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Author: Zhiwei

Depths of Boredom

Depths of Boredom

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Picture this scenario :

A pair of cuffs, clasped tightly across his wrists. The cuffs and the chain were brown with rust and stiff with age. The metal rings clinged noisily as he stretched for the computer station. The station stayed just beyond the tips of his fingers, the distance restricted by the chains around the pole. A man in brown robe sat calmly opposite him, The whip cracked and snapped on his arms, at the first touch of the keyboard., Then the chains were shortened, increasing the distance between him and the computer. All around him, other little boys were playing Counterstrike and other network games on the LAN servers. He looked longingly at the people around, as music and dialogues blasted through the speakers. He wept in his hands.

Food and water were brought to him regularly. But, one week later, he was found lying on the floor, still and motionless. BORED TO DEATH!!

Sigh! I see myself in him. I have a great broadband network, a fast computer, and all my work have been finished. But, I can only sit and stare crosseyed at my laptop. BORED TO DEATH.

All in the Fast Food

All in the Fast Food

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I have come to realised something about fast food, besides the fact, that they provide us with extra unwanted calories and cholestral. They reflect the standard of living of a country, far better than the economists!

Forget about reading sheets and sheets of reports on a country. Just trot down to a McDonald’s outlet and stare hard at the figures on the menus.

Prices (in S$) (Based on the cheapest menu, not taking into account, the Happy Meals. Therefore, please do not email me for comparisions on those. Thank you!)

Switzerland……….$14 (Believe it or not, this is the cheapest meal in Swiss.)

Austria…………….$10

USA………………..$8.50 (Probably because of the internationl debt this country has chalked up. And afterall, it is only patriotic to price the meals in your homeland cheaper.)

Germany………….$8 (This is the cheapest meal you can get in Germany. I rather save the money and poison myself with my own cooking!!)

Singapore…………$6

Malaysia………….$4

Italy………………..$4

Not only that, Macs‘ meal reflect the affluence of a place, down to the microscopic view!!

With reference to Singapore :

Changi Airport……………………….$6.50 (Our worldclass airport)

Orchard Road……………………….$6.00 (The street that never sleeps)

Bedok & other neighbourhoods….$5.00 (Where the normal people live)

Therefore, discard your newspapers and financial magazines, just make your way to the nearest Macs outlet.

Disclaimer : I have not received a single cent from McDonald’s (though I wish I will!!) and am certainly not their marketing manager. Although, I admit that they have one of the best marketing campaigns in the world! Argh! There I go again!

~~~ My One Cent Worth of Thoughts! ~~~

BaCk iN aCtIoN!

BaCk iN aCtIoN!

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Hey gals and boys! I a…m…. BaCk iN AcTiOn!!!

My holidays are finally over and I am back in good o’le Germany. I am very sorry for the long wait, perk up your spirits and get ready for more crappy tales and corny stories. Well, this is the good news, now for the bad ones.

The company has just slapped us with a memo, prohibiting the usage of the internet for the use of personal recreation during office hours. Oh well, I will just have to either sleep a little less and crawl to the office earlier, or type the articles on the word document and post them onto the blog with lighting speed (Awww!! How cliche!).

However, despair not, I will risk my arms, legs and my mundane job to keep everyone (hopefully) entertained!

~~~ My One Cent Worth of Thoughts!! ~~~

P.S. I hate this Germand keyboard. Everything is in the wrong position!! Grrr….!!!

Holiday, oh Beautiful Holiday!

Holiday, oh Beautiful Holiday!

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I am really looking forward to this holiday. Because, for a change, I have people to travel with me. I am really used to my one-man-trips, a camera around my neck, my backpack full of titbits and sandwiches, water bottle, diary, notebook and digital camera. Yep, 2 of them, did I ever tell you that i am a camera freak? But I still have not mastered the art of photography, despite my picture snapping.

When I travel alone, the great thing is, I get to decide on north-east-south-west, any direction I want. No need for 15 minutes conferences and consultations. But, I seldom get my image on the pictures I take, there are buildings, people, nature, but not me. My lunches would be a book in my left hand and a spoon in my right. I get to enjoy my book and I don’t have to look around, be bored and watch people stare at me. For some reason, I am always being stared at. Haven’t these people seen humanoids before?!

Despite all the great things about solo travelling, I am looking forward to this triple trip, to argue about what to eat, where to go and who gets to sleep on the floor! I haven’t seen them for almost 7 months and am truly glad to see them (or the food they bring over from Singapore?). There are few people who bother to come all the way to visit me. Thanks!

Hung-up Pen

Hung-up Pen

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Hung-up Pen

Well, you are probably wondering, why there is a surge of posts today. I am hanging up my pen (or is it keyboard?) for 2 beautiful weeks! Beautiful as I don’t have to work, not because I don’t have to write blogs. On the contrary, I enjoy penning blogs a lot. It gives me the chance to be truly sarcastic and offensive, the freedom to scribble down my warped thoughts and the chance to skive during work. (Yes, don’t tell my boss about it!)

Since I started the blog, I have, sort of, got used to writing something everyday. But I might not miss it much in these 2 weeks, because once i have the chance to have fun, I just forget everything else. Another defect discovered. Sigh. But I will bring my notebook along and faithfully take down descriptions of every leaf and blade of grass I see. 2 weeks later, I will have so many blogs posted that you will probably swear off me for at least a year!

The Exclusive Last-minute Club

The Exclusive Last-minute Club

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It is surprising, to see the number of clubs I am in! However, not everyone can join this exclusive club.

1. Study 1/2 year work within the one night before the exams.

2. Tutorials and homework : done on the bus trip to school.

3. Pack the luggage (whether it is for a year or a week) beginning from 10pm before the day of departure.

4. Book accomodation on the previous day of stay (thus risk sleeping on the streets.)

5. Iron clothes one hour before work.

6. Finish up a presentation 2 hours before the actual thing.

Therefore, you have to perform the above feats before you can qualify for entry of this club. I am so proud to announce that I am the chairman of it. Nobody can beat me in my last minute stunts. Life is too boring without the excitement (or stress!) from these activities! I hope my heart doesn’t give up on me after too many a times of last minutes.

I have just finished my last minute presentation this morning. It was really harrowing indeed, I had the fear that this time, I am not going to pull through it. I have had many close encounters during my last minute stints, but so far, I have been truly blessed and lucky and have always struggled through them narrowly and sometimes, the results were rather surprisingly adequate to the point of good! Someone must have been looking out for me up there. Incredible! I have told myself umpteen times after each experience, that I would start way before time, and finish with ample time to relax…. But it never happens. Probably I have been born with this complacency and I am stuck with it for life? Some DNA experiment would probably cure me of this defect. Anyway, I am a person who can work only under stressful conditions. Quite a masochist eh?! I do so love torturing myself!!

They showed me a thumbs up for the presentation this morning. Phew! I wonder when my luck will be running out….. I think I better send some thank you letters to Lady Luck to replenish it. Now, where is the address….

Stupid Tech!

Stupid Tech!

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I can’t believe this! I wrote a nice, long piece on the cars in different countries. Guess what?! It disappeared while I was trying to post it. I wrote something about the goodness of technology (refer to articles below or in the archive) and now I am going to retract almost everything I said. =p

Stupid thing! I can’t believe it! Give me back my article or you are going to get indigestion! HMPF! Grrr…!! Anyway, I can’t really remember what I wrote exactly, maybe, I will post it again, when it comes to my mind.

This is all for today, my dear fans (as if I have any), as I have neither the mood nor the inspiration to write anymore.

~~~ %&@!!!!#*^E%^%!!! ~~~

A Short Page from my Life

A Short Page from my Life

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A few days ago, I emailed my friend on some of the thoughts and feelings I had, over the years, about our friendship. I have finally mustered enough guts to write and I have never written a more truthful letter in my whole life. I waited and waited, there was no reply. Has she taken offence in what I had said? So, sighing, I dropped her a one liner, telling her to give me a short mail, at least to tell me what she thought about my confessions? I waited for a reply, not daring to hope.

Today, I received it. She laughed at how silly I was. We are friends and always will be.

~~~ Memories are to be cherished. ~~~

Reminiscence

Reminiscence

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Today I received an email from my friend. “I am not sure why, but I keep thinking of my childhood days, unconsciously.”

I am sure that everyone does, especially in a time like this. The ever present recession for the last 5 years, the fear of loss of job and stability (or even, have already lost the job), responsibilities – to your family (well to almost everyone in the world) and everyone is pressurizing you to get married, if you have not, if you have, well, to have children! This is a never-ending story. Some people choose to hide in their make believe world of nonchalance, while some of us take refuge in our sunny childhood memories.

Once in a while, I pull my memories out of the box, dust them a little, and flip through them carefully. Whether they have been happy or sad, they have made me what I am today. Therefore, my greatest fear would be to lose them, bit by bit, to time…. As compared to now, the biggest problem that I had during my schooldays was so trivial and yet, so important at that point of time. My whole world revolved around examinations, BGR and competitions. It was small, contained and carefree.

I have wished for umpteen times that I should have studied harder for the examinations, for Singapore is an academically governed society. Employers judge you according to the class of honours that you have obtained. But, what is life without friends and play?! Well, I only remember the times I spent having fun anyway. I have great pity for the people, who shuttle between the lecture theatre (sometimes to the library too) and home. I just wonder what kind of things have they filled their memory chests with? Images of the lecturers (puke) or books or examination papers (Shiver)??? Sometimes, I even thought, “Hey! What would have happened if I had followed my heart instead of my head?” But I will never know, because all these are just “what ifs”.

Memories of these days will never fade from my mind. How I wish that life will always remain so simple.