Friday, January 30, 2009

You Must Be Kidding!

The Wedding Game is No.1?!

Perhaps it is just an extension of the big lie underlying the movie plot, but after watching the movie last night, I found it plain, formulaic and highly predictable.

Granted, there were a few funny scenes (funny as in giggle-hrmph-funny, not the hahahah-funny, get it?) here and there, but you can almost guess what will happen next. Overall, if not for the stellar cast and familiar faces, this would have been like another B-grade HK production.

Thursday, January 29, 2009

Too Long a CNY Break?

I don't believe this.

It was only when I was on the train home did I realize that I had left work at 6.30pm... when my working hours were only until 6pm. Looks like I'm appearing like a diligent, hardworking ox after all! Haha...

No wonder the office was DEAD QUIET when I left. And to think I thought they were mean to switch off the air-con at 6.20pm! It was me who was the boo-boo.

Maybe it has been too long a break. Maybe too much bak-kwa. Maybe both.

I shall remember to go off in time today. Promise.

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Me, the Lazy Ox

Ok, first, I'm a DRAGON, not an Ox, but since everyone (including President Nathan) is talking about how the ox is a symbol of diligence and perseverence and how we should be like an ox in the new year, I shall indulge in it for a bit.

The problem is, my first day at work is proving myself more like a lazy ox than one who is diligent and persevering.

There was hardly a crowd on the train to work this morning, and when I came in, the office was Q.U.I.E.T. Don't tell me everyone is on leave ok... But anyway, the rest of the day was as such - quiet.

The usual bustle in the office is almost non-existent, and by now (about 2.30pm) I have received a grand total of 3 emails (all automated news updates) and ZERO phone calls.

And after the event just before the new year, there just isn't much work left for me to do, at least not right after the festivities ended.

And so the whole day today, I'm just surfing for news and such, posting blogs and figuring out the cross-posting function between Multiply and Blogger (I'm currently cross-posting from Blogspot, by the way).

Interesting stuff I discovered today?

1. Obama doesn't like zoos very much, because they were excluded from Government bailout funding.
2. Some think the world will end (again) on 21 Dec 2012, according to the Mayan calendar.
3. There are more Nyonya stuff in the media than I previously thought! Grr...
4. 60% of the stalls at the hawker centre are not open for business. Result: l-o-n-g queues...
5. A man in the US shot (and killed) his wife and 5 kids before committing suicide after losing his job.

Sizzling Start to the New Year!


If even the world defending champion can crash out due to the heat, so can ordinary people like me!

I was just heading this headline in the lift on my way to the office this morning and then found out that the whole office's air-con has not been switched on!

After a super long Chinese New Year holiday, the place has become hot and stuffy and was not the kind of place to start work for the new year!

Just because the ox works under the sun all the time doesn't mean we have to sweat at work, right? Grrr....

Er, I mean, mooo...

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Enough Nyonya Already!

It's the year of the Ox and Mediacorp seems to be trying a little too hard in milking the Nyonya cow!

First it was the extra 5-min encore that served no purpose, then it was another 1-hour free-for-all talk show for all the actors and actresses in the epic drama to talk (some more) about the show.

Not to mention the endless live appearances, TV shows and endorsements of Nyonya cuisine and bird's nest, complete with traditional Nyonya costume etc etc etc.

I say to Mediacorp, know when to stop please. It's really better to go while you're still at the top. Try too hard and you'll end up leaving a bad after taste in your once-supportive audience, and negate whatever good-will and loyalty the show had achieved.

Enough Nyonya already! :(

Lousy Singtel Business Practices

All Singtel mobile users, be wary the next time you receive seemingly harmless SMSes from "SINGTEL SVC" and make sure you read the full message carefully!

You see, I just received a message that read:

"Dear customer, respective charges for your content subscription service(s) will be renewed next month. To unsubscribe, pls key *1626 then press the call button."

Wondering what services I had subscribed, I traced my SMSes back to about 1-2 WEEKS ago and found:

"Dear subscriber, yr FREE MP3 Music Pack 30 days subscription ends on 18/01/09 & a $5.35/mth charges applies till you unsub. To unsubscribe, key *1626."

I immediately unsubscribed and uncontented, called the customer service hotline to confirm my unsubscription (including whatever pro-rated charges I might have incurred, since I was already a week late in unsubscribing).

When I asked if I opt out of ALL such future promotions and free trials, I was told that it was stated in the service contract when I signed up with Singtel and there is no way I can "get rid" of it, though I totally did not want it.

He did advise me that the next time I recontract with Singtel, I should tell the service staff to specifically leave me out of such services, and when it's requested at the point of signing, it will be done.

I was flabbergasted, to say the least. Why should such a service be opt out and not opt in in the first place? If I had been busy and simply deleted or ignored such promotion 'junk' SMSes, I would unknowingly be billed for a service I never ask for, didn't need and will not use! I wonder how many subscribers had unknowingly "signed up" for that dumb service (I still don't know what it is and I'm now not interested at all to know!) and would be shocked to find extra charges in their next bill.

That's not the way to do business, Singtel...

Friday, January 23, 2009

Cool CNY Rap

Received this out-of-the-world CNY rap from a business associate at 100.3FM.



Sure sounds better than the gong xi gong xi songs blasting at the shopping malls... though a little reminiscent of the "Negara Ku-ku" rap I heard some time ago...

New Year, New Blog

This is my first foray into cross blogging and I'm setting up this new account to see if whatever I post here will be reflected on my facebook and multiply blog.

Even then, this would allow me to have a larger audience than the closed circle I have at multiply.

Don't get me wrong. It's great fun at multiply, and I appreciate the privacy (of sorts) at times, but there are also ocassions when I need a little bit more flexibility and opennes than is available now.

Not to mention that the strict IT policies at my workplace are causing my old blog to act up, and are making blogging there quite a hassle.

Let's see if blogspot does better?