29 September 2008

My STAR Sign - Libra


Sept 24 - Oct 23
Librans excel in groups of people. They are born diplomats, making friends of enemies. Their charming, artistic qualities enable them to create beautiful and pleasing environments. The sign's paradox is that it aims to create a balance that can never really exist in a world of constant change. Librans need to realise that their efforts to control everything are unlikely to be successful in a world with 11 other signs.


This week:
You are on a positive path and you need to be straight with partners and colleagues. If you decide to pry and probe, be sure not to inadvertenly offend people who trust you. Also, you must be prepared for some unwelcome revelations.
(Thanks to Nicholas Campion)

27 September 2008

Zodiac 2009 (Part 1 of 12 - Rat)

Its back, the 2009 Zodiac Predictions Series is back by POPULAR DEMAND!

I will be posting up all 12 Zodiacs by Chinese New Year, so keep visiting back for your own Zodiac Predictions!

I am not sure about you, but last year's prediction for me was pretty accurate.

First up: RAT
---------------
鼠 Rat Born in: 1924 1936 1948 1960 1972 1984 1996 2008

Personality
The Rat is charming and humourous, honest and meticulous. Although they can give good advice, they cannot necessarily decide for themselves. May be power hungry, petty or greedy, Bright, sociable and highly ambitious. A true opportunist to reach the target. Passionate and good to her lover. Yet likes to gamble and spend lavishly.

The charm of the Rat personality is as universally known and loved as the Walt Disney character, Mickey Mouse. He could be forthright and honest but in such a disarming manner that you find yourself at a disadvantage.

Remarkably easy to get along with, hard working and thrifty, he will be generous only to those he is inordinately fond of, so if you get an expensive gift from him, you should certainly rate yourself high in his esteem. However, in spite of his penny-pinching ways, he will never be found wanting for admirers as he emits such fantastic appeal.

The Rat likes: bargains, Negotiation, Winning, Trust and Gambling.
The Rat dislikes: Boredom, Timetable, Poverty, Loneliness and Reprimands.

Compatible Animals: Dragon, Monkey, Ox

Your Luck In Year 2009
Overall Forecast
The earlier phase of the 2009 is relatively a favourable one for you, especially in relation to wealth matters. Even though illness and sexual stars are present, lucky stars shine collectively to aid those who are brave enough to make proper and committed changes. Thus, where one seize opportunity to develop oneself , this year will be one where you can invest in properties and gain reputation/fame.

Manage your finance prudently. Guard against vile persons. Watch your health. Caution against dangers. Have more tolerance and be more affectionate with regard to love affairs.

Career
A favourable year for you to be entrepreneur, to invest, where things will have a good turnout. Be on guard against vile persons. Avoid gossip circle, do not be too trusty, and rationally discern the words of others. Those who born in the year 1948 and 1960 can have great achievements for this year. Whereas a person born in 1972 can grow exceptionally well due to romance and can also fail miserably due to romance too. The 3rd month is a good time to grab opportunities.

Love
You enjoy a sizzling and affectionate year. Sparks with the opposite gender appear readily, especially for those born in 1972. Seize opportunity when there is any. Married couples have to build up mutual trust and strong affections for each other. Moral discipline have to be upheld nevertheless.

Wealth
Wealth luck is terrific. Joyous star is present to bring much joy, investment gains and wealth both from the proper income and lottery winnings. Opportunity may arise to purchase properties or to move house too. But you have to conserve for raining days. Avoid dark lanes. Secure your valuables well.

Health
Illness star is lucking by to cause you harm. Do not over consume alcohol and cigarettes. Caution on matters regarding blood pressure and the intestines. Take extra care when reaching for stuff stashed high or when on traffic. Hectic social networking tires you.

(From Geomancy Hut)

26 September 2008

Birthdays, Hari Raya Open House, Baby Shower...

Next week is a very packed week for me, so many things happening at the same time, particularly Saturday itself!!!

- My Birthday Party
- Alexis' Birthday Party
- Joannn'e daughter one full month Baby Shower
- Suraya open house for Hari Raya
- A*Mei concert

Other than my birthday party which is happening on Tuesday, the day before Hari Raya, the other 4 are all on Saturday, I think I really have to prioritize man.

24 September 2008

Singapore's 40 Richest

This years Singapore's 40 Richest List is finally out.

(Click on image to enlarge for clearer view)


Details on the TOP 3

1. Ng Teng Fong & Family
Age - 80
Nett Worth - US$7 billion
Married with 6 children

Nation's richest for second consecutive year with 72% stake in Hong Kong-listed Tsim Sha Tsui Properties. Also owns privately held Far East Organization, which has developed more than 700 hotels, malls, condos in Singapore. Older son Robert oversees Hong Kong interests; younger son Philip manages Singapore. Creating hipper image: Quincy, 108-room hotel, styled after the trendy W Hotels chain.

2. Khoo Family
Age - N.A.
Nett Worth - US$6.1 billion

Late banker Khoo Teck Puat left fortune to 14 children in 2004. Family sold stake in Standard Chartered Bank in 2006 for estimated $4 billion. Held on to Goodwood Group of Hotels, which includes Singapore's Goodwood Park, run by daughter Mavis; daughter Elizabeth runs another hotel in Singapore. Khoo's estate gave $32 million for Peking University's new sports complex, venue for Beijing Olympics table tennis competition; $60 million for new medical school, a collaboration between Duke University and the National University of Singapore

3. Wee Cho Yaw & Family
Age - 79
Nett Worth - US$3.6 billion
Married with 5 children

Remains chairman of Singapore's United Overseas Bank after handing chief executive reigns to son Wee Ee Cheong last year. Bank shares up slightly over past year. Graduated from high school in China. President of the Singapore Federation of Chinese Clan Associations.

For more information on the other 37 in the Top 40 list, pls click on their respective names arranged according to their ranking below:

Zhong Sheng Jian
Kuok Khoon Hong
Kwek Leng Beng & family
Peter Lim
Lee Seng Wee
Tan Boy Tee
Brian Chang
Ho Sim Guan
Chew Hua Seng
Kwek Leng Kee
Chang Yun Chung
Ow Chio Kiat & family
Lee Kian Soo & family
Olivia Lum
Ng Chwee Cheng & family
Ho Kwon Ping
Chua Thian Poh
Cheng Wai Keung & family
Simon Cheong
Vivian Chandran
Koh Wee Meng
Kwek Leng Peck & family
Loo Choon Yong
Oei Hong Leong
Yao Hsiao Tung
Victor Sassoon
Kartar Singh Thakral
John Chuang & family
Lee Seng Tee
Goh Lik Tuan
Wong Ngit Liong
Henry Ng & family
Margaret Lien
Wong Fong Fui
Mustaq Ahmad
Sunny George Verghese
David Lam


(All information accurate and extracted from Forbes)

Lee Kuan Yew and Lee Hsien Loong wins lawsuit!

Don't they know who they are defaming? One of Singapore / Asia / the World's most famous politician we are talking about. And can't that Chee Soon Juan just back off?

Wonder how much damages will be awarded to the Lees.

----------------------------------------

SINGAPORE, Sept 24, 2008 (AFP) - A banned Hong Kong-based magazine and its editor defamed Singapore's founding father Lee Kuan Yew and his son, the city-state's High Court has ruled, in the latest legal ruling against government critics.

Justice Woo Bih Li, in a decision obtained Wednesday by AFP, ruled that the Far Eastern Economic Review (FEER) defamed the elder Lee and his son, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

The Lees sued the magazine's editor Hugo Restall and Hong Kong-based Review Publishing, its owners, alleging defamation in a 2006 article based on an interview with Chee Soon Juan, an opposition party leader.

The article entitled "Singapore's 'Martyr,' Chee Soon Juan," described the Singapore Democratic Party secretary general's battle against the ruling People's Action Party and its leaders.

In the article, Restall also touched on Singapore officials' success in libel suits against critics

Dismissing objections by the defendants' lawyers, Woo issued his decision by summary judgment, meaning no trial was held.

Dismissing objections by the defendants' lawyers, Woo issued his decision by summary judgment, meaning no trial was held.

Damages will be assessed later.

Singaporean leaders have won hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages in defamation cases against critics and foreign publications, which they say are necessary to protect their reputations from unfounded attacks.

The city-state banned distribution of FEER in September 2006, saying it had failed to comply with media regulations.

(News from Yahoo)

21 September 2008

House Party (Part 2)

This is a continuation to my previous post, House Party (Part 1), as I promised.

Since the majority of comments I got from that post revolved around the delicious fried chicken wings, i have decided to upload this just for you.

Below is a very raw video of Ronald showing how he cooked his chicken, not very clear though because I started recording when he was already done with marinating his chicken wings.

Do leave your response if you do want to know the whole process from marination to tossing to frying. If the response is good, I might just request Ronald to let me video him through the whole process.

In the meantime, enjoy the raw version....

Part 1

20 September 2008

Last Quarter - Last Dash!

This week, one word - BAD.

Fell sick since Thursday.

Supposed to go recce Chinatown and Tanjong Pagar for the planning of the Amazing Race Singapore, however, on Friday I had to excuse myself from work for half a day. I woke up on Friday with aches all over my body, congested throat and fever.

Didn't want to take a MC because afterall its the last day of the week already, so I picked myself up and proceeded to office at about 11plus.

Digression: Paul told me I scored 27/30 for my Marketing test!!! Yippee.... I also don't know how I did it because seriously I only studied on the day itself. Now I am only worried for my final paper because that stupid TM did not give us any tips for the exams. He was so sacarstic "For those who did not attend my lessons regularly, you have to find your own way out or you just have to study BROADER", which also means study the whole freaking textbook!!! WTF right?

On the other hand, SH was so nice, she gave us the exact tips for the paper, saying we do not have to study more or less because the tips she gave cover exactly the exam paper. I love you SH!

Back to Friday. Paul asked Joshua, Michelle and I out for lunch. We had lunch at Six at 6 Battery Road. Food was so-so la, that was my 4th time having lunch there already. Previous times all were with Sam and Paul too. Service was bad. The waitresses there don't seem to know their lunch promotion well at all.


We saw a huge display that said "Buy 2 main course and get 1 main course free - with your ABN AMRO credit card" but when we enquired about it, the waitress said this, "Yes, you will get 15% off all ala carte menu with your ABN AMRO card." The answer she gave totally has no link to what I asked. We asked about 3 times, then she got it and she said that promo is for cardholders with vouchers. LAME!

After lunch we proceeded back to office.

We had product training for some new product features launching next month, then I had my team call pendings since next Monday is last processing day. We also did a pre-announcement to the entire team about the sales challenge we are going to throw for the last quarter Oct - Dec.

Since we have such an agressive target for the last quarter, we threw an incentive trip for the entire sales, ff, cr team if we hit our annual target of XX, 000. I think its highly possible since we are aggressively scaling up our team.

I am starting to find it hard to juggle between my work and studies. Plus I am picking up a new sport, tennis.

Seems like I will be having a busy quarter ahead!


I am looking forward to my birthday party in 10 days time!!!

18 September 2008

老中中五香虾饼, the best in Singapore!

Went all the way to MacPherson to eat one of my all-time favourite "Wu3 Xiang1 Xia1 Bing3". Been hooked onto 老中中五香虾饼since I was 17 (then it was中中五香虾饼, they added the 老after the dad passed away), ever since I tried it. That means, I have been eating that for the past 10 years!!!

There are a lot of stalls around Singapore (one of them in Chinatown) that claim they are part of the 老中中network / franchise / subsidiary but my doubts are finally cleared once and for all after I see this signage, displayed prominently outside the coffeeshop.

It says "We only have ONE stall, we DO NOT have any other stalls elsewhere"


They were previously located in the S11 in MacPherson, but they have moved since the S11 is undergoing major renovation. They are now located in this coffeeshop, just opposite their old location.



This is the FAMOUS 老中中五香虾饼!!! Oh, and they don't serve bee-hoon here, please do not go and ask them why, because they will reply you "We do not serve since the first day we open the stall!"


Other than the food being damm nice, the chilli here is heavenly.


Because they do not serve bee hoon, we decided to also order some "Kuay Chap" from a nearby stall. You may think that it looks really delicious. But it is NOT!


The soup is awfully bland. And the chilli is really really not nice. The chilli for Kuay Chap is supposed to be a little sour and spicy, but this one is just sweet!


I cannot finish. I only took 2 mouths.


Its too delicious, just 5 mins and almost every piece is in our stomach!


And the Kuay Chap? After 30 mins and we were still struggling.


And Joshua's Bak Chor Mee apparently is also delicious. Look at what is left...



The chilli for the五香虾饼is never enough....


老中中五香虾饼 is so delicious, even the lizards love it!!!

16 September 2008

My Samsung LCD TV

After much hassle and waiting, I finally can watch my MioTV, without any interference, on my latest prized possession! My Samsung 22" LCD TV.

I bought it during the Comex roadshow (for $548, ITS A BARGAIN!!!) end of August, during which I also signed up for my MioTV. This may sound stupid: The reason why I chose MioTV over Starhub Cable TV was because I was not willing to pay the $150 installation fee which Starhub charges for the TV-Point installation.

For MioTV, there is absolutely no TV-Point required, all I need is my existing Singnet modem and a MioTV Set-up Box, and VIOLA, I can watch my MioTV.

Back to my TV. The last 2 weeks have been disastrous. After the TV was delivered to my house, the TV started giving my problems. I called up Best Denki, and they arranged for a one-to-one exchange of the TV for me, no questions asked.

Goodness, gracious, now the TV is in perfect working condition! The LCD TV now sits prettily in front of my bed and I finally have the luxury of watching TV before bedtime. To be exact, the luxury of watching TV in the comfort of my own bed, before bedtime.

I sinply love my TV!




According to the guy who sent the new set to my house, only 1 in one thousand customers of Samsung faces this problem for this particular model. I guess I am damm unlucky to be that 0.1%!!!

(Pictures from www.samsung.com.sg)

14 September 2008

中秋节快乐!



中秋节快乐!
Happy Mooncake Festival!
ハッピームーンケーキフェスティバル!

13 September 2008

Fantasie KTV at Serangoon Gardens

One fine Friday, we decided to go somewhere different. Due to the fact that my office is in Raffles Place, and we are 5 mins away from Boat Quay, our default destination for KTV / drinking is usually in BQ itself, but this time it was somewhere different.

Somewhere which brings back many good memories, secondary school memories to be exact. I used to frequent Serangoon Gardens during my Secondary School days as our school is within the vicinity. Violet KTV I remember. During that time, Violet KTV was like the KBox now, opening their outlets like one every 6 months. Just in Serangoon Gardens alone, there were like Violet I, II, III, IV, V? I cannot remember.

Then there is Chomp Chomp, which still exists, however, I cannot guarantee for the quality of food as compared to last time. Sometimes I wonder did the food quality deteoriate, or did my taste improve? Either ways, I prefer to eat elsewhere now (I still eat in coffeesshops).

Today we decided to scour the streets of Serangoon Gardens to see if we (or rather I) can find back those KTVs that used to operate in the 90s.

Streets are quiet. Its a Friday night, but it feels like Sunday in Shenton Way. The cats in the area probably outnumber the pub-goers.


As we were looking around, I suddenly saw a familiar KTV which i used to patronise as well. The first thing that came to my mind was the Scoring System which they were popular for!!!

Fantasie! I am not sure if this is the same Fantasie as that Fantasie I remember, we decided to go nearer to check it out.


AND, I found this. Yes! They do have that scoring system still.


Without second thoughts, we decided to go in and sing our hearts out.


The usual "its-part-of-the-package" food platter and 2 bowls of tidbits.


And of course the wet tissue, like $0.50 per piece?


Friday is not complete without Chivas.


As you can see, that is the score which will be accumulated at the top for the entire day. My highest score that day was 93! the highest for that day as well. Haha. The funny thing is I got close to 90 for a few Jay Chou songs which I didn't really think I sang well, but lower for those songs I always sing.

I wonder how this machine score the singer.


Pictures






The "Lao Hong" prawn crackers. When we asked the waitress (or auntie) in to change for us a new bowl since this bowl was not fresh, she said "You must quickly eat mah, you put there for half an hour, of course will lao-hong", which I think was totally ridiculous!
(Lao Hong = dialect for not crispy or losing the crispiness)

Who finishes a bowl of tidbits within 30 mins, unless you are talking about really nice snacks, which in the case wasn't. LAME.


Tired Joshua.


When yun and Pat arrived, we started our dice game.



An Gong Jiang Gu. Grandfather sharing life stories.


The night ended at around 2am? We finished the entire bottle of Chivas as we reckon we would not be coming back here again within the next few months.


Conclusion
We will still stick to BQ as the price of a bottle of Chivas here is higher than one in BQ.

07 September 2008

Cash Studio KTV at Ming Arcade

Went to this KTV by the name of Cash Studio the other day, because of Suraya's recommendation. Apparently she is a regular there. So inconvenient, all the way to the other end of Orchard Road. But since we have already made reservations, we went down nonetheless.

Its located at Ming Arcade Level 4.



The reception area


Elaine, Ralph, Joanne and Jen


The elevators that directly stops inside the KTV


Our room comes with a mini stage, and a fan.


Cam whoring


Joanne singing


Joanne told me some of her department colleagues commented we are very compatible in pictures


Is that Tyra Banks?





When we were leaving the place, this notice caught my eyes. Spot the bad English?


Overall, I would say that Cash Studio is not really a place I would visit again.

1. Drinks menu very little variety
2. Chinese songs here are not the latest
3. Very inconvenient because its not located near MRT station

However, I would definitely recommend this KTV for those who have tight budget because each of us only spent $17 after we split the bill!!!


Page copy protected against web site content infringement by Copyscape