Triathlon trophy

LOL. Congrats for coming in first in the triathlon - here's your can of Milo.

Triathlon trophy was a big disappointment

MY FAMILY attended the Milo MOE TRYathlon last Saturday on Sentosa.

It was the first time my child participated in a triathlon; we were very excited to sign up and even had practice sessions to prepare her for the big day. We rounded up many friends to register as we reckoned it would be a good family bonding event.

Furthermore, it was also a Ministry of Education-endorsed programme, so we thought it should be a very well-organised activity.

To our disappointment, the "limited edition trophy" that the organisers promised for all participants turned out to be a large can of Milo.

Given the steep registration fee participants had to pay, surely the organising committee could afford to get a small token of appreciation for the children instead of just a can of Milo, which can be purchased from any supermarket chain.

Michael Leong

Too skimpy

Some oversensitive park officers in Singapore tried to stop this uncle (who looks amazing for a 54yo) from using the beach in his speedos.

Maybe they object to green trunks?

Or their husbands cannot be seen in public similarly clad?

EDIT: More details here

When asked about this incident, the NParks spokesman said swimming attire is acceptable at their beach parks.

'We have investigated the incident and we think this is more than a case of appropriate swimwear at beach parks.

'There are grounds to believe that our female officer has been harassed by the park user.'

The spokesman said the NParks officer had been supervising workers removing unwanted items from East Coast Park when she was approached by Mr Pang from behind.

'She turned around and was surprised to see a man skimpily clad in swimming trunks. Our officer requested that he cover himself more appropriately, as she noted that his swimming trunks were 'revealing,' said the spokesman.

The spokesman declined to elaborate on what exactly 'revealing' meant.

'The man responded by raising his voice at our officer, while pulling his swimming trunks in an indecent manner. Our officer felt intimidated by his actions and walked away. After dressing up, he further provoked her by waving his swimming trunks menacingly in front of her,' added the spokesman.

Can someone show me how to wave my speedos menacingly?

Beauty II

Oh this is good. Beckham cloned in China ad

At a local toilet

OMG so big!

Beauty

Amazing how we can differ in what we find appealing in a subject.

For instance, I find this classic Armani shot quite blasé. And yes I admit I am not a big fan of the Becks glamour-whores.



Funny how these spoofs are so much more interesting:



This one is just hilarious:



Before?



40 years after?

Winter?

It was 13c this morning when I left for work!

Tossing salad

Am hosting a dinner for a good friend visiting from HK this weekend and thought it will be civilised to toss some fish with assorted vegetables into the air. For some silly reason, it is not a tradition to do here in Shanghai.

Here is how we toss fish salad properly:

Step 1:
Say Gong Xi Fa Cai 恭喜发财 (getting rich) and Wan Shi Ru Yi 万事如意(your wishes come true) when putting down the fish 鱼生 on the table.

Step 2:
Say Nian Nian You Yu 年年有余 (to have a surplus every year) when placing Yu Sheng 鱼生 onto the shredded carrot.

Step 3:
Say Hong Yun Dang Tou 红运当头 (red luck flourishing) when putting chilli, pepper and five-spice powder to the Yu Sheng 鱼生.

Step 4:
Say You Shui Duo Duo 油水多多 (business to be flourishing) when adding the olive oil to the Yu Sheng 鱼生 .

Step 5:
Say Man Di Huang Jin 满地黄金 (to obtain abundant wealth) when adding the thin golden crackers.

Step 6:
Say Tian Tian Mi Mi 甜甜蜜蜜 (business to be flourishing) when sprinkling the dressing.

Step 7:
Say Da Ji Da Li 大吉大利 (to be very auspicious) when adding lime juice to the ingredient.

Step 8:
And lastly, the cue to start tossing is 愿大家捞个风生水起! May everyone here see their fortune rise higher with each toss. The higher you toss, the better.

Time to show these clueless natives how to celebrate Chinese New Year properly!

Victim?

Hmmm.

Singapore: 6 men charged in teen sex case
By Fridae News Editor

Six men in Singapore have been charged under Sections 377 (pre-repeal) and 377A for having sexual relations with a 15-year-old male teenager.

Singapore's Mandarin-language daily LianHe Zaobao (联合早报) reported today that the six men were charged last Thursday for sexual acts against the order of nature and gross indecency with the same 15-year-old boy in 2006 and 2007. It is not known when the men will be sentenced. According to a media background brief published by the Attorney-General’s Chambers, the six accused persons are believed to have met the student while chatting on the Internet.

The brief stated: “The Public Prosecutor will prosecute persons who exploit a young victim who is a minor, irrespective of the gender of the victim or whether the act was consensual. A young male victim, who is a minor, deserves to be accorded the same protection of the law as that given to a young female victim who is a minor.”

Two observations:
1. Is this guy a victim?
This 15yo guy was active on the internet chatting up older guys. Over a period of 2 years, he would meet with 6 men from different backgrounds and different ages for sex. The first encounter occured sometime in 2006 while he was still 13yo. Instead of crying rape or reporting the encounter to the police, he kept going back online for more. Who is the real victim here? This horny jailbait or the men who fell for his youthful charms?

2. How to protect?
The last statement in the brief is not entirely accurate. Under the law in Singapore, it is not illegal in Singapore for an older woman to enjoy sexual relations with an underaged young man against his will. Statutory rape only applies when the victim is an underaged female, regardless of her consent. How are we protecting our impressible nubile boys from lusty slutty aunties?

Wow

Isn't it amazing how some candid holiday shots could work so well?

ME! ME! ME!

Oops. But aren't we all a little narcissistic anyway?

25 Things I Didn't Want to Know About You

Facebook's "25 Things About Me" meme seems harmless enough; people write 25 facts about themselves and post them on their Facebook pages, just as they do with videos, status updates and photos of last weekend's party. An estimated 5 million of these notes — that's 125 million facts — have appeared on the website within the past week. Assuming it takes someone 10 minutes to come up with their list, this recent bout of viral narcissism has sent roughly 800,000 hours of worktime productivity down the drain.

Its not like there's a lot going on at work anyway. The whole office is still drunk, stuffed and hungover from Chinese New Year festivities.

My 25 things

Its a facebook thing - reposting here for posterity.

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1. Was a sickly child - fevers, coughs, fevers you name it.

2. Wonder Woman freaks me out - something scary about a woman in spandex spinning around.

3. Grew up drinking Chinese herbal tea eg 24 flavours, ginseng, luohan - the more bitter the better!

4. I am still a crybaby. Last cried when my plane landed in Singapore.

5. Afraid of being locked in a store/restaurant - you won't see me linger past closing time.

6. Childhood ambitions: NASA astronaut, opera singer, sheep farmer in New Zealand, marine biologist.

7. Lego creations: Lunar module, Battlestar Galactica, Gas station, HDB skyscraper.

8. Loved musicals - once I skipped classes to watch the Sound of Music for the 5th time on VHS.

9. Used to be a boy soprano - voice broke while singing the Sound of Music.

10. Was an IT whizz back in the Apple IIe days - until BASIC programming was too basic.

11. Favourite childhood foods - baked beans on toast and licking Horlicks off the spoon.

12. Used to swim for my school. My personal best - 33.2 sec in 50m breaststroke.

13. Got real drunk once during my army days on Stoli shots - woke up the next morning between a lesbian couple. They became my colleagues a few years later.

14. Law school was not my first choice - the Faculty of Pharmacy in NUS had rejected my application.

15. Got into books because of Enid Blyton. Got into music because of Mozart. Got into diving because of a bad breakup.

16. Can't tell the difference between purple and blue. Being colourblind means bad fashion sense.

17. I get bored easily in bars. Unless there's a game or slot machine at the back.

18. There is a bar in NYC that still has my name on its high score.

19. I have 2 left feet - can't dance to save my life except to keep warm.

20. Have a bad memory for names - what's your name again?

21. Forget things all the time as well. Left my iPod Touch in Koln, my PSP in Shanghai and my passport in Bangkok.

22. Prefer cats to dogs - don't let my dog hear that.

23. My Mandarin is still atrocious - what am I doing in China?

24. Am still afflicted by wanderlust. Tho these days, there is no place like home.

25. Will like to live the rest of my days by the beach somewhere with a scruffy beach dog.

Paternal love

Phew - lucky my dad never loved me this way.

Back!

Sorry for the long hiatus. Life/family/friends catching up.