it's RAINing in korea!!!

22 Sep 07 ECP Blading w/o Loveflower & Emi

This being the first time the rest of us went blading without the 2 ladies, it seemed appropriate to blog about it here.

We arranged to meet at 3pm at ecp mac and as usual, nobody was on time. I reached at 3.15pm, Daniel (in his running attire) reached at 3.10pm, Zhiwei reached at 3.25pm, and finally Mr perpetually-late-no-surprises-here reached at 3.40pm. :-P

This blading session was supposed to be a blading tutorial for Zhiwei (congrats for taking the first brave step to try out blading for the first time!) and Daniel to train running long distance. Andrew was with Zhiwei at the beginning to help him. I was off blading while Daniel was running beside me. After sometime, I was off blading by myself in the direction of Fort Road. I bladed there and back without resting, and met Andrew close to the vicinity of Mac. Daniel had stopped running and gone back to train Zhiwei while Andrew had come to join me.

Wanting to rest, I suggested to rest at the nearby pavilion. It proved to be a huge mistake! For some reason, while stepping onto the pavilion, I slipped and my legs gave way under me, causing me to "sit"on my left feet, having my ankle twisted in an unnatural fashion. The pain was frankly quite excruciating. Thereafter, I suppose I should commend Mr Goh on his chivalry (pls keep your ego in check!). He helped me remove my blades and helped me to the bench, and also bladed to mac to get some ice. When he returned, he helped to ice my swollen ankle for sometime. Then, most paradoxically, we had a chat on gentlemanliness. I still disagree with him about being practical when it comes to chivalry, as I feel every little chivalrous gesture will score points with ladies, whether or not it is practical. As to the magnitude of the points, it depends on each individual. In any case, I am grateful for Andrew's help, so there! I expect your head will swell any minute.

While resting at the pavilion, Daniel trained Zhiwei. I think he's doing great as a beginner! Much better than myself when I was a beginner. Perhaps we now have a new blade khaki to join our gang. :-)

Thereafter we had dinner at the HK cafe near mac. Check out the scrumptious spread above. The food was not bad, higher standard than Xin Wang at Marina Square for sure. The dizzy array of choices in the menu sure made it difficult for us to choose. They have tags like "top seller", "recommended", "featured on tv", etc etc.

We finally left ecp around 7.30pm, with me hobbling rather slowly to the car, while thankfully thinking that I sprained my left ankle, not right, otherwise, I can't drive, without wincing every time I stepped on the brakes or accelerator.

I am now officially the hobbler. :-(

~Fiona (aka the hobbler)

Understanding Women

Another 'guide' to understanding women... guys take note, and gals, u're permitted to nod fervently in agreement. =)

In the world of romance, one single rule applies to men:
Make the woman happy. Do something she likes, and you get points. Do
something she dislikes and points are subtracted.
You don't get any points for doing something she expects. Sorry, that's the
way the game is played.
Here is a guide to the point system:

SIMPLE DUTIES
You make the bed (+1)
You make the bed, but forget the decorative pillow (0)
You throw the bedspread over rumpled sheets (-1)
You go out to buy her what she wants (+5)
In the rain (+8)
But return with Beer (-5)
You check out a suspicious noise at night (0)
You check out a suspicious noise, and it is nothing (0)
You check out a suspicious noise and it is something (+5)
You pummel it with iron rod (+10)
It's her pet (-10)

SOCIAL ENGAGEMENTS
You stay by her side the entire party (0)
You stay by her side for a while, then leave to chat with a college buddy
(-2)
Named Tina (-4)
Tina is a dancer (-6)
Tina has silicon implants (-80)

HER BIRTHDAY
You take her out to dinner (0)
You take her out to dinner and it's not a sports bar (+1)
Okay, it's a sports bar (-2)
And it's all-you-can-eat night (-3)
It's a sports bar, it's all-you-can-eat night, and your face is
painted the colours of your favourite team (-10)

A NIGHT OUT
You take her to a movie (+2)
You take her to a movie she likes (+4)
You take her to a movie you hate (+6)
You take her to a movie you like (-2)
It's called 'DeathCop' (-3)
You lied and said it was a foreign film about orphans (-15)

YOUR PHYSIQUE
You develop a noticeable potbelly (-15)
You develop a noticeable potbelly and exercise to get rid of it (+10)
You develop a noticeable potbelly and resort to baggy jeans and baggy
Hawaiian shirts (-30)
You say, "It doesn't matter, you have one too." (-8000)

ENJOY THE 'BIG' QUESTION
She asks, "Do I look fat?" (-5) [Yes, you LOSE points no matter WHAT]
You hesitate in responding (-10)
You reply, "Where?" (-35)
Any other response (-20)

COMMUNICATION
When she wants to talk about a problem, you listen, displaying what
looks like a concerned expression (0)
You listen, for over 30 minutes (+50)
You listen for more than 30 minutes without looking at the TV (+500)
She realizes this is because you have fallen asleep (-10000)

Now what chance do you have???

Enjoy~

-Fiona-

Happening Friday

We (andrew, emi and me) had dinner at manhattan fish market at central... queued for 30min never mind, the quality of the food is really bad lor... fish and chips is very oily, quite disgusting lah... the salmon is very bland.. only thing which doesn't go wrong is the mentos sweet (as per what emi wrote on the comment card).. i bet the mangement would be pretty upset to see our rating/comment... hahaha =>

decided that we should go MOS to get the chop first before the queue starts to get long... so we took a stroll along the river, and shun4 bian4 take photos... there are lanterns on display, quite nice... took us quite a while to reach MOS... hahaha... cos i am snapping away using the camera... aniwae, hsbc cardmembers get free admission before 11pm on Fridays by flashing hsbc card... super good lah =) now we can pop by MOS every Friday liao... can get 15% off cover charge prices too...

then we proceeded for dessert... sel and daniel came shortly after that... sel is mini-gone lah... drank too much and too fast at union bar liao.. hahaha.. the bartender apparently gave her a BIG glass of whisky and ice... so... we queued for a cab with sel leaning onto me and me trying to get her to talk etc to stay sober... very tiring lei.. sel ah, you owe daniel and me a favour each. hahaha...

went MOS for drinks and danced till 3.45am... total of 5 ppl (me, emi, andrew, kelvin & daniel).. quite fun night... dance-able music, funny dance 'shows' to watch and laugh at, call gals wearing super short dress, a gay in red shirt trying to hit on one particular guy in our grp (go figure out who is the victim) etc... we had 1 jug of long island tea to share & 1 glass of flaming each (thx andrew), 1 sip of graveyard (super not nice lah... andrew drank the whole mug cos kel treated him and it's for his bday.. haha, we are supposed to get him drunk and to 'sell' him to earn some money) & 2 jugs of vodka lime to share (thx emi)... i enjoyed myself.. hahaha.. hope you guys did too =)


Get to know your alcohol:
1. Long Island Tea - 0.5 oz each of vodka, light rum, gin & tequila, lemon and coca cola
No kick...

2.Flaming Lamborghini - 1oz each of Kahlua, Sambuca, Blue Curacao & Bailey's Irish Cream
Pour the Sambuca and Kahlua into the Cocktail Glass and give the drinker a straw. Pour the Baileys and Blue Curacao into a separate shot glass. Set light to the concotion in the cocktail glass and start to drink through the straw (this drink should be drunk in one); as the bottom of the glass is reached, put out the fire by pouring the Baileys and Blue Curacao into the cocktail glass and keep drinking till it's all gone!!

Drink is just fun to drink and all... tasted nice but it's not potent enough.. hahaha =P

3. Graveyard - 1 part each of triple sec, bacardi 151 rum. vodka, gin, tequila, bourbon whiskey, and scotch whisky, beer, stout
Mix the 5 whites and 2 whiskies in a beer mug in equal amounts. Top up the rest of the mug with half beer and half stout. WARNING: Very strong stuff. Do NOT attempt to drink it if you're not a good drinker. You'll be sending yourself to your own graveyard, thus the name of the drink.

hahaha.. no wonder the drink tastes so disgusting lah... hahaha... take my hat off for andrew lor... he really da the whole mug AND stay sober enough for the night.. hahaha.. impressed

4. Vodka Lime - Vodka and lime
No kick too... just something to quench your thrist.. hahaha..

Aside: As i was told, long island tea, flaming and graveyard are among the 5 strongest drinks that you can order... i do agreed for graveyard as it tastes potent enough; a sip is enough to make me feel unwell. but then again, i am not a fan of stout... for long island tea and flaming, hmm.. i dont think so lor... that one glass has no effect on me; i guess the effect comes in if you drink more bah...

Lousy Thursday

Today was a lousy day at work and interview... =( Two things happened which make me start thinking... for event 1) why am i still in the company and suffering under this type of management? & for event 2) what useful/valuable skills, work experience, technical knowledge or ppl skills have i gain during my 3 years of employment?

No answer yet... Thinking in progess *Qns marks transferring from one head to another head*

1st Event
1. Came in to office at 8.30am (so that i can leave at 6pm for interview). Boss was surprised that i came in early (cos i forgot to inform him the night before). I told him i need to leave work early today. His face turns black. I can understand why he is reacting like that, so... can take it. My fault for not informing him earlier.

2. Boss asked whether i can shorten my holz trip and come back earlier. I am surprised as i know there is no impt work scheduled for me to complete during this period, so i asked him why. He replied that this is a busy period for the team (doing budget now) and would want me to 'render my assistance in every other way'.
3. This is a fair enough request IF he is the only person doing the work. But wait, let me count... the queen and social worker is there to help him with the figures and come up with charts/graphs; the department head and himself to review the work; AND a newly employed temp staff to assist in AOB (since the queen and social worker would be busy). Wow, this budget event is REALLY a big project.
4. And where do my 'help' come in??... in the form of beautifying all the charts/graphs that are produced by queen and social worker lor. Need an 'expert' to make the bar charts look nice and colorful; need an 'expert' to make the legend/value/data points/etc be seen clearly; need an 'expert' to make all the slides very professional looking.
5. I was thinking 'Pls lah, make me shorten my holz trip just to come back and do all this shitty work for you?... Give me a break.' So i told him that the trip is confirmed, air ticket is booked, so cannot shorten. Sorry.
6. His face turns blacker. He said that it's fair enough if i take a week of block leave (cos it's the company's policy), but going for 2 weeks is too much and esp when this is a busy period; I should not have expected my other colleagues to cover my work when they themselves are very busy; I should work together as a team and help each other out; blah blah blah...
7. !@#$%^&** right?? Super angry lah... Am totally not valued at all. =<

2nd event
1. went for interview. first 10min is ok, cos interviewers asked about PM stuff and my current work experience. So it went quite smoothly. Smile. **panic level 1/10
2. Next, they asked about VaR and to briefly describe the risk models. Frown. Can answer bah (cos my recruiter tipped me off earlier and i managed to find some last min information to read up) but it was not a good response. Forced smile. **panic level 3/10
3. Next, they asked about data analysis experience. I had some experience lah, but it's the super basic kind one. Errhhh here, hmm there, frown a few time and shake head lor.

Qns like :
I: There are 2 sets of tables for you to perform query. You need to find out whether the records in Table 2 are in Table 1. What tool will you use?
Me: Use Excel and Vlookup function.
I: How abt Access? You know how to use?
Me: Yes, but for simple query.
I: What command would you use in this instance?
Me: I would join the tables together. (Draw the arrow from Table 1 to 2).
I: You know how to use SQL?
Me: Not really. I do not know how to write the command in SQL but i can do up the query in Access and obtain the command for SQL.
**panic level 5/10

I: Using Excel, you have 1 column of information where there are duplicate records. How do you find them?
Me: Sort first, use advace filter to obtain the unique list
I: **looking puzzled and dont know what i am talking about* Any command to use?
Me: Errhh. Vlookup?
I: No, use CountIf. You know how to use?
Me: Yah. (on train home, i thought abt this qn... the correct way to do should be using pivot table to count the no of duplicate records cos countif is too troublesome hahaha.. too late)
**panic level 6/10

4. Finally, they asked the killer qn: What are the underlying factors that cause VaR to change?
Me: **Blank look* Errhhh. Prices? And time?
I: **helpfully* Interest rates as well.
I: Then you know abt the Greeks?
Me: **Confused look* Huh? Greeks????????
I: **helpfully* like delta, gramma, rho
Me: Oh, studied about them in textbook before.
I: Then what is the change in interest rate to a change in price?
Me: Errhhh, errhhh, dont know.
I: You state that you studied finances.
Me: **looking sheepish* yes, but you just studied and dont apply in work.
**panic level 10/10

Basically, if you have read through the above, you can at least somehow understand why i felt this way lah.. hahaha... am super angry with boss AND seriously screwed up the whole interview lor. faint. what a day man!!

Parties & Promo for Sept

found this cool information online!! => now there's always a place for us to go after work... any time of the week... hahahaha

Mondays
# Just Can’t Get Enough 10pm, The Clinic.
Start your week with classic tunes from the ’80s. Be sure to closet your inner bedroom idol or you may find yourself dancing – gasp! – and singing.

Tuesdays
# DJ KFC 9pm, Loof.
Going slow, it’s down-tempo, soul and funk music.
# Industrie Nite 9pm, The Arena.
If you’re in banking, media or law, you get 50 per cent off the second bottle of Johnnie Walker Black Label.
# Masterplan with J’Manuka and weekly guests 8pm, Tuckshop.
From dinner jazz-to-electro tunes, those working in architecture and creative industries get 1-for-1 house pours and beers all night long.
# Tuesday at Velvet Underground 9pm, Velvet Underground.
Free entry, house music and 1-for-1 drinks all night. There is some goodness in life, after all.

Wednesdays
# All That Hump 10pm, Art Bar, Butter Factory.
Midweek slice of chart toppers, anthems and the fattest of today’s hip-hop and R&B tracks.
# The Bandits Hold Up 8.30pm, Tuckshop.
’70s folk rock? Hmm...
# Guilty Desires 10pm, Attica.
Along with the usual ladies’ night drink perks, they’re promising some takehome prizes – and we’re not talking about a man. Diamonds, champagne and various pampering treats are all up for grabs.
# Hey Sugar! 9pm, Ministry of Sound.
More fun music from the ’80s to present day. What can we say? Singaporeans love cheese.
# It’s a Girlie Affair 9pm, Powerhouse.
The fairer sex enter free and receive five complimentary drinks.
# Ladies’ Nite 9pm, The Arena.
Women get two free drinks and 1-for- 1 deals on bottles of champagne and Absolut Vodka from 9pm until 5am.
# Mambo Jambo 9pm, Zouk.
The undisputed ‘King of Wednesdays’ is still packing in the eager beavers bopping to retro pop tunes from the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s. Warning: do not be terrified of the clones practising their synchronised dance moves; just drink your drink and laugh. Or join them.
# Models Night 9pm, FashionBar.
If you’ve got a model com card, you’ll enter free and have fi ve drinks, gratis. It’s a tougher life for us normal folk.
# Poptart Main Room 10pm, Butter Factory.
DJs Wee.Like.Me and guests spin pop tunes.

Thursdays
# Agents’ Night 9pm, The Arena.
Chill-out tunes, acid jazz, sexy house and 1-for-1 on bottles of Chivas, Martell and Johnnie Walker Black Label after 10pm. Now, who’s planning to call in sick on Fridays? We promise we won’t tell.
# Aircrew Night 9pm, Velvet Underground.
Chat up the hot chicks (or blokes) who ensure that when we fly, we fly the friendly skies. See this as your chance to make it into the mile-high club, even if in reality you were grounded while getting off. If you crash and burn, dance your sorrows away to house and garage, drum & bass and progressive jazz tunes.
# All Girls Indulgence 9pm, BarFly.
Ditch the mosh-pit conditions of nearby clubs. Instead, get giggly on 1-for-1 cocktails and housepours all night long.
# The Bandits Hold Up 8.30pm, Tuckshop.
Still ’70s folk rock, it must be a trend. Get on it.
# DJ KFC 10pm, Loof.
Going slow, it’s down-tempo, soul and funk music.
# Ladies’ Night 9pm, 1Nite Stand Bar and Comedy Club.
The first hundred lasses will get four drinks gratis!
# Rubbadubdub 9pm, Home.
Special guest DJs take you through reggae classics.
# Smoove@Main Arena 10pm, Ministry of Sound.
Those with a hiphop soul will dig the grooves they play at this joint. Be ready for the jelly.

Fridays
# 4AM in the Mix 4am, Home.
Your after-hour partying can continue here from 4am with a blend of electro, house, drum & bass and techno strikes – all the way till six in the morning.
# DJ KFC 10pm, Hacienda.
The laid-back surroundings of Hacienda get a jolt of cool with the old-skool choices.
# Flava 9pm, Phuture.
Be prepared to make like a sardine in a can – it’s standing room only and often shoulder-to-shoulder. Thankfully, resident DJ Andrew Chow’s hip-hop tunes make it worthwhile.
# Fridays with Jeremy Boon 9pm, Velvet Underground.
You’ve listened to his outstanding mixes every Friday on Lush 99.5 FM. But it’s better if you come on down to the club for the real thang.
# Ladies’ Night 7-10pm, Heat Ultralounge.
For $29.50, ladies enjoy free-flow housepour drinks and entertainment from Singapore’s only male belly dancer. A chocolate dessert buffet (pictured) and the chance to win spa getaways add to the allure.
# Mesmerised 9pm, DXO.
Women drink to their liver’s discontent all night long and for absolutely nothing. We’re not sure who actually gains from this. The women, or the men?
# Soulfood! 9pm, Tuckshop.
Soul music reigns with resident DJs Dean, J Manuka and Rusty calling the shots and grinding.

Saturdays
# Holla! 9pm, Phuture.
Still hellbent on more R&B and hip-hop? Head to Phuture where DJ Nervous churns it out by the load.
# Saturday@Attica 11pm, Attica Too.
Exuberant beats of progressive house keep this dark club moving. Resident DJs Daniel and Small alternate when foreign turntablists are not headlining.

Sundays
# Lazy Sundays 5pm, Movida.
Salsa in bermudas and slippers; Movida operates a dress-down policy.

Heat UltraLounge @ Royal Plaza at Scotts

Went to Heat UltraLounge last Friday to enjoy the below promotion by UOB Lady Card... It's worth every single dollar that we paid ($23, inclusive of taxes, etc...)... dont know why it's stated as $25 and from 7pm-9pm on the website... we paid less and the promotion was till 10pm.

Ladies Night: Every Friday from 7pm to 9pm - S$25 for UOB Lady's Cardmembers (U.P. S$35) - Enjoy free flow of house pour spirits, house wines, martinis and caipirinhas with complimentary chocolate buffet.

I had 1 choco caipirinha (did not taste any choco lor), 1 mojito (the normal one; taste good), 1 mango mojito (did not taste any mango lor, hahaha. i hope there's nothing wrong with my taste bug lah), 1 cosmopolitan and 0.5 red wine... plus helping ourselves to chocolate cakes, puddings, fondue, strawberries, etc... and free munchies like hot chicken wings and sandwiches which were given out every now and then... at least there's real food to fill the stomach... there is only THAT much of chocolate that one can eat =P basically, it's a super good deal lah!

More about the drinks...

1. Caipirinha - National cocktail of Brazil; made out of cachaça (from sugarcane juice; can substitute with vodka or rum in drinks), lime, ice and sugar personally, i think it's a pretty strong drink... alcohol was burning my stomach on the first sip lor...

2. Mojito - Traditional Cuban cocktail; made out of spearmint, rum, sugar, lime and carbonated water; combination of sweetness and refreshing citrus and spearmint flavors are intended to mask the the potent kick of the rum agreed with this statement wholeheartedly... it's really potent... you wont feel the effect immediately...

3. Cosmopolitan - cocktail made with vodka, cointreau or triple sec, cranberry juice and lime. a cool drink to be seen holding with... hahaha

4. Martini - cocktail made with gin and dry white vermouth; served 'straight up': drink mixed with ice but served without it. errhh... i didnt order it; emi did ordered one though... apple martini. i thought it's just ok lah, but then again, i am not a fan of martini...

5. Red wine errhh... didnt find out about the grapes, year, country, etc... hahaha.. just red wine to me

aniwae, would definitely be back again to try out all the drinks... it's a good place to chill out with frens and listen to live music... right in orchard area somemore... hahaha

Seiransai 2007 @ Waseda Shibuya Senior High (West Coast Road)

星蘭祭

Seiransai 2007 is Waseda Shibuya Senior High's 17th School Festival. It would be held on 16th Sept, Sunday from 9.30am to 16.30pm at 57 West Coast Road. (post updated) (fotos removed cos unnecessary bah..:P)

Description
I have never been to this school festival before, but from the pictures and forums, I gather that it is quite interesting. Probably more things to do than the earlier Natsu Matsuri. Some known events of past years include, a Japanese Tea Ceremony, a Play, the famous Haunted House (which is supposed to be quite scary), a guided tour around their school by students who don't speak good english, a jpop jrock jam band performance, and many jap games(eg. water balloon yoyo) and silly games. High schoolers are 16 to 18 years old bah, and the students go back to Japan for their Univarsity study. You can also wear their school uniforms to take photos, but think they come in larger sizes. They also place their drawings, essays, calligraphy for your perusal. The school is also decorated with fake sakura trees. Some people commented Omu rice or garlic rice with egg is nice. So can try that.

The webpage to locate the details is http://www.waseda-shibuya.edu.sg/.

Pics for the event in previous years can be found at link1 link2 link3 link4 link5 link6(check out the clip) link7 link8 link9.

Attire
Come in Casual attire. People do wear kimonos and yukatas. Probably mostly students and teachers. Sel did mention something about coming in Gothic attire...:P..so you all can give her some ideas bah. haha.

Tickets
Entrance is free. You just pay for the tickets to play the games. The tour and trying their school uniform on are both free.

The Plan
It should be good to go earlier, less you miss some events due to long queues and waits. 10.30am should be a good time to look at. That would give most of you enough beauty sleep as well. Assemble 10.30am at the enterance of the school. There will be 20mins leeway for latecomers, then we proceed.

Participants
Aihua, Sel and myself are going. (That's three good enough reason rite?..haha..don't choke~~..just joking) Anw, it may be uncertain that anyone will go for next year's event. So do join us this year, who knows what will happen next year..
(Aihua, Sel, Fiona, Andrew, Zhiwei and myself attended the event..was quite fun!)

Contingencies
No contingencies, cos it is held indoors. No frets when it rains. I expect the trip to last 3 hrs maybe. So if you want to think of activities to engage in after the trip, you may do so.

Akan Datang
Events that are around the corner include the Lantern Festival, Oktoberfest. I won't be organising anything. Last year I was quite interested in attending the Oktoberfest. But I think that there isn't alot of Oktoberfest activities to look forward to in spore, and it will cost you at least 30+++ per head to munch on sausages and guzzle german beer. I can drink at best one or two glasses bah. 1.5 pint maybe? You can try participating in the radio call-ins to win tix to the Erdinger Event, like I did last year, but to no avail. Also, I am interested in trying out the Golf Driving Range (been mentioning it for 2 years). So if you know people who can guide abit, do intro..haha..

Anw did you know that Sept is also the Mexican Fest? Here are some details. If you are into music, Esplanade has a host of chinese cultural music performances to usher in the Mooncake Festival. Check their website for details. Here's a calendar of upcoming events in Spore.

There is a Games Convention going on at Suntec till 9Sept. If you are into video games or want to take pictures with models dressed up as mmorpg characters, you can take a look. Also, the Food Festival is being held at suntec concurrently.

Birthday Calculator

interesting link that i got from a fren... hahaha... =P check out your life path number, date of conception, amazing statistics for the year that you are born and your astrological data, etc...

http://www.paulsadowski.org/BirthDay.asp

ME

• You were born on a Thursday
• under the astrological sign Cancer.
• Your Life path number is 5. i think that my life path is quite accurate though, hahaha... ''>

http://www.astrology-numerology.com/num-lifepath.html#lp5

(above link would give you a description of what your life path number represents...)

• Your age is the equivalent of a dog that is 3.60156555772994 years old. (Life's just a big chewy bone for you!) wow, i'm still a young dog...
• Your birthstone is Alexandrite, Pearl, Moonstone, Opal
• Alexandrite can assist one in centering the self, reinforcing self-esteem, and augmenting ones ability to experience joy
• Your birth tree is Birch, the Inspiration
• Vivacious, attractive, elegant, friendly, unpretentious,modest, does not like anything in excess, abhors the vulgar, loves life in nature and in calm, not very passionate, full of imagination, little ambition, creates a calm and content atmosphere.

ok... that's all the information about me... tell me yours!!