X'mas party

Last Friday went to a Christmas Salsa party organized by one of my salsa classmate - Jade. She's a jewel designer :O .. You can visit her company's website to learn more - Club Jewel . She was kind enough to invite us to her home at Holland Village to have the Christmas party. We danced all night till we were all tired out.

On a side note, from the party, I found 3 factors that might sweep most ladies off their feet
1. Jewels and clothes (that Jade designed)
Most of the girls were just "stuck" in her office trying out the various precious stones, clothes and accessories. Since it's Christmas and most have their end-of-year bonus, shopping was also on the agenda.

2. Chocolate cake
NOT JUST ANY chocolate cake. IT WAS AWFULLY CHOCOLATE! Why hasn't anyone introduced this to me before?!?!? A bite into the cake, I so shocked by the smooth "chocolaty texture" and the creaminess. Some of the guys who were like me (see Awfully Chocolate for the first time) quickly asked for the store's location. AC has an interesting business concept - NO display, ALL white shop, 3 items on menu -> Chocolate cake, Banana Chocolate cake and Rum & Raisin Chocolate cake. Awfullyyyy chocolate.... I awfully want more...

3. An intimate dance
Not really salsa though. Although salsa can be very intimate but most people don't go into a deep level of intimacy during the dance. The dance that I'm refering to is Bachata. I find that Bachata is a very mesmerizing dance to watch. I've been recommending this dance to a few of my friends who are already attached. Singles... well, unless sufficiently open-minded. Hahaha.. I myself feel that I am not ready to dance Bachata very intimately with any girl from the dance floor.....yet. =P Anyway, salsa is good enough for now.

Rainy Singapore

Tonight is a very wonderful night. It's raining heavily outside but being here in the comfort of my room is just... heavenly. Recently, it has been raining quite often in Singapore. I don't like going to work in this kind of weather but I suppose I have no choice. I realised that this year will be my FIRST year that I don't have a long Christmas/New Year break. Previously, school holidays would've been covered through this festive season. Although I have been working since last year, I did fly back to Singapore on Christmas day and had a good two week break until January. So, what's in-store for Christmas this year? .... Another realisation -> Christmas = New Year is coming -> Current Year ending -> OMG!! How time flies!

Anyway back to this rainy topic. Rain, more rain, I've lost my blogging mood again.. Hmm.. Don't know what to blog about. Had this amount of rain poured on Chennai, the city would have been left paralysed. I'm sure I'd have to swim to work.

Many people today have complain of the bad weather - heavy rains = stay indoors. Most of my salsa classmates today were all unhappy with the rain. As for myself, I had already planned to go home from work early today. I've been coughing quite a lot recently. It is very irritating. I've tried the usual "pi pa gao" but doesn't seem to help much. Today trying out another supposedly more effective "pi pa gao" with additional herbs which are better for the lungs, etc. Hopefully this will help.

The Most Happening Wedding Ceremony of 2006!!

2 weeks ago, the whole bunch of us left from PGP to attend the wedding ceremony of our good friend, Ah Loon. 26th November this year is supposedly the most auspicious day for the current lunar year of the Dog. Next year's most auspicious day would be sometime in March according to Ker Ying whose sister is working in the hotel industry. One would have to book the restaurant or hotel many months before to hold the event on the auspicious day.

This is actually the first time for most of us to attend a friend's wedding. The experience is very different and more personal. The restaurant's ballroom exterior looked very factory-like and not "grand" as its name suggests. However, when we got inside, we had a pleasant surprise. Ah Loon was dressed up in white (白马王子?) and all smiles greeting us at the main entrance. We arrived relatively early for the event at 630pm. Somehow, as a tradition for most Chinese wedding ceremonies, invitation is for 630pm but dinner will only start at 8pm. (Singapore although most still have this issue but there are some families who have tried to changed the system by putting a note to thank people for attending the ceremony on time in their invitation cards - it worked most of the time as reported by Straits Times a few years ago.) So, we sat and waited patiently for the event to start; enjoy the free flow of red wine while chit-chatting.

When the event started at 8pm. The lights were dimmed and the couple had a grand entrance with confetti and smoke from dry-ice.

For the couple, we gave them a LOUD and loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong yam seng. 3 GREAT Cheers! Our voices took the beating the next day but it was worth the happy event.

Ah Loon was flushed red after so many drinks with people in the room.

Near the end of the event, someone suddenly suggested that we do a group song for the couple. I'm not sure whether they were daring me to go up to make the request or drunk. Hahaha.. I know I was abit drunk and I agreed to go up to the stage without any hesitation. So,...

Loon! LiJuan! Look here! 朋友我永远祝福你。。。

We took photos with the couple - guys group and girls group. Unfortunately I do not have the girls group photo with the couple so I'm not able to post here. It was a grand event. After the dinner we had a mini fun session outside the hall while waiting for our transport to come. It was definitely a lot of fun attending the dinner. Of course, CONGRATULATIONS to the couple!

Blogcrastinator

I wanted to update my blog as often as possible but I rarely find free time.... or should I say... I spend my free time lazing around or DoTA. Other than that also partially I'm rarely home... starting to be more of a "chiongster" but a healthier one -> go to salsa club which has less cigarette smoke and less ear-damaging-music-volume.

Looking back, I realise I've been dancing everyday since Friday. Friday night, went out to Union Square -> Danced a lot and came back quite late because I missed the last train heading West so I took the last train heading East then changed to the North without reading the sign (which said that the last stop is Kranji)... Blur blur I slept until Kranji when suddenly the MRT driver blew his whistle; a guy sitting next to me tap me to wake me up and got off at Kranji. Unhappy I had to find a way back from Kranji at about 1245am. No bus except 160. Took that until it passes near enough to my place then had a long walk back.

Saturday, had my make-up lesson as I had missed last Sunday's lesson for attending Loon's wedding ceremony (that reminds me... I need to blog about this too... hehehe... I'm really lagging). During Saturday lesson, I surprised the girls from the class as I smoothly guided them through the moves taught that day. Due to the extensive club trainings I have learnt to break free from my instructors voice and feel the music myself thus making learning salsa alot easier. I can see the amazement on the face of one girl who suddenly felt enlightened learning the new moves as I led her well... Hahaha *proud*

Then Sunday class.. dance some more, yesterday went to Union Square again, practise dance some more.. today went to Union again.. dance some more... tomorrow I have invitation to some salsa dance session with a group "fresh meat"... am considering whether I should go or not. blah.... I think my blog post is very random today, whatever I think of I just poured out everything. I'm in a super sleepy mode too. I need sleep~ 1,2,3, ,5,6,7 *zzzz*

Some reflections

November 2006 is ending, soon it will be December and then another new year will be here. Time seem to fly so fast when I think about what happened over the past year. Last year at this time, I was struggling with the rainstorms of Chennai. I would post weekly updates on things that happen in India . I am glad that I have done so too. Since I don't have a personal diary or logbook, this is my only account of events that happened previously. Reading them brought back plenty of memories which are quite interesting and that shaped my change.

2006 has been quite an eventful year. Before I wait until December 31st to make a check on whether I have achieved my goals or not, I will do a quick reflection and plan for 2007. Some time ago, it was quite funny when I think about my current situation. As in few weeks ago, I suddenly woke up to a realisation that I'm no longer a student. I realised that I no longer enjoy December holidays nor do I have long semester breaks. My "work calendar " starts in April and end in March (based on financial year and when I am given more paid-leaves =P. But not long ago, I am still looking at life as if I'm still following the NUS academic calendar. I am sad that I no longer have long holidays.

Previously I wrote down 3 "simple" new year resolutions. Of the 3 changes I set, only 1 - Exercise regularly is being followed till end of year. Eat healthily? Well, I tried but failed. Not easy when too busy with work and food from hawker center is so unhealthy. Once in awhile I would do my own cooking - steam everything =P but that was before I moved into this new project. I only did cooking between July to early September. After that, got too busy and too lazy to cook. Continue learning? If it was on a scale of 1 to 10 where 1 is least achieved to 10 as satisfactory, I would say I have only done a 3 or 4. I haven't been reading as much as I would have back in India. But learning other skills, maybe..... which brings me to Salsa again. Hahaha...

For the past few blog posts, I have been talking about Salsa. But it's because there's so much to say about it as I'm currently very into it. It is quite funny that my friend has been asking me to take up salsa since June or July but I hesistate. In August or September, another friend has shown keen interest and asked me to go take up lessons together with him as well. I hesistate another few months until finally agreeing that I need a kick-in-the-butt and be dragged to lessons. I told him to just force me along and ignore all my reasons for not wanting to join. I am glad that I made that resolve. Although a few days before lessons begin, I was again feeling against joining. However, I went anyway and now my feet can't stop moving.... kinda. Hahaha... Lessons are fun. Going to salsa club is even more fun but takes lots of courage to dance with girls who are better than me. I'm not implying that I have the courage because so far, all the dances in the clubs that I had were with friends who asked their friends to volunteer to be my training partner. It is super embarassing on the first few occassions that I keep making mistakes. But as I progressed further, I can feel extra padding on my face making it feel thicker especially after Friday's session. Hopefully I can gather more courage to just dance with any girls in the club. Don't care what they think, ignore their plea for rollercoaster-turns, ignore their pleas to lock arms and focus on basics. They'll have no choice but to follow.... and I might lose another dance partner but what the heck, I need to practise to reach their level. =P

(p.s. hey ppl, I recommend joining salsa too!)

I'm back!

I bought myself a new pc last Saturday. This time a desktop. Hopefully the burglar won't think of coming back for this. (Touch wood. *cha-go-ba-hao*chapzhu*). Anyway, it feels quite different to be having a desktop again after being so used to having a laptop around. I can't bring my pc anywhere I like anymore. Oh well, I've traded off convenience and portability for power and performance. =P

After I set up my desktop, it blocked my usual walking path in the bedroom. Because of this, I accidentally kicked the bed support twice on the same foot! The toe was still fine after the first kick.. the 2nd kick, just made it turn red and immediately swollen. It was darn painful. A little unbearable too. I think the bone might've cracked. Abuthen ha.... despite of the injured toe, I don't know whether I'm crazy or just so enthu, I went for my Salsa lessons yesterday.

Initially, I thought that it would be fine for the toe since I'm wearing a shoe, everything is covered. However, my leather shoe was not comfortable at all. Exepcting it, I brought sandals to change just in case. I tried to walk out abit but I could not walk far without feeling pain. I limped from my HDB unit to the next then gave up. I changed to sandals and travelled to the studio. I changed back into my shoe and ... danced. This proves that dancing with pretty girls can take the pain away. LOL ... but after that I can feel my toe hurting again. I couldn't walk far so I changed to my sandals after limping all the way to the bus-stop. My sandals never felt more comfortable.

Hmmm.. speaking of salsa - After this 3rd lesson, I realise that my basic turns from lesson 2 suddenly become so rusty or my partner's turning is rusty. I can't feel that smooth palm turning but more of her grabbing my hands then I get stuck or I grab her hands, she gets stuck. Not only that, when the instructor lets us to "free-style" at the end of the lesson, I have to spend more than 10s thinking of my next move. Execute 1 then think another 10sec for the next move. The girl I was practising with "free-style" yesterday quite bu-shuang me. 90% of the time we were just basic-stepping. She voiced her dissatisfaction at my "fan-shu-ness" (potato-ness). Oh well.....

Another update after soooo long

Well, this time I have an excuse. It's not easy to write blog posts without a computer and internet connection. Although previously I said I wanted to post about changes in my work and lifestyles, after more than 2-3weeks, I can't seem to "pen"/type out what I had in mind back then. I suppose I should've kept a diary or something so I could recollect my thoughts and reflect on those issues later. Hmmmm....

Updates from me - The IT guy without a computer is like fish without water? Well, I did have initial withdrawal syndromes. It's like restless nights, nausea, occassional vomitting and not forgetting uncontrollable spasms...... Kidding! Of course, by now most of you should already know to read my posts with a pinch of salt. Just in case, I'll clarify that I did not experience those symptoms :). Let's maintain the status quo (whatever that means. I think I abused the term.... will check out dictionary later. Been hearing the term 'status quo' very often these days from the news, at work, tv shows...). Anyway, not having a computer ain't that bad. All that happened is that I no longer can spend my nights defending the Frozen Throne or the Tree of Life owning my opponents while they sleep. I don't get to chat online very often and I've been deprived of all my animes in this "Golden Anime Season". But then again, I've not been disconnected that much. I'm still able to access news from the office and read my emails.

Life really isn't that bad without a computer. Over the past 2 weeks, so much has happened. I've started my Salsa lessons. In fact, I have just finished my 2nd beginner class today. It is a lot of fun to lead my partner front, back, side and then turn her, then turn some more, if not enough, turn her again till she can't take it =P. Everyone in the class is enjoying themselves as we all laugh at our mistakes as we learn. I'm sure it will be even more fun as the lessons progressed because I'll learn more variations. Before I think too far, I need to work on my basics and following the rhythm. Quick-quick....slow. Quick-quick....slow. Quick-quick....slow.

Who stole my cheese?

I came home yesterday night feeling very happy with the wonderful night drizzle. While walking back, I was thinking of a blog post about – “Who moved my cheese?”. I wanted to post about changes in my work and lifestyles. However, I was stunned and horrified by the opened windows and grills of my rented HDB unit.

I looked into the house and immediately saw that the bedroom doors were all opened. The inside was all messy. I rushed into the house already knowing that my laptop is definitely gone. On entering my room, I found my luggage bag pulled out from the cupboard. My table was messed up - Laptop definitely missing. I went over to the table hoping that they’ll at least spare my external hard disk drive…. But no… they took my drive while leaving its pouch behind (b*******!). I went over to CY’s room and discovered that his laptop was also gone. So, I frantically searched for the police hotline. I was wondering whether I should call 999 or 995 or maybe the police station number if I do have. Anyway, after a short dilemma, I just dialled everyone’s favourite MRT station number – wun-be-der-wun-be-der-wun-be-der. The operator on the other side answered “Police emergency”. Again I was stunned. Is this an emergency? Will I be fined for abuse? (What the hell was I thinking???). Anyway, I told them my issue and the officer just said that he’d dispatch someone over.

The police came about 30mins later and I described to them my statement. They did some dusting for fingerprints. I’m not sure how much it would help. I always felt that in reality it is not like what they show on TV where criminals are caught immediately after their fingerprints are known. I lost my precious white Macbook which I recently repaired a logic board problem! Grrr… Other than that, I lost my red bag, camera as well as a bag of 20c coins. My housemate lost his laptop, bag, Malaysian IC (!!!), driving license (!!!), cologne and some RM. Interestingly although they ransacked my bedroom; they dragged out my luggage bag, they did not touch my Indian rupees although it would’ve given them a nice S$50.

Ah well as my initial intention to write about “Who moved my cheese”, yea… this is one good example as well. My cheese has been taken away and I’ll need to find new cheese. ZzZzZz

Goodbye St. Michael's.....

News Article from Borneo Bulletin

I am saddened to hear that my alma matter has finally succumbed to financial difficulties. This issue has been there for quite some time ever since I entered secondary. I had so many fond memories of the school. It used to be one of the most prestigious school in Brunei to study in. The boys of St. Michael's School winning academic and sport competitions over and over back in the 1980s and early 1990s. Those were the days when it was a very proud thing to say that I'm from St. Michael's. By the time I'm in Secondary 4, the student population has dropped so significantly that there were only about 25 students in my Sec 4 class - Arts & Science students combined. In addition to that, our school facililties have also deteriorated with lack of facilities. We had to borrow lab equipment from our sister school for normal practical sessions. At times, we had to "save" by having everyone watch the teacher perform the experiment and that's it. For the exams, we had to sit for it in our sister school as we did not have the necessary equipment.

It is quite strange that this all-boys school would suffer while the sister all-girls school is still flourishing. I suppose parents still prefer to send their daughters to all-girls school compared to their sons to an all-boys school. As the newspaper reported, some parents are clearly unhappy with the merger. I wonder if this merger would last or simply disappear after this current batch of students graduate. It makes me as an old boy (usual way of refering to SMS alumni), what should I be doing now? What can I do for the school or should I bother? It is a disturbing thought that I just acknowledge the school closure without feeling much sympathy. Perhaps, I'm just not sure what to feel at the moment.

I wonder what the other old boys think of this situation? Maybe they have no idea what is going on. I do know that alot of them are highly successful professionals in the US and UK. Before this newspaper report, I did not even know that Brunei has a high ranking Chinese 2nd Foreign Minister who is also an old boy. This makes me feel that I should do something to follow my fellow old boys in their glory ...... and more specifically for my own sake.

~ Veritas Vincit ~

2 Interesting Videos

Light View on Singapore History


Original song by Billy Joel with a collage of pictures and lyrics

Here's a wiki-explanation of this song: We Didn't Start the Fire

Long absence

Yo! Minna-san!!! CY-desu~~~~! HOOOOOooooo~!

It has been almost 3 months since the last post. Many of you had been wondering where are my new blog updates. SAY! SAY! SAY! I've not updated mainly because I can't seem to find a good topic to blog about. Now, since it's been a long time so I have an excuse to update it. Hahaha... =P

Now, for updates on CY happenings:

1. Java 2 1.4 Sun Certified Java Programmer (SCJP)
Over the past 2months or so, I've been preparing for the SCJP exam. It was quite a funny experience to be doing Java again after being exposed to TPF (Assembler). (Warning: Technical Stuff. l33t? w00t~) I was able to appreciate some of the subtleties that was taken from granted especially on optimization of code and memory allocation. The most interesting part was I felt like an expert when it comes to bitwise operations and logically operate on them. Had quite a good training in Chennai on these. Back in Chennai, one of my TPF trainer's wife is a Java programmer so he told us that TPF can do etc etc etc. We play with memory and stuff such that but when his wife tells him all about Struts and Object Orientation, he just goes "wow~!".
Anyway, I took the certification exam on Aug 31st at Informatics Computer School (Jurong east). I am quite surprised when I went to Informatics. When I got there, my first reaction was "Where am I? Am I still in Singapore?". I had to look behind me to see where I walked from to confirm that I am still in Singapore. Hahaha.... There's so many Africans around that I don't think that they are from any one country in Africa. It must be quite a diverse population there. Interesting but strange as I don't see many people with dark skin around shopping centres.

2. Salsa?
Recently (maybe not so recent), one of my colleagues has started (completed) learning beginner salsa. So, he's been asking me to try it out and go dancing at the clubs. I feel interested but at the same time a little hesitant. I went with him to one of the salsa events to have a feel of how it was like. This happened about 2 months ago. We went to Hard Rock Cafe on their Salsa Thursday? At that time, my friend usually goes to another salsa club and it was also his first time there. We were there to check out how it was like. I find that the place is quite nice and not many people smokes. There are still some but it's not like when coming out of the place, you find that your clothes stink of smoke. Anyway, this place is filled with "experts". Quite a lot were doing advance moves, twisting and turning that I am just in awe watching them. I can't dance in such a place yet... will just feel paiseh in front of so many Pros. Now, recently I forgot how it started but I have gotten the interest of another friend to Salsa. He's also had no dance experience like me and is very very keen to go. Hahaha... Most probably this coming Tuesday, we'll all head out to a "beginner level club" to get a better feel of how it's like and then take a course.

3. Night Cycling
Ah, this was quite a fun event. There were 8 of us who went for this event organized by the PGP gang. Credits to Jenfi for planning to route out. It isn't easy to find the roads and we had to change the routes along the way as the originally planned route is impossible for a group of first time night cyclers. The original route was almost covering the whole of East, Central and West of Singapore. It was planned for like from ECP to Changi Airport then to Bishan then to Upper Thomson Road then to Holland Village? to West Coast park to CBD to Katong and back to ECP. Scary.. Hahaha.. Anyway, we did first cycle to Changi Airport and then to Changi Village for supper. This is the first time I saw planes taking off from Changi airport other than being inside the departure hall. I just love seeing planes take off. I don't know why but I just enjoy seeing them take off (as one of the AIESECer alumni put it - Penguin effect - shall explain more of this "Penguin effect" in next post.... qua.... depends on my mood and inspiration ha :P). Thinking about this, I sometimes curse my poor eyesight else I might've been a Captain? Don't know... Hahaha. Seems fun. Oh well......

Hmm....It seems that I've posted quite a long post here. I shall stop here to allow you all to digest this long post.

A New Beginning

Finally... after 4 long months, today I'm having some good directions. Hopefully with this first step, I'll regain my motivation which I had and start chasing my dreams again. YEAH!

Captain Jack Straw's compass

Yesterday I went to watch Pirates of Carribean 2. I've not seen the first episode so I have no idea what happened then. The thing that struck me was the magical compass that will point to the direction of what you seek the most. I'm guessing that in the first movie, Captain Jack was led to some valuable treasure successfully. *Minor Spoiler alert (in "invisible" ink)* - "In this one, the compass seems broken. Jack is shown as if he knows what he wants the most - Key to Dead Man's chest.... but the compass points in all directions indicating that his heart is not set and he isn't sure what he really wants." .

It would be nice if I had such a compass but it just strikes me as well that it might not give me a heading at all. The other day I was talking with a friend at Taka, it was weird that he hit me with the same question that slapped me hard and woke me up in Dec 2004 (@NLDS Singapore). My friend was reflecting on a situation that happened to him at that exact location few years ago and he was pondering on then and now. Anyway, the question was phrased differently but the answer to be given is the same. It has minimal impact compared to NLDS. After 1 n 1/2years of thinking, no answer yet except maybe I was given a shock and charged with motivation that lasted for more than a year. Now I'm wandering again, drifting along with life, swept from side to side.... Where's my heading I ask?

Need to set an aim for myself.

Determination. Courage. If it is to be, it is up to me.

Of French football & my conspiracy theories

This world cup has been quite an interesting one. The weak teams were cleared in the group stages (no surprise there) and the big teams (expected to win - Brazil, Germany, England) were all wiped out before the semi-finals (except Germany). I was half-surprised (after miracle 1 - against Spain and 2 - against Brazil) that France won last night's semi-final match against Portugal. The band of gOLDen men whose average age is in the late twenties? I'm not very sure about this as I did not do a research on them so this is purely speculative. It is interesting to note that they were struggling through the group games. Although they have not yet won the World Cup, I am predicting that they would.. this year.

I was never a supporter of the French football team but I would like to see them win this one. The main reason is because it will be the ultimate retirment dream of one of the best football players in the world - Zinedine Zidane aka The Magician. The strange thing is that... I have not personally often see him play (for reasons that I don't usually watch Real Madrid or France matches). But the wonderful things I've heard about his skills and some video clips that I watched, it is really a wonder how someone is able to control the ball with such grace and strike with precision. Of course, I don't doubt other footballers ability as there are many others who are of equal or maybe better. Here's a clip on Zidane. He has this particular turning move that fools people chasing him down often. On a side note, Zidane actually belongs to the minority in France as his parents were both Algerians. I remember reading somewhere back in December during the racial riots, Zidane was asked to play a role in urging for peace (I could be wrong).

As for France reaching the finals, I have 2 theories that I thought of. One is that the French coach is a very cunning man. He creates a ploy for other teams to think that France is weak in the group stages. Once out of the group stages, they unleash their true power. Another is that related to Zidane and that football is controlled by money. The teams lost on purpose because they were paid well so that the movie will depict Zidane as the greatest footballer of this era. Of course, these are just theories so don't quote me. On the other hand, France might've just been lucky or they enjoy the winning charm of being the underdogs. France defeat to Senegal in 2002 was shocking. I think they've made a good rebound.

Lets watch and see what the final result of this world cup would be. Italy or France? Who do you choose?

Happy 23! =P

2 days ago, the PGP gang came over to celebrate my birthday. The night before, I slept early so I could catch the WC match at 3am. When I woke up, I had a nice surprise seeing the "posters" sticked at my door by my housemates. As for the night celebration, it was a little unexpected although during the day people were occasionally dropping hints that they'll wanna overturn my house. Nice surprise. =P Hadn't had pizza for a long time so ordered 4 extra large pizzas for 10 people. There was also an initial debate on the size and number of pizzas to order. End of day, the four pizzas were cleared and plenty of "snacks" (pringles, mixed nuts and fish crackers). Thanks for the wonderful celebration! :D

Fun With Google Earth

I've just started to play with Google Earth recently and.. the world sure does look different from up there. =P
I took snapshots of some famous locations in Brunei. Enjoy!

Lo and behold, Jerudong Park! :D

Empire Hotel & Country Club (Brunei's "6 star hotel")

Shocked....

2 days ago, I met my colleague who went with me to India. She exclaimed that I looked skinnier than when she last saw me. I laughed at her remark and brushed it off as this is a common remark from people who I have not met for quite some time. They'll always say.. you look taller, you look skinnier, you look fairer (well... fairer...rarely got this remark after my stint in India).

Well, I experienced horror when I weighed myself yesterday. My weight is 56Kg! ARGH!!!! For the past 2 months I've lost a total of 6Kg! Move over Marie-France, SlimFit or any of the whatnot slimming center. What happened? I did eat as regularly as I had in India (Although I did occasionally skip breakfast...but I did that when I was studying in NUS as well). I did notice some weight loss 2 weeks after I was back from India, I dropped from 62 to 60. After 2months, I'm 56Kg now. The last time I weighed 56Kg was back in 2000.

What to do? Hmmm... gotta think positive. Maybe I should change job join the slimming consulting industry. Put my skills to good use. Anyway, I need to plan out how to regain my lost weight. Eat 6meals a day. Ensure daily intake of 120g of protein.

Pictures!

People always say that a picture speaks a thousand words. I realise that these days I'm having a mental block. I do not know what I should write about. So instead, I'll just post pictures of events that happened over the 2 months I'm back in Singapore.

Suntan Picture

No..... This picture is not about my hairy legs. Look more carefully, you'll notice that my feet has 2 different skin colors. Suntan from my travelling. 5months in India, I was very "fair" until I started to travel. I was wearing only sandals so..... you get the point. Sandals are not good for travelling. Haha...

PGP R2 Study Room
Ah..... This places brings lots of memories. Battles on both academic and social issues were planned and fought in this room.

Ken and Chai^2 looks like they are enjoying their studies. Hehehe....

Loon watches on as CY studies?!?! Hmmm... Well, I was always with a book in the study room. I took 2 weeks to complete that boring book. Hahaha... I wished I had something better to read at that time.

Everyone seriously studying.

More serious studying.... and of course, also in picture... plastic bags. Yes.... I've been away from NUS exams for 2 semesters. Study room has changed with the introduction of plastic bags containing food. It was like a fashion statement. Everyone comes in with a plastic bag. A must have item in the bag is the Famous $1.30 butter bun. I felt so out of place... Hahaha.. Oh ya, let's not forget also the "can" of Korean instant noodles.

Chennai Revisited?

This is actually the bus terminal at PGP. It was raining everyday for the month of April. I came back from India to find.... more rain. I was always thinking that Singapore doesn't have water logging problems as compared to Chennai but I was very wrong when I saw this.... tsk tsk tsk. Anyway, May was very hot and warm. Now, it's June, starting to rain everyday again.

Wallet lost and found

Earlier today I dropped my wallet at the Bukit Batok bus interchange. I panicked and searched around the station. Then, got an uncle who came over to tell me that he saw a girl took it from the floor and stared at the buses to see who is looking for the wallet. After a while, she left the station and then he saw me looking for my wallet.

Immediately I went to the Bt Batok Neighbourhood Police Centre to report my lost wallet. At the NPC, there was an officer on duty attending to a lady who was reporting her family feud.. What I understand was related to some divorce issue but who was I to bother about her problem when I had my own problems. I was still in abit of panic and on the advice of the officer, called the bank to cancel my ATM cards. So, I have to replace my cards later for a fee of $5 each card.

After the lady was done, it was my turn to report (30mins after I went). Just as the officer was about to key in my report, 2 teenagers came in, a guy and a girl. They were just about to report a wallet found. I looked at the wallet in his hand and my eyes gleamed as I recognised it as mine. I felt relieved and wanted to give him some money as a reward but he declined. I don't know who he is except if I heard correctly, his name is ChngYi whose IC number starts with 88 so.. means he's born in 1988. Thanks for finding my wallet and returning to me.

On a side note, the problem occured because of my this particular pair of 3/4pants which can't hold my bulky wallet. I dropped it once 2 years ago in PGP canteen... and now in public. This would teach me never to wear this pair of pants liao when I wanna go out. Tomorrow have to go bank because I in a "stressed" mode quickly freezed my ATM cards. Well, I should also be thankful that I got back my wallet with my 2ICs inside... else it would be more problem..... like the saying goes... po cai xiao zai

Me and My MacBook!

Picture taken with my handphone so quality not very nice (in addition to my dark room... the owner is still to fix my room lights)

I bought my FIRST Mac on Friday. I went to the PC fair searching for a new laptop after my previous one is sold. I LOVE MY MACBOOK! I got a free upgrade to 1GB RAM and bought the Apple Warranty for 3 years. The best thing about my MacBook is that I've installed WindowsXP on it. Intel-Based Macs are so cool -> getting the best of both worlds.



Here's a ngongsu image of my handphone as requested previously. This is taken with my MacBook's inbuilt iSight camera. Unfortunately iSight camera doesn't work on WindowsXP yet because the drivers are not yet stable. Hopefully the developers get it done soon then this MacBook will be perfect. Kekeke...

Unlucky laundry - Loong Way Down

Today is the 3rd time I'm doing my laundry here at my new home. Each time I do laundry, something bad happens. The first time, I forgot to put the washing machine out-hose into the bathroom. Hence, the kitchen was flooded by the time I realised what had happened (I left my clothes to wash while I went out to buy breakfast).
The next time I washed my clothes, I learnt my lesson.... but ..... after hanging it out to dry outside the window, I went out to library to "study" because it was a very hot day. 2hours later at the library, it started to rain heavily. My clothes were all soaked when I came back.
Today, I did my laundry again. I hung my pair of jeans on the pole as usual As I putting it out, the stick started to crack at the support... so I quickly retracted the pole. In my haste, my jeans fell 9 storeys down. Cursing my luck, I went downstairs to find my jeans....... and... whatdayaknow... it disappeared. Same thing happened previously when I dropped a clip. It seems that after falling 9 storeys, somehow the object will be warped into another dimension. Sienz....that was my only pair of jeans.... now I'll have to get another pair.

Updates

Short JB Trip
I went to JB for the first time on Wednesday. Although I've always passed by JB, I've never actually stopped there before. In addition, the trip to JB was abit sudden. At about 1pm I got a call from my friend and jio to go for lunch in JB then watch a movie. The trip to the border shopping center was very short - about 1hour(not including traffic jams/immgiration clearance).. which is almost the same time it would take me to reach Orchard from where I stay now. Anyway, had a nice meal there (it has been quite awhile since I last spent on these kind of food...) and then Secret Recipe Marble Cheese Cake... Yum! It is interesting that although S'pore has Secret Recipe but the price is (mathematically speaking) in absolute terms, equal. S$5.20 for the cake vs RM5.20. Anyway, after the meal, my friends went to watch Poseidon but I didn't join them because I had an event in the evening and I wasn't really keen on the show. Instead, I went to get a haircut for RM32. Quite satisfied at the service (wash and cut) which I paid extra S$4 for. Usually I would get a haircut only at S$10. After getting my haircut, I walked alone back to the border - a little scary (as I'm not very familiar with the place yet) but it was ok.

Movie & Night Rider
Yesterday went out to watch Over the Hedge at Orchard. Initially we wanted to watch DaVinci Code but because ALL the cinemas were fully booked, we settled for this. The earliest available show for DVC was at 1.45am.... Nonetheless, I'm quite happy with Over the Hedge. The characters are soooo cute. After the movie, I "experimented" with the Night Rider bus service provided by SMRT. The funny part was that I was so confident about the NR that I did not bother to double check my bus guide before leaving for Orchard earlier in the evening. It ended up, I walked from one end of Orchard to the other in search of the bus stop. By the time I found it, it was already 1245am. Although I had to travel quite far, the service was actually quite fast as there wasn't much traffic on the road and the bus doesn't stop on every stop as few people board it at that hour.
To add to my surprise, there was an old lady (60+ or 70 years old?) who boarded the bus with 2 large handcarries (one - folded cardboxes, two - empty cans but it has the rubbish bin stinky smell). It was 1am! My goodness, why is she working till so late into the night. She was having trouble carrying those as well. I helped her carry the stuff off the bus as she could not manage it alone.
Other interesting note on the bus was this group of 4 people - 2 guys, 2 girls. It seems that one of the guy was being "bullied". He was kinda anti social as initially, he sat at another seat then one of the girl asked him to sit next to the other girl. He sat next to the girl very "unwillingly". From my view, it seems that he's afraid the girl he's sitting next to, is going to eat him alive. He shifts his body towards the edge of the seat away from the girl (he could fall off the seat!). So funny.... the other 2 frens of him asked him to sit properly. He adjusted... but slowly shifts outwards again. Dunno what's the matter but quite an amuzing thing to see. Hahaha....

New Home

I finally moved to my new place at Bt Gombak yesterday. When my housemates and I chose this place, we liked it a lot because the previous tenants were girls AND SUPPOSEDLY, the apartment was very clean...... until Chin Yoong and I started to clean up the place. Everything that is visible to the eye is ... well... "ok ok clean". Everything that is under the table and behind the cupboard... is EXTREMELY dirty. You can't imagine the amount of hair they left behind.

Chin Yoong and I did a thorough clear of all the unwanted stuff that might've belong to the girls or the owner such as empty boxes, plastic bags, etc. After that, swept all the thick dust behind the cabinet and desks. Oh yea, we also bought 2nd hand vacuum cleaner from the girls at 1/2price. I should've listened and looked deeper into the meaning when they told us, "Oh, this house very easy to clean. We just buy a vacuum cleaner because we very lazy to clean up. Easy, just vacuum all the hair." When I switched on the vacuum cleaner ah, I noticed that nothing was being sucked up. As I ponder about it, I opened the "extension head" of the vacuum cleaner and found long strands of hair clogging the air passage. It was DISGUSTING..... CY took a picture of me looking very disgusted pulling out the hair from the extension head. This is very bad... I thought I'm a lazy person in cleaning houses but when compared with them, I'm definitely a lot better.

Anyway, after cleaning up the whole place, my housemates and I were very satisfied with our job and went IKEA shopping for bedroom and house accessories. Now the place looks so much brighter and cleaner.. Hehe...

Side note: My laptop spoil again. Am so sad. Lucky one of my friend is kind enough to lend his laptop for me to use over the weekend as he goes home.

Pictures from Delhi Trip!

Yesterday I got back my files which I backed up to a friend's comp. Gotta thank Audrey for lending me 3+GB of diskspace to store my stuffs.
Here's some of the pictures that I've been wanting to share:

Viewing the Main Prayer Grounds of Jama Masjid

This view reminds me of Richard Gere in the Visa advertisement

Main Building of Jama Masjid (yes yes... CY promoting AIESEC to tourists.. Hahaha)

Purana Qila (Red Fort in Delhi)

When looking at these pictures, sometimes I wonder whether the background is doctored into the picture because of the breathtaking views of the buildings and structures. There seems to be a huge obsession of many Indian architects of the past (especially during the Mughal dynasty) with the desire to build HUGE structures with perfect symmetry. The forts are actually very nice places to visit. Coming to the fort is like escaping from the hussle and bussle of the stressful city life to a very calm and peaceful place. I'll post more pictures.. Maybe in myphotoalbum but not so soon yet. Hehehe...

Short Update

Finally got back my laptop today! YEAH!!! Been a long time since I last updated my blog. This is mostly due to not having easy access to internet. Have been "leeching" internet access from my PGP friends for the past 1 month.

Well, new updates - I'm moving into my new apartment on 14th May. The place looks cosy and hopefully it is still after we moved in. It is a "short" distance walk away from the MRT (considering what I've been through in Chennai) - 600m is good for early morning exercise. Anyway, if I'm lazy, I could just catch a bus to the MRT station from my block. Muahahaha.... the convenience of Singapore life. Public transportation is just so efficient.

I haven't been doing much recently except for maybe travelling around Singapore and window shopping. I'm still searching for a pair of cufflinks for my shirt. At the moment I have eyed a pair from Takashimaya but I'm still looking for more options. Hehehe.....

Hmmm... either I'm in a very confused state or I've not been blogging for a long time; this particular post of mine feels very jumbled up and has no structure with raw thoughts just going straight to this post. As my friend says - "laptop back, no need sleep". Hahahaha... Time check - 4am.

Back In Singapore Again

It has been more than a week now since I last blogged. A lot of things has happened especially the trip to Delhi, visiting Taj Mahal, friend stuck at Delhi Airport, etc that I don't know where I should begin. Instead of my usual way of describing my visits to all the places and writing a super long essay, let me start off with the latest happening - my friend being stuck in Delhi Airport.

It happened when we were clearing immigrations. The immigration officer did not allow him through because his visa was supposedly expired. This is due to the fault of some miscommunication on my friend's side as well as BAD english on the Indian government side. It was written on the embarkation/disembarkation form that one would need not report to the immigration office if staying less than 180days. We had assume that the visa validity is for entry only - as in when we are in, we are allowed to stay for 180days. Somehow, my friend's visa was only valid for 2months (60days). We tried to plead his case with the customs officer but the guy just would not listen. It ended up we had to leave him behind and fly back first. He was left to stay in the airport visitor's lounge (like Tom Hank's Terminal). The officer treated him like as if he was a very bad criminal. Fortunately when we got back to Singapore, we informed our manager and got the staff in Delhi to help him out. It was a horrible experience for him. Fortunately he did not met up with much problem and was has returned to Singapore this morning.

As for my trip to Delhi, I'll have to say Delhi is a marvelous place. It is well-planned and not messy like in Chennai. The roads are straight and well maintained. The level of cleanliness is better and public toilets are available (well... kind of... is just an open area with running water to wash hand and a hole to pee in. At least better than peeing on the wall.) The first thing we did when we arrived in Delhi was search for Mc Donalds (the only restaurant we are confident with the pricing and food quality.. hahaha). For travelling, we have visited almost all the historical or monumental places in Delhi (both New & Old) such as Connaught's place (shopping arcade), Jama Masjid (the largest mosque in South Asia, very beautiful), Qutab Minar (the advertisement that we see often on billboards here in Singapore for visiting India), Red Fort a.ka. Lal Qila whose main entry is Lahore Gate facing Pakistan (very significant to Indian history & independence), Old Fort a.k.a Purana Qila (another fort.... nothing special after visiting like 2-3 forts before), Lotus Temple (very beautiful at night, people of any faith can go in and pray to whatever you believe in) and some other places in Delhi which I can't recall at the moment.

We went to visit Taj Mahal on Saturday as the place is closed on Friday. The Taj Mahal is magnificent. It is the symbol of Emperor Shah Jahan's love for his wife Mumtaz. My friends and I took lots of pictures at this place. Although I had a normal 5megapixel camera, the pictures taken are still breath-taking. The Taj Mahal is really amazing with so much planning put into it. I mean, if there was to be a natural disaster in Agra, the Taj Mahal would very likely be the last structure to collapse. The four minaret built are slightly tilted outwards so that if it collapse, the central building will still be unharmed. The main tomb is built on a base that is more than 100feet deep. It is quite amazing that the people who built this structure had such foresight and took 22 long years to complete it. (ps. I learnt one thing about marble - Real marble is white and translucent. If you shine a light, it will penetrate through the marble, unlike plastic)

Now that I'm back in Singapore, there seems to be so many things that I would need to settle. I'm feeling a little lost at the moment but I think is because of the bombardment of things to do. I'm sure that if I plan out the things I need to settle, it is actually very easy - haven't really sat down to do the planning yet.. still in a little holiday mood and confused by the situation around me. Is this why there is a need for reintegration?

Shopping for.... BOOKS!

Last weekend I've spent about $100 on books alone and got myself 10 new books. Hahaha... It was on special offer - buy 4 books, the cheapest book will be free! Ever since I came to India, I've been reading more and more (partially because there's nothing much I can do here except watch TV and read - TV getting boring as I'm not so keen to watch Tamil/Hindi shows, anime only 1hr every night - Every morning, will just tune to BBC). I realise that I'm spending quite a "good" amount of time "studying". It wasn't as fun when one is forced to read case studies and perform analysis for the sake of getting 15% - In fact, it was horrible - the stress to do well especially when I know that the module is "fun" and "easy".

Now I'm picking up the books again but on my own initiative. There's so many things to learn from the gurus of various disciplines. At the moment, I'm very interested in management books as well as self-help books. It has opened me to think critically about issues relating to my own life, career growth and my company's development - how it is important to be taking initiatives instead of sitting back and waiting for things to happen.

Anyway, shall not dwelve too deep into those topics. Maybe I should write an essay or research paper in the future based on what I've learnt so far and use it for MBA application... Hehehe.. but for now, it is too soon to say what I'll do in the future. I'm just planning for my future. ;)

The immediate plan is tomorrow is final day of work in Chennai and I'll be off to Delhi on Thursday morning - freaking early morning flight (555am IST).

Strange

On Sunday, my friends and I were on a bus to our usual 'fish place' (a restaurant named Cornucopia aka "Horn of Plenty"). This place serves the best cooked fish that we've had here in Chennai. Anyway, on our way there, we suddenly saw another restaurant. Benny exclaimed that it was the "Sizzler of Chennai" (Anyone heard of Sizzler restaurant at Suntec? I have not... until my these 2 colleagues told me and said that I've been missing out one of the best eating places in Singapore).

Now that we know where that restaurant was located, we decided to go there and try it out some day....... which happened to be yesterday evening. We took a bus along the same route. Got off at a bus stop that's supposedly near to the restaurant and starting walking down the road to look for it. Shockingly, we covered the entire stretch of road (it was a one-way road) and couldn't find it. Feeling a little surprised, we suspected it might have been another road. We took a bus back and started searching the other stretch of road. Again, no sign of it.... by that time we were all very baffled by the situation but too hungry to pursue on (we started our search at 630pm and it was already 8pm). At the end of the day, we settled for Mexican food...... we'll search again another day or maybe just go Sizzler at Suntec.. muahaha

By the way, I'm heading off to Delhi and then to Agra (Taj Mahal) on 30th Mar.... so watch this sapce for more stories soon. Hehehe...

Escape to Kerala

Last weekend, my friends and I went to Kochi in another state called Kerala. There are a few main towns/city in this state like Kochi, Calicut (Vasco Da Gama sounds familiar?) and Thiruvanathapuram (Tivandrum). We had a colleague who was kind enough to bring us around Kerala (his hometown). We took the sleeper train for an 11hour ride from Chennai central to Alwaye. This was my first experience being on a 'real train'. The train was freaking long. The toilets in the train are interesting because one can see the tracks....so...what goes down the bowl, goes onto the track. I think I can easily write a long essay on this trip but I shall resist and only note the key events.

Kerala
This is a very beautiful state. Quite untouched by industrial development. Chennai is definitely overcrowded and heavily polluted (although many say is still very much cleaner than Mumbai). In addition to this, the city - Kochi is 'spacious' in the sense that the buildings are properly arranged with spacious sidewalks. Chennai has roads that suddenly 'shrinks' because a building is in the way. Many people don't use the sidewalk in Chennai as well because of obstacles like sh*t (both human and animals), trees, homeless people, etc. Anyway, back to Kerala - full of coconut and palm trees. Roads are very small in the 'ulu' areas but good enough. Air is very fresh (except for a few areas where villagers still pratise open air burning)

Athirapalli Falls
This waterfall is amazing. At the base of the falls, we could feel the force of the water gushing down. No picture could do justice for what we have experienced there. It felt like rain although we were several meters away from the waterfall and the 'wind' generated by it was marvelous. In this picture, you can see me (guy in white shirt getting down the rocks). This picture was taken by our colleague's camera. I took many pictures with my camera as well but as I've mentioned before, I can't upload it to the net....
Oh ya, the visit to this waterfall was tiring because we had to 'climb' down the hill to reach the base and then climb up again. My thighs were sore after this trip but we had many place left to visit.

Elephant Ride
Dumbo? Unfortunately, this elephant does not fly. I never knew elephants are so hairy and that their hairs are super rough. It is quite uncomfortable for me to sit there because I wore shorts. It felt like I was getting my legs scrubbed by the plastic brush.
My friends and I paid about S$8 for a short ride on this elephant. In order to sit on the elephant's back, we had to get up on a ladder similar to the ones that you find at open airports. It was a scary ride. Every time the elephant moved, it felt as if we were going to fall off. (note to mom: I still have no idea why I was crying 15years ago at S'pore zoo on the pony... aih~ paiseh...other people would be so happy to ride on pony)

Fort Kochi
Fort Kochi was actually the Portugese Fort which was then taken over by the Dutch and later by the British. We are actually facing the Arabian Sea and the waters are really deep. We saw a cruise ship setting sail off the port at Fort Kochi - most probably to the Gulf.
Here is a picture of Chinese Fishing Nets with the sunset in the background. Quite a beautiful shot thanks to the 7megapixels of my friend's camera. We had our dinner at Fort Kochi where we could buy fresh fish from the fishermen and get it cooked at the stalls set up next to the beach. However, there was a catch - prices are very high because it is a tourist area. The people who come here are willing to pay for the premium cost to enjoy. We however, tried hard to bargain with them - end up our food was not properly cooked and still have to pay as much. It was quite unfortunate that it had happened but this experience teaches "Be prepared to spend, don't think about the money else suffer the consequence". The other tourist there seem to be quite comfortable as the staffs were super friendly with them.

Oklah, would've loved to write more and post more pictures but I shall stop here. I'll also try to upload pictures from my camera if possible. In the mean time, to know more about Kerala - click here

Arranged Marriage VS Love Marriage

In modern times, arranged marriage is hardly heard of in Chinese cultures. Although I do not doubt that it might still exist but such occurrences would’ve been rare especially in the city. Interestingly, there is still a large group of people (specifically, parents) practicing this age-old tradition. (Disclaimer – This post is not intended to offend anyone or cause harm. Some of the things described are exaggerated a little (CY’s Style) so please do not take everything as a fact.)

In India, most people will tell you there are 2 types of marriages – Arranged & Love. Some will tell you of the 3rd type of marriage – Hybrid marriage (a cross between Arranged & Love – not an officially recognized term but something I came up with). I’m sure everyone knows what an arranged marriage is. Love Marriage is the opposite where it is the couple’s choice to have the marriage (often, according to my friend, these marriages see the couple running away from homes because their parents do not acknowledge it). Hybrid marriage usually happens like this – after boy meets girl, girl meets boy, fall in love, report it to their parents – parents will then organize a meeting with the opposite party to discuss their terms and conditions. After that, to outsiders, it will look as if the marriage has been arranged. Hybrid is common in the city areas.

Arranged Marriage is a very long and tedious process that “ensures” the couples are fully compatible – caste, astrological compatibility, sun sign, birth sign, family sign, his sign, her sign, all sign. The whole process might take up to 1 month or more. Relatives from both families (but usually is the guy side) will examine the potential candidate. Let’s say a guy is going to get married, his parents will send out “Marriage Invitations – seeking alliances with potential families”. Parents of potential brides or sometimes the bride will send out their CV complete with photos and details of family background and all the signs. The entire family members from parents to uncles, aunties, grandparents will go through each candidate. Potential candidates are then selected from the applications for interviews. Usually it is the uncles and aunts will start drilling the candidate – It makes me wonder if there is a guide book called “Marriage Interviews for Dummies” to help the candidates prepare for the questions.

Like the job market, the matrimonial market also has “hot candidates” which are high in demand. A typical example from the matrimonial section would be – Mr. So&So (B.E. EC), Age:30, occasionally based in US earning 6 figure salary, seeking alliance with slim and fair girl of good family background.
The funny part is that in Singapore, engineers are stereotypically labeled as boring geeks who are not popular with girls. Er… I can feel all the tension and stares from engineers at this comment of mine… but not to worry! (btw, I’m also an engineer – Asst Systems Engineer). To all those engineers who feel so, forget Singapore, come to India! *hint*….. WAH! *SIAM* That flying shoe nearly got me…. =P

Anyway, let me relate two stories regarding arranged marriage of two of my colleagues. The first one is about a guy who is so keen on getting married but his parents want him to wait. This friend of mine is 24years old. His parents think that it is too early for him to get married. So, to “encourage” his parents, each time his friends get married, he would call his mother to report and ask when it would be his turn. Until now, he is still waiting but I think recently his parents agreed to marry him by the end of next year. We’ll see how. His case is the “voluntary” one.

The second case is “half-half” voluntary. Basically, the guy’s parents have decided that it is time for him to get married. His parents issued an ultimatum to him – “Find a girl by the end of November this year or else we will arrange one for you”. To me, this was a totally hilarious issue but I’m sure he does not think so. This guy is now frantically assessing every girl he comes across.

Queensland Amusement Park

Last Saturday TCS Chennai held it's Annual Day Outing for the RTSC (Retail Travel Solutions Center) office at Queensland Amusement Park. The entrance fee was heavily subsidised for TCS employees. Usually, it would cost Rs.400 per adult entry, for TCS that day, it costs only Rs25!! (with lunch, high tea and transport provided).

The amusement park is located at the outskirts of Chennai. It took us about 1hr to reach by the company bus. Interestingly, I finally understood why Wikipedia reported that Chennai is the Detroit of South Asia. The automakers are all on the outskirts. There were so many trailers carrying newly assembled cars or parts. Also, it was here, I get to see the stereotypical impression of India's roads -> cows everywhere!

Anyway, the amusement park was quite interesting but after awhile, it gets abit disappointing. I now realise how grand Jerudong Park is. The sheer size of the park and the rides available at JP was top class (well... at least it was 8years ago). The interesting/unfortunate thing about this park is that no one really care about safety especially people "customizing" the rides to get the "kick" out of it. One example is the pirate ship ride. There was this guy who slipped out of his chair so that he was standing when the boat rocks. My friends and I were so shocked to see him out of his chair. He supported himself by grabbing the bars behind him. Imagine if he lost hold of his grip, he would have been sent flying.... crazy fellow.

Another case that happened was this "Crazy Horse Ride". On first look, it did not seem dangerous or exciting to ride at all. As the name suggest, it is a "horse ride". Basically you sit on the "horse" and it will rise, shake and spin. When I saw it, I was thinking "Goodness, this kind of ride also considered fun ah? It's more like for kids only". Suddenly, when the "horse" made a 360-spin, a guy flew out of his seat and did a "breakdance" on the floor. He looked a little scratched but no serious injury. After that, I then noticed got a girl holding onto the "horse" so tightly with her eyes closed! LOL....

The biggest disappointment with this park is the famous Vertical Drop. It was my first time trying out that ride. My friends knowing that I have a great fear of height/falling dared me onto the seat. Somehow, on that particular day, I was not feeling that scared at all but I know that I would be screaming when I fall. As I went up the ride with another friend, I could feel cold sweat breaking out of my palms. Suddenly without warning, it just dropped. For the 1st "drop", I was like - "Huh?". In my thoughts were - How come I could feel my butt all throughout the ride? Shouldn't I be screaming? Where is that "fear" I was expecting? Disappointed, I took the 2nd "drop" with full of confidence. Later I checked with my friend and confirmed that the drop was slower than "normal standards". He then recommended me to try out the one in Australia, supposedly powered by gas instead of chains. Well, I think I will go try out JP drop first... =P

At the end of the day, my friends and I were all tired and tanned. Overall, it was a great day.

Food for Thought

One day Alice came to a fork in the road and saw a Cheshire cat in a tree.
"Which road do I take?" she asked.
His response was a question: "Where do you want to go?"
"I don't know," Alice answered.
"Then," said the cat, "it doesn't matter."
- Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

Interesting isn't it? It struck me for awhile. I'm now a little puzzled as well as reflecting abit deeper on what this means.

An Indian Wedding Ceremony I Attended

An Indian Marriage (Engagement Ceremony)

Yesterday my friends and I had the pleasure of being invited to one of our colleague’s wedding ceremony. Actually this particular ceremony I attended was a “compact” wedding ceremony for Indians (of course, length of ceremonies varies depending on their castes). Some castes have the wedding ceremonies for a few days while other castes have it for a day. This particular one I went to was a “compact ceremony”. I did not really attend the real wedding ceremony but instead a betrothal ceremony (aka engagement). Her wedding is held a day after this betrothal reception.

Anyway, somewhat similar to Chinese wedding receptions, the guests will usually bring gifts (money is also included but instead of angpows, it is sealed in a normal envelope) for the bride and bridegroom. On a side note, I just learnt that one (from a movie) should say “Congratulations” to the bridegroom and “Best Wishes” for the bride.

The ceremony was held in a marriage hall on the 4th floor of a building quite far from office and the place I live. It’s situated near Anna International Airport (aka Chennai Airport – 40mins by taxi to where I stay). Initially my friends and I had some expectations of how the ceremony would be like and how the hall will be decorated. This is because there is also a marriage hall at Mylapore (the area where we stay). Here, almost every night this month, people hold grand wedding ceremonies there with beautiful lightings and decorations. There were so many types of food being served – buffet style. This particular ceremony I went to was not as grand but still it was a good new experience. I know the other ceremony would cost a whopping amount of money. Indian marriages are not cheap you know, usually have to spend about Rs.5lakhs if one arranges for a 3day marriage with food, accommodation all provided for friends and relatives. (1lakh = 100,000; Rs5lakh=S$25,000)

I had a colleague (ex-teacher) who was kind enough to share about the Indian culture and tradition. He emphasized a lot that during the reception, it is very important for “ensuring that all guests are well taken care of”. Usually, it is the bride’s family to make sure that all guests have enough food to eat and a comfortable place to sleep. Oh yes – dowries are paid from the bride’s family to the bridegroom’s family unlike Chinese traditions. In Chinese traditions, the groom has to pay dowries to the bride because (I don’t know whether it is true or not but… anyway) it is like paying the parents of the bride for taking good care of his wife before they are married. So, can we say this as a service charge by the bride’s family? =P

On the other hand, traditionally in Indian families, when the bride is married, the family would send money/dowries to her to “ensure she is well and have enough”. (Her husband not good enough to support her? I don’t know….) Basically, it is the parents of the bride concerned for her welfare so they give money to the bride often after marriage. Somehow, this tradition evolved into paying dowries for the marriage. Maybe because of this, most of the Indian men I met here like to spend lots of time in the toilet combing their hair, freshening up unlike in Singapore. There are also a lot more men clothes shops and perfumes being sold here than for women. Indian men who went through college and working in IT firms are hot in the market not only for their skills but their “marriageability”. Anyway, before I digress too much, I’ll return to the main topic – the ceremony I went to.

We arrived at the ceremony relatively early – 720pm when the ceremony was said to start at 730pm on the invitation card. Just like Chinese weddings, many people come late and the event started at only about 830pm. Chairs were laid out in the hall in the usual way facing the stage where a group of people were having “karaoke” session. Initially I thought it was just like Chinese dinner receptions with people having karaoke sessions except without TV. To substitute the TV, there were 3 books of lyrics which they keep swapping and a live band to perform the music. Only later I realized it was hired performers… Hahaha… At the side of the stage, two chairs were set up specially (just like Malay weddings).

When the main event began, there was a group of traditional Indian musicians to play the drums and pipe. It was starting but the bride and groom is still no where to be seen. However, at the place where the two special chairs were, the families of the bride and groom gather on each side of the chair, sitting on the floor. They had some baskets with them which I didn’t really understand what. When the basket was passed from one of the family members to the other, people started to clap. Ceremony suddenly done and we were guided downstairs to the dining hall.

Well, here is where the term – “When in Rome, do what the Romans do” is enforced. My friends and I had to eat with our hands because there are no plates, spoons or fork. Instead, we have a big pandan leaf as plate. In city marriages, food is arranged and served by the caterer onto the pandan leaves. In villages, the relatives of the bride will do the serving although the food is cooked by caterers. Here, we were served by the relatives as well (usually for 2nd servings) – because as stated earlier – very important to ensure guests are well taken care of. In addition, all food served are vegetarian irregardless. There was quite a variety of food and quite tasty also (or was it my fingers?)

After dinner, we went back up to the hall and queue to take pictures with the bride and bridegroom. (When did they get there???) After that, event was over. It felt quite sudden but I suppose it was just a betrothal ceremony. The real wedding ceremony is held the next day but I have work… so can’t attend. Overall, it was an interesting ceremony.
(I know I have written a freaking long essay here... =P ... what to do?)

Motorbike & long apparels

The other night on my way to this cyber cafe, I saw the aftermath of an accident. A woman was sitting on the road stuck to her husband's motorbike. She was holding on to a baby. Passerbys quickly went over to help her carry the baby. Her husband tried hard to free her saree from the wheels. Although nothing serious (except for maybe a painful backside), it was shocking for me as well. It could've been a worse event. I told my Indian friend about this and she replied "Yah, it's very common. Very often people die from it".

It is very common to see men driving their bikes with presumably their wifes (rarely girlfriends.. due to the culture here - oh ya, Happy Valentines Day everyone! There are some interesting stories about India's "love police". If I have time, I'll post it right after this... else some other time). The women are usually wearing traditional sarees or salwar khameez. Both are dangerous on the bikes because of the extra long cloth. It gets tangled up easily. Road safety regulations here are not sufficient. People rarely wear helmets. Most prefer to just get the headgear with a screen (to protect from the dust and other particles) rather than a sturdy helmet.

It is also quite rare for women here to dress with "western" clothes. On the streets, it is mainly sarees. At work, most wear the salwar khameez. Anyway, I have digressed... the lady did not look like she suffered much injuries. The baby did not look hurt and was not crying. I was relieved and since they were others helping the couple out, I continued to the cyber cafe.

Laptop & Handphone dying

I'm having problems with my laptop these days. It won't start properly and sometimes the screen turns "red". All the colors fade into red. Fortunately I have already made a backup of my stuff when I got my external hard disk early this year. Still.... there are some files in my laptop that I want to copy out. My laptop was showing signs of problems late last year when the mouse pointer started to move on its own. When I came back to Chennai, it was totally "dead". The mouse pointer would automatically move to one end of the screen and then stop there. I would have to manually open my programs using shortcut keys and Alt-Tabs. So mafan.... In addition to that, it is quite slow sometimes. And finally...this afternoon it won't boot up (it was still working in the morning although red screen and dead cursor... hai~)

My handphone is also dying. The pixels on some parts of my handphone will be burned onto the screen. It blocks out 3/4 of the screen. Fortunately, the screen returns to normal (sometimes only for a shortwhile) after I switch it off and back on again. Quite annoying but at least still can use. :P

Happy CNY!

My Chinese New Year this year is even more "un-CNY" than the past 3 CNYs that I had in S'pore. At least when I'm in S'pore, there is still the "qifen". Shops playing CNY songs, Chinatown beautifully decorated with the Chinese Zodiac Animals. Here, it's just like any other day - business as usual (lucky it is a weekend this year! I think if not, we'll be in the office - no point taking leave in a country where we go no place better to go. I'm saving as much leaves as I can then maybe travel to Agra before I leave. But.... it's still an idea, haven't properly planned it yet.. My time here in India will be over very soon.)

Anyway, to create some "qifen", my friends and I went to Chinatown (a Chinese restaurant) near Zara (the Spanish restaurant that we frequent). We ordered - Steamed Pomfret, 5 spice chicken & Mapo Seafood Tofu. It was all below standard. The pomfret is not smooth enough and a little over cooked. The Mapo Tofu, well.. isn't the black mapo that one would usually expect and the 5 spice chicken.... it tastes just like Tandoori Chicken (is it me or does it always taste this way?).

Fortunately, today we had a better meal for lunch. We went to Shangai Club (at Chola Sheraton Hotel) for buffet. The chef is from China and had been in Chennai for about 4months as well. He was delighted to meet us and gave us his name card so that we could special request some food if we wanted to. The buffet was fabulous. We had a wide range of food to choose from -> Chinese - Continental - Indian (I avoided most of them coz easily available elsewhere). I had dumplings, kourou, delicious fried lamb, ham, french bread.... was very filling. Would've taken more if I was not so full. For deserts, there were truffles, cheese cake (this is one of the better cheese cake that I've had here in Chennai), Indian sweets - Mithai (which most of the people I gave to in S'pore hated).. Anyway, the meal was delicious but... for Rs552.... hehe... you won't see me going there often though.

Hmmm....next year CNY, where will I be? :P

The "bad" part of Chennai

Being back here in Chennai for 2 weeks, I have yet to see a drop of rain from the sky. Although the weather is still cool in the morning but there was never a moment of doubt that it will never rain the whole day. It is good..... but for now.... I've heard horror stories of the hot weather here in Chennai (Mar to May especially) which many people died from the heat wave. At the moment, people are freezing to death in North India. Although I'm in the South but the temperatures here are also quite low (relative to S'pore's) in the morning. However, afternoon, it's a whole different story - best to stay indoors.

These days I've not been able to have a good night sleep. Every morning I'll be woken up by mosquito bites. Before January, it was nearly impossible to find any mosquito especially at the place where we stayed. I was very surprised as I would expect lots of mosquitoes because of the environment. However, honeymoon period over, every morning I wake up with mosquito bites on my wrists, feets and sometimes my face (I wear sweater and long pants so only these are the "vulnerable" areas). Two nights ago, I started my "exercise routine" before I go to sleep. Been on a mosquito killing spree... I smacked at least 10 of those blood sucking pests before I sleep. BUT... every morning I wake up, I can still kill another 5 or 6 (before I open my room door). There's gotta be a more efficient way of getting rid of these pests... They've been bothering me for about a week now and I don't think they'll stop. I suspect the cause was the heavy rains in Chennai before January. Water logging is still a problem although it has not rained for weeks. The river which was swollen before is now very dry.

People Below Poverty Line (BPL)
After being in Chennai for quite some time, I am now able to recognise the usual beggars on the street. The way they beg for money differs. One beggar with her son (or maybe most probably her grandson, he looks to be about 2 to 3yrs old) begs near where I live. Every time I pass by her, she'll drag the poor kid from whatever he was doing and cradle him in her arms. Then she'll make her way towards me and call out "Baby... baby" signalling that the baby needs to eat. As usual, I avoided her...... I know I've said it a few times but I don't know what to do for her. I can't give her money as there are other beggars around as well. If I do give to one, the rest will come running. (I've seen someone gave money to another beggar and this old woman quickly again grab the kid and beg).

There's another beggar near where I work. I see this woman .... (I just realised something... most of the beggars I've met are women, rarely men).... Anyway, this woman beggar is slightly different from the rest. Mainly because of the way she begs. Usually beggars will present themselves "humbly" (in a "kelian" way) but not her. She'll be liked in a pissed off mood and demand money from you shaking her metal cup with some rupee coins inside.

It is quite sad and makes me feel guilty when I can easily spend Rs200 on a meal while they struggle to get Rs10 of food. Whenever I spend a lot on "expensive" food here in Chennai, I would donate some amount of money into Oxfam and other food aid organizations. I also don't know how much this will help them as well because even charities are corrupted. It is very saddening to learn that an organization such as NKF S'pore under T.T. Durai would lavishly spend it on unnecessary expenses. Over here, I'm not sure of the organizations here but I hope they are better as most are managed by international NGOs. There are so many people in the "Below Poverty Line" (BPL) catergory here in India. They depend on the food aid provided by government but not always receive it due to corruption.

Pollution
As it has not rained recently, the amount of dust here in Chennai is quite bad. But, most people still consider Chennai as very clean. They say that Mumbai and Delhi are more polluted. I don't know since I've never been there. My nose is always clogged up.

On a happier note
Since training is over, now I have Saturdays free!! Wheee!! No longer paid like Mc Donald's counter staff..... But then ar.... what to do on a free day? :S ... With this new found freedom, suddenly like nothing to do..... No need to study for exam..... no need to go for lessons.... sleep all day?? :P

... and so the project allocation is done

From the 24 of us studying TPF at ASDC (a wholy owned subsidiary of TCS), only 4 of us (from sg) were retained to work in ASDC; specifically the SIA project. Yesterday the rest of the 20 went back to TCS to report to the HR there for project allocation. It took them until today before they knew which project they were allocated. 11 have been allocated to Worldspan (a global Centralised Reservations System for airline industry), 3 assigned back to ASDC for SIA and 5 others who are still waiting (most probably get SITA - the "internet" for airline industry).

Anyway, I have been assigned to do AMS (Application Maintenance and Systems) under airline reservations department. Basically my role is more of enhancement and support to the current existing programs. At the moment, my project manager does not have much for me to do except that he expects me to finish reading modules on reservations domain. I never realised that booking a ticket is so complex. I never bothered what a PNR (Passenger Name Record) is. Just let the travel agent settle everything (which shows how complex details are encapsulated from the customer so that customer just buy and fly with comfort).

For the moment, I still don't have an idea when exactly I'll be returning to S'pore as it depends on how fast I can absorb the skills to move on. It seems that I(the four of us) might have to request for more than we are assigned to do. This is to be able to grow faster due to different expectations of us from the rest.

Ponggal Holiday

Happy Ponggal! After a long time, I finally get a Saturday off (not counting the time in Singapore). Today is a public holiday but mainly for South India. According to my colleagues, Ponggal is the day farmers celebrate their harvest. The canteen in Tidel Park is decorated with leaves and shoots (It looked like bamboo but not sure if it is). In addition to the decorations, they had invited people dressed up in their traditional farmer clothes performing some sort of dance to celebrate the event. Quite a cultural experience but something is still lacking. I think is because Ponggal is more of a "village event" rather than for the city.

All my colleagues who come from parts of India have gone home. For those who aren't, they are heading over to Pondicherry (the French colony I spoke of previously). I think Ponggal is more like Chinese New Year when family members gather to have dinner... speaking of which, I have missed tuan nian fan for 3 years now..... ^__^ .....

Anyway, next Tuesday my batch mates and I are finally taking the exit test! Instead of feeling stress and pressure, I'm excited and filled with joy because I can't wait to take the test and get on with projects. Mainly because I'm still full of motivation to drive myself up the corporate ladder quickly. But..... of course, I'll still be spending the rest of today, tomorrow and monday to study especially on the sections I missed because I was in Singapore on "extended" holidays.

On a side note.. my new year resolutions... only able to keep to one - read more. Oh ya, I think I'll buy the book again (the one which I gave to SL). I think it is really good. For the moment, I've just started reading 8th Habit which I borrowed from my friend. This is also a good book on self improvement.

Chennai.... again....

Am back in Chennai again. Well, Chennai isn't all that bad. Since this is the second time I'm coming to Chennai, the atmosphere feels different. When I got off at the airport, I don't find it messy/dirty/not-habitable anymore. Instead, I felt that it was a nice place to be in and much better than many parts of Chennai. Anyway, maybe it is just a sign that I'm adapting well to the environment here. Abuthen har.. I still HATE the stinking smell along the roads. If you ever see the walking path wet on a sunny day, one can only guess that someone has used it as a public toilet. Just two days ago, I saw a group of people, some who were driving cars, stopped just to pee next to the railway station. There seems to be an unwritten notice that states "Pee Here Only"

Hmmm.. something wrong with Blogger, I can't do any settings on my fonts. This cybercafe is too smart for its own good. The computers are too secure that I can't connect external storage devices such as thumb-drives to copy stuff..and now Blogger restriction...grrrr.....

Anyway, I was just about to tell the story of me & a moped (sounds like "mo-pet"). Yesterday night, Rashi (the Indian girl from S'pore) borrowed the moped from our guest house caretaker so that we could ride it to the nearby TCS office to collect our allowance. It was quite funny because of a container at the side of the moped, I was forced to take the "lady seat" (so far, I've only seen the Indian wifes carrying their stuff or babies sitting like that on the motorcycle/moped while their husband drive them). The caretaker and some of the other servants who saw me was laughing for the same reason I just mentioned I think. There are some things that I would like to comment on this blog about the "moped adventure" but to play safe, I shall not comment on them here. Tell you all next time. :P

Welcome to 2006!

2006 is here!
This is the first year that I am finally no longer a student of formal education. However, I have extended my education to informal education. New Year is here so I must make some resolutions. Abuthen ar....every year, I am only able to follow the resolutions for 1 to 2 months at most. This is mainly due to unrealistic and absurd resolutions that I set for myself to follow. Therefore, this year I shall have some simple resolutions to work with. My 3 simple resolutions for the New Year:

1. Eat healthier - search for green vegetables and fruits in Chennai. Less of prata, dosa, vada and especially all the kababs with thick gravy. (Note that I put "Chennai" because for the moment, I am indulging myself with all the Char Kuay Tiau and Katong Laksa with thick santan :P)
2. Exercise regularly - well, I've started this when I was in Chennai by doing some simple stretches, pushups and situps every morning I wake up. Now just have to extend it to the weekends and go jog at the beach more often or at least play football.
3. Continue learning - Now that I'm out of NUS, I have just automatically enrolled myself in the University of Life where EQ matters more than IQ. After 2 months of my working experience, I have seen cases where academically smart people don't know how to handle situations maturely or sensitively. At the same time, I have met people who are superb in defusing tension and don't seem to crack under pressure. I will invest some of my time and money to learn the necessary skills to do well.

With this 3 resolutions, I hope to live a healthier and happier life. In addition - A wish for World Peace. Cheesy as it may sound but like what the editors of the magazines I've been reading said - we don't need any more of terrorism and wars to cause havoc with so much natural disasters and deadly diseases to trouble with. Anyway, have a Happy New Year and may all of you be healthy and happy everyday.