A tip from Wilbur

i tend to throw away bread cos can t finish them even though i buy those sunshine half loaves... decided to buy tortilla wraps instead as those can be stored and have a longer shelf life, besides, it saves me the trouble of having to go down to the mama shop when i need bread lol... yes, i'm that lazy and i look ghastly when at home so when i need to get out, i have to like do alot, like washing face etc =p it's not cheap the wraps but at least i dont waste food :p

Wilbur takes a different route

Yest was a freaking busy day and today might be as well... laundry, hang clothes, fold clothes, email to UK consular for renunciation of citizenship, go to AUPE to pay for subscription to claim for hospital fees, return plate and tray to Pattaya Garden, clean hamster cages, upload photos onto webbie store, ask about idea book where all the freaking stores in SG dont carry, buy soap holder, find ribbon sash, go for massage, talk to honey, play with dogs, pluck brows, pit hair, leg hair... the list goes on and on...

so for those of you still living with parents, be thankful you dont have to worry abt getting groceries and laundry and all.... mummy dearest is always around to help (yes, it comes with nagging always but it sometimes beats having to do things all by yourself :)) so understand that i do not have time and patience for frivolous things, i prioritise what's impt there and then cos there are simply many things to juggle! i appreciate frens who understand and not get upset over the more minor of things like not replying to sms etc, so those of know who know me well, to out it bluntly i kinda live by "take it, or leave it"... those who wanna pick and be upset over the smallest of things, i cant be bothered cos like i said before, there are much more to life than these... it only proves you are narrow minded and have not seen the world... trapped in your own little world while you think you know it all just makes you irksome... i value friendship a great deal, some of you experienced it, i can just drop everything and help you cos i know u truly need it... so if i come across as heartless or 'hard' (not literally hor! cos me still female lol) to you, hmmm... it's time to check on yourself and understand that both our priorities are different... i'm open to criticisms if i know they come from pple who mean well, u can tell me straight in the face and i would take it, may be upset but i welcome it cos i want to improve to be a better person to those i love and care... i like to be forward with pple and i will suffocate if i'm unable to communicate my thots or feelings to pple who i know cannot take straight up and will get upset over the simplest of things... pauline, u will understand this cos i bitched 2 u abt this before *grins*...

there are those who constantly complain busy and all and i mean constantly and always pull a long face but like the boy who cried wolf, pple can see through their actions and then not bother after a while... okay here's comes my heartless retort: "get used to it!"

i went to causeway mall yest and i stood throughout in the bus journey from my place to there... there were empty seats but decided to stand and take a good look at the surroundings... each journey i see something new, sometimes i guess it's good to take a different route just for the experience cos we only live once :)

Wilbur on a Sunday...

attended xiuzhen's wedding dinner yest nite at this chinese restaurant on the 6th level of UIC building... food was good and the service wasnt too bad... i din realise it was a tung lok restaurant till after like the 5 or 6 dish when i saw the wrapper on the toothpick... pretty duh of me rite *grins* the waitress serving us was an auntie so she was pretty fast and efficient as compared to the other weddings i have attended where we are usu served by young men who seem to be really clueless when it comes to serving... can forgive if the young thing (doesnt matter if boy or gal) is eye candy *guffaws* but usu not the case heh...

how good was the auntie? well, our drinks were topped up promptly and correctly without once having to ask! so u can imagine how many glasses of red wine i had last nite! =) not that i'm complaining lor *grins*... btw, think i'm holding up my liquor pretty well nowadays... dont get high that easily though am drinking more than the normal i used to drink... must be the age thing *bleah* ...u know the saying, one gets better to age lol... applies to my *ahem* other stuff too ;)

back to the auntie... she cleared the dishes promptly and if there were left overs, she transferred them to a smaller plate and put them back on the table... (at 1st when she removed the dish with the leftovers, she din say anything so both me n sh wanted to chide her for not asking but lucky we held back for she came back with the leftovers in a jiffy!)

saw teck lan and kim lan at the dinner as well... they look good esp teck lan, teased tt she looked more and more like an obasan :)

weiren gave me a lift to his cafe so that i could take 48 back home... i met his one of his young waitress and i immediately took in to her... not that my dormant gay side is emerging but she had the kind of face and attitude that made me miss not having a kid sister... back in school, i liked taking care of those younger than me, guess me being so young then i mistook this side of me as having lesbian tendencies... but over the years i realised that it might be due i was always the only kid at home so i longed for companion to be able to shower love, concern and attention... i think jiawen was the only in school back then that i treated her so much like a younger sis that pple thot we were lovers *...* ... we rarely keep in contact now but she still has problematic when it comes to relationship, silly gal *affectionate suaning*...
somehow i can picture myself gg shopping with her (cant remember her name at this moment lol) and giving her advice, looking out for her like a big sis would *shrugs* ... yes, i'm strange but if you lived how i had and is a libra maybe you would feel the same too :)

last fri, we had dinner at bt batok botak jones after the exchange and bowling... kangwei, kengho, wq, pauline, ngian chao, ng yong, alicia, shufen, ck and me... pretty unusual mix but it goes to show why sometimes i like the office, we are not usual lunch buddies or that close in office for that matter but yet we could click and have a nice talking cock session, ex and new colleagues and all... no pretences whatsoever :) btw, alicia and sf were close frens in jc and were in hockey together... small world eh...

gotta shower in a couple of mins... gg to lichoo's house to see her month old pride n joy... i'm not v good with babies, hope Sarabelle doesnt freaked at the sight of me =p many errands to run after that... feel like gg to see some french country furniture... have been thinking of revamping me home for the longest time but shall see, shall see, cos of the 2 monkeys at home so cant get too delicate stuff as well but i think french or english country decor would go well with them hahahaha =D ...

oh yah, need to get the idea book by fredrik haren the swed who gave that entertaining and fabulous talk on creativity during exchange... totally awesome cos he was brutally frank... how good was he? i actually took notes for the 1st time in history during exchange!!!! need i say more?!

Wilbur's Recommended Read...

special thanks to Tee for sending me this brilliant article...

By Dr Lee Wei Ling

I was born and bred in Singapore. This is my home, to which I am tied
by family and friends. Yet many Singaporeans find me eccentric, though
most are too polite to verbalise it. I only realised how eccentric I
am when one friend pointed out to me why I could not use my own
yardstick to judge others.

I dislike intensely the elitist attitude of some in our upper
socio-economic class. I have been accused of reverse snobbery because

I tend to avoid the wealthy who flaunt their wealth ostentatiously or
do not help the less fortunate members of our society.

I treat all people I meet as equals, be it a truck driver friend or a
patient and friend who belongs to the richest family in Singapore.

I appraise people not by their usefulness to me but by their character.

I favour those with integrity, compassion and courage. I feel too many
among us place inordinate emphasis on academic performance, job status,
appearance and presentation.

I am a doctor and director of the smallest public sector hospital in
Singapore, the National Neuroscience Institute (NNI). I have 300
staff, of whom 100 are doctors. I emphasise to my doctors that they
must do their best for every patient regardless of paying status.

I also appraise my doctors on how well they care for our patients, not
by how much money they bring in for NNI. My doctors know I have friends
who are likely to come in as subsidised patients. I warn them that if
I find them not treating any subsidised patient well, their appraisal -
and hence bonus and annual salary increments - would be negatively
affected. My doctors know I will do as I say.

I remind them that the purpose of our existence and the measure of our
success is how well we care for all our patients - and that this is
the morally correct way to behave and should be the reason why we are
doctors. In NNI , almost all patients are given the best possible
treatment regardless of their paying status..

My preference for egalitarianism extends to how I interact with my
staff. I am director because the organisation needs a reporting
structure. But my staff are encouraged to speak out when they disagree
with me. This tends to be a rarity in several institutions in
Singapore. The fear that one's career path may be negatively affected
is what prevents many people from speaking out. This reflects poorly on
leadership. In many organisations, superiors do not like to be
contradicted by those who work under them. Intellectual arrogance is a
deplorable attitude.

'Listen to others, even the dull and ignorant; they too have
their story,' the Desiderata tells us. It is advice we should all heed
- especially leaders, especially doctors. I speak out when I see
something wrong that no one appears to be trying to correct. Not
infrequently, I try to right the wrong. In doing so, I have stepped on
the sensitive toes of quite a few members of the establishment. As a
result, I have been labelled 'anti-establishment'. Less kind comments
include:

I am indifferent to these untrue criticisms; I report to my
conscience; and I would not be able to face myself if I knew that there
was a wrong that I could have righted but failed to do so.

I have no protective godfather. My father, Minister Mentor Lee Kuan
Yew, would not interfere with any disciplinary measures that might be
meted out to me.

And I am not anti-establishment. I am proud of what Singapore has
achieved. But I am not a mouthpiece of the government. I am capable
of independent thought and I can view problems or issues from a
perspective that others may have overlooked.

A few months ago, I gave a talk on medical ethics to students of our
Graduate Medical School. They sent me a thank-you card with a message
written by each student. One wrote: 'You are a maverick, yet you are
certainly not anti-establishment. You obey the moral law.' Another
wrote: 'Thank you for sharing your perspective with us and being the
voice that not many dare to take.' It would be better for Singapore's
medical fraternity if the young can feel this way about all of us in
positions of authority.

After the Sars epidemic in 2003, the Government began to transform
Singapore into a vibrant city with arts and cultural festivals, and
soon, integrated resorts and night F1. But can we claim to be a
civilised first world country if we do not treat all members of our
society with equal care and dignity? There are other first world
countries where the disparity between the different socio- economic
classes is much more extreme and social snobbery is even worse than in
Singapore. But that is no excuse for Singaporeans not to try harder to
treat each other with dignity and care. After all, both the Bible and
Confucius tell us not to treat others in a way that we ourselves would
not want to be treated. That is a moral precept that many societies
accept in theory, but do not carry out in practice. I wish Singapore
could be an exception in this as it has been in many other areas where
we have surprised others with our success.

The writer is director of the National Neuroscience Institute.

Wilbur's Fav Story of All Time =D

the never ending story of bao vs noodle... Slurp~

Chapter 1
One day, noodle quarrel with meat bao(bun). They had a fight but bao was too clumsy and lost badly. He was very angry and he told noodle to stay behind if he has the guts and he'll get his pals to assist him.Meat bao went to find bread, man tou, jian bao etc to get them to reinforce him. Along the way, they saw maggi mee. They ah bish ah bish ah bish and beat maggi mee up and maggi mee beri puzzled why he kena beaten up.He said, "Why u all beat me? What have I done to deserve this?"The meat bao said, "Noodle! Dun think u perm your hair then cannot recognise u!"

Chapter 2
Maggi mee, who was beaten up for no reason, was very angry. So he went to find bee hoon, udon, fried noodles etc to seek revenge.But on the way, they met small bao. Maggi mee looked at small bao for a while then told his brothers, "Bra-der! Whack him!" Maggi mee whack small bao "harder! harder."After the noodles family has left, they asked Maggi Mee why he hated small bao so much and beat him up so badly.Maggi mee said. "At first wanna teach him a small lesson only, but then see him act cute, made me so angry."

Chapter 3
The more small bao thought of it, the more buay song he was. So, he found the bao family to whack Maggi mee.Then they found ying shi juan (noodles covered with bun). They brought him back as hostage and were about to put him on the stove to force him to talk when the bao head said, "That's not noodles! That's our undercover!"

Chapter 4
The family of bao and noodles are now enemies and they have gang fights whenever they see each other. One day, the noodles family was having a walk when they saw char siew bao alone.Seeing the good chance, all of them attacked him. The noodles family shouted, "Beat him hard hard! Don't give chance just because he's vomiting blood

Chapter 5
Poor char siew bao, with his injuries, went to the bao headquarters to look for help. All the bao family was activated and together with red bean bao, green bean bun etc. they went to seek revenge. All the passerbys siam them as they look like they will kill.They saw french fries jalan jalan along, shopping. The bao family attacked him. The bao head shouted, "Noodle people still wear gold go shopping! Whack him!!!"

Chapter 6
Finally, the bao family manage to kidnap noodle, the one who started up the whole show, and brought him back to the bao headquarter.All the baos took turns to whack him. At the end, the chief of baos - dua bah bao took a final roll over noodle before they dump him.When the poor noodle finally went home, none of the family member could recognise him bcoz he is totally disfigured - flatten. In order not to let the family bear the bad name, he appears as a new member named Mee pok.

Wilbur.Timbre.Gin Tonic.

total 3 glasses of gin tonic for since yest... am i turning into an alcoholic? nah :) just social session with wq yest at timbre... was there again today with wq and keng ho... yest was pretty packed and i guess the reason was cause the band was good... today's crowd was pretty pathetic... the female filipino singer was just so-so... somehow i dont fancy females singing in clubs cos usu they dont get u in the mood like the boys do *shrugs* anyway, it was good to chill and having a basically talk cock session... helps relax the nerves which office tends to tense up :p took some pretty nice shots of fullerton too when heading home with the guys.... she's like the grander old dame compared to raffles hotel... maybe should have a walk in the premises when i get the chance...

yest's set-up for the signing ceremony was a damn rush thing as only one day to plan n set-up but lucky esther and weizhen was ard to provide suggestions and advice and made the event a pretty successful one :) though a bit stressful but i enjoyed the adrenalin rush of getting things in place... so much more certain tt i would maybe do ok as a wedding planner ;p

another day with many things lined up ahead... gotta proritise and take things a step and a time :) must be thankful i have a job :)

Wilbur has caught the flu bug =(

geez, me eyes are puffy, red n sore, have been having frequent bouts of sneezing, my nose is leaking and i'm feeling slightly chilly... me now not a very pretty sight but i guess it's better than when i was in the hospital where i was in no condition to care abt grooming so i looked much worse then *grins*...


got myself a new phone over the weekend cos the old one was a bit cranky (keypad not working well) ... sometimes i hate getting new phone cos i'm not one who is meticulous when it comes to syncing contacts, u know lah, transfer this and that and compare... bleah, so i guess i wont be having some of your contacts kekekeke... so dont mind me if i ask who r u ;p

i traded in the cranky phone for $50 so in the end got my Nokia 6600 Fold for $250... me a nokia fan all these years... even dragon who used to be a Nokia critic is now using Nokia... i tried using fren's phones of other brands and almost pulled my hair out when messaging! i think i never got round to keying in the 1st letter! so y should i make my life difficult?! just use back the same device which i'm already so used to, saves me time and frustrations; wont have to go thru the who process of learning to use the phone :); this kind of time can be better spent =)

i guess this applies to me in life as well... when i'm used to something i like, i will cont using it since it serves me well, never like to change unless absolutely necessary or something happens ie. dragon *grins*


stayed back with WQ and Pauline pretty late last fri, we were working on productivity stuff... by the time we left office was about 10-ish... it may seem sad to be working late on a fri nite but while i cutting through the SRC field to get to my bus stop, i observed that it was a pretty clear nite and the skyline was a pretty sight! hence, i whipped out my cam and took some shots of the supreme ct and the cbd office buildings... have attached one of it below :) truly happy with my captures which would not have been if i had left office earlier... it reminds me that there is always a silver lining to every dark cloud and there are always something good around =) these are the kind of things pple who wallow in self pity fail to see *shakes head* sad, huh! we are not dying in hunger or living in poverty and yet we tend to make our issues bigger than those who have it worst than us... yes, we live in a stressful society but joy should be looked within oneself and not from others... u cant change the environment but u can change your attitude towards it... i diss pple who dont get this...



although being involved in productivity is an extra load, but the benefits is that i'm makin new frens :) it a nice sharing a pizza with the 2 of them and talking crap as a break... also, its where i get to experience pple who r nice and helpful including those from other agencies like soong yin ... of course there are some who seem to be loafers but like gold 90.5fm, i shall only see the good stuff *smiles* ... such interactions may also pave a smoother path in future especially if i really get to be a wedding planner (yeah, still dreaming) :) got to tok to mirza the caterer from pattaya garden... it's interesting to meet new pple and those i can click usu share the same thots =)


i have many varied interests now and i think this is good as i will not easily wallow in depression like a couple of years back... i guess goods things always come out from experiences especially the bad ones... i'm glad i'm able to notice the good things when i look back ... i read some stuff on palm reading and my life is suppose to be trodden with obstacles ie. it will not always be a smooth ride... come to think of it, this may be the very reason that i'm more thankful and aware of the good things :)


i related to some of my frens my encounter with this bloodie idiot 50-ish lady at one of the toa payoh coffeeshop... i had so much wanted to just pour my soup at her and her fren to wake their bloodie idea! it was the 1st time i had to practise so much self restrain! i was heading towards the fish soup stall to order my dinner, there was a lady in front of me and i was next in line... this whole time, the idiot was standing on the opposite side of the queue in a manner like she had already ordered and was waiting for her take-away... the lady stall owner asked for my order and i move to the front of the q... i sought of look at the idiot and i think only then the stall owner realised the idiot's presence and then proceeded to ask for her order... the idiot was english speaking and i helped communicate the idiot's order to the chinese owner as they spent a couple of seconds clarifying the order... the owner thanked me but the idiot did not... which was fine as my intention was to help the owner anyway...the idiot then said this to me:" apparently, the owner does not have any sense of order." i din think much of it n replied:"maybe she didnt see u." anyway, the owner asked me to ask the idiot whether she would like milk added in her soup... again no word of thanks from the idiot but only from the owner but i din care too much as i was tired... both our food came out at the same time and i moved off to find a seat... the idiot and her fren sat nearby and she started dissing the owner for having no sense of order and said that other customers would have been angry and not order from her blah blah blah... she made the owner seemed so rude which was not the case! i tried to block off their conversation, but to no avail as later she went criticising the whole of s'pore and it's pple and it went on and on... my temper was slowly building up and i so wanted to shout at her for being the rude one as she did not even bother to thank me when i helped her placed her order!
some pple really dont look at themselves 1st before condemning others! it's times like this i wished i was a jobless ah lian as i could create a scene without having to bear much consequences! i just wish she was just fall flat on her face and no one is around to help her!

'nuf of that unpleasant reminder ...

i took a smrt bus back that day... so used to calling it trans island lol... i have a love/hate relationship with smrt buses... the drivers usu drive off immediately once the last passengers get his feet up on the bus that it will cause us to lose our balance :P but it's the impatience and absurd speed that makes me get home faster than i can say smrt ;p most smrt bus drivers like got speeding tickets before one lol... since it balance out, no complains from me =)

gotta do some work now... ciao!

Wilbur is tired but happy =)

for the 1st time in my life i was a sister (jie2 mei4) for a wedding... it was tiring but worth it as i was part of a life-changing event for my friend so dear :) though we no longer work in the same office or meet-up often, we still maintain a kind of bond and understanding tt we will always be there for each other... on a few occassions pple mistook us as sisters when we went out kekeke =) we both have kept some things from each other, but when we both found out, there was no unhappiness whatsoever, as it came to a pt where we also know some things are not so easy to say and maybe this is how our friendship became stronger... seeing her walked down the aisle yest, tears welled up in my eyes... i felt so proud n happy for her... it din matter i was running up and down for both her and her hubbie for their wedding dinner preparations yest... i was realli glad to help!

the reward of true friendship what kept me gg all this while, i din mind working behind the scenes as long as my frens could get their work done and get recognition for it or sometimes so that they they dont get into trouble from voldermort :) getting appreciation from them matters more than from the fiery fiend :p as they always say, one good turn deserves another...

sometimes, no matter how bad the environment is, as long as i'm are working there, i have to put personal feelings aside and work for the good of the branch/dept so as to not let other agencies criticise us for not doing a good job... there are many things that cant be taught but learnt through attitude and willingness accept...

Wilbur: "To Clementi, to Clementi to find a fren so Pretty!"

heading to MW's house tonite to sleep over and help her with the preparation for her BIG day tmr *wide smile*... though i'm a bit tired but anything for a truly great fren! i hope i will be alert enuf tmr... gotta bring lotsa stuff over tonite... including my clothes for the morning visits as well as the evening dinner =p ... i havent plan what to wear for the evening dinner... she says i can wear jeans hee, tempting but shall see how cos i need something whereby i need not have to bring extra shoes and all.... so many stuff to plan but me feeling sleepy now =p

past couple of days, some of u may find me being rather harsh be it in my words or actions but its cos i'm so jaded... been in the dept for 11yrs and i have gone thru so many changes, experiences and encounters... people then were generally considerate, pleasant, nice, helpful, fun etc... that's how we have become close frens till today, cos' we all had a common trait - we spared a thot of those around around us and were not too caught up in our own world; we readily offered help even though we were sometimes busy ourselves... colleagues turned frens and pals and it made working in the office bearable cos u had the support and help... its a different environment now... of course there are still people who i consider as frens but the lot whom i consider as colleagues seems to be making themselves more apparent.... it irks when colleagues who constantly make it known that they are busy can leave the office earlier than those who dont or rarely utter a word of complain and the funny thing is tt people they claimed are pushing work to them are staying back much later than they are... i have nothing against pple who leave on the dot as I'm no angel myself but dont make yourself out to be the most miserable when there are others who seem to have it worse than you... its just tt these pple dont express it only... i dont care if colleagues misunderstand me unless they are my frens... frens know me well enough to know i sometimes have a nasty mouth but i will always extend my help to them... the thing abt frens is that we are so comfortable that we can be frank with each other on how we feel and and we will not be sensitive abt it :)

coffee nations is doing well and am so happy for weiren though he seems worn out... tried the choc mousse cake and it was bloodie good! the sausage meal i had was great too... soup was nice and tasty and the beef sausage was soft and easy to eat :)

think i better get some shut eye... got more stocks to post on lovehappydaisies but i think i put it off for now... dont wanna stress myself hee hee =)

see some of u at the wedding tmr :)