Smile. Grin. Laugh.

Unwell

2008-08-31T10:28:00.002+08:00

My beloved granny was hospitalised since Monday and for 3 days she was warded in the high-dependency ward. She was diagnosed with pneumonia. It was especially painful to see her in those 3 days hooked up to a variety of machines. I will never forget that pair of once-strong hands which brought me up as a child. It was heart-wrenching to see her struggle to speak through the tube in her nose. At least I'm sure she's happy with all the repeat family visits. My elder sis and I made occasional jokes which made her smile. Kindness begets kindness. She is the best granny ever! Thankfully, she was moved out of the high-dependency ward on Thursday. Get well soon Ah Ma!

My sweetheart fell sick too! Nasty throat, coughs, headaches. Argh. Sounds like a bad virus to me. She swears she sounds sexier currently. I'm not so sure that's a good thing. It's times like these that a physical presence would be so much appreciated. A hug, a kiss, a touch, a squeeze, anything! Wish I could be there with her now. 24 more days! Get well soon darling!

Oooh. I hope I won't fall sick too. I finished at least three quarters of a can of Pringles 'tomato salsa'. Mmmm. That was good. True to the mantra of 'once you pop, you can't stop'. Hmm... was that a Pringles tagline? Anyway, yeah, and so I'm sorta developing a dry throat coz of my unrestrained snacking. It's the weekend and I just so want to chill! Work has been crazy past few weeks, and will likely to be so for the next months. But I'm not complaining! At least I'm learning stuff and gaining new experiences. Will be headed towards the Middle East a couple times over the next few months possibly ;-)

Back to work... on a Sunday :(

Needles!

2008-08-16T09:15:00.006+08:00

Another week gone! Yes! The countdown is at 40 days... almost... there... :-D

For 3 days this week, I was on a health informatics course at Changi General Hospital to learn about the latest trends, issues and standards in healthcare technology. Definitely useful knowledge in my line of work! On Wed and Thu, I joined the long train of cars commuting to work courtesy of my dad who didn't have to use his car. There were just so many cars on the road in the morning, and traffic crawled at times. Maybe it'll be worse without ERP. Maybe not. But oh well, I must admit that I do enjoy the times on the MRT where I get to do my own stuff like reading, playing on my DS, etc to pass the time away.

Parking would also be issue if not for my kind girlfriend's parents who let me park at their condo in Simei. Sigh... it wasn't too long ago Phoebe would be by my side when I drove into the condo with her by my side. Anyway, Thu night was also a night I caught up with Phoebe's family, joining them for dinner at an eatery in Eastpoint (I forgot the name of the place, I just recall it had lots of graffiti which disfigured its neat original deco).

Friday was supremely, awesomely, yet disgustingly hectic. Between 9.30am to 3.30am, I was rushing from meeting to meeting! 5 meetings in 6 hours! And it weren't big meetings where I could shut off from time to time, but meetings that required my full-blooded attention. They went well though, and all was good. At the end of the day, I even managed to hear from Mr Jimmy Wales! Who you say? For the uninitiated, it's the founder of Wikipedia! He was a cool guy, funny at times, and he gave us (those at the talk) a personal look into how Wikipedia came about.

My day got more exciting. I was to get pierced by 3 inch needles again. You see, I've had this niggling injury for a while now sustained from a football game. I got stomped upon by accident on the top of my foot, and there's been pain at that area when I lean my bodyweight to the ball of my foot. I'm still patiently waiting for the day that Phoebe can diagnose all my ailments from the frequent knocks I receive, but for now, my TCM practitioner at Boon Lay Shopping Centre will have fill in the gap.

I was treated there for a serious knee injury I sustained while training for the Standard Chartered Marathon in 2006. At that time, it crossed my mind that my injury would be permanent, but after a few rounds of massage (tui1 na2) and accupuncture at my TCM doc, I was well and now I'm looking forward to my first marathon ever at the end of this year! Except, I got to heal the niggling foot injury I have.

I took some pics this time of my foot being pierced =p

For the faint-hearted, it's really not all that bad. And it does promote healing (according to my doc). Haha.

My foot wrapped up after the session. It was funny that in the bed beside me (my doc partitioned her clinic into 3 areas with a makeshift massage bed in each area), a guy was undergoing treatment for some injury and his girlfriend was there too. When my doc mentioned needles, his cheery tone immediately turned into one of grave concern. "Err, can we not do accupuncture?" he spoke in mandarin hesitantly. His girlfriend just giggled by the side at his apparent apprehension to have needles stuck into his body. Lol. He eventually gave in after a while. He triumphantly declared to his girlfriend that he felt nothing, completely oblivious to the fear he exhibited just a few minutes ago. Dot.

In closing, I apologise that my foot is not very photogenic and please do not tell me that you've had nightmares after viewing an ugly foot with needles stuck in it. I know it'll never win a pretty foot award =p

That's all from me for now!

My New Toy & Random Picture of the Week

2008-08-08T06:58:00.010+08:00

This week, like the last few, have flown by so fast. Not that I'm complaining at all ;-)

Well. Since the end of last week, I've had a new toy. The gadget lover in me couldn't succumb to the lures of a new, chic and sexy bluetooth headset. My first one actually.

Passe huh? Which self-respecting gadget lover would take so long to get something so basic as a bluetooth headset? *hands raised* Uhh... that would be me. I'm a gadget lover with a limited wallet and deep sense of practicality.

Anyway, this is it.

The Jabra BT8040.

It's so light I think I can blow it off my palm. I first got to know of it from Digital Life 2 weeks ago, and since then I'm done my fair share of digging around the web to find the best mix of price/quality for bluetooth headsets. My first choice would probably have been the Aliph Jawbone 2, but it would have cost twice as much as my Jabra! I got my Jabra for $98@South Asia in Funan. If I've been ripped off, don't tell me. It was listed as $128 in Digital Life anyway.

Anyway, sound quality is good. Loud and sufficiently clear, I can now hear Phoebe clearly when she calls me from Australia, barring any network reception loss of course :-)

Standard answer/hang up and volume buttons can be seen from the picture.

The only gripe I have is the comfort of the earpiece. Made of soft gel, it doesn't hurt the ears but finding a good fit is difficult. Perhaps this was not made for Asian ears. I have a good mind to cut off that circular ring attached to the earpiece gel. It's supposed to fit the 'outer in-ear' contours or something to give it more stability. Quite the contrary for me. I'll try to give it some good-ol DIY fixing to make it more fitting.

Overall, a gripe I can live with. Good clear sound is still what I needed most, and it delivers in a small and sleek package :-)

Next up....the random picture of the week!

I don't know where you're from, but from where I come from, it's rare I see such HUGE mangoes. (most of our mangoes in the markets are imported into the country anyway). I've got no idea where this mango came about. But apparently, I found my Dad slicing it away in the kitchen one day and I couldn't resist stopping him by yelling "Hold it! Be merciful to the mango for just a second!"

*snap*

"Ok, go ahead and mutilate it now so that we'll know if it tastes as good as it looks."

It was.

My uncle got it from somewhere I think. So up till today no one knows where the mango was from. I sure hope there weren't any sort of those growth hormones injected into our foods to make it look better and bigger. Ugh. Thinking about it makes me sick already.

Anyway, the photo might not do it justice. But that smackeroo is huuuuuuge. There's a packet of chilli sauce to help you estimate its size. You probably can't tell the mango's thickness, but I assure you, it's no smaller than a chicken rice take-away styrofoam packet!

Whew...the weekend's here...err... almost!

47 more days before I see my baby!

Ode to My Girl

2008-08-01T13:09:00.027+08:00

Not bad. 4 days since my last post.

Well, for the benefit of the loyal readers of my blog (very close to surpassing the impressive number of 3), there seems to be a gap that I have not yet addressed in between my last 2 entries. Well, to be honest, a gap could actually be a severe understatement…all 562 days of it.

In short, after my Ah-gong’s deflated attempt to match-make me with some lass, this grandson of his decided to take matters into his own hands...

On course for one of my “extra-work-ricular” activities, I met this cute girl in class. Several weeks of classes and one camp later, this cute, beautiful, and intelligent girl is now my girlfriend ;-)

Alas, my girl is now away studying Down Under. It’s not going to be an easy ride for the next few years. But I know there’s no other girl whom I’ve ever loved and cherished so much, and God-willing, Phoebe and I will pull through this together as one!

10 months on, it’s been the best ride of my life. Given another choice, I’d have gone down this same path. No question. You’ve been a blessing in my life Phoebe, and I hope I have been a blessing in yours too.

A beautiful journey of ups and downs,
Even in our toughest times, countless sweet memories abound.
In God and love we place our trust,
With patience and understanding, our relationship will last.

Smart and witty,
Beautiful cutie.
Who’d think this petite girl will fill my heart completely?

Time always flies when I’m with you my sweetheart.
Filled with longing and yearning am I, in our days apart.
All the words created would not be sufficient,
To tell the world of you - my wholehearted passion.

If ever you lose sense of what is true,
Turn to me, believe in me... because I believe in you.

Happy 10-Month Anniversary darling.

I love you.

1 Aug 2008

Resurrected. Revived. Reinstated. Relieved (most of all).

2008-07-27T19:47:00.010+08:00

It's been 562 days since my last post.

And one doesn't need to be a rocket scientist to know that it's a pretty darn long time. Who revives a blog after it's been 'dead' / 'extinct' / 'defunct' / 'kaput' for more than a year and a half?

The answer well... is yours truly indeed.

Why bring back a blog from the dead?

Well. There are a few reasons of course but non so pertinent as that of a certain demand by a certain lady of a certain very special importance.

The demand was as simple as it was, no different from any order you'd hear from wives to husbands, parents to kids, teachers to students, bossess to employees... you get my drift. The demand was "You have one week to update your blog."

As those simple words echoed through my head barely a week ago, I felt the crushing throes of procrastination from the past 562 days rush over my body in one fell swoop.

What am I gonna blog about?
How am I suppose to blog?
What's my log-in password to Blogspot?
Will I have time this week?

It was no wonder I woke up with such a terrible headache this morning. Today's the day of reckoning.

First of all, I would like to thank Gmail for allowing me to retrieve my log-in password without hassle. Without the fuss-free password recovery procedure, I would have been tearing out my hair in distress by now.

Secondly, I want to thank the maker(s) of this wonderful template I found online, as well as the kind (and brilliant) soul that converted this from a WordPress template (or so I heard). Your spiffy cool template has given me inspiration and a sense of purpose to keep my blog up to date and neat. It also provided for my first foray into a little HTML editing. I'd thought I swore off programming ever since I graduated. But turns out it was good I ever went through that nerve-wrecking couple years of banging my head against the keyboard and yelling silent profanities at the multitudes of lines on my laptop screen. Umm... that's programming for me by the way.

(I don't know how this post has morphed into a thank-you speech of sorts, but well... I guess I'm pretty random at this stuff.)

Last but not least, I want to thank my girlfriend Miss Phoebe Ng for encouraging me so kindly to update my blog once again. Without her relentless, driven, passionate, watchful, and unnerving support (stop reading between the lines), you my reader would not be reading this (crappy but annoyingly interesting) post today.

Next up. (And I really mean it, Miss Ng will ensure I deliver what I promise.)

My goals and targets for this pweeeety little blog I have. Coming soon. Stay tuned.

( PS. This blog is still work-in-progress. Some of the links don't work. Will fix them once I get a chance to explore further ;-) )

My Grandfather Wants to Match-Make Me With Some Girl

2007-01-11T23:57:00.000+08:00

Oh yes... you've read it right.

I was visiting my maternal grandparents last Saturday (more about that in a post real soon), and my grandpa had to remind me about it once again.

Please allow me to recount to you a telephone conversation that happened a month ago :-)

Characters: My grandfather - Ah Gong, Me - also refered to as Ah Kang here, and Mum is just...Mum

(Conversation translated from Teochew)
(Phone rings)

Grandpa: HAAALO!

Me: Harlow...Ah Gong ah?

Grandpa: Uh..... Ah Kang issit?

Me: Yes Ah Gong. What is it?

Grandpa: Orrh....nothing much lah. Just want to ask you...are there 'za bor' (women) at your workplace?

Me: *scratches head* Huh? Umm.... yeah I guess... there's lots of za bor at my workplace.

Grandpa: *Sounding a little irritated* No no...I mean... do you have a girlfriend at work?

Me: Orrrrrh................. girlfriend ah? Don't have, don't have. Why leh?

Grandpa: Hehe...nothing lah... anyway, you want Ah Gong to recommend a girl to you or not?

Me: *Getting a little suspicious* Huh?? Why so sudden? Who's this girl?

Grandpa: This girl.... daughter of our family friends. Their family just visited us not too long ago. About your age...just nice you know...

Me: Hahahah... why did you think of that all of a sudden? But by the way, she pretty or not???

Grandpa: WAHH LAU EH! Ah Gong recommend to you sure pretty one!!!!

Me: *Sceptical but still curious* Really ah? Ah Gong....your taste can trust or not??

Grandpa: You trust your Ah Gong's taste! Ah Gong say pretty, confirm pretty one ah!!! Tall and pretty somemore!!!

Me: *at this time, i'm still in disbelief at what my Ah Gong is trying to do*

(Enter Mum....)
Mum on hearing my side of the conversation so far, gets curious, and takes the phone away from me while I was still recollecting my thoughts...

Mum: Ah Pa....what's this? You want to introduce a girl to Ah Kang? Who is she? Where is she from? Why you so kay-poh? Aiyoooh...Ah Kang can find a girlfriend himself...Don't interfere lah...ok...that's all....

Click.

And that was the end of my conversation with Ah Gong that night. It was strange because I didn't know if I should thank my mum for rescuing me that night....coz now I'll never get to know how 'good' my Ah Gong's taste is! LOL... Not that I'd even agree to be match-made in the first place...but gee...sometimes you just wonder.... *chuckles chuckles*

Long Awaited...

2007-01-11T23:43:00.000+08:00

And I thought starting this blog was difficult, keeping it updated is even tougher. My sincere thanks and appreciation to all who by some compelling curiosity decided to drop by my inaugural post (and strangely enough are here again reading my second post). I just want to thank all those who have given me their valuable feedback and comments....please keep 'em coming... I feel duty-bound to entertain you all as best as I can... in exchange for wasting 10 minutes of your time every week.

Although it's been 2 weeks since I last blogged, I don't think there was ever a day that went by that I didn't think of updating this blog... hahahah... is that a big sign of my procrastination or what? No wait... I was busy... it's been a 'shiong' start to the new year work-wise. Furthermore, I've been doing background preparation for future posts. Keep your fingers crossed for a couple of updates this weekend!

I have a blog

2006-12-28T17:49:00.000+08:00

Amazing. I have a blog! Congratulations to YOU who hath found my humble little space in this vast, vast blogosphere. Not that I think anybody would be interested to read about my life, or my raves and rants for that matter. But for practical reasons (more about that in a while), now would be a good time to take a dive into this fascinating, intriguing, world of bits and bytes. Woo hoo!!

So...What took me so long? And the top 5 reasons in no particular order of merit:

1. I'm lazy
2. No time to update (aka 'I'm lazy')
3. I'm a very private person (hurhurhur!)
4. I don't read blogs, neither do I see a need to keep one
5. I'm allergic to IT

Ok... have fun trying to guess which reason is absolute hogwash. But in case you're wondering why the sudden turn-around, here's 10 reasons why:

1. I was bored in office post-Christmas and pre-New Year
2. I'm fascinated to know who and how many will read what I write
3. I like to write (humour mostly)
4. I want an easy avenue to share my photos
5. I like Google, and Google bought Blogger
6. I like to recommend stuff that's worth recommending
7. We live in a busy, busy world chock full of distractions and if you can't beat them, join them.
8. Reading blogs can be interesting, especially if it's witty and insightful, or if it's by someone you fancy...hahaha! Admit it people, there's a voyeur in each and every one of us.
9. My younger sis has a blog. My humble male pride says I cannot be less tech-savvy than her...hahahah!
10. I woke up one morning and I decided I want to blog

Wheew...coming up with 10 reasons was tougher than I thought. Even coming up with a name for this blog took me ages. Ok...so you say, "What kind of schmuck comes up with a name like 'Smile. Grin. Laugh.' ? " I can only say "Hmmm...I dunno man. Maybe it's the same schmuck whose blog you're reading right now." Duh. Hahaha...ok...this is senseless. I can't believe I'm making such lame jokes and posting them for all to see... Maybe I'm really not cut out for this... but heck...
...
...
...
I've already started.