My Voice

Well, some of you may not have heard me talk yet... And seriously, if you do not like my voice, neither do I... But, I was born with it and I have to live with it. Unless moolah drops from the sky and I'm able to go under the knife to do something to it...

Here's what happened the other day...
A colleague brought his amp to the office, because we had our annual staff party, hooked up a mic to it and got me to mic test. There I was, yabbah yabbah into the mic, and I really cringed. I told them I can't stand hearing my voice cos it's SUPER whiny though I have no intention to whine.
Then they laugh...

I'm irritated not because of the laughing and what not. Because as normally as I try to speak without whining, I still sound as if I'm whining! And sometimes I feel that because of the pitch and tone of my voice, no one takes me really seriously and would always brush my comments off as whining... When in actual fact, I'm NOT whining...

Back to what happened the other day...
And so, a few moments passed and there I was at the processing area, obviously doing something... As we had stock take earlier in the morning, some colleagues who were working morning shift could go home a little earlier. But because we had the staff party in the night, some decided not to go as it was a blardi long day for them.
So, one of them was just about to go home and I started to really whine and asked this fella to go. Then we started to joke, saying I whine to "wrong target" cos this guy is gay. Then Boss and I brought up what happened in the office a little earlier, and there I was, saying that I have a permanently whiny voice.

Back in Poly, a lecturer and some friends told me that if I want people to take me seriously, I have to stop whining. But I really can't help having such a pitch and tone...

Something just set me thinking... Are there cheaper and less invasive alternatives to "tune" my voice? Say vocal lessons or something? If anyone knows, please drop me an email or a comment on this post or the tagboard on your right. Help and suggestions much appreciated. Thanks in advanced!

Things I Hate (Parents Version)

When was the last time I did the things I hate thingy? 2 years back? Here it goes again, my whines about stupid, inconsiderate parents whom I think they need training to be parents.

1. Lost And Still Get Scolded
The other day, my mum and I were at Clementi central. This kid, around 3-4 years of age, was walking and walking ALONE! We decided to follow her, just in case she wanders off onto the road or something. At the same time, we were calling out to her, "小妹妹 (little girl), mummy leh? 你要去哪里? (where do you want to go)" But she just kept walking and walking. She then stopped suddenly and started to walk back towards where we first saw her. My mum followed while I went to bank in money. My mum and the girl saw her mum and her mum wanted to beat saying, scolding her where she had gone to. My mum say don't beat her because she is already so scared. But the lady ignored my mum and continued scolding her. The little girl scolded back, "你去哪里? Ch** b**, ch** b**!" When my mum heard that, she got a shock. The lady never said any kinda thank you words to my mum for helping her find/ look after her child and left with the little girl. I think she was embarrassed.

2. Go Play
Well, these parents don't really care about their children's safety. I was at the bus interchange the other day. This kid kept holding onto a horizontal piece of a metal barricade (that help form the queue lines), swinging himself left and right, at the edge of the kerb. What if he falls and loses his balance? The kid was stepping up and down the kerb too!
These kids can also be seen swinging themselves around the poles in MRTs, dashing around the supermarket with trolleys, running around in the foodcourt, etc. Don't they know MRT can sudden brake at times? Don't they know that being knocked by a trolley can hurt? Don't they know that there are people carrying around hot piping food and if your kid is not careful and knock into such a person, he/she may get scalded?
I understand kids are playful and restless by nature. As parents, you should decide if a place is safe enough for them to run around! And it's definately not a foodcourt.

3. Punish Me, Not My Kid
A very good example was this teenager who punched the bus driver and the dad told everyone to punish him instead. To a certain extent, I agree that if the kid misbehaves, it means that the parents did not bring him/her up properly. However, if this kid does not get his punishment, he will not learn.
Spare the rod and spoil the child? It depends if your child listens to the rotan or listens to reasonings.

4. Son, You Are The One
A few days back, this judge granted custody of the kids to the mum because the dad would not be a good role model. You know what this dad did? He used his son's name to "sex chat" online.
Kids somehow will try to behave how their parents behave. I often see my mum put on makeup and tried to do so myself when no one's loking when I was younger. I ended up with Ronald MacDonald's lips and had eyes as though as they were punched. Being a good role model for your kid is very important.

Things i hate (Supermarket version)

Been wanting to write about this for months already ever since i'm ill and started to do more grocery shopping rather thn shopping for clothes, shoes, bags, etc...

1. The aisle is mine
How many times do u find pple without "license" to "drive" a trolley. whn thy approach an aisle or rack n stop to look for something, they carelessly leave the trolley parked rite in the middle of the lane. often, all aisles are wide enough for 2 trolleys to pass thru without banging into each other, but with people without common sense n leave their trolleys rite smack in the middle, i dun think so...

2. Mini trolleys
Sometimes, u do have mini trolleys for kids to push ard n do shopping like their adult counterparts or for adults like us who just need little stuff but lazy to carry a basket... however, these trolleys can be a nuisance when they are turned into "dangerous vehicles". how often do u c parents, allowing their kids to push the trolleys ard the supermarket at such a speed it seems that they are racing with each other? more often then not, thy dun bother to restraint their active kids n i cant imagine wht would happen if the mini trolley meets into an "accident" with the norm ones... i myself almost kena knocked so many times already!

3. Kids
Some parents dun love their kids, tt's how i feel. with trolleys n people holding heavy baskets ard, thy leave their kids running ard the supermarket, even without trolleys. when i was younger, my parents always made sure i'm seated on the trolley, if i refused to sit, they made sure i'm either holding their hands or their t-shirt. kids, tt's why they are called, are short. sometimes i cant even c a kid in front of my trolley, so often b4 i move off again, i check to c if any kid is nearby my trolley. dangerous to have kids running ard the supermarket unattended. n when i say excuse me, the parents look at me as though i'm gonna kidnap their kid! if u're so damn afraid, hold on to your kid!

4. Counter hoggers
there is a good reason why the cashier scans items one by one and the prices flashes and its for u to check. soooooo many times, i kena these pple... these pple refuse to look at the prices, preferring to look at how their maids load the trolleys. after they pay the bill, thy stop rite in front of the counter, trolley n maid in tow, not moving aside to check the bill. n i have to "excuse me" to move my trolley to load n to "highlight" to the fella in front of me to shoo off.

5. Fogging
nowadays, freezers have switched from the open top ones to the open doors kind. the doors are all glass, fully transparent. i've seen stupid pple (sorry to say that), opening the freezer door and leaving it open, looking at the items, letting the hot air all go into the freezer, complaining that its cold, not choosing anything at all n close the door. in the end, fogging up the entire freezer that the next person has to do the stupid damn thing in order to find what he/she needs. y cant u just look through the glass door, shortlist a couple of items, open the door, take, close the door, examine to c if its the one, putting back those u dun want. argh...

6. The corner is mine too
before i forget, how many idiots do u often c parking their trolleys at the corner! adoi! jiu ming ah!

7. FIFO
fifo stands for first in first out. some places dun follow that, some do, but only for certain shelvings... sometimes the milk in front says "30th dec" but the milk at the back say "15th dec". so now, i'm a self confessed ugly singaporean who looks thru almost all the expiry dates of the perishables n choose the lastest one... dun blame me...

not tt saying excuse me is difficult, but all these are common sense! n pple guilty can avoid glaring at innocent ones who say excuse me. ohh, i've been stared at soooo many times, that i wonder is excuse me is a vulgarity.

Things i hate (Foodcourt version) - Add-ins

This is an add-in of "Things i hate about Singaporeans (Foodcourt version)" written earlier. Decided to add this in as i was "inspired" by wht happened while eating my beef n vegetable bowl at cineleisure.

7. I'm too fat for my seat
Scenario: ONE person sitting at 2 tables rooted to the ground meant for 4. The place was kinda empty whn i entered, but there were tables meant for 2 and there were counter seats! there she was, slowly eating her teriyaki chicken bowl, drinking her miso soup n soybean milk. soon, the place got a little crowded due to lunch hour, n luckily, i was again, 5 mins earlier n managed to get a seat for 2 for me n my dear. as i mentioned, she was slowly enjoying the food, oblivious to the growing crowd.
whn she finished her food n soup, she still had her drink. then she took out some pieces of paper n her driving centre green colour booklet, starting writing, looking at 2 pieces of paper with squares drawn on it... all these actions done within half of ONE table! n she's occupying TWO tables! my goodness...
To solve: there's nothing to do abt stupid n buay zi dong pple... sigh...

i hate stupid n buay zi dong pple... if u're one, be careful, i'll bite u...

Things i hate (On the road version)

Another of my rantings abt pple without much common sense...

1. Ghost car in front
Some drivers like to leave an entire 2 cars spaces in front of them while stopping at junctions. not that there's a yellow box, i have no idea y thy do that. n the junction is at a level ground... ponder...

2. The road is mine
How often do u c drivers on the expressway travelling at 60 or 70 at the extreme right lane when the speed limit is at 80 or 90 respectively...

3. The road is mine V.2
How often do u c drivers talking on their handphones travelling at 30 on the left lane when u can travel at 50... they rather drive stupidly n dangerously then pull along to the side of the road. worse still if thy are on the expressway, travelling at 50 on the extreme rite lane...

4. Cant wait
How often do u c drivers trying to turn out onto roads recklessly? just because the car is 50 meters away, tt does not mean u can try to turn in. who knows tt car is speeding. even if not speeding, who knows the car behind this is tailgating. n becos of u turning in, he/she has to slow down, n the one behind has no time to react n bang! thanks to u who cant wait...

5. The road is mine V.3
Based on the above, how many times have u slowed down to allow the "cant wait" fella onto the road, only to travel 30 behind him all the way whn the road speed limit is 50... imagine if its a one way lane...

6. Orchard road
i kena this b4... i was at the junction outside taka, meritus, paragon n crown prince wif my dear. we started at taka, on the way to heeren. so, we crossed towards meritus while the cars travelling down the main orchard road had the right of way. since drivers know there are bound to be traffic jams during wkends, this driver, (lets name him stupid fucking kan cheong spider, in short, sfkcs) decided to not wait behind the "taka-paragon" line n proceeded in front towards the "meritus-crown prince" line. thn a big thing happened! the traffic lights changed! those travelling down the main orchard road had to stop to allow those waiting at the "taka-meritus" line to travel towards paragon n crown prince. n thus, those waiting at meritus also can cross the road towards crown prince. since there r cars travelling down, this sfkcs had no choice but to move forward into the pedestrian crossing. but no, i n dear did not give way... we stood there for a while to tell him we had the right of way to cross the road n its not our fault tt u r stuck in the middle of a junction bcos of yr stupidity. while we cross, he slowly inched his way forward, only to keep getting horned. this can also be called cant wait V.2...

7. Orchard road V.2
Well, another true acct...was at the small zebra crossing between dunno-what's-tt-bldg-wif-a-huge-rolex-showcase n paragon. as i n dear stepped onto the crossing, this stupid lexus turned in. no, he did not stop, instead this another sfkcs zipped past the crossing, wif a few of us stucked on the crossing. hope my dear's kick was enough to suffer a dent on his car... this can also be called cant wait V.3...

8. Lane switching
Not only happens to taxi drivers. there were 3 lanes... i was on a cab in the middle lane. there was a stupid old man in a jag on the rite. as we left the junction, this idiot, cut dangerously into our lane, n thn almost stop, thn cut to the lane on the left. i tot maybe he need to turn left, but no..... he travelled straight.

9. Passengers on taxis
y them, not the taxi drivers? becos if the passengers know whr thy wana go n give instructions in advance, the drivers dun have to turn or switch lanes or stop dangerously.

I'm lazy to think of solutions to these cos i realised there are no solutions to stupidity...

Things i hate (Foodcourt version)

Well, Mr Goh Chok Tong once said when he was the prime minister that he hopes to see that Singapore would be a gracious society. Today, we'll see some examples y we are not able to achieve tt so easily and how we can solve them... Although i dun expect much pple to read this cos mine's not an award winning blog wif cutesy pics, i hope whoever "stumbles" upon tis will take note... pls note tt the below scenarios can happen in any of the languages n dialects here...

1. Occupied?
Scenario: Often enough, at a 4 seater square/ rectangular table, whn u r alone, pple will attempt to sit down b4 even bother asking if the seat is occupied. whn u tell them "seat is taken". they will give u a suprised, amazed, i-cant-believe-it look and say, "huh? taken already?" then u have to repeat yrselves for the nth time tt it is indeed occupied. But these pple do not budge! they will probe further asking how many pple seating... pls lor, who wana share a table with some rude pple...
To solve: opening your mouth to ask WILL NOT kill u... i repeat, WILL NOT kill u! the person at the table WILL NOT bite u too, i repeat WILL NOT! Just polietly ask, even if there is only 2 pple occupying the seats, chance are thy will put their bags on their laps to make space for u.

2. Still cant decide
Scenario: there's a queue n u join the queue. auntie/ uncle at the stall asks the person in front of u wht is the order. the person replies, " hold on, still looking". So, auntie/ uncle at the stall turns to u, n asks for yr order. b4 u can even say, "can i have..." or "one bowl/ one plate of..." the person in front of u starts to interrupt into the conversation n says his/ her order. Kiasu-ism at one of its best works.
To solve: if you have not decided yet, or still looking, kindly refrain from joining the queue. let those who have already decided order their food so as not to hold up the queue.

3. Left or right
Scenario: there's one person in the queue. one joins on the left. another one comes along n join on the right. b4 the left one says anything, the right one, thinking he/ she has the right of way, hollers the attention of the uncle/ auntie at the stall n order. Hello, wait for a while wun die la! at least find out if the pple already standing there has already ordered, or find out the direction of the queue...
To solve: its up to one's honours to do this. politely ask if they have ordered, tt would deemed the direction of the queue at least.

4. Alone
Scenario: No, not the song Alone, wht i meant was if u're eating alone. often then not, we see pple alone who purchased their food and thn carrying the tray of hot food, looking ard for a seat to have their meal. not that yr wrong, but a place like a foodcourt will definately have kids running around. you might will looking at empty seats, overlook the little tot walking around.
To solve: look around for wht u r eating 1st. then grab a seat very nearby. ask someone to help u look after while u buy from the stall in front of u or leave yr shopping bags or belongings there. and of cos take along yr hp n wallet... walk over to the stall n get yr food while of cos, keeping an eye on yr stuff.

5. Tray vs no tray
Scenario: u, carrying a tray of hot food. someone, empty handed, coming in yr opposite direction going towards a stall n get food. i often find myself, with the tray giving way to hungry pple.
To solve: either foodcourts make their aisle wider which will help condone the mistakes or... those who are empty handed, give way la! more often thn not, i would have the urge to splash my hot soup on these pple who dun give way. y issit so difficult to give way?

6. My seat has nails
Scenario: sometimes foodcourts have 6 or even 8 seaters rectagular tables, they even have tables placed very closely to one another. some pple tend to b lazy n conviently sit along the aisle, even me. But, there's a big difference between me n these pple. Some pple with pig brains, think the aisle between the rows of seats is very wide. if not y do they sit at the edge of the chair, with only 1/4 of the butt on the chair? oh, mayb the chair has nails. well, if they put their bag at the back of seat its understandable why they are taking up so much space, but i'm toking abt those wif nothing on their seats except their 1/4 butt. so whn 1 person sit like tt, u still can manage to squeeze through wif yr frds to the 4 seats right in the middle. but whn 2 pple like tt sit chair to chair (note, impossible to be back to back cos their backs dun touch the chair at all), u have to "excuse me" your way through. n whn u do tt, chances are one side would be deaf, the other will move another 1/4 of his/ her butt into the chair n give u a i'm-eating-cant-u-c, u-irritating-pest, dun-disturb-me look on their face.
To solve: foodcourt chairs r safe, they dun have nails nor do they bite. u can safely place yr whole butt on the chair n shift it in. pple need to walk behind you into the seat or table beside u...

Tt's all i have to provide at the moment...