Photo upload
It’s 2am and I am still alive.
Uploading my dearly outdated photos into the Yahoo album.
My Favourite Photo – Doesn’t it show lots of potential? 😉
~~The Sleepy Procrastinator….
Scream 4 (Or is it 3?)
Lots of stories tonight. It seems that every crappy thing happens to me.
Still on Yahoo Messenger with my friend. “BRRrriiiinnggg…!””BRrriiinnngggg!”
Darn! The doorbell at this hour?! It can’t be the postman!
I had, initially, thought that it might have been my friend, who lived, and still does, in the house beside mine. Wierd, he would, usually call me first. I put on my sweater, slipped my feet into my slippers and waddled to my door. All this while the doorbell rang, yet another time. I tore down the stairs to the front door.
I live at the top of a double storey house and my neighbour lives at the bottom and we share the same front door. The front door opens to a large yard and the gate stands in front of a long driveway.
I switched on the lights and flipped my front door open. It was pitch black in the yard. For some reasons, there are minimal streetlamps in Germany. Standing at the door, I couldn’t make out if there was a person standing at the gate. There was a chilly wind blowing, as it had rained for the better part of the day and it was nearing winter. I made a dash to the gate. Nobody was there. I stood there for a full one minute and peered into the darkness. Still no one. Shivering a little, I made my way back to the front door and realised that I had left the front door and the door to my apartment open. Oh great. Thinking of the movie, Scream, I chided myself. This is how the victims are killed!! Darn! How could I have been so careless! It felt like a scene taken from the movie. THe doorbell rang, the victim went to the door, but no one was there. She went back inside, horror of all horrors, the psychopath was in the house!!! While she was watching television, he stepped out of the shadows and stabbed her to death. Whatever, I have only watched it once, but being a horror fan, I probably took all the scenes from every movie and rolled them into one.
I closed the front door softly and cautiously crept up the stairs. At my door, I snatched an umbrella from the stand. Great weapon har!?? Better than nothing! I left the door open and sneaked into every room, checking the dark corners and looking behind me . (The victims were usually killed from the back! Duh!)
Nothing. I heaved a sigh of relief, closed the door with a double lock. Phew!
Who knows, maybe he is still in here somewhere, webbed to the ceiling like spiderman, as I checked the rooms. Right now, he may be behind me, while I am typing my blog. Eeeh oooh ehhhh oooh……. Eeerie music from *the Ring floats in…..
*The Ring is one of the most successful horror movie, that I have ever seen. Adapted from a book, it is a simple, back-to-the-elements, but horrifying effective movie. 5 stars.
Lego Boggle!
Diving, rollerblading, book collecting.. I was ticking off my hobbies with my fingers and toes to Wenjie, who was keeping me company despite the 6 hours time difference and triple visions of the monitor. All for a starbucks coffee.
“Have you heard about Mindstorms?”
Thinking that it was another of those rpg computer thingy, “Mindstorms? I have not heard about it yet. WHat is it about?”
“It is not a computer game, it is something from Lego.”
Oh, Lego. The joys of my childhood and my parents. Images of colourful blocks flashed across my mind. I vaguely remembered my father carrying a large box, wrapped in bits of colourful paper. “Your birthday present!” “Mine mine!” My eyes were as large as saucers and I stretched out my arms for it. Anything that was wrapped up, I would be interested in it. I spent the next few minutes, thrashing the carefully wrapped box, mutated bits of paper all around me. At the end of the project, a large white box with colourful pictures of blocky figures sat among the mountain of torn paper. Different blocks of colourful plastic pieces could be seen where parts of the box were plastic. “Oooh!” I reached for the blocks and promptly poked a hole through the cover. My father reached for my little hand and placed it at the box opening. Prompted by the action, I pulled the top of the box apart. Rows and rows of shiny blocks sat uniformly in the plastic dishes. Father pulled out a little booklet from the bottom of the case and pointed to a little car. Within a few seconds, a spiffy little car sat in front of me. I hate people doing things for me. In the next minute, the car was back in its elements. Flipping the little booklet, I peered at the little figures. By the way, I was a bookworm and still am. Anything that is found in a book, catches my attention. I decided to embark on the most difficult project – a neat little bungalow. As usual, I liked the most provocative task, and still do. I embarked on the mission immediately, that took a few days, sitting among the little blocks. My parents were relieved for the next few days, as I had been the biggest challenge in their marriage. I was kept quiet by lego. I completed the little house, for throughout that time, I could only think lego, sleep lego, eat lego. Within the next week, I finished every single item in the booklet and embarked upon other challenging projects. Lego kept me quiet for one whole month, the most successful toy ever.
“Ah yes, what about lego?”
“You can make robots from this set and even program it to do some simple tasks. Have you ever heard of the Aibo?”
I rolled my eyes. “Of course!!”
“Well, a guy managed to make a robot, even more intelligent than Aibo all from lego blocks.”
“SERIOUS! I love legos!! And a lego robot?! THat sounds absolutely cool!!”
“Yep, I just splurged 400 bucks on one.”
“So what can your robot do now?”
“Erm… just making a few turns.”
“I thought you said, it can be more intelligent than the Aibo, why is yours only making a few turns!”
“Give me some time! I just bought the thing and am still learning how to intelligentise it!”
“Is there such a word! Oh great! I think I will get one when I get back to SIngapore. I don’t think I want to buy it here, not too interested in a German robot. Ok, when I get mine, let us compete on whose lego robot is smarter!” (Arh! My competitive streak again! )
“Ok, that is, if you get back! You still owe me a Starbucks coffee!”
” Hey! Good idea! Why not, let’s go to Starbucks and you bring your robot along and let me play with it, while you drink your coffee!”
In a pained voice, “We shall see…….”
“=p”
Took out my hobbies list, scratched another hobby at number 100.
Suay! (Bad Luck!)
First time in Fuessen, 2 months back : We managed to catch the Hohenschwangau on film, but missed the Neuschwanstein because it started raining, by the time, we sent off for Castle N.
Second time in Fueseen, this morning: The minute I laid my tiny little feet on the Fuessen soil, it started pouring. That didn’t look promising at all. Of course, it lived up to its promise, it poured from the moment I arrived and to the second I left. What a waste of time, I might as well, stay at home and watch vcds for the whole day. Unwilling for the whole trip to go to waste, I bravely went up the mountains. At the bridge, I managed to snap a few shots of Castle N. But, I am not too optimistic with the final products
1. It felt like the whole world was on that bridge, so as you can imagine, there were people jostling me, elephants stomping on the bridge. Not exactly the perfect environment for masterpieces.
2. There was a steady drizzle throughout the whole day, causing a slight mist to rise, fogging up the breathtaking scenery. I wonder if there will be mushrooms growing in my camera after its bath.
3. The skies were a gloomy grey, not an ideal background for any photos, unless you are taking black and white.
The only heartening beauty spots, were the autumn colours of orange and red, dotting the green tops. It is not a full blown autumn yet. However, to a *san gui like me, all the 4 seasons were fantastic. In my homeland, it is summer the whole year round. The Germans went, “Oh wow! You must love your weather! Summer all year round!” You could practically see their drool seep out of their mouths. Maybe it goes by the theory of ” The grass is always greener on the other side.”
Anyway, I have decided to stay at home for the rest of the holiday. It seems that when I coop myself up at home, it is bright and sunny outside and vice versa. I think I must have offended some weather god or goddess. Now what?!
Blog Upgrade
Added the comments form.
Oh great! 2am! Ah Wei, be prepared to sleep at the stairs of Neuschwanstein tomorrow. So much for the bedtime 10pm resolution….!!
Quota Filled
Not bad! 2 long articles at one go! There, I have fulfilled this week’s quota! See you again next week!
Oops! An opening for more hate mails….
Headaches of the Employers (Or is it Employees?)
Due to the much talked about topic of uncommitted employees in Singapore, there has been a survey conducted on this issue. “What makes a Singapore Boss ticks?” Interesting, interesting. The article pointed out that this syndrome was caused by bosses with poor people management.
Well, to a certain extent, I agree with this statement, for I have seen too many an example. Brilliant technical people come to a fork in their career paths. In foreign companies, there will be usually 2 options, to become a technical specialist and move up in that aspect, the other, to move in a resource (usually people) management post. Perhaps, due to the limits of the small offices in Singapore, these choices are not usually available. Therefore, you have the scenario of superb engineers thrust into the uncomfortable positions. “Either you become a manager or else, too bad, you will just remain in your current position til you are 60!!” Not much of a choice here, any sane person will pick the former. Therefore, you have on your hands, a very unhappy manager who is a square in a circular hole, with totally undesirable people management, a whole village of dissatisfied employees which results in an unproductive department. That doesn’t sound much like a win-win situation to me. There you have it, a troupe of grasshoppers, jumping to any available, attractive field. I can really empathize with them, for I, myself, have been a scrapegoat of this system as well.
Another great reason, in my opinion, has to do with the culture and environment that we have grown up in. Singapore is a meritocratic society. When you have straight As, you are Mommy’s blue eyed boy, just one F, you will be dropped from grace. The society is just so pragmatic. We have been encouraged to strive for good results, because that is equivalent to good job opportunities, high salary and a promising career. The “I want to be on top and have the best!” mentality has been cultivated since young. This applies to the expectations of a job too. People go from job to job, searching for the best one, chasing after the pot at the end of the rainbow, a fantasy. Employees no longer take crap as they used to, for they think that there is a better job out there. Besides, one day this industry may booming, the next day, totally gone.
“Why should we live for tomorrow? Live for today! Grab the best! Be the best!”
Therefore, once they smell the scent of a greener pasture, they move on.
Society has made us so, why push the total blame onto the bosses? Besides, most of these bosses are Made In Singapore products, nurtured by this very society. Think again!
Obsession…
Darn! Who is the idiot pressing my doorbell as if it is mousey’s left button?? Leaving behind a pot of boiling soup and a pan on fire, I grabbed a coat, struggling with it, as I slipped my stubby feet into the slippers and rolled down the stairs in E=mc2 speed, across the front yard, right to the gate. The postwoman was waving a package excitedly, while I rolled up my sleeves to kill her. “Pooosttt…!!! Unterschreiben Sie hier bitte!” sang the victim. I swung the pot at her puny head and murdered her on the spot!
Well, of course not, being my usual hypocritical self, I plastered an engaging smile on my face, gently took the electronic device from her, signed with a flourish.
“Viele Dank!!!”
I stomped up the stairs, to find my whole kitchen on fire! Oh well, that was an exaggeration. Please ignore me.
I tore the wrapping off and ta da! The long awaited broadband password and software! Deprived for a long time for fast speed internet access, I connected all the hardware in an amazing speed, for a slowpoke like me. As people put it, when they meet the loves of their lives, they have never looked back since. Me too! Now, that was Friday. It is Thursday today.
Since last Friday, I have been obsessed with it. Aha! My Kazaa (the most popular p2p software, ever since my beloved Radiogalaxy was dissected by those hated American copyrights people. R.I.P.) can finally come into play. Download MP3s, movies, animes, whathaveyous… Every minute, every second, I was searching, downloading, watching… And before I know it, it is already Thurday!. Har?! Where has the whole week gone?! No blogs written, emails unread, plates and clothes unwashed, unironed, floor uncleaned, hamster unfed! I just checked it this morning, still alive, just looked a little skinnier though. There is another story to that stupid hamster… next topic.
Basically, there was nothing in my life for the last 1 week, but internet work, eat sleep, internet work eat sleep…. Gosh, I have turned into one of those geeks I despised during my schooldays! No way!
Internet limit per day : 1 hour, hmm.. nope, 2 hours.. ok ok 3 hours ! Last offer, no bargaining! 3 hours then.