Monday, October 29, 2007

ultimate compliment

today, my vendor told me that she liked the advertisement i designed so much she put it up on her office wall for display! i was like "wah!" (luckily there is this thing called gravity! :P)..but of course i did not "wah!" in front of her la..that's like so rude right?

what i actually did was say "thank you", smile and asked her if she wanted an autograph copy!

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

x-men: the advanced generation

the secret has been hidden for ages..not even the creators of the x-men series or for that matter, professor x are aware of it. a new breed of x-men and x-women have surfaced, surviving outside the comic strips, blending into normal human society. yes, it's true..these "mutants" have been spotted utilising their special powers to do extraordinary things! the only way to recognise them is through their powers, some of which hold certain resemblance to the original x-men's. their new hideout is hidden under the guise of a lower class bustling work area that's none other than..tanjong pagar!

while there is no possible way of identifying every single species of these mutants living among us, here are the more common and easily recognisable ones...

powers similar to:
"cyclops"
most commonly spotted:
inside lifts
(localised) code name:
"cy(ber)-cocks"

this variation of cyclops is certainly more powerful than the original..not only does cy-cocks not require that fancy looking goggle to keep "its" powers under control, "it" fires "its" rays without you even seeing the rays! "it" is usually found right at the front of the building lifts.

how do you identify it?:
wait till the lift doors are nearly closing, then rush in..when you're inside after barely escaping the closing lift doors, turn to the right or left (whichever applicable)..there "it" will be..arms folded (or sometimes by the side), intently firing "its" rays at the "open" button just so that you do not get squashed by the doors! there are times when i felt that "it" should act faster and i stare at "it" to show my displeasure but then i realise that i will never win..if "it" stares back at me, i am finished!

powers similar to:
"jean grey"
most commonly spotted:
during extremely sunny or rainy weather
(localised) code name:
"jin gray" (hokkien for really or extremely gray)

compared to the original jean grey, jin gray is definitely less powerful..not only does "it" require a weapon, "it" depends highly on seasonal weather changes to utilise "its" powers (see "most commonly spotted").

how do you identify it?:
during really sunny or rainy days, as you are walking..suddenly "it" will whip out "its" weapon (usually disguised as an umbrella) and cast a force-field around "itself" sending people scurrying out of "its" way! i am to believe "it" has trained to a certain level that "its" force-field is able to hold off an entire building should the building collapse..just look at the number of force-fields being cast indoors these days and you will know what i mean..we humans are not so easily fooled, surely a normal umbrella cannot withstand the weight of an entire building right?

powers similar to:
"gambit"
most commonly spotted:
during lunch hour
(localised) code name:
"can't beat"

this is the most common and as its localised name implies, also one powerful breed of mutant during the peak of "its" powers..possessing trades very similar to the original gambit. however, due to singapore's legislation on gambling in public and needing to keep a low profile, instead of playing cards, can't beat's weapons of choice are "its" tissue packs! just like gambit, can't beat's powers though impressive are extremely limited.

how do you identify it?:
the story behind "its" name comes from the way "it" attacks..i am sure many of us have fallen victim to "its" attacks before! during lunch hour, have you ever approached a table (with no one even remotely near you) and next thing you know..you get hit by a tissue pack thrown by can't beat! and that's why "it" is named that because "it" always seems to beat you to a table no matter how faraway "it" is..and if you think all "it" does is throw tissue packs around, try removing one of "its" tissue packs and watch "it" explode in your face! apparently, this strain is highly contagious and infects anyone who comes in contact with "its" tissue..thus explaining how even most normal humans are coming to master this skill!

now if you see any of the above mutants around, do not panic, stay calm..they are mostly harmless unless provoked! last i heard, a higher class breed of x-men and x-women have been spotted in raffles place!

squeaky clean

i happened to pass the speaker's corner at hong lim for the first time recently - well, i have probably passed it by lots of times before but only then did i notice it! - and i was thinking to myself "wah, quite a big space for a 'corner' hor!" it's true, my first impression was that it was spacious, very white (wonder what/who was the inspiration behind the colour coordination, white with more white) and really quite empty.

the initial idea was that people could just walk up to the stage, speak their minds and air their views..and everyone below the stage will nod in agreement and laugh at jokes lamer than mr bean's antics (which coincidentally, seem to happen quite a lot on broadcasts from another clean and white place somewhere near the padang). but they forgot we are singaporeans leh (aka very very very busy people), we will require the speaker's objective and agenda (in ms powerpoint, word or adobe pdf format) before we commit a slot on our very very very busy schedules to listen to a potentially time wasting speech (before we rush off to another very very very important appointment at newton hawker center)!

so in view of the lack of usage i propose we rename the speaker's corner as...

the spueaker's corner

...whereby our little furry friends can raise more pressing issues like...

1) downgrading
- with the increasing number of human activities moving underground (underground expressways, underground carparks, underground mrt lines, underground swimming pools (which may not be such a bad thing) etc.), the rodent community are forced to move further down...

2) mickey and minnie
- a discussion on the sensibility of upholding two mouse idolised by humans - who squeak in a foreign tongue and whose fashion senses have stagnated for decades - as ideal role models for the rodent youths...

3) ratatouille
- a forum to educate the rodent community on the essence of good food and discourage the consumption of garbage (accompanied by an educational video called.."ratatouille")...

however, i also do foresee that the national environment agency will violently object and throw out my idea without as much as a squeak..due to well, environmental concerns..infestation, i believe they call it.

so until any changes, the speaker's corner waits patiently for its first speaker who...
1) isn't "assisted" off-stage
2) actually have an audience
3) isn't dressed to complement its background

Tuesday, October 09, 2007

GERMS

in continuation from my previous post..a funny thought just occurred to me..since we have the GEMS (Go-the-Extra-Mile for Service) Service Awards to recognise and promote good service standards, why not introduce a GERMS Awards? Oh, in case you're wondering what GERMS stand for...

G arbage
E ntities with
R eally
M iserable
S ervice

someone call in the doctor! there are GERMS to be exterminated!

Monday, October 08, 2007

uncivil-lies

after talking about our country's "civilised" people, i would like to focus now on the other side - the un-civilised people! no no no..we are not talking about everyone else who is working in the private sector. rather, not sure if anyone noticed but there is a new circus in town..with a full complement of clowns, monkeys, elephants and vultures (yeah vultures, new age circus mah..). you must have heard/seen the name somewhere before..no? but surely you must have received a phone call telling you some friend (who usually chooses to remain anonymous!) has referred you to perform in the circus? no? that cannot be TRUE! ok even if you've not heard of it before, let me tell you about my experience with this circus..

first they kept calling me, asking me down for a two weeks trial..initially i was skeptical but by the second call i thought "why not? since i had always been interested to take up yoga. maybe the circus can teach me a trick or two about flexibility.." and so i went down to take a look.

when i reached there, the people were friendly enough and i was brought around the place where i was introduced to the various acts and the trainers..i was getting more and more interested..however, due to financial reasons, i didn't want to commit to it yet..so after explaining that i was just there to take a look and rejecting the offer numerous times, the head clown came to see me and tried to explain to me why even broke people should spend ridiculous amounts of money to look good (now you want to be bankrupt, better look good first! do you really want to look like crap in your bankruptcy photo?)! i was losing my patience and i just wanted to get out of there so i told the clown in a matter-of-fact way that i just was not keen. to which the head clown (this is the best part) raised his voice at me "then why are you here? don't waste my time!" now that was TRUEly great hospitality! it's like someone invites you to visit his house but when you arrive without the 42 inch, hi-definition, hi-resolution, hi-tech, hi-whatever plasma television, he asks you "then why are you here? don't waste my time! fuck off!"

i was pissed mad..but when i got home i felt much better..i was not alone!


if we thought mosquitoes are pests (at least they do not tell us to "fuck off!" or if they do, we don't understand so that's fine as well!), this circus is a different breed altogether..so since we have the "if you let them breed, you will bleed" dengue campaign..maybe we should start a new campaign with slogans like..

if you think TRUE is cool, you have no clue

or be cool, don't TRUE

or don't TRUE your money away

don't get me wrong..i have nothing against gym, yoga or fitness memberships..in fact if anyone wants to get fit/keep fit, these places are usually nice and cosy for a good workout..but what i do have a problem with is pressure selling and such hooliganism (which apparently, you will encounter with most other fitness clubs as well)..so my advice is, before you even step into a fitness club, check online and ask around your friends..decide that you want to join, then step in..you're more likely to avoid all the nastiness and the fake-niceness that way..just as long as you don't expect even economy class customer service after you have signed up!

now where's my 42 inch plasma?