Not-so-good End to 2007

Today is the last day of 2007.

And it can be spoilt by a small yawn...

Well, not really spoilt because it wasn't major and I am not going to lose sleep over it. But really made me slap myself on my forehead and go "duh"...

Was driving into office with little sleep last night. Came home way past mid-night and all.

So I was driving into my office basement carpark. Just to describe a little :

Right after entering the gate, I can either turn left 90-degrees to park at B1, or I can turn to go down a ramp to B2 (which is where I usually park.)

But the downward ramp is not straight ahead.. it is about 5 meters to the right and parrallel to way I came in through the gate. So I had to turn right like 60 degress, move a bit, the turn back so that I go straight down the ramp, and there is a concrete divider to separate up and down traffic. (And going down is on the left, so the divider is on the right side of the car.)

And since the ramp is below my horizon (as it is going downwards), and the divider is only about 10 cm high, you can imagine that drivers can't actually SEE the divider once the car is at the edge of the slope. You can see the divider while at the gate, and you can see the divider when the whole car is pointing downards. But not in between.

I am sure many people has either turned too much and hit the divider, or didn't turn enough and the LEFT side hits the curb (luckily there is a curb, otherwise cars will be scraping the wall.) Cos I can see damages in the concrete.

Now, I have been going up and down this slope with NOT A SINGLE TOUCH on either curb nor divider for the past 3 years. I am not new to this thing. It's an everyday event for me.

And today, just as I am rounding my steering and going over the edge of the slope, I had to yawn. And just for that half a second, I didn't turn my steering back fast enough.

Bang. My front right wheel hit the divider. Damn. I didn't go over the divider or anything.. Just that the divider "pushed" my wheels and my car back on track.

When I got down and inspected the wheel (hoping there was no leak or anything), I saw DEEP and wide gashes on the rims. It was quite a hard hit I can say. I can use my keys to scrap off lots of pieces of not-so-thin flakes.

*Sigh*. Well, part and parcel of driving I guess. No, I am not the type who will now go and change the rims. I will leave it as it is. Its just a car for transport. As long as it is still safe, secure, clean, comfortable and all-functions intact, I will leave comestic damages as they are.

A Receipient of Malaysia Healthcare

Went to Malaysia to visit a family friend yesterday. He is a middle class man of about 77 years of age. Children grow up, running businesses and some working in Singapore. Living in a 2-level house built on a land that they own, in a middle class section of some parts of Johor.

Went up to visit him cos my father heard that he was involved in a motorcycle accident a while back..

I shall skip the details and come to the crux of this post. Basically fell off his bike and landed in a deep drain. Sent to a govt hospital.

Hospitalized for 3 days. In that 3 days, he had x-ray or MRI (he don't know what it was but he had to lie down for like half an hour for them to "scan" his head injuries) and then sat down and took what was most likely an x-ray for his kneecap.

Total bill for the entire episode - RM$15.

They took deposit of RM$30 at the beginning and when he was discharged, refunded RM$15.

We even asked again - EVERYTHING ? Including all the x-rays and stuff ? He said yes.
I am assuming all the medication, glucosamine, etc that he has to take AFTER being discharged as a separate payment. Even then, it is pretty surprising.

Recovering and moving on...

Thanks for all the concerns. I am recovering, almost fully now. Still a little bit of lump somewhere, but the fever is gone 1 day after the extraction and at least my face is back to normal.

I am beginning to start chewing on that side now.

So Hari Raya is over... Looking forward to Christmas holidays. Well, this has always been the time of the year where most people are feeling happy and enjoying the holidays.

Work has been ok I guess. Not that there is much to do, since my replacement is supposed to have taken over everything from me, something that my boss re-iterated a couple of days ago. More like I am just sitting there, nothing to do except advise my replacement should he ask for it.

So I am now going to focus my time and energy in making myself happy, finish my mapping exercise and plan for my eventual move over. Something that will require a lot of planning.

This has probably been the biggest decision in my life so far, as I am not married. It's even bigger than quitting jobs or deciding what course to study in Uni.

My Tooth...

Woke up in the middle to this morning , feeling very cold. This is probably one of the highest fever have ever felt. I had to take 2 panadols and I still feel cold.

Tried to sleep. Then I woke up at about 7, and took a cab to Alexandra Hospital A&E. I figured, after all, with high fever and such, it probably requires some medical attention and not just from dentists.

The A&E doctor referred me to the dental centre. It only opens at 8.30. But I guess my timing was just nice. Walked into the dental centre, and waited for about 15 mins before being seen by the dentist, who called in another specialist.

The specialist told me that chances of saving that tooth is very slim, so I decided to just extract it. It's obvious that the infection is getting worse by the day. I looked like this in the morning :



The Specialist gave me another 2 rounds of anti-biotics and told me to take them first, before going for the extraction at 2pm.

I went to the canteen, ate a bowl of tau-huay and a cup of soya bean drink. Took the pills and not knowing where to go, went back to the dental clinic to wait for the time.

The nice extraction surgeon (another dentist) saw me sitting there about 11+ and asked the nurse who I was, as he couldn't tally his dockets with the number of patients.

When he knows I am waiting for the 2pm appointment, he said he will extract for me once he is ready. So I got my tooth extracted at about 12+.

Nice guy, who manages to pull out my tooth in a couple of minutes :



He was saying things like "Oh my, that is a lot of pus" , "Wow, a lot of pus is flowing out"... Goes to show how infected I was.

Total bill was $80++.

So now, my face is still swollen, but at least I think my fever is not coming back. So probably will need to wait for my body to clear the swelling.

Now my whole body is aching, and still very tired. And not to mention I still have to wait for my gums to heal, and wait for the extraction wound to heal.

There goes my weekend. :(

Terrible Toothache

My lower left 2nd Molar was crowned for a few years. Few days ago, it developed some pain but the dentist's was full.

Yesterday, I couldn't take the pain any longer and walked in. He managed to see me, but he can't do anything as my gums were inflamed. Gave me anti-biotics and pain-killers. Book appointment to follow up in 2 weeks.

Today, the pain got worse. My right eye swelled in the morning. I thought it was an allergic reaction to the medications. But it subsided in about 2 hours. Then after lunch, my lower lips were a bit numb.

By the time I rushed to see my dentist again, my left eye swelled again. Told me to go see a specialist in hospital.

Damn, I hope it is nothing too serious. But the pain is still pretty irritating. Plus the numbness. I hope they don't have to saw away my jaw or something... Ewww..

Tax and Tax Cuts

Ok. Found this circulating the Internet :

Sometimes politicians, journalists and the liberal left exclaim; "It's just a tax cut for the rich!" and it is just accepted to be fact. But what does that really mean? Just in case you are not completely clear on this issue, I hope the following will help. Please read it carefully. Let's put tax cuts in terms everyone can understand.

Suppose that every day, ten men go out for dinner and the bill for all ten comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:

a.. The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
b.. The fifth would pay $1.
c.. The sixth would pay $3.
d.. The seventh would pay $7.
e.. The eighth would pay $12.
f.. The ninth would pay $18.
g.. The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.

So, that's what they decided to do. The ten men ate dinner in the restaurant every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve. "Since you are all such good customers," he said, "I'm going to reduce the cost of your daily meal by $20." Dinner for the ten now cost just $80. The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes, so the first four men were unaffected. The first four would still eat for free. But what about the other six men - the paying customers? How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his 'fair share?'

They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody's share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to eat their meal. So, the restaurant owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man's bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay. And so:

The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings).

a.. The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33% savings).
b.. The seventh now paid $5 instead of $7 (28% savings).
c.. The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings).
d.. The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings).
e.. The tenth (the richest) now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).

Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to eat for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings. "I only got a dollar out of the $20," declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man," but he got $10!" "Yeah, that's right," exclaimed the fifth man. "I only saved a dollar, too. It's unfair that he got ten times more than me!" "That's true!!" shouted the seventh man. "Why should he get $10 back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!" "Wait a minute," yelled the first four men in unison. "We didn't get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!" The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.

The next night the tenth man didn't show up for dinner, so the nine sat down and ate without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something very important. They didn't have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!

And that, boys and girls, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start eating overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.

Interesting. And I guess that is probably the truth.

The question I always ask myself is, which man am I ?

And the question that will haunt me, at least for the next few years is :whether I will be better off (financially,) in Singapore or in Australia.

Obviously it has to be balanced by other non-financial aspects of life. But I guess being in Singapore for so long, money is all I can think about right now.. :)

Writing Blocks

Ok. I have tried my very best not to make this into a "Today I brushed my teeth" kind of blog.

Of late, I really do not have much to write about. Nothing funny in my life. Nothing interesting. Nothing much even about work.

Gosh, is my life really that boring ?

Wanted to make this blog about intellectual things. But seems like I am not thinking about much these days.

Or maybe my life is now hinging on the turning point sometime early next year, and thus everything pales in comparison ?

I wish I can start writing again... Or I might as well close this blog.

My New Toy !

Just bought these.. And feeling a bit under the weather today. Will have a good night sleep and I hope tomorrow morning I will feel well enough to assemble my new toy.

Old one is a tad too slow and couldn't get it to play newer games...

Motherboard, Graphics Card, 2GB RAM, 250GB HDD, Power Supply.
Total cost of less than S$700. :)

Ok.. time to sleep...

Another Appeal

I know my readership isn't that big. But I guess this is just a little bit of effort that I cannot spare.

Please read this : http://newlifeoutreach.blogspot.com/

The person who is writing this blog is a personal friend of mine. I know trust is not transitive, but whatever amount you guys are willing to contribute, please do not hesitate.

If you have no paypal accounts, please let me know. I am willing to collect money personally and pass it over.

You can also help me spread the word far and wide.

Thank you.

My Mapping Update

Remember this ?

Well, update. I have finished drawing all the roads for my section.
Now to build up the Points of Interests, marking more drains, ponds, lakes, gardens, condos, Industrial buildings, etc...



All the yellow and green dots are just connections.. It show which junctions are connected, etc...

Happy Deepavali, or so I thought.

Today is Deepavali and is a public holiday. At least in Singapore.

Festival of light. I do need lots of light in my life right now. It's no big secret that I am intending to move over to Australia soon. Some time early next year.

And this has caused me anxiety and apprehension at the most inappropriate times. Sleepless nights, waking in the middle of the night, days when I suddenly question myself if I am doing the right thing.

But I guess at the end of it all, it is not all about money. We sometimes have to fulfil our other desires as well.

And recently, this issue has caused me other problems at work too - my boss.

(Haha.. Yes, I know some of my colleagues are reading this, but I guess I don't care anymore...)

You see, it is not secret among my colleagues that I am planning to move over. And when my boss asked me about it almost a year ago, I thought the best thing is not to lie about it (lest he heard from someone and I was caught lying to him.)

But all along I have been consistent and telling him that the earliest I would leave is March next year. And most probably by June.

Recently, my big boss (my boss' boss) has pushed me to go over earlier, trying to help me with getting a job in our branch office in Australia. He even mentioned, that since my replacement is already hired, I can go earlier.

But I can't, on personal levels. So I told my big boss that I could push it a little earlier and leave after Chinese New Year next year (which is going to be early Feb.)

Lo and behold, since I didn't update my boss about the "After CNY" thingie, and he has to hear about the news from his boss, he got angry with me.

I mean, WTF. After CNY and March - What is the few days difference ? Afterall, my boss hired my replacement since almost 2 months ago... I guess it is not the "time" that he is angry with, but the fact that I didn't tell HIM myself, and that he has to hear it from someone else.

So he is upset that I do not "trust" him ? That I am leaving him in the dark ? Afterall, it was just a few days after he came back from an overseas trip and I didn't have opportunity to chat with him.. Not like I would knock his door and just update him on this piece of "news"... I had other more pressing work to do.

So being angry with me, he doesn't want to talk to me. Must like school kids who "I don't friend you anymore" kinda attitude...

Anyway, end of the day, I now regret telling anyone in my office about it... I should have just kept my bloody mouth shut and just leave suddenly... That would probably show how much "trust" I have in him (my boss). Maybe he'd like that better ?

Dreamy Nights

For the past 2 nights, I don't know why I have been having many dreams. These dreams have been causing me to wake up at inapproriate times of the night, causing me to be tired in the day.

One dream was that I was involved in a war, a long one I might add. And it ended up as being a joint exercise between I-dunno which armies. It felt like I dreamt the whole night.

Are they signs of something ? Or am I just too stressed ?

Ad on Radio...

I am not sure if I am the only one who noticed this radio ad... (I heard it on Class 95)...

It is by HP Printer division I assume.. The ad goes like this (Not in order, and not verbatim) :

Woman A (Called Kim) : See, this is Jessie on her first birthday...
Woman B : Ah.... eh ?
Kim : And this is Jessie on the roller coaster ride...
Woman B : Huh ?
Kim : And this is Jessie (blah blah, I can't remember)..
Woman B : Kim ! I can't see Jessie.. Well, just a little, your photos are all faded !

And the ad ends with say "Don't let your memories fade away," and urge the audience to use original HP Ink and things like that...


First thing that came to my mind was : If I am printing my own photos on HP Printer, wouldn't I be having a soft copy of the photo ? So how can the memories fade ? If the photo faded, I just print another one !!!

????


** Edit : Its by Canon, not HP.. My apologies...

Typical Millionaire of Singapore

Yes, its here : http://www.salary.sg/2007/typical-millionaire/

The report went on to estimate that in 2006 “approximately 19,000 HNWIs of Indonesian origin resided in Singapore and held approximately US$93 billion in financial wealth.”

In other words, close to 30% of the high net worth wealth here belong to Indonesians. I’m sure many of us are not surprised.

Wow. I know rich Indonesians come here.. and park their money here.. But.. 30%...

Adapting back to Singapore

Ok.. Been back for a few days.

First thing that I miss, is the nice weather.. and nice sun.. gave me a good tan.. :)
Then it is the quiet nights that makes sleeping more peaceful.

Work-wise, I have lost more passion. I am going to work just to make it easier for my dept. But then, do I make a difference ?

Found another thing to do. Probably take photos to sell on the Internet... Make my hobby pay for some of my bills ?

Perth Day 7 to 12

Been away to Margaret River, so no internet access. Now that I am back in Perth city, here are the updates. A lot to update and it is late, so this will be brief. Summary of what I did the last few days.

(1) Kings Park :



Yes, that was breakfast - Apple Strudel





This is new. Didn't see this elevated walk 2 years ago. Almost like a tree-top walk.



(2) Busselton Jetty :



The longest jetty in the southern hemisphere. Now if only someone can tell me which one is the longest jetty in the northern hemisphere...

Yes, we walked to the end. About a 2km walk, cold wind too.





Caught sunset again...


(3) Margaret River :



This is the cottage we stayed while in Margaret River. Of course, did 2 days of wine tour and many things too (See Capes and Cave below.)



We did a OZ Style BBQ for dinner. Complete with wood too, instead of the usual charcoal. (Yes, we chopped our own firewood.)



Then it got dark and cold very quickly. Haha... Now we know why Ozzies BBQ in the afternoon.



The owner's doggie, looking at us for food I guess.


(4) Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse :



This is the place where Indian Ocean meets the Southern Ocean.

(5) Jewel Cave :







(6) Cape Naturaliste :







This was where we managed to catch some whales too, though they were quite far out.

Oh speaking of which, we went for a whale watching tour departing from Fremantle. Not a great tour I would say. Rough waters, caught only a few whales. Not as great as the one I went from Brisbane.



Ok.. very tired. All the climbing and walking and drinking... haha.. 2 more days before going back.

Perth - Day 6

Today was raining. Wanted to go for picnic at King's Park but the rain washed those plans away.
Instead, we just shopped around the city centre and had Japanese lunch. I will have to say they are not nice and expensive. Oh well.

The weather cleared up in the evening and we went to Cottesloe Beach for sunset.
You can see my old photos of the same beach sunset in my old blog entry (Jan & Feb 2005) here.

This was what greeted us when we arrived. Thanks to the wet weather and sunshine :



Sun setting. Too bad there were lots of clouds :



But at least, we can see nice colours on the clouds :



We were cold. But that didn't stop these 2 blokes from surfing :



Then we went back home. This was what we bought at Fremantle Market yesterday. Grilled it for dinner just now :



It is so big that we just ate this for dinner...

Ha ha. Obviously not. Had other nice food cooked by D - Salmon, Chicken and Pasta.

Ok. Time to sleep and go to King's Park again tomorrow !

Perth - Day 4 & 5

Ok. One amendment. The "parakeets" that I mentioned in my previous entry, are actually called Rainbow Lorikeets. :)

Day 4 - Saturday. Went to the Perth Royal Show. They have games, plants, animals, racing and of course fireworks. Very tired. Not going to say much so here are some of the photos from the show : (Remember, you can always click on them to see bigger, higher-resolution images.)

Games :



Flowers :







Look at all the edible cakes ! :









And many types of animal shows :














And other stunts and performances :





And today, ate dim-sum for brunch, just walked around Fremantle and had dinner at Cicerello's with more friends :

Perth Trip - Day 2 & 3

Ok. Almost settled all the things that I needed to. And went to visit the city and did some simple shopping.

In the meantime, here are some sights :

My Breakfast this morning :



Was at Perth Mint yesterday evening, and a nice white rose :



And then was walking along the Swan River. Near the Swam Bells, I heard loud and noisy chirping. It came from here :



See the 2 Parakeets ? No ? Zoomed in, 18X :



And this evening, was at Mills Point. We were trying to catch the sunset at Cottesloe beach, but couldn't make it on time. So had this instead :



I don't know. I just think the seagulls look cute, though they are considered as irritating as crows back in Singapore.

Ok. Tomorrow is the weekend. Will be visiting the Perth Royal Show, and Freo.