Never Use Brains

I'm highly annoyed by a work associate.

He told me he wanted Item A. I asked him specifically how and what. Satisfied that we were on the same page, I gave him the requested Item A.

Then he came back to say it was actually Item A + 2. Alright. I wasn't in the office. So I had to ask someone else to give him that Item A + 2.

When I combed through the emails today in bed and got to his, I nearly had a fit that would have seen the laptop fly out of the window.

In the end, his design people clarified that it's actually Item C that's needed. Item C is damn far away from Item A lor. It is effectively not the same thing at all. If he could have told me that from the onset, it would have saved 4 working days and 5 needless emails. Not to mention turning 1 strand of (my) hair white.

The good thing is, my team has sorted it out and kinda scolded him. I don't exactly have to say anything. I can just growl at him at home, laugh about it, go out to dinner and forget it. However, I shudder to think how communications work in his office.

Dude, you must be a first class idiot.

About Dementia

It's been a really long time since I paid only S$11 for a ticket to the theatre.

Attending anything held at the Jubilee Hall is really quite nostalgic. I remember going there all the time as a school kid. But of course, as more glamorous theatre venues sprouted, Jubilee Hall has been all but forgotten. A rather apt location somewhat for this particular play.

The Necessary Stage's "Don't Forget To Remember Me" is surprisingly good. It's got a strong cast. Human emotions abound. Very evocative.

On The Wii

As very properly advised by M, we went to this little shop at United Square to grab the proper zombie games for the Wii. You get to pick 3 games for S$165.

We don't have any interest in the stock games. We really really want to shoot zombies only. Retro basic games are good.

We bought a couple of shooting games. But the prize is The House of The Dead: Overkill.

I love shooting zombies with shotguns. Not random shots, mind you. Head shots to kill and earn cash to buy better weapons and unlock more song tracks!! Woots. I've found another way to work out the biceps now. HAHAHAH. But the language is horribly vulgar. They have this intense urge to use the F-word at every opportunity. Ugh. Not very clever the script is.

We switched the plasma screen to game mode and spent a good 4 hours burning up the screen. We ignore the xbox at home. We ignore the surround speakers till we want to watch music videos. We've also largely ignored the 60-inch plasma tv. Now, we truly appreciate it.

There is no way that the man will get Guitar Hero on the Wii or any how for that matter. It's like how I have no use for Wii Fit. We rather do the real thing so as not to disrupt my sense of balance and his already nimble fingers. I used to play virtual 8-ball and virtual golf. The virtual games shifted my sense of alignment and threw the acute sharpness I have. For a good week after, I had horrible games on the table and the course. It took me another week to get it all back. I swore never to play these stuff on the virtual front anymore.

So yes, I'll stick to killing zombies. The chance of having to actually shoot a zombie in real life is very very very very very remote.

The Man's 34th

We decided to throw a birthday party for the man and have all the friends come together for a night.

Naturally, the man created a playlist, plugged in the ipod at the bar's stereo system and put it random. It was a night of good whisky, laughter and conversation.

Of course the Bowmore 15 y.o flowed freely. Along with that, we had plates after plates of tasty Tiong Bahru roast meats, wood-fired Pontini pizzas and the bar's very own bulgogi beef on lettuce.

The good people at Quaich bar generously provided truckloads of air-flown live and plump Canadian oysters for us. As if freshly shucked oysters weren't enough, they also prepped oyster shooters with Bowmore 12 y.o as a treat.

The man sorted out the invitations on fb. So yours truly, the fb dinosaur, wasn't privy to the attendance list except for a vague reference to about 25 people. For a while, I was afraid I over-ordered on food and bottles of alcohol. But when the friends streamed in at 9.30pm, it was all sorted. We probably had a good party going of 50 or so in total. Even though the friends ate a fair bit, there was a continuous line of food till midnight!

We're so glad that so many people came. We're happy that they enjoyed the single malts. The best part, the man wasn't drunk. He was completely sober when I whisked him home at 1am.

We love you guys.

Another PRS!

The close friends read the man's mind and got him a beautiful PRS SE Custom Semi-Hollow. Had awesome makan and drinks with the friends when they sprung the surprise on him. The man had no idea! He was overjoyed.

The moment we got home, no matter than it was already 1am and he would be having an early day at the office, he rushed into the music room to set up the new toy to check it out. I thought it to have a beautiful tone. But I think he'd need to change the strings to something else. It sounded a little thin.

He's totally in love with his new toy. The grain on the guitar is really unique. What can I say? He really loves guitars!

Leaving The City In A Jiffy

I'm not at all wistful to leave the city. The work is done and it's time to leave. There is nothing for me here. All my friends who were here have left for less polluted cities. I've never liked this grey and eeky Jakarta. I still don't. I prefer chic Yogyakarta and the quiet beauty of Banten and Bali; the breathtaking Lombok and Manado.

I'd have liked to go shopping for batik though. They've beautiful items. Too bad there isn't enough time for any sort of leisure.

Ah... time. Time is like a bad word in this city. To depart from the hotel at 6.30am for a 10.20am flight (when we've already checked in online) is just ridiculous. Our hotel is only 1 hour away from the airport. We're in a city, not out in the boondocks. I guess that's how bad the traffic jams can be. Thank goodness we managed to get bumped up to a 9.20am flight instead.

And the configuration of toilets at the airport befuddles me. Do you share the sentiment? There are toilets along the road outside of the airline check-in rows. After checking in, there are shops and cafes aplenty, and Starbucks. Heeeee. But there is NOT a single toilet. The only toilets available are at the departure lounge where you just sit and wait for the plane doors to open. Finally we found one spacious dirty toilet (1 cubicle) at the surau and within the depressing nursing room at the corridor of shops. I had to use that.

When I travel, my 2 biggest hang-ups are to have a constant supply of drinking water and the availability of toilets. So if you've got a small bladder like me, at Jakarta international airport, for pete's sake, pee outside before you walk through the customs.

Staying Awake

"Why doesn't the fellow who says, "I'm no speechmaker," let it go at that instead of giving a demonstration?"

~Kin Hubbard

Perk-Me-Ups

The hospitality laid out for us has been excellent. I think this is something lacking in our corporate hospitality. We're very utilitarian that way. It's not exactly being thrifty, even. We watch our budgets charily- many bells and whistles are done away with. Protocol is usually pared down to the minimum necessary. But of course protocol is still accorded whenever appropriate. It's the warmth and the geniality that we lack.

Yet I fear that if we overdo the courtesy, we'll be taken advantage of. If we maintain a distance, we'll be accused of arrogance. Same thing: person to person, people to people, firm to firm; nation to nation. Tip-toeing around Protocol is no fun.

In the usual Asian fashion, our hosts make we are well fed and watered.

The kueh is a little heavy on the sugar. Quite a few pots of tea are sweet. The Indonesians must really have a sweet tooth. I like the fruit. But I didn't eat any. Too lazy to peel them lah. :p

Green Chilli Sambal

No, ice, I didn't manage to have sambal lado mudo. :(

I had sambal ijo. Only that I learnt it from the colleague as belado hijau. It was nice with nasi goreng. But I'm not big on rice. Instead, I piled my plate high with kroepoek. I ignored everything else on the dinner table and attacked only the crispy kroepoek dipped in green sambal. I ate so much till it was virtually a meal all by itself.

It was so decadent but absolutely satisfying. There, my type of junk food.

Red Chilli Sambal

You know I don't bother about breakfast unless there are hash browns out there.

And there are hash browns at the average breakfast spread!! Not beautifully deep fried, but hey, it's potatoes.

All hash browns taste awesome with sambal. I don't want the mousey garlic chilli sauce in a bottle. I want homemade sambal. They go great with potatoes.

So for this sambal badjak, I lapped it all up- till I realized I was eating the hash browns just so I could have more sambal.

By small amounts, it wasn't too spicy. But I had so much of it. So I gulped glass after glass of water just to soothe the throat.

The Usual Traffic Jams

A full day of rain in this city can only mean terrible congestion on the roads during the evening peak hour. In this city, there is nothing welcoming or romantic about the rain. It is grey and downright depressing.

There is nothing pleasurable about sitting in the 15-seater bus inching along the roads. It's torturous for both driver and passengers. A normal 30-minute ride turned into a 2-hour lower-back-burning bad trip. (pun intended for those who know that feeling). Those fumes were overwhelming and induced a smog to hang low over the city.

The infamous traffic jams in Jakarta haven't changed in 10 years. And definitely worsened in the last 2.5 years. Humans are still packed like sardines in public buses. If that isn't enough, they're hanging perilously out of the doors now.

The city's gearing up for elections. I hope someone cares enough to look into the urban planning of the town centre at the least, instead of just shrugging it off as a way of life. For a people so outspoken, I hope they'll speak out against the threat to their health. I still can't accept that traffic jams in Jakarta have become the way of life and are often excuses for every single issue.

The Talking

We've gone back and forth carefully in a diplomatic ping-pong.

I've learnt much today. It's slightly different from the polished corporate tango my elders exposed me to when I was a young girl. I've sat at tables negotiating prices, contracts, terms and conditions within another industry. I'm very familiar with the intricacies of opening offers, subsequent offers, concessions, resolution and emotional closure. The elders have guided me soundly.

Today's meeting opened my eyes to a distinctive sort of negotiation. The sort of leverage and rapport required at this meeting are key highlights. The manner these 2 points are delivered are the furthest from all that I know. Still, I drew on whatever that has been imbued as young child- the first rule of negotiation- 'Never offer what I'm not prepared to commit.' A mentor once told me- "You're not a shark. Don't bother to feign. Just be a dolphin." I was rather insulted then. I always thought I'd survive the corporate game. I guess he knew better than a conceited 16 yr-old.

So today, quietly I watched and took in the new processes. Impatience has always been my greatest flaw. I'm reminded that I've to stem those rising feelings and retain that air of clarity. This industry and that, I must endeavor to link all I have learnt to gain the most balanced of acumen and not blow the end game.

You Try Eating A Deflated Balloon

Everytime I go through our local news, I never fail to burst a vein in angry reaction to something. At the rate I go on, I will probably need anger management classes very soon.

Like now, I nearly choked and fell out of my chair when I read about some merry people releasing 1000 balloons into the air.

You cannot imagine how loudly I swore. I'm glad I'm also not the only moron getting all flustered about it. I don't care what the hell humans are celebrating- but releasing balloons into the air is a huge no no. And especially NOT over and across the sea. NOT into the sea. There are 50-50 arguments for and against balloons affecting marine life. I stand on the side of 'against balloons'. Latex balloons per se are biodegradeable. But not if it comes with strings attached. (pun fully intended.)

The organizers prove that they don't think of the environment when they hold mega events like that. And I wondered if any couple rejected to let fly their balloon.

In the celebration of a union (non-legal) with my partner, I do not expect it to be just about us. It is also about what we can do for our environment, for our friends, for our world. If the man had no space in his mind and heart for a larger world, then I would have dropped him like a hot potato.

And yes, I wrote a note to Marriage Central to tell them rather politely what I think of their strategic planning skills that obviously did not show much of consideration for the environment. And if they reply at all, I know they'll bring out the 'okay to release balloons' articles and arguments to highlight in an official distant letter.

And so continues the eternal battle about what exactly harms the environment.

No N.E.R.D

I missed both the N.E.R.D gigs during Mosaic in Singapore (because the group switched dates and time and I couldn't make the new slots) and Jakarta (no thanks to human fault). Grrrrrrrrrr.

So I could only watch it on youtube.

It is interesting to note that both N.E.R.D and Of Montreal covered Franz Ferdinand's "Take Me Out". Why ah? Really so nice meh? I suppose it is a dance-y sort of song.

A Good Morning Stretch

The girlfriend is doing an instructor course in yoga. So she gathered some of the friends to make up a class. She has to lead the class to pass each stage in the course.

I'm not into yoga. Well, in spite of all the gymnastics grounding, I can never do the crane or the headstand. I'm more for pilates. I've tried both years back and have given my heart to pilates. I prefer the technicality of it. I like the machines. But since the girlfriend asked, I thought I'd just hop along to the class to lend her moral support.

I like the outdoor venue. Too many venues are housed in air-conditioning. Eeeek.

She put us through the paces. It was a light one though. So I focused on perfecting the poses, the angles and getting my boobs out of the way. Then I lengthened some of counts for a deeper stretch till I trembled.

Of course I fell asleep at the final corpse. Like a deep snooze till I had to be prodded awake. Heeeeee.

Down-Tempo

Tonight, we chilled out to the soundscapes of The Cinematic Orchestra.

I eyed the striking Fender Rhodes. Nick Ramm did it total justice.

Yes, Jason Swinscoe was really deft on the turntable. All those backing vocals were spun through his improvisation. However, I'm a little biased. I think Battles set the yardstick for electronic wizardry.

At the end of it, I thought the show was a little underwhelming. Perhaps I didn't understand nu-jazz. But in the packed concert hall, there were a thousand who obviously did. Every Day is my favorite album. What I heard tonight couldn't recreate the magic I feel for it.

For me, the highlight of the evening was Reverend Grey's acoustic piece. That took away some of the disappointment.

The Front Crawl

I was out of breath after 10 laps of front crawl. Then when I paused to catch my breath, I scowled at the other swimmer in the pool.

His front crawl was amazingly powerful. He was really fast. Like a shark. He took like 35 seconds to do 50m. His flip turns were so precise that it only took no more than 2 seconds. Even when he slowed by the 8th lap, he was still doing it at 45 seconds per lap. He must have been a competitive swimmer.

I couldn't help but gawk. I finished up another 10 laps on the frog and left. He was still streaking through the waters.

I'm not sure if he is inspiring or demoralizing. Heh. Meanwhile, I'll just crawl along. Maybe I should just push myself a little more to get the most out of the session. Frogging it for 20 laps doesn't quite build the muscles. I've learnt that the front crawl gives me aching arms and builds pretty muscles. I like.

Japanese Tomatoes

I love the cold sweetness of the fruit. It is a really refreshing appetizer to begin a meal with.

I've come to realize that when I dine at Japanese restaurants, I'm not fond of tempura, kushiage, robatayaki. I can do a teeny amount of steamed items. But my preference is rather strictly sashimi and sushi. These are my favorite sort of food ever.

A cold starter, a sushi platter and a hot soup to end off the meal. That to me, is an absolute comfort after a brain-draining work day.

Battles

15 years ago, this band wouldn't even exist. There wouldn't be the technology or audience sophistry to support and appreciate this band. 6 years ago, no one in Singapore would even bother paying S$81 for the stalls to watch them.

As far as original music goes, Battles is as experimental as one can get. Their live voice samples are really cool. They use so much of the delay and looper that I could easily recognize which is what.

The man was most enamored with the band. He thought them most innovative. Lucky him caught them live at SXSW too. He was so so interested in their gear. Like the Echoplex.

Die lah. After all that education by the man, I didn't completely understand the electronic sounds of Battles. I understood the rhythm and the drums. But I didn't take to the melody. Sadly, I only recognize 2 pieces- Tonto and Atlas.

Thank goodness everyone stood up and bobbed to the almost hypnotic beats for that full hour.

Teeming With Life

I wish that it isn't mid-week so soon. It means that Mosaic 2009 is coming to an end. I'd love to have our arts scene so vibrant every other month! Today, the weather was sizzling hot and wonderful. Blue skies abound. There wasn't even a cloud in sight. It was too hot for alcohol before the sun set. So I had a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice.

Headliner act Brian McKnight was a little too smooth for me. He didn't have that indie edge I was looking out for. Maybe I'm just not into ballads. I nearly fell asleep. In the background, The Sexies were sounding really powerful at the Outdoor Theatre. I've heard Typewriter the other evening. Tonight, along with other ASEAN and Korean bands, Nuance and Couple held court at the Concourse with their easy-listening pieces.

It's a heady feeling to be surrounded by so much music. All the diverse genres are just so striking and stir up different emotions within. The week has been filled with wonderful music at all the spaces at Esplanade.

Arabic Perfume

We were absolutely intrigued by the contents of the many heavy wooden boxes.

The scent was overpowering.

Our client had given us Arabic perfume in the unmistakable smells and pieces of both oud and bukhoor.

It was all so exotic. But none of us really knew what to do with it. Our Arabic colleagues don't use these in their homes either. I have a medhan at home that hasn't been used. I wouldn't mind trying out the oud. But I wasn't too taken with the particular scent.

So the wooden boxes were carted away to storage, till someone knew where to send it to. Or have another appreciate the scents before the oils dry up.

Waste My Money (Not Really Mine Though)

If I pay someone S$1800 to do a 1 hour corporate presentation on a specific topic, I will not dispute his expertise. However, I expect him be a decent presenter and deliver sterling insights.

Instead, they sent me an engineer who couldn't even speak proper English. He talked to the floor the whole time. I had to step in to facilitate the session and cover for his utter lack of situational awareness that his information was too technical and bored everyone to tears. That was completely opposite to my initial instructions. This engineer (true to his job stereotype) couldn't relate his content knowledge back to the topic of discussion at all.

S$1800 leh! You might as well pay me or any other colleague in the office?! We could have done the research and delivered the session way better than this speaker ever could.

My (international) audience said, "He isn't very good. You guys are always efficient, to the point and speak well. Are you sure he's Singaporean?"

I could only cringe.

I silently bit my tongue, "You don't know that our personality types are divided by job categories of lawyers, doctors and engineers. All others are civil servants and teachers. The fun ones are creatives."

In The Shape Of Haman's Hat (or Ear)!

My hat it has three corners.
Three corners has my hat.
And had it not three corners,
It wouldn't be my hat.

I'm in love with hamantaschen.

Full of dates, raisins, dried figs and pecan, the filling is just lovely. They tell me Purim has arrived. Prune or poppy seed. New-age style using apricot perhaps. Whatever. I think I'd love prune. It's the sweetness of it that is so memorable.

I can't bake, so I'll just shamelessly holler, Dawnie, make me this one this one this one please! I saw a recipe which seems cool. But I'm sure you can immediately discern the good ones floating out there!

All That Jazz

This weekend has been filled with fantastic jazz. Tonight has been just awesome. There was the Brad Mehldau Trio. Brilliant easy listening hits, the trio were totally fascinating. I almost wished Pat Metheny was present too. He was unforgettable in the 2006 gig.

Then we rushed to the somewhat bizarre but grooving-inducing Of Montreal. The venue was set up to a club atmosphere. Very cool. We wished that more clubs would have this sort of band and music rather than the commercial crap that is so prevalent. Courtesy of Heineken, we had free-flowing beer. Yours truly was dosed full of flu medication. So I stuck to Fiji water.

After a quicker than fast bite at Barossa (the pasta came within 10 minutes of our order), we skipped into the hall with Mike Stern and the Yellowjackets. The boys were naturally excited. Earlier in the week, they had a masterclass with Mike Stern himself. The man even managed a one-on-one session. WOOTS. It was just a little unnerving that the audience only stood up for a standing ovation at the end and sat down when the band came back for the encore. I was soooo disappointed that they didn't stand up for the encore piece. Unlike the indie crowd, this audience was really alot more subdued.

Spanning 2 weekends, we're going to be treated to a feast for the senses. I love it that my evenings are going to be richly filled with music. I'm not going to have much time running to the concert venues from the office. Oh well, the Mosaic music festival is the one thing that can make me happily skip dinner in favor of quick sandwiches.

The Show Sucks

Call it being nosy or whatever. Morbid curiosity. Or just so that I'm in tune with what the aunties in the office are be talking about. I should at least try to remember who's an actor or a so called local tv celebrity right? As much as it churns my stomach, I watch TCS 8 at times.

There is a current tv show titled "煮妇的假期" ("Housewives' Holiday"). I watched a grand total of 3 sporadic episodes, read the synopsis in between. I also learnt how it would end as a happy family. And I wanted to just throw something at the 3 lead characters. This tv programme is my definition of a horror show.

If this is the show to symbolize the traditional Singapore woman, then I'm afraid I want to strangle the 3 leads. The actors are good. So convincing till they're irritating. The script writer has got to be exaggerating. How can there be such petty conversation and concerns within a film???!

I'm sorry, but the topics of interest in the show seemed to be just so self-centred. There is no greater concern for anything else beyond the neighborhood. Surely, our women aren't generally like what the show portrays!

And sadly, such is the life of school-going children in Singapore where the ultimate goal is the number of As on the final year report card.

The worst- the male characters in the show are all wimps. The males are all portrayed to be almost chauvinistic and cavalier beings after marriage.

No wonder the aunties (young and old) in the office insist that men (and the relationship) are different before and after marriage. I do not subscribe to that thought. It isn't so, and it musn't be so.

Maybe the show has its merit. But I'm sure as hell not a fan.

Is it just me?

Cooking The Butterball!

A turkey was to be roasted for dinner. Between trawling the net and checking emails, I thought I'd give my eyes a break and help out with the turkey.

The man's mom wok-fried the liver and readied the stuffing. The helper scurried about checking on stuff and grabbing the meat thermometer. Basically the both of them had sorted out everything. There was nothing much I could do! (Not that I knew what to do anyway!) Hahah. I was more useful taking photos than actually helping with the prep.

To save my self-esteem, I decided to go double up as a dishwasher. That was actually very productive.

Did You Catch This Play?

We strangely thought we had booked tickets to Sleepless Town. But we didn't. We couldn't make the dates on the complimentary tickets either.

During the course of the week, many of the friends had watched it. So we asked around to see how the show was and if we could die-die shift schedules to catch it one evening.

All concurred that the singing was really quite good. Some said that at 2 hrs 15 min, the show was too long. Many weren't comfortable with the explicit scenes. Especially the one of a 12-yr old girl raped by her stepfather. Alot took issue with that scene being portrayed on stage, with a neon stick, no less. Many also left at intermission. I couldn't comment because I haven't seen it. I can't comment if that scene to me, was well done or shoddily put together.

Explicit? Really? If these friends squirmed, what would the rest of the humans do?

Given the director's credentials, the friends were surprised that the script wasn't as tight as it should be. There were many different themes going on in the show and they were just a little overwhelming for the audience to absorb.

The show ends on 14 March. 1 more week. I'm almost curious to get a ticket just to be able to personally validate the 'bad' of the show. We'll see.

Women Are Their Own Greatest Enemy

Remind me again the thousand and one things that I hate about women.

If one woman can publicly and repeatedly remark to another that she wouldn't want an unmarried female as a boss, I think that's the greatest irony in the world.

When you climb to the top of the corporate ladder, you are judged by the virtue of your marital status?

It is as shallow as me saying, "I wouldn't want a (fat) married woman as my boss."

Her comment is so superficial till it doesn't even consider competencies and life passions within. Among other things, I can't quite reconcile her lofty position with her narrow-mindedness. She is the perfect stereotype. Anyway, she really should exercise before her legs buckle under her mighty girth.

That's what I call a bloody joke.

That is one woman I find distasteful. I respect that values she hold. Yet she goes against everything I stand for.

I have found many crude and crass, but not as distasteful as this one who liberally throws religion behind every phrase she utters. I wish she doesn't talk so much or tell so many she-thinks-are-entertaining stories that many of us aren't quite interested in. It doesn't endear her to me. It turns me off. Everything is from her experience and her point of view. These views have no space for alternative opinions or voices.

I want to keep my distance. May I not cross paths with her.

Ah. Somebody mentioned that she wears a big diamond ring. It's probably not too fake. I've seen the ring. I just can't recall how many carats it is.

Oh well. I just have to make sure that mine's bigger than hers. ;p Tell me you hate women too.

Watched The Watchmen

15 years in the making. Watchmen, The Movie.

Finally on the big screen.

The story of the Watchmen is really what got me interested in world politics as a young girl. I wasn't into the superhero thing. It opened my eyes to a world that's bigger than I am out there. It woke my awareness of people doing things that they felt they ought to do- doing what's right versus doing the right thing.

To condense 12 issues into 160 minutes is a huge challenge. No director wanted to touch the making-of-the-movie with a 10-foot pole. Till Zack Snyder decided that it had to be done.

*possible spoilers ahead*

I'm not going to give anything away. I wouldn't say the movie adhered closely to the comic series. There are discrepancies (big and small) that fans will spot straightaway. I love those gory scenes. I love that the movie featured the original Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah. I love it that the finale song was a Bob Dylan cover Desolation Row by My Chemical Romance.

I can only say that the movie isn't disappointing. It's pretty good.

Oh, don't bother staying on till the end credits finish rolling. There ain't lollipops handed out at the end.

So Fun This Train Ride

When I got on the train at Ang Mo Kio this evening, it wasn't crowded. But it wasn't empty either. I sat next to this guy at the corner.

He was wide awake when I sat down. When the train moved out of the station, he was seemingly nodding off to sleep. In a matter of seconds. Right.

I narrowed my eyes at him. Never mind. I focused on my book. Then his stupid shoulders also nodded towards me, bumping my shoulder with every big and tiny jolt of the train.

So damn obvious can. I shut my book and waited.

When the train left Novena station, his head drooped closer to my shoulder. I took a deep breath to last at least 30 seconds, pitched the yell at the highest and piercingly aimed it into his ear.

He literally leapt out of his seat and ran to the other corner while hollering "你神精病!!" He disappeared into the cabins beyond.

I laughed out loud and glanced around. The woman on my other side also got up promptly and went off to the next cabin. The entire cabin of about 18 other people looked really stunned. Well, whatever. Nobody said anything and everyone avoided eye contact with me.

Not funny meh?

Wahahahahahahhaha. Priceless, I tell you. I had this idiotic grin plastered on my face all the way home.

What's A Printer To You?

In the ladies' toilet, I overheard something that bothered me greatly.

Two colleagues were talking about how they prefer not to buy printers for home use. Instead, they do all their printing in the office. And not just their personal stuff. In a public toilet, they freely shared that they used the office copiers to churn out assessment books, print research pages and stuff for their children, husband, sisters, brothers, other relatives even. The tone was so sanctimonious.

I have done the occasional printing of air-tickets for personal vacations and stuff like that. We all do that. But I don't print my son's entire 100-page thesis or the pre-school's annual 50-page syllabus in full color. Let's not go into taking the reams of 80g A4 paper home for those who own printers.

(I'm still digesting the fact that many don't own printers at home. I mean, a printer is so convenient, yes?)

I know this sort of behavior is common. But from the conversation I overheard, that would be considered a blatant and wilful mis-use of office property isn't it? Or rather, since when is it okay to just use office property at will?

It's none of my business to tattle. I'm not going to do that. The conversation simply set me thinking. It's so reflective of human nature. It says so much about their characters. Glad I don't work with these two that often.

The Sunday Dinner

The evening's menu was pumpkin risotto with crispy sage.

By any standards, risotto is a rather tedious dish to make. One has to dedicate the full 20 minutes to stir and cook instead of leaving the pot alone to simmer.

Once the pumpkin was roasted, I decided to make myself useful and helped to stir the stock into risotto.

As usual, one could use either vegetable or chicken stock for the risotto. We decided to go with chicken tonight. The man tried a store-bought organic chicken stock. The broth turned out light and tasty.

Once the risotto was done, the man added the finishing touches. He dried out the sage till crisp and fried the pine nuts.

Voilà! A splendiferous dinner.

Out Of The Blue A Portent

When we heard that the Merlion statue got struck by lightning, we stifled some giggles. Once we verified that no one got hurt, we couldn't stop chortling.

I'm sorry! But it is kinda morbidly funny. I cannot tell you what we said. I believe it could be twisted to be counted as seditious by humans without a healthy sense of humor. We figure the soothsayers are going into apoplexy right about now with omens and visions.

Well. One associates the Merlion with Singapore. It is representative of Singapore. And, a certain political party's logo is of a lightning bolt. Against the backdrop of financial gloom, our darling ugly emblem of a Merlion has been struck by lightning for the first time ever.

This cannot be good news. What think you?