a pill a day makes the sin goes away

yes. that was what written on the label of this small bottle that looked every bit like a health product, only it was inside this gift shop at plaza singapura.

i had wanted so many things in the past, but wow, this is on top of my list now. well, since last friday. who cares about recent findings about the 9th planet in our solar system, or outstanding achievements like becoming the first asian female to cross the antartica? because tell me how could those contribute to the benefit of the mankind?

invent a pill like this and you'll be helping lots, and i do mean lots, lots of people. i mean, i could go to bangkok for a 3-day trip, and all i need is 3 pills to enjoy 3 days worth of 'innocent' pain-the-town-red-no-make-it-bloody-red partying.

i'd like to go in and inspect further but the shop was closed. for all i know this could be one of those mysterious shops you always see in the movies. you know, those that owned by a spooky old lady in witch-like dress selling innocent antique stuff, which then turned out to be some sort of powerful magical artifact that was passed down from generations or something.

it was already half past 10 on that friday night when we came across this shop after late dinner at thai express. i was there to watch teenage mutant ninja turtle the movie after work. i don't think it was very nice. the movie i mean. i'd give it, say, 6/10. it was not bad actually, pretty entertaining but it didn't get me jump off my cinema chair (not that i ever done that but i heard people actually gave standing ovations to jennifer hudson after her show-stopping 'and i'm telling you i'm not going' number in dreamgirls).

like simon cowell always say, it's forgettable. after all, what could you expect from a bunch of bipedal turtles and a rat with a walking stick? i mean, the only thing i remembered after that movie was how much cheese nachos i ate and gosh, i'd have to work out over the weekend to shed those extra fats i consumed.

having a car which serves you few steps from your house elevator all the way to the your workplace elevator obviously doesn't do you any good. other than losing the chance join in the fun grabbing a free copy of todays newspaper every morning at the mrt station, i also now lost the luxury of absent-minded eatings while still maintaining proportional figure.

nevertheless, i'm proud to say that my car already hit 1000km mark today while i was on my way to mc ritchie reservoir, on my car's 23rd day.

i drove quite a distant. first from simei to braddel(my friend's place), then braddel to west coast(to visit haw par tiger balm park but turned out it was under construction. damn!), then to mc ritchie reservoir(no reason, it was on impulse), back to braddel(to get rid of my old tv inside my car bonnet to my friend's house), to tampines ikea(to check out newly opened giants, which was so crowded with people we eventually left the half full shopping cart behind those queueing customers at the cashiers, wasting my one dollar cart deposit), back to braddel(sent off my friend) and finally returned to simei.

not counting yesterday's quest, which went simei to yishun(to my friends' house), to ang mo kio(for karaoke), to east coast(for dinner), back to simei(my friend wanted to borrow some songs), to yishun(to send my friends off) before reaching back simei nearly 2am sunday morning.

i expect these could be a very good resume if i ever decide to become a taxi driver after retirement.

during brief stopover in mc ritchie, my first photos with my new car


the karaoke in ang mo kio k-box was fun, the 4 hours we were in there felt just like 40 minutes. ok we spent like an hour trying to figure how to search songs using the remote (call me old-fashioned but i beg to have the old song books system for browse through, which i think more user friendly), but after that was all quality singing and feel good time. by the end of the session when our souls returned to our bodies, we found out we were already standing on the sofas.

think about it, we didn't even need any sin-eraser pills.


...ed

i (who have nothing)

i forgot there'd be departmental meeting at 9am just now. i already had my breakfast, which was a waste considering they always have refreshments prepared. this morning we had tuna sandwich, that rolled-bread pastry thingy, which was quite nice, and of course coffee to keep everybody's awake. i must remember to put my hp ipaq alert more than 15 minutes before the next meeting.

as usual, the highlight of the meeting was the refreshments. mainly because i didn't bother to attend the technical presentations following the general update by our big boss. first, the topics presented were not related to my job scopes and second, i'd rather leave and work in the lab which would determine the amount of bonus money i'd get at the end of the quarter.

in fact, after sitting through almost an hour for the general update, you know, on how the company is doing, the market share percentages blah blah blah... i concluded that this should have been skipped too. i mean, what good could come from seeing Nand price consistent free-falling trend shown on the screen? it was so demoralizing, we might as well slack around attending meeting the whole morning instead of working our asses off. oh wait, we were already doing that!

well, almost anyway. normally we'd go for lunch at 11.30am so there was nothing much to do in between. i love lunch time because we get to eat like 5 minutes and then talk crap for half an hour, when we discuss about everything under the sun with work related stuff strictly prohibited. well, juicy gossips about our fellow colleagues are still heartily most welcomed though.

today's topics included about tv license, triggered by me after receiving notice of payment advice yesterday in my mailbox. should we or should we not pay, because it's so damn expensive. do you know they charge $110 per year for those crappy tv programs from which you watch heroes half a season late and bree still slim and not pregnant? i mean, even american idol is shown after it becomes old news considering reviews already written all over the net by the time it's on air.

talking about american idol, gosh i just love jordin sparks rendition of "i (who have nothing)" last night. what a dramatic number. how come they don't make that kind of songs nowadays? one that makes u wanna jump off the bridge and die? songs nowadays are so lame. who wants to hear how to spell 'glamourous' over and over again? or yodelling for that matter?

today after work we had our 2nd bowling league match. i did not playing this time but i promised i'd be there to support my teammates, and most importantly to join the practise game before the actual kick-off. however, when the clock striked 5.15pm just now i realized i have almost 2 hours before they'd meet at bowling alley to practise, and another hour before the match started. so what should i do? i drove back instead.

i'm sure they'd do fine without me. even if they don't, their opponent tonight was the team which thrashed all the way to victory with almost perfect 19-1 score last week, so tell me what can we expect this week? plus, i planned to go swimming now that i lost my daily power walk from my house to the train station to go to work after i got my car, and i just ate one hole stick of crunch ice-cream at tea break, not to mention double breakfast i had in the morning.

but it was raining when i reached home.in the end, i just laze around in front of tv watching sumo which i taped off nhk channel, and then american idol result. lame.

now i really do feel like jumping off a bridge.



...ed

top marks for not tryin'

when i take mrt, seems like everybody has their ears plugged with earphones. seriously, almost everybody. i expect even if you scream a vulgar word in the midle of the coach, it could be left unnoticed.

not that i blame them, because i do it too.

there's nothing much to do in within those lengthy ride. it's not like we can engange in a conversation with fellow commuters. in an asian country like this, even a friendly smile would be mistaken as ill-intention gesture.

and we cannot sleep too, because in case a heavily pregnant lady comes in and happen to stand in front of us, someone would take photo of us and post it in stomp.com.sg.

that was why when i was browsing through tebrau city mall with my friends last saturday, i found it very hard to resist the mp3 player that i saw. i'm proud to say i managed to refrain myself, until the next day when i ended up buying in tampines best denki.

the outings in jb was fun. actually the sole reason was to attend our friend's engangement ceremony in her house in permas jaya shortly after noon. ok actually quite a lengthy after noon we almost afraid the groom might not come, we were about to start stone-paper-scissors to select the replacement.

i just wish someone would tell me what an engangement ceremony was all about, so i wouldn't have missed taking the ring giving photos. how should i know, i'm sure even in my previous life i've never been through an engangement ceremony before. plus, the living room was so full with female relatives i felt like they were invading the world.

my poor friend was all red and steam, which fully pardonable considering i have just ruined the most important day of her life. ok she did not explode, but next time i must remember to ask for details whenever anybody requested my expertise to take their function photos. i should really start treating this task like a pro.

other than that unfortunate glitch, everything else was a blast, we already made plans for next outings while chatting after dinner at that steamboat restaurant in tebrau city 3rd floor. i'm dying for a karaoke session, i don't even remember when i had my last one. god knows i have plenty of practise from motor-mouthing since i got my car.

the only outings i'm sure not to put my foot in, is the ADLians reunion gathering. i kept on receiving their mails regarding the matter in between analysing failed parts in the lab today.

the problem with these people, who are my fellow hostel friends when i was in high school in kl, is that they keep on pointing fingers to find gathering organizers. in the end, nothing happens. so this is a very rare occasion that someone actually suggested something. i would go and buy 4D today if it was not prohibited.

anyway, i'm not going. first, they plan to do it in cherating. shoot me but i don't even know where that is. second, we were not close anyway. it's a long story but let's just say all of us were too immature then to appreciate each others' presence.

and lastly, the fact that it was a family day gathering. i mean, they expect ppl to buy colouring books as a present for their kids' games. colouring books! it's the last thing in my shopping list, it's almost taboo.

whose kids use colouring books nowadays anyway, or those join-the-dots craps. they hear to fall out boys.

just look in the mrt.



...ed

i dream of blogging

i was reading newspaper during my usual after-lunch-before-1pm hang-out routine when i spotted this news about this sleeping pill drugs in the united states that could cause some weird behaviours including eating and driving while sleeping.

get this. they said some even went to bed and woke up after being arrested by the roadside in their underwears or night dress.

haha that's hillarious. we so can use this reason whenever we have the urge to drive in our undergarments.

some said they found chocolate wrappers all around their bedside in the morning. some even said to have gained 50kg from all those mysterious midnight snacks.

ok this sucks. if you're willing to forego food restrictions and let your body expands to all its natural courses, the least you can do is enjoy the eating.

but you know what, i'd love to get hold of this sleeping pills. i mean, imagine i can drive to work, have breakfast in the cafeteria, and then wake up from sleep.

wouldn't it be cool? such an efficient way to get ample sleeptime without even being late to work.

and i bet since we already could eat and drive inconciously, what's there stopping us to actually do other things while sleeping?

like working. i wish we could even finish our work and then wake up just in time to go back and enjoy the remaining of the day.

ok that sounds too far fetched, but i don't mind getting a bit of a sleep time now. i'm at work and i'm all droopy. like my goldfish at the bottom of the tank when all its fins dropped lazily whenever i turned on the light in the morning.

just now during the meeting, i felt so numb i just sat there in the meeting room looking like i've just swallowed a sock.

it's all because of last night. we had our first leg of bowling league competition at planet bowl balestier after work, so i reached home late.

and what's worse, it's not even worth these eyebags. i was beaten by my opponent. ok scratch that, i was beaten by myself.

i mean, i'm pretty sure i bowl better than 118 and 120 points that i only managed to get. but whenever my opponent misses a shot, i tend to miss mine too because i felt underpressure to perform well. whenever he strikes or spares, i still miss because then i'd be overpressured.

seriously i don't see the benefit of all those practises i went through before this match, cause what i'll need is probably phsycological therapy session or something.

or some sleeping pill drugs with one of the side effects 'bowling while sleeping'.

my parents have already returned to kl after spending few days here in singapore. this time i made sure no taxi driver lecturing them on having to take cab from bus terminal to my house despite having a son living in a condo. somehow having a condo without a car is an apparent sin to him.

well ok i don't know what kind of new age religion is that but i'm so passed that stage now. i even drove my parents to east coast park for dinner one night.

personally i don't think the food there is any nicer than anywhere else, but it's always nice to eat by the seaside. nevermind that the night was so dark that what we could see beyond the eateries were black medium with distant lights from the ships.

now that i have all my bed to myself again, i don't wish to have any sleeping pills to get me to sleep anymore like when my small brother was sleeping with me during their stay. i mean, he seemed to move more when he sleeps than when he is awake.

thinking about it, i must check if he's on any pills or not.


...ed

born for speed

i was still asleep last saturday morning when my mobile alerted sms coming. normally i just ignored and returned to dreamland, owing to the fact that my hp ipaq is not intelligent enough to keep on ringing every few minutes irritatingly until i read the message, unlike my previous samsung E720.

but today, i opened my eyelids a fraction just enough to see the letters and read. here was the message.

"Gd morning eddie gd news, ur car regn no. SGS XXXX Z. R u working today, possible to arrange delivery today, let me know wat time u free to collect.Tq"

my car has finally arrived! finally something to fill into otherwise another uneventful weekend. ok, i was supposed to attend this colleague's house warming party in hougang later that day, but to be frank it's not something that make me jump on the bed.

so i got my car. my first car. the feeling was just like when i got my house. i felt so successful. coz let's face it; a car is a luxury in singapore. but i figured life is short so i may as well enjoy it while i could.

plus i learned that if the money is not meant to be yours, it won't be yours so why bother savings excessively? like today during lunch my colleague told me if i had purchased the car from carcity, i would have got $3800 rebate due to COE drop. the rebate i got from Tan Chong motors in Ubi? a mere $300.

but i'm not disappointed, or feel like burning the car showroom. i'm sure that $3500 was never meant to be mine in the first place. i read about this girl who got her new car and bought 4D using her plate numbers. she striked $400 but a week later she got into an accident and had to pay $400 for repair.

everything happened for a reason. just ask jennifer hudson. or those that watch LOST.

and the timing was just perfect. my parents are going to visit me this coming weekend, so i can ferry them around with my car. they are going to stay at my house for 5 days, and this time i want to make sure nobody's going to push me out of my own bedroom.

also i already managed to get a taste of singapore road driving last tuesday. ok not exactly roads, but circuit driving at jurong go-kart tracks. it was part of team building event organized by our department. this is the advantage of forcing those new young engineers into the committee; you got all these hip, cool and interesting events. i mean, who needs another family day?

me in front of the race.. haha eat my wind suckers!!!

gosh i love go-kart racing. i almost felt that i was born for speed. maybe after i retire i can consider giving that alex yong some competition in local arena. only i'm not so sure they will allow you to drive in such an old age. which i don't understand. i mean, the only energy you need is to press the accelerator right? unless they're afraid you'll get heart attack while driving or something.

speaking of heart attack, it was fun seeing other ppl almost get one. remember my friends that just landed a job here recently? they moved out of my house by the way, found quite a nice place in yishun. i organized a trip to downtown east with them, together with another friend who flew all the way from bangkok just for the weekend to join our little reunion (we were university's buddies).

you know i've never noticed this place despite living so near to it. i saw the entrance everytime i passed by, but how could i know they have those cool rides that will turn you 360 degrees in every directions by looking at that bland signboard?

i just love theme parks. but apparently some ppl are allergic to it. like this friend of mine. i mean, what's so scary about sitting in a pirate ship that swings up and down? it's just like sitting on a giant baby swing. you see even babies are fine with it.

but this friend became red hot on the face with tears running out of his eyes. so i literally dragged him to ride this.., well i don't know what it is called, but you sit on this pair of seats, being strapped in, then this thing will spin around, which later at full speed your seat will sway like crazy. he made me promise that i wouldn't further shake the seat, which i did. but later i did shake it vigorously to force a complete 360 degrees turn up and down in addition to left and right turn. hahaha boy that was fun.



that spinning ride that makes you go ooohh me(behind) with my friend from bangkok

today i'll have the 2nd tennis lesson in tampines safra. now mondays are not as dull and dreadful as it were. it's worth waking up in the morning realizing it's monday, then thinking about tennis game after work. it cheers me up.

to be perfectly honest, even the fact that i can drive there does it to me too.


...ed