Monday, December 25, 2006

Christmas is about Jesus

I doubt anyone reads this blog... But hopefully this particular post will bless you if you stumnble across it...

Merry Christmas

3 Little Pigs' Christmas

Sunday, December 24, 2006

Insonmia

I dozed off at 11 last night but woke up by midnight - that's the reason why I usually do not sleep before 12. Anyway I couldn't get to sleep after that - laid awake the whole night then went to church. Thankfully I was still able to keep awake throughout the entire service :)

Saturday, December 23, 2006

Alone...

Because I've procrastinated getting my friend his Christmas present, I had to brave the crowd at Suntec to go to Life Bookshop this afternoon to get him his present.

Crowds make me stressed. I don't like crowded places. The throng of people, the loudness of everyone talking, and the almost-chaotic nature of crowds make me feel trapped and fill me with a sense of dread. I can almost swear that my heart starts beating faster. It's better if there's a friend with me. Perhaps having a friend to talk to takes my mind off the awful crowd a little. Maybe having someone with me makes me feel more secure. I don't know...

But what I know is that Suntec today is VERY crowded. It was at Watson that I got stuck in the awful crowd unable to move forward. I could only stand there with the rest of the crowd waiting for those in front to move, feeling miserable and alone and wishing that there's someone with me. Then I saw my friend Tracy. She was with her boyfriend. I was pleased to see them even though I was feeling extremely stressed (not distressed yet).

Strangely they thought I was with my special someone. In fact they looked at me in disbelief when I told them there's no special someone. It took quite a few minutes to convince them that I was alone but they didn't seem at all convinced by my declaration that there's no boyfriend in my life... Hmm I wonder what rumours they have been hearing... But that conversation made me feel so alone when I bade them goodbye and had to walk through the crowd by myself, wishing there's someone with me... I really felt so very alone.

The sadness lingered on even after I managed to escape unscathed from the crowd. I suddenly thought of Mr. Stevens from The Remains of the Day when he had to go back to Darlington Hall alone at the end of the story. All alone... It all seems so sad...

Friday, December 22, 2006

Early Greetings...

I just got 2 sms-es wishing me Merry Christmas :) That's a little early, I thought... It's only the 22nd, isn't it?

Thursday, December 21, 2006

I saved $36 :)

I bought quite a few items at Kinokuuniya and with the Kinokuniya card, I got a 20% discount - managed to save about $36 :) Heh that's one card definitely worth getting...

Wednesday, December 20, 2006

Shoes Story

I knocked off work early today and was walking happily to the bus-stop, thinking of where to grab a bite before I go catch a movie, when strap of my right sandal broke! So I had to call for a cab to get home. There went my plan of having a nice time watching a movie at the cinema!

This is NOT the 1st time this happens to me! There was once when I was in NUS, walking down a slope to the bus-stop, when my sandal strap broke - I had to hobble my way to a nearby building to wait for a cab. Another time, I was going to board the ferry to Batam when the sole of my shoes came apart! I had to run into one of the shops to grab a pair of shoes! Sigh! The thing is those sandals / shoes that I wore didn't look like they were going to give way any time or I wouldn't have worn them. They just came apart when I least expect them to!

Guess it's a wise move when I bought 3 pairs of shoes when I was in Hong Kong :) 3 pairs of shoes for about SGD$40. Heheh I'm really pleased with my purchases :) Especially when I find it very difficult to find shoes that I like. Or rather shoes that I like and that are affordable. Hmm there are a few pairs of Ferragamo shoes that I really like but I just can't bring myself to spend so much on a pair of shoes...

Tuesday, December 19, 2006

Doggies, step aside! You've got competition!

Another research findings that make you go, "Hmm...."

The sensitivity of the human sense of smell has been significantly underestimated, a study suggests.

US research had confounded the established belief that people have a poorer sense of smell than animals.

The work, published in the journal Nature Neuroscience, asked people to follow scents on the ground, as a dog would do, and found they were as good.

Heh then CNB can start training and employing people to sniff out drugs - this way can boost employment rate.

Monday, December 18, 2006

Thankful

2 things I'm thankful to God for today:

1) I was almost the victim of a crapping bird - I missed the crap by a couple of inches. Had I taken a quarter of a step more, I would have ended up with bird-droppings on me!

2) It stopped raining when I was going out and when I was heading home. It's been raining almost continuously for the last 2 days so I feel fortunate that I wasn't caught in the rain. Heh in fact, it started raining again when I got home a while ago...

It may seem like little things... But I feel blessed :)

Sunday, December 17, 2006

Sleep

Something's wrong with me if I'm so happy to get 7 hours of sleep (I ususally sleep about 4 or 5, at best 6 hours).

Saturday, December 16, 2006

Slimderella

Here's a funny take of how obsessed our society is with looks - The Story of Slimderalla

I must show this to a male co-worker, S, who is obsessed about his weight. Well, actually, he's not just obsessed with his weight. He's basically obsessed about how he looks, whether others see him as a cool dude. Nope, he's not a teenager. He's in fact in his mid-30s. He has undergone a drastic transformation since last year - truly a changed man in terms of looks and sadly his personality too. But he's still not satisfied with how he looks, and complains that he's fat. Heh those female co-workers who weigh more than him would shoot him dirty looks whenever he says that. I told him he's suffering from body-image problem.

One would think that a person who is this dissatisfied with the way he looks would positively hate looking into the mirror. S, on the contrary, actually loves mirrors. In fact, he has 2 mirrors in front of him at his work-station. So there you have it - a possibly anorexic person who at the same time probably suffers from narcissism. Really contradictory.

I guess the only way I can explain the apparent contradiction is his insecurity. Even though he knows that his appearance has improved greatly (that's why he derives great pleasure looking into the mirror to admire himself), his insecurity made him wonder if he's good looking enough in the eyes of others and hence the constant need to cut his weight, look better, appear cool, etc. At the end of the day, it's rather sad, isn't it?

Friday, December 15, 2006

Should Take Soy?

Perhaps I should start consuming more soy. No, not for breast development! It's more to lower my cholesterol level... Soy protein can supposedly reduce cholesterol level - the findings are taken from a medical journal. I've not checked out the journal... Maybe I should. Or get my doctor friend to tell me about it :) Anyway I'm not going to take it as the gospel truth just because it is taken from a medical journal. But I do find it slightly more credible than the Soy is Devil Food theory ;)

Thursday, December 14, 2006

Devil Food making our kids gays

This guy, Jim Rutz, has the answer to why there are more homosexuals around today:

Soy is nutritious and contains lots of good things. Unfortunately, when you eat or drink a lot of soy stuff, you're also getting substantial quantities of estrogens...

If you're a grownup, you're already developed, and you're able to fight off some of the damaging effects of soy. Babies aren't so fortunate. Research is now showing that when you feed your baby soy formula, you're giving him or her the equivalent of five birth control pills a day. A baby's endocrine system just can't cope with that kind of massive assault, so some damage is inevitable. At the extreme, the damage can be fatal.

Soy is feminizing, and commonly leads to a decrease in the size of the penis, sexual confusion and homosexuality. That's why most of the medical (not socio-spiritual) blame for today's rise in homosexuality must fall upon the rise in soy formula and other soy products.

Recent research on rats shows testicular atrophy, infertility and uterus hypertrophy (enlargement). This helps explain the infertility epidemic and the sudden growth in fertility clinics. But alas, by the time a soy-damaged infant has grown to adulthood and wants to marry, it's too late to get fixed by a fertility clinic.

This is not the 1st time I hear about the feminizing effect of soy. I have a guy friend who is a firm believer of this theory and absolutely refuses to drink soy bean milk - he believes it would cause breast development in him! Heh if like that also can, then women no longer need to go for breast augmentations anymore. Just drink soy! After all, I'm sure it's cheaper and perhaps even less risky than going under the knife! And if baby soy formula is equivalent to 5 birth control pills, why bother to spend money on birth-control pills? Just drink soy! The findings seem rather far-fetched to be taken seriously.

Monday, December 11, 2006

Phone call from China

Estimated phone bill this month: $500 - thanks to a colleague who's in China called me on my handphone to discuss some work matters that I don't consider to be extremely urgent. Well, at least not enough to warrant a SGD$500 phone bill! The thing is I didn't know that the overseas call rate from China to a Singapore handphone would be so horrendous until a friend told me that it might be like about $6 per minute or thereabout. SGD$6 NOT RMB$6!!!!!!! When I told 3 friends that the phone conversation lasted an hour or so, they stared at me in horror and the 1st thing each of them said was, "It's going to cost you A LOT! A LOT". I have been in a fould mood since.

I really upset because the caller himself is a PRC national and should know better than to call me. Even though it was not over something frivilous, neither was it over something of utmost importance. I feel so tempted to make him pay for the calls. If he had been an awful colleague, I would most definitely make him pay. But because he's usually nice and helpful, I'm slightly hesistant though I'm really upset. Argh! I could have paid for tickets to and from Hong Kong with the $500!!!!! *Wail*

Saturday, December 9, 2006

Overdue Hair Cut

I cut my hair and rebonded it too :) It's not the 1st time I've rebonded my hair. But I feel that I look strange. I dunno... will get my friend's opinion if I meet him tomorrow...

Friday, December 8, 2006

On leave but on call 24/7

Sigh! Went back to the office just a few hours after I reached home. Actually I'm supposed to be still on leave!

Then 1 of the clerks screamed at me for a few minutes before I politely and calmly told her that I'm not in charge of that particular area of work. What's the world coming to?! I felt tempted to add that even if I was indeed the one in charge, I'm not her subordinate and she definitely has no right to scream at me. But I didn't. My friend told me he would have given them a piece of his mind if they called him when he was on leave, let alone being screamed at for nothing. I told him I might do that when provoked to the extreme. Guess my threshold hasn't been crossed yet though I was quite irritated and grouchy...

Thursday, December 7, 2006

Back from Hong Kong

Just came back from Hong Kong. It was a great trip. What I enjoyed most was the shopping. I can't believe it myself... Those who know me will know that I don't particularly like shopping. Unlike some friends I know who can shop from morning till night (really!), I only shop when I need a specific item and if I can't find what I want at the end of 30 minutes, I'll call it a day. But Hong Kong turned me into a shopaholic! From Tsim Sha Tsui to Causeway Bay to Granville Road, my friend and I went crazy! Bags, shoes, clothes, accessories... Heh I went to Hong Kong with a 6kg luggage and returned with a luggage weighing 15kg :P

The only thing that spoilt the trip was the office clerk calling me when she knew full well that I was on leave. She didn't call just once but twice! And it's not even over something urgent. Basically it works like this for the office administrators: When some clients make their lives miserable, they will feel better only when they make other people miserable too. Aaaarrrgggghhhhh!!! I'm on leave for goodness sake! LEAVE ME ALONE!!!!!