Why I Wish I were the Millionaire Son of an Aristocrat - Reason No. 1

1.37 am on a Monday morning according to my office computer clock and I'm still in the office, with the end nowhere in sight. No coffee places open except McDonald's, which serves the most disgusting coffee. I ran out of my last drop of spirits a few hours earlier - about a tea spoon of leftover Nikka Whisky, aged 12 years, that one of my associates left for me to try. The rest of the good stuff is in the associates' offices which are currently locked so I can't even steal in and nick a bit of it. Now I know why Jack Sparrow was so miffed when Elizabeth burned all the rum. And the company has blocked all internet radio, so the only music I have is a CD full of corny old love songs which I inherited.

Labour Day Celebrations

Yesterday was the labour day public holiday, which meant I got to spend the day being a bum in the comfort of my home. Naturally, in order to fill my time and to commemorate the contribution of all the country’s labourers, I spent the day enriching myself ironically by watching Youtube videos of economists like Milton Friedman explain why we should not help low-income workers by instituting minimum wage. I also watched videos of Margaret Thatcher back in her heyday in the 80’s. I especially liked the part where she says, “You turn if you want to. The lady’s not for turning!” Of course such confidence is only inspiring when you’re right. Otherwise if you’re wrong most of the time it just becomes obstinate pig-headedness, like what Bush, Jr. carried around in loads.

Kinokuniya Membership

As a result of recent mental stimulation, I have been inspired to transform myself into an intellectual. As a first step towards this goal, I procured today a Kinokuniya discount card, in order to purchase more books cheaply. My first purchase under this card is none other than "When He was Wicked" by Julia Quinn. Not very intellectual, I know, but at least it's a start. And a big man like me has lots of inertia. Baby steps.

Good Speakers

I'm currently in the market for some good speakers. And by that I don't mean the Barack Obama kind. I mean the kind that sit on your desk and give you orgasmic aural pleasure.

About a week ago I decided that I'd had enough of listening to the wailings and scrapings coming forth from my laptop speakers, so I dusted off and reconnected the ten-year-old Altec Lansing speakers that came with my Dell desktop way back when. Hey presto they still work. But the situation is not completely satisfactory, especially since they don't have the highest fidelity (audiophile geek speak ftw!) and I'm used to the somewhat better sound produced by my ER-6is, which I would use on a permanent basis were it not for the fact that it's a major inconvenience having to roll up and squeeze the foam tips into my ear canals every time I want to put them on. For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, the ER-6is are earphones that come with foam tips that you have to squeeze into your ears so that they block out external sound.

Unfortunately I'm not familiar with this area of pleasure goods (unlike some other kinds ^_^), and my audiophile friend informs me that good speakers in Singapore are likely to be (a) marked up in comparison to other countries and (b) in any case expensive in their own right to begin with. But hey, what else am I going to do with all my money right? It's not like I have the time to enjoy any of it properly these days other than by going out for a few minutes and plonking it down on whatever new toys I happen to see.

So I've been listening to the blues lately - yet another indication that I'm becoming well and truly ancient, although not as ancient as my grandmother who is quite frankly beginning to resemble a gargoyle. But I digress. The Blues are precisely the sort of thing that just a few years ago would have had me running in the opposite direction. I'm currently getting my aural fix from shoutcast radio (available at http://www.shoutcast.com). The best thing is that the stations are free, and there are no commercials. Perfect for listening to while I clean my toilet!

Damned Julia Quinn Spoilers

I just finished reading the Julia Quinn novels that I recently borrowed, and I am pleased to say that I am now one step closer to becoming the perfect lover.

I like Julia Quinn's style of writing - she's not draggy like other romance writers, and her style of writing is ticklish, which leaves me grinning while I'm reading her stories, which is fine with me because I like to laugh. Unfortunately, my experience this time round was somewhat diminished by my unwitting discovery of one of the largest secrets in the Julia Quinn universe. For those of you who know what I'm talking about, I'm referring to the secret identity of Lady Whistledown, the mysterious gossip columnist who seems to know everything that happens in the London social scene. Alas, I googled the term "Colin Bridgerton" as I wanted to find out if I had yet read his love story (all the Bridgertons have their own book and there are eight of them so I can't exactly remember which ones I've read), and the preview of the second hit prominently stated "While we eventually discover in [AAA] that it is [XXX] who is the true Lady Whistledown...". I do hate it when my reading experiences are ruined by spoilers, and for those of you read Julia Quinn, you know that this is truly the motherload of spoilers.

On a brighter note, all the recent tales of lords and ladies finding love and getting married did put me in the mood for the royal wedding on Friday. I happened to catch a glimpse of the proceedings in the office where we recently installed some large TVs. What struck me most was how the ladies had such large hats! There was one who had a hat so big I half expected her to take it off and throw it like how Captain America throws his shield. And I thought you weren't supposed to wear hats in church. Also I know a lot of people are saying how Kate Middleton's gown was a hit, but is it just me or does it resemble a certain dress that Madonna made famous?

I'll leave you to draw your own comparisons.

讲华语好！

哈咯各位读者，我最近在工作上花了很多时间研究中国法律。通过这次活动，我确认了一件事：那就是我的华语实在是狗屁不通。依我看来，这是一个令我很不满的情形，因为过不久中国就要成为世界强国了，而到那时候我们就得靠它吃饭。所以，不会讲华语实在不行。因此，我已下定决心练好一口流利的华语。希望通过不断的运作，我的华语会越来越好。那一些会讲华语的读者，你们不要笑我的华语不好，在等一年，看谁的华语比较好。

I Live Again!

I have decided not to wait anymore for myself to finish blogging about all my Toronto adventures before moving on to other topics, because if I do that, this blog will never be updated ever again.

So I just came back from my first bike ride in what must be a year. My legs currently feel like lead and my back is aching. There is a very high chance I won't be able to walk around the office tomorrow, in which case I shall just have to wheel myself around on my chair and risk the ire of my boss. On the upside, this means that my metabolism will be back on the mend, and I shall once again be able to consume glorious food nonstop without fear of having to pay additional visits to my tailor this financial year.

For those of you unacquainted with my sartorial needs (yes, there are actually people acquainted with my sartorial needs), I have recently been experiencing trouble fitting into my pants, not least because I tailored these pants while still schooling and exercising regularly. So when asked by my tailor whether or not I wanted my pants fitting or slightly baggy, of course I said "FITTING!" The result is that now whenever I put on even the slightest bit of weight around my midriff, I have trouble zipping up my pants.

Indeed, I never knew how much I liked eating until recently. Prior to starting work, it had never occurred to me that it was possible to want to eat something and not have the appetite for it. In recent weeks I finally learnt what that feels like. I also learnt what it means to pant while walking upstairs, to pant while carrying a carton of A4 paper and to not have energy to squat down to load paper into the office photocopier. I know I've always said that I'm happy to learn new things, but I think when it comes to certain things, experiencing them just once is more than enough.

Today marks the last day of the long weekend (thankfully next week there is another). Sadly I failed in my bid to spend it productively. I did however procure two more Julia Quinn books from the rental bookstore. I do want to complain about the fact that it is costing me five dollars EACH to rent the damned things for two months. How does that even make sense when a new copy only costs fifteen dollars? If it weren't for the fact that I have no more storage space in my room, I wouldn't even consider renting them. Having said that, I'm rather excited to delve into them. They're both of the Bridgerton series, and one of them concerns the marriage of the Viscount Bridgerton himself, which is a story I've been wanting to read for some time now (yes girls you know which one I'm talking about don't you).

Oh yes and yesterday I attended my sister's Catholic baptism which was actually part of some Easter celebration. The entire thing went on for three hours which is really pushing it if you ask me. After all, the average attention span of an adult is twenty minutes. Of course, it's always nice to go down and support family members at such life-changing events, extreme boredom notwithstanding. Anyway here is a picture of the event which I shamelessly plagiarised from my brother's Facebook account:

I resist the urge to make a puerile joke about my sister being eaten by a giant clam.

Right, I'm off to shower and see if I can't get this place looking a bit less like a lazy bachelor's pad and more like a respectable home.

Valentine's Day Present

Look what arrived at my door today!


Valentine's Day present from the dons.

don /dɒn; Sp., It. dɔn/
1. A sort of student helper on every floor who is probably paid a few quid by the residence to do paperwork and all sorts of other ad hoc chores. Also organises events and stuff.

I should probably pop my head into one of these get-togethers and see what the other residents are up to. Or at least slip 'em a thank you note or something. But I know I won't mwahahaha!

Japango Sushi 1.1

I was out of ideas for lunch today so I decided to go back to Japango and try some of their cheaper stuff. What a big mistake.

I ordered a soft-shell crab appetiser and some tempura udon.


Soft-shell crab appetiser.

The soft-shell crab was OK, but only just. The tempura udon wasn't good at all. It tasted like the ones that come pre-packaged from supermarkets. I could barely swallow a few spoonfuls of it. And when I called for the bill the lady boss didn't even seem to realise that I'd left almost the whole bowl of udon uneaten. Suffice to say I shan't be going back anytime soon.