Kuala Lumpur

20 years since i've been to KL and though things have improved somewhat, it still isnt a city i'd come again if i had a choice.

Nothing much to buy, food is supposedly good but i like the food in Singapore anyway, service is bad, the ple are rude (I thought singaporeans were rude at the MRT but gosh...)

by the first day i was here, i already tried the KL Express, the train, the LRT and the taxi. I thought the train design was kinda silly... the door was like half the size of the S'pore MRT.. which is still ok if everyone didnt want to squeeze in at the same time that ple were coming out.. and ple were standing near the door.. which was very very narrow.. its design is like those real trains u know.. with carriages one.. which means the part near the door was damn cramped to start with...

im too lazy to say much.. will jus add the pics..

here's my rm..









i went the midvalley megamall.. huge mall.. very crowded.

then i went to KLCC.. even bigger!! took some pics..







i was pleasently surprised to find the Mandarin Oriental beside KLCC.. supposed to check it out tmr cos my boss said it's the best performing hotel in kl.. but since im here.. and im hungry..

i went to the chinese restaurant and found that EVERYONE was ordering peking duck..





i also wanted to order but even half a duck is too much for one person..

so it's jus fried rice for moi..not nice to eat at all.. fried rice cost RM21 and the bloody honeydew juice cost RM17.. siao bo?

Looking for Foodies

I think im on a roll here...blogging and blogging..

I think im jus procrastinating from doing work la.. sianz..

In any case, I have this voucher for a very nice dim sum place in Raffles Place.. Teahouse.. very nice, quite ex really.. But but but.. not when i have this voucher..

here's the menu..



and here's the voucher..4 persons and 1 person free.. which means it'd be 3/4 of the price.. S$28+++ quite cheap la.. cos the last time i went i ate S$50 for 2 persons.. and i wasnt even full... i like the fact that i can use it on weekends and dinner some more.. partly cos raffles place is a ghost town on weekend nights.



the downer is that it's expiring soon.. so my fans.. go form a party of 3 and we'll go.. before 31 March.

iPod Remote

After a long wait by iPod fans worldwide, Apple has finally decided to release a AM/FM tuner after Steve Jobs once famously said that iPod users have no time to listen to the radio..

The iPod remote... oh what the heck, here're the pics..

The remote is presented in a inflattering box..



Opening the box was a big pain in the ass... i wonder why do these ple do it this way... *shake head*



the object of many desires.. the iPod lemote



Close up shot..nice silver clip



an extra pair of earphones which no bona fide audiophile would use anyway..



Now to test the set..

but hey, i realised i left my iPod in the office... muhahhahahahahah... end of review then...

Celebrations

To celebrate my review, I decided to go to find my tailor.. muahahaha.. he's my source of solace and comfort.. though it's been 5 months since ive seen him which also means 5 months since i have a new shirt..

I wished him happy chinese new year and he intro-ed me to some new fabrics... I made 2 shirts ..

then i went to the IT Show.. didnt have anything to buy la.. but since i got nothing to do on a friday night, i thought i'd go and soak in the geeky atmosphere...

i ended up getting an iPod remote.. i promised xhlim i'll give a review... those geeky geeky review that starts from the time you open the box etc...

PERFORMANCE REVIEW

the big REVIEW was done yesterday.. it's always over-hyped in my mind.. when im staying late at work, i'll feely shitty and then tell myself that ill tell my boss this this this in the next review... but when it actually comes, my boss will be all smiley and laughs and he disarms me. Im sure some will know that it's easier to disarm North Korea of its nuclear arsenal than Cornball.

but well.. i tried to pysch myself up for this all week but when it came i feel flat..didnt really manage to raise the issues i wanted to. but instead, by sheer coincidence, he raised them himself.. and when he's the one who raised it, he gains the upper hand n then overwhelm me with "shock and awe". that's how Bush did SAddaM in.. "SHOCK AND AWE"...i think my boss did it using "SHIOK and AWWWWWWWWWW"

since im still having writer's block, here're the results

Technical knowledge - Achieve Performance Targets
Quality of Output - Achieve Performance Targets
Productivity - Exceeds Performance Targets
Initiative - Clearly and consistently exceeds targets with results above and beyond expections..(ding ding ding.. level up!!)
Time Management - Achieve Performance Targets
Teamwork - Clearly and consistently exceeds targets with results above and beyond expections..(ding ding ding.. level up!!)
Client Management - Achieve Performance Targets
Responsibility (Judgement, Honesty and Reliability) - Exceeds Performance Targets
Group Contribution - Exceeds Performance Targets
Leadership - Exceeds Performance Targets
Administration - Achieve Performance Targets

in the three reviews i've had, i nvr had anything bad said abt me before.. which after a while, it's not really fun. REALLY! like every year's the same old thing..

But this time he decided to do something different.. he made us write comments abt every other colleague and then gave us the comments written abt ourselves anonymously of cos..

I got these..

Things Cornball shld Continue Doing:
eager to help
interest in job
analytical
excellant knowledge in IT systems
eager to learn
IT-assistance
helpful nature
team player
a team player
helpful
maintain interest in job

i had a huge laugh when i read it.. "eager to help"?? "team player"? gosh...i think i act too well in the office liaoz... i how evil can? IT-assistance?? yeah sure, if it means yelling and screaming at Bittorrent users.. muhahahah

this is the interesting bit

Things Cornball shld do less of:

xenophobic
irrational behaviour due to work related stress
longwinded

i had an even bigger laugh when i read it. my boss laughed too.. he said he knew how the first one stemmed from, saying " if not being xenophobic means getting dead drunk till 2am when u r overseas and smoking, then forget it". so he told me to ignore the comment..

for the second one, he told me to take it easy and ive been working too hard. ask me to try to take leave again, knowing full well that he was the one who cancelled it twice, for christmas and CNY... his exact word were " just try la.. try to apply and see how, maybe this time u can actually take it and dont have to cancel".. DUH.. i told him he made taking leave like lucky draw like that.

he said he didnt think the third one was true. I said i think it's true la.. and i knew who write that.. hahaha.. must be that intern.. wanted to explain everything nice nice and cover all bases. then kenna like that. next time i'll jus be succinct liao.. TMD. i took the opportunity to tell him that he's longwinded too.. hahahahahhah

he ended by saying that ill be promoted by June 2006, marking my 2nd yr here. he did say that 2 promotions in 2 years is very gd liao... n he said this year got BONUS!!! YAY!!!! but he cant tell me the amt yet till the books are closed.. dammit...

Bitter sweet feeling.. things are promised but not exactly tangible yet...

Sleepless at Anson

Saturday morning and Im in the office. Seems like a long time since ive worked on a saturday in the office. I cant really remember when was the last time though.. pretty weird.. maybe ever since i've gotten the laptop then i've nvr worked on Saturday liaoz... which was probably in Oct or Sept..

I went to the IT Show yesterday so i didnt want to lug my lappie home, along with my notes and my air tix and my ties and watever.. so Im here this morning. Blogging at the same time cos im stuck at my work. Writer's block.. so now i come here for some writer's blog. muhahahahah..

I feel like going out today. wanted to go for dinner and a movie. I asked 2 ple yesterday abt gg out today..both not free.. ok lor... it's actually rare that i ask ple out cos usually i like to shop alone..or either that im too lazy to dress up on a weekend to go out..unless it's for mahjong of cos. for some reason, I like to go out before i go on a trip and it's no difference this time. It probably stems with a need to "feel" more of singapore before i head off to some unknown and very possibly less clean city. alas, I guess i'll feel more of my rm today then.

Food Woes

I deliberated between ordering room service or going downstairs to the restaurant for dinner last night. the restaurant was supposed to be the best italian restaurant in Jakarta. Jo told me room service is no fun.. hmm.. true.. anyway i was hungry..

I dont if it's really the best italian resturant in JKT but it sure is ex.. not wanting to blow the expenses or increase my cholestrol level with the oh-so-yummy-sounding-lobster ravioli, i opted for this.. trio Pasta.. which means three kind of pasta.



Served on a triangular plate, i was kinda disappointed it's so small.. sianz... three small piles of pasta for S$25.. bleah..but to their credit, it's perhaps the most delicious pasta i've had.. the green thingy on the bottom left is FILLED with wild mushrooms!! yummy..

as with all italian meals, they serve some bread.. pretty weird bread.. inside got thing one.. looks disgusting..*shudder* white white stuff.. looks like maggots really..



I didnt finish the bread so i ordered some grissinis...



I didnt order dessert cos 1) i felt fat.. 2)they are expensive!

If anyone's complaining that im not travelling enough, i'll be flying to KL on sunday. decided to go on sunday morning so that i can go walk walk ard KL on sunday before starting work on Monday. it's been abt 20 years since i last went KL...

*Yawn*

After a bloody 3 hour delay by bloody Garuda.. %^@&^$*^$ i finally reached Jakarta.. *yawn* reached at 1am and did work till 3am.. im tired...

Aftermath

I re-read the previous entry and thought it was rather pointless.. but so are lots of other posts in this blog.

I was tired by the time I got home at 11pm last night but I saw some nice comments in my previous posts and i thought i shld update my dearest fans... but alas Blogspot was down last night.

I tried to force my boss into an answer on whether the review will be on by telling him I was going for a movie and would probably be leaving early.. He said how abt next week cos he didnt wana rush through it. Ok lor.. next week then.. I was planning to leave at 530 for my movie.. but then my newbie colleague had some problems with his report and I was supposed to supervise this one.. dammit..

And so... 2.5 hours later... I missed my movie and my dinner.. got pulled to the cocktail that i didnt wana go but my entire office wanted to(entire office got invited)

I was bored by the first 10 mins i was there.. major yawn.. drank a few customary drinks like 2 x baileys 1 x tomatoe juice, 1 x pineapple juice and 2 x mouthfuls of beer (20 years since i tasted beer, i still don like it). Then why order beer, some may ask? Well, this guy from a rival firm ordered for me and handed to me.. I took 2 mouths and dumped it when he wasnt looking..

sure there were a few pretty gals but they were talking too fast for me on a friay night. Things got better towards the end when a few of my colleagues, including my boss, somehow gravitated towards each other and started to bitch about work.. that was pretty funny cos it just seemed different to bitch abt ur other colleagues when u have a glass of very nice pineapple juice in ur hand..

Our bitching session was rudely interrupted by this young female intern in Ritz carlton Singapore who came and told us how beautiful and how good service her hotel was..she absolutely didnt know who she was talking to.. here was 3 ple (my boss and my manager and me) who has seen more hotels than she can count.. muhahahahahha... she just went on and on and we jus gave polite smiles and occasional "wow"s.

And so I reached home at 11pm..had a cold dinner which mummy prepared for me and went to bed.. so much for friday night.

and cos i was asleep by 1230.. i missed the sms from jen at 230am asking me "so where are you?" im sorry i didnt reply..

Friday

It's Friday today.

It's actually Friday morning when I'm typing this now.

Friday morning always brings a sense of promise. A promise of liberation from the drudgery of the working week. It's also a promise to oneself that you'll do something different tonight, rather than just simply work alte and go home and surf the internet like the previous 4 days. In some companies which has a "Dress Down Friday" policy, there seem to be an implicit notion that not much gets down after 3pm on Friday.

Aaah.. the pleasures of Friday. Sometimes you wish that Fridays came more often. But at the back of your mind, you know the magic would be very much lost if Fridays came every other day.

I think I'll be having my review today. I wonder how much bonus, if any, i'll get. I dont know if i'll get a raise. I do hope my promised promotion in June could come early. I told some ple that i might just quit if this year's review wasnt too satisfactory. Naybe I shld start taking those headhunters seriously. I was once offered this job to be based in Shanghai. Quite cool job really.. scouuring the underbelly of Chine, scouring development deals.. I told my sis that i rejected it cos i wanted to stay close to home and jus be around. She said wat's the use, i cause more trouble when im home. that was pretty hurting and so, when the next job that requires me to go overseas, i'll go.

Fridays also mean I get invited to cocktails that dont fall on other days of the week. I think where i go tonight would greatly depend on the outcome of my review. Well, msn me tonight and find out where i am.

:)

Return of the Blackheads

I've been exfoliating and using my pore pack every week and sometimes there isnt much blackheads and sometimes there're tons of it. This week is one such week..

here're the links

Pic 1

Pic 2

Pic 3

Flying...

More than one of you have noticed that I havent been flying of late.. ya.. i havent.. which is a good change frankly. Gave me some time to get some semblance of a social life. I managed to meet Audrey for dinner on wed, Ad for dinner and movie on thurs and then dinner with powto today.

on the other hand, i was getting quite listless at work of late. Maybe it's been a long time i've stayed in the office for sucha long stretch.. so i was glad to hear that i shld be going Jakarta next week. It was supposed to be either JKT, Maldives or Phuket.. i'd very much like Phuket since ive nvr been there but well, JKT also can la.. maybe after i come back from JKT then i offer to go Phuket again...

Now got to dust off my luggage bag.. make sure my suit's ironed, camera charged and shoes polished...

Dinner

To please Powto, I asked her out for dinner today. She suggested this restaurant that was supposed to be super duper good...it's called Gyu-Kaku at CHIJmes..supposed to be such a good jap rest. that many japs go. And when many japs go, u know it's gd stuff...

it's basically a bbq style thing.. like high class seoul garden..




this is the bacon... 5 pieces for S$6.50.. hiong leh..



that's one with powto's hand









while waiting for her at Raffles City, I saw this scene at the Perlini, which was having a sale... gosh.. throngs and throngs of women... and some were staring from the glass on the outside!!! gosh.. so so.. crazy.. n there were tons of ple inside too..

Withdrawal

For some reason, my own internet at home was getting cranky too and after a whole afternoon of troubleshooting the modem, router, usb adapator, SCV and using my sis's laptop and her usb adapator, i found out it was my PC's USB adaptor that is spoilt.. so keeve and i decided to be gay geeks and go to tampines mall to spend the evening..

finally got my usb adaptor..



And then we went to the supermarket to get some tidbits for a night of hardcore surfing..



Phew and now my internet's back on.. and i'm glad.. half a day without internet and i thought i felt my chest tightening.. *sweat*

Public Enemy #1

In the span of almost 1 mth, PRC has become the public enemy #1 of the office. I dont really think it's a racist thing cos we all like another chinese national colleague, who's in Shanghai. I personally spent 2 weeks in China with tis said colleague and she was fine...

But PRC... gosh she never fails to piss me/us off.

During lunch once, she told me to put my pen (which was a gift from Audrey) down at the table to chope the table. I was like wat?? She repeated herself and i said "Not funny lor". She said "It wasnt meant to be a joke.." I just ignored her.

A couple of colleagues (comprising the 2 gays, PRC and Intern) went for drinks the day i went home at 5pm.. Intern told me what happened..

Gay #1, who was the most senior, whipped out his credit card when the bill for the first round of drinks came..PRC asked him if she needed to return him the money... *pengz*

PRC decided she wanted to know everyone's personal life.. and kept asking Gay #1 and #2 what kind of guys they liked. She said she knew this guy whom she can introduce to them. Now, these guys arent like openly gay.. so they just tried to ignore her questions. But Intern told me PRC was just totally poking and probing.. what a dumb ass..

What a Dumb Ass

It's 630am now on saturday.. I just woke up cos i slept at 1030pm on friday night.. very tired...

Since thursday afternoon, the internet connection at my office suddenly became damn slow.. emails are stuck, internet is stuck, everything's stuck... i called the ISP and they said we seem to be experiencing high traffic from Tokyo... that's pretty weird cos I only sent one email to Tokyo that morning.. they cant be sending me THAT big a reply..

since the internet was down, i tot i'd just go home at 5pm lor.. hahah since my boss wasnt around anyway... ya.. so i left at 5.

The next day internet seemed normal, which was good.. then suddenly it happened again!!! I called my ISP again and they said the same thing. They said maybe i kenna attacked by spyware and asked me to download and install the anti spyware program and run it. I tried all afternoon to download it but i couldnt.. cos obviously the internet's not working very well right? So the admin side was bugging me on what to do and i was fretting cos my mails aint going out.. until abt 4pm+ when i passed by PRC's desk.

SHE WAS USING BITTORRENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! that crazy shithead was using Bitorrent to download "Desparate Housewives" in the office!!!!!!!!!!! i totally yelled out!!!

Cornball: " PRC!!!! What are you doing???"

PRC: Huh? what?

Cornball: What are you downloading???

PRC: Oh.. this new program.. i just tried it..

Cornball: Do you know that this is the cause of ALL the internet problems? This is the one that's slowing everyone down!!!!

PRC: No la.. cant be.. i only started yesterday afternoon..the internet stopped yesterday morning..

Cornball: NO!!!! it stopped yesterday afternoon..

PRC: *speechless for a while* erm.. i duno...

This whole thing happened in front of all the colleagues cos my office is very small.

Admin: Erm.. never mind la.. 无知者无罪 la..

PRC: 对啊。。无知者无罪。。

Cornball: 无知者无罪??? Downloading illegal things in the office is 罪。Downloading personal stuff in the office during office hours into the office laptop is 罪understand????

PRC: *Speechless...*

What a uber dumb ass...and i hate hate hate when ple try to deny things.. try to wriggle out by giving some lame ass excuses like"uh.. i duno..", "uh.. not me"

*Wave*

Long time since i've invited anyone to my blog.. running outta frens liaoz...

harlow harlow.. enjoy your stay here...

New Feature

I jus added this new box at the side.. so please feel free to leave some comments or nonsense.. :)

I have absolutely no mood to work today. That's why Im here now. 10am and blogging.

I left home this morning with my mum saying i look fat in this pair of khaki pants. That wasnt the best way to start the morning.

I woke up this morning and read a mail from my boss. Apparently I sent a mail out last night at 12:20am and he read it at 2am and he replied " Go sleep la you!". That was pretty funny. I was up last night cos I was doing my resume. And i replied when i reached the office, " Can you believe if I told you I was doing my resume?"

I didnt think he'd reply so fast cos he was in Shanghai. But he did in 5 mins! "To resubmit to me? Is there anything wrong in your first CV?"

I didnt know how to read his mail. no "haha", no smiley... i didnt reply.

Yes, im doing my resume. Another stupid headhunter called me and said there's this fantabulous job blah blah.. ok la.. update my resume and send lor.. didnt wana piss anyone off in the headhunting world. I think I piss one off the other time when i refused to give her my resume cos i simply wasnt interested. Lil pricks just want their commission.

One would question my move to tell my boss... but i jus found it funny when ple offer me jobs. haha.. we had a good laugh when his previous company wanted to poach me. Then another of our business associates, who was his old fren too. Everytime it happened, i'd tell him and we'd have a good laugh over lunch. In fact right before he left for Shanghai, he told me he was looking to add more ple in the office, I asked him whether if i quitted today and reapplied for the job, would i get a higher pay. We know the answer to that.

Of cos my resume writing today doesnt stem from my bad mood.

I..I..well, i hate my life right now..maybe i shld go home early today and rot...

Lobo

I finally managed to finish the article and im relieved. My boss said it was a breath of fresh air to have me writing it. I was quite happy until he later said he didnt really read thoroughly... damn it..

Anyway, i sent this email to the two new birds last week..

"We have one more round of printing for the last of 2005's portfolios. Would appreciate if you guys could help out on the printing for the following (3 copies each):

.
.
.

The client needs the reports by the end of the week. It'd be fabulous if the reports could be all printed and bound by the end of Thursday so that XXX and I could sign them.

Thank you and let me know if there's a problem."

I got this reply from PRC

"hello Cornball, i can't promise at this moment i can help you. today i hv to leave soon as i hv something off work needed to be attended to.

tomorrow, when XXX shows up, he will review my report and run the numbers, and the report is due the end of this week.
also, as it is my first time write about report, today i spent whole day looking for info, and not much efforts being paid. and i am sure u can imagine how difficult i can finish that on time (also this week due)."

I was shocked... i was so shocked i didnt even feel angry. I complained to my other colleagues when PRC left...they had a super duper good laugh. Say how come i give instruction then kenna rejected. then my boss came out and heard the laughter and they told him. I said, " hey, i follow your style in saying 'Can u help in blah blah..', which means 'Im asking u to do it, not asking a favour from you. I never expected a 'no' for an answer lor'.

He laughed.

Before he left for his trip on friday, he sent an email to ask the both of them to print a total of 34 reports... 17 reports for each new bird..

my colleagues and I laughed till peng over MSN.

Writer's Blog.. oops.. Block..

im stuck at this line "As the rest of Asia awoke to the full magnitude of the devastation brought by the tsunami, "

I cant seem to find the 2nd half of this sentence.

Anyone?

Oh Man!!

Jo was very nice to send me a package this afternoon. I was listening to my iPod while trying to churn out my article. So i was totally oblivious to the world when the courier guy came in. My colleague passed me the package and from the outside, i knew it was from her..

Gosh..im actually still shocked...here're the pics..



you can see my ipod in the background as well as the article im reading as a reference for my article.

What's inside the box? I have a strange feeling i know wat's inside. (she works for Sisley Paris)



Alas, it's nougats and Sisley eye cream... only 2 sample tubes though, she says. Any more and then i dont have to buy any liaoz... :(



Closeup of the tubes..

PS: Pity Jo is married and thus very unavailable.

Misc. Pictures

Im bored at home. So i'd just post some random pics i took last week with my handphone. Quite crappy quality really.

My colleauge bought this for me when she went to Japan. She left it on my table during my supposedly 1 week leave. When i came back to work unexpectedly during my leave, she was so amused cos she thought the gift was damn apt.



She bought one for another colleague of mine too. I thought it'd be quite apt for me too.



I took this when i went to the Supreme Court that day. First time i was inside after all the flak this Norman Foster-designed building got when it was unveiled. Too funky, some said. Unbecoming of the virtues and morals and dignity it represents, I thought i heard some others chastise.

well, here's the old Supreme Court:



here's the new one:

*for some reason, it's hard to Google a pic of the new Supreme Court...taking a long time.*

we'll have to make do with the pic i took.. tada!



muhahaha.. of cos this doesnt do justice (pun intended) to the building but well, i was too lazy to go out in the sun to take a proper pic.

Funky on the outside and at the top, the building is able to maintain its sterile and no-nonsense environment with its large innner envelope and of cos the metal detectors and police men helped too. I like the extensive use of natural lighting, just like the new T3. Speaking of which, i was at the construction site of the new T3 that day. With the hard hat and all, i was scaling the ladders and steps. It's a great view there. I'd post some pics but i think they're classified.

I bought this for my ipod. It's called Agent18. Sucha funky name eh.



And there you go with CSI New York playing..



Lastly, I finally managed to buy a chair. Now I can surf and work in comfort at home. Sometimes, i even stay in office longer to work cos my chair at home is just so not comfy.

Writer's Block

I was tasked to write the main article, under the supervision of my senior, for this annual publication my company produces. My boss wanted me to try my hand at it cos my senior will/might be leaving next year so i'll/might be writing it. Under his supervision also means i'll do the work and he gets the credit.

I've been staring at it for like an hour and all i squeezed out was " 2005 proved to be the banner year for the Asia Pacific region"

That's all. I need to submit 3 pages of this by end of tmr. :(

Valentine's Day

Some people have asked me how i was going to celebrate valentine's day. Some of the geeks i hang out with at SPUG are collating ideas for vday for their partners. I heard on radio this morning, Glenn Ong and Vern asking listeners to call in to tell their partners (and half the population of Singapore) what they want for vday from their partners. One gal actually asked to be proposed. Another gal asked her hubby to buy her another car cos "the MPV is too big for her".

Some guys have it easy.

I kinda have an idea who i wana have dinner with on vday. I was thinking abt it for some days. i have this peeve. Once i decide to ask someone, and if that person refuses, i wont ask someone else. Cos i'd hate to subject the other person to 2nd place. So it's either the first person i ask or bust.

Standby Duty

I was on standby for my boss who was to attend court on Monday and today. He called me on yesterday noon to come down to funan with my laptop for the assurance that someone knows the number is nearby. So i sat at the funan macs from noon till 5:30pm. When he was out at 5:30pm, he asked me to go home and be back the next day at 9:30am.

And so I left for home at 5:30pm.

I was at funan macs at 9am today. I had absolutely no idea what time the time will end and when he'll need me to on my laptop..I had to conserve my laptop batt cos there's no electrical pts in Macs.. so i switched on my iPod video to watch CSI New York... watched for 2 episodes till 10+ . hee..

My boss was out by 1pm and his involvement was finally over and he was glad. Very happy actually and he wanted to celebrate. So we went to a hotel ( that sounds wrong really) and had a good lunch. by then it was 3:30pm..he was deliberating if he shld go back to office or just not come in tmr. I kinda convinced him that he shld take a break today and come in fresh tmr. he agreed and he asked me to go home also.

I was home by 5pm. :)

Party

As mentioned above, I was invited to a CNY afternoon part by my dissertation supervisor.. it was to be a gathering for all his old students, past and present. It was quite a coincidence that he invited me cos just the week that i got the invite, I wanted to ask him out for lunch.

Our love affair started once during a lecture when he suddenly gave a pop quiz. Just 1 question only, on finance. I remembered pointing out to him that there's a mistake in the question. He insisted that there was no mistake. Of cos, I also insisted but his voice was louder. Oh well.. later, when he was going thru the quiz, he found out that i was right. muhahaha.. i felt vindicated.

Later that same day of the lecture, i was at the shopping centre downstairs and guess who i bumped into??? HIM!!! hahaha.. he was there in a tee and shorts and we jus stared at each other and smiled. i guesed he lived nearby. Such a coincidence.

He was the Head of Research in my dept so i wanted him to be my dissertation supervisor but he told me he was going on sabbatical in the next semester to canada for 1 year. Which means i'd have to submit my dissertation earlier and he'd have to supervise me from there via email. I decided to go for it.

Going to the party was like a geek fest. I was half expecting it anyway, with his reputation and all. within the 2nd minute, i heard the word "linear programming" already. in the next few hours, i heard words like "journals", "publishing","methodology" many times. My Prof introduced me and my other friend (who also took the plunge with me. Coincidentally, my friend and I have the same english name and surname!) as the 2 heroes who asked him to supervise us when he was in canada. No one was very impressed really. After a while, i was quite convinced that we both were the only 2 ple in the room that didnt grad with 1st class hons.. I kid u not.

My friend and I hung out with some juniors cos only they seemed interested in talking to us. Prof told me to talk more abt my job cos it's quite interesting. Until one gal suddenly asked me which company i was from. I told her and she said her bf applied there once. She told me his name and i was like... "oooooooooooooooh.. he's ur bf ah??". This bugger is a fren of my classmate, who got my number from my classmate and called me at 12mn the night before his interview. We chatted for 2 hrs and i met him the next day. My boss even told me to sit in the interview. Actually we kinda liked him but for some reason, my boss was slow to get back to him and he went off somewhere.. i thought it ended off quite sore for both parties, at least to me. And there i had his gf right in front of me. *sweat*

It's a small world after all
It's a small world after all
It's a small world after all
It's a small small world.

Apparently Prof has a chilled wine shelf. So i was glad i brought wine.

Trapped by the Phone II

I managed to leave the office at 6:30pm on Friday. I'm glad really, to be able to leave when there's still light. For some reason, it's a different feeling. I decided to go shopping at suntec. Wanted to look at luggage bags, wanted to buy some nike tee shirts and socks for gym and also something to bring to my Professor's CNY party on Sat...

Halfway through my shopping at Samsonite, a client called and said they needed me to email them something like right now cos they needed to send something for listing on SGX... so.. oh well.. :( go back lor..that was 7:30pm..

i decided to still complete my shopping before going back.. muhahaha.. bought 2 shirts from Nike. bought the one on the left specially for my badminton session.. muhahaahha



Upon the recommendation of Audrey and Jo, i got some red wine for my Professor. Since i didnt drink, i asked the wine promoter at Carrefour. She kinda looked like thos 啤酒妹 at those coffee shops.. or rather 啤酒 aunty sans the waist pouch. For some reason, she lapsed into hokkien and started telling me the merits of each. I finally decided on this.

Bank Bang

I thought today was a lobo day cos my boss was at home preparing for court. I even thought of what to blog.. hahaha.. but then, things were not to be and i ended up being an errand boy cos the client needed the report printed pronto and hand delivered cos they going to print the prospectus and going for IPO... so lil Kornball was the errand boy..walked to Temasek Tower, then DBS Tower 1.. bleah.. so hot today...

i realised that a lot of ple worked around me.. my Cyst, CPF Audrey, Ad., Penelope... i thought i might bump into them but nope...

as part of my plan to treat myself better, i decided to open an E-Saver account with Standardcharterd... flexi deposits at 1.88% interest and can withdraw anytime.. sounds quite gd... so i went in and opened an account...

then i went to OCBC to check out how much tuition loan i have remaining..

then i went to UOB to settle my credit card bills..

Day of banking..*sweat*

Trapped by the Phone

I decided that Feb 2006 would be the mth that i started taking care of myself so i went to the gym on thursday morning before work cos i knew my boss was in court by 9am so i can go in late and he prob wont need me.. quite a long time since i went to the gym so i was pretty outta shape, so i only did:

20 mins on the threadmill;
2 reps of that machine;
2 reps of another machine;
2 reps of yet another machine; and
100 sit ups..

i was feeling quite proud of myself when i bathed and as i walked towards the office at 9:30am, my phone rang and IT WAS MY BOSS!!!! ARGHHHHHHH... He asked me something.. i answered and casually asked if he was in the office. He said yes! Dammit.. how come like that one??

i walked into the office in my polo tee and he didnt bat an eyelid. He doesnt mind la really.. i jus felt sianz abt getting caught skiving.. hee hee..

Continued

iRis said that my last post ended weird..

well, while i was typing that halfway, i decided i wasnt going to waste the last day of the holiday staring at the computer all day so i decided to go shopping.. i went to bathe and dressed up and waited for my dad to come back so that i can take the car. Jus as i was about to leave the house, my boss called me and asked if i could be back in the office in an hr.. SIIIIIIIIIIIIIGH... i ended up working till 2am on tuesday night. ... no dinner some more.. bleah..

Anyway, to continue my story..

so i was in a dilemma... both were analyst positions.. one was a big company in a field i was familiar with while the other was an unknown (to me) company in an entire;y different field from what i studied. both bosses seemed nice. i know the pay for the first guy (not high) but i didnt know what the latter would pay me. i was quite inclined to take a risk and go for the latter but i tot scully i gave up the first one then scully the second one come back from New york then decide that he doesnt want me then how???

i decided that i wanted to be a big fish in a small pond rather than a small fish in a big pond.. i decided that the latter seemed like a more fun job.. so i waited lor.. i told the first dude that i got another offer n thanked him. then i called new york to tell him i'll wait for him.

I have no idea what's the moral of the story really. Maybe it's to go with your heart and your interest and hope that things work out.

my boss told me almost one year later why they liked me:

firstly, he liked that i said that it excited me to write reports and run numbers. he said no one ever said that.

he said he and his colleague knew that i didnt know wat was going on cos it was an entirely new field to me but i appeared like i knew what they were talking abt. He said that was a hallmark of a consultant. Dont know but appear to know.

no idea if he was joking or not.

Jobs Jobs...

I was at work till 4am on friday night again..and also the night before, which means i was at work on 3 days out of my five days of leave.. means i only took 2 days.. gosh.. means i've brought 10 days over from 2005 to 2006. I'm going to ask to encash my leave..

siong leh..

Before leaving on friday night, or rather saturday morning 4am, i asked my boss if there's any chance there'd be bonus this year. he said he'll be surprised if i didnt get any this year.. WHOPPEEE!! so happy.. first time im getting bonus.. dont wat it'd be like..

jobs jobs.. seems like quite a few ple i know are disgruntled with their jobs.. yokie jus quit her job after 1 mth, iRis is thinking of looking, iamshitfong knows his exact resignation date, ad is also looking, Powto sent me her resume but she prob wont get hired, jo thinks her job is killing her and my sis seems to have some probs at her new place.

so difficult to find a job you like. I promised iRis i'd tell her how i got my job and since i dont know when i'll meet her again to tell her, i think i'll do it here..

When i was job hunting, i sent my resume to all the consultancy houses cos i knew for the longest time that i wanted to be an analyst. Didnt really want to look for a marketing job cos i didnt think i spoke very well and i'd hate to meet sales quotas. after some weeks, i was a lil desparate cos no one seemed to be asking me for a second interview. Then one day, one of the consultancy firms called me and said he had a temp job for me. Full pay but w/o medical benefits for 3 mths temp... he said there'd be an option to go on permanant basis if there was enough workload. I rem being swayed towards it liao. He gave me one week to think it through.

I decided to email a couple of the other firms to see if there're any responses. Quite promptly, the company which turned out to be the one which won my heart called me (hereafter known as "Company"). i remembered the exact time and location i was at when i received the call. I was at a computer fair at around 5pm..The MD called me and said he was in NY which meant that it was 4am o 5am there. "Gosh" i thought. He said he'll need to come back n discuss with his colleagues first before getting back to me. but by the time he was back, it'd be past the one-week deadline by the other company. I was in a dilemma.

im too lazy to type more... more will follow...

*Sweat*

Phew.. it's 4am now on thursday.. ok.. technically friday now.. I just got home from the office. "Wait!," some of you astute ones might say. "Arent you on leave the entire week?". Well, yeah.. i was/am on leave but my boss called me when he landed in singapore from LA!! at 6pm and said there was something urgent he needed my help with...asked me can come down to the office tonite or not... so i went down by 8pm .. till now.. bleah.. i cant seem to take a long leave on one stretch...

and now i cant sleep.. whole head swimming with numbers...

Leave

I'm on leave this entire week. My first long leave after I started working in this company for the last 1.5 years. Not a great feat really but somehow all my colleagues like to take long leave to go on long trips.. going like once every 4 mths.. so my 1.5 years actually seems like a looong time to not take leave. One colleague from shanghai even emailed me to congratulate me on finally being able to go off!

I do the weekly asia pacific newsletter for my office. Which means, every week, i produce a newsletter which goes out to 7,000 ple in the asia pacific. it's a big pain in the ass to do it cos i have to take care of everyone's sensitivities including the sydney, new delhi and hong kong offices. and of cos any wrong info, means ple will start emailing my boss.. it's a whole troublesome process which i thought i can siam for this week that im on leave, which also means 7,000 ple in asia will miss their staple newsletter from moi.. muhahahahhahaBUT, for some reason, my boss saw it fit to decide to publish something this week, and so he emails me on monday, like machiam im not on leave like that.. bleah..

I think my colleagues miss me.. on my last night in jakarta, while lying in bed watching tv at 12mn friday (singapore time), my office called me!!!!! they said that when they stayed late at nights i was always there and then tonite i wasnt there with them. so they decided to call me and put me on speaker and make it feel like i was there!!! so incredulous... ended up "chatting" for half an hour on long distance talking and bitching abt bo liao stuff.. they even asked me out for lunch on monday. "but hey, im on leave, guys!!!!". Not that i mind going back for a nice lunch but the thing is one of them usually has lunch at like 3 or 4pm even thiugh we always jio her to come with us during the normal hours like 12 or 1pm.. and so she decides to have a normal lunch hour when im on leave. gosh.. why like that? WHY??

landing on sat morning, i got 2 voice mails from my new colleagues (defined as newbie 2 and PRC earlier) asking me abt bo liao stuff.. which was fine la.. since they were new in singapore and needed to ask me some singapore stuff.. but also quite weird, how come they dont ask the other colleagues but knowing im in jakarta they'll call me. turds.

Monday was my first day of leave. got a call from the office to say that i needed to go back and sign a report, which is fine la..understandable.. so i went back to office after gym to send the report. When i went back, everyone was out for the "nice" lunch, which is fine, so that i dont have to PR with anyone.. then i saw my beloved pillow on the chair of PRC!!! argh.. so disgusting... yucks.. how can anyone share this kind of things one. and she didnt even ask me!! gosh.. such impudence! she's going to get it when i return. YUCKS.

More Jakarta pics...

this time when i went to jakarta, i visited some hospitals too. one of them is supposedly the best hospital in jakarta.. i just took it with a pinch of salt since everyone says they're the best anyway. but in all credit, it was quite a nice hospital. nothing much i could take in a hospital really cos not supposed to take patients and how interesting can hospital beds be anyway.

so i took a pic of this.. notice the mortuary? they offered to bring me there but well, i opted for the kitchen instead.



and this was on the walls of the pediatric ward.



this previous two pictures made me realise how a hospital, whilst small, evokes a whole range of emotions.. mostly sad i guess, but joy at times when one gives birth or a loved one recovers and discharges from the hospital. such ambivalence.

on an entirely separate note, Jakarta is relatively low-lying. here're some pictures i took while on the roof of a, get this, 5-storey building... amazing (to a singaporean)

Jakarta

Once again, it's a long time since i updated my blog... quite lazy nowadays.. maybe cos jakarta was so boring that there's really nothing much to blog about..

i stayed in this room..







it's actually a pretty nice hotel..

act im very sian... no mood to blog

Small World...

I was at raffles place one night that day running some errands when i saw the Goddess' colleague, the one whom she said was from my JC.. for some reason, i was able to recognise her. Of course she looks different now but i still recognise her. So i msged Goddess...

her usual nonchalent reply ran along the lines of " No big deal wat.. we're all in the vicinity, surely will bump into ple"

Fair enough.

the next day, i was on the mrt and i passed by bedok station and i was standing near the door that Goddess usually gets on.. i was thinking that it'd be tooo coincidental for her to step through the very same door i was at but i thought if i saw her at the adjacent doors, i'd msg her "it's prob no big deal if we took the same train to work since we live quite close by"

She stepped through the door i was at.

Jakarta Yet Again

long time no post.. simply too busy.. leaving office at 12 and reaching the next morning at 7+.. sorry, my fans..

leaving to jakarta today.. coming back on friday and im on leave the entire of next week... whoppee... so technically today's my last day of work till Feb...

New Colleagues

I welcomed 2 new colleagues this week. One on Monday and one on Wednesday. the one on monday was a PRC gal (hereafter known as "PRC") and she pissed me off within the hour.. haha.. first she complained that her laptop was too slow and asked me if i had another IBM like the one i have.. i said i have another and she asked wat brand wat brand. I said "Dell" n she said chey.. 不要. i was thinking "你要也不可以！".

the thing abt all the colleagues in my office is, other than my boss and I and his PA, the rest of the ple are from the same sch and they have a strong alumni so everyone knows everyone..

We were so busy we had to order KFC in, which was kinda embarassing cos we had a new colleague. at one time, PRC and I were alone and she told me she met some of their alumni and heard from them that one of my existing colleagues is gay! i nearly cnoked on my zinger burger and went "waaatt??" i mean, im fine with gays but im sure i didnt need that kinda information. and i thought " wat a bitch, first day come in then bitch abt ur colleagues liao"

PRC's pretty weird. i was talking to another colleague at my desk and all of a sudden, PRC jus let out "are you talking to me?" EVERYONE turned and looked at her and i was like "erm.. no". uber WEIRD!

the other newbie (known as "Newbie 2" from now) came on wednesday. pretty ok guy i guess.. but when i had dinner with another colleague (not PRC), she told me that Newbie is also gay! i was like gosh.. how come so many gays one? i only know one other gay friend and then in my small small office already got 2. so i asked my colleague wassup with ple from her sch.. how come so many gays.. she shrugged. i ventured and asked if she was a lez, she only smiled.

More Blackheads

I bought this new porepack which is black in color so that the blackheads are more obvious..

here's the link to the pics..

Viewer discretion is required. Orly? Rly.

Pic

Shopping

It was a rainy day today.. it seems very representative of my mood these days..

In a continuing effort to connect with others, i decided to go shopping with my mum who wanted to buy an oven from Tangs. Braving the car and the horrendous traffic, we went. As the model she was eyeing was out of stock, the promoter convinced her to get another one which cost S$90 more.. and to my horrors, my mum asked him for a discount. right there and then, in the middle of Tangs, she asked the promoter for a discount. i was pretty shocked but the promoter didnt flinch. i think he was used to the aunty-types asking for discounts.

We bought the more ex model in the end.

Later, we passed by this Goodaire booth.. those air refreshners with a plastic leaf on the top. I have one of those machines but it's those cheaper imitation brands so i was looking at the solutions which smelled pretty nice. Mummy said the promoter (a different one) how come her machine so ex when other brands are cheaper. She said her brand was the original and my mum promptly replied " U say u original and others say the original. how?". the promoter put a stout defense and said, "our brand is the real one. Made in Singapore." She didnt realise that "Made in Singapore" doesnt hold much weight with mummy dearest. Walking away, i told my mum that Goodaire was the real deal and she said she knew, she was just trying to disturb her.

.....

I thought it'd be nice to get my mum a pair of birks since mine are so comfy..i had to convince her to go over as she said they're so ex and so huge, not nice la..but we went nontheless.. within 5 mins, something caught her eye and 5 mins later, we walked out with a pair of "limited edition color" birks for her. fwah.. faster than me sia.. i had to go there a million times before deciding to get a pair.. *sweat*

i wanted to bring her to Marriott sunday brunch for lunch but when she saw it was S$58++, she didnt want to, exclaiming "this kind of place, u better run far far..". We had Pepper Lunch for lunch(duh!).

Attack of Life

I think i had an anxiety attack today.. i always thought anxiety attacks were really jus sudden feelings of panic like "how how how.. what to do ah?". I nvr thought it'd manifest as real physical pain. it wasnt util iRis had it too and blogged it that i knew that anxiety attacks are like mini heart attacks.. this sudden heart wrenching pain in the chest that leaves u breathless and u cant breath too hard.

I got that today.

of cos it freaked me out and my mum too. i didnt feel like going to the doc cos i didnt really wana know wat's the bad news but at the same time, i was curious and maybe the knowledge would jolt me into some constructive action to improve my quality of life.

the short story is that they did an ECG and blood pressure test and they found that i was fine. I'll go back for a blood test and cholestrol test another day. i dont suspect (i hope) there's anything wrong with those...

i slept the entire afternoon.. till 9pm and im wide awake now at 2am.

i was chatting with someone who had a depressing day too. we were talking abt how work is a good way to drown our sorrows. work has definitely been an avenue in which turn to to for solace and comfort in the world. People who know me long enough know that im not a particularly hardworking person and actually i always come in last in position in class. 2005 has been a tough year.. im glad for work to be around to keep me occupied (very occupied mostly).

halfway through my conversation with depressed gal (hereafter known as "DG"), i went to bath and i was thinking (i think a lot when i bath, cos that's abt the only time im away from the computer). I thought "work so hard for wat. die already also like that. work so hard then in the end, dont go out with frens, no time to msn with frens, no time for movies..jus simply no time for things that matter to me". i made a semi-new year resolution to focus more on quality of life more than work work work.

freakingly enough, when i was back on msn with DG, she said almost exactly the same time.. abt the fear of working so hard that close friends and ple who matter to us jus move on and forget abt u. i used to think i can operate alone and screw the world but at the end of the time, it's depressing to know that u dont matter to anyone.

i stared at the screen (all 17" of its LCD fine-ness) at the last 10 mins and i dont know what to say.. so i'll jus end here..and if u dont see me posting for say 1 week or not, maybe i didnt wake up from my sleep.

The Week I Yelled at Three People

As stated, the week isnt the best of my weeks...and I yelled at three ple..

1. First off, i yelled at the shittybank gal. well, i didnt REALLY yell but started raising my voice a lil and using bigger words like "incredulous", "umpteen time" to ask her how come they can send the cards wrongly TWICE!! i mean, i filled up the form and sent them copies of my IC and they can get it wrong on the first time and then on the second time. oh come on, you dont become the biggest bank in the world by doing this. she was entirely apologetic but she didnt offer freebies..

2. the crazy shitheads i left my laptop with still hasnt gotten back to me. my laptop's been left there for 2 mths liao and they havent repaired it. again, i lapsed into big words like "inconceivable" and "incredulous". she promised to call me back the next day but she didnt. she's gonna get it from me when i call her later.. muhahahahah

3. My company printed some new covers and we actually wanted all grey, meaning front and back sides of the back and front covers all grey (no typos there, read properly) but the crazy ass printer printed grey on the front side and white on the back side for the front cover and grey for the back side and white for the front side for the back cover (no typo here either). my boss told me to yell at him so tat they can re-do it at a lesser cost... and i did.

Horrendous Week

Someone asked me how come never update my blog..and also how come nowadays so quiet on MSN.. well, bascially it felt as though im well into 2006 liao but hey it's only 7 days into January.

jus to cut the story short, i've been dumped with the management of 3 portfolios cos of the irresponsiblities of my supervisor as he zips off on his hols so i got to kio the sai he left behind lor.. and he does it so nicely like it's a given that i shld do it.. fine.. he sure aint gonna get a good peer apparisal from moi next mth.

in between there's this issue with my credit cards... i posted in spug that how shittybank cocked up my credit card delivery and Dvirus was very kind to send me an email ...here's an email i sent in reply. (forgive the bad english.. i was running out for a meeting)

"Well, the long story is that I waited very long for my cards then I called citiphone. Tuns that they sent my cards (m1 visa and dividend) to my neighbour .. But my time neighobur v v weird one.. Doesn't come home n lives alone n no one ever sees him. So I told them my correct address and asked them to cancel the first 2 cards then send me agn lor..

After I waited for a long time, my mm told me tt one of my neighbour's letters fell into our mailbox and turned out to be mine!!! Turned out to be one of the credit cards (the dividend card). So I called citibnk agn n it seems like they sent the 2nd batch to the WRONG ADDRESS AGAIN!!

Amazing..

So I have one card with me and three cards inside my neighbour's mailbox.. my mum tried to knock on his door many time but no one replies..
Sianz..

So I jus called them today and asked them to cancel the 2nd m1 card inside and send me another m1 card (my 3rd one)

And I asked her abt payment of citibank credit cards using DBS, she say she duno.."

i actually didnt expect her to do anything so i tot she was being a kaypoh..BUT she sent me this reply.

"Wow this is really bad. Do you mind giving me your full name and I can forward the concerns to the right party? Did you get the name of the CPO you spoken with?"

being the cheap ass that i am, I replied:

"Will I get any freebies? Like vouchers or wat? :) please?

Sanjana was the person I spoke to the other day.

Isabelle is the other I spoke to today."


being the person that dvirus is, she called me in the MIDDLE of my meeting to say she "escalated" this matter to the relevant authorities and someone will call in in 5 mins!! and someone did.. (gosh, these people are serious!). he apologised profusely n promised to courier the card to my house the next day.

So that's how i got my card... actually i dont really need the card la.. jus that i scared that it get to the wrong hands then siao liao..

i need to meet dvirus to collect the LEGO she ordered for me..

New Year

it's the new year.. somehow it jus slipped in without much of a bang.. maybe cos i was already on leave on friday and then by the time it was new year's eve on sat.. like nothing much already..

as promised (to myself), i went to do facial, got a hair cut and also dyed my hair.. the facial gal said i long time never come liao.. almost 4 mths to be exact.. my hairdresser also told me i long time nvr come liao.. i told her i cut my hair in vietnam so didnt come.. she wasnt too pleased cos my hair was in a pretty weird shape (accordingly to her). i dyed my hair also.. she somehow managed to get me to dye AND do highlights...so actually i look pretty beng.. hee hee.. fat beng..

gweneth powto asked me how come i never blogged that i went for a movie with her after my hair cut/dye. well, nothing much mah.. jus a movie on new year's eve.. i was home by 10pm on new year's eve, which was good in a way, cos most of the ple were going in the different direction (to town) when im going back to the far east...

Goddess wanted supper so we did supper at BCM where we kinda witnessed a weird scene where aunties and uncles (those u see drinking beer and peanuts) popping the confetti and spraying the faux snow at each other.. that's REALLY weird man..aunties and uncles behaving like immature orchard bengs and lians.. really disturbing..

Gosh, i spend 3 paragraphs not getting to my main pt.. anyway, Goddess was telling me how some of her colleagues were from my college so when i reached home i took out my year book.

*in between typing this, keeve told me he cried watching shawshank redemption again. this is a guy who also cried when he watch Final Fantasy :Advent Children, which is a lil cartoon cgi thingy that is like the story of this instalment of the FF franchise.. he apparently teared he said.*


so that's how i spent new year's eve.. supper with goddess n then at home with my year book.

It felt weird.. opening the yellowing year book. memories jus flooding in.. almost 10 years ago these pictures and boy, how some have changed. as i pored through page after page to find the colleague in question, memories of how i knew this person and how i didnt really like this person.. back then, IRC was a big deal and me, aaron and dax were some big shit ops in some channel, so we kinda knew tons of ple, including the juniors, in our college who frequented the channel and i swear, some of the ple i see in the year book, i only know them by their nicks..haha how geeky.

i spent quite a long time looking at the year book.. probably 2 hours.. (i went to bed at 5am) i looked through every class, including the junior batch and all the ECAs, every picture.. i went like "i wonder what happened to this shithead", "hmm, get a life man", "haha.. big ass karen", "mmm.. wonder wat this chio bu is doing these days". I literally looked at every face and wondered what my last interaction with the person and for some reason, there felt the need to connect.. to jus contact the person n find out who he/she's doing nowadays. of cos that's not possible.

Well, coming from the college that i come from, i think most of the ple are having great careers out there.. seems like everyone's a scholar of something. the more i browsed the book, i thought, "wow, i shld have studied harder and maybe i can be some stat board's scholar instead of being the recepient of my parents' scholarship fund". Actually not a recepient la, cos im still paying for my Uni loans.. muhahahah

Amongst my peers, i already know 2 have gotten married.. so nice.. and two have passed away...in fact the two died due to SAF mishaps.. in fact one of them is the RSAF fighter pilot in the mishap in US. duno him very well la but jammed with him a couple of times in the guitar room...

so there u go.. a nostalgic walk back to yesteryear..it's quite an apt way to usher in the new year.. 2 hours of introspection and reflection. i dont know what came out of it.. maybe i sensed a need to be more social and connect more with ple.. who knows.. ill have to think abt it..