I absolutely Hate it when people I work with cannot meet simple deadlines. Because it screws up my whole plan for allocating time to the work at hand that needs to be completed, and therefore affects other plans that I have to do other important things.

If you’ve got better things to do, fine, just get your priorities straight and if you want to compromise your own grade, that’s perfectly fine with me but don’t get all the rest of us involved and have to do last minute work because we are missing a crucial amount of information without which we can’t proceed.

If you really couldn’t meet it because of whatever reason, that’s perfectly fine with me too but don’t say one thing and then do another, and Don’t say “I’m going to send it tonight” (on Sunday afternoon and then not send it by Tuesday night).

 I’m still waiting for the file.

So we went for the 19th Singapore International Ballroom Dancing Championships held at Suntec City Ballroom, and had a Chinese dinner to go along with it. Only six people at our table, rather wasted because we could have tried getting more tickets to share the joy of watching with some other important people to us.

Fantastic dancing; hot Latin and poised Ballroom, and an increasing itch to return to my days on the dance floor. The shoes are collecting dust… and they itch to be worn once again.

The dinner was pretty good too… Cold dish, hot and sour soup, roast chicken, steamed seabass, stir fried seafood, lo-han vegetables, almond jelly and longan (I left out the fried rice part because I didn’t like that, but the rest were rather appetising).

I had such a good time (even with itchy feet), and the sit down YMCA dance topped off my evening, because an evening ain’t any fun without a good laugh =)

A timely19th SG Ballroom Dancing championships, and number one of many more days just like this. Photos to come….er…… soon….

… to save someone you’ve never met?

I find it very inspiring to fathom that some people, compelled by an instinctive urge to help, are willing to risk their lives to save…not their loved ones, not their friends, not their acquaintances, but people they’ve never even met, let alone even seen, let alone even know exist prior to the danger element, after which they find themselves inextricably linked, even if only for that fleeting moment, in the raging waters. Imagine a moment in which someone else’s life is in the palm of your hand, but imagine that same moment in which you have no time to think, but automaticity from training and some experience tells you what you need to do, and you just act out of plain instinct.

Sometimes the urge is spurred by a devastating occurrence in one’s life, perhaps the unexpected loss of a loved one in a freak accident. But for some, I suppose it’s just a plain inner desire to help someone else. And then, some people just do it for the glory that accrues at the end I guess…but I would like to think that those are fewer and far between than the instances of people I mentioned earlier.

And it is also inspiring to realise that the act of giving and the desire to help also helps one to grow in indescribable ways as a person, making the very essence of what it is to have meaning in life. We all have different talents and so we don’t (or can’t) all help in the same ways, and in many instances, people do what little they can to help others. But the kinds of people I am talking about here are those of one kind: Those that dedicate their lives (and risk them too) to helping other people they do not even know.

 Yes, this post directly advocates the watching of a certain movie…

…THE GUARDIAN (starring Kevin Costner and Ashton Kutcher)

It’s about the training that goes into becoming a U.S. Coast Guard, and also talks about how they are less recognized than those in the combat arena, and only gain attention when people need to be saved. Tough, grueling training, and an inner desire to help. The show portrays strength of character, but what makes it significantly touching is not  character strength itself, but rather the humanistic portrayal of emotion that may pervade, and strength shown through overcoming weakness.

A show with purpose, and also extremely touching.

And instead of staying at a minor flu, I am now down with fever. I think it was last year, the last time I got sick. I guess the culmination of a lack of illness means that I’ve got to get Real sick once and then it’ll leave me alone for another year. But still… =( It feels real crappy.

Stomach hurts, head hurts, throat hurts, nose is running away and I feel all weak, and I can’t sleep.

Oh please go away and don’t come again another day….

=.(…

And no, I am not talking about my propensity for marathons (NOT), I am talking about the irritating cold that is plaguing me…. I can’t remember the last time I felt so under the weather. I have just put Lemsip Cold and Flu (Lemon) to the test to see if it’s effective. It tastes rather nice though (oh yes, it’s funny how even when I’m sick my blog still turns into a food [or drink, or medication] evaluation tool).

 Today is Hari Raya, Selamat Hari Raya to all celebrating, today all my plans have been foiled because of the nose that ran away (plus the fact that it’s been raining since 12pm). I think I had better spend the day lounging around at home so I can be up and about tomorrow, in the pink of health.

And thank goodness our buffet at Melting Pot is cancelled tomorrow because I don’t think I’m in the mood for a whole lot of food (and when you hear me say that, I Must be sick, and that rhymes, unintentionally).

 We’re going to the Singapore International Ballroom Dancing championships this Sunday and we get to go for the Chinese dinner too (one ticket: $300). Oh, thank goodness for good contacts. =)

After a long hiatus, we finally went back to fish and co to eat…oh.. I missed the fish and the squid (and the fries) there….and then went to Cedele for dessert. Satiated. I have also decided that the bulk of the work is going to have to wait for tomorrow because I am still in weekend mood and too lazy to do much work tonight, perhaps just set out what I will have to do tomorrow.

Sometimes the path we choose isn’t always the best one, sometimes a ’see how things go’ stance isn’t the best option because it makes escapism all the more easy, but sometimes different times call for different circumstances.

And sometimes, it isn’t always a bad thing to wear a mask around people, because many-a-time we shouldn’t just shoot our mouths during an emotional barrage. It’s good to learn how to regard someone else’s feelings as being just as important as one’s own. And also, I am starting to believe it’s good to learn how to love and not always create such a high barrier of cynicism around oneself, for in the desire (active or subconscious) not to get hurt, we may just fail to fully live. I, for one, may not have been privvy to this commonly held mantra “It’s better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all”, and also that in order to really love, one day you have to face an inevitable heartbreak, something they oftenly call “the pain of being human”.

And it sometimes might just make life all the more endearing. (yes, back to the Fish and Co pun)

That was the name of the dish I ate at Prego’s yesterday, at Raffles City. Penne pasta with herbed and spiced tomato sauce and squid, mussels, clams and prawns. Scrumptious. Mouth-wateringly good. And he had a pizza, same ingredients, thin and crisp crust.

And good service.

Prego gets a plus plus from us. It was so good we didn’t even need to eat dessert (because we eat dessert everyday and this was the first time we didn’t). 

Courtesy of my sister’s blog. 

So funny. The system is down!

http://www.homestarrunner.com/systemisdown.html

I was browsing in Borders and I came across a number of quotes that I really like, I decided to immortalize them in cyberspace here. Again, a direct ripoff from a book there, because I forgot to write down who wrote the quotes =P

- The supreme accomplishment is blurring the line between work and play.
(This is something I hope to achieve during my many (many many) years of working life, because I do believe it will make everyday a lot more fun, and though I’m nearly a hundred percent certain that the distinction between weekdays and weekends will always remain significant, and everyone will always look forward to weekends, this is still a step in the right direction, toward a more fulfilling life even during the work week)

- Winning isn’t everything. Wanting to is.
(I guess this is the mantra I would like to live by, if I ever take up something new, I need to prove that I can be good at it. Aim high, I suppose, and even if you’re sometimes disappointed, the fact that you make the initial effort to push yourself would more than likely mean that you’d get further than you would have if you had been complacent in the first place)

- Running is 80% mental.
(That being said, there are still many many days when the legs feel like lead, the thighs feel tight and 3kilometres seem like 10. But the fact that the route is completed because of sheer grit would mean that the will stems mainly from the mind. That being said, who ever said walking couldn’t be incorporated?=P)

- Death tugs at my ear and says: “Live, I am coming.”
(I really liked this one…the one of subtle reverse psychology. So we have, what, 85 years to live on average? Think about it, for people my age, we’re already one quarter there. For people older, you’re even closer. Take the time to sit back and smell the flowers, and reflect on the kind of life we’ve chosen to live.)

- Feel the fear and do it anyway.
(Yes, I do admit I am an adrenaline junkie (who has sadly not tried bungeeing yet), but I guess this applies in a whole host of other situations that don’t involve the physical aspect of jumping off a cliff. How many times have we laid claim to simple acceptance because we were too afraid of pushing forward to try what we hadn’t dared to try before? Take a risk, take a chance, and we never know where it might lead us. Difficult, yes, for me too, because theory and practical are two completely different entities)

- The impossible is often the untried.
(I came up with one of my own, similar but with a different focus: “Impossibility is temporary, till you conquer it.”)

Yes, for the uninformed, the title is an shameless rip-off from the Matrix.

If you’re ever using Microsoft Word and get bored and feel like doing something inane, type this:

=rand(200,99)

and press Enter.

The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.