A game of survivor?

 

 

After bowling with Geoffrey and Beatrice last night, Sandy and I were approached by another couple.

 

First they took out a stack of serviettes and asked if I would like to learn how to make a rose using a piece of serviette. Frankly, I wasn't interested but I obliged because they seemed pretty sincere.

 

So the guy ( Ryan )  showed us how to do it with trembling fingers. His fingers were practically shivering. In the midst of his demonstration, I asked the girl ( Sharon ) what is this all about.

 

She stuttered and told us that they were part of a survivor game series in Singapore and that they will need to get down to the airport the next morning presenting to the game host a hundred Singapore dollars. They also told me that they were hungry and haven't had their dinner and have no place to sleep tonight because this was all part of the guidelines laid out by the organizer.

 

Was I convinced? Frankly, no but Sandy and I played Mr and Mrs Smith. Kidding. Mr and Mrs Nice Guys.

 

Ryan completed his origami and Sharon went on to explain the situation further and asked if we could contribute some money to them. As you know me, I would have said yes and even though I am so broke, I had thoughts of parting 20 bucks just for them. OK, I have a soft spot. You know it don't you.

 

Sandy suggested buying them dinner instead so we told them to join us at MacDonald's since I had intentions to grab a sundae. We asked if they wanted a full meal and they told me they'll rather have some cash but Sandy refused and ordered two McChicken burgers for them instead. They had no choice but to thank us before walking away looking disappointed.

 

Is this all a scam? Yes. We knew it was a scam but we didn't want to take the risk just in case these two chaps really got hungry but that's all we can do for them because Sandy and I know how it feels like to be hungry with no food to eat. To us, we did something good but if these guys were out to cheat us, so be it.

 

They did wrong. We didn't.

--
http://hidekram.blogspot.com/

Missing stuff ...

Life is getting a little boring here with nothing much to do. No visitors from overseas, no big bang parties. I guess it is due to our recent purchase of our home that we feel nowhere else can be more comfortable than being at home.

 

We haven't really found the strength and energy to go shop for some missing items of the house. I am still missing two side tables and a television console for my bedroom. Did I blog about this already? : )   Of course, we are still missing a wardrobe in the guest room too but that can wait.

 

I frankly can't wait to get myself the television console because my sound system is still at Marine Parade and I miss listening to the radio while in bed.

 

There are so many things I miss actually. CD racks, book racks and photo albums. I still have a few cartons of items I left behind at my parents' place and the things in the cartons are things I collected throughout my teenage years. I think I also will need a display cabinet or whatever you call that.

 

It'll take time I guess since weekends are pretty busy entertaining family.

Bra Talk ...

No typo, no blurred eyes. Indeed am writing about bras today. Bra talk, not Breadtalk.

 

Well, you must wonder why the sudden interest in this topic.

 

My wife often comes up to me asking me if her bra was showing under some other cloth she has over her and I would always tell her it looks fine even with the lacy prints showing. ( Did I use the right term? )  

 

As an open minded chap like myself, I think it is fine to have those designs stick out as long as it isn't something else sticking out. You know what I mean right?

 

I think all men out there would think it is normal having a little bra being revealed but men would think even naughtier if they realised nothing else was below the blouse the ladies wear above their skin so isn't it better showing some lacy prints instead to make sure men think straight.

 

Oh, talking about lingerie, a guy friend just told me about his massive collection of sexy lingerie. I wonder whaton earth does he do with it. I certainly hope it is not for cross dressing because I don't think he'll look better than me in a dress.

 

Lost and found ...

I always thought the term "lost and found" to be pretty amusing. I should perhaps write my thoughts about it the next time I sit at home with a computer.

Anyway, I found a latest model of a Sony Ericsson phone this afternoon and sent it out to the police station so that the item can be found by the lost owner. :)

Ok, I wonder who got lost first. Was it the phone or the owner? Beats me.

Catching planes ...

My in-laws are back and am at the airport awaiting their arrival typing this blog.

With nothing much to do, I tried snapping photos with my camera phone but the effects suck. If only I purchased one of those SLR cameras.

Its funny. My father-in-law called and asked me to return home and hear this, it's a funny reason.

He heard some chaps coughing and is pretty much afraid that he might be carrying some H1N1 virus. Afterall, he came back from a place with the virus HK.

I told him it was ok and that it didn't bother me since we do know the flu can be cured and is likely just another strain of virus.

Anyway, check out the photo. Lousy huh?

A quiet morning swim ...

Besides the sun being out, no one else seems interested to enjoy the swimming pool as much as us. Perhaps its a work day thus no one has the time to take a dip in the pool.

I managed to do a few laps and that's it. I was punctured. I was gasping for air and the muscles ached a little. It was time to stop after swimming for only 15 minutes or so.

I used to do better in terms of speed and stamina. Sandy urged me on but I gave up. Anything more would likely lead to heavy consequences - water entering my lungs.

Swine flu ...

The swine flu has hit America as well as some European nations and it seems to be coming in the direction of Asia now.

Can you remember what it was like during the days when Asia was hit by the SARS outbreak?

It was a common sight to see people wearing masks and everyone was paranoid whenever someone coughed or sneezed. Looks like it is going to be a repeat of what hit us in 2003.

Tourism came to a halt, the economy went berserk and people were dying every day.

The governments sent a red-alert signal across nations and placed barricades to try and stop the bacteria from forcing its way through the immigration borders.

Thankfully the Singapore government did well and managed to get us out of further deaths within a month or two and I am sure this time round, we'll have more than enough ammunition to fight out this swine flu but let's hope it won't be as serious as how it was in 2003.

I can only picture the winners out of this ordeal - makers of protective masks and bacteria fighting cleaning solutions.

Luis is turning 1 this May ...

A year ago, Luis was delivered in Mount Alvernia and very soon, he'll turn one next month.

Seeing him grow up a healthy boy surely brings smiles to us all.

I believe Luis is going to be a cheeky boy and surely a playful chap when he grows older and that is what's going to excite all of us later on as we wonder if he is going to take on his father's traits.

Here is a photo of him in the midst of a gambling session. Too young to learn the game of mahjong?

Sushi making ...

Finally I got to eat sushi that was made by my sis-in-law. The last time she said she'll make it for me was more than a decade ago. Yes, 12 years is surely a long wait but what matters most is I finally got to savour the delicious handrolls and makis she made with her own hands.

Check out the video and see if you'll like to place some orders with her too but bear in mind that you might only eat it after another 10 years.

By the way, I am sorry you might need to tilt your head to watch the video. : )

A mothers' celebration ...

Having three cakes together seems to be pretty unusual but that is what happens when there are three birthday celebrations that take place at the same time.

Happy Birthday to Grandma, Mum and Godma!

May their days be filled with great health and lots of happiness!

Thank you to Weisheng for the cakes which he has contributed. Indeed a very filial son and a supportive brother too.

Junsheng, it'll be your turn in a few years so start working hard now.

Fatty liver ...

It's been a week and I have not yet received news from the doctor regarding
the medical tests I did last week. It is good news isn't it? At least for
now it is. The nurses told me if anything goes wrong with the results, I
will be notified immediately so fingers crossed.

I can roughly tell what is wrong with the body through my daily lifestyle.
High cholesterol is a sure thing but diabetes has so far not been detected
all these while so I guess that one shouldn't be on the list of my worries.
Afterall, I don't drink a lot of soft drinks.

When I stepped on the weighing scale last week, the nurse told me to watch
my weight as the scale shows a little more than I should be. Wait. I am not
obese. I just have 24% fats in my body which I will try to rid off. Frankly,
if I had 24% of fats in my body, I wonder how much more would my other
friends have. : )

So blood was taken, ultrasound in the stomach was done and guess what? I
have fatty liver. Reason behind it is once again lifestyle. Alcohol, oily
and fatty food is what I will need to avoid. I guess my meals will have to
consist of more sushi, sashimi and importantly adequate servings of green
leafy veggie. I will cut down on beef and pork but more chicken breast
without the delicious skin. Darn! I will also need to cut down on eggs but
frankly, I don't eat much of them.

Yes, exercise is most important given my unhealthy lifestyle. Sandy plans to
jog with me in the evenings after work and we'll do some laps in the
swimming pool. My buddies have also asked me to play basketball on a weekly
basis but that again died off after only one attempt. Maybe I should just do
something I loved so much when I was younger – put on those blades and show
off some stunts or maybe, cycling. Talking about that, I need to move my
bicycle to Simei. Oh, the other two items I need so badly would be my
keyboard for composing music as well as my Bose system.

Back to the topic about my medical check-up, I was informed by the doctor
that there are some lumps found in the neck and that can be scary after
seeing what my grandmother went through. She didn't eat for many months.
Ouch! That thought just kills me completely.

Anyway, let's try not to worry too much about such. We'll just leave it to
the doctors to reveal whatever they are supposed to and until that time
comes, I'll just live my life like how I want it to be. Merry and Happy!
Come what may, I'll ward it off at a later stage so don't worry. I'll still
be who I am. The one and only Mark Chong you'll ever know.

The day Heaven shook my hand ...

In bad economic times, people seek religion to subdue their fears of instability and I am one of those who do the same.

 

Frankly, I was astonished when I had such a close encounter with the subject and I never thought I'll ever stand that close to Heaven.

 

I always heard that Heaven and Hell were separated by only one thin line but not many can tell the story about what both places have in them. A rosy garden versus a fiery oven? I don't know.

 

As usual, I do think a little too much. Have I been good or have I been bad. Do I deserve the finer things in life or do I not.

 

As we often hear preachers talk about Heaven, I always wondered how heaven really look like.

 

Within minutes, the news spread. Heaven has arrived at her new work place.

 

While Heaven was introduced as she made her rounds with a HR colleague, I sat at my chair nervous.  Like every new face in the company, Heaven was shown her way around the many desks filled with files and more files. I too didn't escape from this really difficult taks. The number of people you had to meet and the names you had to remember did cause me anxiety then.

 

Finally, they made their way to my desk and as Heaven approached, she reached out her hand and introduced herself politely.

 

Aren't we all glad now that Heaven is going to be on our side at least for the next couple of months at work? What more can we ask for in times of trouble.

A rainbow birthday ...

In an hour's time I will hit the big 3. Yes, I will be 30.

So what happens when one turns thirty from twenty nine? The cake gets lesser candles.

As usual, birthday week is often lined up with dinners and get together with family and friends. What else can we do but eat in Singapore? Frankly, I enjoy eating and having the company of family and friends so this is always a great excuse to be with them or should I say, it is a very good excuse for them to be with me. Both ways only benefit me. Just think of all the delicacies one gets to enjoy in the birthday month.

All these 30 years, I had my fair share of birthday parties, surprise parties, get-drunk parties and sex parties. Ok, kidding. Haven't been to a sex party just yet.

I often try to recall the birthday parties I have had. From MacDonald's to high end hotel parties, I had them all. My parents dote on me so much that they make every effort to throw a party for me and my friends whenever possible.

I can still remember how I spent my 17 year old party at the Pan Pacific hotel and the gifts my parents and my godparents bought me. At that time, Sandy hasn't entered my life fully. We were only acquaintances from the January 1997 orientation at school.

That year's party had all my close friends with me. Hanwen, Edwin, Timothy and Yiliang. Sadly, am only in contact with Hanwen and Edwin. I guess that's life. We thread on certain journey together and after that phase of journey passes, we split ways.

Now as I am turning 30, I sit back and think of my life. Frankly, I have it all. I can be considered pretty lucky in life. In terms of affinity and career, it is sailing pretty well. The occassional storm comes and goes but I know at the end of it all, I make it and make it pretty good. So what more can I ask for?

At times I feel like a lost child even though I turn 30 at the stroke of midnight. I acheived most of my goals ( except for little Mark / Sandy) and I crave for more. Cravings can be dangerous if kept unsupervised. The more ambitious one gets, the harder he falls. I guess at the age of 30, I should just let the year pass me by slowly and gently and let loose the tight reins I have forcefully held on. It is time to relax a bit and enjoy a little.

For now, I shall sit back and enjoy the beautiful sound coming from the sound system that sits in my living room. Happy 30th Birthday Mark! May all your wishes come true and may you find lots of happiness in the many more years to come.

2 Nights with X-Japan ...

All it took was for Yoshiki's ivory keys to bring me tears and what was even more emotional was that after 14 years of dreaming that I finally made it to watch my first X-Japan concert live in Hong Kong.

Now listen, I watched it twice in Hong Kong in two consecutive days.

Of course, after the concert ended on the second night, reality became a dream of memories all again.

I am now looking forward to hearing news about the next concert and hopefully that'll happen in the next couple of months in either Beijing or Shanghai.

I will try all means to make the dream come true yet again. Of course, the biggest dream is to watch it on New Year's eve in Tokyo Dome. Hopefully, I'll have that dream come true by end 2009.

X-Japan sure played an important part of my life and I will always keep those memories close to my heart.

The moments I have been waiting for ...

This two weeks will surely bring me lots of unforgetable moments.

Firstly, I will be heading off to Hong Kong to watch my beloved X-Japan's concert and this has been something I have been looking forward since 1996 and my, that's a long wait of 12 to 13 years.

X-Japan has been my favourite musicians all these while and I have been waiting for this day to come whereby I can watch them right before my eyes. On Saturday, this will be a dream come true for me.

When I was younger, I used to urge my father to purchase as many LDs ( Laser discs) for me from Japan and thinking about it, at the age of 17, I already started online purchases by ordering their merchandise, CDs, books and posters. Frankly, I cannot wait to have all these displayed in my new home.

Talking about my new home, I am going to move in next Friday and wait till you hear this - I have yet to collect my house keys and will only collect it next Tuesday after I return from my trip.

Sandy and I will rush through everything. From painting to cleaning so that we can move in before the Lunar New Year and yet again, another dream come true for me because all these years I have been waiting to have my own home and my own living space.

Am happy I will be able to have a place where I can sit happily to appreciate my DVDs. I wonder if I will be able to get my hands on a Laser Disc player because if I did, I will be able to entertain myself with the numerous X-Japan concert discs.

Wish me luck and I certainly hope in two weeks time, I will be blogging about my new home and what joy it has brought me and Sandy.

Worrying ...

I just recently read a book by the name of 'Why Worry!' by K Sri Dhammananda. It isn't exactly a religious book despite it being written by a Buddhist teacher but there was a very interesting metaphor he mentioned.

He mentioned something about people with lots of worries and paranoid by nature and these were people who made the lives of others unhappy especially those in the family.

I kind of felt that this was a rather true reflection and I have learnt that one should not worry too much or show others his worries. One should not be paranoid and instead of filling the head with negative thoughts, one should try to fill it joyous thoughts that influence others.

I guess I'll share more about my thoughts on the book in another posting as Sandy is now rushing me to get off the computer as she wants to use it to watch her DVD.

ERP and transport fares ...

Just in the year 2007 / 08 and those were when times were better, the government increased ERP fares as well as public transport fares and I repeat, it was when times were good.

Articles splashed all over the papers nowadays show slow or even negative growth and yet the government has not made any adjustments to bring such living costs down.

When the bus fare hike was announced, it was mostly on the basis that oil prices have risen so much that bus transport companies were losing bits of their profits and thus a rise in fares was required but today, the explanation was different. The prices have to stay where they are now and not come down because competition was stiff and bus companies needed to expand their business and maintain the fleets of buses.

I sort of found it silly but what to do? That's life isn't it? When such fares increase, our salaries hardly increase and I wonder employees in such public transport companies, are they also not getting an increase despite profits raked in? Is this fair? I dare not comment.

After 10 years ...

I remembered reading the bible 10 years ago and I was pretty close to completing both the new testament as well as old testament. Bet you didn't know that and this might be a shocker too, I used to go to church pretty regularly too.

Anyway, don't ask me further but I thought I'll share my experience about my visit to a church after 10 years.

My mother-in-law was baptized this afternoon at a church in the eastern side of Singapore and Sandy, Beatrice and I witnessed the event.

I sat and listened to the sermon patiently and pretty attentively. I heard every word the pastor spoke but at the same time I looked all around me. It was quite a big congregation that was present at the chapel hall but I was rather disappointed with the behavior of some fellow church goers.

There were people who talked loudly on their mobile phones while some were dozing off and sending text messages. This wasn't something I experienced when I was in the previous church I attended. I felt really uncomfortable seeing the many people who were not sensitive to the people around. Perhaps, Singaporeans really don't know their manners. They don't know how to behave.

Forget the incident at the church. If such a thing can happen at a church, why not cinemas? We still experience fellow movie buffs having their phones ringing in the middle of a show. Again, I think Singaporeans really need to learn to be graceful just like what our government campaigns are about. It is sad but it is true that this happens in a country like Singapore. Maybe the government should put a hefty price tag to this - yet another fine imposed.

Back to the church event earlier, I felt like visiting old friends at my previous church at Cambridge Road. Pastor Richard, Collidear and if Timothy is still around, it'll be nice to re-visit those days with him again. Frankly, I miss that chap.

Farewell 2008 ...

2008 brought me lots of joy and it sure will be one of the years which I will remember most.

At the beginning of the year, a big party awaited us as my buddy Hanwen and Clara had their customary wedding dinner in February 08.

The months that followed were also very exciting as Sandy and I prepared for our own wedding in June 08. Wedding invites, schedules as well as work kept me busy.

On 7 June 08, Sandy and I finally tied the knot at the Amara Sanctuary in Sentosa.

Just right after our wedding, we embarked on a honeymoon that went very well. I guess it was the companion of best friends as well as a splendid choice of location in Japan that made the honeymoon a perfect honeymoon.

In the second half of the year saw a change in job for me as I explored other opportunities within the same industry and that was when I joined GMAC in August 08. It was indeed another good choice I made.

In Oct 08, my younger brother Weisheng entered the army to do his duty for the nation just like every other able bodied man in Singapore. I have to say this is going to be a rather life changing experience for him and it is only now that we all know he is a grown up and will be able to fend himself along life's journey. He is no longer that little boy we all had. He is now a soldier that will fight enemies when the time arises.

In November 08, Sandy and I found a place we'll call home at Melville Park. This is going to be the biggest investment that both of us have made together and this is also going to be the place where I can hide from the world. With peace and serenity, I am sure my new home is going to be the place I want to be most of the time. We are looking at moving in Feb 09 - hopefully.

I guess the main highlights of the year was my wedding as well as my purchase of home therefore 2008 is the best year for me despite the numerous negative news that impacted the market, causing it to fall into an economic downturn.

However, there is something which I wasn't able to fulfil in the year and that was to move into my new home before 2009 as that was one wish I had when I counted down to 2008 but nevertheless, I have found a place and that is what is really important for me and Sandy.

Ups and downs we faced together, Sandy and I will surely keep these memories of 2008 and these memories will surely last a lifetime ... but before we chuck aside these memories, I guess we would like to thank the many people who attended our biggest party in our lives - our wedding. We want to thank everyone for the well wishes as well as the many foreign guests that took the time and effort to attend our wedding.

We would also like to thank our families especially my parents and godparents for helping me out with the wedding preparations, of course not forgetting Beatrice and my other close friends who also played a part to make our wedding a success. 2008 is a highlight of our lives and we thank you for contributing postively to it.

As we bid farewell to 2008, I am sure 2009 will be a better year for us all. Let's look at it postively and walk the journey together.

Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year ...!

I know it has been a while since I last updated this blog and this could likely be the last blog before the year ends but I hope in 2009, I would be able to carry on posting regularly to this blog as this is a platform for my friends and family to know more about what's going on with my life.

 

Perhaps you can look forward to reading about some of my accomplishments for 2008 and what I want for 2009.

 

Until then, wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. May the days of 2009 be filled with lots of laughter and joy.