the bitch switch is on - part 1 of infinity...

As a woman, I am entitled to bitch, whenever I want, wherever I want. It is my right since I don't seem to have much control over the hormonal activities in me.

So, what is the deal with some of these old women with their outrageously bright coloured hair? I saw a few this morning with their mahogony, red, fushia and what have you hair colour! The 70's punk era called and they want their hair back! Are you tired of your black hair and you want something different? This is not like clothes where if you have too many black, you can add some splashes of colour. For the love of God, this is your hair! Good woman, grow up! What were you thinking? Obviously you did not! Outrageous hair colouring must be banned to people who are above 25.

man, i feel like a woman...

I have always tried to be independent when I was growing up, which drove my mother crazy. I don't know what it is but I do not like to have to rely on other people, unless I have absolutely no choice and usually, I make sure that the no-choice bit is not an option. Also, in recent years, I have found myself becoming more of a feminist. There are certain things that most women can't and won't do without a man's help like moving furniture or connecting the cables of a new DVD player to the tele, replacing the huge bottle at the water dispenser when it ran out or change the light bulb on the ceiling.

Being the feminist that I am, I get very determined to do all these without any assistance from the stronger sex (hell, I am strong too, mind you!) The hard disk on my PC went kaput; I'll buy a new one and replace it myself. I'd move my own furniture when needed and assemble one of those self-assembly furniture when I bought one. Hell, I'll try to figure out everything on my own.

Having grown up in Asia, where women are generally not treated equal - it may not be so obvious here in Singapore or other parts of Asia but such gender bias do exist around these parts of the world. Come on, I am sure other Asian women agree that generally the men here can be quite chauvinist. Do you ever see them let you board the train first? Or open the heavy door at the entrance to the shopping malls for you? Give you compliments when you are looking your best? I think most of you female readers would say the answer is 'No'. And it suits me just fine. I can open my own door. I can board the train after you, no problem (I just need to shove you if the train is full and you are not moving further into the train car). I don't need compliments from men too because Asian men (or Asians in general) are very not eloquent when it comes down giving compliments and who needs to hear a bad compliment? A simple "You look very nice today" would come out from their mouths as "Why you dress so nice today?" I keep telling myself that it was just direct translation from what they are used to speaking in their dialects and translating it to English just sounded like it was a crime to dress up nicely that day. I can dwell on that but I'll save that for another blog post since this could be a whole other topic on its own.

Back to the point about being independent…… I have been told I can be too independent and that is the sort of thing that drive men away. It seems like being a woman, I need to learn to let the man help me sometimes. It seems like a man likes their women to be dependent on them, a little less smarter, not to be too strong minded, etc. In other words, be a bit of bimbo. Frankly speaking, I cannot see myself being that way. If I do, then it would not be me. It is out of character for yours truly.

However, the other day, I decided to put the bimbotic act to the test. I was in the pantry at work to get some water. Unfortunately, the bottle at the water dispenser was empty. To replace the empty bottle wasn't hard cause the new water dispenser doesn't require the bottle to be lifted, you simply has slide the bottle to the tube and voila! I was about to slide the bottle to the dispenser when this 'hunk' of a man walked in and saw me trying to replace the bottle. I knew at the back of my head that he was going to offer to help and I told myself that I was going to let him. He did offer and I gladly accept. He was a visitor and has never seen a dispenser of this sort before. He asked for directions on how to replace it. In my head, I was saying "Man, I could have replace the bottle in less than 10 seconds but now, I have to explain and it will take a good minute!" However, I explained it to him with a smile on my face and we had a quick conversation before he left with a glass filled with water.

I had a mixed feeling about my experiment. Having a man helping me to do something which I could have done myself made me feel so incapable. On the other hand, I may have boosted his ego a bit and had a little chat with him, which was pleasant. I’d like to get experimenting again soon and perhaps this time in an environment outside of work. It will not come naturally for me but I think I will give it a try. Grins!

withdrawal mode...

I am in a total football withdrawal mode. Two Saturdays ago saw the final match of the English football season. The Spanish & Italian football season only ended over the weekend but it was wierd that there are no 'live' matches on Saturday and Sunday nights. I guess this is the life cycle that a football fan goes through each year during this time and worse, this will be the longest that we will go through without 'live' football matches considering there will be no major tournament in June i.e. either the World Cup or the European Championship. Oh well... We will be 'alive' again when August comes

Not only do I not have any 'live' football matches to look forward to on weekends, my friends changed plans this past weekend that throws my schedule out of whack. My Saturday mornings especially has to follow a certain routine- I alternate my Saturday mornings between a 10km jog followed by a 20km of cycling and a long distance run (generally aiming to reach 20km at some point). This routine will not be followed if it rains before I could start jogging but that rarely happens. Afternoons will be spent either taking a nap or meet up with friends. The evenings will be spent watching football.

This past Saturday however, not only was I suffering from football withdrawal but this was the first time that I did not wake up at my regular Saturday morning time. I did not go for my jog and my usual alternate cycling session was changed to Sunday afternoon to accomodate a friend's schedule. I don't know what it was but it just felt wierd. I know that it is good to live a litte and be spontaneous and not to follow a plan to the letter but when it comes down to my exercise, I just like to do all of that in the mornings and get it over and done with. Once the morning routine is not followed, my whole day is ruined - I don't feel energetic. I get a little moody (not too much like before. More like the energy has been sucked out of me). I lost my focus.... oh, you get my drift. Sunday mornings would be a sleep-in day and Sunday afternoons are spend not doing too much strenous stuffs considering that Monday is a workday. I like to spend Sunday afternoons drinking coffee with friends, a spot of shopping or just stay home and do some cleaning up.

Don't get me wrong. I did have a good weekend but not keeping up with my usual morning weekend routines bothered me. Now, it bothers me that this bothered me. I am supposed to be easy-going but now I have just become so anal. I don't know what it is - can't explain it. The worse part is I am so determined to get back into my normal weekend routine this coming week. Oh god! What have become of me? Pathetic!

no time for losers...

...cause we are the champions! Manchester United that is - The English Premier League Champion. This after Arsenal held Chelsea to a one all draw yesterday - Thank you Mr Wenger. So, the trophy is going back up north after 3 seasons of dominance by London clubs, with two matches left to be played before the end of the season. As a loyal Man U supporter, it is such a thrill to see your club win the league again after 3 years of a close fight to regain the title.

Apart from the FA Cup final on 19 May 2007, the next two matches will not be too much of an agony since the title has already been won by Man U. However, I expect them to be still as entertaining, what with the so-called showdown with Chelsea on Wednesday.

After 19 May, I will be in withdrawal.

the hunt for the red razr...

I am not one of those people who would pay big money i.e. not more than $500 for a desirable needs (oxymoron that last two words) like MP3 player, PDA, mobile phones, good sound systems, DVD players, etc. Well, maybe except for the tele I bought last year – that was almost a thousand dollars but that is like a few years of investment. Ha. Ha. For gadgets, I’d pay a decent figure and would normally wait for the 3rd or 4th generation model to be released before I’d buy a particular gadget. That, or I would wait for Mister D’s to grow tired of the gadgets that he has and buy it off him or borrow it for a trial before I decide if I want to own one. However, since Mister D and family are in Dubai, those “offers” don’t come in handy these days.

Anyway, I have been using a Nokia 6101 since September 2005. It was a flip phone – something I wasn’t too keen on before. But now, I am hooked. Since earlier this year, I have been looking out for a good deal on another phone. I was not a big fan of Motorola until the Razr V3 came out in the market. It was expensive when it was first released. I hung on to my good old Nokia. Early last year, I bought a used Motorola Razr V3 from a friend for a mere $50 – he had paid $1200 for it (including accessories). Ouch! It was the 1st generation Razr but I thought it was a small price to pay to see if I can get used to a Motorola phone, after all these years using Nokia (apart for a couple of years where I switched to a Siemens). My verdict – not a bad phone after all. The manoeuvring with the interface was not as difficult as I have heard from first time Motorola phone users.

So, in early April, I saw a good deal with my mobile provider – a Motorola V3 Red. Only $68 when I extend my contract. It was a small matter with the extension since I have been loyal to them since 2000. It is quite a bargain. Since it is a (red) product, I am also helping to eliminate Aids in Africa. I am not sure how much of my $68 will go to that cause but nonetheless, it is a small part to play… a very small, teeny weeny part. I doubt that Aids can be eliminated totally but at least something is being done about controlling the disease but that is another story.

I finally started using the phone this week – three weeks after I actually bought it. It took me a while to get the contact list sorted but I managed to sync my contact list from my Microsoft Outlook to my new V3. I have customised my ring tunes too. I have extracted tunes from some of my favourite songs to be my ring tunes. I have the likes of Kylie’s Love at First Sight (Remix), Mya’s My Love is Like… Wo (Remix), JT’s My Love and Nelly Furtado’s Promiscuous as my ring tunes. Okay, I know, it is a bit teeny bopper-ish but it beats having those dull ring tunes which came with the phone. A few people at work has complimented my ring tunes when they heard Mya’s My Love is Like .. Wo. They thought it was not too noisy and really cool. Hey, this phone is meant to be cool and so, it will be.

You may wonder why would I want to buy a Motorola V3 Red when I already have that 1st generation V3? Well, that one is being used for work – I was only given a corporate SIM card but not a corporate phone. Besides, the other V3 is in Silver – very serious looking phone. While this Red one appears much cooler. It will be my companion for the next couple of years. I have not thought about what my next phone will be. I just make full use of Red for now.

a letter to arsene...

Dear Mr Wenger,

As you may already know, last night, the goddamn AC Milan slashed Manchester United's hopes of a treble this season. Their tactics of closing down on the likes of Ronaldo, Rooney and Carrick didn’t make the game any exciting. Their counter attack, however, has left our defence in a bit of a shame. United's performance was less than stellar but statistics has shown that United has never done well on Italian soil. But I think you don't need me to tell you details on this - you've played Italian oppositions before and I must sure you must agree that they don’t really play exciting football.

Anyway, since United could not go for a treble, the least we, the fans, would want is to end the season with at least a treble over Chelsea i.e. beat them next Wed, 9 May, win the Premiership & beat them again during the FA Cup final on 19 May. Please do us a favour and whip Chelsea's butt this weekend. I am very sure that Arsenal would like to get maximum points out that game against the Blues. Besides, I think there is a need to let "The Special One" know that he is not so special anymore and that his touch is no longer turning everything into gold.

Mr Wenger, I know you will not let us the football fans down and provide us with at least an exciting match (if there be drama on the pitch, that would be a plus) against the Blues this Sunday and end this season with a high for all of us!

Your ardent admirer,
(Apart from my constant admiration for Sir Alex & the players at Man U, that is)
Tuesday's Child

PS : I just love it when you speak English with your French accent. I certainly enjoy your comments during the post-match interviews. Winks!

not my day – part II...

I have this really old personal digital assistant (PDA) – A Palm Pilot – it is like 6 years old. I know, such a dinosaur but it serves my purpose – well, more like did served. I have stored a lot of information in there – contacts, schedules for the past 6 years or so, birthdays, notes and even e-mails.

However, since I started this new job, I was not making use of the PDA that much. My current role is far different from what I have done in the past that the usage of the PDA has gone to almost zero. My activities are at a minimal that I can remember everything without having to note it down.

A couple of months ago, the battery went flat. Being such a procrastinator that I am sometimes, I hold off charging the battery until last night – when I finally decided that I am going to sync those data onto my computer at home. I placed it on the cradle to be charged. As soon as it was charging, I was prompted to set the date and time and some other settings. Once I have done that, I was appalled to find out that a bunch of my applications installed on the PDA and my data was all gone – the e-mail application to check my pop mail, my French-English dictionary, my contacts, my schedules, my e-mails, my games application – EVERYTHING was gone! I was very upset, still is. I didn’t realize that the data would be gone without the power. The data on my computer or notebook would still be there after I turn off the computer. How is this different? I know there is a reason for this but I am just too upset to figure out. I am kicking myself now for not charging the PDA sooner.

As with other situations, I will have to just get over this. I have spent a couple of hours today, updating contacts on my computer with the information I have on my Outlook and my mobile phone. This time, I am not taking any chances and have the data regularly synced between my computer and my mobile phone. Installing any new applications on the PDA would be useless now because I don’t think the operating system on the PDA is even compatible or supported anymore. No, I am not getting a new PDA. I think I will settle for my mobile phone to keep all my contacts information. I can survive without checking my e-mails or playing games or look up for a meaning of a French word. All that will have to wait till I get in front of a computer to have them checked out, played or looked up.

not my day – part I

Woke up this morning before the alarm went off at 5am. The sky seemed clear and quickly, I started to gear up for my run. See, I am all eager because it has been almost two weeks since I did my regular run after that 14.5km run I did two Saturdays ago. It didn’t help that much that in the last week or so, it has been pouring in the mornings, which has hindered me from doing any of my scheduled runs. My body was longing for a good workout and sweat!

After three kilometers into my running, the wind started blowing so strongly. After four kilometers, I could feel droplets of rain on my face. I persevered. Into my five kilometers, it began to pour. I continued to run, hoping that the rain would subside but no, it didn’t. I had to stop after five kilometers and head for shelter. Off all the days, I had to put on a white t-shirt instead of black. I was soaking wet by the time I head for a shelter since I have been running in the rain (it has been a while since I felt the rain on my face that way and frankly, it felt nice). Thank God, it was still early (and the fact that it was a public holiday), there were not many people who saw me all soaking wet. Otherwise, it would be like a wet t-shirt competition, with all eyes on me – I hate the thought of that. My hair, even though tied up, was in a total mess by the time I got home.

I had to wait for a while at the shelter but I was utterly uncomfortable. There I was staring out into the rain and thought about how nice it would be to snuggle in my bed. Instead, there I was, at least 3 kilometers away from home, staring out in the open where the rain had wet the roads. As the rain began to turn into drizzle, I quickly made my way back home and was still soaking wet.

Despite the fact that I managed to run for about 8 kilometers, it didn’t feel like a good workout either. It really upsets me but I keep telling myself that at least I manage to get some running done. I wish the weather would look-up in the next week. Isn’t it supposed to be a non-rainy season at this time of the year? What’s going on? Freaky weather these last couple of weeks - as far as Singaporeans like me are concerned.