A few interesting articles in today's papers. First one about Myanmar offering to sell us sand & granite. We've got friendly neighbours, well some more than others lol.

Another story about this man in his 30s who was found guilty of drugging taxi drivers & then molesting them. Errr wtf ?? The drivers he drugged were men in their 50s & 60s. Is this guy sick or what ??? Daft & demented. Thought such weird stuff only happened in other countries. Wah liao.

And there's the tale of the 2 Singapore swimmers who allegedly smiled at the rotten luck of the USA relay swim team for being disqualified in the World Championships. Doesn't affect them one way or another so why would they be smiling with glee ? Mountain out of a molehill (what's smaller than a mole hill ? ant hill ?). So whichever media started this, save the media space to talk about aid for Solomon Islands. Move on please lah duh.

Finally, the guy who test-drove a car & got into an accident which resulted in the death of the sales executive accompanying him. Its been just over a year. No doubt he hasn't been formally implicated. But someone did die. The audacity to decide which sportscar to buy after that incident ?? Got lots of flak from the chatroom he was in. Wonder if its mistaken identity ? It takes a very callous, cold & indecent person to be talking about what fast car to buy when someone died in the car you were test-driving. Sigh...but what do I know. Case is still under investigation.

Ohhh last night I googled movie stars without make-up. Dunno why, bored I guess. Waaaah ! Interesting photos maaan ! Quite scary also lol.Speaking of movie stars, I met Michael Jackson during his first concert here. He was staying at the hotel where I worked. He was actually quite nice & soft spoken. But quite unnaturally white. He signed on Sarah's photo. I'm not sure if that autograph is worth alot or nothing. But despite all the controversy, he made good music.

Dinner conversation was reminiscing some things the kids said & did. Accidentally eating own poop, getting foreskin stuck on revolving part of a toy gun, thinking vampire is pronounced grampire & butterfly is futterfly.

I remember some years ago, a year after my dad passed away, a big brown moth was seen above Sarah's desk in her room where she was doing her work. It was my dad's birthday & the Chinese believe that a moth seen in your home means your ancestor is visiting. So I told both the kids about the belief & that it was granddad visiting them. I also said it was his birthday.

A little while later, I hear Ryan yelling to his sis that granddad is watching her do her homework & thinking how untidy her handwriting is. Then a few minutes later, I hear both of them singing happy birthday to granddad moth.

Lament for the day : what's the big deal about Fann Wong's hairstyle ? Got nothing else to talk about meh ??

My son wanted to bring this lock for his school locker lolol. Probably locker door will drop off from weight of the lock lolol. I gave him a smaller one lah, the type we use for our luggage. hehehe this one is lock for the gate !

My visit to the urologist wasn't as simple as I expected. It was just meant to be a follow-up after a year from my stone episode to see if all ok. Anyway, now need to do a scope becos of my recent episode about 2 months ago. Tints of blood in my urine, which you can see just about see, not darkish though. It went away after a couple of days & there was no excruciating pain like before, just a dull ache in my back. Scan showed no swelling. Because there is little or no pain, she reckons its best to have a good look. Just to reassure ourselves. It could be nothing. So I have fixed up to do the scope later this month. Its dam expensive maaan !

There was a brochure they gave me to explain the procedure. I felt better when I saw how short a distance the scope had to travel from a woman's uretha to the bladder compared to the undulating longer distance for a man. Get the visual ? :p

But my problems are nothing compared to what the people of the Solomon Islands are going through now. Many dead & homeless. An April Fool's Day joke at its most brutal.

Reading up on tsunamis tells me that there have been many Tsunami occurrences. But we've really never paid much notice till December 2004. The 'T' word has never been more repeated since then.

I didn't know Japan was most prone to tsunamis, 195 over a 1,300 year period. But the 2004 tsunami in the Indian Ocean is regarded as the worst ever though such occurrences in this region are supposed to be rare. Rare but not impossible. With the world's atmosphere changing, anything now is a possibility.

While we were in Phuket earlier this year & taking a drive all over the island, the driver pointed out to us places of where the tsunami occured, where mass graves were, how high & far in the waves got to. But you wouldn't believe this happened in 2004 as the island seems to have recovered. Hotels are up, bars, shops & streets are bustling, tourists are all over the island. Like it never happened.

But there are reminders ...the warning signs, bits of broken walls here & there, the graves. It serves to remind us of the fragility of the world & those who inhabit it.

This post has taken such a depressing tone :<

Lament for the day : Why are people fighting & killing when in a single sweep, nature could destroy everything. No lands, no oceans, no animals, no us...

Spent the day at uncle's place on the square table & eating. I enjoy these get togethers & then after all the indulgence, I worry how much it really plays havoc with my wardrobe ! Problem is that I think of it after the whole event. Its tough this middle age spread. Thickening waist & fat butt.

Today's menu - Waterloo Street Indian Rojak, Chicken Briyani, for tea early surprise b'day cake for Ryan, fruits, chicken pie, fried chicken. Tar pau home chicken pie & bao.

Interesting discussion with family members on the "bomb" word incident at airport & my letter to the ministry. On the latter, the opinion is that I should pursue till I get a reply letter that makes sense & is satisfactory. It was also suggested that I talk to the press.

Tomorrow is my follow-up visit to my urologist. A year ago I had kidney stones. It was baaaaad ! Never felt such excruciating pain. The cramps & pain were alot worse than giving birth, I swear ! I did eventually pass out the stone & didn't need an op. Anyway, this is just a follow-up to see if all is well. I had some signs recently that there could be another stone. We shall see what comes about tomorrow.

Lament for the day : The hazards of a family get together is eating too much & not caring.

Last night was Phantom for Sarah & me. We were pretty early so munched on Mrs Field's cookies & went into a shop that sold costume jewellery with coloured stones. Picked up a pendant for Sarah & ring for myself. Then on to the performance.

Beautiful stage sets & lighting. Very good singing by Phantom himself though I still prefer Michael Crawford's version. Surprisingly I actually felt Sarah Brightman sang better than last night's Christine (dunno her name). Raoul was okay I guess but the girl who played Carlotta I thought is a very good opera singer.

There was an orchestra pit with an orchestra which made me wonder about Notre Dame again at Indoor Stadium. Where was the orchestra or were they lip syncing ? You can hear the orchestra warming up, different instruments going before the performance began at Phantom but there was none of that in Notre Dame.

There were a couple of scenes which made the Phantom seem wimpy. He isn't supposed to be wimpy. He is the Phantom, strong in character. He can show the tender side of him, the dejection & rejection but not wimpy. Those bits were disappointing. Raoul & Christine's scene on the rooftop was not soft, tender & romantic enough. Raoul came across as a hormone-raging teenager. But otherwise, very enjoyable overall.

The legroom space between rows of seats was not generous. They just fit. They should have a look at Cathay Cinemas, loads of legroom. But I guess the Esplanade was looking at fully employing the space for seats. It was really uncomfortable navigating past those who were already seated. But I was particularly annoyed by 3 ladies who didn't move a muscle when Sarah & I had to shift our way past them. If they were lazy to stand up, they could have easily slanted their legs to one side. Sarah & I did that to accomodate others who had to go past us to get to their seats. These 3 ladies just sat there & I swear, they didn't shift in their legs a little, just moved their shopping bags aside. And me being me, said so loudly ...aiyo, why can't they even move a bit. And they were same when others had to navigate past them. Its these things/people which spoil an evening out. Sigh.

Then when the performance started, we could hear someone tapping his/her feet to the rhythm of the music in the row behind us. We found out it was a she & I'm surprised the people sitting directly infront didn't ask her to stop because even Sarah & I could hear though we were a few seats away. But I guess people turned around a few times & she stopped midway in the 2nd half. Either that or the tunes abit slower so tapping rhythm not so fun. lol.

There was a couple directly behind us with 2 kids aged below 10. They were such angels, you didn't even know they were there. No chattering, not knocking on my seat, no fidgeting during the performance.

Better becareful..don't say the word "bomb" at our airports. The silliness of the situation is read by all since it was published in the newspapers. All the mother did was answer her daughter's question. That the security wanted to check for bombs. What is so wrong about that ? Then check for what ? If say "drugs" then what kind of what reaction I wonder. Maybe the mum should have said looking for brains, someone lost theirs. Or see whether got toe jam.

Poor family got intimidated & missed their flight & holiday. Guess the airport authorities had no choice but to compensate them otherwise they would be in a bad light. Already in a bad light with the attitudes of those security officers.

The security guy asked the lady to repeat what she said & so she did. She was merely replying to his request & then kena blamed for saying "bomb" word twice. I mean WTF ? I know the security were being vigilant as we all have to be in such times. But the whole incident made the security look ludricrous. They reacted at a word without viewing the situation in entirety. Oh I know there will be comebacks like...what if there was a bomb then everyone will be in danger. But that's what the security are there for, to check. Not just hear "bomb" word & jump up & down & detain them.

Is it illegal to mention the word "bomb" ?? In what context ? Can I say "The other night I was watching Discovery's Detective series & they were showing a case about a guy making bombs & how they caught him" How ? Or I say "this week's CSI NY is about a bomb case".

Someone told me two guys were talking about bombs at the airport. An Indian lady airport police officer overheard & told them rudely, "You all talking about bombs. You know you can be arrested". The two guys looked at her, flashed their ID passes & said, "we are talking about work". She must have been really put out that she couldn't glorify in an arrest case. And she didn't apologise for jumping.

Later in the evening...

Went to do our Singtel shares at Singpost today at Toa Payoh. That place is crowded ! There was some strongman contest going on as well as a bodybuilding contest. We were walking to the other end to get to the spectacles shop & the MC was saying to the bodybuilding contestants, "turn & face your rear to the judges....now flex your rear". Lolol how to flex your rear ?? Clench the butt cheeks hah ? lol

After doing the contact lenses we headed to lunch then dropped kiddos off to catechism class. Hubby & I went to United Square as I needed to change a couple of t-shirts for Sarah at Esprit.

Lo & behold as I am walking away from the store, I see a primary school friend ! We call out each other's name at the same time. We exchanged numbers & promised to get together soon.

This particular friend, Jackie, was in the same class from P1 to P6. We were in the same secondary school but different classes so we didn't meet up much then. I remember where she lived as I'd visited when we were in primary school & I remember the names of her dogs as well as her sisters. She remembers where I lived as a kid. My Chinese was very very poor when I was in Primary school (and its still terok !) so I used to get scoldings & punishments from the Chinese teacher all the time. And I also remember trying to copy Chinese spelling from Jackie who was annoyed & covered up her book. LOL.

I wonder if its true that as we grow older, we remember the past with greater clarity ?

Lament for the Day : Imagine the Idol contestants playing the roles in Phantom, with Sanjaya as the Phantom & Antonelli (or wadever her name) as Christine.

There will be no discourse about Idol in this post

Anyway, someone irked me at work this morning while I was busy. A colleague emailed me to draft an email that says sorry, we don't have the info & can't help. Well duh ! He coulda just done it himself by saying the same thing in his email to me. It was a two liner cos there wasn't any other info to include. And I told him so. But it was amusing in the roll your eyes kind of way after I got over the initial annoyance.

I've been doing research work on religions in relation to some work stuff I am preparing. Its been intriguing.

Most of us know that the Christian, Jewish & Islam faiths are all connected. Its sometimes called the Abrahamic religions. The Koran & Bible share many similarities. But just how so. Abram whom God later renamed Abraham meaning "father of many" was the founding father of the prophets of the Christian & Islamic religions.

Abraham was married to Sarah & for many years she could not conceive. So she gave her Egyptian maidservant Hagar to Abraham who sired a son, Ishmael, through her. Accounts differ, some say he took Hagar as wife & some say mistress.

Then God blessed Abraham with a son from Sarah, Isaac.

Sarah was displeased with Hagar, jealousy I guess & had Abraham banish Hagar & Ishmael into the widerness. Or perhaps it was in God's plan.

At one point, Abraham's faith was tested when God told him to sacrifice his son Isaac. The deed was just about to be done when God stopped him. His devotion had God blessing him with the continuance of his lineage through both Isaac & Ishmael. Abraham also took another wife Keturah after Sarah's death. Not much on this wife & the children he had with her.

Seems like he had mainly sons & just one daughter. She doesn't figure very much at all in the future developments.

Hagar & Ishmael survived their banishment & from their lineage was borne the Islam faith through their descendant, the Prophet Muhammad. Many of the rituals during the Haj reflect circumstances of how they survived by God providing them with water, the sacrifice & Abraham's encounter with Satan. In Islamic faith Abrahim is Ibrahim, Ishmael is Ismail, Hagar is Hajre & Isaac is Ishak.

Isacc's son Jacob had 12 sons who established the 12 Tribes of Israel. From their descendants, Judaism & Christianity.

So Islam & Judaism came about from the Semitics (mainly Jews & Arabs) & Christianity from Judaism.

I think I have the gist of it right. Many online articles available for the full story. And you'll need to read both on Abraham & Ibrahim.

By the way, Aryan is a term which the ancients Persians used to describe their lineage. Ironic the Nazis considered their Aryans as a white master race. Someone should have told Hitler that the original Aryans were the opposite of white, blonde & blue-eyed. LOL.

Lament for the day : I wonder what else is in my mum's store.

Ohhh its Idol nite again & Sanjaya has gone beyond ridiculous ! Lakisha & Melinda, 2 really good singers going head-to-head would really make a fantastic final. Imagine Sanjaya being Idol bahahahaha. I think if that happens I will give up watching future Idol shows.

Dunno what is happening with the local dance show & dun care. Too many trailers of the show, sheer waste of airtime.

Had lunch with my other colleague who is leaving. Like I posted before we'd never had lunch or dinner on a personal basis. There were meals during company events which don't count. It was a very nice lunch & chat. Learnt more about her today than in all the time I've known her.

And so I have finally planned my menu for the Easter party. Called everyone too & sorted out the potluck dishes. Its a tea party but it'll probably last till dinner. Like in all our parties, we always have enough food for 2 meals. At least now with the menu done, no need to stress anymore. All that's left is to shop for the ingredients.

Discovery channel has an interesting series tonite, A Haunting. Its more interesting than the paranormal investigator series (can't remember title) which is a group of guys using equipment to measure rise in temperature, sitting in the dark waiting for something to happen but nothing does. A door slamming was the most exciting thing I remember happening. And even then, that could have been a draft or set-up.

Interesting article in the papers today about Chow Yun Fatt's role in Pirates. There were mixed reviews on how Singapore is portrayed & how people may see the Chinese people from Chow's portrayal. The movie doesn't say what year this was but it was back when guys wore wigs & tights, obviously of an era long past. Probably before Stamford Raffles time. Anyway, I think its great to have a mention in the movie.

I've been re-reading some of my books like Gone with the Wind, Wild Swans, Tuesdays with Morrie, The Peaceful Warrior & Da Vinci Code. I need to get my hands on Roots. I watched the Tv series long time ago & read the book. Can't find my book now. I know it kept it. May be in my mum's store & I've asked her to look for it. I think The Thorn Birds also in the store.

On the Da Vinci Code who's to say what is true & what isn't. There will always be people who will advocate that its true & those who vehemently debunk & reject it completely. I read it for its entertainment value. After reading that, I went on to read Secrets of the Code as my interest was piqued from remembering bits & pieces from Holy Blood, Holy Grail & The Holy Grail way before Brown's Da Vinci Code was published. I still have The Holy Grail but Holy Blood, Holy Grail is lost. Again may be in mum's store.

While I have my opinions, I didn't really form a definite view. To me all possibilities...possibly true, possibly untrue. Is Harry Potter's world for real ? Who knows what's beyond the human realm.

I play games online & sometimes when I feel like it, I chat. There are people who know Singapore & have great respect for the country. And there are those who don't. I am quite amazed there are alot of people out there who don't know where Singapore is, that we speak English well & that we have such a modern advanced city & society. But then again, for a long time I didn't even know Timbuktu was a real city :p

Lament for the day : My mum still has my Enid Blyton books & Disney magazines which my kids never got to read.

So the ministry finally responded to my email of 6 March. Actually wasn't expecting them to but they did & the reply was...umm can't find a word for it. My lingerie is more interesting lol. Opened a pandora's box in my opinion.

I have no idea why they replied that my appeal has been rejected. In my last email I didn't ask for re-consideration or re-appeal. I stated quite clearly that son will take his CL exams. We had already accepted the earlier rejection. Maybe should have done in caps, bold & 30 pts font.

They brought up the point that the officer met with Ryan & the teachers & what happened etc. Errr hello...anyone home ? I was there at the meeting. I know what happened. I said so in the same email.

Then they mentioned the "criteria" for exemption again. That would be the 4th or 5th time. Seems like a pathological fixation with the "criteria".

There seems to be a problem comprehending/processing (or lack of ?) the contents of my mail. Had the response been different, I would not have been agitated.

If I were in their position, I would have replied :

Thank you for your email of 6 March to ---. We are so sorry that we have been unable to assist with the exemption as Ryan, unfortunately, does not qualify. We do thank you for your understanding and kind acceptance of our decision.

We also thank you for your comments and will convey them to the management for their review and consideration.

We are sure that with the support & encouragement of yourselves & the school, Ryan will make progress. And we wish him all the best with his PSLE exams and future endeavours.

Very PR-ish but so swee swee maah ! But I didn't say so in my reply...later they use as template lol.

In my reply, I stated for the record that we did not re-appeal, we accepted the decision of no exemption, that we were there at the meeting & there is no necessity to bring up the (drumroll) "criteria".

And I went on to state the crux of the matter which they did not get. It is not the rejection for exemption. My grumble is how it was handled from the start. Don't send a rejection letter & then send an officer to meet with the child & the teachers. For what ?

Do it the other way round. Send the officer to do an assessment of the child & talk to the teachers. Then send a letter a week later to say sorry, can't exempt. Even if internally the decision was already made earlier, it doesn't matter. Reject after assessment. Get the processes right. The parents will be satisfied.

Anyway, I said no need to reply. Just wanted to air my views. Quite fatigued.

Had a nice lunch with my two colleagues who are leaving. Glad one of them has a job to move on to & the other has interviews lined up.

They told me that in the movie Just Follow Law which I have not watched, a middle aged lady took up some courses to improve herself. So she learnt how to use the computer & started her own blog. Blog site is called laucharbor.com hahahah. I should have thought of that for my blog space. But I not quite lau so maybe I should have used chiobu.com.blogspot lolol.

Arggghhh...son got hold of ciggies & wanted to secretly experiment. His plan got foiled. Which is a good thing. Long lecture went on about the hazards & our own experiences with smoking. We know kids are curious & will attempt such (mis)adventures at one time or another. We've let our kids try beer & wine. So that they know what it tastes like & won't be curious to try it on the quiet. So we offered him a ciggie to try, infront of us. He refused & was remorseful. We also impressed on him that the hard core stuff would be destructive. Also told him that he should not let peer pressure influence him & how to handle it. Say no even if the peers say he is stupid. Better to be stupid than dead.

Errr I hope that Hwa Chong wins the debate finals. But I think they won't. Missed the results.

Waaaaah ! Ribena has no vitamin C ?? I grew up with that. Maybe that's why I didn't grow upwards very much lolol.

Lament for the Day : Am I so magniloquent that I can't be understood or just incomprehensible ?

Goats...I must now talk about the goats that Sarah is referring to in the tagboards.

Many many many years ago, long before Sarah was born, hubby & I were on the bus somewhere along Sembawang. I say excitedly to him, look at the bunch of dogs, so cuuuute.

He says, that Goats lah !

How I know Singapore still got herds of goats running beside a main road.

So its Monday...what can I say....

But I got my tag board. Thanks Sarah baaaabyyyyy !

Finished two parts of presentation project today. And learnt something new. Well a whole bunch actually.

Have 3 colleagues leaving at the end of the month. Attrition expected after bonus period. Having lunch with 2 of them tomorrow as I can't make it to the group dinner on Friday. Phantom on Friday....in dreams he sang to me, in dreams he came. That voice which calls to me, and speaks my name. And do I dream again. For now I find, the phantom of the opera is there, inside my heeeeeeeaaad.

Then on Wednesday with the other colleague. Funny how we have never had lunch together in all the time she has been here. Takes her leaving for us to really find time to do a meal together. We've done the official company makan sessions together but those don't count.

Like in all companies, there will be different groups of kaki who lunch together. Seems like the norm. I have my own lunch kakis too. There are always people you get along better with. Anyway, I go through these phases; eating lunch out everyday & then for a period, I will stay in during lunch.

Dun care for Myrna & Charla on Amazing Race after they cheated. And they arrived first in Zanzibar. Oh bleah ! Lololol they don't know what a catamaran is.

Sarah blogs that she has bimbotic tendencies. Don't think that's from my genes lol. What's the definition of bimbo anyway ? Slutty, silly, dumb, blur & uses physical charms to attract the guys ? Don't think sarah is bimbotic leh. She can be goofy & blur but that's about it. Besides, she has brains. At least I think she does lol.

On the news, nuns having fun. In the Philippines a group of nuns accompanied their bishop to bless the opening of a casino. Then the nuns were seen trying the one-armed bandits & criticised. What's the harm in that ? Just curious nuns trying it for fun as they were probably given a tour after the opening formalities. Why even have nuns & bishop in a casino in the first place then ? I dun geddit. Pleeeeease lah, worse things happening in the world & they quibble over fun nuns.

Told my colleague I'd watched 300. She had already seen it before I did. We talked about the fab abs again.

Not gonna bother watching Mr Bean's Holiday. Lame I think. Newspaper review says watching it is like "enduring coporal punishment" lol. Love their pun "Oh Bean there, done that". Sarah don't waste my money on that movie pleeeeeeease. Shrek 3, Die Hard, Harry Potter & Pirates more my cuppa tea. Not really a Spiderman fan so can pass on that one. Hope Die Hard & Pirates won't be letdowns.

Interesting that Bangkok Don Muang Airport reopened. The new Suvarnabhumi airport which I have never been to has been plagued with problems. It was still Don Muang when we were there last June. Friends who have been there didn't have good things to say. Think I will pass on Bangkok till the taxi-way cracks are fixed up. Are there really cracks ??

Lament for the day : Nuns trying out slot machines is serious news ?

Watched 300 yesterday & it was good. I liked the sepia-like rendition. Gerard Butler is a pretty intense actor. And supporting cast were good too.

When Xerxes first made his appearance, hubby said look like Kumar lol. Which I thought so too. Then Xerxes spoke, quite funny that his voice was soooo deep lol. And of course, phwaaaah there were the 6-packs & 8-packs...not just one fella, but the whole army LOL. Verrrrrry nice indeed.

I not so shallow lah, I also think very stylish production, dramatization & special effects. Some bits may not be factually correct but this a based on the comic book version. Plus these events happened in the 480sBC so who is to know if historical records were accurately recorded & then subsequently translated. But that's what movies are all about; to entertain & to do that, certain liberties will certainly be taken. Anwyay, I'd like to watch the 1962 version of The 300 Spartans.

I read that Apocalypto is an inaccurate dramatization. According to Mayan experts. But like I say...how accurate are historical records as they could be manipulated & how accurate are translations. Just like Passion, the blood & gore gruesome, not exactly palatable but I thought good movies overall. And of course I cried at Passion.

May be planning a short trip to Phuket (again) with hubby, Kel & Jo whom we met up with last night. Fishing trip with Rickie who is based there. At least I will have Jo for company. Just maybe cos of the exams.

CSI Sundays ! Yaaaay !!

Lament for the day : so sad hubby only has a one-pack LOL.