Bittersweet Experience
With the closing of this chapter in my life, I will always treasure the memories shared and the friendship made and I hereby sincerely wish the very best for all the men from 258SA!
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Escapades
State of Being : Moscow, St Petersburg, Toronto & New York...
It has been a while since I last posted anything. Nowadays, I am more preoccupied with updating my Facebook account. In any case, here are some photos taken at my most recent travelling "escapades"! Enjoy...
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Back in Moscow on the 7th day...
State of Being : Blogging "live" from Swissotel Moscow Executive Lounge
But unfortunately, that was not the case as somehow the temperature must have changed over the past 4 days while I was away in St Petersburg. In fact, the wind was just as chilling in Moscow on day 7 as the temperature was in St Petersburg, only sans the rain. Luckily, we have already covered most of the attractions in Moscow over the previous weekend and had only left to explore the metros and the markets.
To make matter worse, not only were the weather in Moscow "unviting", we were stopped by the Moscow police for some routine check and had to pay them some "coffee money" to be let off. Thankfully on the advise of one of my colleagues, I had carried photostated copies of our passports rather than the actual ones, so that the police could not hold us random but alas they still asked that we pay them 2,000 rubles!!! just to get back those papers. I acted pitiful and surrended only 250 rubles in the end, claiming that we have already spent the rest and were leaving Russia the next day. Sigh, we have read so much about these corrupted police in the travel guide and online forum and were hoping that we would not run into them but still...
Having survived such an eventful day in Russia, I definitely hope that tomorrow will be a better day!!
p.s. I can't wait to go back to Singapore in two days time so as to bitch more about those cops and our close encounters with some pickpockets in St Petersburg (yes the nerve of those pickpockets!)
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Angels & Demons
State of Being : Reminiscing 2008's Europe Trip...
Alas, below are the only photos from my Europe trip last year which had been the location shots for some of the scenes from the movie... And no, we did not have any photos of the said statues that were shown in the movie. :(
The Pantheon
St Peter's Square
Swiss Guards
St Peter's Basilica & St Peter's baldachin
Piazza del Popolo
峇峇娘惹
State of Being : Peranakan Food Galore!!
Out of all the dishes eaten during that trip, I'll have to give my votes to the Chinchalok Omelette & the Durian Chendol. "Simply Sedap"!!! *slurp*
Chinchalok Omelette
Durian Chendol
From top left (clockwise) - Ayam Ponteh, Udang Asam Lemak, Asam Udang, Chendol & Asam Laksa, Ayam Buah Keluak, Otak-Otak, Nyonya Chap Chye, Chicken Rice Ball
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Welcome Back Singa!
4.5
Yes, it's official now. The company has just instructed us to work 4.5 days per week starting in April. In simple equation terms, this would mean
4.5 workday week
= 2 days complusory "leave" per month
= 2 days unpaid leave per month
= almost 10% cut in monthly $$$!!!
Well, I guess I still have to be thankful cos at least I still have a job...
Ainol V6000 HDB
Whenever there's an IT Fair, I'll be there and last weekend was no exception. I went to the IT Fair with the intention to get a portable media player that could support multi format videos and most importantly a video-out for me to watch the videos on my 32" TV screen. The iPod touch which I had, does not allow video-out and the troublesome thing is that I had to convert most of my videos (downloaded over the net) into mp4 format in order for me to carry and view them on the go. Thinking perhaps that Creative's zen x-fi could satisfy all my needs in a portable media player, I checked out the product as well. But alas, it too does have a video-out function. Desperate that there wasn't any media players in the market with the specifications I wanted, I loitered aimlessly amongst the many booths at the IT Fair.
Then something caught my eyes at one of the smaller booths on level 6. Even though it was a Chinese product, but it had all the specs I wanted and more - a 4.3-inch 480 x 272 resolution display, 8GB of internal storage space, expanded microSD slot, support for RMVB, AVI and FLV video files and HD (720p) output. Due to the overwhelming response at the fair, I even had to place an order for the item. But my wait was finally over as I got my hands on my Ainol V6000HDB portable media on Friday. Hooray!!! I can finally watch my downloaded videos (with high definition option) on my 32" TV screen now!!!
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#1 in My iPod for 03.09
State of Being : Still a goddess at 55!!
Shining Light - Annie Lennox
- Latest single taken from Eurthymics' former front lady - Annie Lennox's "Best Of" collection, "The Annie Lennox Collection" (2009)
- Originally a single by Ireland alternative rock band Ash, Annie Lennox's cover of "Shining Light" is her most commerical single in some time
- Available only by download via amazon or Itunes, this pop single became Lennox's first UK top 40 solo hit since 1995's "Medusa" album, which gave us timeless hits like "No More I Love You's" & "A Whiter Shade Of Pale" both also available in the greatest hits collection
- In short, I simply luv this up lifting single, which has has just renewed my interest in all of Annie Lennox's hits when she was part of the duo in Eurthymics!!!
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Watchmen - [3/5 stars]
State of Being : Unconventional Heroes
Directed by Zack Snyder, Watchmen is a 2009 film adaptation based on the 1986-1987 twelve-issue comic book limited series of the same name by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. Reminiscence of his earlier 2007 film adaption of the graphic novel "300", the fighting scenes here are heavily stylized, using slow motion camera work.
While most conventional superheroes have alter ego hidden identities and perform vigilante activities on their own, the heroes here are mostly salaried government employees whose duties are to rid the cities of crime and to defend the country in times of war. Leave your perceptions of the superheroes fantasy behind before you watch this movie. Expect the unexpected from the "good" guys here as several of the heroes in Watchmen are extremely violent and often resort to using brute force to intimidate the criminals into submission. I was especially taken aback by this one scene whereby The Comedian hammered the skull of an enemy's head repeatedly with a large chopper, with extensive blood splashing all over the crime scene - definitely not for the faint-hearted!
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#1 in My iPod for 02.09
State of Being : P!nk Rocks!
Please Don't Leave Me - Pink
- Another potential hit single, after "So What" & "Sober", with addictive mid-tempo arrangement detailing a love-hate relationship
- Co-written by Pink and famed pop songwriter/producer Max Martin, this is the 3rd single from Pink's fifth studio album "Funhouse" (2008)
- The highly unique and unusual music video for this pop-rock single draws influences from the Stephen King based film Misery, as well as other similar thrillers. It utilizes both the horror/thriller genre, while also being interpretable as a dark comedy.
- In short, this single is so catchy that it will just linger on in your head after just one listening!
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Private Access
That being said, it amazes me that there are people out there who are willing to share almost anything and everything about themselves with ANYONE! While celebrities are dying to keep their private lives out of the spotlight, we have another group of people who are all too willing to disclose the entire chapters of their personal lives - from courtship outings, anniversary celebrations, proposal butterflies, wedding preparations, house renovation, pregnancy joys, etc etc on the world wide web. Are they doing it for the attention or are they simply just so open to posting their own lives for others to scrutinize???
While I would like to stress that I am not adverse to sharing this info with family and friends, but when the info is posted on the internet via medium such as facebook or blogs where any Tom, Dick & Harry can have ready knowledge & access to my personal lives, that's where I'll draw the line!
"Dancing" Colby
State of Being : CUTE!!
Check out this interesting sight of Colby!
#1 in My iPod for 01.09
State of Being : Propulsive blast of rock-tinged pop!
My Life Would Suck Without You - Kelly Clarkson
- Taken from her upcoming fourth studio album "All I Ever Wanted" (2009)
- A follow up to her last critically acclaimed album "My December" (2007)
- The single has already broken Billboard Chart history by becoming the fastest climbing single jumping from #97 to #1 spot!
- The pop rock single is reminiscent to her earlier hit singles "Breakaway', "Since U Been Gone" & "Because Of You" taken from the most successful "Idol" alumn album to date, her second studio album "Breakaway" (2004)
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Funny Ad
At the bar
visiting the loos after having a drop too much...
What happens after a ONS with someone at the bar...
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