Simply Beautiful - I celebrate Prince William and Kate Middleton's wedding with an Englisch tea

Aw... wasn't it a beautiful wedding?

If not for the mildly annoying irritation from work (phone calls and emails), which made me miss the part where Kate Middleton alight from the car. The second I saw that dress, I instantly knew it drew inspiration from another famous princess's wedding dress, i.e. the late Princess Kelly, when she married Prince Rainier. That other dress became very famous because of its simple elegance and modesty. 

I must admit I was a bit turned off by the fact that it looked so similar to Princess Kelly's. Sigh. I was expecting something modest, but not something so lacking creativity...

I was so excited by the event that I took half day leave and carried my laptop home with me to continue working. I had bought some cakes, so you can imagine how deadly exhausted I was hauling all that nonsense home. Only the expectant thrill from watching the wedding lent my leaden feet strength.

Mutter and I consumed some of the cakes with some lovely English tea. What a perfect afternoon, if not for work and my Vater mocking at the entire event (he was very determined to ruin the entire experience) *roll eyes*.

来到新加坡才知道 (what I find out after I come to Singapore)

Yesterday Mutter told me that someone drowned at the swimming pool I always swim at...so I went to check out the news online. Then we saw this article about a NTU student slashing her wrists and neck (Lala later said she also poked a knife in her head, but I didn't read that). What I read in the comments were more offensive and intriguing. This nick "xinjiapozaiwojiaoxia" (obviously someone from China, because the nick translates to "Singapore at my feet") posted a super nasty poem titled "来到新加坡才知道" instead of heckling or sympathizing with the person who quite possibly attempted suicide.

Since I was rushing to work, I bookmarked that page, thinking I would read it when I come home. Little did I expect, the moderator would delete the comment because it elicited even more vitriolic responses. No fear, I know how to GIYBF, so I found the poem on a Chinese (as in from China) website. What was even more interesting is that I also dug up a Malaysian version, though that one was archived therefore much harder to retrieve and was not really a poem. It was more like a forum subject, and everyone was posting their  opinions. So I wasn't really able to get the whole thing for the latter version.

Anyway everyone, this is what some of our Foreign Talent think of us...I find that the Chinese version is so much meaner, ruder and nastier as compared to the Malaysian one. It does make me wonder, why the F they come here if we piss them off so much?

Original Site

- this is where I got the full "poem" from.

来了新加坡才知道，8加3是要用计算机的

来了新加坡才知道，自杀不死是要坐牢的，

来了新加坡才知道，10岁以下小孩有用N97的，

来了新加坡才知道，70岁老婆婆工作是正常的，

来了新加坡才知道，生孩子越多政府给的补贴是越多的，

来了新加坡才知道，每一天都有跳楼的，

来了新加坡才知道，小姐是要有营业执照要缴税的，

来了新加坡才知道，没有准证的小姐犯法，但嫖客嫖谁都是不犯法的，

来了新加坡才知道，宾馆是可以只住一个小时的，

来了新加坡才知道，变态是每天都可以见到的，

来了新加坡才知道，年薪20wRMB是算底层的，

来了新加坡才知道，什么事情都是要投诉的，

来了新加坡才知道，不小心碰到女人手，她可以告你非礼的，

来了新加坡才知道，家里或路边有蛇都要报警的

来了新加坡才知道，中国便宜的东西这里是超级贵的

来了新加坡才知道，女人的腮红可以化的像猴屁股的

来了新加坡才知道，叫叔叔阿姨是没人理你的,称安扣安绨的

来了新加坡才知道，4,50岁的安娣最恨中国女人的

来了新加坡才知道，2个小时可以从国家的一头到另一头的

来了新加坡才知道，一天下几场雨是正常的

来了新加坡才知道，三十多度还有女人穿靴子的

来了新加坡才知道，这里的人最少是知道三种语言的

来了新加坡才知道，但是没有一种语音是说的好的

来了新加坡才知道，一句话没办法用一种语音讲完的

来了新加坡才知道，英语原来是可以那样说的

来了新加坡才知道，小印度的餐馆是没有筷子和勺子的（左手抓饭，右手擦大便）

来了新加坡才知道，夜不闭户是完全可能的

来了新加坡才知道，奔驰是做出租车的

来了新加坡才知道，他们干什么事情都要说谢谢的，

来了新加坡才知道，丢了钱包是不用着急的

来了新加坡才知道，新加坡的所有的地方都是开空调的

来了新加坡才知道，政府是支持人民借高利贷的

来了新加坡才知道，电费很贵但是晚上所有楼道是不关灯的

来了新加坡才知道，水是要在马来西亚进口的，

来了新加坡才知道，70多岁的老头娶个20 多岁的越南姑娘是很多的

来了新加坡才知道，新加坡人都是井底之蛙，连活鸡都没有看见过的

来了新加坡才知道，父母亲戚之间是不走动的

来了新加坡才知道，35岁以上的老处女是到处都是的

来了新加坡才知道，17以下不是处女的也到处都是的

来了新加坡才知道，天天都要有在楼下烧香烧纸的

来了新加坡才知道，家家都有神像，天天都要拜拜的

来了新加坡才知道，小强、八哥，变色龙是随处可见的

来了新加坡才知道，路边的椰子芒果是没有人敢摘的

来了新加坡才知道，厨房一年只会用几次的

来了新加坡才知道，农贸市场是叫湿巴刹的

来了新加坡才知道，这里的夜场很多好像中国乡下的个体破舞厅的

来了新加坡才知道，家庭琐事政府要管的，盐吃多少政府规定的

来了新加坡才知道，红包还有包4块的,拜年2个橘子回还拿回2个的

来了新加坡才知道，从他们那里你是借不到钱的，他们借钱都是向银行借的

来了新加坡才知道，新加坡人没有红绿灯是不会过马路的

来了新加坡才知道，这里基本上什么东西都是用“粒”来做为量词的

来了新加坡才知道，上白班的上班下班天都是黑的，上晚班的上班下班天都是亮的

来了新加坡才知道，晒衣服像降半旗似的,独一无二风景线似的

来了新加坡才知道，单身超多,要不半个孩子也不要,不然好几个的

来了新加坡才知道，马来女人越胖就代表老公对她越好,用吨形容的

来了新加坡才知道，通过那张脸就能知道月球表面长什么样了的

来了新加坡才知道，人会如此的无聊的,呆久了会神经&痴呆的

到了新加坡才知道，知道的是很多的，写不完的

到了新加坡才知道，以上所写的只有身临其境才明白的。。。。。。。。

Disclaimer: To let everyone fully appreciate how vicious this obviously Chinese (National) "poet" was, I translated everything word for word into English (Pink colored words are my comments):

What I realize after I come to Singapore, adding 8 and 3 requires a calculator
What I realize after I come to Singapore, if your suicide attempt fails, you will be imprisoned
What I realize after I come to Singapore, kids younger than 10 years old use N97 [I guess this Nokia model was new when this poem was written]
What I realize after I come to Singapore, it is common for 70 years old grandmothers to work
What I realize after I come to Singapore, the more children you have, the more benefits you get from the government.
What I realize after I come to Singapore, everyday someone will commit suicide [they are one to talk. I can instantly recall the number of suicides from FoxConn]
What I realize after I come to Singapore, prostitutes/hostesses who want to have worker permits have to pay tax
What I realize after I come to Singapore, prostitutes/hostesses who don't have permits are arrested, but their clients escape scot-free
What I realize after I come to Singapore, you can stay in a hotel for an hour [wtf?! you mean in China, they fuck in the alleys?!]
What I realize after I come to Singapore, perverts can be seen everyday
What I realize after I come to Singapore, an annual salary of 200,000RMB is considered minimum salary
What I realize after I come to Singapore, complaints are lodged about anything
What I realize after I come to Singapore, if you accidentally touch a lady's hand, she can have you up for molestation
What I realize after I come to Singapore, call the police whenever you encounter a snake at home or by the roadside
What I realize after I come to Singapore, cheap Chinese products become extremely expensive once they are imported here
What I realize after I come to Singapore, women's makeup can be done like a monkey's ass
What I realize after I come to Singapore, you must greet elders as uncles and aunties in English, otherwise they will ignore you if you do so in Mandarin
What I realize after I come to Singapore, 40, 50 plus aunties hate Chinese women the most
What I realize after I come to Singapore, you can reach one point of the island to the other in 2 hours
What I realize after I come to Singapore, it is very common to rain several times a day
What I realize after I come to Singapore, women still wear stockings at 30 deg Celcius
What I realize after I come to Singapore, locals speak at least 3 languages
What I realize after I come to Singapore, but not a single language is spoken fluently
What I realize after I come to Singapore, locals can't complete a sentence in one language [they mean we tend to insert Chinese, local dialects and Singlish into a English sentence]
What I realize after I come to Singapore, English is spoken like that?! [meaning our local Singlish]
What I realize after I come to Singapore, Little India restaurants do not have chopsticks and forks (they eat with their left hand and wipe their butts with the right) [Eh, excuse me, it's wipe with the left, eat with the right, I wonder how many persons did this "poet" insult when he ate with the wrong hand. Besides, you can ask for forks and spoons, because we have them]
What I realize after I come to Singapore, 24h establishments are common.
What I realize after I come to Singapore, Mercedes is used for car rentals
What I realize after I come to Singapore, locals say "thank you" for anything
What I realize after I come to Singapore, don't panick when you lose your wallet
What I realize after I come to Singapore, every place in Singapore is air-conditioned
What I realize after I come to Singapore, the Singapore Government encourages the people to borrow from loansharks [huh?]
What I realize after I come to Singapore, electricity is very expensive but every road and floor is lit at night
What I realize after I come to Singapore, water is imported from Malaysia
What I realize after I come to Singapore, a 70 year old man marrying a 20 year old Vietnamese bride is very common
What I realize after I come to Singapore, Singaporeans are ignorant, they have never seen a live chicken [wtf]
What I realize after I come to Singapore, relationship between parents and relatives are very bad
What I realize after I come to Singapore, 35 years old and above spinsters are everywhere
What I realize after I come to Singapore, 17 years old non-virgins are also everywhere
What I realize after I come to Singapore, everyday someone will burn joss sticks and ghost money downstairs
What I realize after I come to Singapore, every house has a idol which locals will pray to everyday [I suppose this is something Chinese will not experience, especially after Cultural Rebellion. Besides there are a lot of other faiths in Singapore too]
What I realize after I come to Singapore, cockroaches, mynahs and monitor lizards can be found everywhere
What I realize after I come to Singapore, nobody dares to pick the coconuts and mangoes grown by the roadside [I have to admit, this also irritates me that we have to let free fruit go wasted because we will get fined by the Government if we pick them]
What I realize after I come to Singapore, a kitchen is used only a few times a year
What I realize after I come to Singapore, a farmer's market is called wet market
What I realize after I come to Singapore, many night scenes in Singapore look like the breakdancing halls back in China.
What I realize after I come to Singapore, every little household matter is governed by the Government, even how much salt you consume
What I realize after I come to Singapore, a red packet can contain 4 dollars, and you get 2 mandarin oranges back after paying Chinese New Year's visits with 2.
What I realize after I come to Singapore, you cannot borrow money from locals, and they borrow money from banks
What I realize after I come to Singapore, Singaporeans don't jaywalk
What I realize after I come to Singapore, every sentence uttered ends with "lah"
What I realize after I come to Singapore, those who work day jobs go home at night, those who work night jobs go home in the morning
What I realize after I come to Singapore, hanging clothes out to dry like flags at half mast, is a unique sight
What I realize after I come to Singapore, singles are proliferant, either locals don't want children, or they have quite a few.
What I realize after I come to Singapore, Malay women who grow fat reflect their husband's love for them, can be described as tons of love [this is damn insulting]
What I realize after I come to Singapore, after you see their faces, you will how a moon face look like [i.e. they are saying round and pockmarked]
What I realize after I come to Singapore, you will become bored, and if you stay long, you will become insane and idiotic.
What I realize after I come to Singapore, you know too much until you cannot finish writing
What I realize after I come to Singapore, you can only understand the above when you experience it yourself.

Malaysian Version

来到新加坡才知道,衣服是挂着整枝竹插出去晒的

来到新加坡才知道, 原来宅在家是这样的...

来到新加坡才知道, 原来吃不肥是那么便宜的...

来到新加坡才知道, 原来名牌不一定很贵的...

来到新加坡才知道, 家人是那么可贵的...

来到新加坡才知道, 公园是那么舒服的...

来到新加坡才知道, 拖鞋也可以卖到那么贵的...

来到新加坡才知道，大马除了土地面积大，BN推行的没有一样政策是好过新加坡的。。。

来到新加坡才知道, 原来下雨时，大部分可以从家里走到最近的车站，而不会被雨淋湿。

来到新加坡才知道，虽然是邻居，但楼下的事不关楼上的事

来到新加坡才知道，做人情是要包那么大的！！

来了新加坡才知道，原来新币是那么好用的

来到新加坡才知道,报纸也有免费的。。。而且很多地方都可以拿到。。 

来到新加坡才知道,报纸新闻是那么有娱乐性的

来到新加坡才知道,所谓让新加坡人骄傲的市中心夜景，平时本地人的人潮也是稀稀落落的。

来到新加坡才知道，这里每个拜五晚上都有很多人排队拿号码见部长，就好像马来西亚人排队拿号码问神酱！！！

来到新加坡才知道，五福也会上新坛。

来到新加坡才知道，巴士到站时间可以在电子板上的看到

来到新加坡才知道，这里没有人懂什么叫Mee Siput的~

来到新加坡才知道诊所可以变夜店.

S*ngapore Army Fighting Language - Enemy Die Cockstand

Courtesy of Mr Brown.

Congratulate me I am clinically insane =D

I am now involved in 3 projects (2 major *1 always on fire*, 1 I am leading) and 2 secondary roles. We are testing the boundaries of multi-tasking here.

This week in Nibblezware : Everyday I turn a little bit more Lesbian

I  have no comments on the upcoming elections, other than I quote this line uttered by an Eypgtian Mother of a 19yo boy (referenced from the Situation Room Transcripts on the protests against Hosni Mubarak). "This is our fault. This is my generation's fault, because we didn't speak out when we should have. And now I look at our youth and what they're doing, and what they're having to go through to bring about this change, and this was actually my generation's responsibility. We failed them."

Other than that, the fact that I am more excited about Prince William getting married, says a lot actually.
 
*Shriek* Prince William is getting married!!! [Anyway I am fantastically busy at work so much so that I can't even stay awake to play CoH much. Yet, I am extremely willing to take leave to see Prince William and Kate Middleton walk down the aisle. Yes, this is the same person who struggled to work even when she was sick.]

What I can say is that, I came across this blog, http://sweetraspberryjam.blogspot.com/, though I cannot remember why (was it during my hunt for german blogs, or something else) but I think this girl is drop dead gorgeous. Gott is so unfair. =d

Yummy...

Anyway I am convinced that it is true that some women do have the 带夫运. Example, my old buddy from university. You know, ever since I knew that guy, he has been having the most awful bad luck I had ever seen. Vater sold house for him to go uni, Mutter spends all the money, he had to borrow money from bank to study in the end, Vater went bankrupt, then had terminal cancer, he and his sister threw all their money into saving their Vater and then he died. Of course there were other spates of ill luck but it is not ok to say here. Anyway my friend sold his flat and bought another, so that his mother could be nearer to her relatives, and Boom!! He becomes attached after 33 years of living on this unforgiving land. 

Initially I thought that his girlfriend was rebounding from her extremely long relationship where the guy was a *censored*, and then I thought she was a bit fake. Despite that, it seemed that their relationship was growing in leaps and bounds so much that they are going to be married in exactly one year from their meeting each other (thereabouts I think). 

And then what did I hear? First he and his fiancee were supposed to settle the wedding banquet arrangements, and then the planner came down with stomach flu or something, and then they had to reschedule to the next day. Next day, the planner said the hotel was doing some wedding package deal, which started THAT day, and then she gave them a discount and threw in freebies. On Monday, when I bumped into him again on the bus, he told me he wasn't going to be around next week because he was going to Thailand. Why? They had apparently won a lucky draw from their wedding package deal, and are taking SIA (not Tiger Airways mind you) to Bangkok before going to a exclusive resort famous for celebrity sightings... Wah...I am quite happy that my friend's luck has turned and I think that the ex is a village idiot to let this woman go, especially when she has exhibited such 带夫运 power.

I went to HATCHED to eat Sausages

We intended to go HATCHED for Porkie's Birthday but after finding out gothere.sg screwed upon the location, we decided against it and went somewhere else instead.

So when B picked me up from work and suggested Colbar, I immediately jumped on the idea of going there instead. The place was very appropriately decorated, with farm-feeling crate-hued cupboards, and lots of chicken and egg ornaments. I was particularly fascinated by this crazy-eyed chicken, which seemed to beckon to me even more after I drank the so-called Rose Beer (more like cider...it was sadly un-frothy. I found myself sweeping surreptitious stares at that chicken, as hentai B cast covetous eyes at the poor girl sitting on the same row as me. 

I am not sure what's wrong with me, but somehow that day I wasn't hungry. Yet, I could not bring myself to eat what I deemed breakfast food (pancakes, waffles) or just egg dishes because I think the egg dishes were kind of expensive. Perhaps it did not help that I can cook pretty decent eggs myself. So in the end, we ordered only one egg dish, which was Baked Billy, a platter of sausages (it came in a set meal with 2 biers for S$30) and a ribeye steak. 

I was extremely turned off by the steak which came with a chocolate sauce. The second I smelled that odour, it rekindled images of NTU in my mind (back in the old days when I was still schooling, I had to endure a nasty permeating stench of boiling chocolate from the *not nearby* Cadbury chocolate factory. It has become the reason why I don't like to eat chocolates anymore, though I am still strangely good to go on chocolate ice-cream). Eww... B seemed to like the steak even though it seemed more cooked than the medium he ordered. The potato cubes on his plate were pretty charred though. 

My platter of sausages were pretty worth it, though I could not bring myself to finish them (for once, I couldn't finish the meal, and had B eat the rest of the sausages. He wouldn't touch the red sausage, said it looked bloody. I thought it tasted like 台湾香肠*haha*).

The Baked Billy was pretty good, it came with cheddar cheese, cubed tomatoes and mushrooms, bits of bacon and of course an egg inside. 

In a nutshell eggshell

HATCHED

26 Evans Road
259367
Tel: 6735 0012

Cursing can numb your pain

Gawker sometimes throws up some intriguing bits of random information like the one about blowjobs giving you cancer *haha*.This time it says that scientists at Keele University have demonstrated through what obviously is empirical evidence (they had subjects sink their hands into ice water), that there seems to be a link between swearing and an increase in pain tolerance.

Most fascinating part of this study is that it is the prudes who felt the pain-numbing effects more than regular cursers (like yours truly). What a way to convince myself to reduce swearing like a sailor. No wonder no one believes I am a chick when I play COH.

Now I know why people curse their exes when they go through breakups. Because it numbs the pain.

Carpe Diem - Seizing LOVE via Facebook

Personal comment: I hate it when I read blogs and people don't update regularly (well, I am updating now =D Work's been rough, but at least majority of the testing is over... *gott sei dank*) 

So I finally got to read Mashable.com today, and I read that there is this dude, @ScribeDevil, (otherwise known as Matt Simpson) who is advertising for an accessible (and alcohol-friendly) love on Facebook. Why accessible? Well he has blocked off people outside USA, and under 21. And I know because... he went to Mashable to further check out others' comments on the article, and replied this when someone complained that they couldn't access the Facebook Page. Totally understandable, I would do that too, but I would probably sulk and seethe at the rude comments (like my Android Developer page).

[source: mashable.com]

His spiel for his ad?

“For tech-savvy folks like us,” he wrote in an email, “the gut reaction toward ‘creepy’ is not as strong. However, the public at large seems to have a difference reaction — either because it’s invasive or because it seems desperate.

“I think it’s a promotion-versus-attraction issue. The proliferation of dating sites has helped America accept attraction-based online dating. Promotion-based online dating is new. There’s got to be a reason that the big dating sites don’t offer added profile exposure for purchase.”

What do you think? I applaud his bravery. It's not a bad idea (although it is very obvious and weird that he "likes" his ad),  especially since he would be able to attract women who probably spend a lot of time on Facebook (indirectly... use computer a lot), i.e. someone who is hopefully as tech savvy as himself. I must admit, though, if I were to see the ad without the article... I would think it is a online honey trap that will send you to some phishing site or is a creative ad for *ahem* male escort service... If you are living in USA, and under 21, and a woman... you can read his ad for your own interest. For reasons alone, that pic with the zucchini makes me laugh.

On another note, I was telling Miss Piggy that I also did a shoutbox like her (see left of this blog), and that after several days of not having an shout, I am not sure whether I should be happy that I have such a low Internet presence. It is like having a Facebook account with no friends *haha* So we have been amusing ourselves by shouting at each others' blogs. I seriously need to get a life.

[source: mashable.com]

Biggest PacMan in the world

Because I am easily bored. You can run from map to map =D Tons of fun!!! There is one super friendly map. Look for it!!!

おめでとうございますKazehaya and Sawako

After waiting for weeks, I finally got to catch up on the last three episodes of the Kimi Ni Todoke season 2. It had stopped at the tantalizing part where they were going to confess to each other at the summer festival. Season 2 had been a drag, because they were already on the path to being together at the end of season 1, but because of well-intentioned friend and their own hesitation, generated misunderstanding after misunderstanding... until B1 refused to watch it anymore. 

But at the end, it was still worth it. I am only sorry it ended. =d

*Jaw drop* the idiot Sawako took out the chocolates she wanted to give him during Valentine's but she didn't dare. Kazehaya actually ate them.... ew...are they even edible?

My life must be passing by in a horrible manner

That I can get excited at the notification that now I can lock my iPhone/ iPad/ DSLite/ laptop in the lockers outside das Büro without having an approval letter -.-''

No wonder in the Noose clip, the "Kim Jong Il" was saying "the people we give a little bit ... so when the people take a little bit they will appreciate everything..."

Tsk tsk. Will Good Friday never come? Sigh. Ich möchte frei haben!!!!

Just to cheer everyone up... here's a little local delight. La Sushi, La vee lee, La Cai Dao Kueh (local fried carrot cake). This really takes the cake! *haha*

Singlish - English dictionary *haha*:
Gahmen - Government
Simi - what?
Talk Ang mo - Speak English

Read My Ribs - recipes from Y3K issue 53

Vinegary Ribs
20g ginger
4 pieces minced garlic
600g pork ribs
200ml water
50g carrot (sliced)


Seasoning:

6tbsp black vinegar
2 tbsp glutinous rice wine
1/2 tbsp dark soy sauce
dash of pepper
50g rock sugar


Thickening:

1 tbsp Tapioca flour
2 tbsp water


(1) Saute ginger and garlic, add in ribs then fry until color changes.
(2) Add in seasoning, water and bring to a boil over high heat. Next turn it to low heat and braise for 40 min.
(3) Add in carrot slices, thicken after it has come to another boil.

Orange Zest Flavored Ribs
400g spare ribs
5g shredded orange zest
1 tbsp tapioca flour

Marinade:
1 tsp dark soy sauce
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp cooking wine

Seasoning:
1 expressed orange juice
1 tbsp Sunquick orange concentrated juice
1 tbsp sugar, 1/3 dark soy sauce
2 tbsps water

(1) Mix marinade into ribs, keep it marinated for 30 minutes. Next, coat with tapioca flour, set aside.
(2) Deep fry (1) in hot oil until golden. Dish up, set aside.
(3) In a clean wok, cook seasoning till thickened. Add in ribs of (2), mix well. Add in zest, toss well and dish.

Double Boiling Soups - What to watch out for?

1. Poultry like chicken, duck and pigeon can be cooked with skin intact in order to let its natural collagen be  dissolved in the soup. Remove the oil from the soup with an oil strainer before serving.
2. Meat must be blanched and rinsed to remove the remaining blood and strange odor.
3. Seafood like fish, sea cucumber, fish bladder and abalone can be blanched with ginger, spring onion and wine to remove its sea water smell and impurities. Soak the seafood in beer for about half an house before soup making. It removes the sea water smell and makes the soup more tasty.
4. During cooking, vitamin C in radish will be destroyed by the hydro ascorbic acid enzyme in carrot, so do not cook carrot and radish together.
5. Fish is rich in Omega3, protein and unsaturated fatty acid. Before putting the fish in the boiling water, shallow-fry it with some ginger slices to remove the smell. After this procedure, it gives the soup a milky white color.
6. To protect the phosphorous in the bones, don't overcook the soup for too long. If it is overdone, the protein in the bones will be damaged and let the fat be dissolved in the soup. When boiling a soup with bones, you may want to add some drops of vinegar to facilitate the merging of calcium and protein so the body will easily absorb them.
7. Put the ingredients in boiling water to preserve the nutrients of the food. If the water is cold, the disinfectant in the water will damage the vitamins in the meat.

This is nothing, It is expected

[source: fatherhoodchannel.com]

"Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother" is a somewhat droll, sometimes sensational anecdote of Amy Chua shaping her children's future by pretty extreme measures, and how she kept on excusing herself for her actions because she is a "Chinese Mother" and are doing it for their own good. She ultimately slowly comes to realize that it was time to take a step back when her younger child hated her so much that she made her lose face in public. Face value is very important to the Chinese so I am not surprised that it took public embarrassment to halt her "indoctrination" methods (temporarily).

Warranted, I can understand her frustration as a mother. A Chinese mother is measured differently from her peers. While we have certainly moved from a 内 role to fronting the family as breadwinners, we are still measured more by our children's achievements, our seniors' well-being, our husband's health than how much we earn as a career woman. Sometimes we are likely to hear "you see she earns so much, but her children behave like barbarians", i.e. failure.

Actually Amy Chua's success is dependent on several factors, some of which include (1) She and her husband, and even her own parents, are well-educated academics who have the network and capability to afford to invest in their children , i.e. the "nurture" (2) her children have "inherited" potential to succeed, so it is more of how you educate their young minds, i.e. the "nature" (3) they were forced from young to accept this shit from her. Try being a lax parent in the early years and then super aggressive when your kid's grades suck... trust me it will be too late, to lead the horse to the water (4) they belong to academic and more genteel social circles, so their children will make friends with children of the same elk. Likelihood of hanging out with Jenny from the block? Nil.

What I dislike a lot is the part where she compares Lulu to Sophia. I agree with her Lulu will probably suck it up (whether she will actually become even more driven to succeed is another case). But I don't envy Sophia. When I was a teen, I did a lot of bad things like read romance novels when I was supposed to be studying, which resulted in blah grades. So Vater punished me with no TV (I didn't care, one hour of TV is == no TV, actually he should have stopped me from borrowing books instead), and no going out for family chalet during holidays (this I felt very keenly). I was desperate to go out with my cousins who had pretty lax parents, and when I finally did get an afternoon out, I was ostracized by the same people who I had missed so much.

Fairly mind-boggling. I couldn't figure it out. They were super nasty to me. Blood relatives, mind you. Imagine my surprise years later, when my cousin told me that she hated me because her dad always painted me as a studious, obedient child who doesn't go out and studies all day at home (he's right about the at home, but I definitely did not study much. Mutter the warden was always the one who was watching out for me reading and confiscating the books. She always said if I read so much, I should be very well educated by now. Well, Mutter, till date I can't say what educational benefits one can actually reap from romance novels... perhaps learning how to fuck in theory?!) in front of her and younger sister.

Well, that sure cleared up a lot of misunderstanding. But then again... I didn't  hate her even though my Mutter painted her as a brilliant, witty child who doesn't study and yet still does well in school. Little ironies.

Recent news have revealed that Sophia made it into Harvard. Can't say I am surprised. But congratulations all the same. This is nothing, it is expected, after all.

In a way, Amy is different from most Chinese mothers (or so she calls them). Most Chinese parents "know" that they know more than their children, and their word is law while she saw her younger daughter as a worthy combatant, since age 3, and challenged her. She respected her kids, trust me, though not their wishes. The part about the dreams of a Samoyed would definitely not be a feature of a Chinese Mother mentality, while still highly entertaining.

Excuse me are you dead yet?

[source: mashable.com]

This blog bitching is inspired by the highly entertaining study conducted by Eversave on 400 women and their love/hate relationships with their friends on facebook. For full read, click on the source above *thumbs up*.

You know why I don't have facebook? Probably the same reason why I use others' facebook accounts to access your information =D

I don't want people to see what I am doing.  You may consider this an oxymoron since I have such a public blog but I cannot and will not explain the rationale *winks*. Perhaps I am turning more and more into a recluse nowadays. I blog without a face, I have introverted activities, even a recent psychological test in a magazine said I was going to become a lone terrorist *haha*. 

I am extremely annoyed by people who add you as friend just because they are KPO/ want to live their lives vicariously through you/ want to gossip about you to others who also don't like you but want to know if you are dead yet (seriously if they like you, they don't only use Facebook to keep in contact). Sorry, but I just don't see the point.

Facebook to me is just a means for people to shout out to the world that they are alive and kicking while not having to waste tons of effort and words to maintain a blog, and for the rest of the world, to know "oh this guy is not dead yet".

Of course it is even worse, when people try to make small talk with me while at the cooler/ pass by me on the road/ see me at a lift/ before a meeting, and then forget my answer and ask me the same question the next time while at the cooler/ pass by me on the road/ see me at a lift/ before a meeting. I sometimes deliberately change my answer everytime. But it's ok, they won't remember my answer. This is what I call "social dementia". You don't actually give a crap, but you want to pretend you care.

Sometimes I swear I am turning Ally McBeal. I envision myself scratching desperately at the closed lift doors when someone asks me again for the 10th time (I don't exaggerate and say it is 100 times, but definitely it's been 10 times) if I still working in *censored* project. Well, it can't be as bad as Ms Piggy has it. We have encountered someone asking her if she was still doing her open university course, which has not been an amusing question since 2008 (when she actually graduated).