Happy Halloween ...!

The long awaited Halloween Party at GMAC GRS has happened and gone all in just 2 over hours but I sure had lots of fun being able to cross dress using a piece of black thrash bag.

Halloween often associates with the color black and practically seventy percent of us in the office came dressed in the darkest color ever known but of course, there are always people who decided to think out of the box and came in white drapes of cloth.

We had some who really looked ghostly with bleeding nose and blood stained dress and what’s best was a pirate who came back to life from the movie Pirates of the Caribbean. Oh, we also had a mummified corpse that walked around slowly and God knows how many tissue papers were used in the making of the mummy but it was really funny seeing my colleagues all dressed up. I wonder how they’ll look when it comes to other themes like ‘Back to School’ or even ‘Saturday Night Fever’. That’ll be really fun!

Anyway, what is Halloween all about? What’s with Trick or Treat? Frankly, do you have any idea why in western countries people celebrate this? Is it something close to our traditional Ghost Festival celebrated by the Chinese?

I took a read on Wikipedia and found out that this tradition actually started from early Irish immigrants who celebrated the festival of Samhain and it is often regarded as the Celtic New Year.

This is perhaps my second time participating in a Halloween party and if memory doesn’t fail me, the first time was likely 10 years ago in Sentosa which included a Ghost Tour of a former British barrack. Spooky!

Nevertheless, we had lots of fun painting our faces and making it look as scary as possible but the effect on me was meant to be pretty. So tell me, chio bo? ( Am I pretty?) Seriously, when I saw myself in the mirror, I wanted so much to laugh out loud and yes, I somewhat freaked a man who was doing the pee in the Gents. My presence really startled him and I had to assure him that whatever he had between his legs, I too have it.

If given another opportunity, I won’t mind putting on some make up again and turning myself to look like a girl especially since we all know there is some feminine side of me that’s hiding deep inside. : )

Now between me and Sandy, am sure you can tell who the female is.

Finally we made it ...

The idea has been lingering around for a long time but we never ventured nor explored but just on Saturday, we decided to commit to a place we found in Simei.

Not a very big apartment but it is enough for the two of us to live in and of course there is still room for the occasional visitors who want to sleep over in the guest room.

I have to say it was almost love at first sight with the apartment at Melville Park and don't get me wrong, it wasn't because the development was pink that finalized the decision. It was the 'feel' of the house. We just felt good in the apartment upon stepping in.

For 89 square metres, we need not spend the whole weekend cleaning up the place thus it will be much easier to maintain.

The apartment will be handed over in January 2009 and it is likely I won't get to move in until later on unless the seller decides to let me have it in December 2008 but I doubt it as I understand it is currently tenanted to a lady artist.

Sandy and I have decided to keep the apartment simple and likely will not go for much renovation works unless there really is a need to. Maybe just the basics like wardrobes and cabinets but other than that, don't think we'll need it.

I sure am looking forward to this new phase of life where Sandy and I can have our own love nest. Something I have been waiting for many years and it is only now that I take the courage to make this investment possible.

We'll now be making use of weekends to look around for furniture and home appliances. The list doesn't seem long for now and like I said, we'll try to keep it as simple as possible. A simple home would allow us simple chores and who will be doing the chores will be the next big question but I seriously look forward to contributing even though I know I suck at such jobs.

Whatever it is going to take, we finally made it with the first step.

Yet another fine city ...

I read in the papers recently that any person caught sleeping on the bench at a park can be smacked a fine. This is really surprising especially when I ever took a quick nap at East Coast Park.

Sometimes it is really weird how our government comes up with such strict rules and regulations. Littering, jay walking and speeding are quite the norms when it comes to fines and court summons but sleeping on a park's bench can result in a hefty fine sounds pretty weird.

It is not wrong to say that benches are meant to be sat on and not to be slept on but what harm can it do if one decides to take a quick nap during office hours at the park just below the office? As you can see in the photo, even the Japanese take naps in their office attire and it just seems so normal in a busy park. Don't you think the government should allow a little more freedom to what we can do in parks?

So remember, don't you get caught dozing off on a bench if not, you'll end up paying more than a night's stay in a 4 star hotel. : )

A queue so long ...

It took several hours before grandma was able to see the doctor and that was quite a long wait.

The Cancer Centre was filled with patients and accompanying relatives. Seats were limited and some patients were left to stand around while waiting for their turn to consult the doctor. There were those luckier ones who owned a private seat - the wheelchair.

Seated with grandma and godma, we joked and laughed our time away and mainly at fellow patients as well as doctors. Ok, I know. We are a mean bunch but what to do? The time was crawling and the timing of the appointment wasn't kept as scheduled.

We joked that every patient who visits the centre would likely end up queuing at a Singapore Pools buying lottery and that was the main reason why Singapore General Hospital decided to use the queue number system with 4 digits. Our number was 1034.
Now that you have read it, go and buy it. You might just get lucky reading my blog.

Anyway, while I was seated at the Cancer Centre, I realized that life is really fragile and along life's journey, we'll never know when we'll end up at that place as a patient and given a private seat ( once again, the wheelchair). It is kind of a scary thought as both the ladies I was with were patients who battled the same enemy - cancer.

Cancer is one of the main culprit that takes lives away, killing it slowly. I guess I somewhat know the pain as I saw two of my closest relatives, Godma and grandmother suffer from it. They went through it all. I learnt a lot from the experience they went through and whenever I saw them in pain, I too felt the pain and tears would well up in the eyes. It is something I'll try to forget but deep inside, I know it will not be forgotten as this is part of my life's journey with them.

Forget the sobbing stories. Three of us spent the day together laughing most of the time and that was important. Laughing helps kill germs and bacteria. : )

Sing a song ... sing along.

At GMAC, we work hard and we play really hard too and that's what "Team GM" believes very much in or at least, I try to make it look as if it is true.

We had an evening session of wonderful singing as well as beer drinking. It is a pity that not everyone from "Team GM" could make it but the turn out wasn't that bad either.

Everyone started off really shy and noone wanted to start the opening song thus yours truly had no choice but to break the ice with Bee Gees How Deep Is Your Love.
Frankly, I didn't sing the song. I only read it like I was uttering a prayer.

It took a little while to warm up but given time, we realised there were quite a number of song birds in the team. My, some of these vocals are pretty good.

We also managed to hear our fellow Filipino colleagues, AA and MM sing to the tunes of Bakit Ngayon Ka Lang. I couldn't recall the meaning of the song but well, music has no boundaries and that's good isn't it?

I look forward to more activities coming up and looks like the next outing is going to be on Deepavali at a colleague's place. Yahoooo ...!!

Folks from Kuching ...

Earlier in the month, we had some relatives from Kuching visit us. They are my granduncle and grandaunt, siblings of my grandmother.

Managed to catch up with them on two occassions and both were for dinner. That's what Singapore is good for anyway - food.

The lady on the right is my grandmother who dotes on me really much and we can all see how much she has aged over the years and I cannot believe my cousin Alexis adding on donkey ears to her greying hair. You naughty girl .. ! : )

SAF enlistment ... either a boy's dream or a mother's nightmare.

In Singapore, every able bodied man will have to serve the nation through conscription and I am no exception however, if you were to ask me about my army days, I'll tell you its lots of fun.

My younger brother Weisheng was enlisted last week and by counting the days, he should be in camp for almost 8 days now and I am sure he is counting down the days to his first book-out.

The military believes in a confinement period whereby new recruits have to stay in camp for at least two weeks and from experience, it is sheer torture. Can you imagine the mental torture that can bring? Argh. I don't want to think about it but too bad, Weisheng is now serving his duty towards the nation.

Having three boys in the family, my parents contribute quite a bit to the defence of the nation. Without us, the nation will not sleep in peace and comfort - something I always tell my friends and colleagues.

I guess it is also a good time to learn how to be independent and surely the best time to keep the body in shape. Going through national service was torturous and we were in it, we just want to get out of it but many friends tell me after having completed the 2 years of service, they kind of miss the life in there but for me it is a complete opposite. I am due for my reservist liability end of this year and I dread it heaps but for the sake of the nation, I will have to make this big sacrifice to be away wearing the color green.

A trip to Melaka ...

Once again my apologies for not being able to load up pictures and write about my recent outings as I have been really busy these days.

First of all, let me highlight one of the more important events that took place last month and that is our family trip to Melaka.

Melaka being an old Portugese settlement, it has a rich and diverse culture. About 2 hours by road, one can find simplicity in the small Chinese dominated town. Oh, for you who do not know where Melaka is, its in Malaysia. : )

It has been quite a while since I joined my parents and my two younger brothers for a trip and its a big bonus to have my godparents as well as another cousin join us. Its a pity we weren't able to have the whole family tree together but that'll happen soon I hope.

A one night two day trip can be quite a rush but frankly, we were there only for the food. Shopping wasn't that bad but the weather was really hot as we had to walk to Jonker Street from the Holiday Inn hotel.

My colleague Eileen provided me with lots of addresses for food but unfortunately we only managed to try Aunty Lee as shown in the photo. My, the food was great.

In another picture, you'll see a rather rare photo taken in a pub with my parents, brothers, cousin and my beautiful wife Sandy. Believe it or not, we played dice games and whoever loses will need to take a gulp from the Heineken bottle. The 'kids' enjoyed themselves and what's best was we had an underage chap drinking two bottles of the ever popular beer.

I am looking forward to the next trip and am planning for it to be Ipoh as well as Genting. That is going to be real fun but the traveling time is going to be a little long but with family, a journey can never be too long.

Another crash ...

We now live in a high tech world where at a click of a button we'll be able to see the world and its activities.

 

Sometimes I don't know whether this is good or bad but I somehow got lucky enough to find that out first hand how my world will change when my work computer crashed on me, taking with it a whole load of information that was important to me.

 

This would never have happened in the 60s where snail mails were sent and type writers used in churning out these letters. This is now a complete different world. We depend so much on technology nowadays that when a glitch decides to surface, air planes lose hundreds of feet.

 

I am sure at work you often find yourself depending so much on the computer that without it, you just cannot function right. There is no one to blame but myself for trusting too much in a system that I thought would work and that big question on 'what if it crashed? 'never really occurred to me.

 

It is weird. Only two months old and kaput. Game over. Maybe a Dell isn't that stable or have I overworked the computer or am I overworked myself.

 

I guess I learnt my lesson now and shall have all my correspondences printed out and kept in a hard file. Back to the Stone Age days where one has to use a perforator. Ok, I exaggerated this time. Just back to the 'chop the trees' age.

Singapore in recession...

Economists predicted it, hawkers talked about it and what's worst is that Singaporeans are now caught in it. Its the first time in 6 years that the country has gone into recession and the stock markets hit freefall mode.

The question now is whether Singapore can weather the storm as the global economy suffers a meltdown. The Great Depression might have found a stronger match this time round as reports show that this global downturn could well be worst than the 1930s turmoil.

Is it really true that what goes up must always come down? We saw the peak in tourists visiting Singapore and now its a huge contrast in figures and what's worst, the casino projects at Marina Bay and Sentosa are still on-going. Will this project our government spearheaded fail given such times of uncertainty?

The government still believes that our financial situation is safe however we have been forewarned of the rough ride that might take one, two or three years to recover but seriously, we don't know for sure if it will recover that quick.

It is now not only United States bailing big financial institutes, its happening everywhere else in the world with governments trying to fund and support local banks protecting it from further plummeting. It is becoming a catastrophe, like an epidemic slowly spreading throughout the world and affecting many lives. People lose jobs, homes and even lives. Perhaps this is the result of globalization where countries depend on one another for trade and investments.

The end is clear. The world is in recession.

The place I'll call home .....

At the beginning of this year, I made a goal and that was to be able to move in to my own home before the year end. Sad to say, this will be impossible now. Its October and I have yet to start my home hunting expedition.

 

Friends come up to me asking if I could wait till next year to make a purchase. I personally don't know. For me, I want to move on and move out for various reasons. Selfish it may sound but starting a family is one of the reasons even though Sandy insists that we do that only after 2 more long vacations.

 

I guess I want the freedom to move around, purchase my own furniture and enjoy the power of inner peace. I also have plans to convert one room ( the baby's room) into a music making room. Due to space constraints, I am not able to play and make music in my room now. This is something I miss a lot and thus, is pushing me really hard to quickly get a place despite the uncertainty we face with the economy.

 

Almost every night I dream of my house and how I want it to look like. The layout, the kitchen. Oh yes, I too will be able to have the kitchen all by myself. I can choose what to eat, snack at midnight and even make steak out of the kitchen. It all sounds good isn't it?

 

I even thought about house work and who does what. This is the time you will see me doing house chores which I will happily do after all, its my own place. If I don't take care of it, who will?  Sandy is the answer. I will help her with the simple stuff like placing the clothes into the washing machine, wiping the floor with the magic mop and maybe cleaning the dust that will settle on the television set. See, its house work right?

 

When little Mark / Sandy comes about, I will be very happy to wake up in the middle of the night and help prepare milk and feed if I need to. I like children because I still am rather child-like. I know I can connect with them and stay close. I will throw birthday parties and sing birthday songs with them as each year passes. Phew, I make it sound like I am already a father.

 

Whatever it is, the main pictures I see in my mind will be rosy and happy and that's when I get my own place. Even in the midst of uncertainty, if I need a place, I will want a place and this is where I can call the home of our own – Sandy and Mark.

 

 

Market uncertainty ..

Lehman Brothers collapsed. The question now is 'who is next ?'

Many American giants are finding themselves vulnerable in this financial turmoil as the on-going credit crisis see many lay-offs in MNCs. Good examples are Hewlett Packard, HSBC and Citigroup. These employers are now seeing many of their employees through the door with a golden hand shake.

So are we also hit in Asia ? Unfortunately yes. The down side of globalisation has shown its colors. We all thought with the rising of China and India , this two power houses can play shield to the growth of Asia. Apparently not.

Both India and China has seen tremendous growth over the last few years but things are slowing down as both countries are still developing but at a slower rate. Why ? Uncertainty. Projects are held back. Exports have taken a dive as every where else in the world consumes lesser.

No country lives alone. Local stock markets plunge when bad news is heard in Wall Street. When the US Senate passes a bill to rescue dying banks, Asia cheers.

We are inter-dependant. We survive on each others' growth and mourn together when losses are made.

Would it be better if every country go on the tracks of nationalization instead? If that happens, we in Singapore will sink faster than everyone else.

Do you now see why our government has injected funds into the ailing finiancial institutions belonging to the US ? We needed to cling on to a safety net that initially didn't belong to us. We needed to stay linked to the big boys and even if nationalization is going to happen else where in the world , we can still survive on dividends paid out to our government who in turn provide us with more GST credits. :)

And who is government ? PAP!