A Mind of My Own

My escapades with trying to contact everyone are never ending. Life is sad. One’s friends tend to ignore you when their lives get absorbed by their partners, husbands or something that one doesn’t know about.

[via Flickr]

However, that doesn’t warrant you the right to ignore one totally. KY, you have not been replying to any of us since ES’ wedding. So rude, ok? I used MSN but you went offline and never replied to me. I is very sad. Don’t friend you liao.

The next time, I put your full name and address here. Then you know.

Rant ahead.

NYDC is famous for not allowing anyone to make any bookings on Friday. Thanks. At least that was what I expected since my friend had informed me about it. I just wanted to test them. The next sentence sprouting out of the lady’s mouth was “It should not be too crowded on Friday at Citylink.” Say what? I got 10 people wanting to eat, what if you don’t have enough seats for 10? Surely you won’t be moving one of your dining couple to another table, would you?

Next, I tried New York, New York. The website is slow. I think it’s ridiculous to use Flash for a webpage and it so reminds me of the hideous look of 1996. Slows down my loading time! The lady said last slot is only 6.30pm. So I have to find people to arrive there to ensure the table is not un-reserved by 6.30pm. They sure take their own sweet time to pick up calls too. I am turned off by the offhanded way that she threatened to un-reserve our table.

Frustrated by now, I tried Swensens. The lady replied that they don’t take reservations for Friday, Saturday and Sunday rather happily. This was getting out of hand! How can a simple booking take so much complication?

Since I have run out of places, I decided to go ahead with the restrictive New York, New York. This time a heavily don’t-know-what-accent guy picked up the call. Taking his own sweet time too. I couldn’t understand half the time what he was talking about. I had to repeat my name, how to spell, my mobile number (twice), the total number of people, etc.

All done, now I had to ensure that my table doesn’t get un-reserved. Now, I realised that I forgot to ask them to reserve a corner table. I was too caught up with the frustration of trying to understand what the accented-voice guy was telling me.

Since the huge hoohaa about Complaints Choir being canceled because of foreigners singing the lyrics, I decided to do a little research on how it all began. I thought it was organised by M1 Singapore Fringe? And so, I am late but it also means that I get to see others put up their opinions too.

The idea was the brainchild of a Finnish couple, performance artists Tellervo Kelleinen and Oliver Kochta Kalleinen. They were discussing the Finnish term Valituskuoro, which literally means “complaints choir” but refers to a situation in which numerous people are complaining about something at the same time. Tellervo and Oliver thought it would be interesting to make an actual choir of complainers. They circulated flyers and posters in Birmingham, England in 2005 and soon got together a small but enthusiastic group of participants. Each one contributed some random complaints, the list was set to music, and the resulting performance was an instant hit (both in Birmingham and around the world, thanks to YouTube).

My first Youtube experience was with the Helsinki Complaints Choir. When I read the subtitles, I realised that they have complaints and peeves similar to ours too. Youtube has videos of the rest of the Complaints Choir. The wonders of technology.

Singapore Complaints lyrics found at Chillycraps. Featured in Mr Brown, Yahoo!, Online Citizen, The Vancouver Sun, The China Post and many more. Full article from Straits Times by Simply Jean.

Attended a wedding at Furama Riverfront Hotel last night. I late but in time for the 1st march in. My first impression of the ballroom, Venus at level 3 was, cramped. I think there were more than 40 tables being squeezed into the ballroom.

The tables were just enough for 10 average sized people. Seems pretty small to me. While the greeter at the lobby was polite, I wasn’t really impressed with the toilet either. The 1st level toilet had the flush button missing. It won’t flush at all. So, I left it like that. Not my fault, right?

Come to think of it, I didn’t manage to look at the wedding album in the end. The food arrived at odd paces. It didn’t feel timely. Each course was served but the plates were never replaced immediately. The drinks were not refilled fast enough either.

The servers weren’t that polite except for a few which is rare but I don’t have high expectations of servers except they should refill the glasses in a timely manner. The decoration of the ballroom was rather simple.

Overall, I wasn’t impressed with the place. Not that I had a terrible time but I felt that the service wasn’t up to par with a hotel whose name is supposed to be synonymous with quality service since it’s a 4-star hotel. Oh, it was formerly known as Novotel Apollo Singapore. Apparently, the name change did little difference.

Now, the slide show was done in animation format which is a difference from those photo montage I’ve seen. A nice change. I like the 3 projection screens though. The lighting wasn’t too dim. I guess the saving grace were the screens.

[via Flickr]

Flying kites in Singapore often means East Coast Park or Marina South. I was rather surprised that we would be at West Coast Park to fly kites. Someone was in charged of buying the kites and all we had to do was to turn up. Turn up we did.

I had the common sense to bring a bag with mats. It was a good thing too. Although my friends teased me for bringing such a huge bag, again. At this moment, it’s best to ignore when others laugh at you. However, we chose the wrong place. The sun was setting and the wind was blowing towards the sun, meaning we had to face the sun when our kites got flying.

I just let the kite go and it fly up high. Twice. Without any help. I’m a good kite flyer. Got these genes from my father, obviously. The second time, I got my string tangled with another kite and it got stuck high up in the tree. I had to break the string. So sad. Kite flying instructions here and here.

After dinner, we went to Settlers Cafe at Holland Village. It’s a fun place for small talk and board games. Officially tired from kite flying and playing exciting brain games at Settlers Cafe.

I didn’t have to spend too much today since there is someone who is very nice, drove us to and back.

Since I know I won’t be a regular contributor to Thursday Thirteen, I’ll link the posts that I have found hilarious.

13 Hilarious Google Search queries - Mama Duck

13 Interesting Facts About Roads - Lilibeth

13 Funny Diet Tips - Not Your Mama’s Diet

13 Things You Don’t Know About Bloggers on The Internet - The Teach

13 Differences - Laughing Lawyer

Pictures from Yellowstone - Susan Helen Gotfried

Want some more? Check out Thursday Thirteen.

We fall ill due to lack of sleep, not eating right or over-exert ourselves. We often take medicine for common flu and sore throat. These are illnesses that we can recover from. However, cancer is something that not everyone is able to recover from or stay cancer-free. It’s a terrifying thought to be hit with a terminal illness and know that you may not wake up the next morning and see your family again. During such a time, you realised that you don’t have to work so long in the office because you don’t have much time left in this world.

For mesothelioma patients, they have the same thoughts of having their possible last day on earth. When faced with such a diagnosis, the first thought is to ask yourself “How did I get it?” and asking “Why me?” These are questions that you may ask yourself during your low periods.

How did I get mesothelioma?

Asbestos is the only known cause. Breathing in microscopic asbestos fibres into the lungs will cause the lung tissues to be torn. Constant breathing in asbestos may lead to lung cancer or lead to mesothelioma when asbestos fibres damage mesothelial tissue.

Where does Asbestos exist?

Asbestos can be found in different materials such as cement, brake linings, roof shingles, flooring products, textiles and insulation. Particles released from any of these materials can be inhaled or carried home on clothing where they expose family members to the risk of mesothelioma.

Generally, it takes 20 to 40 years from the time of asbestos exposure until symptoms appear or pleural mesothelioma is diagnosed. This time is called the “latency” period.

Gather more mesothelioma information to understand its causes, treatment and the lifespan of someone being diagnosed with this form of cancer. It is also beneficial when you know mesothelioma law to help your family get through this difficult time.

I had a pounding headache for 3 days. I thought that after sleeping, it would go away. No. It decided to date me for a 2nd time. I had such a trying time at work as I couldn’t figure out how to get rid of it. So, I hoped that by Saturday it would be gone. No such luck either. The headache came on and off and I couldn’t join my ex-colleagues on Friday evening since the headache came back with a vengeance at 5pm and insisted that it loved me by hounding me till I laid back to sleep.

On Saturday, the headache came again as soon as I opened my eyes. The only thing I had in mind was more sleep and hope it decided that its love wasn’t reciprocated. Fortunately, by this afternoon, it was gone. It decided to make its retreat and I’m now feeling better. Just the after-effects are leaving me rather woozy.

Here’s some idea for Valentine’s Day. Mark is having a Valentine’s Day promotion till 8 Feb 2008. You can have a personalised wine bottle that is engraved with your name and your loved one. Check out his other engraving services at his site. Hurry now, the cute teddy bear has limited stock.

A little promoting for Bobo. I have received my new earrings, Heather and Ginger from Beady Place. Thanks, Bobo! Those are beautiful!