After 3 night shifts at the Shangri-la in a room that smelled of fried onions in the morning, my system was at an all time low. My hands were shaking, my head spinning, my stomach churning and my speech slurred. Even now I still have a residual headache.

The piped music in Shangri-la is tuneful without being muzak-ish (I even heard a harpsichord one day), but there's only a certain amount of times you can stand hearing "The Blue Danube" in 3 nights.

The first night, they'd kept the tea by the time my shift started, but after some not-so-subtle hints to the manager, I was able to give myself a caffeine high the next two nights.

I saw a lot of MID license plates in the day, and contrary to many's assertions, most seemed to be White Mercedes and not White Audis. There were also a few silver and black ones. Bucking the trend, though, I saw 177 MID today, and it is concrete evidence that Singapore is trying to boost cross-strait ties - it's a Proton Wira!


Someone discovered that I didn't like my sides being touched or worse, poked. He then proceeded to tell more than a few people about my vulnerability, so now I am daily assaulted on all sides, putting me in mind of the Nanyang days when some person tried his "gu3 ji2 xin1 fa" (New Tickling Pattern/Skill) on me. Thus, I have been compelled - not wholly with regret - to dust off my dreaded obedience collar, after all the years since it has seen action, when I thought I'd never have to use it again.

It seems that, instead of letting the 46 SAR cookhouse do all the cooking, the 3 cookhouses in camp are alternating between themselves. This past week, it's been the 42 SAR cookhouse that's been doing the cooking and if anything, the food is worse than ever while one meat dish has been sneakily removed from the menu, so obscenities have been hurled all throughout Sungei Gedong, and the canteens have seen their already brisk trade boom.


I've been constantly irked by the ads that PrettiSlim has been taking out in the Straits Times, but those are not the worst of the lot. I was reading Her World's June Issue (which somehow had appeared in the Treatment Room) and PrettiSlim's ad was just... appaling. In no uncertain terms, it told all readers that men care only about your breasts, so you must enhance your breasts to continue to attract your man so he won't hit on your sister. Much has been made of ads which 'degrade' women and most of it is hot air, but this simply takes the cake.

Also seen in Her World - A bikini feature: "Be a Baywatch babe without burning a hole in your pocket". The most expensive set in there was $181.10, and most were at least $80. I guess some people have warped perceptions of relative prices.

Swensen's doesn't have Rum and Raisin Ice Cream anymore, to Ban Xiong's disappointment. I know why they don't serve pork, and even alcohol, but this abandonmnt of culinary principles in the quest for a questionable boost to the bottom line is ridiculous.

The culling of stray cats has raised a big hoohah among cat lovers. Why can't they simply take all the strays home? That would solve many of the problems that stray cats bring, wouldn't it? Then people wouldn't dirty the place by leaving food for them everywhere and not clearing up (unlike my sister), and the cats wouldn't trek the food everywhere.

Someone wrote in to the ST Forum complaining that people weren't respecting each other's religions, and were trying to convert others. He then urged them to 'respect' others' religions and not to try to convert others. However, isn't the very soul of many religions about proselytisation? If you truly believe in your religion, and believe that it is true, then you will try to let others see what you believe to be the light. Not to try to do so would in fact be immoral (looking at it from the point of view of the proselytisers). It's not as if anyone is trying to force anyone else to convert, at least in Singapore. In fact, it's been quite a while since someone ambushed me at an MRT station. But I am prepared! The next time anyone tries, I will be ready! Or maybe I should go on the offensive myself.


Quotes:

[On his days in a hotel] Then all the China girls don't wear [a] bra. In the female locker room. Wah. [mimes taking shirt off]

[Me: Someone said if he doesn't sign on, he'll become a toilet cleaner or road sweeper] He'll go and sell durians. (didn't, he'd have)

[On a regular if he didn't sign on] He'll suffer from low self-esteem. No one to shout at.

[On his SATS] 1600... 1601... I applied to a lot of universities. They didn't take me seriously.

[On using my belt loops to tie a trash bag to] This role suits you perfectly. The walking dustbin.

[On Saikang] That's why. Fuck, I'm an admin supervisor, not a saikang supervisor. [Throws broom to ground]

[On if Change Parade timings are including in the BUC rankings, and why they were cancelled] The CSMs will say - my unit can change parade in record time

I wonder why doctors aren't Halal

[Sign on bread] Please do not use your hand! Use the thongs provided (tongs)