Life Sucks

18 years. Times flies. It seems like not so long ago that I first saw her. She seemed afraid of me. But than most people who first know me are afraid of me. They said I look fierce. We never talked at first until one day I bumped into her on the way home from work. She seemed quite cute than so I asked her for dinner. It has been a wonderful 18 years so far especially these few years when we can spend more time together now that the kids no longer need or want us around. Rekindle memories by doing what most young people do nowadays or what we mostly did 18 years ago - go eat, watch movie and shop at Orchard Rd - a place that we scarcely go nowadays. In fact, can count the number of times we been down to Orchard Rd on one hand! Nothing great or fanciful but it sure bring back a lot of nice memories for me and I hope for her as well. Happy 18th anniversary to M and to me

Tis the durian season and so in the spirit of durianess, here’s some things about durian: Durian is a perennial tree that can be cultivated in tropical rain forest and bears fruit after 4-5 years, depending on the variety. Its life can last from 80 to 100 years with the trunk diameter of 1.5-4.0 feet and height over 70-80 feet. Durian is classified as soft wood. Source: http://www.dit.go.th/agriculture/durian/varietie.htm NUTRITIONAL VALUE: Nutritional content of durian per 100 grams (about 3 fruits with seed) are as follows: 150 calories, 3 grams of protein, 3.5 grams of fat, 28 grams of carbohydrate, less than 1 gram fibre. Source: http://www.nutrition.com.sg/atd/atdfood.asp. FACT OR MYTHS: Durian and alcohol should not be consumed together. The combination can cause death. Read here for more. Durian is heaty so drink salt water from the husk after eating durian to counteract the heatiness. Mangosteen neutralizes the heatiness of durian that is why these 2 fruits are always in sea...

A new toy. Yah I know it’s the most basic of the HTC’s product but hey beggars can’t be chooser. It’s free courtesy of Starhub’s re-contract program. Now to figure out how to work the darned thing

  Finally had the chance to try the wassant from Provence Bakery and Cafe at Holland Village. Since it was featured once in a tv program, I had went twice without success to get it but on Saturday afternoon, on the way to dinner, was at Holland Village and walked into the shop and was surprised to see lots of it still available. the wassant was nice and soft. Really the melt in the mouth type. Nice. At $6.00 for a packet of 10, it is really good!

A letter writer to the Straits Times Forum (ST 13 June 2008) is actually suggesting that personal information be captured upon boarding taxis! The reason for the suggestion is cos the letter writer's father who is a taxi driver has been cheated by non-paying passengers. Right now, as I understand it, the LTA or which ever authority is able to log a vehicle movement whenever a vehicle passes under a ERP gantry. With the extensive reach and ever increasing gantry, + number of car park operators switching over to the ERP system, our movement can be traced down to the minute. Further more, the new cameras on the expressway have the capability to zoom in for a clear view of the front passenger's face. The thought that someone out there can 'trace' and see us is scary enough but wait a minute it gets worse! Now with the latest phone and wireless technology, walk into a mall or target area and the telcos can target you with a SMS promoting a specific products etc. U may not kn...

Does any one out there nowadays know what this line on the road is for? Or how to read these 4 letters and what it means? I lost track of the time when cars just whizzed through without stopping at minor road to major road. Just the other day, while crossing a side road, a car coming up actually horned at me! I got so pissed off I pointed to the line and the sign and wanted to walk up to him to confront him but my colleague pull me away! People - if you don't know basic road signs and rules, please don't drive!

The son went to the dentist last month. Came back with a $500+ bill. I knew cost of dental treatment is expensive nowadays but $500 over dollars for a routine checkup? and some more at a HDB neighborhood outlet? The Mrs called the clinic and found out: 4 fillings done: 1 normal $80/- 3 white $120/- x 3 = $360/- 1 small bottle of mouth wash to bring home $10/- Balance of $100 went to cleaning and polishing Total $550.00 Later checked around with friends and colleagues. Nowadays filling are all using white amalgam no more the black(silver) type. Also average per filling is $35 to $80. This dentist is not only exorbitant but unethical - charging a student this type of pricing. Called and cancelled the next appointment and when the nurse asked for the reasons, told her straight to her face, they bloody expensive and a rip off. So if you ever in the Simei area and need a dentist, don't go to the one on the 2nd floor of the MRT station unless you are loaded and feel like contributing mo...

Every time I read about foreign maids in Singapore, I shake my head. I am amazed and shocked and saddened by the attitude of our fellow Singaporeans towards another fellow human being. For example - in Sunday's paper, this lady who had changed 3 maids within a month, 7 over 10 years (that's speak volume of how good an employer she is!) was quoted as saying she paid them salary so she could do what she want. In another paper today, the employer fined the maid $10 for every mistake she made. Like that, the poor maid will be paying the employer rather than the employer pay her! Than there is the issue of day off. I know the excuse is that the employer don't want the maid to mix with wrong company, run away etc... But the maids are already almost on call 24/7 so they need the day off to destress as well. Can you imagine if our employer tell us we cannot have day off cause they scare we might be killed over the weekend or be tempted by another employer! Put ourselves in their sh...