tonight, tonight

A very special Happy Birthday to L'Accomplice. Not a bad day to have it huh - the whole world will celebrate for you tonight! :)

Oh, and a Happy New Year to everyone else. Hope you've had a great year!

Time is never time at all
You can never ever leave without leaving a piece of youth
And our lives are forever changed
We will never be the same
The more you change the less you feel
Believe, believe in me, believe
That life can change, that you're not stuck in vain
We're not the same, we're different tonight
Tonight, so bright
Tonight
And you know you're never sure
But your sure you could be right
If you held yourself up to the light
And the embers never fade in your city by the lake
The place where you were born
Believe, believe in me, believe
In the resolute urgency of now
And if you believe there's not a chance tonight
Tonight, so bright
Tonight
We'll crucify the insincere tonight
We'll make things right, we'll feel it all tonight
We'll find a way to offer up the night tonight
The indescribable moments of your life tonight
The impossible is possible tonight
Believe in me as I believe in you
Tonight
-- Smashing Pumpkins, Tonight, Tonight

comeback of the wimps

OMFG, I'm so out of touch. Didn't even know it till I read in the papers today...

OASIS IS FREAKING COMING FOR A ONE-NIGHT ONLY CONCERT!!!

Bad boys on the outside, wimps on the inside. Oh yes, I'll never forget that they chickened out 3 years ago over terrorist threats. If that wasn't bad enough, I had to get my arse over to the indoor stadium just to refund the bloody tickets. 左三年， 右三年, it sure was a helluva wait. But then, Oh's a forgiving fellow. And hey, it's OASIS!

Anyone interested? My dear friends, you can run, but you can't hide. I'm gonna drag someone along with me. Muahahahaha!!

(Check out their neat new track. I can identify with the title straightaway, ha!)

I sold my soul for the second time
'Cos the man don't pay me
I begged my landlord for some more time
He said "Son, the bills are waiting"
My best friend called me the other night
He said "Man - are you crazy"
My girlfriend told me to get a life
She said "Boy - you lazy"
But I don't mind
As long as there's a bed beneath the stars that shine
I'll be fine, if you give me a minute, a man's got a limit
I can't get a life if my heart's not in it
Hey Hey
-- Oasis, The Importance Of Being Idle

music trivia (29.12.05)

3 men and an Apple

While we're on the topic of British band Keane, here's a little trivia for you.

Unlike most other bands, Keane is unique in a way because its ensemble doesn't consist of any guitars. Instead, the 3-men band is made up of the lead vocalist, the drummer and the keyboardist/pianist. This unusual combo has been the case since their lead guitarist left the band years ago, and it hasn't stopped them from delivering their multi-platinum debut album Hopes and Fears featuring of course Everybody's Changing and Somewhere Only We Know. It also won Best British Album at the 2005 Brit Awards.

Without bass, you'll sound empty though. So in order to make up for it, Keane uses Apple's Logic Pro software - on laptops! Yes, even in live performances. And no, I'm not endorsing their products.

But not a bad way to keep in beat I'll say!

everybody's changing, have you?

How's everyone? Had a good Christmas? Sorry I went missing for a while - been having late nights and work's been busy as well. I'm sure all of you missed me as much as I've missed you. Which is not much actually.. ha!

Just as well that it's another short week before we bid farewell to the year. Yeah, the holidays are coming fast and furious. Enjoy them while they last.

So have you taken a moment to ponder the year that has almost passed? How's work coming along? Have you taken a step or two up the ladder? Did you get so caught up in the race that you've neglected your family and friends? Have you found time for the things you wanted to do? Or maybe you've found new love, or even gotten married? If you're into new year resolutions, have you achieved what you set out to do a year ago? Do you even remember them?

For me, everything's just fine. In fact, I would say that certain aspects like social life, personal development and health are going good. Found new interests, new friends, as well as old ones. The only worry's that the job seems to be going stagnant. Oh, how I hate the idea of staying stagnant!

But then, one shouldn't be too obsessed with making money, non? Some subscribe to the notion of career first, career everything, and leave the rest to later. But I can't! Not now at least. Yup, I'll rather leave my passion for other things, and enjoy life while I can. After all, what's the point of all the dosh if by then you're too old to do the things you should've done while you were young? Like late night mahjong, tennis with your kakis, cheonging and drinking, traveling, climbing mountains, running (half) marathons. By the time you're forty or fifty, you might not even fancy such activities anymore. That sucks man, just thinking of it.

I'll leave you with a platinum member of my playlist. Since first hearing it last year, it's grown on me and till now I've not gotten sick of it despite the perpetual repeat. The message is clear: Don't lose yourself trying to stay in the game!

So little time
Try to understand that I'm
Trying to make a move just to stay in the game
I try to stay awake and remember my name
But everybody's changing
And I don't feel the same
-- Keane, Everybody's Changing

news in brief

Presenting to you today's News In Brief:

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The witchhunt continues. Big Brother, that is SPH, still won't let the man go. It's everywhere in the ST, so I won't bother to provide links. There's a lot of focus on the fact that he rejected the high bonuses but still ended up receiving more. Come on, give the man a break. This guy's such a workaholic I don't think he even realised it! Shouldn't the board of directors be held responsible for all the mess?

*******************************
In the Sports section of today's ST, there's an article with a headline that goes something like this (sorry, not available online): Arsenal and Man United, Get Used To The Losing Feeling. I didn't bother to read the article - I'm sceptical of anything written by young local soccer correspondents (blame it on TNP). But just seeing the headline gave me a good morning laugh, ha!

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In other sports news, it is reported that Fernando Alonso will be joining McLaren in 2007, the same year in which Kimi Raikkonen is rumoured to join Ferrari. Jeez, the enemy is coming over, while Kimi's going over to another rival. Where will my alliance lie next?

*******************************
It is great to learn that we can report cases of spam to our Internet service providers. But how about mobile phone spam? And what if the spam comes mainly from the service provider itself?

*******************************
For those of you living in the northeast, here's some good news: Now you can have your annual holiday totally sponsored. Just make sure you throw in a little adventure, be it skiing, bungee jumping or submerging yourself in the hotel room bathtub.

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Now that was pretty brief, wasn't it? For other news, go read it yourself. This is not a news blog!

today in history

1997: I was still in NS at that time. And during this fateful Friday night, our ship was having its year-end dinner gathering at Holland Village. The night was drawing to an end when one of the officers got a call. He announced that we had been activated for sailing with immediately notice. We thought he was joking. But he wasn't. We returned to base right after the dinner and set sail soon after for Palembang, Indonesia. Our part in the rescue mission lasted almost a week, and it was the most (or perhaps only) meaningful thing I ever did in NS. Who can forget the murky waters, the priests and the mourners sprinkling offerings in them, and the doom and gloom all around?

1970-something (I shouldn't reveal the year): Somewhere on the small island of Singapore, a baby was born. Yes, it's J, aka Miss No Comment's birthday today. Despite being one of the longest and most faithful readers of this blog, she never posts any comments. What must I do to make her do so? Anyway, happy birthday! :D

back from bkk

Hi folks, the Wide-Eyed Wanderer, that is moi, is back. Sorry to disappoint you, but there is nothing scandalous to report and nothing that left me really wide-eyed. Well, except two of them drags at the cabaret we went.

Unlike the other cabaret show I went some years back, this one was of a much smaller scale. The good thing about this is that we got to sit really close to the stage (something like 3 rows from it) and have a clear view of the performers. The best part is you neither have to pay nor queue to take pictures with them after the show! While some of the performers look so hideous it's laughable, two of the lead performers are absolute knockouts. Watching them left Oh not only wide-eyed and mesmerized but also almost drooling like a puppy. So much so that he rushed to take pictures with both of them after the show, ha!

This is one of them. "She" looks rather like a well-endowed Fann Wong, non? I'm not going to show you the pictures I took with them lest you see my tiko look!

The original intention was to head out to Patpong on the last night for some good decent partying. We had only spent a short indecent while there the night before. But alas, I got knocked out by a bad stomach on the last night. Absolutely bizarre it was, as I've not taken anything that might be unclean, and it was immediately after a massage that the stomach went tumbling. I guess the lady masseur hit the wrong button on my back. Duh.

BKK is alright actually. The attraction is undoubtedly the shopping. I'm still flabbergasted by the fact that a colleague who was a first time visitor opted to forgo all the attractions in order to have more time to shop. For someone like me who can walk the entire Chatuchak market without buying a single thing, this sort of mentality escapes me totally. How she could spend over 12000 baht in half a day is way beyond my imagination too!

Anyway it's back to work again. The TODO list is piling up quickly, but I'm really looking forward to Christmas!

sawadikup!

My dear little friends, Oh's going away over the weekend to the land of 4 Ts - tom yam, traffic jams, transvestites, and tongue-twister names (try saying Surachai Jaturapatarapong ten times in quick succession).

Frankly, I'm not that crazy about BKK. The last time I was there, I told myself I'll never go back again. Other than 买东西 吃东西 (repeat till you drop), what's there to do? I've seen what's there to see, and I don't even fancy them drags! Anyway, it's our company year end trip, and I'm always passionate about company related stuff (not to mention it's free). Who knows, my opinion might change when I come back on Sunday. It's been a while since I was there after all.

I'm still licking the last remaining mustard off the deepest corners of my mouth. (By the way, I heard that eating mustard is really good for your health. And it can even save your feet from frostbite. Applied separately of course.) Just in time for the tom yam, heheh.

Okay children, be good while I'm gone. Don't forget to eat your veggies!

relight my fire

On the annual appraisal form, Le Boss wrote:

Oh does his work well, but lacks passion in what he does.

OMG, he sees right through me. Seems like the Artful Dodger, that is moi, is caught lacking in his usual finesse.

I better shape up and reignite this passion. So here's 10 reasons why I (should) love my job:

1. Location is great - central downtown and great food all around.
   
2. Working hours are quite flexible - I can come late and nobody gives a hoot.
   
3. Casual dress code. How many times have I been asked "You wear that to work?"?
   
4. Pay is decent (though bonuses are a pittance).
5. Little overtime. I'm an efficient worker after all.
6. No restrictive corporate rules - I can listen to music, surf and IM as I like.
7. Few meetings to sit through, no presentations to make and no reports to write. That's three reasons already!
8. Le Boss is nice. In fact, everyone is nice. Oh's a lovable fellow after all, non?
9. I get to travel once in a while, for work or otherwise. In fact, I'm going away tomorrow!
   
10. I sit in a relatively private cubicle (read: license to geng).

Looking at the list, you must think Oh's a lucky bugger. But somehow, despite all these reasons, I'm still like what I am now. And I don't even deny it. It's the work I swear!

Maybe I should drill these into my head by reciting them every morning before heading off to work.

C'est dur, la vie.

letter of the day (13.12.05)

I've finally exterminated a bug that's been pestering me for the past week, which is great. Just in time to present to you our undisputed letter of the day. I just can't help smirking when I read this, ha!

And given that my mouth's still well lubricated with mustard, I have much to say. Is he really that heroic when others have managed the same feats without guides or oxygen supplies? Maybe it's just me, but somehow the fact that if the slightest thing goes wrong a helicopter can just fly him back to safety makes the whole adventure thingy seems a little silly. Adventurer, yes. But hero? Not to me. How can Glenn and the Nagging Dutchgranny even compare him to Christopher Columbus or Sir Edmund Hillary?

In Singapore itself, we have other great adventurers who keep low profiles and do not seek publicity, not to mention sponsorship. A good example would be Dr Robert Goh, who holds a full time job in my previous company and whom we're very proud of. When he's not out climbing mountains, at least he's earning his keep and doing real work. So someone please kindly give a gentle tap to this Khoo's shoulder and tell him: "Hey Khoo Khoo, nobody gives a roach's arse what you do. So be a good boy, hide in a corner and play with yourself. And stop wasting other people's money for your self-indulgence!"

Actually, if he really wants to be great, he could build a really cool personal spacecraft and attempt to be the first man to land on Mars. If he succeeds, we'll surely applaud him heartily, and maybe erect a puking statue of him to replace the ageing merlion. And I hope he likes the red planet so much he stays there for good, ha!

Okay okay, I've ranted enough. I hope the smell of the mustard didn't knock you out.

oh turns food critic

Food is one thing you won't find me raving about very often. Although I like to believe that I'm knowledgeable in many things (or at least am good at pretending to be so), I readily admit being a complete idiot in culinary art, the appreciation of fine or exquisite cuisines, and all things remotely related to food.

Despite this inborn disability, I shall attempt to write about food today. After all, A Simple Prop promises "a little bit of everything", and I try my best to keep to that premise. If you've been tracking this blog long enough, you'll have noticed the absence of anything food-related. No worries, here's my homework for today: a food review.

Wow, Oh's turning food critic!

Alright, enough of that nonsense. My victim today is Phin's Steakhouse, located at Level 1 of Orchard Cineleisure. Last night was actually my third visit to the restaurant. Despite the name, it's not the type of upscale fine dining hangout exclusively for those blessed with a fat wallet. In fact, the ambience is young, casual and relaxed, similar in style to the likes of Cafe Cartel and Fish & Co, and just right for the young, fabulous and broke like me.

There weren't a lot of diners when we arrived at around 6.30pm. This was almost a tell-tale sign of things to come considering the fact that Orchard Cineleisure itself was totally packed. Or maybe steak just isn't something young people are into. Whatever. We decided to take the plunge and bite the bullet beef.

First off, I have to say that I've absolutely no problems with the service at all. I had read on Internet forums of people griping about poor service. That wasn't the case we experienced; the waitors were prompt to tend to us whenever we called, and the food didn't take long to get served. This could be a side effect of the lack of diners, but let's try to be positive okay?

We ordered a ribeye and a sirloin, the former in Lady's Cut and the latter in Gentleman's Cut. There's also the Humongous Cut (I suppose Pig's Cut or Glutton's Cut aren't very flattering). The steaks are priced according to these sizes, and they mostly fall below 20 bucks. In fact, you can get the sirloin in Lady's Cut at just $13.90. Rather affordable, non?

By the way, if cattles are friends to you, they also sell chicken and seafood. And appetisers, of course. We ordered my favourite Caesar salad, but was informed it wasn't available. Too bad.

To top off your steak, you can choose between black pepper, garlic, mushroom, honey mustard and I-forgot-the-rest sauces. We picked black pepper and honey mustard.

Alas, the food. The oh-so-important food itself. Everything would have been perfect but for the steaks themselves. Served in sizzling cattle-shaped hot plates - I was told they resemble those at Jack's Place - the presentation was fine, the portions just nice and the smell tantalizing (I'm assuming the smell part because I've a mal-functioning nose). In fact, they didn't pale in comparison to those from more expensive restaurants.

But while we asked for medium doneness, it was obvious on first bite that they were overcooked. It wasn't so bad to the point of being difficult to chew, but it certainly wasn't as tender and juicy as I had expected. This was a surprise because on my previous two visits, I had enjoyed them immensely. Else why would I be back so many times and even recommend to my friend, right?

Perhaps if the place was more crowded and busy, the chef would've made it right. Regardless, I managed to finish my portion. But my friend didn't - I suppose it became dry and challenging on the facial muscles after a while.

That was all we had (as I mentioned, the salad wasn't available), so I can't comment more on the other dishes offered. Hence all in all, while other aspects were fine, the food was disappointing. I shall give them the benefit of the doubt, though, and assume this was just a one-off. And I'll be back next time, but I won't be so forgiving again!

Verdict: 3 (out of 5)

What's more important is not the food actually. It's the fact that I've completed my first food review, ha!

music trivia (08.12.05)

It's been a while, but it's always worth the wait. The Trivia Buff, that is moi, is back. Woohoo!

Previously we learnt about Everything But The Girl. Today's trivia is about another unusual band name: Ever wonder what's with Sixpence None The Richer, who gave us hits like There She Goes and Kiss Me?

The name is actually inspired by a book from C. S. Lewis, who also wrote The Chronicles Of Narnia (currently showing in cinemas). Here's what lead singer Leigh Nash said in an interview when asked where they got their name from, which explains it all:

It’s from a book called Mere Christianity and there’s a story where a child asks his father for a sixpence to buy his father a gift. The father gives the son the money and is happy with the gift that he gets. But he realizes that he’s not any richer, because he gave the child the money in the first place. So C.S. Lewis is comparing that to his belief that God gave us the gift that we have. And that’s to serve in the way that we should. We should be humble about it and know where the gifts came from.

I'm no Christian, but I knows what that means. If anyone wants to spare me 600 bucks, I'll buy you a nice cup of latte (decaf optional) in return. Then you'll be 600 bucks none the richer. Ha!

Eh.. non?

chelski 0, liverpool 0

Following the recently concluded Champions League tie between Chelski and Liverpool, the Armchair Critic, that is moi, shall have his say.

Oh, we're terribly sorry. The Armchair Critic can't comment because he fell asleep halfway through the match. He works hard in his day job, you know, as being an armchair critic doesn't feed his parents or the household roaches.

In any case, it was an inconsequential match. And you can't expect a goal-fest when Crouching Striker, Hidden Giant is playing.

But the Armchair Critic's really relieved his other favourite team to win the tournament has managed to scrape through. Bring on the next round!

race summary

Race
Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon 05 (Half Marathon)

Chip Time
2h: 25m: 30s

Analysis (based on Gun Time)
Placing in Entire Field: 37th percentile
Placing in Gender: 42nd percentile
Split Times: 6:54/km (11:06/mile)
Average Speed: 8.7km/hr (5.4miles/hr)
Event Average Time: 2h: 37m: 24s

Performance Rating
Average

Damage
1. Hamstring cramp on left leg
2. Sore nipples
3. Abrasion under right arm pit
4. Sunburn
(More to come surely in the next few days)

Observations
1. The longer you've run, the longer the kilometres become. This theory has been proven once and again. Ha!

2. Nicholl Highway is the worst part of the race for the half marathon - totally shadeless and the turnabout was nowhere in sight.

3. I saw so many different kinds of people completing the full marathon - from students and young people to uncles and aunties, to a few ah peks. Many didn't even look like serious runners. They're all great examples! With sheer determination (and legs holding up), I'm sure you can do it too!

Lessons Learnt
1. DO NOT take powergels before going to sleep.
I had a spare pack, so decided to try one just before I went to sleep the night before. Couldn't sleep later due to body heating up and increased heart rate (duh). In the first place, you're supposed to take them before/during/after the run.

2. DO NOT bring the race provided shoe bag (if you're using the baggage service, that is)
I'm so glad I brought my own red shoe bag. With the mountains of bags all identical, how to find?

3. DO NOT use the baggage service at all.
I'm sure the organisers will be getting a lot of complaints on this. I didn't get a sunburn from the run - I got it from queueing almost 2 hours under the hot sun to retrieve my shoe bag. (I've been warned about the possible long queue, but I didn't have much of a choice.) By the time I reached the front of the queue, the whole shambles had turned into a comedy show with people picking random bags and shouting their tag numbers. If the owner happened to be there, everyone cheered and shouted "strike!" or "dio beh pio ah!". This was taking too long though, so in the end many of us barged in behind the counters and went searching for our own bags. Result: pandemonium.

Joker of the Day
My friend, the one I took over from for the half marathon. He ran the 10km instead, finishing the race without any problems. But he twisted his ankle when we ran the final stretch to cheer zx on as he came in for the finish. Was that stupid or what, ha!

Mastercard Moment
Bus ticket to venue: $3.00
Cab ride home: $8.20
Finishing your first half marathon: priceless

Special Mention
A round of applause, please, to zx who turned full-fledged Marathoner. You're my hero! :D

race day eve

I had my feet assessed at the Sports and Fitness Expo at Suntec last night when we went to collect the race kits. Surprise, surprise! I had assumed that my feet underpronates, because my shoes tend to wear out on the outside - a sign of underpronation. But the lady who examined my feet said they overpronates. And I don't have high arches as I thought, they're actually quite neutral.

But I'm not sure how she could tell just by doing some scans and taking some pictures. No running, or even walking, at all. Or maybe she was trying to get me to buy one of those customized in-soles that they sell?

Great, just when I had made up my mind to get the Asics Gel-Landreth II - a shoe for underpronators. Now I'm not even sure which type of shoes suit me.

Back home, I did some examination myself on my worn shoes. According to some websites, you can judge by looking at how the heels are tilted. I checked, and checked, at three different pairs. Conclusion? I can't really tell - looks neutral to me!

My knee pain's gone, thankfully. However, for the past two days, my right foot's arch is giving me a dull pain when standing up. Seems like a case of plantar fasciitis. It's one trouble after another, and it can only mean one thing - I'm not getting any younger!

No matter what, die die must run tomorrow. It's just a matter of how long it takes, after all. Hope the weather's fine too.

See you there! :D

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ps: As I write this, Peter Crouch has finally scored his first goal for Liverpool. And it's a complete fluke!

the fourth estate

Australian drug smuggler Nguyen Tuong Van was hanged at the Changi Prison this morning. This brings to an end the many weeks of pleas and demands for his clemency.

If anything, this episode highlighted the contrasting manner and tone of reporting by the media of the two countries. Depending on where you read, you'll either think that most Australians are for the execution (Straits Times), or they're not (most other Australian press). Another example is that while the ST reported this morning that the Singapore government made an 'exception' and allowed his mother 'contact' with him, the Australian press revealed that she was only allowed to hold his hand and not hug him, and that PM Howard was very disappointed with Singapore's decision.

Are you for the death penalty, or against? Hold on a second, you've already decided, because our PM said that Singaporeans are for it. He knows best, of course!

If you ask me, I think the mainstream media on both sides are very guilty of selective reporting. Better to get your news from the neutral sources!

la idler

I just learned from Tomorrow.sg that La Idler, a former Tomorrow editor and one of the prominent local bloggers around has passed away from a rare blood disorder.

Her blog was one of those I used to read regularly (because she writes pretty well). A month ago, she mentioned (in what was to be her last post) that she might be having dengue, after which nothing has been heard from her again.

I didn't know who she was, but it feels weird knowing that someone whose life you were reading about, especially her plans to move overseas, is suddenly no longer around.

december

Holy smokey moly, what do you know? It's December already!

This day last year, I was on ICT, sailing overnight on that same piece of metal junk, and listening to the radio on my phone. It was Singapore Idol final (by the way, SI's back next year!) and I was tuned to the TV Mobile FM station all night just to find out who won. How desperate I was!

How time flies, eh? Where do we go from here?

December promise you gave unto me
December whispers of treachery
December clouds are now covering me
December songs no longer I sing