while you were sleeping

five reasons why you don't fall asleep at a party full of photographers.

to the birthday folk

psychopath birthday celebrants ming and abi

- the food was good, what little i tried of it, though i wish i was there to see beng throw in the frozen chunk of iced potatoes into the fryer.
- yonnis makes a fantastic host, even when it's not her party. i think the efficiency stems from raising four kids ontop of running her printing business.
- abi touched her forehead with her toes from behind. FOREHEAD LEH! WITH HER TOES!!!!
- darren was all about showing his pictures again, i'm just surprised he didn't play show and tell with that japanese girl.
- sara lee pound cake with ice-cream makes a surprisingly good replacement for birthday cake.
- seng's pseudo-narcolepsy makes for good picture taking opportunities (to be seen in next entry)
- william dancing sia! still can't get over that

thanks for having us all over, and may we look forward to many happy returns of the day.

wow really?!?!?

just an example of how the competition here is dealing with a slow news day.

merry christmas to all

and to all a good night.

god knows i could use one for a change.

the perils of car shopping

(clockwise from top: toyota vios, suzuki swift, kia rio and kia picanto)

it's not easy to decide to get a car, especially in singapore.

when cars cost much higher than their counterparts in other countries, it's easy to make price the main criteria, but then there are lots of other things to take into account, brand, resale value, quality etc. however, it's also really easy to make the jump from one car to the next. afterall, when you are paying this much, what is a couple of thousand more for something a little better?

for those of you who aren't from around these here parts, here is a breakdown of just how much vehicles can cost. what with our small island's limited space, the government decided years ago to implement the coe (certificate of entitlement) system, where you have to bid for a limited amount of these bits of paper that costs oodles of money, at the end of which you get something that pretty much says "you are allowed to buy a car".

the good thing these days, is that all the paperwork and COE crap is thrown into the price of the vehicle. and with the elections coming up, it seems like the government is dangling a carrot in front of all us materialistic singaporeans again, this time, in the form of cheaper COEs and reduced car prices. to make it short and simple, cars are costing almost $10,000 less than the equivalent a year and a half ago. that and the number of COEs are going up. bear in mind that the prices i will quote are CURRENT estimates and will probably bounce back up again come march or april. (note: to friends overseas, pick your jaws off the floor please)

good time to buy a car? i think so.

so now that one has (somewhat) decided to plonk down a whole load of cash on a car that will last, oh, probably no more than 10 years. the next question to ask is "which one should i get?"

here is where it starts getting complicated.

a summary of my thought process:
"mmmmm... suzuki swift 1.5 ($55,800) i like!! ...but maybe a bit too expensive, so what about the cheapest?.. kia picanto ($38,000)... not bad.. but a little small...sigh... and a 1.1 litre engine which means it'll be slow, not to mention that it's touted as a woman's car in other markets... but wait... the kia rio is not too shabby! 1.4 litre manual version for about $45,000, add $2,000 more for an automatic car, but then if i get an auto, maybe the 1.6 litre might give more power (add $2,000 more). hmmm... but wait... no ABS or airbags. hold on... toyota vios? what? $52,000? 1.5 litre engine? and it comes with ABS, airbags, low fuel consumption AND the fact that it's a toyota means the resale value will be good! all that for $52,000 or so! but wait... that's only a couple of thousand less than the suzuki swift, which is the one i liked in the first place... so maybe that's not so out of reach after all..."

notice how easily my price range went from $38,000 to $55,000 in the blink of an eye? "just a couple of thousand more.."

yeah right.

so at the end of the day, which one am i going to get? damned if i know, but i think it's a toss up between the vios and the rio. afterall, they are only a few thousand dollars difference. but then again, the picanto is cheap and functional, which would compliment the motorbike i already have. and yet, the suzuki is still strangly alluring.

sigh... decisions decisions.

waiting for tt

looks like the nkf (national kidney foundation) scandal is back in the news with the release of kpmg's long awaited report on the nkf's suspect practices. (for my non-singaporean friends, read here for background info.)

to cut a long story short, this has led to my ever developing personal grudge with chief perpetrator tt durai, not only for his shady dealings, but more personally, for making me wait outside his house two days in a row in the hopes of getting his damn picture. yesterday was bad, but today was worse after having waited over eight hours outside his home for the no show. at least i had company (see picture) this time round. apart from feeling like an exhibit from the zoo (all the cars stopped to see what we were doing) all the smoking i am doing while waiting is going to kill me. maybe i should sue durai too.

on a side note, i realized just how sad some people can be. upon spying a cute (and i think underaged) neighbour during our interminable wait, a sad excuse for a reporter (SEFAR for short) remarked "we should get her name, then i can go on friendster to see if she is single or not."

good lord dude! some things you should just keep to yourself.

ps: it's sad that i have to link the nkf background story to one from a competing media outlet, but what with my paper charging real money to view their interactive version and all...

zap

you know your congregation must be doing an awful lot of sinning when the man upstairs decides to toss a thunderbolt at your church in an effort at culling.

ouch.

home sweet home

more than a month without a proper post, and here i am, grovelling and begging the forgiveness of all for my lack of consistency, and promising to do better next time.

trips to india and sri lanka over the last month have been an eye opener. looking for stories of hope for a one year anniversary special of the tsunami was harder than expected. the few stories we found were overshadowed by the greed of the locals, the snail's pace of reconstruction, and the misappropriation of relief funds. i guess always wanting more is human nature at its most primal, but that doesn't make the selfishness and greed i witnessed any easier to swallow.

however, the gems we uncovered amidst the refuse made all the difference. there are people who care for more than just themselves, there are people who compare with who has less than them instead of who has more, and there are people who refuse to dwell on their losses in the past and choose instead to look forward with a big smile on their faces.

and those positive attitudes, make all the difference in the world.

random thought:
not many things are as comforting as the strangness of catching a cab home from the airport after assignments in less developed countries. the ride seems strange and almost unhinges you, until you realize that the "discomfort" you are feeling is merely the sensation of driving on a smooth road not riddled with potholes, the hum of the engine sans incessant honking, a car cabin that doesn't smell of smoke, and the certainty of making it to my destination in one piece.

IWOOT I: r2-d2

something else that no star wars fan really needs, but every star wars fan would really really really love to own.

introducing, your very own r2-d2

ps: iwoot = i want one of those