Dylan & Aiden Making Faces

Michael Jackson?




Who taught him to sleep like this?




Just like his daddy, sleep with mouth open...


Why you look so sad?


Can you spot who is Aiden and who is Piglet?


Aiden, crying for his milk


Brothers Together


Kwa Simi!




Oh NO!


I don't want to hear!


Synchronize Crying?


Dylan doing his impersonations of Popeye


"Hmm...."


Raise your hand if you wants milk

More photos here:

No Apps For iPhone in M1 AppStore?

M1 recently rolled out a new site, M1 AppStore, for its customers to access applications available on various operating platforms. So I went to the site and take a look if there are any interesting apps for my iPhone. Use the search feature on the site to run a search for iPhone and I got this message - "Sorry, there are currently no applications available for your handset." -_-"

Further checking shows that they have apps for iPhone. A typical case of the system testers not doing their job thoroughly. They should not release the news if the site is not ready in the first place. Given the number of apps they have for iPhone, I stick back to Apple Appstore.

A Sad Day in The Office

Lately, I just got wind that another 2 colleagues have tender their resignation. For the latest statistic, since start of 2009, a total of 12 colleagues, managers and engineers, have either been permanently posted out or left the company with 3 new engineers and 2 managers coming onboard. While the number of engineers dwell, the number of managers has more or less remains the same. Seems like the company feel managers are more important than the engineers who are doing the actual work. Engineers are getting overloaded. I am tired of the practice of dragging and dropping engineers around without warning or checking with the engineers themselves. The greatest shock is that even my software lead that I respect a lot is leaving next month too. I think I have to start looking around...

Update: Argh shit. Just got news that another colleague is leaving on the first week of June. That's 13 in total. Office is getting emptier

And Then There Are Three

Mediacorp's supposing 7 Princess are dropping like flies. On top of the three I mentioned in an earlier post, the latest one leaving is rumored to be Felicia Chin. After her thank-you speech, which she claimed that it could be her last, there are media speculations that she is leaving.

She claims that she is going away for her studies. But my colleague claims that another reason could be that, ever since their raise in popularity due to Little Nonya, all the good outstanding roles are given to Jeanette Aw and Joanne Peh. So the rest of the princesses have to fight for ikan bilis roles, and that could be the reason for the exodus.

I have to agree. Another pair that are getting a lot of exposure is Elvin Ng and Dai Yangtian. So every drama you watch nowadays have either one of them in it. Boring right?

That's not all, magazine are also full of stories of them especially the ugly dress-up and hairstyle on Joanne during the recent Star Awards Show. I don't know how she feel but I would castrate the stylist (I hope is not David Gan since he is nothing for me to castrate. LOL) for making me to look like THAT! Only thing I am interested in is whether I can see Joanne's tits. =D

Getting Your Logos Right

This is old news but I still find it funny. The Office of Government Commerce became the laughing stock of the town when they unveil their new logo. Though it was not on purpose, it certainly generated the right amount of attention on them. If you don't get what's so funny about it (Duh...). tilt your head to the left and find out. ^_^

You Are Only As Good As Your Skin Color

Truth about Singapore, no matter how good you are, as long as you dun have blonde hair or fair skin, you are always second best. This is best shown in the recent appointment of the national Under-14 football coach. When former national captain, Nazri Nasir, applied for the post, he was rejected and given only a part-time post with the under-12 team, with a Westerner getting the Under-14 coach position. This is a Under-14 coach position we are taking about here, not the national team. How are we going to develop and nurture our local coaches/talent if we don't even allow them a smallest opportunity? Since this is being practice in the national level, what's does it shows for the rest of society. Blame it on our overly kiasu-ness or the need to survive due to the size of our nation. In Singapore, results matter more than anything else. The ends justify the means

Movie Tempt Me To Get A Macbook

Just finish watching a Swedish movie, The Girl With The Dragon Tatoo, based on the best selling book of the same name. Quite a nice suspense thriller. Beat the typical slash and hack plotless movies coming out of Hollywood these days.

Anyway, Apple should pay the movie producers for advertising their Macbook Pro in the movie. Every character in the movie owns a Macbook Pro and the movie has many scenes of using the notebook, from editing photos, surfing the net to writing a document and even for hacking purpose. Really makes you want to go out and get one yourself. This is not help by the fact that my sister-in-law just bought a macbook and the constant problems I have with my PC.

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No Better Than A Third World Country

Finally! After weeks and months of negotiation, Starhub & Singtel have finally secured the rights to broadcast the 2010 world cup in Singapore.

Given that our neighboring countries are able to secure the rights earlier and broadcast the matches free, the issue in securing the rights definitely did not come from FIFA side. The whole delay is more ridiculous given that we are one of the 4 remaining countries yet to obtain the rights with the other countries being North Korea, Somalia and Ethiopia.

Dun you find it truly nonsense that we are not better than a third world country? Btw, our neighboring countries can watch the world cup matches free while we have to pay $70 for it. How come ah? Sums up pretty much how fuck up our local broadcasters are.

P.S. FYI, I dun really fancy international football and even if I do, I watch it thru internet streaming.

My Boys' Chinese Names

They will be known as 吴榮炆 and 吴榮杰. The Fengshui master says they lack fire element in their 八字. So better have to find characters with fire to boast. Both Angie and I love it. ^_^

Taking a Chinese Test.

Went to a Fengshui master to calculate suitable names for my sons and got this stack of Chinese characters where I have to mix and match 2 characters to form my sons' Chinese names.

Wah liao... so many characters! Some I don't even know how to pronounce. I feel like studying for a Chinese test. :S

Journey In Parenthood: Day 2

The theme of today is feeding and diaper changing. Angie is recovering well from her operation and are cleared to get off the bed. I push her on a wheelchair to see the boys after breakfast for the first time. We tried to bottle feed Aiden. EPIC FAILED! So the nice nurse gave us a crash course on it.

Later aroind lunchime, the nurse inform me that the boys are cleared to be brought to normal nursery. That also means that they can be push to the room and meet visitors. Turns out their first visitors is their grandpa, my Dad. He look so happy seeing the both of them. Though he always show he is not concern, deep down inside he still cares and I know he will spoilt then rotten. :(

Later in the day, we tried to breast feed the boys and did not have much success in it. The nurse told us these things cannot b hurried and takes time and not to be dishearted.

Suddenly Dylan starts to cry. It was then we realize that he has poo poo. So his Daddy aka me has to apply his limited knowledge and do a diaper change. Heng, I am having a bad flu and can't smell anything. :p

More and more visitors arrived in the evening and I entertain them by feeding Dylan. Learning from my mistakes in he morning, this time round it is a more smooth affair. Overall, though it's tiring, I actually quite enjoy the experience of being a father. Maybe the stressful part has yet to come. Haha... the adventure continues



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Meeting My Babies For the First Time

How many tigers can you see?

Finally, I get to sit down and write this blog entry. A hectic but exciting day has just passed. My little tiger cubs have finally arrived. Today, I witness the birth of my two boys, Dylan and Aiden.

As the boys have to be delivered by caesarean, we left for the hospital in the morning with Angie being push into the operating theatre around 11am. What comes next is a antagonizing 1.5 hour wait. There is a delay with the patient in front of us and we are force to wait. When it's finally Angie's turn to deliver, the whole process lasted less than 45 mins.

At 13:13, Dylan WAS pulled out and he immediately let out a loud cry, obviously complaining of being drag out of his nice little spot in mummy's tummy. A minute later, Aiden is out. Aiden did cry too but not as much as his older brother. Aiden, who usually is the more active one while in mommy's tummy, was surprisingly calm.

We are showed two little princes before I was ushered out. After the nurses clean them up, I was allowed to carry my bundles of joy and photos are taken. Dylan is 2.46 kg while Aiden is 2.15 Kg. But they feel so light and fragile in my arms. The two little boys instantly become the stars in the labor ward nurses and passerby checking them out when they walk pass. I feel so proud knowing that I am the father of these two little cuties

Since they are fresh from the womb :p, the two of them are in the high dependency nursery that only the parents can visit. So visitors are only allowed to see their photos on my netbook. According to the nurse, they will only be there for a day and most probably will be brought to the normal nursery tomorrow.

My brave wife is resting on the bed now. Tomorrow is gonna be a whole new ball game for the both of us. Things like lactation, diapers & baby care a common term in our vocab. This blog may soon rename as Tales of Tigers then

Dylan, drooling in his sleep like Daddy.

Aiden, bundle tightly and enjoying it.

Bayern to Win Champions League

That's my predicton for this year's UEFA Champions League winner. After watching Bayern Munich progress into the finals with their typical German efficiency, I have this tingaling feeling that they may nick it this year. Furthermore, they beat Manchester United along their way to the finals. I notice that recent winners all have beaten the Red Devils along the way. So better head down to the Singapore Pools and place your bet. ;)


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Battle of Two I.Man

It's a battle of two I.Man at the cinemas this week. Ip Man vs Iron Man. Both are sequels somemore!


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T-minus 5 Days

5 more days before the two little
cubs arrive. Busy getting all the stuff ready and checking for venue for baby shower... :s


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Location:Home

To Lift or Not to Lift

Angie the other day suddenly commented that i always left the toilet lid up after using the toilet. I feel very puzzled by all this. I dun think I’m the only man got hit by this. What is the obsession with women with the toilet lid? We, men, never complained that you did not put down the lid after use. Why make a fuss the other way round? If it is up, just put it down loh

Communication Failed My Ass

Thank god, I dun take the NEL to work. The disruption of the NEL on Wed morning though is inconvenient, the Sbstransit and its staff response takes the cake in pissing the hell out of the commuters. No alternative free bus, no claims for taking alternate transport other than waiving the fare when leaving the station n no proper announcement or update of the situation. The reply from them is the communication is down, hence staff does not know the situation. Hello! Don't they know there is such a thing called hand phone. Can call main control station or HQ to ask what? What a load of crap

SCORES of commuters were left stranded this morning as the trains on the Northeast Line, managed by SBS Transit, grounded to a halt.

The service interruption occurred at around 8.30am during the morning rush hour. The Northeast Line covers a total of 17 stations - from Harbourfront to Punggol.

"Beanie", stranded at Punggol Station, told citizen-journalism website Stomp, that trains at Punggol came to a "total standstill since 8.30am."

Others were lucky they managed to avoid the NEL altogether.

Communications executive Mr Raymond Poon told AsiaOne that he was lucky to hear an announcement about the service breakdown. It claimed that train service would be restored in 10 minutes, Mr Poon said.

But "I had serious doubts about that and decided to take a taxi to work," he added.

Was SBS Transit -- operator of the NEL Line -- slow to inform commuters of NEL breakdown?

According to comments received from readers, it was.

Stranded commuters were annoyed that the transport operator did not make an announcement on the breakdown or put up notices.

"Anonymous" posted his question on citizen-journalism website, Stomp, asking for more information about the NEL line.

No notices iinforming commuters of the breakdown were put up at the entrance of stations, said "Gossip gal".

Except for a waiver of fares, there were no other transport alternatives provided, "Beanie" said.

In response to such complaints, Ms Tammy Tan, spokesperson for SBS Transit, told my paper that the communications system was one of those which broke down. "As a result, we were not able to provide updates as often as we liked," said Ms Tan.

Affected passengers can visit any NEL station until Saturday to get a refund of their train fares.

Worries of A Soon-To-Be Father

Endure 2 more weeks. That’s what the doc says. Four more weeks before the arrival of Dylan n Aiden. There is a sense of excitement n worry for me. Excited that we be seeing each other face to face and not feeling thru a stomach. Worry will we be good be parents, can we or the maid handle both of them. Are we financially strong enough to support them? Cause by d time I m 50. My sons will only b 14. In Singapore, once you hit 40, you start to become redundant. This especially holds thru in the IT industry I am in especially now I find myself more n more behind the technology advancement. All these thoughts are preoccupying my mind lately. Stress ah

Ip Man 2

Saw the poster for Ip Man 2 at the bus stop advert board so when to google about it. Found the teaser on youtube. Donnie Yen gonna spar with Sammo Hung, re-acting their fight scene in SPL. Can't wait for its release

Tiger Cubs Running Around

Look at my two boys rolling around in their mummy tummy. (No special effects added here...). This is so amazing but hard on the mummy. As the due date draw closer, Angie have to go thru the contractions and pains in her legs and back. The sacrifice she made to carry our two boys.

Sometimes, watching her wince in pain frustrate me in a way that I can't do anything to ease her pain. Dylan and Aiden, you two have to be kwai kwai when you come out oh, look at how much daddy and especially mommy have to go through carrying the both of you.

Stuck in Limbo

Stuck for the entire morning in a meeting full of people but only 3 are talking. Rest of us feel like the furniture. Why managers like to drag everyone in a meeting where usually a few is needed. No wonder the government say we are not productive enough.

Giving in to the iPhone Craze

Due to the need to monitor our maid when no one is at home, we have install a couple of IP cameras. Viewing the cameras outside can be done by iPhone. And since my M1 contract has ended, we decided to submit to the iPhone craze, which Angie paid for it as my birthday gift. ^_^

And Then There Are Four

Once upon a time, there are 7 princess in Mediacorp Channel 8... Then suddenly one day, one of them decided to call it quits and left.

Hahaha... practising reading storybooks for my sons, yeah? Anyway, saw the news that another 2 of the supposed Channel 8 princess has decided to leave the station when their contracts are up.

Well, no, I don't find it a waste. Most of them, especially Rui En, can't act to save their skin. They are just there for their good looks. If you ask me, I say good riddance.

Playing Master and Servants

It's been 2 weeks since our Indonesian maid has came in. So far, everything works out well (cross fingers/touch wood). The girl is quite obedient and diligent in her work. Sometimes, we feel very awkward asking her to do this and that. Used to doing things by ourselves. Now suddenly there is someone to wash your dishes after you have finished your meal and handle the housework. Really need some time to get used to it.

I find these maids also quite poor thing. They travel all the way from their home, to a place that is so alien to them. They may end up with some horrible employers that really abused their power and ill treat the maid. And these employers still have the nerve to complain when the maid revolt.

The maid is human too. Just because they are less educated than us does not give us the rights to look down on them. Maybe it's the stories of maids stealing and taking advantage of the employers that frighten us. For our case, we are keeping an eye on our maid but making sure we treat her well at the same time.

Poh Chai Capsule Recalled

So far, there is no report of what's the side effect from taking the contaminated Poh Chai capsule. Think about the irony, taking something that will cure your stomach upset and end up worsening your Diarrhea problem ;P

钱不是问题

A phrase on my colleague's MSN Instant Messenger.

"福利不是问题, 问题是没福利
钱不是问题, 问题是没钱"

Funny but true.

Another Trick Question

The other night, while driving home, Angie suddenly turns to me and asks,

"Do you love me more now that I am pregnant?"

"Oh dear, is this one of those trick questions she like to ask?" was the first thing that came to my mind. If I say yes, she will say that I did not love her as much before or I only love her more because she is pregnant? If I say no, she will say I don’t love her enough.

These are the exact words I replied to her. She has a good laugh at me for thinking too much and assures that it’s not a trick question. Whew…

Well darling, my love for you has reached a new level, not because you are pregnant but for all the sacrifice you made for being the mother of our children.

I Love You...

Go Ahead and Complain Loh

People working in the service industry are getting more yayay these days. You threaten them with complains and they still can proudly show you their name cards or name tags so that you got the name correctly in their complain letter. Kao... look at how the assistant manager at Black Angus Steakhouse responds to Mr. Miyagi.

My sister also has a similar experience. She was at IMM Giant Supermarket. There are long queue at all the counters and she is in the express queue. One lady holding many shopping items tried to jump into the express queue but was stopped by my sister, who reminds her that this is an express queue. The lady told her she just wanted to lodge a complaint to the Manager at the counter. When she got there, the manager let the lady check out her stuff and make payment. When my sister confront the manager, she just can't be bother with my sister and gladly show her name tag when my sister threaten to report her attitude to the management.

Our service standards are really going down the drain. So much for the Good the Extra Mile Service (GEMS) campaign. Is it because Singaporeans like to threaten to complain too much that service people are starting to be immune to it? Or is it because we don't have blonde hair and fair skins?

Putting On A Few Grams

Sigh... the side effects of being the husband of a pregnant wife. The jeans start to get tighter. Now I even have difficulty removing my ring. :( Time to do some dieting...

Online Piracy

We have come to know how good the Chinese are at creating pirated version of branded goods. They have step up to a whole new level by creating pirated version of Google and Youtube.

Baby Shopping Dilemma

Angie and I have been shopping for babies stuff for the past few months. Every time we step into the baby stores, we are attack by an array of baby accessories.

"Do we need this? This looks useful?"

Questions fill our minds on what is really needed or what is just a gimmick. The ways the products are presented really make you question your own judgment. So we end up debating whether is certain items are required, can we get it cheaper elsewhere or over the net. Well, that's part and parcel of being a first time parent. Our journey of parenthood continues...

One Reason Why People Watch Pirated DVDs

Attracting The Wrong Visitors

Judging from the all the measures implemented by the government, the message is clear. Singapore casinos are not meant for Singaporeans. A $100 entrance fee that is valid for 24 hours? That is a real put off for some. The main purpose of our casinos is to earn the foreigners' money. But one thing the Singapore government did not expect is that it is attracting "other type of foreigners" ^_^

P.S. During the CNY, an uncle from my in-laws side was asking why MM Lee is not required to pay the $100 entrance fee when he visit the casino. Isn't he a Singaporean?

0.5 Headcount and Maturing

0.5 headcount. Yep, that's the "in" phrase in my office these days. That means engineer will half to work two projects at the same time. So now rather than being treated like a professional, we are viewed as resources, sort of like an Intel CPU that can multi-task between two projects at the same time. The funny part is that the company will use your name and charge customers as one headcount. Paying the salary of one while earning the profit for two.

Currently I am working on one project only. But due to the lack of resources in the company, my software manager, lead engineer and senior engineers have been deployed to other more "critical" projects leaving me as the only software engineer in my project. So I have to take on the role of lead in planning my own work schedules, update work issues lists and liaise with customers on work plan and updates, all these on top of my software development role.

Initially I was quite unhappy with the arrangement. But time passes, I start to get used to it and begin to change my thinking. Maybe this is a good opportunity to gain some experience in a lead role. This could improve my working experience and aid me when looking for a job. Come to think of it, maybe I should start to update this on my resume. Hmm....

If I'm the villian in a James Bond movie...

Notice Channel 5 has been showing a lot of James Bond movies of late. I used to like to watch James Bond movies, but as I grow up, I realize the movies totally have no logic in them. It is just a male chauvinist fantasy. If I am the villian in the movie, James Bond won't even last even an hour and die before he even get to bed the bond girl.

I really can't understand what the f*ck some of the villians are thinking. Like there is this scene in "The World in Not Enough", the bad guys know James Bond is in this house. They employ helicopters with automated saws underneath to saw thru the house to try to kill him. HellO??? Just bomb the freaking house with a rocket will do. Why bother using such troublesome and sophisticated way to do something so simple?

And those classic scenes whereby the villian explain his master plan to the captured 007 before actually execute the plan itself. I know you want to show off how smart your evil mind is, but can't you do it WHILE executing the plan itself? Dun they know there is such a thing call multi-tasking. *roll-eyes* Ad worse still, you proceed to try to kill Mr Bond with another sophisticated way, allowing him to get loose and spoilt your master plan. D'uh!!!

And lastly, as Eddie Izzard point out, how come James Bond always bring the right gadgets to his mission n use all of them? Won't he have unused gadgets or worse still forget something or brought the wrong gadget? Q must be telepathic knowing which are the right equipment to issue before every mission.

Well at least the newer James Bond series with Daniel Craig as the infamous spy is more realistic. Still I dun think he will get to bed bond girl before his dismise with me as the villian. ;)

Apple Latest Product - iPad

People say it looks like a giant iPod/iPhone/iTouch, I say it sounds like some high-tech sanitary pad. As Mr Brown says, the 2.0 will come with wings. LOL... Anyway, it cost US$499 for the lowest end model. Well for that amount of money, I can get a netbook with 3G functionality. Yeah design wise it is nice, user-friendly and typical Apple clean look and ease of use. Functionality wise, I still prefer my Lenovo S10.

Getting Kicked

I got kicked by my sons for the first time yesterday. Well, it wasn't the first time they kicked but it is the first time I felt it.

Was stroking Angie tummy when suddenly I felt like something poke out from the inside. Blur me, still ask Angie what's that.

"It's your sons kicking, silly." ^_^

I feel delighted and surprised at that very moment. LOL. According to Angie, the two of them have been kicking her repetitively these few weeks. Seems to be most active at night. My first thought is "Oh dear, does this means we will have very active boys? I'm going to do a lot of running then..." :P

Town Council Taichi Respsonsibilities

Another example of taichi by our government agency when they screw things up. After realizing that the newly installed bamboo holders are too small, the town council proceed to taichi the blame to HBD saying that they based their changes according to HDB design requirements. How convenient!

So does this mean all the other flats that uses the old dimension are dangerous? If someone gets hurt because the thinner bamboo snapped, I wonder what's their excuse then. PSB? Cause they din do proper certification for the bamboo?

I Am A Cruel Man

Went down to Sheng Siong this morning to buy groceries for dinner tonight. We decided to have steam fish and so I went to the seafood section to take a look. There, the fish monger are fishing some live fished out of the tank and dump them on the table in front for potential buyers to choose.

The poor fishes are grasping, struggling for live while we look out. The scene is actually quite heart wrenching. I decided to quickly get this over with and told the fish monger I want a golden promfret. He then took one that is still struggling for live from the table and proceeds to slaughter it (the slaughtering process is out of sight).

After getting the processed fish, we continue our shopping. Then suddenly I felt the bag holding the fish shake in the hands. Initially, I thought maybe I knock it something as the place is crowded. Then it shakes again! It is at that point that I realize that the fish is still ALIVE!!!

The poor bugger has its organs removed and is now twitching in pain in my hands as it struggle with the last few minutes of its life. Though I am not the one who killed it, I feel so guilty that it is my order than resulted in getting it to suffer in such extreme pain. I rather it die by suffocation than being cut open while alive and have your internal organs removed. I feel I am such a cruel man at that moment.

Slowly, the fish twitch a few more times before its life finally exhausted. After this horrible experience, I told myself that I will never buy any live fish from Sheng Siong or any other places ever again.

Samsung Laptop With See-Thru Display

Samsung shows off a notebook with see-thru display at the recent CES 2010 in Las Vegas. Though it looks cool and high tech, I can't think of a logical reason behind it. Given that you'll be able to see what's on the screen as well as what's behind it, there goes whatever privacy you have while using the notebook (Read: Can't surf porn with this notebook) :P

Only Green They Concern Is the Color of Money

"If the climate was a bank, a capitalist bank, [the West] would have saved it by now." Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez at the recent Climate Change Submit in Copenhagen .

These words are never truer judging from the near failure at the Copenhagen Climate Change Summit. All the nations who attend the summit arguing over money issues and aids on how to go about cutting emissions and saving our world. Everyone is just concern about their interest and how the issues will affect their bottom-line.

This is our environment we are talking about, the world we live in. Look at the recent climate changes we are seeing. US, Europe, China and South Korea are seeing record snowfall. Locally, we are seeing freak floods that are supposed to occur "every 50 years". Yeah right, 50 years my ass! If we keep on polluting our environment, we will be seeing freak floods every month!

As for the final agreement, it fell short of what the submit sets out to achieve. Cutting emission levels of 10 years ago by 2020 is as good as trying to retain the current emission levels by then. But then, it is better than nothing right? But it is sad to know that comparing with the way the world economy has recovered from the sub-prime crisis in less than 2 years, where billions of dollars are dumped in saving it, it seems like the future of our environment is not as significant.

Making Money Out of Something That is Free

Thanks to A L V I N O L O G Y for pointing this out. Turns our that our Singpost is moonlighting by offering a service, Admail, to chunk junk mail into our mail box.

Damn, doesn't this defeat the purpose of installing those anti-junk mail devices on our letterbox? Well, maybe those devices are installed not for our conveniences, but rather act as a way to earn extra revenue by forcing the advertisers to use their Admail service.

Save our trees and our environment by cutting down junk mail. Call SingPost’s hotline on 6845-6210 to request to be taken off Admail service. For your info, all unwanted mails be it junk or not are recycled. In addition, we recycle all paper, glass, metal and plastic material if possible.

NOTE: FYI, Opting out of the service will also remove the Ikea catalogue and fast food coupons in the mail.

What A Way To Start 2010

It seems that I announce too soon that the madness of my work is over. First day of work today (I was on leave on Monday) and I was hit by a tsunami of work. Every issue wants to have top priority. It almost makes me regret coming in.

I guess 2010 did not start well for me. US market shot up last night (I am aiming for a correction). Manchester United lost in the FA Cup third round to their fierce rival, Leeds, who by the way is a League 1 side. Home ground some more! It's not the lost that pisses me off; it's the way the match was lost. The players totally have no pride or passion in it. This is not the first time the team lost in this way this season. I think this is getting too much.

Enough of football then. Now, I really dread going back to office tomorrow. Tomorrow I still need to go babysit the new engineer. The director put it so nicely. The new guy supposed to lighten my load but I have to guide him along at the same time. I wonder how that helps in lightening my load. Furthermore, my knowledge on the project is also half bucket (maybe even less), so how am I qualify to guide others? I too need a guide.

Paying More For Less

I was shopping for groceries at the newly opened Sheng Siong Supermarket near my place the other day. I was standing next to the rolls of Chili Sauce when I notice something. Normal Chili Sauce cost 5 cents cheaper than Chili Sauce with less salt. Hmm.... this doesn't sound right...

If the chili sauce has less salt, it means the cost of ingredients used to make the chili sauce should be lower. Then the cost of less salt chili sauce should be cheaper than normal chili sauce. Why is it the other way round?

Just like for HBD flats. 5 years ago, new 4-room flats are bigger yet cheaper than the current new 4-room flats. Other than having the same name, the newer 4-room flat look and feels like a 3-room flat. Why are we paying more for something less? Less construction materials are used for building smaller flats, so isn't it supposed to cost less or at least around the same?

Why are we paying more for something less? Why are we paying through our nose for a small pigeon hole with 50th-storey skybridge, pretty surrounding areas or condominium-like design? Where's the logic in that?

A New Year, A New Journey

As we end year 2009, we welcome 2010, starting another new journey. 2009 has been one hectic year for me. Mostly I could remember for 2009 is work. It's a non-stop roller coaster ride at work for the entire year. I am just glad it is all over now.

But luckily 2009 is not all bad memories. There are also memories of knowing that I am going to be a father. The shock of finding out we are going to be parents of two tiger cubs still bring a smile to me.

So as we bid farewell to 2009, Angie and I welcome 2010 with excitement and nervousness. It is the year where we step into another stage of our lives. It's the year where we are no longer children of our parents, where we become parents of our children. It's the year where we begin our journey of parenthood.

I spent my last few minutes of 2009 at Old Hong Kong Tea House having supper, cossing into 2010, with the three persons I hold most dear to. So here we go, continuing our march in life, continuing my Tales of A Tiger.

Chocolate Farewell

Another colleague has left the company. As usual, he went round distributing parting gifts in the form of Ferroro Rocher chocolate. I have lost count of the number of times I have received this brand of chocolate this way this year. Ferroro Rocher should advertised themselves to officially be "The Last Day of Work" chocolate.

Other titles it can have is the "I Can't Find a Suitable Christmas Gift" or "Last Minute Dragged Into Christmas Gift Exhange". How many of you out there have received this or worse bought Ferroro Rocher as a Christmas Gift? Yep, I can see the smiles in many of you. Kinda boring right? Must be the damn box that holds the chocolate. Perfect for wrapping with some cheapo Christmas wrapping paper.

If it is my turn to leave the company, I won't distribute Ferroro Rocher. Maybe I will give out Kit Kat. Give everyone a break? :P

Clash of The Titans

I used to watch Clash of the Titans when I was a young together with all those Sinbad movies. Movies of fantasies, adventure and mythical creatures.

Recently, I found out that there is going to be a remake of the Clash of the Titans. From the trailer, it looks quite cool. I think the story this time will be a big difference, but at least they kept the fight scene with the Medusa monster.

Check out the Medusa fight scene from the original Clash of the Titans in 1981. How technology have advanced. It used to use clay figurines and stop motion filming to create the monsters. Nowadays, everything is computer graphics or CGI.

Original 1981 Clash of the Titans

"Both Are Male..."

These are the words from the doctor, after he did the detailed scan yesterday. Though both Angie and I were a bit disappointed as we were hoping for 1 boy 1 girl, we are still happy knowing that both of them are healthy and do not have any defects. Ten fingers, ten toes, that's all that matter, that's all we hope for.

Later Angie ask me.

"What name should we give them?"

I said, "How about Alibaba? Elder one called Ali, the other call Baba. Next time we can call, ALIBABA, COME OVER HERE!"

Angie gave me a knock :P
The journey to parenthood continue for the two of us. :)

读书郎

When I was still a kid, my mother used to sing this lullaby when sending me to school, holding my hand. Now I have to learn to sing this to my little tiger cubs...

Putting On That Extra Kgs

Is it a common trend that husband of pregnant wives will put on weight in sync with their partner? Realize my jeans are getting tighter these past few weeks. How come? My food intake is still the same as usual. What could be the cause of this? Better start doing some light exercise... :P

Recomended Gift For Your Ah Ma

According to CrimeWatch last night, there has been a raise in crime against the elderlys. So you might consider getting this umbrella for your Ah Ma for self-defence.

World Saddest Dog

Look at this poor little fella. He looks so sad being chained to a lamp post, like a kid made to stand at one corner for doing something wrong.

From World Saddest Dog

A Rage Filled Day

Have you ever felt like nothing works for you, as if the whole world is against you and everything you do is not right, so much so that you are filled with an unquenchable rage?

I had one today. It all started with the lost of all my trading profits the previous night. All the hard work for the past few months gone. I thought I have trained to control my emotions on this, but I guess the loss is too much for me to take.

With the rage still burning inside, I went to work and things got worse. I don't know if it is the fire that blinded me, but I feel that everything incident is going against my way. This is not help by all the lousy management planning and constant reminders from the managers to update all the meaningless issue status.

My rage reach a boiling point that I really wanted to throw in my resignation letter, follow by bashing my boss head in. But I didn't thanks to a phone call from Angie. So now, I sitting here, simmering down, writing this entry.

Pixar - Burn-E

Pixar has did it again. Making a short film off one of their animation, Wall-E. This film depicts a particular day for another robot, whose job get interrupted by Wall-E. You will appreciate the scenes in this short film more if you have watch the original animation

Hello! My Little Cute Cubs.

15 weeks and growing ^_^

How to Get Up and Go to Work in 5 mins

If you are like me, always late for work. This might be of use to you. Too bad I dun wear shirt and tie to work. Love the way he tie up his tie.

Quote For The Day

Heard from a colleague during a farewell lunch today.

Our company is shit, but if you are to leave the company, just make sure is not from one shit to another shit. At least you are used to the smell here.

Interview Woes

I just came back from a job interview. It's been almost 3 years since my last job interview (the last one is for the job I am working in). When I got the call that I am going to have an interview this morning, I felt uneasy for the entire weekend. This has not been help when I was informed that it will be a panel interview with software test. *Grasp*

I have never been comfortable with interviews but the thought of sticking at what I am now forces me to go for it. I have difficulty sleeping the previous night, thinking what the interviewer might ask and having phobia of not able to answer the test questions. Worse still is Manchester United after playing so well, lost to a goal that never should be given in the first place. -_-" In the end, after much tossing around, I managed to catch some sleep and woke up earlier than usual this morning though my interview is at 11am.

As for the interview itself, turns out to be quite relaxing. The test is more like an analysis of my code reading ability. Luckily it's not those theory or software trick questions. *Phew* The interviewers are quite impressed and keen to bring me on board. Only issue is they need me within these 2 months. The earliest I can tender is early January. Any day earlier, I will have to forfeit my AWS, something I am not willing to let go given all the hard work I put into the past year. In addition, with the babies coming, the extra cash will come in handy. Anyway, we will see how things go.

Tiger Cubs

Watch out! Tiger cubs coming next year! Yep, cubs, plural ^_^

Urn Storage and Retrieval

Perfect example of applying of technology for one area to another totally unrelated one. Burial land is so scarce and expensive in Japan that urns for your love ones are stored in a storage and retrieval system normally used for libraries and archive purpose.

I came about this in the news. According to the news report, at least now relatives who have to search through the columbarium looking for the reating place of their love ones.

Twitter 101 Uses: Find Your Lost Dog.

This is one amazing story that ends with a happy ending.

Sheylara's friend, Nanny Wen, lost her dog a few days ago. She managed to find the dog back through a combination of Twitter, Facebook and Plurk. I once thought that such social media are a waste of time. At least, now I know there is some use for it.

Read the amazing story here by Nanny Wen.

We Forgot His Birthday :(

Angie told me during dinner that she dream of Mickey last night. She saw ah boy brought another dog back with him and asking for food from her. Then suddenly I realize it's his birthday yesterday!

Oh dear! We were so caught up with our work and hectic lives that we totally forgotten his birthday. The little dog brought a friend back to celebrate his birthday with him and share his birthday cake. To his surprise, there's nothing for him. Aww... he must be very disappointed. :'(

We feel so sad. He has left us for a year only and we have started to forget about him. To think that we still celebrate his birthday last year, buying him a cake not long after he left. We all felt so sorry about what we done. Berna says she will buy him a cake tomorrow to make up for him but that doesn't spare from the guilt.

The photo above is Mickey peeking around the kitchen doorway when someone is in the kitchen, making sure you are not eating a snack without him.

How Many Sweets Did Ken Buy?

“Jim bought some chocolates and gave half of it to Ken. Ken bought some sweets and gave half of it to Jim. Jim ate 12 sweets and Ken ate 18 chocolates. The ratio of Jim's sweets to chocolates became 1:7 and the ratio of Ken's sweets to chocolates became 1:4. How many sweets did Ken buy?”

For those who don’t know, the above is one of the questions that appear in this year’s PSLE mathematics exam. Chance upon it in a blog questioning why questions are set so high for this year PSLE. It took me (an engineer!) around 10 mins to read and understand the problem and another 10 to solve it in a NON-examination environment, using simultaneous equations and algebra. To think that the Primary 6 kids have to solve it with the clock ticking and not allowed to use simultaneous equations and algebra, using only model diagrams and unit methods. No wonder kids are so stressed today… Not easy to parents these days.

Btw, the kids this year are allowed to use calculators during the exam. Yeah… like that helps a lot. -_-". Dun ask for the answers to the question. Solve it yourself or click on the link above

Gentle Giant

Check out this dog. This dog or wolf to some is own by a goldsmith shop near my parent's place in Jurong. You can imagine the size of it from the size of the Jack Russel standing next to it.

Though it look intimidating, turns out it is a gentle giant. The owner just went out of the shop and he just sit there waiting for his owner to return. Both him and the Jack Russel just wait at the door for the owner to return. Even with curious onlookers passing by taking pictures of him, he just sit there quietly, ignoring it all.

iPhone Goes Orange

The Big Red Machine no longer have exclusive rights to sell the iPhone. MobileOne aka M1 finally get the rights to sell iPhone. Three of my colleagues have own it and after playing around with it, I got to admit I changed my views of iPhone. With my handphone going haywire this week together with the fact that my M1 contract is ending next March, it might be a good choice as my next phone. But on second thought, I may get the HTC HD2 below by then...

People That Make You Go -_-"

Some funny conversations heard...

Shopping for Manuka honey with Angie
Angie: What's the difference between the normal Manuka honey and the raw one?
Salesgirl: The Raw Manuka honey is raw while the normal manuka isn't
Angie: -_-"


A colleague of mine got a call from some sales people
Caller: Hi, is this XXX NRIC 7498273D?
Colleague: Yes
Caller: I need your NRIC to verify your identity
Colleague: -_-"""

We Are Still The Same 50 Years On

I remember our PM Lee Hsien Loong's National Rally this year mentioned that our country have transformed over the past 50 years that it was unimaginable then. Well, I have to agree with him that yes Singapore really have change a lot over the last half a century.

Somehow I feel that all those change only happens on the surface. As the old saying goes, "the more we change, the more we stay the same". The city skyline may looks different now, but I feel that underneath the beautiful scenery, we are no different from what we are in when we are still an English colony

Then, our population consists of mostly immigrants. We have the Chinese from mainland China, Indians from India, Malays from neighboring Indonesia and Malaysia and of course the westerners here to seek fortunes. Compare to the Singapore society today, we are more of less the same.

Walk into any food courts, hawker centers or shops and most of the time, you will be greeted by a Chinese national. The streets and construction sites are filled with Indians workers. High positions in professional sectors are taken up by angmohs. Like our forefathers, the Chinese national will gather at Chinatown while the Indians at Little India during the weekends.

Given these circumstances, it's not surprising that the recent figures from the Department of Statistics shows that 25% of the population here are non-Singaporeans. As for the 75% supposingly Singaporeans, 64% are local Singaporeans with the other 11% being permanent resident.

With the increased in "Foreign Talents" coming in couple with the continuing falling birth rates, I have to agree with DK that we, the local Singaporeans, are going to be out numbered soon. So did our country really changed?

Something To Queue For

I tell you. If Singaporeans have a favorite pastime activity, it definitely must be queuing. The longer the better. Singaporeans have affection with queuing. We queue for 4D or Toto on draw day, for that bah chor mee stall shown on TV last night, for 3 days in advance for some condo open house and we definitely queue for cheap sale or lobang.

Remember the Great McDonald Hello Kitty Doll queue? Singaporeans not only queue for it, we literally fought for it with one of the McDonald's outlet glass door shattered under the weight of the pushing crowd. In the end, the police have to step in to control the queue. That's how passionate Singaporeans are with queuing.

Well the latest queuing craze is here. It's called the "Change Your Ezlink Card Before the Deadline" queue. This is the sequel to the "Be The First to Have the New Ezlink Card" queue. And the most hilarious thing is, in between these two periods of crazy queuing, nobody and I mean NOBODY bother to go change their Ezlink card.

We are given more than a year to change the cards, but most of us just ignore it. Change early and miss out all the fun of sweating and getting frustrated plus enjoying cramps in our thighs for standing for long hours in the queue? No way.... Furthermore, we get to take a break from our work by taking leave to queue for it. Yep, must wait till last minute to do it for the long queue to form.

Oh... By the way, seeing that our nation like to queue so much, LTA decided to extend the Ezink replacement deadline to let us enjoy an additional week of queuing. Hurray!

How Far We Have Leap Forward

Attended an Intel seminar today and they show us this video reminding us of the technologies we use yesterday. Bring back all the memories of the tech we used to use while we laugh at them now. Reminded us how we have advance over the last decades especially after the start of the Internet age.

Reason Why I Support United.

Last night derby match vetween Man United and Man City is a classic. It's also re-enforced the reason why I supported the Red of Manchester.

When your opponent just scored a 90 min equaliser, most teams will probably deflated and played out for a draw. But no... not Man United. Not especially when Sir Alex is around, we will still attack. And last night reward us for that mentality.

The team will never give up a lost cause. As long as the ref have not blown the final whistle, the team will keep going at the opponent. It's luck when you scored last minute goals to win or draw. But doing that season in season out shows the never say die attitude.

We'll never die, we'll never die,
We'll never die, we'll never die,
We'll keep the Red flag flying high,
Because Man United will never die.
"The Red Flag" chant of Manchester United

Oh for those complaining the kelong referee adding so much stoppage time. According to Match of The Day calculations,
Added Stoppage Time: 4 mins
Man City equalizer celebration: 56 sec
Man United substitution, ref have to add 30 sec
Total: 95 mins 26 sec.
Winning goal was scored on 95 mins 27 sec. So that was virtually our last attack. And mind those Man United haters. During the added time, Man City have the right to attack us and try to win the game. Not as if only Man United is allow to play during those times. They choose to defend negatively for a draw while we choose to attack for the win. And we were duly rewarded for our bravery and effort. Nuff said...

No Different Than A PC

It's so sad when you are not treated like a human being but more like an asset. This is what has been happening at my company. Engineers are being moved around to wherever there is a need.

We are not being asked or checked whether does we have the qualification. Just like a PC, we are unplugged from one place; plug elsewhere and still expected to function normally. It’s not an excuse that you are not familiar with your new role.

It's not surprising that more and more of my colleagues are leaving the company when a suitable opportunity comes along.

Food Fight!!!

When they are not busy suing Singapore over a rock in the sea, our Malaysian neighbor will be thinking of new ways to mah-lu themselves in the international scene.

The latest is the Malaysian Tourism Minister, Ng Yen Yen, claiming that a number of local dishes like Hainanese chicken rice, Nasi Lemak and Bak Kut Teh belongs to Malaysia and neighboring countries are stealing their dish and promote it as their own. She even claim that Chili Crabs is created by Malaysian. HELLO! Chili Crabs is an invention by Singapore, OK!

It all started with the row with Indonesia over the use of a Balinese dance in a promotional spot for a TV documentary series on Malaysia. Now Mdm Ng has started a race by countries to grab every culture and claim it as their own.

The poor stupidity in making such a claim by a Minister shows the quality of the government over there. Such makes our Ministers look like geniuses.

P.S. By the way, as some netizens claims, there is one dish that is definitely Singaporean. Mee-Siam Mai Hum... :P

Alphabet Song

I am going cross-eye soon. A customer at work have a licensing issues with the fonts they are using and requested that we find another similar ones. Hence, I spend the past 2 days checking on fonts, analyzing the individual letters. With so many fonts, it is quite a tedious task. Bloody hell gives me a bloody headache. Why can't they just opt for another font or buy the licensing? Sigh....

Madonna Tribute to Michael Jackson Speech

Madonna kick starts this years MTV Music award with a touching and true tribute speech to the King of Pop. As I have pointed out earlier, we have abandon him when he needed us the most, only to regret when we are left with only memories of him.

Liability Cap for Lost Credit Cards

Finally, banks here are willing to cap the liability to $100 if our credit card is lost or stolen. All along credit cardholders have to be liable for the amount charge to the card even though the holder has reported the lost of the card. The previous rule is so unfair to us. Shows that these banks only concern about getting their money back without any empathy to the credit cardholder.

It is only after New Paper ran a series on credit card fraud where it is found that retailers failed to check if the buyer matches the credit card info did the banks willing to change to this new rule. The findings by New Paper holds true as recently I use my newly issued credit card to make a payment. I realize that I have forgotten to sign on the back of the card as verification purpose. To my surprise, the cashier just takes the card and proceeds to charge it without even flipping the card to verify my signature on the receipt. Where are the security checks here?

According to the news report, retailers were reluctant to bear responsibilities for credit card fraud. This is a load of bullshit. I fiercely believe that retailers should bear the responsibilities for the loss. They are the ones who allow the use of credit cards in their shop, bringing convenience to their customers. Shouldn't they help bear the responsibility as well if they are complacent in enforcing the security? What's the point of setting up all the security measures when the most critical people in the setup are so lax in enforcing it.

In my opinion, we must at least get the cashier to bear if not all but part of the liability cost since they are the one who did not conduct the proper checking in the first place, resulting in losses to both the card holder and the bank. This is the only way to get the retailers to feel the pinch and get them to be extra careful when handling credit card transactions.