My English teachers will tell you, if they remember me (not too difficult if you think about it - Talkative, playful, horrible handwriting, intelligent, smart, capable, hardworking, trouble-maker, talkative [oh wait mentioned already. nevermind], etc.), how bad a composition writer I am.

I thought I could never write compos with titles like the title of this post.

Today, I stand corrected.
Today, I stand embarassed.
Today, I need a hole to bury myself.
Today, someone gave me a large Bugs Bunny stuff toy from More than Words.



Today, oh my god la.. still today wat.. i so pai seh already!


Seven months ago, I successfully fulfilled my obligational service to the nation and in my bid to reduce my parents' burden of having to provide me with an allowance, I chose to take up a part time job.

It did not take me too long to source for one, as I managed to secure a decent paying employment within a week. It was rather surprising and I was quite proud of myself, considering my lack of work experience.

Initially, I was not very comfortable with the loneliness that was part of the job. The shifts were of odd-hours and there was this eerie feeling at night within the compound. Till today, I have yet to get used to that feeling, though I have grown to become slightly less adverse to it.

Then I saw light. The job offered freedom without boundaries. It was not like anything I had become accustomed to in SAF. Here you still had to finish your duties responsibly and efficiently, but the critical difference was the lack of the need to appear busy when you actually had nothing to do at all.

I liked it.

I could do my own empowering, reading, surfing the net, remain updated with newspapers and even indulge in Hong Kong and American serials without having to be on the constant lookout for the prowling senior medic.

Ah, I remember that bitch.

I grew closer to the job and eventually lost the desire to seek greener pastures. It appeared to me to be the greenest. When my peers and pals found employment, I mocked them, sometimes for the lack of freedom and more often than not, for the lack of internet access.

The job was a lonely one. The other colleagues around did nothing similar to what I was doing. I was the only one during a shift manning the helpdesk, answering phone calls and responding to emails.

Nevertheless, this did not hinder me one bit from socialising with my colleagues. I joined them for lunch, despite learning that this was one activity my predecessors hardly partaked in. To them, I was like a younger brother. They spoke of their life and work experiences and made my job less mundane. I looked forward to lunch daily. It was when I really had some interaction.

They abetted me to go for more holidays, to enjoy my youth, as if I printed money.

We were similar in the sense that we all agreed that the canteen sold overpriced crap.

Mondays however, I did not look too forward to. The group had this pre-existing pact to walk out to eat on Mondays if there was no downpour. I disliked the walk when the sun was blazing.

Whenever it rained, we would settle our meal at Kallang Leisure mall for it provided a sheltered carpark and offered free parking for dining lunch crowds.

Other times, we chose from a plethora of dining locations nearby. Beach road, Mountbatten Road, Old Airport Road etc.

As fate would have it, not everyone was equally sociable. There were those whom as a matter of fact, I would be doing a great injustice to if I do not label as weirdos. Some of them at the canteen every single day. One particular colleague rolled his pants up everyday, stood very far from the urinal when he was relieving himself and cupped the phone whenever he was on the line.

We never spoke a word before. Not till today. For easy reference, let us call him K.

As you know, working there allowed me to book a chalet for my birthday celebrations. Recently, I invited some of my colleagues in advance as I was about to leave the company. I printed invitation cards and passed them to those whom I was closer to. It was what any logical person would do.

I would think that news spread around the office and K probably caught wind of my upcoming birthday.

Today, the bombshell.

He came in carry a More than Words plastic bag with a stuffed toy. And the rest is history.

I was lost for words. I mumbled a thanks and then headed out to speak to another colleague about the matter. He was equally dumbfounded. All this while in his same department, he had never seen K speak with anyone, apart from work related matters, much less give them a present.

Till now, it still puzzles me.

At that point of time, I needed a hole to bury myself, like an ostrich. I had to invite him too. I gave him an invitation.


Today is the most embarrassing day of my life. Correct me.

Batman!

I just read a few heartwrenching blog posts.

A girl's blog. Very depressing entries.
Memories, all flooded back.

She lost her bf in Brunei in June. (We love SAF)
On her own, she has to get back to her feet.
Reminded of all the promises she made but did not fulfil.
Really funny how people do not treasure things they have.
Y do they take things and people for granted.


And then be depressed when everything is lost.
Everything she does reminds her of him.
I sympathize with her.
Oh well.
U know how screwed up that organisation is.

2D animals from pet museum. Seriously weird!








Hadouken!



This motorcycle seems equipped to quell riots!

$88 spent so far.. Burn money.. =(

1 more card to go..

why soon huat bed sheet so gay colour?


sh wants me to say: "I Print Money"!

Yum Yum.. .$51 bucks.. My God!

$2,600 for a PSP.

You're asking for trouble if you go to Sim Lim or Lucky Plaza to purchase stuff without doing research first.

Simply dumb.

http://singaporeseen.stomp.com.sg/singaporeseen/viewContent.jsp?id=28434

Shop charges $2,600 for 'modified' PSP
A STOMPer says he was shocked when his niece was charged $2,600 for a PSP set, with the bulk of the price charged for a modification of the console his niece was not aware of.

Said the STOMPer:

"On July 12, my niece and her mother were walking around the electronics store in Lucky Plaza to look for electronic gaming console.

"They chose a decent looking shop, well furnished and displays of game consoles and games were neatly placed."

The STOMPer said his niece and her mother agreed to pay about $300 for the console, including accessories.

He said the sales assistant later took the unopened PSP box away and when he came back with the 'modified' PSP and added miscellaneous charges.

The STOMPer said his niece was not informed that any modification was to be done and that the shop did not get her consent to do so.

He said:

"The sales assistant had taken the PSP away from the shop to a 'technician' he claimed had downloaded software known to be able to download games and a PSP version changer.

"He claimed that it is compulsory to install this license from SONY and a software to play downloaded games.

"He did the software update without my niece’s consent."

The STOMPer said the costs were as follows:

PSP Set $290

MMC 8GB $98

Screen Protector $29

PSP 6 in 1 kit $69

Total: $486

Cost of modification: $2114

The STOMPer added:

"Initially the total price was $3400 and they made a mistake writing $3550 on the GST 7% column which goes to show a very obvious mathematical error.

"After some negotiation the sales assistant gave a discount to $2600.

"My niece was very shocked at the price because she bought her Playstation 3 at some $700, playstation 3 is a bigger console for use with the television.

"She wanted to cancel the order as she did not expect the price to be exorbitant but the sales assistant mentioned that once the software has been installed, workman cost and product cost has been incurred and they will have to pay $2000+ even if they do not want the console.

"Given no choice, she signed the credit card and paid $2600 in total."

The STOMPer said he accompanied his niece to the shop the next day on July 13, to ask for proof of the modifications made to the PSP set, but was told that it was an 'industrial secret'.

Workers rushing out the super high intensity spotlights for me!



Poncho, binoculars, seat map and 2 sets of earplugs for ailing and myself!

=) No rain please!


Eagerly anticipating the day.

Today I bought myself my second present for my 21st. Grandma's request.


Bungalow chalet. 120 Pasir Ris road. And super cheap. 3 rooms with air condition.

How considerate am I? Purposely chose during the 1 week sem break. Haha. No really, that was the only slot left. =x

Cannot choose to hold it on 28th itself though its a Sunday due to formula racing :K




On another note, my mum's cousin passed away. Jurong GRC MP. They are at the wake now. =(

They buy new laptop, DSLR camera, Diamond, expensive lenses, sign up for broadband on mobile, get new furniture and do braces.

Can afford to quit job too! Don't even need to take up tuition. Can stay home daily to watch youtube videos.

Oh wait, that is just one friend. Oops!

Rich friend. Yesterday he was boasting to me that he has 4 laptops and 2 PCs at home.

I truely comprehend the saying "Life is unfair".



During the trip, it suddenly occured to me that karma is make-believe bullshit.

Look at George Bush, happily screwing the world's economy, people call him president.
Look at Anwar, happily screwing people's backside, people want him to be prime minister.
Look at Venerable Ming Yi, happily climbing skyscrappers, people respect him.
Look at Osama, happily flying into skyscrappers and hiding in caves, people worship him.

Look at Minister Mentor, happily Full stop.



Went for dental yesterday with ailing. Filled up a small decay. $30 bucks (DO is a relative). Asked about my condition. The imaginery one that Soon Huat speaks about.

I suffer from Bruxism. Oh no. I will need to sleep with a mouth guard for the rest of my life. And the dentist suggested that I do braces first before making the mouth guard because my bite is not right. Apparently I cant eat noodles correctly i.e. cannot use my front teeth to bite.

Got to burn money again. My friend from above, spare me some?

When Miss USA fell during last year's Miss Universe, the whole world watch the youtube video again and again.

Not wanting to be outdone, this year's Miss USA fell during Miss Universe too.

Not surprisingly, both of them did not win.

Funny.



Previously, when the ministers were toying with the idea of casinos,

first they went: "casino is bad, bad bad casino."
Next it was: "Let's not rule it out, let's be pragmatic."
Then as we all know it, they finally went: "Ok let's build it!"

Today I see the resemblance.

First it was: "Organ trading is bad, bad bad organ trading."
Next, our health minister says: "Let's not rule it out, let's be pragmatic."


*wink wink

Spring onion fascination

At Taipei, they make you eat spring onion everywhere.

They put it in roti pratas, call it Jian Bing and charge you exorbitant prices for it.

They grab a handful (literally hand FULL), stuff it into meat dumplings, proceed to cook it using charcoal, and make you wait 20 minutes to get two.

Blah blah blah, in soup, mee sua, oyster egg, et cetera, et cetera.



Oh ya they also love ketchup. Very convenient since I am allergic to chilli sauce. (gives me rashes results in anaphylactic shock) I was actually shocked when a hawker added a whole spoonful of red sauce to my order, then relieved when she said it was ketchup. Haha.



While I'm on the topic of fascination, what is wrong with Anwar and his fascination for anal sex with guys?

Doesn't he learn? Oh god.


And what is with minister mentor's recent fascination of telling us weekly (every weekend I notice) how corrupt free and efficient the POleeTICAL party is?

(Last week it was about how weak the opposition parties are. This week it is about how full of integrity our leaders are.)

Wah lao.

Ah lao you not sian ah?

I heard that people who have 1 foot in the coffin tend to nag a lot. Hold any water?

I have been receiving imaginary requests to clarify what I meant by *ahem.

Sorry but I do not intend to become another statistic for neither senior Counsel Davinder Singh nor the familee .

"The ______ number of libel case won by ____."

Like Soon Huat said, it really puzzled me how one man managed to steal vast land, airspace and sea as big as Taiwan right from the noses of China.

Right from the moment we were about to land in Taiwan, I had been querying him about it.

Well of course that is if China's claim is true. So they say.

This man, Chiang Kai Shek, must therefore be the God of Thieves.

You know, like God of Gamblers?


Hell! They even built a huge memorial hall where his gigantic statue sits majestically, overlooking his loot. (opps, Empire I mean)

For a clearer idea of what I am talking about, check out the picture below. (from Seawalk's blog)



Unfortunately, the memorial hall did not provide How To Steal an Island lessons for dummies. Therefore Soon Huat, I did not get my answer.


While we're on the topic on memorial halls, I wondered too if we should build one for our dear Minister Mentor. After some discussion, we concluded that, yes, his contributions definitely deserves a memorial hall built in his memory and honour.

Let us all start a petition to begin construction of it.

Oh wait, you have to be dead first for a memorial hall to be built. Ah, what a waste, because at this rate, we'll soon be asking ourselves whether his contributions outweighs his *ahem.

Laughing out loud.


Digressing, I got a highlight (albeit a minor one) done today. It sure as hell stunned some people.

At Taipei Airport




Benji's luggage. Filled with foodstuff.

2 days live performance at Xi Men Ding. Read the words!









Look! Guards are humans too!



Wiping of sweat at Sun Yat Sen memorial hall.



Empty guard position at Martyr' shrine



Guard returns to take his position.


Supermarket trip!



Huge.



We bought so many cup noodles to bring home. Highly raved about but was kind of disappointing. The taste did not live up to its reputation.

And so I now have a new email address.

kenneth.teow@nus.edu.sg

Anyway, I found out that if you try to log in to NUS webmail using IE, you will see a Microsoft Outlook format. Try it with Firefox and you get a plain and dull html-ly kind of look. Interesting.

The slacking chapter is about to end really soon. There goes the carefree and minimal stress life. In comes notes, lectures, tutorials and exams. Boring.


I shall recap the places I visited while slacking away my life away during the past two and a half years.

Sentosa (twice?)
Johor (tons of times?)
KL (twice?)
Jakarta
Surabaya
Kuching
Beijing
Hong Kong (twice)
Shen Zhen
Zhu Hai
Guang Zhou
Macau
Taipei
Perth

Not to mention South China Sea and Indian Ocean.


Travelling is great, so I need more money! 4 students at the moment easily gets me $950 per month, but that's provided there's no cancellation of lessons. Should I continue with tuition after 11th August?

You know? Those who slow down their buses to a crawl when approaching a green light and begs that the light changes colour?

Screw them!

I've had more than my fair share of such crappy drivers. No wonder people are not switching to public transport.


Then we have those who think amber light indicates that they should stop immediately, even when they have cut into the pedestrain crossing already.


Best of all are those who stop at every bus stop and open the doors when there is obviously no one at the stop/no one going to board.


Sack them!

Screenie from phone. Don't ask. Its possible.



The vouchers. I'm thinking, fondue.






This is random. =)

The famous Ah Zhong Mee Sua



The McCrispy i missed so much. Since primary 6. Hehe I know you only like McWings. Nevermind k? Indulge me a little.



I cant recall which day we shared this bowl of shaved ice. (too many times) - 80NTD





Second last day dinner. 3P mixed fruits shaved ice. Yummeh. - 250 NT



Night market Xiao Long Bao. 8 pieces meant that I got bullied and only ate 2. Best service from sh my foot.







The original Ding Tai Feng from Taiwan.

I can already sense the drooling.

I read with disgust how some dumb retard wrote into the newspapers' forum suggesting that we implement fines/punishment for people who refuse to give up their seats to others on public transport.

Its simply retarded. Everyone pays the same fare and nobody owes you a living. Unless of course the person on the seat is your employee. That would be another story all over.

If you want a guaranteed seat, get a taxi. Or a car. Or a life.

When it comes to giving up seats to those who are more needy, there can only be a moral obligation, never a legal one.

Then again, let us not forget ours is a fine city. We even banned gum, built the ERP and implemented slavery by disguising it as service. What else can 难得倒 us?

Adrenalin pumping 36 degree celsius weather.

Woohoo. Exhilarating. NOT!

If you use sweltering to describe our weather, you'll have to shower superlatives like swelteringest for the insane climate there.

Thank god (no not literally) for my Made-in-Japan foldable umbrella (there someone was pointing out it was gay to use umbrella and then asking that I shelter him. *rolls eyes*) and free-of-charge handheld fan from Toy'r'us.

I apologise that this post does not come with pictures because for obvious reasons I did not bring a thermometer there just so I can take a picture of it for you.


I do however have pictures of mango/fruits ice shave that I will post at a later date. We ate that 5 out of 6 nights. Slurp! Great for combating the shiok weather.

Inspired + pictures!

This might seem unbelievable but I have been inspired to ensure that my 中文 improves.

I think it can be attributed to the visit to the National Palace Museum - 80 NTD entrance fee per pax for military personnel.

Today I begun by ensuring that I write my own Chinese name correctly. Funny how no one ever taught me the right way.


Thanks to my Ailing for her careful guidance, I can now write 赵崇智 (traditional zhao) correctly. Was quite disgusted at how i previously wrote my surname. (became apparent when I wrote it during the trip.

(And peeps, do start to google my chinese name. Thanks! It'd be nice if my chinese name can be linked to my blog. Think having access to an additional 1 billion potential readers :P)

Anyway, skipping to the point, PICTURES (National Palace Museum)!








The renowned Jadeite cabbage



No photography allowed by trusty N82 to the rescue!

Pssst! Don't you just hate how some people post one picture at a time? Simply frustrating. Tsk tsk tsk...