there's something about ..... horse

So today's biggest news is that Gurmit Singh got nominated for Golden Horse Award for his role in "JUST FOLLOW LAW".

Not for newcomer award...

Not for comedian award...

But for BEST ACTOR!!!!

BEST ACTOR!!!!

Up against TONY LEUNG in Lust, Caution.

It seems anything is possible these days. Who would have thought a lousy movie can produce a nomination for best actor category?

This movie also produce another nomination in "best visual effect".

I saw the movie. The only visual effect is Fann Wong behaving like a man and it's not exactly a nice effect.

It's a lousy movie, to say the least. Movies about swapping souls or bodies are aplenty in the movie industry, but the method of swapping is the most rediculous in "Just Follow Law".

Not contend with the lesser drama of two people knocking into each other, the director decided that the best way to show case the swap, the most drama ways, is for an attempted murder of Fann Wong by Gurmit Singh via a car-chase.

After gotten sack by Fann Wong, the character played by Gurmit Singh was so disdraughted that he gave a car-chase hoping to crash Fann Wong's car.

The chase ended up with both cars flying off the expressway and both cars came crashing down. In most instances, this would result in a horible death possibly with a explosion to the cars.

Instead, both swap bodies and woke up with slight injuries at the hospital.

Great stuff!

It's not exactly the proudest Singapore movie I would like the whole world to see, especially at the Golden Horse.

You just wonder... are there so few entries that even this can be nominated? or the entries are so bad that even this can be nominated?

Don't get me wrong. I am happy for him and I like Gurmit Singh. In fact, I'm eagerly waiting for two of his sitcoms. 80s Rewind and The Noose. Going by the trailer, both promise to be very funny. Just that, I hope it's a better movie than "Just follow Law"

there's something about ..... clutch and hangover

What a weekend!!!! I haven't had such a good time for a super long time.

I caught one of the best derby games between Everton and Liverpool. I caught one of the most boring Rugby Final. And I caught the most exciting F1 race EVER.... EVER!!!! All in odd hours!!!

So it's not to be an English Weekend. I think the sign says it all when England lost to Russia in Euro qualifying during midweek which put their Euro qualifying at risk.

Everton vs Liverpool

What a game... if you are a Liverpool fan.

Own goal by your fav team.... only to win it during the injury time with a penalty.

1 own goal
2 red cards
2 penalties, one in injury time
2 penalties denied, one in injury time

Wah biang... almost immediately... the sign became clearer... it's not to be an english weekend.

England vs South Africa

You know it's damn suay.... when Jonny Wilkinson also known as Mr Clutch... miss a drop goal... with his dominant left foot... not too far off either.

You know it's confirm damn suay... when the only try by England which would have tie the game was ruled out.

You know it's gone case when Jonny Wilkinson did not attempt any more drop goal since he missed one. No more Mr Clutch.

Actually, I'm also not a big fan of Rugby for me to support England. I just like to watch a good sports game. And it's one big boring final!!!

Hamilton vs Alonso vs Raikkonen


Who would have guessed? My god. What a choke by Hamilton. 3 mistakes. Who who have guessed someone that started as no.2 will drop to the back after couple of laps? He just need to finish as no.6... how difficult is that starting from no.2?

Apparently very difficult. Ask Hamilton and he will tell you that. Give him credit for racing back from no.14 to no.7. He just need to overtake one more car and he would win.

Alonso knows he can't win the race and so he just had a ordinary race. But he is the happiest of the 3. YES... HAPPIEST Of the 3. As long as Hamilton don't win... it doens't matter to Alonso. He got a quiet race.

But Raikkonen. My god. What a good race!! No doubt with the help of Massa and ferrari. He can only win the championship if he wins the race and Alonso at no.3 and hamilton at no.7. And what is the odds of that happening?

What a clutch performance. I actually have goose pimples when he cross the finishing line... damn!!

It's hard to stay awake watching F1 in the middle of the night.... but the race was so good.. I actually managed to stay awake for the whole race. This is the BEST race i have ever witness....

*******

I love starhub.

there's something about ..... clutch

From Wiki..

In American sports terminology, "clutch" means performing well under extreme pressure. It often refers to high levels of production in a critical game (such as Game 7 of a best-of-seven series), the last hole of a Major golf tournament, or the final minute(s) in a close match. Being "clutch" is often seen by sportswriters and fans as an innate skill which some players have while others do not.

This will determine who wins what this weekend.

England Vs South Africa

This game is salivating. South Africa is like the team of the moment. They trashed England 36-0 in what was the worst defeat of England ever... in the group stage.

England, who was not expected to even clear the quarter-finals, beat the quarter and semi finalists thru clutch plays... none other by Jonny Wilkinson.

Jonny Wilkinson is like Michael Jordan of Rugby in my opinion. Super calm under pressure and in fact excel under pressure. This will be a decisive factor.

Man.. it's tough to call. Heart says England... pocket says South Africa.

Will go for England to win... just.

Formula 1

This must be the most exciting year since I started following F1 about 8 years ago.

You have a upstart rookie and a 2-time back to back champion plus a fantastic driver in Raikkonen in Ferrari... for a 3-way championship race.

Man.. is it going to be a England's weekend...

All hamilton needs to do is to crash into Alonzo "un"intentionally if Raikonnen is to be a non-factor in the race.

All Alonzo needs to do is to stay pole and not let Hamilton crashed into him.

All Raikonen needs to do is to win and let alonzo crash into Hamilton.

I'm hoping for some foul play to make this more exciting.

Everyone seems to like the rookie to win story. I would like to see Raikkonen wins, which is unlikely.

And the guy with the clutch... Alonso.

I'm going for Alonso.

Liverpool vs Everton

Depending whether this is an English Weekend or not, will decide the fate of this game. If this is destined to be a English weekend, Everton will win. If this is not, Liverpool will win. Why... Everton is more English than Liverpool.

And Liverpool has also suffer a confidence problem of late. meaning... they are unlikely to score that last minute winner or what the American known as "clutch".

My Heart says Liverpool... but seriously...

*************
I love Starhub.

there's something about ..... rejections

Just today, I received another call from some scammers from China trying to cheat your money by pretending it's some survey they are carrying out with regards to your mobile phone brands etc etc.

This is like the 3rd time I have received such calls. The first time, I was curious and basically listen thru to what they have to say. I ended up giving a laugh and that angered the chinese girl. I promptly ended the call.

Since then, I have adopted the tactics of speaking to them in english.

Chinese Girl: ##$%$$^&%$* (in mandarin)

Me: Sorry? I don't understand what you are saying.

Chinese Girl: ok (she hang up immediately)

This works fabulously.

I also received lots of calls from Credit Cards Companies' appointed telemarketer.

They are mostly from E-Fusion or Intermedia.

These 2 companies seems to be doing cold-calls for All Credit Card Companies.

Telemarketer: I'm calling from XXX, for XXX bank's new credit card YYY.

Me: I already have that card.

Telemarketer: Thank you.

This works all the time as well.

Why don't you just tell them to remove your name from the calling list? It doesn't work.

No point getting angry at them. Just end the call promptly.

there's something about ..... adverts.

Series of funny adverts from Thai

there's something about ..... 377a

Very happening topic hor. Very fashionable to discuss this even. There is even an website to repeal this Act. You can "support" the cause by petition against the act. Alot of "Celebrities" and notable bloggers have supported the repealed of 377a.

The petition will then be given to Prime Minister before the debate on Penal Code.

It's so "in" to be known that you are against the government on a topic about equality of Gay in Singapore. It's like 07/07/07 on the Green movement, save the earth.... what happen now?

It's like Anya's "I'm not a plastic bag", it's nothing but fashion. Who gives a hoot about saving the world, otherwise, might as well buy those imitations off the Masar Malam.

It's like an opposition Rally during Election where huge numbers turned out, only for the PAP to win the election. People go because it's fun, it's cool to be seen that you are opposing the authority.

Do the majority of Singapore cares if a certain minority group is being penalised because of their preference of the same sex? There are more victims in Singapore being penalised by bad traffic Wardens than the Gays can called themselves victim.

Yes.. fair enough. The current law makes them a criminal. Interestingly, prostitution is legal in Singapore, but soliciting is not. But being gay is more "criminal" than a prostitute in Geylang which might be on a social visit pass or a visa that allows them to stay for 14 days. So where is the justice?

Some argue that on that fact that these same gay people have serve the Nation throught NS, pay taxes to Government, and thus should be treated as equal.

I believe they have been treated as equal on most aspects of their life.

How would repealing the 377a changed their lifes? It doesn't.

Nobody has been procecuted because they are gay. Nobody.

Every Gay leads their life as per normal. They have sex within their own dormitary. They go about doing their own things and nobody gives a damn. In fact, they lead a more peaceful lifes than say a Man having a Mistress, which is probably not illegal.

It's good to repeal the Act, or reworded the act to give consenting sex legal. But if it's not, so what. Do those Gay really care?

I feel that this whole thing is nothing but a marketing campaign or certain political agenda by certain group of people.

It's definitely more "in" to say "repeal 377a" than to say "repeal traffic rules 123a".

there's something about ..... citizenship

Read this post from Mr Brown on citizenship.

Apparently, Singapore has stop distinquishing Singapore Citizens and Permanent Residents in official statistics. In fact, both are lumped up as Singapore Residents.

And it seems the percentage of Singapore Citizens of the total population is shrinking from a high of 90% in 1980 to about half currently.

It's an interesting read, very Mr Brown, and it's that kind of article that would have been mentioned by PM Lee again in the next National Day Rally. PM Lee says that we have to embrace Singapore PRs, we needed them for economic reasons, etc etc. Whether you like it or not, there is no changing such things.

In my course of work, I dealt with many Employment Pass Holders, many of which subsequently applied for PRs and were almost immediately given.

I will always ask them, "Why did you apply for PR and what's the benefits to you?"

Interestingly, most of them mentioned this one reason "So that I can stay in Singapore when I change jobs" or "it makes coming in and out of singapore easy"

Nothing of the sort like:

• Singapore is a safe city and I would want to bring up my family here and grow old here.
• The Air in Singapore is so clean that it makes a healthy living as compared to other countries.
• The property market is booming and I have made couple of millions flipping properties and getting a PR will make property investment easier.
• The transport system is so efficient, bus-ride is so bloody cheap, goverment only raise 1 to 2 cents every year... damn cheap man.

To be fair, those people I spoke to, do not represent the majority. They represent the minority, the more-mobile minority.

There are 2 types of PR that I commonly see.

Those coming from countries that is less-developed than Singapore, and those coming from countries that is more-developed than Singapore.

It's very easy to spot them actually. The former are the ones that stay among the heartlanders. Coming to Singapore is the better alternative than elsewhere. They are the ones that will "grow" with Singapore.

The latter group stays in town. These are the highly mobile "expats" who took up PRs like collecting watches. They might work here one year, and in New York the following year. To them, they have zero loyalty towards Singapore.

Interestingly, one of the highly mobile "expat" told me that when he was invited to take up citizenship, the government body that invites him told him that he doesn't have to worry about his kids being enlisted into NS. Just apply student passes and when they reaches university age, send them overseas.

But it's these same PRs that make our properties prices appreciate. Did we complain when our property prices went up by 30%, in no small part due to these PRs.

Yes... it also make buying another property expensive. But that is the trade-off in Real Estate. You want to sell high and buy low? It's not going to happen in this order.

While I do not mind these PRs, my biggest worry is NS.

Recently NS period was reduced from 2.5 years to 2 years. Government said that this was due to a higher number of enlistees.

This also give rise to future increase in service should the number of enlistees fall short of the national requirement. In the last decade where birth rate has declined, this also means that boys who were born in this period will have to serve longer period of NS.

Not to mentioned if the population ballooned due to new PRs in Singapore. Will my son have to serve much longer in Future?

there's something about ..... road block

For the first time in my life, I was asked to wind down my window at a road block last night.

The traffic police (looks like a low ranking chap, he wasn't wearing those helmets, more like a beret) didn't stop every car, he selectively chose which car he want to inspect. Meaning to say he think I have a high suspicion of drink driving.

His head pop in thru my window and asked where I came from. I answered that I came from town and he let me move on. He probably just checking if I smell of alcohol.

But I hope he uses some common sense.

• Yes.. it was 12am on a friday night. But it's not like 1 or 2 am which might suggest some night partying.
• I was decently dressed. Pants and long sleeve shirt.
• My car is a normal SUV, not a Subaru WRX or Honda Type R.
• My car is not even Zhing.
• My car even run on a 15 inch wheel, not even 18 inch with alloy.
• It's a boring colour car even. So boring that it should suggest that the driver has a boring life, meaning drinking on a friday night is almost too exciting for the driver.
• And the best thing is........ my wife is with me. Ok... maybe that doesn't suggest anything, it could be a girl I pick up from Power Station.
• And the super duper Best thing is.... my son is with my wife at the back seat.

HELLO..... police officer... can use some common sense next time please. It's a waste of time. Plus you make me feel that I'm guilty of something, or I look like a criminal or something.

there's something about ..... children's day

Yesterday is one very memorable children's day for me.

My poor son celebrated children's day from the hospital. He got stomach flu and kept vomitting on Saturday night and I have no choice but to admit him into Hospital. He was discharged yesterday's evening.

And when we got home, it was my wife's turn. She started vommitting as well.

We decided to go to our family GP who was nearby.

And just when she was making her way to my car, she blacked out momentarily and she started to "cry". According to her, she couldn't control it at point of time. And she couldn't walk. It's like all the strength just disappear.

Of course, that shock us, including my son.

So I carry her (as in really carry) into the car. My mother and my son followed along.

When we arrived at destination's car park, I told my mum (who is carrying my kid) to walk a little faster to register with our GP first, while I help my wife to walk.

And just about few steps later, my son vomitted. My wife, upon seeing this, got a panic-attack. Her whole body cramped up and she began to hyperventilate, and she went into uncontrollable "crying".

Immediately I carry her and rushed into the clinic.

The clinic or any clinic, don't usually see patients being carried into the clinic and you can tell the nurse was a little shocked.

The doctor immediately put a "plastic bag" (not to be confused with Anya's I'm not a plastic bag bag) over her mouth and my wife immediately recovers from the panic. We always see that in movies when people breathe into a plastic bag and now I know the reason behind.

She must have gotten the virus from my son, but the panic-attack was a shock to everyone in the family.

It was too dramatic for me last night. You know cantonese got this saying... "One Wave hasn't come down, another Wave come up". But I hope no more waves liao.

I didn't have a peaceful sleep last night, I wasn't too sure if anything thing would happen again.

They are both recovering well.

there's something about ..... boredom

Since the subprime woes started, I've been very free. Unfortunately I'm working in an industry that is directly affected by such things.

So I have an unwelcome break for the last 1 month or so.

And I took the opportunity to pack my room, filing, change computers, etc. Those mundane stuffs.

So mundane that I realised that there wasn't anything amusing in my life for me to blog. Nothing interesting happened in my life. Nothing interesting happened in Singapore.... unless you consider Alex Man's saga as interesting, Singapore has been rather "quiet".

However, yesterday's Straits Times brought a little laugh in me.

Story No.1

Driver charged with taking and giving bribes.

Consider him lucky.

If he is found quilty of such charge in European Union, they will also charged him with the following:

Driver charged with taking and giving bribes as well as carrying an imitation LV bag.

If you are not aware, EU can fine you if they see you holding an imitation of the top European brands. They can even do so at the Airport over at the custom.

Story no.2

Forum page, letter no.1

Three Lessons for Singapore from Mourinho's exit

Chelsea's charismatic Manager quit last week, a shock in the football fraternity. But to think that someone in Singapore could actually linked up that story with Singapore, shocks me too.

Lesson no.1: There is no such thing as permanent job security, no matter how special you are. The writer says, if Jose Mourinho can lose his job, so can anyone.

Lesson no.2: If you have good set of cards, don't complain that it's not perfect. The writer highlighted that Mourinho has good players but when he loses, he complained about every other thing. The writer goes on to link this with the CPF interest rate increase. He is implying that we have a good system but we still complain about the CPF system.

Lesson no.3: Know what is important in life. Mourinho says that he is more concerned about the bird flu than a rival team pulling away from his team. The writer goes on to say "How important really are CPF changes, enbloc rules and many other things that consume our time? Are there more important things we are missing?"

Story no.3

Sex Survey by Durex

I will highlight those that I thought was interesting.

Sexually active Singaporeans aged 20 to 65, either single or married, who:

• Have sex at least once a week: 67%
• Would like to have sex more than once a week: 63%
• Masturbate once a week: 39%

From this I can derive that

• 4% (67% - 63%) of the 67% who have sex at least once a week, think that once a week is the most they would want. I can only think that this 4% are women. As you know, man can have sex anytime, many times a week.
• Of the 63% who would like to have sex more than once a week, but not getting any more, almost 39% of the 63%, masturbate once a week. And I can only think that these 39% are men, while the remaining 24% of the 63% are women. As you know, man can masturbate anytime, many times a week.
• And since 24% of the 63% are women, and only 4% of the 67% think that once a week is the most they would want, the remaining 20% or so of the women would like to have sex more than once a week, but are not getting any.
• This means 20% of the women wanted to have more sex per week but their husband prefers to masturbate, which suggest that perhaps the wife is not desirable.

there's something about ..... the latest iphone (update)

Steve Jobs announced the latest version of iphone..

It's called "imsorry".

It's totally cool and it's US$200 cheaper with all the same specifications. Great stuff!! It even has a new marketing tagline, it's called "800,000 people was fooled to buy it first, be smart now and buy it so that I can pay good dividends to shareholders... and myself"

Update:
Decided to add my comments within the letter. bored.

source: http://www.apple.com/hotnews/openiphoneletter/

To all iPhone customers:

I have received hundreds of emails from iPhone customers who are upset about Apple dropping the price of iPhone by $200 two months (this is CREATIVE symdrome) after it went on sale. After reading every one of these emails, I have some observations and conclusions.

First, I am sure that we are making the correct decision to lower the price of the 8GB iPhone from $599 to $399, and that now is the right time to do it. (it was a wrong decision previously) iPhone is a breakthrough product, and we have the chance to 'go for it' this holiday season. (Holiday season starts in September?) iPhone is so far ahead of the competition, and now it will be affordable by even more customers. It benefits both Apple (more dividend) and every iPhone user (and how?) to get as many new customers as possible in the iPhone 'tent' (and how is that beneficial?). We strongly believe the $399 price will help us do just that (Dividend up) this holiday season.

Second, being in technology for 30+ years I can attest to the fact that the technology road is bumpy. There is always change and improvement, and there is always someone who bought a product before a particular cutoff date and misses the new price or the new operating system or the new whatever. (totally true.. but 2 months?) This is life in the technology lane. (this is life of Sim Wong Hoo) If you always wait for the next price cut or to buy the new improved model, you'll never buy any technology product because there is always something better and less expensive (yes.. buy CREATIVE) on the horizon. The good news is that if you buy products from companies that support them well, like Apple tries to do, you will receive years of useful and satisfying service from them even as newer models are introduced. (This is universal theory)

Third, even though we are making the right decision to lower the price of iPhone (try telling 800,000 of them), and even though the technology road is bumpy, we need to do a better job taking care (how about not dropping the price) of our early iPhone customers as we aggressively go after new ones with a lower price. Our early customers trusted us, and we must live up to that trust with our actions in moments like these.

Therefore, we have decided to offer every iPhone customer who purchased an iPhone from either Apple or AT&T, and who is not receiving a rebate or any other consideration, a $100 store credit (Yahoo!!! that is exciting, now they can buy IPOD touch and have 2 bulky gadgets) towards the purchase of any product at an Apple Retail Store or the Apple Online Store. Details are still being worked out and will be posted on Apple's website next week. Stay tuned.

We want to do the right thing for our valued iPhone customers. We apologize for disappointing some of you (stop suggesting that only a small handfull are affected), and we are doing our best to live up to your high expectations of Apple.

Steve Jobs
Apple CEO

Note: I have vested interest. I hold shares of CREATIVE and is totally pissed that the price has fallen so much.

there's something about ..... sway

"sway" as in " bad luck".

A friend of that national serviceman who was charged for carrying a firearm has been charged for knowing about it and not reporting it to police.

Read excerpt from asiaone:

A full-time national serviceman, Dave Teo Ming, 20, was charged in court on Wednesday with carrying a firearm.

Another man, Ong Boon Jun, 21, was also charged. Ong, unemployed was accused of consorting with Teo at a hotel in Geylang.

No plea was taken from Teo, who was remanded together with Ong.

Teo, a corporal, is said to have unlawfully carried the SAR 21 assault rifle at a toilet on the third floor of Cathy Cineleisure Orchard at about 8pm on Sunday.

He went missing on Sunday night, sparking off a 20-hour manhunt which culminated in his arrest the following evening.

Ong is alleged to have associated with Teo at Champagne Hotel in Lorong 16 between 3.45am and 7.30am on Monday in circumstances which raised a reasonable presumption that he knew that Teo was carrying the firearm.

WHAT IF:

Ong (friend): Wah.. bookout never go back.. come geylang find chicken issit

Dave: No lah.. I AWOL.

Ong: Haha.. Mai Siao lah... you backside itchy issit. AWOL got money take ah.

Dave: Not only that.. I took out a rifle.

Ong: Haha... Mai siao lah.. Singapore Government leh.. so suka suka take rifle out one meh.. you think I stupid ah. You think I believe you that you can take rifle out one meh.

Dave: Don't believe.. forget it.

And because of that, Ong is deemed to have knew that Dave has firearms and will be charged.

I mean.. Very SWAY RIGHT!!!

I mean who would have believe someone is able to take a gun or rifle out of Army/police station. We are supposed to live in a society where we have very strict SOP that dealt with such things.

Damn jia lat.

If next time someone is to joke with me about such things, I wouldn't know what to do. Call Police first or police call you later.

there's something about ..... time

You know time has changed when NTUC fairprice plays JAZZ music and not some ching chong chinese songs.

there's something about ..... car servicing (updated)

Today I went to service my car with the authorised dealer. It's been a while since my last service and since I do not want to void my warranty, I decided to go back to them instead of going to external vendors.

11am

The first thing when they noticed was the time lag from the last service...

"Wah.. your last service quite way back, given your current mileage, it's advisable that you take up package B that includes...blah blah blah, plus you have to change the Gear oil of $1XX and it's advisable to change the Air Con filter of $2X, the total is $380."

You know it's not cheap going back to them, so I agreed.

11.15am

The moment we reaches my car, another technician joined in and immediately commented on my tyres. The approach is somewhat similar to those you find at petrol kioks.

Both of them highlighted the thread of the the tyres or the lack of, they tell you the importance of tyres, and tell you that their tyres are the original approved tyres so that you can have optimal ride, the price of the tyres has come down drastically over the years, in the past is $18X and now IT'S ONLY $14X. PER TYRE.

They work so well together, you suspected that they were a couple.

Needless to say, I rejected them nicely telling them that I intended to change my car soon.


11.30am

So I left the service centre.

About 10 minutes later, the engineer called me again.

"Your air con not cold. Would you like to take up our air con service package?"

"Huh.. I thought you were changing my filters already?"

"Yeah.. but that is not enough. we have to check all the compressors, add gas and others. The package is $400"

"$400? Is that the price to replace the Air Con or serviced the aircon?" Of course I was being sarcastic but the "innocent" engineer didn't think so and go on to explained the work that is required to service the air con.

Needless to say, I rejected them nicely telling them that I intended to change my car soon.

2pm

My dear engineer called again. I thought they called to inform me that my car servicing is finished. I was dead wrong.

"Your brake-pads needs to change. Worn out already. Both front and back must change. Each one about $170. Very dangerous."

Frustrated, I decided to make half the change so that he can stop calling me, and hopefully whatever I agreed could hit his quota.

"Ok.. just change the front ones for me. Leave the back ones alone."

3pm

My money-sucking engineer called again.

"YES" I answered.

"Sir, your battery very weak. Needs to change. This one is a good one, no maintenance necessary. It's the dry battery. $120"

Needless to say, I REJECTED THEM, telling them that I intend to change my car soon.

5pm

My engineer pimp called again.

"YES" I answered.

"Your car is ready for collection"


Updated
1st September 2007
12.30pm

My car battery went flat.

NABEH CB! Coincidence? More like a conspiracy!

there's something about ..... secret reason

Recently I've been listening to too many oldies and posted some ultra old MTVs here.

I feel there is a need to maintain the youthful nature of this blog. So I have decided to post this latest MTV from Jay Chou.

Jay Chou's "secret I cannot tell" loosely translated.

I personally like this song quite a long. Hey.. Don't Pray Pray ok.. I still young at heart. Just when I was admiring Jay Chou's music writing talent.... I realised that this song was very similar to another song. I posted the video below for a comparison.

And after listening, I think there is some similarities.

there's something about ..... hubstation

What a cool machine!! Not IPOD kinda cool but it's features is just fabulous!!

For a TV junkie like myself, hubstation is godsend!

At $300...

1. You got to keep the machine and no more rental.
   
2. You got $10 off sports group for 1 year... thus $120 savings
3. You can surf the internet free till end of 2008.... if you don't get too frustrated with the slow speed.
4. You get to record any shows, come back like 5 mins late, watch the show from the beginning while it's being recorded.
5. It's also a digital setup box, which means connected via one of the AV... means I can split my TV screen between a local channel and another cable channel, though this is more of a TV function. But last night I watch LOST and Man U vs Tottenham AT THE SAME TIME!!! How cool is that!!!

However, I nearly got a scare last week.

My intention is to terminate my Singnet Broadband and uses the free Cable that comes with the hubstation.

At 1 Mps, you would think that it's damn fast considering my Singnet was 512k and already very fast. BUT it's so bloody slow, it felt like a dialup. It was so frustrating slow that I decided to stick to my Singnet now.

But not before screwing up my Router. I connect my Router which was previously connected to Singnet to Hubstation and in the process spoiled it.

I ended up buying another new router so that I can connect it back to my Singnet.

In Singapore, there is this term that is so appropriate for this kind of thing... it's called LPPL!!!!

Thanks to my buddy Anthony... I managed to hook up my Router back to my singnet again.

there's something about ..... weak

Recently I felt quite weak. No.. I'm not sick. I'm just ashame of myself.

I got a weak character. I sold out. I cheated myself. Yes... I'm weak.

I reinstate my Sports Group.

Nabeh!! Starhub... you win!!!

there's something about ..... post office

Not everyone knows but do you know Singapore Post is a Listed Firm in SGX?

And when you put up a company that sell stamps into a public listed firm, you better ensure that they sell more than just stamps. If you haven't been to one post office recently, you should.

They now sell real estate, personal loans, all kinds of bill payments like phone bills, power bills, road tax, all government related bills. And of course sell stamps as well.

But in line with their new business of selling everything, they should also change their name.

Post office they are not. It's more like a convenience store.

I went over to AMK post office the other day, looking to send a registered mail. There are 2 queue. One Main Q for all services with about 7 counters serving the main Q. And 1 shorter queue for Mail services with 1 counter serving this need.

Naturally, I go to the Empty Queue which happens to be the Main Queue, only to be directed to the short queue.

Yes. It's short. I'm like the 5th person on the queue for 1 counter. Where the remaining 7 counters are not serving any customers.

But if you haven't realise... people buy stamps and send letters rather easily. They can just buy the stamps from the many dispenser found everywhere. Stationary shops, even in post office etc. So, you probably do not need to even queue to send letters.

You only queue because you need to send registered letters because you need to fill in forms, they weigh your letters, you pay them etc.

Now imagine I'm the 5th person on the queue. Everyone before me, needs to do those stuffs. Filling out the form is like couple of minutes already.

5th person but it takes me about 10 to 15 minutes to complete my transaction. And this is supposed to be a "post office" transaction.

Not any bill-payment of another vendor and if you need to wait for 10 mins, so be it. Afterall, you can always take a bus or MRT to Singapore Power at Somerset to pay your electricity bills. So waiting 10 mins is a bonus.

What I'm complaining is, the other counters should just help out. Each counter handle each of us, and I don't have to wait 10 to 15 minutes.

I think it's time I consider outside vendors like Fedexp or UPS for courier service. A bit more expensive but save me a trip.

there's something about ..... Teresa Teng

Over the weekend, I saw an old footage of Teresa Teng. It was a sight of her that I've not seen before. I guess my image of hers are those of the 80s, very proper, very demure etc.

That footage of hers was her singing an English Song. Not just any other English Song, but ROCK. She was on Biker's clothings, BIG Alfro-Hair... Singing "I LOVER ROCK AND ROLL". YES... that Joan Jett and the Black Hearts' Song.

Naturally, I was stunned. So I went to Youtube to see if I can find it.

Still finding... but I came across other gems.

there's something about ..... NDP

Somehow... perhaps I'm wrong... but Somehow I believe there is a NDP Manual lying somewhere. You know.. like a SOP for "planning a NDP" kind of thing.

• March in by various uniform groups. checked.
• March in by Guard of Honour. checked.
• Some local singers singing national songs. checked.
• Everyone must sing national songs. checked.
• VIP arrived. checked.
• Sing one national song. checked.
• Ministers arrived. Checked.
• Sing another song. checked.
• PM arrived. Checked.
• Sing another song. checked.
• President arrived. Checked.
• Sing National Athem. Checked.
• Helicopter Fly past with National Flag. Checked.
• Fighter Planes fly past. Checked.
  
• Inspection by President. Checked.
• March-past. Checked.
• Song and Dance performances related to national building but no one can understand the meaning behind the Song and Dance even after the commentator give some informative commentaries on the Song and Dance. Checked.
• Catch no balls. Checked.
• National Song by local ah gua with a name that sounded like a Hero Figure of India. Checked.
• Parachutes performance. Checked.
• National Song again by local artiste. Checked.
• Fireworks. Checked.
• More fireworks. Checked.
• National Pledged. Checked.
• President shake hand. Checked.
• President go back. Checked.

On a separate topic related to National Day.

The Song "No place I rather be" by Kit Chan below



Did you realise that there is ABSOLUTELY NO REFERENCE to SINGAPORE?

NO Mention at all about Singapore!! NOTHING!!

This Song can be sold to Malaysia, Indonesia, Phillipines, Blagadesh and it's still totally appropriate!!!

Interestingly, this song is sang by Kit Chan, who is spending more time in Boston than in Singapore. Is she singing about Singapore or Boston?

Nothing against Kit Chan. But the song writer needs to be jailed or something.

What's wrong with adding Singapore into the Song like

"count on me SINGAPORE"
"stand up for SINGAPORE"

Very cool what!