Retarded.

That is what I must be.

For I have only come to realise what a truly great band U2 is. It took me 2 decades to realise that I love their songs, and that is because on a whim, I youtubed the video "Sweetest Thing". Now I'm addicted to all their videos and am playing their songs on infinite repeat, much to the chagrin of those around me.

I love Bono and The Edge. *Swoonz*

I am never one for the electric guitar; acoustics are more my cup of tea. I've always thought that electric guitars are rather screechy and jarring, until I came across The Edge. I love the energy in their songs and their videos... makes you want to yodel your lungs out in the privacy of your living room with your sound system blasting. Which I did. My poor neighbours.

*Head bangs to Vertigo, Desire and Elevation.*

"Can you feeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeel it?"

IT Girl

While walking to dinner, my hp rings. It's an overseas call.

Me: Hello?
He: Hey Quirkz ah, what you doing now?
Me: Dad? I'm going for dinner. Why?
He: Eh my computer... cannot shut down leh. Why har?
Me: What happened?
He: My computer hang lah... aiyah I need to access my email. The worker *mumblemumble* and cannot fix my computer. What must I do har? Press what, "shift", "control"..?
Me: Oh, it's "control, alternate, delete." Cannot lift up your fingers! Press control first...
He: Ok... con...trol... what's the next one?
Me: Alternate. Look for A.L.T. Have anot?
He: ... ah ok, A.L.T. is it?
Me: Yah. Now press those two buttons together and press delete.
He: ok... control.... alternate.. A.L.T. har? .. de...lete. Cannot leh.
Me: Ok, is there a power button to shut down your laptop?
He: Yah, but it's not working...
Me: Press and hold for a few seconds.
He: *pause* Ah ok ok. Thanks ah, now it shut down already.
Me: You ah! Never call me at all har, only when your PC needs help then you call me! I'm your IT helpline is it??
He: Heh heh! Yeah lah, at least you are slightly useful ok! Otherwise you won't be useful! Ok ok thanks, bye.

QuirkieKai, Daddy's Useful IT Helpdesk.

Shadows and Sunshine

Crooked souls trying to stay up straight
Dry eyes in the pouring rain where
The shadow proves the sunshine
The shadow proves the sunshine

...

Shine on me,
Let my shadows prove the sunshine

***
The Shadow Proves The Sunshine, by Switchfoot

A wallpaper for all with shadows and need some sunshine.

Simple Pleasures in Life: Thanksgiving

In keeping with the American tradition of Thanksgiving, here is a list of thanks that I want to post =)

I think as a people, we too seldom give thanks and take many things for granted. In a society obsessed with keeping up with the Jones's, we forget what God has blessed us with and focus too much on what we do not have. That applies for the tangibles and intangibles, as well as what is within us. So take a pause, look around you and find something to give thanks for; don't say don't have, sure have one ; )

I thank God for...
- Weekends...
... when I can find time to do the things I want to do and spend time with the important people in my life. Nothing beats a Saturday to yourself and good weather to boot.

- My daily bread =)
And I'm not talking about food here. I thank God for being my family's provider, for giving us enough every month to cover the bills and to have some fun. "Divine providence" is not a fictional term ; )

- Good food
Definitely thank God for good food! Good food is really pleasurable. A mouthful of fine, dark chocolate after meals; a cup of strong, fragrant coffee in the mornings, a bowl of hot soup on a cold day; an ice-cream cone on a hot day... mmmm, happiness. *beam*

- Gifts
Specifically, the gifts of writing and drawing. Writing is a form of catharsis for me and I enjoy framing my thoughts into sentences and paragraphs. Drawing is a form of relaxation as well as expression. Some of my friends have mentioned to me that they read my blog and are entertained by it; my sincere thanks to you for your words of encouragement, I truly appreciate and thrive on your compliments =)
a word about gifts: I believe we are all gifted in different ways and are shaped differently, and no one is without a gift / strength, so look out for yours =) and I also believe that these gifts are not for us to boast about, cos they are given mah. Who gives these gifts leh? I only know of one Giver ;)

- Girly Stuff
My many bags, shoes, mp3 player, computer, camera and clothes. Wahahahaha! (More, MORE!! ooops. *cough, ahemz...*) Well, they bring me pleasure, so I give thanks =)

- Folks =)
The wonderful people in my life: people I eat with, shop with, write about, quarrel with, draw for, work with, fight with and gossip chat with. There're always ups and downs in relationships, no? And we embrace them all =)

Your turn. What are some of your thanksgivings?

A Perfect Apology

So here's the situation regarding birthdays and anniversaries: men are hardwired to not remember, while a lady never, ever forgets. And you can bet your last dollar that she especially won't ever forget it when the guy forgets.

If the guy forgets something as important as his wife's birthday, he'll be damned for the rest of their lives together, regardless how much he grovels and apologizes.
She: Oh, diamonds, rubies and emeralds this year? That's so sweet of you, dear, thaaank yoouuuu. Unlike that year when you... when... *trembling lips* ... you... *sniffle*
He: *gulp* *wipes suddenly sweaty palms on trousers* Uhhh....

Nonetheless, do not fear, help is here. If ever you do face that situation (and if you're a guy, it's a certainty), there is one way to go about it. Like this. This is the only way to (almost) properly apologize to a girl for forgetting her birthday because:
- it's Bono. (sorry if you're not him...)
- Bono's blinky blue eyes.
- Bono's perfect smile / pout.
- A fire-truck with gyrating hunks "I'm Sorry" "I'm Really Sorry" "I'm Really Really Sorry" being said at various points. Once is not enough :P

But the thing is, even BONO didn't get away with forgetting his wife's birthday and this reminder went on to top the charts, and continues to echo around the world whenever another poor sap forgets his significant other's significant date.

Therapy

This is Junior, the world's silliest dog.

His special abilities include the inability to jump over short walls and the amazing ability to trip on himself while making a u-turn or going down stairs. He also has a taste for wires and a penchant for all things squeeky. His extremely soft and shaggy furcoat makes him a prime candidate for a hug on a blue day.



Nothing cheers a down person up like a good dose of the family pet. If that's not available, I guess pictures will have to suffice.

Increasing(ly Insane) Inflation

Inflation, inflation, how I detest thee.

"First, the CPI measures average changes in prices across all households. Whether there is an increase in the cost of living for a particular household depends on that household’s spending patterns. Switching to cheaper products can reduce the cost of living despite a rise in the CPI." (Lim Hng Kiang)

Transport
- Taxi fares have obviously gone up. Some examples: the midnight surcharge starts at 11.30pm; the surcharge of taking a cab from the airport have gone up; peak hours have increased.
- The cost of buying cars have gone down--yay! But not the cost of driving one. $5 to use the CTE up til 10.30pm on weekdays (someone say daylight robbery?). After that, just sit back, relax and enjoy the view. With the traffic gnarl that forms at that unholy hour, there's not much you can do anyway. I don't drive, but I'm pissed that a traffic control "solution" is one that does not solve the problem but instead heaps more stress on the commuters. GAH.
- Petrol costs. Wahahahaha. It's insane.
- So anyways, if the cost of taking taxis and cars is too much for you, switch to a cheaper alternative of taking buses. Sorry that they take 1 hour to arrive, despite being so world crass and all. Oh, and they keep increasing the bus fares too, despite their already mind-boggling profits. Why leh? Cos the price of oil lah. (How convenient.)

Housing
- The rental rate is shooting through the roof, with tenants asking for 50% more rent, easily.
- Resale market is red hot now. $50,000 above valuation for a flat fairly near town is considered "pretty reasonable leh!" these days, when barely 6-8 months ago, folks will be screaming bloody murder at these rates.
- En-bloc millionaires will be entering the property market in a few months. What will happen to the HDB resale market then? ("$700k for a 5room flat in Marine Parade? No problemo, I've got the moolah.")

Food
- Have you eaten at foodcourts / hawker centres recently? Anyone noticed how the $2.00 bak chor mee (dowan tur kwa, prease) is now $2.50? Or the western food that was $3.50 $4.00 $4.50 and now, $4.80?
- Speaking of food, the rates for wedding dinner tables are increasing by almost 10% every year. It was $800 per table for a while.. then $900, then $1000, then now creaping up to $1100...

Medical Fees
- Means testing. If you earn a bit more, you may have to pay a lot more now. So fun, huh?

Over and above all these categories, as a safety net to ensure that inflation will indeed occur, is the lovely 2% GST hike. So if you buy a car, you gotta pay 2% more. You eat at that fancy restaurant (or even not-so-fancy restaurant), that's another 2% added to the bill, on top of the price adjustments due to the rising cost of flour, eggs, chicken and such. If you don't do any of the above and just buy some random thing (like electronic goods, perhaps... or go for a massage to escape from all these monetary woes...), there's the good ol' 7% GST to squeeze your coffers just a wee bit more.

Oh, so what if I'm already taking buses everywhere, eating at foodcourts and renting an apartment, cos I can't afford a car, the taxis and an apartment?

*shrugs* There's public assistance, but dat one not that easy to qualify one. That one also got increase. From $260 to $290 per month. Not sure what you can do with that, but dun say govt nair give more money to poor people.

For The Love of All Things Good and Geeky

As previously revealed, I have a soft spot for geeks who can also play the guitar. From my blog name, you can also infer that I gravitate towards the offbeat and the non-mainstream stuff.

With these factors in mind, you can imagine my joy and glee when my brother showed me this MTV. It's got all the elements there! Four geeky guys in a really quirky music video production. Singing and dancing in perfect harmony. How can I resist? I'm in love.

And that's not the only music video they have out there. Check this out while you're at it. I've been hearing this song playing in departmental stores and it's all I could do not to swing my arms and march in rythm a la the MTV. Super wicked.

Seriously, how can you NOT love these MTV productions? They are 1. so entertaining! 2. squeeky clean! 3. absolutely original. 4. definitely economical =) Which is more than I can say for the million-dollar MTV productions out there in the market, whose sole purpose seems to be to lower the IQ of viewers worldwide to pave the way for some sinister hostile take-over of the world after millions have been pounded senseless by the brute stupidity on these videos.

*says she as she swings arms and marches in rythm on threadmill*

Simple Pleasures in Life: Speckies!

New spectacles! ^_^

I've been walking around without my glasses for a long time, as I erm, sat on my previous nondescript brown pair.

For the longest time, I've been squinting at my PC screen and at movies, as well as driving dangerously at night when I do get to use the family car. Why didn't I get it done earlier? Well, honestly I couldn't find a pair of frames that I liked that was within my budget. The cost of this new pair still busts my budget, but I like, can anot?

The shop owner actually gave us a good discount as my colleagues are working with his daughter =) In light of the good price he's giving us, I decided to go all the way and got transition lenses as well. I really like the colour and the shape of the frames. What I'm not so crazy about is how the diamente at the sides spell "LULU", and that my colleagues have taken to calling me by the name of my specs. ("Lulu! Wanna go for lunch?" "Hey where is Lulu? Is Lulu wearing purple today to match her specs??")

My latest cheap thrill is walking in the sun to see my lenses turn gray :D Purple and gray makes a very cool pair of specs, though I suspect it's rather daft to bake myself just to see it darken. Maybe it's just a phase I'm transiting through, hur hur hur :P

Geekdom

So I was talking with The Brother, and he mentioned F, a friend who is described as a "cool geek" by his colleagues, an oxymoron if I've ever heard one. And the conversation goes...

He: Oh, did I tell you that the girls in my church like geeks?
Me: Oh really? I also like geeks leh!
He: You like geeks right? You told me before that you like nerdy guys!
Me: YES. I'm doomed to a lifetime of unattractive offsprings. Help!
He: Do you know that they find F eligible? I was talking about F with the girls in my church this afternoon and they said if F were to ask them out for a meal, they'd go! And and if he were to date them, they'd say yes!
Me: Really? Seems like geeks are the 'in' thing now!
He: Yes sister, I'm 'out'. How? No wonder why I cannot find girlfriend!
Me: Yah man, your time is over. Snags are out, geeks are in!
He: Yah! I asked F how to become more geeky, he said it's easy, just spend the whole day at the computer, but I can't! When I stare at the PC screen, I feel the urge to do push-ups!
Me: *rolls eyes*
He: Or maybe I can tell them I spend my time on youtube! I youtube wrestling matches!
Me: *rolls eyes*
He: Do you know that Vince McMahon is my inspiration? *GRIN*
Me: Oh no. Oh no, no, no. Tell me you did not just say that. You DID NOT say that. No sibling of mine should have him as an inspiration!!
He: *crazed gleam in his eye* Yeah!
He: *starts quoting Vince McMahon, but by then my brain has turned to mush and I didn't register a word he said.*

My brother, the muscle man, geek-wannabe.

I Ate The Super Burger

After lurking around at the esteemed foodblog ieatishootipost and drooling over the pictures he took of the Astons ieatsuperburger for the longest time, I finally found a makan kaki to go try out the burger and to check out Astons, as I've heard so much about it.

My first visit to Astons was my brother's graduation dinner celebration, where the family decided to spend the evening queueing for the steaks and to indulge in some good food. We arrived at 6.40pm, by which there was a long queue already, and so we waited in line for close to 40min. When it was our turn to order, many of the side dishes were sold out and the super burger wasn't available. I settled for the sirloin steak, my brother took the tenderloin and my mum took the ribeye. The steaks were tasty but a tad small. The side-dishes were disappointing though; I had like, 5 onion rings. The house salad and potato salad were just ho-humm and the fries were sold out. Honestly, I wasn't too impressed by the food, but I thought I'd give it a try again, seeing how we went there a bit late and most of the sides were sold out by the time we arrived.

So sometime this week, I went to Astons with DarkRed to check out the food there. Seeing how there usually is a horrendous queue, we decided to pop by earlier to avoid that. Going earlier also meant that there were still side-dishes and the superburger available ; )

We ordered a superburger each plus 2 sides--french fries and onion rings. The fries were yummy and the portions for that was generous. The onion rings... well, they were tasty, but I can count with both my hands the number of onion rings we were given.

As for the (HUMONGOUS!) burger, I had mixed feelings towards it. I liked how you can really taste the beef in the large patty. I liked the toasted sesame bun, the crispy fried oniony thingey in it, the generous chunk of tomato in it, and that they don't stinge on the bacon. I like how it's so huge that you can't decently fit the burger into your mouth without everything spilling out from the other side.

I didn't like how the patty was rather dry, and the burger wasn't very warm when we got to it. Granted that we took an inordinate amount of time photographing it, but still I had thought it would be a little warmer than that (room temperature). Generally, it was also rather dry, like not enough mayo / ketchup / BBQ sauce. Perhaps it's also my personal preferance at play, as I like juicy burgers.

Still, it was a pretty decent burger. After finishing the burger, we were so full that there was truly no space for dessert (and everyone knows that there is a separate compartment in the stomach for dessert, right?). We can't even finish the two onion rings that were staring back at us.

Will I go back to Astons? Probably only when there isn't such a queue for the food. It does taste not bad and is rather value for money, but not so much that I will spend 30min queueing and another 5-10 waiting for my food.

Will I go back specially for the burger? I doubt it, as there are several other places whose burgers I prefer. To each his own, I guess. Personally, I prefer the beef burgers at Carl's Junior, Werner's Oven and Burger Queen. For a perfect substitute for beef burgers, I'd say that the steak sandwich at The Tuckshop is pretty hard to beat; I'd eat that over the super burger any given day.

How I Woke Up At 11 Today

I woke up this morning to a loud, urgent rap on my door. Before I could halfway open my groggy eyes, my buffalo of a brother charged into the room, clapping his hands army style, shouting "WAKEUPWAKEUPWAKEUP!". Instinctively, I clutched my bolster and blanket closer to me, but he yanked it away mercilessly. Before my dignity can be further assualted, I sat upright in bed (as upright as I could in my semi comatose state) and waved the white flag.

It's like deja vu with role reversal. I have a doofus for a brother.

A Start

Kreme-ing the Competition

There is no contest, really.

Krispy, my sincere apologies for ever doubting you. You're the best, ever. Please, won't you come to Singapore? Begging every friend who happens to visit a country where you reside to bring a box back is rather unbecoming.

Munchkins, how you've hurt me...

Dear Munchy Donuts,

I'd like to just declare my adoration for your yummy donuts. The one with the oreo cookie topping is sheer genius. I also like the one filled with coffee cream, sinful though it may be. I should also commend your sales strategy: buy 1 for $1.20, buy 6 for $6.50 and buy 12 for $12. Brilliant! It makes greedy penny pinchers like me immediately justify buying in bulk.

Nonetheless, this I have against you: your packaging and customer service leaves much to be desired.

The first time I went there, I wanted to buy 6 donuts, since 12 is a bit too many even for me. You smiled so sweetly and told me that the boxes that held 6 donuts were no longer available, would I mind the 12 donut box? I said sure, just put 6 in there, I'm cool. Smilingly, you informed me that if I took the 12 donut box, I have to buy 12 donuts, cannot buy less. Buy 8 can or not, I asked. Cannot, you smiled. That's okay, that's okay, there will be more for everyone in the office, so I bought 12 and went on my way.

The second time I visited another of your chain, it seems like the person standing in front of me had the same problem. What? Out of 6 donut boxes again? Is this part of the sales strategy too, hmmm munchkins?

Today, I brought Intuition there, eager to impress him with your delectable donuts. He was suitably tempted by all the sugary treats and wanted to buy 2 boxes of 6 donuts, 1 box for his family and a box for mine. Just nice! 12 donuts for $12, no? No? You mean, "no"? But we're buying 12, we protested, just in 2 boxes of 6. 6 times 2 equals 12, and if we buy 12, we pay $12, no? You mean, if we buy 2 boxes of 6, we must pay $6.50 x 2? It does not make sense! You really mean it? You do not jest?

Sigh.

It's so sad, munchkins, it really is. It's not that we want to quibble over $1, but it's the small things like that that makes or breaks the customer's experience. I would like to dismiss it as a one time case, but your track record makes me unable to deny this undesirable trait in you. We could have had a really good relationship, but now, I see limited possibilities.

I wish you all the best. I must find other donut pastures now. I'm sure I won't be missed, you've always had a queue of admirers awaiting your sweet favours.

Time Warp

I love the matured estates in Singapore. To be specific, I love a little corner in Bedok--where I spent the second half of my formative years--that didn't change much through the years. Wandering around the hawker centre with my colleague this morning, a deluge of memories flooded my mind as I decided what to dapao back to the office.

Should I dapao the char kway tiao? The same one where I would buy at $1.20 per plate, with chilli please? A friend and I would buy a plate each after school, feeling oh so grown up that here we are, ordering and paying for a plate with our own pocket money, without adult supervision.

How about the mee rebus? There usually is a long, snaking queue in the mornings for its mee rebus, but there isn't any now. The Best Grandma In The World used to buy that back for our breakfast on weekends. I can still taste the nutty sauce, and if I were to eat it again, I would still keep the hard boiled egg yolk for my very last bite. Some things don't change.

Oh look, Lucky Chicken Rice is still open! And there's the same uncle who manned the stall 15 years ago, looking young and strong. My cousin would always order the roasted chicken rice for lunch. Inflation seems to have left this place untouched; you can buy a plate at $1.50, just like yesteryear. We must make a pilgrimmage there sometime soon. I texted my cousin "hey guess wat... lucky chicken rice is still arnd =) shd check back thr one day", to which he replied "whia cool! will check it out one day heh"

I eventually settled on carrot cake (which disappointed, sadly... probably not one of the stalls I frequented as a child ; ) and made my way to the carpark, going along a route that I used to walk every day to school. As if on cue, strains of Air Supply's ballads wafted through the street and suddenly I was in a time-warp, listening to Air Supply while obsessing about the crush I have on the cute guy from the smartest class in the level.

Admittedly, he was a little geeky, but what to do, I like geeks. Preferably geeks who play the guitar. ;)