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31 March 2005

Me, My Blog & I - Crossroads


Cross Roads So here I am, standing at the crossroad after tracing the path that has led me thus far, in my previous post.

I ask myself these questions. Where to take this blog next? How to get there? Why there? Well, let's look around us and see where I am and what's going on out there.

For me, I categorise bloggers into three main categories.

1) The Thought Tweaker (TT).
The author who writes what's on his/her mind. He/She pours everything into it. Even if it is the most mundane event, he/she would still be able to express it in an way that is unqiuely his/hers. Even stuff that we overlooked from our daily lives could yield an new found insight or wisdom from time to time.The topic is probably one that he/she is knowledgeable and passionate about.

2) The News Reporter (NR).
Basically, a collector of news, events and putting them up into his/her cyber scrapbook. If there is something that caught his/her eye in the papers, on the web or anywhere else, he/she would be sure to get them onto his/her blog. Then there is also another kind of reporting where the author's daily activity is logged.

3) The Bean Counter (BC).
Nothing matter more than hits and counts to this author. In Point #13 of Tony Pierce's "How To Blog", Pierce encourages writing about sex, religion and/or politics and I agree that these 3 topics will be the ones that generate the most attention. Religion and politics will raise the most controversy while sex simply sells.

Perhaps (TT), (NR) and (BC) forms a triangular matrix where each and everyone of us bloggers would occupy a spot within.The question is where is the "X" that marks our ideal/optimal spot? I seriously doubt putting oneself at any of the extreme apex would make any sense.

The all out TT may write about his passion with lots of energy but will anybody be interested in reading it? Don't lie to me by saying that the author doesn't really care if anybody out there bother to read it or not. Let's face it, we all have a bit of narcissisim in us or we would not have publish our thoughts in the public domain. Obviously, we all want an audience to read what we have to say and better yet, respond to it.

The extreme NR simply just reports things as they happened. "I woke up and had 2 muffins for breakfast today." End of story. I wonder what is the point in that at all? I also see some blogs where they put sports scores or new articles on it and nothing personal added to it. What is the point of doing that? To me, it looked nothing more than a space filler. A disguise so that the blog looks alive and bustling when in actual fact, is as lifeless as a block of wood. I mean if I want news or sports scores, I think I would be better off visiting the more established commercial websites. After all, isn't it where the stuff were originally lifted? On that note, I would have to confess that at one time, I was guilty as hell on that count. Yup, fucking slacker. That's moi.

And lastly, the obsessive BC. I have seen some blogs that write machiam like Penthouse Forum. This is thin ice territory here and I risk being chastised by my fellow bloggers. I don't mean that one should not be writing about sex (or politics or religion, for that matter) but I question the author's intention behind it. Is it his/her way of expression or ii it just a ploy to generate the hits and counts? Whatever it is, I will never know and as such, I will never be in a position to judge. But, I do hope it's the prior.

Now before I carry on any further, let me pause here by saying that I do not profess to be an authority on this subject matter (nobody died and made me the King of Blog Police). I am merely thinking out loud and transcribing it here. I do apologise if anyone felt offended as it was never intended. Obviously there is so much that I have yet to learn and my comments are based solely on my limited wisdom. So forgive me if I come across as tunneled-vision. I am.

The way I see it, there is no such thing as a bad blog. We are free to decide on what we write and how we write. Heck, the fact that you are writing, already deserves some credit. Like I said, no such thing as a bad blog. Just one that you do not bother to return again i.e. Not up your alley. Not your cuppa tea. With the world-at-large so vast, I would have to concede that there is no way we can cater to everybody's preference. As much as I love to read the blogs listed on my left, like Brown, Sheena, Nethia, Lancerlord, IniQx°, Troy (my God-son!), Ah 9, Anna and Belle, I believe that there will be people who feel strongly otherwise. Similarly, there are blogs out there that absolutely bore me to pieces while the others may be lapping up every scrap thrown at them (I won't mention anyone here but it won't be difficult to guess, if you know me well enough to deduce).
The question of the day is: Are they wrong while I am right?
I doubt so. I think it is more of an agreement to disagree.

So, where was I in the matrix up to recently? I guess I am probably around 30% TT, 60% NR and 10% BC. Perhaps for those who just stumbled in here recently, may I direct you to Part 1 of Me, My Blog and I --> The Road Up To Now to have a bit of background information. That way, you would be able to have better understanding of what I am about to say.

Carbon-dating my blog history, I guess the Starting Point should be around 1994 when I started writing in my BBS column. While my mailing list may have been in existence before then, I guess my BBS column should be counted as Day 1 due to the similarity between the present-day blog and the BBS column itself. So based on that, it would add up to more then a decade already. I am coming to my 14th month, with Blog-City, of non-stop writing and my spot in the matrix kinda shifted to 30% TT, 70% NR and 0% BC. Frankly, I am quite amazed at my stamina to carry on for so long with 0% BC. Machiam like spending 14 months in the solitary confinement cell. It's akin to facing the thunderous silence after shouting your lungs off at the echo valley. Granted that I do get passer-by dropping comments from time to time, but they have been few and far between. So BC is still 0%.

The month of March is when the tectonic plate of my spot is shifting again but I will talk about it in Part 3 of Me, My Blog & I --> The Road Ahead.

Now. To all my fellow bloggers. To all my blogging Sempais.

Where are you in the matrix?
How do you feel about it?
Would you want to shift to another spot? If yes, where to and why?

Honestly, I think I ranked pretty low in terms of a successful blog but that's ok. Learning is a lifelong process, anyway.

Do share with me your wisdom pertaining to your own blog. I'll be thrilled to be able to learn something from all this.

Quick Link --> Me, My Blog & I - The Road Up To Now (Part 1 of 3)

Quick Link --> Me, My Blog & I - The Road Ahead (Part 3 of 3)

Image Credit: http://dreamwalker.files.wordpress.com; http://www.fablevision.com/
- Voxeros

1. a reader left...
Friday, 1 April 2005 12:40 am
awww... u listed me as one of your favourite blogs... i'm so touched!!

belle


2. a reader left...
Friday, 1 April 2005 3:38 am
Interesting observation and categories of bloggers! Although I had been reading blogs since last year, I only started recently, so definitely not in a position to comment.

I can't really say for sure what intrigues me. Some blogs do, some don't. But I'm definitely put off by absolute negativity in a blog, outright sex-selling, non-stop bitching, and ranting about getting hits and comments. [I'm also very traditional, so don't like to see the F word sprouting everywhere ;) ]

I like to read about someone's life, no matter how mundane. That's why I seek out bio page first. That said, even in one particular interesting blog, you may also find stuff that bores you. But it doesn't mean you won't visit again. Life is up and down anyway, can't be fun, fun, fun!

I don't really know where to place myself on your 3 categories. Definitely a conscious low for BB. I told myself not to get carried away with number counts. Of course, it's nice to have people affirm your writing. But if I base my writing on what pple want to hear, then I may not write truthfully. Besides, I'm not about to become an ace journalist with a target audience. (I don't even know who my target audience is.)

My objective of blogging is having an outlet for my offbeat humor, a community to share thoughts, and trying my hands at writing.

anna


3. a reader left...
Friday, 1 April 2005 12:11 pm
Blog honestly...can be anything under the sun. =D

Like mine...i simply express...i don't bother how others think...write with your heart on your sleeve...soon you will love writing your blog. =D

9 [igotgame12@lycos.com]


4. JayWalk left...
Saturday, 2 April 2005 10:44 pm
Anna: I have to agree with quite many of your points raised.

I'm afraid, if I were to addressed them here, I may end up with nothing to write in Part 3 of Me, My Blog & I - The Road Ahead.

So I guess for now, it's akan datang.

Cheers. (",)


5. a reader left...
Sunday, 3 April 2005 1:06 am
Curious to understand why you say "I seriously doubt putting oneself at any of the extreme apex would make any sense".

By your model, my blog is at the extreme of the TT category. And worse still, it is on a very focused niche topic. But it makes perfect sense to me. Which is why I am interested to hear your views to the contrary.

Waiting for your part 3..

knightofpentacles

6. JayWalk left...
Sunday, 3 April 2005 8:19 pm
I think the problem here is how you define an extreme TT.

The way I see it, mostly likely our interpretation of the extreme TT is different.

Thanks for the input. I shall make the effort to elaborate on it in Part 3.

cheers. (",)

30 March 2005

Me? Sexy Housewife??!!?

Was just checking my blog's net stats and it showed a link to my blog from MSN Search.

Somebody out there was doing a search for "Sexy Housewives" and my blog showed up as one of the returned results.


Oo yarh bor? Lim peh sheshhy housewife har?

Post-note: So here I am at 5:40am (so who's the insomniac now?) thinking about the guy (definitely a bloke) who did the MSN search. Imagine the lad, who is seeking websites pertaining to "Sexy Housewives", clicking on the link to my blog. I think he'd probably shits his pants when my blog loads. Don't believe? Try it. Click the link.
- Voxeros

29 March 2005

Eureka Moment


My personal thanks to Nethia for her seed of inspiration that gave me the Eureka Moment of "Why Popeye The Sailor Man Looked Like That?" ----->

It's the SPINACH!!! The discovery was made in the Comments section of my previous post "Spinach Is High In Iron" and I felt it was too good to be left down there in the cellar.

As such, I am surfacing it up as a blog entry proper.

"Now you know why Popeye has such deformed forearms and calves when his thighs and biceps are so skinny?

It's all the iron that he has been consuming!! As you know iron is a heavy metal and with the force of gravity, all that iron just droop downwards. He could have huge fingers and toes as well, if not for the fact that there ain't any space for the iron to go down that far. (",)

So there. Science lesson of the day."

- Voxeros



1. a reader left...
Tuesday, 29 March 2005 2:29 pm
heh, i don't really know how i contributed to the Eureka moment but brilliant theory my boy!
Apart from being rat-assed funny, I feel pretty enlightened right now as to why popeye looks the way he does..hah..

nethia


2. JayWalk left...
Tuesday, 29 March 2005 2:34 pm
I don't have a logical explanation to linking you and the Popeye Theory.

All I can say is that the light bulb just went "DING!" after reading your comments.

Aye... another mystery of the world waits for us to solve.


3. a reader left...
Tuesday, 29 March 2005 3:33 pm
I'm a fan of popeye. You might have noticed, I had even used Olive Oly for my avatar. (Just removed it this morning.) Not a great fan of spinach however....

anna


4. JayWalk left...
Tuesday, 29 March 2005 4:21 pm
Well blow me down! You're right!

You know, in this day and age, I think we are the few who still remembers Popeye and Olive. And yes, how can we forget Bluto, Wimpy, Swee'Pea and Sea Hag.

"I Yam What I Yam!" - Popeye The Sailor Man


5. a reader left...
Tuesday, 29 March 2005 6:41 pm
drop by from kt. Wow, your english was superb and the long entries. Good Effort and passion.

Ron


6. JayWalk left...
Tuesday, 29 March 2005 6:50 pm
Aww... shucks... *blush*

Like I use to say,

"Sing Gar Por Lang Buay Sai Orh Lor Eh".

See lah.... now head damn big liao... ~LOL

Anyway, glad that you enjoyed the posts.

欢迎再次光临!


7. a reader left...
Wednesday, 30 March 2005 9:53 am
Yes, I remember Bluto. I can still remember the Popeye tune. "I'm popeye the sailor man, too-too..." hahaha. Ok, I admit it. I'm an old bird. What about Donny & Marie? Did you live through that?

anna


8. JayWalk left...
Wednesday, 30 March 2005 2:21 pm
Indeed I do! The Osmonds with their kid brother Jimmy Osmond. Let us not forget The Electric Company... "Faster than the rolling O, stronger than the silent E, able to leap capital T in a single bound. It's a bird. It's a plane. It's... Letter-Man!"

I remember the days when the whole neighbourhood has only 1 TV set and located at the Community Centre locked inside this tall metal cabinet on wheels during the day.

And later all of us have this huge mother of TV set in our living rooms than spans 2m across. I believe the brand name is Telefunken?

"I'm strong to the finish,
coz I eat me spinach.
I'm Popeye the Sailor Man!
*toot! toot!* "

9. a reader left...
Thursday, 31 March 2005 2:40 am
Yes, I remembered. I thought it was black and white TV then.

anna

27 March 2005

Spinach Is High In Iron

It's Sunday today and instead of rushing to the golf course for my regular eating-cum-golfing-at-the-same-time weekend game, I decided to stay put and rot at home. For those that have been following my blog, I am taking a walk, away from the game which has given me a lot of grief over the weeks.

Anyway, so there I was having my lunch when I stuff a swipe of vegetables (which I believed to be spinach... with the maid's cooking, I can never tell...) into my mouth.

Chew... chew... chew... chew... chew... KRAK!!!

What the fuck??

I spitted out the offending ball of green mush and poke it about with my fork.

There it was in all of its 3cm glory! WAH LAN EH!!!!????!!!!! @#$@#$@!!!!

The bladdy thing was so hard that I couldn't even bend it. Fucking tough nail, siah! I was lucky to have chewed it when it was lying flat or I would have punctured my lower chin or had it embedded inside my nasal cavity. *shudder*

But you know what? Welcome to Ch1na. Over here, we just spit them out, curse like nobody's business and get on with our lives.... sigh....

* Fucking camera phone is giving me a lot of grief too. 1.3 mega pixels, my arse. I am SO going to get my Lumix this week. Will post better quality picture tomolo when I borrow somebody's camera to retake the shot.

** Post-note. Forgot to bring home the digicam. #@$#@$!!! fuck fuck fuck fuck...... making do with my PDA camera instead. fuck fuck fuck fuck...... $#@$#@!!!
- Voxeros
1. a reader left...
Tuesday, 29 March 2005 1:27 am
Gosh! This is scary. It would have hurt you badly if you have swallowed it! Well, in China, you probably can't sue anyone??

anna

2. a reader left...
Tuesday, 29 March 2005 1:39 am
A nail in you food?! What was your maid doing?

By the way I really like your new blog template.

Merenwen

3.JayWalk left...
Tuesday, 29 March 2005 1:39 am
Well, one thing that I've learned since young is not to talk when you have food in your mouth.

But when you attend these chinese dinners with the local folks, they always toast you at the most inappropriate time. Still, I make a point to swallow my food first before bottoms up. Even if it means that poor bloke has to stand there with his glass raised for 2 whole minutes, looking like an idiot, waiting for me.

Sue somebody? Who can you really sue? The vegetable seller at the wet market? What do you hope to get out of the case? If the guy got money to pay you a handsome settlement, he wouldn't be selling veggie to begin with right?

Haiz..... Welcome to Ch1na. (",)

Life is not easy here. You will learn pretty quickly to be a survivor. An invaluable life lesson is the way that I see it.

Jaywalk

4.JayWalk left...
Tuesday, 29 March 2005 1:43 am
Sheena: thanks. I was getting a lot of grief debugging the weather forecast component. Took it off-line for now. Walking away from it for now and will come back to it later.

Can't really fault the maid for this one. Sometimes you just miss these things. It is not uncommon to find pebbles in your rice or veggie over here. Just need to pay attention when eating or you may just chip your tooth.

ouch.

Jaywalk.

5. JayWalk left...
Tuesday, 29 March 2005 1:49 am
Sheena: btw, can you see my favicon? That's the little "J" logo right next to my web address in the address bar and/or web tab (if you are using Firefox like I do).

6. a reader left...
Tuesday, 29 March 2005 3:16 am
I knew it. I did not grow up thinking vegetables were evil for no reason. Especially Green vegetables!

nethia

7. JayWalk left...
Tuesday, 29 March 2005 10:12 am
Veggie may be evil but we still love them anyway.

Are we lemmings seeking punishment or what? 8P

Now you know why Popeye has such deformed forearms and calves when his thighs and biceps are so skinny?

It's all the iron that he has been consuming!! As you know iron is a heavy metal and with the force of gravity, all that iron just droop downwards. He could have huge fingers and toes as well, if not for the fact that there ain't any space for the iron to go down that far. (",)

So there. Science lesson of the day.

Me, My Blog & I - The Road Up To Now

2400 baud modemThen, I remembered it was 1994 when we all chipped in to get a friend a modem for his birthday. I guess we over-estimated his computer prowess coz I was the one that ended up home with it at the end of the day. It was a 2400 baud modem and painfully slow.

I didn't really knew how slow until I finally got my own 14400 baud modem and returning the 2400 one, a year later.

It's been a year since I was with Blog-City and I thought this would be a good time to just take a breather and look around. Take a good look at the path behind that led me to where I am today and another look at the path ahead to where I will be heading.

So let's take a trip down memory lane, a flash-back to the time when Michael Jackson was still black.

When Doves Cry - Prince (1984)

It was after 2 years of going to my neighbours' place to drool over their Sinclair ZX80, Tandy Radio Shack TRS 80 and Commodore 64s, that I finally got my own computer. The Apple IIe.

Initially, I did nothing but played games on it to my folks dismay (and to quote them, "whole day and whole night"). For my mom and pop, it was money down the drain as they thought that their investment in "enhancing" my education turned out to be nothing but an expensive toy. I remembered my very first games included Zaxxon, Lode Runner and Olympic Decathlon. Ah... the childhood memories....

I guess it did take a while before I started exploring what this thing can do, other then provide hours of gaming entertainment. I started learning BASIC while my cousin used it to do his journal on his favourite club, Liverpool. (Anybody remembered the word processor, Magic Windows? This was way before Word Star and Word Perfect) I guess I took to the idea and starting doing mine on ManUtd on the 40-column screen. And that marked the birth of my football blog, on ASCII text. I have to admit the writing was pretty kiddie-ish. I mean after all, I was only like what? 12? 13 years old? Oh yes, I cussed a lot less back then.

Putting it on file wasn't satisfying enough for me and we didn't have a modem, let alone the internet to share our stuff with other people. I did it via hardcopy on my trusty Epson MX-80 dot matrix printer. I was using Newroom software to do it. I had fun but it was damn leceh as I find myself constantly inter-changing the six 5¼" floppies repeatedly.

The first issue went out and I had a proud circulation of 6. Unfortunately, the publication lasted 2 issues before I got bored with it.

My interest in computers took a nosedive when I tried to join the school's computer club but was rejected (not geeky enough). While I lost something there, I gain something elsewhere. I discovered girls.

Under The Bridge - Red Hot Chili Peppers (1992)

1992 marked the year when I finished my Army Daze and started my University life in NTU. As with all freshmen, we were assigned a computer account for access to the campus VAX/VMS network. That's when we all went crazy with the chats, IRC and emails. Over time, I started to built a circle of friends in the cyber realm, which later ended up on my mailing list. Thus marked the birth of my first cyber audience.
The Sign - Ace of Base (1994)


During that one year, I discovered a whole new world of Bulletin Board Services (BBS). I got on pretty active on Razor's Edge BBS and eventually, the Sysop, a fellow NTU mate, created a section for me to write my stuff. I never did strayed away from my footie journals but instead of focusing on ManUtd, I found myself writing more about the Singapore team in the Malaysia Cup. We have Fandi Ahmad (of course!), Lee Man Hon, Nazri Nasir, Michael Vana (Banana!), Alistar Edwards, Abbas Saad, Lim Tong Hai and super-sub Steven Lim. Ever noticed how David Lee's goal-kick never made it past the half-way line? Sorry I digress....

I was shuttling my stuff on a diskette between the campus VAX/VMS and the BBSes porting my stuff back and forth. It was tedious work, but I enjoyed it. I was a junkie for an audience.

On the days, I have nothing to write about, I would get on to good buddy Ed's Voyager BBS and seek out funny stuff on Fido-Net and then shared with my mailing list of friends back in school. I slackened off during the exams, only to be greeted with a barage of emails chiding me for being lazy in providing their regular fix. I cried (figuratively, of course) when I first read the nasty emails. They were tears of joy.

I don't really know how many people I reached via the BBSes but I do know that my mailing list circulation was 31 when I graduated.

Strong Enough - Sheryl Crow (1995)

For Malaysia Cup reasons (another story, another time), I was booted out of my Hall. My 500+ ECA points couldn't help me erase that bad mark in my student dossier. I was banished forever.

As I spent more time at home then in school, visits to the Computer Lab started to dwindle as I find myself more at my own home PC then at the school's.

Back then Singnet and Pacific Internet (formerly known as TechNet) were the among the first to offer internet access to the general public and I jumped onto the prior soon after it was launched. Before that, we were using Lynx instead of Netscape, IE, or Firefox for browsing and Gopher, Archie, Veronica and subsequently Jughead for searching instead of Google or Yahoo. My first graphic-based browser was Mosaic and that was when the WWW became fully opened to me.

I was truly fascinated with the websites that other people were designing and even more excited to discover that anyone can do his/her own website and easily, if I may add. I taught myself basic html by studying other people's page source. Back then, coding were doing on the trusty Notepad. We didn't have Wordpad then! Every html code was painstakingly keyed in one at a time. It was even before Hotmetal, Hotdog and Netscape Composer that later offered WYSIWYG html editing.

It took me 2 weeks to get my first ever website out. My lectures, tutorials and readings were backlogged as a result, but I really didn't care very much about them to begin with anyway. The website was primitive at best as it contained just a short profile of myself, a short piece of musing and my resume. Then came one Sunday morning when I was rudely awoken by a phone call. Still pretty dazed from the previous night's partying, I found myself talking to a stranger for about 10 minutes before realising that I don't know who the other party was. As it turned out, her name was Pauline and she got my phone number off my resume. My first cyber-stalker! We remained good friends until today. The resume-on-the-web did work for me as I was offered a couple of jobs, even before my final exams started. Man, I can't tell you how big my head (and my ego) swelled.

Every Morning - Sugar Ray (1999)

My writing took an extended hiatus due to the fact that the BBSes was more or less dead with the introduction of the internet. Nobody dial up to BBSes anymore. While I still do a little bit of writing and distributing via mailing list, they were sadly few and far between. Also the fact, that since I started working, I had less time to myself as I did when I was just a carefree student. On and off, I also did a couple of articles for Hardwarezone and SPUG. For those that may be interested to read:

Unfortunately, my "career" as a "Tech Reviewer" came to an abrupt end when I wrote a very unflattering preview piece about a certain model of PDA, that was due to be launched the next month. I was handed a poison chalice for the product in my personal opinion, really "cannot make it". I refused to back down from my stand but the manufacturer, being a sponsor of the website, bullied the editors into submission and my article was trashed. The PDA went on and had a great Christmas sale. Since that article, I was no longer invited to give anymore reviews as I was now marked as a person who is not a "team player". While it was not directly and clearly communicated so, it really didn't take a rocket scientist to figure that one out.

"Oh fuck it." I said

Fallin' - Alicia Keys (2001)

Year 2001 was when I started working in Ch1na. It was also the same year that I discovered Blogger. It was such a beautiful tool that makes writing journals so much easier with a nice looking page design to boot. I signed up so that I can jot down my memories and experience in Ch1na (and eventually publish my memoirs?) but alas, the first two years was so hectic getting into the pace of work and at the same time adjusting to life in a foreign place. Consistent blogging was really a challenge. What many don't know is that the web is heavily censored by the Stoopid Garment. While I can understand the political sensitivity of foreign news sites like BBC, ABC, CBS, NBC and CNN (most of it are already unblocked at the present day), I was especially exasperated by ordinary harmless sites making its way into the black list. Hello? Did anyone actually go see the website before passing judgement? Hello? Hello? For some stoopid unknown reason, Blogger got sucked into the blacklist shortly after. While I was lucky that I didn't have much to lose, migration to Blogspot was easy though albeit with a sour after-taste. When it rains, it pours, as Blogspot too got blocked shortly after Blogger. SI BEH DOO LAN!!

Me, Myself And I - Beyonce Knowles (2004)

So between 2001 and up to 2003, I didn't have much to show for except for the occasional blog here and there, when I was out of the country. I was glad to chance upon Blog-City which surprising was flying quietly under the Great Firewall radar. I am guessing that perhaps Blog-City isn't American-based (they are British), that they are viewed as a lesser risk to national security?? I finally clocked my first blog entry at Blog-City on 10 Feb 2003 and I have never looked back since...

Candy Shop - 50 Cent featuring Olivia (2 Apr 2005)

Quick Link --> Me, My Blog & I - Crossroads (Part 2 of 3)

Quick Link --> Me, My Blog & I - The Road Ahead (Part 3 of 3)

Image Credit: http://apple2history.org; http://www.recycledgoods.com; http://www.old-computers.com; http://www.ils.unc.edu; http://www.bbc.co.uk

- Voxeros

1. a reader left...
Wednesday, 18 May 2005 10:33 am
Was never a computer geek, and still is technologically-challenged, but I remembered with fondness dialing into BBSes, playing the jpg game LORD (Legend of the Red Dragon) and being worshipped as the Sysop's sister when my brother went for National Service and I had full destructive reign on his BBS. THat was like ten years back.

Ah! The fun!

Linda Chia

2. a reader left...
Wednesday, 18 May 2005 10:35 am
And here's my blog www.lindachia.blogspot.com

Linda Chia

25 March 2005

I Found My Final Year Paper!

I was goofing around with Google when I found my Final Year Paper on the web.

It was titled "The Scope Of The Role Of The Chief Financial Officer".

My team got a distinction for it. Not bad for a 50-paged effort. Check it out --> here.


- Voxeros

23 March 2005

Perhaps I Should Just Call It A Day...

It all started last Saturday in a golf tournament where I ended up 63rd out of 67. It was a low point in my golf history. Never have I played so badly in a tournament. Everything just went wrong. Even with the toughest of mental strength, it brought me to my knees, just short of crumbling mentally.

I stayed on for another day to play with a couple of friends on a non-competitive basis. Granted, there was still wagering in the game, the pressure was off as this was purely recreational.

My form the next day was good and to the extend of taking all 3 other players to the cleaners. So I thought, perhaps yesterday was just a blip.

Then just today, I had a second tournament and surprise surprise, I finished dead last. Just when I thought things couldn't get worse, I hit another new low today. Perhaps, the Sunday's good game was just a last gasp of air before the death of my game. It wasn't the everything-went-wrong that got to me today. It was the fact that I was mentally defeated before I even got to the end of the game.

As the old saying goes, "The best way to win a war is to kill the enemy's will to fight." I lost the war today.

While some may ask what's the big deal. I guess if I give a little background of myself, it would explain my feelings right now.



Sporting Excellence is something that I hold dear to my heart. I have been a sportsman since young. I was in the school nationals team in basketball, volleyball and table tennis during my primary school days. I even qualified to join the Junior National Squad, only to be barred by my parents from signing up, due to my sliding grades.

I continued my table tennis playing at school nationals level all the way to junior college. Even during my army days, I was training with the national squad. I finished my table tennis days when I was in the Hall team during my University days, before moving onto other stuff.



Now golf. Something that I have played for 20 years. I took my first lesson in 1986 when I was in seconday 3. I never became as good as some of my single handicap friends but it really didn't bother me to push harder because I enjoyed the game as it is. I've been playing in the local business network tournaments for the past 5 years. These past 3 years has been exceptionally good for me as I come in consistently in the Top 10 every competition.... that is until this week. What I cannot fathom is that how the fuck was I capable is playing so badly? For God's sake, I have 20 years of golf game under my belt and I am now playing as if I am back to 15 years old again. Did all the experience that I have accrued in these 20 years amount to nothing?

I must have freaked out my caddie today. He could see the dark cloud hovering over my head like a storm cloud getting ready to unleash its payload of lightning, thunder, gale and rain. To him, I was this time bomb ticking away, ready to go off anytime. The only consolation today was that I managed kept my cool right to the end and put on a brave smile. Something that I was extremely proud of and my caddie was extremely thankful for.

My main problem now is that I knew that something is wrong with my game but I don't know what this "something" was. I was frustrated to no end. I tried everything that I can think of, from posture to stance to mental attitude to swing. Nothing worked. I became enslaved by the little white ball, when in fact, I should be its master. The truth to be told, I didn't enjoy the game this week. I would have been happier staying in the office.

The question for me here is where do I go from here? Is this a temporary thing or is it going to be like that forever?

I guess for now, I may take a sabbatical, away from the game. Yes, walk away. Come back later and then see how. If things remained unchanged, then perhaps it's time to call it a day on the game.

Image Credit: http://www.frustrationfreegolf.com; http://elmundomaschido.com
- Voxeros


1. a reader left...
Thursday, 24 March 2005 1:04 am
Oh come on it's just temporary. Maybe you're just rusty from lack of practice? From what I read you seem to be very good at golf last time, so you shouldn't worry too much.

Merenwen

2.JayWalk left...
Thursday, 24 March 2005 12:54 pm
I hope you are right. I did laid off the stick and the ball for 2 months due to traveling.

I don't mean to say that I played well all the time. I have my share of bad days but this week kinda took me to a new low that I have never been before.

It felt like the hapless paddler in the stormy sea.

Anyway, I am taking a break from it for now. Walk away from the game to get myself collected before approaching it again. Perhaps in the mean time, go back to the driving range and get a pro to take a relook at my swing.

Time to head back to the weights and get my conditioning back a notch.

22 March 2005

The Great Singapore I'm Too Sexy For My Blog

Jaywalk - Kia See Lang!
I think I won the "Kia-See-Lang" category


"The Great Singapore I'm Too Sexy For My Blog" is now on.

An exercise proudly kicked off by mr brown --> here.

Lai ah! Lai ah! Dounch Shy. Start the cameras. *chi-kok*

Let the pictures begin!
- Voxeros

1. a reader left...
Tuesday, 22 March 2005 10:32 pm
Wah lau I faint siah!!!

Merenwen


2. JayWalk left...
Tuesday, 22 March 2005 10:39 pm
Thank you... thank you very much. heh heh

3. a reader left...
Tuesday, 22 March 2005 10:47 pm
Oh, and I've put my Flickr link up on MB's blog already.

Merenwen

18 March 2005

Orleng Joo Jeet Puay!

Orleng Joo Jee Puay!!I was reading mr brown's article on his Bangkok trip when it reminded me of an anecdote that I picked up when I was in Ho Chi Minh City last October.

A guest at the hotel, where I stayed, summoned for the waitress to complain about his "freshly squeezed" orange juice. It was shamelessly watered down.

The guest asked, in English, why was there water in his orange juice.

The poor Vietnamese waitress, with only a smatter of English to her name, immediately remove the offending beverage, apologising profusely along the way.

She returned, with a new glass of orange juice, shamelessly diluted with milk. *facepalm*

Image Credit: http://www.ars.usda.gov

- Voxeros

1. a reader left...
Saturday, 19 March 2005 4:09 pm
Wah, someone damn the well-travelled siah... *envious*

Merenwen

17 March 2005

My Blogspot Has Been Blocked!

Please goto http://jaywalk.blog-city.com/

Apologies for the inconvenience.

Afternote (18 Aug 2010): Blog-city is going to close shop at the end of 2011 and so I am migrating everything back here.

My Gawd!! Is That Ur Anus?


"In 1781, Herschel became the first person in the modern era to discover a planet. He wanted to call it 'George', after the British monarch, but was overruled. Instead, it became 'Uranus'." - A Short History Of Nearly Everthing - Bill Bryson

Uranus ..... Ur Anus ..... is it me or do I sense a smack of bitterness, subtly embedded? I wonder... hmmm.....

If Herschel was a Singaporean....

H: I want to name the planet after my boss. Liddat year-end appraisal confirm sure damn tok kong one.

Later,

H: Nah beh. "Georgium Sidus" kena rejected. People all say me angkat bola. Cannot use "George" si boh? Cannot my kar chng lah. Ne'ermind, I will come up with another name. Confirm people all kena jialat jialat.

H: I shall name it Uranus.....
- Voxeros
1. a reader left...
Thursday, 17 March 2005 2:04 pm
*ROFLMFAO*

Merenwen

14 March 2005

Yang Chun - She-wolf In Heat Under A Full Moon, Having Stubbed Her Toe Against The Coffee Table

It was dreaded news that we had to go visit/inspect our satellite factory in Yang Chun, about 5 hours away. Having been one who is an old bird in long car trips, I must say that this time, I was darn proud of myself to be armed to the teeth with my personal "In-Flight Entertainment Pack", consisting of magazines (though I forgot to bring along Derek's FHM. DOH!), books (Adrian Mole and The Weapons Of Mass Destruction - Sue Townsend and A Short History Of Nearly Everything - Bill Bryson) and 40GB of stuff in my laptop.

Reading was first on my agenda, given the fact that I have about 2 hours of daylight left. Somewhere in the midst of Adrian Mole, my mobile phone chimed, annoucing a new sms. It was from the local met station warning of a severe weather alert.

"天气警报: 受北方强冷空气影响, 未来24小时内本地温度明显下降, 黄色寒冷预警信号已生效, 请做好防寒工作。"
(Translate: Cold Snap Approaching Within Next 24 Hours. You're Fucked. Prepare to Die.)

"Hong Kan!" I muttered. I was wearing only a short-sleeved Polo T and a wind breaker.

Further on, we had to pull over at the rest stop for a pee break. As I opened the car door, a gust of cold air came smacked into my face at 9 degrees celsius. The temperature dropped 10 degrees in a matter of 2 hours. Brrr..... Under normal circumstances, 9 degrees in short sleeves would still be bearable for me but it was the wind chill that forced me to an early defeat.

So I got out of the car to get around to the boot to get extra clothing when my chauffeur said that I "body very good, not scared of cold".

"Abuden?" I replied although he didn't understand what that meant as I changed my mind about opening the boot.

Bor pian liao. People say I "body very good" liao. So must maintain Stay-Dee-Bom-Pee-Pee even if it means chattering my teeth to bits. Anyway, I prayed that I don't fall sick the next day or I would have died, not of pneumonia, but of embarrasment.

Just to show how gusty it was, my pee took a slanted parabolic trajectory to the right into the next guy's path (and we were indoors!). The bloke was quite cool about it for after all, his went into the path of the person on his right as well.

I learnt from this car trip that:



I Like Bores Me To Bits
Point Pleasant
Shameless
Great Teacher Onizuka
The Apprentice II
Veronica Mars
The Simple Life III
Naruto
Seven Days
CSI: Miami
NCIS Navy


Anyway, we got to our destination and about 9pm and it was right about time as my laptop battery was down to the last drop of juice.

I checked into the hotel and was assigned the corner room on the 9th. After fumbling with the smart-chip keycard in pitch-darkness (The corridor lamp had blown its bulb. Scary right?) for a while, I finally managed to get the door opened. My gawd.... it was a big ass of a room. So cheap some more... *glee* It's got a 27-inch TV against the wall, which is fine if not for the fact that the bed on the opposite wall is 6m away (Yup, the room is THAT big). Suddenly the TV from where I was, sitting on the bed, look machiam like a PSP/Archos/iRiver portable video screen. Haiz..... Die die must have something to spoil the party.

Nevermind, I told myself thinking that there's nothing worth watching anyway. So I took out my laptop and was looking for the power supply that I realised that I left it back in the office. Hong Kan!

Hor seh liao lor. Magazine finished liao. Book left in the car. Nothing on TV. Laptop no battery. Haiz..... I lamented to myself as I turned off the blaring TV (6m away leh... volume must ON loud loud, or else cannot hear). Oh well, let's blog this on a pen and paper. Back to old skool, when we used to call them diaries.

WOOOOOOooooooooo..... as the TV clicked off. Ah.... it's the gusty wind that I was talking about earlier, howling in the room like a she-wolf in heat under a full moon, having stubbed her toe against the coffee table.

WOOOOOOooooooooo......

Being in the bor-liao state that I was, I decided to check out the windows to locate the source of the howling. Ah.. there it was, slightly ajar. I closed it but the howling didn't stop. Strange, perhaps the hook didn't latch onto the socket properly as I tried again. Still no good. Hmm, maybe the alignment of the hook and socket is off, let's see..... hmm... Ahh.. I see the problem, there is no socket at the other end. Note to self: Find out who this idiot contractor is and blacklist him from my projects.

Ok, back to writing the blog. "Title - Yang Chuzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.............

"Knock! Knock! Knock! Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!......... Knock! Knock! Knock! Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!......... Knock! Knock! Knock! Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!......... "

"What the?" As I scrambled for my watch thinking that I must have overslept and the guys are at the door trying to wake me up.

"4:28 am" said my watch. Nah Beh.... who the fuck can that be at this time of the night? Hookers (先生, 要不要小姐?)? Cannot be lah.... early morning special meh? My guys? Nah.... they will be fired the next morning if they dared to get lim peh to kee lai pang jio. Tooth Fairy? Santa Claus? Shoe Maker's Elves????

I wasn't willing to get up to the door to check it out. 6m away leh!! Amongst the knocks and the beeps, I concluded that it's probably some stoopid arsehole staggering at the wrong door, sticking his thing ... er.. keycard in the wrong hole.

Some folks listens to CDs of soft celtic music, ocean waves, crickets chirping, rain pitter patter to get to sleep. I, on the other hand, find the incessant knocking and beeping soothing, knowing that some stoopid arsehole is out on the corridor suffering. Muahahahaha!!

Dead Bolt 1 - 0 Stoopid Drunk

The rest of the trip was uneventful with the usual get up, scratch balls, rub eyes, wash up, breakfast, check out, board meetings, site visits and 5-hours car trip back.

Oh yes, one more thing. I didn't fall sick. Heng ah.....
- Voxeros
1. a reader left...
Monday, 14 March 2005 10:31 pm
You're still reading Adrian Mole?! Man, I devoured those books when I was, what, 12 or 13? Or is this latest one on Adrian Mole's adult life? If so, I must go and get it.

Merenwen

2. JayWalk left...
Monday, 14 March 2005 11:23 pm
Yeah Adrian Mole.

"He" and I sort of grew up together from his first book to his Cappuccino Years, prior to this present one.

A Short History Of Nearly Everything

A Short History Of Nearly Everything

Bill Bryson

— Book

product page

Rating:
Not a bad book although I had problem getting past the 10th page at the first sitting.

Perhaps, it was the fact that I was reading it immediately after "Adrian Mole And The Weapons Of Mass Destruction - Sue Townsend". Machiam trying to climb uphill on 4th gear.

Engine stalled.
- Voxeros

12 March 2005

Awair

"JAKARTA — Awair, the Indonesian arm of budget carrier AirAsia, said it was forced to cancel plans for a Singapore-Jakarta route..."

- TodayOnline dated 12 Mar 2005

This has been going on for quite some time now. AWAIR, earlier on, had to abort their maiden flight to Singapore on the day of flight itself (...or was it a day before that?).

Anyway, when I first saw the name of the airline and the circumstances that they are currently in, I can't help but take a quiet snicker when I thought what would be the perfect slogan for them.

- Voxeros