Domo

The fallacy of sharp noses

In one of my $300 per hour class where I was supposed to be learning about leadership and all that sort of wonderful stuff, I noticed that the 2 male ang moh* classmates sitting across the desk have noses like this:

Granted, guy 1 is pretty good looking. But on close examination, the side view of his nose looks like this:

You can see the nostrils from the side!!!! Urgh! The nostrils are super tapered at the tip, I wonder how they dig their noses. With a hair pin perhaps!

The typical Asian nose looks like this:Here is a side by side comparison. Notice that the Asian nose is flat and wide. The ang moh nose is sharp and pointy. But I ALWAYS THOUGHT NOSTRILS WERE ROUND! No one told me that ang mohs have such funny rain drop shaped nostrils! Go look!

The Asian nose does not look very attractive in my drawings (snout-like). I think the nostrils are too circular!

.

Anyway, it means that if you have a sharp nose, you probably have ugly weird shaped nostrils. If you have a flat nose, maybe you have slightly better looking nostrils. Then again, the attractiveness of nostrils is purely subjective. Maybe people like weird triangle shaped nostrils instead of circular nostrils!
.

Side note: For those who are wondering why I can see people's nostrils. My torso is SHORT. When I sit at a table with a bunch of people who are the same height as me, I become the shortest. Short body. Boohoo! At least it makes it seems like I have longer legs. Or maybe I do! Hmmms... So the short-body-me is always looking up people's nostrils. I ALWAYS know when OF has nose hair sticking out. He can't see it because his nose blocks the nose hair from his sight. Argh!
.

Anyway, I have the nicest nostrils. They are heart shaped!! They look like this:See, they are so nice. My nostrils are pink (not black).

.

And when I wrinkle my nose, my nostrils look like 2 symmetrical hearts! Like this:

Totally irrelevant post. But do check out the ang mohs' nostrils. Darn fascinating. Or maybe I am easily amused.

* ang moh: Singlish, Caucasian

Of Maps

My latest fascination: Worldmapper

The geek in me has discovered worldmapper!

Singapore is doing pretty well in chemical exports and cargo shipping. The government must be proud! Look how big Singapore is. Normally, it is near impossible to locate Singapore on a world map.

Chemicals Exports:

Cargo Shipping:

Charlotte, NC

I'm in Charlotte, NC. It is like a warmer Calgary, AB.

If Only...

Purin is almost famous! Someone please make Purin famous!

Purin is so darn cute... He doesn't like the kitty swiping at his face!

Mr Purin President

My Type of Guy

I think Anderson Cooper is really really cute. He is totally my type of guy. The boyish, nice guy, intellectual look. Swoons.

I'm a news junkie but I find him kind of boring. But he is so so attractive. Those blue eyes! Plus he is from a rich and famous family and reportedly earns $4m a year.

And he is funny too. Mr Cooper wrote: "Going gray is like ejaculation. You know it can happen prematurely, but when it actually does, it's a total shock." Read more here.

How can you not like a guy like that!!!

He is cute even when he is biting his fingers!!!

Look at him pointing at his hair. Argh!!!! Too attractive!

But rumours say he is gay. =(

Someone tell me he is not!!

Images from my phone: So this is New York

Thanks to my trusty Sony Ericsson Z610i (best phone ever!), I have some 2.0 mega pixels of NYC and NJ.

So here is my life in camera phone pictures: Donna Karan warehouse in NJ. There are lots and lots of clothes I cannot afford. There is a clothing library at the back. The librarian has (one of) the world's coolest (and slackest) job. And then, there is the story of the Donna Karan inspirer. Life is so totally not fair. Hmph! My work is real work. Sort of, anyway.

Organismic sandwich (When Harry Met Sally, see video below) from Katz's Delicatessen. Overpriced but good. But it is not good enough to justify going back and paying $14.95 for it. Hate the pickles though. One would think $14.95 pickles would be good too.

A Bengal tiger at New Jersey's 6 Flags.

A donated poster from a colleague who was laid off.

My whale has the gift of sight! It is so so happy!

Crazy traffic in NYC when there is no traffic police. Cars everywhere. No rules. Pure mess.

Overpriced decorative glass turtle. I saw this is in a shop window when I was wandering around aimlessly in NYC.

Real turtle with an aim. All his other turtle and frog pals seem rather resigned to their fate. This was seen in a newly renovated Chinatown supermarket. I feel so bad for the turtle. He is trying so hard so save himself from his sad situation. I could have saved him, but I didn't. He is probably not around any more. Sobs. Guilt. Peace to this turtle. I hope he is happy in Turtle Heaven.

Best Grapes

I cannot believe that NO ONE, absolutely no one, told me that grapes could be eaten this way. I have wasted 22 good years of my life eating grapes in a less than satisfactory way. Yes, I am one of those anal I-must-peel-the-grape-skin people. I don't like the slight biting taste of grape skin. Hmph!

I found out about THIS when I googled for ways to wash grapes (use toothpaste).

Learn from the pro:

1. Buy those tiny seedless grapes. Unless you like big un-mutated, un-GM grapes with gigantic seeds and a thick thick skin.

2. Wash the grapes. Throw out the squishy grapes. You won't know they are squishy and gross when they are frozen!!

3. Stick the grapes in the freezer. You can see my freezer is stock piled with frozen food and a gigantic bag of shrimp.

4. Wait till grapes are 150% frozen!! You don't want partially soggy grapes.

5. Wash/soak frozen grape/s in water for a few seconds. Pinch the skin off!! It is oh-so-easy to get rid of the grape skin!! Skinless grape is EXTREMELY slippery. Beware, it WILL TRY to roll away. Pop into mouth asap!

7. Taha!! Best Grapes! Yum! Taste like sweet healthy ice pops!

Another picture with flash!

Tips from QHA: Good stuff to know about the choices you make

Intrinsic motivations: personal growth, meaningful relationships, community contributions
These goals are regarded as being ends in themselves and they foster the intrinsic motives of competence, autonomy and relatedness.

Extrinsic motivations: pursuit of financial success, fame, and physical attractiveness
These goals are largely instrumental means toward other ends and they embody external controls on one's actions (e.g. needing to do jobs for others to gain money).

The more emphasis people placed on wanting to be rich, famous, and physically attractive, the less well off they were in terms of anxiety, depression, social functioning, vitality, self-actualization, and other measures. In contrast, placing emphasis on the intrinsic aspirations such as growth and meaningful relationships was positively linked to good adjustment and well-being.
- From Kasser and Ryan (1993, 1996) and a big fat Social Psychology book.

Now I know where my anxiety, depression, poor social functioning, low vitality and lack of self-actualization come from. More knowledge, higher anxiety, deeper depression.
- From the Queen of High Anxiety

My Gaming Style

LSROQI

Loud self-righteousness over quiet integrity. (click on comic to enlarge)

I've always been particularly irritated by self-righteous people, the-holier-than-thou nimwits. Read The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins if you need further justification to be dismissive of the self-righteous.

Maturity

Maturity is when you notice other's immaturity.

Darn it. I've always embraced, or should I say, accepted, being childish, irrelevant and immature. Being child-like is nothing negative. This is probably influenced by some incidents concerning BAs which I might further elaborate on another day.

But now, after being subjected to constant chatter of immaturity. I really do want to tell people to suck it up, grow up and move on. Darn darn! What is happening to me? Or do people simply morph /regress into infantile state when around me?

I have been doing a lot of polite nodding and uhlalala-ing (pacifying). I'm sick of giving that knowing smile (somewhere between a grimace and a close lip smile), the sympathetic oh-feel-so-bad-for-you look and an agreeable reply.

Life. Aging. Maturity? Hell, I need money for SK II.

Discovering

Please read Exhortation: The Disadvantages ofan Elite Education

"The ability to engage in introspection, I put it to my students that day, is the essential precondition for living an intellectual life, and the essential precondition for introspection is solitude."
- William Deresiewicz

I found some reassurance in my lonely life.

Of Yearning

ひまわりの家の轮舞曲
向日葵之家的圆舞曲
Waltz of Sunflower

もう一度自由に歩けたら
假如能够再一次自由行走的话

思い切りお扫除をして　お洗濯をして　お料理を作って　お散歩に出挂けよう
想要立刻打扫，洗衣，做料理，出外散步

晴れた画なんて　明るいんだろう　お日様を笑っている
天气明媚如画 对着太阳公公微笑

雨の日も好きおしゃれは雨伞（あまがさ）连ことも着て歩こう
即使下雨的日子 也喜欢穿着漂亮的雨衣 出外漫步

お迎えはまだ来ないから　その间にちょっとだけ歩かせて
但是那样的日子还没有到来 现在只能这样一点一点的移动

もう一度だけ踊りたい　そうよ风になって
只是想要再一次起舞 就像风儿那样

クルクルまわる　手をつないで
飞快的旋转着 也不用手牵

背筋（せすじ）を伸ばして　膝（ひざ）を伸ばして
背能够伸直 关节能够舒展

足を跳ね上げて　スカートが吹くなんて
轻身一跃 裙子吹了起来

みんなニコニコ笑は出る
大家呵呵的笑

お迎えはまだ来ないから　窓のガラスを拭くだけっていの
但是那样的日子还没有到来 现在只是这样擦拭着窗户的玻璃

もう一度だけ踊りたい　そうよ风になって
只是想要再一次起舞 就像风儿那样


mo i chi do ji yuu ni a ru ke ta ra
o mo i ki ri o sou ji wo si te
o sen ta ku wo si te o ryou(lio) ri wo tsu ku te
o san po ni de ka ke you

ha ra ta ra nan te a ka ru in da rou
o hi sa ma mo wa ra tte i ru
a me no hi mo su ki o sya(∫a) re na a ma ga sa
re in koo to　mo ki te a ru kou

o mu ka e ha(wa) ma da ko na i ka ra
so no a i da ni tyo(t∫o) tto da ke a ru ka se te
mo i chi do da ke o do ri na i
so yo ka ze ni na tte

ku ru ku ru ma wa ru te wo tsu na i de
se su ji wo no ba si te hi za wo no ba si te
a si wo ha ne a ge te su kaa to ga hu ku ran de
min na ni ko ni ko wa ra tte ru

o mu ka e ha(wa) ma da ko na o ka ra
mo do no ga ra su wo hu ku da ke de ii no
mo i chi do da ke o do ri na i
so yo ka ze ni na tte

Forgotten Youth

J: remember we used to write poems
J: i can still remember one of your lines
Me: what?
Me: u remember all the stuff i forget
J: "I smile not moan
The silence is great"

It is probably not that funny to you. But I find it hilarious.

Youth, forgotten?

Crushes of my Past

Argh, I found my old crushes on Facebook. My secondary school crushes! They are as cute as I remember when I was 14 years old.

I can't bring myself to add them. They must know I was/am so fond of them!! I love Facebook. Why can't my crushes be searching for me on Facebook and adding me instead!!!

I miss being 14 and crazy. OF is being parental and oh-so-mature!!!

Me: i like guys easily
Me: -_-
Me: but only have gross guys ard now
Me: ARGH. i found my sec 2 crush on facebook!
J: i think u are really mad
J: u not happy in ur current r/s meh
J: as in u've committed to it liao..then still keep finding old crush to relive crushing memories

...

Me: my life is so sad
Me: i am drunk on depression
J: ??!?!
J: u have a date
J: u will have a gd job
J: u will have a house
J: u are NOT in spore
J: ur life where got sad?
J: even my life is not sad..and i dun even have wat u have

I am still crushed by the fact that I am not Facebook friends with my crushes. Argh!!

Common Bad

I dislike traffic. I cannot understand why no one enforces traffic rules in NYC. Vehicles park randomly in the middle of the road with drivers nowhere to be found. Sometimes the drivers are even happily unloading goods off the back of the truck while remaining blissfully unaware/unconcern about the traffic holdup that they are causing.

So my dear bus has to take one massive loop around this stationary-gas-emitting vehicle before it can proceed with its slow crawl to my apartment. Why are there no loitering tow trucks to haul these vehicles into oblivion?

We are nowhere close to Pareto efficiency. 1 (or 2 or more) inconsiderate driver/s versus a street cramped with vehicles. Hello? The darn traffic is severely lowering my utility!!! I am sure those people can drive/walk/park somewhere else. Please, at least give them a ticket so that the city has more money to hire more traffic cops.

Singapore's practicality is sorely missed. The lovely ERP ensures smooth traffic. Let the rich pay! I am sure I can accommodate one or two or even ten limos on 42nd St. Just get rid of all those trucks/cars and the other economically unviable stuff.

Oh, and I cannot understand why garbage is thrown out onto the sidewalks in NYC. Does the garbage truck come around and pick up bags of trash off the sidewalks? And it is not just the dubious chinatown stores with such nasty habits. Starbucks, Burger King etc, everyone does this garbage on sidewalk thing (in broad daylight). Why why. I simply cannot comprehend.

Big Eel

This is the tale of 2 fishermen.

One lazy Saturday not too long ago, 2 fishermen decided to go fishing. Like in all stories, the fishermen were very different. One fisherman was tall and strong (aka himbo), while the other was easily rattled and had a "weak constitution". They went out fishing together, each with a different objective. The himbo fisherman was generally dismissive of fishing. He found fishing to be a mild sport, deemed uncharacteristic for someone with his sculpted physique (insert appropriate puking sound). The other fisherman had high hopes and brought along ziplock bags with dreams of bringing home the prize catch.

And so they went to Hudson River to try their luck (because it was free).

It wasn't long before a fisherman (guess which), caught something. It was an American eel. The lovely people at Big City Fishing provided the rods, bait and even helped handle the kamikaze crazy eel.

The eel was pure slime and pure muscle. It wasn't very bright though (somehow resembling the himbo fisherman). It swallowed the squid bait, hook and all. Now all it could do was to pray hard and cross it gills and hope that the sea water would corrode the iron hook in its tummy.

Eel: Watch me spin. I bet if I spin a few times, you would be so impressed and let me go...
Eel: If only I'm an electric eel, your fishermen would be so so afraid of messing with me. Grrr!
The fishing trip ended with 2 more catches. The eel-less fisherman caught 2 sea grapes. One of which was classified by the Big City Fishing people as the grossest sea grape ever. It squirted. Congratulations Sea Grape Fisherman!

Big fishes caught that summer. Notice, no tracking of sea grapes.
The 3rd American eel caught.

The total catch in 1.5 hr: 1 American eel, 2 sea grapes

The sea creatures were finally returned to their rightful place in the polluted sea, to allow other fishermen to try their luck. The ziplock bags were unused. Anyway, the sandwich size bags were far too small for the big eel.

Then, the fishermen felt hungry and went off for food at Union Sq Cafe.

The loveliest rabbit ravioli ever! The butter, the corn, the rabbit. Yum!

The loveliest mash potatoes ever. Ooo.. Those fried onions...

And large crunchy prawns...

Note: No unagi (or should it be anago... Hm...)

Dream Job

Every time I tell people that I plan to retire young at 30/35 (or even earlier), I get this: Won't you be so bored?? + *appalled look*

For one, I am bored working. I don't see why work boredom doesn't count as real boredom. Anyway, I rather be bored doing nothing (or thinking of things to do) than be bored at work.

My dream job is to make myself happy. Well, it takes a lot, a lot of time. I'm terribly pessimistic and very highly strung. I need time to soothe my discomfort and fluff up my life (with lots of pillows and a hot mug of milo). It is a legitimate full time job.

I love weekday afternoon shopping, lazing in bed, having time to read... And yes, to placate and uhlala those people who have to work oh-so-hard.

I feel so acknowledged knowing that there are people our there like me. See here. It is on CNN. My dream kind of life is almost main stream...

Not what they had in mind...

Oh.. Vancouver Winter Olympics are in 2010. They have the cutest mascots ever (unlike the B. Olympics with its 5 ugly mascots...).

They have really fun games online. Addicted!

Oh.. But check out the e-cards and what one can do with them:

Ahh... The wonders of deforestation... The scent of freshly cut wood.

General Rot

Someone's grandpa is dying of general rot. He is 86, going on 87.

He is really cool. He does "dangerous" things such as cycling with his grandkid to the market. But that was many many years ago.

He seems really interesting. He probably has lots of stories to tell. But I won't have the chance to hear them. His stories would probably be forgotten with time.

General rot. How horrid. When your body fails you; when time takes away your mind; when you slowly forget. When would it come for your soul?

Urgh Food

I think whole wheat pasta is the most disgusting pasta ever. Even lumps of pasta sauce with garlic and onion can barely cover the horrid whole-wheat-healthy-brown-rice taste. Ohh, did I mention I don't like brown rice at all.

I totally cannot understand the appeal of healthy food unless they come chocolate coated (chocolate coated peanuts, chocolate coated cashews for example) and covered with sprinkles. Oh, but I like frozen yogurt!! That's healthy food masquerading as unhealthy food. Frozen yogurt looks like ice-cream...

Cover Up

At today's yoga session, I noticed that only 2 people in class were wearing shorts: me and one other guy (the only guy). Granted, the class was filled with middle aged, not-size-0 women, I could see why the women were not keen on flaunting their varicose veins to their colleagues.

I have varicose veins and a gigantic hole on my leg courtesy of falling into a flooded drain... but I still wear shorts.

I guess I hate pants. They are far far too hot. As the (unfortunate?) product of the Singaporean climate, I can firmly attest to the fact that pants / jeans are made by Ang Mohs for Ang Mohs. Sarongs are the way to go!!

Jeans are what I call heat-trappers. They trap a warm body of moist air around your leg, ensuring a nice cozy environment for sweat to form and for bacteria to thrive. Eww, I have shivers just thinking about it. Jeans are only meant to be worn during subzero winter temperatures which I have subjected myself to since I moved to N. America.

Argh. Going for yoga scares me. Did I mention that my yoga mates can't bend, move or stretch. I don't want to be reminded of the ways the body fails you when you aged.

You don't sleep because...

You don't look forward to tomorrow.

It seems so wasteful.

There is no time.

You haven't done anything productive. By staying awake, you attempt to convince yourself otherwise.

Youth is flickering by.

The internet is too fascinating.

Rest has become a job requirement. You rest to work.

You are too lazy.

Almost Famous

Someone took a fancy to Purin. And by that I mean my Purin, not some other random Purin. See he is here. I find this really surprising... Purin is usually ignored especially when he is put alongside his other more "typically cute" friends. Finally, recognition (by someone other than me).

And yes... he is a Golden Retriever, not a bear.

The World's Most Disgusting Knee

Presenting the world's most disgusting knee. Urgh. I want to puke looking at these pictures.





This shot looks almost artistic. And it is NOT MY KNEE. Guess who?

Random Thoughts

- I don't like it when people keep going on about their baby/kid. I know your baby is important and oh-so-precious, but I don't get why you have to litter your emails with information about your baby. When I meet you in person, I can sit at the corner, far away from you, so I don't have to hear the baby conversation. I can't run away from my emails. Your words stare right at me. Your world revolves around your baby. I don't live in that world.

- It is summer in New York. Someone said: When it's summer, all the crazy people come out. Where do all the crazy people hide in winter? Underground?

- I hate it when it rains and water floods the streets. The streets smell like pee. And the rain-pee water is drowning my $78 Gap Designer sandals. I am suicidal.

- I don't know whether to offer you my seat on the bus. You look pregnant. Your tummy is big. Or maybe you are just fat. If I offer you my seat and you are not pregnant, I risk offending you. Maybe offering the seat to fat people is polite behaviour? Nah, I don't think so. Then, I see you are wearing kitten heels. Pregnant women wear flats. Okay, I remain stuck to my chair, trying not to stare at your tummy or continue speculating about your possible pregnancy.

Frisson

I learn a new word: Frisson.

I picked it up from comics (9 Chickweed Lane, June 9, 08). The usual source that increases my vocabulary. Since when do people learn new words the good old fashion way.. from books.
Anyway, going through facebook gives me the occasional frisson, especially when I stumble upon photos of people I know.. or those whom I thought I knew...

And when I look at the profiles of those that I use to date. It is just plain odd. I go: What? He was never like that when he was with me. Is it me? Am I so you-can't-be-your-real-self-limiting?

Anyway, it is just odd and freaky. And I'm glad, cognitive-dissonance-glad, that I am not dating them now.

Hmph!

Quiz

I'm doing this to distract myself from the realities of school work. This is oh-so-secondary school, the time when everyone uses hotmail.com.

A) People who have been tagged must write their answers on their blogs & replace any question that they dislike with a new question formulated by themselves.

B) Tag 8 people to do this quiz & those who are tagged cannot refuse. These people must state who they were tagged by & cannot tag the person whom they were tagged by. Continue this game by sending it to other people.

Tagged by: WH

If your lover betrayed you, what would your reaction be?
The usual melodramatic scream, sob, slam-the-door thing… Then sue for money.

If you can have a dream to come true, what would it be?
To have lots of money… Then I’ll buy the rights of Purin from Sanrio, learn French, buy more clothes, get a chauffeur… the list goes on…

What will your dream wedding be like?
Something that makes people go aww… Oh, and lovely dresses, shoes, flowers and a marvelous photographer.

Are you confused of what lies ahead of you?
Yes. Very.

What's your ideal lover like?
Attractive, nice, intelligent, rich.. The same qualities I stated when I was 14.

Which is more blessed, loving someone or being loved by someone?
Loved.

How long do you intend to wait for someone you really love?
Patience is not my forte.

If the person you secretly liked is already attached, what would you do?
Whine about it with friends.

Is being tagged fun?
-_-

How do you see yourself in ten years time?
Enjoying life.

What kind of person do you think the person who tagged you is?
Nice (overall). Obliging. PBF.

Would you rather to be single and rich or married but poor?
Married and poor? Married to who… and how poor is poor? Single and lonely?

What's the first thing you do every morning?
Find Purin.

If you fall in love with two person simultaneously, who would you pick?
The one who loves me. The one with superior genes.

If given the chance to turn back time, will you?
Yes, just to be young once again. And to take better care of my teeth… I hate my fillings… Considering I only have ONE SET OF teeth. (I’m still using my baby teeth. Urgh.)

What is the last thing you would do before you die?
Breathe. Tell the secrets of heaven to the people sobbing around me... Or confuse them with mambo jumbo... Hehe.

8 people to be tagged:
I don't know 8 people who read this blog and also have a blog. So if you are one of the rare people who reads this blog, do this quiz... and leave me your blog address or something so I can read your quiz.

Space Careers

CNN Careers in Space

Mine: Your tact and love of new cultures would make you the perfect diplomat as humans reach for the stars. Bring on the little green man!

OF's: (guy is so gross-looking... *pukes*)