Industry Jargon

I was wondering today, as I chatted with some of my friends online. Why on earth do we ever had this thingy, known worldwide as "industry jargon"?

Industry jargon is basically language peculiar to that particular industry. It is very unlikely that people who are not working in that industry to know exactly "what in the world is going on". Why can't we have language in plain, simple terms? In other words, "layman's terms". Come on practitioners, it won't be a step down the corporate ladder if you can tweak the words.

I remember sometime ago about something I read in The Straits Times (an English-language newspaper in Singapore). The gist of what I read, in my own words: to stem the flow of mis-communication between lawyers & their clients, the law industry will now contain less of the exclusive terms used between lawyers.

How & where can one find examples of industry jargon? Look no further than the accounting industry.

I remember when I was much younger & studied basic accounting. The terms associated with it include: debit, credit & my all-time favourite: SUSPENSE ACCOUNT. My accounts never balanced, with the exception of ONE QUESTION. It was because I worked my butt off to get the correct answer to that question in school; not that I never worked hard/smart at accounting & other subjects. I can still remember the name of the company in the question: Bubblewash.

Somewhere along the accounting study that I undertook, I was taught that if one's accounts do not balance, you can place that "mis-balanced account" into this new account called the Suspense Account. For me, it is no big mystery as to the reason behind its name but what would the average person on the street think?

I'm not being wishy-washy on this subject & I am not insulting accounting. Like what I have explained in the header of my blog, "... a random collection of my thoughts ..."

To leave you with one more example of where you can find "industry jargon".

If you have ever signed any agreements, like loan agreements or if & when you download any instant messaging icons, you will find yourself bogged down with loads of industrial jargon, before you ever arrive at the all-important "SIGN HERE" and/or "I AGREE/DISAGREE".

Sleep Starved

Have you ever said to yourself this,"I'm starving. I'm so hungry that I could eat a horse!" Well then, if that is the case, I've been guilty of that (eating a horse) for a very long time.

I'm not talking about the actual consumption of a horse but the meaning behind the words itself. To me, it could be used to mean similar things, like my blog title today: "I'm so tired & sleepy that I could eat a horse!" Get what I'm saying now?

I don't know why it always has to happen on Sunday nights, especially now when I'm working. I would be there, lying on my bed, counting sheep. 998, 999 ... until I started thinking of LAMB RECIPES!! There's lamb chops, soup kambing, mutton satay ...

Have tried many many ways to stem the bad tide of insomnia but this "sleeplessness" is really insane, I tell you. Now, I understand why people have coined the term for Monday as the "Monday Blues". Grouchy, moody & tantrums, are all words that are wonderful to describe the feeling many people get whilst on their way to work on the first day of the week.

Medical experts will have you know that it is due to an off-balance of your "biological alarm clock schedule". It's your body's way of telling you, "Hoi, sleepyhead, wake up! Time to go to work!!" Come weekends & public holidays, as well as your annual/sick leave, your whole world turns upside down, as you don't keep to a regular wake-up time. Some people who do have a "regular wake-up time", tweaked it a little for these "special days"; instead of waking up at 7.30am, they wake up at 10am latest. Hence, their advice would be like my parents: yak ... yak ... yak ... nag ... nag ...

DON'T even think of asking ME what time do I wake up on those days. I ain't gonna tell.

Still, to wind down my night into LaLaLand, or as one would say in Chinese, "qu jian zhou gong", this is my 2 cents' worth of advice for anyone facing a dull prospect of not being able to sleep:

1. Thou shalt not drink coffee, or any caffeine-laced drinks in the AFTERNOONS
2. Hell had no fury than an active mind just before bedtime
3. wearing not the full set of PJs help; shorts & singlet will do, thank you

When I can't sleep, I still would like down & shut my eyes, whilst listening to the late night shows on radio, switching between P98, P10, C95, UFM, DL883, G90, 933 ... and the ultimate, BBC.

Now I'm not saying that BBC bores me to sleep. It is a wonderful news channel (I just wish that they have a cooking programme). My favourite BBC personality is this chap called "Frederick Duff", unless I heard his name wrongly; last I heard about him was that he presented the news programme called "Outlook".

The point I want to make here is BBC gives notice of the time in "Greenwich Mean Time". Translate that in Singapore Time & you get this:

1. 1800hr GMT = 2am in Singapore
2. 0000hr GMT (midnight) = 8am Singapore

But at such a late hour of the night & in line with my habit, I do not keep track of time. Not on my watch & certainly not on my alarm clock.

Now then, as anyone would have guessed, I'm an extremely light sleeper. In the wee hours of the night, in my old neighbourhood where I used to stay, I could even sometimes hear people playing mahjong. PONG goes the tiles!

It's no wonder & no surprise then, that my all-time favourite piece of make-up that I always use is the CONCEALER. Guess I've something in common with the adorable panda.

Wedding in 3 weeks

This post shall be a short one.

In almost 3 weeks' time, one of my good friends is getting married. You know, the works. Chinese tea ceremony, "fetch-the-bride" games, $8888 entrance fee, wedding dinner in the evening & all other important events. I will blog about it as time comes.

One year ago, she asked me, along with some other friends for help, on her big day. My dear friend, me RSVP my reply as soon as I got your message. I'm so happy for you.

As I wrote in an earlier blog, I shall not bore you. This shall be my countdown to her (my friend) big day.

Cheerios, people!!!

A Kindred Spirit today

I've just finished watching today's episode of "A Kindred Spirit" on Channel 8. Man, what an anti-climax!!

Might I add that though this is a repeat of the very popular Hong Kong drama, when it first aired on free-TV Channel U, I was not in Singapore to catch the show.

Ok, so the story leading up to today is this: Luo Shengjin (aka Jinjin) likes Li Tian An, also known as Xiao An (Cha Shao Bing's youngest son), whom I believe was egged on to do so by her mom, Xiaoni, when she (Jinjin's mom) saw how good Xiao An was.

Xiao An at that time, just got back with his girlfriend, Joanne. Jealous of them both & wanting to have Xiao An, Jinjin tried ways & means to break those two apart. Jinjin succeeded, partly because of Xiao An's indecisiveness & of the underhanded methods employed by Jinjin herself.

From the way the script was written, we the TV viewers were able to gauge that this was true.

Xiao An got entangled with the two ladies, which was not fair to either lady (no matter how bad Jinjin's behaviour is, or how soft-hearted Joanne is). In Mandarin/Chinese, there is a saying for this. Translated into English, it becomes this: One leg (representing one guy, Xiao An) stepping onto two boats (Joanne & Jinjin). In simple terms, it is saying that Xiao An is two-timing the ladies. He wants his cake & eat it all.

During his relationship with Jinjin, Xiao An don't seemed to have any freedom at all. She controlled him with an obsessed mind. She wanted to know what he was doing & who he was with everytime she called. Even female colleagues at the firm where Xiao An worked for Joanne's older sister had to "seek Jinjin's permission" before Xiao An could lunch with them. Now, that IS way OTT.

We get more examples of Xiao An's indecisiveness. During this relationship, Xiao An got Jinjin a supplementary credit card. She immediately began maxing out the card. When he couldn't pay, he borrowed from his brothers & cousin Lisheng. Not once did Xiao An try to control that vixien Jinjin's spending.

There was this one time when Jinjin was in Cha Shao Bing's shop. Dasheng was asking Jinjin to help him buy his (Dasheng) daughter's charity drive tickets. There & then, Jinjin embaressed Dasheng by demanding that he pay up his debt with Xiao An. She further goes on to rant about money allegedly owed to Xiao An by Xiao An's older brother (Tianfu) & cousin Lisheng, as well as Musheng, Dasheng's business partner.

Finally, the blokes (Lisheng, Tianfu, Dasheng & Musheng) could stand her behaviour no more & told Jinjin off. They told her that if she wanted to talk about paying your debts, then it is Jinjin who has the biggest debt to pay back, to Lisheng, since it was Xiao An who borrowed $20,000 (not sure which currency) to pay for Jinjin's cosmetic surgery in Japan. Jinjin had got a scar on her face through her own fault, yet she blamed Xiao An for it & he, the stupid boy, accepted it without a protest. Thereafter, she could not use that "pay your debts back" to complain/nitpick on them any more.

His family did tried once to ask Xiao An out (without Jinjin present, of course) for dim sum as a way of persuading him to coax Jinjin to tone down her ridiculous antics in a friendly atmosphere. Not only was Xiao An late but he brushed off his family's concerns & didn't even bother to have food with them. Instead, he told them that he was rushing off to Jinjin's house with expensive dim sum, as she had not taken any food then. What arrogance this Xiao An had!!

Of course, the scriptwriters could not let Xiao An get off scot-free, right? So, they wrote in many "headaches" for him to cross. Each one bigger & more serious than the earlier one. I remember sitting there & saying to myself,"Xiao An, you deserve it!! Because you cannot make up your own mind, you can't blame anyone."

Just when it seems that Xiao An finally woke up to the error of his ways & decided to part with Jinjin, she claimed that she was pregnant with Xiao An's child, in order to force him to get married to her (Jinjin). At that time, Jinjin was scared that Xiao An would want to get back together with Joanne. That lady is the one lady whom Jinjin cannot bear to lose to.

Funnily enough, she managed to fool everyone for sometime at least with her pregnancy claim. The only two people in onto her scam were her mom & her would-be sister-in-law, Mei Mei. These 3 women are equally bad in their own behaviours but that is another story.

At last, Jinjin's older sister Shengxiao, who is a gynacologist, grew suspicious & caught out Jinjin's lie one night. Shengxiao pretended that the house toilet broke down & told Jinjin all she could use a substitute potty (you know, the sort that small kids used to use). With that, Shengxiao tested out Jinjin's pregnancy claim & found out that Jinjin had lied. Shengxiao told Lisheng but asked for some time to try to coax Jinjin to back out of the marriage scam. Jinjin refused to & even warned Shengxiao not to spoil her plan, which was one way or another, to snatch Xiao An away from Joanne.

When she got caught out with her lie at Cha Shao Bing's home, Jinjin upped her antics one iota when she said that if Xiao An did not go with her to the Hong Kong ROM to marry, she would go public with the claim (though she herself knows that it is not true) that Xiao An had raped her!! Everyone present were stunned at the level of Jinjin's viciousness.

Anyway, not to worry. After so many ups-and-downs (& I bet that the scriptwriters are getting tired), there came a stunning revelation at the ROM (Registry of Marriages).

On the supposed "happy day", Xiao An came to fetch "his bride" (EEEee, even I still get the goosebumps when I'm reminded of Jinjin). At the "bride's home", there were door games to be played with the "groom" & his male buddies against the "bride" & her female friends (it is a common scene in Chinese weddings, regardless what dialect). Later, just when Jinjin got into the "bridal car", she ranted at Xiao An, demanding to know:

1. Why did he purposedly step on her wedding gown (it was an accident)
2. Why did he drop the wedding rings, when he knew that it meant bad luck, like they would divorce soon? (again, it was not on purpose)
3. Why did he & his buddies hurry through the "fetch-the-bride" games? (WHAT, Jinjin? You want to miss the auspicious hour for fetching the bride?)
4. Why did they bargain over the "entrance fee of "$6800" down to "$3800"? Isn't bargaining part of the fun when fetching the bride?
5. Why did his buddies throw rice at the bride? Did they not know she was there? (COME ON, Jinjin; I think this "throw rice at the bride" is supposedly to symbolise good luck for her. They were not there to "sabo" you, no matter how much they hated Jinjin)

Xiao An FINALLY gathered up the courage whilst in the room, to face that woman Jinjin & said, "I, Li Tian An, am NOT WILLING to take Luo Shengjin (Jinjin) as my lawfully wedded wife". Xiao An further said that he didn't care if Jinjin were to go ahead with her obviously ridiculous claims, he was tired of her bad behaviour & did not want to be manipulated further by Jinjin.

At this point, the guys in Xiao An's family (like Granpa, Musheng & Tianfu) all got up & congradulated him for FINALLY standing up for himself. It was like a colourful party atmosphere, which is weird because you ARE talking about the cancellation of a wedding, not a happy ocassion by any standard.

Now, this is the part where I, as the TV viewer felt let down. For as long as I can remember, Hong Kong dramas have very very good "climaxes/ending", where the bad people (in this case, that nutcase Jinjin) get their just desserts. Bah, humbug!! In this instance, the ROM scene ended with a whimper; Jinjin fled with her family in tow (her sister Shengxiao was not there at the command of Jinjin).

Later on, Jinjin stormed to Shengxiao's hospital office & made further ridiculous untrue claims. For that, Jinjin got slapped by her older brother, Shengmen, who correctly said that Jinjin DID DO WRONG & HARM but shouldn't push the blame onto others, when it was herself that made mistakes.

The last we saw of Jinjin was when she was on the plane with her mom, off to some unkown European country. At that point, she still thought of herself as the innocent party & that Xiao An was the bad guy to be blamed. Even her mom Xiaoni (who abandoned the 3 kids when they were young) sided with Jinjin.

To me, this indicated that this Luo Shengjin (Jinjin) though a legal adult but is in mental terms, a kid. You may have everything provided for you the way Jinjin has but still, one can grow to be a mature person. Not our Shengjin, who is forever blaming others for her faults & mistakes.

I got a few questions in my mind that I would have liked some answers to:

1. Why can't she (Jinjin) see that the reason she got dumped at her supposed "happy day" at the ROM was her own undoing? Earlier, she was given the chance to exit with dignity by her sister Shengxiao but Jinjin refused, with the belief that she (Jinjin) is the victor over Joanne.
2. Why did her mom Xiaoni, still egg Jinjin on the path of wrongdoing? Like for instance, when the mom knew of the fake pregnancy? Another instance of Xiaoni's fault is when she (the mom) wrongly blamed Shengxiao, the elder sister, for being unemotional when Jinjin got into trouble (WHAT TROUBLE did Jinjin get into? Thought that it should be the other way round; that Jinjin got innocent people into trouble)
3. OK, so Jinjin still smashed the pair of wine glasses that Joanne (Xiao An's former girlfriend) gave the "happy couple" as a wedding gift, despite Xiao An's reminder that if she threw it, it would be a bad omen for the wedding?
   
   In all essence, not every guy's ex would bother with a wedding gift. If it happens to me that my hubby's ex gave him a present for whatever innocent/not-so-innocent motive & I don't like it, I would be angry BUT I wouldn't smash it. Perhaps, I would have it put away in a place I can't see & so, think about it.

My face

Sometime ago, I wrote about one of my good friends getting married next month (September 2005).

Back then, I wrote that starting from that time until my good friend's wedding day is completed, I shall not touch spicy food nor foods containing chilli, alongside of exercising. This is to help prevent any possibility of pimple outbreaks.

Guess what? I broke that cardinal self-imposed rule. Last Friday, during my lunch hour, I had a sudden craving for Sichuan hotpot. Since I couldn't fly to Sichuan to eat that, I decided on the next best alternative, which was TOM YUM SOUP NOODLES.

There is always a long queue at this food stall that I patronized during Friday's lunch. A perpetual long long queue. This time, I waited for about 20 minutes before it was my turn to receive the food. Man, if you could smell what I smelt then, you would know why there is a LONG QUEUE for this food.

As I ate, persiration poured down my face. The tom yum was really HOT!! Not as in spicy hot but HOT hot HOT!! Still, I lapped up the tom yum soup in its entirety.

Today being Saturday, one day AFTER I ate the sinfully delicious tom yum soup noodles, my face is still relatively free from pimples. Which I think goes to show that: it is your overall diet (whether you do eat your greenies, exercise ...) that kinda determines if one gets pimples or not. It does not seem to be reflected whether the dish has tom yum in it or not.

Oishii ... Japan Hour memories

There is this food programme on the telly that gets me & some friends all excited. Name of programme is: JAPAN HOUR.

I must confess:

I've never been a fan of raw fish. Raw veggies, now that's a totally different story. I love my salads!! Could eat salads without the dressing anytime, man!!!

Raw fish is OUT. Why, I don't even eat the "yee sang" that is so ommi-present during every Chinese New Year. Well, I do "lo hei" but that's about it. I don't eat the raw fish slices in them.

On Japan Hour (JH), that is the feeling that one gets from the Land of the Rising Sun, Japan. Moulds after moulds of raw fish dishes. Mind you, the FISH is VERY FRESH ... so fresh that after catching the fish alive, usually the chef will take it straight into the kitchen to slice up the fish & prepare whatever dish he (the chef) is making at that moment. Yeah man, THAT FRESH!!

Which leads me to think of this next point: what makes a dish? If it is just raw fish without any cooking, is it still considered as one? I'm not insulting the chef doing the raw fish but all along, the chefs that I see on TV are all furiously cooking away on the stove/oven, tasting here & there.

I admire the Japanese people somewhat when it comes to this. They can really swallow down raw fish, which by the way, is also known as "sashimi"; or if there is rice covering the raw fish, then it is known as "sushi".

My geography isn't that bad until I don't know that for the different regions of Japan, they have their special cuisine. But dish AFTER dish, consisting only of sashimi? Sometimes on the JH programme, they do that.

Have you also noticed that there seems only to be ONE WORD used by the JH food tasters to describe whatever dish that they are eating? That word is: OISHII, which I gather to mean "delicious" in the Japanese language. It is always OISHII this, OISHII that. Come on, please. We the TV viewers can probably see for ourselves that the food is good & that the food is presented in a very appetising manner. What we would like to know:

1. is the food meant to be salty?
2. what does the soup broth for the noodles taste of?
3. Is the sauce gravy too gooey-thick or thin?

My next tale can be considered related to JH, which often features the various shops selling it. On JH, they the Japanese people do love their noodles. I must say, I also love their noodles. You should eat them to know what those JH tasters mean.

Point to note: in Japan, I learnt that there are about 3 different types of noodles. They are: soba, udon & ramen. Many noodle shops hand-make their noodles; according to the owners, this makes the food more yummy. I couldn't disagree more.

Once, I went on a family vacation to Japan. When my plane touched down in Tokyo, I was green in the face from vomitting too much. AND I WAS STILL PUKING away ... poor me.

Anyway, whilst our tour group was up in the mountains, we chanced upon this small noodle shop. In that little noodle shop, they sold soba (sounds like sofa). The owner was Japanese & I, a Singaporean. With no common language, it was like a chicken talking to a duck. I pointed to a picture of what seems to be a bowl of noodles (at that point, didn't know it was soba).

The soba noodles arrived, steaming hot, which is good, as my tummy was still making me churn. Perhaps the Japanese are used to salty noodles/broth but when I bit into my first authentic Japanese food, the soup was way too salty for me! Mind you, I was still vormitting. So, the Japanese tour guide helped me out by asking for a glass of hot water, which was then used to dilute the salty noodle soup broth. Only then, was I able to swallow & keep it in, some food.

Now then, can anyone guess how much was that bowl of soba that I had? The size of the noodle bowl was about medium, the sort used at Yoshinoya Singapore; not too big, not too small. The noodles came plain, topped with a tiny amount of shredded seaweed. It cost me a bloody $5.

The Japanese must be earning loads of money. Else, why would they consider paying 5 pop a bowl, peanuts?

Apparently, 1000 Japanese Yen to pay for some food is considered cheap in Japan. 1000 Japanese Yen is about (more or less) $15 in Singapore. Why, I could eat like a KING in Singapore for the $5 I paid in that Tokyo shop.

You get to see this happening quite often in the various JH shows. The JH show often display the price of a meal after the last course, in Japanese money of course. I am lucky to have access to the latest exchange rates, which has led to me furiously calculating mentally the cost of that kaiseki set dinner that was just featured on Japan Hour. Or it could be that 200-Yen noodle shop that the JH food taster popped into.

I will cook but I don't like to wash up. Really, who likes washing up? Which is why, unless those food shops featured on Japan Hour have an automated dishwasher, I pity the human ones. This is because most of the times, the food featured comes in many, many plates & bowls. One teeny weeny piece of chicken appetizer, ONE plate. 2 sticks of yakitori (Japanese bbq meat-on-skewers) on an oblong dish. Chawanmushi (Japanese steamed egg) comes with its own specialised container. Here we all go now, counting the number of bowls & plates to wash up: ONE, two, THREE, four, FIVE ... It is not uncommon to be counting up to 15.

MRT morons

Have you ever wondered or noticed tat whilst you're on the Mass Rapid Transit (or as we Singaporeans know it as MRT). I see this every time I board the train.

Be it crowded or not, people like to mass around the entrance/exits. Then, they never like to move in further, towards the middle of the carriage.

What catches my interest is that I can imagine what these people must be saying in their heads. Here are some comments that I imagine them saying.

"She should move in, she came first"

Girl glares at guy "Tat donkey is a tar por, HE should move, not me, the pretty woman"

"I stop next stop, why should i move?"

"i shall stare into my book/newspaper/magazine/Harry Potter novel, so I don't have to start moving"

"move in, very malu one, all the people watching me, one. ai dontch wan"

This is despite repeated reminders from the nice people at SMRT, to "pls move towards the centre of the carriage for the convenience of all passengers".

Yes, you won't:

• get rich
• get young
• get gf/bf
• have a seat most times
• get an Oscar award
• get to meet Tony Leung (star of Tokyo Raiders)

BUT when you move towards the centre, your little action allows for one more person to get to their destination on time.

That person might be rushing to Changi Airport to send his/her beloved to another country and/or trying to visit a sickloved one in hospital (don't try that "why can't they get a taxi if they're in a hurry"). Another possibility is that being on-time for work (work performance is a seperate issue altogether) might garner one, more bonus? Ain't tat true?

Me ain't guilty of it. Me very good, me move in towards the centre of the carriage. EVERY SINGLE TIME.

Shopping to go to a Chinese Wedding

Now, since I received the wedding invitation, I've gotten a bit busier. Hence, this blog about it. It nearly turned into a makan (eating) trip, instead of its original shopping trip purpose.

Being the Saturday weekend it was yesterday, I lazed about in my bed after finally opening my beautiful eyes to the world, listening to David Tao's Blue Moon, when the BEEP-BEEP came.

My friend (not the one gettin married in Sep 05) SMS me, saying something like "OY, wake up oledi or not? me going out at 12.30pm. dun 4get 2 meet @ 1.30pm". By the time that I read the SMS, it was oledi 12.30pm. I've not changed, I've not eaten brekkie & worse still, I've not got my shopping handbag in order but nevermind, it is the WEEKEND!!

As I lulled away riding in the MRT (it is very efficient!!), I started thinking about Chinese Wedding Shopping & its Dos & Don'ts.

1. Chinese wedding colours: Any colour EXCEPT: black, blue, grey, white ... Colours from the rainbow is best
2. Ask the bride-to-be (call her, sms her) if one is not sure if there is a theme colour for the wedding
3. We are all in SUNNY SINGAPORE, not Winter in the USA. So, any scarve material, pls dun get woolies, ... unless u dun mind melting like chocolate
4. Thou shalt not eat spicy food nor partake in chilli AT LEAST ONE MONTH PRIOR to wedding date
5. My feet is NOT Cinderella-sized feet. More like Big-Foot!!

Other than that, I think that shopping for clothes to wear to a Chinese wedding is pretty "easy".

I was eyeing so many pairs of shoes that I lost count after Pair No. 20 (that's the number representing my 2 hands & my 2 feet). Jimmy Choos? Manalo Blaniks? Ferragamos? Prada? Chanel?

Another example: if I'm buying a dress, do I want full-lining for the dress or not?

Buying a top with what bottoms? Pants? Skirt? Sarong? What sort of tops? Girly-girl type? Dinner type? Shiny type of top? Then, there is the brand (again!). Daniel Yam? Song & Kelly?

Makeup: Chanel, Christian Dior, Covergirl, Clinique, Clarins, Estee Lauder, Silkygirl, Lancome, MAC, Mabelline, ...

Makeup is to be used on the face. I'm just amazed at the products that I've to slap onto my face. Just to name whatever I can remember: Foundation, concealer, compact powder, blusher, eyeliner, eyeshadow, mascara, lip gloss, lipstick. Er .. did I miss out anything? Hehee ..

I saw this lovely dress. Initially, it seemed way too big for me. The very nice sales lady suggested black!@!! I simply said 2 words in reply: Chinese Wedding. If you wear black to a wedding, u r likely to be hammered by someone.

Apparently, it is a mourning colour (black). My guess is tat u wear black to Chinese wedding is like cursing the wedding. Not too sure of the exact taboo of wearing black; just know a bit.

Guess what? I bought the dress. It was a "yum trade". Will write more on the type of dress that I bought & the circumstances leading up to the purchase.

Wedding Invite (aka red letter bomb)

Last Thursday (10 August 2005), I received from a very good friend of mine, a red-letter bomb. Now, those who are Chinese residing in Singapore, are likely to know that it means "wedding invitation". In Mandarin, this probably sounds like this:" Hong Za Dan".

It is only proper & correct that when I got her invite through the letterbox that I RSVP back to her. Alas, as my mobile was not with me, I only SMS my reply that "Hi, got ur wedding invite. Thanks!" the very next day, which was Friday, 12 August 2005.

This marks the start of the countdown to my friend's wedding in September 2005. Boy oh boy!

Prior to this, she (my frien) had already requested my help. Of course, I said a resounding YES to her. In Chinese culture, that meant I would be one of the "sisters". Helping to do what, I've no clue as to what I'm doing as yet. She has said that she would tell me closer to the actual wedding date, which is somewhere in September 2005.

Will have the momentum to write more on the upcoming big day later. Cheers!

Love At Dolphin Bay VCD rental

Today after wolfing down my lunch (well, truth to be told, I ate it very slowly; just a figurine of speech), I went round Raffles Place window shopping, with nothing in particular. Then, on the spur of the moment, I went to my favourite rental store. It is my favourite (at the moment) as the environment doesn't feel sleezy & a female staff who does know WHERE the VCDs are located.

When I told her previously that I wished to look at "Love At Dolphin Bay", she showed me the way. She said something like,"... there, on ur left, down a bit more ... THERE IT IS ..." with a further explanation that perhaps of its compact size, I might have missed it on my first try to locate the VCDs. Which is very true, I didn't see it the first time.

There are 2 parts to this Taiwanese drama series, "Love At Dolphin Bay" (LADB), starring Angela Chang, Ambrose Hsu & Wallace Huo (as explained to me by the rental store female lady). It comes in 8 VCDs for Part 1 of the series & 10 VCDs for Part 2.

I rented Part 2 (10 VCDs to be rented), as I feel that it is where the more exciting parts are. This is because I missed out on some of the last few episodes, as I was away from home (will be explained later).

So, I brought it home that night. As my parents were watching the main telly that is connected to the sole VCD player, I watched "LADB" using Windows Media Player on my desktop (a P4 HP). The feeling I got was one of excitement, last seen when I was eagerly awaiting the movie "Charlie And The Chocolate Factory" 2005, to unravel.

I watched as the the heroine of LADB (Angela Chang) went through a very trying period when promoting her debut music album, accompanied by her music producer, played by Wallace Huo. It had seemed that her CD was doomed right from the beginning, when the head honcho of her record company, her grandfather, refused to release funds for a proper artiste promotion (as she, Angela, is a reluctantly acknowledged illegitimate daughter of his son-in-law, if I'm not wrong). Initially, when the album sales was kaput, Wallace was given only seven days to try to salvage it, if not the price to pay was that Wallace had to resign.

According to the storyline, on the 6th day, when Wallace & Angela were out on the streets together with the rest of their team, trying to stage a promotion event, 2 Caucasian men came up to listen to Angela's singing. When she finished singing, both started clapping to show their appreciation, stunning the entire team. One of the men even came up to Angela to praise her. As she hardly knew English, Wallace came to her rescue & translated what the guy said to Angela.

Wallace, being the gifted music producer that he is playing, gave the 2 men a copy each of Angela's debut album. The senior of the 2 men said "Thank You & hope to see You soon again!" before leaving, which left both Wallace & Angela confused. "... see you soon again??"

They didn't know that the 2 men were part of the international well-liked cosmetic brand, Aqua-Aura, who were in Taiwan searching for a new spokeperson & that the guy who spoke to Wallace was the deciding head honcho. Mandy & Eddie, who were the rivals of our heroine, Angela & her producer Wallace, thought that Mandy would definitely get the spokeperson role.

Hehehee, in the defining moment when the identity of the spokeperson was revealed by the world-famous photographer on D-Day for Wallace (the 7th day), you should have seen the shock & horror on both Mandy & Eddie's faces. Prior to the revelation, Eddie had gone round in front of the reporters covering this Aqua-Aura event hinting that Mandy would surely be the chosen one (which apparently was based on signals that he thought he received).

That is as far as I have watched the drama so far on VCD. I'm very pleased with what I've seen & will definitely watch other series that the actors in this drama star in. My personal favourite is Wallace Huo Jian Hua. Apparently, he is also in real-life, a singer (not sure how many music albums he has released).

The last book fair in Singapore that I went to a few months back, I saw a pictorial book that Wallace released in Taiwan on sale there. I didn't buy it but managed to peak inside the book & boy oh boy, Wallace Huo Jian Hua does have a very good body, the kind that does workouts in the gym to have a six-pack abs. Why did I not buy Wallace's album then? Simple. I'm not into Wallace as a singer as yet. As for dramas starring Huo Jian Hua, a definite YES, provided I've the time & energy. Will do further checkups online about Wallace Huo's dramas.

Charlie & The Chocolate Factory

Went with friends to watch the above show recently; the one with Johnny Depp as Willy Wonka. Man, his character gives me the creeps!! EEeee!!!!!

Why? This is because in many scenes of the movie, Depp's makeup for his face is like, ... dead-white. Yes, you heard it right; so pale that one thinks that Willy Wonka is dead or about to. Isn't this supposed to be a family-friendly show? OK, so I don't look at the film ratings, be it "G", "PG" or "R(A)". But hey, when you hear of the title, what CAN COME TO MIND? Sex? Violence? Dare I say it, "MJ"!!???

I remember very well that when I was STILL IN SECONDARY SCHOOL, Charlie And The Chocolate Factory was one of the texts for Literature. I still keep the dammed book, so many years down the road.

I've:

1. read DA BOOK
2. seen the 1971 film version, starring Gene Wilder & now,
3. in the year 2005, watched it at Plaza Singapura on a wickedly hot Saturday afternoon.

So, I feel that I can do a review pretty well. This one shall be done in point-form. On second thoughts, I think I shall turn this into a "Movie Blooper Special", as it is not often that I have read the book inside-out & watched the earlier movie adaptation of the book.

In 2005's Johnny Depp CATCF, here are bloopers from the movie:

1. We get a further insight into Violet's childhood. I didn't know that Miss Chewing-Gum Champ ALSO practices karate/tae kwan doe/judo (that is because I don't recognize which one of the trio it is) & that Mrs B has such a competitive streak that rubs off her daughter.
2. Missy Veruca "I-want-a-GOLDEN-TICKET" Salt doesn't throw as many hissy tantrums as in the book. None of the "DADDY, I WANT A GIANT BOAT LIKE THIS ONE, MADE FROM PINK BOILED SWEET" & no "DADDY, I WANT AN OOMPA-LOOMPA!"
3. Mike Teevee's dad is a Geography teacher?? Since when? It was not the case in the book; the book had as teacher, the mother of Miss "WHERE's-MY-GOLDEN-TICKET???"
4. Augustus Gloop is interviewed in a butcher shop?
5. In the book, Charlie's family were so poor that they only had ONE BED, reserved exclusively for both sets of grandparents to rest upon. 2005's version had TWO BEDS, one for the grammies (granpa & granma) AND ONE BED for Charlie.
6. If you are poor to the point like Charlie's family, how can u afford a TV on Mr Bucket's salary? A TV?????
7. In the book, Charlie found 50 pence, not DOLLARS as in the movie. It was a tenner, I believe.
8. The book wrote that Charlie ate the 1st bar he bought with the money he found & ONLY found the Golden Ticket with the 2nd chocolate bar he bought. In the 2005 show, he found the GT with one bar AND HE didn't even eat his bar. Best part, he didn't get back his change! This one is definitely NOT A SINGAPOREAN trait. Then again, what's $10 when you are a GT winner?
9. No reporters barging down to Charlie's home for interviews; mebbie it was too late in the night to do so.
10. Only one parent was allowed to accompany their precocious child into the mysterious world of Willy Wonka; the book allowed two (usuallly dad & mom)
11. In the 2005 movie, WW told his guests to just "throw" their coats/jackets anywhere onto the floor. Book says: pegs/hangers specially for coats.
12. The Oompa-Loompas were all male & suspiciously, all looked like clones from one individual
13. When Willy Wonka scooped up chocolate from the river for Charlie & his Grandfather to drink, he handed it to them direct from the scoop-spatula. Book says: mugs.
14. There are flashbacks to snippets of WW's childhood with his dentist dad. Book: no flashback, no clues to WW's characteristics.
15. In the book, Prince Pondicherry was dozing off when his chocolate palace started melting; in the 2005 movie, the Prince was shown eating when his home fell apart. (melted, I meant)
16. In the candy shop where Charlie bought his winning ticket, the movie showed a person (can't remember man or lady) offering to buy the Golden Ticket for $500; the book says: $200 (sorry, my desktop's keyboard don't have the icon for British currency, the pound)
17. There was no show & tell in the book, as compared to the mechatronic one (eerie-creeps!) from WW.
18. Mike Teevee's father didn't take Mike to task when Mikey-boy became only inches-tall.
19. When the other 4 kids left WW's factory, there was no trucks bearing goodies, as stated in the GT. They were shown just walking out of the gates.
20. Why were the people in the candy shop where Charlie Bucket bought his Golden Ticket chocolate talking with American instead of British accents?

The ending has been given a Tim Burton flavour, courtesy of Johnny Depp. Out of 10, I say I will give it a 8 overall, for this 2005 version of CATCF.

As anyone can tell, I've done me homework on this & watched both movie adaptations.