monday's thoughtsIn 2 days...

Well.. as the saying goes: "A picture tells a thousand words."
So, this will tell my tale..



















friday's thoughtsNext






















In just a few more days.. it'll be May 2007. Almost half the year has just flashed by.. how time flies. And in another half year or so, I'll be truly in the bracket of the late twenties. With an average lifespan of 75years.. that's about a third of my journey if I've the good fortune & blessings to live to that ripe old age.

Been fondly reminiscing about my past.. my childhood, my teenage years and my army days... Each part of life brings a new adventure, new lessons and new skills... resulting in who I am today.

Recently a startling revelation occured to me. Found my gaze are often attracted to babies & kids as to beautiful woman. Starting a family is definitly a major commitment. It'll be tough.. especially in the formative years as adjustments in lifestyles have to be made, sacrifices and dedication.

Financially... it'll be a big drain as well. Though through careful, prudent saving and planning.. that journey can involves a little less hiccups.

I've no idea when it'll be my turn to draw down my very own family tree.. but I do look with envy at the many young families popping up around me.

Ready to take the next step? Guess emotionally and mentally... I just can't wait. Though I'm trying to be ready in other factors..

Some friends have told me.. why settle down so young? Don't you want to enjoy life without the family chains?


I've had enough... I told them. I've had my share of wild parties, crazy drinking sessions, hooking with with different companions every now and then, living on the edge with my 'band-of-brothers' picking fights and being a public nuisance.

Those will always be fondly embedded in my memories but there will always be a time when nature kicks in and you find yourself yearning to progress to the next stage.





wednesday's thoughtsUnderstanding



























A nice phrase..

depicting how a couple got together due to misunderstanding
(misconception about each other)
and separated due to understanding
(finally realises each others' character)









wednesday's thoughtsLife Cycle


Was walking on my way to work this morning when I saw a mother pushing her baby in a pram.. and behind her, a lady was pushing her mother in a wheelchair.

What a scene.. such contrast! It really got me thinking... How amazing is nature! Where everything is goes a full circle. I'm fondly reminded of a email article I had read previously..

On the day you see us old, weak and weary...
Have patience and try to understand us.

If we get dirty while eating..
If we cannot dress on our own...
Please bear with us and
Remember the times we spent
Feeding and dressing you up

If, when we speak to you
We repeat the same things
Over and over again...
Do not interrupt us.. listen to us
When you were small,
We had to read to you
The same story a thousand and one times
Untill you went to sleep.

When we do not want to have a shower,
Neither shame nor scold us...
Remember when we had to chase you
With your thousand excuses
To get you to shower?

When you see our ignorance of new technologies...
Help us navigate our way through those worldwidewebs.
Remember how we taught you to do so many things...
To eat the right foods, to dress approriately
To fight for your rights...

When at some moments we lose the memory or
The tread of our conversation..
Let us have the neccessary time to remember..
And if we cannot, do not become nervous..
As the most important thing is not our conversation
But surely to be with you and
To have you listening to us.

If ever we do not feel like eating,
Do not force us.
We know well when we need to and when not to eat.

When our tired legs give way and
Do not allow us to walk without a cane...
Lend us your hand,
The same way we did
When you tried your first faltering steps.

And when someday we say to you,
That we do not want to live anymore,
That we want to die.
Do not get angry.
Someday you will understand.

Try to understand that our age is not just lived
But survived.
Someday you willrealize that,
Despite our mistakes,
We always wanted the best for you
And we tried to prepare the way for you.

You must not feel sad, angry nor ashamed
For having us near you. Instead try to understand
Us and help us like we did when you were young.



What a beautiful passage! Many times in our busy life, in our pursuit of success.. we get blinded by stress & tiredness, often fustrated by the tinyest detail. And often realisation tends to come too late when our parents are long gone and we had arrive at our parents' senior years with kids our current age.

Hmm. think I'll take my parents out for a movie one day.. the same way they often took me for a movie when I was a kid.



tuesday's thoughtsAnimal Porn!

Hahaa.. that title got your attention didn't it?!!



Somehow an innocent discussion about guys taking Folic acid (usually meant for pre-preggy & preggy women) turns to an excited topic about mating praying mantis.

Auntie Alice somehow got rather esctatic when she suddenly recalls a documentary she had watch over the weekend about how Praying Mantis when finish mating, the female will gobble down the head of the male! Interesting fact!

Promptly, Eleen starts googling for pics and soon a video clip from Youtube pops up. Suddenly, we're all watching animal porn in office!!

And she continues with mating snails... can't quite remember the details as I was too engross laughing my ass off...






monday's thoughtsFree Hugs!



This is really heartwarming... really put a smile on this blue monday!
Wish locals here aren't so stiffed sometimes!

Free Hugs, anyone?

friday's thoughtsFriday lighter
























Woohoooo.. sunny friday! Weekend's here... =)







thurday's thoughtsThursday lighter






Violet Thursday... Weekend's almost at the doorstep.. I'm lovin it!!



wednesday's thoughtsWednesday lighter





















Red Wednesday...

Darn.. it's only midweek. grrrr...





tuesday's thoughtsTuesday lighter























Tuesday Greens...

yawn zzZZzzzz...



monday's thoughtsMondays' lighter

























Most of you would have already known this fact...

I hate Mondays.

Full working Mondays should be banned! 1st day of the week should always start after lunch and ends after tea-break...

Am so stoned... i started emptying my pockets, looking for things to be amused.. & guess what? Realise my lighter is suffering from the same moday sickness!




monday's thoughtsThe Start..











Step 1 of a lifetime journey..

Go figure... =P





monday's thoughtsBrain Management

























It’s such a sad reality that when the dust is finally about to settle... a gust of wind just blew past... turning things upside down all over again.


Stifling individualism seems to be the common practise that all management are dragged aside to learn in some management boot-camp. They pay you not-so-top dollars... telling you they need thinkers, they need fresh blood, fresh thinking and they need you to inject fresh new ideas.


Cool.


But unknowingly, they seemed to gasped in horror at your ‘fresh thinking’ and forces you right back into the box... the same box they hired you to break them out of.


Funny.


If they have so much brain juice to spare.. they only need to hire some hands... not more brains!
But then again... the world would finally see the world peace if such a management really does exist.




friday's thoughts Raining...







friday's thoughts What about us... Part II

I don't usually write a second part on my posts but felt really compelled to after reading days and days and days of articles, debates, discussions, forums, comments and writeups on the ministerial pay-hike issue.

What's the BIG deal, people!!?

If our government is open about it enough to tell you HOW much they are paying themselves, shouldn't they be given some credit in itself?? Or would you rather they follow in the footsteps of some neighbours where announcement of salaries were unheard of and part of their paychecks are actually siphoned through other channels.

What's wrong with paying 'almost' top dollars to a team that is charge with leading an entire country?? Humans will always be humans... greed are less likely to surface when you are not bolted down by financial difficulties.

A simple scenario.. would a cow move to greener pastures if the current pastures are just as green and lush?

Pay them what they deserve! Pay them MORE than what they deserve.. I say. Money is tangible.. talent, intergrity and foresight isn't. Be glad we can have the good fortune to pay this sum of money to, whereas in many countries talent rather than dollars are in the shortfall.

3.1 million SGD per year is alot of money.. many more times than what many of us would have made in a lifetime but putting it alongside the future of a country, the reputation of its government (to attract investments.. totalling billions) and growing its economy. That few millions pales in comparison.

If only employers in the private sector were to adopt this mindset....

wednesday's thoughts What about us??!
















I'm sure as most locals would have known by now... the latest and hottest local news now is how the government is trying to justify their
ridiculous pay raise for the civil servants.. damn. 33% increase!!

A ministers monthly pay of more than $100K (which would make most of our 'men-in-white' millionaires!) is freaking more than 3 times what I earn in a year!! *shaking head*
I should be in politics! (Touchy subject.. gotta be mindful of my words.. don't want my ass to get haul up in court..)



Hmm.. tying bonuses to a country's GDP? I don't know man.. that don't really serves as a valid yardstick of measurement. Isn't one's bonuses peg to their performance?



A senior White House official on Tuesday admitted he was floored by the news that Singapore's prime minister earned five times more than US President George W. Bush.



"I'm going to emigrate and run for office in Singapore," the official said on condition he be identified only as "a senior administration official who sits in disbelief after reading that story."

On Monday, the Singapore government had announced a fresh 25.5 percent pay hike for Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, boosting his salary to 2.05 million dollars per year.

Bush gets paid 400,000 dollars per year for doing his job, according to the White House.
Combined with personal investment income, he and his wife Laura reported 618,694 dollars in taxable income in the 2005 fiscal year.

They had to pay 187,768 dollars in federal taxes. But maybe Bush shouldn't feel so bad. The Singaporean's paycheck is eight times fatter than Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's



--- --- ---

Heck.. anyway, my point is... sure, raise the salaries as high as you want.. as long as corruption continues to be non-existence in the system and their ridiculously high paycheck is not used as an excuse to raise the basic standard of living.

And while the leaders of the country are smiling their way to the bank, I hope that the private sector are not forgotten. With the economy on the mend, employers seems to have forgotten that their greatest assest is not their product or their services... it's us.






wednesday's thoughts You gotta be kidding...













Our good friend Ikea decided to be the Eco-warrior and lead the fight towards global waste reduction.

Starting Apr 22, shoppers will have to fork out 5 cents for a normal size bag & 10cents for a bigger size plastic bag. Well, though Ikea is still being the socially responsible entity by donating all the proceeds to World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) to fund conservation efforts in Indonesia.

To be fair.. they did reduced the price of their reusable blue bags from $2.90 to $1.20 to encourage more customers to BYOB (bring your own bag).

Read more here



wednesday's thoughts Hmm..





















Dear Capricorn, you are worried that some of the persons close to your heart might change.


You have been watching and paying attention to subtle signs and changes for quite some time now. Today you will feel like a guide, and you will help those who might need you. You will be able to show them the way and help them to fulfill their needs.








monday's thoughtsBlue Monday






















My monday just got a tad 'bluer'. Woke up feeling like a zombie... Muscles ache so much I even have problem standing up... coupled with giddyness, I feel like shit.
Just had my medicine.. need to KO asap, later people..





thurday's thoughtsDefining..































How do you define happiness?




When you are loaded with more money than you can splurge?
When you can sleep till the sun kisses your ass?
When you can shop till your heart desires?

or

When you are given a clean bill of health?
When you can finally sleep with a peace of mind?
When you can dine with a family of loved ones?

To me..
Happiness is when you are free. Free from worries.




















thurday's thoughtsPls vote...

Hey people.. need your help here. Being the fickle-minded me, I just can't quite put my thumb on it... so, would appreciate which combination of grill would suit my car.

Thanks !!







































wednesday's thoughtsFav haunt


























My favourite coffee place... Ah Mei. Open daily, 24hrs and it served killer roti prata! (one of the best prata in Singapore!!).Best of all, parking is free (you can even park next to the table & admire your lovely car as you sip your coffee...) & the kopi O (black coffee) is only a mere 90cents!!!


Situated along Upp. Bt Timah.. at Railway Mall... this sleepy stretch is fast becoming a mini holland village lately with the opening of wine bars, cafes and pubs.

You can virtually find me there at least 4 times a week, sipping my usual kopi O, puffing away and complaining to Jason about how long the weekend is away or how damn short the weekend always seems.

Anyone wanna join me for kopi??