Random thoughts of a Disturbed Mind

The sky is falling!

2012-01-22T23:37:00.001+08:00

There's nothing wrong with my camera. The rain is that heavy.

My favourite colour!

2012-01-21T20:16:00.001+08:00

Take a deep breath...

2012-01-21T20:10:00.001+08:00

Losing myself...

2012-01-20T10:38:00.004+08:00

One of the first things I learned when I started working was that in times of doubt, go straight to the source. Take no chances and get the answer straight from the horse's mouth.

This mode of working has served me well.

Fast forward to today. I have spent about 15 months at my current workplace. The way we work here and the culture is quite different. Often times, we can't find any policy papers or procedures. We just ask around. Do we always get the right answers? Of course not. But we get by.

The other day I was faced with a problem and was asking separate parties on what should be the right way of interpreting a certain procedure. One of them told me that it would be best to get a colleague of ours to check with the authorities.

I was floored. What the hell happened to me? How did I not think of this first? And what the hell was I doing, then? After some thought, I realised I was organising a vote and trying to see which interpretation got the most votes.

This job is changing me. I think that's natural. But I just don't know if I am changing for the better or worse.

What I want...

2012-01-16T21:12:00.001+08:00

Have you ever wanted something so badly that you throw all caution to the wind and just get it? Even if your head says no?

I am getting closer and closer to the edge.

Am I who I say I am?

2012-01-09T21:13:00.003+08:00

I bought a Dell laptop online recently. As part of the transaction, they called to verify my particulars. I am all for such things, even if it was a hassle. They are doing their part to keep us safe and online fraud to a minimum. We should do our part as well.

Except that in this case, what they did did not make sense.

I received a call to verify my identity, which is basically just me repeating the same information I have given them when I made my purchase. They then asked me for my work telephone or email address, so that they could verify I was who I said I was. I don't understand how this would work. If I were a scammer, I would obviously not give you the details of the person whom I stole the credit card details from. I would give you my own information, so you would email me, and I would "verify" the information and the transaction would carry on.

Is there some wisdom or logic here that I am not getting? Basically, they wanted to send an email to another address other than the one I provided (a Gmail address) to verify my identity. I guess it helps that I work at a well-known company with a distinctive email address so I am probably who I said I was, but still...

This happened on Saturday.

We drove into the car-park and it was pretty full. In fact, the display outside said it was full. As we are driving along, looking for a lot, an old couple was getting into their lorry and the auntie waved to us to signal that they were heading out and we could have their spot. We gladly accepted the offer and gave an equally friendly wave to them as they left.

After we were done, we had to get to somewhere we were both unfamiliar with. She was fiddling with her GPS and a guy drove past and raised his hand, the back of which facing us, as if asking us what's taking us so long. It's hard to put it into words, but he was aggressive and my fight-or-flight instincts took over. Actually no...Only the fight instincts were present. If he got down from his car, I was ready to do the same and see what the hell was his problem.

For some reason, tempers rise a lot faster when we are driving. I think it's a fairly common thing.

In any event, what I feel is this - If you want our lot, then you jolly well wait until we are good and ready to leave. We don't owe you shit. If you're tired of waiting, then move on and see if other lots are available. "Challenging" everyone proves nothing and will lead to nothing but trouble. Your car will be there, and you are not. I could easily come by and give you a few decorative patterns on the side of your car.

And lastly, before you start acting all aggressive towards the tiny female driver, you might want to ensure there isn't a guy half your age and twice your size sitting next to her.

What?

2012-01-08T16:04:00.000+08:00

What is this doing in a HDB car-park?

End of 2011...

2012-01-01T12:53:00.000+08:00

Guess where?

2012-01-01T12:26:00.001+08:00

The walk...

2011-12-29T23:50:00.002+08:00

Sweets to the sweet...

2011-12-27T21:58:00.000+08:00

Christmas Eve...

2011-12-24T22:43:00.002+08:00

If it isn't bad enough that the sign is full of grammatical errors, they've also spelled their own chain's name wrongly.

There are really too many people in Singapore.

Looks like they are searching for Santa.

Kisses...

2011-12-23T23:26:00.001+08:00

Black or white?

2011-12-20T21:48:00.001+08:00

Pain...

2011-12-17T18:41:00.002+08:00

As I write this, I am fighting a bout of food poisoning. I don't feel too bad, except for the fever which I am running at the same time. I am not sure if the fever is related to the food poisoning. I have been feeling heaty for the past few days so it could very well be a double-whammy.

But on the whole, I think today is a good day. Why?

I have been having back pains for a long time now. Ever since I was done with NS and it started in Uni. I didn't do anything about it, except for the time when I went for an x-ray and they couldn't find anything wrong.

Long story short, I visited a back specialist yesterday. I did an MRI. I went back this morning for the results. I don't understand most of the medical terms used, but to the best of my understanding, I have a disc in my back which is protruding and has tore a little.

It is a downgrade-able condition and the specialist gave me a memo. I shall kick-start the process once I am feeling better.

It's ironic. I have a problem in my back which I will need to live with for the rest of my life, but I am feeling good. I think something like this happens only in Singapore. Why? Because I am no longer combat-fit and no longer need to worry about things like IPPT, IPT and RT. Or quite possibly, even ICT.

I do know of some people who have similar conditions as me. And they are all younger than me. How did this happen? This is generally a genetic or old age problem. How is it that young people like myself are getting afflicted with it? I can't say for sure, but I blame NS. It's a necessary evil, but performing my duties have done this to me.

Does anybody care? No. I don't mean my loved ones, they, of course, will care. But does the people who caused this to happen...Care?

No, they don't. I am just a statistic.

A great way to fly...

2011-12-15T22:43:00.003+08:00

Smooth...

2011-12-11T11:49:00.001+08:00

Much better than Tiger.

Tiger beer tastes like piss compared to this.

Buzz!

2011-12-11T11:45:00.001+08:00

I wasn't planning on posting this picture when I took it. Just wanted it as proof, in case the fly flew away before I could get the service staff to change my utensils.

Taken at a Chinese restaurant at Marina Square. Their food is over-rated in my opinion. Nothing fantastic or special about it.

Fuck Mondays...

2011-12-05T22:24:00.003+08:00

Nom nom...

2011-12-05T21:23:00.000+08:00

Wet day...

2011-12-04T19:27:00.000+08:00

I'm not religious...

2011-12-04T12:46:00.002+08:00

...but I think this is an interesting passage.

Faster. I can't wait.

Lights, camera, action!

2011-12-03T00:36:00.003+08:00

Orchard Road is lit up for Christmas...

And Royce released some special festive flavours. Actually I don't know if they are festive flavours. I'm collecting the boxes, so I bought these two mainly for the boxes.

The chocolate inside is great too!

In the end...

2011-11-28T21:10:00.002+08:00

The post-mortem came out today. About why they didn't do so well this past May.

I read every word. Nothing's changed. They did not admit their mistakes. They did not get off their high horses. They did not descend from their ivory towers.

It looks as if they were sorry, it looks as if they knew that they did a shitty job. But read carefully. Read it again. They did not acknowledge their mistakes. They made no promises to improve.

It's all hot air.

I don't think I will ever vote for them again, for the rest of my life.

I did some maths in my head just now. And it's really quite sobering.

I wake up at about 6am every morning, and I am out of my house by 6:50am. I need to catch the bus that comes by at 6:55am. That's how close it is every morning.

By the reach home, it is usually 7pm+. Today, I reached home at 8pm because I stayed late in office. The ideal time for me to go to bed would be 10pm.

This means I need to cramp dinner, reading the papers, surfing the Internet and everything else into two hours. This means I have virtually zero free time on weekdays.

Is this any way to live?

It has began...

2011-11-26T22:35:00.001+08:00

Nom nom...

2011-11-22T22:23:00.001+08:00

The only good thing about working late, is canceling dinner at home and buying back.

I love this. I can eat this everyday. Nom nom nom...

Delicious...

2011-11-22T22:19:00.001+08:00

Lots of fun with this thing today. Fooled two people.

It's really a strawberry-flavoured chocolate snack. Haha!

Tintin!

2011-11-19T23:38:00.003+08:00

Caught the new Tintin movie today. We have watched 3D movies before many times in the past, and this is the first time we both walked away with headaches. I wonder why.

After the movie, we went to the Tintin shop in Chinatown. Much of their stuff is over-priced and the only thing I could bring myself to buy are these figurines. They are selling them for $10 each and a smaller version one for $8.

They bring back memories of the times when I was in Primary School. That was when I started reading Tintin. I still remember the excitement when cracking open one of them for the very first time.

I now have every single title. I've read them countless times, but I am still not sick of them.

Weekend!

2011-11-18T22:43:00.001+08:00

Unfortunately, with every Friday, comes a Monday.

Yesterday's breaking dawn...

2011-11-18T06:14:00.000+08:00

Happiness is...

2011-11-16T22:41:00.001+08:00

Never go away...

2011-11-12T22:24:00.002+08:00

Some names never go away.

For example, when we first moved to this neighbourhood, there was nothing here. We are living on the very first plot of land where they started building from when Bukit Panjang got started as a new town. We did not have a proper bus terminal. It was just something along the street, like what they have at Ghim Moh. There is a coffee-shop there. What did we call it? "Number 5 Bus Terminal". Why? Because there was a SBS bus numbered 5 which starts from there.

If memory serves, bus number 5 starts from Bukit Panjang and ends at Geylang. This bus is no longer here. Ironically, I take it almost everyday in the mornings now to go to work. It now plies from Bukit Merah to Pasir Ris. I think it's been about fifteen years since it stopped operating here. Possibly more.

But the name lives on.

Because the town was new with nothing much here at the time, urban planning was simple. The way they placed things in this very first plot of land was to draw a line right down the middle and mirror everything. On the other side, there wasn't a bus terminal, but a huge drain. There is a coffee-shop there as well. We called it the "Big Drain".

It was raining earlier, but the water level is not too high. I think this is the central drain for Bukit Panjang. On days with heavy rain, you can almost go white-water rafting in this drain.

'Tis the season...

2011-11-11T23:22:00.003+08:00

EDIT: This was supposed to be a photo of a Christmas tree outside Suntec City. I found out today morning (13/11/11) that it has changed to a picture of an exclamation mark. I did some research. Seems like I am not the only one with this problem. Lots of people have reported this issue but so far looks like a solution/fix has not been found. That aside, I looked at my Picasa account where photos from Blogger are hosted. The picture of the Christmas tree is nowhere to be found. I no longer have the original photo. I can delete this post, but I shall not. I will keep it as "proof" of the problem. I looked through the rest of my posts (every single one of them) and as far as I can tell, this is the only one that was affected.

Happiness in a Cup...

2011-11-09T21:31:00.002+08:00

Changes...

2011-11-09T21:07:00.003+08:00

I have been thinking of making a change.

I haven't decided exactly what it is going to be, but I think I have a general idea.

Changes...

2011-11-05T22:38:00.002+08:00

After two years, my Bugatti Veyron of a desktop is dead.

When I bought it two years ago, I picked the second fastest chip on the consumer market. It was a monster. It still is, actually. I could have saved it if I wanted to (I am fairly certain I know which part died), but I really don't see the point anymore. Going forward, I don't think I will ever have a desktop again. I will most likely just stick to laptops. My new flat will not be as spacious as my parents' place so I might as well move on.

There was a time when I believed that I will always have a desktop. Laptops just do not have enough juice...But I must say they have caught up. The average laptop is good enough for my purposes these days - surfing the Internet and watching movies.

End of an era, I must say.

I got engaged two weeks ago. That was about the same time my desktop died. It was the same day Manchester United got hammered 6-1 by Manchester City.

The two latter things aside, the next phase of my life is about to begin. I'm feeling excited and apprehensive at the same time.

It's a numbers game...

2011-10-17T20:09:00.002+08:00

I'm watching an old episode of How I Met Your Mother for the second time when I noticed something about three minutes in. There were numbers, counting down. The numbers appeared on subtle things in the background, like on the table, magazines, posters, etc.

I checked online and as it turns out, I wasn't the only one who noticed that. I am not done watching the episode yet, but it seems it is counting down towards a bit of sad news which will be revealed at the end of the episode.

That aside, I can't believe I noticed that.

That darn cat...

2011-10-16T21:50:00.000+08:00

Like most neighbourhoods, there are a number of stray cats in my area. Most of them hang out at specific places. Over time, I managed to recognise some of them.

Some time ago, when I returned home late one night, I saw one of them sleeping on a chair outside my flat. Nothing unusual, except that I live on the 10th floor.

How did the cat get up here? My sister saw the cat on our floor a few times as well. I can't believe the cat climbed up ten flights of stairs to get up here. That would be an incredible effort on its part.

The other day, I found out how.

I came home a little later than usual from work and was waiting for the lift with someone else. I saw the cat out of the corner of my eye, the very same one. The cat waited for me and the other guy to get into the lift before it entered. The door closed and he stayed very close to the doors. When the doors open on the 4th floor, it went out, followed by the other guy.

So that's how it came up to our floors. It will hitch a ride with whoever's going up on the lift. Makes sense. If I were a cat, I would rather sleep on a higher floor than at the void deck, which would be fraught with dangers of the night.

What a clever cat. What will they think of next?

Monday blahs...

2011-10-02T17:26:00.002+08:00

When I left work on Friday and started the weekend, I left behind a lot of problems. Problems which I did not know how to solve.

Now the weekend is almost over. Soon I'd have to go back to work and deal with the same problems I left behind.

The silver lining is that next weekend is Edgar vs Maynard III. I have been waiting for this since 1/1/11. That's right, since the first day of this year when it was Edgar vs Maynard II. I can't wait for this!

To buy, or not to buy?

2011-09-25T10:47:00.002+08:00

When I first heard about Nokia's N8 about a year ago, I was really looking forward to it and was sure that it would be my next phone. However, when it was released, Symbian^3 fell short and I told myself not to consider this phone until they got their act together, software-wise.

Now they have. Anna is now available for the N8. By all accounts, it seems to be a huge improvement. Fairly good chance that Belle will be available eventually for N8 as well.

Just when I am thinking of finally getting this phone, I read about N8-01 which has been leaked and is supposed to come with Belle. No software upgrades necessary like for the original N8.

Now I am in a dilemma again. Should I buy the N8-00 now and upgrade to Anna, or wait for its replacement which will come with Belle? I really like auto-focus camera on the N8-00. If N8-01 comes with a shitty camera and I am unable to purchase the N8-00 anymore, I would really be kicking myself.

What to do?

Wrong height?

2011-09-15T21:30:00.002+08:00

The platform gates at above-ground MRT stations went up some time back. Today, I realised a big design flaw.

If you sat on the side of the train that faces the station, as the train pulls in, the top of the new platform gates will be at the exact height to block your view of the station name.

In short, you can't see the station names due to the platform gates.

I wonder if they took this into consideration when they erected the platform gates.

Complicated...

2011-09-04T10:41:00.003+08:00

As I get older, I feel that life gets more complicated. There are more things to think about, more things to take care of.

I see my life as three circles. Much like Venn diagrams. I have a circle for my personal life, one for my work life, and another for my NS life. The NS circle, of course, would last only until I am done with my NS liabilities.

Usually, things are routine and at the most, there is just one task within one of the circles that demand my attention. But every once in a while, something happens and all three circles demand my attention.

I had a conversation with a friend some time back and he mentioned the importance of having insurance. I haven't given it much though up until then, but I thought he made a lot of sense and I decided that I should get covered as well. However, I have been putting it off and am only really looking at it now. We've talked to a few agents and looked at several products and I have yet to make a decision. It is more complicated than I thought...And I think it is important to pick the right product as this is something that would follow us for the rest of our lives. Hopefully I can decide by today and get everything sorted out. This is for my personal "circle".

For my "work" circle...Things are not looking good right now. I honestly do think my time there is up. I need to start looking for something else, which is a source of stress in itself. I have more or less decided to abandon my previous plan of waiting for a upgrade on my service anniversary because recent events seem to suggest that the chances of this happening are slim. I have not decided, but there is a good chance that I would tender this coming week.

For my NS "circle"...My back is getting worse. I have encounter pain while walking, when taking steps with my right foot. I spoke to a colleague who had the same problem and he got a specialist's memo and got downgraded. After I've sorted out my insurance matters, I would visit his specialist for the same. I hope it goes well. Otherwise, I need to book IPPT and get ready next year to attend IPT.

Now that I've written it down, it doesn't seem that bad. This is why I like writing. Gives me perspective. Helps me think.

Back in SG...

2011-08-28T10:09:00.003+08:00

I was away for most of the week in JB. Attended a course for work over there. They put us up at a nice resort. I am unable to upload the pictures now due to some problem with Blogger.

Anyway, the change of environment was great, even though I was unable to sleep properly for the first two nights, due to the unfamiliar environment. The staff and service at the resort was generally great, but I feel that our neighbour still has some way to go before they catch up to us.

The food during the buffet at night was...Well it wasn't bad, but it wasn't good neither. It was the same food over and over again. And there were so many flies. Why don't they install bug-zappers, I'd never know.

Attitude of the service staff at their restaurants was another downer. A waiter spilled milk on my table and he didn't bother to clean it up. Another dropped a dirty knife onto my chair as he was clearing the dishes. No apologies, nothing. And another one walked behind me and grabbed the door handle with my hand still on it and pulled opened the door to the restaurant and gave me a shock (I didn't know he was behind me). He was unnecessarily aggressive and there was really no reason to behave like that and even more so for service staff.

The standard of their buffet was low. But that may have something to do with their target market. Lots of people drove to the restaurant for buffets in the evenings and there were very few Protons. These are fairly rich people, and yet they clamour for the three lousy flavours of Magnolia ice-cream. Easily the worst ice-cream I've ever had. The chocolate mint had no mint taste at all. Yet an insane number of people went for it and the queue was...Well there wasn't much of a queue at all. It was more like a mob.

It's good to be home.

Kinda disappointed at how the PE results went. Times like this, I wonder if the people of this country knows what the hell is going on.

Pretty hyped up about UFC 134 today. Got spoiled for some of the matches when I went to Wikipedia. At least not for the main event. Anderson Silva versus Yushin Okami. I can't wait!

Lots of things...

2011-08-12T20:25:00.001+08:00

I have so much on my mind right now. It's one big mess and I don't know how to put it all down in words.

I am inching closer and closer to the option of cutting my losses and moving on. I am better than this, and I deserve better. And I don't think it's an accident that so many have done the same. And so many are frustrated...

Sunday is going to be a big day. Can't get it out of my mind. Thinking about it a lot. I don't know why. Is it because of what I saw on FB? Is that making me think? Perhaps. Probably, in fact. And the fact that it's still going on doesn't help.

The Plan...

2011-08-04T21:14:00.000+08:00

The plan, which I've had for a while, was to get promoted on my service anniversary and get a significant pay raise. After that, find something else and get another raise.

Now I'm not sure if that is still the way to go. I was doing well, but after taking over the new portfolio, I am so lost and mostly just groping in the dark. It doesn't help that I have so much work to do. I can't perform well on the new portfolio due to me simply not knowing any better, and don't have time to work on my other projects which I can do much better if I have the time.

Should I just cut my losses and look for something else now?

More trains, same result?

2011-07-28T20:27:00.002+08:00

It was reported in the media today that the Bukit Panjang LRT will be providing better service "soon". There are currently nineteen trains and they will be purchasing another thirteen, to be put into service in 2014.

When the LRT first started about ten years ago, most of the trains were dual-carriage (based on my observation). These days, most trains are single-carriage. I don't know what happened. In any case, since most trains are now single-carriage, it should be easy to increase capacity, just by adding one more carriage since the platform can accommodate that as well.

Just one problem.

There has been a furry of BTO launches in Bukit Panjang recently. These BTOs should be completed around 2014/15. This means there will be more people in Bukit Panjang. Coupled with the fact that the MRT line will be completed around that time as well, the increase in capacity in the LRT may have a zero net effect.

How come no one realises this?

215

2011-07-17T19:00:00.002+08:00

I'll be going back to work after a hiatus of two weeks, spent at Orientation.

I checked my work email earlier and found that I have 215 new emails. Not too many. Honestly, I was expecting a lot more emails than this. I went through a few of them, based on the subject. Nothing much out of the ordinary, except that I have been nominated to be in yet another committee, doing something which I feel is a waste of time.

And as if that wasn't bad enough...I do not like any of the other people in the committee. There are plenty of people in my Division and for some reason, all the people who ended up in this committee are people I do not like. What are the odds of something like this happening?

Sigh...

We have a presentation tomorrow to deliver to management at 10:30am. Since I wasn't around for the past two weeks, I am, obviously, not going to give the presentation. The group, however, has taken upon themselves to meet at 8:30am tomorrow so that we could go through the presentation. Go through the presentation? For two hours? Seriously? Is that really necessary?

I don't know whether is it me or is this job really that fucked up...But I think it's very frustrating. Nothing ever goes right. Simple things get fucked up. And I have to lower my standards to work with incompetent people.

Three more months. Three more months before I put my plan into action.

Where do I stand?

2011-07-12T18:04:00.002+08:00

Three more days of Orientation before I go back to work.

I think the intent of the Orientation Programme has been well and truly met. We learned a lot about the organisation and where we stand in the big scheme of things. While there are some issues with the planning aspects of the Programme, on the whole, I think it was well thought-out and the objectives have definitely been met.

We all work within certain boundaries. Certain things fall within our purview, and certain things do not. After sometime, because of our limited view, we tend to think that whatever we are doing is the most important thing in the company. I got a sense of this when listening to some of the presenters as well. But after listening to what each department did, you realise that you are but one small "gear" in the machinery that is this company. A hundred and one things need to work correctly in order for the company to do well, and you are but one small part of it.

Perhaps the worrisome part about all this is that I have yet to come across a department that I am truly interested in. This could be a problem when the time comes for my next posting.

Taking it easy...

2011-07-04T20:35:00.002+08:00

I am on Orientation for two weeks, starting today. It is a much-needed break from work, and also the chance to find out what the rest of the company does. We will be visiting every Division in the company and will attend talks given by all the Department Heads.

I'm going to use this chance to catch a breather and recharge a bit. I really need this. The thought of going back to work after two weeks - hundreds of emails plus a new application to support - literally saps all of my energy.

Even though I am not at my office, I still get news from there and today's announcement really caught me off-guard. I never thought he would be posted there. I wish him the best. He's inheriting a big-ass problem there and I hope everything gets sorted out soon.

Sick...

2011-06-25T19:17:00.003+08:00

I haven't been this sick for a long time.

I started feeling sick on Wednesday. It got way worse on Thursday and I was completely down for the count on Friday. I am recovering, but right now, I am still feeling really weak.

My current employer has this silly rule of accepting only MCs from company doctors. The closest one to me was at Lot 1. It was only a total round-trip of one hour, but this one hour nearly killed me. I have been against this rule since Day One, and I still am.

I don't understand the logic. If my previous employer, which is a statutory board, is willing to accept MCs from my GP, why don't you? Are you implying that my GP is not a qualified doctor?

I effectively need to travel out of my "town" to one that was two "towns" away to see the doctor for an MC if I am ill. One could make the argument that if one is able to do that, then one is really not that sick.

If you are going to have a rule such as this, then you need to make sure this chain of clinics have branches everywhere. If not, all you are doing is penalising employees who fall sick.

Uncertainty and other things...

2011-06-18T17:08:00.003+08:00

One of the reasons people give when they change jobs is that they wanted to learn new things.

What exactly are these "new things"? And why do you want to learn them?

I think that things you need to know in order to do your job...These things, you will learn them eventually, whether you want to or not. There is no need to hurry and it doesn't make sense to change jobs to learn this. For practical reasons, it's akin to learning a foreign language of a country that you have no intention of ever visiting.

I think that it is more important to learn things that are more generic in nature. Things that can be applied no matter where you go or where you are. Things that could possibly shape you. These things are usually not about work. These things are about yourself.

For the longest time, I was part of a system whereby there always was a "right answer". As I transitioned to a current phase of my life and the system no longer existed, I was still searching for the right answer. So when I heard someone say that there are no "right answers", just what you are comfortable with, it really stuck with me. From that day on, my perception of life and how I dealt with it changed.

Recently, I learned something else which I think will change my perception and how I deal with things. Something happened at work which made my supervisor go apeshit. I do not know all the specifics, but suffice to say, it really was a big problem and going apeshit seems justified or the very least, a reasonable reaction.

Another colleague did something entirely different. He dived deep into the problem and realised that there was more to it than we thought and we should not be directing our anger, or throwing our shit like apes, at anyone else.

When we spoke about it later, he said he doesn't go "off" immediately until he has checked and double-checked an issue. For one thing, how do we know for sure that a certain party is to blame when things go wrong?

I am not the most patient person in the world and it doesn't take much to make me lose it. So this advice or mindset really gave me something to think about. Especially when immediately before I learned this, something happened that made me want to send a very vindictive email to another colleague when it turns out that the cause of the problem really was under my area (okay, so he didn't know that, but still).

I then wanted to send another email to a person of higher position pointing out a deficiency in her department, which I chose not to in the end because I cannot say for sure it was that.

An important life-lesson, indeed.

DBSS flats in Tampines are going for $880,000. That's a record for HDB flats. Although I am not sure whether to really consider DBSS as "HDB flats". Hell, this is more than twice the amount of my same-number-of-rooms HDB BTO flat.

I can't say for sure, but I think this will result in a generation of people who will be in dire financial straits when they reach retirement. By the time they are done paying for the flat, how old would they be? How much money will they have left? What if someone falls sick? What if they need money desperately for something else?

This is something new which we are seeing in recent years and we do not know what will happen in the future. Flats cost much less during our parents' generation and most have no issues with paying for them. This is the generation of expensive, sub-$1 million flats. I really wonder what will happen to these people 20 or 30 years down the road.

I found out my platoon sergeant during my NSF days is now no longer with the SAF and has started his own events/wedding planning company.

Most of these regulars who are no longer with SAF ended up doing event management, becoming property agents or insurance/financial planner. One joker opened a pet stop, or so I heard.

In any case, it would be hard for me to picture this guy as a wedding planner. Nothing against him and he was always fair when I was an NSF, but I just can't picture him doing this.

All the best to him, though.

Expectations...

2011-06-16T21:40:00.002+08:00

I guess I expected better from a company of this size. This isn't some kachang puteh SME we're talking about.

Key policies are not put in place. For those that are, half of them are not clear. Half the people are incompetent. Work processes make no sense and does not help in getting work done.

I expected better.

But still. There is not much I can do right now. I need to stick it out. At least for now. The coming months will be very challenging. Hopefully I can ride this out. I guess whatever doesn't kill me will make me stronger.

Debranded!

2011-06-05T21:44:00.003+08:00

Several new versions of the firmware for my phone have been released. However, whenever I tried updating, I was told that I already had the latest version.

That really irritated me because the firmware I was using had some stability issues. Which is surprising, considering the phone has been on the market for about 18 months (maybe more).

I did some research and found out it was because my phone was tied to Singtel. Because of that, I was unable to load the firmware meant for the general market. I had to wait for them to come up with another Singtel-specific variant before I could upgrade.

That really pissed me off because I use none of the special Singtel services or features on my phone. And I cannot upgrade the firmware because of this.

I dug a bit further and found a way to change the product code of my phone so it would appear to be a general market phone, instead of being identified as one from Singtel so only Singtel-specific firmware can be loaded on it. After changing the product code, I was still unable to upgrade. Ovi Suite was telling me that I already had the latest version.

I decided to choose the reinstall option. And lo and behold...The latest version installed this time.

Did a hard reset after the upgrade to return the phone to factory condition. Spent the rest of the day restoring it back to the way I want it to be. I can already feel the performance improvement. Battery life is supposed to be better. I certainly hope so. While the issue with Music Player, Radio, and WhatsApp has not been resolved, I would still be satisfied if performance and battery life have been enhanced.

Check out the view!

2011-06-02T22:15:00.003+08:00

I uploaded it full-size (something I don't usually do for pictures on my blog). Click to see it in all its glory.

I think it's pretty awesome that a mobile phone's camera is capable of taking such a shot.

EDIT: Oh shit. I just realised that Blogger down-scaled the picture. I guess it was too big. Oh well...

I saw this sticker in a toilet today...

Which was perfectly fine, except that it was stuck on top of a urinal...

Who the hell uses water from the urinal for drinking and washing? Isn't it understood that you shouldn't?

So wet...

2011-06-01T22:21:00.002+08:00

I took this picture in the lift of an LRT station.

It says, "so wet my puku". Puku means buttocks.

I wonder what happened to Mr/Ms Wet-Butt.

I bought a laptop sometime last year so I'd use my desktop less. My desktops consumes a lot more power than a laptop so I thought I would save some juice by switching to a laptop when possible. My desktop is still my primary machine.

Over time, I shifted more and more of my time to my laptop. So much so that it almost became my primary machine.

Recently, I rediscovered the beauty of my desktop. No matter how advanced laptops are these days, they still can't match a desktop in certain areas. Computing power, ergonomics, big screen (debatable, I know) and huge keyboards.

If I can only choose one, I'd still pick my desktop, the power-hungry Veyron, rather than the everyday Toyota.

When is the bus coming?

2011-05-26T20:45:00.003+08:00

Recently, SBS Transit introduced a captcha code on their Iris websites. Apps that provide bus timings failed. Most people were pissed. People wrote in to ST Forum, describing it as a lose-lose situation.

I disagree.

In the first place, these apps have no business using the information. If the same thing happened in school, it would have been considered as plagiarism. The other thing is that these apps flood the Iris website with so many queries that legit users, such as myself, am unable to get the bus timings and instead got a bunch of different HTTP errors.

I think it was a brilliant move by SBS to introduce captcha code for the Iris websites. Ever since then, I have not had a single problem accessing the service, even during peak hours.

There was an article about allergies in the papers today. It says that most kids outgrow food allergies by the time they are 10-years old. But those with shellfish allergies usually don't outgrow them. Only two out of ten children do so.

I guess I could count myself lucky then. A few years ago, I realised that I was no longer allergic to shellfish. And the interesting thing is that people who are allergic to shellfish tend to also be allergic to dust mites, as both of these things have the same "trigger".

I hope I would outgrow my dust allergy one day.

But I guess I could count myself lucky for outgrowing my shellfish allergy.

The problem with batteries...

2011-05-21T12:04:00.002+08:00

About two years ago, I bought two packs of Duracell batteries. A pack of AA's and a pack of AAA's. I bought them because I switched to a wireless mouse and keyboard combo for my desktop and I would need batteries to power them up. All the batteries mentioned in this post are from these two packs.

Fast forward to this year.

The first time I noticed a problem was when my Arc mouse could not power up. I opened up the battery compartment and noticed a clear liquid leaking out from the bottom. There were also some blue residue on the battery contact points. I thought at the time it was due to some hardware issues so I contacted Microsoft and got a replacement mouse.

A while after that, I looked at the two packs of batteries in my drawer and realised that the cardboard backing seems to be wet. I've noticed it in the past but I did not investigate, thinking it was due to the material breaking down. When I examined it, I realised that about half of the AAA's were leaking. I tossed all of them away. Although some of them seemed fine, I did not want to take a risk with using them in my gadgets as they were covered with the leaked battery fluid and I don't know what would happen if I used them.

Fast forward again, to last night. My desktop mouse is complaining that its batteries are running out. I went and replace the AA batteries and found that it was leaking too. I have been noticing a weird mark on my mousepad for a while and now I realise it was from the leaking batteries. The mouse, while still functional (although one of the shortcut keys have been malfunctioning), was done. It was impossible to clean the mess within. Lucky for me, I had my keyboard replaced two years ago shortly after I bought the combo and when Microsoft sent me a new set then, they sent a complete set and I only returned the faulty keyboard. Hence I have an identical and brand new mouse. An instant replacement.

So, the total damage caused by these batteries - Two mice and a mousepad. And I tossed away quite a few of the unused and leaking AAA's.

I don't think I will ever buy Duracell batteries again. I'm not a battery expert, and a search on Wikipedia seems to suggest that leaking batteries is a common occurrence. But still...Too much damage caused. I will be buying my alkaline batteries from IKEA from now on. I've already bought a pack of AAA's. I haven't used them yet, but reviews from my father who used them for his cameras seem positive.

Of all the pictures to use...

2011-05-21T00:52:00.001+08:00

I don't know why they decided to use this as a poster for Pirates 4:

This is like the kind of posters you'd expect to see for movies at Yangtze.

I saw this at Borders.

I swear I did not set this up.

Hand of God...

2011-05-17T13:53:00.002+08:00

I don't understand why people of a certain age do this.

When the bus is approaching the bus-stop, they put their hands on the side of the bus and follow the bus along. They want to be the first ones up the bus, and they keep walking along with the bus and try to be at the same position where the door would be when it comes to a complete stop.

I never do that. Not really. I may move a bit but I don't play "follow the door", so to speak. So when these people keep moving with the door, they sometimes bump into me. Unlike them, I don't follow the door. Unlike the other people waiting for the bus, I don't give way to them. When these people bump into me, most of them look up at me with a surprised look on their faces.

I don't know what are they so surprised about. Is it because I did not give way? I don't owe you anything. So I'm not going to give way. What did you think was going to happen? You put your hand on the bus and expect all of us to part like the Red Sea for you?

Go fuck yourself. I hope the bus runs over your foot one day. You deserve it.

Fail...

2011-05-17T13:52:00.002+08:00

Is it me?

2011-05-10T21:28:00.003+08:00

I spoke to a colleague about the problems I've experienced at work. He's from my department and is my closest confidant at work. He's leaving for his Masters soon.

Anyway, after speaking to him about the problems I've experienced, I had a think-out-loud moment and questioned whether was it a problem with the company or whether there was a problem with me.

He said that the problems I've mentioned are not problems that someone would bring up to whine and complain about just for the sake of it. These are indeed problems with the organisation but there is not much we can do about it.

I'm actually coping with the work quite well. It's the problems with the system and processes that are really getting to me.

Going the extra mile...

2011-05-06T23:40:00.003+08:00

Two days ago, I lost my Internet connection at home. My father was using it in the afternoon during a thunderstorm and after a very loud thunder-bolt, the Internet went dead.

It happened once before in the past. The service was restored without any intervention. This time, it did not. I called the Singtel Helpdesk the same night and they sent someone over yesterday. After some checks, the verdict was that the extension wiring from our main phone line into my room was fried.

They sent someone over today to get the rewiring done. At no cost. I was surprised, to say the least. Especially since the line I have in my room was not laid by them. It was laid by my uncle who was in the renovation business before he retired. Apparently, the cable he used was just an ordinary telephone cable. Not the type Singtel uses for wiring. Singtel uses a higher grade cable for wiring, which makes it more hardy against lightning strikes.

They sent over a different person to do the wiring and the person wasn't too tech-savvy. The fact that my wall-to-modem wiring runs through a UPS probably made it more complicated. Long story short, wiring was done, but he was unable to confirm that the Internet is back on because he can't figure out where the wires went in my home network.

My father was of the opinion that if the wiring was done, I will be able to sort out the connections later myself since it was my network. So he let the guy go. Shortly after, someone from Singtel called and asked that he switched on the modem, as they would be running some tests from their side.

Their tests must have failed, because three hours later, they sent over a three-person team to see what was wrong. As it turns out, I connected the modem to my router wrongly. It was disconnected when I came home yesterday and I absentmindedly connected it wrongly. Singtel could see this on their end and they sent someone over to investigate.

I am very impressed with their work antic. More so when rightfully, they should be able to see that connection has been restored (from the wall socket to the modem) and their job is actually over. But they went the extra mile to ensure that connection was restored, end to end. This was despite me telling the wiring guy that everything from router onwards will be taken care of by me (my father called when they could not figure out my network wiring).

I will write a letter of compliment to their customer service department when I have the time.

Tomorrow is Polling Day. It's a public holiday. Which means a day off-in-lieu!

I hope the country wakes up and realises the shit-hole we are in right now. And come tomorrow, we will be able to do something about it.

Saying sorry doesn't make it okay.

5th May 2011 marks the third anniversary of the day I started working.

So much has happened in the three years, both in my work and my personal life.

I am coping well with work, but getting more and more frustrated everyday. I took stock of what I was doing and realised that I've faced unexpected issues in every one of my projects and assignments so far. Nothing ever went smoothly.

This company is so operational in nature that the mindset of the company is to fire-fight. After the fire is put out, everyone is so exhausted and no one investigates the cause of the fire. So the fire comes back, and everyone fire-fights, and the cycle repeats.

I am considering bringing forward my exit strategy.

Same old brand new you...

2011-05-01T17:35:00.001+08:00

It's all the same. Only the words have changed. In some cases, even the words are the same.

The same tactics have been used so far. They are pushing the same agenda. Playing on the same fears. Dangling the same carrots.

Enough.

This is not the same country I dreamed about growing up in when I was younger. I am a stranger in my own land. I work hard, but don't get to enjoy life. Why is the pursuit of GDP growth the utmost and most important thing in our lives?

There should be more to life than this.

I don't know know if the others can do any better.

I just have to.

Why?

2011-04-24T21:48:00.000+08:00

I took this photo at City Hall MRT station. This is the door next to Guardian.

Why is the door alarmed? Who scared the door?

Down again...

2011-04-21T19:52:00.002+08:00

I'm falling sick more often these days.

Previously, I visited the doctor about two to three times a year. This year, I have been to the doctor four times already I think.

I think it has to do with my traveling to and from work. In the past, I took a single bus to work and back. Now, I take three buses or train one way. This increases my exposure to whatever germs there are on public transport effectively by three times.

The fact that I always travel during peak hours where the buses are packed probably did nothing to help the situation.

Excuse me while I go lie down.

Groan.

Thank you, Edge...

2011-04-17T13:31:00.002+08:00

These days, I am more into UFC and have not been following wrestling much. I catch the occasional PPV, but the stuff I am really looking forward to are UFC events.

Anyway, I still subscribe to a wrestling newsletter. I've been on the list since I was in secondary school and could not bring myself to unsubscribe from it. It was in the newsletter that I learnt about Edge's retirement.

Due to health issues, Edge retired from wrestling this past week at the age of 37. I would not call myself an Edge fan, but he has gave a lot to the business and have been involved in some of the most insane matches I've ever seen. His TLC matches are legendary and set the standard for what was to follow.

Thank you, Edge. Thanks for the memories. Thanks for the WTF, the Holy-Shit! moments. Thanks for everything.

Step up...

2011-04-10T16:38:00.000+08:00

I need you to step up.

You're not a kid anymore. You're almost 29 and it's time to be an adult.

Stop being so naive. Start thinking about the future. Start thinking about yourself. Take control of your finances. "I don't know" is no longer a valid reason when you are an adult.

Everything's online these days. The information you need is out there. The Internet has other things besides Taiwanese and Hong Kong dramas.

Step up. Be an adult. Because I don't think I have the strength to be two adults.

Sooner or later...

2011-04-05T21:12:00.002+08:00

It had to happen. Sooner or later, it had to happen.

I have given it some thought before in the past. Nothing too serious, as it wasn't my place. It was brought up today. I overheard the phone conversation and it didn't take a genius to put two and two together.

It's a morbid thought.

Not looking forward to the day we get to use what they paid for.

Excited...

2011-03-28T20:32:00.002+08:00

It's been almost a week, but I am still pretty excited.

I've been applying for a HDB flat since July last year. I haven't been applying for every exercise. Only the ones that appealed to us. It's not easy getting a good queue number. Sometimes, we didn't even get a number.

The time-line is pretty complicated, but long story short, we were invited for to select a flat at two different locations in Punggol. One BTO, and the other SBF. A check online showed that the only units left were on the second and third floors. It was around this time when an application for new BTO units in my current area opened.

We were in a bad situation. We didn't want units on the second and third floor, so we were going to reject the two chances we have at Punggol. This means we would no longer be considered as first-timers for a year. This also effectively means we can forget about getting a brand-new, BTO flat.

It was at this time that they announced that the application period will be shortened. I emailed and called them - it didn't apply for the BTO in my area. It will only apply for the one after that. Which means, rightfully speaking, we would have turned down the Punggol offers and lost our first-timer statuses before the ballot for the BTO in my area began.

We were sunk.

But as it turned out, the information I got was wrong. The new, shorter application process was already in place and I got my ballot number for the BTO in my area. A very good number, at about 27% of the total units available. Pretty sure we can get a unit we want.

It was incredibly lucky. If we didn't make it this time round, we would have to spend more money shopping in the resale market. The location this time round is also much better than the previous recent BTOs.

So excited.

Fuck yeah!

2011-03-23T22:23:00.001+08:00

Got some good news today. Won the "national lottery", of sorts.

Makes the shit I dealt with today at work worthwhile.

The aftermath...

2011-03-18T23:04:00.003+08:00

The past week was a busy one for me at work. I was involved in a project which kept me very busy. It also exposed a lot of the problems we have in the company, as far as how we dealt with our IT assets. It also exposed the shortcomings of our vendor, the very same one who killed a very popular bank's ATMs recently.

Anyway, because I was really busy, I did not have time to read the papers carefully. I read mostly the headlines and scanned through the articles. I knew about what happened in Japan, but only now did I realise exactly how bad it was.

Saw this picture in the papers the other day. Truly a holy shit moment...

My company is in a mini-crisis mode. Flights were getting rescheduled, information being passed down every few hours, and colleagues updating the Intranet website constantly. I never really paid much attention to it because I was extremely busy. But now that I think about it, piecing together what I saw and heard and now I realise what a big deal it is and how hard it was to deal with this crisis. Because of my position, I was not involved at all.

I can't decide if that is a good or a bad thing.

No, not really...

2011-03-15T22:34:00.002+08:00

I wonder why they phrased it this way...

Are the "youths" not really youths? So what the hell are they? If they are youths, then why the quotes?

Of course, I never bothered reading the magazine to find out. I have better things to do with my time.

Every time I get letters like this, I get worried...

I wonder what have they thought up of this time, to screw with me.

I mean, I am already forced to defend a country where I am a second-class citizen. What else do they want from me?

It was nothing this time round. It was just a brochure to explain the new IPPT system, which I already knew about. I heard through the grapevine that there would be an overseas ICT this year. Not everyone would be involved. If I could pass the month of April without hearing anything, I should be safe.

We share time...

2011-03-13T00:29:00.003+08:00

I don't understand how people can arrive forty minutes late for an appointment and act as if nothing's wrong. Not even a sorry-for-making-you-wait.

We keep track of time for a reason. 7pm for me is also 7pm for you.

I haven't decided how am I going to deal with this problem in the future. It's not really fair to blame her because she was waiting together with me. And she was pretty miffed about it too.

Nobody cares...

2011-03-08T21:29:00.004+08:00

I don't understand why people post their locations on Facebook. Nobody cares where you are at. Unless you died and posted on FB that you're in heaven or hell and basically prove that there is life after death. Otherwise, stop it. Nobody cares.

What did you say?

2011-03-08T21:19:00.003+08:00

My office now is much bigger than it was in the past. This means a lot more people around me, a lot more noise, and a lot more jokes. I overheard this today:

"I can hear a sound in my mouth."

(On the phone) "It will either be earlier or later..."

Oh, really?

I wish...

2011-03-06T19:10:00.002+08:00

I have had enough. To be honest, things are not that bad. Especially if you look around at our neighbours. Things are actually pretty good. But still...I've had enough of their bullshit. I have had enough of working my butt off and not really reaping any of the benefits.

I have had enough of being made uncompetitive in the labour market, being made to defend a country full of foreigners. I have had enough of wondering when will I be able to get a place of my own. And when I do, I will be wondering how long it will take before I can truly say that the place is mine.

I've been waiting to make my voice heard. Looks like the time is coming soon.

I wish that capable people will come by this time round. Based on current reports, seems like it is going to be the same ass-clowns as last time.

I wish it would be a three-cornered fight. Let someone else come in, please. Anyone but the biggest ass-clown of the lot.

I've noticed something about Hollywood and Taiwanese drama shows.

For Hollywood shows, the opening sequence is short. Always very short. This is usually because they have too much to air and opening credit sequences are just a waste of time. Shows like Lost, Desperate Housewives, 24, etc, all have very short opening sequences.

Taiwanese drama shows, on the other end, have insanely long opening sequences. They sing their song and show a bunch of random scenes. When the show starts, they repeat a bunch of scenes from the previous episode.

Why? I think it is because they have nothing new to air. Always the same old themes, reused over and over again. The whole idea is to stretch and fill as much time as they can.

Pure rubbish.

Stuff breaking down...

2011-03-06T15:59:00.003+08:00

Traditionally, I have bought only mouse and keyboards from Logitech. I stopped buying hardware from them when two of their keyboards gave me a lot of grief. One of them lost all the printing on the keys while the other was designed such that you need to hit the keys at a 45-degree angle in order for the key to go down and your input registered. I'm not really sure why they made it like that. Do people really hit keyboard keys at a 45-degree angle? I sure don't.

So I switched back to Microsoft. I have bought a Microsoft keyboard in the past that I used for the longest time, but that was a time when computer peripherals were still beige and white. So it was a long time ago. Anyway, I bought a wireless mouse and keyboard combo and they shared the same receiver. It was good, until I realised a few of the keys on the keyboard did not work. I managed to get a new set replaced by Microsoft, who sent it to my door-step which was phenomenal service on their part.

My next Microsoft hardware purchases were the Arc Mouse and the Arc Touch. I can't say much about the Arc Touch as I only just got it and haven't really started using it yet. But now my Arc Mouse has a problem.

For some reason, all the batteries I've used in the mouse has leaked. A clear, transparent liquid leaks out from the battery compartment. There is no apparent smell or anything, but that's definitely not supposed to happen. Also, a blue residue is building up around the battery contact points which is interfering with the power that the batteries are supplying to the mouse.

I've written to them, asking for a replacement. Let's see how they respond. In any case, it is most disappointing to have two out of the three Microsoft hardware I've purchased recently requiring some sort of after-sale service.

Beware...

2011-02-27T23:00:00.000+08:00

...because they are so scary.

Arc Touch Mouse...

2011-02-27T01:04:00.002+08:00

My desktop at work is going to be changed to a laptop soon. And as it turns out, we will not be issued a mouse. My employer is really big on cost-cutting, but it was becoming ridiculous.

Anyway, shortly before I bought my Arc Mouse, I read that Microsoft will soon be releasing the Arc Touch Mouse. But that was still a few months away and I needed a mouse then, so I bought the Arc Mouse.

Now that I need a mouse at work, I went looking for one today. And what a nice surprise it was when I found out that the Arc Touch is now available!

It was sold out at Challenger so I got it at Newstead. Kinda pricey at $89, but I think it is worth every cent. The Arc Mouse allows itself to be folded into half. The Arc Touch Mouse takes this to another level - it allows itself to be flattened!

Besides that, the scroll-wheel is also pretty unique. There is no wheel, per se. It's more like a touch-pad, something like what you'd see on a laptop. But this "scroll-wheel" comes with force-feedback, so it feels like you are scrolling a traditional scroll-wheel. I was really blown away by this feature.

I haven't really started using it as I intend to use it only in the office, but so far I think this is really an exceptionally well-designed mouse. The only issue are the lack of additional mouse buttons. Even the Arc Mouse had one. But I guess that is understandable due to the form-factor.

Can't wait for my laptop at work to arrive so I can use this!

Random shots...

2011-02-18T20:47:00.000+08:00

They should really take a look at the sweets they give out at funerals.

This hardly seems appropriate.

Perhaps in the not-too-distant future, the only place we can see these would be in museums.

The beginning of the end...

2011-02-11T22:35:00.002+08:00

I bought my first mobile phone eleven years ago. It was a Nokia 3210. Heavy as a brick back then...But pretty awesome at the time as it was one of the first few phones without a protruding antenna.

Since then, I have had many other phones. Every single one a Nokia. The cost and effort of switching to something else was just too high. While I don't consider myself a Nokia fan-boy (hey, their phones are not perfect...just more familiar), I still think of today's announcement as a sad day for Nokia. The beginning of the end.

The end of Symbian.

Back to normal...

2011-02-06T18:31:00.002+08:00

My 5-day break is over. Almost over. Back to my normal routine tomorrow. How did the five days pass so quickly?

I'm so tired. Tired of life as it is right now. I wonder if this is really how life is supposed to be. Wake up, go to work, go home, sleep, and repeat. With two days over the weekend to get it, then all over again.

There should be more to life.

Collected the custom-made Valentine's Day gift I ordered today. I hope she likes it. I didn't know what to get her...But I thought this was a pretty clever idea.

In town on CNY...

2011-02-03T22:45:00.002+08:00

The only time Orchard Road is deserted during day-time...

...is during the first day of CNY.

I seem to recall a time when I was a kid...When Orchard Road looked like this during the day on a work-day. Those days are long gone...

Do the creep!

2011-02-02T13:52:00.001+08:00

Spring cleaning...

2011-02-02T13:38:00.002+08:00

It sucks to be a cleaner now. Everyone's doing spring cleaning and throwing away a ton of stuff. They all end up at the void deck and the poor cleaners have to clear everything away.

When I went downstairs just now, I saw this...

Some genius decided to throw away a couch. And this genius decided to block everyone's way as well.

Butt!

2011-01-30T21:23:00.000+08:00

Bitch of a commute...

2011-01-27T21:46:00.003+08:00

On a normal day, I leave the house at about 6:45am. I have to take three buses in order to get to work. The first bus brings me just two stops away, further up so I could board my second bus. If I go direct to the regular bus-stop for my second bus, I will probably not be able to board because it would be fully packed. I usually get on my second bus at around 7am, and I will reach office before 8:30am.

I wanted to get to work earlier today. I have a workshop in the morning, and I wanted to get in earlier to get some work done before going for the workshop. I woke up earlier, and left the house at 6:15am.

I went to take my first bus, the one that takes me just two stops away. I have three different buses I could take, since all I needed was just to get to another bus-stop nearby. After about ten minutes with no buses, I realised that I might be too early and the first bus for all three choices might not reach my stop anytime soon.

So I walked to the regular bus-stop for my second bus. I thought it would be okay, since I was really early. That was about 6:25am.

Shortly after reaching the regular bus-stop, my bus came. It was totally packed and the driver did not stop. Oh well. I decided to walk to the earlier bus-stop, the one I wanted to get to via my first bus. On my way there, my second bus came, half-empty. I cursed my bad luck, but carried on anyway.

I waited till 6:50am before the next one came. It was packed and the driver did not stop.

By then, the bus-stop was getting crowded. I've never seen so many people at that bus-stop, ever. Most of them wanted to get on the same bus as I. After waiting for another 25 minutes, it finally came. At 7:15am.

I wanted to get to work earlier today. So I made the effort to get up early. Despite my best efforts, it took me one hour before I could get on a bus. One fucking hour.

There were a lot of heated tempers at the bus-stop this morning. Someone took pictures. I simply do not understand why the bus company do not want to send bendy-buses for this service during peak hours. Or why the frequency for this service cannot be shorter.

The silver lining was that I boarded the bus from the exit and did not pay the fare. I was lucky. Some people tried doing the same at the next bus-stop and the driver caught them and shouted at them to get off the bus.

Eventually, I alighted at Eunos and took a cab. Cost me $13 and I was late.

The commute to and from the east...Is really getting me down.

I'm not going to miss Andy Gray. Never liked him. So glad that he's gone.

What do you want in life?

2011-01-23T19:04:00.002+08:00

Have you ever asked yourself this question? What do you want?

What if you want something that you can't have? What then?

I've always believed in having goals and working towards them. If I want something, sooner or later, I will usually get it. Doesn't matter how long it takes me to get it. I will succeed.

But what if it is something that I can never get? What then?

The only constant is change...

2011-01-16T22:20:00.002+08:00

Just found out that a long-serving colleague at my former workplace is leaving. This is really quite surprising, considering that he has been there for the longest time. And he's not young. Shouldn't be too far away from retirement age.

And another friend (ironically, also at my former workplace) lamented about how his colleagues are leaving too.

I don't know why, but it always feels weird when someone I know leaves a job. Oddly enough, I did the same recently. It feels like a part of the world I know is no longer there.

Does that even make sense? I hope so. I think I need to think about this more. Why do I always get this funny feeling when this happens.

New phone!

2011-01-09T22:12:00.002+08:00

I bought a new phone on Friday. A Nokia E72. It's an odd choice, considering how everyone's carrying touch-screen smartphones today. I weighed the options and thought that this phone was the best option right now. Got it for just $38. I was thinking of getting it at retail so I could continue with my 1000-SMS plan but the retail price is $500 more and it really isn't worth it.

I wanted to go back to M1 if I had to sign a contract because I found their service coverage to be better than Singtel's. Unfortunately, they no longer carry this phone so I had to sign a contract with Singtel. And it's a really good thing I did...Because there is a good chance I will be with Singtel forever from now on, even if their coverage isn't as good.

Their corporate plan is phenomenal! It didn't even cross my mind to inquire about it until AB starting asking about it for herself and I found out that it applies to my present company as well. I would be saving about $20/month compared to if I got the same plan without the corporate benefits. Free caller-id, too.

If you're working, try to check if Singtel has a corporate plan for your company. They don't publicise these plans. My current company don't even have it on our Intranet. It may be a good idea to ask Singtel for it directly instead.

Shitty day...

2011-01-06T20:39:00.002+08:00

Imagine an operating theatre. Everything's ready for the surgery. The surgeon walks in. He sees the patient, grabs a scalpel, hands it to a nurse, and says, "You remove the appendix." He then leaves, leaving the nurse with the scalpel.

Today at work, I was the nurse.

I hope this will all be worth it.

Stuck in a rut...

2011-01-02T17:31:00.002+08:00

I always start feeling lazy around mid-November every year. I don't know why. It may have something to do with how December is always associated with holidays when I was studying. I'll lose my sense of urgency at work and this will persist until sometime after Chinese New Year.

The weather in December probably plays a part too. It's often rainy. The skies are dark. All I want to do is to curl up in bed and stay there.

The traffic situation in December was excellent. Commuting to and from work was a lot less stressful.

Now that's over. Things should be back to normal from tomorrow, or maybe Tuesday, onwards.

Average or maximum speed?

2010-12-28T20:53:00.003+08:00

It seems that there are plans to make ISPs in Singapore reveal the average speed of their plans, instead of using the "rarely achievable" maximum speed.

I think this is similar to the cases of people who complain about getting expensive phone bills while roaming and found out that it was because they did not disable their data services. These people don't understand technology.

To say that the maximum speed is "rarely achievable" is not entirely true. While it is true that I have never had a single download that maxed out my 10Mbps connection, it is because no sane website administrator will allow his server to send data to someone at 10Mbps. Can you imagine the amount bandwidth he would need? That's madness.

If you want to hit your maximum speed, open a few more connections. Use a download accelerator that makes a few connections to the server, downloading several streams of the same file. That's the way the Internet works.

On the flip side, how the hell are the ISPs going to measure "average speed"? This is something that is virtually impossible to attempt. And if they do so, all Internet plans will probably be advertising more or less the same speed.

While I understand if the general public have no clue about such things, I can't believe "the powers that be" are thinking of implementing this. Shouldn't they have some knowledge of the subject matter before attempting to implement something? Something, in this case, which is not feasible at all?

Random shots...

2010-12-26T13:56:00.003+08:00

Saw these guys on a boat, cleaning up trash in the storm drain on Christmas Eve.

Guess what song popped into my head?

I think it's creepy that at a children's show, the person sitting in the best spot and closest to the stage is an adult.

One word: Redundant. Not to mention the fact that we were there at about 7pm and it was closed. It's closed early because it's Christmas Eve, but still.

This job...

2010-12-21T20:32:00.001+08:00

This job is tougher than I thought. Today I found out that I was supposed to do up a document...From someone outside of my department. Why didn't anyone from my department give me a heads-up is beyond me.

It's not that bad I suppose. There's already a version of the document, which was prepared before I joined the organisation. I guess all I really have to do is to update it.

I hope that this is all part of the learning curve...And that I reach the apex of the curve soon. This is a lot more stressful than I anticipated it to be.

Past memories...

2010-12-19T11:51:00.002+08:00

Once in a while, for reasons unknown to me, I get flashbacks of things that happened in the past. Actually maybe "flashbacks" isn't the right word to use. More like...Random memories from the past.

I usually don't dwell on them. I might reminisce a bit, but then I carry on with life at present.

I had another random memory just now. This one really made me think. I didn't think much of it when it happened, but I am doing it now.

I still remember the exact moment I received the news that I've been accepted by NUS. I was doing my NS and was on Jurong Island at the time. I was posted at this lookout point facing the sea. I remember the weather, the time of the day...I even remember the stray dog that we sort of "adopted". I remember my partner congratulating me.

A few days later, I had a change of partner. I was the only permanent personnel at the lookout point. I had a total of three different partners over the one month we were there. This was my third and final partner.

His life and mine was different in every single aspect. Things started out fine. After a few days, he received some very troubling news. He learned that he was going to be charged and likely to be going to jail (he didn't in the end, just paid a hefty fine). He did something bad before he enlisted and now his past has caught up with him.

His life turned out to be rather colourful. He didn't go to jail that time, but he eventually did for something else. He got married, and has two kids now. The last we spoke, everything seemed to have finally fallen into place for him.

But at that one moment in time, our lives couldn't have been more different. There we were, at the same place, doing the same things, but to different ends.

I don't know why I suddenly thought of all this. And, of all places, while I was in the toilet.

Random rants...

2010-12-18T09:20:00.002+08:00

I see this woman on the bus in the mornings from time to time.

She's always in this position until she alights. I always thought about stealing her shoes. Not that I have a shoe fetish or anything, but imagine the shock on her face when she wakes up and finds her shoes gone. I think it would be hilarious.

This woman below, I just want to slap.

Notice the placement of her bag. She's on the window seat and she placed the bag between the window and herself. When I sat down next to her, she was taking up more than her fair share of the seats. And yet she had the audacity to stare at me for "crowding" her. I didn't care. I continued crowding her, purposely brushing my arm against her's when I fidgeted around (even though I didn't have to).

Bali trip...

2010-12-16T20:37:00.004+08:00

I visited Bali over the weekend, leaving on Saturday and returning on Tuesday. I think Bali is an ideal location for a short holiday. It is relatively cheap and it's not too far away.

Instead of a hotel, we stayed at a villa. I had the idea that it would be something like a bungalow. I was wrong. It's more like a very high-class chalet. We had a "private pool"...

...but it's really more like a jacuzzi. The water bubbles throughout the day. I took this picture early in the day before the staff turned it on.

We had an outdoor shower! I thought this was the coolest thing about the villa. I took all my showers using this outdoor shower, except for the first one on the night we arrived.

The outside of the villa. This is one of two shared swimming pools. But I don't think anyone can do any real swimming.

We visited this volcano...The name escapes me at the moment. The above picture was taken from a buffet restaurant on a mountain next to it.

Can't really capture the view, but it was really spectacular.

We visited the rice terraces next. It wasn't as fun because it was raining then. We stopped, hopped out of the van, took a few pictures and went off on our way.

The next day, we visited the beach...

It's not the most beautiful beach in the world...The sand was brown/black. But the waves were something else. And what I thought was really cool was how long the beach extended out. Here in Singapore, the waves start breaking very close to the beach. In Bali, there is a long flat stretch of sand for the waves to break over.

A ton of deck-chairs. I suspect you need to pay in order to sit on them.

I think it's a good spot for couples to go to, to enjoy some time together and away from the fast-paced life we have here in Singapore.

Back...

2010-12-15T20:20:00.000+08:00

Back from my trip. Feeling like crap.

More later.

Haze...

2010-12-11T08:49:00.002+08:00

The haze is back. What the hell?

Doesn't matter. I'm escaping it.