My Pen "Collection"

Finally I have submitted my essay on the Gladiators and Roman Colosseum. I do not think I will get a very good grade on that, but still, a paper with some content is much better than submitting a blank piece of paper altogether. I just hope I will not flunk too badly as I am really short of grades now.

It was a good thing I cleaned out my drawer the other day, or else I would never be able to find the nice gifts people had given me through the years. Each time when someone gave me something I would unwrap and then put them away carefully so as not to spoil or lose them. However through the years, things started accumulating and I had to re-organise everything all over again.

One of those things I managed to find was my entire pen "collection". Whenever I left any work place or birthday or Christmas comes along, someone or other would give me a pen. Not just any ordinary pen, but classic pens like Paper Mate, Parker, Waterman, Penelli, even Rotring. Thus, I ended up with several Paper Mate, Parker and Penelli ballpoint and roller ball pens, as well as several fountain pens from Parker, Waterman, Penelli and Sheaffer! Those are things I will really want as I write a lot, thus use up pens very fast.

Needless to say, it is the fountain pens which I like the most. Not only because they are old and classical, but also because they look nice and feel even nicer. At first, I was rather bewildered over the fountain pens as I wondered if anyone even uses fountain pens nowadays, but I realise that fountain pens are still popular and in use even in these modern days when anyone can get the less expensive ballpoint pens or felt pens anywhere.

So why the fountain pen? From what I found out, fountain pens are much easier and smoother to write with than ballpoint pens. Fountain pens are still much favoured by the elderly who cannot hold a pen properly, and by professionals for signing important documents as that will be more professional looking.

However, I have yet to figure out how to use a fountain pen. The few I have, Parker Frontier Fountain Pen (in translucent blue) and the Waterman Harmonie Fountain Pen (in black chrome trim) come with their own refillable catridges. The ink is smooth and flowy, and fountain pens really make an ordinary document look professional! Even in writing, be it a diary or article, the feel is just different when using a normal ballpoint pen and a fountain pen!

But the Sheaffer Agio Angle Brushed 22K Gold Plate Fountain Pen and the Penelli Pen comes with a converter for ink refill. Since I do not have any pots of ink, I have yet to start using the pens. Just when I was fretting to figure out how to use, I came across this website where I could order the entire fountain pen set consisting of refillable catridges, ink pots, blotter, and a guide to using fountain pens! Imagine that! It will be just like the good old days where fountain pens are the pens to write with!

How Did Revolutions Come About?

The Spain trip is off! The flight timings are very bad, so my mum decided not to proceed. :-( But we are in the midst of planning something better - a trip to Russia, complete with Moscow and St Petersburg! That will be so much better, as Russia will be a nicer place, with cooler climate even in the summer! I am keeping my fingers crossed we can go on the trip afterall, as after this period of being a scanner, photocopier and manual labourer with my marriage to Mr Xerox, I really need a break!

I attended a very enriching lecture on the French Revolution last night. I always thought the reason for the Revolution was because the French people were influenced by the American War of Independence, plus the peasants went hungry and got angry at the rich and nobles, so wanted more equality.

Hoowever, after the lecture, it seemed that it was a French philosopher (who was Swiss by birth) influenced the thinking of a French artist, who painted rather propaganda pictures with political sentiments, triggering off riots and revolutions, and the eventual guillotine of the royalty and nobles.

How did any revolution come about anyway? Is it because of poor government, administration and a messy Cabinet? Or is it being humans, once people get some form of education they start to become dissatisfied with life and the current state of affairs, so want to fight for something better? Do things really become better even after revolts? How many incidents do we know that things become better after a revolution? If anything, things probably become worse because of the tremendous bloodshed, and an even messier government administration.

Learning about all these scenes make me feel glad that at least I live in a secure place. Hopefully there will not be any revolution in the future!

A Feedback Session

I went for a feedback session for my couse earlier on. It was pretty interesting from the way the students reacted. Why is it each time I go for a feedback session, it turned into a complaint session? The feedback is on how to improve the school's policy and system, so why did people just say nothing except how difficult the assignments are, and if they were not able to do well for the assignment, their grades would be pulled down, and they would not score well?

What is the purpose of taking up a course in the first place? It is to upgrade and learn. Yet people become so result-driven that they lost the fun and enjoyment of actual learning, and only focused on how hard it is to meet their goals. Anyone who had ever gone through any form of tertiary studies will know how much of a struggle it is (except for those who are naturally smart and can score without much studying).

So why not just learn along the way, instead of complaining why the lecturers gave such hard work? When is studying never hard anyway? I find studying very hard too, and I do not mean just working hard, but literally difficult. No matter how much time you take to revise, in the end the results do not seem to show. Which is why I always admire those who think studying is just a breeze to them.

The Course Chair was saying that in order to make our learning more enriching, we had to take ten units of University Core. These are non-examinable and meant to help us in academic writing, thinking skills, analysing and better studying skills. How interesting! Obviously there were disgruntled groans from others who thought it a waste of time. If people take up a course just for results, then that is very sad indeed as in the end, everything is just focused on one aim and the entire process of learning is gone.

Of course, anyone who takes up any course aims to do well. That is a given. I aim to do well too. I take up a course not just to learn, but also to ensure I have a better future, equipped with better skills and qualifications. Afterall, why would anyone put in time, money, effort, sleepless nights and work-life-school juggle only to flunk in the end? But instead of just focusing on how the results will turn out in the end, why not focus more on how much one can learn, how enriched and more knowledgeable one can become? As long as in the end we have tried our best that is all that matters right?

I am a little worried because the Course Chair said that we need an average of GPA 2.5 in order to even make the Honours programme, which is a B- average. And even if we are in the direct Honours programme, if we do not achieve a GPA 2.5 average, we would in the end still graduate with a normal degree and not Honours. She said that they do not want to take our money and then just let us pass. They want to make sure we spend the money and the time to the fullest.

This is good as in we really know what we are in for. So it is not so easy as just go for lessons and pass every assignment and examination. For me, because I pulled out of the examination last year in mid-semester, my grades for the assignments were reflected, and I got a F for the overall module since my examination results were ungraded. The weightage is 50% for Assignments and 50% for Examination, so no matter how well I did for the assignments last year (which were not that well), I would still not pass the overall.

This affects my grades this year, because it is not just if I score an A, I would get an A overall. The results would be combined with the same module I pulled out last year and then halved. Thus even if I score an A this year, with my F last year, the overall result would be probably a D, or if lucky, a C. And that would pull my GPA to a 1 or 2 instead of a 4.

Which means I must really achieve very good grades for the rest of the modules if I even want to make a 2.5 GPA! I want my Honours! I am not going to take up another university course only to get by with just another pass. I believe I can do it. Both my parents are top Honours and Masters holders, so I cannot be that bad!

My Angel Of Music ....

I love, no, absolutely adore the Phantom! Tall, dark, handsome.... If you see him without his mask in his real face, he is very very good looking. And what a voice! He is welcome to be my voice teacher any time!

I went to watch "The Phantom of the Opera" last night. It was quite disappointing, the seats I mean, not the show. The show is fantastic! Everything is perfect! The sets, the costumes, the music, the voices.... It is really different watching the movie version and watching the live theatre version. The atmosphere is just different. At the theatre, one can immerse into the play and experience the fullness of the show. At the cinema it is just different.

During the musical, one can actually feel the anguish of the Phantom, how miserable he felt by being spurned, by being looked as a monster because he was deformed, by not being recognised despite being talented. The acting, singing and dancing was so intense and realistic! Those artistes can really sing, dance and act all at the same time! I salute them!!

The seats were disappointing because after the amount I paid for it, I ended up in Circle 3 - the highest section, second last row from the back, right at the side. Which means I can hardly get to see much and I had to sit slightly turned throughout, which was really uncomfortable. The entire theatre was full house though. Which makes me wonder, of so many people who actually went to watch the show, why is it I can never find anyone to even go with me and always had to watch plays and musicals on my own?

Even though this is not the first time I am watching, my heart still goes out to the Phantom. I always wondered why did Christine choose Raoul instead of the Phantom, who loved her so unconditionally except he was embittered due to experiences? After all, if one has always been treated as an outcast and a rogue, always been misunderstood, one will become a bitter person indeed. Whatever it was, the Phantom could never bear to hurt her because he truly loved her.

Which is not to say the Vicomte would hurt her, but then compared to the Phantom, the Vicomte is more of a weakling. Is it due to the fact that the Vicomte Raoul de Chagny was young, rich and handsome, with no deformity anywhere? But I guess it is more because they have known each other since young, and he had always been the one she liked.

To me, I will choose the Phantom anytime. He can be my Angel of Music and sing songs in my head, my mind, my heart, my soul.... anytime, anyday. How I wish I can watch again, but with better seats next time!

Cleaning Up ....

As if I had not enough spring cleaning to do at the office, I had to clean out my drawer a few days back. Thank goodness I did, otherwise I would not have known just how long I have not cleaned out my drawer!

Can anyone imagine I actually found the booklet for Humanities Scholarship circa 1995, and a whole unopened bag of Lipton tea satchets, expiry date 30 May 2002?! Not only that, I found some notes from law studies, tertiary application package, and the entire teaching application pack! That shows just how long I have not cleaned out that particular drawer!

It was a good thing I ended up cleaning the drawer, as I found some things which made up my life - gifts by friends, parents and ex-colleagues, cards by friends and ex-students, and the most important of all, love letters and cards from someone.

I could not help it. I started reading all the letters and cards again. And I cried. Even though that was my life so long ago, but the power of his words still amazes me. He is one of the few guys I know who can really write. I do not mean write as in just article or blog writing, but intense, emotional writing, which most guys scorn and most girls do.

I still feel so touched by the way he writes. Even though we have moved on, gone our separate ways for so long, those letters still trigger off long-lost memories. It was as if I was living my life again during that period of time, re-living those times, re-enacting the scenes that flickered in front of my eyes.

So I packed them all up again and put them back into the special place in the drawer that will always remain special. As much as I was so tempted to throw all away, those things were a big part of my life, and no matter what happened that period of time remained one of my happiest, most memorable ones.

Although in light of my current life, perhaps I should do some cleaning up of my mind as well? Then I can forget everything and just be happy, or else each time I was reminded of something long ago, I would start feeling melancholic again.

Image Revamp ....

I went for a makeover on Saturday, part of the Barbie package which I signed up for two weeks back. No wonder there is an adage that goes "There is no ugly women, only lazy women". If only one takes pain to dress up and spend some time on grooming, she will look really stunning! This applies to both genders by the way. Guys can also indulge in some grooming to look presentable.

Come to think of it, it is time I revamp my image. After all, I am no longer that young. Ten years, or even five years ago, I can still get by with minimal makeup and skin care products. Now, especially at my workplace where there is not much shelter once one is out of the building, so the scorching sun bears down on people and the sweltering heat stays for the whole day, I must take better care of my own skin.

I used to wear sunscreen only when I am overseas, but now I think I have to apply it everyday. Moisturisers and foundations containing UV agents are not enough. A sunscreen is still the best bet. I find I need to have a stronger moisturiser at night, otherwise my face becomes drier in the morning. Furthermore, I need stronger hand cream now as I can see fine lines in between my fingers.

If only I can be disciplined enough to wake up earlier in the mornings, then I can really get myself ready and look well-groomed and professional for the whole day. As it is, I am getting lazy. I have to start a regimen of discipline and skin care again!

Sleeping Away ....

My body broke down on Sunday. I ended up sleeping the whole day away, despite having slept for about eight hours the night before. I slept so much that it was evening when I awoke, and I realised I missed Mass! I have to find some time for penance. Even then, I still managed to sleep around midnight and woke up on Monday feeling tired, sleepy, blue, you name it.

On Monday, I went to work as usual, but somehow both my gastric and anaemia acted up. As a result, I almost fainted while standing at the photocopier scanning documents. I felt nauseous and a sharp pain in my stomach. I could hardly stand, and had to sit down while scanning. Even when I was out for lunch, I almost fainted on the escalator!

So I had to take half a day off to see the doctor. I went home to sleep again, but even then I am still not feeling that good even now. Hopefully this will not go on as between rushing for a deadline both at work and school, I really cannot afford to get sick now!

Scanning Away ....

I can finally find some time for a breather, after the very hectic week. It had been such a busy week. All I did was to go to work, go home, rush my assignment, go to work, go home, etc. All I had done at work is scanning. But the scanning is still in the process because there are so many documents to back up, and although I have been staying late the past few days, everything is still not finished! I had been standing at the photocopier the whole day, until my colleague remarked I might as well camp there!

If you think it is so easy to scan, then you are dead wrong! The documents are bound, some with spiral binding, some securely bound. So I have to take out every bit of binding, and because sometimes the binding makes holes in the borders, the paper got stuck. Even though the Xerox machine is powerful, it gets really frustrating and time-consuming when the paper gets stuck and everything has to be re-scanned.

Those documents that are securely bound are more troublesome. I have to photocopy each and every page before putting the pages into the feeder and scanning the documents. At times when the documents are too large (too many pages) to be scanned, I have to split into few parts and re-scan the whole thing. No one can ever imagine just mere scanning of documents need more than a week to finish!

I have to rush for a deadline because my boss wants everything to be cleared before the renovations next Friday, so needless to say, it was one hell of a time trying to finish everything. Due to all these scanning and filing, all my other work had slided. Luckily, almost three quarters of the stack is gone, so by putting in more time and staying later and coming back on Saturdays, the documents should be done by the end of this week. After that, I can start putting them all back into the fire safe. Which means I can seriously start packing next week!

Is There Such A Thing As Retribution?

For the past week or so, the local newspapers have been running an old photograph showing three women and a little girl. The photograph is an old one, so the little girl had already grown up and passed away last year, in her fifties. The woman sitting down was her mother who had since passed on, and the two women standing up are her maternal aunts, who would be at least in their seventies if they are still living.

The reason the newspapers have been running this photo is because the middle-aged lady was the heiress of her great-grandfather's vast fortune, so since she died inestate, her fortune will then be passed to her next-of-kins, namely her two aunts in the picture. Since no one knew the fate of the aunts and what their names were, the only clue was the photo. The lawyer in charge of the estate is still searching, despite that some people have called and claimed to be cousins, five times removed, just to get their hands on a share of the fortune.

What is strange about this case is that the deceased lady herself was sub-normal. Her great-grandfather had five kids, yet her father was the only descendant from that generation. Then she was the only child of her father. Now that she is gone, the bloodline is officially cut off. This is rare indeed, as where in the world will anyone have so many children yet in the end only one descendant? I am not talking about wars of old where people kill off others' entire families, but about the bloodline cutting off naturally by itself after just two or three generations.

My mum, a typical Chinese, was remarking that the great-grandfather must have done many unscrupulous things and used under-handed methods in making his fortune. She said retribution would fall on people who are evil. The retribution will fall not on the person, but on his / her descendants. Thus, Chinese believe that if you have a child who is not normal, chances are you have an ancestor who had done many wrong things in his / her life. The more evil one was, the less likelihood of him / her having descendants, as what Chinese people will say "jue zi jue sun" - direct translation "no more son and grandson".

How true is this, I wonder? Is there really retribution in this world? I only know that if you do the wrong things, the only retribution you get is you go to Hell or Purgatory instead of Heaven, and if someone else wrongs you, his / her retribution will come in the form of judgment from God, and not revenge from humans.

So is it really necessary to be so affected when someone did something evil, be it to you or anyone else? Whichever believe (traditional or religious), this person will have his / her just deserts. But to me, I always believe in doing unto others what you want others to do unto you. Thus, in order not to suffer any form of judgment or retribution, one should try not to be too nasty to others.

Industry Vs Occupation

Nowadays, whenever I am asked about my occupation and industry, be it by people or filling in application forms, things get a bit confusing because by profession, my name card reads "Legal Assistant, Group Legal", but my industry indicates "Tourism / Hospitality". Some, including the employees in my company, have asked me what exactly I am doing.

To start off, the company I am working for is in the hospitality and service industry. It owns and manages various resorts and spas overseas. There are three departments that require legal work. One is Group Legal, the other is Business Development, the third is Corporate Secretarial.

Our Head of Business Development is a lawyer by training. He is the one sourcing for all the various places to set up resorts and spas, and enter into Management Agreements with the various companies. There is a Legal Counsel for Business Development, where she helps in drafting and vetting the Management Agreements, and negotiating contracts for the resorts. She says that she no longer sees herself as a lawyer, but rather a glamourised sales person.

There are two Business Development Executives, one for Administration, where she will amend and execute the final documents, and the other focus more on marketing and negotiating the setting up of resorts and spas. The Head of Business Development has a Secretary / Personal Assistant to see to his daily work.

The Corporate Secreterial Department consists of the Group Company Secretary and her assistant, the Secretariat Executive. The Secretariat Executive prepares all the board meetings and resolutions, liaising with overseas lawyers for due diligence matters, incorporation and restructuring of the various subsidiaries, and preparing annual reports. The Company Secretary will be the one chairing and attending board meetings, drafting announcements and press releases. It is not easy, considering each time when a resort or spa is set up in whichever country, a new subsidiary has to be set up in that country to manage the new resort or spa.

The Business Development Executive for Adminstration and the Secretariat Executive will give fully executed document(s) to the Group Legal Department, which is where I come in. My two bosses are the Legal Counsel for Group Legal and Senior Manager for Group Legal. We deal with all the other legal matters, which include trademarks (local and overseas), in charge of all the various documents handed over to us by Business Development and other departments, Contracts, Loans, liaising with overseas lawyers and firms, Property, Finance, Taxes, Insurance and Litigation.

Each time someone uses a name or trademark that looks like ours, we have to negotiate and liaise with the other party to either change or proceed to take action. Each time a guest complained after staying in any of the resorts, we have to negotiate a settlement. If the resorts are damaged by any natural disasters, we have to negotiate with insurers to clean up the mess.

Sounds impressive right? Bear in mind that I am only the assistant, so it is my two bosses who deal with the various matters. I am only doing a fraction of what they are doing, ie the administration work, correspondence, proof-reading, negotiation, filing, sorting, database. No doubt they give me freedom and leeway to take charge of things, more so than other bosses in the past, but still, what I am doing is nothing to talk about, because it is not as if I am doing really challenging or intelligent work as compared to others.

Thus, I am in the legal profession, but in a company specialising in hospitality and service. Confusing? Well... figure it out yourself.

Office Celebrity

I do not know any celebrities personally, unlike my best friend, whose church mate was a sometime actor who acted in a certain local gambling serial few years back, and one of her ex's went as far as the semi-finals in the 1990 Star Search and then became a freelance actor. Except for those chance meetings where I got to see actors and actresses on their family outings, my brushes with celebrities are zero.

However, I have attended the same schools as some artistes here. Maybe it is a coincidence, or perhaps the schools I come from do maintain the reputation of having pretty girls (me not included). In my secondary school alone, those who attended the same school were Supermodel Charmaine Harn, one year my senior, already appearing on covers of magazines while still in school, actress Andrea D'Cruz, a few years my senior, actress Melody Chen, one year my senior, and presenter Cheryl Fox, two years my senior. Then the latest Campus Superstar winner Theresa, many years my junior. Other schools I attended, there are actresses like Joanne Peh, Michelle Chia, Michelle Chong and Priscelia Chan who also attended the same schools. Despite that, I am never acquainted with any of them.

Now, a celebrity had joined my company. Perhaps she is not considered a celebrity in that way as she never acted, but she was a newscaster and hopped over from Channel News Asia to be our Director of Public Relations. I happened to bump into her on the stairs on her second day of work, and she is gorgeous! Not gorgeous in the typical sense, but she still looks photogenic and well-groomed, just like on television. I look like a raggy piece of junk next to her.

Actually I got to know about her way back when I was still in Primary School. At that moment, she was fresh out of school, and presenting the children's programme Disney On Five (or some name to that effect; anyway it was a Disney and Mickey Mouse show). She hosted the show for a year or two, after that I read that she went to further her studies so "disappeared" for a few years.

The next time I saw her was when I was all grown up, a few years back on television, on Channel News Asia where she was reading the news reports. I remember her name and when I saw her, my first thought was that she looked really different! From the sweet playful girly look to a mature womanly look that oozes with sex appeal. Now why can I not look like this now that I am grown?

I have not spoken to her yet though. But I am looking forward to the chance where I can finally talk to her and tell her how much I enjoyed the programme she hosted and the news she read. Now with the office going to be renovated and internal shuffling, hopefully I can get to at least talk to her for once!

How To Be A Better Couple

I received this from a close friend. Very true on how relationships should be like! My own comments are in brackets at the end.

1. Be realistic about each other.

Do not try to turn your partner into something he / she is not. Guys - There is only one Pamela Anderson in this world, and even she has had her implants removed! Give your girl a break and understand that her physical appearance is NOT going to change overnight with the help of a few facials or treatments. Ladies - Brad Pitt is already taken, so have to do with what your guy is like. Chill out, love each other for what you are rather than for what meets the eye. There is more to your partner than just physical appearance.

(Very well-said! A pity a lot of guys still go for eye candy instead of what is inside.)

2. Always talk things out.

I know for guys, they shy away from talking things out and rather just keep quiet. But this works with girls. Do not make assumptions about each others' feelings. Learn to express yourself better so that your partner knows and understand what you are angry or hurt or happy about. When you stop talking to each other, it is the beginning of the end.

(Precisely! Why do the guy always expects the girl to understand him when he does not want to tell her anything? How is she going to understand if she does not even know what it is she needs to understand about?)

3. Do stuff together.

Make an effort to do things together. Do some sports or involve yourselves in some shared activities - something both of you enjoy or are interested in. It can be as simple as watching movies together, or just strolling along the street hand-in-hand. Watch sports with him on television even though the game puts you to sleep in just three seconds. And guys, do give in and accompany the girl if she asks for another day of shopping, rather than grumble and suggest she go out with her girlfriends for "that sort of activities" instead. If you are spending more time with other people than with each other, it is a warning sign that you are drifting apart!

(The problem is that a lot of people do not understand that in a relationship, it is no longer doing what you like and not doing what you do not like. Being in a relationship involves both parties - one cannot say "I do not like to do this, so you go ahead" because a relationship is more than that. It is not what you do, but who you are with. Doing things with a loved one is always sweet and nice, even if it is something you have never done before.)

4. Meet each other halfway.

If he agrees to throw out that rotten T-shirt with the "The Rock" print, you should not kick up a big fuss if he asks you to keep the room clean and tidy. There has to be a little giving and taking in the relationship, so learn to meet each other halfway.

(There is not a little giving and taking; there is A LOT OF giving and taking just to meet each other, and not all times are halfway, sometimes less than half.)

5. Show your love.

Buy her flowers or candy or perfume (or whatever she likes) every now and then, even if you have been together for a long time. It is wonderful to continue showing someone that you love and care for him / her. Cook him a special meal, make him a Valentine's Day or Birthday card. Knit him mini-socks he cannot wear (for decoration purposes), buy him a packet of milk (or coffee or tea) for breakfast, or pack his wardrobe for him .... so he knows you can still be romantic and loving despite having been together for quite a while.

(Very true! One tends to take the partner for granted after a while, so one must always keep in mind to keep the love and relationship flaming.)

6. Respect each other.

Stop making jokes about his / her hair or skin, or whatever it is you like to laugh at. Ask yourself if you think he / she thinks if it is funny. And if the partner has an inferiority complex about the height, stop ogling at taller girls / guys and make the partner feel worse! Love is about respecting each other's feelings and being sensitive to each other at all times.

(I told off my third ex once for always making fun of me, and he said I am too sensitive and cannot take a joke, should learn to have more humour. But I told him that what he deemed as funny, I do not share the same view. He should read this - about how love and relationship is about respecting each other, and this applies to all couples too.)

7. Bury the past.

Stop bringing up the past. Do not bring up the unhappy or happy times you had with your ex(es) to your partner. It will only make the partner feel jealous and unhappy, and he / she will think that you are saying all these because you want to get back at your ex, or he / she is not good enough for you.

(Actually, this depends. Burying the past is fine, but there are certain things which are hard to forget. Of course, bringing up what you did in the past in a conversation as a general topic is fine, but deliberately comparing how good the ex is and then say he / she would or would not have done this or that when your current partner is doing his / her best to make you happy is another matter altogether.)

8. Sit on your jealousy.

Everyone goes through spells of insecurity at the begining of the relationship, but do not translate that insecurity into jealousy. If you are going to go through your partner's mail, messages and cupboard, eavesdropping on conversations, you know there is something wrong - with you! Jealousy is like a poison that slowly spreads through the relationship before finally killing it. Trust your partner, love has to have trust in it.

(True, but then too much trust also kills a relationship. People tend to take advantage of the trust and do some monkey business behind their partners' backs. But then again, if you trust your partner only to have your trust betrayed, then he / she is probably not worth it in the first place.)

9. Keep your commitments to each other.

If your partner is standing you up all the time and cancelling dates and breaking promises, you need to talk! If you are in a relationship, make your partner your priority and do not disappoint him / her if you can help it. It is really terrible when someone says to meet you, or take you out to dinner, then calls to cancel it, or worse, not even confirm with you whether meeting or not, then disappears and not contact you the whole day. Do not make promises you cannot keep. If your partner starts to feel he / she is not important enough to you, you will end up losing him / her.

(Very true! In a relationship, your partner is your top priority, not yourself. It is okay if you say you need to do something urgent for your parents, also okay if your friend is involved in an accident and is hospitalised, but it is NOT OKAY if you cancel out just to play a soccer game with your friends or prefer to stay at home and watch videos when you already promised to meet up.)

10. Be honest.

Honesty does not mean scowling at how each other looks in the morning, or comment on how flabby each other has become. Honesty is expressing your feelings clearly, not being bitingly cruel. When you are hurt, say so. When you are angry, tell him / her without getting hysterical or worrying he / she may be angry. If you cannot be honest with your partner, who can you be honest with? Love is also about honesty, and a relationship where no honesty exists is not worth it!

(Yes, so if there are any problems in the relationship, say it out, instead of keeping everything inside you. If the partner refuses to accept, then you are better off without him / her.)

Very good tips indeed! Really epitomising what being in love and a relationship is like. I also came across this meaning of love by Anne Frank in her diary entry of Thursday, 2nd March 1944. She was not yet fifteen when she wrote this particular phrase, and I think it very apt indeed!

"Love, what is love? I believe love is something that cannot really be put into words. Love is understanding someone, caring for someone, sharing their ups and downs. And in the long run that also means physical love, you have shared something, given something away and received something, no matter whether you are married or unmarried, or whether you are with child or not. It does not matter in the least if you have lost your honour, as long as you know that someone will stand by you, will understand you for the rest of your life, someone you will not have to share with anyone else!"

Another Movie Marathon (Of Sorts)

It had been quite a weekend as I went for a movie marathon .... of sorts. It is not really one show after another, but rather, I watched four shows of different genres in just slightly more than twenty-four hours. The first was "300", then "Happily N'Ever After", then "Letters From Iwo Jima" and finally "The Phantom Of The Opera" on television on Sunday night. People who know me can attest that I can watch three (or even more) movies in one day, and if I really like the show, I will watch it again and again and never get sick of it!

"300" is a battle show between the ancient Spartans and Persians. I remember in my History lecture back in school I had to do an assignment on the Pelopponesian War between the Athens and the Spartans (which had all since been returned to the lecturer), so I do know the Spartans were great in their time. It is a typical guys type of show, but I love it too. The movements and effects are good (considering it was from a comic book), and the fighting is effective, albeit unrealistic.

It is hard for me to find people to watch movies with because the type of shows I love range from Star Wars and Matrix (only guys will like, my girl friends scoff at these shows) to Love Actually (only girls will like, my guy friends mostly cannot stand romantic comedies) to Forrest Gump (not many people like History), to Flags Of Our Fathers (again, not many people enjoy History and war) to A Beautiful Mind (boring for most people as they cannot get the meaning of the show) to Finding Neverland (biographies which will bore most people) to Chicago (people rather go to the dentist than go for musical movies). As a result, I often have to go to the movies on my own if I cannot find anyone to go with. Just like the upcoming Phantom of the Opera, I have to go on my own as I have yet to find anyone to go with me.

Anyway, after "300", we went to watch "Happily N'Ever After". For a twisted fairy tale of sorts, it is not as good as "Shrek" (I cannot wait for the third one to start showing!). However, the message is meaningful, in that girls who always want their "Prince" may find out the "Prince" is actually not as good as the humble servant, who can show more courage, love and selflessness than the air-headed Prince. How true! Or perhaps only die-hard romantics like me will deem this as meaningful.

In the evening, I went with a friend to watch "Letters From Iwo Jima". Actually it was my second time watching this show in the cinema. The first time was some weeks back. My friend came to meet me to brief me on the lecture I missed, so to thank her, I treated her to a movie and she wanted to watch this show.

Despite being the second time watching the show, I still feel touched and cried at the end. It would have been a better experience watching the show a second time, but for inconsiderate cinema-goers who like to comment loudly on everything, laugh at every part (I wonder why? This is such a solemn show!), and then complain how slow-moving and how stupid the character was. If I need a movie commentary, I will ask for one, thank you very much! Otherwise, kindly shut up and watch the movie quietly and let others watch in peace!

On Sunday night, the "Phantom Of The Opera" premiered on television, to commemorate the Opening Night of the musical this Friday. Despite the numerous times I have watched the musical and listened to the songs, I am still in awe over the way the artistes sing the songs. I was trying to pitch accordingly to how Emmy Rossum sang "Think Of Me", and I feel proud that I can still pitch the highest note! Although the lower notes still need work, and she has an impressive three and a half octaves range, perhaps more!

I still feel sad for the Phantom himself - a misunderstood, outcasted fellow, judged by the way he looks and not getting the love he craves for, living the rest of his life as a shadow in misery as a result. I can hardly wait for next week when I can watch the musical again!

Feedback On My First Assignment

I just got back my first assignment, and I got a B. A low B. :-( Not very good, because if my first assignment is this grade, then what will happen to the rest? My second assignment is due next week, and it will be a 2,500 word essay on the Roman Coliseum. It is not as easy as it seems, because the question is on the architectural structure of the Coliseum, why it meant so much to the Romans and how the Coliseum changed history. Now how is anyone going to write 2,500 words on this? I have no idea how to even get a word in!

My first assignment was on Art Appreciation, Sonnets, Analysis and Background of the Poet Percy Shelley, and Philosophy. I actually got A for the last three, but it was my Art Appreciation section that pulled me down, with just a borderline score. It is hard to score indeed for something so subjective. These are my tutor's comments :

"Your work on the painting was a little uneven in that you were interpreting and analysing at the same time. Try to keep to the requirements of the question as you approach your work - it asked for how the artist used elements of form to achieve depth and expressive quality. Describing the people is not useful here unless it helps to show the elements of form.

The work on the poem was better in that you were able to show the political aspect of the work in relation to literary devices used. You seemed to focus quite a bit on the idea of tyranny (even though it is important) and also paraphrased the poem without commenting much on it. Do avoid this - analyse and comment on the use of literary devices more. [How does one analyse "Ozymandias" anyway?]

The piece on Shelley was good - needed in-text citations to show where you got the information from [did I not provide a bibliography at the end??] but nonetheless, your inclusion of the kind of attitudes that prevailed in Shelley's time helped to make the point about this shocking behaviour. Well done in the last section [ie Philosophy - surprise surprise!] - showed good grasp of all the elements of the argument.

Fairly good work - just need to be more careful about answering the questions more directly."

So now I have to figure out how to answer the question on Roman Coliseum "directly" in 2,500 words!

When Graphic Artists Get Bored ....

Received this from my friend K. The amazing things one can do with Photoshop and superimposing. Somehow I cannot help commenting on the pictures! :-p

Another competitor for Ice Hockey?

How I wish someone can paint my nails like this!

That's a good way of telling others this frog is poisonous!

Interesting to see someone swimming in the middle of the road!

Strings pulling from Heaven?

Look out for the shark!!

What a way to fly!

Good idea to have a cow bearing the world map!

The poor kiwi!

Another way of saying its a Lady bug!

I cannot tell if these are dogs or flowers!

Trying out "Crocodile" brand shoes-to-be?

Banana eating us instead?

Cauliflower sheep?

How I wish I can have wheels for feet too!

An orange frog?

Cockadoodledoo?

Now how I wish I can change my head too!

Another term for "Panda" eyes ....

If the Earth ever swallows the Moon ....

Strawberries eating humans?

Hmmmm....

Let's see who will win the fight!

Barbie Forever

I admit I am childish, but then girls will be girls. Just like guys, even way into adulthood, they still collect their action figurines and play games, girls will never outgrow their dolls. Besides soft toys, my other childish passion is Barbie dolls. I will never consider that a collection since I only have three, plus one of Barbie's cousin Skippy. My mum never allowed me to buy more as Barbie dolls are too expensive in her opinion. If I had my way, I would have bought the wedding collection of Barbie and Ken, together with their house!

The reason I like Barbie dolls is because I find the figurine an icon of beauty. Gorgeous figure, fashionable and stylish, good makeup and hair. Which is what I feel a woman should look like. Barbie represents style, grace, elegance, and her look is timeless, a classic. Even though I only have a few Barbie dolls, I used to treat them like real people - comb their hair, dress them up, role play with them. My Barbie dolls are still with me, kept in a cupboard, as they are too precious to give or throw away, and I do not want them collecting dust on a shelf.

Recently, the cosmetics company M.A.C. launched its Barbie series of cosmetics. The series includes the newest edition of Spring colours, together with a limited edition gold label Barbie doll, which means there is only twenty-five thousand of the dolls all over the world, available only at selected retailers. This is what the M.A.C. Barbie looks like.

The shop is having a promotion for holders of a certain credit card. The package includes cosmetics, the limited edition Barbie doll and a makeover and hairstyling session. Since I hold the stipulated credit card, I jumped at the opportunity to sign up for the package and got the doll and new cosmetics. I will be having the makeover next week. People will think I am mad or childish, but to me, the doll represents part of my childhood. Mattel has done something wonderful in creating this doll as girls (and even adult ladies) all over the world are still willing to spend to buy a limited collection doll. That is the appeal of Barbie, and it will never lose its appeal for me.

A Lazy Pig?

I am starting to hate myself. I have become so lazy, ill-disciplined and irresponsible. Or perhaps it is a sign of old age, but that is not an excuse, since there have been people twice, or even thrice, my age doing much more things than I am doing now! Lately, I find my memory getting shorter and shorter, irritating some people as a result as they have to keep repeating what they said to me. What has come over me, I wonder? I have never been like this as those who know me can testify that I have a superb memory and never forgets a thing! Which is not a good thing, as I remember good and bad things, and it is the latter that affects me more.

Nowadays, all I want to do after work is to go home and sleep. I do not seem to have any inclination doing anything. I have missed a lecture and a tutorial, have fallen behind on two weeks of readings, have missed dance classes that the company kindly postponed my lessons to the next intake a few months later. I just do not have the energy to do anything anymore, and I cannot even be bothered with public transport and taking cabs almost everywhere. I just want to flop right into bed the moment I reach home. I wonder what has come over me? This cannot go on as if I make this a habit, my life will be rather meaningless indeed!

A Series Of Unfortunate Events?

Finally I managed to gain access! This was supposed to be updated a couple of days ago, but for some reason, the entire blogger server was down. It had been one tumultuous week, culminating in bad luck and stupidity. Perhaps calling them a series of unfortunate events is a bit too drastic and exaggerated, but it is not denying that I have had a bad week. A busy, stressful, tiring, grueling, unlucky week!

First, due to the upcoming renovations in my office, I realise I have so much more things I was supposed to do, but no one ever updated me on anything, and I had no idea until the file was given to me by someone from another department. Apparently, due to the coming and going of people in the last three or four years or so, certain things were not handed over properly, and now I realise that there is a file that contains the summary of terms of all the documents which my department (or rather, me) was supposed to keep track and update, and that had not been done since May 2003! During that period, at least a few hundred documents have been executed, and some expired, so how am I to trace back everything? That is the problem when people leave and no one else bothers to monitor anything.

Not only that, the new Head of the department wanted me to revamp the entire filing system. Instead of keeping the masterlist of documents according to the name of documents, he wants the documents to be categorised and filed according to project name instead, so all the documents of the various projects will be together in one place instead of being in different places. This is a better idea actually, but for the fact that several others from different departments will access the masterlist and take out documents as well, so if I am to change, how am I to explain to the rest that the documents are no longer at the same place?

I almost got into trouble with one of the secretaries for not updating the list properly when I first joined, resulting in her not being able to find and trace that particular document. This is unfortunate indeed as not only will I get more work (which I do not mind), but I have to end up trying to change people's mindsets into getting used to a new system altogether, and that is something I do not enjoy as once people get used to something for so long, it is rather hard for them to change and I had bad experiences on this before.

Secondly, Wednesday evening I went to redeem the free webcam I got for signing up for free wireless access. The picture above shows the webcam, an odd-looking thing if I ever saw one, but it really works! After redeeming it, I went to wander around at the nearby shopping mall, and all of a sudden I realise my phone was lost. I was positive I had my phone with me when I left the office, but in the interim of redeeming the webcam and wandering at the shopping mall, my phone went missing.

The new red Motorola which I got just a few weeks back! I panicked and quickly went to a public phone booth and called my number, but it was off and it was not a battery problem. I suspected it could have dropped out when I was reaching for my wallet, and someone picked it up and probably removed my SIM card and kept the phone for him / herself. I immediately contacted my mobile service provider and had the card cancelled, and got a new replacement card instantly.

Two consolations though. One, I backed up my entire address book in my old phone before I started using the new one. Two, my youngest brother got a new phone for renewing his contract with his mobile service provider, and he thought the new phone too small for his liking, so offered it to me. Even though I still have the spare Motorola, nevertheless I accepted his gracious offer, so now I am using the Samsung SGH-E900! Sleek and cool-looking! For once I am using a slider, after all the years of using a normal mobile and the clamshell. The best thing is I only needed to copy the address book into my new card and everything is intact! Oh I am so glad I backed up all my data! Never again will I be so stupid and careless to lose my phone again! It is real heartbreaking indeed!

Another piece of bad news. It seems that our upcoming trip may not be feasible after all. My cousin requested for us to be in Malta from the 5th to 10th July, but before that, the trip to Spain may be shelved. The flight we booked, Emirates, stopped going to Spain for some reason or another, and the alternative flight is a direct flight from Singapore Airlines which my mum is reluctant as she finds it overpriced. Ironically for a born and bred local, I have never taken Singapore Airlines before, despite the almost yearly trips overseas! So we are now seeing if the less expensive KLM goes to Spain at the right time, if not then our plans have to be shelved, and if we are not going, the trip will either be changed to somewhere else, or cancelled altogether, which means we will not even go to Malta for the wedding! :-(

As if all these are not enough, I realise I am not able to use my laptop for the time being, because the wireless access is not available to my house, either that, the signal is too weak around my area. Even though I signed up for an inexpensive broadband connection that comes with a portable USB modem, it turns out that the modem can only be used on Windows XP, and not the new Vista which my laptop is equipped with. Now what possessed me to get something so advanced that most other programs are not compatible with it? I love my new laptop, but it will be a white elephant if I am not able to use it! Then the huge amount I spent on it will come to nought!

Sometimes my own stupidity disgusts me. Hopefully, this will be a much better week ahead.

Working With Boy Scouts

My office will be undergoing renovation in a few weeks' time, which means I will have a place of my own very soon, and will no longer sit in the store room! The past few days, everyone has been busy packing, sorting, shredding, tearing, etc, with the help of boy scouts from various secondary schools to commemorate Scouts Week.

So I have been sharing the room with a few boys while they help in arranging, filing, categorising and boxing amidst vibrant chatters. Those boys really know what is team work. Everyone worked together and helped out each other and got the job done in the shortest time possible. No wonder my mum wanted my brothers to join Scouts, as the group's mission of community service and voluntary work is real good! Unfortunately, in my brothers' school, only the best in academics and physical education was able to get selected to be in the Scouts team, and my brothers were nowhere near the calibre. :-(

On a side note, I finally had my name cards printed! First time in my life, after working for years and several companies, my boss gave me the go-ahead to have my own name cards printed. Perhaps it is nothing to many people, but to me, I feel it means I have established myself in some way, and for that, I feel a sense of pride and achievement.

Great Drawing!

Interesting perspective drawing. I only wish I can come up with something like this too!

Incidentally, I wonder which genre of art this is classified under?

A Successful "Performance"

Yesterday's mass was a success! Masses are always a success, but yesterday's mass was successful because :

1. the regular musicians were away and they got a lousy musician-who-is-not-fit-to-be-a-musician (namely, me) to play for mass and the session surprisingly went well, despite the minor mistakes (hopefully not too obvious);

2. the fact that I practised on my badly out of tune piano at home with piano accompaniment only to have to switch to the electone in church with electone accompaniment (and a model which I have never used before at that!);

3. I was given the score with the full chords at the very last moment, meaning I had to switch to the chords instead of the notes I practised with; and

4. my hands were practically shaking each time I played a tune as I have not touched the electone ever since I completed my Teacher's Grade about ten years back or so and my heart was going pop! pop! pop! each time it was my turn to play.

Overall, I received encouragement and compliments on having played well (which I honestly do not think so) from the rest of the church mates. So it was a relief at least that I did not mess up too badly and the songs sounded like songs instead of the "noise" which I thought it would be. I was told I will be playing again. Hopefully I will play better next time, but with more advance notice instead of two days before!

I guess the reason I was in the end able to formulate a decent tune should be thanks to the inspiration I got from Hugh Grant (incidentally, I never knew he can sing pretty well, and that he looks so good while dancing in tight pants, although there was a slight sample in Love Actually!).

I was astounded at the way he could just compose a tune like that, fitting Drew Barrymore's lyrics into the song. How I wish I can write a song like that too! Fit a song into a poem, or limerick, or just normal song lyrics. And the result is a smash hit. Of course Hugh Grant is not the one actually composing the tune (it is just a movie after all), but music composers and lyricists do work like this. Tune to fit the lyrics and the meaning, according to the singer's pitch. So if one is a good singer then the songs and lyrics will naturally be good for the voice to handle.

So far I have only tried one attempt at song writing, and that was only the tune, not the lyrics. I remember I attended a Music Composition program for students organised by the National Arts Council. I did not expect to be selected though, as only the most talented ones would get selected. I thought of just trying out so submitted my music and performing experience, and then when I got selected I was really happy!

The course stretched for four Saturdays, then a three-month break to work on our compositions, with a performance of our composed pieces after that. It was conducted by Professor John Howard, the then Dean of Music at National Institute of Education (he who trained the numerous music teachers and scholars), who taught us the aspects of music composition and what to consider when composing a piece of music. I got my inspiration from the songs I was learning then in my own music classes and completed my first composition.

It was nothing fancy, just a normal three-page compostion, with a simple tune, probably fit for just a Grade Three piano piece. The other compositions were much fancier, ranging ten pages, with lots of instruments thrown in, plus percussion aspects. I was rather ashamed though, but it turned out that the judges liked what I came out with as they commented that the tune was simple and innocent, very good for a teaching piece.

A year later, one of the organisers contacted me and said that he would like to have my composition to show as a teaching piece. I was really ecstatic! I was with my first ex then, so I told him the good news, and all he said was he could not believe I could come up with something that good. He had no musical background of his own except playing the guitar in church, so he told me to play him my composition.

After I finished playing, he told me that it was such a simple piece, how could anyone deem it good? And he tore my composition to shreds, telling me to add in this and that, to make it much fancier before submitting. Needless to say, in the end I never did submit as somehow I did not like what he came up with for me. And for that, I regretted it very much as I always felt if I had submitted, wonder what the song will be like now?

Ever since then, I never did compose anymore tunes. Somehow I seemed to have lost the inspiration and inclination. One of these days I should try another song-writing attempt, but that will be after I have all my instruments replaced, which will take some time judging from my current financial status.

Tiring, Frustrating, Draining, Grueling ....

And that is how this week had been. Either that, or I am getting on in my years, that I am not able to function properly throughout the day without feeling burnt-out. I have had a long week at work, with my new superior coming in and shifting the places around, with auditors coming after me for two missing documents which have already been missing before my time and there was absolutely no way I could trace them since I have exhasuted all my options, and with clients who kept insisting for us to pay the bill and refused to send another bill when we never received the original bill in the first place, and it would had been so much easier if they could just send us another invoice instead of bouncing emails back and forth, which ended up being more time-consuming and not getting what they wanted.

A sign that I am really burnt-out, or just getting old, is that my memory has become shorter. I could not even remember what I did last week, and whether I have sent out certain documents, or whether I have obtained signatories for other documents. In short, I am going around in a confused and dazed state of mind. I cannot even remember whether I have paid my bills, and if I needed to write out another cheque for bill payment. If this goes on, I am going to be in serious trouble.

To make matters worse, I had just been told at the last moment that I have to help play for mass this Sunday. All the regular musicians are tied up somewhere else, so there is absolutely no one else who is able to play. Not that I am not willing, but I have not touched the piano for half a year at least, and not really played anything for at least a year and a half. My electone is totally spoilt, so I cannot play the songs organ style. My church mate brought down all the scores for me last night, but how am I going to whip the song into shape in just a day or so? In the past when I had regular performances, I took at least a month of intensive practice before the song could be good enough to be performed in public, and even then it was only one song. And I was still undergoing lessons where my teacher would take some time to listen to my song and give her comments.

Now I am all on my own, with the entire mass sequence of seven songs (and tunes), with just a day for the songs to sound decent. While trying out last night, I realise I have lost touch so much. Note-reading is still fine, but I have no idea which accompaniment to use anymore, or which chords to use, or whether it is in a major or minor key. I used to be able to do that the moment I saw the song, now it took me a great deal of sight-reading and listening to what the tune sounds like before I can determine, and even then I am not sure if I got them all right. I do not even know which rhythm to use anymore! Oh dear, I am going to make such a fool of myself on stage!

Watch What You Wear (Or Wear What You Watch)

I am never a big fan of watches. I seldom wear any, except during weekends or the occasional gatherings. I have never worn a watch regularly ever since my previous Baby-G spoilt, and that was like seven years back already. Since then, I got used to an empty left wrist. Besides, with almost everyone owning cell phones, wearing a watch became unnecessary as one can tell time easily with the phone.

So I will never be seen buying a watch, unlike clothes, jewellery, cosmetics or music discs. But there are some watches which I really like to own. One is the Tag Heuer Aquaracer, the other is the Casio Baby-G, and the last is the Sovil Et Titus. Expensive watches, but then I always attribute to the fact that you are what you wear, and nothing beats class than a classy watch, or classy accessories for that matter!

My wish almost came true. Some years back, I won second prize in a promotion, and the prize was a pair of Tag Heuer Professional watches, for man and woman. I could hardly believe my luck! The watch has its typical stainless steel strap with a round white face. When my ex saw them, he drooled and snatched the man's watch out of my hands! Then his mum also drooled, so he snatched the lady's watch out of my hands to give to her. In his words, "who can ever resist a Tag Heuer, and a free one at that?"

I thought nothing of it as I figured I seldom wear watches anyway and if I really wanted, I could always buy one. That was before I realise exactly how much a Tag Heuer cost. Then last year, a special someone bought me a Baby-G when I was sick in a bid to cheer me up, and I have been wearing that almost every weekend from then on.

Recently, I wandered into a watch shop. What I was really doing there I had no idea actually. I just wanted to see the range of watches on display, and to drool at them. Then I saw the Tag Heuer Aquaracer, round pink face with diamonds. And I felt I must have it! One look at the price tag put me off, but when I realised the store allows instalment payments, I figured what the heck, and bought it immediately. And for that, I bought the men's Aquaracer too, white round face, as a belated Christmas, Valentine's and anniversary gift for someone.

Since that day when I became the proud owner of the pink Aquaracer, I had been wearing the watch everyday. I will wear it to the office, but on weekends, switch to more casual watches like the leather square-faced one which my mum bought for me two years back, or the Baby-G. Too risky wearing a Tag Heuer out during casual weekends, unless it is to a party or a formal gathering.

A few days back, my ex contacted me and said his mum wanted to return me the Tag Heuer. Apparently she had never worn it and since it was gathering dust, she decided to give it back to me. So now I have two Tag Heuers! The battery had already stopped for the one I took back, so I had to send it for a new battery replacement, as well as to polish the strap. Come to think of it, for a Tag Heuer, the battery is weak indeed if it lasted only a couple of years or so. Even my old Baby-G lasted me five years before it finally died!

So now that two of my wishes have come true, I see if I can make the next one come true - to own a Sovil Et Titus! Even better if it is a gift, so I need not spend a single cent on it! :-p

A Hermit Once Again!

Our new Head of the department finally came on board yesterday, so the team is complete again. And because of this, I had to go back to where I was previously seated - the store room. I feel so cut off again, like an island, when in actual fact, no man (or woman) can ever be an island as humans are social animals by nature!

Speaking of which, I was trying to make peace with someone whom I had fallen out with, but after being personally attacked by this person due to a general remark made casually when it was nothing whatsoever to do with this person, I felt it was not worth it contacting this person again, as if the attitude is still hostile, I better not get myself into any trouble. If people choose to be islands, then the only thing we can do is to sit and wait and hopefully get through to them one of these days.

So my immediate supervisor had to shift to where I recently vacated, so that his place will then be taken over by the new Head. I feel so indignant, for him, because he is after all a practitioner, so why should he sit where the rest of the assistants and secretaries are seated? It is already a bit of a let-down that he does not have an office of his own, and now he has to sit in a cubicle?

I do not care where I am seated because after all, I am the smallest fry so will be the one getting bounced around, but I feel so unfair for my supervisor! He is of top middle management level afterall, so should he not warrant a bigger place at least? Luckily he is a happy-go-lucky guy, if it is anyone else, they will feel so insulted and degraded!

International Women's Day

Yesterday, 8th March, was International Women's Day. A salute to all the wonderful women around! Although for Chinese, 8th March is not a good day for a Women's Day, as March 8 is "San Ba" in Chinese, a rather unflattering term for a woman, as that equates to being "crazy" or "ditsy". Anyway, my company gave every woman a gift set from our gallery, consisting of a mouse pad, mug and matching coaster. So sweet!

I wonder who first came up with this International Women's Day? Although whoever he (or she) was, I must thank him / her for doing that, as it is about time that women get their long-overdue recognition, for being able to juggle home, work, life and other things, when men could not even do a fraction of what women can do!

And so, this passage is a tribute to all the great women out there, which I received from my best friend yesterday :

When God created the woman, He was working late on the sixth day. An angel came by and said, "Why spend so much time on that one?" And the Lord answered, "Have you seen all the specifications I have to meet to shape her?

She must be washable, but not made of plastic, have more than two hundred moving parts which all must be replaceable and she must function on all kinds of food, she must be able to embrace several kids at the same time, give a hug that can heal anything from a bruised knee to a broken heart and she must do all this with only two hands."

The angel was impressed. "Just two hands .... impossible!" And this is the standard model?! "Too much work for one day .... wait until tomorrow and then complete her."

"I will not," said the Lord. "I am so close to complete this creation, which will be the favourite of my heart.

She cures herself when she is sick and she can work eighteen hours a day."

The angel came nearer and touched the woman. "But you have made her so soft, Lord."

"She is soft," said the Lord. "But I have also made her strong. You can't imagine what she can endure and overcome."

"Can she think?" the angel asked.

The Lord answered, "Not only can she think, she can reason and negotiate."

The angel touched the woman's cheek. "Lord, it seems this creation is leaking! You have put too many burdens on her."

"She is not leaking .... it's a tear", the Lord corrected the angel.

"What is it for?" asked the angel.

And the Lord said, "Tears are her way of expressing her grief, her doubts, her love, her loneliness, her suffering and her pride."

This made a big impression on the angel. "Lord, you are a genius. You thought of everything. The woman is indeed marvellous!"

Indeed she is! A woman has strengths that amazes man. She can handle trouble and carry heavy burdens. She holds happiness, love and opinions. She smiles when she feels like screaming. She sings when she feels like crying, cries when she is happy and laughs when she is afraid. She fights for what she believes in. Stand up against injustice. She does not take "no" for an answer, when she can see a better solution. She gives herself so her family can thrive. She takes her friend to the doctor if she is afraid.

Her love is unconditional. She cries when her kids are victorious. She is happy when her friends do well. She is glad when she hears of a birth or a wedding. Her heart is broken when a next-of-kin or friend dies. But she finds the strength to get on with life. She shows that a kiss and a hug can heal a broken heart.

There is only one thing wrong with her. She forgets what she is worth.... and many times man have to be reminded of that.

So this concludes that I am not yet a woman. Perhaps I never will be one. My mother, on the other hand, has all these qualities ... and more. That is a real woman, and a super one at that.

Have a fantastic (belated) Women's Day!

Incompetent Customer Service Officers ....

In just a few days, I came across a few very rude customer service officers. The standard of customer service here is nothing to talk about, but recently it seems to have become worse instead of striving to be better. Hardly have I come across any service personnel here that makes customers feel good and warm.

Maybe it is the environment we grow up in. People become emotionless, and even when doing a job, it is just that - a job. Not many will go the extra mile for others, be it in a job or just extending a helping hand. Those who actually go the extra mile will often be looked at in a weird way by others. Perhaps that is why people will not help, no matter what. Like what Rocky said, people should help because they want to, not because they are expecting anything back, so others should just accept and not view them suspiciously.

Anyway, the local service personnel should just upgrade or undergo further training. But then some people are just born to serve (in a way), whereas others, no matter how much training, will still not be able to achieve. It is all in one's attitude, behaviour and speech. There are just some who simply have the charisma, and when a customer gets served by someone like this, he / she will feel good.

Then there are others who simply do not make the cut, their attitudes are put-offish, the way they speak offend others, they simply do not bother, and when customers get served by people like these, they will get irritated as a result.

However, first and foremost, a service personnel should know the product inside out. How can anyone go into a shop, meet a service personnel, ask a few questions, only to have the personnel say, "Sorry this is not my expertise. Can I get someone else for you?"

Okay, not his expertise, but if he is working in the shop, should he not at least know what is going on instead of blowing away a customer like this? If he is trying to make a sale, then he would have blown all his chances as customers will not buy from anyone who does not even know anything, be it his department or not.

Which was what happened to me last week. I was trying to find something for my mum on Mother's Day. I was racking my brains to find out what to get for a woman who has everything. In the end I decided to get her a phone, since her phone has been breaking down pretty often lately.

Since she is using the older version of the Samsung SGH-E360, I decided to get her the new Samsung SGH-E500, the gold one. It is no use getting her any other phones as once she is used to something, she is reluctant to change. Which is why she refuses my offer of the spare Motorola Razr v3x.

Anyway, I went into a furniture mall where computers and mobile phones are also on sale. I spoke to the sales assistant around the mobile phone display area, and then he told me that it was not his department, so he would have to get someone to explain to me. Well, if it was not his department, why would he be standing there? Besides, if he is a sales assistant in that mall, should he not be familiarised with everything on display, no matter what product?

I was a bit irritated, but no harm done. I got what I went in for, and overall rather satisfied. Which is more than I can say for a very rude customer service personnel yesterday. I wanted to buy the jugs after work, so I called in to all three places. The first place was excellent. Not only is the service personnel polite, but she said she would check up what I wanted and get back to me. She really did call me back after half an hour! I was impressed, because in most cases, the people would say call back but never did. And she even reserved the jug for me!

The second place I called was just as polite, except the personnel who answered the phone gave his profuse apologies that they do not entertain reservations, which means I have to go down to the store personally and pick the product I wanted. However, he asked that if I was not able to make it on time, just give them a call and they would extend the opening hours. How nice!

The third one was the one that really riled me. I called in, asking the same question about the availability of the product I wanted, and then asked about the opening hours of the store, so I know if I could go down after work. The personnel answered, "What has our store opening hours got to do with you?"

Whoa, that is such a low blow! I wanted to hang up the phone on the spot! Maybe I am being proud and arrogant, but I always thought as a paying, or potential paying, customer, am I not entitled to ask any question I like? And as service personnels, is it not their jobs to answer any question politely, no matter how redundant and stupid? Are they even supposed to tell a customer that the question is nothing to do with him / her?

Some people I know will feedback immediately, but to me, I never like causing anyone to be in trouble, no matter what he / she has done to me. No doubt he was rude to me, but if I cause him to lose his job due to a complaint, then I will not feel good as well. Although I do hope as customer service personnels, they should watch their language, speeches and behaviour, and make customers want to buy from them, instead of driving customers away.

Jug-gling Away ....

I had been sourcing for a cool-looking jug or pitcher for my room, so I will never run out of water. All along whenever I need a drink, I will have to go downstairs and pour myself a glass of water from the kettle, or else help myself to one of the plastic Coke bottles (which we recycle to store water) and bring that up to my room.

The problem is I am a water barrel, so a 1.5 litre bottle will probably only last me half the day. Plus I find Coke bottles tacky. If I am to store water in my room, I rather have a cool looking jug that emits class. Not only that, I will need to bring along water when I go out so I will not risk being thirsty when there are no places to sit down for a drink. I used to resort to those round Tupperware tumblers, and although practical and good quality, still, nothing beats a classy-looking container.

Not only that, I need one for my office too. The one I have in my office is a one litre purple Nalgene wide-mouthed bottle, left over from my teaching days. It is good quality and practical, but it seems out of place in my office, since it is afterall a sports water bottle. Thus I have to find something more classy for my office use.

So I was really pleased when the latest Sunday Lifestyle featured a page on jugs and pitchers, and where to find the coolest looking ones. When I saw the types of jugs featured, I was really amazed! Perhaps I have not gone places, but where do people find such nice looking things? Some are really expensive - imagine just a jug costing more than S$200!

But I fell in love with a couple of them the moment I set my eyes on them. Thus I went down to buy them after work yesterday. One is a narrow-necked bottle, with handpainted pink flowers (choice of purple and yellow as well) which looks so quaint! The shop itself is really quaint, it was just as if I was stepping right into a fairytale. Apparently, their products were shipped from all over the world, plain porcelain or china or glass at first, but the little decorations were specially handpainted by the staff.

The kitchen setting and utensils as displayed in the shop reminded me of those stories of old where the princess doll and teddy bears sat around to have tea. Even the receipt given when I made my purchase is nice - drawn with little dolls all round it. I am going to use that bottle at home, and since it can contain about a litre and not that heavy, I can easily put it into a holder and carry it around with me.

The next shop I went into is a direct change from the fairytale setting. It is a modern lifestyle furniture shop, great for yuppies who want to own their own bachelor (or single woman) pad. I bought the classy-looking glass wide-necked jug, which comes together with its own glass as the cover, so I can bring it to the office and use it to contain water. The mug I already have in my office was bought by my dear, a pink mug with my favourite Pooh, where I use to make tea or hot chocolate (Milo). It sounds corny, but each time I use the mug I will think of him.

The last one I bought is a water dispenser from a toy shop, perfect for water barrels like myself. It is a cute little penguin with a mini water dispenser on top, perfect for exactly eight glasses of water. That is how much the water dispenser contains, which I suspect is for parents who want to train their children into drinking the required amount of water per day. But for me, it is perfect for my room, so I can just dispense the water from there, instead of drinking wholescale from a bottle.

Which reminds me, I have to replace my drinking glass. The classy-looking glass I had, the simple 250 ml transparent glass, was accidentally broken by my grandmother and I have yet to replace it. Then all will be set. I can have my own water dispenser, glass and bottle in my room for my drinking pleasure!