Guess The Word of The Day

Gym this morning was no shiok. Usually I'd walk/jog/run 45min to 1hour at an average speed of about 6.8km/h (Mrs Budak still win hands down. *bows down and kowtows* My mother confirm also win me. Actually I think my sis also win me... (T_T) ), followed by about an hour of weights training. Today only walked/jogged/ran 30min at average speed of 6.6km/h. And only did 2 super-sets of shoulder press and upright rows. (T_T) Absolutely no shiok. But then again I promised Shane I'd blanjah him coffee during his 8am break. So bo pian.

Went to watch 江湖阿嫂 (Mob Sister) after that since there was nothing better to do. At first I thought I was going to be the only person in the theatre. So cool!!! (ok cheap thrill...) But after about five minutes some uncles started to walk in one by one. (-_-)"'

I have come to this conclusion about Hong Kong mob movies:
1) It's all about the 义气. Brudderhood!!
2) There must be the obligatory tough bitch 阿嫂 and obligatory SYT (read: sweet young thing)
3) Must have a fair share of betrayal (whereupon one betrayee will scream at the betrayer: 《去你妈的!!我们是兄弟!!!讲义气的!!!》 simple translation: BRUDDERHOOD!!!), romance - unrequited or otherwise, and plenty of car-crash-car scenes.
4) Fight scenes or death scenes must either be slow motion or (dunno what the technical term is) overlapped, like those going mad scenes.
5) The point of the movie is that there doesn't have to have a point. ... ... BRUDDERHOOD!!!!!

Actually watching movies alone is quite fun, as I've discovered recently. At least during the more poignant moments in the movie, your emotionally unstable very sentimental friend doesn't lean over, grab your sleeve and go "Ooooooh!!!". And there's no one squealing into your ear just when you've managed to convince yourself to ignore the lousy acting and believe that the character IS that character. Can you just watch the MOVIE already??? Egads.

Of course, watching with friends (BRUDDERHOOD!!!) is still a great thing which I wouldn't replace. But hey, once in a while it actually isn't that bad to be the lone siew mai in a steamer. Or in this case, single pack freeze-dried siew mai.

Kuching Thoughts

The closer 19th September gets, the more I start to think about what things I'm going to miss when I'm there gawking at kilted bums studying.

At this moment the thing that is one my mind the most is Kuching. I'm sure as hell going to miss the food there. Especially...

[Image from Kuching Guide]

Konlo Mee!! Argh... Just the thought of it is making me salivate. And how to forget Sarawak Laksa!!! ARGH!! Dammit. Haiz. But food aside... There is one very very important reason why I want to go back to Kuching before I leave...

I want to see my grandpa. But timing seems to be a little tricky. Sigh. (T_T) I miss my Gonggong.

Signs of Growing Old?!?!

1) I'm losing hair. Seriously.
2) I've got about as much white hair as my mother. Beneath all that dye that is.
3) I've forgotten what I wanted to blog about besides putting up the SSS notice. The previous 2 points were just to lead up to this point. Really.
4) I'm sleeping a lot.
...
But then again I always sleep a lot. Oh well. Lalala!

Saw this posted on Monkey's and Mrs Budak's blogs. It's a letter written by the mother of a homosexual guy. Originally posted on eddyworld, it is a really thought-provoking letter.

I too cannot stand this thing about a "homosexual agenda". I have friends who are gay or lesbian, and they are no different from anyone else. They have families and friends who love them and whom they love. If they are guilty of anything it would be wanting to be accepted and to be loved.

I think that sounds "normal" enough.

Anyhow, here's the beginning paragraph of the letter:

"Many letters have been sent to the Valley News concerning the homosexual menace in Vermont. I am the mother of a gay son and I've taken enough from you good people. I'm tired of your foolish rhetoric about the "homosexual agenda" and your allegations that accepting homosexuality is the same thing as advocating sex with children. You are cruel and ignorant. You have been robbing me of the joys of motherhood ever since my children were tiny."
(Full Letter )

You don't have to agree with this dear woman's opinions, or with those who support her stand. But if you do, please do repost this letter on your blog or website, and hopefully open the eyes and heart of one more person.

At Long Last...

Actually not that long. Maybe about two months?

Today I finally met my sister's boyfriend. With all the talk about him being from her senior class and now currently serving in NS, I always had this impression of him being much taller than her, maybe a little buffed up from BMT and (hopefully) somewhat mature looking. So this morning after church, mum and I went to Ya Kun at J8 to have breakfast with the both of them.

He is a dweeb.

Scrawny, quiet, lost-looking with geek glasses (there are funky glasses and there are geek glasses. His were geeky.), only slightly taller than my sis... He is a dweeb.

But, I will give this to him - he is a nice dweeb. At least he was polite and when you speak to him he does engage in a conversation rather than go, "erm.. yah.. uhm.." And after further scrutinizing observation, I can say that he's sweet enough to my sis. Helped her buy groceries. *resists cringing from saccharine-ness* Anyway, I can't really make a full conclusion about him since I've only just met him. But he seems nice enough. So that will do for now.

*shakes head*
The bimbo and the dweeb. This will be interesting...

What Was Your Question Again?

Sorry for the lack of entries, been trying to sort out exactly what was going on with the university's admissions office and when exactly I am expected to report there. So now that most of the drama is over, I will hold a short question and answer session, starting with a very stressing question...

Budak: Why no SSS???

1) No SSS in August because my sis is having her A-level prelim exams until the end of the month and my parents are dead against any possible distractions.
2) Because of the situation mentioned in the previous post, it seemed that my entry date into Aberdeen would be a month earlier than expected. Meaning I’d go in middle of August instead of mid-September. So September SSS is out too.

Everyone else: So what’s up with the two acceptance certificates? Do you really have to go in early?

Apparently, the second certificate was sent purely for the purpose of informing me about the pre-sessional course. And it wasn’t the computing course they were referring to. I was supposed to attend the pre-sessional English course, meant for international students whose first language is not English. How thoughtful of them, they must’ve realized that my first language is Swahili.

After multiple trunk calls (my poor phone bill… (T_T) ) and countless e-mails, a conclusion was reached – since my paper qualifications in English (i.e. my O & A-level exams which incidentally were taken in English… Oh such HORROR! (-_-)"' ) were much higher than most (Oh? Not all?) students required to take the course and since I am obviously competent in its usage (Oh REALLY?? Thank you, so are you!), I would not have to take the course. The course, according to the final e-mail I received from them, “is there is you wish to attend to improve your English.” [note: there are no typos in the quoted line. This is exactly how the sentence appeared in the e-mail.]

So the answer is no, I do not have to go in earlier.

Siew Mai (on behalf of the MMM gang): So… SSS…??

Yes, I do believe that there can be a September Siewmai Supper. I will tentatively set the date as 3rd September, Saturday. If there are no audible or visible objections, then this shall be the date of the much anticipated September Siewmai Send-off. Will e-mail again once a consensus is reached. Silence means consent. HAH!

'E'-ffinity For Trouble

When Ed told me that the UK was a third-world country, I thought he was exaggerating and being rather cynical. So they’re a little disorganized at times…

He wasn’t kidding.

I don’t know how many of you remember this post but basically, it was during the last week of June that I received my Certificate of Acceptance dated 21 June 2005, confirming this (letterhead and signatures cut out for obvious reasons whether or not I need to). I was ecstatic and went ahead with my hostel applications.

And THEN!

Today I received THIS which came together with THIS!!

So. I now have TWO Certificates of Acceptance for two DIFFERENT courses of study!! Within the same department no less, they must love me twice as much as I previously thought.

Regrettably, Veetwo is only one Siew Mai. I cannot possibly attend both courses (although they are more or less the same) so I call up the admissions office to express &#^%$@* my “regrets”. I managed to find out the following:

1) With regards to the 2nd Certificate: Oh! Just ignore it. They don’t know what happened, but they’ll find out for me, and anyway the course of study I want is the first one. Oookaay... But I should let them know that the 2nd Cert also came with this letter which tells me I have to go for a pre-sessional course. … Ohhh…

2) With regards to the pre-sessional course(s): Ooohh… Erm… Do I have an e-mail address? The supervisor is away on holiday you see, so they’ll ask around and e-mail me about it as soon as they can. Oh that’s fine, only the pre-sessional course means having to fly over almost a month earlier, so if they could just let me know really soon… Ohhh… Uhm. Sure, they’ll work on it. May they have my e-mail address, please? So that’s ‘v’, ‘e’, ‘n’… Oh, ‘a’, ‘n’… ‘s’… ‘s’ for ‘sugar’, you mean? Ok. ‘s’, ‘e’, ‘w’… ‘i’, ‘w’?? OH! ‘i’, ‘e’, ‘w’… [note: You get the picture. I refuse to continue.] Ok! Don’t worry about it (#$^@*!?!?!?!), they’ll e-mail me (assuming they managed to copy down my e-mail correctly in the first place) soon! (-_-)"'

3) Whether or not I actually have advanced entry: I gave up asking by question 2. If I don’t see an interpretable answer in the alleged e-mail that is to be sent, I will ask them again. Through e-mail. My phone bill cannot survive another… Whatever.

So to those who are still mildly clueless, let me summarize the story for you.

*Ahem*

Very soon I will be flying off to Scotland to study one course or the other and I may or may not have to go in early as I might or might not be required to attend a pre-sessional course due to the fact that I may or may not have been awarded advanced entry.

Capiche?

P.S. The good thing is that I managed to get a room in one of the Elphinstone flats. Flat E no less. I must be fated to stay in places labelled with an 'E'.

Do You Have An Incest Infestation?

Get rid of all incest with the all-new Incest Killer!!

Available at all major electric and hardware stores near you.


[Thanks to Ed for the tip.]

It's A Sad Sad Situation

Find that SH is more wound up than usual. Sitting in the cubicle in front of her is becoming more stressful by the day. To think that this week is supposed to be more relaxed for me. Last week leh… Haiz. But I sort of understand her situation lah. GM is depressed over the recent development board meeting and is now quite sick also. Been on MC since yesterday, but from what I hear, sick since Saturday. And apparently the company board meeting is going to happen sometime next week, and a lot of things are not settled yet. So sad the way things are going for the company. Despite all this new blood coming in and a sort of new dynamism that seems to have been injected, it may not be enough to save the company from certain doom. It doesn’t help that the AD is currently more interested in her own agenda than the company’s.

Yes, I do realize I could get sued for libel or slander or breach of confidentiality or some other politics (politcseses… hirhir… Backstroke English…). But it is really very sad. The set-up of this company was supposed to have been a milestone in Singapore’s arts scene history. Even now, I believe people think it to be a stalwart within the local arts circle. They believe it will be here for a long time to come. I am not so sure, considering the current situation. I do hope it can continue for the foreseeable future. Even though I do not necessarily like every single piece of work that is produced, I do believe that this company serves a very important purpose within this industry. If it were to go away it would be a great loss. I’m tempted to say catastrophic, but it may not be the right word to use.

So sad. Haiz.

In other Siew Mai News: Just finished watching Haru wo Daite Ita last night. Raunchier than Kizuna but at least there was more of a story to follow. Actually I only really watched it because the seiyuu of one of the lead characters is MIKI SHINICHIRO!!!! Miki-sama!!! He voices the role of Katou Youji, an up and coming AV actor. The character (and Miki-san!!) is a floppy-haired Japanese guy! Just the kind Siew Mai likes…

Unfortunately it turns out that I somehow like the other leading character, Iwaki Kyousuke, better.

Dammit. :p Nebermine... Soubi-chan still win. Souuuubiiii!!! (^_^)v

If There's Such A Thing As Sleep-Walking...

Zzz... Got scolded by SH for being blur. I just wanted to double-check whether certain documents should be human-shredded mah... Diao-ded. Aiyah. Dun complain. SH has always been very good to me in the office, although she's very strict. Should've been a teacher. :P

Boi Sakti has arrived to supervise RTM. Brought two short monkeys Indon dancers whom I assume are dancers from his own company. The RTM music got singing one... Sounds like ghosts moaning though. Woh woh woh kind. Or maybe I just dunno how to appreciate.

I think I put on weight. Dammit. I want to go back to running 1 hour every morning!!!

But I also want to sleep.

Is there such a thing as sleep-running??

London is Falling

Oops, sorry, won't do. – Times Online UK

I totally agree. It is absolutely irresponsible. And “My heart goes out to the officer who killed the man in Stockwell Tube Station.”???? British politicians better clean up their act before this gets any more out of hand.

Moves like this – More marksmen to hunt five bombers on the loose – Times Online UK is just going to add fuel to the fire.

Ed, sorry if I hit any wrong buttons or ruffled any feathers, but somehow now I’m REALLY glad I didn’t choose London.

Siew Mai Shlurrps

Just came back from watching Fantastic Four. I think I prefer the comic. Bleah. Nebermine. Next one to look forward to is Charlie and The Chocolate Factory. Johnny Depp!!! Wheeee....!!!

Ok.. I know I promised a menu of what was demolished eaten at the recent Dine at Duck's Domain.

Warning: Not For Gastronomically-Challenged Stomachs

1)Vegetarian Spaghetti (with yummy yummy dried tomatoes *drool*) - Mrs Budak
2)Baked Mushrooms with Mixed Cheese (JUICY!! YUMMY!!! SHHLLURRPP!!!) - Mrs Budak
3)Tori-Q Yakitori - Siew Mai
4)3kg of Organic Rambutans from Ubin (yeah... so organic that one housed a little white worm who stared angrily at me as I bit into its big white home...) - Monkey & Joelle
5)Jello + Mixed Fruits (got ginger also!! Sho shpicy! I didn't know ginger was a fruit... :p) - Mrs Budak
6)Goreng Pisang, Yam & Sweet Potato - Monkey & Joelle
7)Apple Strudel - Ash
8)Various wines (Grape juice grape juice!!) - Budak & Mrs Budak

Truly a very healthy (I don't care. Apple strudel is still apple and therefore is a healthy fruit dish. And a banana is a banana, no matter what form it takes.) DDD!!

Budaks' have a very cozy place!! I like all the shrimp-breeding fish tanks! And we were introduced the Budak's duck, in all its hard glory... As usual, since I do not have a digital camera, I cannot show any proof of this siew mai's adventures into a duck's nest. But you should be able to find some on Budak's blog and Mrs Budak's.

Although I cannot brraaap like the duck himself, I can continue to drool at the thought of the next Blogger Meet. SHLUUURRRPP!!

Have I No Imagination?!?!?

I just realized that my new blogskin is exactly the same as my ~Siew Mai Style~ blog but in different colours. This means either one of two things:

1) I have very specific tastes.

2) I have no imagination.

Dammit... So much for wanting to be artsy-fartsy.

DDD-ed. New Layout!!

NEW SKIN!!! Heheheheheh.. Cheap thrill.

DDD-ed. Still incredibly full. Mrs Budak has stuffed us all. Thank you for hosting us!!! Shall post an entry about the food tomorrow. Now am going to digest food in sleep. Zzzzzzz....

Bombs, More Bombs and Now Bullets...

Suspected suicide bomber shot dead on Tube

All I (and my mother) can say is... Thank goodness I chose Aberdeen instead of KCL.

I mean... Of course, we sympathise with the people of central London. This is really just one big tragedy. But on a selfish side, my goodness... God must've really been merciful when he whispered to me to choose Scotland instead. Can you imagine if I had chosen King's??? Getting an entry clearance now would probably be damn difficult. In a worse case scenario, they'd probably delay my term or something at a point where I really don't want to waste anymore time!! Of course, this is all my own speculation and may not neccessarily be true. But omg!!

*shake head* It's just... Amazing... Terrible.. But amazing...

Fly To Mee...

Sian ji pua.

I have been reduced to miscellaneous filing and human-shredder-ing in the office. There is nothing better for me to do in the office. Dammit. Just let me resign earlier lah. Kaoz. Aiyah.. Nebermine... Dun complain because in the end the company is still paying me to be a human-shredder for another week.

Anyway this post is to make a request: Anyone want to sponsor me lunch today???

I have totally given up making lunch the night before to bring into the office and have been living off SH's supply of food. Sadly today she seems to have not brought lunch either. I am lunchless for today. *sobsob*

************************************************************

Scrap that. Apparently there is lunch. Wahahaha... There is fly noodle for me. Today instead of cooking rice, SH's maid fly noodle instead. Ok good. It shall fly into my stomach. But I think will not be enough for me leh... Coz I have to half-half with my GM who also occasionally shares SH's food. Rats. Will be hungry by 3pm I tell you. Nebermine... SH says she got soup in the pot in the kitchen. I will kapo the soup. Wahahahaha...

I wonder if it's possible to still find Backstroke of the West in China. If can, maybe I will ask Shuhui to buy. Then when she brings it home to S'pore, I will laugh and laugh for 2 hours straight and then die from suffocation because cannot breathe. Laugh too much. Or as any character in Backstroke would say: Laugh die.

Hail the great hopeless situation warrier!!

STAR WAR: The Third Gathers

GASPS!!!

WAHAHAHAAHAH!!!!

my the eye tears out come already!!!

Here's some more of the transcripts of Backstroke of the West..

Spouting Nonsense

Thursday. Why is it only Thursday?!?

Felt so tempted to pontang work today. Some more now I sit in front of the office "police" so cannot blog openly. Can't even play game cause this silly computer doesn't have certain applications and I can't install anything coz I don't have administrator rights on this comp. Pah. So boring.

Why can't it be the weekend already?!?

By the way, anybody want to sponsor me a digital camera? Hahahahahaha... Wishful thinking. Maybe I should set-up a "Donate-to-Siew-Mai's-Digital-Camera-Fund"... How about some Golden Peanuts??

Siew Mai is spouting random nonsense again. Save me! Save yourselves!!

*spout spout spout*

Backstroke of the West!!

Omg.. You guys HAVE to read this...

Backstroke of the West

Don't Want To!!!!

BWAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!

My Purpose In This Office Is....

To Snack.

Nyahahaha...

I'm blogging again. 2nd time today. To make up for neglecting my blog.

Actually it's because I have nothing better to do in the office. Maybe I shall go and attack the little box of cakes that the new dancer brought in as a meeting gift.

*********************************************************************

I have returned from raiding the cake box. Have more or less attacked and decimated the last (and only) chocolate muffin in the box. It was a good muffin.

Really don't know what I come to work for anymore (to raid cake boxes. (^_^) Heh...). I come, I sit at the desk that is not even mine (technically belongs to the E&O Manager but he isn't coming in until August. HA!) and I rot away. Of course, I will do whatever task comes my way but that's like... The task of the day. After that I just continue to rot again. Or until Edna comes along with a question about classes. Oh, and I get SH dumping lunch and tonnes of fruits and snacks on my table and insisting that I finish it. Bleah. Not that the food is bad lah, the food that comes with SH is usually very nice. But still. There has to be more of a purpose than eating the food that SH brings.

Side note: The muffin has just muff-ed its last. It is no more. SH's box of cut watermelon and papaya is still staring at me from the corner of my table. Arcks...

Anyway. Yes. I have no further purpose here than to just earn money by showing up in the office and sitting around trying to look useful. Oh well. Shall make the most of it. Will rarely get the chance sit around, do nothing and still earn my paycheck. Last 11 days to do so already. Actually less than that since I'm actually off duty on 30th July and who on earth will be working on 31st July, Sunday? So it's actually more like 9 days left, if you consider my last actual working day to be the 29th. Although it's TECHNICALLY the 31st. But well... Technicalities...