True?

I just realised this.. True by Spandau Ballet is the ultimate "hurry up and buy your stuff.. we are shutting in 5 minutes" supermarket song.

right here here now

Logged in to MSN this morning and I saw an unfamiliar nick "crying in desperation" and it wasn't from any of the frivolous people I knew who had attention grabbing nicks. It was my long time primary school friend. That means I've known her for 22 years (gasp!).

So I buzzed her.

'what's wrong? what's with the nick'

her reply

"crying in desperation for God to save this generation"

Oh

"Something went wrong in school?" (She's a teacher)

"No.. nothing wrong"

"Then what's the saving for?"

"To save them from hell"

O-oo-kaay

I used to be religious too, and I totally understand what she means. But now that I've taken a step back and become more sanguine about life and religon. Its easy to see how some people can turned off by religion and Christians in particular. Especially those who go around saving souls from eternal hell and damnation, by scaring them with fire and brimstone talk. Some Christians end up smearing a bad name for the rest.

Like I've heard people who survived the Tsunami in Phuket say "Thank God. He was looking out for me. His Divine Intervention saw to it that I was saved." What the fuck is that? Does that mean that God doesn't love or look out for those who died? God turned his back on them? Just crowing on and on about it or giving testaments in Church about this 'miracle' is shameful.

Anyway, me thinks that this generation is doing alright. There're bigger things out there that deserve our attention. Worldly things that require our cries of desperation more. Abject poverty, AIDS, hunger, war and socio economic problems. Not something that you don't even know will happen for sure.

Like the Blackadder once said.

"You see, the thing about heaven is that heaven is for people who like the sort of things that go on in heaven. Like, well, singing, talking to God, watering pot plants."

At least I'll be in good company down under.

Song of the moment

Like A Friend ~ Pulp

Don't bother saying you're sorry.
Why don't you come in?
Smoke all my cigarettes - again.
Every time I get no further.
How long has it been?
Come on in now,
Wipe your feet on my dreams.

You take up my time,
Like some cheap magazine,
When I could have been learning something.
Oh well, you know what I mean.

I've done this before.
And I will do it again.
Come on and kill me baby,
while you smile like a friend.
And I'll come running,
Just to do it again.

You are the last drink I never should drunk.
You are the body hidden in the trunk.
You are the habit I can't seem to kick.
You are my secrets on the front page every week.
You are the car I never should have bought.
You are the train I never should have caught.
You are the cut that makes me hide my face.
You are the party that makes me feel my age.

Like a car crash I can see but I just can't avoid.
Like a plane I've been told I never should board.
Like a film that's so bad but I've gotta stay til the end.
Let me tell you now,
It's lucky for you that we're friends.

Applecow discovers Firefox

So know I know I'm not the last person to discover the "joys" of blogging with Firefox. Applecow is!!! hahaha!

I stumbled upon it by accident when I decided to blog using FF. Imagine my surprise when these options are open to me



when all along, I've been using the pathetic interface offered by Safari.



Like her.. I too thought Blogger was way overrated.. but I know now.. its not Blogger.. it's Safari! Me bad.

Yesterday was a good tech karma day for someone as un-techie as me. I revealed the mysteries of Exposé to Alan.. who incredibly enough.. does not know the magic keys F9, F10 and F11 even after owning an ibook for a year. *gasp* He needs more work.

Today I went down to the Co-op with Daisy and Norman to place an order for a new notebook. It seemed like a simple procedure, since I already had a model in mind, and all I would need to do is to produce my matric card for verification.

The lady at the counter asked me if I had purchased a notebook under the ownership scheme before and I said yes. many moons ago.. when I was an undergraduate. She took my matric card and even dug out my old matric number.

"Did you get a loan for that?"

"Yes, but its paid up already"

"I need to get clearance from the bank to verify that you've paid up, and you need to get a written consent from the com centre for the return of the ethernet card"

"WTF?!?!?" cue blank stares from all 3 of us. "But.. that was like 8 years ago! I don't even know where the computer is now and most of all... if I hadn't paid up that loan, the interest accumulated would be even higher than the principle!!!"

"Yes.. but we still need to see all these.. SOP you know"

And that was that.. I was discussing the next course of action with my mates when a few minutes later, she came back with a form and asked me to fill it up the order form. Blank stares again. Didn't she just say a few minutes earlier that it was no go without the documents?

"Oh.. its ok.. no need to see all these lah (I was just kidding)" almost in a 'gotcha!' tone.. apparently, they do this to regularly. Throw people off with required documents (who uses an ethernet card nowadays anyway?) have fun watching their reactions for a few minutes and then everything's ok. Will have to wait 3 weeks for it to arrive though. Hopefully it'll come on time.




The one that got away... frog fish from Taiwan.

Random musing #2234985

Is it shoplifting if you read a book/magazine from cover to cover at a congenial bookshop such as Borders or Kinokuniya?

Boring book club part 1

I've finally ploughed through A Hundred Years of Solitude by by Gabriel Garcia Márquez. I bought it when I went to the Philippines in January this year, and started on it when I brought it to Hong Kong.

It's one long, ultimately statisfying read, well deserving the title of the epic novel academics call it, although at times I felt like I was wading through glue. Some nights I could hardly go beyond two pages before getting a headeache, confused and drowsy - all at the same time, but most of the nights, I went on and on till the wee hours of the morning, only to turn in because it was getting alarmingly late ( or early - that's debatable).

I've been reading lots of fiction lately, perhaps an auto response to the blah of scientific papers, and despair of world news. I don't have a regular subscription to the Straits Times anymore, and the few times I pick it up, the appalling standard of journalism (or maybe it is due to the lack of 'news' in Singapore) makes me wonder how anyone would want to read from that birdcage liner when BBC news makes for a much better substitute.

I'm moving to much lighter stuff for my next bed time reading material... everyone's reading it! Guess what it is?

Most incredulous thing I heard last week

"Are spiders animals?"

This, uttered at the end of a presentation of a first year Animal Behavior module.

The scandalized look on Prof's face - priceless.

OC interview

Got this from PhD comics, chronicling the lighter side of postgraduate life. Spot on and hilarious.



Its a little late, since we're well into the 4th month of 2005, but the reason why I put it up today is because I had a little chat with my boss this afternoon. It seems like my time is near...let's see.. on top of my thesis, I have 4 papers to publish, 1 cruise to attend all within the the 2 months.

Time to destroy the WC3 cd.

Hong Kong Day 4 -7

Hong Kong and Singapore should really become sister/twin cities. With HK being the more street wise and sleazy of the two, and Sg the thumb sucking, wide eyed baby sister. I mean, same colonial masters translate into same name streets, like Connought Drive, Regent Road, etc. On the double decker bus, I realised that the scourge of TV mobile also originated from HK. They both show the same brain numbing re runs too! Incidentally, the double deck buses that are used in both places are of the same make, only differing in details like seat finishings. It's quite surreal hopping on the bus and then having a sense of deja vu as you realise, hey! this is exactly like in Singapore!

The transport system is a breeze, the day I was supposed to go to HK Island to visit Wolfie at HKU, I was repeatedly told that its a long way away, and my hosts were trying their best to give me directions, as it has dawned upon them that my Cantonese is useless, and god help me if I were to lose my way. I don't know why they were so worried. After all, putonghua or mandarin as we call it, is widely spoken. I had a copy of the street directory to boot. Wolfie told me that it would take approximately 1.5 to 2 hours to get to his lab, but efficient that I am, I did it in 1 hr and 15 min! Instead of taking the bus (970) at Mongkok, what I took was the minibus, which is known on the ground as 'the poor man's taxi'. This kind of minibus has no fixed route, and leaves from Sai Yee Street once all the seats (16) are taken up. For HK12.80 (SGD2.70), the Minibus (to Aberdeen) trundled across Kowloon, across the undersea tunnel to Hong Kong Island, and made a bee line for the uni. Total time, about 20 min.

Over dinner at Han Yang Xuan, I got to know some of Wolfie's friends, mostly postgrads from China. Seems like after 2 years, he still has not been able to fit in with the locals and is even regretting his decision to do his M. Phil at HKU. I guess I'll see more of him when he gets back to Singapore, and perhaps take up a postgrad course at NUS.

On Friday night, I met up with Elvin, friend of Alan's at Tsim Sha Tsui. With Elvin, I managed to check off all the must do attractions one does when in Hong Kong. Such as

• Walking down Portland Street at 3 am in the morning and amazed at all the people (some dodgy, most not) still up and milling around. (Those who watch Young and Dangerous and all other HK Ah Beng movies will know this one).
• Visting the site of another movie classic, Chungking Mansions featured in the Wong Kah Wai flick, Chungking Express. Its actually 5 blocks of really cheap guesthouses, with a shopping arcade on the first floor. It was late when we were there, but because I had company, we went in to nose around. Evidently, this is not the sort of place a single female would venture alone. Most of the people there consist of Pakistani, Indian, Negro men, and if they're not idling, they are busy touting to you in perfect, fluent cantonese. Its kinda strange hearing them.
  
• Hanging around the Harbour Promenade taking in a view of the HK skyline (this is really nice. And its not cliche at all...) and fending off middle age women trying to sell us flowers. One persistent auntie even resorted to telling Elvin, "guai, mai fah lah" which was so hilarious. She was telling him to be a good boy and buy some flowers from her for me! We had a good laugh over that.
  
• Taking the famous Star Ferry that has been plying between HK and Kowloon for 101 years. For a touristy thing to do, its surprisingly cheap too! Only HKD1.70!
• Yum cha at some chinese restaurant (I think better dim sum is to be had at Yan Palace, Singapore.)
• Having late supper at one of the numerous 茶餐廳 (cha can ting) in town. I must add that despite the foodie paradise tag that HK has, I still prefer Singapore chinese food. I guess if you're skint, you'll eat at all the bottom-of-the-barrel places, and they will all taste the same, no matter Singapore or Kong Kong. Dining in HK is in fact more expensive then in Singapore. A char siew roast duck rice in HK costs about HKD30 (SGD6.40)!!!
  
• Taking a tram which was also been chuggin along HK Island's main thoroughfare for a bloody long time (another cheap deal. Only HKD$2).
• Walked around Lan Kwai Fong and SoHo. But being a Sunday morning, all the pubs were closed and the very efficient street sweepers made sure that no one was left in their own vomit over night (things have really changed after SARS, it seems).

I even bough lao puo bing and egg rolls from some super duper famous bakery to be taken back to Singapore (cliche tourist thing). Took great care not to knock it too much carrying it around, and I almost did it. It eventually fell off my bag and onto the floor ensuring its deconstruction 10m from the arrival gate back in Changi. The look of disdain on my face was so apparant that two customs officers on duty that were standing near me actually asked if I were ok and if anything was wrong. :/ However, I was told by NNK upon my jubilant return to the lab that the above mentioned pastries can be bought at Great World City, Singapore. "-_-. Darn, I should have smuggled that roast goose instead.

Speaking of smuggling, my dear lab mate, THH rang me up on Friday, one day before my return to Singapore to help him bring back a fish, Channa nox. Alive. I did my best, but the poor fish died en route. Lack of air it seems. And the fish I got was not nox, but asiatica. I feel kinda bad now, because on hingsight, I did see a nox like fish swimming around, but the woman at the wet market was so surly that I had no time to look at it carefully.
More HK titbits to come soon, if I have time!

P.S. No pictures I'm afraid, and I'm really kicking myself for it. Need to get that camera fixed. soon.

A word a day

Many times, I've been caught in a situation where I'm engaging in an argument or debate with someone and am stunned into defeat by a momentarily loss of words. Only to have a witty repartee come to me hours later as I replay the conversation in my mind.

Now I know there's a word for that and it is:

esprit d'escalier (e-SPREE des-kal-i-YE)

Thinking of a witty remark too late; hindsight wit or afterwit

Subscribe to AWAD! It's a neat way of learning new words!