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Friday, September 29, 2006

Comment: Even Better Than Stoozing

stoozing is an interesting term but the concept's fairly simple.
but in sg, guess ppl prefers the freebies tat come wif the cards and the idea is to cancel the cards upon renewal....hehe

and i saw the posting abt dbs sending pre-approved 'cards' to alan....gosh!
i'll b pretty preeved if i get a card i didn't apply for.

September 26, 2006

'Stoozing' is a damn curious word. It's when you get a 0% on balance transfers credit card and transfer the balance to a bank account that pays a high interest. Before the introductory 0% period expires, you pay off the credit card, leaving you with the interest you've earned. Thus, you get free money.

Problem is, stoozing is getting harder to do.
To start with, few cards let you credit bank accounts directly. Secondly, most credit cards now charge a fee of 2-3% to transfer a balance, which means if you're not careful you may actually make a loss! There are a few cards left that don't charge a fee, but none of them have 0% deals lasting more than 6 months, which means you'd have to switch cards frequently, which is easier said than done.

So stoozers are getting less and less for more and more effort, and many have decided it's no longer worth it.
If you find this is happening to you, don't despair! You've earned your spurs, so why not hang them up and take the stoozing retirement option, namely cashback credit cards?

With most such cards, you usually receive cashback at the end of the calendar year, or once a year on the anniversary of the card. There are lots of very similar cashback cards offering 0.5% to 1% on all purchases, but the best cashback card at the moment is...Oh, I wish it was that simple! The thing is, it depends on how you spend. Even so, I reckon there are three that stand out.

GE Money claims that its computers can track purchases in any shop and work out if it's a food or petrol purchase, which is why it can pay an astounding 3% on them. It pays 0.5% on all other purchases. Not surprisingly then, this is my favourite cashback card, because food and petrol can add up to be some of our greatest bills, as I'm sure you're very aware!

But consider your other expenses as well. If you buy a lot of music, or electronic stuff, or if you spend a lot on holidays, you could do better with one of the other two cards: the Morgan Stanley Platinum Mastercard and the American Express Platinum Credit Card.

The ultimate post-stoozing technique would be to get a combination of these cards if you can. Use the GE Money card for food and petrol, then one of the other cards for your remaining purchases. The Morgan Stanley Platinum Mastercard will be best for most people, but, if you spend close to, or more than, £10,000 on your credit card each year, you'd do better to get the American Express Platinum Credit Card instead.

There are two other things to bear in mind. One: you'll need a great credit record to get these cards, so go for something less ambitious if you don't think you qualify. Two: as always, remember to use your cards for one purpose, e.g. don't use a card for both purchases and balance transfers. If you do, the small print could cost you a fortune!

Update: since writing this article, very Foolish reader Adam Norman told me that GE Money has withdrawn the Everyday card, apparently because there was so little take-up, which I find hard to believe! I spoke with GE Money, who could only tell me that it 'may' have been withdrawn(!), despite the fact you can still apply for it through this link: http://www.gemoney.co.uk/html/creditcard/everyday_creditcardproductpage.shtml.
If you're interested in it, I still say give it a go!

Butterflies in the city




wat a pretty sight at the esplanade.

butterflies painted by kids were on display.

couldn't resist taking a shot of the colourful sight.

Hepburn Classic Top Film Trend Setter

Breakfast at Tiffany's has been voted the film to have the most influence on fashion by the world's top designers and style editors.

Audrey Hepburn's Givenchy little black dress, sunglasses and pearls are still considered essentials.

Fashion names including Paul Smith and Vivienne Westwood rated American Gigolo second due to Giorgio Armani's work with star Richard Gere.

The full list compiled by American Express Red is:
1. Breakfast at Tiffany's
2. American Gigolo
3. Gone With The Wind
4. Bonnie & Clyde
5. Desperately Seeking Susan
6. My Fair Lady
7. Pulp Fiction
8. The Great Gatsby
9. Thomas Crown Affair
10. The Graduate



Fried Carrot Cake



had craving for fried carrot cake since morning.

finally got to satisfy my craving after i collected the tickets for Forbidden City from 7-11 Bedok.

plus, i had the nice hokkien prawn mee from interchange too. double indulgence

如何不思量

toking abt mooncakes, mi doesn't even take snow skin. mi is fan of traditional brown skin mooncake WITH yolk. mi go for at least double yolk.

was tinking abt getting the 大中国 mooncakes.

can't help remembering how my dad, mum & mi used to go chinatown and queue up for mooncakes.

i tink the mooncakes are alrite but dad tinks the mooncakes there not tat fantastic & quite oily. but we enjoyed going to chinatown and getting mooncakes.

personally, i like queueing up for popular food. i tink it's fun and u get the satisfaction tat u got something most ppl agree taste good.

识途老马 or 老马识途

i was watching 成语小天才 when they had tis question.

the contestant gave the answer as 老马识途 and tat was the standard answer.

though both 识途老马 and 老马识途 means the same thing, i m beli curious as to whether they teach it as 老马识途 in skools now coz as far as i can rem, i learnt it as 识途老马.

the great mystery of the old horse tat knows the way...haha

Thursday, September 28, 2006

Mooncakes


karen helped mi get raffles hotel mooncake at a discount.

looks good rite!

Blogger is down

i've just did 2 updates and added comments but no matter how many times i refresh the blog, i can't see the changes.

sigh...blogger is down again.

and everynite gifing mi probs when i upload fotos. when will tis painful blogging end??

muz i really change my lifestyle and sleeping hours to suit bandwidth?

goodness mi....sigh & double sigh.

Our life

i've seen tis before and like the analogies used so here it is :

On the very first day of the world, God created the cow.
He said to the cow:"Ah Gu (cow), today I have created you!
Your job is to go to the field with the farmer all day long.
You will provide the energy to pull things!
You will also provide milk for people to drink!
You are to work all day under the sun! In return, you will only eatgrass.
For that, you will have a life span of 50 years."

Ah Gu objected."What.. I work all day in the sun and I get only to eat grass! On top of that, I have to give my milk away!This is tough and you want me to live 50 years!I'll take 20 and you can have the remaining 30 years back!" God agreed..


On the next day, God created the dog.
He said to the dog."Ah Kow (dog), I have created you for a purpose.
You are to sit all day by the door of your master's house!
Should anyone come in, you are to bark at them!I
n return, you will eat your master's leftovers. I'll give you a life span of 20 years."

Ah Kow objected. " What! I have to sit by the door all day and will needto bark at people, and what do I get ... LEFTOVERS...This isn't right, I'll take 10 and you can have the remaining 10 years back!" God agreed again.


On the third day, God created the monkey.
He said to the monkey."Lao Kao (monkey), your job is to entertain people.
You will make them laugh, act stupid and make faces!
You will also do somersaults and swing on trees to amaze them.
In return, you will get to eat bananas and peanuts.
For that, I'll give you 20 years to live."

Naturally the monkey objected."This is ridiculous; I gotta make faces and make people laugh? Let's not even come to the part about the trees and somersaults.Tell you what, I'll give 10 years of my life to thank you for my existence and I'll take 10.What do you think?" God agreed again.


On the forth day, God created humans.
God said to the man."You are my best piece of work, for that, you will only need to sleep,eat, sleep, play, eat, sleep again and do nothing else.
You will get to eat all the best things and play with the best toys. All you need to do is enjoy all your life.
For this kinda of life, I'll give you 20 years."

Just like the rest, the man objected."What, all I need to do is relax and enjoy myself and I have only 20 years to live? Tell you what, you've 30 years back from Ah Gu, 10 years from Ah Kowand another 10 from Lao Kao and you probably don't know what to do with all those lifes.Why not I take them all and I'll have 70 years to live?"
God being good natured, agreed with a smile.....

AND THAT IS WHY.....
We eat, sleep, play and enjoy for the first 20 years of our lives when we are growing up.
Work like a cow for the next 30 to raise our family.
Sit outside the door and wait for our children to come home for the next10 when we are retired.
And finally, we make faces and perform monkey tricks to entertain our grandchildren for the final 10 years.

GET IT ?????

Have a good laugh... and that makes you younger for another 10 years....

Massage

juz had massage by visually handicapped in the office, shiok sia.

painful coz my neck and shoulders r beli stiff.

tink i need a whole body oil massage badly.

i m seriously tinking abt the lack of exercise in my lifestyle.

coz i tink increasing the activity level should help wif the stiffness. afterall muscles tat r not used, are wasted.

ok, now to plan some interesting recreational activities for the family

Recipe For Happiness

Recipe For Happiness
One heartful of love
Two hands of generosity
A dash of laughter
One headful of understanding

Sprinkle generously with kindness. Add plenty of faith and mix well. Spread over a period of a lifetime. Serve to everyone you meet!

Tuesday, September 26, 2006

Fabric of a Nation



saw the exhibition when we passed thru HDB hub after the AWWA funfair.

i didn't realise there were so many patchwork murals tat were created to form the fabric of a nation.

really beautiful!

Rodeo Bull





YY tried the Rodeo Bull @ AWWA funfair.

he was looking abit apprehensive as he awaited his turn but wow! when he got onto the bull, his sense of balance was truly outstanding.
whichever way the bull turned, he shifted his body weight and maintained his balance.

truly impressive!

My desk






feeling bored so starting snapping away at my desk.

the DHL plane tat Joc gave mi, my name,
my Super ABOBA and my fav postcards from Australia

Archipelago
















after watching banquet wif ZC & ZY tat nite, we headed to the new APB place Archipelago @ Boat Quay.

it has an inhouse brewery and serves 3 types of beer Traveller's Wheat, Straits Pale and Trader's Ale

we tried all 3 and each has our own fav but i can't rem if i like Archipelago Trader's Ale or Archipelago Traveller's Wheat

Monday, September 25, 2006

Mi back!

mi is back..........

but haben upload any fotos.

good trip, good company, good food.

can't wait to go again.

Friday, September 22, 2006

Away on holidays


no update for the next couple of days coz mi is away on holidays.

till den folks, enjoy ur wkend!

The Billionaires' Club

A nine-figure fortune won't get you much mention these days, at least not in these pages. This year, for the first time, everyone on The Forbes 400 has at least $1 billion.
The collective net worth of the nation's wealthiest climbed $120 billion, to $1.25 trillion.

Surging real estate, oil and other asset prices paved the way for 28 new members. Developer John P. Manning used political savvy to build a $1.1 billion fortune, in part by brokering low-income housing projects.

Chesapeake Energy founders Aubrey McClendon and Tom L. Ward are two of the oil fortunes added to the list. Pouring 40 million caffeinated drinks a week landed Starbucks honcho Howard Schultz on our list of America's 400 richest.

Manny Mashouf placed his skimpy women's wear on TV shows like "Party of Five" and "Ally McBeal;" today he has a $1.5 billion fortune in Bebe clothing stores.

Also gracing our list for the first time are Lehman Brothers chief Richard Fuld ($1 billion), hedge fund manager David E. Shaw ($1 billion), mutual fund guru Jonathan Lovelace Jr. ($1.1 billion), Houston Rockets owner Leslie Alexander ($1.2 billion), leveraged buyout tycoon Leon Black ($2 billion), Google veteran Omid Kordestani ($1.9 billion), Colony Capital's Thomas Barrack ($1 billion), New York City real estate moguls Stephen Ross ($2.5 billion) and Tamir Sapir ($2 billion), and the husband-and-wife computer chip team of Weili Dai ($1 billion) and Sehat Sutardja ($1 billion).

Black Entertainment Television founder Robert Johnson, who rebuilt his fortune with investments in real estate and restaurants, is among the 14 returnees to this year's list. Netscape pioneer James Clark is another retread; he reinvested his tech proceeds into Miami condos and construction outfit Hyperion Development Group following the burst of the tech bubble six years ago.

Also returning is Little Caesar's founder Michael Ilitch ($1.5 billion), car dealership owner Robert Friedkin ($1.2 billion), investors J. Christopher Flowers ($1.2 billion) and Alfred P. West ($1.2 billion), and banking and real estate maven Paul M. Milstein ($3.5 billion).

Once again the biggest gainer is casino mogul Sheldon Adelson, with a net worth up $9 billion. Adelson's Las Vegas Sands stock is up 125 percent since its public offering in December 2004. He has made almost $1 million an hour since the 2004 Forbes 400 was published.

Another big gainer is Warren Buffett, who added $6 billion. That wealth, and the rest of what he has accumulated as a value investor, will be given away, mostly to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Eight members of last year's list have died, including investor Preston Tisch, Grey Goose vodka creator Sidney Frank, and James and Margaret Cargill, two cousins who inherited a stake in the world's largest commodities company from William W. Cargill.

Thirty-four people couldn't keep up, or gave their money away. They include leveraged buyout tycoon Theodore Forstmann, poultry man Donald Tyson, real estate investors John Arrillaga and Richard Peery, and fashionista Richard Hayne. Husband-and-wife banking team Herbert and Marion Sandler dropped from our rankings after giving away more than $1 billion combined to charity.

Baby Barney


i saw tis baby barney in 7-11 the nite of the hum party.

i didn't mention it to karen but we had a discussion abt various sesame st characters and the great mystery of y kids like the purple dino.

frankly, i m of the opinion tat it's plain ugly.

but all kids tat i noe, simply adore him

Hum party!!

hum party @ macpherson kopitiam

















it was hum and good food galore @ macpherson kopitiam

finally satisfied our hum craving for the past couple of weeks.

the hum is absolutely yummy, bloody enuff for mi to haf hum blood all over my hands and on the table. as karen puts it, it looks like hum murder.

besides the wonderful hum, we had bbq stingray, sing chew bee hoon & sambal kangkong, all for $20. definitely value for money!

we oso shared a plate of crispy carrot cake. we gers really can eat!

and to top it off, we had ice kachang for dessert. wat a satisfying meal!

Fruit Platter




took part in an annual company event tdy.

check out the fruit platter. so colourful and tantalising

Outing tonite








went to chai chee temple wif my mum

some shots of the kids and li-li, my niece

Thursday, September 21, 2006

Thailand

after karen alerted mi abt the coup in thailand, can't help sharing her sentiments tat the world is a messy place to live in now.

email i got tat i found hilarious, describes the world situation in a nutshell

aiyo the whole political situation is very bad.. in the world taiwan got prb, Thailand like this.. m'sia got abit of religious unrest due to wat the pope has said den HatYai get bombed…in Bali – Australian not happy wif Indonesian Govt for metting out punishment to drug traffickers…

den Spore – worse got IMF, open target & of cos not forget the Chee Soon Juan who roams hong lim and dun wan to bathe….


but the apparent calm in BKK impresses mi.
but mayb there is no need to b surprised since the Thai has always been a gentle and polite people.

perhaps tis situation is not all bad afterall. and BKK remains the #1 shopping, wkend getaway spot in our hearts.

Can't upload pictures

i m beginning to suspect it has to do wif bandwidth and traffic is most congested at tis hr, making it virtually impossible for mi to upload pictures.

tis came as a revelation when the usually painfully slow upload process took SECONDS when i do it at 6am in the morning.

so i'm going to change my habits. sleep earlier & get up real early to blog.

i wish i didn't haf to do tis but i hate to haf postings after postings of my rambling on & on.

pictures say a thousand words & wat better way to share my life den thru my camera fone :)

Wednesday, September 20, 2006

Pluto = dwarf planet

i suddenli realised tat i forgot to mention anything abt Pluto since i heard the news abt its reclassification to dwarf planet.

From its discovery by Clyde Tombaugh in 1930, Pluto was considered the ninth planet from the Sun.

In the late 20th and early 21st century, many similar objects were discovered in the outer solar system, most notably the trans-Neptunian object Eris which is slightly larger than Pluto.
i tink tis is the 10th planet tat ZY was trying to explain.

In August of 2006 the International Astronomical Union (IAU) redefined the term "planet", and classified Pluto, the asteroid Ceres, and Eris as dwarf planets.


Pluto's name is the Roman equivalent of Hades.
In the Chinese, Japanese, and Korean languages, the name was translated as death king star (冥王星).
In Vietnamese it is named after Yama (閻王星), the Guardian of Hell in Buddhism mythology.


Pluto's official status as a planet has been a constant subject of controversy, fueled by the past lack of a clear definition of planet, since at least as early as 1992, when the first Kuiper Belt Object, 1992 QB1, was discovered. Since then, further discoveries intensified the debate in the 21st century.

IAU Decision
Main article: 2006 redefinition of planet


There are three main conditions for an object to be called a 'planet', according to the IAU resolution passed August 24, 2006.

  1. The object must be in orbit around the Sun.
  2. The object must be massive enough to be a sphere by its own gravitational force. More specifically, its own gravity should pull it into a shape of hydrostatic equilibrium.
  3. It must have cleared the neighborhood around its orbit.

Pluto fails to meet the third condition.
The IAU further resolved that Pluto be classified in the simultaneously created dwarf planet category, and that it act as prototype for a yet-to-be-named category of trans-Neptunian objects, in which it would be separately, but concurrently, classified.


Prior to this decision several other definitions had been proposed, some of which might have ruled out planetary status for Earth or Mercury or may have classified several of the asteroids as planets. This version was democratically chosen in a successful attempt at avoiding these non-traditional results.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

of course tis posting will be incomplete wifout any info on the solar system.

In broad terms, the charted regions of the Solar System consist of the Sun, four rocky bodies close to it called the terrestrial planets, an inner belt of rocky asteroids, four gas giant planets, and an outer belt of small, icy bodies known as the Kuiper belt.

In order of their distances from the Sun, the planets are Mercury , Venus , Earth , Mars , Jupiter , Saturn , Uranus , and Neptune.

My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nine......there goes the pizza

Monday, September 18, 2006

Don't Waist Your Breath

Trouble breathing?
That spare tire may be to blame.

Belly fat is the ringleader in a gang of health woes whose members wreak physical havoc -- we're talking insulin resistance, high blood pressure, bad blood fats, and out-of-whack glucose metabolism.
The perfect setup for cardiovascular disease.

Now abdominal fat is wanted for another crime -- taking your breath away. Walking and calorie-counting can help, but your leading defense against a bulging belly is resistance training.

Abdominal fat leaves less room for your lungs to expand and it's bosom buddies with insulin resistance, a condition that increases inflammation in your body, which reduces lung function and makes it harder to breathe.

Resistance training -- any workout that makes your muscles press or pull against a weight, such as curling a can of beans or pushing your own body weight off the floor -- can help you breathe easier.

You also can use stretchy tubing or gym machines to help build bulging muscles instead of a burgeoning waistline.

Muscle burns more calories than fat, even when you're sleeping, which can give you the extra boost you need to say bye-bye to an expanding middle and hello to deep, satisfying breaths.

Nescafe Gold



the foodcourt @ concourse changed all its coffee cups to tis

though these caps were obviously part of nescafe gold's mkting campaign, i must say they look beli nice & classy.

Sunday, September 17, 2006

YY's spelling list

18 Sep 06
moon
soon
noon
spoon
balloon

25 Sep 06
friends
Friday
frog
fruit
fries
frown

3 Oct 06
face
lace
race
space
place
grace

9 Oct 06
spaceship
spoon
spot
spade
speak
spy

16 Oct 06
spell
spin
spit
sport
speed

23 Oct 06
swing
ring
cats
bats
acrobats

30 Oct 06
fast
slow
happy
sad
more
less

6 Nov 06
lazy
hardworking
pretty
ugly
kind
cunning

Heap of Kaya Roti

we found a new kaya roti place at 1st floor of 4th storey.

the bread is crisp and the kaya is thick & fragrant.

plus, the stall has so many food choices.

油鸡面/饭/河粉
猪脚面/饭/河粉
laksa, yam cakes, 包,chee cheong fen

Saturday, September 16, 2006

STORIES - The Magical Mustard Seed

If you've ever lost a loved one, you would know that the emotional pain involved is one of the hardest to bear. It is critical for us to learn how to deal with the sorrow of a loved one's passing, because every one of us is bound to experience it at some point in our lives.

There is an old Chinese tale about a woman whose only son died. In her grief, she went to a holy man and said, "What prayers, what magical incantations do you have to bring my son back to life?"

Instead of sending her away or reasoning with her, he said to her, "Fetch me a mustard seed from a home that has never known sorrow. We will use it to drive the sorrow out of your life."
The woman went off at once in search of that magical mustard seed.

She came first to a splendid mansion, knocked at the door, and said, "I am looking for a home that has never known sorrow. Is this such a place? It is very important to me."
They told her, "You've certainly come to the wrong place," and began to describe all the tragic things that recently had befallen them.

The woman said to herself, "Who is better able to help these poor, unfortunate people than I, who has had misfortune of my own?" She stayed to comfort them, then went on in search of a home that had never known sorrow.

But wherever she turned, in hovels and in other places, she found one tale after another of sadness and misfortune. She became so involved in ministering to other people's grief that ultimately she forgot about her quest for the magical mustard seed, never realizing that it had, in fact, driven the sorrow out of her life.

When we're reeling from the shock of losing a loved one, we invariably dwell on the loss we have to grapple with. The focus is what we've lost. What we'll never be able to see again. This inevitably makes us feel even sorrier for ourselves. This forces the grief to concentrate and possibly bury us.

In order to help the sorrow dissipate, consider helping others. They might be trying to get over a similar loss. They might be poor, old or destitute. Or they might be physically or mentally challenged.

Charity heals the soul, and it will quite possibly also help ease your sorrow.

Friday, September 15, 2006

Killer Heels


haben really wore tis pair of heels coz i find the heels abit too skinny and not stable enuff.

decided against my better judgement to wear it yest, and had to change into my spare shoes coz my feet were killing mi.

the real mystery is, i wore the killer heels again tdy, and it's quite comfortable.

tink i stopped wearing heels for too long tat my legs need some time to get accustomed to the heels

Gay, Lesbian Consumers Quite Mainstream

September 14, 2006

Most gay consumers prefer to bank at Royal Bank of Canada, drive a car made by Honda, use a Rogers cellphone and have a Visa credit card, according to a reader survey by Xtra, a national newspaper for gays and lesbians.

The survey, based on roughly 1,000 respondents, is among the few to measure consumer choices among gays and lesbians in Canada, says Dino Bertucci, advertising and marketing manager at Xtra.

A majority of respondents to the survey — 55 per cent — had a university education and more than a quarter had annual household income over $100,000.
About half own their home and 23 per cent own a business.
More than 30 per cent have in excess of $100,000 to invest.
Mr. Bertucci said the vast majority of those surveyed — 84 per cent — had no children, meaning they had more time and money to spend than other consumers.

Over all, the survey found that Xtra readers spend $470-million annually on automobiles and $200-million on fashion and beauty products.
They also have $3.4-billion in mortgages and spend $64-million annually on home electronics. And they drink 1.5 million beers per month.

Mr. Bertucci said Xtra plans a broader survey next year and has invited advertisers to suggest questions for the gay community about products and services.

Xtra publishes across Canada and has about 175,000 readers.

Road sign



happened to b trapped in the middle of the crossing bet aliwal stretch & keypoint.

i was standing besides tis sign so here it is

Thursday, September 14, 2006

Activism is the rent we pay for living on earth

i m moved by tis quote.

activism is not limited to being concerned abt the environment or protecting the rights of unprivileged & oppressed few.

my intepretation of activisim is to haf a genuine concern for EVERYTHING tat goes on ard u AND to haf the courage to STAND UP & TAKE ACTION to correct any 'wrong' tat u see.

yes, it sounds awfully self-righteous yet it is exactly tis strong sense of self-righteousness tat keep ppl disciplined & acting in a morally responsible manner.

it need not be always campaigning or protesting or picketing.
it can be something as simple as voicing out when u spot a mistake at work.

the spirit should b so internalised tat it's an automatic reaction to speak up.

and sad to say, it is NEVER cultivated in our young when in skools.

i m fortunate to haf frens sharing the same beliefs and i believe the strong chinese education background plays a part too. chinese education emphasize on moral education & thought leadership.

and i m even more fortunate to work in a company tat stresses integrity and encourages constructive confrontation. yes, tat is the msg we get from the CEO himself.

we exhibit our activism in our feedback abt service gone wrong and being brave enuff to confront authority in a constructive manner

i find it extremely sad when ppl keep quiet & suffer in silence or choose to ignore wat they r unhappy abt, whether it's work or in the family.

and these r not the poorly educated or uneducated.
these r the 'elites' wif at least a degree under their belt.

if we can't tell rite from wrong
if we dun even haf the courage to speak up
den frankly, i tink all the 'education' we got is wasted.

wat the education system has produced is someone hoo has earned a paper yet is NOT a learned person.

one good example was when i excited told my fren abt the rallies during GE2006.
he turned ard and asked mi 'why do u like such things?'
i haf no answer for him den as his reaction surprised mi.
it's not a matter of wat i like.
it's a matter of being a responsible Singaporean and setting a good example to my children tat every vote counts & must be exercised carefully.
if i had shown the same disinterest as my fren, wat kind of altitude will my kids grow up wif?

Post Swimming Feast



we're back at bedok food centre post swimming for good food.

these 2 shots are to show off our matching fishy t-shirts.

hehe...used to b my 母子装 wif YY but he has graciously passed it on to QQ.

heng ah, the design is so unisex



































i had naan tat tasted a little different from the ones i had previously in restaurants.

much thinner & more crispy.

and the kiddos enjoyed their durian ice kachang

Wednesday, September 13, 2006

冷笑话


the sugarcane drinks come wif a sealed plastic cover! and there're 冷笑话 on the covers :

hmm...i was going to type the jokes here but decided against it coz i hate typing in chinese!

i'll not disclose the answers for now :

1. snake wif many mouths
2. typhoon day need how much $$ to go out
3. shout 'help', nobody will save u

Dinner tonite @ 85


bro was called to TPY for last min miting so i gave him a lift there & loitered abit.

post miting, we headed back to the east for dinner @85 mkt wif junqiang.

called HQ & jio-ed her along for dinner.

ran into ZC & ZY there so it became an unofficial dinner gathering...hehe, nw no need to arrange another one for ZC.

mi had my fav bah choh mee & bro ordered tua tao & hot plate hum too. looks good in the picts rite, well, not nice to eat at all. onli the chilli is good. it's a bad idea to cook hum on hot plate. become over-cooked hum.


Stamp out FRAUD

American Express Co., Morgan Stanley's Discover Financial Services division, MasterCard Inc., Visa International Inc. and Japan's JCB Co. formed an independent group to help prevent debit- and credit-card fraud.


PCI Security Standards Council LLC will maintain worldwide security standards to protect accountholders' data and produce a list of qualified security-service providers on its Web site, the companies said today in a joint statement.

Merchants and other business partners may face fines if they're out of compliance with the rules, which mandate such security measures as maintaining computer firewalls and changing vendor-supplied defaults for system passwords.


Retailers including BJ's Wholesale Club Inc. and Retail Ventures Inc.'s DSW Shoe Warehouse have been the target in recent months of identity thieves who obtained information including credit-card numbers. The card companies said today the council will help blunt such attacks by making merchants conform to a uniform policy, erasing confusion caused by different regulations at each of the companies.


'By giving everyone in the payments chain a clear single standard it makes being compliant much more simple,' Rob Tourt, vice president of network services for Discover, said in an interview. 'As technology changes, we also need a body to react quickly with one voice to emerging threats.'


Each card brand will be responsible for making sure its business partners adhere to the standards, Tourt said.


The single set of standards will also help lower costs for merchants, payment processors and financial institutions, the companies said.


Other rules include encrypting the transmission of cardholder data over public networks, regularly updating anti-virus software and assigning a unique ID to each person with computer access.

My fav car in motion



i couldn't resist tis shot.

stopped at a traffic light & saw my fav car in action across the road.

tink white looks cool. haben seen any black ones on the road though or other flashy colours eg. red or blue or yellow.

i luv its lines...so sleek & 'powerful' looking. *drool*

New MasterCard Aims for Rich

saw tis article & was surprised tat Signature is MC's premium offering.

the ads look good but when i picked up an appln from UOB recently, i wasn't impressed at all by wat it has to offer. the biggest draw seems to b the free air-ticket tat comes wif the card.

and the min income is lower den ladies platinum. tink it makes more sense to retain the platinum den to get tis card.


Wall Street Journal , September 08, 2006

MasterCard Inc., seeking to tap a larger share of the affluent market, is launching a line of credit cards aimed at households with annual incomes of more than $250,000.

The first card in the series, announced yesterday, is aimed at customers of Saks Inc.'s upscale retailer Saks Fifth Avenue and will be issued by Britain's HSBC Holdings PLC. The card, called Saks Fifth Avenue World Elite MasterCard, will carry no annual fee and sport a hefty interest rate of 22.65%.

It is the latest in a flood of "co-branded" cards that are linked to specific rewards programs from a particular retailer or airline. Saks already has a proprietary card that can be used only in its stores. The new card will be tied to Saks's existing rewards program and also offer other perks, such as a free companion airline ticket with the purchase of a full-fare business-class international ticket.

During the past several years, MasterCard and Visa USA Inc. have taken aim at American Express Co.'s traditional hold on the affluent market by offering their own high-end programs to banks that issue plastic.

MasterCard's upper-end card is called "World," while Visa uses the name "Signature." The cards typically offer premium perks and have been aimed at households with an annual income of at least $125,000.

The cards also have generated controversy because merchants typically pay a higher fee to the bank issuers when consumers use these cards compared with traditional cards.

With the new offering, MasterCard is further parsing the affluent market segment by creating another level of cards within it. At the same time, MasterCard is seeking to distinguish itself from Visa, which is widely perceived as having a bigger hold on these consumers.

Nilson Report, which tracks the card industry, estimates that there are 4.9 million MasterCard World cards in circulation, compared with 7.9 million Visa Signature cards.

"This platform will help us with this very high-end segment," said Walt Macnee, president of the Americas for MasterCard, based in Purchase, N.Y.

Visa, meanwhile, says that the Signature card makes up 3.9% of its consumer credit-card accounts. The card accounts for 20% of Visa's sales volume; cardholders spend an average $28,000 a year on each card.

MasterCard shares rose $1.24, or 2%, to $60.12, on the New York Stock Exchange.

QQ & YY swimming




a beli adorable looking QQ wearing YY's googles

we r beli adventurous when it comes to swimming and we went to jurong east on tis particular day.

i luv the video of YY carrying QQ into the water.

wish they'll always remember their sibling affection even when they fight & nearly kill each other...haha