Category: I See I Write

Rejoice! Our electronic signboard with real-time display of estimated time of reaching the destinations is once again in operation (3 years?). If I remember correctly, it was too expensive to operate then. I wonder what changes today. I personally miss those signboards a lot. How accurate is that today? Well, I did several observations and they were accurate up to 1 minute with my madman driving skill – I still miss the target by a minute though. Sigh.

I do not play football, cannot tell who has fouled in the game, and neither do I gamble on results. Many friends of mine told me that they have not watched many matches. I replied to them that I have not missed many matches. In fact, I glue to the TV from 9pm to 5am each and every day. And thanks to Maxim, the magazine, I have this big piece of poster that I can stick onto the wall and update the results as World Cup progresses.

6777 3777 is a number that I shall remember from now on besides 43657 (IDOLS, duh! For SMS voting …). I am sick of ordering pizzas every time. It is expensive and I can never finish them in one go. McDonald’s delivery service is awesome and it is my brand new discovery. 6777 3777 that is. As for 43657, well, after another week of boring all-guys performance at the Singapore Idol (seriously, do guy viewers find all-guys performance even interesting to watch?), this coming episode will be all-girls performance (yay!). Except that I don’t really see any eye candies at all from the commercials. Pretty, cute, and young Singaporean gals, where are you all?!

It is because of The Omen that I have missed first half of Argentina’s match on Friday. So I have missed the first 3 goals. But I got to see the next 3 goals on the second half. How cool is that?! USA versus Italy was all blood and gory. I am sure the American viewers would love it. If you visit USA and watch their local news for just one day, you will know what I mean.

Back to The Omen – the supposed horror film that to me, it is more of a thriller – I sort of thought that the storyline is familiar. Turned out that The Omen is a remake of the 1976 classic and it has four parts to it. I wonder if they will continue remaking all.

Some of you have already known my “passion” towards ants. If you wish to buy some ant baits, don’t get Baygon. I made that mistake couple of years ago and I have just made it again. First, the baits draw the entire population of ants out of their nets and kill them all on the spot there and then. I took some pictures but they are just too gory to be displayed on my site. Second, the baits don’t work on all type of ants – specifically the fast moving ones. Buy the other brand instead (off hand, I forgot). The proper way to kill them is to let them take the baits into their nest so that I don’t need to clear all the “corpses”.

The American Idol Taylor Hicks’s single is out with his first song Do I Make You Proud. No dude, you make me sad, you make me angry, you make me want to burn all the shops that carry your single. Katherine should have been the Idol, Elliot should have been the Idol, even Chris should have been the Idol.

Oh well, time for the first match … and don’t forget, 6777 3777.

After watching the painful All Boys (Part 1) last week – too many whom cannot sing AND don’t look good – the girls I thought are better both in looks department as well as … perhaps, in singing department.

For those overseas readers, the Singapore Idols website is … not surprisingly http://www.SingaporeIdol.com.

Last week’s result was no brainer. This week I have finally got to place my very first Idols vote through SMS (60 cents per SMS mind you). Jasmine sang the best and also looks decent, so she has my first vote. Between Gayle and Milly, one is better in the singing department (I do like Gayle’s voice) and the other can easily look the best in the competition so far (her eyes were so watery!). Undecided. I have casted 1 vote each. Then I thought, what the hack, I cast 1 extra vote to Jasmine just so show my support.

Now, that is S$2.40 for round 1.

Latest Update: Alright. The result is in. The girl whom I have invested 2 votes has made it (Jasmine that is). Sort of very disappointed that Gayle doesn’t make it. Instead, Rahimah – the one who has no look and can’t sing (can’t reach the high notes) – made it. Being the only Malay contestant in that round, I have predicted that she would make it. Still, I don’t like the result. At least not all of it.

After watching the painful All Boys (Part 1) last week – too many whom cannot sing AND don’t look good – the girls I thought are better both in looks department as well as … perhaps, in singing department.

Lately, I have been shopping for the solar panel for my car. I texted my car agent and he put me through this company that installs the brand of a solar panel that I have not heard of. So this salegirl called me up and explained to me what products they offer. After the call, she texted me her contact number and a website that contains her blog on not only her personal life, but also photos of all the cool cars that she has come across.

I must say that it is a very cool strategy. Her assets – pleasant looking with a decent personality – that are not able to put through the voice call are now shining through her own blog site. Next time if I have a company, the recruitment criteria would be:

1. Is she hot?
2. Is she hot?
3. Is she hot?
4. Does she blog and willing to share her blog with her potential clients and clients?

I came across an album by Miho Karasawa and wish to check out her materials in the Internet. Turned out that I needed to install a Realplayer. After launching the Realplayer, I was greeted with many interesting movie titles such as: Love for Sale, My Sister the Geisha, Favourite Body Parts, Why Men Pay For It.

I clicked onto Love For Sale – L.A. Story and watched the trailer (to play the video, I will need a pass). Dialogue as follows:

Interviewee (girl) – “Women should be coming in no more than {paused} seven minutes. If you’re longer than seven minutes, you need my help. You need to come to me {pause}, ya. ”

Interviewer (girl) – “Where do you get seven minutes from?”

Interviewee – “That is about the point when you start to getting frustrated. If I am doing it, and I can’t come in a {paused}, I am usually like a two or three minutes girl. But if I can’t come in like seven minutes, for the first one, then I will get really frustrated. So I would {pause} say that, using me as the model, if I can, you know, if it takes you fourteen minutes to come, I can show you techniques that can cut that time in half.”

Now, I wonder what that technique is.

Shop name: Sinamex
Address: Parklane Shopping Mall

Recently my wife and I have experienced some electric shock with our bass and electric guitar and after some first level troubleshooting, I suspected that it was the mixer that gave me the problem. Called Sinamex and the technical support asked me to bring the set back for diagnosis. Fine. I was so happy that the support was so helpful.

Bad luck for me, the support guy was not in. The boss was so totally cocky. After a very simplistic diagnosis and could not replicate the problem, here was some of the dialogues.

Poor Customer: (long explanation why I think it could due to a faulty mixer)
Cocky Boss: This is X-file.
Poor Customer: (felt like punching him on his face) X-file doesn’t exist man …
Cocky Boss: You bring it back and most likely it will be fine
Poor Customer: (tried once more to reason with him)
Cocky Boss: Do you play in church?
Poor Customer: (huh? does it matter?) No.

Poor Customer: Don’t you have some more sophisticated tools to diagnose the circuitary?
Cocky Boss: We have a set of diagnostic steps but I don’t see the problem.
Poor Customer: (ah, he is referring to the troubleshooting section in the manul … so much for their help) But I am really feeling the shock man …
Cocky Boss: It is impossible (giving me another X-file look)

And I walked away.

I lived by inspiration and when it strikes, there is no stopping me from doing it. Just like that, I have braved the super traffic jam of Orchard to my destination at Taka. Well, before I go on, I must say the road planning in Singapore sucks. God knows how many cars travel from CBD to Taka and the number of vehicles changing lanes on that route is phenomenon. And you need to pay ERP somemore. Great brains we have in Singapore.

Anyway, Taka carpark was full so we, again, braved the traffic jam and parked at Wheelock Place. What did I want from Taka? No idea. My inspiration didn’t say. So we spent 75 mins on the road and had no idea what we were supposed to do.

We ended up in the same Japanese restaurant that TK has took us to a while back. Atmosphere was great with dim lighting and Japan-ish images projected onto white walls. The waitresses are efficient and … pretty. And the food quality is good. It is a fusion type. Worth a try. Price-wise, the menu has something relatively cheep (like S$11 for a bowl of chicken rice – Japanese style of course) to something I can’t afford. The Sake is pretty bad though by the way.

Restaurant Name: Sun with Moon
Tel: 6733-6636

Rushed home for the HBO original series ROME. Now, that is a great show. Half way through the show (each episode is 50 mins and we are onto the 6th-ish one), I said to my wife: hey, this show is less about Caesar and his war. And my wife – an avid reader of Life!, OK!, People! – told me that what so original about this movie is that it is presented from the commoners’ perspective.

The dialogue is very funny. Like a guy said to his fellow solder: my wife doesn’t couple with me anymore. Or … this one is the best … the mother asked her son: Son, have you penetrated anyone yet? Her son hesitated and replied: No. And the mother sent a solder to take the son to a whore house. How I wish I had a mother like that …

Kidding.