now buy the huge can of milo and store it in the kitchen, rather than drinking 3 in 1s. I can make maggi mee, without worrying about the landlord being unhappy with me dirtying the kitchen (heck I even bought eggs). I have cartoon network on tv most of the time. And I now have a fixed line! (haven't got the time to buy a phone yet though). We even made teppanyaki for dinner.

I guess owning a house isn't all that bad. It's tiring getting everything in place, buying stuff and making sure things are ok. But I guess after all this is done, we will have a nice home to stay in.
This is where I'll be sleeping tonight..

Promotion!

2008-07-19T23:58:00.000+08:00

Was at an electronic goods store today, looking for microwave ovens, when we came across this sign. Price now is $359 + u get to get $220 cashback, meaning that u only have to pay $359 - $220 = $139. Everything seems fine, except that the usual price is $98? Meaning that, if u waited for the promotion period to be over, you'd probably be able to buy it for $41 cheaper!!

Interesting Read

2008-07-17T15:01:00.002+08:00

Especially like the kesho jizo. Beats plastic surgery. Link

IT Illiterate...

2008-07-17T14:19:00.000+08:00

Was attempting to get the router up for a couple of hours, up till the time I gave up and decided it was time to call the technical service number. I gave them a ring and a guy picks up the phone. I asked him "internet connection not found" and he said "no problem, we will fix it".
So we started the whole series of 'god knows what I'm doing'.

1) First off: Power off the cable modem and shutdown the pc. Restart the pc. Open internet explorer and go to a site. Can access? NO
2) Next click 'start' and 'run'. Type 'cmd'. At C:, type ipconfig and press enter. See anything? Yes. Type ping http://www.yahoo.com/. Anything happens? NO SIGNAL
3) Click 'start'. Type ipconfig/release. Type ipconfig. Type ipconfig/renew. Now ping again. Anything? NO
4) Close everything. Shut down everything. Change the ethernet cable and repeat 1-3. Anything? NO
5) Close everything. Shut down everything. Now see a small hole behind the cable modem? Poke and hold for 10 seconds. After its reset. Repeat 1-3. Anything? NO
6) Call Starhub. Tell them the cable modem is faulty. Then call me back.

After going through that tedious process, I felt a bit like an idiot. I took a look at the modem box, opened it, and found a CD in it labelled "modem installation CD". Dawned on me, that I am a bigger idiot than I realise.

Old lessons..

2008-07-14T23:42:00.005+08:00

This morning, while having breakfast, a friend joked that I was finishing every strand of beehoon left on the plate. It was then, when he joked about it, that I remembered what my grandma used to tell us. "Finish your food clean. Any remainder on the plate would be how the skin of your spouse would look like".

From young, we believed that, and made sure that whatever food is given to us is finished clean. We never queried the validity of the statement, or rather was too young to. We just did as was told, being afraid of what might really happen to our spouses.
Fast forward 20 yrs, and I guess that it was lessons on virtue that was being thought to us. Fact was that no kid would listen to an adult to finish their food if they were just told to do so. Add some myth or tale in the story and it becomes a habit. Now that I'm 30+, it's funny that subconsciously, I still follow what I've been thought when I was young.

A Simple Day

2008-07-13T23:14:00.002+08:00

Woke up late. Went for a simple lunch, then went to Tampines to look at paintings. After that, went back to my home and did some cleaning. Saw a little bit of TV, rested a while, and then went out to ta pao 'bak kut teh'. Had dinner while watching TV. Saw TV till 9+, then drove back to the room to sleep.

Sigh, tomorrow is a working day again..

Red Cliff

2008-07-13T00:24:00.008+08:00

Go watch it... it's not bad. Though it's the first of a 2 part series. The 1st part ends before the fire ships were sent.

The actual history can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Red_Cliffs. Warning though, spoilers ahead!

Prime Mover...

2008-07-13T00:02:00.002+08:00

Let's see... My off work job description has increased... from chauffer cum kuli cum escort cum cleaner cum financier... to include prime mover!!

Oh well, this is not the first time I've moved everything from one place to another. Just that today marked the inaugural shifting of the 2,000 ton digital piano!! Well, actually, I really don't know how much it weights, but it sure as h3ll weights a lot!! Feels like carrying two TV sets...one on each hand, when i was maneuvering the piano from the 3rd floor of my rented room to the car and from the car to my new place. I think I tore some tendons while lifting it. Even the car suspension felt as though it was about to give way when i drove it there.

Finally, got the danged piano up to the study room, and its back to working condition. Wont be able to use it for a while, up till next week, when i finally shift in.

And oh... the coffee table, bedhead and egg chair are all in... whats left, other than the dining table, is the sofa...which will probably be here in 6 weeks.

Yaay!!! Cable!!

2008-07-10T21:13:00.019+08:00

Yaaaaaay!!!!!

Got the Basic Tier for 4 channel groups and added on

Considering that I now have

I think I will be home most of the time from now on...

And with

haha...you guys wont be able to find me during the playoff season!!!...

ERP = Everything Raise Price!!!

2008-07-08T21:49:00.003+08:00

ERP prices are getting ridiculous. Added with the hike in petrol prices, sooner or later, we might all have to walk to work!!!

Piano..

2008-07-07T21:17:00.001+08:00

Something from a Jap drama....

Pardon the quality...haven had much practice on this..

Yawn...

2008-07-06T00:21:00.004+08:00

Was driving from Bukit Batok back home. Along the Bukit Gombak stretch, there was roadworks all over, and most of the cars ended up in single file. Traffic lights turned red, and my car was behind a van.

Half way waiting for the traffic lights, I fell asleep and my leg started leaving the brake pedal. The car inched forward, till it touched the van in front, which instantaneously woke me up. Was half expecting the van owner to come out and hurl curses at me. I reversed the car a little, and noticed that no damage was done to the van. Instead of stopping, he drove forward, turned left and then sped off. Good thing for me was that the only thing that had any signs of damage was some cracks on my car number plate.

Moral of the story, don't drive when you're tired. Or have someone continuously talk or sing to you when you're sleepy. Or set your car to 'Park' when it's stationary. Rather get horned for being slow to move off than having to get the car assessed, file a report and then get the car repaired.

Desktop Tower Defense 1.5

2008-07-04T22:48:00.005+08:00

After you're done with version 1.0, go to version 2.0. It's like going from Diablo 1 to Diablo 2.
Apologies though, was not able to extract the swf, so this has to be played online. Link

Score of 5369 on medium... 'clean desk badge'

Word Verification..

2008-07-03T23:28:00.001+08:00

Doesn't that look like a mispelled 'teehui'?

Habit...

2008-07-02T21:57:00.005+08:00

Colleague has an inherent bad habit on taking other colleagues phones and capturing pictures of her kid. I mean, being proud of your kid is one thing, but making sure everyone else has a picture of the kid in their phones is something else. She's a really cute kid, but I pity her when she grows up. Every tong, dave and hairy is gonna have her pic man.... and dun ask me who is hairy, u know who u r..

A little mocking bird?

2008-07-02T21:21:00.002+08:00

As I was driving to work, this bird just flew near and stood on the side mirror of my car for the longest time; long enough for me to take out my camera and capture multiple shots of it. Perhaps its an omen. Anyone knows what it signifies? Perhaps it was trying to tell me, "I can predict that your car is gonna have some bird droppings in a short while"..

Amusing...

2008-07-02T02:09:00.002+08:00

Life is just so amusing at times. It brings u up when u least expect it, and it throws u down when u're unprepared. I guess this happens to everyone. We're only human, and there's bound to be ups and downs in life.

At times I wonder, why people work so hard in their lives and then not live to see the fruits of their labour. Why people spend so much effort in their jobs, only to feel unappreciated. Why people try so hard to be concerned of others, only to have others scoff at them. And perhaps, why people try so hard to reach a destination in life, only to find no roads at the end.

I presume that its inherent in us so called humans to want to strive for something in life. Some people strive for money, to be able to have a better life. Some people strive for power, to reach a better position. Some people just want recognition for their efforts. All these just seem so important to us at some point of time.

There are moments of sanity, when we see that everything we do is probably in vain. If you sit back once in a while, you'd notice that none of the things you've done actually mattered. No amount of hard work or effort is going to change the way things work out. No amount of labour or time is going to change the way people think of you. No amount of money or achievement is going to make you really happy.

Perhaps one lesson in life to learn, is not to be concerned with what you want or have, not to be concerned with what other think or feel about you, not to be concerned over menial things that mean so much to everyone today, but mean nothing tomorrow..... but only to know your own self worth and 问心无愧... don't you think so?

Typical day...

2008-06-29T23:15:00.005+08:00

Spent the afternoon hunting for a fridge, a washer, a dryer and a TV. Bought 2 of 4.... the washer and the fridge. And they gave us like 26 lucky draw slips to fill in? Well, thats 26 chances to win anything of your choice that costs below $4000 within the store. Chose a 40" TV and a DVD recorded which costs like $3698. Had to fill in the code...which was like DVDHR755XXS~250GB and A40A550P1R755XSS on top of the description, the model and the price.... 26 times!! It's times like this when we appreciate Mr Carpal (for finding Carpal Tunnel Syndrome).

Evening time... i was driving to a local coffee shop to ta pao dinner. Many things crossed my mind. Seems like I just had tons of minor unimportant things to do. The moment I stepped out of the car door, I told myself, get those things done. I got off, holding a cashcard and an URA fine slip. Made an order at the 'zhi cha' then proceeded to the AXS machine. Got the fine paid, then topped up the cashcard. Then proceeded to draw money and collect the food. Ended up forgetting to get new parking coupons.

After dinner, had to send a present to Joshua. He turns 3 today. Bought him an airport with cars and cones and an airplane and stuff. The moment I got there, I wished Josh happy birthday, and he practically jumped on me. I don't know how he did it, but he ended up on top of my shoulders while doing the titanic scene with both arms spread!! His mom seemed to have so much confidence that I wont drop Josh... but I'm not taking any chances, so I let him down the moment I could. Natt came over and collected the present from me. Like it was her birthday. We ended up opening the present together. Josh on one side, Natt on the other...and me in the center mediating the opening. When we opened the present, the maids gasped in horror at the number of small parts they had to deal with. I apologised profusely to them, then looked at the kids having the time of their lives. Even Bel Bel got her hands on it. She took one piece of the luggage pick up ladder and started putting it in her mouth. Good thing the ladder was a huge piece, and no way was it going in that tiny mouth.

I was really tired from all the furniture hunting and reno stuff. So I swallowed my share of the cake, downed the orange juice and bid my mom and the family good night. The maids carried the two smaller kids, and together with Natt, sent me down to the carpark. It's just heartwarming, watching those kids waving and shouting Byyyeee!!.

I drove off to the new place and spent the next hour off loading stuff from the car to the house. Don't understand why I have so much stuff. Maybe I've never gotten to throwing away the things people give me. Thank god I bought that Nike bag in London. Saved me from having a backache or slipdisc.

Drove over to coffee bean, and got my cafe latte, before driving back home to blog about this.

Will get a few more things done, before i call it a day and hit the sack. Gd nite!!

Desktop Tower Defense

2008-06-28T22:06:00.003+08:00

Test how good u r..

My record is completing normal mode with 10 lives left..

Download here
Desktop Tower Defence (367kB)

I can tell time...no I am no psychic..

2008-06-28T08:30:00.005+08:00

A few months back, the battery of my watch went off. It got off at 10.30am sharp on a certain morning, probably while I was meddling with some word documents or drinking coffee outside (probably the latter).

For over 3 months, I have been telling myself that I have to go over to People's Park Center or Complex or whatever u call that pink building to get the batteries fixed but I've never gotten to do it. Call me lazy, or procrastin-ist (is there such a word?).

The closer friends would notice it, and then forget about it, and ask me for the time. And the response was always 10.30!! The excuse I gave was that 10.30am was good. Cos it signifies tea time...and for me, anytime is tea time!

Well, I dun have to take out my handphone whenever I need to know the time now.

I can now tell time... no I am no psychic... I just got a new watch.. haha

Encounter at coffee bean

2008-06-25T22:06:00.003+08:00

After lunch, we decided on coffee at coffee bean. We ordered 2 cafe latte, one passion fruit tea latte and an ultimate mocha. The mocha was ready, but they were taking a little long for the lattes. They told me to take a seat and they will serve the lattes to the table.

A while later, a waitress brought 2 identical looking drinks. Thinking that this had to be 2 cafe lattes, 2 of us took a sip, and realised that we both have passion fruit tea. We saw a waitress and informed her there was a mistake with the order. She nods, took the receipt and proceeded to move to the counter.

A while later, the waitress appears with 2 cups of cafe latte. Added with the 2 cups of tea latte, we now had 5 cups of drinks on the table. Considering that the aunty that was supposed to have the passion fruit tea wasn't keen on sharing our natural mouth fluid (saliva sounds a little coarse..so I'm sticking to natural mouth fluid), we asked the waitress if it was possible to discard the two cups of tea latte, and replace it with a new cup of tea latte, explaining the mistake in the order and the mistake we made. The waitress looks at us and says "You can have both the tea lattes" and we explained the scenario once more and asked if it was possible to replace the 2 cups with a new one. The waitress curtly agreed and proceeded to remove the two tea lattes.

A moment later, the waitress comes back again and passes a cup to the aunty. The aunty takes a sip and goes "ewwww.. its coffee" and then proceeded to the counter to change the cafe latte back to a tea latte.

Pant pant!... Unless you're a genius, you probably can't understand a word I am saying up there. Really, it doesn't matter. Its just that I've spent the whole day taking statements from witnesses, it feels like I'm writing statements again. Job hazard.

PS: After today, I can foresee a lot of people telling me that they totally understand what I wrote. Haha..

Bumper stickers..

2008-06-24T22:04:00.008+08:00

A farewell..

2008-06-24T21:29:00.007+08:00

We had a farewell for a friend today. It was her last day at the company. Everytime I see someone leave, it goes with mixed feelings. On one hand, I feel happy that that person has found some greener pasture. Be it a place with better experience, better returns, less stress, or simply is more comfortable to be in. Everyone moves for a reason. And the reason should always be positive. On the other, it feels wierd not to see that person around.

I was lucky in my first job, to be one of the first ones to leave the organisation. I left most of my buddies behind, and although I've found many new friends, I still do miss those guys i left back there. It really explains why I feel elated whenever I see an old friend.

Sometimes, I feel stupid, eminating joy over an sms or an email from a friend. Other times, I wonder if they're busy with something.

I guess its inevitable, that eventually everyone would go somewhere. Heck, we all need to retire sometime too rite? So all in all, think of it as part of lifes experience. For everyone that misses a friend, know this: To be able to get to know people, and keep them in memory - till days, months, or years later - when you do meet again - if it still feels as though the person has never left - then you've gained a friend.

Wow... I think I can qualify to be a pastor..