Airplanes and Happiness

I arrived back into the United States of America on April 16. The trip was awesome, especially since it was my birthday!

I woke up like...1.5 hours later than I had planned to because my plane left at 6 AM. Luckily, I was staying overnight in a house about 5-10 minutes away from the airport, so I ran in and talked to all the right people.

My combined weight of my luggage weighs more than 70 kg (~155 lbs). I am amazing.

I know that it's bad if I work my curves, but I totally did because there was no way that I could manage to pull my luggage off the carousel by myself. (I struggled for a while to come up with the words 'luggage carousel' while talking to someone else who has recently moved back to the US from Singapore.) I LOVE the fact that guys hit on me even when I came off the plane looking terrible with absolutely no makeup and messy, messy hair (and honestly, pretzel breath).

My first flight was from Singapore to Narita (Tokyo), I sat next to a very nice and intelligent businesswoman, and we talked about everything - from television, to the state of the US economy, to politics, to religion, etc. It was fabulous. I love LOVE LOVE the fact that I could use my vocabulary (which has accumulated dust while being in Singapore because the education systems differ in the emphasis on building a large vocabulary).  It was great. I also learned that Texans talk about people from Louisiana just like anyone from a northern state will talk about Canadians. I love it. Hilarious!! ("coon-asses" or "Cajuns")

Then on the way from Tokyo (after a quick bite of sweet beef udon) to Houston, TEXAS (HOORAY!) I got the best seat in the entire plane. I talked to an American couple who have lived in like, Ecuador, Japan, Nepal, etc. as volunteer (or paid) English teachers. They were extraordinary and quite atypical as far as Americans go, but since they were English teachers, I could pull out my vocabulary again. Hooray Latin and etymology classes! 

From Houston to Indianapolis, I got to sit in 1A (hip hip hooray) - but I wanted to sit shotgun in the pilot seat. That would have been sweet. You see, pilots get free flights, but they have to sit in the equivalent of a "flight mec" seat - the one behind the two co-pilots. I would have loved that. I even shared my Singaporean cookies with them, hoping that my sacrifice was enough. They laughed at me, and the flight stewardess closed the door (which silently mocked me throughout the entire 2 hour flight). I talked the entire time to the flight stewardess (who actually went to pilot school and is working on the accumulation of the necessary hours). We had SUCH a good time talking about movies, books, economy, hilarious stories about being a stewardess, etc. We e even talked about Mexico.  I had so much fun, and my stuffed frog was so happy (Vincenzo). He was a little excited and tried to hop on the escalator, but I had to run after him and rescue him after he became very frightened.

So then I walked to the baggage claim in the new Indianapolis airport (which is nice and clean, remiscent of the Changi airport in Singapore), only to find my mom and sister looking for me every which way. I tend to be clever and sneaky, so I made them scream from surprise to a cliche "boo!" But I enjoyed myself, and I love being back home.

I can't wait to go shopping later today with my best friend (and my sister). YAY! SHOES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OK, well I guess I'll reflect more about my year spent abroad at another time.  I love the United States. I LOVE ALL OF THEM. 

I miss Singapore, but my overwhelming feeling of elation just trumps it for now.

Sakae Sushi Madness

Soo.....yesterday I went to Sakae Sushi with Felix and Xav, and while I was enjoying my big bowl of beef udon, they decided towards the end of playing stack the empty plates to be adventurous and try something on a blue plate (which are S$1 or USD $0.75)

So Xavier takes the first bite. He didn't even take a complete bite. He just sort of put it in his mouth and took it out immediately. He says it's gross.

Felix says something like, "Should we put it back?"

But the damage has been done, so Felix and Xavier each put it in their mouths.

Felix puts his hand on the table to stabilize himself and not fall victim to the gag reflex. He turns red trying to finish the unknown type of sushi.

Xavier finishes, but unable to hold back, grabs his ear lobes and flaps them around.

I laugh like crazy.

I ask the first waitress what it is, and she tells me "hard shell," but I think that she says something else and Xav tells me not to be mean. Like I can be mean on purpose! At least, to a stranger.

Then I ask the second waitress, and she tells me that it is SNAIL.

Felix laughs until he turns purple while I am laughing so much at both of them.

To get the taste of SNAIL out of their mouths, they order a RED PLATE (ZOMG...the premium plates.) of cooked scallop (which was delicious) and go get some ice cream from New Zealand Natural Ice Cream (I had English toffee yum yum).

Mommy and Daddy, please don't watch this

EVERYONE ELSE!!!!!!!

WATCH THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's the 223rd post, 2 days after April Fool's Day

It's sort of crazy, looking back at random posts and thoughts that I went through these past months. And now, I am quite sad to say, that I have begun to make my arrangements to return to the United States (though I am quite keen to see my family again). I will be in transit for about 25 hours until I reach home in mid-April.

Speaking of April Fool's Day, I came across two great articles, one about 2009 pranks and then one about the top ten pranks of all time.

Only one person tried to prank me (well, one and a half because one of my friends is pretending to be a relationship for the duration of the month and I intend to bug him about it) saying that Britney Spears is in Singapore at Orchard MRT Station. Pleeeeeeeeeease. I am very aware that Britney is on tour in the US because I follow PerezHilton everyday. So if you ever want to prank me, think of something infinitely more believable. I was even slightly annoyed that someone would even THINK that I would fall for that. Serious.

A few quotes from the previously mentioned articles:

Scientists aren't exactly friendly toward Alabama's efforts to push intelligent design in schools, but one hit below the belt when he published an article in the April 1998 issue of New Mexicans for Science and Reason suggesting the Alabama legislature was tampering with Pi. The article, penned by physicist Mark Boslough writing under the pseudonym "April Holiday," suggested Alabama was redefining Pi as 3.0 instead of 3.14, to keep it closer to the "biblical value." State legislators were swamped by angry callers beseeching them to leave Pi alone.

Fantastic.

Well, I'm returning to the United States soon enough and can't wait to get back to Fazoli's, Arby's, Buffalo Wild Wings, Cracker Barrel, Olive Garden, and my room overlooking the backyard.

I can't wait to see all my family and friends again.

I'll still chronicle my time left in Singapore, but I just wanted you to know that this chapter in my life is about to close (with a few strings flailing about with new friends).

On My Way to Find Bak Kut Teh

I'm sorry, I snuck a picture of this girl because she is JUST TOO THIN. Click on the picture to get a better look. TOO THIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The rest of the pictures are taken from the bus (except the restaurant and ice cream) on my way to find Famous Bak Kut Teh.

This is the automated system that allows you to just scan a card that you add value to in order to pay for your bus and MRT (train) trips.

Some random church

These are houses that are quite expensive. Even though they are connected to each other, they easily surpass the S$1 million (US$750,000), depending on their square footage.

They put advertisements on their buses as well. There are both single and double decker buses, and since I haven't seen lychee flavoured non-alcoholic (0.5% alcohol) soda before, I thought I would take a picture. Two birds, one stone. Score!

They drive on the left hand side and the driver's seat is on the right. I'm worried about when I resume driving in the US, so I always tell myself that Singapore is weird. When I went to London though (which has the same system), I told myself that Americans were better. ^.^

Look familiar? Shell Gas station. Sold in liters (litres) and much more expensive than in the US.

Esso is quite well adapted to Singapore as well, and though there are plenty of 7 Elevens here, Cheers is their biggest competitor (in my opinion).

Quirky little fruit stansd and ghetto-looking restaurants are everywhere.

House of Seafood 180. I suppose this probably sounds better in Chinese, but when I look at it, I just want to go to the next seafood restaurant to eat. (There are plenty of seafood restaurants in Singapore, and it's quite famous for its chili crab. I thought that the chili crab would be more...peppery chili crab, but it's actually more like American-chili-without-the-beans on top of crab.)

HDB (Housing Development Board) has created enormous buildings they call HDB flats. You can tell which ones are older by the amenities (elevators, gardens, etc.). The first level is just a common area, sometimes with tables or sometimes even a mini mart.

And then...we arrived at this Founder Bak Kut Teh Restaurant, which is where plenty of local celebrities eat. You can sort of see the wall inside the restaurant, which is plastered with large pictures of supposed Singaorean celebrities (I only know like....4 Singaporean celebrities but still may not recognize them if they slapped me in the face.)

After Joey treated me to this famous bak kut teh (which really was quite nice, but I failed to get a picture because well....it's not much to look at anyways. Soup, rice and pieces of pork with bones in them...and they expect you to rip the meat out with your teeth. So not my style.), he treated me to Ice Cream Chefs on East Coast Road.

Even though I could walk to this restaurant, I still got lost. Sorry Joey. :)

Koko Crunch and Hershey's chocolate chips into a mixture of Hershey's chocolate and Peanut Butter ice cream (all freshly made, of course). It was lovely!

Singapore's Propoganda - 30 Years

So Singaporeans have gotten through some major propoganda, including the "Operation Smile Singapore" and "Speak Good English Movement."

However, neither of these compares to the 30th anniversary of the Speak Mandarin Campaign. 

Yet again, I find that these program(mes) are so Brave New World, where the government makes decisions on behalf of its people (as is its role), but down to the very language spoken at home? It seems ludicrous.

I have and always will be a proponent of speaking multiple languages, but it seems a shame that Singaporean Minister Mentor (MM) Lee says that by learning the other dialects of Chinese, most notably Teochew, Hokkein, Hakka and Cantonese, one limits oneself to only being able to communication with a measley few millions instead of the 1.3 billion that Mandarin offers.

However, I do indeed protest this number of 1.3 billion. They always manage to discount the fact that there are many Chinese people living abroad and that do speak Mandarin. 

People who do not learn the language of their ancestors will eventually lose all traces of their heritage. However, to encourage this through means of spending government money to promote this seems ...well.....like a soft dictatorship.

A surprise at Boat Quay?

My friend from Taiwan is visiting, so I ran him all around from Bugis Junction to National Library to Raffles Hotel to Raffles City to Boat Quay to Clarke Quay and back to Fairmont Hotel all in one day. I am thankful to be alive, though my feet are quite upset with me.

While strolling at Boat Quay (me secretly looking for a foot massage place but unfortunately, SOME people are too ticklish), we ran by a restaurant that featured carved out melons! It's too bad that they don't sell wooden versions of these because doing it in fruit seems like such a waste, but nevertheless, the hostess allowed me to take a picture (because I'm clearly a tourist today instead of a questionable-local). 

Of all the (TV show) Heroes powers, I think one of the greatest ones was the girl who could learn anything by just watching it being done once. Just imagine! Me being able to do that double back tuck......or being able to carve melons.

Missing Home

I'm a bit nostalgic for home right now, so what do I do when I'm a bit blue?

I go onto Google Maps and have a look at my house. It's sort of weird, knowing where my Tinky or my parents are right now, and I can do it with pinpoint accuracy because of the level of precision that Google Maps allows.

I see the gardens in which my dad spends so much time.

I see my bedroom.

I see the apple and cherry trees, though they look so small on screen.

I see the pine tree that I ran into after my dad had just removed the training wheels and blacked out.

I see the neighborhood that I grew up in, and it's so weird to be so detached from all the things I had as a child. A bird's eye view of all that I know.

No tears come, but this aloofness, this strange realization that I am so incredibly far away from home...it makes me feel as if a Horcrux is dangling from my neck as well.

Things I Wonder #6 Friday the 13th

So I was wondering earlier today, since there is no bad luck associated with triskaidekaphobia (fear of thirteen) in Singapore, what is? Well, I know a few things about numbers and Chinese superstition:

• 3 and 8 are especially lucky numbers because when you put them together and say something uninteligible to the American-trained ear, it means working hard more money or something like that. *waves hand as if shooing the notion away*
• 9 signifies longevity, which was particularly interesting to me because many Chinese emporers would have dragons sewn onto their clothes with the 9th dragon hidden inside (how charming).
• 4 is spooky! Four sounds like the Chinese word for 'death,' and so I wonder (though I haven't asked anyone yet) if April fourth is a really bad day.

Kayne West is all up in my biznizes and other news

• Kayne West Sneakers for Louis Vuitton have been priced! [NiceKicks] Too bad they're only for men. boohoo! :'(
• DO YOU NOT GET ENOUGH SLEEP? 
  Well, you may be putting yourself at higher risk of Diabetes [Reuters]
  
• If You Seek Amy Music Video! [BritneySpears]
• Google transforming VoiceMail to E-Mail [Reuters] eh? 
• Michael Jackson Tickets are EX, man!!! [Telegraph] £1,500?? Holy moly! I mean, MJ hasn't been on tour since 1997, so it's been 12 years. I can't wait for the YouTube uploads!!
• China believes in 2010 recovery [BBC] I really do consider this recession to be a cleansing of the financial system, and even though Warren Buffet calls it "falling off a cliff," I think that people will once again have equal footing. May the best men come on top!
• 23andMe seek Parkinson's patients [Bloomberg] For those of you who don't know, this company was started by a wife of one of the Google co-founders, and if you send in your saliva (if I remember correctly, 10 mL which is A LOT), they will give you a sort of roadmap of your DNA and your probabilities of having/developing certain conditions. And look, now they're trying to figure out Parkinson's. How cute.
• What does it feel like to drive at 200 mph? (That's 322 kph, for you S.I. people) [Bloomberg] Exhilerating? It's a bit too daredevil for me. :p
• $32,300 for a Missississienpis Alligator Skin Louis Vuitton Neverfull MM [LouisVuitton] wow.

My First Genuine Revelation of a Singaporean Joke

So I was watching a commercial for Don't Forget the Lyrics Singapore,
and I made a delightful discovery! I got a Singaporean joke!

The comedienne said that it was late, and she had to get to Orchard Towers!

For the non-Singaporeans, Orchard Towers at night is a popular place
to pick up a prostitute. You will also find transvestites (or as my
friend calls them "he-shes").

I must admit, I did have a startling experience with a transvestite
before, but I'll save that for another day.

I just wanted to commemorate my first joke! Yay!

And today I wasn't chased down by Standard Chartered bank people! Double yay!

And the third yay is that I played euchre and rocked! Woohoo!

--
Sent from my mobile device

Making Up Lost Time Along My Travels Through the Internet

Sorry that Monday was so mundane; the world did not wake up yet. 

• Forbe's list of billionaires wipes off 332 names, leaving only 793. [BBC] They report an average of losing 23% of their wealth (holy. cow.)
• New website: Where did you get your hair done? Looking for new styles of hair? [MopShots] Perfect!
• RESEARCH MONEY PUT TO GOOD USE: New method of manufacture for lithium-ion batteries allows for a recharge in seconds [BBC]
• Google promises more interesting ads [Google Blog]
• Anti-cancer genes packaged on nanoparticles [Reuters]
• Mapping out intelligence in the brain [Caltech]

On a positive note, I've decided only to post things that are non-negative. So as much as I read about bombs, war, deteriorating health, aging, etc., I'm only putting up positive news. We need something like this to pick us up once in a while. 

I'm slowling learning how to enjoy life, so this is just an experiment.

YOUTUBE

My most favorite commercial of all time.

Being chased by standard chartered

For the last two weeks, every day I go to work, and at least one
person chases me to offer some credit card nonsense from Standard
Chartered. Seriously, I hope they're being paid well because I laugh
derisively to their faces by now. It's not the same person every day,
so they don't know me. For the ones I can't shake off, I yell at them
that I'm a tourist, even though I'm totally in my work clothes.
Whatever. They're annoying, yet I sort of want to start playing pranks
on them. But they're just trying to earn a living, so I guess not.
Boo.

--
Sent from my mobile device

MODE......exists? Huh?

UH.....WHO KNEW THIS?

Ugly Betty has an online magazine of it's ficticious magazine Mode

What!?!?!

Tinkerbell, did you know about this?! (*points finger accusingly*)

Update: Things I Wonder #5

TADA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Look what the cat dragged in today, Ryan!

I believe, I win.

VIDEO LINK

BOOMSHAKALAKA

Healthcare Shmelthcare

Thy-Mors hospital in Denmakr and IBM have teamed up to create a 3D computer model of patient anatomy in order to visualize a patient's medical history instead of sifting through lots and lots of records.

Arrows on the body indicate treated areas, and a mouse-click on a specific part will reveal relevant medical history.

[Reuters Health article]

The only thing I wonder is, where do you click for immunizations? Hm??? Or allergies, especially those medicine-related allergies?

This sounds like a really good idea, but I hope that the software does address these as well as other things I fail to mention. It does, however, seem to be a waste of some data space if the snapshot of the body is different for every single person. I hope that the labels just follow the link of the person. And always, I hope that the privacy of the person is protected with painsaking attention to details.

I wonder if abortions would show up. Vitamin supplements? Charts related to growth as a child? Maybe there is a better way to organize the information, mm?

When "Great Recession" actually means "Great Depression"

The International Monetary Fund has announced that the world's economy would probably contract this year, and that many efforts in Africa will be undone by the end of this Great Recsesion.

I would no longer call it a Great Recession, people.

Let's face it: it's a Great Depression.

The economy sometimes does what we spoiled people call a "detox diet," and even though it's drinking dilute lemon juice (NOT, mind you, lemonade as they will tell you) spiked with cayenne pepper, it's flushing out its system.

And as for things being undone in Africa, doesn't anyone realize that we have a better chance of saving the 922 million people there (that's IT? there are more people in CHINA!) [according to Wikipedia quoting the 2005 consensus] by picking them up and moving them all around to the more civilized parts of the world.  By the way, there are 4 billion people in Asia. 

OK. 

OK! PEOPLE

This is a depression. I was doing some research on the Great Depression (granted, on Wikipedia) back in the 1930's, and the real way to get out of this is going to be war. We're not talking about some crazy North Korea nonsense.

We're talking about big people with the equivalent big sticks (e.g. wmd) looking at opponents and being like...........we don't like you. we take you over! and the israelites start running away. (at least, they should after reading headlines like that one)

Something like that.

This is all my opinion, mind you. I will never pretend that I have all the facts (which I believe that no one at this point does, though of course there are people better informed than others, me only half-included after my many travels through the internet). 

[Annoying Reuters Article That Won't Call It As It Is]

the american media is so skewed. sigh. that's why I read french, spanish, british, middle eastern, singaporean, and general asian news as well. you can forget african news because that's sort of a joke. whatever is important in africa, sadly, will be announced in middle eastern news or even european news. so get off my back!

What do these numbers mean to you?

Dwight D. Eisenhower - 38 attempts

John F. Kennedy - 42 attempts

Lyndon Johnson - 72 attempts

Richard Nixon - 184 attempts

Jimmy Carter - 64 attempts

Ronald Reagan - 197 attempts

George Bush Sr - 16 attempts

Bill Clinton - 21 attempts

These are the number of attempts to oust Fidel Castro during their respective terms as President of the United States.

Who knew?

[Telegraph]

Audrey Tautou as Coco Chanel and Other News!!

• Children with older fathers have lower IQs [Reuters] I could make a lot of cracks right here, but then again, I prefer older fathers over 13 year old boys.
• With 78 million about to enter retirement, we sure need more nurses [Reuters] But nursing schools have become too exclusive and therefore, somehow...we have to fix this problem. mmmhmmm
• Someone tried to smuggle cocaine into Spain in his cast [Reuters] and some folding chairs and beer cans. Smart. Hm...I didn't know that most drugs in Europe enter through Spain. How would we know this? I smell something fishy.
• If you're British, no more YouTube music videos for you [Reuters] Tough luck, chap.

YOUTUBE TIME:

COCO AVANT CHANEL

(Coco Before Chanel)

It's entirely in French. Opening in France 22 Avril. 

Shine, Victoria's Secret and Synthetic Ribosomes?

• Shine from Yahoo! is a one stop shop for fashion, parenting, love, healthy living, food, and life management advice. Check it out! 
• Barbie shuns Paris and London and jets off to ...China? [Bloomberg] Mattel decided to move Barbie to CHINA? (IRONY!) The outlet is a 6-story tall building and first of its kind outlet. Move over, Hello Kitty.
• Stock market crash: eye openers [Bloomberg] A share of The Limited won't even buy you a pair of underwear from Victoria's Secret. :(
• Scientists build a ribosome, paving way for synthetic biology [Boston.com] The ribosome is the main cellular component that creates protein. If we go further with this, there are limiteless possibilities. For example, we will not longer have to depend on growing certain antibiotics in bacteria.

Mike Rowe: Dirty Jobs, Passion, and more

Happiness, success, inspiration, (and slightly icky) a great talk.

Watch this.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

TRAILER TRAILER!!!

Movie Trailers - Movies Blog

Less Sleep...More Interesting News

• Third Century Iron Industry in Malaysia [CNN] Ancient civilizations in Southeast Asia are more awesome than previously thought. Ever since I came to Asia, it has become more awesome. This is just the kicker.
• 3 Michelin-starred The Fat Duck restaurant has around 400 with food poisoning [CNN] The article doesn't mention food poisoning, but it says diarrhea and vomiting. It could be a bunch of other things, but since I'm not paid for my opinions, I say food poisoning it is!!

WOLVERINE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (and my favorite, GAMBIT!)

TRAILER TRAILER TRAILER!!!!!!!!!

Movie Trailers - Movies Blog

Return of Princess of Pop, now King of Pop and other news

• A four year old Taiwanese boy has exclusive rights to a tiny plot in the Taiwan STraight from May to September [Reuters] It's an uninhabited tropical island that is supposedly gorgeous. Taiwan has been trying to encourage locals to spend vouchers that the government gave to every citizen in January to encourage spending and thus boost the lagging economy. The boy and up to seven family membesr can visit the island five times for trips no longer than three days. Sounds a little steep for winning something.
• 2 out of 3 Britons lie about having read certain books [Reuters] Orwell's 1984, Tolstoy's War and Peace, Joyce's Ulysses, and the Bible came in fourth.
• King of Pop Michael Jackson to perform live in Britain (maybe 50 shows) [Telegraph]
• $1 iPhone application is quick reference for (medical) diagnoses [Medgadget] I don't know how Nokia or Google will be able to catch up with the large amount of applications that are readily available for the iphone, not to mention that ebooks from Amazon are also now available on it. 
• Google offers (very) recent earthquake information from US Geological Survey when you search "earthquakes" [Google Blog]
• $8.4 billion alloted by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to repair and build America's public transportation infrastructure [White House Blog]
• Got a tip for saving money? Go to the Tip Jar by Google [TipJar]
• China (or what I refer to as "the mountain") declares war against unemployment [El Pais]

YOUTUBE: EMILIE SIMON - FLEUR DE SAISON

For Science Nerdy Types Like Me

• Incidence of Type II Diabetes May Be Directly Related to PCG-1 beta gene response to high levels of Fructose [Cell Metabolism] This gene activates another gene that regulates the production of fat by the liver. Fructose is broken down in the body in a different way that glucose is, and it is more readily convertible into fat. I read this while recovering from my high-fructose corn syrup Coke from this morning. I need to cut down, man!
• Sexual reproduction in plants especially vulnerable to the effects of...
  (play Mozart's 5th Symphony's first 49 seconds here)
  
  
  
  ...............................Global Warming [Trends in Plant Science] Gosh, I am funny.
• Drug Addiction and Epigenetic Mechanisms [Trends in Molecular Medicine] 
• Looking at the evolutionary consequences of nonsense SNPs [Cell] I've been wondering about this for a long, long time. Nonsense mutations have, at [rare] occassions, actually been advantageous. 

Um...WOW. Scary Magic Trick

I DON'T KNOW HOW HE DID IT

but I was scurred. For reelz.

Electric Car Looks More Worse Than Honda Element (I didn't think it was possible) and Other News

• Ten coworkers are going to split the $216 million dollar jackpot from New Jersey [CNN] I've never been much of a gambler (or a winner).....but this makes me wanna go out and try my luck. :(
• Jewel is out and Holly Madison (Hugh Hefner's most recent ex) is in with Dancing With the Stars [US]
• The newest generation of Robots [Boston] We've got a huge T-rex, some seal pups and some royalty in these pictures. My personal favorite are the pups (I have many weaknesses).
• China (once again) says it will put aside differences with Taiwan [El Pais] Mentiras (Spanish for "lies")
• RESEARCH MONEY PUT TO GOOD USE: The Aptera 2e [Bloomberg] Electric (100 miles per charge) and three wheels? Two seater? Looks like a giant bug (like all cars, to be honest). Cool!
• Mortgage bailout to help every 1 out of every 9 US homeowners [WSJ] Hm...considering that 1 out of every 5 is "underwater" then this means that --> 5 out of 9 of those "underwater" are getting help. I hope. My fractions are unflawed but the assumptions could be. 
• YouTube hub for Official Music Videos? [WSJ] I hope this comes up!! Knowing the US, it will be only available there for a while. Poo.
• Google Health enables you a secure place to put your health information as well as share it with people you trust. [Google Health] I just signed up today!

I had a great day yesterday, and I walked home singing this song:

Things I Wonder #5

Why do most fashion models have their makeup done in ways that make them look dead?

Does anyone really find it attractive?  

Don't go all mannequin on me.

On a side note, I wish that Photoshopping people became illegal. 

Call it false advertising, if you will.

UPDATE:

Look at this picture here. QED 

Why are we teaching little girls that this is what people should strive to resemble? I think it's hideous.

Things I Wonder #4

Why are people obsessed with where they think they're going to go after they die? 

Can you really feel that much better being told where you'll end up? Is it really that essential to know? 

Being told that I'll come back as a horse or a cow or never coming back (and going to a hot place or even a place with roads paved in gold) doesn't really affect the way I live my life. So why do we insist on having religions tell us (when they couldn't possibly know themselves) where people go to when they die?

I guess we're fickle. 

I mean, it may comfort people to think that bad people are punished by a higher being, but at the risk of there being no higher being, I guess the justice system needs to be stricter after all.

Oprah takes in the luckiest dog in the world and more news

• Blackstone CEO takes a 99% pay cut (base is $350,000) [Reuters] I also found a link to coverage of his $3 million 60th birthday party [NY Times]
• RESEARCH MONEY WASTED: Study reports alcohol abuse may lead to depression [Reuters] If you had paid me as much money as you spent on this study, I could have told you the same thing. And I would have only charged you $2000.
• Hospitals, on average, are banking on a zero profit margin [Reuters] Hm...hm.....I wonder what this really implies. Obviously, since less and less numbers of Americans have health-insurance, this means that people are not so quick to go to the hospital. They reported in the survey that over half of 400 hospitals surveyed are actually losing money. But does this also mean that people are getting hurt less? Does it mean that more people are dying because they aren't going to the hospital? What does it all mean? Could it make the human race stronger? What is there was suddenly an epidemic right now? What would happen?
• Case in point: More and more strains of flu are resistant to main flu drug [Reuters] no duh. WHO GETS PAID TO WRITE THESE ARTICLES? I WANT TO BE A JOURNALIST!!
• Children who watch more than 2 hours of tv a day are twice as likely to develop asthma. [Reuters] I'm screwed.
• Masters of Arts degree in The Beatles offered in Liverpool Hope University [Reuters] Dude, I totally knew that English people were a bit weird.
• If I were home right now, I would make this for dinner: Portobello, Broccoli and Red-Pepper Melts [Martha Stewart] *wipes away drool*
• Luckiest dog on the planet: Oprah adopts cocker spaniel [Chicago Sun Times] I wish Oprah adopted me.
• HS4 = High School Musical 4 [Broadcasting & Cable] And girly screaming shall commence...now. Sigh. This is madness!
• We just found another moon orbiting Saturn. It's a cutie (and super small, as far as moons go) [CNN]
• Dream job: candidates pitching [CNN]

Valerie's First Walk!!!

I'm so happy (such an awww moment) that my cousin posted this on Youtube of his second daughter:

I'm so proud of you! And stop growing so quickly!!! >.<

If I Only Had a Brain

From Wizard of Oz (it's been stuck in my head all day, no pun intended)

Things I Wonder #3

Why do things of infinite improbability happen at all points of time?

For instance, what is the probability that there will be a raindrop on this exact part of a leaf? One over infinity, yes? No? I don't know?!

Spotted: Pink Dolphin!!

• Albino dolphins are actually pink. Who knew? [Telegraph]
• Peacekeepers keep asparagus safe on Cyprus [Reuters] and out of harm's way (guffaw)
  
• No dividends because KKR lost 1.2 billion. [Reuters] oops.
  
• Germans in their 20s would rather have internet than spouses [Reuters] uh....um.....I would rather have a spouse, to be honest. And lots of friends and phone numbers. But not having the internet would be terrible just the same.
• I don't listen to violinists (strings) often, but THIS IS AMAZING: Youtube Symphony!!!!!!! [Youtube Blog] AMAZING #5 is my favorite!!!!!!
• Thank you to Jenny for this one: "Greg Rutter's Definitive List of the 99 Things You Should Have Already Experienced on the Internet Unless You're a Loser or Old or Something" [Link] I'm going to create a similar list, but better.
• I know I'm bad to be happy but: Toyota lost $3.6 Big ones. [Bloomberg] And I'm not talking hundreds here.
• Cai Mingchao, a Chinese government advisoer refuses pyament of 31.4 million euros ($40 million) for the two Qing bronzes [Bloomberg] Pah.
• New way to make [pluripotent] stem cells [Reuters]
• Apparently Pakiststan doesn't like Cricket, or maybe it's Sri Lanka because masked gunment attacked the vehicle carrying some members of the Sri Lankan national cricet team (and killing five police officers) [WSJ] Geez. People need to have their priorities straightened. Seriously.
• The Top 50 World's Most Admired Companies by Fortune [CNN Money]
• Cell phones soon can be used by the Deaf as Tactile Listening Aids [Medgadget] That is fantastic!

YOUTUBE VIDEO

it's pretty darn funny

I know I'm not supposed to laugh, but I laughed. A lot.

Things I Wonder #2

If there are 2 stalls, which one is a woman more inclined to use? The closest one?

And if there are three stalls? 

And four? 

What if one is handicapped?

Things I Wonder #1

Do people will small eyes have a smaller periphery? 

I have been to McDonalds so many times that:

I no longer have to say "no ice" with my Sprite. 

The elves know me so well.

I call them elves because there is a lady under 4 feet tall. I'm guessing around 3'5". I couldn't believe it. I checked for Santa, but he wasn't there. Shame.

Happy Bunnies, Happy Tummies.

Warning: This content is difficult to understand unless you have the brain the size of a grapefruit.

BABY!

BUNNY IS SO HAPPY! Bunny ate a 10" pizza today with lots of chicken and turkey bacon

and

and

and

green peppers (which they call capiscum??)

and

mushrooms

and

black olives

and and um 

yum yum!

OK Back to normal speech:

I had a pizza from PastaMania, which is sort of like a Fazoli's but much more expensive and lacking the fettucine alfredo (What I wouldn't kill for it right now...). The garlic breadsticks (made of oily, oily goodness) have been replaced by (oily, oily) garlic bread. Usually I would get pasta, but my friend Jimmy (you know, the one who has been stalking you but not really [don't worry Mom, Tinky is fine]) told me that it was better to eat that than the McDonald's Chicken McSpicy (which is basically AMAZING and I will take a picture of it the next time I eat it, which will be tomorrow). 

It was so lacking in cheese and tomato sauce, but the abundant toppings made everything better. I ate 3/8 of it for lunch, 1/4 for a snack, and the remaining 3/8 for dinner. However, it did cost me $21. I guess divided into three meals it doesn't seem as expensive - yet it is. The average meal here should cost you about $5.

Sigh. I'm going for McDonadld's tomorrow. The Chicken McSpicy is AMAZINGGGGG, except that it makes me cry.

I dyed my hair back after work on Friday, and I feel a bit gothy now. Not really. It's just sort of surprising to see my hair so dark after a while. The perm is still there. I was looking for a digital perm place in Indy, but I haven't found one yet. :p

Help?

Love,

Sans

March has come!!!!!!

I was just talking to Eddie about how much I miss NBA and NFL, and I'm sad about the first piece of news:

• 2 NFL players are among the missing Florida boaters [CNN] That is so scary! :( No FL boating trips for me.
• Iran responds unfavorably to Hollywood delegation, citing insults culture [CNN] Intense read!
• Ski resort saves $450,000 annually after installation of wind turbine [CNN] Wow! This is amazing!!!!!! I wish I had a wind turbine. But in Indiana.....I suppose solar could be better. 
• 3,000 Chinese have been treated for Internet addiction. [Time on CNN] Someone's son bit and beat her because she wouldn't let him touch the computer. That's....pretty bad.
• Boston, New England possibly hit with 15 inches of snow. [CNN] By the time you read this, I hope that my readers in NE are ok. And I love snow. Singapore doesn't have snow. It has fake snow, which is actually glorified soap bubbles. 

YOUTUBE: 

Warning: This is Awesome.

Chik-Fil-A > McDonalds

Fact 1: In 6 McNuggets, there are 17 g of fat. 

Fact 2: In 12 Chik-Fil-A nuggets, there is 19 g of fat.

Fact 3: In 6 McNuggets, there are 14 g of protein.

Fact 4: In 6 Chik-Fil-A nuggets, there is 20 g protein.

By logic as prescribed by Aristotle and Dr. Phil,

Chik-Fil-A is a much healthier choice if you want your chicken nuggets.

Air Conditioning is One of the Culprits of the Crime Called Obesity

• There are so pretty compelling (and not-so-compelling) theory related to Obesity Theory, but some of them include artificial sweetners, pollution, viruses, and yep, air-conditioning. [Popular Science]
• Finding Atlantis would cost $2 billion [Popular Science]
• The first Transparent Headed Fish caught on tape! The Pacific Barreleye Fish [National Geographic] [Video]
• (550-990) lb. Stingray [National Geographic]  (is it bad if I say that sounds delicious?) 
• Some nutcase sent HIV+ blood to Obama [CNN]
• Mischevious octopus floods the entire Santa Monica Pier Aquarium [CNN] (Giggles)

YouTube Videos of the Day:

SO CUTE!!

Cai Luong [Vietnamese Opera (?)] using English

The "Holy Grail" of Comic Books

• Rare copy of first Superman comic will be up for online bidding. [Reuters] Collectible experts value it at $126,000. Wow.
• Saks Fifth Avenue is down $99 million in the fourth quarter [NY Magazine] Bringing the year's losses to a cool $154.9 million. Youch.
• Asian supermodel Kimora Lee Simmons hits the jackpot: $40K per month for child support (and full custody) [People] What a shamdoozle.
• Healthier living will cut a third of common cancers [Reuters] I guess this means I'm definately going to get cancer. Cheers. You can pry the cupcakes away from my cold fingers!
• It's times like these when I know that grant money is being wasted: Four years and two mathematicians later, there is a computer model theory of the symmetry of snowflakes [Reuters] Come on people. Seriously? Two people spent four years of their lives coming up with an explanation to snowflake symmetry? Get a life! And yes, I love snowflakes.
• Taping magnets to crocodiles brains [Reuters] so that they don't return to their original territory after being relocated.
• The newest MacBook Pro is gorgeous. Too bad it's $2799. :(
• Tom Brady marries Gisele. [CNN] I will never get over the fact that he didn't marry his baby's mama. And I never liked Gisele, I'm sorry. Just the same, wishing them happiness together.
• Ancient footprints found in Kenya [CNN] that are 1.5 million years old (the 3.6 were of Lucy's species)
• (I love Vietnam Idol.) SO FUNNY 

• (I love Doutzen Kroes.)
  

I saw something today that I never thought I would ever see.

Seriously. Ever.

I was just finishing up my chao and making my way back up to the office after lunch, and I happened to glance at this woman's ear.

She was wearing a belly button ring in her ear.

Singapore has some major fashion lows, but this? This "tops" the list.

I was in shock for a good 5 minutes. 

The $28 Million Chair.

Wow. 

• YSL chair fetches $28M. [Bloomberg] Upon the second day of sales, they already fetched double the top estimate of the revenues - how I envy Cheska Vallois.
• UK's Royal Bank of Scotland reports $34 billion. [CNN] for the year 2008. 
• The more alcohol, the higher risk of cancer in women. [Reuters] I love how they put in a quote from Dumbledore (from Harry Potter).
• 666th person officially gets sick from Salmonella [Reuters] Wow, how would you feel if you were the 665th person? What a shame.
• Microsoft decides to drop the payback scheme [Reuters]
• If you've got a spare 20 minutes, watch this episode from Two and a Half Men [Sina.com]
• Saving the planet by staying married? [Reuters] People use less resources when they share. :) Duh.
• Taiwanese ex-con asks for more time in prison because he's hungry [Reuters] He can't find a job. 
• Nokia is considering entering the laptop industry as phones and computers continue to merge [Reuters] No surprise there.
• Big bust on Mexican drug cartel [CNN] I wish Singapore's drug laws were in place in the US. We could really clean up. 
• Obese teenage boys are just as likely to die as others who smoke more than half a pack of cigarettes a day [Bloomberg] This is quite alarming, and I hope that healthy weight loss programs and teaching healthy eating habits increases over the next few years in America.
• US to leave Irak in 2010 [El Pais] 
• Curbing the methane from sheep belches [WSJ] Ridiculous.
• HOLY COW Korea v. Japan over a bit of islands [Boston.com]  I have to say that cutting off pheasant's heads (Japanese national bird) over the Japanese flag in front of the Japanese embassy in Seoul is quite a message.
• I love this Silly bunny!
  

Bunny is Angry at BK

Burger King is have a promotion for 4 chicken tenders as an add-on for $1.95. 

I go in, not knowing that it's an add-on promotion and ask for two boxes of them. They say that they can only give me the 6 piece for $3.60. If I want 10 pieces, that means I have to pay $5.55.

Yesterday I went for McDonald's 9 piece McNuggets for $4.65. That means that my extra tendr cost me $.90. --> not worth it!!

I'm never ordering chicken tenders from BK again.

You make me upset! We're in a recession, you nasties! I'm hungry, and I want my food!

Electricity Runs Away

Do you see this?

I woke up yesterday in the middle of the night and saw this. No, it is not a black box. 

Everything was pitch black because the electricity had gone away. It came back around 11:30 or so. It wasn't scary because I had my [stuffed] frog next to me to hold me. It's a bit intimidating to wake up to a black room. 

And by the way, work is funny because I can hear the antics of the people next door. They sure are funny, even if they're speaking completely in Chinese. ;)