Go home at 5:30pm sharp! ~ a forwarded mail; i couldn't help but agree with this. My fellow rat-racers, please read on...

Mail sent by Narayan Murthy to all Infosys staff: It ' s half past 8 in the office but the lights are still on... PCs still running, coffee machines still buzzing... And who ' s at work? Most of them ??? Take a closer look... All or most specimens are ?? Something male species of the human race... Look closer... again all or most of them are bachelors... And why are they sitting late? Working hard? No way!!! Any guesses??? Let ' s ask one of them... Here ' s what he says.... "What ' s there 2 do after going home...Here we get to surf, AC, phone, food, coffee that is why I am working late...Importantly no bossssssss!!!!!!!!!!!" This is the scene in most research centers and software companies and other off-shore offices. Bachelors "Time-passing" during late hours in the office just bcoz they say they ' ve nothing else to do... Now what r the consequences... "Working" (for the record only) late hours soon becomes part of the institute or company culture. With bosses more than eager to provide support to those "working" late in the form of taxi vouchers, food vouchers and of course good feedback, (oh, he ' s a hard worker... goes home only to change..!!). They aren ' t helping things too... To hell with bosses who don ' t understand the difference between "sitting" late and "working" late!!! Very soon, the boss start expecting all employees to put in extra working hours. So, My dear Bachelors let me tell you, life changes when u get married and start having a family... office is no longer a priority, family is... and That ' s when the problem starts... b ' coz u start having commitments at home too. For your boss, the earlier "hardworking" guy suddenly seems to become a "early leaver" even if u leave an hour after regular time... after doing the same amount of work. People leaving on time after doing their tasks for the day are labelled as work-shirkers... Girls who thankfully always (its changing nowadays... though) leave on time are labelled as "not up to it".. All the while, the bachelors pat their own backs and carry on "working" not realizing that they r spoiling the work culture at their own place and never realize that they would have to regret at one point of time.. So what ' s the moral of the story?? * Very clear, LEAVE ON TIME!!! * Never put in extra time " unless really needed " * Don ' t stay back unnecessarily and spoil your company work culture which will in turn cause inconvenience to you and your colleagues. There are hundred other things to do in the evening.. Learn music... Learn a foreign language... Try a sport... TT, cricket......... Importantly,get a girl friend or boy friend, take him/her around town... * And for heaven ' s sake, net cafe rates have dropped to an all-time low (plus, no fire-walls) and try cooking for a change. Take a tip from the Smirnoff ad: *"Life ' s calling, where are you??"* Please pass on this message to all those colleagues and please do it before leaving time, don ' t stay back till midnight to forward this!!! IT ' S A TYPICAL INDIAN MENTALITY THAT WORKING FOR LONG HOURS MEANS VERY HARD WORKING & 100% COMMITMENT ETC. PEOPLE WHO REGULARLY SIT LATE IN THE OFFICE DON ' T KNOW TO MANAGE THEIR TIME. SIMPLE ! Regards, NARAYAN MURTHY.

and i wonder why i still can't get a gf...

A comical introduction to the D1GP. An excerpt from a Hot Version VCD i've had for quite a while, but never really made out much of it coz it's purely in japanese with chinese subs only. Stumbled upon this splendidly translated version on youtube. Damn funny that ending tag, "Although this car is 100% street legal, it won't score us any chicks" ~ that, i could definitely relate to. & oh yeah, to participate in the Street Legal D1GP, you car needs to have a functioning car audio system too. Now what the heck has an audio system got to do with motorsports??

Trip damages ~



SGD7.03 for the pack of imported low-fat chips i couldn't resist ^_^


& over RM200++ in calls over a 5-day period of roaming. I must have somehow forgotten that i was out of the country then... ~ & yes, my line got barred *_*""

my favourite-est shot of the trip

~ a night view of Toa Payoh skyline from the 10th floor of a HDB flat;

Settings: ISO 80, aperture ~ F2.8, shutter speed ~ 6s (felt like an eternity just to take the shot), with flash & perched on a standstill at the edge of the veranda (luckily did not encounter strong gush of wind that will likely blow my camera off & send it tumbling, crashing down 10 storeys to the ground) =p

~ & its day time equivalent shot;
Settings: ISO 80, aperture ~ F7.0, shutter speed ~ 1/180 without flash
Okies, the camera was in auto mode all along. I'm still a noob at this; just experimenting & trying to figure out the suitable settings to use when taking shots. It's a good thing that its got shot settings recall mode for the photos taken. *All photos of this trip was taken using a point-and-shoot Samsung L100 digicam. What's next ~ investing in a entry level dSLR? =D

~ a prelude to this coming weekend's WRMF...

anyone going? it's happening at right about now...
me no party kakis to go with =(

Singapore Trip ~ 05~07/07/08

From the 3rd day onwards, it's all about enjoying good food, yum cha-ing, & having a good time catching up with relatives, cousins & old friends alike. After all, it's been almost half-a-decade since my last visit. My mom & sis tagged along on this trip also, & had been staying with my aunt since day one; they've always welcomed us to stay with them whenever we drop by for a visit ~ really grateful for that, else i'll definitely be emptying my piggy bank just to stay another night or two. Hotel prices are yikes!-like steep at the moment with the Singapore great sale going on. Accommodation aside, on one-to-one basis , the living cost is actually quite reasonable & comparable with back home. It's just that there more places & more stuffs to spend your $$ on here. Public transport system is also a gazillion times much more efficient & conveniently accessible, only dreameable back home. That too, is affordable, unless you intend to buy & run your own car.

The closest i got to Sentosa:

Dian Xiao Er @ Vivocity ~ famous for their herbal roasted duck

with aunts, cousins & chek kong
catching up with some x-colleagues at Bugis Junction

2nd consecutive Japanese feast for the night ~ with Julian, Lester, Eugene & co.

It's become a mini Kuchingnites gathering in Singapore. All of us have worked for the same company at one time or another, & now they're (ones that left) also working in the same company over there. How ironic... Nevertheless, we had a great yum-cha session =)

Ah kong too, dropped by just to say hi, on the way home ~ good to see you, buddy!
*as usual, he insists on having his Tu Shen request ~ censored la*

3rd appointment of the night ~ September! An ex-ex-colleague of mine during my Agilent internship days from nearly half-a-decade ago. Great to catch up with you again. Hey, you haven't changed at all! =)

Along with 2 expatriate friends, Michiko & Asami, one of whom happens to be a freelance writer. Cool =)
It's been nice meeting you guys, though it was quite a brief meet up at McD, before we had to run after the last train near midnight to make it home. Ha, that was quite an experience ~ "It's 11:45pm, you can start running to the MRT station, coz the last train will depart in 2 minutes time". Well, I did made it back to my aunt's place in approximately 21 minutes =p

The big city life is like a global melting pot where you get to meet people from all walks of life, from diverse cultures & with interesting backgrounds, to learn from, exchange & draw inspiration. This is the aspect that appeals to me most.

Changi's new T3 ~ so squeky clean & green

Sis had to leave a day earlier...

Toa Payoh, Lorong 1 Chicken Rice ~ even the neighborhood kopitiam is packed to the brim well past lunch hour. There is no place to dine without having to queue up, except at home lar.

my cousin, Donald's ride. I dig that aggressive & muscular look. Not a WRX, just 1.6 AWD variant though, but sharing that same boxer layout. Quite a fuel guzzler that returns 8 - 9 km to the litre. The real deal WRX STi would definitely be one heck of a drinker!


@ Suntec City


Yup, I've been an uncle for quite awhile now =p

Debra & Marissa ~ ^_^

& Bree, the most recent addition =)
That about wraps up my trip for this time round ~ it's been a great one! =)

Singapore Trip ~ 4/07/08 Day02

I had initially planned to go for an early morning workout at the gym, but had problems waking up on time from a blissful sleep ~ must be the bed, too comfy.

Luckily made it in time before the breakfast cut-off time at 10:30am. Starting the day with a hearty breakfast brunch ~ almost puked when handed the bill totaling a cool SGD80++; thankfully it's complementary; bill for acknowledgment only *phew* =p

Camwhoring with my partner in crime ~ Old Voon *there's also Young, Round & Long Voon in our department*


I may seem like I'm covering for an auto-salon of some sort, but really I'm just passionate about cars. Brace yourselves for auto-overload! =D


Old Voon seemed to be very passionate about this particular car: the Honda Odyssey







Sooo mannyyy ultra-rare exotics to drool over....

The creme of the crop

~ the prancing horse in red that does not need any further introduction

A Ferrari F430

Also spotted a couple more Ferraris, Lamborghinis & the all new R35 GTR running around town. These are cars you normally see & read about on TV/internet/magazines only. The sights & sounds of one in flesh & in motion is truly captivating.

O Merlion, where art thou?




Finally down to business...


a photo engineer should get this shot right!

What we all love about attending seminars/conferences ~ is the door gifts! =p

The session wrapped up around evening time; we got a taste of Singapore's Friday evening peak hour jam in the financial district ~ a near a freakin' full hour of traffic snail crawl just to get 500 metres down the road to do a u-turn! xp

Out of the jam, we were whisked to Turf City for another seafood feast courtesy of our Gigaphoton vendor =D

If Michael Owen were a seafood entrepreneur...

Worn out when we finally reached our nesting point for night number 2, somewhere in Bugis district. This is what you get when your company accomodation budget is measily RM300. Kinda looks like Fata Hotel. & it cost a freaking SGD165 per night. We'll have to fork out from our own pocket for the extras -_-

Okay, it's not that bad, but when you downgrade from a 6-star to a 2&1/2 star you'll need to grapple with the huge contrast. The whole room shrunk to the size of only the bathroom equivalent size of the previous place. Oh yea, what happened to the flat screen TV? Downsized to at minuscule 15" CRT. Dammit, you get what you pay for, hotels ain't cheap here in Singapore, unless you want to try the ones in Geylang.

~ Day01 continued*

Camwhoring around Boat Quay... & Marina Bay area

The Esplanade ~ a world class durian of a state-of-the-art performing arts centre

Across bay, the construction of Marina Bay Sands Resort & Casino in progress ~ the other one of the two casinos to be opened that does not belong to Uncle Lim

A fellow Kuchingnite & ex-collegue, Edwin who now works for 2nd Silicon...

travelled all the way from Woodlands right after work just to catch up over Carls Junior jumbo meal; really appreciate that, mate! =)

& then off, to yet another Jumbo meal at Clarke Quay courtesy of our Cubit vendors, Mr Kim & Mr Ervin


what better place to chillout after a meal of chilly crabs than at Hooters!

Didn't know that they're now in Singapore too...

Hooters girls sure make me blush


& make my Guiness Stout taste better too =p

*identity of ham chu sao perpetrator protected due to status sensitive concern* Haha! =p

Singapore Trip ~ 3/07/08 Day01

This is by far one of the most out-of-the-blue trip for me. Already resigned to the prospect of having to live through a dreadfully uneventful & boring due to no plan due to lack of kang tao long weekend from 5 ~ 9th due to the 3-day facility shutdown at my workplace; Then on one fine day recently, one of our major equipment vendor, Nikon called & invited us over to attend their 3rd annual seminar in Singapore. Not being any of the two short listed candidate to participate, i jumped at the chance when one of them bailed out & got it! ~ suddenly i've got a biz-trip-cum-vacation in hand, so that i won't have to die of boredom during the long break ~ lucky me =)
Now the best part of it all is ~ they're (Nikon) generous enough to put us at the prestigious Fullerton Hotel for one night! Dun pray-pray ar, not only is the 6-star hotel one of the landmark of Singapore having once served as its General Post Office, it's also ranked among 100 of the best hotels in the world. *bear with me, being a little ecstatically sakai here ~ never stay in soo-many star hotel before mah, chui meh??*
The seminar despite being scheduled on the 2nd half on the 4th only, we had to fly-in a day earlier due to flight constraints.

One of the first interesting sight that caught my eye on the way to our hotel from Changi Airport: The Singapore Flyer ~ First up came the impressive Eye of London, then our not-so-impressive Eye of Malaysia, & then ho, Singapore oso duwan to lose... at 42 storeys high this is the world's largest observation wheel. Period. Maybe Dubai will come up with an even bigger one...

Finally arriving & greeted by a colossal colonially-influenced structure of atypical hotel.


Breathtaking views of the atrium that exudes the word GRANDEUR in every sense



At this point, i'm still going ga-ga-ga in awe to start snapping any sensible photos; & i haven't even been to my room yet...

big, spacious & comfy

everything accessible with just a touch of a button or the flick of a switch...

even the bathroom is 1.5 times of my room back home!...

42" flat screen. Drooling yet? =p


It's even got the whole arsenal to throw a decent mini-cocktail party!

To blend in with the environment & crowd as to not feel paiseh sticking out like a sore thumb in sloppy tees & jeans, anything less than a business suit will NOT do. After all, it's located right smack in the heart of the banking district.

The service is undoubtedly top notch ~ when the all the staffs seem to acknowledge & respectfully address you by your name & you never have to lug your luggage more than 5 steps before someone offers to carry them for you, be it the bellboy or even the ang moh chef who just happens to pass by ~ you know you're in a 6-star hotel =D

The next big thing coming to town:

F1 night race!

Just be prepared to fork out a cool 2 grand ++ if you plan to watch it from here.
*heck, even at normal rate, I'll barely afford even a night with my meager monthly wage xp*

~ to be continued~

12 hours, 32 minutes, 48 seconds & counting down... i'm coming!

splendid photo by trainer62 on Flickr

Auto-pilot mode on mundane working-weekdays...


us lethargic creatures come to life on weekends when we find all the reason in the world to party like crazee & yell "Hey, pea butt there!"

Starting with Friday nite bash at Soho ~

pre-celebration for Ms Sawadeeka; *sorry, no updated photos yet, due to photographer still have yet to recover from hangover that night*; hey, today's your actual day, so Heppi Butt-day again! =p

Followed by Saturday nite bash at Mojo~
Hepi Bird-day Chas! =p

taken using Sony Sober-Shot

mrtoilet peek-a-boo ~ showing symptoms severe of alcohol deprivation *hey, stop bulbing around already!*


we got off to quite a slow start...

A bottle of Jack Daniels *courtesy of b'day gal*, a couple of Tequila shots & a Flaming Lambhorgini later,was when the party really STARTED

yea, babeh! mr sexylips doing his thang ~ we've got 3some on the table! hoho...

~ a total blast of a jolly good time. Now that's what i call a productive weekend =D
*77.78% of the photos you see in this post are stolen from either cherrysa.blog.com or jenbebe.blogspot.com*