Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Taken from http://www.news.com.au/travel/news/funniest-holiday-complaints-revealed/story-e6frfq80-1225943163031
An Australian news article about the 'Funniest holiday complaints'

Travellers' Complaints
1. Lack of kangaroos hopping in Sydney city
2. Too many tourists in Europe in summer and not enough English-speaking people
3. Too cold to ski in Japan during winter
4. Too hot in Singapore
5. Too many children in Fiji during school holidays (although visitor brought her own kids)
6. $20 Gucci handbag bought in China is not real!!! (duh.)
7. Greece's beaches had stones
8. Emirates' airplane seats too comfortable - put visitor to sleep when he wanted to stay awake
9. There are fish in the sea! (duh.)
10. *drinks from gravy boat* Soup is too thick.
11. Hotel made me pregnant
12. Too many Spanish people in Spain
13. Too much curry served in restaurants in India

Travellers' Demands
1. Chaperone for a group of sex addicts
2. Menu of only blue food
3. Bed for dog
4. Request for hotel staff to put a stop to the rain
5. Request for staff to tape up window to prevent sunlight from shining through
6. Stop aircon from making weird noises *Electric toothbrush in suitcase buzzes and pretends to be the aircon*
6. Borrow hotel staff's shoes
7. Use hotel staff's car
8. Request hotel staff to drive them to a shop
9. Request to marry staff's daughter x.x

LOL.
At the expense of leaving work late, I have to put this article down before I forget.
Tourists these days...

Monday, October 25, 2010

Yay I have some more photos, which I finally uploaded :)
BUT I'm a bit lazy, so I'm going to sort through the smallest folder first, which chronicles my last few days in Europe :(

Snapshot 1: Random advertisement I saw on the bus (from Edinburgh) to London Victoria coach station... (and sign-writing too. haha. it says)

Snapshot 2: Tan-tan mee at a small noodle bar in London Chinatown. It tastes horrible. Can't remember why I wanted to try it. But I think the restaurant I wanted to go to was too packed (for good reason) and because we have been eating duck rice in London for the past 2 days.
Snapshot 3: Mommy and I in Europe because it's my graduation! Looking very young :)
Snapshot 4: Mommy and Sis on the Hop-on Bus in London! Yeah, it's not Paris, cos I cleverly took the sign behind that says 'Trocadero London'. HAHA.
Snapshot 5: Mommy and I at 54 Farringdon, apparently relatively famous Malaysian restaurant in London. The food wasn't too bad. The sorbet was quite exciting - Cempedak, Durian and Lychee, but too sweet for my liking. And when I say too sweet, it REALLY is too sweet.
Snapshot 6: JUST so that I have at least 1 photo of an attraction we saw. We were on the Hop-on bus in Paris and we saw the Eiffel Tower. Not that we didn't go to the Eiffel Tower, and not that we didn't take a photo there together, just that, my sis has a more pro camera, so I can't really be bothered to take :)
Snapshot 7: Mommy and I on our umpteenth bus ride to Livingstone designer outlet. When 3 girls get together, all they can think about is shop, shop and shop!
Snapshot 8: This is what happens to white trousers when you go out for a walk on a rainy day.
Snapshot 9: This is the staircase which I lugged up my 25kg luggage and lost a wheel. You can see it (the wheel or what's left of it) on the third bottom-most step. I was feeling brave and strong and decided I could manage wheeling my luggage from my flat to the hotel. But forgot about the glass pieces on the pavement (from the drunken gangs that haunt Edinburgh at night) which took 1 of the wheel on my luggage about halfway there making it almost impossible to wheel it. Wanted to give up and take a cab but realised OMFG I forgot my wallet. Didn't want to leave my luggage in the middle of the street and run back for my wallet so I dragged my handicapped luggage to the hotel, cutting through the shortcut (decided that up the stairs beats walking for an extra 200m or so). Bravely and politely rejected the offers of help that kindly Edinburgh gentlemen offer to me and pretending not to pant too hard.

There you go. My exciting grad trip. (Not really) 
As in not that it's not exciting. But the photos don't show half of it xD

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Went for a concert last Tues at Yong Siew Toh with Xiaomirs :)

It was possibly the first string quartet that I've heard because as a wind orchestra person, strings are beyond me. The first time that I heard a violin that I didn't immediately go 'EWWWWWWWWWW' was back in 2006, sitting the B&B in Cambridge with Rui, watching the BBC Proms on our little TV. I'm not even sure who it was. It was a lady, and she was so awesome that Rui and I just sat there listening, instead of launching into our usual complaints about string instruments :)

So, anyway, I can't tell if the Shanghai Quartet was brilliant but they sounded pretty good to me. The rather modern-sounding piece by Penderecki, however, was ... well, modern. It sounds like the type of piece that I wouldn't be able to understand and perform unguided, though the motifs are quite pleasant taken alone.

But Xiaomirs and I were discussing how amazing it was that they could change tempo, and in general, play together without a conductor to direct them. Sitting in Rwinds prac yesterday, it's amazing how even when there IS a conductor, the band was unable to change dynamics or tempo together. Maybe for the simple fact that some of us are unfamiliar with the pieces. But also, because coming from different backgrounds and different bands, we don't play in the same style and we don't feel the same about how a piece ought to be played.

Anyway, back to the Shanghai Quartet, alarmingly, I quite like their 'Selections from China Song'. Perhaps it was cos the first movement was Yao Dance, and in RG, I'm pretty sure I played 'Dances of Yao' or something like that and it just sounded so familiar :)

This is such a boring entry x.x

Friday, October 15, 2010

今日はちょうつまらない!何もしませんでした!雑誌もう読みました。日本語で日記を書きたいですが、日本語を書けません。いらだたしいんですね。ついさっき、エディンバラのクリスマスのウェブサイトを見る。思い出を蘇える。日本語で書くは難しすぎる!友達が今晩の晩御飯の予約を取りやめました。どうする。一人でご飯を食べるか。
You know you're a workaholic when you think about putting work-related stuff on your  blog.
But I can't resist x.x

Japanese have fewest digital friends on social networks
Quotes from: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-11501625

In Malaysia the average number of friends is 233, closely followed by 231 in Brazil and 217 in Norway. This contrasts to an average of just 29 friends in Japan, and 68 in China
 Article suggests countries like Japan have 'fewer but closer relationships'. To be honest, I find that assumption plausible but unreliable. It really depends on what the survey meant by social networks. If they only surveyed global sites, which are mostly English-speaking, then it would make a lot of sense why Japan and China scored low. Not that Japanese and Chinese speak less English, but they tend to prefer using their own languages, I feel. Sadly, I don't know of any Chinese-only social networking sites, but I'm pretty sure they do. And perhaps this is the channel where most Chinese social networkers go?

Or it could also just mean that social networking sites are just not as popular. For China, internet penetration rate isn't high. It is possible that many 'friends' simply do not have easy internet access. Or, even in Japan, where internet penetration rate is high, the statistics may simply suggest that social networking sites are not very popular amongst the locals.

It is true that the overall rise in the use of social networking sites, or more generally, digital sources suggest that businesses should venture into digital space in order to attract their customers. But, it is also crucial that one looks at which market they are targeting. Because statistics are so misleading sometimes.

Don't feel like expanding. It's too brain-taxing for a Friday morning :)

Wednesday, October 13, 2010


Just found some photos on an old thumbdrive - Manchester photos :) Haha. Year 1. My first trip in the UK. (Not counting touching down in London, going to Cambridge and then to Edinburgh) With Kenny, Hian Liang and Garrick. Being very studious uh students, we went to the library.



 
Then to the Christmas market at the town square :) It was very pretty.

And the Manchester-eye?flyer?wheel?!

And of course to Chinatown, where we FEASTED on Chinese food, dim sum (nom nom) and bought snacks at the Chinese supermarket.


Also saw 3 cute trumpeters in Santa hats playing Christmas carols. In the cold. In the FREEZING cold. Surely their fingers must have been frozen.

Dunno why. But I can't upload any more pics :( So sad. So you can't see the cute newt-salamander-monster thingy. Or the pics at Old Trafford. Or you can.. just wait for the next post haha. Since I'm lazy to transfer new photos.

This was so long ago I can't even remember most of what happened. 2006 Christmas holidays. With 3 guys I barely knew. Just cos all the girls went back for Christmas in their first year. But it went surprisingly well. I can't say I didn't enjoy the trip haha! I'm glad I met up with Nic and Shun in London after that though :) It's always nice to be with your loved ones during the festive season!

Monday, October 11, 2010

I'm determined to start blogging again :)
Will blog about Sat when I can be bothered to sort out kite-flying photos.

Sunday :)

Went to catch 'Welcome' at Alliance Francais.

(I'm not sure how to credit photos. But I got this from inSing.com. Why is the hyperlink black!)

And... non, je ne parlez pas Français.
About a strange relationship between Simon and Bilal. Actually I can't be bothered to write about the story :) But some of the images were very striking. The brown 'Welcome' doormat at the hostile neighbour's door. And the way it said 'Welcome' stark white against a black background at the end of the film. Bilal in his blue wetsuit striking out against the foamy waves in the stormy grey sea. It was very grey. The sky was grey. The sea was grey. The blank, blank looks on Bilal's and his friend's face at their sudden fortune. The typical messy, ravenblack hair of a poor Pakistani girl in London (Londre). The ring. Diamond and sapphire. That nobody wanted. And the look on his face when Simon told his wife: He walked 4000m and now he wants to swim the Channel. Just to meet his girl. And I can't even cross the road to get you back.

Irrelevantly, mini burgers are very yummy :) I think I will eat mini burgers everytime I go back to Holland V. As long as I don't go with Qpuffs, the restaurant will probably be open.

Friday, October 08, 2010

reading 2006 posts - by myself.
somehow some of the events don't even seem familiar - at all.
i used to write quite interesting posts. maybe my life was more interesting. actually i do write interesting posts (right? xD) but just a lot less frequently. maybe i should make it a habit of writing almost everyday. it's nice to look back. note the change in writing style. so much has happened in these 4 years that not much stays the same anymore. it's not just how i write, how i do work. but my entire attitude towards life, towards people, towards events. it's strange how for the first 18 years of my life, nothing much happened to change my world view. but in these short 4 years, maybe even just the last 2 or 3 years, things after things happened, so much so that i don't know who the xin writing all those past posts is.

Monday, October 04, 2010

The most important things are the hardest things to say. They are the things you get ashamed of, because words diminish them — words shrink things that seemed limitless when they were in your head to no more than living size when they’re brought out. But it’s more than that, isn’t it? The most important things lie too close to wherever your secret heart is buried, like landmarks to a treasure your enemies would love to steal away. And you may make revelations that cost you dearly only to have people look at you in a funny way, not understanding what you’ve said at all, or why you thought it was so important that you almost cried while you were saying it. That’s the worst, I think. When the secret stays locked within not for want of a teller but for want of an understanding ear.


- The Body, Stephen King

Copied it off Chong's blog. Just cos it's so true. Especially the part about making revelations (that took you ages to pluck up enough courage to utter it) and facing an indifferent response that 'you almost cried while you were saying it'.

But we musn't lose the courage to try again.