Did Americans made the right choice?

Anyone remember Al Gore? He was the Vice President to President Clinton and an active environmentalist. He was suppose to be the next US President until he lost the US presidental election to George Bush by the slimmest of votes. And everyone knows what happen next... 911 and the war on terrorism. Well now Al Gore, who still champaign on environmental issues, has just release a documentary, An Inconvenient Truth. The documentary report the truth on the damages we are doing to our planet and the consequences we are either facing or gonna face. After seeing the trailer, I wonder did Americans made the right choice in electing Bush as their president. I dun like tat guy at all. Look what he has done to our world! He is acting like a gung-ho american cowboy, going round picking up fights with anyone who are a bit threatening to the US. In the process, everybody have forgotten the real issue at hand; Our lovely planet is dying! This documentary is a definite must watch everyone to get ourselves focus on the the real task at hand.


The trailer can oso be seen at Youtube and Quicktime (Need quicktime to view)

Oh btw, lately I also saw the documentary, Loose Change. It is a conspiracy theory documentary which explore the truth behind 911. After seeing it, I develop a naggy suspicion that 911 is a plan by the Bush administration to gather the support it needed to justify its follow-up actions watever that may be, oil, world dominations... For them, the ends justify the means... If anyone remember, there's tis movie, The Long Kiss Goodnight, whereby CIA perform a terrorist act by planning a bomb, in order to get more fundings from the US congress. Talk about life mimicking art. Scary though indeed.

Here's comes challenger

Our ward is being contested for the upcoming Singapore Elections. So gotta go 2 the voting station on 6th May 2006. Tat's all I have to say cos we are not allowed to blog, podcast or publish anything that promotes a certain political view. Hence just to be safe, it is better not to write anything regarding to the election for the time being. Like Mr Brown say, "Remember, there is no broadband in prison".

Oh one side note, for my Singaporean friends who dunno, Polling Day is considered to be a public holiday. And as it is a Saturday, under Employment Act, we are entitled one day off regardless whether you are working or not (See point 3 here). So dun get con by your employer. ;)

My wife treat me at Stonegrill yesterday nite to celebrate my birthday. :D. Really enjoy the meal. I had the prime of the land (a large piece of beef) while my wife had the ocean's feast. We shared a portobello mushroom set. The food taste great and healthy as it is all cook in its own juices without any added fats or oils and completely in its natural favour. The service there is also very polite and helpful that they will advise you on cooking methods if you are a first timer. We also had a dessert, the big apple, which is apple strudel. It is not very sweet and light on the tummy. Plus two cups of lemon barley, the total damage is oni $66. :p One thing I need to comment is the portion is quite small but enough to just fill the tummy. :)

Finally.... 5 years in the making, i have finally completed the PC game, Red Alert 2. Yes I heard some of u out there complaining that this is a very old game. But u must understand that I have no choice. With work, dating and marriage commitments plus the occassional PC breakdown, I have delayed the completion of this game for too long. I glad I finally found enough time to finish it for both opposing sides in the game. Now shall I play the expansion game, Red Alert 2: Yuri's Revenge or move on to the next game on my long games-to-complete list? Hehehe...

Oh... Happy Birthday to me ;)

The silly things my dog can do

Woke up early in the morning at 7am to accompany my wife to work. Came back n guess what my silly dog did? He likes to bite magazines and newspaper whenever he's alone at home or nobody around. Never thought he is so bold today. The best part is when he saw me came back, he wanted to bark yet reluctant to open his mouth n let go of the paper. Click on picture to see a bigger n clearer photo...

Sometimes it's good to be bad

Happen to come across this video at You Tube. Done using video captures from one of my favourite n greatest game ever created, Halo. Totally rocks for me.
WARNING: Video contains vulgar languages. Hehehe

Traffic In India

Saw this posted on Mr Brown. Everybody is driving as if they have the right of way. Now I can fully appreciate my Indian friend, Iqbal's words when he say "If you can drive in India, you can drive anywhere in the world..." :D

P.S. Watch out for the white car coming out of the side road at the top right halfway thru the video.

Watch where u step

The weather getting chilly for the pass few weeks and snails starts to appear at my flat void deck area especially around the walkway. Everytime my wife n I walk along the walkway, we will make sure we dun step on any of the poor snails. These snails are so poor thing. Walk soooo slow across the path and when they are about to reach there, they are sqush by some blind idiots who step on them. Hence, nowadays whenever my wife n I walk along the walkway, we will pick up the snails n put them at the side of the walkway in the direction they are heading. I advise all my friends to do the same. It won't take u much time to just help a harmless animal. Be considerate to the animals/plants around us. After all they are part of the eco-system, which we depends on. It's not like we own this planet.

So... i'm back from outer space....

I love that song esp after hearing it sung by the alien pug dog in Men In Black 2. Hehehe. So i'm back from my Taiwan trip. Got tons of photos and stories to tell but very busy with work right now. Open my office email and there are so many problems popping up. Doing firefighting now. A quick post here before I dive right back to fighting fire. ;)

Finally upload my photos. But it is still not completed yet as there are somemore on my sister's digital camera. Click on the pic below to see

All Packed and Ready to Go

Woo Hoo, ready to go Taipei liao. This will be my first free and easy trip and the first that is planned by yours truly. My 2 sisters and father have went there as advance party yesterday to check the place out (More like they have leaves to burn while I can afford 5 days only). It will going to be a 5 days, shopping and eating and shopping mania. Well not almost, added some sight seeing for the sake of my father. Hehe. Well, below is my planned itinerary for the next 5 days. Watch out for my updates with photos when I get back.

Taipei Trip Itinerary
06/11 (thurs)
- Check In
- Go to Shilin Night Market. Take MRT from Ximen Station, change train at Taipei Main Station and get off at Jiantan Station (buy 500NT transit value card)

07/11 (fri)
Morning:
- Walk around Ximenting (XMT): Things to eat: Beef Noodle at Laodong, 三兄弟desert shop, Ah Zhong Mee Sua

Afternoon:
- Go to Zhongxiao dong road. Take MRT from Ximen and drop off at Zhongxiao Xinsheng). Walk along zhongxiao dong road.
- Can go to ZhongXiao DunHua MRT walk out at Exit 4 and eat at Jacky Wu’s Desert Shop – Tang Chao

Evening:
- Me arrive
- Walk to Huaxi NM. Take MRT to Shilin night market again. Things to eat: pepper buns, Ha Da Da Ji Pa. Smelly bean curds. Ice Monster type deserts

08/11 (sat)
Morning:
- Breakfast around XMT area.
- Go to LongShan Temple. Take MRT from Ximen to LongShan Station
- Go to CKS memorial hall see changing of guards (before 9pm and every hour). Take MRT to CKS Memorial Hall station via Taipei Main Station
- Go to SYS Memorial Hall. Take MRT to SYS Memorial Hall Station via Taipei Main Station

Afternoon:
- Take MRT to Taipei City Hall Station. Visit Taipei 101, New York New York, Warner Village and Shih Kong Mitsukoshi. Take free shuttle bus near the Taipei City Hall Station to Taipei101.

Evening
- Shop at Wufenpu (五分埔) wholesale area. After Singkong Mitsukoshi in Xinyi, Cross the road to Warner Village Bus Stop and take Bus 611 or 284 (184?) to Wufenpu about 7 mins away. You dont have to go to MRT (waste of time and a long walk). Wufenpu is good on weekends avoid going on a Monday.
- Walk to RaoHe Night Market
- Take train back from Songshan Railway Station after Raohe St NM to Taipei Main Station.

09/11 (sun)
Morning
- Walk around XMT as it is Sunday. Happening siah

Afternoon
- Go to Beitou for hotspring. Take MRT to Xinbeitou station via Taipei Main Station.
- Go Danshui. Take MRT to Danshui station. Visit YuReMaTou, Lover’s bridge and Fort Domingo. Things to eat: Ah Ma Tie Dan. Seafood

Evening
- Go to Taipei 101 to see night scene.
- Miramar Ferris Wheel
- Go back hotel then walk around XMT

10/11 (mon)
Morning:
- Set off at 8am
- Go to Shifen see waterfall. Go to Taipei Main Station. Take the train to Shifen and walk about 15-20 mins along the track and it will lead you to the waterfalls
- (九份) Take a train to Ruifang railway station. Go across the road and take bus 825 Ji Long Ke Yun toward Jinguashi (2.30pm slot to look for gold) direction and drop off at Jiufen. Things to eat: Tai Yang Bing
- Walk around Jiufeng and Ruifang- Talk bus back to Ruifang. Take Keelung bus to Keelung

Evening
- Go Keelung (基隆). MiaoKou (庙口) Night Market. Take bus back to Ruifang. Either take bus (GuoGuang) or Train back to Taipei
- If still have time, go shilin night market

11/11 (tue)
- Last minute shopping
- Walk around XMT.
- Go Zhongxiao dong road, go Taipei Main Station underground shopping.
- Go Bade road see PC stuff?
- Go longshan shopping area

Evening
- fly back to Singapore at 6pm

Juve knock out of Champions League

Sianz, read the news and found out Juventus is knock out of the Champions league by Arsenal. What the hell is wrong with Juventus? Every year they have the squad and the form to win the Champions League, yet they will falter at the knock-out stages. Is this some kind of curse to them? At the start of every season, they will show how good they are by steam rolling every opposition they meet and at the end of every season, they will be knock out of the Champions League competition NOT by a better team but by they own hands. This team should have won this quite a number of times over the past 10 years, but they only have two to show for. Worse still is the last time they won it is in 1995/1996 season through penalty kicks. Everytime when they have a chance they will stumble. Three finals i remember they have gone to and all three finals they failed to live up to their expectations.

1996/97: Juventus vs Borrussia Dortmund 1:3

Overwhelming favourite boasting Vieri, Del Piero and Zidane. What they do? The defence went to sleep that day and lost horribly.

1997/98: Juventus vs Real Madrid 0:1

Third consecutive final! Boasting Del Piero, Pippo Inzahgi, Zidane n Edgar Davids. Lost again. Real's Heirro on super form today but Juve's attack is like a mosquito bite. They attack n attack the whole nite n loss to a sucker punch from Real.

2002/03: Juventus vs AC Milan

Even without inspirational playmaker, Nedved, they have the guile n flair to beat AC Milan. Afterall, they play so well to beat Real Madrid's galaticos. Instead they play such boring football that day, that they themselves fell asleep during the resulting penalty shootout.

I just wish they will finally pull their socks up n win this years Italian League n do something about it next year. GO THE OLD LADY!

The last time Juve won the Champions League. It's been 10 years since.

Busy with work and planning the itinerary for my taipei trip. Feeling moody and tired for the past 2 days. Dun know what the heck is wrong with me. Just feel very tired and dun feel like doing anything. Sianz... feel like sleeping.

A friend email me this. I must say this is one heck of a resume...

I must admit that we Singaporeans, especially the Chinese, are one shy breed. We dun express ourselves well n have a lack of confidence in a conversation. Often these traits resulted in us having difficulty in communicating with people we are not familiar. This is simply because we are scared of how the other party will view us when we say something wrong or did something that may "ma lu" (embaressed) ourselves. And ever since the introduction of instant messaging (IM), it is the prefered tool for communication more so when with someone u hardly knew. Yes email also can do this, but the response is just too slow while phone calls requires that we speak out n express what we are thinking.

My workplace provide a special version of IM just for our company usage. I kinda notice that when we want to discuss something with a colleague, especially those from other departments or vice versa, we just open our IM, check the other party is online n drop him/her a message. And during the conversations, we can joke n discuss work issues without any barrier. IM oso allows us time to think about our replies and what we can say without any pressure of the sight of a waiting listener. We can just hide behind the IM window, giving us a false sense of security n therefore boasting our confidence.

Now i am not saying that IM is bad. I have learnt during my Uni subject on good communication process, one of the barriers during a communication process is non-verbal language. Thru IM, u dun see the other party n the other party dun c u. Hence all the uneasiness n non-verbal languages goes out the window. I have another good use of IM, chat with your friends or complain ludly thru email with close colleagues on the boss, and the best part is.....all these while the boss is thinking u r working. Hohoho ;p

Ah my eyes! My eyes!

Saw the variety show, Never Say Die, which invite all the rejects from all those American Idol wannabe telant competition in Singapore to compete for a one-year contract with Mediacorp. So here we see 10 "very" memorable rejects doing silly antics on the stage n trying to be funny. Looking at the talent on display, no wonder they say Singapore is a country lacking in humour. I dun find any of the acts funny at all, in fact it is downright disgusting. Not matter how the TV station claims that they are honestly giving these rejects a 2nd chance, i feel it is more like a ploy to humilate these people to let the whole country laugh at them. I call it the William Hung Syndrome. Even since that chap got famous for his appearance on American Idol, millions of untalented people are trying to do the same. Only thing I admire about is the bavery the contestants shown in enduring the laughs n finger pointings they will have for the rest of their lives.

The 9 "William Hung" Wannabes

Some strange and funny blogs I came across today. I especially like the one on the singapore parking idiots. It is featured in an article in Today by our local celebrity blogger, Mr Miyagi. Gosh... hope I won't be figured on that. Heehee...

Parking Idiots In Singapore

AirCon , Salesman and Me

Income tax woes

Sianz... it's that time of year where we need to file our income tax again. Last year, i kanna tax around $95 per month. >:( That's a lot for me. Imagine what i can do what those money. Just heard from my colleague that she last time got tax at $100 due to her retrenchment package. Bloody hell, stupid gahmen! People retrenchment money also want to tax! Damn IRAS better dun tax me this much this time. Or else I............will write more complains here. :(

On a side note, check my Toto ticket yesterday on Singapore Pools n found the winning numbers are 4, 12, 13, 20, 30, 43. And I got 4, 6, 12, 19 ,29, 43. Argh..... as always 3 match numbers only. Why oh why can't the 19 and 29 be added by 1! Only comforting thing is even if i got 5 numbers match, the winnings is only $1k. sigh.....

BMW Autopark

I guess no one gonna failed their parallel parking in their driving test with this. Wonder will there be one for vertical parking? Hmm.....

**********************************************************************

Continuing on cars, my friend seck tien (moongster mnemonic) spotted this Initial D's Toyota Sprinter AE86 Trueno on his way to work. Wonder where this Takumi fan gonna race here. Mount Faber? Hehehe

Smile... you are on Bus Candid Camera!

The gahmen is up to their antics again, doing some bo liao thing. Was reading this week's news n notice that our LTA (Land Transport Authority) on Tuesday announce that they are studying the possibility of installing CCTVs in public bus (LTA begins feasibility study on installation of CCTVs in public buses). And this is part of enhancing security in our public transport system. As usual, they will give the example that some developed western country have it so it is also necessary for us to have that too. Can someone give an award for the "genius" who thought of this? Come on! do we really need this? Imagine there are so many buses on the road everyday, how many buses can you monitor? This idea is totally inpractical. Ok, even if they only monitor the more crowded buses, i dun wan to have the feeling of been watched while riding the bus. With the new flats built so close to each other each days, getting some privacy is so difficult in Singapore without having the feeling that someone observing your every move. So can i have a little bit of privacy please? I am willing to sacrifice my safety for some privacy any time thank you.

And lastly, if this really goes thru, you know what will comes next. Yes fare hikes! Using the excuse that they need to mantain the system n employ some "well-trained" personnel to sit there n spot out the suspicious characters. Yeah right.... Well.... WE DIN ASK FOR THESE! So go ahead people complain all u like, cause in the end they will still go ahead with the plan. I tell you, the annoucement is not for seeking your approval, more like telling u what they plan to do, just like the casinos, correction, should b Integrated Resorts.

Future of Singapore?

Home-made spaghetti.

Wife going out to meet friend for dinner, so there's no dinner for me at home. Dun really fancy eating outside food (an excuse for being lazy :p). Decide to cook my one and only speciality. Spaghetti! There's some left over spaghetti sauce in the fridge. Just add in some mince pork n chopped green pepper and WAH LAH! Dinner's ready ^_^

Are you hungry too?