FYI

I'm considering stopping this blog for personal reasons. Have been actually considering it for some time already, but the new year started and I just kept it a bit longer.

It doesn't mean that I'm going to stop writing, though...since I do enjoy it. I'm just going to make it a more private blog for friends and family only, so that people can still follow my thoughts if they're interested. By doing it this way, I can also open up my comment box again and have it more easy for people I know to comment away without going through any moderation steps.

So yeah, that's one out of many reasons that I have not been updating so much lately. The main reasons...well, you can read about when I get around to opening up my new blog and if you're among those who are in the category of "friends and family". For those who are faithful readers but are not known to me in real life, thank you for your readership thus far.

This blog will however, remain open even if not updated anymore. Once the new blog is ready, I'll put the link up here and on Facebook, and those who want to keep reading can email/message me for a password.

If nobody is interested, I'll still keep writing...and writing...and writing...because the concept of having a diary still exists, whether it's in a physical book, or a virtual one.

Stay tuned!

To hell and back on Friday the 13th.

I thought I would never step into a piercing studio again, not after my last experience there. However, approximately 6 months later, I'm back at it again! On Friday the 13th, to be exact. Have I become addicted to piercing? Like, those people who start out with one, and end up with a hundred... .

Well, not quite. Thing is, the 1st belly button piercing I had didn't turn out good in the end. Nothing was infected at all, so that was a relief for me. However, I was not happy about it because it turned out to be shorter than the standard length! The piercing was only 8mm long, while the standard was 11mm!

Did it matter? Yes, it did! Especially after I had spent X amount of money on loads of new belly button jewellery, and was eager to try them on, only to discover that they were too long for me. Believe me, it's quite a huge difference... .

New jewellery above and the one that was used for my piercing below.

So yeah...with 32 pieces of new jewellery already bought (online - cheap, cheap) that I couldn't use because my hole length was too short, I decided to do a re-piercing, even if I had to walk through hell and back again like the last time. Oh, and of course spend money on it again.

Just annoying that it wasn't done right the first time though. I mean sure, I was the one who chose the piece of 8mm jewellery while at the studio, but how was I to know that they come in different lengths, and that the standard was 11mm?!? the piercer could have at least told me about that....but no... . Looking back, I should not have done it with someone who didn't have any piercings on himself anyway. He had tattoos, but no piercings, so though he might be a good tattoo artist, he was definitely not a good piercer.

Anyway, here are pics from the 2nd time around. I was pierced by Muffe, the boss...and he is really quite a walking advertisement for his profession... .

Cleaning up with antiseptic.


Marking the spot for where the hole should be.


Making sure it's aligned properly.


Preparation - both him and me.


It was still quite nerve-wreaking even though I had done it before. I guess for me, it was also because of what had happened after the piercing that 1st time.


Done! It was surprising less painful this time! I'll go as far as to say barely any pain at all. No throbbing feeling like last time either, and I didn't feel faint in the least bit.


10/10 for Muffe! And yes, he does have those devil horns thingies in this forehead, if you wanna click on this pic for a closer look. His tongue is also slit into two like a snake... .


Standing up nice and steady after the piercing. Ok, I did have a bottle of coke with me as insurance in case I felt faint and needed to increase my sugar level, and I did lay still for about 5 mins after the piercing too.


Now you can really see the difference of the old and the new... .


The old again.

For those thinking of piercing, I don't recommend Tatto Liz for it. Go to Body Extremes instead, as I am now very satisfied with my re-piercing. Of course, it means that I'll have to take care of it again for the next 6 months, and that I can't change it to any of my new pieces either until then...but at least I'm more happy about it now :o).

So...what's next ;o)? No, this will really be the last piercing...I think ;o).

Update:
And isn't it funny that just after publishing this post, the visitor number to my blog looks like this:

Ambiguity screaming to be defined.

Seems that Bil was still raving on to Martin at work day on day about how the wife in my fictional story so closely resembled his Yellow Goddess (yeah...one does not always need to go online to hear things from the grapevine). When Martin came home from work on Tuesday, he asked: "Hey, you might be happy to know who's still reading your blog!" "Who? Yellow Goddess :o)?" I asked.

I guess it's nice to know that she can't get enough of me... . I don't blame her though, because I do somehow seem to have that mesmerising effect on her, which can only be a good thing, right :o)?

Anyway, after hearing the good news that she's still my number 1 fan reader (sorry that I keep calling her my "fan". It's just that "fan" is from the word "fanatic", and "fanatic means "marked by excessive enthusiasm and often intense uncritical devotion", so it's really easy for me to keep accidentally using this term), I penned out this post.

The next day, Bil was still raving on and on to Martin about my post at their work place (was it really such a good post?). "There were no names mentioned in the post," said Martin. "Yeah, but EVERYONE can guess who the characters are!" said Bil.

Why, oh why do they keep thinking that they are famous celebraties on planet Earth? So far, up till this point at least, only they themselves saw any resemblance to themselves, plus maybe a couple of others who could take a wild guess but still not really know.

But ok, since they made such a big "Everybody on planet Earth is going to know it's Yellow Goddess and me" fuss "because we're so bloody famous", I've added this to that post:

Fiction disclaimer
(because such a story as above is of course too absurd to happen in real life):

The characters featured in this Post are completely fictional. Any resemblance to any person living or dead is purely coincidental. No similarity to any person either living or dead should be inferred.

So take note, my dear readers: even if you most likely didn't make any connections of the couple in the said post to Yellow Goddess or Bil to begin with, please know that they DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT refer to either of them. However, if you now want to think that it was really them, then that's your prerogative and I can't stop you.

Speaking of which (and coincidentally enough), I had an sms from dear Alice yesterday (while I was having dinner with Shi Hua and 2 other former colleagues) as follows:

"(con't)...call you but no answer. Have a good night. Hugs"

Which...hmm....proves my point that the characters in that post were very ambiguous to the majority of my faithful readers?

Anyway, if any of you want to claim the "honour" of being the said persons in that fictional post, please send me a short description of why you think they are you. Better still, if you can provide some proof (photos, airline tickets, shopping receipts, eye witness accounts that you really ditched your husband at dinner time to shop or hang out with your male friend privately in your hotel room while your husband sat alone and upset that you were not there with him instead...etc). Serious applications only, please!

As for beefsoup69/inthefaceofearth/inthemistofdk/Spanky, oh, let's just quit the BS and call my pet troll by her real pseudonym, "Yellow Goddess", shall we? I mean, it's not easy for me to keep track of all her mulitple split online personalities as it is, so let's just K.I.S.S.

Anyway, as I was saying, knowing now that Yellow Goddess was really my personal pet troll all this while who comes to my blog almost every day...sometimes even a couple of times a day, I guess I should feel very touched and honoured by her obession :o).

However, I'm a little concerned though :o(. Knowing now that she spends all day watching out for new posts from me, itching her fingers to comment (but can't anymore), probably hoping that I read her blog; the one that I couldn't care less about (yeah, I admit - I hate vomit and tend not to return to it - I'm no tding tding dong dong doggy fool), making extra effort to create split online personalities, and *gasp* even PRETENDING online to be me sometimes (obvious symptom of obession...but again, I don't blame her because the closest she can come to be me is to be me online, no matter how hard she tries), I just wonder...who is taking care of her little bao bei? One thing is to be obssessed about me and my blog, another thing is to be obssessed about me and my blog while neglecting little bao bei. I'm honoured, but as little bao bei's aunt, I'm also rather concerned :-/.

Oh well...whatever makes her happy, I guess. Friends, foes, fans, trolls - all are welcome here :o).

Snoop dog keeps coming back for more.

It is quite amazing how, even though no names were mentioned (real or otherwise), one of my very faithful fans reader wanted to somehow identify herself with the character in this post. I could be refering to anyone, or I could be refering to no one in particular, or it could just be one of my very vivid imaginations for storytelling, yet this fan reader seemed to feel that she relates so directly to it.

I was merely sharing an absurd story, as I would any other absurd stories under the sun. Nothing personal, unless you make it so. In which case, it won't be my problem to deal with. I'll keep writing what I want to write about, and if you think that what I write is like vomit to you, then hey - stop being like a dog who keeps returning to this vomit unless deep down inside you actually do like what I write about (and I don't blame you) but are just too afraid to admit it.

So yeah...I don't know...go play 'fetch the Gucci bag' or something if that upsets you less. I'll leave you now with a very wise quote from an old schoolmate:

"Splurging on experiences makes you an interesting person with stories to tell; splurging on things makes you bland, with only...well, things to show off."

Happy 牛 Year!!!

To all my Chinese friends, 新年快乐!

This year will be the year of the cow/ox (牛/niu) - the 2nd animal in the Chinese calendar. If you were born in 1973 and 1985, then you're an ox.

Legend has it that the ox was actually supposed to be the 1st animal who responded to Buddha's call. However, the rat had asked it for a ride, and when they approached Buddha, the rat jumped off the back of the ox and hence, became the 1st animal to reach Buddha's feet.

It is also said that the rat had lied to the cat about the actual calling day, and that is why the cat didn't make it in time to Buddha to have a year named after it. Because of this, up till today, the cat is always chasing the rat. This rat seems to be a very mischievious animal, huh ;o)?

Anyway, here are some superstitions that one must NOT do on the 1st day of the new year:

• Avoid housework (I had cleaned the apartment a couple of days ago after too long).
  It is believed that you will "sweep the good luck away" if you do housework on the 1st day.


• Avoid washing hair
  Same reason as avoiding housework.


• No splashing of water out the house
  Water symbolises money, so you don't want to throw "money" out the house.


• No handling of sharp objects
  They represent conflicts or arguments...so not a good start of a new year.


• No nail clipping or hair cutting
  As hairs and nails are inherited from parents and the cutting of hair or nail during the first few days may shorten the parents life or cause ill-health.


• No anger or sour faces
  Be happy to ensure good fortune throughout the rest of the year. If you're a child/teenager, I guess you can get away with a lot of things on this day because your parents should not get angry at you ;o).


• No negative words
  Arguments must be avoided at all costs. Also words related to death and sickness.


• Avoid breaking anything
  Otherwise bad luck ahead will be inevitable.


• Avoid wearing black and/or white clothes
  These colours are associated with death. Red on the other hand, is most welcome as it represents luck.

These are just some of the superstitions surrounding Chinese New Year. There are also the superstitions about what food to eat on the eve of Chinese New Year when the family gathers together for the reunion dinner. Things like, prawns for happiness because prawns in Cantonese (I think) is pronounced "ha", so it sounds like laughter, eggs because they are round so good luck all year round. Noodles for longevity (and hence, they should not be cut). Fish, because the word for fish, "Yu," sounds like the words both for wish and abundance.

And of course, tangerines and oranges are passed out freely during Chinese New Year (in pairs) as the words for tangerine and orange sound like luck and wealth, respectively. The Chinese are very particular about giving things out in pairs as they represent togetherness, and "double" (eg. double happiness).

Married people also give out money in red packets with gold letterings to single people (usually to children/teenagers only, but some do give it also to single adults). It is believed that the more money you give out, the more you will usher in during the year ahead...so despite how generous it appears to be, there is a selfish intention. But traditions are traditions... .

Red packets

Anyway, there are so many other traditions during this festive period, and it also varies from region to region. The above are just some of the more commonly practiced beliefs.

I think what I'll be missing the most about not being able to celebrate Chinese New Year in Singapore is all the new year food goodies :o(. If any of my Singapore friends reading my blog is reading this, please be merciful and send me some pineapple tarts, ok ;o)?

"Straight from the mouth"

I hope Allegra realised at some point that we were kidding about Copenhagen and Sweden... .

Being an organ donor

Have you guys ever considered being an organ donor? Those who aren't one yet, that is. To be honest, although I wasn't totally against it, I had never wanted to be one myself. Martin on the other hand, was all for it, and it was almost as if it was his dream to be one... .

A few days ago, we received new social security cards from the commune because our previous doctor had passed away, so we needed a new doctor assigned to us. For those who do not live in Denmark, our doctor's name is shown on our social security cards, that's why a new one has to be sent when we change doctors.

Anyway, together with our new cards, there was also an organ donor card in the envelope. I didn't see it, but a couple of days later, I saw that Martin had filled it out for himself, giving permission to be cut up and have his organs taken away and re-used.

"You wanna be cut up and all that when you die?!?!" I asked him.
"Yeah, why not? I don't care when I'm dead anyway," he said
"But, but..."

Yeah, "But what" Sheila??? It's one thing to be cut up while still alive, and another to be cut up when dead, right? So why not??? If it means saving someone else's life? If we can't do this while still alive, at least do it when we're dead. So what was stopping ME?

Many irrational reasons, really.

Ethics? But there's nothing unethical about this.
Respect for my body when I'm dead? Why would I care about respect when I'm dead?
Going to heaven in 1 piece? But we'll get brand new bodies in heaven anyway, so why would I want the old, imperfect organs with me?
Leaving earth the way we came on it? Erhm...because why?

There are absolutely NO LOGICAL REASONS *not* to be an organ donor!!! None. Nada.

Martin then asked me this:

In case of emergencies, Would it be fair then to say that EVERY adult who are NOT registered donors either 1) doesn't get entitled to any organs themselves, or 2) gets put way down on the priority list?

My quick answer was of course "Yes, that's fair!" Like...DUH! Stupid question! And then right after answering it, my brain gave me the image of ME on that operating table and me NEEDING an organ to survive. If I'm not a donor myself, why SHOULD I be given one? It'll be very egoistic to expect an organ from someone else when I don't want to give my own away, no?

So yeah...that kinda nailed it hard for me. All my illogical reasons just vanished into thin air in a split second. Of course, the government has not come up with such a condition (yet?), but...I don't know...I guess when I face that life or death situation, I will FEEL better in receiving an organ knowing that I'll also give mine away in death. I will feel more human when the time comes for me to help other humans in such a way when I can.

After all, physically when we die, if we don't get cremated, we'll for sure be buried and DECOMPOSED anyway. But if my healthy organs can be used to SAVE someone else, then in some physical way, not only will they continue to live, but I will also still live on... . My heart will still be beating away... . That's kinda surreal, isn't it?

Anyway, it's a very personal decision... . Well, not 100% personal, since you can also let your next of kin decide for you to some extent when you die...but personal while you're still alive.

Some people say "YES!" without any hesitation whatsoever, most are in the middle saying "I don't know yet," and I believe only a few are those who say "NO WAY!" without any hesitation. I think it's good to at least be in the middle, rather than on the extreme "no" end. Shows you still have a heart to give to mankind...when you finally decide to do so. If in the end, you decide not to, just the fact that you had at least considered wouldn't make you totally heartless.

But yeah, when you're ready to make that step, then you'll have a peace in your heart when you fill out the form... . I registered online a couple of days ago, and will get a letter confirming my decision within 3 weeks. I'm just glad I won't be alive to feel anything when the time comes to cut me up. Easier to commit to it in this way, as I doubt I'll volunteer to donate a bone marrow or a kidney to strangers while I'm still alive... .

For those of you who are still considering, take your time to think. When you feel the peace in your heart upon reaching your decision, whether it's a yes or a no, that would be the right answer for YOU. It is after all, your body to do with as you please.

And to those in Denmark, if you want to register to be an organ donor, you can do so on the Sundhed website. Trust me - it takes less than 1 minute to do it! You can also change your mind later on too, so it's not binding...unless you die before you change your mind, of course.

If you already have a donor card in your wallet, I would recommend to register online anyway because even though the signed card in your wallet is valid enough, what if you were robbed of your wallet with your card in it, and stabbed to death? No record then of your wish to be an organ donor.


As an end note, I may be wrong, but I think that it should be WAY easier for people who are already parents to make the decision to be organ donors. I mean, they are the ones who should be able to understand the giving of life better than anyone else since they MADE life, and they are the ones who should know what giving and sacrifice is really about. Right?

Btw, try to watch Seven Pounds starring Will Smith in some relation to this topic.

Not a very Posh model in Versace.

Looking at the photos below:

1) These models REALLY need to put some meat to their bones... . (click pic!)
2) Notice the funky shoes??? Not my style, but nevertheless, they're different.
3) The "dress" is by Versace. I don't get why branded clothes cost so much when they design garbs like that. Even if I were as rich as say...Victoria Beckham/Posh Spice, I will *not* waste my money on this crap of a dress.

Oops... . But ok, it at least looks a little better on Posh Spice than it does on that sickly looking model.

Can't eat, must shop.

Okay...let's say your husband's company throws a belated New Year's party in London, whereby staff are invited as well as partners of staff. They'll pay the air ticket, dinner, drinks and hotel stay for staff, and will do the same for partners except the air ticket.

Now, knowing that your husband's company is being the host, and knowing full well that they're paying for your dinner as part of the programme of the evening, what would a normal person do?

1. Be there for the dinner by your husband's side or
2. Decide to go shopping instead and skip the whole dinner event, while having your husband show up alone (even though you are on an extended weekend trip with the possibility to shop on another day).

I am willing to place my bet that a normal person will do option 1.

However, as I've found out today, there are...sadly enough, people who are materialistic enough to actually do option 2! Seriously...not only does it show what kind of a person you are, it also causes your husband to "lose face" in front of his bosses and colleagues when they see that the wife gives no respect to the company as the host.

Anyway...I guess this just shows me that being 30 and a mother does not necessarily make you a matured adult who can get obvious priorities right. One can only hope that during an emergency event when one has to decide whether ones son or ones Gucci bag should be saved, the human being will be the one chosen.

Fiction disclaimer

(because such a story as above is of course too absurd to happen in real life):

The characters featured in this Post are completely fictional. Any resemblance to any person living or dead is purely coincidental. No similarity to any person either living or dead should be inferred.

Flugten (The Escape)

People in Denmark - please go and watch the new Danish movie "Flugten" that premieres today!!! Not only does it have a really good storyline, but my dear friend, Wagma, has some parts in it too!!! If I remember correctly, she plays the wife of the leading Afghanistan young man.

More information and trailer: here!

I can't wait to watch it myself...and put all my Danish understanding to the test :o). Well, there are some parts in the movie that have English dialogues too, so that's good.

Go watch!

Restaurant Bali

There was a shootout at Restaurant Bali on Monday (the 5th) at around 19:00hrs at Kongens Nytorv. It was reported that 2 Asian men were injured, one of which was the owner. The gunman himself was Asian. We already had the news turned on at this time, so the incident was "breaking news" when it happened.

However, it was only yesterday that I found out that the 2 injured Asian men were Singaporeans! A friend from Singapore wrote on my Facebook wall with this link, asking if I heard about it. It apparently made it to the news in Singapore...of course. Pretty far out, huh?

There has been rumours that there are illegal activities going on in the restaurant, so let's see if the police manages to find out if this shootout was mob-related. Not sure if you guys in Denmark remember that incident with the Chinese boy who was kidnapped by some Asian dudes some time ago here in Copenhagen? Seems like the Asian community here is becoming rather dramatic...and with cases like these, it is not a good thing.

I mean, the Asian community has always been the most well-behaved lot of foreigners living in Denmark, but that image is slowly being tarnished with crimes like these. So far though, the victims have been just Asians (unlike those other immigrant crimes that involve Danish victims), but still, a crime is a crime, and especially as residents/guests in a foreign country, one should all the more behave.

Anyway...let's see what the police investigations reveal in relation to this case.

On a side note, I had eaten at Restaurant Bali with a couple of girlfriends several years ago, and the food + service there were rather bad. Now that I know the owner is from Singapore, I wonder if they were the same owners as Restaurant Singapore...which doesn't exist anymore, I think. Food and service there was rather bad too, and my former company used to have a contract with them but we only send very low budget groups there for meals.

Thing is, the (Sporean) wife of the owner of Restaurant Singapore is rather - how can I say it politely - female doggy-like...if you know what I mean. She always has this angry look on her face. She arrived at our office once, looking as if she was ready to have a showdown with our manager or something.

I mention her now because after all these years since eating at Restaurant Bali that first (and last) time, I've come to realise that she was most likely the one serving us that day! No wonder she seemed familiar then. And she didn't leave a good impression on us that day because even though the restaurant was pretty empty, it seemed like she wanted us to quickly eat our meal and leave. My 2 friends who were there first said they felt this already from the start when they arrived.

This attitude is so typically Chinese, I think. Had that same "service" once at a Chinese restaurant in London. Which of us like having a hawk watch over us when we eat? And though they won't tell you directly to leave already, all it takes is the hint from their body language to scream this out in a thousand words.

Anyway...I don't recommend going there for dinner...that's all I'm saying. Quite life threatening to do so now too, on top of the bad service and not very delicious food.

Entering 2009

This post is slightly overdue, and I have yet to put pictures up on Facebook. We had a fantastic New Year's Eve party hosted by my friend, Bahati, at her apartment close by our place. There were around 30 people in all, and we had good food and free flow of drinks for 200kr (S$50) each.

It was the first time in 2 years that we ushered in the new year in a big party way. The last 2 NY eves were of a more cosy/family nature in Tune (Roskilde), so it was nice to have a change this time. We didn't go home until 6am...but like I said before, the party was close to home so it didn't take more than 15mins before we were in our domain again.

Well, there's not much more I can tell, so I'll let the pictures do the talking.

I normally edit red eyes in photos away, but I think Martin's red eyes in this pic fit his scary look.


A close up of Mr Punk. I did the makeup...but the idea of wanting makeup done in the first place was his, not mine.


I went for the more subtle makeup ;o).


Mmm....lots of delicious homemade food.


All gone in no time.


A South African dish called "Babooti" or something like that.


Just finishing my 1st round.


Anders going for his 10th round ;o).


Couple shot #01


Dancing time!


Everybody dance now!


Shake it, shake it, shake it!


Couple shot #02


The host!


What to drink...decisions, decisions.


More groovy time.


In Denmark, it is legal to shoot off your own fireworks. You can see one going off to the left of this picture. Personally, I don't like wasting money on these rockets, so I just let others buy the stuff and enjoy it at their expense ;o). It's not like I dare to shoot one off on my own either anyway. Therefore, no money wasted, no body parts wasted.


Beautiful.


Martin searching for food... ;o). Or not.


More dancing.








Putting on a show.


Group shot of the last party animals.

Happy New Year 2009!

Happy New Year, everyone!!! Hope you all had a wonderful entry into the year 2009. I'm not big about making new year resolutions, but I have decided to make some fun ones as below:

1. Be #1 on the DK mahjong rating list.
2. Speak Danish better than the Queen of Denmark.
3. Find out who the Internet God is and ask for a SUPER FAST connection before I pull out all my hair in frustration.
4. Win the lottery.
5. Don't celebrate my birthday anymore so that I remain at my 2008's age.
6. Eat more desserts without putting on weight... .
7. Be nicer to Internet trolls.
8. Run after the bus less.
9. Find Nemo...and have delicious sushi as celebration.
10. Forgive myself if I don't manage to do #7.

New cat on the blog

Just had to share my latest Photoshop piece of work :o). Rrrreeeuw!

The new Catwoman.


Versus the old.

Halle Berry, step aside ;o).

Merry Christmas!

We spent Christmas this year at Martin's parents' home, and it is always a cosy time with lots of delicious Christmas food. Here in Denmark, there are traditional Christmas food, with the main dish being roast pork and/or roast duck.

There are other traditions too, such as celebrating on the 24th instead of the 25th. It's not that Danes are impatient people who cannot wait 1 day more to celebrate, eat and open their gifts...nor is it to get 1 more day off from work (25th and 26th are official public holidays, but companies tend to give the 24th free as well). The main reason is that Danes used to celebrate Yule - a pagan celebration. However, after Christianity came to the country, they decided to incorporated this into Christmas...and I as I understand, compromised to celebrate it on the 24th instead of the 25th.

Anyway, Christ wasn't born on 25th December, so whether Christmas is celebrated on 24th or 25th December doesn't really matter. The main thing is to remember what we're celebrating, enjoy being with friends and family, and keeping the spirit of giving.

Here are some traditional Danish Christmas food:

Æbleskriver - eaten with icing sugar and/or jam. Usually, you'd drink a warm wine drink called "glögg" as well, with raisins and chopped almonds in it.


Flæskesteg - roast pork with crispy crusts, eaten with brown sauce, red cabbage, and some berry thingy. The picture above shows the roasted pork in the background (with crispy crusts on top) and apple filled with berry thingy in the foreground.


Here's my plate of roasted duck, caramelised potatoes on the left (yummy!), a couple of prunes, and red cabbage at the very back.


And Christmas dessert! This is called ris alamand, and it is basically a cold and sweet rice pudding chopped almonds in it. Eaten with cherry sauce. There is usually a whole almond inside the big bowl of pudding, and if you're lucky enough to get a serving with this almond in your plate, then you get a gift. I didn't get the almond this year :o(.


The whole family at dinner :o). My mother-in-law at the left, followed by her mum, her sister, her brother, her man and me.


IQ puzzle thingy, where the aim is to get the red car out of the jam. Was quite fun actually, and I managed to solve all the challenges that were given to me :o).


Martin's gift to me - a B&O BeoCom 6000 phone :o). This is the one that is often seen in Hollywood movies.


Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas! Or, as you would say in Danish: God Jul!

Here's one of my favourite Christmas songs by some Danish artistes. The first 2 girls who you see in the music video are actually 2 sisters who are ½ Malaysians and ½ Danish, and were the singing duo called S.O.A.P

2 chapters in 1 day

Many things are official now. For one, I will not be stepping into my current office anymore - last day of work was last Friday, and my desk has been cleared of all my personal belongings. It's going to be strange indeed not to have to go to that office again... .

Time to...say goodbye. *Sob* *Sob* There are actually 2 more who are not in the picture because they couldn't be at the office on Friday.

On another note, I am pleased to announce that I've signed my contract with my new company also on Friday :o)! Kinda symbolic that the ending of one chapter and the start of another happened on the same day. But yes, I will have a new job from February next year :o)! It's going to be in the travel industry still, and it's going to be more challenging for me. I'll be starting as a Project and Sales Manager there, so as you can imagine, I'm quite excited :o).

Anyway, I would like to thank all my colleagues for a wonderful professional relationship and friendship all these years - am gonna miss working with all of you indeed! And all the best in your future! Will make it a point to organise a reunion at least once a year, so that we can keep ourselves updated with each other, expecially with those who stubbornly refuse to join Facebook ;o).

I felt the Earth, move, under my bed...

...and it was measured 4.7 on the Richter scale. Denmark experienced an earthquake this morning at 06:20hrs, and this is a flat country that does not have any natural disasters. Much like in Singapore.

I received an sms from a friend this morning at 08:35hrs, about shaking, earthquake, 4.7 level, scary, fragile and precious life, etc... . It was around 2hrs later that I read it, while still half-asleep. I was thinking "WTH is he babbling about?" Nothing in his message was making sense to me, and I did seriously think he was delusional or something.

I mean, hello? Earthquake? In DENMARK? Gotta be kidding, right? What drug was he on? Or maybe he had just snored so loudly that he thought it was an earthquake? Besides, if it was true, I would have heard something from Martin about it by then, but no... .

Then less than 5 mins after thinking this thought, Martin sent an sms asking if I felt an earthquake this morning. Now THAT finally got me wide awake. So there really WAS one? I was starting to feel disappointed that I had slept right through it! My mum used to say that even if an atomic bomb exploded, I would not wake up...and if I had slept right through an earthquake, then her words would certainly hold true... .

I laid in bed, soaking this all in. Looked around the bedroom...looked at the wardrobes...and then BAM! It suddenly hit me (a realisation, not the wardrobe), and my memory was jolted! I remembered waking up during the night to the sound of wardrobes that were violently shaking! Those few seconds became clear to me again, and things started to make sense at last.

I had woken up during the Danish royal rumble, heard my wardrobes banging each other (wardrobes need sexy time too, I guess), and the very first thought I had was "Wtf is Martin making so much noise for when he's preparing to go to work, and so exceptionally LOUD this time?" I was about to tell him to "SHUSH, lah!" until I saw that he was actually still innocently snoring sleeping away. My Martin(i) was shaken, not stirred... .

That really had me rather confused about the noisy wardrobes then, but it kinda ended almost as soon as it started (5 secs), so before I had more time to speculate what the din was all about, I fell right back into deep sleep. If there had been no news about this earthquake, I swear that I'd not have remembered this incident at all! Like a dream that you forget about as soon as you wake up.

But yay! I did experience this somewhat consciously, and it was kinda cool. Something to talk about indeed. If we ever have kids + grandkids, I can now say "You know...mummy/grandma experienced and survived an earthquake in 2008." ;o) Perhaps I should even get one of these t-shirts ;o).

Maybe I'll get them as Christmas gifts for all survivors I meet this Christmas! Hee...hee... .

Good there weren't any damages nor loss of lives though. Otherwise, the tone of this post will of course be much different. Earthquakes that can be measured but not felt are apprantly often registered in Denmark. This is the strongest one felt in Denmark since 23 years ago, where there was a similar sized one with the epicentre in the North Zealand part of Denmark.

The one this morning had its epicentre in South Sweden, and Copenhagen was around 65km away from it, as shown in the picture below:

The epicentre of the earthquake (Photo: USGS.com)


Seismic activity shown on DMI's magnetometre. Time shown is UTC time - 1hr earlier than Danish time. (Photo: dmi.dk)

Had sent an sms to my sister to ask if she felt anything, and no...she slept right through it too. I guess I'm not the one anymore who is capable of sleeping right through an atomic bomb explosion, huh? I also guess that I'll be the one who is going to be bringing Martin to safety instead of the other way around, should something disasterous happen during the night... ;o).

Btw, I'm wondering about this (as written in the article): "...concerned members of the public across the country telephoning police... ." Seriously? The police? For a crime the Earth committed? Or do they really have a "Stop Earthquake" button somewhere that they can push?

I don't trust big banks

Anyone familiar with the energy company, Enron, scandal in the US in 2001? Despite being named by Fortune magazine as "America's Most Innovative Company" for six consecutive years, it was later revealed that its reported financial condition was sustained substantially by institutionalized, systematic, and creatively planned accounting fraud.

Denmark is now having an Enron scandal of its own, in the name of a company called IT-Factory. Although the scale of the fraud is much lower than that of Enron, the similarities are quite similar. For one thing, IT-Factory was awarded "Denmark's Best IT-company" in September last year, and CEO Stein Bagger had himself recently been named Danish Entrepreneur of the Year by Ernst & Young, after seemingly miraculously rescuing the company from crumbling.

Read the story here.

What I want to talk about though, is the way the banks involved handled giving out loans to IT-Factory. Danske Bank (Denmarks biggest) is expected to have lost 350 million DKK (S$100 million) because of this fraud. Other banks like Nordea Bank and Jyske Bank had also lost some money, but not on such a large scale (10 million DKK - 25 million DKK).

I'm no expert in finance and the like, but it does make me (and many others) wonder how banks can agree to loan out huge amounts of money to companies just like that without doing thorough checks. When we requested for a loan of around 1 million DKK for our apartment, they required several papers from us such as our pay slips for the last 3 months, and our tax papers from the previous year.

When my VISA card from Jyske Bank was eaten up by the ATM in Rome last year, and I wanted to re-apply a new one, Jyske Bank didn't want to send me the same type of card with the same credit terms because I was not having much savings in my account there anymore. They can only offer something else that was worse than what I had. I had decided to just close my account there in the end, because it would be their loss anyway for losing a customer.

So yeah, one would expect more stringent and scrutinizing checks on companies who want to borrow hundreds of millions of kroners, right? Apparantly, fake contracts, invoices, statements of accounts, etc seem to be accepted too. Note to self on that... .

There should be a law that banks can only use money that they have for investments and loans. This applies on a private and personal scale too - never spend more than you have, and if you do, make sure you can afford to pay back.

Anyway, we received a mail from Danske Bank 3 days ago, inviting us for a meeting with them for a couple of hours where they can give us suggestions on making our private finances better, easier or cheaper, in the areas of our daily finances, investing and pension.

First line says: "We are happy to have you as a customer of Danske Bank." I don't seriously believe that. Not when we have peanuts in our Danske Bank account amounting to no more than 100kr a month, because all our savings after paying off the monthly loan payments to them are transferred over to another non-Danske Bank account.


1st paragraph says: At Danske Bank, we work with advise teams that are made up of advisers with competence within daily economy, investing, pension and housing economy. That means, you can get light on your private economy from several angles and improve your total economic situation.

They have got to be kidding, right? These are the guys who just lost 350 million DKK on one really bad investment. These are the same guys who advised Danish entertainer, Finn Nørbygård, to invest in IT-Factory, so he borrowed some millions from them to invest in this company's stocks, only to end up losing up to 700 million DKK on this bad advice.

It would have been more appropriate for them to send out this invitation on 01 April, so that if anyone questions them, they could just turn around and say it was an April Fool's joke... .

But yeah, since when did the big banks care about their customers' interests anyway? I've given up on these big guys a long time ago. We did manage to get a good loan agreement out of them for our apartment (20 years with 4% fixed interest), but that's it. The smaller banks are the ones with better interest rates on the savings account, and they provide better service too.

The bank I use now for my salary/savings account gives an interest of 4.5% on the very first kroner you put in. Interests earned this year alone from this account will amount to around 5800 DKK (S$1660). This is money "earned" simply by saving up. Sure, it's not giving any high returns compared to if we invest our savings in stocks, etc...but then again, the saying "easy come, easy go" still holds true till today. I'd rather sleep well at night.

The big banks though, they don't give you back a single kroner. Even if you, as an average customer, have a LOT of savings, you'll earn at most 2.75% interest. While of course, they make millions in profits.

So to Danske Bank, I say: Thanks, guys...but no thanks. I know you need money now, but you ain't gettin' it out of me.

My piano debut - Apologize by One Republic

I'm almost done learning this song. Still some mistakes here and there, but well...you can watch this video on my progress first. Practice makes perfect anyway...and since I've never had any real piano lessons before, I think I've accomplished quite a lot already... .

So...what do you think? All this learnt from a tutorial online by David Sides :o). Btw, I think my fingers look like crazy spider legs jumping around ;o).

Lazy me

I should be a bear. One who hibernates throughout the winter season. I've been clearing my vacation days before my company closes our Copenhagen office, which means that I've been off pretty much for 1½ months in Nov + Dec, and it's wonderful not to have to get out into the cold to go to work during these months.

The problem is, it makes it so much easier to just waste the "day" away (I say "day" because right now, the "day" seems like "night" anyway since there is no sun shining in the morning/afternoon - just gray clouds). When I say "waste", I mean "sleep". I'm a night person, so I tend to be more active and awake at night, but very lazy in the day if I don't have any activity to get me out of the house.

Good that I've started Danish lessons then. Gives me reason to pull myself out of Dreamland. Gosh! I miss the sun! Who stole it?!?! I get up when it's dark, and I go to bed when it's dark. See, told you I should just be a bear and sleep for 4 months a year... .

I would make a good bum, if that was a "job". Just exist in the world. What a waste, huh? But ok, I've been working hard for 11 years, so I guess deserve a couple of relaxing months before I start a new job again.

There's a guy who lives at the ground floor of one of the apartments in our estate. I walk pass his window pretty much every day, to and from work. He would be sitting by his kitchen window when I pass him in the morning, and again when I pass him in the evening. It doesn't matter what time of the day it is, he'll be there. Also weekends.

We've been living here for 4½ years already. That's at least how long he's been wasting his life away staring out his window! I don't dare to know how long exactly he's been doing that. Our estate was built in 1991, so I don't hope it's been almost 2 decades that he's been doing this.

A neighbour who has been living here since almost the beginning told us that this guy broke down after his wife died. Ever since then, he's just been existing, not living. It's really sad, because he's probably in his early or mid-50's, so he still has many years left of his life. Too many to waste away like that. Hmm...well, he's a heavy smoker so maybe he won't have that many in the end. You can smell the thick smoke whenever you walk pass his open window, and the one side of his kitchen walls is literally yellow from his heavy smoking.

Anyway...what do you do really, if you don't have friends, family...even a purpose in life? What can you do? Well, this guy...despite being the unofficial neighbourhood watchdog, has shown me what I never want to be for as long as I am still alive as a human being.

Now, if I evolve into a vampire after my tendency to be more awake and active at night than during the day during these couple of months, then that's a different story. I'll just be living/existing then to hunt, drink blood and sleep. Oh, and make vampire armies ;o).

Big love!

This video clip (true story, by the way) never fails to bring tears to my eyes every time I watch it... . Well ok, maybe not by the 10th time in a row...but you know what I mean... .

I'm more of a dog person than a cat person, but there's something about big cats that really makes me like them...especially tigers. Nice that I'm a Leo ;o).

Anyway, get some Kleenex ready! True friendship knows no boundaries... .

Mit første post på dansk

Ja, jeg starter intensive dansk undervisning i morgen, så skal jeg begynde at skrive lidt mere dansk her, ikke ;o)? Jeg synes at det er nu på tide at jeg forbedre både mit talt og skrevet dansk, især når jeg har boet her i næsten 12 år allerede... . Og nu har jeg også masser af tid til at lære rigtigt dansk, før jeg starter på arbejder igen.

Men hvorfor taler jeg ikke flydende dansk efter så mange år her, spørger du. Det er en godt spørgsmål, og jeg har nogle grunde...ok, ok...undskyldninger for det. Først og fremmest, lad mig siger at jeg kan godt forstår og læser dansk. Måske ikke 100% (80%), men jeg kan godt klar det. Det er bare sværere for mig til at tale og skrive på dansk, og det er derfor at jeg vil gerne have undervisning til det nu.

Sagen er, at jeg arbejder i et firma som bruger engelsk som arbejssporg i næsten 11 år. Der er kun 2 ud af 10 kolleger som er dansk, og 2 mere som er dansk talere. Derfor, taler vi mest på engelsk i kontoret. De fleste af mine venner er internationale mennesker, eller er danskere, som taler godt engelsk. Så er det bare nemmere for os til at taler på engelsk, og mine dansk venner vil også gerner forbedre deres engelsk. Martin hjælper ikke så meget i den her afdeling også. Vi taler dansk til hindanden for ca. 10-15min om dagen, og så skifter vi ubevidst tilbage til engelsk. Det er bare nemmere, og der er ingen grunde til stor misforståelse, da engelsk er mit første sporg alligevel.

Jeg ved godt, at mit skrevet dansk i denne post er ikke 100% korrect dansk, men jeg håber at du, som en dansker eller en som kan forstår dansk, kan godt forstår hvad jeg skrive nu. Det er et svært sprog, men jeg er tillid at jeg vil blive godt nok til det en dag, for at arbejder i et firma som kræver flydende talt og skrevet dansk.

Ønske mig held og lykke til det!

United Nations of friends

Anyway...moving on from Trollie news (it was fun to poke it for a while, but now that it's sitting under the bridge licking its wounds, it would be human for me to ignore its existance).

I was just looking at my "Friend's List" on Facebook, and it's amazing to see how many people I know from around the world! Of course, we have different degrees of friendship, but I'll just use this term loosely for now to simply mean "people I know".

If I do an alphabetical list of countries of where my friends come from, it would look something like this (numbers indicate how many from each country):

Australia, Austria = 5, 1
Belerus, Belgium, Brazil = 1, 1, 5
Cambodia, Canada, China, Croatia = 1, 3, 7, 1
Denmark = 88
England, Estonia = 10, 1
Finland, France = 6, 4
Germany, Ghana = 2, 3
H = Hmm...no, no one from Hungary.
India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Ivory Coast = 3, 6, 1, 2, 3, 1
Japan = 5
Kenya, Korea (South) = 2, 4
Latvia = 1
Malaysia, Morocco = 5, 1
The Netherlands, Nigeria, Norway = 3, 3, 3
O = Nope, don't know anyone from Oman... .
The Philippines, Poland, Portugal = 9, 2, 2
Q = Don't know anyone from Qatar either.
R = Nor Russia.
Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden = 77, 2, 1, 6
Thailand = 5
Uganda, USA = 1, 13
V = 0 from Venezuela, nor am I friends with the Pope from the Vatican.
W = 0 from West Virginia
X = I challenge anyone to find a country starting with X.
Y =0 from Yemen nor Yugoslavia.
Z = 0 from Zimbabwe nor Zaire. Well, I know 1 from Zaire, but he's not on Facebook.

A whole United Nations of friends :o). Well, at least every continent except the North and South Poles is represented... .

Why do trolls do this?

Interesting...

In profiling my personal pet troll, beefsoup69 and all his/her other split personalities, I'm starting to see a more clear picture of him/her:

• Some lead boring lives.


• Some suffer from severe depression or other conditions, and have a need to cause trouble to make themselves feel better.


• Low self-esteem causes many people to hate their lives or feel they are not exciting enough to be liked or loved...


• Some trolls are deeply disturbed, filled with hate and resentment.


• Some feel they have no control over their own lives, and it gives them pleasure to feel they have control over others.

Conclusion: such people really have no life, and do suffer from a mental disorder called "Internet Troll Personality Disorder". I wasn't wrong in my previous assessment of him/her at all! Damn...I should be a psychologist or something! Call me Doctor.

Anyway, I have sent Trollie crying back under its bridge where it belongs, and where it won't be bothering me anymore. Let's see it itch to comment more on my blog when it can't find the comment button anymore. Let's see it read all my posts...and do nothing more than just read. Let's see if it will still come back for more...and if it does, I'll be very honoured because it means that it actually LIKES what I write. As one blogger said, "You're doing something right if trolls think you're important enough to annoy."

And as Robbie Williams sings: Let meeeee...ENTERTAIN you!!!

Infinity points to Sheila, minus infinity points to Trollie.

Btw, Trollie boy, here are some dating tips for you, as it would appear that you're lacking a lot of love, either from someone from the female species (probably never kissed one before), or from your mama (probably never got kissed yourself):

1. STOP SITTING BEHIND YOUR COMPUTER ALREADY!

2. Look into the mirror and say: "I'm good enough, I like myself, I'm smart enough, I look good, I'm not going to be a coward anymore, and I'm going to give people a chance to like me!" I recommend chanting this at least 10 times a day.

3. Now, go take a shower, put on some clean clothes...yes, that includes clean underwear, put on some deodorant, shave...under your armpits too if you have to, and put on a smile!

4. You're now set and ready to meet a girl and go on your very first date! If you keep good behaviour, you might get lucky and get your very first kiss!

5. Seriously...didn't I already tell you to get that trunk of yours off that chair? NOW, boy NOW!

Good luck!

Aww...look - aren't they sweet??? Trollie success.

"I am self centered and envy fat people"

Damn...some people (Beefsoup69, I'm talking to you!) really can't handle losing a discussion, that they have to take time to create an account somewhere, use proxy servers and fake identities, just so that they can malign me. Tsk, tsk... .

I am self centered and envy fat people indeed.


The "man" himself.

My GOODNESS! Get a bloody LIFE, won't you? Mr Germania Scientisimo (germanscientist) who joined Digg on November 30th 2008 (today) just to post a "news" story link to my blog at around 11:15hrs in the morning, with my profile picture and all.

You do know what a LIFE is, right? L...I...F....E....life?

Oh, don't tell me it wasn't you, Beefy... . I can see activity on my blog MORE than you think, and I can see that you've been coming to it via German proxies like:

Host Name rbi0332.giga-dns.com
IP Address 193.37.152.232
ISP GIGA-HOSTING.BIZ GBR
Domain GIGA-DNS.COM
City MUNICH
Region BAYERN
Country GERMANY

and the one you used around the time of posting "news" at Digg:

Host Name www.websnapr.com
IP Address 88.80.205.219
ISP CONSTRUKTIV GMBH
Domain -
City BREMEN
Region BREMEN
CountryGERMANY

Wouldn't surprise me at all if you are Spanky the troll... .

You're becoming a sadder and sadder human being the more I get to "know" you...and I am starting to feel more pity for you than I do for a starving dog down the streets.

But whatever makes your sorry life happier, I am glad I can be of therapeutic help. Now I can understand why you say that "mental problems" is the cause of obesity. Mental problems indeed, especially when speaking from personal experience.

Oh, and thanks for some extra traffic to my blog :o). The more the merrier!

Update! 01 Dec 2008

Justice is served. That "news" link has been removed by Digg after report of abuse had been sent as it was in violation of their terms of use. Mr Germania Scientisimo's (aka Beefsoup69) profile has been removed as well. Not that he would be needing it anyway since the only reason why he made it was to show what a sore loser he was.

The icing on the cake

This topic is getting more and more obese, so I'll feed it one more time with dessert, and then call a close to it because it needs to go on a diet.

Beefsoup69 has responded to my previous post, so I'll give him/her one final airtime here in relation to this topic.

"Most obese are obese not because of physical problems, but because of mental problems."

I'll have to disagree with that. Most obese people have mental (and physical) problems BECAUSE of their obseity. They're not obese BECAUSE of mental problems. Don't put the cart before the horse...or you'll not go anywhere... .

Unhealthy eating + lack of exercise ---> Obesity ---> physical problems ---> mental problems

NOT

Mental problems ---> physical problems ---> Unhealthy eating + lack of exercise ---> Obesity

Once you can see the pattern for what it really is, then you can solve the problem...or better still, prevent it. And once again, I'm talking about the norm, not the exceptions... .

"Just because things are easy for you, it doesn't mean they are easy for others, no matter how stupid that seems to you (lack of empathy)."

Yes, things are somewhat easy for me, yet I still don't just sit around doing nothing. I make it a point to play tennis two to three times a week in the summer, and this does require some effort on my side, especially when I have to get up early in the morning to do so before starting work.

I can EASILY eat burgers and fries at McDonald's 3 times a week without putting on weight so quickly due to my high metabolic rate, but the last time I ate a meal at McDonald's was in March this year...in Australia. I have chosen not to eat McJunk, but opt for more home-cooked food even though my household is a double-income one with both me and my husband working full-time.

Like I said before, if you really want something badly (to stay healthy in this case), there is ALWAYS a call for effort involved no matter who you are. The key words here are RESPONSIBILITY and SELF-CONTROL, and it's about time people start taking responsibility for themselves.

Therefore, I acknowledge that it's not easy for some as it is for others, but I do think it's "stupid" when people shirk responsibility and not exercise (excuse the pun) self-control.

"Look up the meaning empathy. You have it confused with sympathy."

Not quite. I know fully well what empathy means. Sympathy is feeling sorry for someone as an external viewer. Empathy is putting yourself in that person's shoe even if you have not experienced before what he/she is going through.

When I put myself in an obese person's shoe, I am unable to empathise anymore because all I will think about is WHY DID YOU NOT TAKE THE RESPONSIBILITY TO CHANGE YOUR DIET AND START EXERCISING WHEN YOU WERE MANY KGS LIGHTER SOME YEARS AGO?!?

"They are often raised into that state of mind, often lower class on low income (if any), which only makes it so much harder to get out of their "condition"."

Raised into that state of mind = VERY bad parenting. You can still be a single parent and raise your kid well with a healthy lifestyle. I know several who were able to do this. My good friend, Sandra, is one of them. Parents who think it's cute to have a Happy Buddha deity-like child, or who are too lazy to properly take care of them, should be reported to child protective services.

Lower class on low income (if any) = not good reason for opting fast food instead of healthier food. Beans and rice with fruits & veggies on the side can make a healthy diet, along with tortillas or bread, store-brand cheese, and healthy (small) servings of meat. It's not rocket science.

And then there are those families in Africa with absolutely no income...but don't have obese kids. The point of mentioning this is to show that "low class" or "low income" should not be used as an excuse as to why people are obese. They are not correlated, even though statistics wants you to think they are. There are obese middle+upper-class people too. What's their excuse then?

Also, exercise does not need to cost anything, so again, having low income is not a good reason not to do push ups/sit ups at home, or jog in the park. It boils down to taking responsibility for your own body.

As for time to prepare a home-cooked meal rather than just buying fast food, again, there is no excuse. No one is asking you to make a sumptous Michelin meal that takes hours to prepare. A simple meal takes not more than an hour to prepare and cook, and with some help from your kids (if any), it'll take less time PLUS you spend quality time with them. And it would mean 1hr less watching TV or surfing the net, which is actually a good thing.

makes it so much harder to get out of their "condition" = harder, yes (to some extent). Impossible, no - so "giving up" on trying is not an option.

Let me add my own personal story. For 10 years of my childhood life, my family didn't have it easy. We were considered a low income (if any) family. My dad was in and out of jobs, usually out. My mum did not have a good education, so she couldn't get a job in the early years. She started working with low pay only much later, when she realised that my dad had "given up" looking for work.

They had 2 children to take care of - me and my brother. Borrowing money from friends and family was sometimes a temporary solution, but such favours eventually ran out.

There were several occasions when I remember having dinner by candlelight. Not because it was "Romantic Night", but because we did not pay the electricity bill over the last few months so the electric company cut off our supply after several warnings.

During really hard times, we had plain rice, fried eggs and baked beans for dinner. And plain water to drink. My grandmother (mum's mum) came by once or twice a month bringing fish, vegetables, fruits and some meat fresh from the market to ensure that we had something nutritious to eat now and then.

McDonald's, Burger King, KFC and other junk food was a "treat" for us, never part of our daily/regular diet. You can also forget about soft drinks or sugary juices - costs more than plain water.

When my brother and I were home alone, we had no access to junk like crisps, candy, chocolate, etc. Such things were not even locked behind a closet - they just weren't there.

We didn't sit in front of the TV all day - we played with each other! We had some toys, we had our bikes that we could bike up and down our street on, sometimes with the neighbour's kids. We were running around the house, inventing games in order not to get bored. We also had compulsory physical ed. twice a week in school, totalling 2hrs per week.

Despite living at such a low income level, my brother and I were NEVER obese. Heck, my PARENTS were never obese! Not even close to being overweight. In fact, we were underweight...but healthily underweight. We didn't have any health problems apart from the occasional flu.

So please...don't come and tell me that it's hard for people in the low income bracket to get out of their "condition", when it is actually VERY EASY for them not to get into that "condition" in the first place. Again, responsibility and self-control.

Making contrived excuses for people does not help them. At all.

"I actually can't say that I have much sympathy for a lot of them, but I am not going whine about some people having a hard enough time already, getting a chance to travel. Even if it should end up costing me a tiny bit, if I chose to travel with that airline."

If you don't mind getting squashed up between 2 obese people on a long haul flight, that's your sainthood call. However, I do mind, and I'm sure MOST people mind...and have good reason for that. We have the right to comfort too, and I don't want a "hard time" travelling either. Better still, I don't want OTHERS to have a hard time travelling/losing their comfort because of me, and that is why I take the responsibility to keep myself fit instead of making things inconvenient and more expensive for them.

" "if you weigh less than 45kg, you cannot do a worthy cause like donate blood." "
What is wrong with it, is that you are using it to say that skinny people are discriminated against. It's a matter of health and safety, not discrimination.

Again, you missed the sarcasm in its context... . Let me bring you back to my original text and "spell it out":

This is not discrimination at all - no, not at all. (in making an obese person pay for 2 seats when necessary)
......
The same way that smokers make their choice to smoke, and now have to smoke outside a restaurant or bar here in Copenhagen. Not discrimination at all.

Otherwise, we can say that really skinny people are discriminated against too. For example, if you weigh less than 45kg, you cannot do a worthy cause like donate blood... .

And then, my text again in the next post...this time more crystal clear:

But I can't call that "discrimination against skinny people", can I?

So...tell me again what I'm using it for??? That's right - to show that we can't go around pulling out the discrimination card every time there's an issue with weight - whether obese or skinny. Bravo! You get it now :o).

"Airlines can always give extra seats up with no cost, even when they are overbooked (In fact they overbook in an attempt to avoid this). Airlines already charge different amounts for each seat, even if it's the exact same class, location and service.

If half the people were obese enough to get 2 seats, you would see it on the prices. With the amount that currently travels, you won't."

*Sigh*...why do I always have to go back to my original post to spell things out yet again... . Didn't I write: "On a pretty full flight, at least, since it goes without saying that there can be more flexibility on more empty flights."

Let me go back and check...(pauses to check). Oh, yes - I DID write that! I'd be damned!

I'm sure you know...as well as I know...that when you book a flight, you're not asked about your weight. The airline carrier cannot tell how obese you are until you're CHECKING in.

In the same way, they cannot tell how much overweight luggage (I'm talking about literal luggages now, not fats. Just so we're clear, since they can be inter-changeable if you think about it) you are going to put on their flight until the point of CHECK-IN.

Now, we agree that especially on a fully booked flight, they make you pay a LOT of money for your overweight luggage. If the flight is empty, they're more lenient about it. Nobody WANTS to pay for overweight luggage, but we do know that the limit in general is 20kg in economy class. Isn't it fair then that if we go much over that limit, we just have to pay for it? I think it's very fair. I may not agree with the cost/kg, but it's still fair for them to charge.

So, in the same way, when the flight is fully booked, it can happen that people are asked if they can take another flight with some compensation given. I don't know how often you travel, but I've travelled enough to know that overbooking DOES come at a risk, because on a "good" day, EVERYONE shows up to take that flight, so even after bumping people up to business class, it still won't be enough to take in everyone. I've personally experienced 2 such incidents already.

In these cases, SEATS ARE VALUABLE. An obese person who is going to take up 2 seats would be stealing that extra seat from another person who had paid for it and needs it. If the airline gives 2 seats to the obese passenger for the price of 1, it has to compensate the other passenger for not being able to put him on that flight.

I think it's very fair therefore, that the obese person pays for 2 seats then instead of 1, instead of getting it "for free". The limit is afterall, ONE seat PER PASSENGER, just like the limit is 20kg luggage weight per passenger. Anything EXTRA, you pay for - obese or otherwise.

"You're going to charge me extra because I'm fat?!"
"No, madam. We're going to charge you extra because you're going to be using 2 seats instead of 1 on this very fully booked flight. Would you prefer another flight instead?"

And that is how it should be.

"Above average IQ (wow),"

Yup, you should indeed go "wow" (again).

"...does not negate stupidity."

Stupid is as stupid does. You do realise that people who call others "stupid" usually do so so that they can feel better about themselves by making others feel worse? In other words, such people have very low self-esteem. Hmm...obese people usually have low self-esteem. Not that I'm implying you could be obese, but since you still won't say who you are, I can only try to put the pieces of the puzzle together with whatever information I can get... .

Fortunately for me though, I know my worth, and it's not built upon other people's opinions of me...and especially not a "stranger's" opinion like yours.

I can only feel sorry for (I believe "sympathise" is the word here) people who call others "ignorant" or "stupid" or "selfish" while cowardly hiding behind their computer screens.

Despite the lack of courtesy from you, it has nevertheless been an interesting discussion...and I do enjoy engaging in discussions, if we can agree to be civil about it, while we agree to disagree.

"Let me just make a comment on Sheila's blog and call her 'shallow', 'airhead', 'bimbo' and 'heartless'. She'll never know who I am anyway, so I can apply the 'Coward's Code of Conduct.'" - S.I.S.I (Some Incredibly Scared Internet-user).

To fatten up my previous post...

Someone called "beefsoup69" (who has also been known as "inthefaceofearth" and "inthemistofdk" of IP 130.225.165.18 - Danish network for research and education) had several statements in a comment made to my previous post that I'd like to address here, point by point:

"You really think that people who are that obese just chose their lifestyle. Wow."

Yes, to a large and general extent, I do. Nobody is born obese, and nobody wakes up overnight to suddenly find him/herself obese. If that was the case, then that's when you should really go "Wow". And if one has been obese since childhood, then I blame it hugely on bad parenting.

Causes of Obesity
Weight gain and obesity are caused by consuming more calories than the body needs – most commonly by eating a diet high in fat and calories, being sedentary (not physically active) or both.

"You wanna be obese to get two seats!"

No...you obviously don't read what I write very well...even when words are highlighted. It's not that I want to be obese to get two seats, but rather, to get two seats for the price of one. Value for money, right? And in pretty much the same breath, I did also write (in reference to the court ruling) "Talk about sending out the wrong message"...so perhaps there was a hint of sacarsm that you missed when I wrote that "I wanna be obese too!!!"?

"You think that you might pay part of their ticket."

Hmm...not sure what you're trying to say, but if I take your words as they are, then no, I don't think that I might (be) pay(ing) part of their ticket. In fact, if they take up ½ of my seat/personal space, then I think that they're stealing from me. There's a difference.

If I pay for something, I do it willingly or consciously. If someone steals from me, it's taking something from me forcefully against my will/permission.

In a simple equation:
Stealing
I pays $X.
U pays $X.
If U takes ½ of I's seat, then U is stealing from I the amount of $½X.

Paying
I pays $X.
U pays $X.
If I pays ½ of U's ticket so that U can use ½ of I's seat, then I is payng $X + $½X = $1½X.
(this is so illogical because in reality, I will only pay $X not $1½X when the price for a seat is only $X...therefore, you can see why I don't understand your statement as it is written).

"You compare it to a restaurant giving double portion."

Yes. The point being the "right" of an obese person to have "2 for the price of 1" to either take more space than what he/she paid for, or to satisfy his/her gluttony extraordinary hunger.

" "More often than not, it's a conscious bunch of wrong choices " "

This is your quote of a sentence I had written on the previous post, for the purpose of pointing out my "ignorance" and "stupidity". Please refer to my response to statement 1 in this post, because I am standing by what I wrote, despite how "ignorant" or "stupid" it may sound to you.

Further, I'd like to display the "ignorance" and "stupidity" of medical experts in the area of making conscious right/wrong choices (key words emphasized by me):

PREVENTION
The best way to prevent obesity is to avoid a high intake of fats. The National Cholesterol Education Program suggests that no more than 30 percent of the calories people eat should come from fats. A good way to monitor one's diet is to keep a detailed food diary. That way, one will know exactly how many calories are consumed in a day and where those calories come from.

A program of vigorous exercise is also very important. Activity is the only way that calories are used up. The more active a person is, the less likely that calories will be converted into fat.

Finally, children should learn early in their lives the value of a healthful diet and exercise. By controlling their intake of calories and planning activities that will burn them up, the problems of obesity can usually be avoided.
--------------

So yes, for those who are prone to gain weight quickly, the main reason (not the only reason, but the main reason) for their obsesity is because they consciously (as opposed to accidentally) do the opposite of all the abovementioned right choices...and as we know, the opposite of "right" is not just "left", but also "wrong".

I can't say that I know of any obese people personally, but I do know of some who are overweight. If I think of 4 off the top of my head, I can say that all 4 know that they are overweight. However, despite knowing this, I've noticed them still doing as below:

Person A (who is also a vegetarian): had a HUGE bowl of chocolates on her living room table (easy access) and was able to almost empty it in a couple of hours. Was also known to empty bags of crisps in no time. Not known to be active in any forms of exercise.

Conscious bunch of wrong choices? Oh yes. Over a period of time, it will lead to obesity if not corrected. In fact, she actually wanted to remain fat because she liked the big boobs that (sometimes) come with being overweight. If she chooses to be fat, that's her prerogative...but don't come stealing my already limited airplane seat in economy.

Person B: had been seen often eating burgers and fries during lunch time over several years. Was not involved in any form of exercise. However, she eventually started eating more healthily and in smaller portions, but still could not lose weight. She found out that she had a disease that didn't break down her food intake (so choosing to eat burgers and fries while already overweight was quite a bad choice), got some prescribed pills, and has now visibly lost weight.

I don't see her as often now, but if she's still choosing to eat more healthily and avoiding too many burgers and fries compared to before, I'm sure she'll be able to maintain her healthier body. Not sure though, if she has also become more active.

So in her case, her conscious bunch of wrong choices before have become more right ones. If she didn't start making these better choices earlier on, she might never have found out about her disease and in turn, start losing weight. However, if she had had a healthy diet and lifestyle from the beginning, I'm sure her weight would not have been a problem anyway because even if your body chemicals can't break down your (healthy) food as normal, exercise can.

Person C: was able to give excuses reasons for not exercising while eating a big plate of tiramisu with an added scope of ice-cream to it.

Conscious bunch of wrong choices? Oh yes. Over a period of time, it will lead to obesity if not corrected. She did start making an effort to exercise, so I hope it continues, coupled with a healthier diet.

Person D: loves big, fat, juicy steaks, usually eaten with starchy potatoes. Has been active a handful of times a year in certain sports, but not regularly. It got to a point where his unhealthy wrong choices caused his doctor to get very worried for him, and he wasn't even obese (yet)!

Had to then consciously make right choices in relation to his diet, and I hope he's still consciously doing that.

" "if you weigh less than 45kg, you cannot do a worthy cause like donate blood." "

This is your quote of another sentence I had written on the previous post, for the purpose of pointing out my "ignorance" and "stupidity". I'm going to take it that you don't believe me about the min. weight requirement for donating blood, since you didn't really say what you thought was wrong about that statement (of fact).

But hey, don't take the words of ignorant and stupid person like me... . Take the words of the ignorant and stupid experts instead:

BASIC REQUIREMENTS

• Be in generally good health and feeling well.
• Be at least 17 years of age; upper age 60 (420d*).
• Weigh at least 110 pounds (45 kg).
• Pulse: 80 to 100 beats/min and regular.
• Temperature: Should not exceed 99.5 (37.5c).
• Blood Pressure: acceptable range is 160/90 to 110/60.
• Skin: the venipuncture site should be free of any lesion or scar of needle pricks indicative of addiction to narcotics or frequent Blood donation (as in the case of professional Blood donors).

How do I know if I am eligible to donate blood?
You must be in good health, be at least 17 years old, and weigh at least 110 pounds.

Donor requirements - Weigh at least 45kg.

In some countries (like Denmark), the min weight is 50kg! That means, because of my less than 50kg weight...I *gasp* can't do a worthy cause like donate blood here! But I can't call that "discrimination against skinny people", can I?

Vægt
Man skal veje over 50 kg. Det skyldes, at man maksimalt må tappe 13% af den samlede blodvolumen i kroppen. Da man tapper 450 ml +/- 10%, er den nedre grænse sat til 50 kg.

(You have to weigh over 50 kg. It is because one may donate 13% of the total blood volume in the body as a maximum. Since one donates 450 ml + / - 10%, the lower limit set is 50 kg.)

And finally, your ending comment:

"Wow, the display of ignorance, stupidity, selfishness and total lack of empathy is scary."

Wow indeed... .
Ignorance: I am ignorant of the fact that...most obese people were really born obese? Or the fact that...most obese people really do wake up one bright and sunny day from a weight of say, 50kg to a weight of say, 100kg? And this is perhaps even when they eat really healthy food and exercise on a regular basis?

Stupidity: Quite a strong word to use, don't you think? Especially when you say that to someone who has an above average IQ. But oh...it is of course very easy to constructively call others "stupid" while you're cowardly hiding behind a pseudonym. *Applause*

Selfishness: Really? Because...I don't want to share ½ of my seat with someone who thinks he/she is entitled to it because he/she is not considerate enough to him/herself and society by eating healthily, exercising regularly and going for regular medical checkups if he/she knows that he/she has a weight problem? I guess next time I should just ask if he/she would like to sit on my lap then, huh? I would rather there be a law that all traffic should stop to allow a blind man to cross the road wherever he wants to since he can't see (and can't help it), than that obese people be allowed to have 2 seats for the price of 1 even though most of them can help it. I'd rather be a selfish skinny b*tch who is contented with what she has paid for, than a selfish obese b*tch who thinks she's entitled to more that what she has paid for.

Total lack of empathy: this is the only part in your comment that is the closest to being even partly true. I have very little empathy to give to the majority of obese people, and I don't apologise for that. At all. Whatever empathy that I had for you when you were overweight is gone the day you cross the line from being overweight to being obese, especially when you had all the time in the world to do something about it but was too unwilling to do so.

Only those who really do have a disease that causes obesity get my empathy, but sadly, if you take a group sample of obese people, only a minority are disease-related obesed. For these exceptional people, then yes, upon a production of a medical certificate to eg. an airline, I don't see any reason why they shouldn't be allowed to have "2 seats for the price of 1".

My previous post is more about those who have choices, but make the wrong ones despite knowing what's better for them.

It takes a LOT of effort for most people to eat healthily and exercise regularly because unhealthy food is usually the most tasty (and we all love tasty food), and it's easier to be lazy than to exercise. However, as I said before, nobody wakes up obese overnight, so I'm sure at some point along your widening road towards obesity, you will think to yourself "Damn! I think I'm putting on weight!"

Once you think that, then you have two choices: do something about it, or don't. Question is, how badly do you want to lose the extra luggage? As with most things in life, you have to make an effort to get what you want because things are not going to happen just by wishing upon a star.

Therefore, it is correct that I really don't have any empathy for those who just keep sitting on their trunk and say "I'm fat! I'm fat! I'm know I'm fat!" while having his/her hand still digging into the cookie jar.

Finally, to end this morbidly obese post, I've noticed how the one behind the Beefsoup69 (and other) pseudonym seems to like coming to my blog usually with a purpose of leaving behind a harsh comment (except when it was about toilet paper). As I've said in my blog before, if you want to attack me personally by calling me things like "ignorant", "stupid" or "selfish", then be man (or woman) enough to tell me who you really are. After all, you know who I am.

The display of cowardliness by this particular blog reader is staggeringly scary. Especially when he/she can start showing it already as early as 07:13hrs in the morning. Oh well...the more cowardliness that is displayed, the more it'll prove my assessment on this reader's character in this area, so just keep them cowardy comments coming because if you write something laughable enough, it could become a post "in honour" of you :o).

To be obese or not to be obese: that is the question.

Ok, what's up with this:

"Obese people have the right to two seats for the price of one on flights within Canada, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled on Thursday."

Full article here.

What the?!?! I wanna be obese too!!! Talk about sending out the wrong message. Seriously, wouldn't it be fair that if an obese person is so obese that he/she takes up 1½ - 2 economy seats in an airplane, he/she should pay for 2? On a pretty full flight, at least, since it goes without saying that there can be more flexibility on more empty flights.

Why should I have to share "my" seat/personal space with someone who chooses a lifestyle of overeating and under-exercising? I pay full price too, right? If an obese person needs more room, there are bigger seats they can order instead - in business class.

Would a restaurant agree to give double portions to an obese person for the same price? No! Or what? Do they now have a right to that too?

This is not discrimination at all - no, not at all. It cannot be called "discrimination" when you're so-called "discriminated" against a choice you can make. It's not like being discriminated against because of your race or sex or age since these are categories you cannot choose. No doubt, there are some diseases that can cause you to be obese, but obsesity itself is not a disease. More often than not, it's a conscious bunch of wrong choices that people make over a period of time.

The same way that smokers make their choice to smoke, and now have to smoke outside a restaurant or bar here in Copenhagen. Not discrimination at all.

Otherwise, we can say that really skinny people are discriminated against too. For example, if you weigh less than 45kg, you cannot do a worthy cause like donate blood... .

I'd like to see 2 obese people sit next to each other in economy and see them blame each other for the lack of space. Anyway, I think the judge at that Supreme Court of Canada who made this ruling was probably obese himself... .

I now leave you with an excerpt from a song by Lazyboy called "Underwear goes inside the pants":

Lyrics
Americans, let's face it:
We've been a spoiled country for a long time.
Do you know what the number one health risk in America is?
Obesity. They say we're in the middle of an obesity epidemic.
An epidemic like it is polio.

Like we'll be telling our grand kids about it one day.
The Great Obesity Epidemic of 2004.
"How'd you get through it grandpa?"
"Oh, it was horrible Johnny, there was cheesecake and pork chops everywhere."

I love bargains

Guess how much I paid for all this?

7 bags, 4 belts, 2 scarves, 1 pair of "leather" gloves, 1 leg warmer, 1 arm warmer, 1 hat, 1 necklace and 1 bracelet.


Arm warmer. I thought it was a leg warmer when I bought it, until I looked at it closer when I got home.

Anyway, total for all this = 375 DKK (S$107)! There was a warehouse sale in my office building that started on Friday, so I bought some stuff already then, but decided to take my sister there today so that she can find some bargains too. I ended up buying more myself.

The white bag in the middle (not the transparent one) would cost already 199 DKK (S$57) in the shop at normal price (price tag's still on it), so you can imagine what a bargain it is now.

Deck the halls with boughs of holly, fa la la la la, la la la la. 'Tis the season to be jolly, fa la la la la, la la la la... .

My new baby!

I have adopted a new baby for our House of Love! It starts with "P", but it's not a puppy, it's not a Pleo, it's not any pet at all. It's a piano!!! A digital one... .

When I was around 4 years old, I had organ lessons at Yamaha in Singapore. If I remember correctly, it was probably for a year or so. After that was sort of over, my parents sent me for piano lessons. We had even bought a piano so that I could practice on at home. However, before I had even completed piano Grade 1, I had to stop due to the financial situation at home. I was probably relieved to stop anyway, at that time (now I wish I know more). We had to sell the piano too, since there wasn't any point to keep it at home when I couldn't play it.

So apart from the very basic notes and knowing where do, re, mi, fa, so, la and ti are on the piano, I know absolutely nothing about playing the piano. However, I'm a fast learner, I have a good memory, and I can hear a tune and usually be able to play out the the basic melody on the piano. Therefore, after being inspired by some people on Youtube, and seeing that people do put up tutorials for certain songs there too, I decided that I wanted a piano and learn how to play some songs "on my own" :o).

I found a great shop who allows you to rent a brand new piano for a minimum of 6 months before you buy it. You're not even obligated to buy it if you decide after 6 months that it's "not you". The best part is that the shop is close by to our home! A sign indeed ;o). The customer service there was also rather impressive.

Basically, I was inspired last Sunday, I got my piano on Monday, and I've been "addicted" to it since (hence, the lack of my online presence). I had the whole week off from work anyway (and many more off weeks to come), so with so much time on my hands, it was perfect timing to learn something new.

Meet Kawai!


All brand new.


Cords and stuff.



The owner's manual...that I've used so far only for assembling instructions.


3 pedals. I only know what the right pedal is for, and never use the other 2 pedals, so I decided not to remove the plastic cover on those 2 pedals.


More parts of Kawai.


Me putting the parts together.


Almost done!


Tada! Behold, a "child" is born!

And the first song that I am learning on Kawai is Rihanna's "Take A Bow". I've pretty much learnt all of it already, but just missing the bridge and the ending because I haven't found a tutorial on Youtube that really teaches that yet.

You'll get to hear the original song first. Maybe if I get better at playing it, then I would put up my version for you to hear ;o). I'm a bit of a perfectionist, so it'll take a bit of time before I am satisfied with my playing.

Rihanna - Take A Bow

Cute puppies!!!

Aren't they like the CUTEST?!?! And yes, you are watching them live on webcam :o). So yeah, if webcam's offline, then you won't see any action, unfortunately. Or if they are sleeping soundly (and yes, puppies do sleep a lot...like human babies).

You can also toggle to fullscreen by clicking on the bottom right icon next to "Menu".

Havanese Harbour Puppies

Webcam chat at Ustream

Shiba Inu Puppies

Online video chat by Ustream

Makes me want a puppy too... .

Working in Denmark

I'm sure many of my Singaporean friends, and some friends in Denmark, are wondering if I have considered returning to Singapore to start a new chapter there. Martin would definitely pack up immediately if I just say the word. In fact, that was pretty much his first question when I told him the news of our Copenhagen office. "So we can move to Singapore now???" he asked enthusiastically.

Unfortunately, it's not quite an option for me. Ok, to be fair, I won't rule it out totally, but will only consider it as the really really last resort, as in, only after trying my luck at the casinos in Las Vegas, I still return home with empty pockets. Or, after robbing a bank here, I need a country to flee to ;o).

No, seriously - I will not consider returning to Spore for several reasons. Would you like a list ;o)? The essence of it is mainly job related.

1) Balanced life
The average work week in Denmark is 37 hrs, Mondays-Fridays, excluding the ½hr lunch per day. It's one of the lowest in the world, I'm sure.

2) Work politics
In Denmark, when you start at 9, you leave at 5. No one expects you to stay on 1 or 2 hrs more "just because" it'll make you seem more hardworking. In Spore, this is expected, otherwise your boss or colleagues will think that you don't have "enough" to do. Whoever said that staying extra hours at work = hardworking should get their brains examined. To me, staying extra works at work unnecessarily = being inefficient or total waste of time. Time that can be better spent with friends or family.

Also, in some companies in Spore, it will not look good if you leave the office before your boss. What kind of crap is that? I mean, the work of the boss is at a different level than yours, and should involve more necessary time put into it, so why should you have to stay back in the office just because he/she's not done with what he/she's been paid to do?

3) Vacation days
In Denmark, every salaried employee is entitled to 25 paid vacation days a year (5 x Mon-Fri weeks). We are also entitled to use 3 weeks in a row, as long as it fits the company's operations. Some people in other industries have 30 vacation days a year! That's a lot, if you ask me.

What is it in Spore? I don't know exactly, but I'm pretty sure it's less. 2 weeks (14 days)? If someone can write me a comment to tell me, I'd love to hear.

4) Sick days
We can be sick up to 14 days in a row without needing to show any medical certificates here in Denmark. Usually, people are sick for just 1-3 days in a row, and companies trust their employees enough not to ask for medical proof. Of course, it can be abused, but then it'll be in your conscience...and sometimes, you can be proven guilty so unless you really think you can get away with it, then it's better to be honest. Or unless you're already being terminated and are calling in sick while working your notice. I mean, what are they going to do to you anyway? Fire you? ;o)

5) Maternity/paternity leave
The mother is entitled to 1 year paid maternity leave in Denmark. Depending on how long you've been working at the company, you get paid accordingly. In my case, I would have 6 months of fully paid maternity leave by the company, and the other 6 months paid 75% by the government. It's really not bad at all.

The father gets 2 weeks fully paid paternity leave by law. He can use them whenever he wants, but within the year, I think. Also, if the mother doesn't want to take the full 1 year maternity leave, she may share it with the father, so she may eg. use 6 months, while daddy use the other 6 months (paid). I know fathers who take 3 months paternity leave, and they really get to build a closer relationship with their child during that time.

The company may also not terminate you unless they can prove that it has nothing to do with your pregnancy. That means, if you go on maternity leave for 1 year, come back to work for 1 month, then go on your 2nd maternity leave for another year, the company cannot fire you despite you not being at work for pretty much 2 years in a row.

I had 3 colleagues who did this, and there's absolutely nothing that the company can do, really. All 3 of them resigned on their own, eventually. Both of them resigned just before their 2nd maternity leave in a row ended.

6) Termination / resignation notices
By Danish law, if you're still under the 3 months probation period, you get 2 weeks notice if fired.

If you've been working up to 6 months in the company, you get 1 month notice if you're fired. After 6 months of work, you get 3 months notice if fired. The period of notice increases by 1 month for every 3 years of service after that, up to a maximum of 6 months notice.

If you've been working 12 years, 15 year or 18 years in a row, you get an extra 1 month, 2 months or 3 months respectively.

In my case, I get 6 months notice, plus my company will give an additional month, so 7 months full pay, so for me, it's actually almost as good as going on a maternity leave...without a lifetime of commitment to a child.

There are of course some exceptions to the rule, such as the nature of your termination. If you've been terminated on the grounds of theft, drugs, violence, etc, then don't expect to get your legal termination notice period.

On the other hand, if you're resigning, you just need to give 1 month's notice to your employer, no matter how many years you've been working there.

Again, I'm not sure how it is like in Spore, so if anyone knows, please do comment. I'm just pretty sure it's not as good as the Danish laws, to the benefit of the employees.

7) Change in contract terms
In Denmark, if there is a drastic change in your contract such as getting a pay cut, being demoted, being given a brand new area of responsibility, or even if the company moves to an address that is much further away, they will have to inform this to you in advance. Legally, they'll have to inform you about it in the same number of months as your termination notice.

If we say for example in my case, if I was told that I will now have to work from home instead of a physical office, my company will have to give me 6 months notice about it. If we come to a mutual agreement, this notice may be shortened.

However, if I disagree with it, then I will be able to work as usual for 6 months, and then resign at the end of my notice but giving my employer the legal 1 month notice entitled to them.

8) Union membership
At least 80% of the Danish workforce is a member of a union. That is the highest number anywhere in the world, I believe. Unions in Denmark are strong. If you have any disputes at work, you don't tell your employer "I'll speak to my lawyer." Instead, if you tell them "I'll speak to my union," that will make them shake more (presuming that you feel your rights have been breached, of course). That's how strong the union is here. The unions here are anyway able to provide members with free lawyers to fight their case if there is a case.

I was not a union member, but have been a part of the A-kasse since I started working. A-kasse is when you pay a certain amount to a union every month, so that in case you get unemployed, you get unemployment benefits paid to you, and they will also help you to find a new job, and you don't have to be a union member to be part of the A-kasse.

I have however, now joined as a union member after a recent situation at work in relation to my termination notice. They wanted me to work (from home) 1 month more than my other terminated colleagues, and that I didn't agree to. Legally, they do have the right to make me work more than my terminated colleagues in accordance to the company's business needs, but legally, in referance to point 7 above, they cannot make me work this extra month from home (the physical office closes after 24 DEC) because I'll then need 6 months notice for it. Therefore, my right overrules their right.

I told them that I'll have to check it with my union to see if what they ask of me is acceptable before I will sign anything. I wasn't a union member yet, actually...but that they didn't know, of course. Anyway, shortly after, I got a mail back saying that I won't have to work this extra month after all, and I will be released from my notice on 24 DEC like everybody else.

So you see, union power works in Denmark! Unions in Spore are not strong enough to fight for their members...if you're even allowed to be a union member. All employees here have that right.

I guess those are all the main points I can think of right now, in regards to why I'd rather stay and work in Denmark than in Spore. No doubt, I'll have a LOT more options and opportunities in Spore, but I don't want my life to just be all about work. I want to play too, I want to have time for myself, my friends, my family. That's what life is really about, isn't it? We should work to live, not live to work.

The only things that I'll miss out in Spore are food, shopping, Spore friends/family...and more food. Variety of activities too. But then again, if I have to slog at work all day, I won't have much time for many of these other non-work related aspects, right? So what's the point? I might as well just enjoy all these while on a real 2 weeks (or more) vacation there :o).

So no...I don't see myself returning to Spore for good anytime soon. Home for me right now is here in Denmark, and it's here where I'll take on all the challenges that come my way. Only if EVERYTHING fails, will I turn back towards the door that my Spore passport is key to. And that I think, is a BIG "if".

New poll!

Don't be shy to vote on whether or not I should take a 3 month vacation trip (on full salary) before I start searching for a new job.

Keep in mind, that if I embark on such a trip starting in January for 3 months, I'll still have 2 months of full pay when I get back... .

Martin could join for 1 month, but then he'll have to return to work after that.

Only serious votes accepted! The last poll on Obama vs McCain had 1 person voting McCain several times. Not that it matters in the end, since Obama won anyway :o).

Official end of a long history.

So, it is kinda official now that I am not going to continue working in the company that I have been working in for almost 11 years.

If you've been following my blog, you would know that sometime in late September, my company was contemplating the closing down of our Copenhagen office. At that time, it was 99% certain. Fast forward 1 month, and the decision has now been made, with 100% certainty of the closure.

I also informed that I had the choice of choosing whether or not to stay on in my position, but working from home. Or, if I want to be terminated like the rest of my colleagues. I did apply for the position, went for the interview for it (even though it went without saying that I'd be given the job anyway, so the interview was just for formality's sake), and was successful in getting the position.

However, when I went for the interview two Wednesdays ago with 2 of my Frankfurt office managers, I was already 80% certain that I didn't want the job. I wanted to hear more about it though, because it could be that I change my mind after the interview, so was being open to hear.

After the interview, I was 100% certain that I didn't want it. I have several reasons that I had informed my European manager about, and that I will now share with you:

1. Time already used:
- I have been in this position long enough, so it’s time for me to move on (while I’m still young).

2. Nature of the offered position:
- After the interview, it seems more of a Destination Service (DS) position than a ship position, and working in DS is not something I am at all interested in. I had been at DS for a short period of time many years ago before ship department and didn’t like it much. I had also helped out DS during last winter, and I still didn’t like it. Therefore, I can safely conclude that it is not something for me at all, even with a ship aspect to it.

3. Future growth and development:
- I don’t see any big future growth and development for myself in this position, both personally and career-wise. Though I’m still young, I am unfortunately also getting older, so I don’t want to waste precious years of my youth being stuck in the same position.

4. Leadership style in Frankfurt office:
- I won’t fit into the kind of “top-down” leadership style of Frankfurt office. When Frankfurt office manager told me during the interview that “How we work in Frankfurt is that when your manager tells you to do something, you just do it,” I felt right away that I would be treated like a blue collar factory worker at an assembly line whose opinions, ideas and feedback will not matter.

- Maybe I’m just spoilt by the flat structure in Scandinavia. I do fully understand that in big companies, there has to be some form of structure and organization, but within the department itself, I prefer working under a manager who values my opinions and ideas, who gives me some form of freedom and independence, and who trusts me in my work. As I said earlier, I had helped out DS with some tasks last winter, and therefore had a taste of the leadership there. Sadly, I can’t say many good things about it.

5. Homeworking:
- It has its pros and cons, but despite its pros, I really can’t see myself doing it for more than a year without going crazy. Once or twice a week is great, but five days a week for a long-term period would be too much for me.

- It’s not because I would lack the discipline, but because I’ll miss having people around me, and by that, I mean more people than the other 2 homeworkers whom I can maybe see once in a while. I had a personality test done during a recent interview I was at the previous week, and one of the things it showed was that I’m an outgoing person who feels energised when I have people around me. I think that reflects a lot in my apprehension towards the whole “homeworking” concept.

6. Job security:
- After all that has been happening over the years in CPH office, with departments slowly moving down to Frankfurt office, and now the whole CPH office being closed/decentralised to Frankfurt, it is very difficult for me to trust my company that I’ll still have my job in this position after 6 months or 1 year or 2 years. We had been promised before that there was no plan to close CPH office, but within a short time, that promise was broken.

- I understand that it’s not possible to predict the future of not just my company, but other companies as well. I can’t say much about other companies without being there, so I can only say what I feel about my future with my company itself, and what I feel is that if I continue in this position, I’ll just be putting my immediate future into an upturned hourglass with the sand slowly but surely running through to the other side and leaving me behind in an empty half. I could very well be deemed “useless” in just a matter of time, despite my good performance.

7. Luxury of time:
- Thanks to the Danish law protecting me with a good legal compensation for my many years of service in my company, I’ll be able to use the time I have to explore other opportunities outside of it. I may not get a stress free chance like this again (unless my company makes me redundant in the future before I decide to hand in my own resignation), so now is a good time for me to keep my door open to something better someplace else.

- It’s a big risk for me to take, I know. Especially in hard times like what we’re going through now globally. However, last time I checked, there are still companies out there who need people, and I could be one of them if I open my door, step out and knock on theirs. High risks usually mean high returns, and from where I am now, I have nothing to lose anyway. Not in the next few months, at least.

So yeah, these are the reasons why I have decided not to take the position offered in the end. I was actually asked if I would consider doing hotel contracting instead (another position). It seemed that my European manager really wanted to keep me, so if I didn't want the offered "ship" position, he'd be willing to check if another position can be "created" for me, if I'm interested.

It did get me thinking. I was not expecting it at all, but I guess it was also because they really thought I would continue with the offered "ship" position, so it took them by surprise that I rejected it in the end. I know that I'm a good performer at work, and I know that my European manager knows that and appreciates it, but somehow I still feel that the main reason why they really want me to stay is because I'm the only one who knows the inside-out of the ship department. I'm sitting on a pot of gold.

I feel that once they get all the knowledge from me, I'll be given so much crap work that could force me to resign on my own. After all, if I have to just do what my manager tells me to do, then when can I say "No! Enough!"? Therefore, now that I have a great opportunity to find a new job while still getting fully paid for several months, I'd be stupid not to do so.

Now back to the hotel contracting offer. Like I told said before, it had me thinking. It is indeed a new and exciting challenge for me, and that’s really what I’m looking for right now.

I had over the weekend also talked to former colleagues who had been in that position before to hear more firsthand what the job was like within my company, how they felt about it, and what I can expect from it. With their valued feedback and advises, I am now able to make yet another educated decision.

The job itself sounds fantastic and I’d love that challenge, but in the end, to accept it and do it within my company, it boils down to 2 things: how things are generally done/managed “my company's way”, and the overall job security feeling (or lack of it) that I’ll have by staying within my company based here in CPH.

My final decision:
After much thoughts, sadness and reluctance, I have decided to choose the termination notice over the offer letter. It is not an easy decision for me to make at all, but my journey onboard my company's ship has ended, and it has brought me to my destination. Where I want to go next, is not a destination where my company's ship can safely take me to, so I’ll have to disembark here and find a new ship.

Thus ends the chapter of a very long history at my company. I expect the new chapter to be challenging and exciting...and it is tempting to start that chapter with 3 months of vacation in Singapore while still getting my full salary ;o). Maybe I'll make a new poll on that, so you can vote for whether I should or not ;o).

Fury of a Little Dragon

Date: 11 Nov 2008
Time: Afternoon-ish
Place: Café Fata Morgana
Players: Shi Hua, Sylvia, Sheila, Muyten
Combination: Little Dragon (64), All Pungs (6), Half Flush (6), 1 Kong (1), Pung in Honours (1), Single Wait (1), Self-draw (1), 3 Flowers (3)
Total points: 83 + 8 = 91 x 3 players = 273
Memorable moments: My very first big hand!

I wonder if I can put this down in my CV for job applications... .

The new Mr President

Congratulations to America!!! You have renewed hope in the rest of the world, and we're glad to see you've made the better choice. Whether he's the right choice or not (I think he is), time will tell. History has now been made, and I'm glad to see it getting written down.

I am also pleased to announce that because Barack Obama is the elected President, I will therefore continue to stay on Planet Earth. I'm sure all my friends and family are delighted, but my enemies are...well...who cares - they're probably all McCain supporters anyway ;o).

I guess the days of laughing at President George W. Bush are soon coming to an end. He was one of the worst Presidents ever, but we gotta admit that he was good entertainment (when serious issues were not involved), and he was one President who did make all of us "ordinary" people feel really smart, didn't he? Well, all of us except Sarah Palin, that is. Good riddence to her.

God bless America! God bless the world!

Ivy's 5+4+1+6+8+3+2+1 birthday

This is an overdue post, since Ivy's birthday was a couple of weeks ago. I also had a visitor in that weekend - a colleague of mine from our Seoul office who was undergoing some training in London office. Since Lucia was close to CPH, she thought it would be a good opportunity to make a short weekend trip here. Good thing she chose the right date to visit, as it was indeed an event-filled weekend. Also of the fact that the airline carrier I had suggested her to book with went bankrupt just a few days ago as they were owned by Icelandic investors who are suffering huge financial problems.

Speaking of Iceland, isn't it amazing how a whole COUNTRY can be on the brink of bankruptcy? It's really sad, but on the other hand, you reap what you sow. No doubt there are many innocent people affected, but the government had a responsibility to ensure that things don't get out of hand. They had been warned, but they didn't seem to care, and it's only a matter of time when your spending spree on borrowed money will come to an ugly end.

Seriously, this can be applied on a micro level too. Personally, I own 3 credit cards: Diner's Club, Mastercard with a Danish bank (supplementary), Mastercard with a Singapore bank (also supplementary), 1 debit card (Visa/Dankort) and 1 ATM card. I'd say that I'm the credit card companies worst customer. If they had a long list, I'll be at the very bottom, simply because I hardly ever use them.

Why do I have them then? It's the "just-in-case" mentality, and I had actually been many years ago in a situation where I was lucky to have my credit cards to unexpectedly pay for 3 air tickets out of Beijing, China. Long story. Good thing these situations don't happen often, but "just-in-case" something happens, I'll have my credit cards to fall back on.

Hmm...I remember now that it was good Martin and I had our Diners Club cards while in Rome almost 1 year ago... . Without them, we'd not have been able to get out any cash at all due to a situation with our Visa cards! So you see, "just-in-case". On a regular basis however, I dislike spending beyond my means.

I would go as far as to say that I never spend beyond my means. Apart from the mortgages on the apartments that we have, we don't owe the bank anything else. My belief is that if you can't afford something, you either work hard and save up for it, or you just don't get it at all. Most of the things that we "need" are material/luxury things anyway. For example, I love travelling, and I was planning on a big long trip to either Peru or Costa Rica next March. But now that my job situation is uncertain, I'll have to rob a bank forgo the plan and wait till our home economic situation is more certain.

Of course, I can just take the risk and go anyway, since I would be paid full salary for several months if I choose not to continue working for my current company... . I just don't think I'll enjoy myself much with the uncertainty hanging in the air at home.

Anyway, bottomline is: never spend beyond your means! If you take the risk to do so, then make sure you can afford the losses after enjoying the gains. I'm one person you'll never find playing the stock market. Can be tempting sometimes (high risk, high returns/high losses), but I'd rather sleep well at night knowing that the savings in my bank is what I worked hard for and therefore truly mine.

Now to Ivy's party pictures:

Lucia and I


Party people


I love big, fat, juicy prawns.


Also steamed fish, but unfortunately, we don't eat much fish in Denmark.


Yummy crab, but I prefer Singapore's chili crab.


I only eat cooked veggies.


Birthday cheesecake lovingly baked by moi.


If you were to lazy to calculate Ivy's age from the subject title above, then you can see what it is now.


Firming lotion - if it works.


Maternity dress. Yes, Ivy's pregnant, and she was "Jane" in this post.


More maternity clothes, but I'm sure this can be worn by a non-preggy person like me.


Birthday girl is happy with her gifts.


"Wow, will I really get big enough to fit these pants?"


Supermodel mum-to-be.


See, told you that can be worn by a non-preggy person too!


Two pregnant women with a healthy glow.


The next American pop idol!


Ginger Spice, Baby Spice and Sporty Spice.


Posh Spice and Scary Spice.


Don't be shy to sing!


My turn! My turn!


"Hmm...something's wrong with the lyrics. 'Oceans are far, day after day'?"

And if you dare to hear me sing, then click away!

Technology can help a lot.

Examination subject: ME!

Sorry everyone, for my silence. There has just been several things going on that I need to prioritise first, so I haven't had too much time to log in and make a new post. I still have to make a post on Ivy's 30th birthday bash from two Saturdays ago, so I know I am quite behind... .

I've been busy sending out job applications, had an interview last Monday, have another BIG and intense one on Wednesday that I really want/need to prepare hard for, then one with my company on Thursday in relation to the new home-working position...so my hands are quite full.

It's amazing how it feels like I'm preparing for an examination when I prepare answers to highly potential interview questions. The examination subject: ME!

Come to think of it, it was actually quite good practise for talking about me and my achievements during our company's performance appraisal sessions that started 3 years ago. I had to put down in words and numbers my achievements for the year, the goals I had reached, provide concrete examples and proof, talk about my strengths, my weaknesses (or "opportunities", as they call it), etc, etc.

I don't usually like preparing for and going through these appraisals...and especially when I have to talk about myself, it feels like bragging. "I did this and I did that, I'm good at this and I'm good at that, I am this and I am that." It's great to hear people praise us, especially our managers, but it's quite difficult to praise yourself without sounding like you're full of it, isn't it? But well, now I can be glad to have gone through it twice a year for 3 years so that it can now be a sort of foundation in my interview preparations.

Anyway, for the record, I had exceeded my performance 3 years in a row, ever since we started doing performance appraisals at my current company. And hey, I'm not bragging here; I'm just preparing myself for my interviews on Wednesday and Thursday by being a bit "full of it" now ;o).

New job possibility!!!

I have a new job possibility!!! But there's a catch: I NEED YOUR SUPPORT IN ORDER TO GET IT!!!

It'll be perfect for me because if I get it, then I'll start only after December, so that means I will still be able to work here at my current company during November and December like they want me to, and in order to get my full compensation plus bonus for the year 2008.

Please therefore watch this clip in order to make your decision whether to support me or not. Every one of your support counts!

And for those who question my roots, I might as well tell now the secret that I've kept deeply buried for almost all of my life: my birth name was "Pocahontas", and I am more native American (read Red Indian) than the majority of people in America who call themselves Americans, so yes, I am by birth right, qualified for this new job.

Anyway, it's a really different "industry" than the tourism one that I've been in for more than 10 years now, but the key word is *CHANGE*, isn't it? So yeah, that's why I've decided to give this a shot :o).

Thanks in advance for all those who will support me! I love you all! Muuack!

Tallin, Estonia

Am now back from my business trip. It went very well indeed, and it was great fun to have gone on it with my colleague, friend and mahjong buddy, Shi Hua :o). Well, I'll just put up pictures from Tallin in this post because I didn't take anything in Helsinki and Stockholm. Didn't do any sightseeing in either capitals, but I've been there many times before already anyway so it didn't matter to me.

But Tallin - now that was a new place for me to "check out". I had been to Riga before, and Tallin feels quite similar to Riga with the buildings, streets, people and all. And believe it or not, Estonia used to belong to Denmark! Vikings were all over, that's for sure... . Not sure what happened afterwards though, since they're now one of the smallest countries in Europe now, and even though Greenland still belongs to Denmark, it's not quite habitable, is it? Eskimos...or Greenlanders look more Asian anyway... .

We only had a few hours in Tallin, so we walked around only in the Old Town. Had taken a 2hr ferry across from Helsinki to Tallin in the morning, spent the afternoon walking around, then took an overnight cruise from Tallin to Stockholm. Both ferries were operated by one of our major cruise suppliers at work, Tallink Silja.

Here are pictures from Tallin then. Quite a lot, so be prepared.

The ferry from Helsinki to Tallin.


We had the very comfortable business lounge.


Tallin's old town from afar.


Cosy streets


Cobbled and narrow.


A new-ish-looking building in the old town.


This is the close up of St. Olav's church that you see in the earlier picture of Tallin from afar.


City Hall in the town square.


The buildings around.


Some restaurants too.


Up some steps to find a Russian Orthodox cathedral.


Walking towards the light.


Found it! Alexander Nevsky Cathedral.


Russian cathedrals are easily distinguishable by their onion shaped tops.


Inside the cathedral.


There was a wedding going on. What a beautiful couple.





Don't wear high heals to walk in this old town! You'll not get very far walking on these cobbled streets.


Interesting clock in the wall.


At a restaurant's entrance.


One of the many colourful doors in Tallin.


Another one here - Shi's size.


Found another one. So pretty! But wonder why they're all Asian-sized. Did Estonia maybe belong to China at some point in history ;o)?


Ok...here's an interesting street name, because in Danish, "pik" is a slang for the male anatomy that females don't have, and this one is size 50(cm?). Does size matter ;o)?


And here's another interesting street name. "Piss copy"?


Cute plant holding thingy at a pork restaurant.


Who said I can't drink?


Took M/S Romantika (the white ship) to Stockholm.


Yeah, size really DOES matter!


Our buffet dinner onboard.


Yummy... .





Dessert - the best part!


Cheese should not be under the umbrella of "dessert"!


A more professional entertainment show that we watched for ½hr after listening to young, drunk Estonians singing karaoke in another bar area.





Not Jack Sparrow!

That's all folks! It's good to be back! Btw, Denmark won Malta 3-0 in yesterday's group qualifying match for the World Cup! Woohoo! They're top in their group still. On a sadder note, Portugal didn't beat Sweden :o(. Score was 0-0, so they're 3rd in the group. Don't like that because I want Denmark and Portugal to be the top 2 and qualify. Anyway, there are still many games to go, so things can still change.

Need sleep... .

I have to get up at 06:15 tomorrow to catch my flight to Helsinki, yet I am here blogging at 23:22. My body refuses to accept that tonight should be different from any other night, but it is going to regret being so stubborn when the alarm rings tomorrow at the ungodly hour of 06:00.

Anyway, will be in Helsinki tomorrow for a meeting with a supplier, spend the night there, then take a fast boat (2hrs) over to Tallin, Estonia, spend a day there, then take the overnight ship from Tallin to Stockholm, then straight to the airport to fly back to Copenhagen on Saturday.

And back to Copenhagen on Saturday I must, because Denmark is going to play against Malta in their next World Cup qualifying match, and I have an invitation to that game at the stadium :o).

Well, it's 23:40 now, so whether my body likes it or not, I'm dragging it to bed. It'll thank me for it tomorrow.

New Presidential Poll

It won't make any difference to the real voting in America come 04 November 2008, but I'm curious to see who my blog readers will choose between the 2 candidates if they could. There is no option called "neither of the above" in my poll because it's kinda understood that if you won't vote for either of them, then there's no need to make a vote ;oP.

I don't normally make a vote on polls that I create, but I'll make an exception on this one and be the first to vote OBAMA!

I'm late, I'm late, I'm late!

I overslept a whole freakin' hour today!!! And I didn't even know it until after my shower! I almost couldn't believe it, but after checking with other clocks in the apartment, they seemed to be agreeing with each other so I had to accept the reality.

But seriously, I still don't remember snoozing the alarm clock that many times. The bedside clock is 15mins ahead of time, and it always rings (or to be more precise, plays a radio channel) at 08:15hrs "Sheila time". I usually snooze it, then it "rings" again 10mins later (08:25hrs), so I snooze it a 2nd time, then it "rings" again at 08:35hrs, then I give it a 3rd snooze, and at 08:45hrs, that's my real "wake-up" time. Sometimes 09:00hrs. That's the typical weekday morning routine.

So this morning, I only remember snoozing it 3 times as usual, not more. I turned the alarm off at 08:47hrs (or rather, I only saw the "47" part of the time, but then again, without my glasses or contacts on in the morning, a digital "9" could very well look like a digital "8"). I took my shower, came out at the "usual" 09:05, looked at my wristwatch on my dresser (with contacts on by now) to see how much time I've got, saw that the minute hand was showing "05", then had a rude awakening when I saw that the hour hand was pointing at "10"!

Stared at it a couple of seconds more to be sure I wasn't imagining things, checked the alarm clock, and it was also showing "10"! Checked the time that was set for the alarm, and it was correctly showing "08:15" (so it wasn't that it was set wrongly). Woke Martin up yelling "IT'S TEN O'CLOCK!!! I OVERSLEPT!!!" Called in at the office to inform that I'll be very delayed (yes, I told them the truth - that I overslept).

So yeah...I got ready for work at my usual pace, made it to the bus at the "usual time plus 1 hour", and made it to work by 11am. If we could just set our clocks back 1 hour to winter time today, I would've been right back schedule ;o).

It did also cross my mind that if I was already working from home (based on the new contract at work, if I accept it), then hey, I could have just started working while still wrapped up in my bath towel and not panic about being "late" for work. That's something to consider, ain't it ;o)?

Anyway, I still have a few overtime hours to clear at work before the end of this year, so I'll just deduct my 1hr late start from that.

And I still remember only snoozing 3 times instead of 9 or 10 times... . This is too spooky.

Sarah who?

"Do you know what they say the difference is between a hockey mum and a pit bull? Lipstick!"
- Sarah Palin, Republican VP candidate -

However, after watching her very embarrassing/bimbotic/incoherent interview with Katie Couric, the answer to Palin's above question would be more like this:

"Do you know what they say the difference is between a hockey mum and a pit bull? The pit bull has a brain!"

And here we are just 35 or so days away from finding out if America will be electing her to be the highly possible next new President of the US of A...should John McCain die in office. This is a woman who gives answers during interviews as the below:

Couric (interviewer): "If it (the $700 billion financial bailout) doesn't pass, what are the alternatives?"
Palin (Miss South Carolina): "The....the alt.....uh.....as I say, inaction is not an option....we have got to shore up our economy...this is crisis moment for America."

Anyway, I just found these spoofs online that are quite funny. Go check them out ;o).

Palin/Clinton
Interview with Couric

And this just takes the cake. She can't even answer the specific question specifically! Come on, if you read a "vast variety", surely you can name just one? Times? Economist? Newsweek? Harry Potter? Is she listening at all? Can she understand English? And take note of Couric's expression at 00:39 - it's *priceless* (like she's thinking "What did I do to deserve this assignment?").

RepubliCAIN or DemOBAMAcrat?

I don't normally follow much on what goes on during the Presidential election in the US, but somehow the progress of this year's elections interests me quite a bit. Probably because there is FINALLY a candiate who seems interesting and fit to be the next US President, and that would be without a doubt:

John McBushCain!!!

Yeah, right. Seriously, if he becomes the next US President with his joke-of-the-year Sarah Palin as his running mate, then there is something really wrong with America. NO MORE REPUBLICAIN REPUBLICAN RULE PLEASE! George Bush's 2nd term as President was already 1 term too many - we don't need another 4 years of Republican rule.

Let's go back to the good ol' days of Bill Clinton (minus the scandal). Let's have a CHANGE, a FRESH mind, a NEW PERSPECTIVE! Yes, I know that Obama has age and his lack of experience against him, BUT HE HAS THE BRAINS! HE HAS THE RIGHT ISSUES PRIORITISED! And he has the personality! And he is at least having the support of an experienced Joe Biden as his 2nd hand man to make up for his own lack of experience.

So what if McCain has had more experience? It doesn't mean he's better. He could just be having more experience in making wrong decisions. If "experience" is so important, then why is his running mate the inexperienced, scandalous SARAH PALIN? So what if he is a war "hero"? That doesn't mean he'll make a good leader. In fact, it could bring more questions to his state of mind because all who had been through war do suffer the effects of it in their mind.

Anyway, I don't want to make this a very political post, but after watching the Presidential debate, I am more convinced that Obama's the man I want to be the next President of the United States, and I really do hope that Americans will not make this election superficially based on RACE or SEX.

I am pretty sure that if the rest of the world could take part in this election, Obama would have already won by a HUGE margin never seen before. Somehow though, for a country who had elected Bush twice, I fear that McPain's going to win. I really hope I'm proven wrong.

OBAMA FOR PRESIDENT!!!

The end is a new beginning

Oops...I almost forgot that I have a blog ;o). Well, this week has been pretty eventful in a bittersweet way, so I haven't been able to make a new post until now.

Anyway, NEWSFLASH - my company is 99% certain of closing down our Copenhagen office by the end of 2008. This is not an "April's Fool's Joke"; it's for real this time (which reminds me that I should ALWAYS be careful about what I say because they seem to come true).

What does this mean? It means that our office will cease to exist, so all 10 of us who are currently employed in the office will be laid off. Well, almost. That's the bitter part.

Now the sweet part: 3 positions will remain, and 1 of them is the position that I'm in right now; a position I've been having for many years. That means technically, I'll still have a job after this year. I'll have to apply for it though (after receiving my termination notice) as it'll be under a new contract, but it's pretty much a given that I'll get it...if I want it.

And that's where I have to decide. Do I want it? You see, there are many factors to consider as these 3 positions will very likely be based on a "work from home" contract. Working from home is great because of the flexibility, but there are of course cons too, like I might go TOTALLY INSANE if I have only me, myself and I as colleagues 5 days a week for a whole year! Of course, I could as well just work on my tan at the beach in the summer and have people around me... . For crying out loud, I could even be at a beach in SPAIN if I wanted to! Or in my apartment in Sunny Beach, Bulgaria... . Provided I have online access, of course.

But yeah, I also need to think about the compensation. By law, I'll have SIX months of full pay if I'm laid off, and the company will give an extra month plus the year's bonus on top if we fulfil certain conditions, so that means SEVEN months++ for me. You gotta admit that that's a LOT. Especially if I can manage to get another job such that I can enjoy double pay... .

I can definitely use this opportunity to find something else, because sometimes a kick in the @$$ like this is what is needed to search for something new. I mean, I've been working in this same company for almost 11 years now. ELEVEN! That's more than a DECADE! I started when I was 19, stayed throughout my 20's, and am now in my 30's! It's therefore GOOD that I'm getting a good kick now because before I know it, I'll be close to retirement there!

Anyway, my near future's going to be exciting. I'm looking at this from a positive perspective, so if you're a friend reading my blog, please don't worry about me because I at least still have the luxury of a choice here: to stay, or to go, so I'm not in such a bad situation.

Do you want to know what I believe regarding why I'm the only "lucky one" in the office out of 10 (including my office manager) who knows for sure that she can stay if she wants to? It's not so much "luck" really. Nor has it got anything to do with my work performance. You'll have to hear the story of how I got my job in the first place, and I'm not going to tell the full story in this post because it's quite a long one, but I can put it in a short summary:

I had prayed for a job 11 years ago (desparately. You have no idea how desparate until you hear the history of my job applications then). God answered within 2-3 days. Therefore, since I strongly believe that this job was given to me by God from the very beginning, I also strongly believe that He honours His gift by keeping it for me till the very end. What God gives, He never takes away, and this is a big proof of it for me in my life.

You can say it's just a coincidence if you want to - that's your prerogative. For me though, I'm believing it was God from the beginning, and very clearly God at the end. I'll give credit where credit is due. If this plan goes ahead, our office will close on 24 December. That's the day Danes celebrate Christmas, otherwise known as the "celebration of the birth of Christ" (in case you've forgotten). Is it me, or does God really have a sense of humour? Well, it's pretty symbolic for me anyway - like He's just putting His signature everywhere on this part of my life.

Anyway, a toast to a new beginning to come!!! Oh, and btw - if any of you hear of a job opening somewhere, please do think about me :o). I'm open to anything except prostitution... ;o). Well, it should be a job in Denmark too, at least. Preferably in the tourism industry, but I'm willing to venture out of it if the job description is good :o).

And yes, I will have another conversation with God about my new situation, so if you're sarcastically thinking "Why don't you just pray and wait for another gift from God?", I can assure you that I will :o). Except of course, that it's not just about praying and doing nothing, but rather, being active in the search, and praying that things will wonderfully fall into place with His help.

Video from the German Mahjong Open

I don't really like being on videos, but since there's not much of me in this one, it'll be allowed on my blog ;o).

5:23 - 5:32 and 6:32 - 6:45 are showing my hand (as in, my mahjong hand, not my hand hand...even though that is also true).

German Mahjong Open 2008 in Hamburg

I was in Hamburg last weekend for the German Mahjong Open 2008. It was a real tournament, much like poker tournament, just with mahjong instead of poker. There was no gambling involved though, so you can't get rich (or poor) from this. Everything is counted in points, so the only thing you "fight" for is your honour.

I had never been to Hamburg before, unless you count connecting trains at the central station to continue further to other parts of Germany. However, I can't say that I saw much of Hamburg during this trip since most of my time there was spent either in the Museum of Ethnology playing hours of mahjong for the 2 days I was there, or home at my friend's apartment sleeping for the 2 nights I was there.

The other places in Hamburg we had spent time at were Chinese restaurants and the underground (U-bahn). So much for checking out the city.

Anyway, part of the reason why I went to Hamburg was also to visit my friend, Christophe, who had moved there. He used to be a former colleague, but we still keep in touch even after he left, so it was wonderful to see him again, even if for just a short time.

As for the mahjong tournment itself, I had a lot of fun experiencing it indeed. We were 2 teams from Denmark - the Flower Power girl's team, and the Danish Red Dragons boy's team. I went there with the goal of not being in the last position out of 32 participants, and I'm glad to say that my goal was achieved; I was in 30th place ;o).

I'm not that lucky in mahjong yet as I'm still learning, but I am proud to say that out of the 5 rounds in the tournament, I was actually the winner at my table in round 3. Not only that, I was also playing against the #1 and #2 ranked players at that point in time during that round, so by being the winner at that table, it meant also that I had beaten the top 2 ranked players!!! Woohoo!!! That was the best and LUCKIEST round I've EVER had since starting to play mahjong 3 months ago.

I have to confess though, that I was not so popular after my very last game of the tournament. It was quite an interesting round, because I was playing against the #3 and #4 ranked players at that time, and though I welcomed the pressure after a successful round against the previous #1 and #2 before, that round didn't go too well for me. It started well 'cos I won a hand at the start, but then I made some stupid mistakes, the worst one being that I didn't call "HU!" when I self-drew a winning tile because I wasn't sure if I met the minimum 8 points needed to call for a win. So I threw out a tile instead to continue the game, and the realised that I shouldn't have thrown out that particular tile (5 bamboo) as it was better than another tile (7 bamboo) that I opted to keep!

Anyway, in our last hand, the game was almost going to end as a "dead hand" since nobody called a win yet and there was just 1 tile left on the wall. I was the "lucky" one to pick that last tile, and it was a green dragon tile. It wasn't a winning tile for me, so I could either discard it, or find a safer tile from my hand to discard.

I wasn't thinking about risks. I thought instead "Well, chances of anyone winning on the last tile is very slim, so nobody's going to need this green dragon anyway," so I threw it out.

"HU!" cried Morten (#4) and Joe (#3) together when they saw the last green dragon tile!!! They were BOTH needing that tile to win! But Joe was after me, and Morten was after Joe, so the tile belonged to Joe, and I had lots of points deducted because the winning tile came from me.

Before the appearance of that green dragon, Morten actually had more points than Joe, so he could be in top 3, but because Joe now won that hand and there was not enough time to play another, it meant that Joe overtook Morten by...get this...ONE point!

So yeah, Morten...who was part of the Danish Red Dragons team (in other words, one of our guys), ended up in 5th place...all because I unnecessarily threw out that 1 deciding tile. Now he never wants to play with me again :o(. I'm sorry, Morten!!! Please forgive me ;o)! Thing is though, if Joe didn't need that tile to win, then Morten would have gotten it, get lots of points, and possibly become either 1st place or 2nd place in the tournament! So if his luck was better, I could have played a big part in helping him get that spot... .

Anyway...here are some pics from the event.

Constructively spending the time away on a 4½hr long train ride from Copenhagen to Hamburg.


Museum of Ethnology


Flower Power girls!


Check out his heavy headgear!


Preparing for Round#1


My 1st round was at Table A.


Everyone getting into position.


And so begins the tournament!


Concentrating hard.


Here's happy Morten...while he was still in 4th position and enjoying it while it lasted for the next 2hrs until the nasty Green Dragon flew out of my hands and took it all away from the defenseless Kung Fu Panda... .


Flower Power girls again! 7th position out of 8 in total combined mahjong table points, but definitely 1st position in total combined beauty points ;o).


Danish Red Dragons. Well, I see 2 Red Dragons, 1 Flower Power wannabe, and 1 sad panda... .


The whole "Danish" team who made up 1/4 of the total participants.


The Lamborghini I drove around in while in Hamburg. I would have driven it all the way back to Copenhagen, but didn't want to seem anti-social so I joined the rest in the train instead.

My 3 daily "S'es" in reverse

I've been meaning to blog about this for some time but have been pushing it, yet every time it happens, I keep telling myself "It'll be blogged about today!"

So yes, today's the day!

Do you know how annoying it is when, after a nice refreshing shower, especially in the morning, and you're feeling clean and ready to take on the world, when within minutes of stepping out, the guys in your rectum go:

"BREACH ALERT! BREACH ALERT! People, listen up! Our outer walls have been breached - it seems like our dear Anus here has been scrubbed cleaned...AGAIN!"

"Oh no!!!" chorus every filthy one. "Why does this keep happening?!? When will it STOP?!"

"We'll discuss the details of a real Republican plan later, but right now, we've just got to unload the bio-chemical S.H.I.T. of the day and see what happens."

So starts the rumble of an internal earthquake measured to an equivalent of between 4-8 on the Richter Scale, and then the power struggle between Anus and The Mind to see who will give in. More often than not, Anus wins, so the download goes ahead as launched...and Anus gets soiled despite being clean just minutes ago. And this usually means that I end up in the shower a 2nd freakin' time! Good that the Rectum Department tends to be out of ammo by then.

I really hate it when literal shit happens like that after being scrubbed clean. I mean, if it happens after a few hours of my shower, then fine. But out of every 10 times I shower, 8 times I end up sitting over the "Black White Hole" within just 10 mins of pure santizied bliss. What is wrong here?!?!

And it's not like I can help it much because:

1. I'm usually fine before I step into the shower (so why waste a good precious 10 mins sitting over the "White Hole" hoping for a download before I get wet).

2. It's not just in the weekday mornings that the launches happen after a shower. It can also be during a weekend afternoon or weekend evening, so it's not that there's a fixed morning timetable that I can prepare precisely for.

Or what? Am I really doing it all wrong? Is there some kind of Special High Intensity Training (S.H.I.T) that all humans go through at age 3 to teach about following the correct sequence of events: Shit-Shave-Shower? I've heard Martin saying this phrase several times before as if he had graduated with top honours from this training. Is this true? Since I seem to be doing the exact opposite all the time (Shower-Shave-Shit)!

Oh well...I think I'll need to have a one-on-one with my body soon because enough is enough!

George Michael - The Final One!

This post is quite overdue, but George Michael was performing his final tour concert in Copenhagen last Saturday (30 Aug), and I went to see him!!! Yes, I'm talking about the George Michael - the guy who gave us "Faith", "Freedom", "Careless Whisper"...and "Last Christmas".

Btw, did you realise that he made a grammatical error in his "Careless Whisper" song? The part where he sings "Guilty feet have got no rhythm". Notice? It should be "Guilty feet has got no rhythm". Oh well, he's British so English is of course not his 1st language... .

Anyway, it was a GREAT concert! One of the best concerts I've ever been too! A couple of people from my group were slightly disappointed that he didn't sing "Last Christmas" though. Nevermind that he was performing in August, and Christmas isn't until...well, December.

Speaking of "Last Christmas", George said that he is going to release a new Christmas single this year. Not sure how that's going to compete against "Last Christmas", but we'll find out soon enough. I mean, do you remember any Christmases in your life when you didn't hear "Last Christmas"? I'm pretty sure that even if you are on the moon, you'll be hearing "Last Christmas" in your space shuttle.

He won't be retiring yet though, so no worries to George's fans. He's just not going to do a world tour again (or so he says), but he'll still write songs and perform. I mean, he's only 45 years old, so why would he stop "working"?

Oh well, just in case he doesn't make a comeback tour in the future, I'm glad to have heard the man live at last. My expensive ticket was very much worth it :o).

Careless Whisper - he really does say "feet have".