The chocolate theory

Chocolate is mostly cocoa and sugar and for me, too much cocoa is too bitter while too much sugar is too sweet. Hence, I love chocolates that are not bitter and not too sweet.

In a sense, I would like to have my life as how I love my chocolates, an equal mix of cocoa and sugar. There must be a balance as cocoa without sugar sucks as there would be too much bitterness while sugar without cocoa would not be chocolate anymore. In a sense, this could be applied to anything as extremes without moderation are really bad for health.

Similarly for love, too much bitterness would just cause hatred and sadness, while too much sugar would not make your love memorable as life is full of ups and downs. Without downs, would you appreciate the person in front of you?

Hence, that is my chocolate theory!

Sleepless

Recently, I had not been sleeping well or rather I had not been waking up well. This could be attributed to several causes. The first of which would be Euro 2008! BUT the matches had to take place at 12am or at 245am! If the match is on 12am, I would probably watch the first half which ends at 1245am before going to bed. For the match at 245am, it is virtually impossible to stay up so late to watch them.

However, no matter which time I slept, I would definitely wake up at 630am to the noise of pounding. I am not exactly sure what that is but it is definitely coming from above me. Seems like some neighbours do have the habit of waking up early to make breakfast. BUT what the hell are they chopping? Huge slabs of meat??!! Or even grounding pepper or pounding chilli so bloody early in the morning from Monday till Sunday??!! Yes, my beloved neighbours are even cooking on Saturday and Sunday! Hell, to think that the government of Singapore encourages gracious living and being considerate to others.

Ok, enough with the bitching and it's back to work!

Trip tripped...

Decided to update on the HK business trip that I took in end Nov. Personally I do not hate having people around, however, I hate being in a much too populated area. During my trip there, not sure if it is due to the holiday season, it seems like there's tons of people in HK! Trains are packed, even footpaths are packed with locals and tourists alike. Nevertheless, the trains are efficient there and I do note that people immediately stood up to offer their seats to those that need it more, with the recipient offering thanks. Being there for 5 days, I at least witnessed 5 cases of such courtesy. The frequency of the trains are 3-5 mins usually unlike singapore's 3-5 mins for peak hours and 5-8 mins for off peak hours.

However, I do see couple of bad points that are somewhat being more commonly seen in Singapore nowadays. During the queue for the bus to ocean park where the queue stretches for quite a long way, I had a family queuing behind me. Frankly, I do not mind kids jumping around due to their hyperactive nature and being somewhat excited about going to Ocean Park. However, the kid keeps on kicking my leg whenever he moves around and this occurs not once but many times. Bah, since he's a little kid, I should not make too much of a fuss. BUT he did a disgusting thing next. He decided to empty his phlegm next to the ground near to where I was standing. WTH! Luckily the bus did come fast enough and I lost this family.

Another incident also dampens my holiday mood. While I was in a cable car, there's this family that manages to squeeze in the compartment and there's this middle age man sitting across me. He's seems to be sick and had a hacking cough, and worse of all, the lack of courtesy to cover his mouth when he coughs, meant that the person sitting across him which is me get to enjoy his transmitted germs. In addition, I can't help noticing his rotten teeth that's full of dark brown stains.. eek! Luckily, my immune system won out the fight against the germs/virus and I did not bring back any SARS or bird flu virus.

Being alone on a business trip can be bothersome. Imagine going to a chinese restaurant and being shown a menu with all items having 1 pricing. That means that I could not get to enjoy a variety of food and each portion is bloody big. Thus, most of the time, I was sadly relegated to eating fusion food, Jap food or Korean food. In addition, most tea cafes are darn crowded during this period and you guess it, those less crowded places are darn expensive. Well, luckily for company account expenses.

Truthfully, I'm an idiot at shopping so I do not generally check prices of branded labels, but it does seem like stuff in HK are similarly priced to those in Singapore. Moreover, it is Christmas season with weather bordering near chilling, most stores are offering Winter wear which is not exactly suitable for sunny Singapore.

The food there is not bad at all although it's a pity that I could not try out more variety. I had roasted pigeon, Dim Sum, Jap sashimi, beef hot pot and some others which are not bad.

To conclude, for a holiday trip, I probably won't go back again unless it is with friends or to visit my HK friends.

Tis the Festive Season

Yah right, it is the festive season and for some reason or another, lots of people are spending. (Must be having lots of bonuses $$$) Alas for me, there's no bonus even though I'm the only poor soul in the company that's in charge of everything! ~_~|||

Anyway, it does seem strange that all my stuff choose to spoil during this season. My motherboard, CPU, graphics card, power supply, laser mouse and wireless adapter are dead! Fate must be playing a trick on me, or probably it's trying to tell me to boost the economy. WTH!! So sadly, I have to spend to get replacements else my computer will be lying on a corner in my room looking like a pile of trash.

In addition, there's still the weddings to go, which meant more money for the red packet. Haiz, I think my salary this month and the next has already burnt out. Probably have to look for some part time job to supplement my income. Haha.

Life Updates

For the past few weeks, I had been busy with by research project, followed by the exams and finally would be going straight to HK for work after the exams. It's going to be a rush week as straight after the exams on 28 Nov 1pm, I would be packing my bags and going down to the airport for the 6pm flight. Such is life...

After the HK trip, I'll be on leave for the next 2 weeks. Finally, some rest for me. Will be updating details regarding the HK trip soon...

Inconsiderate or just blur? Part II

Now for the second installment of my neighbours' exploit at waking me up.

The revver

It's a great saturday morning and you thought that it's great that you do not have to go to work and could sleep like a log till the late morning. Suddenly, you hear the loud revving sound of the engine! Dragging your body out of bed and peeking out of the window, you see someone starting the motorcycle engine downstairs and keep revving as if the engine is not yet hot enough to explode! AND the thing that pissed you off is that the exhaust pipe has been modified giving off a loud sound when the monsterous adomination moves off. What a great day to wake up in! Bah.

On a side note:
Not too long ago (a few years back about 7 or 8), I heard a loud bang in the middle of the night at 3am and looking up at my ceiling, I saw red streaks of light. Waking up and looking down at the carpark downstairs, I saw a couple of bikes burning. Someone must have set fire to them and the arsonist was never caught. Not sure if he was pissed by the loud revving noise but I do indeed have some nights of peace and quiet though.

The boisterous kids

It's boring wednesday morning at 6am, although it's another hour before you wake up to go to work, you hear louding laughing sounds coming from across the window. Bah! As you sit up, you hear some kids chasing each other around the void deck at the opposite block. Oh bloody hell, I hate PSLE marking days!

The unwilling waker

It's now 7.15am and all of a sudden, you heard the loud handphone alarm ring tone of that stupid gatsby song. Scrambling to get out of bed to get to your handphone to stop it and to prepare for work, you stare at it in amazement and realise that yours is not the stupid phone that's ringing. In addition, you realise that you are too cheap to download any gatsby song as a ring tone. Then, the morning reverts back to peaceful as the gatsby song finally stops. You look at your own handphone and realise that IT's A GOD DAMN SATURDAY! Swearing at the owner of the gatsby tone phone's owner, you dragged yourself back to bed. After closing your eyes for 5 mins, the stupid gatsby tone starts up again! Luckily for you, it ends much more quickly this time. HOWEVER, the STUPID song starts up again after another 5 mins. The stupid idiot must have snooze his damn alarm. Thinking that you would never be able to sleep ever again, you waited for the damn song to start up again. HOWEVER, this time, nothing happens after 10 mins. Now, you are really pissed and curse every generation of the handphone's owner and finally sick of the swearing, you lie down and fell asleep.

Inconsiderate or just blur?

How strange are people in your neighbourhood? Now, I'm gonna share this wierd tales of the people in my backyard and I bet you would laugh at my silliness!! :P AND probably you see these kind of people too around you!

The elephant

It's 12am at night and you happen to live in a flat in multi-storey building stuck in a suburb and it so happens, your bedroom is beside the stairs... All of a sudden, you are awoken by a loud thumping noise beside you and you thought it's an earthquake! You rubbed your eyes and listened more carefully and what you hear is a loud stamping sound that's now fading into the distance... Oh bother! Just your neighbour coming home from work!

The 7-month singer

Oh yay, it's the weekend and you are finally gonna have some well earned beauty sleep but suddenly, at bloody 9am in the morning, you hear someone screaming and howling! Thinking that a robbery is taking place, you peep out of the window but saw nothing! Just when you are about to get back to bed, the howling resumes! Oh no, thinking that it is the hungry ghost festival, you start to pray to whatever gods that might happen to protect you in your hour of need to exorcise the probable ghost that might appear right in front of you anytime but you REMEMBERED that the sun is already shinning through your windows! Stepping closer to the window again, you hear the distinct sound of music and a loud rendition of some old hokkien songs. Oh well, there goes your sleep.

The mushy chatter

It's 11pm at night and you are about to turn in. As it so happens, you hear the trill ring of a mobile phone seeking its' owner's attention. Thinking that it's of no consequence to you, you turned off the light and lie down in your bed. As you close your eyes, the words "I love you dear", "Muack" and kisses start creeping into your ear. Holy shit, am I dreaming or what, this must be quite a lovely dream. But after pinching yourself and howling in pain, you realise that it's just your bloody neighbour whispering sweet nothings. Oh hell, you hope that the phone conservation would end early and lie back in bed. After some time tossing and turning and continuing listening to a lifetime worth of sweetheart's talk, you finally woke up and look at your clock. Damn! It's already 1am and you are supposed to wake up at 7am tomorrow. Now, you start to curse your luck and try your best to hypnotize yourself to fall asleep.

The carpenter/Pots adjuster

You are soundly asleep in bed. Suddenly, you are awoken by a sawing sound! Thinking that someone must be robbing your home, you sat up straight on your bed but realise that the sound is coming from outside. Taking a look outside, you happen to see your neighbour sawing on a wooden plank! Thinking that this would be a fast one since you see that his sawing is almost done, you went back to sleep. After 1 minute, you hear another grinding sound. Oh hell, what's wrong again you asked. You take a look again and saw that now your neighbour is pushing his pots onto the newly assembled shelf. Taking a look at your clock, you saw that it is 1am and it's a working day! Wondering what the hell is going on and is he going to stop anytime soon, the grinding sound starts again. By now, you are pulling your hair out in frustration and hoping that the bloody pots would just break and stop your torture.

Thus, ever wonder why people in your neighbourhood behave the way they do? Truthfully, I'm not sure. Sometimes, believing in the good of mankind, I think they might be ignorant of the inconvenience they are bringing to others. HOWEVER, it does seem that these are happening on a too frequent basis for me to continue believing in the good of mankind anymore. LOL.