Not quite dormant

So this blog has been pretty dormant for some time..
Too busy with everyday work life..
Too busy with finding time to play and relax..
Too busy with living the joys of drinks, pool, snooker, and stuff..

Had a health check up today..
Complimentary check includes blood cholesterol, pressure, glucose level etc.
I upgraded to check my kidney and liver..
Not that I am worried my liver may be spoilt (and to think so many people always say their liver is spoilt)..
But since I am doing a health check then might as well..

Blood pressure was a little bit high normal..
The person said probably cause I walked across the room..
Well like Mitch said, if just by walking across the room my pressure becomes higher..
Then something is not quite right too..
Can't believe I ganna smoke by that person..

Oh speaking of which..
I clocked only 30 mins of run so far..
And the 21km run is like 2 weeks away..
But I think there are many who are not prepared as well? Audrey? Gina? SC?
How about YC, how's marathon training?
I think I should just walk more, since we are running in Sentosa. Got good views
Good excuse too haha..

Anyways work peak is ending in 2 weeks!
Time for some rounds of drinks..
Tower anyone?

New work? No?

For those who are not yet aware, there was a change in work scope for me since July..
Gone are the days I will be the first line for work..
No more preparation of computations, preparing bills, dealing with endless admin stuff, being the main client contact etc..
This is because come October, I will officially be "progressed" to a reviewer role..

That means..
To the extent I am required to do so..
I will be reviewing the stuff above, prepared by the guy/girl who is doing the first line of work..
There will be added responsibilities as I will be assisting managers to manage work progress..
I will have to spot stuff that the preparer didn't manage to..

On a related matter..
Lunch breaks with colleagues will no longer be bitching about the people above..
Instead..we will be bitching about those above and below..
Even though I realised recently it's more about the people below..

Anyway..I had just finished 5 seasons of "How I met your mother"..
It's an awesome (quote Barney) show..
Highly recommended..I have all 5 seasons in my computer (shhh) so get it from me if you want to..
And season 6 is airing sometime this month..
I bet it's gonna be legen..
Wait for it.. (pause)
dary..

Still fit

Had my ippt this morning..
Even though I got multiple warnings for not straightening my arms during pull up..
Even though I followed the wrong person for the 1st round during my 2.4km (he ran below 10mins in the end)..
I managed to barely make a silver..
Barely meaning 8 more seconds and I would have only passed..
1 less pull up and I would have only passed..
And for some reason even my standing broad jump I barely made 3 points..
But at least I can still say I am still fit haha..

Gary was back at his best on Thursday..
Gary: Eh I saw XX with a girl at a hotel that day, holding hands.
Me and SC: Huh? can't be leh. If XX got gf confirm tell us. Got see wrong anot. Eh but XX did mention he bumped into you.

(After several rounds of conversations)

Me and SC: Ok we confirm it's probably XX. But got hold hand ah?
Gary: I think the hold hand part I add in one.

-_____-

Classic..and that's why they say jiang hu yao yan cannot believe..

Joining the big family??

And so it's confirmed..
Iphone 4 is coming to Singapore this Friday..
Will I be queuing for it?
Looking at the ipad sales, I may have to queue from 12am (Thursday morning not Friday)..
Seems ridiculous..but there are people who may do it..

But it seems like a good phone..
Other than the reception problems..
But which phone doesn't have problems??
Maybe the problems are magnified just because it is so popular..
That if you put things in perspective, you will realise every phone has its problems..
Just that not many people are using it and nobody bothers to report..
Like my Nokia e71 which drops reception occasionally too..
Data reception is not too good too..
I am sure not many have heard of these problems..
Or nobody cares..

Well..
If it is cheap, comes with a free cover to solve the reception problem and they have stock, I will get it.
Maybe there are too many 3GS users already..so they won't upgrade..
Maybe I won't have to queue to get it..
Maybe all these will happen in my dream haha..

Lost my wisdom?

Took out my wisdom tooth on Tuesday..
Quite an experience..
Drilling of my bones..
I could feel my whole skull vibrate..
Various attempts to get the tooth out..clamps..pliers..
It turned out that my tooth had 4 legs..so it was hard work..

It certainly didn't help that my dentist was a female..
Who seemed to enjoy Lady Gaga songs..
She was singing along to Bad Romance while doing my stitches..
Luckily she wasn't singing along to Alejandro while plucking my tooth (although I like that song)..

But it's over..
With a swollen cheek now that made me look like I got punched..
But I can eat solid food now..
And I wonder if I can have alcohol on Friday..maybe just a little bit?

Well..but one of the shiok things can just be explained via the following conversation:-

Me: Go out and cheong again ah..how come so late online?
Friend: No la. Slept just now. Online to do some stuff then go sleep again. How come you are not sleeping?
Me: I don't have to work tomorrow. Is that a good enough reason?
Friend: Enough reason.

Now beat that hahaha!

Reflections

Today marks the start of the 2nd half of the year..
So what has made an impact in my life so far?

1. Made the landmark decision to stop betting on soccer (EPL etc.), after betting since JC. Only bet when I am going to catch the match or something. Which actually means I am betting on all world cup matches so far (4 years once leh). However, after the world cup, I probably won't be.

2. Learnt that it is hard to win money at a casino. Lesson learnt in Melbourne.

3. Learnt that there is a well known phrase "yuan de bu neng na", which means round one cannot take, which when spoken also means something in Indian (can somebody tell me?).

4. Learnt that other people in other countries (e.g. Australia) also have issues against people mentioned in point 3 above.

5. Learnt that it is actually quite shiok to have a tv screen on my left and a computer screen on my right (only for the world cup as I paid for it). Ok it is more than quite shiok.

6. Overcame my phobia of wine (since DND 2008). Drank all sorts of wine recently, in Melbourne and Singapore.

7. Enjoyed the high life with a stay at St.Regis, buffet lunch at Raffles Hotel etc.

8. Realised that I can never enjoy foot massage / body massage, as I am not meaty enough.

9. Learnt that there is someone who snores in a toilet cubical around lunch time. Talk about being tactical. If I encounter it the third time, I am gonna slam the cubical door beside to scare him.

10. Learnt that I can actually appreciate plays/musicals. Boeing Boeing next?

Ok, maybe some things above have negligible impact. But I didn't say how much of an impact, did I?

Out of Asia

Heading off to Melbourne this evening!!
My 1st experience in a cold country (it's winter there now)..
To enjoy the scenery..wine..food..
To catch the penguins..koalas..
To marvel at the coastal views along great ocean road..
To visit the wineries along Yarra..

Audrey, I don't know how I am gonna get a platypus but I will try..
As for the rest who wanted Koalas or Penguins, I will try too..
It may be in the form of soft toys..
Or even macademia nuts shaped as them, since I heard macademia nuts are the gift to buy in Melbourne..
Or even chocolates..since I am visiting a chocolate factory..

Goodbye to the hot weather in Singapore!!

High Key ICT

Back from a 2 week hot and "tough" ICT

Didn't start off too well..
Was told to cut and dye my hair, despite already going for a haircut and also dyed before going in..
Apparently the dye wasn't black enough..
And the RSM was not convinced I dyed it..
He is called Ben Wong by the way..
He is very strict..and stern..and soon we all gave him the nickname Ben 10..
I later learnt from my ex-manager that another reservist unit also called him Ben 10..
Hilarious..

He gave us a briefing on the 1st day..
Speaking about cars which are parked in illegal areas and will be cramped (clamped)..
Keeping the bunks crean (clean)..
Really gave us a laugh with his pronunciation..
He also did a spot check on camera phones / laptops etc on the 1st day..caught quite a lot of people (although I managed to escape)
Think he met his quota so he did not do any more inspections for the rest of the ICT..phew..

Anyway..it turned out to be a slack ICT..
I laughed it off when Shichang told me he heard this ICT will be standby in bunk (heard from himself of course)..
But it really turned out that way..
Playing psp..bathing many times..sleeping..eating..
So much so that one of our friends Steven said that it is really "zero activity"..
We asked if he is complaining..
He said no..and said he was exclaiming..

Anyway..other than the hot weather, there are not many complaints..
As I get to rest and relax..
But the cookhouse food was bad..at least most of the times..and still got survey..
According to our Commanding Officer, he said all our surveys usually put "not ok" or "lousy"..
He asked us to "touch our heart" and put what we really feel..
And not be affected by the service..and try not to be too harsh as the ppl in SFI depend on these surveys for bonuses..
But it really sucks..with the occasionally better meals..relatively of course..
And the breakfast is renowned for the "Cai Bao" and "Luo Mai Kai" tragedy..
Therefore I never woke up for breakfast..

Back to work on Monday..
No more psp..no more slacking..
Not that I am complaining..I need to work my brains again..I think that will really require a lot of effort..
But maybe some alcohol this weekend will do the trick!

Batam

Went to Batam last weekend..
Not to lup sup ok..
Went with my department..
Location being Harris Resort..

Was quite surprised at the service
They can do express check in..where they collect our passports and we just went through the customs without verifying the face to the passport..somemore without actually counting the people walking past.
And it was 30 over people..
So I wonder where is the security..
What if somebody with a black cap and a black bag just went to the resort..
If you have seen the video on the mrt, you will know how dangerous it is haha..

Anyway, went for massage at Batam Center..not the sleazy one of cos..
Either I am too boney or I am unhealthy
Foot and back massage was pain to the max..
Foot was fine after, but my back is still a little pain now..
And I was sweating throughout the back massage..
Maybe I am not cut out for massages..

Ended the day trip with a root beer float from A&W and waffle ice cream..
As we had to rush back for some teambuilding games (the purpose of the trip is to build relationships)..
But I think the REAL teambuilding was when some of us went to my room and played card games..
Finishing a bottle of vanilla vodka..playing card games like "Avalanche" until 4 am..
It was hilarious and fun..
That game rocks..

Well..another highlight of the trip is when my passport was chopped and indicated that I was back in Singapore at 11am..
When we were all still at the resort and the ferry only leaves at 530pm..
The wonders of express check out..

At least I got my 1st 100k when I was at Batam..
I changed $20 which gave me approximately 120k rupiah..
Talk about cheap thrills..haha

Speeding

Got caught "speeding" at 83km/h on a 60km/h road (i.e. Punggol Central) on 3-4am Sunday..
Ah 1st time in my 6.5 yrs of driving got caught..
To be honest, I think I was travelling near 90 until I braked when I saw the traffic police..
But anyways..the police asked if I was rushing anywhere..
Mind was blank (it was late)..so I said no..
Come to think of it..some possible scenarios flashed thru my mind..

Scenario 1:

Police stopped me..
I step out of the car..give my driving licence..
Say I need to go toilet urgently..come back later..
I do come back later and then the police let me off as I was rushing to the toilet..

Scenario 2:

Police stopped me..
I step out of the car..looking constipated when in fact I have a bad stomachache..
Give them my license in a hurry manner and ask them to hurry up as I need to go toilet..
Police decide to let me off..

Of course none of these happened..
And I am facing a letter in 2 weeks to a month and a $150 fine with maybe 6 demerit points..
But I am going to appeal..although my basis is not firmed up..
But if you don't try..you don't get it..

Or maybe I won't get the letter as the Police thought I was very cooperative and they have achieved their target number of offenders and mine was too minor (Scenario 3)

Any ideas for my appeal letter anyone?

Post CNY

At home on a Monday afternoon..
Diarrhea since yesterday..
I ate quite a lot of stuff on Saturday so I can't pin point what caused it when the doctor asked..
I ate Macs..
I ate Popeyes..
I ate pineapple tarts at my ex-colleague's house and drank Stella Artois (while mahjonging)..
I drank soya bean milk..
Or maybe I breathed in too much smoke or ate some joss stick accidentally at Loyang Dua Pek Kong..
So much effort just to ensure my year ahead is good..

One of my colleagues who played mahjong insisted that the pineapple tarts expired yesterday..
Reason being its end of CNY yesterday!
I laughed it off..sounds hilarious ma right..
Now I wonder if its true.
I ate a few near the so called expiry date..
And see what happened..

Anyway I am not complaining..
I can rest in my air-con room..
Temperature is reaching 35 degrees outside..
And I won't have Monday blues!
And then its Tuesday tomorrow..
But as some of you have already heard..
After Monday and Tuesday..
The calendar still says W T F
Before the weekend comes..

Last week of CNY

So CNY is gonna be over soon..
Lo Hei until hands tired recently..
But something seems to be lacking..
I think had not played alot of mahjong..
I have also quit betting soccer (but will resume at World Cup?)..
So Huat so much at Lo Hei for??
Then again..storing my luck for a better cause seems like a good idea..
The better cause being this Fri's $10m Toto of course..
Was at Red Dot Brewhouse with Mitch when the waitress gave us 2 pieces of paper for a Bingo game..
1 flew away..
There is 1 left..it has a lot of numbers..
but only 7 qualify for Toto..
And so the 7 numbers it was..
With of course a lot of other numbers (you can't only buy 1 system 7 for a $10m draw right)..
Hope is high as usual..
Holidays come to mind..
Lotsa material benefits start flowing in..
But it is too early to say..
It will all be decided this Friday..
I won't be at the Toto draw..
I will be at Pump Room cheering with beer to my win..

Watch this space..

Ushering in the Chinese New Year

Everybody is getting into the Chinese New Year mood..
Evidence??

I am going to have my 3rd mahjong session with my colleagues this week tonight..
The casino is opening on Sunday..
And of cos..what better way to usher in the new year than spend time at Lunar!!
Right?? no??

There is Ah Dong who looks like Ah Nan or Roger from KPMG (for ppl who know him)..
Other girl singers (was it Qiqi?) who don't look very young..
Alex who I think sang ONE song..
Pole dancers who need more effort, even though some are pretty..
But what is amazing is the clientele in Lunar..
Old guys with young girls..
Group of mature (old?) girls with killer moves in dancing..
Lonely girls with a group of guys and yet no guys want to entertain them and rather do their own killer moves..

But where was the CNY extravaganza (choreographed dance) performance?
Maybe we left too early for Pump room..
Where the Bah Poh is there..with much longer hair and more feminine..
Where they sang Retro songs to good effect..
Where the phrase "liquor before beer, never sicker" comes to mind..
We couldn't even finish half a pint of beer..

Ended the day with a disturbing cab driver..
Who kept talking to me after mitch went off and when I really needed a sleep..
He said I need to buff myself up cos I am small size and have a baby face..
When I got off the cab he even opened the door and gave me 2 clenched fists with conviction to say I must buff up..
But I forgive him for his weirdness..
Only because..

He said mitch is beautiful and I am handsome so we are a good looking couple..

Latest and Greatest

So people always ask me what's the latest and greatest (e.g. Audrey)..
And of cos the e.g. is referring to the people, not the latest and greatest..

Well..you could say about the disasters around the world..Haiti..Peru..
You could say the economy problems..like China..
You could say Obama's measures against Wall Street that didn't seem to materialise..
Or somebody died while watching Avatar..
Brad Pitt splitting with Angelina Jolie..
2 China players in the semis for Australian Open (are they taking over the world??)
The list goes on..

But..somehow to me (at least for today), the biggest news has to be this..

The launch of the iPad.

Someone said this on facebook..

"iPad 16gb for those light-flowing days, and iPad 64gb for the extra heavy days"

Well..this video says it all..

2010

2010 so far has been pretty eventful I must say..

Early on in the year, bought my first shares in the stock market..
Up and down so far..
But suddenly I become so informed of whatever is happening in the business world..
The coming bankruptcy of Japan Airlines, bank fees to recover taxpayer bailouts to be inroduced by Obama, lawsuits against Bank of America, profits of Alcoa not meeting expectations, and then there is Kraft's bid for Cadbury, with Ferrero involved.
But it's quite interesting I must say..something else to read up other than soccer news..

And then there is some unexpected news..
Which has been bothering me quite abit..
But at least it didnt turn out very bad..
And I hope and pray everything will be fine soon..

Then there are news of KPMG increasing pay, to even higher than the original pay scale..as usual they are the market leader for new policies..
PWC followed suit, with news of reinstatement (although I heard they called it increment)..
Just when everybody is demotivated, and I have a very good reason to say I am not motivated to work (not like I always have)..
EY comes out with news that we are reverting to the original pay scale..
No more excuses, but more money for beer!!
And isn't the big 4 something like a cartel as well, something like what the petrol stations are doing..raising prices together, decreasing prices together..
But who cares, at least the imbalance in pay is no longer so big..

And lastly, even mahjong has been topsy turvy..
WIn quite big, lose quite big.
Hope will always be huat huat and then CNY can huat somemore..haha

Anyway this may be quite outdated, but I still think he is quite amazing to play it this well

New Year post

It was a good break before the turn of the year..
Until I still can't get back the momentum at work this week~
Had beer, good food, went Sentosa and everything that was so relaxing..
I wish everyday was like that!

Anyway it's my 1st blog post with my new imac!
I must say its awesome..everything is fast and easy to use..
I might never convert back to a pc..
Now I know why ppl always say once you switch to a Mac, you never look back

New year, new resolutions?
Well, for me, the year hasn't started really well..
I wouldn't say I wanna make resolutions..I never fulfil them, neither do I have any major ones..
However, I just wish that everyone around me, especially my loved ones, will have a good year ahead and all will go well..

Happy 2010!

Audrey, this post isn't the latest or greatest but at least it's a post!