As I sieve through the flood of local media reports surrounding the Singaporean casualty from the terrorist attack in Mumbai, I am sullenly reminded of how blessed I am to move away from a job that requires me to travel 2-3 weeks out of a month to various places of high security alerts (Bangladesh, Thailand, Indonesia, pretty much every other Asian country that counts as a high risk location). I shudder because whenever I go to a place with a higher risk history like Indonesia or Bangladesh or Thailand, at the back of my head I worry about something like that happening to me, but I pray about it and go on the trip anyway. I remember feeling especially worried about going to Bangladesh, and I remember hearing apu literally heave a sigh of relief over the phone when I called him to tell him I had landed back in Singapore safe and sound.

Everytime I read a different news report about the lawyer who was my age, I keep thinking 'wow, that could have been me'. I keep the duration of each work trip short (2-4 or 5 days, depending on what needs to be done). Most of the time I travel alone, so I stay in the hotel all the time and hardly venture out of my hotel unless it's for seminars or meetings and such. I send apu my itinerary via email and stick a hard copy on the fridge door for my sister and parents everytime I travel. She did everything I would have done if I were on a work trip, yet she died execution style anyway, because they targetted a 5-star hotel, which is exactly where I would have stayed and where I would have had dinner too.

It is very likely I will lose my Krisflyer Elite Gold status come 1st Sept 2009 because I chose to switch my job, but I can't imagine how that's worth losing your life for.

gErI: has joined the chat
tress :: disengagement: has joined the chat
Cheryl: has joined the chat
julia (R) gimme a solution!!!!: has joined the chat
reliving my childhood... rainbow, button moon & morph: has joined the chat

(background: we've been trying to organise dinner since 2 weeks back, relentless flow of emails have ensued, tomorrow's the day of the dinner and no one knows where/what/etc)

gErI: hi gals......

gErI: so dinner plans how?

julia: i saw your latest mail

gErI: coz i leaving work liaoz......

gErI: haa...yeah

julia: i suggested rioccotti but cheryl said she got craving for crabs

julia: then i dun know how it went on n on on

julia: HAHA

Cheryl: sorry was in a discussion

tress: HAHA

gErI: anyway..i have made reservations for ricciotti for 10pax at 7-7.30pm tml

Cheryl: okies.. lets go back to riciotti lor..

gErI: so if we cant get another placve then we go there lor

tress: yeah we can meet there and nua the whole time la

tress: im fine with that too

gErI: coz at least we got a fixed reservation

gErI: so we can still deviate if we want to

tress: the problem is there is no ONE fussy person who says NO I WANT THIS PLACE *bitchy face*

tress: we are all 'fine with anything' wahahah

gErI: hahaha...yar lor

gErI: we are all simple ppl....heheh

julia: yeah la, haha just v amused a t the no of mails

tress: rofl

Cheryl: so we go riciotti ok??

gErI: but dunno if ann will be okie wif wat we decided leh

tress: dont care la

Cheryl: majority is here liaos right??

tress: majority wins right

tress: she said in her earlier email

tress: so we da majority now

gErI: so at the moment we confirm meet there at 7?

tress: the guys dont count cos they go wherever we go

Cheryl: Im not getting any of your emails.. sob sob..

gErI: so from now til tml....if there are any other suggestions or places we can go...jus sms....

tress: NO MORE

tress: we lock it down now

Cheryl: NOOOOO

tress: riccotti 7pm

tress: THATS IT

tress: no more other suggestions

Cheryl: yeah.. no more changes

tress: whoever has other suggestions we say SORRY CANNOT *bitchy face*

Cheryl: wanna come come.. not happy with the place.. then too bad..

Cheryl: hahaha

tress: ur suggestion came in too late liao

..but here goes nothing.

So I joined a group in Facebook called 'I judge you when you use poor grammer'. Submitted my lying nut photo from one of February's entries, and I get a comment on the photo - quote unquote:


Sarah Young (American) wrote
at 12:09pm
... singapore isn't in china. it is its own country. and you can't really judge a translation. It's not fair. It's not their native language. Save the judgement for the native English speakers... geez


While I wasn't keen on starting a flame post, I have to admit I am highly amused:

- I AM Singaporean, which gives me the right to laugh at my own countrymen. Sod off.

- Our native language may be Chinese, but my first language - surprise surprise - is English. In fact, my English is far better than some Americans I've met from my guild (bless their souls). In fact apu can't even spell the word coming properly (wtf is comming?)

- How the heck is cheatnut a translation from chestnut? Even the Mandarin/Malay/Tamil translation done backwards would not have equated to a cheatnut.

I'm half contemplating if I should shoot a reply in Facebook..hrm. What do you think? Should I reply?

Here's to the crazy ones. The misfits, rebels, troublemakers, round heads in the square holes. The ones who see things differently & not fond of rules. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. The only thing you can't do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.

A lot has been said about how to prevent rape. Women should learn self-defense. Women should lock themselves in their houses after dark. Women shouldn't have long hair and women shouldn't wear short skirts. Women shouldn't leave drinks unattended. Fuck, they shouldn't dare to get drunk at all.

Instead of that bullshit, how about:

If a woman is drunk, don't rape her. If a woman is walking alone at night, don't rape her. If a women is drugged and unconscious, don't rape her. If a woman is wearing a short skirt, don't rape her. If a woman is jogging in a park at 5AM, don't rape her. If a woman looks like your ex-girlfriend you're still hung up on, don't rape her. If a woman is asleep in her bed, don't rape her. If a woman is asleep in your bed, don't rape her. If a woman is doing her laundry, don't rape her. If a woman is in a coma, don't rape her. If a woman changes her mind in the middle of or about a particular activity, don't rape her. If a woman has repeatedly refused a certain activity, don't rape her. If a woman is not yet a woman, but a child, don't rape her. If your girlfriend or wife is not in the mood, don't rape her. If your step-daughter is watching TV, don't rape her.

If you break into a house and find a woman there, don't rape her. If your friend thinks it's okay to rape someone, tell him it's not, and that he's not your friend. If your "friend" tells you he raped someone, report him to the police. If your frat-brother or another guy at the party tells you there's an unconscious woman upstairs and it's your turn, don't rape her, call the police and report him as a rapist.

Tell your sons, god-sons, nephews, grandsons, and sons of friends that it's not okay to rape someone.

Don't just tell your women friends how to be safe and avoid rape. Don't imply that she could have avoided it if she'd only done/not done x, y, or z. Don't imply that it's in any way her fault. Don't let silence imply agreement when someone tells you he "got some" with the drunk girl. Don't perpetuate a culture that tells you that you have no control over or responsibility for your actions. You can too help yourself. Rape is not about sex, it's about control and power, and what kind of power comes from taking advantage of others? No power anyone should ever desire.

If you agree, repost it. It's important.

The boy sent flowers to the office =P




going for a cnet party later, all prepped in mascara and eyeliner and feeling very, well, happy. heh.

oh happy day!

Elmo You scored 60% Organization, 71% abstract, and 44% extroverted!

This test measured 3 variables. First, this test measured how organized you are. Some muppets like Cookie Monster make big messes, while others like Bert are quite anal about things being clean. Second, this test measured if you prefer a concrete or an abstract viewpoint. For the purposes of this test, concrete people are considered to gravitate more to mathematical and logical approaches, whereas abstract people are more the dreamers and artistic type. Third, this test measured if you are more of an introvert or an extrovert. By definition, an introvert concentrates more on herself and an extrovert focuses more on others. In this test an introvert was somebody that either tends to spend more time alone or thinks more about herself. You are mostly organized, more abstract, and both introverted and extroverted. Most people either love or hate Elmo. I hope you love Elmo, because that's who you are. You are both somewhat organized. You have a good idea where you put things and you probably keep your place reasonably clean. You aren't totally obsessed with neatness though. Elmo has the same basic approach. His place is pretty tidy, but he doesn't spend all of his time cleaning it up. You both are abstract thinkers. You definitely are not afraid to take chances in life. You only live once. You may notice others around you playing it safe, but you are more concerned with not compromising your desires, and getting everything you can out of life. This is a very romantic approach to life, but hopefully you are also grounded enough to get by. Elmo's whole life is based on fantasy and his imagination. In the beginning he was a regular character, but now he spends most of his time in this fantasy world. You are both somewhat extroverts. Like Elmo, you probably like to have some time to yourself, but you do appreciate spending time with your friends, and you aren't scared of social situations. Elmo spends some of his time with real friends, but he also needs some time just to chat it up with his goldfish. The other possible characters are Oscar the Grouch Big Bird Cookie Monster Ernie Snuffleupagus Kermit the Frog Grover The Count Guy Smiley Bert If you enjoyed this test, I would love the feedback! Also if you want to tell me your favorite Sesame Street character, I can total them up and post them here. Perhaps your choice will win!

My test tracked 3 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 55% on Organization You scored higher than 93% on concrete-abstra You scored higher than 16% on intro-extrovert

</table

Link: The Your SESAME STREET Persona Test written by greencowsgomoo on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the 32-Type Dating Test

From qinz..quite accurate for the top 3, but the rest a bit salah..religious?!

Your dating personality profile: Funny - You laugh often. People never accuse you of lacking a sense of humor. You don't take yourself too seriously. Shy - You are often timid around others, though you will open up when the right person comes along. Liberal - Politics matters to you, and you aren't afraid to share your left-leaning views. You would never be caught voting for a conservative candidate.

Your date match profile: Funny - You consider a good sense of humor a major necessity in a date. If his jokes make you laugh, he has won your heart. Big-Hearted - You want someone compassionate, someone gentle and kind. A loving, nurturing person will fill that hole in your life. Practical - You are drawn to people who are sensible and smart. Flashy, materialistic people turn you off. You appreciate the simpler side of living.

Your Top Ten Traits 1. Funny 2. Shy 3. Liberal 4. Big-Hearted 5. Adventurous 6. Practical 7. Religious 8. Romantic 9. Intellectual 10. Wealthy/Ambitious

Your Top Ten Match Traits 1. Funny 2. Big-Hearted 3. Practical 4. Shy 5. Religious 6. Adventurous 7. Conservative 8. Intellectual 9. Wealthy/Ambitious 10. Romantic

Take the Online Dating Profile Quiz at Dating Diversions

The fact that I am actually setting aside some time to sort out my photos and create them blog-worthy means I am quite sick of WoW. Geez, never thought a day would come when I'd say this. Heh.

Anyways.

[::]



Part of Helsinki City Centre. There is a story about this Tzar statue which one of my journos who came on the trip talked about in his blog. He is also an award-winning photojournalist, so swing by if you can for photos which are much better than mine. Heh.






Medievial church in the old town of Poorvoo, founded in 1347, where winters reach -25deg C, and where houses made of timber from the 1800s can still be found (and standing pretty sturdy at that too). Was a Catholic church before the King of that time decided to unite everyone by choosing one religion - Lutherian - and converted it into a Lutherian church.





Houses in Poorvoo. Check out the red one, the door is so tiny it's cute!





More houses. Check out the one by the river bank - hey wanna swim? *jumps out of back window*





Now this is what I call bringing Ikea to your home. Look at that swing and ladder! I've never seen stuff like that made out of pure wood. Wouldn't be surprised if the owners of the home had built it with their hands.





These are wood carvings from the same house. Nifty, eh?





The fattest, furriest, silkiest, cutest kitty I've ever seen!!! *squeal*





Bits of nature from Finland. The round stuff on the ground are apples - if youa re lucky enough to find one not already rotten, you can eat them, as some of my journos did when they walked by. Have you seen paths like these? Cobbled stone paths and wooden postboxes like these remind me of Hansel and Gretel, and most of the entire town is like that - wooden houses, cobbled stone paths - all very European and Hans Christen Anderson-like.

[::]

Working in Nokia means I am getting the Nokia 6680 for free! Bwahhahaha *hao lian face* :P

Via Mark and Mr Brown , I bring to you...

Rockson Takumi Tan!

He is very much cruder than your usual read, so if you are 18 and below and wanna continue reading don't get me involved with your ma or something :) The expletives aside, he actually does bring out quite a few good points in his latest blog entry about NKF, and he is really funny!

[snip]

KNNBCCB!!! I just read the newspaper that the boss of the National Kidneys Foundation earn $25,000 one month, and last 3 year got 10 to 12 months bonus!!!

Yao jiu ling ling your chao chee bye lah!

This mean that one year, his salary is 500k to 600k, ok?

I do not hate charity organisation, I think people must help other poor and sick people. But fuck lah, you mean when on the tv the people who earn $1000 a month donate and the number on the NKF tv show jump $100,000 to $200,000 to $300,000..... when reach $600,000 of donation, is only cover this CEO salary?

No wonder Zoe Tay have to do so many cheebye stunt!!!

[end snip]

For all my friends in client management :)

Just found out that a good in-game friend of mine passed away on July 1 (July 2 our time). He was only 20. Some old man crashed into the side of his car and his brother survived but he didn't. He was a good in-game friend, partied on quite a number of occassions, and we spoke all the time whenever we saw each other online.

I was wondering why he wasn't online for the longest time when I bumped into a guildie of his online yesterday and got the shock of my life. Lots of sad thoughts about regret came to mind...stuff like grabbing the chance to talk to him more on vent..I can't even remember his real name now! Stephen? *sigh*

Moral of the story is, don't take for granted that someone will always be there..he was supposed to help me with my epic quests and I was thinking where the hell is this Jantz, I wanna surprise him and show him my epic mount!

Would do anything to turn time back to May/mid-June. :(

Straight Line Designs has some really funky stuff! They make furniture in the weirdest shapes and sizes. Check it out..I love their designs..they look like they popped out from Alice in Wonderland or some other fairy tale book. So cool.

-- link via zannah --

The following letters are taken from an actual incident between a London hotel and one of its guests last year. The hotel ended up submitting the letters to the Sunday Times.

Dear Maid,
Please do not leave any more of those little bars of soap in my bathroom since I have brought my own bath-sized Imperial Leather. Please remove the six unopened little bars from the shelf under the medicine chest and another three in the shower soap dish. They are in my way.

Thank you,

S. Berman

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

Dear Room 635,
I am not your regular maid. She will be back tomorrow, Thursday, from her day off.

I took the 3 hotel soaps out of the shower soap dish as you requested. The 6 bars on your shelf I took out of your way and put on top of your Kleenex dispenser in case you should change your mind.

This leaves only the 3 bars I left today which my instructions from the management are to leave 3 soaps daily.

I hope this is satisfactory.

Kathy, Relief Maid

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

Dear Maid
I hope you are my regular maid.

Apparently Kathy did not tell you about my note to her concerning the little ars of soap. When I got back to my room this evening, I found you had added 3 little Camays to the shelf under my medicine cabinet.

I am going to be here in the hotel for two weeks and have brought my own bath-size Imperial Leather, so I won't need those 6 little Camays, which are on the shelf. They are in the way when shaving, brushing teeth etc.

Please remove them.

S. Berman

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

Dear Mr Berman,
The assistant manager, Mr Kensedder, informed me this morning that you called him last evening and said you were unhappy with your maid service.

I have assigned a new girl to your room. I hope you will accept my apologies for any past inconvenience.

If you have any future complaints, please contact me so I can give it my personal attention. Call extension 1108 between 8AM and 5PM.

Thank you.

Elaine Carmen Housekeeper

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

Dear Miss Carmen,
It is impossible to contact you by phone since I leave the hotel for business at 7:45 AM and don't get back before 5:30 or 6.00 PM. That's the reason I called Mr Kensedder last night. You were already off duty. I only asked Mr Kensedder if he could do anything about those little bars of soap.

The new maid you assigned me must have thought I was a new check in today, since she left other 3 bars of hotel soap in my medicine cabinet, along with her regular delivery of 3 bars on the bathroom shelf.

In just 5 days here I have accumulated 24 little bars of soap. Why are you doing this to me?

S. Berman

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

Dear Mr Berman,
Your maid, Kathy, has been instructed to stop delivering soap to your room and to remove the extra soaps.

If I can be of further assistance, please call extension 1108 between 8 AM and 5 PM.

Thank you,

Elaine Carmen, Housekeeper

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

Dear Mr Kensedder,
My bath-size Imperial Leather is missing.

Every bar of soap was taken from my room, including my own bath-size Imperial Leather.

I came in late last night and had to call the bellhop to bring me 4 little Cashmere Bouquets.

S. Berman

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

Dear Mr Berman,
I have informed our housekeeper, Elaine Carmen, of your soap problem.

I cannot understand why there was no soap in your room since our maids are instructed to leave 3 bars of soap each time they service a room.

The situation will be rectified immediately.

Please accept my apologies for the inconvenience.

Martin L. Kensedder
Assistant Manager

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

Dear Mrs Carmen,
Who the hell left 54 little bars of Camay in my room?

I came in last night and found 54 little bars of soap. I don't want 54 little bars of Camay. I want my one damn bar of bath-size Imperial Leather.

Do you realise I have 54 bars of soap in here?

All I want is my bath-size Imperial Leather.

Please give me back my bath-size Imperial Leather.

S. Berman

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

Dear Mr Berman,
You complained of too much soap in your room, so I had them removed.

Then you complained to Mr Kensedder that all your soap was missing, so I personally returned them. The 24 Camays which had been taken and the 3 Camays you are supposed to receive daily.

I don't know anything about the 4 Cashmere Bouquets. Obviously your maid, Kathy, did not know I had returned your soaps, so she also brought 24 Camays plus the 3 daily Camays.

I don't know where you got the idea this hotel issues bath-size Imperial Leather. I was able to locate some bath-size Ivory which I left in your room.

Elaine Carmen Housekeeper

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

Dear Mrs Carmen,
Just a short note to bring you up-to-date on my latest soap inventory.

As of today I possess:

* On the shelf under the medicine cabinet -18 Camay in 4 stacks of 4 and 1 stack of 2.

* On the Kleenex dispenser - 11 Camay in 2 stacks of 4 and 1 stack of 3.

* On the bedroom dresser - 1 stack of 3 Cashmere Bouquet, 1 stack of 4 hotel-size Ivory, and 8 Camay in 2 stacks of 4.

* Inside the medicine cabinet - 14 Camay in 3 stacks of 4 and 1 stack of 2.

* In the shower soap dish - 6 Camay, very moist.

* On the northeast corner of the tub - 1 Cashmere Bouquet, slightly used.

* On the northwest corner of the tub - 6 Camays in 2 stacks of 3.

Please ask Kathy when she services my room to make sure the stacks are neatly piled and dusted. Also, please advise her that stacks of more than 4 have a tendency to tip. May I suggest that my bedroom window sill is not in use and will make an excellent spot for future soap deliveries.

One more item, I have purchased another bar of bath-size Imperial Leather, which I am keeping in the hotel vault in order to avoid further misunderstandings.

S. Berman

If you are looking for an alternative place to get tees and shiz from, try out this store: http://www.divinewardrobe.com Set up by an ex colleague of mine, who had the idea 3 weeks ago, sat down and actually went and did the damn project without dwiddling and procrastinating like the rest of us.

Support him! Quick! Click! Buy!

Seeing how I'm officially addicted to this game, I'd just like to share some interesting screenshots from the game, just to show you how much fun we've been having :P

Special thanks to hengboy and tman/jo for most of the screenshots!

[::]

[enter deep Hollywood trailer voice]

Most of the time we are whacking monsters or other players in wow, like in Uldaman, where we whack ugly mobs like this:





But being on a player vs player server, we gain the most satisfaction from killing other players who are horde. Simply because when we are (or at least I am) minding our own business these itchy backsides like to come and disturb and kill us. So in the process of leveling a common sense of hatred and anguish is nurtured among all good and sensible alliance. Here you can see a perfect picture of that vengence played out in a horde raid. Go alliance!





Of course it is not all about killing, we like to chill out as well. Take our vertically challenged friend Smallzilla, who after much difficulty with his stumpy legs gets up on a chair to rest in an inn:





His face may look a bit yaya but you must understand getting up on that chair alone with his legs and all is a quest on its own. So zhang sheng gu li gu li!

In other scandalous news, fatty and skinny were lying in bed, in the midst of what Ironforge's trusty gossip column writer thinks is a rauchy rendevous, when they realised they were being spied on and hastily regained some form of composure:





I think fatty rolled over, cos skinny looks dead. Oh wait. She's sleeping.





And that's it for today's commentary!

..this is a pix of me and jo (aveliana) flying through horde land on our way to Desolace :P

With the tremendous help of Heng and Terence/Jo, I present to you..

..my lvl 40 char with her horse!!



worked damn hard and had so much help from these 2 peeps to get to lvl 40..which is when you can get your mount..finally i can focus on other stuff muahaha..maybe my toon shld learn to cook..heh..

hengboy il show u the screen capture for the sword tmw..:P

Had challenging muay thai class, was awake from adrenaline and ended up sleeping at 3 running through warlock quest with Kang. But v shiok leh v long never game to this extent liao. Thoroughly pleased. :)