Moral obligations

maybe morality did come from morons?

Today, I attended a session by a social worker in a nursing home.

Well, she was sharing about the financial assistance that they offered, and she gave a case scenario for discussion.

An elderly lady has 2 daughters who both earn about 1k per month and both has a teenager child to take care of. Though its difficult to fork out anymore cash due to the fact that both earn very low income, daughter A has decided to try to come out with $200 per month because "she is my mother", whereas daughter B simply refuse to come out with anything. The social worker then asked, "should we help this resident then?"

So I proposed that we should see what are the reasons why daughter B refused to pay. It could be due to the fact that the mother hasn't treated her well in the past and tt's why she refused to have anything to do with her mother anymore.

I was "challenged" with "if everyone who has a sour past relationship with their parents will come to us and say because of that they don't want to pay, are we supposed to pay for everyone?"

Which, I don't deny. To cut the story short, later on she went on to say things like she will tell the daughter B that the nursing home is not related to the resident but they're helping. If she doesn't want to help as a daughter, just pay as a form of "moral obligation".

I felt like telling at her, "you obviously haven't been through tt's why you can say that", but I held back.

Well if I'm daughter B and u tell me things like "nursing home is not related but we still help" and "help as moral obligation", I will be damn offended. You've never been through the phase whereby you have to spend your scholarship to pay the bills at home when you're still young, and you have to grow up faster than your peers because you have to learn to read bills, pay for the household stuffs, work harder to pay for anything and everything, all because you have a good-for-nothing parent. Well after going through all these and more, you expect me to pay out of "moral obligation" and that even "a not related nursing home" can do more than the blood-related daughter, sorry, I can't do it. In fact, I will be even more angry and walk out altogether.

Ahh, I guess different people has got different perceptions and thus see things differently. But I believe people who never been through it will never understand how difficult it is and thus, may never empathise why people refuse to care for their parents anymore when they're old.

Some people has never let go of the hatred in their lives, and even till the deathbed of that particular parent, they may still never feel any regret. Well it could be because of all that they've been through, or simply because that "good-for-nothing" parent never changed for the better. Whatever it is, the resentment is there and after years of being let down, suddenly you have to take care of the needs of this parent again, its difficult.

Its so easy to judge a person as unfilial when they refuse to take care of the parent, send them to nursing home and don't pay for their care. But what lies behind the strong refusal to have anything to do with the parent, is something that we should always see first before being so quick to point fingers at others.

Back from Genting :)

Back from Genting from a 3D2N trip :)!

The preamble for this trip was one that started with anticipation and excitment (cuz it's both OH and my first trip to Genting!) to one that was rather disappointing. As I was doing my homework about the trip, reviews online about Genting was pretty unpleasant. The reviews for the hotel that I was staying in (First World Hotel) can only be described with one word: BAD. My excitment was all dampen as I read those review just a few days prior to the trip.

But OH said, this is a getaway for us and we should just enjoy it! So we went ahead happily. It turned out better than I expected! So I will be giving a brief review of Genting :)

My 3D2N trip started on 1 Apr in Golden Mile Complex :D. Hahaha. The coach journey took abotu 6-8hrs. Board the bus at 11pm, arrived at Genting Highlands at abt 5+am on Friday.

Upon arrival, we walked around to recee the area first. As I've done some 'homework' already, we knew where we want to find. As we walked around with our luggages, it appeared cumbersome. Checked-in luggage at hotel and found that we can already get our queue number! I've read online that First World Hotel is the largest hotel in the world so far, and there're 5000+rooms! Needless to say, check in was hell. Luckily we got our queue number at 5+am, so we're number 152.. Otherwise can really die waiting! So my advice is, if you're going FWH, the moment you arrive at Genting Highlands, GET A QUEUE NUMBER IMMEDIATELY!

Headed to the casinos to take a look. We visited the 2 larger casinos in Genting: Monte Carlo and Hollywood (both in Highlands Hotel). Was reeeallly big! To gamble there, its recommended to sign up for a world card for free before gambling. You can cash in the card and play. Then if you don't want to play anymore, the credit will still be in the card, alot more convenient that using cash. Later on you can withdraw out the money from the Worldcard ATM in multiples of RM10. If you use just cash, to take out the money if you don't want to play is a hassle cuz the attendant must jot down ur passport number and u can only redeem it as certain counters with your passport.

Had breakfast at the casino (which we kind regretted cuz it was expensive and service was lousy, and they charge service charge -_-) then we headed to take the Genting Skyway(initially wanted to take the Awana skyway but it only operates during weekends.). I heard about the skyway but didn't know that the station was near the hotel! There are signages everywhere so don't have to worry about getting lost. The skyway cost RM10 (2 way) per pax. If you want to buy some tidbits or asam for your family, you can consider going to the shops at the skyway stations. There're really big shops selling sour plums etc, nuts and snacks at affordable prices :).

We were told by the reception in FWH that the queue starts at 12 but for our number, we should go back after 1. We kiasu and went back at 12+pm to retrieve our luggages. Firstly, we were shocked by the sea of people flooding in the lobby, for a moment I thought I was in the airport or something :S. Secondly, the queue number was like, 75 -_-. Anw to cut the story short, we got our room at abt 2pm (abt 1hr wait), which was better than I expected.

The room was... oookkkk. Very very basic considering we had a Deluxe room. If you're going FWH, pls note. Toothbrush is NOT provided, so rmb to bring! Bring along an air refreshner if possible. For us we were lucky as our level had very little smokers so our room didn't smell bad. One review I read, the lady's room reeked of cigarette smell cuz of some other people who smoked in their rooms, and the smoke traveled to their room via the ventilation.. But otherwise the room was ok la. Clean, at least. But i find it eerie, cuz our double bed has got 3 pillows and the mirror reflects the window and the TV reflects the doorway. It just feels spooky. But nothing happened to me so its just personal perception :D.

Took a short nap then headed to take a free shuttle bus from Highlands Hotel to Chin Swee Caves Temple. Quite a nice and serene place to visit. Shuttle services operates per hour, schedules is available outside the Hotel. Alternatively, you can take the Awana skyway to the temple during the weekends.

Returned to the hotel for dinner. We were too tired to go anywhere further so we had to have dinner at one of the restaurants in FWP. Prices are abt the same as Singapore's restaurants (think Xing Wang cafe, etc). Food is okay. The only flaw, no smoking policy in Genting is CRAP so I do suggest that you bring a mask if you're going lest you get suffocated by the people smoking INDOORS. Argh.

Day 2 we went for the theme park. With the worldcard, there's a 10% discount. So we paid RM53 for a all day park tix (indoor and outdoor park). There's a all-in-one tix at abt RM79 consisting of the theme parks + snow world + alot of things. It's tempting, but we figured out we won't be doing so many things in ONE day. Hahaha.

The outdoor theme park was alright. Rides were not exactly fantastic... Thrill rides are not exactly thrilling! Hahaha. But my advice is, go in the morning because the queue can be really bad in the afternoon! Recommended ride: cockscrew is probably the more thrilling one (though its just oookkk in my opinion). When I was there, space shot was under maintenance but reviews said that its good.. Otherwise you can pay additional RM10 + RM2 for flying coaster, now that's really fun! :D.

Indoor theme park in FWP has alot less rides. The more fun ones are the bumper car, euro express and 4D motion. Apart from that, the rest are all joy rides. But the indoor theme park opens till 1am during peak hours so u can play as long as you like :D.

Had lunch at Penang Food Village at Theme Park Hotel because of the reviews I read. The food is indeed slightly cheaper than the restaurants, but the food is only slightly above average. Service is not bad :).

Dinner was at a Vietnamese restaurant in FWP because of a RM10 voucher from the theme park tix. Food was not too bad but restaurant price. Indeed, you pay to get good food lo..

While playing in the indoor park, we went shopping in FWP. There're alot of local boutiques like Padini, Voir and etc, so can have quite a good shop :). There's another shop selling Malaysia local products in FWP, I think its level, the shop name is Heng Heng. Things are quite affordable also and fresh and tasty. There's a pushcart store selling wood craft items in level 2. Its on a buy 2 get 1 free promotion with free engraving! OH and I were won over by the girl's service and the really nice engraving done, bought alot of souvenirs back :D!

Wanted to try our luck at the casino again, so this time we headed for Starworld casino at FWH, which is the smallest casino of the lot in Genting. The moment we enter, aiyooo. The smoke from all those sickening smokers was really suffocating, especially in such a small area. We left Starworld eventually cuz it seem we cannot use the worldcard in starworld, and its so troublesome to get a temporary starworld card, so we left for Monte Carlo again. But again, the smoke was really bad that we stayed hardly for an hour then we left. The situation wasn't this bad in the morning, so my advice is, go casino in the morning! :S

Last day, we chance upon the Highway station canteen (highway steysen canteen) at resort hotel I think (just cross the road from theme park hotel). Food there is really cheap! One big plate of chee cheong fun + yong tau foo was only RM7 and you can be full from it! Very nice :). A pity we didn't eat there earlier! Beside the shop there's a convenience store (168) that opens 24hours, so if need anything urgently, can go there to buy :). Finally was last min shopping then had to run for the coach home :D.

Overall, quite a fulfilling trip, lucky for the homework done. Only pity is that we didn't get to find the Visitors' Galleria and heated swimming pool.. And of cuz, never really won big bucks :(. BUT well, did had fun and let go!

Okay, time to go back to mug liao, enough of reviews :).

Listen!

A friend, M, told us some situation that is going on in her life currently as we were having lunch after a discussion.

She was in dire straits (a little exaggerated la) and had no idea what to do next. As she spoke of her problem, the bulk of us started telling her things..

"I think you should _______!"

"Ya, I really think you should do _______..."

"How about doing ______ since you find it difficult?"

"Otherwise you can ________ la."

"If I were you, I would ________."

"I tell you what, you go and ________."

"Yayaya! You should just do _____!"

I was part of the "culprits" performing the above act. But finally at one point I got tired of trying to speak so I sat to listen. As the list of "you should" went on, I felt frustrated.

Its like, voices are going on and on telling M what to do. Have anyone listened to how she feel?

I tried asking, "What are your plans then?". It was quiet for a moment as she spoke; indeed she was rather lost. Then the silence was broken as one person started the "I think you should.." again.

I went home reflecting on the whole conversation. Many a times we thought that since people come to us with a problem, its natural that I provide an advice or a perceived solution to the problem. Well, that's what I've always thought is the right thing to do. I always have got list and list of advices to provide, stories after stories of how others or myself handled a similar situation. When these doesn't work, find some other situation that's worse and tell your friend, "so its okay, things aren't that bad yet." I used to feel proud of my counselling skills, thinking I'm not too bad as a "counsellor" at such a young age!

However, I learnt that in counselling, active listening is very important. I believe that applies to when you talk to your friends too. And guess what's a taboo? Providing advices and suggestions (well I believe it's important but not at the initial stages, definitely not after a mere few sessions of sharing). Quite contrary to popular beliefs of since-she-come-to-me-for-advice-so-I-give-many-advices isn't it?

A friend of mine once told me, "sometimes when people share something with you, its not because they want an advice. You think you're the first person who told them this advice? U're probably the 100th person. They just need a listening ear. You don't have to say anything more. Just be there." That slapped me awake from believing I'm that great. Hahaha. But I will always remember this statement.

As I sat there to listen to everything, I really felt frustrated. In the same way, I believe M probably felt frustrated as well. Then I remembered what my friend said, and it's really true. Here I am, encountering a situation that I believe M probably just needed someone to hear her out and not jump into giving her what seemed to be the "best" advice.

Well, what's done has been done. I guess since M felt comfortable confiding in us, I do believe that she also felt thankful that we tried to provide some solutions to her current problem. But I guess, learning from this incident, I should always remember to take time to listen instead of jumping into providing suggestions that we deem the best.

Food for thought for the day!

2 weeks

Well, its been exactly 2 weeks since I've last blogged, and honestly speaking, I don't have any topics in mind that I wanted to exclaim about.

Nowadays, I no longer blog about my daily musings (like I used to in the past) because I believe nobody actually reads them anyways :D. Well I used to be able to blog a 5000-word essay about one 3D2N camp in full details. Come to think of it, I don't think anyone have actually finished reading the entire chunk of crap, including myself :D. Hahaha. Anyways, as I was saying, I will try to find a topic of interest that I would like to talk about and people can comment on if they should read it.

I guess I've been stuck in a lifeless situation for the past 2 weeks, rushing assignments + tests + presentations that I did not find anything interesting to talk about. Hahaha :D. Now that I'm more freed up, I don't know what to talk about. Hmm.

Anyways, the main reason for this entry is to certify that I'm still alive, whether I have any topics to talk about or not. My pupils are still equal and reactive to light and accomodation. So my blog is not dead YET. But I'll be going on a trip to Genting for a short break from 1-4 April. Well, I've bought travel insurance so rest assured, I should be back to blog after the 4th. Hahaha ;).

1150pm

Time check: 1150pm.
Reality check: ICA test at 9am.

Here I am, neither studying nor sleeping, but blogging with my hp while tapping into a neighbour's wifi. And i don't even knw who this person is, i only knw his/her wireless name is 'ken'. Thanks 'ken', for always letting me tap ur wireless! Hoho :D

An w yes, its 1150pm, in less than 12 hrs, i'm gonna sit for my ICA test. And i don't knw what i'm doing here. Study, nothing goes in. Sleep, i can't seem to sleep. This is really infuriating.

I hate the feeling of not being in control. I am fully aware that I'm totally not confident for tmr's paper despite the fact tt i've studied. Well, kind of studied. I know the points but i did not memorise. I don't like to sit for a paper that i know i'm not >65% confident. And tmr i am going to sit for a paper with <65% confidence level.

Sighs. I just hope i can make it through the 100mins paper tmr.

Time to sleep, or try to sleep, at least..

Toilet etiquette

I think a signboard like this should be placed in all the LADIES.

Its really horrifying whenever I enter the ladies and I see toilet seats stained with pee. Worse that I've seen, the FLOOR also has pee. And we're talking about SEATED loo bowls over here.

We talk about men being bad at aiming. We tease at them to go for aiming classes. Google images on"men aiming toilet bowls", lots of search results will appear. But I totally cannot understand why is it that the LADIES' toilet bowl can be stained with urine all over when we don't have to pee standing, let alone aim!!

This is of utmost embarrassment as I talk about this, but aren't we all taught how to use the toilet bowl when we were being toilet trained as a toddler??!!

Girls! I think it is really a very bad behaviour to accept. Well, I understand from my fellow girlfriends that some of them don't actually really sit on the toilet bowl to pee. They do a half squat (马步) to pee because they cannot stand the thought of sitting on a public toilet bowl. For people like me with contours gone all over the place, with a big bottom I do find it difficult to do a half squat to pee (think: centre of gravity). I mean, no wonder some girls have really slim legs... BUT that's besides the point! :D

Anyways, my point is, I don't really bother about how other girls pee, but isn't it basic courtesy to clean up the toilet seat if you actually dirty it because you chose to half squat to pee? Well the toilet bowl is for you to sit on but you chose to half squat, and now you stain it. Its your own pee and you've just dirtied the public toilet, I should think its just socially responsible to clean up the toilet seat.

I feel truly annoyed whenever I see dirty toilet seats. Even more annoyed when I see footprints (but the incidence is much less nowadays. I see more pee than footprints). Its even worse when there's a puddle of pee on the floor. I really don't know how the girls did it.

I remember someone once told me, Japanese were taught since young, to clean up the toilet seat after each use (whether dirty or not) so that the next user can have a clean toilet to use. I find this culture amazing, but its really the reason why EVERY toilet that I went to in Japan is squeaking clean.

I don't forsee such culture to be practiced in Singapore because firstly, our girls can't even "aim" properly, and secondly, they don't even clean up their own mess. Wait till this can be done before we talk about cleaning toilet after each use to benefit the next user.

It is shameful to talk about this topic isn't it? But girls, can we do something about this? *shakes head* Its disturbing.

I think the men are laughing at this. They probably never thought that ladies need to aim to pee. Hurhur.

Educated elderly

I was having lunch at TTSH kopitiam today and was having vegeterian bee hoon (cuz that's the only stall with no queue!). This elderly lady with her husband took a peek at my food and exclaimed aloud, "that's so healthy!"

I was gobbling my bee hoon halfway then I kinda realised she's talking about my bee hoon, so I just chuckled and told her that it's because there's no queue! Hahaha. Then we strike a conversation from my plate of bee hoon.

She asked where was I heading to, I told her I'm going to a ward in level 7 and she said, "Geriatric ward right? I know cuz we (pointing to husband) are also geriatric!" She giggled, then she went back to sharing her soya bean milk with her husband (super sweet! :D)

I was quite surprised by the term she used. Geriatrics. This is probably something that even a young layman now won't really know, let alone an elderly lady who lived in the era whereby education for girls was for the priviledged. Oh yes, she conversed with me in very good and fluent English throughout.

This is not the first time I'm seeing elderly like that.

I went to SAGE to visit once, and the one who addressed us and gave a talk was the CEO who is 72yrs old! He was so affluent and using powerpoint somemore! He gave a 3hr long lecture and he was still so robust and fit, walking around, very excited about his job. Hahaha. To me, its an eye opener.

My perception of elderly is still those who speak Hokkien/Cantonese/Mandarin/Malay, low literacy and does whatever you ask them to do. Nowadays this is not so. We've come to the age whereby elderly are getting more and more educated. They're able to converse in English fluently, perhaps even more fluent than us! There's even a council for third age for the elderly to persue higher education now!

I'm not too sure if its a good thing that elderly are becoming more educated. Well, I've seen educated and friendly elderly before, just like that one I've encountered today at TTSH. I've also seen elderly making a scene with some youngsters previously in a supermarket. The elderly man shouted at the young chap who was probably rude to him or something. He was like, "young man, you should learn to respect the elderly! You should be the one saying sorry!"

Yepps, still an educated old man, but check out the difference in attitude.

I think when people are a little more educated, they tend to get a little too high and mighty sometimes. Well, people think they know alot, they can get knowledge from internet anytime, anywhere. The pride may have brought about a nasty attitude in the elderly when they have this I'm-as-educated-as-you-but-I-eat-rice-more-than-you-eat-salt mentality..

I keep my reservations on the topic first. I shall let time show me more things before I pass a judgement on anything ya?

It just makes me wonder what kind of aging population we will be expecting in future? Its scary..

Time for work, time for play :)

Today is back to work with Monday blues..

Went to a new place today for attachment. SOO much better than my previous area! Was positively culture shocked by all the technology used. But the staff there said its bad. Well, try working in my stone age area, maybe u will prefer technology. Hahaha. Pretty nice, I'm quite expectant of my next 2 weeks here :).

The only problem is my poor sense of direction, and it really sucks. The layout of the area is round, and I keep getting "lost". So silly. And the place is not even big! Everytime I emerge from somewhere, I don't know which part of the circle I'm at anymore -_-. I think I've asked M so many times where's the toilet, where's the tea room, where's my assigned area, where's the exit etc etc. Goodness. "Kudos" to my "splendid" sense of direction. Haha.

Oh well, work is tiring, dreading. But silly things like these makes me smile at work :).

After work, I come home staring at all those ASSes again, and I feel tired. I don't feel like doing 'em at all, yet I know I don't quite have a choice.. Sighs..

The only thing I'm looking forward to, is the short trip to Genting with OH on the good Friday long weekend :). Yipeee! Its my first time to Genting (yes, call me suaku!) and I anticipate alot of fun!! :):) I also anticipate getting lost. Hurhur. So I shall stick closely to OH with superglue.

I'm quite excited for it, and that seem to be the only thing I'm looking forward to thus far. Actually wanted to go Bangkok but the tix are sooo ex during that period! With flight and accomodations + taxes, one person, cheapest we found was $435/pax.. Totally not worth it. So we went for Genting instead, hope it'll be good :).

Mommy (actually is my primary school teacher who said mommy. My mom don't say this.) always says, "there's a time to work and there's a time to play." I'm looking forward to play and not work! >_<..

Okok I shall go back to work! :(

Tiring, tiring..

I was actually typing an entry on chronic fatigue. In the midst of typing it, it just suddenly occur to me that I should see if i've already done a similar entry. True enough, just 2 entries ago, I wrote on "fatigue".

Are we really so tired? Hahaha.

I think Singaporeans (maybe other countries) share a common "language". We're constantly tired, very exhausted due to the fast pace of life and high levels of stress. I don't see anyone who's NOT tired in Singapore. For some reason, everyone seem to be constantly tired.

- From studying late night (or just studying alone is mentally draining!)

- From doing assignments

- From staring at undone assignments (sighs)

- From working late night (or simply working is tiring!)

- From having nothing to do at work

- From doing housework

- From a long day of fun outing with friends

- From walking too fast

- From eating too much

- From not eating enough (hungry)

- Weather too hot

- Weather too cold

- From shopping too hard

- From insufficient shopping

- From researching information on the internet

- From googling too much

- From youtubing late at night

- From facebooking late at night

- From blogging late at night (like yours truly)

- From insufficient sleep

- From too MUCH sleep (ironic!)

- ... ... ...

This list will never end. For SOME reason, we're always tired!

Ok now I am tired, so I shall go and sleep. But for some reason, I believe soon, I may be blogging about fatigue again. Hahaha :D

comparing...

Have you ever been compared with someone before?

From things like "aiyo your sister also can get A!" to "even a 3 year old can do better than you!", neither of them sound pleasant at all.

The thing about being compared makes us feel lousy. Yes, we tell those who come complaining/whining/confiding in us about problems like these to just "leave it, no point comparing", blah blah. But when you're the one being compared, you can't help but to feel that teeny weeny bit lousy (or maybe more than just teeny weeny in some individuals).

The competitive nature of human being causes this ego in us. With this ego (being conscious), we tend to feel just like what people has compared: u simply can't get things done better than _____ (fill in the blank). Well, I don't know, but that's how I will feel, and it causes me to have this inferiority complex, and ultimately, I simply want to withdraw and do nothing, since that _____ (fill in the blank with the same as above :D) will always do better than you. What's the point of doing anything more since you know that you'll always be compared, there'll always be this high benchmark that you can never quite get to achieve? With that inferiority complex being set (just like a delusion), I will just feel that whatever I do is just like building sandcastle in air, i.e. in VAIN.

I totally hate this kind of feeling.

Its really lousy, and now I'm feeling exactly like that. There's this benchmark that I feel I will never be able to achieve. The dreams of scoring good grades have gone down the drain. Thoughts like "can pass can already" are floating in my mind, telling me that hey, since you'll never be able to achieve anything more than that benchmark, what for work so hard?

NO MOTIVATION. ZERO.

Right now, its just getting more and more frustrating. I just wish everything can be over soon, and I don't have to feel like I'm dragging my feet/fingers to do things that I don't see any point in doing anymore. Aye!

Blogging again.. :S

Oops, its been officially 3 months since I last blogged!

To think blogging used to my "life", and now I can go ahead without blogging for 3 months. Life has changed eh?

Blogging was something so essential in my life in the past. I can blog like 3 posts everyday about all the rubbish I do (and I wonder if people even read them but who cares! Those were awesome memories :)). Not forgetting all the "teenage lingos" I used to add in my blog like lahz, lorz, hahaz, ..., worxxx, etc etc. Those were the days! I can just retrieve any entry I want and have a good read, reminiscing about all the fun moments in the past :).

I guess what made blogging such an important part of my teenage life (I blogged since sec 2!) was that when I was down and I simply just want to shy away from people, yet I wished someone can know about how I feel, I can always blog. The blog is there, it doesn't reply, it just lets you type all the ventilations you want. Yet, people can read and reply all their views, encouragements and the like in your "taggy". It's encouraging, and sometimes it allows me to see things from another perspective that I've never seen before. Just by blogging, I made friends with people around the world!

Well, back then when things weren't that complex, you can blog about all your views and anything under the sun with no reservations. But things just aren't the same. You may notice that you probably can't find any of those posts that has the "teenage lingos" I mentioned, cuz this is a new blog that was set up 2 yrs ago due to some issues that arised because of some ventilations I made in my previous blog. I still felt rather angry about it because there was nothing confidential being disclosed, neither did I "tarnish the image" of my profession (as complained). All I did was to ventilate my emotions during the very painful period of probation at work. And because of that, I almost had to face disciplinary actions by my supervisor, but thankfully she was understanding and did not do anything more than just "gentle interrogation". Hence, I had to password block my 1000+-entry blog.

This incident has destroyed my passion for blogging completely, because I have to blog with alot more caution, for fear the same things may happen again. Sometimes I don't even know how to ventilate anymore. Its just lousy. I just blog in my password protected old blog occasionally, but there's no joy in it. Slowly I just shy away from blogging.

But now, I hope I can make a comeback in blogging again! :). I shall dedicate a little more time to blog about my life, my thoughts and anything interesting that I encounter :).

Well well, the bottomline after all these rubbish, blog with caution. I've now come with a new identity, and unless you're my friend, u probably won't know what I work as, what's my real name, blah blah. Of cuz, I may have to change the way I blog alot, but I guess that's but the only thing I can do for now, in order to still enjoy blogging :).

I shall update this blog more often with my random musings :). Stay tuned! :)

See? I'm so long-winded, how can I not blog! I'm wasting my talents! HAHA :D

ASSignments >_<

I seriously think the person who coined the term, "assignment" must have been a pain in the ASS :(.

HE SHOULD BE STONED!

Okay, maybe not stoned. I'm just being a lil' hot now.

Oh man, I don't understand how everyone seem to be able to produce 2000-5000words long assignments, JUST LIKE THAT?! And here I am, trying to ingest those articles into my puny, demented (tt's why puny! Shrunken!) brain yet nothing seem to be really going in.

And, to my horror, I realised that this doc (doctorate) previously from my sch whom I went Japan with previously, has produced SOO MANY research articles, and a THESIS. Oh man. How can anyone write thesis?? That's.. insane.

I wish I have doraemon now! :'(

RICH KIDS.

With all the crappy things about Wall Street and AIG, I thought that there's a bad 'economic downturn', as everyone is saying..

Today as I was on the bus home, I spot this supposedly JC kid (from the way she speaks + the things she say) looking very poised. She was holding to this Gucci handbag. I was already quite surprised at how she could get that Gucci bag, when she whipped out another Kate Spade wallet from that bag. Like what?!

Actually its not the first time I'm seeing things like these.

Take more public transport, open ur eyes bigger and you'll see that LV Gucci Chanel is no longer something for the rich. EVERYONE (alright I'm exaggerating..) is holding a LV wallet, Gucci handbag, Miu Miu bags, true religion jeans, ed hardy tees... whatever brands u name, I'm sure within one hour of standing around the streets, u can find someone possessing them. Interestingly, most of them are young people! Alright, lets give a them benefit of the doubt, MAYBE its just an A grade counterfeit product from China. But really, even so, where do all these people get the money to travel even!

The other thing that's commonly seen is MP3 players. I guess that there're about 20-30% of commuters on one bus ride alone listens to a MP3. From observation, most of them are carrying branded MP3 players like Ipod, Creative, Samsung or the like. It is as though Ipods are selling at 10bucks each but NO. Still the same price, no change at all. In fact, I do think that with more added functions to the newer generations of Ipod, the price actually increased! Same as for other brands of cuz.

I can't help but wonder, what's with the so-called "economic downturn"? Lets think this way, with "economic downturn", Singaporeans are already so well-to-do, what happens when we're really prospering?

I was just thinking, is it a REAL economic downturn, or is it more of a MENTAL downturn. Mind over flesh. Quite familiar to all eh?

Just an interesting thought.

Alright I shall stop here. With my bad command of English, I really don't know how to express myself well. Hahaha :D. Hope that everyone reading will understand me! :S

"Cinthia likes to..."

This is more fun!

A. Go to Google
B. Type your name and the words "likes to" all in quotation marks. (e.g. "Stephen likes to")
C. Report back on the first ten things that come up for your name.

1. Cinthia likes to participate in the Good Shepherd Catechesis program. -_-
2. Cinthia likes to play outside.
3. Cinthia likes to get away and drown her pain in lemonade. (HAHA)
4. Cinthia likes to help little kids, she thinks its fun.
5. Cinthia likes to hang out during off hours and is trying to improve skill in order to get ahead professionally.
6. CiNTHIA LIKES TO SHAKE HER BOMM BOOMMM UP N DOWN. (wth?!)
7. Cinthia likes to play outdoors during off hours and is trying to learn from master/mistress in order to get ahead professionally.
8. Cinthia likes to run into trees. ($*&(#*&*%%?!?!?!?!)

There's only 8 results for my name! How sad! But its super funny can! Omg :D

And no, I don't like to run into trees -_-

urban dictionary

Go to urbandictionary.com and type in your answer to each question in the search box, and write the FIRST definition it gives you. Read this! Its SUPER funny but silly at the same time. I had a good laugh :D


[1] Your First Name: Cinthia
a common name for an es salvadorian girl who likes to call everyone dorks. Is called a "fat lard" by mighty midget. Also dates a guy named kenneth.
Omg, throw that mayonnaise at cinthia!

Now what's with me and mayonnaise?! And who is Kenneth?!

[2] Your Last Name: Lim
1. Lesbian Identified Man. A man so identified with lesbians that he loses perception about his role as a man. Acts and behaves extremely woman like, up to the extent that he refuses to engage in classic intercourse with a woman (eg. no penetration). The fictional character "Lisa" from the showtime drama The L Word is an example of a Lesbian Identified Man. He appears for a few episodes in the first season of this series.
I will not put up the example sentence.. Too vulgar!

2. Lips In Motion. A person who verbally expresses extrodinarily long versions of a story, usually true accounts.
There he goes again with that long story, he is such a LIM.

3. Laugh Inside Myself
Let's be honest. How many times do you type LOL when you really aren't laughing out loud? LIM let's the person know that they made you laugh inside yourself.

4. Laughing Inside Me
Better than lol in office enviroments
A: I saw this guy trip in a bucket
B: Lim

5. The worst huntard in all of World of Warcraft.
You got ganked by LIM?! Wow, you're trash, go /wrists kthx.

6. n. used to describe a bad joke or pun. popular among international students.
-what did he say?
-he screamed, 'i said i want I SCREAAAM!'
-oh he pulled a lim again.

7. n. An elaborate bad joke, usually a pun
"We ought to have a friend named Ruth. That way, when she left the table, we could say 'We're Ruth-less.'" "
Wow, man. That was a huge lim."

8. The stage between liking someone and loving them.
'I'm just so... in lim with him'

9. When staring at a hot guy makes you hungry for chinese takeaway
"Oh, he's so Lim right now!" "Just the sight of him makes me lim"

I have totally nothing to say about all the definitions of LIM but to LOL. -_-.

[3] Your Birth Month: December
1. The month in which the hottest women are born.
That girl is FINE! She must have been born in December.

Oooh! I'm HOT! HAHAHAH :D:D:D.

2. The best month out of the entire year. That's why they left it last.
Her birthday is in December.

3. An excellent time of year where the snow is beautiful, the weather is cold, and the closer you get to the end of the month the more your birthday sucks. If your birthday is very close to Christmas, it is okay to hate your birthday.
I and four other people in my family have birthdays in December, all around Christmas. I hate my birthday.

That's cute :D

[4] Your Age: 20
There're a couple of definitions, will put up a few..
1. location or current status/activity
what's your 20, fool

2. the number before 21 and after 19. generally used when counting.
"i can count to twenty!" "twenty is my favorite number."
What kind of definition is this man?!

3. the number of balls 10 guys has
lets see.. how many balls are here? 19? HAH!
wth?!

4. Refering to a $20.00 bag of marijuana. Also known as a "twin"
Let me pick up that 20 fool.

[5] Your Birthplace: Singapore

5 types of climate: hot, very hot, damn its freakin' hot, wow look roast human char siew all over the streets!, otherwise.
4 common interest among all typical Singaporeans: Food, glorious food! Shopping, Welcome to the Great Singapore Sale! Toto/4D, come Saturday Sunday.. will I win? (bai liu li bai hui bu hui kai), Education - "Boy AH! u finish tuition homework liao or not! Later got piano lesson! AIYO! Your spelling learn already anot?!"
3 MRT lines: North South line, East West line, North East line
2 hours(approx): is needed to travel from one end to another end of Singapore.
1 common language: Singlish "See liao lah... What you want?" "SCUSE"
Singapore is rojak.

[6] Your Current Location: Bedroom
1. The romp room. ;-)
Hey Janet, let's go to the bedroom!
-_-........ *speechless*

2. The room in your house where you sleep and keep your clothes. Bedrooms usually have a closet in them.
I need to go check my bedroom to make sure everything is still there.


[7] Your Favorite Number: 7
1. The fiercest digit known to man.
7 is the fiercest digit because 7 8 9. Ha.
7 ate 9, u get it?

2. A verbal middle finger.
person 1:"man, you really suck at bowling!"
person 2:"7"
Oh wow.. Anw there's 3 pages of definitions, go check it out urself!

[8] Your Favorite Color: Green
yes... it is most definitely referring to the marijuana... and also, upon occassion, any substance with similar uses. too, properly, of course, it is a golfing term, but that;s really not very much fun, now is it?
''yo, where da green at?''
Cute! :D Yo where da green at! :D. Anw there's 14 pages of definitions....


[9] Your Favorite Movie: can't think of any at this moment. May fill in at later date.


[10] Your Closest Friends: AMY!
to take, hold, or steal your heart. a person who is a soulmate. a good lover.
she pulled an amy on my heart. (she stole or holds my heart)
my heart was amyied. (my heart was stolen)
watch out she will amy you. (she will steal your heart)
you have yourself an amy. (you have yourself a soulmate)
AMY! :D U're a good lover! HAHAHA!

[11] The Last Person You Talked To (Who Isn't Already Mentioned): Muan
muan is another word to describe the female genitals (minge). first discovered by phil and sam in a moment of intoxication.
Man that bitch has a nice muan!!!
AHHHHH!!!!! I'm going crazy!!! $#%*(#&%(&^%()!

[12] Your nickname: cin
A small asian loving person/child. Its habitat is heavily wooded areas such as Spinneys and Forests. They have the inability to move, instead they travel by hanging on to people walking past. They are very vicious, but generally cannot cause any damage. Also there scent is to be noted as it is a musky scent with a tint of what seems to smell like smoke. Nobody knows the source of their scent but is globally accepted as repulsive.
Kaotik: Did you see that Cin back there?
Skitik: No, where was it?
Alex: I saw it aswell it tried to grab Dauccia
What is this?!

JOOOO KOOOOON

This is really a post-dated entry.

Few days back on the 18th, I went to Bugis to do some shopping alone since it was a hard-earned day off. I was at City Hall MRT changing train, so was looking at the East-West line's signages to acertain where to go. Then I saw this:

For one moment I thought I was at the wrong place. Where the hell is Joo Koon?! What happened to Boon Lay?

Then I went to the directory board, and it was like a light bulb just lit up in my head.

Chey. New lines extending from Boon Lay to Pioneer and Joo Koon. Half of circle line is out too, for Marymount, Bartley, Serangoon, etc. Not too sure is it I never read newspaper or what. But seems like I was not the only one who was wondering about the Joo Koon thing cuz when I was waiting for the train back from Bugis, there were alot of people who were like, "what Jooo Kooon?!" and it was damn funny :D.

Oh wells, just an update for those who don't take trains THAT often. Like me. Haha.

Joo Koon!

Bilingual Children Have an Increased Risk of Stuttering

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) Jan 22 - The risk of stuttering is increased among young bilingual children, according to findings published in the January issue of the Archives of Disease in Childhood. These children also have less chance of recovery from stuttering than monolingual speakers who stutter.

Bilingualism is considered a risk factor for stuttering, Dr. Peter Howell, of University College London, and colleagues point out, but "there is little information about how a second language affects the chances of stuttering onset and of recovery."

A total of 317 children between the ages of 8 and 12 years who stuttered participated in the study. The 69 children who were bilingual were matched to a group of fluent bilingual controls.

The main outcome measures included subjects' stuttering history, Standard Attainment Test educational scores, and measures of recovery or persistence of stuttering.

Of the 38 bilingual children who used a language other than English at home, 36 stuttered in both languages. Two of the 38 children stuttered in their native language but did not stutter in English.

Fewer children who used their alternative language exclusively at home and learned English in school stuttered, compared with those who used both languages at home - 39.5% versus 60.5%, respectively.

By contrast, fluent bilingual controls were more likely to speak their alternative language exclusively at home -- 73.7% versus 26.3%, respectively. The difference between bilingual stutterers and bilingual fluent speakers who spoke only their original language during their preschool years was statistically significant (p = 0.003).

The recovery rate for children who spoke both languages at home prior to school age was 25%, compared with 55% in both the alternative language exclusively and monolingual speakers.

However, Dr. Howell's group also found that early school performance was not affected by stuttering.

"Together, these findings suggest that if a child uses a language other than English in the home, deferring the time when they learn English reduces the chance of starting to stutter and aids the chances of recovery later in childhood."

Taken from: http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/587209?src=mp&spon=24&uac=113552SK

---------------------------

Now I think I understand how come I catch pronounciations easily! Cuz when I was young, I only speak mandarin and nothing else. During English class, I stutter trying to make myself understood. So now I know why I can speak in English and Mandarin fluently! :D. Heh heh. *brags*

Now we know how to teach our children to be bilingual scholars next time! Make them speak only ONE language first! Haha.

Miracles...

Thanks for all your prayers. If you were following my Facebook blog, you may have noted about my cousin's incident. Thank God, his condition has got SLIGHT improvements. Just slight. At least the BP and ICP has stabilised more or less, and he's no longer having a fever. Of cuz, we're all hoping for miracles to happen :). PRAY!

Am thankful also, that the drunk driver (ARGH! SCREW HIM!!!) got caught. As to what sentence, I'm not too sure. It better be a heavy sentence. He better come to the neuro ICU and have a good look at what he has done to an innocent life. He ought to feel guilty..

Well, I'm just hoping good things will happen, and will continue to happen. I'd rather he wakes up and rehab for 1 yr back to at least 75% of premorbid status than to stay like that... Of cuz medically we know that may be impossible, BUT, we shall see :)

Sad things aside, I'm still quite excited over a new inclusion in my life: a Lenovo s10 laptop!!! :)

(I lazy to take photos la :D)

After hunting for months and contemplating over a Kohjinsha laptop, Asus Eee PC and many other mini laptops, I finally decide to get this Lenovo S10 after getting my bonus (which is like peanuts?!), and I'm loving it! :)

Its not REALLY very small, but considerably small la (10" only :)!). I love how sleek it is and the best part, I got a free upgrade of RAM to 2.5GB and a free laptop bag! :D. The only thing now is, I REALLY NEED THE MICROSOFT OFFICE. Any kind souls? :).

Now I'm trying to back up my things in a little thumb drive of mine, and I think I'm really silly looking. Forget it, I shall hunt for a portable HD! :D

The only flaw about this laptop is the keyboard. Its already bigger compared to other mini laptops, but I have a problem typing the ! cuz I kept typing @ instead of ! :D. Haha. The mini laptop with one of the most impressive keyboards is HP mini, but wells I don't like the spects so nahh :D. Haha.

Okay I shall go to bed alr. My whole Christmas is ruined by a stupid shitty roster, so I really need my beauty sleep now! :D

Powerpacked.

Powerpacked week.

Post night shift was Asia Conference week :). Totally awesome. Though physically tiring, but I never regretted going for it! Met a few other people who shared the same vision as I do. I think I can venture in this :).

God, I will need your direction in this...

Post Asia Conference was back to work, and a morning duty with audit (again). This time is yet ANOTHER audit on service quality. Was selected to answer questions. Not sure if I should be honoured that I was being selected by a senior management (according to my supervisor). Anw by the grace of God, we did very well. Anyhow hantam my answers and they say we did very well. Hehe :). Thank God!

Post audit went swimming with colleague at Mount Faber SAFRA. Finally got to see how nice that place with. The jacuzzi was really awesome for a long week of physically draining activities. Haha.

Post swimming, went to visit the Henderson's curve bridge. SOOO PRETTY. The view there is really nice. Immediately thought of the boys. Am so gonna get them to go there for their photoshoots!

Post.... post sight-seeing (?!) was Botak Jones session! Sinful treat after swimming :D. Been so long since I last ate Botak Jones!

Mmmmm. Shared a fish and chips :D

And my standing fish fillet looked like youtiao.

Anyone ever know that u actually pour this on your fries to make it taste nicer? And I love the taste!! We added alot, eventually, cuz its SOOO nice. I love vinegar :).

Just random blogging about my life la. Cuz I think this blog is dying. HAHA :D

Mooncup

Nope, not a condom. Its MOONCUP.

What's a mooncup?

Its a reusable menstrual cup....

Basically u shuff this thing up ur there and it collects the menstrual fluids. Just gotta remove it when its filling up and wash it then u can wear it back again to collect more fluids.. *gulps*

I'm not sure if this is a good idea, but its quite scary..

Read more about it at http://applemilky.org/.

Anw reading the feedbacks and reviews, it seem quite good.. But the thought of using it still puts me off. Any comments..?