10 million Toto draw

10 million Toto draw tonight. So? Do you really think you stand a chance of becoming a millionaire, let alone a billionaire?

Of course, being a normal person with a normal mentality, I won't be so dumb to queue up for half an hour to make a bet. I didn't bet at all. I have not bet for almost five months

Let me tell you how dumb are those people who betted on tonight's Toto. First of all is the time one's takes to queue up. With all the kiasu uncles and aunties in full force, the betting centre is bound to be flooded with people, or rather dumb people

Why waste time at trying your luck at something which has a probability of one to a thousand to even strike four numbers?

Secondly, even if you really strike group one, chances are you will have to share the pot of prize money with at least five other winners. You only pocket about a million plus? The feeling inside is neither happy nor sad but it surely doesn't feel too good

After betting, you will be thinking about the draw all day. I believe those people will imagine themselves as the winners for at least three times after they betted.
Then it is all back to reality when the winning numbers are announced. There goes your dreams and your money. You can call that a double blow. What to do? Who ask you so dumb?

Slide Tackle

I'm too lazy to type today so I shall post a video for your entertainment. Ouch!



More updates coming soon

22 Feb

I didn't realize that the Budget Statement was delivered yesterday until I saw the news in the evening. Never mind, every year you will see the Finance Minister talking and talking in parliament in the day. Then you will see people talking and talking about his talking the next day. This has been the case for many years already and I am quite "sian" from it

I think that there is almost nothing radical about the speech but just numbers, percentages and calculations regarding the country in the past few years

The mainstream media will be discussing about the benefits and new measures while the critics in the cyber world would be attacking at the proposals rolled out. Nothing new, this is just part and parcel of life

Ok, exams are coming. Bye bye

Creed Media

Scroll down and look at the left side. Saw something new? Yes, its the new games section which I had added on this blog in an attempt to make this site more interactive

Please click on them to try playing and if give some feedback if any. They were taken from www.creed-media.com. If you are interested, you can visit their website for more information and also post games on your website, Facebook, blog, twitter etc.

School fee hike

According to the news, school fees of polytechnics and ITEs will be increased when the new academic year begins in April to "sharpen the distinction between citizens and non-citizens" as claimed by The Straits Times

Singaporeans taking polytechnic courses will have their fees upped by fifty dollars a year while those in Nitec and Higher Nitec courses will pay an additional ten dollars a year

On the other hand, PRs studying in polytechnics will have to fork out between $480 and $800 more while international students will need to pay up to a thousand dollars more

The institutions have assured that there will be adequate financial assistance to make sure that everyone has a right to pursue an education

Mathematically, it looks as though the big losers are the Cheenas, Jakars and Indies. However, if one can see the big picture, it is just another move by the government to attract foreigners to become citizens

Break down the $480-$800 a year into days and it will equal to just about a couple of dollars a day which is not a justifiable amount to differentiate locals and foreigners

Moreover, the institutions are making use of this opportunity to earn more. If there really is a need for differentiating, then why adjust the fees of Singaporeans? Just leave it as status quo and increase those of PRs and foreigners

Come this April, Singaporeans will indirectly be "sponsoring" the foreigners' scholarships and financial assistance schemes. Even before this lousy tactic by the government, there are already bursaries dedicated solely for foreign students so they need not worry about this latest news

Our government has always come up with ploys like these. They don't solve problems or satisfy the citizens

Fellow Singaporeans, we are the real losers!

CNY Special 3

This is the third and final of the three-part story about the flawed and hidden side of CNY. Read the first and second posts first if you haven't before reading this one to understand the story

***

As a girl, I was definitely not the first one to finish eating even though I was very hungry. Moreover, there were countless slices of Calmex brand abalone in front of me

Leon and his dad finished first. Soon, a few more males started standing up and carried their plates to the kitchen. That's good as it "frees" the ladies to have more space for activity

Lunch was the only thing that kept me entertained at first uncle's house. I decided to play with my iPhone while resting on the sofa

"Natalie jie jie, can lend me play"

It was my seven year old cousin, Bryan

"oh ok, what game you want to play"

"I choose myself"

And he snatched the black device from my hands. And I am bored again

I decided to direct my attention at the TV which was switched on to create some noise in the house when it is already so ear-popping. I realized that I was the only person in the living room watching it. Rain was on the show so it wasn't that bad after all

"eh, jie jie, you got one message"

"oh let me see"

And I snatched it back from him

"So how is CNY, did u miss me? any more visiting at nite? if not den i come pick you up for Valentine's Day later?-Anthony"

Oooo, now I am not bored anymore. I took some time to think before replying him

"yes yes I miss you, I XXXXX, XXXXX, XXXXX, XXXXX, XXXXX"

A few minutes later, it was angbao giving time. I received about five of them. Some were quite thin while others contained many notes. I placed them in my bag and secretly went to the toilet where I, ok you know what right?

"hey Natalie, are you ready? I need to use the toilet"

My mum was waiting outside. I quickly stuffed all the dollar notes into the biggest angbao as I forgotten which angbao they belonged to and placed them in my bag

"why are you carrying your bag into the toilet?"

"huh? no lah, 'cause I think like got a bit dirty so bring in to wash with water lor. Aiyah, next time don't buy white colour already lah, so easy dirty"

She believed me

When we finally left together with other relatives, I softly asked Melvin a question while we were waiting for the lift

"yours how much"

"sixty-two only, last year still got sixty-sixty leh"

"wah, you still remembered last year's amount? And why is yours always more than mine?"

"then you leh?"

"fifty-eight"

I wondered if I had dropped four dollars into the toilet bowl while counting the money just now

I sms-ed Anthony while we were in the car on the way home

"meeteu at 5.30 ltr, come pick me up under my block"

I waited patiently for his reply while looking at Melvin play his Nintendo DS

"what do you all want to have for dinner later? I am not cooking, there's nothing to cook anyway" Mum said

"Just order KFC"

"Calvin, that's very oily, you've already been eating a lot of bak kwa"

I was still waiting for his reply

"I want to eat KFC, I want I want!"

"See? Majority wins, even Melvin also wants it"

"How about you Natalie?"

"Erm, I might be going out with Anthony tonight"

"Oh, didn't heard you mentioned that earlier"

"It's still not confirmed"

When we reached home, it was already half past three. I threw myself on the sofa. I saw the tin of pineapple tarts and decided to have a few of them

Actually, why do we have to buy so much Chinese New Year goodies as a form of treating our guests when we, the owners, are the ones who finish them all up?

I closed my eyes and thought of that question while lying on the sofa. An hour later I was awoke by an SMS to my iPhone

"hi sorry for the late reply...ok sure, c u ltr, wad do u wanna have for dinner?"

"KFC!" I replied

The End

CNY Special 2

This is the second of the three-part story about the flawed and hidden side of CNY. Read the first post first if you haven't before reading this one to understand the story

***

"You look so red today"

It was Leon, my cousin, who is one year older than me

"Of course, Chinese New Year is the perfect excuse for one to dress conspicuously!" I replied while trying to sound like a confident young lady

"Oh yeah..."

Leon walks away towards the kitchen. By the way, he was dressed in a black shirt. Everyone seemed to be talking to someone else while waiting for lunch to be ready

The first day of Chinese New Year has always been the same for me for the last ten years or so. Same food, same gambling activities, same questions asked (I hate this one), same amount of ang bao money and the same kind of discipline I must tell myself to have not to offend anyone

I looked around the living room and decided to approach one of my younger cousins. It is always easier to talk with children

"Hello Bryan! Show jie jie what are you doing"

"This is Bumblebee the Transformer, I want to make it into a car, you can help me?"

"Errr, you try do it on your own lah"

Wrong timing. Then as I was about to enter one of the bedrooms to see what's happening, someone called my name

It was my grandaunt. She took a good look at me from head to toe when I turned around. I knew what was going to happen next

She spoke in Mandarin as everyone knows that my Cantonese is atrocious

"now in sec what ah?"

"errr, JC2 liao"

"wow, so fast already ah?

I thought you just asked the same question last year?

Well, I am sick of all these questions that relatives ask their younger generation. It is because they had really forgotten about it or what? If they had really forgotten about it, then it shows that they were not serious when listening to the answer so why bother to reply them every year?

I decided to kill time by sitting down in the bedroom looking at my younger cousins playing masak-masak. There were two other cousins around my age there too. One was Leon, he was one year older than me while the other was Mandy, same age as me

However, the three of us hardly talk ever since we entered upper secondary. We used to be as crazy and lively as our younger cousins who were masak-ing but things do change. At most, we just greet each other "hello" when we see one another so that our parents won't pester us why we don't talk

"Eh, time for lunch"

Someone's voice flooded the entire house and everyone flooded the dining room

I was waiting for my dad's instruction to where I should sit while he was observing the "situation". In the end, I sat next to him and in front of me was a plate of abalone. Not bad, I thought. At least I don't have to stand up and stretch my hand if I feel like having a few more slices

Then almost everybody except Mandy and I were telling one another to eat as a form of mannerism. I find it lame, or rather very fake

It was a huge dining table with huge plates of food. Same old food because of the same old Chinese New Year traditions

My first uncle broke the ice by starting a conversation. It was in Cantonese but I could understand

"Ah Leng, the soup like a bit too salty already"

My second auntie "played along" and replied "oh I think I placed too much salt in it"

Of course it's salt, or not sugar is it?

It was always fish maw and cabbage soup. But at least it tastes good and I love eating fish maw

The adults together with my grandparents continued talking while the younger ones just ate slowly and listened. I was so engrossed with the abalone until I heard

"Natalie, are you in JC now?"

Oh no, not again

To be continued...

CNY Special 1

Starting from today while it is Chinese New Year, I will be posting a three-part story about this annual occasion and discuss about the hidden and flawed side of it in the modern day

***

I walked up the stairs slowly and unwillingly. Dad and Mum were at least two floors above me already. Melvin did not fare any better, he was behind me

"Quick Natalie, Melvin, we're already late"

"Late then late lor, who cares"

A long and awkward silence followed. The only sound which was heard were the footsteps of me on my high heels. I turned around to make sure that my younger brother was still behind because it was odd not to hear him make some noise. I turned my head back and decided to double my speed by taking two steps a time

"Jie, wait for me"

Upon reaching the fifth floor, I self-checked my dress to ensure that I look presentable and worthy of a challenge to my other female cousins. Melvin was panting as if he had just scaled a mountain. My parents were waiting for us

"Why are both of you so slow?"

"I'm wearing high heels ok?"

"Mummy, why can't we just take the lift?"

"Boy, remember what Daddy said? Pu pu gao sheng, we should take the stairs today to be auspicious"

Lame lame lame, what are Chinese so particular about everything? Don't they find life to be so tedious with all these restrictions? Only naive people will believe in all these things

"Have you got ready the oranges?"

"Yes Calvin, I've placed them on top of the bag"

We walked towards the last unit at the end of the corridor excluding me, I dragged myself there. "Ok Natalie", I told myself, "it's time you put up another good show like a professional actress when you see your relatives in less than ten seconds, be demure, polite and sociable"

The gate of first uncle's house was unlocked. Mum stepped in first as she was the first to take off her shoes. I was taking mine off as I heard greetings of "happy new year" in front of me. I took a deep breath, rose up and saw my first uncle smiling at me. I reached out my hand to gesture a handshake

"Happy new year uncle"

"Ho ho ho, happy new year to you! Wow she has grown prettier already"

The second sentence was directed at my parents even though his eyes were looking at me. I replied humbly "lose to your daughter lah". I think I deserve an Oscar nomination for this

"Uncle gong xi fa cai"

As expected, Melvin and his bootlicking tactics, all at a tender age of eleven. Must be the genes he got from his parents. Luckily I did not inherit it. I looked around the living room and many eyes looked back at me, waiting for me to acknowledge them. One by one, I greeted the seniors

"Natalie"

I turned around

"You look so red today!"

To be continued...

13 Feb

For the first time in N years, I will not be having steamboat for reunion dinner. We will be having chicken, duck, fish etc this time. It is considered a breakthrough after years of steamboat domination on the dining table

Does anyone still remember the abalone tactic which I talked about last year? Speaking of which, there will be no abalone this year. Is it considered a breakthrough too? I wanted to reuse my tactic when I was having dinner with relatives from my mum's side last week but it was mission failed, or rather mission unattempted. Reason being there was no abalone present

Last week, I ate sushi for the first time in eleven years and it is only the second time in my entire life that I ate this Japanese food. I first tasted it when I was in Primary Two and the taste sucks. I promised myself that I will never touch it again and managed not to break the promise for a period longer than when George Bush was President

And I tried sashimi for the first time. Another breakthrough you can call that. Didn't want to look "gas leak" at the dining table so I grabbed a piece with my chopsticks, dipped a bit of wasabi and stuffed it down my throat. Tasteless, that's all I could say

Ok that's all for today

CNY and V Day

Chinese New Year falls on the same day as Valentine's Day this year. So well you know like, these are some things which might happen (some really happened) during the festive season. Please continue reading to find out more

Teacher and student
Teacher: Chinese New Year is coming
Raymond: cher, we go your house lah?!
Teacher(laughing): oh you want angbao is it?
Raymond(thinking): abu then? just testing you only to see your reaction
Teacher never answered yes or no but the answer is obvious

Raymond and the flower stall owner
Raymond: so what kind of flowers are more "hot" this time?
Owner: both type also hot but Valentine one easier to sell
Raymond: aiyah of course lah, valentine one only a few stalks, CNY one is one pot leh!

Romeo and Juliet
Juliet: oh Romeo, shall we celebrate Lunar New Year this year together with the annual Valentine?
Romeo: huh? we are ang moh ok? we celebrate new year on 1st January leh
Juliet: but we should be multi-racial, multi-cultural...
Romeo: this is Italy, not Singapore. Our elopement to Singapore made you become so local ah?
Juliet: you then local, you are speaking Singlish

Beng vs. Seng
Ah Beng: eh want go casino for CNY this year?
Ah Seng: aiyoh, play underground can already lah, easier and more economical. And we don't have nice shirts anyway. And and we got no zhar bor accompany also

Music CD shop war
Shop A: dong dong dong chiang, dong dong dong chiang...
Shop B: when I fall in love, it will be forever...
Shop A: gong xi ah gong xi, fa ya fa da cai
Shop B: or I'll never fall in love
Shop A oldies plus Shop B punkies: eh diam lah!

Dinner tonight
Xiao Ming: eh I think we'll have to eat fast food for tonight's candlelight dinner
Xiao Mei: why?
Xiao Ming: cos all the stalls are closed on CNY

Reality
Principal sends an email to Group-everyone: Everyone, teacher or student, will receive an angbao from the school as a celebration for Chinese New Year
Raymond replies to all: wait long long lah

A thief's dilemma
Thief A: hmmm, its high time we return to the pickpocketing arena to fill my stomach
Thief B: then where should we go this time? The crowded Chinatown with many targets or the quiet and deserted Labrador Park?

Husband and Wife
Husband: see? I've got you the biggest bouquet this year
Wife (thinking that it's nine-nine-nine roses): oh really?
Husband: here, a big pot of chrysanthemum flowers, it symbolizes longevity!
Wife: ...

Raymond again
Raymond: oh Febuary 14 is also V Day, I almost forgotten about it. Aiyah, CNY more important, got money to receive, V Day must spend money only, burn a hole in my pocket
Random guy: lucky CNY with V Day, at least I can use the angbao money to cover back my losses on that posh restaurant I brought my zhar bor to

A girl's problem
Girl A: should I wear the red qipao for my granny to see or the black gown for him to look at?
Girl B: just remember to wear red underwear can already

Nerd and his nerdy stuff
The nerd: While celebrating the first day of CNY and V Day, we should forget that the day after, Feb 15, is Total Defence Day

*Takes a deep breath*

The nerd: Total Defence Day is actually to...
Majority: shuddup lah!

Happy (advanced) Chinese New Year and Valentine's Day to everyone!

Random Pictures

Random pictures coming up, or rather coming down as you have to scroll down
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The Santa Claus of the East has touched down on our shores


I was sitting alone at the back of the bus and felt bored so...


Ok, here's the plan, later we go Toa Payoh splash paint followed by Ang Mo Kio then Woodlands and end at Jurong East


No racism or disrespect here but you just have to admit that it's funny

Lady Gaga

As we play this LoveGame, we will Just Dance and enjoy The Fame. We are enjoying a Bad Romance. Wait a minute, it's the Paparazzi, where should we hide our Poker Face?

Glittered lips, lightning drawn hands, overly-exaggerated dressing. No doubt about it, it has to be Lady Gaga. Forget about Avril Lavigne and her punk style or Britney Spears and her whatever bad news. Bow down to the new Queen of Pop!

If Taylor Swift is the princess then Lady Gaga is definitely the empress. Both are newbies in the entertainment line and both have large fan bases. However, Lady Gaga is still a little closer to the finishing line because of her X-factor or rather her quirkiness

Whether is it a coincidence or not, Lady Gaga should consider herself very lucky to have so many nice songs in one album, some more it is her first album. She has since released a second one and her fame has yet to subside. Now does anyone still remember the blonde Madonna?

Lady Gaga dyed her hair gold to look like a blonde which I believe is a plus point for her music career because female singers with blonde hair tend to last longer. Think Miss Avril and erm, Madonna lor

Maybe is it because of her mentality since young, she has never failed to catch the eyes of others with her bizarre and sometimes ridiculous dressing. She wants attention, recognition and fame and works hard to achieve these temporary glories. It is not a bad thing to do since her profession is unique from the ordinary person

But I still Taylor Swift is better...Ha ha ha

Hope this post managed bootlick some Lady Gaga fans out there reading it

9 Feb

Went to Chinatown this morning for CNY shopping. The first thing that caught my eye was neither freebies, beautiful decorations nor China women loitering there. It was a group of people, about a hundred over of them, standing behind one another, in an orderly manner. Yeah, they were all queuing up. Queuing up to buy Lim Chee Guan bak kwa

Lim Chee Guan is Singapore's most famous and popular bak kwa shop. However, if you do not have two hours of free time to spare, then you can forget about queuing up to purchase its products. I ever queued up for it during one CNY and had to endure with this guy trying to take photos of the long queue

Actually, Lim Chee Guan's taste does not really differ from the other shops in my opinion. They are all about the same to me and I don't mind eating any of them except for Fragrance (Xiang Wei) because its employees are mostly foreigners who speak with an annoying slang

Anyway, the queue was ludicrous. It lasted all the way until the MRT station. I guess those people are either too free or their hobby is queuing up. Walked around the whole Chinatown to look for some decor and saw countless of them but didn't buy a single one in the end

Most of the things which I bought were edible, no I didn't buy bak kwa either. By the way, I think I am the only youngster there because the rest of the crowd were either uncles or aunties. Never mind, I like it as I enjoy standing out of the crowd and be unique, not like some of my peers. No, it should be most of them

Forgot to blog again yesterday. I think I shall not put up any CNY decor for this blog because I will have problems with that chicken banner at the top. Anyway, there is just two more weeks before we say sayonara to this semester. This means that my ITP is coming soon and then it will be year three. Time really flies but that it always the case when humans look back on the past and recall

Today shall be a short update. More updates coming soon

5 Feb

Forgot to blog yesterday. I was busy designing some game graphics and that took up lots of the twenty-four hours I am entitled to per day. This week I shall stop writing columns and tell you more about my life. So what happened this week?

I recommended a Facebook game called Bumper Ball to Nas and both us were playing like mad on Monday. Bumper Ball is simple PVP (or vs. computer) game where each player is a bumper car and you have to knock the ball into your opponent's goalpost. Sounds easy to play but it is ridiculously fun especially when two human players play together

The next day after I recommended the game to him, nas told me on the phone that his whole class is addicted to it already. I cannot wait to challenge him again next week since he claimed that he has turned pro. My recommendations are usually reliable and worth a try but many people always choose not to believe me

When you see people rushing for assignments and starting to turn crazy because of being in an over-stressed state, you know that these are the symptoms of another semester ending soon. RP ended theirs yesterday while SP is still a few weeks away. I still haven't lend my Adobe CD to Zhiteng, he needs Adobe Fireworks for his assignment which is due next week

Oh yes, I thought of a nice quote on Tuesday which I would like to share on this blog in case if you didn't see it on Facebook. here it goes "yesterday my class had a discussion about what the 5 polys are good at so SP has engineering, NP has mass comm, NYP has IT, TP has design and then we got stuck at the RP part"

Also on Tuesday I finally met the school magazine's chief editor or something (I don't know the exact designation) for an interview. It ended up as though I was the interviewer and she was the interviewee. The atmosphere in the room was great. It was bright, airy and spacious. I also came so close to an iMac computer (it was placed in the room) for the first time in my life excluding the day when I first entered an Apple shop

Yesterday morning I asked Geraldine (my lecturer) what other modules does she teach since we were the only two in the class while waiting for the rest to come. She indirectly shifted the topic and said that she might be in charge of FYPs next semester, that moved my attention to FYP instead. So I asked her lots of questions but I don't recall getting a satisfactory answer. She was just entertaining me to ease the awkwardness between us. Then somebody entered the class to "save" her and she started talking to him

As for today, well, I shall Samuel Seetoh at last with his legendary botak head. His hair is a bit longer already so not really considered botak. Yeah that's all and I still have some projects to do because the semester is coming to end soon

3 Feb

I walked from one end to another end of the school today, well literally. Had Maths lesson in the morning somewhere in the centre of the campus. Many people were absent today, 90% possibility is all pakat one. Then walked to the most western side of SP for lunch at Foodcourt 1

We decided to try this stall called "International Food". International my head, it was just plain old pasta known as Italian Food. What was most disappointing was the amount, again. My eyes told me that the pasta was not enough to fill my stomach even before my tongue tasted it. Even Zhiteng also buay tahan with it. I thought of buying a couple of roti prata to top up the void in my digestive organ but the Indian food stall's queue was very messy

Then walked to somewhere between the centre and east side of the school for gems lesson. It was my group's turn to present today. I had already worked out what funny things I wanted to talk about but the class' reaction spoiled my plans during the mahjong section. And the strange thing was that everybody was attentive during our presentation except the teacher

After that went to Foodcourt 4 and ate a bowl of mee soto. Then went to block T19 with Kong Him and his friend, also considered my new friend, to check out the entrepreneur bazaar there. It consisted of our neighbour, Fairfield Secondary, Outram Secondary and SP's students. Bought two earphones there, one for myself and one for Zhiteng. He still owes me fifty cents but I still bought it for him with my money ( he has to pay it back to me anyway). One costs $6.90, considered quite cheap compared to the market price

Everything else at the bazaar was lame. There were stalls selling tibits and snacks (the worst of all), clothes and even PS2 games for one dollar. We headed to the hilltop library at the east side of the campus. Read newspapers for free there and browsed a few magazines. This library is awesome man, it has magazines of just about anything. From Time to PC Gamer to Forbes Asia to gossip mags, there is nothing that will not interest you



Then when I was walking out of the school to the bus stop, I decided to take a short-cut. Yes, it was really a short-cut but a steep one. I ran down a grassy slope that bended about seventy degrees. It was scary running down because you can't stop moving your legs or you will fall but I guess it was worth a try

Everything is worth a try in life

1 Feb

First day of February, heck January passed like a SR-71 Blackbird aeroplane!

I only spent $2.50 for the whole day today. Not bad, that's a milestone achievement for myself since I usually spent much more than that. From trying to hao lian by treating people drinks to buying unnecessary food to fill my ever hungry stomach, I have always been using lots of money. Although many people who know me say that I am very "kiam" and money-minded, I can't stop them from them saying but I still consider myself a spendthrift

Took Maths quiz during lesson in the morning. Maha kept pestering me for answers because she was clueless about everything, I was already struggling on my own but still helped her. In the end I got 18, she got 16. Not bad huh? Actually, half of her marks should be added to my score. The teacher was sibeh I don't know which word should I use to describe, I called her to come over my place to ask her how to do a question and she told me the steps!

When I was at the bus stop waiting for the bus home, some random girl (most probably an SP schoolmate) approached me and asked me to do a survey. At first, she approached another girl in front of me but the latter said she had done it before. When it was my turn, I decided to give the same excuse too and the bus came at just the right moment so my mouth said " sorry I gotta go, my bus is here" while my heart said "hahaha, continue standing there lah"

I think I am so evil