Valentines Day 2008

I am no Lothario or a Don Juan so that pretty much explains how that certain part of my life is. But sometimes, on a very rare circumstance, no matter how repulsing I can be to the opposite sex, weird things do happen.

I frequently go to this kopitiam somewhere near the city center for lunch and occasional dinner. The food stalls here don't serve drinks unlike in da pilipins, so I had to buy my drinks from a separate beverage/refreshment stall which usually have seemingly sweet little old ladies, affectionately called Aunties, serving you.

Tandang Tanda ko pa ang una naming pagtatagpo:

Auntie: Whachawant!(pasigaw)
Me:(huh?!)One Iced lemon tea auntie.
Auntie: WHAT?!
Me: Iced Lemon tea. (still calm)
Auntie: (Gets Chrisantemum Tea)
Me: Auntie, wait, Iced Lemon Tea! (pointing to the can)
Auntie: ALAMAAK! You speak louder leh!
Me: Sorry (getting the tea, and handing the payment)
Auntie: Your English no Good! (smacking the 50 cent change on the table)

At that moment, I felt my eye twitch and my hearbeat skipped. I would have thrown that 50 cent smack dab at her face If not only for my years of Christian upbringing and the voices of a thousand angels coming down from heaven saying how I would burn for eternity but not before having my butt caned and fined $10000 SGD with GST. Okay, That may have been over the top, but that sure had my blood pressure shot up.

Having used to expriencing We're-glad-to-serve-you-because-we-need-our-job kind of hospitality, it's like a douse of freezing water to wake you up on a lazy afternoon nap.

I like to eat at the place, and I need to drink afterwards, so this sort of "friendly" exchange went on for a while. Sometimes, Auntie doesn't even make an eye contact. So, with this, overtime, I gradually warmed up to her. I just take the can, pay, no eye contact, no words, done. Two can play that game you know.

But today:

Me: (Where's that stupid Iced lemon tea? Argh, no more already! No choice but take the Chrisantemum tea)
Auntie: Hello! (Smile)
Me:(0_o)!?





I was like..

and

and

(tssss! ssmoookin....)

(just kiddin on the last one xp)

Auntie: Wah, different today ah? Auntie saved 1 Lemon tea can for you. (picks a can at the corner hands it over)
Me:(:snapping out) ah Thank you Auntie! xie xie! (hands payment and trying to look grateful)Auntie: (::hands over the change) Xie Xie! (smile)


Weird? Freaky? It's a stuff of Twilight zone!








"You unlock this door with the key of imagination. Beyond it is another dimension. A dimension of sound. A dimension of sight. A dimension of mind. You're moving into a land of both style and substance of things and ideas. You've just crossed over into the Twilight Zone"


But what if she added:

Maybe I'll bring a bottled water next time.

Uniquely Singapore

Annnnd for our big headline today, an Orangutan has died in the zoo. Yes, Ladies and not-so Gentlemen, you heard it right. An Orangutan has died! Oh the horror! Oh the humanity! err.. Oh the Primate.

Life here in the small city state of Singapurah is pretty much uneventful. It's the same old thing happening over and over again. Sometimes it gets to you, like that upteenth serving of fastfood junk, and makes you wanna throw up oredi. No wonder even the locals wanna move out. But for us, OFWs there isn't much choice but take it all in. It's either embrace the life or "moved out, you, job stealing foreign worker" as one hawker auntie puts it. The noobs had it coming, but for veterans, well, when in Singapore, do as the Romans do. ehek!

Being here for quite some time now, it came as a little or no surprise at all, that a simian's face has graced, nay, TOOK the front page of the weekend broadsheet. Well, what did the Orangutan do? Nothing. Just died that's all. WTH?! I mean, I'm pretty much used to SG's "exciting" events/happenings but this definitely took it to a new level. After reading about Ah Meng (the Orangutan's name) death, and wiki'd about this frontpage hugger, I'm convinced that her celerbrity status is justified. (And behaving like a true celebrity, she even had a sex scandal to her belt. Now whaddaya know, a Paris Hilton of the Primate world:http://www.sodomylaws.org/world/singapore/sinews023.htm. NSFW! Don't open! Especially if your boss is a monkey, you have been warned.)

Okay, she might have deserved to be in the news. But please, does she have to be on the frontpage? Or Does her face need to occupy most of it? Do you have nothing else to report?

Local: Yaloh, it's better than Philippines headlines lah.
Me: What about it? (::looks and finds ZTE scandal,congress chaos, corruption, murder, robbery)
Me: (::smacks head)
Local: So?
Me: Touche my Singaporean friend. Touche. (::tameme)

Good point. I rather be reading animal obituaries, than suffer the idiotry of RP's political soap opera.

Talk to me goose



In the 80's, ask any ten-year old kid what he want's to be when he grows up, chances are he's either dreaming to be a doctor,a priest,a soldier, a vet, or a PILOT. For some years back in the knee scraping, junkfood eating, accident/injury prone days of pre or early teen, I always thought I'll end up to be one of the mentioned careers especially the last one. And then, as years pass, paths have been chosen, stuffs happened, and I ended up doing none of the above. Regrets? None. Really. I'm pretty content on where I am now. But sometimes no matter how far choice A have taken you, choice B comes back and you're left thinking of what-ifs for the rest of the day. What If I have been more idealistic rather than realistic? What if I persevered in the face of lack of opportunity? What If I decided to fly instead? Seeing things that makes you wonder what could have been doesn't help. It doesn't help at all. :(


A380
This baby gave me goosebumps the first time I saw this plane took off from Toulouse. SIA is one lucky airline to have flown/owned this beauty. The A380 is not only a wonder of a technology but also showcases man's desire to push the limitations. Some say it's ugly, others even labeled disastrous. But for people who truly appreciate aviation, the A380 is a sight worthy of thousand sighs.


In 7 minutes:





TEAMWORK. Wings and Fuselage made in UK. Tail from Spain. Avionics from Germany. Cockpit and Assembly in France. Shows what kind of wonder man can create if they only work together.
(hmm..I can only imagine what it would look like if it was DESIGNED in ITALY?)




Singapore's A380:







Singapore surely made a memorable welcome. As a local puts it: "Wah lau wei! This plane so shiok what!"
me: Yep, I'm shiokked alright. (Gets weird look from the local afterwards)


In Manila:




"Mga Binibini ginang at ginoo, kalalapag po lang natin sa paliparan ng Manila. Bago po kayo bumaba tiyaking nasa inyo na lahat ng inyong kagamitan.Sa ngalan ng Philippine Airlines Eto po ang inyong Kapitan (ahem.) at lahat ng aking mga kasama, kami po'y lugod na nagpapasalamat sa pagtangkilik nyo sa amin. Inaasahan na tayo'y muling magkikita sa susunod nyong paglalakbay. Paalam na po at maligayang pagdating sa Pilipinas."







A380 Tests:










Sydney or London?