Google - The Hungry Beast?

Though you may have been "googling" things for years, the word you were using was technically a slang, until it officially became an English noun (and a verb) found in the Oxford English Dictionary (OED). 

But why would you need your OED when Google can tell me I have spelt the word "psychaitrist" wrongly and the search will also land me with a list of the nearest psychiatrists in my locality within 0.17 seconds. 

I mean, let's face it, you are admitting things to your computer that you wouldn't otherwise admit to your doctor or your loved ones.

Should we be scared of the hungry beast?

Remember Minority Report?

When you think about it, your smartphone these days has eyes, tooth, ears, mouth and even skin.  With a fast connection to the Internet coupled with some clever software, it is bringing the senses and the intelligence together, augmenting the reality that you are living in. 

Does it remind you of the movie Minority Report? 

It is forever bringing me new information and pulling in different perspectives just like the pilot needs a layer of information that adds to his view of reality when he's driving that plane.


You see zombies head down playing with a device everywhere you go these days and to me - we are fast entering the "augmented reality" paradigm - whether you like it or not.  

The Hairy Season

It's that time of the year again!

We have waited longingly for 11months to finally able to dig in, crack, suck, slurp and savour the sweet delicate meat and the roe of these adorable crustaceans.

Everyone in our family thinks they are absolutely the most "crabulous" thing to have and we are all salivating as the season for eating the legendary hairy crab is fast upon us.

Each year, my father would repeatedly show off how he picks the best of the best in the gang and I thought it would be nice to share his tips with you.  

Just remember the words:  BE  FRESH 

Belly - clean and white belly
Eye - black beady eyes (he would poke their eyes to test them when the shopkeeper ain't looking)

Flesh - has to be firm and not mushy
Reputation - only buy from reputed outlets, Taihu Lake has the best ones
Entirety - don't buy any with broken claws or when a leg is found missing
Sex - eat female in September, followed by male in October
Hair - golden, straw colour even before scrubbing

Some are telling me restaurants will do all the dirty work, but hey...I say....why let them have all the fun?

A Horrendously Ugly Platinum Visa Card

For most of us, a credit card is just another piece of plastic cluttering up in our wallets.  While most of the world’s credit cards are generic and boring, there have been times when credit card companies have let artists’ imaginations run free.


Here.  I have just received from the mail - my renewed Citibank / I.T. Platinum Visa card.

It looks more or less like a piece of unfinished art, as if a colourful sticker has gone missing somewhere down in the production line!

Can I call customer service and file a complaint, saying I can't stand the look of it?  It is just plain ugly don't you think?                                                                                                                     

Coffee - The Aussie Way

For those of us who are used to ordering coffee from Starbucks, an Australian coffee menu can appear very confusing when the words "short" and "tall" have no relevance to the topic of sizes I brought about earlier.  Apparently, they do not make brewed coffee down under but  - drink espresso based beverages.

Just when you got to grips with Macchiatos, Americanos Mochas, Lattes, they also have their own terminologies.  

A "Short Black" is a shot of espresso in an espresso cup where as, a "Long Black" is the Aussie version of the “Americano".


We then have something called the "Flat White". Research told me that should come as the equivalent to a Latte but with less milk in it.  Much stronger than a Latte and less frothy than a Cappuccino. 

Check out this website of this new cafe.  It tells you all you need to know about the conversion.

Letters To Juliet

Did you know, that if you send a letter to Juliet Capulet of Verona (the first lady of love), someone will write back?

I just watched this movie about the existence of true love, about celebrating Shakespeare's Greatest Heroine in the magical city of Verona in Italy.  Highly recommended by 2 of my friends, I went in expecting a super cheesy, annoyingly romantic plot, but it turned out to be AMAZINGLY beautiful!

Allow me to quote a part of the Letter written by Sophie to Claire:

"'What' and ‘if’ two words as nonthreatening as words come. 

But put them together side-by-side and 

they have the power to haunt you for the rest of your life: 

‘What if?'..."

I was daunted not by the existence of true love in this world, but as a writer, I was being reminded of the fact that we are never to undermine the power of words!

You HAVE to watch this if you haven't already.

Plane Quiet

When I first saw a bloke on a plane wearing noise cancelling headphones a year ago, I was baffled and thought why on earth would anyone bring those big and chunky headphones on board?  

I spotted Bose on 35G, 35H, and a Skullcandy right behind me in my last flight,  I mean, we did without those years ago and now virtually everyone in the cabin is wearing a pair!

I honestly wasn't quite aware airplane engines were THAT loud until I possessed my first noise cancelling headphones.  They are now an indispensable item on my carry-on as I find the engines themselves can be enough to rattle my brain, especially on a long haul when I needed some sleep. 


My pair of noise cancelling headphones was certainly worth their weight in gold this time when I was sitting right across a family of 6 with 2 non-stop crying babies!   






 

Different Ways Of Touring San Francisco

Loving the variety of ways to get around the city.  

You can enjoy every bit of San Francisco without setting foot in the rental car place or hop on a cab.  Save money and do something great for the environment at the same time.

If I am feeling a bit aggressive this weekend, I might consider renting one of these and go for a bike ride!  Not a bad idea!

Get Chopped

"Chopped" is on American TV right now and it's down to the last 4 standing contestants. 

At times, like Iron Chef, it can actually be a bit too fast-paced and stressful to watch as the chefs there are ‘all about the win!” Nonetheless, it is a fantastic show. 

Those who made it to the ultimate face-off tonight were without a doubt - excellent chefs with tremendous skills and creativity.  The challenges are tough and the producer made it so suspenseful that you just have to keep watching until the last one got eliminated.   

Bought to me by Food Network, this has to be one of my favourite TV channels in the world.  Some of my friends say the programme entices them to cook more often than otherwise, whereas I keep saying to myself throughout the week, that I have to stop watching because...

all that whisk and stir is making me hungry ALL THE TIME!!  

Shoeshine Stands

I often remember to have my leather shoes polished whenever I am staying at hotels where they provide shoe polish cloths.   Today, my boots were in for a real treat at one of the traditional shoeshine stands. 

When the whole world is slipping in sneakers these days, no wonder we do not see many shoeshine stands exist any more and somehow, the exercise of shoe polishing has become a fussy rite that most would only occasionally indulge in.  I still remember how it was a serious business when my father would spend hours on his and explained to us the each and individual steps involved.

I have never seen women up on a shoeshine stand as I guess climbing up a shoeshine seat wearing a dress or skirt would be rather awkward.  

Well ladies, I can tell you my feeling of sitting on the shoeshine stand as I have been there done that for the first time!  And isn't he cute?

It was majestic.  I felt like Queen Victoria sitting on her throne but better (as she didn't have an OSIM lumbar massager, but I did)!  

Stepping down from the throne felt more like a Humpty Dumpty but, with twenty bucks, my boots are now shiny as new!

Show Your Badge

I am seeing everyone's proudly wearing their Oracle Open World conference badges.  Why is it so? 

It is purposely there for obvious security reason, but also because showing your badge in and around Moscone Center is going to get you various discounts in shopping malls, restaurants, museums and transportation in the city! 

By bringing in increased sales volumes, this has to be one of the wicked ways Oracle can make it up for the potential financial loss of cordoning off the roads (yes, not 1 but 2 main roads) for 1 week, 1 city, 3 conferences.

If only I have time to shop, I would do due diligence to contribute to this!

Oracle Open World Closes Street

The entire Howard street is now blocked and not many companies can get permission to shut down a busy street in the city for 10 days - for a commercial convention.

San Francisco down town commuters have to be prepared to deal with some grumpy carpool drivers who will likely be cursing Oracle, as the company has cordoned off the entire street in front of Moscone Center in order to make way for the 9th Oracle Open World starting today!

It's all set, ready to rock and roll.

The Bay Walker

  

The morning air was crisp and fresh, after some breakfast and a cappuccino, I decided to go search for the world's crookedest street - a very touristy thing to do in San Francisco indeed. 

Then came some drizzling which I thought should give me a perfect excuse to hop on the famous cable car, but then I could hardly get on any since all of them were packed, so I ended up walking.

And a fair bit of walking that was (a total of 6.6km up and down hill) for the morning.

Next time if I get a chance though, I would definitely rent a bike instead.  With USD30 for half a day, the San Francisco Bay Trail takes you to all the “must see” places: San Francisco waterfront, Fisherman's Wharf, Golden Gate Bridge and Sausalito - forming a very scenic route for cycling and exploring the city. That would be fun wouldn't it?

Craving for Clam Chowder

I have cravings for some clam chowder as soon as I touched down SFO and guess where I hit to after dumping my luggage in the hotel? 

It was straight to Pier 39 at Fisherman's Wharf. 

I heard Chowders' chowder is probably the best and I was told I am more likely to get the best and freshest bread bowl there (which to me is definitely part of the attractions of the whole experience).

So there I was, really went for the tourist thing with the sourdough and the soup served me right with just the right bit of everything from clams, diced potatoes, onions, to bacon and celery. 

Exactly the comfy food I needed after the crappy meals on the plane.

 

Tree Killer

This morning, I forged with a multifunction photocopier/scanner/fax machine for at least half an hour, trying to make it churn out jammed papers!

While I was blaming the printer for its inefficiency as well as making myself a tree killer, I was also thinking, printers have to be one of the biggest ironies of the digital age.
 

Please take note: "paperless office" turned out to be a trope.

No, wait, on second thought...don't take a note. Don't use any more paper.

Just REMEMBER.

Pronuncia Italiana

The Italian language is known around the world for its beautiful sounds and lyrical flow and some how, more and more Italian words have sneaked their way into English. 

I always think it is a worthwhile task to learn how to pronounce them but never got the time to go meet any Italiano! 

With this app from my iPhone, I realised Italiana has a very simple phonetic pronuncia that anyone can master rather quickly.  I should now have enough guts to be able to pronounce any Italian words I come across, whether they are musical terms like acciaccatura or types of food like ciabatta.

Ben fatto!!

House of Dancing Water, Macau

I was told by people familiar with the industry that, this show, created and directed by Franco Dragone promises be the most spectacular, imaginative theatrical extravaganza ever produced in the world - not to be missed.

Its debut will take place this Thursday at the City of Dreams, Macau.  Don't despair if you haven't got tickets yet because we are talking about US$250 million invested on a stage pool that holds a record-breaking 3.7 million gallons of water. 

They definitely aren't going anywhere for a rather permanent while!

Life's a climb but the view's great!

Life is filled with mountains that we climb: high school graduation, college, dating, buying a car, losing a loved one, marriage, and the list can only go on!

I truly believe these milestones are in our lives for a reason. Yes, some are painful while others are not; but, the point is that each and every hill that we face shapes us into who we are.

For myself personally, I know that I would not be the same person if it were not for some of the mountains that I had to climb. During those climbs I definitely wondered why in the world I was even headed up that mountain, but once I reached the top, I could almost always be thankful I have made it.

I hope you can appreciate your mountains too. 

Non-existence of Opportunity Cost

Would you get annoyed with yourself because you didn’t make the most out of something or stepped back from an opportunity? 

No good beating yourself up and start hating yourself because I don't think it will help, it would only make you feel worse than already is.

Instead, I think you can consider to be brutally honest and ask yourself what you have gained from the situation and what you lost out on, then deduce what you would do differently the next time.

A person who leaves $10,000 in a bank denies herself the dividend that could have accrued by investing the $10,000 on a stock. 

The opportunity cost of the decision to place the money in the bank, would be the value of the dividend. 

That is - if you get paid dividend, but everyone knows there's no guarantee.

Say if you get presented another chance to invest.  Would you do the same?  The thing is:

Some opportunities might never return.
And hence opportunity costs can never be earned. 

Why didn't I think of challenging the Economic opportunity loss taught in my degree?  This could well earned my way to a PhD in Economics!





 

On Top of World Trade Center

Today marks the 9th anniversary of the 9/11 tragic attack.

In remembrance of the deadliest attack ever, let me share these precious photos with you - taken on top of one of the Twin Towers during my family's trip to New York in June 2001.  

Looking at these, thinking what could have happened, still sends shivers down my spine.  

May there be peace in the world!

Tipping Point for Insomnia

I thought Baileys on the rock will easily put me to sleep, but nope.  

It is 3am again and I am going to try reading as my new sleeping therapy. 

The tipping point for me tonight would be defined as the time I fell asleep with this book!

If this one doesn't work, the next to pick up would be Lord of the Rings, or...one of Harry Potter's

The Sleep Deprived

I usually sleep no more than five or six hours a day and frankly, it always seemed like enough.  Sure, I know the experts recommend eight hours, but hey, I can always feel good about getting a lot done in those extra two or three hours while the rest of the world is asleep.

With the recent workload, between my day time job, my freelance jobs, and my night time job, probably 4-5 is all I can afford.  So lately, I am feeling very sleep deprived.  So deprived that I can even doze off on bus journeys  - yes I don't normally do - that's just not me.  

May be the effects of sleep deprivation are adding up gradually and when I come to think about it, sleeping only six hours a night for a week makes me as tired on the seventh night as if I have had no sleep at all.

It's 3am wee hour, I got to wake up in 3 hours.  Should I be wishing myself to sleep tight or not?  

Right, I'm determined to make a conscious effort to get more shut-eye. I still don't know why we sleep in the first place but, I am beginning to have a much better feel for what happens if I don't.

All About Love

Very rarely do we see such controversial topic emerged in Hong Kong's mainstream movie scenes, that touched on the complex social minority of the queer.

And with lead actress Vivian Chow back on the screen after 14 years of disappearance, and Sandra Ng's wittiness guaranteed, this is a must-watch. 

And it didn't disappoint for a second. 

The storyline talks about two women finding love with each other again after they both become pregnant.  And what surprises me most was how Director Ann Hui put the whole thing together very seamlessly, yet be able to challenge the controversy just to the point and tap into the audience's mind that - the most important aspects of any relationship are not gender and convention, but, love and commitment.  

Subtly put.  

Identification, Friend or Foe (IFF)

Allow me to act as a deep thinker today, desperately needing to dish some philosophical provoking thoughts I have in me brain to avoid an overload (I am sure you have heard them all before somewhere and none will be strikingly new to you though).

I am just going to dedicate this to all my friends & foes as a friendly reminder anyway...just in case I die accidentally tomorrow and there won't be a chance for me to write this...

Here you go.

• People only speak words, it's up to us individually how we inturpret them or how we let those words affect us. 

• You shape the environment, the environment doesn't shape you. 

• Some people come into our lives and quickly go. Some stay for awhile and leave footprints on our hearts, and we are never, ever the same.  

Life is so short...Please act like you own the place, chin up, make eye contact, continue with all that good stuff and please don't be stingy with words such as  "I love you". Feel free to bombard to all those matters.


Mom, dad and sis, I love you all.


And no..don't get me wrong and nothing to worry about either.  This is in no sign, a suicidal note whatsoever!  

The Fun in English

One of the craziest oddities of the English language is that there are so many different collective terms that all mean the same thing - "group".

From a crowd of people, a box of crayons, a pad of paper to a complaint of wives and....a bunch of losers, a load of craps? 

Most often than not, the term described, can either be quite beautifully poetic or terribly to the point.

I was being tested on my English proficiency today and let's see just how many you can get here, inserting these 15 words to the sentences below.

pod swarm pride flight school

herd litter gaggle band brood

pack troop flock bunch shoal

1. Swimming in the shallow water was a _____ of herrings.
2. A ____ of sheep was happily grazing in the field.
3. All night we could hear the ___ of wolves howling.
4. Looking out to sea, we noticed a _____ of dolphins swimming.
5. The ______ of lions slept all day on the African plains.
6. A long _______ of steps led to the top of the tower.
7. Our cat has just had a _______ of seven kittens.
8. We each picked a _____ of juicy grapes from the vine.
9. The hen waddled by with her _____of chicks.
10. A _____ of thieves stole the precious diamonds.
11. In the jungle, we could see a ____of monkeys swinging in the trees.
12. An enormous _______ of locusts ate all the crops.
13. The ____of elephants stomped through the water hole.
14. The _____of geese made a terrible squawking sound.
15. We were in awe as we watched the ___ of whales swimming.

Some were totally alien to me!

Bank Notes: Re-designed

My uncle was complaining the other day about mistakenly regarded a 500 dollar note as a 100, blindly giving away 400 to a cab driver.  He said at 80 years of age, it is just very difficult for him to distinguish the different denominations of bank notes. 

I am looking at my pile of United States Dollars in front of me, thinking he should be real glad he's not living in the States!

Unlike the Euro banknote or the British Pound Sterling, US dollar bills have long been having the same width and height - from One Dollar to 100.  

I think almost every other country I have been in the world but the United States, accommodates its sight-less and the visually impaired citizens by either printing denominations of different sizes or by altering the surface of the bills with tactile identifiers. 


Do you think Obama can change this?




 

Back To Old Skool

Graduating from pencils to ink in elementary was a really big deal. It was also the time when you started carrying a binder full of looseleaf - along with your biros, rubbers and what not. 

If you have no idea what I'm talking about, feel free to skip this entry, kid!

Right, probably half the population has been eliminated.  

For those who stayed and read on, do you remember that one particular semester when the erasable biro from Papermate came to scene with the miraculous erasing feature?  EVERYONE just had to have their very own erasable biro.  I treated mine like it was special and refused to chew on it when algebra got boring!

Ok, why go old-school all of a sudden?  It is because I was in a stationary shop earlier today and I had no idea they still sell abrasive rubbers these days! 

I would have thought this is such a thing of the past and that everyone uses correction fluids or tapes.

Obviously that's not quite the case and now, I don't feel that far off from my school days plus...a decade younger! 

Uptime vs. Downtime

I admit the arrival of the iPhone 4 to my life has been revelatory.  I mean, I can:

• check my email while waiting at the bus stop or
• catch up on RSS feeds while standing in line at the grocery store
• save more time with emails as I can delete the unimportant ones as I get them. That way, when I sit down in front of the computer, it’s straight to work time, less messing with emails.

I have fully succumbed to the rosy functionality of my iPhone but also because of the fact that I am so succumbed to the lure of it, I am beginning to wonder whether it is really making me more productive, or, is it just giving me more stuff to look at and more diversions to play with.

Look at this app here - Dialling go retro!

Just for fun, or
just too much?  

Like anything else, a tool is what we make of it.  However much I wish to spend more time with my latest gadget, I am also prevented from over-using it - thanks to its appalling battery life -  most dissatisfied out of all.  

 

Kids These Days

One day, a father suggested to the family at the dining table that they should all rotate and try putting his younger baby to bed as the poor little one has not been sleeping too well and in need of a new strategy.  His 3-year old son pondered for a while and says,

"Daddy...but I'm not strong enough." 

Daddy, expected a response from mummy and the maid, but not from him!  The kid was seriously thinking about taking part as well!   Then he adds,

"But may be....you can get me a ladder," (for climbing up to the crib).

You definitely can't fault him for trying.  

While at school, the same kid was given newspapers to read, and in it, a piece of news showed a picture with an escalator.  They were asked what happened. 

"The kid was wearing Crocs! That's why his foot got stuck!"

And I have heard numerous stories similar to these so definitely not just 1 or 2 distinguished kids we are talking about, it's kids in general these days.  


Makes you wonder shamefully what you were doing when you were at that age, does it not?

I don't know about you, but I was surely a log of wood or some sort of tofu (if you think it's a bit more cuddly) back then.

Stop Hiding, I Can See You!

I am sure you have friends in Facebook who notoriously tag you in every one of their photos.  I am perfectly fine with that so don't you worry if you have done it, because I know I can easily choose to untag any of those embarrassingly terrible moments that you guys find so terribly amusing!


Very soon, with Facebook Places, you will be able to do much more than tag and be tagged.  This service, is already pre-installed in my iPhone 4 and has been rolled out last week in U.S., allows users to see where their friends are and share their location with the world.  

Basically that translates to the fact that you will be able to see if any of your friends are currently checked in nearby and hence choose to connect with them, or I supposed, run away, should you find your so-called Facebook Friends whom you don't want to see, are nearby!

Like most privacy settings in Facebook, you do have control of what you share and the people you share it with. So when you choose to check in a place, you can tag friends who you are with but only if their settings allow it.  And when you are being tagged, it will appear in your friends' news feeds and you will be notified immediately too.

Pointless, creepy or genius? You decide.