Photos from Big Boyz Toys

I just came back from Expo, visiting the Big Boyz Toys and SITEX, and a bit of John Little. Anyway, the title is photos from Big Boyz Toyz, but where are the photos??Aiya, this blogspot is having a problem with the server now, wish4ver said that it's due to the change to beta google version that has made it rather unstable. Beta version is also touted to be unstable. Sheesh! Okay, be patient, my audience. I will upload them in my friendster first, so maybe you can go there and take a look.

Snacked a lot at the Expo, ate the Chilli Crab Chicken Jazzi Bun, and then Korean Sausage(which costs SGD2.50...), then a packet of char mee, with soya bean as the finishing touch. Hehe..feeling replete in the end.

And today, at the Expo, I have bumped into my long lost friend who is currently a pilot trainee at Seletar Camp. Wow, it's been I think 8 years since I last saw him. He was with a pretty good looking lass, whom I thought was his gf. Anyway, it made me think of the days with him during my A Level course back in KL.

Department dinner was great...

The dinner that I organised was a success! Though some of my managers like Felicia and Gokul were too busy to leave the office with us and were late despite having me scurrying them for a few times. Oops..so we walked to Suntec City and then there we were, Marche Movenpick, but we were told that they could only seat us until all of us were present. Oh my..more waiting then....finally F and G arrived and we hurriedly made a beeline to make our orders since it was 8 something and by then we were made so famished..I ordered a plate of sambal stingray while Andrew chose the dory fillet. And then we shared a plate of Swiss Rosti + Jumbo Garlic Sausage..very sinfully delicious! Right after that, based on my suggestion two days ago, we took a walk to Marina Square to proceed to our next activity. Dessert at Azabu Sabo at which I ordered a bowl of Mattcha Zen.It is a scoop of Hokkaido style home-made green tea ice-cream surrounded by red bean and plain glutinous rice ball which tasted awesome!Worth my time for recommending that to my friends.

Department Dinner Dec '06

Having fun tonight again, I'll be organising a dinner for my department of 9 people, so must do that well.

Well

Yes,I got back with my gf, almost broke up with her last week, but patched things up with her soon...but today I am talking to her about the issue of marriage again as she may not want to wait until after 30 years old for that. It may also be unfair to her if we break up a few years later due to the same reason again..So what should I do now...

Login-ed to my xanga again and then found out that the features there have improved...Maybe I should be updating both blogs again....Hehe..

Had dinner with Mich at Dian Xiao Er which is located at Marina Square. It's a Chinese restaurant and the Mongolian Pork Ribs was delicious! And for the first time I drank the Nu Er Hong(Daughter Red/Rose). Nice experience because I have always heard about that in period dramas but never had the chance to get a taste of it.

Love bug

Approaching 5 years into the relationship,and what's the next issue would you wanna discuss with your lover?Marriage, inevitably, would come up in your mind spontaneously if you are witty enough.

I attended my colleague's wedding banquet at York Hotel at Orchard yesterday night, and there he was, treading on a slow but steady procession on the red carpet with his wife with whom he is going to spend the entire life. The newly wedded couples looked exceptionally fabulous, that's why in Malay language we have the simpulan bahasa(idiomatic phrase) called "Raja sehari". They were both king and queen the night, having all the eyes focused on them while being on the stage. Video footages of both of them growing up were played and then also the things that they have been doing together, photos of the places they have travelled to, and the marriage ceremony they had to go through before coming together as a legally married husband and wife.

So, back to myself, is my gf the one I really wanna marry? It's an important issue now, as I need to know whether I really can't live without her. Is it really that serious? Yes, of course when it comes to marrying somebody and living with her for the rest of my life. If it is not clear, then one might end up marrying somebody and end up getting a divorce which would spell disaster to each one's life. It can be a catastrophy. The truth is, you can be happy with your lover before getting married and then there's chance that you will argue with him every day after marriage.
I am not thinking that far ahead,but right now at this moment, I believe that I am rather not so happy, though the nostalgic feeling keeps on rolling in insidiously as I slowly reminisce the sweet memories we had together and how nice and fulfilling gf she was until I said that we need a break up. Yes, that's the climax. I said break up to her yesterday night, in a really serious manner, not considering the teary eyes I had while talking to her about that.

Unwanted

This is another entry for chronicling my depressive state again. I feel unwanted again. Feeling that this world has no place for me to stand in, there have been so much daunting events which befell me for the past few weeks that I begin to think that whether I am really that bad or not. My self-esteem has been rock-bottom for a month already, which won't be surprising to you if you have been reading my blog religiously. Sometimes I think the more I blog about my depression here, the worse it will become. This kind of inferiority complex is really killing me, I really feel very down, despite having friends consoling me that it'd be alright sooner or later.

Ironically, to manage my depression, I have been attempting to cook several dishes, including curry chicken with potato which I managed to cook it successfully yesterday. I bought the curry paste from Fairprice, and also lemongrass, chicken drumsticks, small red onions and potatoes. Wahh..it's my first curry dish, it seemed to be quite tasty, but I think it may need an extra touch of taste from additional curry leaves because the curry paste ingredients contained curry leaves so I did not buy it separately. Anyway, I'll be cooking it again this coming weekend as requested by someone special. Haha. Okay, I think it'd be good since I can go and shop for better ingredients in Little India. Furthermore, the three cookbooks that I borrowed from the Woodlands library today seem to promise me tantalising dishes that I'd be learning to cook for the next two weeks so as to occupy some free time of mine to avert from falling into the depression trap again, hopefully.

Staying Alive

I am still here. Comparing to others, I consider myself as a fortunate person relatively. I think I ought to feel complacent to the level I don't feel depressed anymore, but not to the level where I am so comfortable with my current position that I stop searching for a permanent job. Do I really have to find a job now, or is it a career that I'm supposed to find now so that history would not recur? My doubts are not as intense as previously though, I think I managed to boost my self-esteem a bit after securing a temporary position to do for one month. For people who are concerned with me, I really thank them for their supports which have enabled me to carry myself well all this long, and I can still take care of myself well despite being in the doldrums. I think I have become a stronger person, and lately I tend to see bad things that happened in a positive manner, I think everyone should see those things as blessings in disguise. Any bad happenings are deemed as resource to train you to become more independent, and it should be viewed as something value-adding to our life. It's a bit ridiculous if you think of it initially. Sadist, in the emotional way. But at least, it keeps me going and helps me with how to live a happier life.

Life goes on, even if you are faced with the worst setback

It's been really a difficult period for me, as I've been reminding myself to stay calm and hope for a better tomorrow. This melancholic feeling is growing within my mind again. I really think that I'm good for nothing, I really feel that my degree is useless, nobody wants to employ me, so what will become of me? I don't know. Yes, that's always my answer to things that seem complicated to me. It's a flight response. My entire mind is controlling my body not to fight subsconsciously. I think it's better for me to die and relieve myself of all these sorrows. Seriously, you would be thinking that I don't deserve any compassion since the things I've said here are utterly stupid, as you may be thinking that comparing to those people living on the streets and under the bridges, I am far much better than them and should learn to be complacent and live on and fight till the end. Unemployment sucks. Really. Not that you have never experienced that before, it's just that you have to overcome the misperception of others hailing you as somebody who is a useless piece of crap. It's really something ugly to conceive about. Your friends may always support you morally or sometimes even financially if you have earned their trusts on you previously, however things may become ugly if egoism and self-esteem get in your way of thinking. What I need to find is my self-esteem. I wanna find it back, though I may not have a very high self-esteem last time, but I guess it's going down the gutters if I am unable to get a job soon, whether permanent or temporary position. Now I am in position of neither here nor there. Like getting stucked and lost at a cross junction, not knowing which direction to go. Undoubtedly, I don't have friends who know me inside out. Even my girlfriend thinks that it's gonna be alright and things will be better soon and then I would feel better eventually. Yeah, perhaps she's somebody who's been my supportive and closest friend of all. Beyond that, I don't think that anyone else could understand me more, not even my family members. But in the first place, you can't expect somebody else to know what you are thinking deep down inside, for the reason that it's gonna be extremely intimidating that every move you make would be anticipated by that person. After all, I am just an ordinary and unremarkable person only, it's pointless for others to predict what I am going to do next since it would be very likely to be something justifiably predictable.

What I am trying to achieve in this blog entry is to keep reminding myself to think positively, to think that I am living my life for myself, not for other people, so comparison with peers and friends would deem to be rather useless. The important thing for me is to stay on the track, and try to avert off-track emotions which ought not to be in such a critical time for which strength and determination hold pivot roles for me to continue my hunt for the next job. Positive thinking really helps a lot really, perhaps I can take this unemployment period as a time for me to look at things clearly and from different facets of views. Friends that know me mostly think that I am friendly and sometimes loud, but I can get rather sensitive and emotional at certain things under different circumstances. I really hope that I can ward off all the negative thinking that have been infesting my mind for the past few days.

那些水果是凉性的，那些是热性的？

天气分寒热，水果也是分寒热的，如果自己的身体不适合吃寒性或热性的水果，食用不当或吃得过多，就会对身体造成严重的负面影响。那么，究竟水果如何分寒热，爱吃水果的你又该如何选择呢？

寒凉水果解燥热

夏天的水果多属于寒凉性的，比如梨和各种瓜类。一般来说，实热体质的人夏天代谢旺盛，交感神经占优势，出汗多，经常脸色通红、口干舌燥、易烦躁、容易便秘，夏天特别喜欢吃凉东西。所以，热体质人群可以适当多吃一些寒凉性的水果。 但是，寒性水果不能多吃，否则对身体有害。比如，梨味道甘甜，具有止泻、通便、助消化的作用，经常吃可以使肌肤白嫩。但由于其中含有丰富的糖类和钾盐，食用过多会有损心、肾健康，像冠心病、心肌梗死、肾炎及糖尿病患者都不能多食，而中气不足、精神疲劳的人倒可以当做滋补水果多吃一点。 而像梨、柑橘、柚子等水果，具有止咳、化痰、润肺、助消化的作用，但多吃却容易造成肠胃紊乱，还能导致牙痛、痔疮，甚至引起皮肤黄斑。因此，有胃病、胃寒的人最好少吃。 气虚、脾虚的人在选择西瓜、香瓜、芒果、梨和香蕉这几种冷性的水果时要特别谨慎，最好不要吃。气虚，一般是指中气不足，这些人一般脸色比较苍白、体格瘦小、吃不下饭；而脾虚，是说消化系统比较差，肠蠕动慢。所以，越吃寒冷的水果，越会降低肠胃蠕动，使肌肉无力，吃多了会因为消化不良而导致腹胀。因此，肠胃功能不好的老人和孩子，不太适合吃寒凉水果，如果真的很想吃，可以在午饭后、晚饭前，少吃一点，不可过量。

夏日寒凉水果：香瓜、西瓜、梨、香蕉、奇异果、芒果、柿子、荸荠、甜瓜、柚子等。

温热水果补虚寒

虽说夏天寒凉性水果比较多，但在众多水果中，像荔枝、桂圆、杏等属于温热性,也是相当受人们欢迎的。尤其对于虚寒体质的人来说，他们气虚脾虚，基础代谢率低，体内产生的热量少，四肢即使在夏天也是冷的。相比较而言，这类人群的面色比常人白，而且很少口渴，也不喜欢接触凉的东西，包括进空调房间。所以，这些人多吃些温热的水果无疑是补寒妙法。 不过，一般人大热天吃太多温热的水果却很容易上火。 比如，荔枝中含有降糖成分，多吃会出现低糖反应。而对于热性体质的人，由于本身就精力充沛、晚上不易入眠，再加上代谢率偏高，所以更不能吃温热水果。另外，正在发烧或某器官正在发炎的孩子也尽量避免食用。

夏日温热水果:荔枝、桃、龙眼、樱桃、椰子、榴莲、杏等。

Funny

Tips on resolving arguments

These guidelines below tend to have its usefulness when the time comes. Ponder over it and you will see the light.

1. Compromise
Having a little of something to make your partner happy is better than not having anything at all. Think of ways that you can solve the problem through giving and taking a little.

2. Be positive
Instead of focusing only on the negative, think about the positive aspects of your relationship. It will keep you in a better frame of mind to address the issues ahead.

3. Listen
Take the time to consider your partner's views and show that you have understood what is being said

4. Remain calm
Getting frustrated solves nothing. If the discussion is getting nowhere, take some time to cool down. Go for a walk, or simply retreat to another part of the house till you are calm enough to pick up where u left off.

5. Watch your body language
You may say you are sorry but if you are gesticulating wildly, the message your partner gets is very different. Make sure that your body language, facial expressions and vocal tone are consistent with what you say

6. Say what you mean in a tactful manner
You may be afraid to say something or address the real issue at hand. But beating about the bush or being sarcastic about it will make things worse. It is better to get things out in the open so that the problem can immediately be dealt with. Learn to be tactful.

7. Agree to disagree
You are both 2 different individuals so it will be difficult to find a solution that is agreeable to you all the time. If this happens, focus on the positive and end the discussion on a good note. Put across to your partner that while there is no solution at the moment, you will try to work together to find one

8. Stick to the subject
Talking about events in the past which are totally unrelated to the issue at hand only makes things worse. Stick to the issue at hand if you want a fast resolution

9. Respect your partner
Never be rude or put your partner down and say hurtful things deliberately. You will regret it later after you have calmed down, but you can never take back the hurt which you might have caused.

10. Remember why both of you are in the relationship
A healthy relationship doesn't equate to agreements all the time. And the ability to resolve conflicts may differ according to different individuals, but do keep in mind that a healthy relationship necessarily means the willingness to resolve the conflict.
Also remember, a relationship may be that of between friends, family members and colleagues.

Four quadrants of women

Maybe women can be categorised into 4 groups with 8 subsets
I) eye-candy and nice
II) eye-candy and ah-the-not-so-nice
III) ah-the-not-so-eye-candy and nice
IV) ah-the-not-so-eye-candy and ah-the-not-so-nice.

Wow, it seems like a categorisation idea from someone by the name of Robert Kiyosaki. Haha. Oh well. Yeah, eye-candiness refers to the external appearance of

the woman and niceness means the degree of internal beauty.

Women in group I seem like those movie stars you can easily spot on TV. They are the most popular one amongst men and they seem to men always like the damsel in distress, triggering male protective instinct. They are seen as pretty, sexy, eye-candy, alluring, nubile, aphrodisiac people who remain as fantasies in the minds of men. On top of their appearance, they are in fact pretty within themselves as well, exuding adequate degree of courtesy, respects for the elderly, having compassions for the unfortunate ones(or benevolent), unmaterialistic, down-to-earth, having reasonable consideration towards their loved ones, extremely tactful, so on and so forth. Praise the Lord! Where can I find such a nymph?Haha. God damn it I think this group can be enlisted as Endangered Species.

Women in group II, I would describe them as having complete disregard for the all the people in the world just because they were born pretty. They and their superiority complex, are in fact contemptible and well-deserve a high level of disrespect. Obsessions with their own looks and unscrupulous disposition towards most men whom they don't like, make the entire world full of tearful chaps. They tend to be so over-zealous with the stuffs they do(cosmetics, pedicure, manicures, facials and the list goes on and on) and never keep tabs on their emotional development, making them seem to be like doltish bimbos who are out there to smite powerful and rich mature men using their cosmetically-enhanced appearance and a whole list of masqueraded dispositions.

Now come to women in group III, oh,this group has a broad coverage from the not-so good-looking ones to the cannot-really-make-it faces and flat-chested,as well as those who think that they have unique beauties, who fortunately, have developed a sense of tact and benevolence towards people surrounding them. They know themselves well enough, sometimes grumble over why were they born like that though. Nevertheless, I reckon that the majority women fall under this category considering the trend that I'm seeing now. Haha. They have distinctive ways to make them endearing to the surrounding people, notwithstanding their unattractive(or happen to look rather not-so-appealing to that guy) looks. Sincerity and a reasonable care for other people's feelings(yeah, it's tactfulness again) come into play often when it comes to inter-relationships.

Ahem, the most despicable group, women in group IV. Oh gosh, these people have all the positive qualities stated, not. Ugly, not self-conscious, self-interested, blatant disregard to the people around them(could it be due to the fact that they weren't as lucky as others to be born unappealingly???!!), irascible, dangerous, unreasonable, lackadaisical people apparently. But strictly speaking, the people in this group will have the chance to upgrade themselves to group III if they are able to see the light that this world is not really as merciless as they have always been thinking. There must be friends around to lead them out of the lives of denials for them to live a fulfilled life. I really beseech for the extermination of this group as soon as possible, okay, some buffer period has to be alloted to make time for the group III upgrade so as not to seem like an unabated unfairness. As I am really concerned with the victims in the vicinity of those predators, the victims would be assasinated emotionally on a greater scale, not to mention visually after all.

The very kiss

Suddenly the feeling's coming back again. Yes, the very kiss that I got at a particular night from this adorable girl. That happened after I was able to sell my 1st fridge as a promoter back then. It was really sweet, that moment really belonged to both of us. It's impossible for us to be together, but I guess just merely reminiscing the times we went out was simply sweet. And I wish her well with her other half. Momentarily, I feel like seeing her again now, though it's impossible since she's far away.

Oh, one more thing to add, I believe that I am getting more and more serious with I've said lately, it's absolutely a relentless pursuit of the truth. I am gonna become blunter than ever, whenever I feel that particular issue is really heating up intensely in my mind, then I'll spout it out here. Hmm, definitely names would not be mentioned here. It's just that some people need to have some idea what other people think of them and try to reflect whether they really INDEED have any problem with their bizarre dispositions or not. And OF COURSE, I would not mind people talking bad about me if there is anything bad to talk about in the first place. After all, to err is human, to forgive divine.

Simply doltish

Read somebody's blog entry complaining that she was being "harassed" repetitively by a guy in friendster. I reckon that he's in fact representative of some of the doltish people in the male community. There is a function called 'Block' in the friendster messaging system for god's sake, and then again, some people just simply are nincompoops, as I find they are really a disgrace to us(yeah, a collective noun of victimised male community) to go and try their luck with girls in the online domain. Get on with your life dude! But seriously if you do, please go and open your eyes widely and for god's sake choose those pretty ones and not those with cannot-make-it face which are very capable of making you throw up and have a deluded thought that they are pretty with their hopeless incurable superiority complex. And for God's sake, go fuck with the mirror first before even thinking that you even have the slightest chance of being good-looking. Yeah, that's a term by the name of internal beauty, if you don't have it, regardless of even have the prettiest face in the world, I would call you ugly. Seriously, go fuck with the mirror, or maybe go out and look at the reflection of yourself in the undrained gutter outside your house. Yeah, it may be very likely look like you, and even smell like you too, that is, ugly and stinky. God damn it!

Shimz Interview

Hope that I would get this job with Shimizu and then be posted to Japan so that my Japanese language skills would be put to good use.

Spoilt CD Burner

My less-than-a-year HP Compaq nx6110 notebook's CD burner is spoilt! Dang..

Occupational safety and health

"In order to eliminate deaths, injuries and ill-health from all workplaces, what are the strategies needed?"

This was the topic of the 30 minute written test interview before going to the real interview. Haha. Panicky. Die liao.

In touch with HK again, spiritually...

It was in fact a great time having friends from HK visiting me again. My distance to HK had been pulled nearer as I drift further apart from there since it's been nearly 2 years and a half already since I was there. I have always been swept off my feet by its culture and its people. Wini is somebody from whom I could learn a lot of things, as in all along the line there were things that she said which made me realize that I should take more initiative to get to know more about our surroundings. My laziness, of course, exerts the biggest gravitational force from everything which hinders me from even thinking of doing something. Haha, oh well, I try and try to see things from different perspectives, not only from the perspective that I always find true to myself because this whole world is really multi-faceted after all.

We had drinks at Modestos, and since it was a Sunday night it was about to close when the time we went there, so we had half an hour's time to spend chatting and drinking at the pub. I ordered Bacardi rum on the rock, and it didn't taste nice at all. Haha.

Thinking of going to HK again, probably on Jetstar Asia with return airfare of SGD282(Inclusive of tax). I'm sure one month after getting my new job, I am gonna fly to HK once more even if it's a short trip.

Cooking pacifies my mind

Black glutinous rice dessert with sago and coconut cream(santan). Yup, it's what i cooked just now and it has cleared my mind off some dillemmas, or disturbances that have been plaguing my rational thinking for the past few days. Of course, when it comes to cooking, it's downright procedural at first, as you need to know the right proportion of ingredients beforehand, as well as the cooking procedures, within which instinctive adjustments have to be made to ensure it comes out adequately sweet, sour, spicy, salty, having the sufficient "level of fire" as for soups, so on and so forth. Also, you have to cater for the taste of the people you are cooking for if you are making your meals in your family, needs for elderly members of the family since they are mostly likely to believe in Chinese medical studies in refraining from a certain kind of food to avoid aggravating their illnesses and taking certain kind of food to enhance a certain body function or general well-being of a person. There'll be some members of the family who crave for exceptionally hot and spicy dishes that not any ordinary person can easily consume! Is there a term by the name of socio-culinarism?Perhaps so, since we have different kind of food represented by different races and nationalities. Well, I indeed start to like cooking but not to extent of making it a career. Why not, people ask. Oh well, there are things that would remain good to be a hobby as if you make a hobby into a career opportunity, you might end up disliking it eventually.

Breaking up is hard to do

Don't feel like calling my gf anymore, as we always end up in disputes. It's something about personality clash, something to do also with family upbringing that has caused all those indifferences, friends were saying that couple do argue in order to improve their relationship, but is there a benchmark for me to abide by?Friends also said that it's such a long relationship, so if I let go it would go wasted. There is no benchmark for that, as if the flaws of the relationship are getting more and more prominent till a level that one is unable to tolerate any longer, then something has to be done after a dragging period so as not to waste each other's time any more.