4.29.2009

10-minute express haircut service so-so.

So I was tweeting about going to EC House with wx last night where I met with unpleasant service.

It was our first time there, and I thought it interesting, so I figured we should document it...with pictures! Got a shot of the ticketing/paying machine: insert $10 to get a ticket, which you hand to the haircutter when it's your turn. (Note the use of haircutter instead of hairdresser. It's like a barber shop. You only see guys in it.)



Was just going to take a photo of wx sitting there for a haircut, when the auntie approached me and said "Sorry, no photography." (pointing to a sign, I didn't read but I suppose she meant that it's written there, no photos allowed) Fair enough if you didn't want me to take photos of your store front (even though I pretty much did already :p) - don't see the harm in doing so - but "Not even of him?" I spouted, twice. She didn't seem to understand at first but I think she finally sorted out the idea and did a hand sign for approval (as though I needed approval to take photos of my hunny). But wx just told me to forget it.

In any case, I still took a photo of wx getting a haircut. Could only do it from behind though to avoid being too obvious. Note: I am taking a photo OF wx.

I took a sit to wait for wx while tweeting on my phone about what just happened. There were 4 seats with numbers 1-4, meant for the queue numbers for the customers in line. Clearly there weren't any customers queuing without a seat. So what's the deal with me taking a seat while waiting for my hunny getting a haircut? I am also a customer if you hadn't realized. But the same auntie requested that I wait outside. This kind of blew up my wx, so he was pulling a long face for the rest of the time. I maintained my poise. Smiled even though I thought it ridiculous. Nonetheless, they have the right to maintain their so-called "rules" and I thought I should respect it. Just know that I won't be returning, and possibly tell me friends not to as well. (But heck I don't have many guy friends :\)

But I do find some interesting things about the store/type of service. For example, the paying machine and the way customers are handled with their hair + the design of each booth - it's almost like robotic age except that things are executed manually: 1) after a haircut, they vaccuum their customers from head to neck! 2) hair on the floor is swept to the left corner of the booth to be "sucked" away by a hidden vacuum cleaner behind. How convenient! :D 3) they also spray water on the head - this is actually normal, people do that in salons to wet the hair before cutting. But these guys do it at the end and it looks like they are spraying flowers or plants.


The auntie really caught wx off guard. He was already grumpy with her attitude and being so sensitive to touch/physical interactions (and he hates wetness!), he literally jumped when she sprayed water on him. LOL poor auntie was shocked by his reaction. I just lololol in a corner. :p

Living with your right hand...

I am right-handed. I do everything with my right hand. I would be paralyzed if I were to live without my right hand.

But what if my right hand could talk?


Rewatched Midori no Hibi (Midori Days) again. Hehe. This time with wx. It's one of my favorite anime pick to just relax and watch after work. Light, cheery, funny but not as nonsensical like Azumangah Daioh.

It's a story about this high school boy (Seiji) waking up one day with a girl (Midori, who has a crush on him) as his right hand! Throughout they learned how to live with each other and understand each other. Eventually we are revealed the complete picture of what happened to Midori (in her real life), whether she will remain as Seiji's right hand or go back to normal, and whether Seiji will accept her confession.

I thought this was one of the more interesting plot I've seen: girl as a right hand! It's so cute and rather convenient: 1) I can bring my xiao wx to everywhere I go! XD 2) Xiao wx can do chores for me! XD 3) Never be bored or lonely again. :)

If you have a chance to be someone's right hand, who would that person be? Who would you like to be your right hand?

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Here's the first episode of Midori no Hibi to give you the basic idea:

4.24.2009

100 followers on Twitter

Yay hit 100 followers today! (Actual count now is 115 as I'm writing...) Well this may not be significant to many twitterers out there, but it sure is a milestone for my personal development! Been learning A LOT from my tweeples about this great tool the social media as a whole, and many many things. Hope to share some of the stuff I learnt here soon.

4.22.2009

Start Go Green on Earth Day

For Earth, every day is Earth Day.


Hit on Google's homepage today and thought "Ooh what's the special occasion today?" It's Earth Day! So I started to tweet a bit about Earth Day. Found some go green/eco websites and tips. Followed few new "green" tweeples. And sad to realize, Singapore is still a quiet city in this aspect.

Some Singaporeans simply do not possess the mindset to go green. And this is reinforced by @AngMoGirl's experience today where she witnessed rejection when a lady asked to have her lunch packed in her own to-go (takeaway) box. Kudos to the lady who brought her own lunch box! Been away from Singapore for few years, I really thought the BYOBD (Bring Your Own Bag Day) was a good change and a good start. I do see shoppers who bring their own shopping bags to NTUC, but seriously not many. And I could imagine a group of those who did not bring their own bags whine about the 10cents they are "forced" to pay for each plastic bags. And reading @AngryAngMo's blog, "Anti-Bring Your Own Bag Day" as one of the top 10 worst consumer behaviors is just not surprising after all.

I don't know what are the best ways to promote green living. It's really up to the person whether they want to do things the better way. But I thought it's not a bad idea to sell money-saving together with energy-saving or the 3Rs - reducing, reusing, and recycling. Especially in Singapore, where I believe most people are more money-minded than eco-minded. I recall receiving a handy booklet in my mailbox couple months back. The booklet contained many tips and guidelines to everyday live, such as save money, look for jobs etc (basically the govt's effort to help its people ease off recession). One of the tips is on air-conditioners: Set temp to 25° for optimal usage and save $X/month (I need to check on the actual number) for every degree you increase! Budgets are tight these days, so these are great tips to follow and really save on money. What's more, it saves energy at the same time!

I think companies should also encourage eco-living in their workplaces. If it's made a "rule" in office, maybe people will start taking similar measures when they are at home (vice versa). There is a corner in my office right by the door, like a small waiting/reception area, whereby most of the time it's empty. But we never fail to switch on the lights in that corner. Whenever I'm the first few to reach the office, I would deliberately leave those lights out. But strangely the next person who comes in will switch it on. I still don't know why, perhaps to light up our big logo hanging by that wall? And I just saw lights in the conference room were left on for the morning. (Sue beat me to switching them off tho :p)

Eco-living is actually beneficial both ways. Helps the Earth, and helps us save some bucks. So why not do it everyday? For one, I reuse plastic bottles that I fill up with water at work. Use the back side of unwanted printed paper for notes. Even in the toilets, I always see the rubbish bin overflowing with crumpled paper towels at the end of the day. Paper towels literally used up every day before 5pm. It's there for our convenience, but we shouldn't abuse it. Dried your hands with a paper towel? Why not bring it back to your office to wipe your desk? Or tear a piece into two so you can save the other half for later. It's all so easy to do, we just need to put our mind at it!

Useful links:
P.S. Blizzard should implement an Earth Day festival in-game. :)

4.19.2009

A RL Game

I will never quit scolding you.
Neither will I let u quit your game.
Until the day, you regret
ever placing progression on the same line (of priority) as me.

A newborn.



The thought of giving birth is starting to give me shivers. Maybe I won't have kids. But all those maternity subsidiaries are just so tempting! :x

4.15.2009

Is this the 'kiasu' mindset?

Just went for lunch and ate my usual economy rice (经济饭 or 菜饭 - basically just rice, sometimes fried noodles or fried beehoon at your choice, and 2-3 dishes which you pick from a set of 15-20). Potatoes and veggies are my faves! Only $2.50 for 3 dishes, swap in a meat occasionally for just 30cents more!

12-12:45pm was usually the peak time (most dishes clear out after 1:30pm). So today I ordered this plain potato with minced meat in gravy dish. There wasn't much left, so I thought the auntie would just give me half of it or all that's left. Well she didn't give me half. She didn't give me all either. She gave me almost-all-minus-2-pieces-of-potato, literally! And the way she done it was quite deliberate. Such a strange mentality, I thought. It's quite unlikely that someone else will order that dish just for that 2 pieces of potato. So for what purpose would that 2 pieces of potato serve in that big and rather empty plate?

I could only come up with these explanations:
1) She seriously thought someone might want to order that 2 pieces of potato (she put the plate back in place).
2) She wants to snack on it later.
3) Giving me the remaining 2 pieces will cause the value of my order to exceed $2.50. Therefore, she feels she cannot give me more than what I pay for.

It's not that I want to pick on something so minor, not as if I care if I got 2 more pieces of potato. (I don't even count when I eat!) But I just can't wonder why such mentality exists, which is the fundamental problem at hand. Put it in a bigger issue and scale, it could become worse. What would a world be when people start thinking why should I pay $2 each for recycling bags when others can get 'unlimited' plastic bags for free?

P.S: If you are wondering what happened to the chicken rice stall at my workplace, I really don't know. It's just gone all of a sudden for 2 months now.

4.09.2009

Cut costs vs Up efficiency

Recent news article speaks of this company whose employees are taking up cleaners' roles at work. I don't know how many cleaners this company hired (don't think even 10), but rather than firing cleaners (how much can you pay for a cleaner really), which possibly contributes to unemployment of the less-educated (jobs search already hard for those with tertiary education), and having employees (who essentially make the money for you) clean up the office (thus less time for effective work?), how about having some non-monetary incentives to increase the productivity of your employees, so they deliver twice as much work in the same amount of time?

EP hard to get.

I finally got my employment pass sometime last week (April fools to be exact). Almost didn't make it for the day because I did not bring my edu cert (photocopy/original) with me. Luckily I had them in email archived, and (thank gawd) the printing shops these days offer comprehensive services that allowed me to retrieve documents from my own email for print. When I was back an hour later to collect my pass, I saw something so ironic.. a man on the ledge atop MOM.

I'm sorry but he didn't look like he was going to jump off. Judging the way he positioned himself, rather than sitting with 2 legs hanging outside, he sat there as if he was sitting on a see-saw. I mean if you're really determined that it's the end of your world, you would probably be facing towards the outside of the building (there 2 legs hanging). And most likely won't stay in the same spot, where down below a huge air-bed has been prepared for you. My guess is that he probably got very depressed all of a sudden, perhaps denied a work permit, and wanted the "authority's" attention to the self-claimed difficult life he had.

Crowds were gathered below across the street. But I wonder who was really concerned with that man's life than just standing there to find out if he jumped in the end.

First time I see this with my own eyes. There wasn't any major publishing in the media, so I guess he really did not jump after all. :p

4.06.2009

"excuse me,"

it means to gtfo of my way. not standstill and stare as if i had spoken a foreign language.