recess!

the best word to learn/hear when I was in school. it meant its half the day gone and I can goof for 20 mins. now that most of "us" have grown up, it's a different thing. recess(ion) is not a good thing.

for the last 3-4 months, people have been gushing about the new US president and the First Family and their First Dog and whatever else related. for the few uninterested, it's the transfer news of Kaka which in the end, did not happen. For the even cave-dwelling-oblivious, it's "does this red skirt make me look like a golden ox?".

recession hasn't reached the shore of singapore.

or has it? one person interviewed thinks singapore is not affected, yet. and thinks that the resilience package, aimed at relieving some of the bad effects is announced too early and probably unecessary. didn't know we had caves or had people living in them.

for me, the recession is real. the full wave of it may not have reached singapore yet but its coming. and there are people feeling the brunt of it already even before lehman bros decided that McCain's economic fundamentals are "strong" like the golden ox.

we have been blissfully blessed by God and we don't worry about financial anymore coz we know God is good to us and our NEEDS are met for He is Jehovah Jireh. beyond that, we'll have to work harder.

I know I'm going to tighten my belts and eat less bah kwa this LNY. at $48 a kg, I rather miss the taste than have a 48-inch waist. not about to be as big as an ox.

cereal-slee

I'm very confident to say that I have not eaten cereals in cold milk for years. Not that I don't like cereals or cold milk or the combination but I'm now at the stage of my life where I prefer a hot cup of coffee with singapore-style fried vermicelli + deep fried oily whatever-meat to start my day.

recently we walked pass the cereal aisle and decided that maybe we'll get ourselves a box and some milk to try a never-been-tried cereal. the cereal was left on the shelf for days until my growling tummy decided for me that it's time to open up.

a few spoons into it and ... I decided to ta bao bee hoon and kopi.

but hey, at least you won't worry about it turning cold. just soggy.

for what democracy and why

one thinks the other is in their space, hints violently (rockets no less) telling them its time to move out. the other, refusing to budge and says, "that's it." and violently retaliate.

in this electronic and capitalism age, living so far away from the thick of the action, I can't help but wonder, why?

nations and their leaders and people talk about democracy and less than a year into an election, people decide that the leader-elect is too slow and decide to overthrow him or her, either by walking streets or just overtake an airport grieving fellow bystanders. their rational? "we are asian. western democracy don't work. we need an asian one.".

which means, by any means necessary, get what I want. heck my neighbours.

lol. fat lot of good their temples have done for them. buddhist chant your way out of this mess, ya koks.

where to?

I don't know. furthest we been together is still regional. about time we venture further out but where? some possibilities are ...

1) perth. we had wonderful memories there and it was about 8 years ago. would be great walking it down again.

2) phuket. a great place to beach around. our honeymoon destination with lotsa good memories.

3) hong kong. she's been and I'm dying to try fermented tofu. everyone else and their grannies, and their dog been there. maybe I should too.

4) taiwan. land of eats and hot springs cheaper than japan. and they understand mandarin. good exchange rate too.

5) korea. erm... everyone else and their grannies, and their dog been there. so maybe I shouldn't bother.

6) maldives. oh yeah. the place to go before they sink into the ocean what with global warming melting the polars. but kinda out of the budget.

7) any european countries. $$$. recession or not, its the asian countries who are trying to attract the westerns and mediterraneans over for a holiday, not the other way round. out of our budget by a jaw-drop size margin.

or maybe I should just hog the money and plan a great Christmas party this year.

the obligatory new year post

in a certain daily publication, a reader wrote that sgreans have compassion, despite not having civic graciousness.

for this one year, some people had been debating about giving up seats, clearing plates and bowls, clearing your pet's waste and a recent one about foreign workers, among the usual no littering, no spitting etc.

we hosted F1. going to have the YOG and though the IRs may be delayed, it's going to happen. are we still this ungracious little red dot? unfortunately yeah. we still have a long way but I think we are pretty successful in generating awareness and in time to come, we can make it.

compassion? oh sure we have, loads of it. "Omg that local superstar actress just broke her nail trying to do a cartwheel 2m across the stage on live tv! Honey, lets donate to NKF! It's for a good cause coz we love unfortunate children too right? I am so feeling for that actress. she's gonna be so sad for that broken nail." my point? are you really compassionate or just emotionally charged up?

note, this is just my own personal opinion and by no means represent the viewpoints of the majority others. I would love to have a different perspective but the abovementioned reader failed.

also, I was going to bring this ranting to hong lim park but they say my application wasn't successful.

reason: can't chope time slot with a packet of tissue.

to 2008, auld lang syne.

try again

I started the year 2008 telling myself, "Want to be fit and stay fit.".
I'm ending the year 2008 telling myself, "Want to be fit and stay fit, really.".

2008 is all talk. so I'm determined to make 2009 all action. signed up with a fitness club and worked out a bit. pretty good start to a year end and hopefully working myself into a fitter and sharper looking me.

huffing and puffing away those "too much LOVE to HANDLE" at a gym near you.

who da man

spiderman, ironman, superman and more recently, yes man and ip man.

Me: "2 tickets to eep mun (spelt as pronounced) please."
Tix guy who was ethnic Indian: "wad?"
"eep mun. 2 tickets."
"what??!?"
"erm... ip MAN."
"orh!! IP MAN lah. the guy who can pew pew the japs with his ipping lasers."

okay I made that last one up but seriously, even the posters printed out the spelling to accurately represent the pronunciation.

maybe it's the producers of the film's fault since they are the ones who named the title "Ip Man" instead of "Eep Mun". then again who wants to watch a movie called "Eep Mun"? maybe I should blame the english alphabet.

or maybe I should just shuddup and just watch the movie. which I did.