worked today

Was working today and for the first time since I started cashiering on Saturdays I was momentarily dazed.But in the end everything tallied.

After work I dropped off Ko Koh at the MRT and had lunch with Mrs Pay at Northpoint. Too bad Lyn had to run off to be with her paramour.

the beach, the sun and the sea

Was off today in lieu of Christmas. I had lots of time on my hands and had to make the decision to use my time effectively or to just take the opportunity to relax. Instead I did not relax nor did I do anything particularly useful either.

My first stop was Haw Par Villa at Pasir Panjang. It was kinda quiet. I am quite sure there were more workers on duty than actual visitors today.The parking was 5 bucks but the entrance is free,go figure.The park was rather quiet which is not necessarily a bad thing. It is such a pity since the park has lots to offer. I guess in the digital age simple pleasures are often forgotten . I felt rain drops as I entered so got kinda worried that my plans would be scuppered. But soon the dark clouds rolled away and the sun came out. Then I started to complain it was too hot!

I did the entire park in about 1 and a 1/2 hours. Took lots of amusing pics which I posted on my picture blog.

After that I drove over to Sentosa island. My plan was to take pictures at Siloso Beach and Palawan Beach before heading to Underwater World. Managed to take many pictures before my camera battery gave up on me. I was hoping to go on the Carlsberg Skytower but with no batteries it was pointless. Must make a note to buy a spare battery the next time I am at Cathay Photo.

I drove around before heading to Dolphin Lagoon. I watched the show which was rather good. I may have written in a couple of previous blogs about the conditions there and how ACRES had been somewhat critical of the setup and the treatment of the animals. I can say that the show has changed to be more pro-conservation. They even had a message about pollution which is better than the overt commercialism of the previous show. The keepers and visitors also had to sanitise (or is it de-sanitise?) their hands before making any contact with the mammals which was one of the bug bears in ACRES letters, for fear of cross-contamination. But surely they could come up with something better than the current plastic chairs and tent setup they have. Plastic chairs (make it any legged chair) will sink in sand and the tents hardly provide shade in the later part of the afternoon.

Having had my fill of Sentosa for the day, I headed to Suntec for Bible Study. I managed to get a seat at the 6th floor overflow room. I had dinner at KFC. Around that time I was also sms-ing with May and Simona.May had wanted me to accompany her shopping for Chinese New Year but I was already at Suntec when I got her message so I had to decline. I also re-confirmed my date with Simona on Monday. She said she 'would not miss it for the world'. Now the world is a better place. *sigh*

Had a great bible study.Learnt so much. *fuzzy and warm inside*

After that went down to Carrefour to get some groceries (namely: breakfast flakes,a bottle of grape and aloe vera juice and a bottle of Yomeishu. While making my way to the counter I met Lyn and May's dad. We just kinda looked and smiled at each other. Must be some sort of male bonding ritual. He then nodded approvingly at me. Not sure why. Wonder if it was because of the bible tucked under my armpit or the big bottle of Yomeishu in my hands? lol...the crooked preacher strikes again...

home sweet home

The Beach

After work today a group of us went to Beach Road hawker centre for dinner. Sin,Hasli,Poh, Lyn and of course me. I had planned for this because my fellow section mate Sin was feeling kind of down for the last few days. I remember that I really enjoy the company of my friends when I am down, so hence...

Poh and Lyn went by themselves. I had Hasli and Sin with me. We got there and managed to find parking spaces relatively easily. We met up again and proceeded to the basement level. I ordered mutton steak and Hasli had mutton chop which came rather Western-like in presentation. Sin had fried mee hoon which was not up to par to the one he tried before. We also ordered satay and ketupat for all to share. Lyn had a prawn noodle thing and Poh...err..what did he have...it kinda escapes me right now...

After dinner we crossed the road over to The Concourse to the Starbucks. Sin likes Starbucks so I had planned it such that wherever we went today would be in close proximity to one. We ordered our drinks and chilled out in the outdoor area facing Beach Road.

After a good casual chat in which Poh seemed unusually quiet(maybe it has to do with him nursing a flu), we headed back to the cars. I sent Sin to Lavender MRT before going by CTE to Yishun where I dropped off Hasli, before heading home.

What the Puck?

The day started with me having to wake up earlier than usual as I had to go to AVA HQ for their 'Knowledge Conference'. Along the way I detoured to Yio Chu Kang MRT to pick up Mrs Pay as she was also attending the same. Along the way Mrs Pay called her friend at HQ to ask her if she was gonna attend the conference. The friend said that it was postponed and the venue changed. Mrs Pay then called back to our office and asked Ko Koh about the postponement, which he checked out and did not know anything about. In other words we were not duly informed. Such incompetence!
Anyway we got to HQ and there were a few others in the same boat so it was obviously not an isolated case.

Mrs Pay and I then drove back to office, but not before adjourning to Sin Ming for some dim sum for breakfast. While there I got a call from Khim concerning my half day off. To say the least I was pissed at her. Why does she always have to give me a hard time? It is almost like I have to bend over backwards just to take my ENTITLED OFF DAY. She does not even bother to do anything to help her own staff to clear their leave and off. The reason I find it hard to take my leave and off is that I have to depend on the goodwill of my colleagues and the leave schedule of others. It is almost like the department cannot function without me around. Yet she treats me like I dun exist sometimes. I just cannot understand her motives and motivations sometimes. She is almost like a Yong/Mrs Pay clone now.

"the SOP says..." .... "Memo from HQ says..." ... "Mr Yong says...." ....

What a load of shit.(insert B-word here). When she first joined us she proclaimed that she would stand up for her staff and that she would do things differently etc...but from what I see after all the dust has settled is that she is just as spineless as Doctor and Ko Koh can be. Yes Men. Khim just seems to pick and choose her spots. She even had the audacity to ask me which time-off I was claiming for today. I wonder why they pay you such a good salary if you can't even figure a simple thing like this by yourself. *DUH*

As a result I got pissed with Mrs Pay as well. She kept asking me if I wanted more food,why I so shy to eat,why I eat so little. The more she asked the more pissed off I got. I know she meant well, but please I said 'No!'.

Got back to the office after breakfast and faced more of Khim's crap. *groan*

After a couple of hours of working, I went off for my much anticipated half day off. Lyn was also off to see the doctor so I gave her a lift to Orchard. It was really nice to once again have a little quality time with Lyn. It has been so long since we last had a heart to heart talk. It was almost like old times once again.

After dropping my beloved sis off at the bus stop behind Wheelock Place, I drove around the block and parked at Wheelock Place. I had offered to buy the tickets for the movie but Nadia said that they were in town:

Leon: k....nd me to get tickets first?

Nadia: Huh? Nd?Bruce and i are heading into town first...

So the tickets ended up not being bought in the end. lol.

In the meantime till 3.45 , I wandered around Orchard.Went to Borders, Kinokuniya, Tangs, Scotts Shopping Centre, Takashimaya,Lucky Plaza. Finally I ended up at the Coffee Bean at Scotts Shopping Centre where I treated myself to a regular ice blended mocha until the appointed time was upon me.

And finally got to meet Bruce! Heard so much second hand information about the guy, it was a real treat to finally meet him. He is a really nice guy is all I can say now without sounding gay.
We were mutually amused at the extent the ladies went to avoid having to pay to use the loo. While they were gone, Bruce and I indulged in a little idle chatter. After a bit the girls rejoined us.

We watched Kung Fu Hustle. It was not too bad.It was horribly campy and over-acted but funny yet innovative in some ways too. Like Nadia alluded to in her blog, the change of heart of the protagonist was kinda abrupt and not really explained. Not that that matters to the viewing public who just can't get enough of the movie.

After the movie we walked back to Wheelock where I collected my car and the others continued to the open air car park to collect theirs. There was a Bruce Moment when he was momentarily stunned as I went off to collect my car as Natt and Nadia continued on. That would not be the last Bruce Moment of the night...

We all met up at the row of shop houses opposite of Beauty World. Had a good dim sum dinner at Hara Tim Sum Cafe. It was rather good....mostly. There we also had another Bruce Moment when midway through our meal Bruce informed us that the dumpling may contain pork. It did not matter that it was a halal restaurant. We all had a good laugh at his expense after. We are all so very evil. Poor Bruce. How does he stand us?

Natty was feeling kinda woozie and took leave of us after dinner (or the first serving). We walked Natt back to the car and Bruce got his knapsack. We 3 still hungry,and Al-Azhar beckoned. I had a chocolate cheese prata, Bruce had his aptly named Roti John and Naddy had her cheese plaster prata. Nadia and I had Milo Dinosaurs each and Bruce ordered what I think was Longan Juice or something similar to that.

explanation for those wondering how Roti John got its name:

Roti John: Pan-fried egg coated French loaf served with sliced cucumber and ketchup.

"The foreigners would always ask him to fry up an onion omelette, which they would eat with a side order of bread. They ate so much of it, and so often, that Shunkor decided to create a "two-in-one" dish for them. He added the bread as the omelette was cooking, and the result was a delicious omelette-topped slab of French bread, which came with a special-chilli sauce.
It went down well with the foreign clientele, and the locals, and Shukor needed a name for it. Since it had been created for foreigners, it was named after them too.
"In those days, we addressed all ang mohs (foreigners) as John! John! So my father named this dish Roti John!"

After that Nads and I shared a sinful ice cream prata. It is such fun to flirt around right in front of Bruce-ster and he just goes,"err...yeah..". Part of the thrill of having a sordid love affair is the danger of getting caught. Boo @ Bruce for taking all the fun out of it. Bah..spoilsport!! Heh heh...
He actually believes other guys do not find nadia attractive? :P....
"err...ok..."

I also took some video using my phone. Bruce and Nads really hammed it up for me. I can only imagine what the other patrons thought of us. I even took the extra effort to zoom in on Nads 'zum zums'. Too bad the videos got corrupted when I was transferring them between my phone and the PC.*cough cough*

As it was 'only' 830 the party meisters decided to go to West Mall and go play at the E-Zone. We got there after a little difficulty. I am hopeless at Bukit Batok area. Must go pick Lisa up from home and send her home more often to err...'familiarise' myself with the roads.

I did message Lisa but she was still at the office when I messaged. I told her I passed by her place earlier and that I was now at West Mall. She could not join us this time.

At E-Zone we had fun especially with the table hockey. The best part is when it is 'Three Puck Play' time...then...err...3 pucks are in play at the same time.Pandemonium ensues as players desperately trie to attack and defend. You could say that it is the great equaliser as good and bad players can score big from '3 puck play'. In the end Bruce beat me in the first game, and Nads cames in for the 2nd game. You could see Bruce was going easy on Nadia. Hahaaaa.... I forgot who won the second match. According to nadia's blog they had drawn. Which would be about right. KELONG!! KELONG!!
The other games were ok, but some of the games had buttons and levers missing. They should do more maintainance if you expect people to pay to play with the machines. For the record I also came in 3rd (read:last)in our 2 car racing games. I guess I suck at racing games too. Bruce also beat me in the Jurassic Park shooter game we played. At the end I am 0-4 to Bruce and Nadia. hahaahaaa.... *buries head in sand*

After our round of games, we trotted back to the car and I tried my best to drive back to Nadia's home. After much driving, twists and turns *drumroll*... we finally made it. Ahhh...the sweet smell of success. I dropped off the lovebirds and drove home. Presumably Bruce was gonna send Nadia to her door and then take an LRT to where he stays.

Asia Blog Awards 2004

Best Singapore Blog
These are the results:

Total votes: 1776

1. Mr Brown - 559 votes
2. Iz Reloaded - 445 votes
3. Myrick - 173 votes

Other finalists:

Sarong Party Frens
Mr Miyagi's
Balderdash!
Daryl Sng
Life at Ngee Ann
Popagandhi
Idle Days

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

other categories include:

Best HK Blog
Best Mainland China Blog
Best Korea Blog
Best Taiwan Blog
Best Singapore Blog
Best Malaysia Blog
Best Thai Blog
Best Indonesia Blog
Best Japan Blog
Best Philippines Blog
Best India Blog
Best Bangladesh/Sri Lanka Blog
Best Pakistan Blog
Best Vietnam Blog
Best Central Asian Blog

Best Newcomer 2004
Best Designed Blog

Funniest Blog
Best Non-Asian (Foreign) Blog
Best Political Blog
Best Essayist
Best Journal/Diary
Best Photoblog

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For more results or to check out all the nominees click on the blog title

Seed of Chucky

Watched it today. Not exactly a horror movie.More like a spoof or a parody,
somewhere in the vein of Scream and Scary Movie.


Jennifer Tilly was a hoot as herself and as Tiffany the titular bride of Chucky in the previous installment. I would say that she is the star of the show. The premise is that Jennifer is one of the actresses in the movie 'Chucky Goes Psycho'. She wants to be an A-List star and will do anything and I mean anything to get her dream role. .

Also thrown in mix is their kid who crosses the Atlantic to finally meet his parents in Los Angeles.He is a peace loving doll who would never hurt a fly, until...



Look our for the references to other horror and slasher flicks.In itself worth the price of admission. The capitulation scenes are gory and bloody but lack the ingenuity and improvisation of previous Child's Play movies. There is also the racy language and the odd boob(human or otherwise) here and there.


If you are looking for thrills and suspense then give this one a miss. However if you want to leave your brains at the door, this is one to catch especially if you followed the first 4...

lonesome dove

Went for the 3rd service again today.ditto last week.

Filled petrol at the SPC at Ang Mo Kio and got a wind chime for $1.It makes a rather pleasant sound. That reminds me that I have to revamp the car. Too many soft toys on the dashboard and rear. lol.

After service went around Suntec. Visited the Life Bookshop where I bought 2 CD's. Also went to some of the shops looking for some shirts and pants. I was also looking for a jacket. But did not buy any.Checked out the shop where they sell fish stuff by the Fountain of Wealth but found it rather expensive.So did not buy any either. Was looking for a CD-ROM but could not find any either.

Crossed over to Milenia Walk where I went to Candy Empire to stock up on my sweets. Bought 4 sticks of candy and 1 energy bar. Went up to Harvey Norman looking for my CD-Rom but emerged empty handed.

Drove over to Kallang River to try out my camera but there was no action in the water. The whole time I was there there was this poor lady taking her first steps (or is it splash?) in water-skiing. So she spent most of her time in the water than actually skiing whilst I was there. So I went off to...

... to Funan Centre where I continued my search for my CD-ROM. I first went to Challenger, where I got a PC-cillin Internet Security 2005. My Norton Internet Security been giving me problems lately with the downloading of updates,sometimes the anti-virus software does not work and other times the Internet Security aspect does not work. I have to either do an update or reboot the PC to get it up and running again.Which defeats the purpose really of having it when my PC is not protected ALL THE TIME. I also wanted to get a PhotoShop software or any other photo editing software but decided against it due to cost.

Had dinner at KFC.

Put my stash in the car and grabbed my bag of camera stuff. Went all about the Civic District taking pictures.I made my way to City Hall(Supreme Court), Raffles landing site, Fullerton,One Fullerton, Merlion,across the bridge to Esplanade,crossed the road to Elizabeth Walk,across the Padang and back to Funan.

Drove home.

After I got home got into a tangle with Simona and Nadia because I am trying to find some way where we all can meet, but I am meeting Nadia and Natt on Tuesday. But they want it to be an 'inner circle' thingy so Simona can't come along since natt and nadia 'aren't really close to her'.So instead I will meet up with Simona on the following Monday myself.

from mrbrown.com

Obviously the girl doing the labelling was a Sly fan.

Of Superheroes and Mere Mortals

taken from The Play Pen for My Thoughts:

Over dinner last night, we got into a discussion about how superheroes never got married. The ones that were married were married to other superheroes or were married before they became superheroes. But superheroes never seem to be able to stay married to mere mortals. Like Superman and Lois Lane. They got married but it crashed and burned and apparently she died. So that's depressing. And Bat Man just had a string of women.

The reason they don't marry, the conclusion we came to anyway, was that they couldn't save humanity as well as have to upkeep those marriage vows. Plus, what wife wouldn't feel a tad neglected by her husband when he drops everything he's doing everytime that Bat Signal came on. And she would spend the nights worrying that the Joker, Mr Freeze or Lex Luther or even Kryptonite got the better of their husband.

It is also often is the plot of many superhero stories. Save your love and let humanity die or save humanity but the Missus meets a painful and horrific death. So, to make it easier, they never marry. They often have women around, to heighten the sexual tension but often not many marriages. Even James Bond, only got married once in the 60's and I think she died too.

So the conclusion is that in reality, one can't do both. One can't be a superhero or do superhero things and be a good husband or wife at the same time. And it's sad that often one has to choose. The choice then is usually not the choice of the superhero himself but actually by a collective majority that harps on domestic obligation. The outcome then is a reluctant person, donning normal clothes and a normal job instead of being out there being where he is needed most of all. In the movies, it is always portrayed by an unsatisfied, unfulfilled character who finds some outlet to vent. Unfortunately, it's never as innocent in real life and it can be a recipe of disaster in itself.

And that, never bodes well for the mere mortal and unfortunately, that's what we all are.