I was making some pizza today (using up the rest of my dough and most of the sauce from the YR potluck) and the crust kept getting burnt. At 180 degrees it got black (just a bit bitter) so my mother suggested I try 160 degrees and use a proper pan instead of the microwave tray. At 160 it was still getting black (both times I left it in for 15-20 minutes).

someone happened to call and said that Italian pizza is put on a blazing hot oven floor, but left inside for only 90-100 seconds. In other words, the problem was not that the oven was too hot, but that it wasn't hot enough.

This is what happens when you try to do from memory what you've only done once (I also forgot to poke the dough with a fork) - on the YR day I'd delegated lackeys to roll out, top and bake the pizza.

China Trip
Day 8 (30/6) - Hong Kong: The Peak

There're a helluva lotta cabs in Hong Kong, even more than in Singapore.

Singapore has SACSALs - Shrill, Anorexic, Chinese-Speaking Ah Lians. Hong Kong has SACSALs too - Shrill, Anorexic, Cantonese-Speaking Ah Lians [HWMNBN: btw SACantoneseSAL was my quote].



Hong Kong tram
These are not only very old (since 1904) but also ridiculously cheap, at HK$2 (S$0.40). They've probably earned the capital costs back long ago.


Western Market, where we had lunch


Man man 'directing' traffic


Sterilising chopsticks in the restaurant, a very odd practice for a place that's assuredly not Third World

HWMNBN noted that eating in Hong Kong was like having Crystal Jade everyday. He also said they had aborted fetus porridge a few years back but this got shut down (I had to rephrase this sentence to avoid an unintentional pun).

At lunch we had Chee Cheong Fun fried with XO sauce, egg and beansprouts, which was very good. Unfortunately you can't find it in Singapore. The lunch bill for 3 of us came up to HK$199.50 which was cheaper than I expected, especially since we couldn't finish the food.

There's a 'wage protection movement' in Hong Kong which urges you to treat your employees well, as well as a minimum wage. Yet somehow the economy is deemed the "freest" in the world.

The weather was very good, so we decided to go to The Peak (the high area on Hong Kong Island). Unfortunately it turned bad just as we got off the cab at the funicular station.






Unfortunately for HWMNBN, this was 2/2 times he had gotten bad weather at The Peak. But then the first time it was totally fogged out, so.

Since it was a rainy day, Bubba Gump had HK$10 drink specials, so we had some.

One shop in one of the shopping complexes in The Peak could take photographs of you and photoshop you onto nice day or night scenes of The Peak. Seems bad weather is the norm up there.








Lockhart Road, a famous hum sup area, near where HWMNBN stays.


D'aguilar Street


Yung Kee, with good (and also expensive) Duck Goose which we unfortunately didn't try. HWMNBN says it's popular among our parents' generation but he thinks it's overrated and overpriced, except for the Duck Goose. [HWMNBN: btw it's the goose at yung kee i was talkin gabout. not duck]


Gage Street (I am supposed to get a good version of this photo from Johnny Malkavian soon)


Jiak Zhua, literally. It wasn't that good. There's a money shot of this coming when I've finished the travelogue proper.

About this time, my umbrella finally fell apart, so I was walking around holding it up manually (the catch came out). I tried looking in supermarkets but didn't find decently-priced ones. They had Walkers Sensations in one though (which were even cheaper than in the UK, somehow) - colonization does have its benefits!

It was raining the whole day so we couldn't go to Lan Kwai Fong.

Quotes:

[On the front door being locked and someone going in the backdoor] Maybe I'll just wait for him. Say hi. Everybody say 'hi' when he walks through that door.

In this class we're trying to bridge the ground between undergraduate and graduate level.

Some of you might think *** is an applied course. It is not. [Me *sotto voce*: What at NUS is applied?] [Someone: Econs lor. Applied Maths.]

Assessment. That's why you all are here. You want to know what I'll do to you.

The last 20%. I call it 'participation' but it's a catchall. I can put anything I want inside.

[On pop quizzes] I consider them friendly things.

[On consultation hours] Everytime I set aside a block for students they can never come in, so I don't bother anymore.

Next time you can be my encyclopedia... We have 'wikipedia'. You are 'gabrielpedia'.

[On me] You're a guy and you don't know who Gisele is? I'm disappointed in you.

I'm gonna pass around this roster around. (this)

[On the natural theological arguments for the existence of God] The arguments are interesting, but in previous times I've taught this course, I found that students did not find them interesting... I've had trouble convincing my students that they were interesting. That's probably because they're not convincing... Fodder for atheologians to make fun of.

These are some of the problems you might encounter when subjecting religious beliefs to philosophical analysis and scrutiny. *sotto voce* So watch out.

[On doing readings] I'm pretty good at telling. You can trick me sometimes.

It doesn't feel like a campus. Law students... they don't give off a vibe. It's like walking into an office... One of the reasons you teach in a campus is you want to feel the campus vibe... Law students drinking coffee.

To start the ball rolling, it's good to pick someone entirely arbitrarily.

[On being an Indian Muslim] For me, I practise Islam... I watch Bollywood. [Instructor: We all do.]

One branch of my family is from Taiwan, the other is from Mainland China. [Instructor: How're family reunions?]

[Instructor: Where do you get this idea of Heritage from?] National Education. Social studies.

When I go overseas and people ask me about Singapore, I end up talking about Chinatown, Little India - all places Singaporeans don't go to... [Instructor to part-Arab: You don't hang out at Arab Street?]

Don't give me cover pages. It's amazing... Students waste vast amounts of time and resources... I don't really care.

[Student: We have another class that has field trips too] That just means you have to choose which class to fail.

[On IT] I sent you all an announcement today. I'm very excited about this.

[To a girl] I like short, meaty girls... Like your height but fatter.

[On Citadel] Basically, the object of the game is to win.

Why're you walking around with that stick? [Student 2: You should just blog about it {then everyone will know}]

Why are you smiling? [Me: Entrepreneurship is such a buzzword.] Yeah. Nowadays businessmen are all entrepreneurs, but actually they're just businessmen.

[On the whiteboard] Can you read green colour at the back? [Students: Yeah] Let's change colour.

For psychology I'll write 'psycho'

[On basic Physics] The Engineers can take a little nap... Later on the Engineers will suffer when you come to all the qualitative stuff, so don't worry about them.

Question? Yeah you. I just pick up worried-looking faces to ask question. (pick)

cost-effect phenomenon (cause)

Before Newton, the world was believed to be magical and mystical. People thought, some people still think, that things happened for no good reason... If you see this cup picked up, it might be a ghost, but the ghost acts in a very precise way.

5 - 3 can also be written as 5 + (-3). I hope you all are not frightened by negative numbers.

Much of this abstract mathematics we won't be using. But it's good to know it once we use it.

[To someone on a science module] You're feeling like me in Cyberarts.

[To me] You're from Arts right. Long hair.

We have an exchange student from America. There they use feet, pounds and the unit for energy... I don't know.

All that energy in your head. You hear me talking for 2 hours. All that energy, where does it go?... Your head should be warm... Your head radiates heat... But we have air-conditioning here, so the heat is sucked out of this room and thrown outside, then we have global warming.

[Student on energy conservation: So your energy comes from your parents] My parents, then my grandparents, and ultimately to the Big Bang. There are small bangs, and the Big Bang.

If there're little tricks that would make the class easier, it's a good thing to point them out earlier in the course rather than near the end in the evaluation forms.

Anthropology - largely because they lack a rigorous methodology, but don't tell them that...

Very few people now who would call themselves structuralists are uner the age of 70... Largely because they have tenure and cannot be fired.

[On Pierre Bourdieu] Incredibly opaque, and beats around the bush in the worst tradition of French academia.

I'm sure some of you have encountered Heidegger, or will at some point, to your regret.

In the Social Sciences there's this lag between when someone comes up with a new idea in one discipline and when it becomes sexy to include it in another.

Trying to sell rainforest in Southeast Asia. it's only 14, 15 hundred years [old]. So don't believe all the hype... All the rainforest in Borneo and Malaysia. It's not Central Africa. So it's not true.

In every American university campus there's an urban myth that campuses are built to prevent students from being able to take over buildings... [On NUS] This is a very good example... Big quads where all the students can organise... You don't find that here... You're not supposed to understand the world around you when people are trying to manipulate you.

Ergonomics... Therefore people who religiously study supermarket layouts... Who's been to IKEA? Nightmarish place... The IKEA guy was another fascist. I don't buy anything from them.

[On a freeway mess, California] This is the worst place I've ever seen.

[On a picture of a Rio beach] I naturally checked to make sure there was no nudity. It'd be pixellated if there was.

There's a very good film. City of God. Has anyone watched it?... It's very violent, so don't tell your parents I told you to watch it.

I hope to hear from one of our government representatives on their policy of explicity shaping Singapore, which is very interesting.

Blog. It's such a horrible word... I'm embarrassed to say it out loud.

I'll try to get these on the ILV today. I can never get anything right. (IVLE)

[On lecture slides] Would you guys feel more comfortable if I posted this online?... You guys just want everything online, don't you? When was the last time you had to work for anything?.... You can't read it before lecture. It'll just steal my thunder.

[On being new] I didn't get my orientation. It was like: 'Okay, here's your classroom'

[On accountable/reputable sources] If you go to a website and there's [a] bright green background, things flash up... I don't want to have any 60 feet skeleton photos coming back and people using that.

[On seeing Screwed Up Girl] How is she screwed up?... Actually, yah.

[On an important rally] The funniest part was when he cracked a joke, then no one laughed.

[On a white horse] His bodyguard should just kill 2 birds with one stone and get a degree too.

Historical sociologists are very arrogant. They think the other sociologists are doing history, but they don't know it.

[On sociology] We're a social science, not a humanity per se. We cross over into the humanities once in a while to steal concepts.

graduate melting pot (gradual)

What kind of shared political values did the old Yugoslavia have?... Has anyone heard of Yugoslavia? [Me: Nothing, that's why it collapsed.]

Communism collapsed. The only holdouts: North Korea, Vietnam, China and to some extent, Singapore.

"People say that life is the thing, but I prefer reading." - Logan Pearsall Smith

***

Today, I put on a multi-layered, multi-faced performative act with at least 4 facets I could identify.


Specifically, I wore a cyan "Ladies Sleeping Gawn" (sic - it was "Made In Malaysia") for the day.

1) A passive attempt to raise awareness about trans-gender issues a la "Hair for Hope". Viz., "What happened to your hair?" "I'm raising money and awareness for child cancer sufferers."

2) A protest against sexism in the tradition of bra-burning - stupid, pointless and ludicrous.

3) A satire of attention-grabbing feats of social activism like NKF charity show stunts and today's "NUS Breakers" paper crane folding (there's a complicated framework for donations, they're killing trees and it's an advertising stunt [read more]). Unfortunately I had class from 12-1, when it was on.

4) I was in Holland Village yesterday (Wednesday) with Screwed Up Girl and we saw a ladies' sleeping gown on sale for $10. She said she'd buy it for me if I wore it to school.

There is also a fifth facet to do with meaning mining.


One of my adoring fans

MFTTW: wah lau eh. you can't even pick a pretty dress.
but my you have nice cleavage


Jianhao showing off my gift to the USP community - "The Good Sex Bible", bought from Palo Alto. Hopefully it will educate everyone, especially the ginna, so they won't have to bang bang.


A "6 claps" picture of me and Cunning Linguist reviewing the book in Palo Alto


Some reflections on my experience:

- It was a Medium. I wonder what XL is like.
- At first it was damn hot, even in an air-conditioned environment. No wonder it was for sale.
- Having no pockets sucks
- Although the dress wasn't that short, sitting properly was annoying. Which just reconfirms the theory about how you're supposed to look but not say anything when girls in very short skirts zaogeng.
- (Un)fortunately I didn't have a John Travolta Hairspray experience ("It showed me gals have the power. I would put on that getup, and the men would flirt... I'm happy to be a man, but I miss being groped") though Kenneth did keep stroking the sleeve of my dress


Quotes:

I'm not shocked at all. This says something about you, Gabriel.

You have VPL... Could you, have like, worn nicer underwear or something?... So ugly.

I like your dress.

His dress is sexier than mine. [Student 2: Yah, the slits]

I'm not gonna walk around school, like, with you.

I thought you were playing jesus

How much money have you raised? [Me: I'm not collecting any money. It's an awareness-raising exercise. The logistics are too difficult.]

Where's your bra?

My only question to you is: why didn't you choose a nicer dress?

Can you wear a bra at least, if you're gonna wear a dress?

You should wear stockings also.

You rock... You're very brave.

Economist.com - Cities Guide - Singapore

"Whither the weather?

Singapore is getting hotter and wetter. According to the National Environment Agency, average temperatures in the city-state have risen by between 1º and 1.5º Celsius over the past 50 years. The agency, which suggests that global warming may be the culprit, also reported an increase in rainfall, noting that December 2006 was the wettest on record. The agency is expected to publish a larger study on Singapore’s future weather conditions sometime next year."


Great.

"Nate dea, potes hoc sub casu ducere somnos,
nec, quae te circum stent deinde pericula, cernis,
demens, nec Zephyros audis spirare secundos?
Illa dolos dirumque nefas in pectore versat,
certa mori, varioque irarum fluctuat aestu.
Non fugis hinc praeceps, dum praecipitare potestas?
Iam mare turbari trabibus, saevasque videbis
conlucere faces, iam fervere litora flammis,
si te his attigerit terris Aurora morantem.
Heia age, rumpe moras. Varium et mutabile semper
femina."

"It usually takes more than three weeks to prepare a good impromptu speech." - Mark Twain

***

(Quoting from Nadia Lovell's 'Belonging in need of emplacement?' in her Locality and Belonging)

Me: Fardon (1990) warned of the dangers of confining 'local' discourses into isolated and alienated hinterlands bearing little connection with the wider world through the methodological conditionings and theoretical insularity of the anthropological discipline itself.

sounds like much of academia haha

Someone: that sentence requires three readings just to grasp its meaning. academia indeed
:S

Me: Similarly, Fog Olwig and Hastrup (1997) question the usefulness of concepts of the 'local' and 'location' as viable entities for the understanding of culture.

the same could apply to academic jargon. this just satirises itself

Someone: they have nothing else to talk about, so must spend time making us confused
/meh

Me: =D

However, whether these objects should be read as text is open to debate (Vansina 1985, 1994), as the memories which inscribe themselves on objects or, indeed, narratives themselves, are never 'objectively' synchronic in the way that a text can be (Fentress and Wickham 1994: 6-8)

please lah
texts can be 'objectively' synchronic meh

Someone: lol. that line is a blur to me now. i'm getting a headache over *** ><

Me: this seems to mean that texts can be studied without reference to their historical context

OMG
this line actually makes sense without being more complex than it needs to be

What Taussig succinctly describes as 'the magical harnessing of the dead for stately purposes' (1997: 3), adding that: 'In the making of modern nations, the dead do double duty. Out of nowhere, it seems, people conjure up a slice of deadness and borrow from it their names, battle cries, and costumes, in order to present the new scene of world history in dazzling form' (Taussig 1997: 10).

succinct indeed

Someone: lol. i remember reading this line and being fascinated. both by the idea of "using" the dead in the political aspect, and by the fact that it's the most easily understood line, probably


Me: 'We should beware of attempts to define landscape, to resolve its contradictions; rather we should abide in its duplicity'

great. confusing people is good

Frigid Girl: wah lau it sounds like stupid philo or lit reading
maybe soci
haha =p

"Never be afraid to laugh at yourself, after all, you could be missing out on the joke of the century." - Dame Edna Everage

***

Quotes:

I'm glad that I'm here though. My last 2 days in KL just cemented my beliefs. All my friends in KL live in gated communities... On Friday a girl died... They chopped her hand off with a parang.

[On a President's Scholar who was liked in primary school but hated by everyone after] A lot of people, I think, grow horns and a tail after they go into GEP.

[On a statesman] Every time he makes a foreign visit, we have another one lined up to apologise.

[On someone knowing his girlfriend since they were in Sec 3] So you all really have, like, bonding.

[On his ex] She wanted to come to my house to take pictures of my bird.

[On JB] You said she's worldly-wise. [Me: Yeah, so she won't want you.]

[On Facebook applications] I'm not gonna play with your PMS dial.

Later he come and give you a wink. [Someone: I'm not gonna flirt with random waiters] [Someone else: I can, I can.]

"I wish people who have trouble communicating would just shut up." - Tom Lehrer

***

Someone: id never go for black men, i dont care how big. they are criminals
lol.

you have no idea how they arelike, these black men.
i was shocked with your stupid anal sex tale.
gross.

they're like [XXX]
lol.

u know [XXX] and ah bengs have no respect for women
they whistle at girls
or sing at girls
and these black men did it to me once

Me: once only

Someone: i got stalked by black guys ok

...

japanese and korean and thai and indo girls like sg men.
cuz sg men treat them better than their own

my jap friend last sem
v hot
but he thought v day was for a girl to buy presents for the guy
lol.

pathetic.

Me: oh yeah sg men are sexist

Someone: they have a day like that in jap
white chocolate day.

so many sg guys marry jap girls ah
*** la
haha

jap girls like any other men bt their own
jap guys like any other women but their own, altho they feel inadequate
and inferior
so they can only settle for their own women
while their inferiority festers like a wound.

and they beat their wives to feel better
sad
hha.

*** can beat me anyday man.

Me: they beat their wives meh
I thought they don't know them

Someone: yeah they do man.
in korea is normal to beat wife
manly
aha.


JB: I'm contemplating drastically changing myself again

Me: how about a sex change

JB: eww.

i don't see the appeal in being a guy

Me: you wanted a drastic change


Tim the Great: next door in paris get it on all the time

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
oui! oh... oui!

it feels so wrong to hear it in french

Me: but the french are great lovers

Tim the Great: and “fuck me” sounds so gentle in french

yeah they’re effeminate losers

Me: what is it?

Tim the Great: baise moi
or ***nique moi

Oh oui nique moi j'aime ça

whoops too many people on my list speak french

Me: ***nique moi is what ah

Tim the Great: fuck me

Me: IN FRENCH

I don't know what the *** is

Tim the Great: *** extremely informal
i thought you understood the coding

you think what
pique nique ah

french spelling of picnic
pique-nique

pronounce it the french way, it sounds horrid

Me: ...

Tim the Great: http://www.wordreference.com/fren/niquer

niquer:
niquer ⇒ v fuck (screw) offensive!!

Compound Forms/Formes composées
niquer la mère de qn (passer à tabac) (vulgaire) v fuck up (beat up) vulgar
pique-niquer vi picnic (eat outdoors)


Someone: yeah you didnt know that a lot of sg girls are stupid?
then you're no better.

...

i see ***
she's quite pretty
and like does well for exams and all
but not really intelligent or street wise

her newest bf is some rich kid.
he's quite ugly though
really horrible acne
and a bad smile

dont think he's smart either
dont know what she sees in him?
money?

she is that sort though u know
cuz she dumped her ex cuz he was too 'poor'
and couldnt buy her guess bags which her ex bf did

Me: see, this can easily be explained.

the primary criterion for the worth of a feminine partner is aesthetic appeal
the primary criteria for the worth of a masculine partner are wealth, power, fame and most importantly the ability to emotionally manipulate women

Someone: yeah you mentioned...
the wretchedness.

*** isnt rich or powerful
or famous

but your theory doesnt make sense
not all guys are rich or powerful or famous.
yet girls go for regular guys

not all girls are hot or attractive though

Me: as I said
the -most important- is the ability to emotionally manipulate women

Someone: not many guys can do it

Me: all guys do it to some extent

Someone: yeah
well c'est la vie

Me: anyway the not hot/attractive girls end up with men who are not rich/powerful/famous or who are nice

and if not... then congratulations to the lucky couple!


Someone else: you need a nickname.

what about biibi?
beebe is prolly better.

bibbi is the name of my sister's multicolored quilt


Someone: our *** class no cute girls anyway
cant believe it
maybe not PRC i happy already

...

thhis is not hum sup
this is just doing homework before we check out them


Someone on being in the US for a while: =_= I kind of feel disappointed coming back to NUS

they guys here, not really cute
whereas a lot of guys there were cute

it improves my eyesight

KFC - Wikipedia

"In 1983, writer William Poundstone tackled the recipe in his book Big Secrets. He reviewed Sanders' patent application, and advertised in college newspapers for present or former employees willing to share their knowledge. From the former he deduced that Sanders had diverged from other common fried-chicken recipes by varying the amount of oil used with the amount of chicken being cooked, and starting the cooking at a higher temperature (about 400°F, 200°C) for the first minute or so and then lowering it to 250°F (120°C) for the remainder of the cooking time. Several of Poundstone's contacts also provided samples of the seasoning mix, and a food lab found that it consisted solely of sugar, flour, salt, black pepper and monosodium glutamate (MSG). He concluded that it was entirely possible that, in the years since Sanders sold the chain, later owners had begun skimping on the recipe to save costs (Sanders himself had been highly critical of changes made to the gravy)."

Spam gets stranger and stranger:


دعـــــــــــوة

تتشرف الجمعية التونسية للإعلام الجغرافي الرقمي بدعوتكم لحضور فعاليات التظاهرة الدولية جيو تونس 2007 تحت شعار:

"بالجغرفة الرقمية نبني مجالاتنا الترابية و نؤسس لإدارة الكترونية"

و ذلك للأيام 15/16/17نوفمبر 2007 بمدينة العلوم بتونس العاصمة، و تتنزل هذه التظاهرة في إطار تفعيل التبادل العلمي و التقني بين مختلف المتدخلين في ميادين الجغرفة الرقمية ;و الإدارة الالكترونية و القوانين و التشريعات الخاصة بهذه الميادين الحديثة إضافة إلى دور التضامن الرقمي في النهوض بمجتمع المعرفة.
و سيكون موضوع جيو تونس لهذه السنة:

"الجغرفة الرقمية من أداة للتنمية المستديمة إلى ركيزة للإدارة الالكترونية"

كما ستشارك في فعاليات هذه التظاهرة نخبة من الخبراء و المؤسسات البحثية و الجمعيات و المنظمات الوطنية و الأجنبية علاوة على عروض لآخر الإضافات التكنولوجية تؤم 06;ها كبرى المؤسسات الناشطة في الحقل الرقمي.
و بقدر تشرفنا بحضوركم أشغال هذه التظاهرة فانه يسعدنا عرض تجاربكم و تناول إحدى المحاور العلمية اثراءا لروح المعرفة،

مع خالص عبارات التقدير و دمتم في خدمة مجتمع المعرفةو معا نبني مستقبل علمي مشرق.
عن الهيئة المديرة للجمعية
رئيس الجمعية
الأستاذ محمد العياري

المحاور العلمية الكبرى

إستمارة المحاضرين

إستمارة العارضين

إستمارة المشاركين

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

Invitation



L’Association Tunisienne de l’Information Géographique Numérique a l’honneur de vous inviter au colloque international GéoTunis 2007 qui se tiendra les 15/16/17 Novembre 2007 dans la cité des sciences à Tunis.

Outre l’incitation à la solidarité numérique, cette manifestation aura pour but l’amélioration des échanges scientifiques et techniques entre les différents intervenants des domaines de la géographie numérique, l’administration électronique et l’adaptation des lois et décrets concernent ces domaines.

LA GEOMATIQUE : D'UN OUTIL POUR LE DEVELOPPEMENT DURABLE A UN MOYEN AU SERVICE DE L'ADMINISTRATION ELECTRONIQUE

Plusieurs intervenants y participeront ; des spécialistes, des entreprises scientifiques et des associations et organismes nationaux et internationaux.

En plus du colloque, des réalisations technologiques mises en œuvres par les grandes entreprises agissantes dans le domaine seront exposées.

Et pour contribuer au succès de cet évènement scientifique, votre participation par l’exposition de vos expériences et l’étude de l’un des modules nous sera d’un grand honneur et nous fera plaisir.

President de l’ATIGN

Mohamed Ayari

Les themes scientifiques

Proposer une communication

Réserver un stand

Formulaire pour les participants

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

Invitation

We have pleasure in inviting you to the international conference GéoTunis 2007, during the 15th, 16th and the 17th of November 2007 in the Tunis science city.
In addition to the encouragement to the digital solidarity, this event will ameliorate the scientific and technological exchanges between the different members in the domains of the digital geography, the E- administration and lows concerning those domains.

“The geomatics from a long lasting development tool to a means for the electronic administration.”

Many agents will participate to this conference; specialists, scientific firms and national and international associations and organisms.
In addition to that, the technological achievements, done by the big firms acting in the domain, will be presented. We look to a good number of you in our conference.

Yours sincerely,

President of ATIGN
Mohamed Ayari

The topics

Propose a conference

Reserve a stand

Form for the participants

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

www.geotunis.org.tn geotunis@gnet.tn
www.atign.org.tn atigeo_num@yahoo.fr

TEL/FAX 0021671341826/0021671341814
25AV.HABIB BOURGUIBA1001 TUNIS

"A person who trusts no one can't be trusted." - Jerome Blattner

***


I used to eat the prata at Upper Thompson Road ("Casuarina Road... Best Crispy Prata. Recommended by New Paper) after/before (on Saturdays before choir) school, and it was good. When I went there after a Macritchie 'training' session, I ordered some prata and got this monstrosity; it was oozing with oil and it had been cooked with so much, the prata seemed deep fried. Further the shape was distorted. More reasons why Canai pwns Prata.


City Harvest loves Singapore


This is why one should stay clear of the Rock Path in Bukit Timah nature reserve. Even the way to/from Laban Rata wasn't this bad.


I Can't Believe It's Not Butter! Yes, many a gullible shopper has been conned into buying this crap, thinking that's it's butter. Actually it's just Palm Oil shit that's been hydrogenated (IIRC, so you get the best of both worlds - trans-fat AND saturated fat) and then packaged into nature-identical 'bars' of 'butter'.


"Now in Brinda's. Free Hotspot. 1st Indian Restaurant to provide wireless surfing."
Uhh


"Nuisance Creatively Gift" stall, Vivocity


"Special Blend 'Power' Cheng Xing Fresh Fruit Juice"


Cathay claims to have lower ticket prices, yet they claim that "for selected releases, in alignment with all cinema exhibitors in Singapore, Cathay Cineplexes will apply the prevailing rates." Which is why The Bourne Ultimatum cost $7 per head yesterday, instead of $6.50. Maybe the lower rate only applies to local releases.



I was attending one of Cunning Linguist's events at the Asian Civilisations Museum and we noticed this drawing. She thought I looked like the character in the drawing and so this picture juxtaposes us.


Description: "Third Prize
Secondary and Pre-U Category

The River of Life
By Yong Xin Hui
Nanyang Girls' High School, Age 14

This design presents a juxtaposition of the past and the present of the Singapore River. The left panel comprises bumboats (or tugboats) which were present in massive numbers on the Singapore River, alongside with trishaws, coolies and warehouses in the olden days. The right panel of the design depicts me standing in the foreground of the Singapore River. In the background is a bumboat used not for transportion of goods but for ferrying tourists. This shows how the Singapore River is growing and developing with Singapore. This panel perhaps represents the present and the future."

Great, so I have a future job prospect of being a stand-in for 14 year old Nanyang girls.



"No matter what you will do in the future after grauation, you will never have enough money! That's true! Then why not start to practise now to become a professional translator/interpretor (sic)"
Funny, I thought the solution was to reduce your avarice, since if you will never have enough money, there's no point trying to get more.


'Youcan Spicy Vanilla Cup Ice Cream' (NUS Co-op).
Sounds disgusting. No wonder there's a Special Promotion of Buy 1 Get 1 Free. And no wonder they're donating money to charity for people eating this sort of thing (see below).


"The King Never Smiles. BANNED IN THAILAND."
The NUS Co-op is doing wonders for bilateral relations.


During the holidays: "open till late. 11am - 8pm Daily".
McDonalds NUS redefines the meaning of "open till late".


"2 girls fighting over one guy! Can you help? USP Seminar. Negotiation Masters Workshop."
Simple. Polyamory is the solution.


Seditious NUS library sign (note what has been done to the NUS library chop in the bottom right)



"NUSSU PRU presents... NUS Breakers

For every crane folded before 23rd Aug... Songhe will donate 1 bowl of rice... On 23rd Aug 2007... Uzumaki will donate $0.50 to charity for each hot and spicy icecream consumed!!

Songhe will donate up to a maximum of *$1.00 to charity for each crane folded!!

* - The presence of all 10 Deans and 4 NUS Office Bearers will allow for a maximum possible donation of $0.95 per crane from Songhe. Else, each Dean/Vice Dean and NUS Office Bearer will contribute $0.05 per crane folded on the event day."

So, an alternate slogan for the event might be: "Kill a tree, save a life". I don't know what they're breaking except the hearts of environmentalists and the stomachs of people eating that disgusting ice cream (imagine how many starving Third World children can be induced into puking after eating the ice cream that people will eat!)

And don't even begin to ask me to decipher that Byzantine formula for charity donations, even if we ignore the fact that the maximum possible donation of $0.95 still falls one Dean short of $1.00.