Cool Interior Designs!

Current Song in Head: The song from the website I'm introducing in this post.

As some of you may already know, my house is going to be 'renovated' soon. Thats what my parents call it, renovation. But from the type of works that is going to be done, I'll rather call it a repair. Difference being, only the damaged parts of the house are going to be changed.

Ok, I'm being a little harsh here, cause a few walls are going to be knocked down too. But other than that, there isn't much renovation done. Even the rooms where extensions are being made won't have a change in the room's floor tile. This really bugs me, cause it means that half the room would have tiles circa 1985 and the other half circa 2005. Thank goodness I managed to solve that problem for my room. The extended part of the room would be having Parquet, thus giving it a distinct contrast from the currently existing white floor tiles. Boy, I'm really please with actually being able to think of this idea.

Back to the case in point. Since my house is going to be 'renovated', I've been on a look out for ideas that i can implement in my new room. I've been to Ikea and various furniture shops. Even one that customises cupboards to your own needs. I've borrowed various interior design books. All this with the hope that I'll be able to make a nice room which I actually want to go home to. Obviously my father's money saving mentality isn't helping. He doesn't want to change a 20 year old fridge, what chance do I have in changing a 9 years old bed? But I'm not going to be deterred.

Besides getting ideas from books, I'm also checking out various websites. Here's one that really looks impressive. And best of all, its a Flash MX based website (my FYP was done using Flash, but it isn't even a quarter times as good). http://www.whitecorps.com/whitespaceliving/index.htm This is actually an interior design firm, explains why everything in there is so cool. Check out the menu cursor! It moves with your mouse cursor! And look at how the picture slides across the screen! Cool! I can probably do something like that if I actually invest some time into it. Haha...

Alrighty, going to check out the website more, though the song is really getting irritating...

Sniffing Arse and Psycho Dogs

Current Song in Head: Clubbed to Death, Rob Dougan

Just got back from a round of night blading (read: in-line skating at night), and it was really enjoyable. Simply love the smell of the warm salty sea breeze feeling my nose, the feeling of breezing through East Coast Park and the parking of my car. Erm... Hmmm.... Doesn't sound right.

Anyway, back to the point, when you're alone skating in the night, you tend to notice things that you would otherwise not pick up when you're with your friends. I'm not talking about sightings of paranoia or couples making out here, although if you're lucky/unlucky, you might catch some of the latter. Rather, I'm talking abt interesting but inane things.

Today, I came across 2 such incidents. The first was a little less interesting. A group of friends were walking their dogs, mostly Jack Russels. And this group came a cross a cat. Subsequently, the group of dogs just went psycho and started barking at the cat. Thankfully, the owners had the dogs leashed. In any case, the kitty seems rather nonchalent about this.

Although it was cornered at a tree trunk it just stared at the Jack Russels without a tinge of fear. I know some pussies that would just scamper up the tree or shit in their boots, but not this kitty. Heck, I won't be surprised if this kitty was actually saying something like, "Neh, nanny-boo boo, you can't catch me! You're leashed and I'm not!"

Sometimes I wonder, are dogs dumb or what? Ever noticed how cats always get the better of dogs in comics? And how dogs are always potrayed as a dumb animal? Odie always got his arse kicked by Garfied.

Talking about arses, the second incident that I came across today involved some arse sniffing. Yep, arse sniffing, not arse licking. After the Psycho Dogs Incident, I came across yet another group of dogs lovers walking their dogs. This time they were mostly Golden Retrievers. Okay, there was this particular Golden Retriever which seems to be having a field day sniffing another Golden Retriever's arse.

And then this got me thinking. Arse sniffing may well be the way a dog checks out the babes/bitches. I'm sure all of you have a friend that would check out every babe in the room by rudely staring at them. Well, in the dog's world, arse sniffing is equivalent to rudely staring at girls. The following conversation probably happened at a bar for dogs.

"Hey Rusty, check out that bitch, some nice smelling arse she has," commented Spot

Rusty proceeds to place his sniffer at the bitch's arse.

"Yeah, Spot, couldn't agree with you more, great arse."

"You can't go wrong with an arse smelling like that," howled Spot.

"Bet-cha she's a real tigress in the Kennel," offered Rusty.

Yep, I certainly think that arse sniffing is a dog's way of checking out the bitches. Alrighty, thats all for now. Should go blading at night more often, then I'll be able to come up with my inane and insane ideas. Ciao for now!

Tuesdays with Morrie

Current Song in Head: The Scientist, Coldplay

Just finished reading Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom. May have took me quite a while to finish reading such as short book, but it was a really good read. For those of you not familiar with the book, you should grab a copy and read it. Basically, Morrie is the author's University professor and friend, and before he kicked the bucket, he taught some the author some of life greatest lessons.

It's funny how the way Morrie sees life and the world is pretty similar to how I perceive they should be. Case in point: the material possessions that we have are of no importance to us eventually. Maybe its because I'm raised in a pretty well to do family, I have never really treasured the importance of making as much money as one possibly can. To me my basic believe is that a person should be happy with what he is doing and comfortable with what he is doing. And besides that, he should not hurt others in the process of achieving something. This is another ideal that I seem to share with Morrie. Haha... Maybe someone should make me a professor.

But the most interesting common ideal that I share with dear old Morrie is best illustrated in the excerpt below...

In 1979, a basketball game in the Brandeis gym, The team is doing well, and the student section began a chant, "We're number one! We're number one!". Morrie is sitting nearby. He is puzzled by the cheer. At one point, in the midst of "We're number one!", he rises and yells, "What's wrong with number two?" The students looked at him. They stop chanting. He sits down, smiling and triumphant.

Yep, whats wrong with not being number 1? Whats wrong with being number 2? Maybe its because of this mentality that I'm underachieving most of my life. But heck, I'm comfortable with it, and I'm still happy. So I'll stick to being number 2 or 3 or whatever. Kind of feel that society's urge for us to be the best in whatever we do makes the majority of us live a miserable life. Granted, there are some that would actually attain the goal of being the best in what they do, but this percentage is so small. Consequently, this means that the majority of us who have not attained the seemingly impossible goal of being number 1 would be unhappy, just because we did not achieve what we set out to do.

So everyone, why not give yourself a break, make yourself happy, set yourself a target you can achieve. Preferbly a target that is low. That way you'll also be happy when you're in the process of setting the goal. Hehe... Some kind of inspiration book Tuesdays with Morrie was. But I'm not complaining, I certainly loved it. Would have loved to meet Morrie too.

P.S.: My little princess warned me against reading this book. Says that its not meant for me. I can see why after finishing it. It just re-affirms my 'bad' principles in life. Haha... It feels good to know that there are people of 'higher' learning who holds the same beliefs as me.

Interesting Fact of the Day: Mitch Albom was my brother's professor at Cambridge. Wow!

Hmmm... I'm wondering, did I take Morrie's lessons the wrong way? Haha... But in order to make myself happy, I'll assume that I didn't!

Old E-mails...

Current Song in Head: Some James Blunt Song, don't know what the title is...

Was doing some cleaning up with my mail box today, and check out the treasures I found in it! Lets start off with something for the guys... Its a simple list of things guys want their girlfriends to know...

The Guys' Rules

We always hear "the rules" from the female side. Now here are the rules from the male side. These are our rules!

1. Learn to work the toilet seat. You're a big girl. If it's up, put it down. We need it up, you need it down. You don't hear us complaining about you leaving it down.

2. Sunday sports. It's like the full moon or the changing of the tides. Let it be.

3. Shopping is NOT a sport. And no, we are never going to think of> it that way.

4. Crying is blackmail.

5. Ask for what you want. Let us be clear on this one: Subtle hints do not work! Strong hints do not work! Obvious hints do not> work! Just say it!

6. Yes and No are perfectly acceptable answers to almost every question.

7. Come to us with a problem only if you want help solving it. That's what we do. Sympathy is what your girlfriends are for.

8. A headache that lasts for 17 months is a problem. See a doctor.

9. Anything we said 6 months ago is inadmissible in an argument. In fact, all comments become null and void after 7 days.

10. If you won't dress like the Victoria's Secret girls, don't expect us to act like soap opera guys.

11. If you think you're fat, you probably are. Don't ask us.

12. If something we said can be interpreted two ways and one of the ways makes you sad or angry, we meant the other one.

13. You can either ask us to do something or tell us how you want it done. Not both. If you already know best how to do it, just do it yourself.

14. Whenever possible, please say whatever you have to say during commercials.

15. Christopher Columbus did not need directions and neither do we.

16. ALL men see in only 16 colors, like Windows default settings. Peach, for example, is a fruit, not a color. Pumpkin is also a fruit. We have no idea what mauve is.

17. If it itches, it will be scratched. We do that.

18. If we ask what is wrong and you say "nothing," we will act like nothing's wrong. We know you are lying, but it is just not worth the hassle.

19. If you ask a question you don't want an answer to, expect an answer you don't want to hear.

20. When we have to go somewhere, absolutely anything you wear is fine...Really.

21. Don't ask us what we're thinking about unless you are prepared to discuss such topics as baseball, the shotgun formation, or monster trucks.

22. You have enough clothes.

23. You have too many shoes.

24. I am in shape. Round is a shape.

25. Thank you for reading this. Yes, I know, I have to sleep on the couch tonight; but did you know men really don't mind that? It's like camping.

Funny huh? Girls would probably find it enlightening... Ok, here's a picture for the programming nerds out there. If you don't understand it, lucky you. Pity I understand it... Soon I might just be making jokes about IP addresses or redundant servers. Sounds cheem huh? Bleah...

And here's something absolutely disgusting...

And finally, my all time favourite... Can't believe this has been in my mail box since, god knows when...

How Do You Live Your Life?

Current Song in Head: One Headlight, The Wallflowers

Just did any one of those questionnaires. Apparently they claim that they are able to tell me how I lived my life. And I figured that since I haven't really been living my life, and that most of the decisions I 'made' in life wasn't made by me, I thought I'll give the computer a go at dictating how I should live my life... Haha...

Ok, seriously, think this questionnaire is pretty accurate. At least for me it was. Except for the part where I'm suppose to care too much about what others think. Never really been a big issue. Last I heard, people were complaining that I don't care about how other people may be thinking or feeling. Hehe...

How You Life Your Life

You are honest and direct. You tell it like it is. You're laid back and chill, but sometimes you care too much about what others think. Your friends tend to be a as quirky as you are - which is saying a lot! You tend to dream big, but you worry that your dreams aren't attainable.

How Do You Live Your Life?

Experimental Pictures

Current Song in Head: Virtual Insanity, Jamiroquai

Been a long time since I posted anything. Anyway, just an update of whats happening in my life currently... Yep, I'm bloody employed. Ok, don't know whether should i complain or be happy, so won't talk about that for now. My post today would be all about my experiments with sepia and greyscale pictures. Ok, here are the original pictures:

And here's the grey scale images:

Cool huh? And here is the sepia collection:

Personally, my favourites are the ones in sepia, thinking of framing them and putting them in my room after the renovation. Yep, my house is going to get renovated!

What kind of Kopi are you?

Current Song in Head: Free/One, Lighthouse Family

Went to a friend's blog and saw this. Did the short survey, and found out I'm an Iced Coffee. Went to the doc after that, he told me that I'm still human... Thank goodness for that...

Anyway, the diagnosis says I'm cheap and angsty?!?! Cheap?!? Ok, maybe, sometimes i'm cheap. But angsty?!?! Holy cow! If you know me well, there are many words to describe me, but angsty is definitely not one!

You Are an Iced Coffee

At your best, you are: hyper, modern, and athletic At your worst, you are: cheap and angsty You drink coffee when: you're out with friends Your caffeine addiction level: medium

What Kind of Coffee Are You?

My Unhealthy Preference for Male Actors Explained.

Current Song in Head: Be Yourself, Audioslave

Whenever my friends ask me who my favourite actors or actresses of all time is, they tend to get a rude shock from my answer. Ok, to cut to the chase, my current favourites are Johnny Depp, Ewan McGregor and Jude Law.

My friends' next reaction would be a look of disbelieve and followed by any 'gay' related comment. "How come all male actors? You swing the other way?" they would lament.

Nope, I'm not gay, although I'm flattered to be thought as one. Gays tend to have rather good fashion sense, something which I would hope to have. Haha... The explanation is rather simple. I'm as straight as straight can be, which is why my favourite actors are all males.

Wait a minute, he must have lost his mind, you must be thinking. Ok, before you chuck me to the looney bin, hear my reasoning first. The reason may make me sound like a male chauvinist pig, but its a valid reason nevertheless.

Ok, first of all, I'm very much smittened by most of the Hong Kong/Taiwan/Hollywood/Bollywood actresses out there. Except for Britney Spears in Crossroads, she should stick to something she is good at, which is selling sneakers. But since I'm so in awe by these divine beauties, its hard for me to appreciate their acting. Consequently, since I'm not gay, and not attracted to good looking men, it is easier for me to appreciate good acting. Simple as that.

For the record, currently I would rank Johnny Depp as my favourite actor, considering the varying type of roles he has taken up in his career. Ewan McGregor is a close second and he still has a pretty long career ahead of him. Jude Law is a distant 3rd. He seems to be getting himself into the stereotype playboy role. Time for Jude to start looking at other roles.

Here's something for all the gays out there:

I before E except after C

Current Song in Head: Tears and Rain, James Blunt

I'm sure all of you are familiar with iPod. Some of you might even have heard of the iPamper massage thingee. Ok, we all know that these gadgets are pretty cool and new, BUT, my question to you all is, when did the letter 'i' overtook the letter 'e' in the technology front?!?!

It wasn't too long ago when anything worth its salt would have to have an 'e' at the beginning. eCommerce, eBay, E-Z link and E-Zone to name a few. But it seems like in recent years, the letter 'e' has been replaced by 'i'. Darn, I'm beginning to sound like one of the characters on Sesame Street. Today's show was brought to you by the alphabet 'e', 'i' and the number 4...

Ok, back to the topic in hand. Practically out of every 5 new electronic product that hits the market, one of them have an 'i' in the beginning of the product's name. My gripe here is, WHY MUST THERE BE A FRIGGIN' I?!?!

Of course if there wasn't an 'i' in front of iPod it would sound weird, but that doesn't mean they can't use a more interesting product name...

And when they are done with the alphabet 'i', would they be tossing it into the rubbish can like poor old 'e'? Wonder what the next 'in' alphabet would be. Perharps its 'f'? And the latest product, an instant noodle would be called fMee... Haha...

Shan Shine Girl!!!

Current Song in Head: Tears and Rain, James Blunt

Hip hip hooray!!! My little princess came in 3rd in the Fasio Sunshine Girl contest! And that shouldn't be big surprise, cause she really is ShanShine! Corny huh? But that isn't going to stop my friends and I from making a banner that exclaims,"Shan Shine Girl!"

Really love the Broadway-styled edges of the banner. And Boy, do I feel like a groupie! Hehe...

Shan Shine Girl!!! Ahhhhh!!!!!! Autograph! Autograph! Hehe...

Some Cleo Bachelor guy who has good taste. Says my little princess is the chioest. Good taste, but better luck next time! She's taken! Hehe...

The Shan Shine Girl's family support. Sis, sis-in-law and mum in the background.

We cheered really loud for this girl when she got the final consolation prize. Cause it meant that my little princess is in the top three! It wasn't intentional, no harm intended. I hope! Anyway, she's Victor's favourite lah... So don't be too sad gal! Hehe...

Here's a treat for Nicholas. Too bad she's taken...

And here's my little princess doing her trademark ShanShine wink/smile! Hehe...

2 Psycho reunited.

My Little Princess and I... Boy, am i getting fat.

Nico-Tiko... Little girls, if you see an uncle on the street like that and he offers to bring you to Disneyland, DO NOT FOLLOW HIM... And here's the young tiko in the making, look at his cheeky grin!

And finally, Family....

And Friends....

Thats all for now. Until next time, ciao!

Bloody F********l Advisors! Part Deux

Current Song in Head: Goodbye My Lover, James Blunt

Another bloody Financial Advisor call again. Once again after they read my resume from asiaone.com... Rejected her outright... Going to remove my resume from asiaone.com... Going to boycott asiaone.com... Friggin' Financial Advisor Sympathisers!

Bloody F********l Advisors!

Current Song in Head: American Pie, Don McLean (The entire 8 and a half minutes of it)

Just when I thought I have heard the last of them, they are back to haunt me. Like a zombie in a lousy B-grade movie, Financial Advisors just refuse to lie down. Today began like any other day. I wake up, I turn on the PC, I wait for calls from companies to arrange interviews with me. I won't need to get out of the house until after my lunch, which was a good thing, cause it means I can save myself some money by eating at home. So I started typing a post on this blog. My concentration was broken when my phone rang and the number displayed on it was one that isn't in my phone book. Probably a company arranging for an interview, I thought and hastily picked up the call.

"Hello," the voice on the other side chirped.

"Hi," I replied with my 'businessy' tone.

"I'm calling from Manulife and we're glad to inform you that we find you suitable for the position of Financial Advisor. You placed your resume on asiaone.com right?"

Jeez... Like hell I'm suitable for the position of Financial Advisor. I don't believe in conning people, I've done my fair share of conning, Nicholas can attest to that. I don't believe in selling people something which I have a problem convincing myself to buy. So what the hell makes them think I'm suitable for the job? Betcha if I put my grandma's resume on asiaone.com and leave out her age, they'll think she is suitable for the job. Hmmm... Come to think of it, my grandma might even do better than me as a Financial Advisor. With her motor-mouth and flying-saliva she shouldn't have a problem convincing her clients they need a life plan, fast.

Having heard the first phrase of this telephone conversation, I pretty much have a gist of where it was going. "I'm not interested in becoming a Financial Advisor," I fired.

Credit must be given to this particular Financial-Advisor-Recruiter; she didn't try to make life difficult for me or for herself and promptly bade her goodbyes and hung up. But life wasn't always this simple. There have been Financial-Advisor-Recruiters who are certainly trying very hard to please the boss. Either that or they don't understand the meaning of 'not interested in being a Financial Advisor'.

Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against Financial Advisors or their career. Its just their way of recruiting people that irks. Especially a certain company called Prudential. Before I began, I'll like to state that I do have an insurance policy with Prudential and as a matter of fact, I find my insurance agent/Financial Advisor from Prudential rather pleasant. However, the company itself should review how it goes about recruiting people. Asking an innocent by-stander on the street to fill up a form about himself and then using the number that this kind person have left on the form for a cold call later is not my idea of a good recruitment strategy.

Firstly, if I were to fill up a form for you, it is because I freaking pity your sorry soul standing in the sun. I do not need you to give me a stalker's call after that. And secondly, if I had any interest in this career path I would look for you. Or rather, I'll look for my cousin, who is in the insurance line, or I'll give a call to my own insurance agent/Financial Advisor who is in the million dollars round table and pretty to boot. I wouldn't want to work under some guy under the name of Phillip (hint, hint), or something like that.

The worst part of all these calls is that they do not just call once. They are pretty insistent. I remembered while I was still studying and the caller got the mistaken impression that I have graduated and offered me the job. I obviously turned him down politely, and, mistakenly on my part, informed him I would be graduating in a year's time. And sure enough, in a year's time, the same bugger called me up. Its like a bad horror movie once again, I Still Know What You Did Last Summer! What the fish!

And in another incident, over a span of a week, I received 3 calls from Financial Advisors. Each time I inform them that I'm not interested and to tell them to remove my name off their database. But apparently, they didn't or there isn't any database to start with. Bloody buggers still continue calling back... So I've decided that when I do one of those roadside surveys in the future, I would not leave my number down.

However, these guys certainly are resourceful; they look up for resumes on career websites! Dammit! And since I'm in such desperate need for a job, I guess it’s not feasible for me to remove my resume from the website. Crap...

Die Führer, the Ah Sia Kia and I

Current Song in Head: Blower's Daughter, Damien Rice

Woke up to the sound of rolling thunder this morning. And went straight back to sleep. Life as an unemployed can't get better than this. But was jolted awake by a call from a recruitment consultant, informing me that she'll have to meet me for a pre-interview before my interview with her client, Some-Company-In-Tuas.

Anyway, I'll like to share my thoughts on unemployment. Having recently graduated and not really having worked before (waitering doesn't count cause it isn't office work and the army, well is just a load of bull, wait to rush, rush to wait, senseless, mindless), unemployment has been a real joy for me. Ok, those of you who know me will probably know that my family is pretty well to do and some would even call me an Ah Sia Kia. I'm fine with that.

Rule Number 16.2 of the Ah Sia Kia Code of Conduct: Thou shall enjoy the riches of life as much as possible but thou shall not disappoint the family by behaving like a bum.

In short, I have to find a job eventually. This means that I'm the same as the rest of the fresh graduates, just that I have the advantage of having a little more cash and thus able to bum slightly longer... Or so I thought... My 'advantage' has just been eliminated by Die Führer in the evening of August 2, 2005.

On that faithful evening, i was sitting on the front porch, cleaning my pair of rusty rollerblades when Die Führer's motorcade came rolling into my driveway.

"Huh, you still want to rollerblade with your hand like that?" Die Führer grunted in reference to my recently sprained wrist.

"Ya, I blade with my legs wat, not my hands," I replied nonchalently.

"Then how did you injured your wrist while blading?"

"I fell down lor."

"So?!?! You better not go blading until your wrist heals!"

"Aiyah, I don't INTEND to fall down this time..."

Ok, sounds like I'm asking for it right? Haha... I'm amused with my own answer. But obviously Die Führer isn't. He stormed into the house and changes to his walking outfit (Die Führer does not run, he walks) and stormed back to the front porch.

"I'm cutting your allowance from September onwards," he spat.

And then he storms out the main gate for his evening stroll.

So in one clean swipe, my 'advantage' over the non-Ah Sia Kias was wiped clean. Not that I have anything to complain, I knew this would have to come sooner or later. This basically means that my current financial situation, which is bad enough as it is, will become worse in September, unless I can find gainful employment or any kind of employment for that matter.

Boy, I'm still admiring my handy work. I don't intend to fall down indeed! Here's a picture of Die Führer or should I say, Mein Vater, My Father.

Die Führer, Picture Courtesy of Thengz Studios

In the Beginning....

Current Song In Head: You're Beautiful, James Blunt

A good day to everyone out there. If you're reading this, you're one lucky bugger.... You're reading my first post! After much procrastination and deliberation I've finally decided to start posting. Was thinking of creating a blog skin of my own before I start posting, but I guess I know nuts about Dreamweaver or HTML.

Hmmmm.... Currently having a mental block... So much for my first post. Ciao for now... Here's a sneak preview of things to come... Ok, Computer.... Paranoid Android...

Marvin, Courtesy of JW Pictures & Me Little Bro (No, NOT that one)