Resolving To Diet

I keep telling myself to watch my diet, and failed. :-( Now it is my own fault if I am at least five kilograms heavier! For instance, after the verbal diarrhoea on Monday, I did not eat that much yesterday. Then earlier on, I was supposed to meet up with friends for satay, and ended up ordering roti prata, satays, roti john, mee goreng, lemon chicken and root beer floats!

We could hardly finish everything! It is not healthy to eat so much at night! Recently I find my clothes have shrunk, or is it because I have expanded? Back to all the slimming treatments and strict dieting again!

Verbal Diarrhoea ....

I was out sick yesterday due to stomach upset. I had no idea what happened on Monday night. I went with a friend for dinner at a French-themed Japanese western restaurant. Amongst other things, we ate escargot and drank white wine. Then we decided to chill out in the Pump Room.

That was when it happened. I know sometimes I do get a bit high, but white wine is harmless as far as I am concerned. Only when I start partaking hard liquor that I will start being high. Yet, for no rhyme or reason, I started vomitting. I retched out all the food I ate earlier. It was an unsightly sight!

I really had no idea what happened! In the end, I could only crash out on the seat while my friend went to the bar counter on her own. I rested for about an hour before I felt well enough to make my way home. The moment I reached home, I splashed cold water on myself and then crashed out on the bed.

Needless to say, I was out with a stomach upset the next day! I really could not imagine how on earth that happened! But I do wish it would never happen again!

Of Annual General Meetings

Last Thursday's class was on convening of Annual General Meetings, and Extra-ordinary General Meetings. In short, the audited accounts must first be submitted and a resolution convened before a General Meeting can be convened. Annual General Meetings are normally held within eighteen months after the incorporation of the company, or thirty days after the accounts have been audited.

During the Annual General Meetings, besides the acceptance of the audited accounts, there would also be other businesses like election or re-election of directors and auditors. These are normally in the Ordinary Resolutions, where ordinary business of the company is reflected.

However, for the resignation and appointment of a new director, a Special Resolution will need to be drafted, and an Extra-ordinary General Meeting had to be convened. This is for any other special business of the company. It is the company's discretion what kind of business it deems as "special".

The instructor also touched on the difference between a Corporate Representative and a Power of Attorney. Finally, after doing so much of these two, I got to know the difference! A Corporate Representative is a letter given to a representative who can sign and attend meetings on the behalf of the company. However, he / she is not entitled to engage in any of the other business of the company.

A Power of Attorney, on the other hand, gives a representative full authority to engage in the business, transactions, even going to talk to any authorities on behalf of the business. Apparently, many people have the mistaken notion that these two are the same, but if they are really the same, then they will not be called different names and the two agreements will not look different already.

This was the second last session, so now I am really looking forward to the last session this Thursday. After that I have completed the course and hope to increase my value in my company!

Back From A "R-Rated" Retreat

So I am back from the R-rated retreat, and it was a tad more "R-rated" than intended. ;-p Still it had been a good weekend, getting to know people more, good bonding, enough time to rest (even though I still ended up with fourteen hours of sleep when I reached home), and a time to refresh and re-discover ourselves.

Some had feedbacked that it was not a good idea to hold a retreat during the Grand Prix weekend. That I agree. Even though I may not be directly involved in the F1 this year, there are others I know who are involved somehow or other. And we cannot simply say we have a retreat to go to if we need to work.

Still, it had been a good weekend. Felt refreshed, rejuvenated, relaxed and re-immersed in the Holy Spirit. The sessions had been pretty good and the facilitator was good too! I am not supposed to disclose what it is all about, but all I can say is that the sessions touched on practical themes like family, love and forgiveness. So in short, it is a great reminder to us on what living a life is all about!

Off To CHOICE R Retreat!

So I will be off to the Choice R-rated Retreat for the weekend. It is a time of Reflection and Reconciliation. Hopefully I will be more enriched and refreshed after that.

More updates to come on Monday, meanwhile have a great weekend ahead! :-)

Bearing The Cross

The Prayer Meet on Wednesday was rather thought-provoking. The facilitator started off by asking who are we most like in our family? To me, I think I am most like my mum. At least for sure I bear a physical resemblance to her, according to everyone who has seen us.

The message is on how Christ made us according to His image. Then we started talking about how crosses are being carried, and how in order to build up character, we do take on a lot of crosses too.

The trouble is, the kind of crosses we bear, one may question why we end up facing certain things in our lives. So do we take the easy way out and try to avoid? Or do we plunge headlong and face whatever difficulties along the way?

I guess everyone has problems of their own. Some major, some minor. And I believe all of us have cursed and swore at problems that occurred to us, wondering why were we the ones who had to be saddled with things like that.

Some of us took the easy way out by disclaiming all responsibility. Some of us were willing to endure all the problems. But life is never that easy. Maybe if we take the easy way out now and live life relatively carefree, perhaps more problems would come later? Or if we bear the brunt of whatever problems we had, things could be easier and more relieved later on?

This cartoon I received sums it up completely. If we choose to take the easy way out now, we may not be able to cross the hurdles that come our way. If we choose to bear the cross and sufferings, we could then use those to cross whatever hurdles we may come across! Pretty inspiring indeed!

La Vie En Rose

Another song that I love, specially dedicated to someone whom I feel will love this song! ;-p

La Vie En Rose ~ Louis Armstrong (Original version by Edith Piaf)

Hold me close and hold me fast
The magic spell you cast
This is La Vie En Rose

When you kiss me heaven sighs
And though I close my eyes
I see La Vie En Rose

When you press me to your heart
I'm in a world apart
A world where roses bloom....

And when you speak ... angels sing from above
Everyday words seem ... to turn into love songs

Give your heart and soul to me
And life will always be
La Vie En Rose

Elements Of A Relationship

I find that the older and more experienced someone gets, the more self-focused he / she becomes, so much so that even when love and opportunity comes knocking, he / she tends to miss the boat. Afterall, is it not better to be just alone and carefree, rather than living your life for someone else?

Yet despite all these, why do people want to get into relationships? Is it because they feel lonely, or is it because deep down, everyone really wants a mate, a life companion? But when people get into relationships, do they really know how to handle what it entails?

To me, the word "relationship" is synonymous with "commitment". Afterall, come this age, I do not want to waste anymore time on something that will not go anywhere. But what exactly does a relationship entail? I have come up with my own version of what a "relationship" is all about.

Realistic - Have realistic expectations. If you choose to be with someone, then accept what he can offer instead of asking for the moon, stars and sky. If you cannot accept it in the first place, then do not be in one.

Engaging - Have engaging conversations. This is to do with communication too. Being with someone means you are able to converse intellectually, deeply and with no reservations.

Love - Self-explanatory. Without love and commitment, a relationship cannot even materialise.

Adoration - I do not know about others, but personally, I cannot be with someone if I otherwise do not adore and admire him.

Tolerance - This is a very important element. Without any tolerance, there will be petty fights and tiffs, leading to the eventual breakdown of a relationship. Being with someone means accepting him wholeheartedly, tolerating his faults and shortcomings and shutting your eyes to things which you may otherwise feel irritated about but still bear with it because it is what makes him him.

Indulgence - Indulging in each other's whims, fancies and interests. Being with someone means you make the other person happy and try to indulge as much as possible.

Obligation - Being with someone means you are obligated to the person, to spend time and effort to maintain the relationship and developing the love.

Nurturing - Nurture each other to be the best each can be, with lots of encouragement and support along the way, and never hold each other back with selfish means.

Sincerity - Loving someone means being sincere to him / her, to each other's parents, family and friends.

Homogeneity - Homogeneity is the state of being alike, essentially the same kind. Which means, two people who intends to be together should have certain essential similarities, like outlook, goals, compatibility, for things to flow smoothly.

Interconnection - The connection between two people. Connection is knowing what each other is thinking without needing to say a word. Connection means knowing what each other wants, their thoughts and feelings and mutual understanding without saying much.

Patience - This is another important element. A relationship does not happen overnight. It needs lots of patience and lots of work for it to bear fruit and blossom. In other words, a relationship is not instantaneous, it takes months and years even before it can become solid and stabilised.

I am not sure if I am making any sense here, but I think these elements are essentially what makes a RELATIONSHIP, is it not? ;-p

Issues On Share Capital

I went for the next session of the Corporate Governance course last Thursday. This time the session is on share transfer, capital and allotment. Every company needs shares when it was set up. The question is how much, and how it is distributed.

Apparently companies used to have to come up with an authorised share capital, then after that there would be an issued share capital and actual paid-up share capital. But now there is no more authorised share capital, just issued and paid-up capital, giving potential entrepreneurs the flexibility and ease to start businesses with minimal capital.

I also learnt the allotted shares with regards to mergers and acquisitions and amalgamations, and the differences between these aspects. At least now I am more able to understand how to help my company better with its massive restructuring!

There will be just two more sessions of the course, but already I have learnt so much! Looking forward to more things for the remaining sessions!

Fun-Packed Long Weekend!

The long weekend was great! One of the best weekends I have had in ages! Friday night I went to watch two good shows - Inglorious Basterds and Whiteout. Saturday I had Belgian Chocolate ice cream at Anderson's of Denmark, then went to the Mezza9 to celebrate a hen night for a good friend from secondary school who is getting married next month.

Sunday night I went to East Coast beach and had a long walk around in the cool night air, something I have not done for a very long time now! Then I walked home from there, also something which I have not done ever since school days!

Age is really catching up, I used to have no qualms walking home from there in the past, but that night I had to keep stopping to catch my breath and take a break! Luckily the night air was cool and comforting and not too hot! All the better since I had very good company, so it made walking home all the more bearable!

Yesterday I went to a friend's place for tea, to celebrate his baby's one month. The baby is so cute and rather well-behaved, just slept throughout while we were partaking in good food and good conversation. The only gripe is that the weather has been so crazy lately, but at least that makes the nights cool and comfortable.

Seems like my life is picking up. I am sure looking forward to even greater days ahead! :-)

VIP Meeting

I sat for a back to back meeting yesterday afternoon. The Counsels from our main holding company came down and they did a presentation on what they have been doing and where the company is going to. We had to do a presentation on our part too.

The main holding company, being in the telco industry, has come up with a new breakthrough in telecommunications. Seems that soon, mobile phones will function as a credit card, smart card, bank account all in one. Someone can just send a message to someone else and transfer money to that person. It is like a text message with money attached.

Wow! We are definitely years behind this! But then again, our government being the way they are, with stringent checks and whatnot, it is highly improbable this kind of technology can break into our local market. When this happens, no one is safe anymore. Everyone’s personal information will be spilled to everyone else. It will be a haven for hackers and viruses.

Being in a “regional” meeting is really an eye-opener. For someone who does not really get a chance to hobnob with the top people, it really is an experience! And the men look really good in a suit! But then again, I have always loved men in suits – they just look much better and smarter! Clothes really do maketh the man!

Do Our Part To Help The Homeless

My parents left for Nepal on Wednesday, so today they are probably seeing the Himalayas somewhere. I am so glad it is another long weekend, I truly relish the break! Besides the hen night tomorrow and church on Sunday, I plan to do nothing else but chill at home and rest!

Having said that, I have to keep reminding myself I have been very lucky and blessed. Even though my life is not exactly a picture of perfection, but I am luckier than many people already. Hence we need to think about those who are homeless and living in overcrowded areas, with unbearable living conditions.

Just as well World Habitat Day, on the first Monday of October, is having the theme of "Planning Our Urban Future", to raise awareness on the hundreds and hundreds of homeless people around the world. Being born into a comfortable life, many of us take this for granted and neglect the real poor and needy around.

It will be good for all of us more priviledged ones to do our part, either by advocating, educating or donating. Of course it is all good and dandy to contribute in one way or another, but if everyone does a bit, perhaps things will be a bit more bearable for the poor and needy?

Upcoming Films For The Rest Of The Year

After last night's movie, I did up a list of the shows I want or plan to watch for the rest of this year. This year seems to be a pretty good year for movies, with quite a number of good blockbusters coming. This year also seems to be a year of childhood action figures movies, like Star Trek, Transformers and G.I. Joe.

Not to mention popular book to movie adaptations like J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Dan Brown's Angels and Demons, the upcoming Jodi Picoult's My Sister's Keeper and Charles Dicken's A Christmas Carol (where Jim Carrey is playing the role of Ebenezer Scrooge).

There are still more to look forward to, like Inglorious Basterds, Whiteout, Fame, New York I Love You, Love Happens, Julie & Julia, Sherlock Holmes, Alvin and the Chipmunks 2, Avatar, Shutter Island to name a few.

Wonder if any of the films will make it to the Oscars next year? Hopefully I will be able to catch all the nice shows I like to watch!

Pre-Movie Ice Breaking Session

The pre-movie event last night was fun and interesting. When I reached the movie theatre lounge, there was a buffet spread, so I took some food and went up the stairs where there is an alcove. Turned out some beauty and massage salon was giving a free massage and paraffin hand treatment as part of the promotion.

I had a neck massage, which was quite painful. It is still painful now. I seriously have no idea what the masseuse did to me! Although the massage was relaxing, but it caused me pain! After that I had a paraffin wax hand treatment. It was hot wax but when it was cleaned off, my hand felt smoother and looked fairer than before!

After that I went down again and got into my team. The organiser asked us to play a game, where the men had to state what they liked in a woman and the women do the same for the men. The first one who got any one row of the boxes filled (be it vertical or horizontal) could go and claim a prize.

I was one of the first to get one row filled in, so I went up and got a free tank top with the logo of the movie on it. Quite nice actually, suitable to be worn during casual occasions. The men got a pair of boxers with the logo on the front.

The second game was on fixing a poster. Each of us had to get a shred of the movie poster, then try to find the matching pieces like a jigsaw puzzle. That was the hard part, as the front was the poster, but the back had a story. So both the front and back parts had to match. In the end, only two groups bothered to find matching pieces and only one group won.

We exceeded the time a bit so had to rush into the movie theatre. Luckily the theatre was booked for the participants so the show had not started yet when we went in. At least this event was more fun than the previous ones I have attended! Quite worth it, cheaper, more fun and the movie was good too!

The Ugly Truth

I went for a premier of "The Ugly Truth" movie last night. The movie is really hilarious! It is the ugly truth and the truth hurts! What was stated in the show about men seem really true! Like men like women who are not controlling, who do not criticise or tell them what to do, who let men be in control of the relationship.

No wonder someone like me is still unattached, because I talk too much, I say it as it is, even to the extent of constructive criticism, I like to be in control as in I like to know where we are going in the relationship instead of living each day as it comes. I have lived enough of "each day as it came" and that feeling was not good at all as it made me very insecure and adverse to my own self-esteem.

Women, on the other hand, also have a checklist of what they want the men to be. He must be dashing, high-flier, charming, romantic, etc. But the last scene of the show is really good. The message is that for a woman, no matter how a guy fulfils everything in her checklist, if in the end she has to always pretend to be someone she is not just to snag the guy, then it is not worth it.

And for a man, no matter how controlling, talkative, neurotic, obsessive-compulsive, perfectionist the woman is (qualities which are sure to turn men off), at the end of the day, if he cannot help falling in love with her, all those qualities do not matter in the end.

Moral of the story - People can have a checklist of what they like and what they do not like, but when they really fall for someone, even if the someone is totally out of their criteria, at the end of the day, nothing really matters because they have no idea why they fall for each other but still cannot help falling for each other. How sweet! And that is love!

Listening Experience

Finally, after so many attempts, I can upload an album of playlist on my blog! Much better than just uploading one midi a time, and now I can play around with all my favourite songs while blogging! What can be a better deal than that?

I stumbled upon this widget while random blog surfing. There are many blogs who have the playlist, but all those times I tried to upload a playlist, either we have to add our own Mp3s into the playlist, or else the list could not be shuffled.

I need something that can have an auto upload of various songs and albums just be a web search, as well as shuffling of the songs so the songs can be rotated and not necessarily played in the same sequence. Hence this suits me perfectly!

The only thing I am not able to do is to fix a certain song to be played first and a certain song to be played last while shuffling the rest, but oh well, one cannot have everything! Hopefully will be able to do that in the near future!

In Need Of A Sabbatical

I am tired.... Really really tired. How I wish I can take a sabbatical or a gap year and go travelling around the world. But to do that I must have time and money. If I do take a gap year, I will have lots of time, but no money to fulfil a round the world trip. Unless I do hitchhiking, working at farms, picking fruit, etc, but the opportunity cost for that is too great.

I do not seem to have any inspiration or inclination to write lately. Come to think of it, just what have I been busy with? Ever since I came back from the last CHOICE weekend, suddenly I have been doing more things than ever before. I cannot even remember what I am so busy with!

To recap : CHOICE weekend was during the last weekend of August. I came back on Sunday night. That Monday, I met a friend for dinner. Tuesday was Teacher's Day, and I chilled out after work. Wednesday I met my overseas relatives for the last night before they flew back. Thursday was the second session of the Corporate Governance course.

Friday I went for two movies back to back ("The Time Traveller's Wife" and "The Proposal"). Saturday I helped out at my campus, faced that stupid old man, went for two Novenas, and wanted to go for the Michael Learns to Rock concert, only to realise it was on Friday instead! Sunday I wanted to rest but spent time with my family members instead.

Monday again, I had to go for a meeting for the CHOICE Asean Conference next year. Tuesday I met a new friend for dinner. Wednesday I went for the Prayer Meet. Thursday I was supposed to go for the course but did not feel well so went home earlier. Friday I chilled out. Saturday I was invited for the second follow-up to the last CHOICE retreat. And Sunday, I resumed the church choir and invited my friend to my place to play the piano.

Monday again (yesterday), my mum and I attended a talk on family and financial issues. Tonight I will be going to watch "The Ugly Truth". Is it any wonder why I am feeling tired and burnt out? On one hand, it is good to have an active life, on the other hand, I think I am really getting old that I do not seem to have the energy to run around so much anymore! Now my work has taken a shift so I foresee lots of things thrown my way henceforth. Someone, please, rescue me!!

Conflict Management

Last night's Prayer Meet was really inspiring indeed. The topic was on Resolving and Reconciliation. In essence, what does one do when faced with a conflict? Do we become skunks or do we become turtles?

I guess I used to be a skunk, whether deliberately or not. But through the years, after certain experiences, I think I would not say I am totally a turtle, but I have mellowed down somewhat (I hope!). So perhaps I am now in-between? Not totally retreat yet not totally inciting trouble as well.

The video we watched summed it up very well. When resolving conflict, there are a few steps in mind :

1. Talk to God before you talk to the person
2. Take the initiative
3. Acknowledge the conflict
4. Recognise you have a part to contribute to the conflict
5. Blame the problem, not the person
6. Seek reconciliation, not just resolution

There is one more, but I cannot remember what it is. Essentially it is pretty normal, as in people know what they are supposed to do. But how many of us actually do it? How many of us are willing to eat the humble pie and take the initiative to apologise and reconcile?

How many of us are willing to recognise we do have a part to play in the conflict? How many of us are able to see things objectively and blame the problem, not making personal attacks on the person? And how many of us are willing to reconcile instead of just resolve? In other words forgive and totally forget?

Furthermore, it is all good trying to resolve and reconcile, but what if you meet those who are totally unreasonable and blaming the whole world for what is going on? How do you resolve the conflict and reconcile with people like these?

Say you can speak up and apologise sincerely, but that person got it into his / her head that you are the devil incarnate and kept making personal attacks, then the more you tried to apologise and explain the worse things become.

In this case is it better to be a skunk or a turtle? To prevent more trouble, it is better to be a turtle, but if one is a turtle, then does it mean that one is cowardly or running away from the problem?

Switching To A More Trustworthy Planner

I am convinced that my decision to change my financial consultant is the right one. Shortly after I transferred my policies to my friend, my original consultant called me and asked me the reason why I changed all of a sudden. So I told her no one was monitoring, and she claimed even though she has her hands full, she did ask someone to monitor.

So I said if someone was monitoring, how come no one told me I made a loss? I cannot afford to make another loss! She claimed it was just paper loss, everyone made loss, economy is recovering, things will get better soon, etc. She said both she and her friend are in the industry for a long time, as compared to my friend, so who would I trust?

Sorry, but I trust my friend because he has proven himself time and again that he is trustworthy. Whereas she come to me when she wanted to push a sale, and then totally forget about me, and now that I have changed a consultant she suddenly called me again after being missing in action for almost a year?! What kind of attitude is this? Thank goodness I switched over when I did!

Hardcovers Or Paperbacks?

090909. Coincidentally 10:10 too. Hmmmm.... Perhaps then another year or so later, it will be 101010 and 10:10. Another special moment. And then 111111 at 11:11, and 121212 at 12:12, and so on. These would be rather glorious moments. So far these "glorious" moments have been pretty "glorious" since 2007!

Anyway, I was taking stock of the books I have (what's new?) when I suddenly realise I have more paperbacks than hardcovers. Hardcovers mostly belong to my parents (specifically my dad) whereas mine are mostly paperbacks.

I never realise this, but I prefer paperbacks. When I was young, a book to me is just a book. I did not really ask the difference between a hardback and a paperback, as long as it is readable and enjoyable. But I must say I started with hardbacks, as during my childhood years, most books are hardbacks. I did not have any paperbacks until upper primary.

I first heard the term "pocket book" from one of my former maids. She loves reading, and always ask if she can borrow my "pocket books". I wonder why she called them "pocket books" then she explained because the books (paperbacks) are small enough to fit into one's pocket.

Lately, I stumbled upon Pocket Books, and realise it is actually a publisher of paperback novels, just like Mills and Boon (which has since been acquired by Harlequin Enterprises) is a publisher of paperback romance novels. Personally, believe it or not, I have never read any Mills and Boon books. When I started actively reading, they were no longer in vogue. Mine was the era of Enid Blyton, Roald Dahl, Paula Danziger, Jeffrey Archer, Sidney Sheldon, Danielle Steel to name a few.

Pocket Books has since been acquired by Simon and Schuster, so the only paperbacks I have are from Penguin, Oxford World Classics, Bantam, Vintage and some other smaller publishers. The only hardcovers I have are my collection of Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys published by Grosset & Dunlap.

Which got me thinking - do I prefer hardcovers or paperbacks? The reason why I buy mostly paperbacks is because they are cheap and handy. I can bring them anywhere and everywhere I feel like reading! Hardcovers, on the other hand, are more expensive and bulky and take up more space.

Which is why I prefer paperbacks, but hardcovers are the classic kind of books. Long ago before paperbacks and pocket books were published, hardcovers rule the day. Hardcovers of classic stories are now very collectible items, hence the price tag.

But to me, a book is a book. I read for fun, for pleasure, for passion. It does not matter to me what kind of book as long as the story is good. But for convenience and economical purposes, I much rather get paperbacks, simply because they are cheaper and easier to carry around!

Once Upon A Milkshake

There is a new milkshake place near my office. Yesterday when my colleague and I were out for lunch, there were fliers being distributed. I was fascinated by the creativity of the name and the menu, so we decided to go there to check out the place after lunch. The place is situated in quite a nice location, directly in front of a carpark, so people going there will be able to see it.

It is called Once Upon A Milkshake, with flavours like Vainilla Pot (vanilla milkshake), Cerious Maple (maple syrup), Agent Strawberry, Grumbling Raisins (rum and raisin), Spooky Mocha, Nutty Peanut Butler, Sir Cookies and Cream and Chocolate Truffle Castle to name a few. As I said, the names are pretty innovative indeed!

There is the mini size and regular size. We ordered a regular size each, he the rum and raisin flavour and mine the vanilla flavour. It is really heavenly! The milkshake is so thick and sweet! Thank goodness it is just the vanilla flavour, imagine if I had taken the chocolate flavour I would have a sweet overdose (if that is even possible)!

I will highly recommend this place for desserts. Even if anything, the interior decoration itself is nice and cosy. I really salute the owner of this place for being innovative and creative, and I think the business may just start to boom!

Procession Of Mary

For the first time in my life, I went for the Novena Procession of the Virgin Mary on Sunday. After all the months of attending novenas and praying the rosary, it was an eye opener attending the procession. The procession started at six in the evening, but I was told to go early. I reached there before four, but the place was already almost full!

While waiting for the processing, I looked through the booklet and prayed the rosary. Then the procession started. The whole procession plus mass and sermon took about two hours. After that it was hard to get out due to the crowd. There were a lot of people! From inside the church to outside to all the way across the street! Hence, it took me almost another hour before I managed to find my way out.

The procession was good! At least I got to see the kind of devotion people has, that they do believe that their prayers will be answered, that there are really faithful people who adhere to what they believe.

To be frank, for someone who was not born in a Christian family, there are still many questions unanswered. All I can do now is to continue being faithful. I have never prayed so much in my life before, nor been involved in so many religious activities, but I do believe one must have faith for anything to happen.

Hopefully by the time next year's procession comes along, things would have changed on my side!

Another One Of Those Days!

I woke up on Saturday thinking it would be a good day, but some events left it “one of those days”! First, I got into a minor argument with my first brother who was in one of his moods and finding fault with everyone else.

Then, I was helping out at the booth at my school’s open house. Being a student volunteer / counselor, all I needed to do was to man the booth. I was not supposed to answer any queries regarding the course or administration, as that would be left to the staff there to answer. So there I was, sitting and manning the booth, looking for the staff in charge, when this old man suddenly appeared in front of me and started raising his voice at me for no rhyme or reason.

Before I even knew what happened, he demanded for my name, saying he would lodge a complaint with my manager for poor service! What poor service? Apparently, he sat at the seats just in front of the booth waiting and no one served him.

Erh… we were not supposed to serve anyone, the booth was there for anyone to go up and make enquiries, if one just sat there without going to the booth, how would we know he was there to make any enquiries in the first place?

So he kept shouting, saying there was no service, that he purposely sat there and observed how our respond was like, that he knew top people in the school, that we should not look down on him just because he is an old man wearing a lousy T-shirt, that he work in the government service and he could even take his Masters if he wanted, etc.

So what?! Does he expect someone to go and serve him tea, coffee and cakes and give him a massage before he deems it as good service? If he did not come to the booth, how would anyone know he was there to make enquiries? And so what if he works in the government service? Does he know my background? One request and I could easily get him demoted, if I wanted to.

The worst thing was that he kept insisting I had to apologise to him! He came right in front of me, shouting and screaming for no rhyme or reason, before I even knew what happened, I did not even say anything and he expected an apology?! I have never been so insulted in my life before! I am not saying I am a spoilt brat, but I do not need to take this kind of treatment from anyone! Even if I ought to show him respect because of his age, still, respect is earned and not demanded. I think I am showing him enough respect by not screaming in his face already.

Luckily one of the staff saw what happened and came over. He continued hurling abuse and complaining, demanding for my name, but the staff member told him that I was not a staff and I was not there to answer queries, just to man the booth. He then said must be people like me that was not trained so bring down the whole service standard! I was so fuming mad!

He wants to mess with me? If I am to be really arrogant, I can flash my namecard, job scope and qualifications in front of him! See what he has to say to that! And he thinks we are looking down on him when he is the one looking down on others!

I thought that nasty incident would at least be made up by the Michael Learns to Rock concert that day, but for some reason, I became blind and saw the date wrongly. My stupid brain registered Saturday instead of Friday, so we were one day late for the concert and missed the whole thing!

I was so upset with myself! Besides wasting the tickets, the one time they actually came here for a concert tour, I had to miss it! Now I wonder just when they are coming back again! So heartbreaking! It was really one of those bad days when everything seemed to go wrong!

Hacked! - Conclusion

The conclusion to my hacker episode. For the first part, please refer here. For the sequel, please refer here. A continuation after I emailed to Rapid Share, informing them someone accessed my account and signed up for their product using my name. And this is their reply :

from : RapidShare AG - Support Team
to : (me)
date : Fri, Sep 4, 2009 at 2:52 PM
subject : Re: [Ticket#2009090310004931] RapidShare - Your access data
mailed-by : rapidshare.com

Hello (my name),

we are sorry someone abused your PayPal account to pay for our service.

If you have not already done so, we urgently recommend you to change your PayPal account's password. The payment has been refunded. You will also receive an e-mail from PayPal containing the details.

The RapidShare account that was ordered has been locked.

Best regards, Support Team
RapidShare AG
Gewerbestrasse 6 6330 Cham Switzerland

Tel: +41 41 748 78 80
Fax: +41 41 748 78 99
Web: http://www.rapidshare.com
Email: support@rapidshare.com

Dies ist eine vertrauliche Nachricht und nur für den Adressaten bestimmt. Es ist nicht erlaubt, diese Nachricht zu kopieren oder Dritten zugänglich zu machen. Sollten Sie irrtümlich diese Nachricht erhalten haben, bitte ich um Ihre Mitteilung per E-Mail oder unter der oben angegebenen Telefonnummer.

This message is confidential and intended for the recipient only. It is not allowed to copy this message, or to make it accessible for third parties. If you are not the intended recipient, please notify the sender by email, or by the above telephone number.

And as proof of their good word, I received this from PayPal :

from : service@paypal.com.sg
to : (me)
date : Fri, Sep 4, 2009 at 3:03 PM
subject : Payment refund from RapidShare AG
signed-by : paypal.com.sg

04 Sep. 2009 15:03 SGT
Transaction ID: 82X25282VU7955328

Hello (my name),

You received a full or partial refund of €16.99 EUR from RapidShare AG. To see all the transaction details, please log in to your PayPal account. It may take a few moments for this transaction to appear in your account.

Merchant information
RapidShare AG
paypal@rapidshare.com
http://rapidshare.com
+41 417487880

Note from merchant
Wrong payment.

Original transaction details
Description Unit price Qty Amount
RapidShare.com - PREMIUM (90 days)
Item no: 16 €16.99 EUR 1 €16.99 EUR
Compensation: ----

Total: €16.99 EUR

Questions? Visit the Help Centre at: https://www.paypal.com/sg/help.

Thanks for using PayPal – the safer, easier way to pay and get paid online. Please do not reply to this email. This mailbox is not monitored and you will not receive a response.

Copyright ©1999-2009 PayPal.

All rights reserved. Consumer advisory- PayPal Pte. Ltd., the holder of PayPal’s stored value facility, does not require the approval of the Monetary Authority of Singapore. Users are advised to read the terms and conditions carefully.

PayPal Email ID

At least online companies do have enough integrity and goodwill! I sure hope nothing like this ever happen again!

How To Marry A Rich Man (Fantastic Reply!)

A friend sent me this via email. I find it really amusing albeit true! Should "educate" all those men who are looking for pretty girls and all those women who are looking for rich men!

A young and pretty lady posted this on a popular forum:
Title: What should I do to marry a rich guy?

I'm going to be honest of what I'm going to say here:
I'm 25 this year.
I'm very pretty, have style and good taste.
I wish to marry a guy with $500k annual salary or above.
You might say that I'm greedy, but an annual salary of $1M is considered only as middle class in New York.
My requirement is not high:
Is there anyone in this forum who has an income of $500k annual salary?
Are you all married?
I wanted to ask: what should I do to marry rich persons like you?
Among those I've dated, the richest is $250k annual income, and it seems that this is my upper limit. If someone is going to move
into high cost residential area on the west of New York City Garden, $250k annual income is not enough.

I'm here humbly to ask a few questions:

1) Where do most rich bachelors hang out?
(Please list down the names and addresses of bars, restaurant, gym)
2) Which age group should I target?
3) Why most wives of the riches is only average-looking?
I've met a few girls who doesn't have looks and are not interesting, but they are able to marry rich guys.
4) How do you decide who can be your wife, and who can only be your girlfriend? (my target now is to get married)

Ms. Pretty

Awesome reply:
Dear Ms. Pretty,

I have read your post with great interest.
Guess there are lots of girls out there who have similar questions like yours.
Please allow me to analyse your situation as a professional investor.
My annual income is more than $500k, which meets your requirement, so I hope everyone believes that I'm not wasting time here.
From the standpoint of a business person, it is a bad decision to marry you. The answer is very simple, so let me explain.

Put the details aside, what you're trying to do is an exchange of "beauty" and "money":
Person A provides beauty, and Person B pays for it, fair and square.
However, there's a deadly problem here, your beauty will fade, but my money will not be gone without any good reason.
The fact is, my income might increase from year to year, but you can't be prettier year after year.
Hence from the viewpoint of economics, I am an appreciation asset, and you are a depreciation asset.
It's not just normal depreciation, but exponential depreciation.
If that is your only asset, your value will be much worried 10 years later.

By the terms we use in Wall Street, every trading has a position, dating with you is also a "trading position".
If the trade value dropped we will sell it and it is not a good idea to keep it for long term - same goes with the marriage that you wanted.
It might be cruel to say this, but in order to make a wiser decision any assets with great depreciation value will be sold or "leased".
Anyone with over $500k annual income is not a fool; we would only date you, but will not marry you.
I would advice that you forget looking for any clues to marry a rich guy.
And by the way, you could make yourself to become a rich person with $500k annual income. This has better chance than finding a rich fool.
Hope this reply helps. If you are interested in "leasing" services, do contact me...

J.P. Morgan CEO

Family Portrait

My family portrait is out! I must say, I do come from a good looking family (except me). Everyone just blends in with each other. All look tall and elegant, whereas I look round. The camera really takes on all your flaws, no wonder brides take pains to slim down so much so they can look good during the photo shoots! Now I wonder just how my other photo shoot looks like.

I notice something about the family portraits. The couples look like each other! The reason why people look at a couple and deem them as matching is really dependent on how they look! Somehow they look alike, maybe what the Chinese say "couple look". Or maybe they have grown accustomed to each other, hence start looking like each other.

The most interesting thing is we have mixed couples. My two cousins' Caucasian wives were in the photo too, yet they too, look like their husbands, despite being of a totally different race altogether! That is what makes it interesting, is it not? Otherwise we will be all of the same colour and all will look the same, then the colour scheme will be duller!

Post-Incorporation Of Companies

Yesterday evening, I attended the second session of the Corporate Governance course. This time the instructor touched on post-incorporation, on what is needed when companies are to be incorporated, and what is needed after the company has been incorporated.

Essentially, when companies have been incorporated, one has to choose the directors, the company secretary as the main administrator, the number of shares, which entity, share certificates, share capital, what is the par value and the Memorandum and Articles of Association.

These are nothing which I have not already known, but attending the class at least refreshes my mind. After the practical part comes the theory part, knowing what to do and when to do things. All along when I have been dealing with corporate matters, I know more or less what is going on, but only after attending the lesson that I realise why all these things are so necessary and why none can be left out.

Before that, I just went with the flow without asking many questions, and know these are what required but never knew why. Whenever I asked, the supervisor would just say these are what was required for compliance, without telling me the reasons. So now I know why, and from there, I hope to be able to contribute more with my newfound knowledge!

Hacked! - Continued

More about my hacker saga. Rapid Share actually replied after that person sent an email, using my name, asking why was the account blocked.

From “me”: why my account is blocked ??? (Exact reproduction, I only copied and pasted without amending anything).

The reply :

from : RapidShare AG - Support Team
to : (me)
date : Thu, Sep 3, 2009 at 2:19 PM
subject : Re: [Ticket#2009090310004931] RapidShare - Your access data
mailed-by : rapidshare.com

Hello,

Your message has been forwarded to the according department to clarify the situation.

Best regards,

Jeremy
RapidShare Support

RapidShare AG
Gewerbestrasse 6
6330 Cham
Switzerland

Tel: +41 41 748 78 80
Fax: +41 41 748 78 99

Web: http://www.rapidshare.com
Email: support@rapidshare.com

Dies ist eine vertrauliche Nachricht und nur für den Adressaten bestimmt. Es ist nicht erlaubt, diese Nachricht zu kopieren oder Dritten zugänglich zu machen. Sollten Sie irrtümlich diese Nachricht erhalten haben, bitte ich um Ihre Mitteilung per E-Mail oder unter der oben angegebenen Telefonnummer.

This message is confidential and intended for the recipient only. It is not allowed to copy this message, or to make it accessible for third parties. If you are not the intended recipient, please notify the sender by email, or by the above telephone number.

A few hours later, Rapid Share sent “me” another email :

from : RapidShare AG - Support Team
to : (me)
date : Thu, Sep 3, 2009 at 8:21 PM
subject : Re: [Ticket#2009090310004931] RapidShare - Your access data
mailed-by : rapidshare.com

Hello,

PayPal has temporarily put your payment on hold. Maybe there is a problem with your PayPal account, but unfortunately we do not know the exact reason. We recommend you to contact PayPal to ask what caused the problem. Please refer to the payment from the 3rd of September 2009 so they can identify the payment.

Best regards,

Support Team

RapidShare AG
Gewerbestrasse 6
6330 Cham
Switzerland

Tel: +41 41 748 78 80
Fax: +41 41 748 78 99

Web: http://www.rapidshare.com
Email: support@rapidshare.com

Dies ist eine vertrauliche Nachricht und nur für den Adressaten bestimmt. Es ist nicht erlaubt, diese Nachricht zu kopieren oder Dritten zugänglich zu machen. Sollten Sie irrtümlich diese Nachricht erhalten haben, bitte ich um Ihre Mitteilung per E-Mail oder unter der oben angegebenen Telefonnummer.

This message is confidential and intended for the recipient only. It is not allowed to copy this message, or to make it accessible for third parties. If you are not the intended recipient, please notify the sender by email, or by the above telephone number.

I was pretty amused when I read that. Perhaps it is not their fault since it came from PayPal, but sometimes I wonder, do organizations not check whether the account was valid from the exact person rather than just accepting payment from just anyone? Do they not do more stringent security measures? Anyway, this was my reply :

from : (me)
to : RapidShare AG - Support Team
date : Thu, Sep 3, 2009 at 10:49 PM
subject : Re: [Ticket#2009090310004931] RapidShare - Your access data
mailed-by : (my email server)

Hi,

Please note that my email account was hacked today, so whoever sent the payment and email to you, it wasn't me. Paypal has sent me an email stating that a third party accessed my account and they have temporarily suspended that account as a security measure. I have stopped the payment. Thank you for taking note and sorry for any inconvenience caused.

Best Regards,
(sign off)

Now I am waiting to see what reply they will give me, if any!

All Signs Pointing To CHOICE

Is it not amazing how things just happen to right themselves? Perhaps right is not the right word to use. But it is amazing how everything just happened by chance and make one realize the things that are meant to be.

For instance if I did not happen to meet a certain friend, I would not have known about CHOICE. I even went to CHOICE not expecting anything, and even at the end of it all, I felt I went in and came out without much change to my emotional state, unlike some others.

Yet somehow I got involved in CHOICE, with the Prayer Meets, the Asian Conference committee, the recent Housekeeping weekend and the story-telling sessions to see if I could present. For some reason, I feel more enthusiastic about the CHOICE activities than my own church or parish activities!

Anyway I was due for a Dinner and Dance in Bangkok at the end of this month. I was kind of looking forward to that and even catered all grooming sessions nearer that date. Then two weekends ago, one of my presenters during my CHOICE weekend told us about a retreat in September. For some reason, I had a yearning to go for that, but the date clashed with the Bangkok trip.

So I was checking out flight details to Bangkok, but something told me to hold first, even though the air tickets were going at very incredible prices on first-class carriers! Hence I decided to hold and get the tickets later on. Actually last week, I was contemplating whether I should proceed with the Bangkok trip. Somehow, something told me to stay here around that week. I have no idea why, but my inner voice told me to stay here and not go anywhere.

Then this week, I was told the Bangkok trip was off. I should be disappointed, but for some reason, I was quite relieved instead. Normally I would get upset when a trip is cancelled, but this time round, I actually felt happy, no idea why!

Today, I received an email about the retreat at end of September. Suddenly the strong urge came again to sign up, and I just did. This retreat is exclusively for committee members or those who have already attended the weekends and have become part of the family. And I felt peaceful after signing up.

Somehow I wonder if it is a sign that I really should go for this retreat? Seems like it is in God’s plan that I should just stay on and be more involved, which suits me! Finally, after so long, I found a religious group that I really love and belong to! Perhaps more things will come right!

Hacked!

I got hacked today! That stupid bugger accessed my email at the same time I did and tried to shift my items around, right in front of my eyes! I have known since a long time ago that no information is safe in a web portal. However, the reputable companies do try to have as stringent security measures as possible. Hence I never had a problem doing online purchasing.

So today when I received a notification from PayPal saying my transaction was approved, I got a big shock! SOMEONE had used MY account and signed up somewhere, costing 16.99 Euros! I got the entire transaction and email slip!

03 Sep. 2009 11:23 SGT
Transaction ID: 5G152852K5919015S

Hello [my name],

You sent a payment of €16.99 EUR to RapidShare AG (webmaster@rapidshare.com)

It may take a few moments for this transaction to appear in your account.

Merchant
RapidShare AG
webmaster@rapidshare.com

Instructions to merchant
You haven't entered any instructions. Description Unit price Qty Amount RapidShare.com - PREMIUM (90 days)
Item Number 16 16.99 EUR 1 €16.99 EUR Subtotal €16.99 EUR

Total €16.99 EUR

Payment €16.99 EUR Charge will appear on your credit card statement as 'PAYPAL *RAPIDSHARE'

Payment sent to webmaster@rapidshare.com

From amount $35.90 SGD To amount €16.99 EUR Exchange rate: 1 SGD = 0.473259 EUR

Issues with this transaction?
You have 45 days from the date of the transaction to open a dispute in the Resolution Centre.

Questions? Go to the Help Centre at: www.paypal.com/ch/help.

Get verified – Pay from your bank account and you're 100% protected against unauthorised payments sent from your PayPal account. Log in and click the Unverified link below your name.

Please do not reply to this email. This mailbox is not monitored and you will not receive a response. For assistance, log in to your PayPal account and click Help in the top right corner of any PayPal page.

To receive email notifications in plain text instead of HTML, log in to your PayPal account, go to your Profile, and click Notifications.

Then another email was followed, this time by Rapid Share, the company which I supposedly paid to :

RapidShare AG
to [my email address]
date : Thu, Sep 3, 2009 at 11:23 AM
subject : RapidShare - Your access data
mailed-by : rapidshare.com

Dear customer,

Thank you for your purchase. Your Premium account has been activated and you can now download data easily and without waiting. Please ensure that your browser accepts cookies.

==============================
Login: 10584284
Password: SsMMvVUZ
==============================

In the Premium Zone you can adjust settings to download in an even more convenient way.

How does the download function work for a Premium member?

For example, when you click on a link in a forum, a guestbook or in an e-mail message, you will get to the RapidShare page and a selection screen will appear. At the bottom of the list click on the "Premium" button. You may need to scroll down a bit. If you have already used your Premium Account, RapidShare recognizes a cookie and you can save the file immediately. If you are logging in for the first time, you get an error message. Under the message you can enter your access data, and then save the desired file. Your cookie will be automatically recognized when you visit RapidShare again.

As described in our FAQ, RapidShare offers no search function. Only the owner of the file has the download link and decides to whom to pass it. However, references appear on websites or in forums, which can often be found using a search engine.

Best regards,

Your RapidShare Support Team

RapidShare AG
Gewerbestrasse 6
6330 Cham
Switzerland

Web: http://www.rapidshare.com

This message is confidential and intended for the recipient only. It is not allowed to copy this message, or to make it accessible for third parties. If you are not the intended recipient, please notify the sender by email.

Immediately after that, Paypal sent another email :

from : service@paypal.com.sg
to : [my email address]
date : Thu, Sep 3, 2009 at 11:23 AM
subject : Notification of Limited Account Access RXI052
signed-by : paypal.com.sg

Dear [my name],

As part of our security measures, we regularly screen activity in the PayPal system. During a recent screening, we noticed an issue regarding your account.

We have reason to believe that your account was accessed by a third party. Because protecting the security of your account is our primary concern, we have limited access to sensitive PayPal account features. We understand that this may be an inconvenience but please understand that this temporary limitation is for your protection.

Reference Number: PP-778-594-569

For your protection, we have limited access to your account until additional security measures can be completed. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.

To review your account and some or all of the information that PayPal used to make its decision to limit your account access, please visit the Resolution Centre. If, after reviewing your account information, you seek further clarification regarding your account access, please contact PayPal by visiting the Help Centre and clicking "Contact Us".

We thank you for your prompt attention to this matter. Please understand that this is a security measure intended to help protect you and your account. We apologise for any inconvenience.

Yours sincerely,

PayPal Account Review Department

Please do not reply to this email. This mailbox is not monitored and you will not receive a response. For assistance, log in to your PayPal account and click the Help link in the top right corner of any PayPal page.

----------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright ©1999-2009 PayPal. All rights reserved.

Consumer advisory- PayPal Pte. Ltd., the holder of PayPal’s stored value facility, does not require the approval of the Monetary Authority of Singapore.

Users are advised to read the terms and conditions carefully.

PayPal Email ID

Nevertheless, I called the bank immediately. The officer told me that S$35.90 was charged (equivalent amount to 16.99 Euro), so I told her it was a fraudulent transaction and to have it cancelled. Hence she blocked my card immediately and told me that a new card would be on its way over.

Then when I was accessing my email account, RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME, someone replied to Rapid Share, stating “Why my account is blocked???”. Then that person deleted all references to paypal and Rapid Share! I tried to resurrect it from the Trash, but he played with my items and even removed them for me! Hence, some items from my Inbox were removed too! Even my email chat could not work for that interim!

Luckily I copied and pasted the emails as evidence. At the bottom of my email account, the message stated there “Your account is being accessed at 1 other location”, with the IP address stated. So I checked my records and that particular person accessed my account for three minutes, created havoc in my Inbox, and refused to let me sign out! When I could finally sign out, I changed my password immediately.

My friend told me to stop using that email account and change to another one altogether, but if I am to change email address again, it is going to create trouble for others since they have to replace my email address all over again!

So I did a track and turned out that the person who accessed my account was using a server from Jakarta. This is what the report look like :

IP Address: 114.125.22.82
Source: whois.apnic.net
Prefix: 114/8
Designation: APNIC
Status: ALLOCATED % [whois.apnic.net node-1] % Whois data copyright terms http://www.apnic.net/db/dbcopyright.html

inetnum: 114.120.0.0 - 114.127.255.255
netname: TELKOMSEL-ID
descr: PT. Telekomunikasi Selular (Telkomsel) Indonesia
descr: Cellular Network Provider
descr: Jakarta Pusat
country: ID
admin-c: HT318-AP
tech-c: HT318-AP
remarks: Send Spam & Abuse Reports to:
remarks: [Email Removed]
status: ALLOCATED PORTABLE
mnt-by: MNT-APJII-ID
mnt-lower: MAINT-ID-TELKOMSEL
mnt-routes: MAINT-ID-TELKOMSEL
changed: [Email Removed] 20080522
changed: [Email Removed] 20090109
source: APNIC

person: Hostmaster Telkomsel
nic-hdl: HT318-AP
e-mail: [Email Removed]
address: PT. Telkomsel
address: Wisma Mulia, lt.8
address: Jl. Gatot Subroto 42
address: Jakarta
phone: +62-21-5240811
fax-no: +62-21-5272977
country: ID
changed: [Email Removed] 20090109
mnt-by: MAINT-ID-TELKOMSEL
source: APNIC

I cannot believe this can actually happen to me! Now short of stop using the internet and email altogether, what else can I do to prevent being hacked? How did those people even manage to get my personal information in the first place?? The most ironic thing is that I got hacked ON MY OFFICE LAPTOP, when it was supposed to be more secure than my home, yet I never once got hacked when I was using my own laptop at home! @%^#*(&(@(Y!!!