Summertime

It's funny how my posts so far have all been triggered by the weather – being here must be rubbing off me. It's summer proper, and thankfully the weather has been warm for nearly two weeks now and it's simply gorgeous.

Plane spotting from my backyard.

Everyone around me is complaining about how hot it is, but it's great. I actually feel like I don't have quite enough weather appropriate clothes, given that I own a lot less casual summer clothes than office-suitable summer gear, the latter being completely useless given the place that I am currently working at.  The only thing stopping me from buying more clothes is the (probably valid) fear that this weather will end all too quickly and abruptly.

To be honest, it can get a bit too warm here - the house has no fans and there's a lot less cloud cover – but rooms quickly cool down due to the strong breezes. That said, my colleagues all feel that the office is too warm (it's not) and turn the air-con on, chilling my arms and numbing my hands and necessitating my donning of a cardigan – it seems like regardless of where I go, I can never escape unnecessarily cold air-conditioning.

Summer brings about another seemingly strange phenomenon – the ceasing of all classes and courses at the local arts centre and other private teachers. My ballet teacher (who teaches from a church) is off for 2 months, and the Crescent Arts Centre sits empty for a similar (if not longer) period of time. It has meant that I'm having a fair amount of time to myself, but it also means that I'm gaining weight and losing flexibility and strength because I'm too lazy to exercise at home!

Showing off the gorgeous scenery with the Beaghmore Stone Circles

On the work front, things are as meh as usual. On good days I'm fine but on bad days I'm really bored, and today I spent most of the day trying to look busy. However, as luck would have it, 15 min before the end of my shift things started pouring in, and I couldn't leave till 20 min later than I was meant to. It hasn't been that great a fortnight, and that's already with me taking 1 day off last week in lieu of the May day holiday I was owed, and another off day tomorrow in lieu of last week's public holiday.

On a personal level, an article that was shared on Facebook today regarding how modern weddings are a waste of time and money evoked strong feelings. While I don't feel that things like marriage seminars or counselling are necessary (my personal view is that living together before marriage is not a bad way to find out if you want to do this for the rest of your life, but given that the article is written by a pastor he's not going to even suggest that as a viable option), the article brought up feelings that I had a while ago.

Marriage and weddings (both in the recent past and near future) are thick in the air this year, and the more that goes on regarding weddings – not marriage, mind you, but weddings – the more intensely I feel that 1) they're a bloody waste of time, effort and energy; 2) they're darn expensive, both for the couple and for their guests; and 3) that if my turn to get married comes around I'm going to wanna do something like a small ceremony with a big party after where everyone can just come, help themselves to a buffet spread of some sort, drink, dance and get wasted while having a good time.

I know that (3) is a lot more fantasy than reality, as the fact that I'll still want things like photos and videos to remember the day by (as well as to show friends and relatives who can't be present), but I think that having this ideal in mind will help keep things simple. Perhaps that and the reminder that the less money we spend on the wedding the more we'll have for our honeymoon and for feasting and enjoying life for the rest of our days together.

Wildflowers grown on the Hill of the O'Neills which the O'Neills I was with half-heartedly tried to reclaim.

*Bitch alert*

I wonder how some people can be celebrity bloggers when their writing style is nothing to shout about, the topics they blog about range from the mundane to the inane, and – of all things – every other photo of theirs is a blurry shot, and it’s not even blurry for artistic effect.

Surely there has to be more going on here in Belfast.

Grrrr

People should develop more cultural sensitivity. I’m quite sure if they had friends from those cultures they wouldn’t be posting such stuff online, especially when those topics are politically sensitive as well.

Also, really think that those people who like to take their friends’ mobile devices to post embarrassing Facebook status updates to their friends’ Facebook page should just grow up and get a life. And if those people whose super buay hiao bai (egotistical) updates are not the fault of a friend but themselves should do some figurative and literal self-reflection to consider how far from the truth their updates are.

Grrr.

Pinnacle @ Duxton – take 2

I went up to the Pinnacle@Duxton for the second time the other day, and the experience was somewhat different as the initial excitement of being there for the first time was absent.

In a nutshell, I wouldn’t recommend any tourist to visit the Pinnacle@Duxton without being accompanied by a local person – or anyone with a local mobile line.

The reason is because things just don’t work very well at the Pinnacle@Duxton. First, the ezlink payment machine takes forever – and more than one try – to read the card and deduct the $5 admission fee to go up to the Sky Garden. Also, the machine doesn’t accept NETS Flashpay cards, and the group of tourists we encountered had to trot over to the 7-Eleven to purchase compatible ezlink cards. Since we didn’t see them the entire time we were at the Sky Garden, I assume something went wrong and they left without heading up.

Also, the gates to the Sky Garden simply don’t work. There were two of us but out of the 4 attempts to gain access to and from the Sky Garden, only 1 attempt was successful. For the other 3, I had to call the numbers on the notice above the gates to ask them to let us in/out.

Imagine if both of us were typical tourists – we’d have had to spend an unnecessary amount making an overseas call to the hotline on our mobile, or would have had to forfeit the $5 we’d paid cos we simply couldn’t get into the Sky Garden, or worse – we’d have been stuck in the Sky Gardens cos we couldn’t get out. I don’t understand why there isn’t an intercom system or a button you can press to reach the helpdesk if hiccups occur. The first time I visited, I also couldn’t access the Sky Garden and had to call to gain entry.

The fact that we needed to spend a fair amount of time weaving in and out of the walls looking for the ezlink payment machine to make our payment – before realising that we were actually on the 3rd floor and not on the 1st floor where the machine is – put a dampener on the visit, especially when I subsequently recalled that I had similarly spent quite a while searching for the machine the first time I went.

It was nice once we were up though, but I’ll be sharing all these with anyone who expresses an interest to visit  just to make sure they go prepared.

Central Agency for Good English - a potential letter to the forum

[reposting here – just taking the piss!]

I’m feeling inspired by some ridiculous suggestions to the forum page lately - such as banning camping at East Coast Park - and have thought of a silly suggestion of my own.

Since parliament is thinking of setting up a central procurement agency - seriously, have the people who came up with this idea ever procured stuff before? - I think it’s also time for the government to set up a “Central Agency for Good English” as well.

This suggestion arises from the many annoying and embarrassing errors that I see everyday, from the most recent “mock-up sample” plastered all over the train stations to the perennial “please revert”.

I therefore propose that the government provides an English guidance service. This is a natural extension of its “Speak Good English” campaign and will extend the promotion of the usage of accurate English to include the written form.

The central agency could have a pool of officers - selected through stringent criteria - to dish out advice, answer questions and provide proof-reading services to all government agencies. These services will also be extended to all organisations and members of the public for a small fee.

While the agency will no doubt incur a loss by providing these services, I believe that the country’s vast coffers are being applied towards a laudable goal. If Singapore intends to maintain its competitiveness in the world today, it will have to do much more in educating its people in what is good English.

Rabbit food

I ate too much today – again – and the first thought that came to mind was that I should eat grass for the next few days, especially with Chinese New Year coming up.

Then it occurred to me that grass was precisely what I had this afternoon for lunch, and it kinda screwed up my eating pattern cos I was hungry before 6pm.

The grass was, more precisely, salad from The Salad Shop*. I feel somewhat guilty that I’m dissing the place despite my colleague being so kind as to help us get lunch from there, but I’ve given the place a second and a third chance and I think that’s as many chances as it’s getting from me.

Their salads are tasty, but are getting even more expensive than before. Portions have decreased, and they didn’t even bother to mix the salad properly this time – my boiled egg slices were still fused together at the bottom of the bowl. The pasta and grilled pumpkin used to be able to fill me up nicely, and I used to have feta cheese in nearly every mouthful, but now those ingredients are few and far between. The 2 additional ingredients (at $1.50 each if additional orders are placed) were a few measly slices of grilled eggplant and several small pieces of sundried tomato – and, naturally, did nothing to fill the emptiness in my tummy.

What amazed me more was how a new colleague came over after the lunch-time event to express how great the salad was. Apparently, he used to spend $15 or $16 on salads that weren’t as satisfying as this (about $10). Which made me wonder – how does anyone have the money to spend that much on food, and how can anyone like salads so much as to spend that amount of money on them? Their salads are rather tasty – and I do like eating vegetables – but until they increase their portions I don’t think I’m ever gonna purchase from them again.

 

*: They also have the most annoying website ever, which you can view here.

Backbone

Wasn’t too happy today – perhaps I was being overly sensitive – when it was suggested that I walk all over my boyfriend and do not compromise just because I am opinionated, have a strong character and do not shy from expressing my opinions.

It was also said that I’m definitely more tempered when around him – “You meet only once in a while, of course you’ll be more tempered. Wait till you see him more often or every day! (then your true colours will show!)”

Ok, to say that I wasn’t too happy is an understatement. The above offends two people: me, for implying that I am the sort of person who treads all over my boyfriend, and him, for suggesting that he is the sort of spineless, useless man who lets his girlfriend trample all over him, his opinions, his feelings and his pride.

As if I would ever – EVER – be with a guy like that?

No man of mine will be in want of a backbone, for I’ll have little to do with men I can’t respect.

Plus, there was a time when we did see each other every day, or nearly every day – and that lasted for more than a year. I think he has had ample time to see my “true colours”, and they are certainly not anything like what was suggested.

URGH.

When will people from the West ever realise that more than half the world we live in comprises people who are not Caucasians and that things are different and can’t be expected to be the same?

Domino’s Pizza – Still Ridiculously Expensive in Japan

I think it’s very important that someone inform them sometime – and make sure it gets into their heads – that out there in the grand scheme of things, they’re in the MINORITY and they simply cannot – i repeat, CANNOT – take for granted that what they’re used to is what other people are used to as well.

stop bitching that pizza is expensive in Japan. you’re only saying that because you’re ordering pizza every week more than once a week, like some of the other people I know. if you tried eating Japanese food or stopped being lazy and actually cooked for yourself using ingredients found in ordinary supermarkets rather than ordering in cos you’re hungover from heavy and irresponsible drinking the night before or even the entire weekend, you’ll find having the occasional pizza much more affordable.

i just wished that back in Osaka, there was some other born-and-bred Asian who spoke fluent English whom I could team up with and argue with all those close-minded – or ignorant, to give them the benefit of the doubt - people, to inform them that more than half the world has experiences that are NOT like theirs and they ought to change their mindset to at least acknowledge that fact.

urgh.

c***s on the road

there are drivers so disgusting on the road that i wish i could do serious damage to them and/or their cars.

i was at the traffic crossing between raffles city shopping centre and raffles hotel earlier this evening. the roads were packed, especially the right-most lane as cars were trying to turn into the Fairmont’s porch or into the parking lots.

this guy driving a silver Mercedes was just beyond the white lines of the traffic crossing, waiting for the car in front of his to move ahead. however, when that car moved forward, the lights had turned GREEN for pedestrians, YET this guy stepped on the pedals and attempted to ‘zoom’ past the crossing.

what a cunt. if the pedestrians hadn’t STOPPED for him, his car would have ran over our toes. i really wish i had my keys or some other sharp object in my hands as he went past, as i would then have drawn a line all the way from his passenger door to the rear of his car.

yes – that is how audacious he was, and i was already nearer to the far end of the traffic crossing! it would have been sweet to teach him a lesson, especially since the paint work on his Benz would cost a fair bit. best thing is, he can’t even lodge a complaint if that happened, since it’s his fault for blatantly flouting traffic rules and endangering pedestrians’ lives. it’s the rich who are the dicks. urgh.

i swear i’ll be better prepared next time.

20-something year old infants

Infantile behaviour was exhibited at the office today.

How do some pple at this age still do those stupid things like ask personal questions like 'how many boyfriends have you had' and then go one round the group? And not just that, but also give crappy comments like 'this is bonding' and think its really funny and fun.

Wth. The main insinuator in question is 27 years old. One would have thought a person would have grown out if such secondary school behaviour by that age. I really don't see how its any of other pple's business, especially if they're my work colleagues. In fact, they don't even need to know if I'm dating at the moment! It's really none of their business and I RESENT being peer pressured into bullshit like this.

I wish I were still at the age when I would have expressed my disdain and walked away from such a situation.

A person can do all the community service and good deeds in the world, but all that won't detract from the misgivings I might have about that person's character.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.1

two thumbs down – cedele, ngee ann city

dinner at the ngee ann city branch of cedele today was such a disappointing experience for the following reasons:

1. no more soups: we were told when trying to place our orders that all 4 of their soup options were sold out except for the beef stew. this news, at the oh-so-late hour of 7.30pm, was so ridiculous that i couldn’t believe my ears. how can any restaurant run out of their main items – since cedele is known for their soups, among others – when it’s smack at dinner time?

2. substandard service: one thing more annoying that service staff who speak only mandarin are service staff who speak little English AND don’t speak mandarin. i don’t think the staff really understood me, and they were quite poorly trained. one of them noticed me wanting to order, noted my request, then promptly ignored me even while she walked up and down serving other people. another one kept trying to push the bill in my friend’s face, even though i had already stuck out one hand to take the bill. and the store manager - 上梁不正，下梁歪 – in response to my statement “oh, it’s only 7.30pm and you have no more soups?” could only offer “Yes, it’s a very saleable item.”

come on, if it’s saleable, then you should just make more of it! Also, the first word service staff should learn is “sorry”, followed by “thank you”. an apology doesn’t achieve much, but it always helps to not make things worse.  And yes, the sarcasm was lost on her as well. sigh.

3. so-so food: i ordered a pesto fish spaghetti, but my dish had no pesto. what’s with singapore restaurants and pesto? they seriously don’t get the idea of what pesto ought to be (see my previous post) – just go to the supermarket and buy a bottle of the sauce, for goodness sakes. the pasta was dripping with oil and rather salty too, which means two more minus points.

 

so much for the good opinion i had of cedele. i should just heed my friend’s advice and head to the hawker centres whenever i eat out instead – at least even if the food is so-so and the service bad, it’s only costing me $5 or so.

i was never a cedele regular, but they’ve just lost one customer for good.

scrapbooks and being accosted

i’ve been on the lookout for a scrapbook these couple of days. what i want is a simple book with thick pages that can withstand things like polariods and ticket stubs stuck to them, yet light coloured enough for me to scribble things down with a pen or marker.

unfortunately, all i’ve been seeing are those photo album things with black adhesive pages and a peel-off film, and lots and lots of notebooks with pretty covers but really thin pages. Or scrapbook kits that help you assemble a scrapbook in 10 easy steps with handy slots to insert photos and jot memories – that kind of thing.

all those but no plain scrapbook. i don’t even understand the need for scrapbook kits, when the whole point of scrapbooks is to let you exercise your creativity, or at the very least offer you the freedom to express your creativity. In my case, it’s the expression of the lack thereof, but at least a simple fuss-free book allows me full control of how much – or how little – effort i want to put in. at the moment i just want something to stick my ticket stubs and photos in, but it’s proving difficult to find in Singapore.

that’s the good old book i bought from Shinsaibashi’s Loft. I haven’t checked out the scrapbook store at Raffles City, but if they don’t have what I want I’m gonna have to look for some other alternative..

*  *  *  * 

i get accosted every time i head out, between tampines mrt and the bus interchange. in the short distance between them, i’ll be approached by a bank (standard chartered, sometimes UOB too), insurance (Prudential), one or two flier distributors, the occasional person asking for donations and whichever company has rented the space at the interchange for a roadshow (recently it was KPN Investments).

today was exceptionally bad. i went from the station to tampines mall, and encountered 4 flyer distributors and UOB credit card promoters. then, i crossed back from tampines mall to tampines one via the MRT station, and between the latter met with yet another flyer distributor and someone from the Singapore Cancer Society (SCS).

Now, i’m so tired of of the many people who accost me between Point A and Point B that I generally just tell them “No, thank you” the moment they try to approach me. I’ve been seeing the same Prudential and Stanchart people every day, and i’m just annoyed that I can’t go from one place to another on this island without all this unwanted soliciting. So I did the same as usual today, and the person from the Singapore Cancer Society actually had the cheek to get annoyed with me for being unwilling to stop and listen.

*fumes*

I know they’re out there for a good cause, but really, with all those bank/insurance/flyer people out there, I don’t see how I can be blamed for assuming that the SCS people were yet more of those. Come on, even their lanyard is red with white letters: the same as Prudential. They don’t wear a special t-shirt with the SCS logo either – in that fraction of a second where they’re approaching me and i have to decide whether to stop or not, if in doubt I will not stop. I made the mistake – more than once in fact - of stopping before and it was always yet another pushy insurance agent who wanted only “a minute” but took at least five.

I walked past another one of the SCS people later, and he was approaching people while holding up a clipboard that had a poster emblazoned with the words “SINGAPORE CANCER SOCIETY” in big white letters – i’m sure he was a lot more successful than that person with the nerve to get pissed with me. Young lady, if you’re given such a clipboard, then you should be using it - and you only have yourself to blame for not applying your brain to your job, regardless of whether it’s for a good cause or not.

*grrrr*

my brother commented that flyer distribution is a rather demeaning job – i suppose i do agree with him, as they have to deal with a lot of rejection. but i feel that a lot of those jobs shouldn’t exist in the first place, as the distribution of flyers is, in most cases, unnecessary. except for flyers from fast-food outlets or eateries with a promotional voucher, i’ve never once received a useful or relevant flyer in the years between secondary school and graduation from uni when i took flyers that were handed to me.

there was a period of time when my motto was to take whatever flyer given to me to help the distributor finish his/her work faster, but it has come to a point where i find flyer distribution useless to me and a waste of resources. with demand comes supply; me not taking a flyer sends a small signal that i don’t need one and am not interested in the product being advertised. hopefully more people will start doing so, and one day contribute to the presence of less flyer distributors.

it’s a bit of a stretch, but i’d like to think of it as being something similar to the idea where if you stop eating shark’s fin, there’ll be less hunting of sharks eventually. either way it means that I no longer have to find a bin to chuck that unwanted flyer after taking it, which suits me just fine.