The Person Behind The Blog

Ed, Edd & Eddy popped up on MSN yesterday to ask about my weight coz he wanted to calculate if I would hit my head on a flying Boeing 744.

He expressed his surprised when I said I was 65kg coz he imagined me to be someone heavier build.

I was like, "I write very FAT meh?"

For someone who is 1.72m tall, 80kg is a bit on the pudgy side liao.

Anyway, the thing is that there are a lot of blogs without a face i.e. without camwhoring pictures. I supposed the main reason or at the very least for myself is the want to keep online and real life separate and I get to decide when and where I allow them to merge.

I don't want to be in the situation where someone points me out in the crowd and go "Hey! You are that JayWalk right?"

No, thank you. I am happily getting lost in the crowd.
Then again, not that I have a lot of readers to begin with but under the Small World Theorem, who knows?

I guess I love the controlled anonymity for the simple fact that it allows me to blog freely without fear of repercussion should I write about someone, be it unfavourably or otherwise.

I don't want to write with a constant nag in my head asking myself if I need to self-censor simply because if readers know the author, they will know the subject which may not be a good thing.

So coming back to my point. What I am trying to say is that similarly for those whose blogs come without a face, I too have a tendency to conjure one up in my head and pin it to that particular blog for the time being until a) a picture of the author shows up or b) I meet the author in person, of which the former would still yield some inaccuracy.

And it's not any image of a person that you pick out of a hat. The image evolves from the person's writing. With a particular writing style, I would imagine a certain "look" for this person and I am sure it is a similar process for everybody else.

So my question of the day is,

If you have not met me before or during the time when you have not me yet, what was the image that you created for me? Who is this person you thought it to be?

See you in the comments section.

Image Credit: http://upload.wikimedia.org

- Voxeros

1. Winter left...

Friday, 28 December 2007 8:49 am

Before I met you, I conjured up this image of you as someone who is very confident of himself and is a very charming person both online and offline.

After I met you, it's exactly how I perceived you to be and also a very cheeky person. muahahahaha.

Forget to add a point, you are someone who is very good in asking questions and getting to know the answers you wished to find out. Sufficient anot? :P

2. barffie left...

Friday, 28 December 2007 9:01 am

My impression of you: Very cheeky indeed Hurhruhrurhruhr. But as a TowKay you give people the more pudgy impression. Understand?

What was your impression of Cowboy? SAY!!!!

3. cowboy left...

Friday, 28 December 2007 9:08 am

barffie - Na beh
My impression of you was... some player with dyed hair and a soul patch. Hhaha.

4. LD left...

Friday, 28 December 2007 10:05 am

my impression: Tall, tanned, looks like a retired coach or something. Go figure. Probably very confident, charming. with a boisterous personality.

5. Kelly left...

Friday, 28 December 2007 11:29 am :: http://www.kellchan.blogspot.com/

Tee-Ko Ah Pek! Hehehehe...
Prob I will change my view after I see you in Singapore! hehehe

6. Gary left...

Friday, 28 December 2007 7:15 pm

my first impression of you when you show me your golf course pictures.. wah lao.. look like some uncivilized caveman.. wahhahaha..

but when meet up face to face.. totally different..

7. hitomi left...

Saturday, 29 December 2007 12:06 am

lao uncle lor... cos u talk like uncle... LOL frankly hor, i started reading your blog when you were writing about school days and how u sian cha-bor in the past, so naturally i imagined u to be hansem-hansem cheeko type, esp since i kn yr ex sibeh chio leh. *drool*

8. OLLie left...

Saturday, 29 December 2007 2:14 pm :: http://ooohlah.lah.cc

I imagined you to be uber handsome + a little humsup. Oops. hahaha.. Tanned + fit + good genes 'cause your kids look so darn cute la.
Welcome back Jay~ =)))

9. akk left...

Sunday, 30 December 2007 9:42 am

i was thinking hansem tall dark mature man....sniff.....cheated...
hahhahhahaha.......kidding....

10. Old Beng left...

Sunday, 30 December 2007 12:53 pm

Picture in my mind - Matured, outspoken, humorous, friendly, average build and look.
Reality - ?????

11. naeboo left...

Sunday, 30 December 2007 3:37 pm :: http://naeboo.liquidblade.com

someone who is tall and lanky. taller than the 1.72m u said in this post (disappointing...) and more built than the 65kg u mentioned.

bushy eyebrows, sharp features coz very inquisitive, happy eyes coz humourous and have a jest for life.
abt being anon.. most of it wld be (for me) to have a space where i can talk cock and whatever without having how i look affect how i wld be perceived as a person and as a writer. i don't see how if u like someone's writing, how s/he looks like shld colour ur judgement. if shes fat, ugly and have loopsided boobs, but u like her writing, why shld it matter? i guess, it's also a form of screening for me. to only have only those who like the writing to return. not the ones who's hoping to fawn at pics. meh

12. JayWalk left...

Tuesday, 1 January 2008 1:16 pm :: 

Winter, Barffie, CowBoy, LittleDowager*, Kelly, Gary, hitomi, Ollie, AKK, OldBeng, naeboo : Happy New Year!

Essentially I take humour seriously. I think I born that time, my doctor goo gee goo gee me instead of slap my backside lor.

13. Eddy left...

Wednesday, 2 January 2008 11:57 am

Eh, my impression is a cheeky git who weighs more than 65kg. :P
oh yar hor, I haven't figured out how to calculate if you will langar with the plane.
Also,

14. JayWalk left...

Wednesday, 2 January 2008 4:47 pm :: 

Eddy: I try to stay true to who I am i.e. what you read here is what I am in real life. I have personally known of people who are two different people in real and reel life, not that there is anything wrong with it but just not my style.

15. rn left...

Friday, 4 January 2008 1:54 am

you are tagged. http://rationalneurotic.liquidblade.com/?p=758 (check after 12 on the 4th jan)... don't kill me ;p

16. JayWalk left...

Friday, 4 January 2008 9:24 am :: 

Rational Neurotic: Welcome to your first comment here!

Is this going to be another meme? I shudder to think........

17. rn left...

Saturday, 5 January 2008 1:53 am :: http://rationalneurotic.liquidblade.com

well.. it's for a good cause... we all tend to be pessimistic mah... haha. First comment meh? I think a very long time ago I commented before. But super long time ago.

18. aloe left...

Saturday, 5 January 2008 4:10 pm

ah beng.... after meeting up, still ah beng..... HAHAHAH!!

19. JayWalk left...

Sunday, 6 January 2008 9:32 am :: 

RN: You got comment before meh? 没有影响 leh...

Ok lah... for you special. I do your meme coz it isn't one of those rehashed ones.

Aloe: Whatever turns you on, baby.....

Boing Boing

Make a guess, what do you think this is?

If you recall my earlier entry a week ago, I was headed towards visiting my satellite factory. I was about to blog about this when I fell ill and as a result a disruption of a series of hospital entries.

So anyway, now that that's done and over with sans still partial hearing loss on the right ear, I shall continue from where I left off earlier.

I visited my satellite factory that produces mattress e.g. King Koil, Slumberland, Sealy, Serta-types and what you see in the photo is actually the inner spring frame of the mattress. (See picture left).

Here's the amazing thing. What you see in the picture is actually TEN of them mattress inner spring frames!

This is what it looks like from the front. That is 10 x Queen size inner spring mattress frames. Each frame when fully released will be 10" (25.4 cm) thick and so 10 mattress frames will be 100" (2.54 m) in total.

Notice the skull and crossbone sign? Read on.

(Click To Enlarge)

As you know the inner springs were compressed, crated and steel strapped to keep them in place. In other words, as the warning says, there are at least 18,000 lbs (8,200 kg) of potential force waiting to burst.
Hmm.... suddenly I don't feel very smart just standing in front of it and gong gong take picture.

So. If one pallet is 18,000 lbs (8,200 kg) of force waiting to burst. Then surely the 5 pallets here = 5 x 18,000 lbs = 90,000 lbs (41,000 kg)?

Then like that I stand in front of it take photo like that machiam lagi not very smart x 5 hor?

Ok, here's a question to those who are good at Mechanics Mathematics.

If I were to stack these 5 pallets down and I sit right on top of it. Then I released all the steel straps, how high will I fly?

Will I langah a Boeing 744 at 35,000 ft?

Tell me.

Image Credit: http://img.tfd.com

- Voxeros

1. JF left...

Thursday, 27 December 2007 5:21 pm

u never calculated your weight and gravitational pull which are the determining factors along with wind force.

2. Red Queen left...

Thursday, 27 December 2007 8:04 pm

You only want 744 ah?? I thought i was your dream to langah A380??? want oso want high class one mah...

3. JayWalk left...

Friday, 28 December 2007 12:34 am :: 

JF: Keep it simple and assuming no wind factor lah. Probably use Energy theorem to approach this.

RedQueen: Oh yah hor..... forgot about the A380 !

Maeklong Railway Market

Kennysia's recent blog entry of Bangkok's famous Chatuchak Weekend Market reminded me of this Youtube clip that has been sitting on my laptop for the longest time. I have been wanting to blog about this and share with everybody but being the short-attention-easily-distracted bloke that I am, I forgot about it completely until now.

So anyway here it is. If you think Chatuchak is happening, wait till you see the Maeklong. Lagi more happening!

I was amazed at how the Thai hawkers just take the trains coming in and out of the market as part of their every day. No biggie. Just a train passing through as they go about their business. Watch how unfazed they were when it comes to a lug of a train rolling through and passing them by the breadth of a whisker.

Coolness!

Click here for more pictures and video.

- Voxeros

1. Gary left...

Wednesday, 26 December 2007 2:38 am

pwah!! machim like a button to push and everything all come down.. and they even measure the distance.. thumbs up!!

2. JayWalk left...

Wednesday, 26 December 2007 8:59 am :: 

Gary: I was impressed with the fact that nobody panicked. Everybody knew exactly what to do when the train arrives and leaves. Kudos.

3. Chocolate gal left...

Wednesday, 26 December 2007 9:01 pm

first thought... Hao high wor.. Second.. unbelievable.. Guess they are all used to it..

4. JayWalk left...

Thursday, 27 December 2007 9:16 am :: 

Chocolate: Yeah and probably that's what made this market so special.

Visit InDUHnesia 2008

I must say that the Visit Malaysia tourism campaign's tag line "Malaysia. Truly Asia." was beautifully done. Singapore's Uniquely Singapore is well... not bad either and then there is also Thailand's Amazing Thailand which is also relatively easy to roll around the tongue.

I supposed the Induhnesian neighbours not wanting to be outdone, came up with their own, in line with their "Visit Indonesia 2008 :  Celebrating 100 Years Of Nation's Awakening" campaign.

HAR??!! LEE KONG SIMI?? WHAT TOKKING YOU??

According to the language experts, the tag line was grammatically wrong and it was plastered all over the place (including 10 Garudas at the cost of USD 1800 each) before someone from the net spotted it and took it to the papers. By then the damage was done and plenty of red faces in the various Gahmen departments, although it was "rumoured that some still thought it was right".

Personally, if you ask me, I wouldn't have spotted the error since a) my engerand ish also half-past six and b) I didn't understand the tag line to begin with. Still, that's just me, a lowly commoner on the street.

But surely, the InDUHnesian Gahmen would have taken greater due care when handling projects of this magnitude, right? Talk about throw face! This project represents the country on the global map leh!

Oh well, come to think of it, they did managed to put Indonesia on the world map with this boo boo.

InDUHnesia : We Use A Lot Of Liquid Paper On Our Garudas! 

Related News:

• IOL (21 Dec 2007) - Grammatical Error Hits Tourism Campaign
• The Age (20 Dec 2007) - Indonesia Scurries To Fix Blunder In New Campaign
• USA Today (22 Dec 2007) - Grammatical Error Prompts Indonesia To Scrap New Tourism Slogan

Image Credit: http://www.theage.com.au

- Voxeros

Homecoming VI

Ah yes, it's that time again where the Salmons swim upstream and the Leatherbacks land at Terengganu.

Yes. I am heading home!

BUT not to spawn lah!

*bish*

Due to the fact that I am using Frequent Flyer miles to exchange for an award ticket this time, I wasn't able to get a flight home in time for Christmas, given that my ticket is the lowest class status i.e. "Free One", despite the fact that I made the booking way back in September.

Ticket No Revenue = Ticket No Status.
 
So lan lan end up getting one for 28th December instead.

Ok lah. Still part of the festive week as friends and families would still be quite free to come out and party. Besides, had I come back in time for Christmas, I would end up heading back before New Year. So my type of timing is that it's either Christmas or New Year but not both.

Still, I'd feel better if I had a choice. Sigh...

BUT, free air ticket leh. MAI HIAM BUAY PAI LAH!

Click here or the chalkboard (limited time only) for the timesheet.

Password is available via the CowBoyBar, my IMs, my emails, my sms or any of the above combination.

- Voxeros

Chocolate Cake Shooter

I took CowBoyCaleb out for dinner at ChangAn and I introduced this after-dinner drink. He loved it so much that he kept bugging me to blog about it for him to plug. So being the good friend (despite him rumour mongering me with Lexandria), here it is without further ado:

Recipe For Chocolate Cake Shooter


Ingredients

• Half Peg (15 ml) of Frangelico *
• Half Peg (15 ml) of Vodka **
• Lemon Wedge (1/6 of a full lemon) ***
• Coarse White Sugar ****
  

Mixing Directions

1. Pour both half pegs of Frangelico and Vodka into shaker full of ice.
2. Seal the shaker, shake then let it sit for a couple of minutes.
3. In the mean time. 3 cuts into a lemon length-wise to get 6 wedges which you serve on a small serving tray.
4. Coat the lemon wedges with coarse white sugar.
5. Uncap the shaker and strain the concoction into a shot glass, leaving the ice behind.
   

Drinking Instructions

1. Hold the shot glass in one hand and the white sugar-coated lemon wedge in the other hand.
2. Shoot the shot glass in one down and take a bite of the sugar-coated lemon wedge. Quickly take it out and DO NOT suck that lemon as if you were doing Tequila Shots. This is a different drink altogether.
   

Notes
* Frangelico. Frangelico was an invention by the Italian Christian monks dated as far back as 300 years ago. It is a sweet liqueur derived from hazelnuts and herbs. the unique bottle packaging is that of a friar in his habit and the robe tied to the waist to serve as a belt. Apparently, given that this is not a very mainstream liqueur, locating it may be a tad tricky. According to AKK who has been scouring Singapore for this, I am glad to report that the bottle is available at the basement supermarket of Isetan Scotts. Perhaps AKK would be able to update us on more locations of its availability in the comments section?

** Vodka. Some recipes on the web call for the use of lemon-flavoured vodka e.g. Absolut Citron as the vodka mixer. I disagree on the grounds that natural lemon trumps artificial flavouring any place, any time. Hence, I strongly recommend plain regular vodka. You don't have to splurge on a premium brand like Grey Goose since the role of the vodka here is merely a supporting one. Your regular Smirnoff or Stolichnaya will do just fine.

*** 1/6 Lemon Wedge. This is just a trial-and-error experience on my part to share with everybody. A thin slice is not enough while anything bigger that a quarter wedge is just wasteful as you do not need that much lemon. Thus my special mention of quickly taking the lemon out as soon as you bite it so that you don't get too much lemon juice overpowering the shooter.

**** Coarse White Sugar. Coarse white sugar is usually available in our home kitchens but not at cocktail bars or commercial establishments. Reason being that sugar there are usually in packet form for coffee and tea. These are fine white sugar i.e. more finely grounded to allow the sugar to dissolve faster. The problem here is two-fold while not critical i.e. you still get the same taste after all, fine or coarse, they are still white sugar.

When you sprinkle fine white sugar on a succulent lemon wedge i.e. not dried up, you will realised that the sugar dissolves into the lemon very quickly and disappears. It is only normal response to want to add some more until you actually see the sugar sit on the lemon wedge, which by then, may inadvertently be too much already. Coarse sugar dissolves much slowly and as such is favoured for this particular reason.

What about coarse brown sugar? I don't have an answer to that as I have always stayed with white sugar. If anyone tried it, do drop a feedback to let us know in the comments section.

The other problem with too much sugar on a wet surface, you are going to get a very sticky mess on the table and fingers. So do be careful where you wipe that hand of yours!

AKK loved this drink so much that 1) she haiku-ed it, 2) evangelise this drink to every establishment that she had come across. I am happy to report that her efforts have not gone in vain for some of these places actually gave this shooter a permanent spot on their menus. One of them being the The Boulevard Bar at Red Dot Traffic ($72 for a dozen). If there is more, AKK will update us all in the comments section.

The funny thing about Frangelico is that while quite a number of establishments carry a bottle of it, none of them knows what to do with it. I have taught a few places namely The Clinic at Clarke Quay and Indochine Siem Reap at Holland Village. Problem with them is that they are not on the regular menu. You may have to teach them all over again and may be a tad pricey since this is off-the-menu (i.e. they also dunno how to price it).

Salut!

Image Credit: http://beeractivist.files.wordpress.com, R0913R on Flickr

- Voxeros

1. Gary left...

Thursday, 20 December 2007 2:56 am

this is the first drink that you recommended and i will never ever forget about the overall first meet up with you..

2. JayWalk left...

Thursday, 20 December 2007 7:20 am :: 

Gary: Oh gawd, that sounded so sappy, dude! :( Too much K-Drama?

3. akk left...

Thursday, 20 December 2007 10:41 am

what recipe? 1part vodka and 1 part frangelico ok liao. shake ice dilute lah. in fact, the cold distracts from the taste, we found that out during a vodka party at my place, the vodka had been kept in the fridge.... if the vodka's good enough, it will taste like WARM choc cake at room temp

with regards to ur frangelico hunt, the places that doesnt have it are= Jason's, Liberty, CS, NTUC etc etc. not even duty-free or changi airport. happy hunting if isetan scotts also dun have.

As to siam reap indochine.....they just finished the bottle of Frangelico like...2 days ago...and somebody took the empty 'monk.

Shot glass dun so big hor, must be small enough to gulp in 1 swallow and yet bite the lemon. sad to say, the one at boulevard is slightly too big.

we also found out that after comparing the bestvodkas, smirnoff seems to be the best for choc cake.

4. JayWalk left...

Thursday, 20 December 2007 12:40 pm :: 

And a round of applause for AKK!!!

Thanks for the input, girl.

5. Eddy left...

Thursday, 20 December 2007 1:28 pm

sounds goood.. will try it this weekend at a wii party

6. JayWalk left...

Friday, 21 December 2007 7:24 am :: 

Eddy: And you were complaining about nothing to blog about? Well, here's something to get you back online!

7. barffie left...

Friday, 21 December 2007 2:06 pm

Jeffwee has been quite an evangelist also!!! he introduced the drink to the Skin lounge at Red Dot as well :D We tried ordering it in many places but they don't stock this elusive drink. DAMN YOU JAYWALKKKK. Anyways tried ordering it in Taipei 2 nights ago and they were rather lost as well :P

8. JayWalk left...

Friday, 21 December 2007 4:44 pm :: 

Barffie: Hope you have a great trip in Ta1pei! If it is any consolation, Frangelico is available in HK. I located it at Prince's Building (Central MTR Station) where there is an Oliver's Supermarket upstairs.

9. nadnut left...

Friday, 21 December 2007 5:42 pm :: http://nadnut.liquidblade.com

lets get some when you're here! havent had them in ages!!!!!!!!!!!!!

10. JayWalk left...

Friday, 21 December 2007 6:42 pm :: 

nadnut: Sure! Always welcome a nadnut orgasm!

11. Gary left...

Saturday, 22 December 2007 2:42 am

i bet this time round, this drink will be ordered more than the first time you intro to us..

12. JayWalk left...

Saturday, 22 December 2007 10:05 am :: 

Gary: I think the bartenders will hate me for this as there is quite a leceh cleaning up job because of all the sticky sugary mess.

BTW, the Outlaws jio you come out lim jiu when I am back. R3gular will be there.

13. Gary left...

Sunday, 23 December 2007 7:04 am

hong kang liao.. im prepared to have my liver checked..

14. JayWalk left...

Sunday, 23 December 2007 9:23 am :: 

Gary: Not need to checked lah. It will be gone by the time I am done with you. I think more apt for you to report police for loss of liver.

15. barffie left...

Monday, 24 December 2007 9:59 pm

Bwhahahahahaah I want I want!!!!

16. JayWalk left...

Tuesday, 25 December 2007 10:35 am :: 

Barffie: You check Isetan Scotts first lah. Besides, I won't be heading to HK again until next year.

Orifice Tombola - Part 4 of 2

Something is telling me that perhaps I am more sick than I think I am.

I went back to the doctor on Day 4 for a final check and expecting to get an OK from him only to have him prescribe 3 Microwave Therapy and more IV Drip session for the next 3 days!

Am I dying?

So anyway, what you see in the picture is the microwave emitter which I was supposed to stick it in my ear for 20 minutes.

Yes. Ladies and gentlemen, I am getting my brains fried. For some strange reason, I didn't feel like answering my mobile phone with the other ear when it rang. I thought if I died there and then, it would have been most unglam. To die a corpse with two funny things stuck to my ears. Not the way, I imagined I would go.

I was quite scared and hesitant at first. Microwave leh! The very same thing that we used to heat up our pizzas, and blow up the lizards (that's another NTU Hostel story altogether). And now I am sticking this into my ear!??

As it turned out, it was just a heating device and at 9W, it was in theory not that lethal a dosage. Still, I had to admit that it was quite unnerving. Didn't really know what this thing was supposed to do for me but perhaps to melt away the coagulation of the dried up mucus that had since stuck itself to the membrane, thus impeding my hearing?

I can only guess and suddenly visuals of melted butter oozing all over the freshly popped corn at Golden Village cinemas didn't help either.

Oh yes, just when I thought I am done with my IV Drip sessions, I was to get more. I got my 4th today so there is a row of 4 holes neatly lined up on my right hand. I am going to get as many needle marks as a grunge girl going to get ear holes.

If by CowBoyCaleb's advocate of one drug per jap. This would have been my 15th, 16th, 17th and 18th injection already. More to come!

- Voxeros

1. sunflower left...

Thursday, 20 December 2007 3:11 pm

Aiyo pls take care!!! ~_~

2. JayWalk left...

Friday, 21 December 2007 7:23 am :: 

Sunflower: Well, look on the bright side, better sick now and recover in time for my return trip.

Orifice Tombola - Part 3 of 2

Just thought I squeeze in an extra entry to round the whole hospital adventure up.

Today is the final day of my IV Drip course (I think) before I am due for another hearing test to see if my condition improves satisfactorily.

From the looks of things, I think I am doing fine although I would have wished for a speedier recovery. Still, I think at this point in time, it is perhaps wiser to let the body take over and heal itself on it own time.

The pressure on my right ear is finally letting up and judging from the thick opaque yellowish-green mucus that has been stuck in my inner ear since Sunday, coming out through the nose (yes. I can finally blow and clear my nose without the excruciating pain), I believe the exit points are now finally opened and body is starting its drainage process.

While I still can't hear properly, I believe it is merely a matter of time before I am back up to speed.

Coming back to the question on IV Drips. CowboyCaleb was asking about the logic behind the inefficiency  as a result of administering a drip, which can take up to an hour to complete instead of dropping the patient's pants and get it over and done with in a matter of seconds?

Initially, I was guessing the fatigue factor of the nurses to have to jab hundreds of patients each day which is not entirely untrue but I realised the real reason as I collected my IV medication from the dispensary was that to minimise the needle holes on the body.

I was prescribed a cocktail of 4 to 6 different medication each of the last 3 days. So imagine a syringe for each bottle, I would have 14 needle holes in me by now. So the logical thing, as I have come to realised is that it would be easier to inject the 6 medications into 1 bottle of IV (4 each for day 2 and 3) and then just a single needle into me to deliver it's chemical payload.

From 14 holes to a mere 3, I think I got a good deal out of it.

- Voxeros

1. Red Queen left...

Wednesday, 19 December 2007 8:53 am

Eh nice to know u are getting better.. But hor.. you ish sipei ksl lor soh leh.. can write 3 days worth of posting for 1 hospital visit.

2. Cowboy Caleb left...

Wednesday, 19 December 2007 9:19 am

Part 3 of 2.... classic hahaha
Hey I am flying off tomorrow morning. If you feeling ok enough to meet up at Geckos let me know. Otherwise stay at home and rest. We can have a drink in Singapore instead later this month.

3. Ed, Edd & Eddy left...

Wednesday, 19 December 2007 9:42 am

glad to hear you are getting better.
Ya, you champion. Go hospital also can write 3 days of posts!

4. JayWalk left...

Wednesday, 19 December 2007 12:33 pm :: 

Red Queen: Keep your knickers on, Missy. I got part 4 lining up.

CowboyCaleb: I think I will do that drink when I get back to Singapore.

Eddy: What can I say, this is like really quite major for me albeit outpatient-wise.

5. Everton left...

Tuesday, 25 December 2007 6:22 am

Get well soon, man.

6. JayWalk left...

Tuesday, 25 December 2007 10:33 am :: 

Everton: Thanks. I just finished the last of my microwave therapy this morning.

Orifice Tombola - Part 2 of 2

...continuing from yesterday.

I spent quite a lot of time waiting for my turn then and during the free time, I started thinking about a few things, though some maybe irrelevant or unrelated.

1) Is this me catching a glimpse of my future? An old man who is going to be hard of hearing? Sure with modern technology, I could get by this problem with hearing implant but was that suddenly a flash-forward of what is to become of me?

2) My hearing impairment was slightly unique in the sense that while I couldn't hear the outside world, I could hear my insides perfectly. For those who are deaf and reading this blog, is it the same for you guys or is your world completely silent both the inside and outside? Please enlighten me.

3) Am I ever going to get my hearing back? I am coming into the 4th day of this hard-of-hearing predicament and it seems that the ailment isn't letting up. Is this be permanent?
I could have sworn, I felt my left ear also starting to cloud. Paranoia?

Apparently according to my mom, her sister (who just passed away a couple of weeks ago) lost (though not completely) her hearing after catching a bad cold too, albeit when she was much older that I am now.
Could this be hereditary?

So anyway, all this thinking came to an abrupt halt when it was finally my turn to get my hearing test done and the results showed that my right side is impaired (duh... I think I would have figured that out myself!) but the charts showed that my ability to pick up low frequencies were shot i.e. my mom's nagging would still be crystal. Great......

So with the result sheets in hand, I went back to my doctor and again, joining the back of the queue. After a while going through the charts, I was prescribed a total of 5 drugs to be administered over 3 days as some of these drugs may not be given together. So another scribble of a new sheet and again I was dispatched to the 4th floor to pay money to get the "Paid" stamp before going to the ground floor to pick up my drip and medication and then it is off to the IV Drip station where they prepared my drip and stuck the needle in. Thereafter, I was supposed to carry my own drip and find a place to sit down. Good thing all the chairs have a rack for you to hang your drip above you. Otherwise, everybody would be doing a Statue of Liberty stance.

In Ch1na where most of the women don't shave, NOT A PRETTY SIGHT multiplied by 147 of them in the same room in clear sight.

Ewwww........

- Voxeros

1. Chocolate gal left...

Tuesday, 18 December 2007 7:58 am

Get well soon wor... u still got the mood to joke ah... scary wor... >_<

2. Kelly left...

Tuesday, 18 December 2007 2:15 pm :: http://www.kellchan.blogspot.com/

Take care ah!
My cousin turn partial deaf after a series of cold and high fever when she was young.

3. Cowboy Caleb left...

Tuesday, 18 December 2007 2:49 pm

Siao lah. The cold has f87ked up your throat and your ears are connected. It's temporary. The weather probably just makes it worse. So stay off the juice and glug orange juice instead ok!!! Get well soon.

4. JayWalk left...

Tuesday, 18 December 2007 3:01 pm :: 

Chocolate Gal: Die also must die funny guy. Even corpse must yan dao ok!

Kelly: Thanks for the well wish. I think I should survive this round. I starting to hear better liao.

CowboyCaleb: Let's do another Gecko before you fly. When ah? Btw, get on MSN, I pass you the Chocolate Shooter recipe blog entry.

5. Pam left...

Tuesday, 18 December 2007 8:57 pm

Hey..take care, ok? Hopefully this is temporary. I was admitted to hospital on Sunday - started having contractions - way too early (30 weeks). will blog about it in a bit. Am back home now, but been signed off work. talk soon. p x

6. JayWalk left...

Tuesday, 18 December 2007 10:50 pm :: 

Pam: Contraction at 30 weeks is definitely false alarm. I won't be too worried about that. Still it is better to let the doctor know about it.

7. Pam left...

Wednesday, 19 December 2007 6:00 am

it was a false alarm - but it ended up with me in the hospital for a night, with muscle relaxant, antibiotics and steriod injections for baby to survive - so I don't think I would be that dismissive. and now I've been signed off work till baby comes coz of danger of bleeding (I have placenta praevia too - placenta hasn't moved, even though 90% of women's do, so I'm definitely scheduled for a c-section at 38 weeks).

8. JayWalk left...

Wednesday, 19 December 2007 12:55 pm :: 

Pam: Hang in there. You are almost at the end of it. SMS me when you pop hor?

Orifice Tombola - Part 1 of 2

It's a personal record where I am leaking in all the orifices, the latest being my ears. If there was a Orifice Tombola game going on, this would be BINGO!

I have been having mild symptons of a cold for a couple of week already but since I managed to keep it more or less under control with a constant feeding of Panadol (5 packs in 2 weeks), I very much ignored it and got on with my daily life. I did notice a drop in my gym performance struggling even at lower settings but I thought it was merely the sniffles getting in the way.

As long as this did not escalate into a full-blown influenza, it didn't occur to me to punch the panic button. Yet.

It was under last Saturday enough where something was feeling amiss. I could feel my hearing in the right ear impaired. Like as if there was a pressure inbalance when you are in midflight aboard a plane. Instinctively, the next thing to do was to pinch your nose and blow.

OUCH!  WTF??!! THAT HURT LIKE F@#$#@%$%$@@#$@%&!!!!

The last time I experienced such a pain was when I dived off the high-diving board and ended up a wee bit too deep into the diving pool below than my ears could take it. It was the same pain, only more prolonged since the pain from the earlier episode went away about 10 minutes after I got out of the pool.

So for the rest of the evening, I left it alone and was struggling to join in the conversation over dinner for the rest of the evening.

Then it got worse when I head to bed early, hoping to be able to sleep it off. The pressure build-up was not letting as the pain increased with my hearing going in the opposite direction. While I couldn't hear the outside, all the internal sounds were greatly maginfied. I could hear my breathing, coughing, drinking, swallowing and even the inside of my skull as I drummed my fingers on my forehead (don't ask me why I did it but I did it just to hear the sound and no, it was not to any tune in particular).

Then there were the relieving sounds of bubbles gargling in the ear from time to time, presumably the air pressure build-up got to the point the it overcame whatever that was sealing the exit points. So for the whole night, I was kept awake but the pain and the internal noise.

When a good night's sleep is screwed, you know it is time to see the doctor, albeit reluctantly.

As it turned out, the infection, over the weeks, spreads from my throat to my nose and finally my inner ear. I was getting the full ENT package of a bad cold. Thereafter, from the doctor's office in the 5th floor, I was given a slip to pay for his consultation, and a series of hearing tests at the 4th floor before returning with the slip (duly stamped "PAID"), to be given to the ONE nurse manning 4 stations and about 20 patients (myself included) following her everywhere she went for fear of losing sight of her and letting late comers cut in front of us.

It was one of those cartoon scenarios where you have two rows of doors on each side and people opening this door, coming out another door, open a third door and entering a fourth. *Rinse. Repeat*. That was us. 20 of us following ONE nurse. Naturally she was grumpy as hell but nobody dared even to make a squeak for if you piss her off, your slip will accidentally be at the bottom of the stack or worse. What slip?

Still, where credit is due, she may not be the friendliest nurse that we encountered, I was impressed how she kept her cool and dealing with each one of us as professionally as she could.

Mind you this is Canton we are talking, the land of Cantonese expletives ear bashing in THX Dolby NR.

((((((((((((((( TIU LEY LO MO where available )))))))))))))))

 

... to be continued.

- Voxeros

1. Cowboy Caleb left...

Monday, 17 December 2007 3:56 pm :: http://cowboycaleb.liquidblade.com/

Wow, so it's true about everybody being on a drip in the hospital. Get well soon, asshat!

2. JayWalk left...

Monday, 17 December 2007 5:37 pm :: 

CowboyCaleb: Over here, every f*ck thing also IV Drip one. Actually, I getting appreciative of the idea of an IV Drip.

Very paiseh to drop pants in front of so many people leh. *shy*

3. Red Queen left...

Monday, 17 December 2007 8:49 pm

Get Well Soon Hiao Uncle...

4. JayWalk left...

Monday, 17 December 2007 9:57 pm :: 

Red Queen: Thanks for the well wish. I hope my hearing loss is merely temporary.

5. Rachel left...

Tuesday, 18 December 2007 2:05 am

Wah lau. Take care lah, bro.

6. JayWalk left...

Tuesday, 18 December 2007 2:06 am :: 

Rachel: Even if you show me you eating chilli crab on webcam with sound. I can't hear you!!

Hah!

7. Rachel left...

Tuesday, 18 December 2007 2:09 am :: http://www.xtralicious.com

No need to hear. See until very buay tahan liao. Bwahahaha!! Maybe chilli crab will cure you!! Clear orifices mah.

8. JayWalk left...

Tuesday, 18 December 2007 2:57 pm :: 

Rachel: Enough about me. You yourself ok or not?

Fishy Restaurant - Part 2 of 2

Continuing from where we left off yesterday.

Things started to get interesting when I spotted the chef doing what looked like stirring the water in the fish tank. Perhaps the fish cooks better when it is dizzy?

As it turned out, one fish actually got dizzy by swimming with its belly up.

Just when you thought this was one restaurant with an unique specialty. Well, disappointingly, it was not.

Imagine:

Today's SzeChuan Special - ChongQing Dizzy Fish!

Food Galore Magazine Dish Of The Week - DongBei Sea Sick Fish!

DG Eatery Feature Of The Day - Braised Fish In Washing Machine! 

Well, the truth of the matter was that the belly-up fish wasn't dizzy. It was dying and the chef somehow thought that exercising the fish would make it alive and well again (let's see you do CPR on the fish!). Sometimes I can't help but be amazed what they were thinking at that time.

Here's the funny thing. While the chef was going through all these antics, it was quite a while before he turned around and noticed me watching him making a fool out of himself, to which he immediately stopped. I could sense him blushing from a distance.

So how? On one hand, the chef had a fish belly-up in full glory and on the other hand, the chef had a kaypoh customer (me) curious to see how he was going to dig himself out of this predicament.

The picture above is taken right about this time when he fetched the rubber hose from the kitchen and what the chef did next was absolute champion.

First, he stirred the water in the upper tank until all the murk, that was originally settled at the bottom of the tank, rise up and make the whole tank of water opaquely cloudy.

Next, plunging in the hose where he siphoned the other end to draw the water from the upper tank to the lower tank, thus making the water in the lower tank just as opaque.

Voila! The belly-up fish is gone. Problem solved!

Ok, I feel sorry for the next patron who is going to order the fish. I won't be there to witness it. I am soooo not coming back either.

- Voxeros

Fishy Restaurant - Part 1 of 2

I was on a road trip last week to visit a satellite factory and it was past noon that we decided to pull alongside the first restaurant we could find en route. Spitlanders are known to have their meals rather early (12 noon for lunch and around 5:30 to 6pm for dinner) and so by the time we found a restaurant at around 1pm, the place was deserted as the lunch crowd had already come and gone.

Actually, it is not bad considering that fact that we would be able to eat in peace as Cant0n Spitlanders are among the loudest people on Planet Earth. If aliens in outer space were to be on the lookout using an audio telescope like what our scientists are doing listening for signs of E.T., I'd bet you they be hearing Cant0nese chatter.

Anyway, for those who know me, you would have noticed something by now and that is:

When JayWalk is bored, he gets very very observant and can write an entire blog entry over the most mundane things.

This is one of them and worse, it's a TWO-PARTER!

Our dishes arrived slightly later, presumably the proprietress had to drag the chef back into the kitchen from his after-lunch siesta. Everything seemed pretty ordinary except for this one particular dish which I decided to take a picture and write a story about it.

From the looks of it, it is pretty easy to guess that the dish was 铁板牛肉 or more Ah-Beng-ly known as Metal Plate Cow Meat.

Problem that when we took our first mouthful, nobody on the table could tell for sure if what we ate was beef. It wasn't bad per se but just that we couldn't tell if it were beef. We were not at all worried for after all, this is Spitland and we have all eaten weirder things at some point.

Before we know it, this became the center conversation topic of lunch and we concluded that we did not order 铁板 + 牛肉. Instead 铁板牛 + 肉 judging from the iron skillet shaped into a cow and the mystery meat on it.

However, it is still very much Metal Plate Cow Meat in Beng-speak. No change there.

So yeah, it was a boring lunch but stay tuned for tomorrow for something that I spied with my little eyes halfway through lunch.

- Voxeros

1. Winsor left...

Friday, 14 December 2007 2:20 am :: http://winsor.blogspot.com

2am in the morning, rushing my SIP report, very hungry, I saw your metal plate cow meat, and I don't think I'd care if its really cow or not if its right in front of me now... hahahaha!

The Meaning Of JayWalk

Found this when web surfing...

... tmd.

- Voxeros

1. Chocolate gal left...

Wednesday, 12 December 2007 8:18 am

Muahahahaha... ^_

2. aloe left...

Wednesday, 12 December 2007 9:40 am :: http://www.xanga.com/aloeve

You are annoying.... hahahahaa!!

3. JayWalk left...

Wednesday, 12 December 2007 9:50 am :: 

ChocolateGal: Haiz.... it's fated, I tell you....

Aloe: But you still lurbe me leep leep right?

4. The Red Queen left...

Wednesday, 12 December 2007 10:14 am

Wah lau eh.. you never check your nickname before naming yourself meh???

5. JayWalk left...

Wednesday, 12 December 2007 11:13 am :: 

RedQueen: Well, not that it makes a big deal (like as if you researched Red Queen like that). Good for a chuckle though.

6. Red Queen left...

Wednesday, 12 December 2007 12:54 pm

Eh.. how u know i didnt.... Red Queen is based on a hive theory.. U can check it out on Wikipedia... Even my son's name is also researched ok.. i thought about all the ways he can be made fun of before I named him...

7. Chocolate gal left...

Sunday, 16 December 2007 3:48 am

""-___- to Red Queen's answer... But then again, it IS impt to have a good name.. If i got child one day, i will have a lot to do liao... haiz..

8. JayWalk left...

Monday, 17 December 2007 1:58 pm :: 

Red Queen & JasChocolate: Well, it were a person real name, then of course we should make all the necessary effort to get it right.

However, since what we have here is a casual blog, I supposed I can get away with a haphazard name in the name (no pun intended) of humour.

This Blog Is Halal

(Click To Enlarge)

I was going through my stats to see my referrals i.e. those who are linked to me and this particular one caught my eye.

Halal.com!

Wah.... my blog is Halal wor! Dounch pray pray (no pun intended!) hor!

Ok lah... jokes aside, Halal or otherwise, I don't discriminate against religion (among many other things). Sure, the teachings of our respective faiths/beliefs/religions tell us that "ours is the right one" but I won't go as far as using that to say that "the rest are wrong".

It is not up to me to make that kind of judgement and if people can learn to get along, we are all a step closer to Nirvana/Heaven/Paradise/Whatever-Final-Destination already, regardless of whatever faith/belief/religion the person is affiliated to.

So if I may humbly suggest that we do just that first.

- Voxeros

1. JF left...

Tuesday, 11 December 2007 4:30 pm

darn u.. still tinkin of claiming ur 750 virgin boyz rite !!!!!!!!1

2. JayWalk left...

Tuesday, 11 December 2007 8:49 pm :: 

JF: Oh no... not your secret fantasy again.

Dumbass Of The Week V

Ok, pop quiz time. Take a close look at the picture and tell me what is wrong with it?

This happened a couple of days ago, when I was doing my product pricing for the coming new year and what you see there are stacks of costing for each SKU.

So there I was sieving though the data (and drowning in the process) and crunching the numbers, when suddenly all the pages started coming off in my hand as I flipped them to turn the page.

I was like WTF? Then as I looked closer to the staples, I realised what happened.

My dumbass secretary stapled wrong direction. Aiyoh... I mean if it were some sophisticated high-tech piece of equipment and she don't know how to use. Ok lor. Understandable. But a STAPLER???!!! Harlow, stapler also must teach how to use one meh? Zhun bor?

But then again looking on the bright side, at least the staple got onto the paper.

Haiz.... *facepalm*

- Voxeros

1. LD left...

Thursday, 6 December 2007 8:51 pm :: http://littledowager.blogsome.com

mm, if I didn't know you I would have thought that you are quite nit picky. But seriously, paper stapled in the wrong direction really grinds my gear too... Same for those who staple portrait and landscape sheets together but in the wrong corner

2. Everton left...

Thursday, 6 December 2007 10:16 pm

Is your secretary a leggy blond supermodel? :-)

3. JayWalk left...

Thursday, 6 December 2007 10:34 pm :: 

Little Dowager*: Oh come on. Surely you cannot accuse me of being nitpicking right? Common sense will tell you not to staple in the direction of the page turn right?

Everton: It is times like this that I really wished for her to be a tall leggy blond secretary. Unfortunately, it wasn't the case here. :(

4. hiaoauntie left...

Friday, 7 December 2007 11:19 pm

i have dyed blond hair and my legs are mile long.... do i qualify????

5. Gary left...

Saturday, 8 December 2007 3:15 am

hiaoauntie > you mean vertically or horizontally?? a mile long and a mile high is a very big difference..

6. Chocolate gal left...

Saturday, 8 December 2007 10:15 am

Your secretary just dont like you :p

7. hiaoauntie left...

Sunday, 9 December 2007 3:20 am

Question No. 1 When something is long, it A) refers to length (horizontal) B) refers to breadth (vertical) C) means....you don't know D) is ok, never mind

8. Rachel left...

Sunday, 9 December 2007 4:17 am :: http://www.xtralicious.com

Then must be busty one. Cos "xiong da wu nao" mah... Bwahahahaha!!!

9. JayWalk left...

Sunday, 9 December 2007 9:28 am :: 

HiaoAuntie: Please submit a non-returnable full length colour photo in swimsuit and I'll let you know.

Gary: The only thing that has both a vertical version and a horizontal version is a woman's lips lah. Legs wrong liao.

Jaschocolate: Unfortunately, secretary not liking me is actually a better arrangement.

Rachel: Unfortunately that is not the case. Haiz.... annual appraisal this year not going to be good for her......

10. Gary left...

Monday, 10 December 2007 1:55 am

orh.. ic.. *sniggers at hiaoauntie*

11. naeboo left...

Tuesday, 11 December 2007 10:04 pm :: http://naeboo.liquidblade.com

i dont get it. how do one staple wrongly until papers come off/

12. JayWalk left...

Wednesday, 12 December 2007 8:12 am :: 

naeboo: How to explain further ah? Er.. how about you experiment a bit by getting a stack of paper and staple them in the direction as indicated by the photo. Thereafter start turning the pages.

Update From Home

Received this picture from home. This is as close to seeing family these days. Bless the internet! Fortunately, I will be heading home for my break really soon and really looking forward to it.

On the Gabe front, was told that the kid recently discovered jumping as in both feet off the ground at the same time and has been jumping all over the place since.

Soon. Very soon.

- Voxeros

1. Kelly left...

Thursday, 6 December 2007 10:48 am :: http://www.kellchan.blogspot.com/

Call me ah! We go eat Japanese Curry Rice together...

2. JayWalk left...

Thursday, 6 December 2007 11:55 am :: 

Kelly: Where? Got hor kai siao or not? Or just you cooking?

3. Chocolate gal left...

Saturday, 8 December 2007 10:16 am

where is my cutie Gabe Gabe's pic... i miss him :(
or more to the point, miss seeing his face in ur blog :p

4. Rachel left...

Sunday, 9 December 2007 4:18 am :: http://www.xtralicious.com

Your girl looks very sharp and cute!!! XXOO

5. JayWalk left...

Sunday, 9 December 2007 9:31 am :: 

Chocolate Gal: Will post them when I get them lor. But so far is Faith's picture only.

Rachel: I like photos of Faith especially when she smiles and/or laugh.
 

Naive Myopia

(Click To Enlarge)

 

.  "Not to rub it in; Singapore got WORLD CLASS Medicine (sic) facility.... ...How come must go to Chennai for medical treatment?... ...Unless the air ticket and the medical fees come up less then  (sic) here." - SixShot (28 Nov 2007) .

We spoke about Ms Devi & family, yesterday, accompanying her father to Chennai to seek medical treatment when a comment (read right) from the SPUG Forum took me by surprise.

I was caught off guard by the myopic and naive mentality of this comment. Why do these people who assume that Singapore is better than everybody in every friggin' thing?

While I don't have any beef with people who feel proud of their country, I just can't stand those who belittle others and especially more so when their own country (or my own), in actual fact, has nothing to show for except a mere perception, if at all true, is better. There is difference between taking knowledgeable pride and being an arrogant ignoramus.

Strangely coincident was the timing of this article from South China Morning Post (click above to enlarge) that was featured last week around the same time as Ms Devi's letter to the $traits Times Forum which I found the editorial highly enlightening.

Perhaps I felt urged to set the record straight for this SixShot person (not that I can accuse him/her of seeing other countries no up) that sure we have heard horror stories about the traffic, the airport, the civil services, some of the quirky cultural practices etc, it does not make a country any lesser. I am sure in just as many areas, countries like India and such would probably match us evenly, if not better than us.

Every country has got something good and something bad. Perhaps, we should focus on learning the good  for our own educational benefit, rather than taking delight and gloating over other countries' bad points?

- Voxeros

1. Pam left...

Tuesday, 4 December 2007 7:47 pm

People like sixshot probably think this way after being 'brainwashed' by the govt that we are good at everything... thinking back to when we were living there, don't you remember the 'best port in the world', 'best airline in the world', 'best hospitals in the world', 'best universities...'...etcetc. pride comes before a fall - that's all I'd say!! :)

2. Pam left...

Tuesday, 4 December 2007 7:48 pm

and just to add - people from the UK do go to such places (sg, thailand, india, eastern europe) to get medical assistance, from cancer treatments, to laser eye surgeries, boob jobs and what-have-yous... mostly coz it's cheaper, 'better' and you get a 'holiday' thrown in!!! :)

3. YOUNGJEDI left...

Tuesday, 4 December 2007 10:09 pm :: http://youngjedi.typepad.com/my_weblog/

Yeah .. I feel that probably Singapore feels that they have achieve #1 in many areas that makes them want to share with other countries. Unfortunately, in doing so we sometimes lacked the sentivity. Others may feel that we are actually telling or dictating them what to do. Singaporeans should be humble at all times too and should never be complacent, e.g Healthcare may be of high quality but we should not forget that this is a basic public products that "all" should afford it. Expensive high quality medicine not = #1. I don't think Singapore has acheive #1. In my opinon, there is no such thing as #1 in this world. Keeps improving and thinking that one may reach the imaginery #1 should be the right attitude. Don't you think so.

4. JayWalk left...

Wednesday, 5 December 2007 11:21 pm :: 

Pam & YoungJedi: The No.1 title is actually an "at the moment" title for this competition/ranking is an ongoing concern. If we stay complacent, I'd bet you my last dollar that we would be easily knock off the mantle, if you can call it one to begin with.

Singaporeans should travel more to see the rest of the world and it would be an eye opener. There will be things that we are superior at the moment and on the same token, there will be other things that others are more superior. Still, this is merely a transient phase where the arrogant will be pulled down and the diligent will be pushed up.
 

Airline Staff Callous In Case Of Wheelchair-Bound Passenger

I was trawling the Off-Topic Forum at SPUG when I came across a thread with the the above title.

The SPUGgers were talking about a letter of complain printed in the ST Forum Section of the $traits Times.

The letter was penned by a certain Ms Devi. An Indian.

Why the particular emphasis on "Indian"? Read on as I will elaborate further as we go along.

Essentially, the letter griped about the lack of empathy on the part of Singapore Airlines where they were refused boarding as a result of reaching the boarding gate late. Ms Devi explained that she reached Changi Airport 2 hours before time of boarding, indicating that her party did not reach the airport late. She attempted the sympathy play by mentioning that she was traveling with her mother, kid and more importantly, her ailing father on wheelchair.

Read the letter here first before continue to read my entry further.

As I read the comments here (ST Forum - Need to register for an account) and here (SPUG Forum), I have the following points to ponder, of which some of them may have already be raised by fellow forum participants:

• Allocation Of Time For Check-In. Time of the said flight was 8:30am which is one of the busiest periods at the airports. 2-1/2 hours would have been better. 3 hours if your flight is bound for the USA. I have known people who would arrive just an hour (or even half an hour) before departure. If you are doing a quick shuttle i.e. no check-in luggage and had already checked-in online, that is still acceptable but what I don't understand is why cut it so close? Is it so excruciatingly painful that any extra minute spent at the airport will make you want to go kill yourself? Why not just show up earlier?
  
  Personally for me, I prefer to arrive at the airport early. 3 hours regardless of destination. Kiasu? More like giving myself ample buffer to handle any unforeseen surprises like needing to go home to get that passport that you left behind (have not happened yet, fortunately). If all go smoothly and I end up with a chunk of slack time, I can still make good use of the extra time to catch up on my reading, sian the XMM ground agents, flight attendants, policewoman or DFS salesgirls, fire up my laptop or use one of the free terminals to catch up on work/emails or go on MSN to sian all the online XMMs.
  
• The Toilet. Some of the folks were tracing the timeline of events and came up with something rather interesting. According to Ms Devi, they arrived 2 hours before boarding time and so let's reconstruct the timeline here.
  
  
  
  • 06:00am - Given then time of boarding is 30 minutes before time of departure, I would assume the Ms Devi & Co, arrived at 06:00am.
  • 08:00am - Reached immigration counter after having checked in.
  
  My question is how do they account for the 2 hours in between? Surely the check-in process cannot take 2 hours right? Some brought up that perhaps part of the time was taken up by the father who has to go to the toilet and hence to delay. If I interpreted Ms Devi's letter correctly, the toilet episode was after clearing immigration i.e. after 08:00am i.e. the earlier 2 hours were still unaccounted for.
  
  Yes, I would like to cut the father some slack as elderlies taking a longer time in the toilet is not uncommon which brings me back to the first point. Arrive at the airport earlier! Dammit!
  
• Being Indian. There was a point brought up that perhaps SIA would have handled this matter differently had Ms Devi been a "Lydia Lim" or "Catherine Wong" i.e. non-Indian? It is dangerous to accuse SIA of treating people of a particular race with contempt. Why should a plane-ful of 290 passengers have to be delayed by 4 people who were tardy with their punctuality? I mean if you need a lot of time between checking-in and reaching the boarding gate, arrive at the airport earlier! Dammit!
  
  Look, race has got nothing to do with this issue. Had it been Lydia Lim or Yusri bin Jaffar or Chaya Tongchai, it would still be the same. Your luggage comes off and you're are barred from boarding if the gate closes before you unless of course if your last name is Marshall or Anderson or some ang moh name. Ahh.. that one different story liao.

In a nutshell, it is my humble opinion that Ms Devi did not have any grounds for complain. She missed the flight as a result of her own bad time management. She also complained about the cold and arrogant attitude of the gate agent but the way I see it, I'd bet she was no angel herself. Earlier I wrote about "Privilege vs Entitlement" where the secret to getting good service is to be a good patron first. Service providers are also human beings with feelings and are no way at any time beneath you. Treat people nice and people will treat you nice too. It's a two-way street.

Image Credits: Flickr - superciliousness, Flickr - B_cool
 

 - Voxeros

1. Chocolate gal left...

Monday, 3 December 2007 4:42 pm

I believed the whole family probably only arrived at the airport at 6.30am (2hrs from flight time) the earliest or even 6.45pm.. Then finished around 7.30am. So that 30mins they happily walked around, instead of going in straight.. Then in the end late.. I also think her agent is not to blame. I think she never informed her father is wheel-bounded.

Believe it or not, previously in my ex-company, there was also a complaint to us about the local agent not bringing the customers for the coral island tour in pattaya. After investigation, it was because they were late and then they went off on their own, not waiting for the agent, who arranged a second trip for them. Then still blame us..

2. hiaoauntie left...

Monday, 3 December 2007 6:22 pm

aiya i think they late lah and den anyhow hantam some excuses (father in wheel chair, father high tide need to go toilet at last min, etc) i think ground staff also noe they bluff

3. JayWalk left...

Monday, 3 December 2007 11:11 pm :: 

Jaschocolate: As far as timing goes, they cleared immigration at 8am which is barely 30 minutes before departure i.e. boarding already started when they were processing immigration. Question is, what were they doing all this while between 6:30am (according to your estimation) and 8am?

HiaoAuntie: Well, it is hard to make that conclusion considering the fact that we were there first-hand to witness but I would have very much guess as so.

4. Red Queen left...

Tuesday, 4 December 2007 8:40 am

I think there should be an announcement service if you were late for the flight. Actually I was guilty of that, I spent too much time in the DFS shops before i flew on a business trip and my full name was announced on the PA system for a whole 10 MINS when i boarded everyone was looking at me with that knowing look... I never ran so fast in my life sia

5. JayWalk left...

Tuesday, 4 December 2007 1:38 pm :: 

Red Queen: In a way, my traveling pattern is like the lyrics in the song Kokomo where "we get there fast (the gate) and then we take it slow".

The way I see it is that when you are traveling, you are going to an unfamiliar place. The less surprises en route the better.

6. Pam left...

Wednesday, 5 December 2007 2:24 am

frankly, I can't see how anyone can be 'late' to changi airport (I know that wasn't her point but just thought I'd say that). Plus, once you get to changi, how can you be late? Ok, sure, shopping but that's probably the only plausible excuse - seriously. It can't be checking in (American and UK airports are notorious), it can't be getting lost, and frankly, using arguments of a 'racial' and 'disabled' mode - that's really taking the mic really.
We were late once whilst trying to get to Slovenia from London - they had closed the check in booth 1/1.5 hours before!!?! we were late due to traffic jam (what usually takes 1.5 hours took us 2.5 hours). They were very nice tho - they rebooked us on the next flight (8 hrs later) and organised for the guys over there to come back and pick us up, and to keep our dinner (well, they made sandwiches instead, which was better)..! result. We ended up missing the 'late afternoon/evening' but hey, we got there in the end!

7. JayWalk left...

Wednesday, 5 December 2007 11:33 pm :: 

Pam:I cannot see how someone can reach the airport on time and still be late. The only time a person can be late for the flight is when he/she arrived at airport late either like you said, traffic jam or simply the person's own tardiness.

In any case, be thankful that the airline staff are making the effort of arranging for you to make the next available flight instead of stomping your foot, raise your abusive voice, bang the table and demand the entire airline and 290 passengers to bend over backwards for your own tardiness.
 

RunForFunds 2007 - Accounts

Again, mirroring the RunForFunds website:

---

A quick recap.

Earlier this year, I visited Geylang East Home for the Aged to sponsor more medical beds and explore possibilities of upgrading the wards.  (You'd recall that we sponsored medical beds for one ward)
I'm pleased to inform you that other generous folks have followed RunForFunds's example and upgraded all the beds in the home.

This is what RunForFunds hopes to achieve. A multiplier effect.

Hence there were no RunForFunds expense this year for this old folks home.

From the existing funds (Click here for 2006 financial closing report), we'll be channeling money raised by the EDB chapter to fund Geylang Methodist Primary School's Maximise Your Potential (MYP) programme, Pocket Money Fund and enrichment programmes.

Hence a cheque of $16,160.59 + interest earned** will be written to GMPS in December 2007 to fund the programmes for at least another 2 years.

So as it stands, the remaining $36,942.52 + interest earned** will be used to fund other RunForFunds programmes in 2008.

This will include a new MYP programme + Pocket Money Fund @ Sembawang Primary School.

All funds raised during RunForFunds Dec 2007 Stanchart Marathon will be directed to D'Joy Children Centre.

(** interest earned will be calculated based on bank statements at time of withdrawal).

- MeePokTah

---

- Voxeros