Wisdom Tooth Agony

Been delaying my wisdom tooth extraction for the longest of times and I finally took the opportunity to pluck it yesterday. It was not as painful as I would have imagined and luckily the teeth were extracted completely. Mouth a bit swallowed and feeling a bit feverish. Really hope to recover by next week. Many thanks for the best wishes :-)

Back from Korea

After a week of silence, I am finally back in Singapore after my 6 days trip to Korea. It was actually my first tour group outing and I must say it was not as packed and bad as I thought. We toured most of touristy stuff in Korea such as the sites for filming Korean dramas, hot springs, Everland, Lotte World, etc. Some of my favourite included the hot springs which was relaxing and also the skiing. Though the skiing was for a short 3 hours, I would definitely come back again to try out the slopes. Maybe snowboard the next time.

My highlight of the trip was meeting my friend from Michigan. Initially we were supposed to meet on a Saturday for the whole day but my friend had a meeting in the morning. We changed our appointment to Friday night and had a nice dinner of BBQ pork ribs. We had a nice drive ard Seoul before adjourning to a super market. It was nice meeting a friend after 2.5 years. He even gave me a Hyundai calendar and some ginseng tea.

The food in Korea was excellent and I must say we were exposed to different kinds of food during our tour ranging from different types of steamboats to BBQ and also to bimbinbob (Missed those days in umich when we would eat Korean food near the b-school).

For our trip, we also had 2 free days in Bangkok. It was my first trip (amazing!) to Thailand and really enjoy the shopping. It was fun bargaining to get the best price and definitely would come back more often to shop for more.

Overall, a relaxed holiday! Oh before I forgot, the photos of the trip can be viewed at http://cheewing.multiply.com/photos/album/13

Lunches for the week

It's been unprecedented. I actually ate in the canteen more than once for the week since I started working. Not that our canteen food is not nice, in fact, I really enjoy our canteen food. My favourite has always been the vegetarian food..miss those days with my ex-colleague when both of us will be queueing for the same stall. Been trying out the new yong tau foo stall and I must say they are quite good. I still missed the previous stall-owner who will meticulously ask you whether you needed shallots/spring onions and pepper in your yong tau foo but the new stall is pretty decent and excellent pricing as well.

Actually somehow eating in the canteen can be boring especially when you have been working for long and sometimes you might even have someone unfavourable sitting with you. So that's why we tend to avoid the canteen. Went to try my PS's favourite Bak chor mee in Toa Payoh (For those interested, it is Blk 85, Toa Payoh Lor 2) on Monday and had lunch yesterday at Food Republic at Wisma.

Today was quite a bonus as finally our boss is back from overseas. We went to Margaret Drive for the famous chicken rice and pot stickers. Excellent food with great company too. Let see where we eat next week.

Protests and more protests

Well the WTO meeting is currently on-going in Hong Kong and even before the meeting started, there were a bunch of Koreans jumping into the freezing ocean to protest about the meeting taking place. This trend of protesting during major economic meets started in Seattle in 1999. There were massive protests during that meeting and then US President, Bill Clinton got cold feet and actually diluted what was supposed to be tabled at the Seattle rounds. Since then, the protesters have been gathering up in strength by seeing their effectiveness in Seattle, appearing in every economic or world leader meets.

That make me wonder, what the hell are the protesters actually protesting about? Capitalism, globalisation, global warming or what? I personally feel that the protesters are actually protesting for the sake of protesting to show that their voice still matter in society. Can any of the protesters actually suggest a solution to capitalism? I do not think so unless someone yells communism. That's my point...no one has any idea or suggestion on how to revolutionise the world.

I remember those days in London when everyone had to stay in during 1st May due to the massive protests. Not too sure whether that is still happening annually but seriously what had those protesters achieved? NOTHING!

Let's hope next year IMF/World Bank meet in Singapore will not have any problem.

Rent it is!

Yup yup, I decided to catch Rent in the end. Was thumping myself for not waiting for the rebate on their tickets before I bought the tickets. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the musical overall but I felt that Karen Mok did not do the musical justice. Could not really understand what she was singing for most of the time and yes, her dance moves were well done but as a musical cast, I think she still lack the ability to dance and sing at the same time. Most people I knew did not enjoy watching Rent due to the modern upbeat and unorthodox themes (gays, lesbians, drag-queens, AIDS, etc) but I must say the songs are encouraging and refreshing. Been listening to the soundtrack over the past week and have enjoyed listening to it over and over again. Am awaiting the movie to come out early next year. For those that want a copy of the RENT soundtrack, do give me a buzz.

Long Meetings?

Well, not been blogging too much in recent weeks due to the hectic workload and most importantly nothing much to say in my monotonous life. I feel I should start with a series of short postings instead of one super long one. Work-wise had been hectic. Always chasing people is not a fun job to do but I guess as secretary to a meeting, the role becomes more and more exciting as nothing is ever the same. For this month's meeting, I had a shock of people inserting in items during the meeting itself. So the meeting overran and most people were not too happy. Will keep it a point to restrict those that talk too much in the future. :-)

Crowning of Mr Cameron

Ok...first day at work and you are already up against the Prime Minister at Parliament. What should I ask to leave a good impression? Where should I start the attack in order to win the next elections? These questions must be circling in Mr David Cameron's mind when he got elected yesterday as the next Conservative leader. Winning by a 2-1 margin over David Davis, he definitely had a rubber stamp from the party members to lead the party to victory in the next election.

A tough road lies in front of him. Already, 5 leaders have bitten the dust since 1997 (Major, Hague, Duncan-Smith, Howard and finally Cameron), so will there be any changes in luck due to the change of leadership? Cameron will inject new perspectives and ideas into the ageing old guards who are still around but his influences can only be effective when his team can fully take office to challenge the current Labour Cabinet. So that's leave the question of who will be in the shadow cabinet. I welcome the return of William Hague as shadow foreign secretary but the team would probably be relatively inexperienced. We should know more within the next few days.

Just watched Prime Minister's Questions and I would give Mr Cameron a 6/10 for his first sparring with Mr Blair. He appeared nervous and I felt that he was thinking of jokes to quote in order to invigorate the House. His 4 questions were spent on education which I felt were appropriate but maybe the questions were framed wrongly to look like the Tories support every Labour education policies. I commend Mr Cameron for spending his last 2 questions on climate change which is the main concern for many in the world. Perhaps for next week Mr Cameron would have more confidence and maybe even jabbed about the Home Office Bill.

Baldrick!!!

Ok ok...finally after a month hiatus, I am back with the review of our favourite BALDRICK. Played by Tony Robinson (who recently did the documentary on Da Vinci Code) throughout the 4 series, he was the rock and humour bone for most of the Blackadder series. Just as Blackadder exists in many incarnations throughout the ages, so does Baldrick; wherever there is a Blackadder there is a Baldrick serving him. Initially Baldrick was the smart one and Blackadder the idiot, but as Blackadder's social status has fallen so has Baldrick's intelligence, while Blackadder's rises with each series. Intelligent or not, Baldrick is always one for inventing "cunning plans", which are generally ridiculed by Blackadder, who nevertheless ends up using them. Other traits shared by all Baldricks (except possibly the first one) are sheer disgustingness and an obsession with turnips!

In the first season, Baldrick was the helpful sidekick for Blackadder, in fact even smarter than Percy Percy. It was Baldrick who came up with the title Blackadder instead of the Black Vegetable initially proposed by Rowan Atkinson. In the second season, Baldrick was the villageidiot who had to beg Blackadder in order to retain his job. His fetish for turnips was also revealed when he declared his dream was to buy a big fat turnip.

In the 3rd season, Baldrick contested for a seat in the House of Parliament in order to allow the King to control the Parliament. He also became more and more disgusting and paid 400,000 pounds for a giant turnip. In season 4, Baldrick was the regimental cook for Blackadder's company and was infamous for his crap food and interesting hobbies such as poetry. More cunning plans pls

I quote one of Baldrick's poem.

"Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom
Boom, Boom, Boom
Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom,
Boom, Boom, Boom"

Need I say more :-)

Flu, Conferences and Fruits?

Been ill for the past few days but am slowly recovering. Unfortunately did not had the chance to take MC as I had to attend a conference last week. The conference was on electronic waste and how each companies was dealing with their waste and it ended with a lovely tour to one of the recycling plant. Had a chance to hold 2-3 kg of gold ingot in my hand. Fancy holding a BMW 7 Series in my hand. :-)

Got arrowed for another conference these 2 days. Quite interesting as well but work is piling up in office as well.

As promised here are some pictures from our year end function, comments welcome pls

Preparing for the Fruit Nite
My ColleaguesThe VIPsThe King and Queen of Fruits

For more pictures do go to http://cheewing.multiply.com/photos/album/11

Enjoy!

Another Interesting Week

Apologies to my loyal fans (at last count should be only 3) for not blogging for the past week.

Well this week has been one of the more interesting week for me. Started with quite a serious meeting and the press release of my portfolio's hard work over the past 1.5 years. It's been hard work for my seniors but I think the satisfaction of completing the project is unbeatable. I would hope to be able to see through one of the projects soon hopefully in the upcoming year.

Another interesting eating place my boss recommended over this past week was the VIP hotel. A pleasant small hotel at Balmoral Road, they served excellent set lunch for a very affordable $5.90+++. Tried their chicken gordon bleu and also their chicken chop, very decent and they have a rolling set menu over a 4 week period. On a separate note, went with a colleague to Serangoon Gardens and she had a sudden craving for high class food. We went in F.R.I.E.N.D.S and the setting was very nice. The food was great and topping it up with great service as well (Many thanks to Fion for the excellent dinner).

The year end is coming to an end and we had our company's year end function....pictures to be attached sometime next week!

And to round the week off, my very best friend got engaged. XY really happy for you. Your angels will always been with you!

More rubbish from me soon :-)

Defeat for Blair

Well, well, how could someone with a majority of 66 in Parliament actually ended losing a vote on a bill by 31? That is the question that everyone had been asking since Tony Blair's bill on right of detention of 90 days got thrown out the House of Commons. His intention to extend the right for police to detain anyone suspected of terrorism from the existing 14 days to 90 days was good but somehow the selling did not went well. His authoritative Home Secretary Charles Clarke have been made a scapegoat for this incident and it is surprising that he is still in the job.

Actually the defeat has been brewing for quite some time. The bill on university reforms were nearly thrown out as well but he manage to squeak past. With his decrease in majority after the General Election in May, it was a wrong time to launched this reformed terror bill. Public sentiments were high after the July 7 bombing and I am sure if the MPs cancelled their summer holidays to talk about this reforms, it would have been passed.

So what this spell for Mr Blair? Already his favourite lackey David Blunkett had resigned the previous week (his second resignation in less than a year) due to his lack of revelations in him holding shares in a public company while he was still an MP. The week could not seem to get worse. The only fortunate bit apart his misfortunes is that the Conservatives are busy finding a new leader. If the new pretender David Cameron can be crowned before Christmas, I am sure he will hammer Blair. A cabinet re-shuffle seems iminent with the Home Secretary looking the most vulnerable. David Blunkett's former portfolio of pensions and work affairs have seen their 4th Secretary of State in less than a year, a portfolio which had gotten more and more profile due to the ageing population.

So to sum up, British politics seems to only getting more and more interesting!

Yoga!

Today was the first time I tried yoga. Was always totally inflexible in school (read sit n reach) and was actually very hesistant of trying things such as yoga and pilates. Our friendly HR colleague circulated an email trying to encourage everyone to sign up for yoga (considering that yoga is our boss's favourite interest). Her parting shot in her email was that the yoga teacher was "a looker". So I braved up all my courage to try it out.

Frankly speaking it was not too bad. According to colleagues, the instructor is good and very informative. In fact she spent nearly 1.5 hours with us even though her session was only supposed to be 1 hour. Looking forward to the next session next week.

For info, I attached photo of the teacher and her website is www.yoga-sutra.net

Finally NFL!

Today is Deepavali and finally after nearly 10 months, I got a chance to watch a NFL game today. Come to think of it, the only 2 games I have watched this year was the Rose Bowl (an agonising loss by Michigan to Texas 38-37) and the Super Bowl (Patriots triumping over the Eagles). Today's game was not that exciting pitting last year's best regular season team the Pittsburgh Steelers against the Baltimore Ravens.

The game was evenly matched even though the Ravens had very little of the possession. Some sublime passing by Steeler's star quarterback Ben Roethelisburger (hope I got it right) gave Pittsburgh a close win 20-19. In fact I am already cursing that I can't watch next week game between the undefeated Colts and the Patriots. Should be quite a sizzler if the Patriots can show their Super Bowl form.

I was quite surprised that ESPN actually make an effort to explain the basic rules during commercial times. Actually American Football rules are rather complicated especially with the different kinds of fouls but the aim is really simple. You have 4 chances to move the ball by 10 yards. If you succeed, you will get another 4 chances. If you fail, the ball goes to the opposing team. A touchdown is worth 6 points and a field goal is 3 points. For more detailed rules, refer to the wikipedia website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_football

Go Patriots for next week....rather disappointed by Michigan's performance thus far :-(

Something to Bring Back Memories

Was talking to a friend from DSTA and noticed that their commerative 5th anniversary coffee table book is out. I remembered doing a photoshoot for this magazine and the 2 photos I was involved in is attached above. Something for the memories!

David vs David

Ok, Ok, my selection of Dr Liam Fox as the next Conservative Leader has fallen flat. It is now a youthful David Cameron vs. the old-school David Davis. The run-off is now between this two chaps and the vote-holders are the 300,000 Conservative Party members. So after 3 consecutive defeats in the General Election, who does the man in the street think will defeat Gordon Brown in the next Election?

David Cameron has been building a strong momentum in this leadership contest. Coming in from nowhere, he finished with 90 MPs voting for him against Mr Davis 65. The most crucial detail missing from Mr Cameron is what he stood for. Till today, I have not heard a single policy outlined by him that will changed the Conservative way of government. Mr Davis, an experienced fighter have served at various portfolios since 1997 and thus has strong experience in dealing with Labour.

Then again, the key question once again to the Tories supporters is who is the best man to lead the party against Gordon Brown and the only person is Mr David Cameron! In fact, he has been compared to Tony Blair in terms of opinion and way of speaking and will definitely give Mr Blair a run for his money for the next 4 years. Let see what happen in December :-)

Hugh Laurie in Blackadder

Hugh Laurie (currently a very sauve doctor in House) is one of the key characters in the Blackadder series. He first appeared as Prince Ludwig the Indestructible in the last episode of Season 2. I particularly remembered watching the episode during the Christmas of 1999 when I was in Bordeaux. All of us laughed hysterically at his prounciation of certain words such as "A-polo-gies" and" Re-ven-ge". The Prince was a master of disguise and his disguises include that of a poor stable boy, waitress and even a sheep! The 2nd Season of Blackadder ended with the murder of everyone by the evil Prince (disguising as Queen Elizabeth)

Hugh Laurie snagged a major role in the 3rd season of Blackadder as the complete dumbnut George the Prince Regent. His character was based on George IV who was the Prince Regent when George III went crazy around 1810. He was incredibly stupid relying on his butler, Blackadder to perform the simplest of tasks such as wearing of his pants and socks. One of the funniest scene was when Samuel Pepys was explaining to him what a dictionary was and he was severely disappointed when there were no murder plots, no heroes in the dictionary.

Hugh Laurie was then re-casted as Lt George in the 4th season of Blackadder. He was type-cast as a upper crust innocent boy thrown into trench war-fare. Lt George is just as loud and foolish as Prince George in Season 3 but yet he carries himself with a great deal more innocence than the Prince, and his blind optimism shows that he is unaware of the situation he is in. George was actually not that dumb and has several hidden talents such as painting and acting.

Now only 2 more main characters left....

Which Cover do u Prefer?

Don & Drew OR Dawn & Drew

Been quite interested in podcasting recently and have been religiously downloading programmes such as Sportsweek and Today from BBC. Really brings me back to my time in London and hopefully they can put Foxy Top 40 Countdown on Podcasting soon.

An interesting observation came upon me while I was fiddling with podcasting. The most popular podcaster in America is a couple Dawn & Drew who are the pioneers in the industry. They are know for their creative and interesting titbits of information (even though I have not heard them yet). Was listening to the radio of Perfect 10 every morning on my way to work and often hear about the Dawn and Drew Show. I was thinking wow, our Singaporean artistes are quite popular. Unfortunately I found out that our version of Dawn and Drew are actually Don and Drew, an Eurasian and an Ang Mo combo! I must say they are quite good and really enjoy their humour but must they really copy and make a parody of the original Dawn & Drew show. I dun think that is really necessary, in fact even if they called themselves "2 Guys Talking Cock", I am sure many will still tuned in for show.

Some food for thought!

General Sir Anthony Cecil Hogmanay Melchet

Although Stephen Fry did not appear during the 3rd season of Blackadder, he returned in the last episode in the 3rd season as a cameo as The Duke of Wellington. This was sort of an introductory role for what was expected of him in the 4th season. General Melchett is often described as a buffon often sending people to die without any knowledge of battle tactics at all. The General is often trying to lift the morale of the men, completely ignorant of the fact that they were too frightened to die in No Men's Land. Some of the funniest scene includes him trialing Blackadder for killing his pet pigeon, shooting his aide Darling in the foot to fake injury and spy on Blackadder in the hospital and even tried to marry George! The role seems to fit Fry very well and he even reprised the character of Melchett in future special additions of Blackadder.

Good Makan Week

This past week so far has been ok. Only had to be secretary to a big meeting and it went better than expected. It was a crazy rush asking people for papers and presentation slides and one of the presentation slides only came in 45 minutes before the meeting started. That meeting even though was on Tuesday took up nearly most of my week in terms of time spent to ensure the meeting went smoothly.

Would like to share with everyone 2 places I visited for lunch this week. On Monday, we went to this hawker centre that most of us usually patroned Pek Kio. I have never even heard of such a place in Singapore till I started working. Actually the road name is Cambridge Road and it is somewhere near KK Hospital, but somehow never had a chance to visit it. The most famous item in the hawker centre is the wan tan mee. Unfortunately it is usually sold out by 12 noon and so far I have only tried it twice. Another favourite of ours is the claypot fish rice. A very unique dish of deep fried fish (yet to discovered what fish it is) cooked in a claypot with rice and plenty of vegetable. A decent price of $4 as well!

Yesterday was to Smith Street market in Chinatown. My boss recommended an isolated zi char stall and we ordered:

1. Fried Rice
2. Mee Goreng
3. Omelette
4. Stir-fried vegetables
5. Chilli Prawns
6. Sweet n Sour Chicken

There were five of us and guess how much it costs us?

$20 IN TOTAL

Amazing Right! Still cannot believe the pricing and we adjorned to the Hawker Legend Ah Baling, a sweet glutinous rice flour ball with different fillings like yam, sesame, red bean, green bean, etc. It was really good cooked in a clear pandan flavoured soup. Definitely a place to visit in the future.

Today my company had a corp planning seminar, so our lunch was a bit more atas and it was at California Pizza Kitchen at Forum Shopping Centre. Excellent variety of pizzas such as Beijing duck.

Must really go to the gym this week!

Lord Melchett

The first Melchett appeared in series two of Blackadder. He was Lord Chamberlain to Queenie and was considered as Blackadder's main rival in gaining attention from the Queen. Cowardly and an a**-sucker, Melchett was still one of the Queen's favourite. Melchett's rivalry with Blackadder serves as a main theme for most of the 2nd season. From competing to who can drink the most to who dare to sail to the Cape of Good Hope, the 2 of them were inseparable in front of the Queen.

The character played by Stephen Fry can be identified by everyone. Afraid to lose his job even though he is useless, he uses his connections to his boss to stay in his job. I am a big fan of Stephen Fry having admired his wit and humour in shows such as Have I got news for you and he did a very good job as the narrator for all the Harry Potter books on tape.

Tomorrow, another incarnation of Melchett, General Sir Anthony Cecil Hogmanay Melchett

Rent

Saw an advert on tele just now and noticed that the musical Rent is coming to Singapore. The song that left the most memory on me was of course " Seasons of Love". Somehow, I had heard of that song before but it did not occur to me that it was actually from Rent. Watching the musical live in London in 2002 was great! Heard quite a lot of mixed review from friends before watching it but was glad I managed to catch it eventually when they returned to London. The storyline I felt was a bit thin and quite sad but the songs are strong and up-lifting.

I attached the lyrics of "Seasons of Love" (I am sure most of us have heard the song before but have not associated it to the musical Rent, give me a shout if u want a copy of the song!)

COMPANY
525,600 minutes, 525,000 moments so dear. 525,600 minutes - how do you measure,
measure a year? In daylights, in sunsets, in midnights, in cups of coffee. In
inches, in miles, in laughter, in strife. In 525,600 minutes - how do you
measure a year in the life?
How about love? How about love? How about love? Measure in love. Seasons of
love.

SOLOIST 1
525,600 minutes! 525,000 journeys to plan. 525,600 minutes - how can you measure
the life of a woman or man?

SOLOIST 2
In truths that she learned, or in times that he cried. In bridges he burned, or
the way that she died.

COMPANY
It’s time now to sing out, tho the story never ends let's celebrate remember a year in the life of friends. Remember
the love! Remember the love! Remember
the love! Measure in love. Seasons of love! Seasons of love.

Hmm...I am tempted to watch Rent again when it comes to Singapore. Any Takers?

Gorgeous Apple

A few friends and I have been talking about getting a mac for the longest of time. It was nearly 1.5 years when we started our mac dream. We decided to wait for OS X Tiger to come out before finally purchasing it but somehow even after Tiger came out in April, all of us held out. For me, my main reason is that my company already provided me with a laptop and I had no intention to use 2 computers of 2 different interfaces at the same time.

Somehow where Apple release their new version of the imac yesterday, it has rekindled my thought of actually owning a mac again. With the all integrated home entertainment system, it will definitely be useful and also kind of neat as well. The price for the basic model is quite steep but I believe in Apple through my good experience in using the ipod. Even that has gone through a huge upgrade since I bought mine last August. OK, wish list an imac and maybe a new ipod! Maybe in the next year or so when I finally saved enough..hahaha

Queenie

The next character on the list is Queen Elizabeth I or otherwise known as Queenie on the show. It was played by Miranda Richardson who will soon appear in the next Harry Potter film as the nosey reporter Rita Skeeter. Playful and childish but yet authoritative and powerful, she was the boss of Lord Edmund Blackadder. Always being accompanied by the a**-sucking Lord Melchett and her caring Nursie, she treats Blackadder as her favourite courtier and even contemplating marrying him.

One of her most famous quote was "I may have the body of a weak and feeble woman but I have the heart - and stomach - of a concrete elephant!" An excellent deviation from the original line spoken by Queen Elizabeth I " I have the body but of a weak and feeble woman; but I have the heart and stomach of a King, and of a King of England too"

She even wrote a poem about Blackadder named subtly "Edmund" which I will share:

When the night is dark
And the clouds are black
And the ducks go 'quack'
When the sky is blue
And the cows go 'moo'
Think of lovely Queenie,
She'll be thinking of you

Blackadder replied "Mum, life without you is like a broken pencil"

"Pointless"

One of my all time favourite quotes!

Of course, the real Queen Elizabeth I was not exactly that love-struck. She ended up being known as the "Virgin Queen" and was a national hero by leading the country against the Spanish Armanda. She deeply regretted not having a heir and thus ending the royal line of Tudor. In fact, the next in-line for the throne was her worst hated enemy, Mary Queen of Scots' son. James VI of Scotland took over when Queen Elizabeth I passed away in 1603 and thus uniting both crowns of England and Scotland. He was henceforth known as King James I of United Kingdom and thus starting the Stuart line which would only end in 1711.

Busy Week! :-(

Been really a hectic week so far due to work! Even though the dengue is toning down and most of my colleagues are back to "normal" work, it is still as busy as ever. Been involved in a project asking the members of the public regarding the environment. Not really sure how the public will react towards the environment. We are more of an invisible force, if everything goes right, no one will notice. But if something serious goes wrong, the public will be hounding on us. Not sure what the results of the survey will be, just curious essentially. :-)

Been also going on my orientation programme, a good 6 months after I join the organisation. It was quite interesting especially the site visits to the key installations. My personal favourite was the offshore landfill. It was really a feat of nature and engineering. The nature bits are just fantastic with all the replanted mangrove. I can't wait when the place is opened to the public and bringing friends there.

Orientation in the end was not very good as I had a lot of other work to catch up upon. Really felt very guilty that I did not fulfil my role as a secretary for next week's meeting and had to rely upon my friend to help me settle all the administrative work. Will not commit such a mistake in the future!

"Bob"

Been rather busy for the past few days and thus have been neglecting my Blackadder character study. Today I will concentrate on a character who only appeared in only 2 episodes of all Blackadder but left quite a good impression on me.

"Bob" or Kate is a country girl who is naive but yet determined to strive to make her father enjoy life at an old age. Her father tried to sell her to prostitution but she refused and she would rather dressed as a boy to be a manservant. So she did and knocked upon the doors of Lord Blackadder in the 2nd season. Immediately she was hired with Baldrick being fired. Eventually, Blackadder grew attached to the "boy" and when he found out that "Bob" was actually Kate, they decided to get married. The wedding date was set but unfortunately Blackadder's best man Flashheart stole the show and ran away with "Bob"

"Bob" appeared back in the fourth season in the same incarnation except this time as a soldier/driver. She reminds me of Mulan...a girl determined to seek out her future regardless of her sex and even though "Bob" did not reach the success of Mulan, she was still headstrong and determined to prove her point.

Wonder will this really work in today's world and will the reverse actually work? Hahahaha..

Lord Percy Percy - Duke of Northumberland

Lord Percy Percy, played by skifully by the excellentTim McInnerny (who also played Capt Darling in the 4th season) was Blackadder's idiotic sidekick in the first 2 seaons. With a brain the size of a peanut but yet stupidly loyal, Percy is described by Blackadder as "a dimwit I can't seem to shake off".

My famous favourite scene of Lord Percy when Blackadder was running tight on cash and he promised to create gold. Unfortunately he discovered only a green substance which he name green. The only real fundamental difference between green and gold is that green is green rather than gold, it comes in 'splats' rather than nuggets and it has no value whatsoever.

Lord Percy has something of a dislike of Baldrick. This is perhaps as a result of the fact that, despite his higher social status, he still receives the same amount of affection (or lack thereof) from Blackadder. Lord Percy's distaste towards Baldrick can also be seen, as he is reluctant to count him in on the money he plans to make by fashioning 'Green' as jewellery.

Unfortunately, Tim McInnerny did not want to be stereotyped and decided not to join the 3rd season. A pity but he return in season 4 as Darling!

It has been quite a good weekend so far. Attended Cirque Du Soleil yesterday and was superbly impressed by the whole show. Even though there was not much storyline, the acrobats and stuns performed were incredile. It was really like a feat of endurance and concentration for all the performance. My personal favourite was the top-twirling chinese girls (another clever form of outsourcing) and the Adam and Eve act (super jealous of the guy's body!). It was then to a steamboat dinner even though the mala hotpot was too hot..it was the company that really matter.

My weekend was made even better with both Blackburn and Michigan winning.

Blackburn Rovers is the team I have supported over the past 11 years even though they relegated and were isolated for 2 years. I am actually quite happy if they just survived this year. Mark Hughes has definitely make his mark onto the team and the tenacious fighting spirt is starting to show (hopefully not too many red cards pls). I particularly enjoy Kuqi celebration when he scored and hope many more will come. Think will be safe this year and let's see how hard we can push.

Michigan is where I went to college and definitely have been keeping tab of them even though I left 2 years ago. The past 2 seasons have been good at least as we progressed all the way to the Rose Bowl. Unfortunately we lose both of them and was particularly heart-broken by last year lose to Texas 37-38. Was actually hoping for more this year having been ranked 3rd at the start of the season, but so far it has been disappointing. Losing to Notre Dame was hard to swallow especially it was at the Big House and then last week losing to Wiscosin! Luckily this week we beat Michigan State. If not I will not know where to hang my head. Do not think we can progress to the Rose Bowl this year since we already have 2 losses and we have yet to face the Buckeyes! Let's wait and see what will happen this season.

Come on Rovers and Wolverines!

Nursie

The third character of Blackadder I will call upon is Nursie. Unfortunately she only appeared in the 2nd season as Queen Elizabeth I's nanny and never appeared in future Blackadder. She is famous for her one-liner statements such as
" My brother, he had this brilliant idea of cutting his toenails with a scythe, and his foot fell off."

Caring and a loyal servant, she is always seen by the side of Queen E and often sharing stories to others abt the Queen's youth. Loves her impression of a cow in the last episode and her real name is actually Bernard.

Finally Conclusion!

After 3 days of tough negotiations with XXX, both parties have finally reached an agreement. Personally this was my first attendance in a negotiations and was really an eye-opener. So many parties and so many concerns. In the end, the other party came alone today without their tough speaking ang mo lawyers and bankers. We ended on a compromise which they said they can take it up to their senior management and we felt we could do the same for our management as well.

In the end, the other party was quite relieved that we could reach a conclusion..hopefully all can be concluded next week with the amendments and we can happily go about in starting the project. I came into the project mid-way was hopefully can see through this whole project. Another big project seems looming.... Who says rubbish is not interesting!

Capt Darling!

Well the second part of my Blackadder's character synosis. Today will be everyone's favourite pencil pusher, Capt Kevin Darling. Played skillfully by Tim McInnerny who also appeared in the previous Blackadder series as Lord Percy Percy.

Having a surname Darling definitely does not give u much fun especially in the military. Numerous jokes are cracked by both Blackadder and his boss, General Melchett (refer to the statement by Flashheart below). Well hated for his sucking and curry favouring skills, he seems to enjoy doing administrative work even though he is in the military. Getting easily excited by a truckful load of paper clips arriving, he was finally sent to battle very much reluctantly.

Darling, we salute u!

Fix You

Been introducing most of my friends to the song "Fix You" by Coldplay. A perfect song to get over tough times and in fact it was written in that context. A griefing girl and a comforting guy who is helping to "fix" her. Perhaps it is in close reference to Chris Martin himself when he got together with Gweyneth Paltrow when her Dad just passed away. Look where they are now!

When you try your best but you don't succeed
When you get what you want but not what you need
When you feel so tired but you can't sleep
Stuck in reverse

And the tears come streaming down your face
When you lose something you can't replace
When you love someone but it goes to waste
Could it be worse?

Lights will guide you home
And ignite your bones
And I will try to fix you

And high up above or down below
When you're too in love to let it go
But if you never try you'll never know
Just what you're worth

Lights will guide you home
And ignite your bones
And I will try to fix you

Tears stream down your face
When you lose something you cannot replace
Tears stream down your face
And I

Tears stream down your face
I promise you I will learn from my mistakes
Tears stream down your face
And I

Lights will guide you home
And ignite your bones
And I will try to fix you.

2nd Part of Negotiations

Today was the 2nd day of our negotiations with XXX. Again, they brought their whole team of lawyers and bankers. It was not an effective negotiation at all. The other party refused to barge even though we have given it to some of their demands. Well, government are no longer that stupid...since this is a partnership, both parties must definitely work together to resolve the issues. In the end, if the negotiations still cannot iron out the issues, we will go all the way up..hmm...dun think it will benefit the other party specially.

Had an interesting meeting with "The white-haired demon" today...first time meeting such a legend in the industry. Very smooth talker and rather frank abt certain issues. In fact, his personal opinion, the dengue cases will resolve itself even if government stand still. He predict the monsoon will help flush the dengue out of our system by mid-Oct..Crossing our fingers. Hope to work for him in the near future.

Conservative Party Leadership Race (3rd Attempt to Post this)

Well...here we go again. The Conservative Party (Tories) have once again started their attempt to find a leader to finally displace Mr Tony Blair. Well this has been the 3rd leadership fight since 2001 and does not bode well for the world's oldest political party. Tories have been in decline since their grand dame, Margaret Thatcher was forced out by her own party. It was a miracle that the boring John Major was able to hold on to power for 7 years before Labour swept into power. Well, the past three leaders after Sir John Major were not complete idiots but somehow they lack something significant to dislodge Labour.

The first was a credible William Hague. Once a party celebrity, he gained limelight by giving a speech at the age of 16 to the Conservative Party Conference. He was dynamic, cheerful and gave a decent fight to Mr Blair during Prime Minister Questions. In fact, I started watching PMQs all thanks to Mr Hague's incredible performace during PMQs and how his jokes never seems to stop jabbing subtlely at Mr Blair's inefficiency. Unfortunately he stood for the wrong cause in his election campaign in 2001 (Concentrate too much on Europe) was soundly beaten by Mr Blair.

Then came in an unknown, Mr Iain Duncan Smith, a former Shadown Defence Secretary..His party tour started on an ominous Sept 11 2001 and was postponed to the following date out of respect. Some interesting facts abt Mr Duncan Smith:

1. Has a Japanese Granny
2. Married to a cousin of Princess Diana

Unfortunately, he was not charismatic (in fact look similar to Mr Hague but without his wit and debating skills) and looked awkward in Parliament. His name was famously joked that he was actually 2 person Mr Iain and Duncan Smith (done nicely by Paul Merton). He was soon disposed of and in came another old guard, former Home Secretary Michael Howard. Howard was a good debator and believe strongly in his cause. He did well in the recent elections (managed to cut Labour's majority from 166 to 65) but he felt he did not have the energy to carry on and decided to step down.

So who am I cheering for in this contest? There are the old guards like Sir Malcolm Rifkind, David Davis, Michael Ancram and Ken Clarke trying for his 3rd time. There are the youth contestants as well but most are of an unknown quantity. My personal vote will go to Dr Liam Fox. A seasoned campaigner, he excelled when he was Shadow Health Secretary and proved a useful asset against Alan Milburn. I believe he can rejuvenate the party and maybe make another attempt to dislodge Labour in prob 2009.

Ok, I have stated my candidate and let's see how the contest will unfold in the upcoming months.

PS: I am actually a Labour supporter and had voted for a certain David Lamy, MP for Tottenham

Lord Flashheart - Woof!

Have been rewatching my Blackadder and decided to do a summary of a character everyday. Today I will start with the infamous Lord Flashheart played by Rik Mayall.

A raging hormoned man, Flashheart first appeared on Blackadder in Season 2 where he was Blackadder's best man. He ended up stealing Blackadder's bride...hmm..his favourite being "Woof!"
Flashheart returned in the same form in Season 4 where he is a celebrated pilot and ended up being imprisoned by the Germans.

Hilarious quotes includes:

1. Am I pleased to see you or did I just put a canoe in my pocket?
2. Darling! That's a funny name for a chap. The last person I called 'darling' was pregnant 20 seconds later!
3. Always treat your kite, like you treat your woman...get inside her five times a day and take her to heaven and back
4. I've got a plan. And it's as hot as my pants!

I am sure everyone knows a Flashheart in their life...always popular with ladies and always a pain in everyone's a** by going into extreme to get a girl's attention.

Tomorrow, Capt Darling!

Lost!

Just watched the latest episode of Lost..was not really impressed by the season opener. Too many flashbacks and not enough answers to all those questions asked in the finale last season. Still do not know what happen to those who went out on the raft...unfortunately I am eagerly awaiting the upcoming episodes.

Blogging v Dogging

Came across this interesting article that more people know more about Dogging than Blogging. Are we really as tech savvy as what most people are claiming to be? Interesting this is a survey conducted in UK....I am frankly not surprised. I still remember the shock horror when I first stepped onto UK in 1999 and they were still using 486 and Windows 3.1. Some interesting definitions in that link for the less tech savvy as well :-)

Long Long....Long Meeting

A tiring day with a meeting that started at 0930 and only ended at 1630. Only had a short 30 min break for lunch...so sadly it was to the canteen and to the briyani stall. This week's lunches have been quite happening. Monday was to Toa Payoh to recce on an exhaust pipe of a hawker centre (some residents were complaining that the exhaust of the hawker centre were blowing directly into their flats) and yesterday was to our famous Shunfu market. Too bad Chocolate N' Spice were closed...missed those muffins :-)

Coming back to my meeting today....it was really a multicultural meeting with an Australian, Dutch, German and Singaporeans on our side and British, Australian, ITALIAN and of course Singaporeans. I was particularly impressed with two lawyers from Allen & Glenhill...30+ and already an established partner! Anyway...it was a long-drawn negotiation and we are meeting again tomorrow..to trash out more issues.

How I became Mr Cellophane?

That is the song that inspired my nick: Mr Cellophane as sung by Amos in Chicago
Hmm..still remember watching the musical in Singapore and London...with Claire Sweeney as Roxie...damn why did I not watch it when Denise Van Outen was in it!

If someone stood up in a crowd
And raised his voice up way out loud
And waved his arm
And shook his leg
You'd notice him

If someone in a movie show
Yelled "fired in the second row,
This whole place is a powder keg!"
You'd notice him

And even without clucking like a hen
Everyone gets noticed, now and then,
Unless, of course, that personage should be
Invisible, inconsequential me!

Cellophane
Mister cellophane
Should have been my name !!!!
Mister cellophane
'cause you can look right through me
Walk right by me
And never know I'm there!

I tell ya
Cellophane
Mister cellophane
Should have been my name
Mister cellophane
'cause you can look right through me walk right by me
And never know I'm there. . .

Suppose you was a little cat
Residin' in a person's flat
Who fed you fish and scratched your ears?
You'd notice him

Suppose you was a woman wed
And sleepin' in a double bed beside one man for seven years
You'd notice him

A human being's made of more than air
With all that bulk, you're bound to see him there

Unless that human bein' next to you
Is unimpressive, undistinguished
You know who. . .

Should have been my name
Mister cellophane
'cause you can look right through me
Walk right by me
And never know I'm there
I tell ya
Cellophane
Mister cellophane
Should have been my name
Mister cellophane
'cause you can look right through me
Walk right by me
And never know I'm there
Never even know I'm there

Private England

Scapegoat or Dominatrix?
After many months out of the spotlight, Pte England has finally been sentenced to 3 years behind the bars. Is she really to blame for those atrocious pictures that appeared over the internet? I am actually not too sure, yes, she posed in those pics but that does not make her the mastermind behind those cruel pictures. Rummie must be jumping off his bed that finally this embarrassing episode has been put to a close by finding a suitable scapegoat!

I am Back

Well well...after nearly a year out of action I am back! All thanks to JT's inspiration, I have decided to start up my blog again as well.

It has been a challenging year...graduating from a poor NSF to a fully fledged teh gu cum mosquito catcher. Hopefully more crap from me for the upcoming year!