First it was mocca with the matching green pipes.

Then I see 5 macho clones entertaining a baby and selling diapers.

Now cockroach spray also use muscle-man.

Is this the new generation of ads? No more skimpily dressed women? At least we should see more FedEx water-walking ads and M1 Indian Curry House ads!!!

I re-consulted the doctor on Sunday to get an MC today. It was a horribly long wait considering how miserable I already was. Many people missed the queue and came back to be inserted, pushing my number further back. While waiting there, I saw….

1. A typical singaporean middle-age couple. They had queue number 80, and it was showing 79 on the queue board. Soon there was a “Ding Dong” and the couple stood up quickly with their kid, ready to go in. But when the looked up the number showed 84. They started to grumble “why skip our number” “how come lidat” and started to complain to the nurse at the counter. The nurse had to explain to them they had already missed their turn and the 79 was also one who missed their turn. They would have to wait a few more turns based on their queue insertion practices. Even so the couple grumbled non-stop. They returned to their seats and continued grumbling and showing faces of disapproval. They seem to have not realize it was completely their fault for missing the queue.

2. An innocent child. He was holding some stickers in one hand and a biscuit on the other. Somehow he squeezed it too tightly and the biscuit crumbled, parts of it falling to the floor. His dad said to him “掉了, 不要了”. He heard that and began opening his hand, making more pieces of the biscuit drop… His dad stopped him and said “eh! 手里面的拿去吃!” while picking up the pieces to throw them away. The kid then raised the other hand and put the sticker into his mouth…

Had a nice chill with windy and angdao tonight. Been a long time since we just ran out late at night, as if during poly days. Especially after all of us started working, it’s hard enough to get together.

Picked windy up at Simei and drove up to Arab St, where there’s a little “Jazz” bar. Pretty cosy environment, thanks to the wind and the few drops of rain. The music was only average, and the singer could have been better. We haven’t had dinner (10pm) so it was disappointing they only had finger food left. Luckily the finger food was pretty decent (or maybe we were hungry) and the Dark Erdinger beer just great. The irony was I didn’t take any finger food as all of ’em were fried — I was down with a flu-cum-sore-throat. And, I had none of the beer cos I was the driver, plus I’ve quit drinking (yeah, I know, the same question “When did I ever start?”)

In order to satisfy my stomach we ran a sequel to our chill, driving to Geylang for Dim Sum. It’s a totally crowded stall somewhere opposite those durian sellers who ‘ka’ people. The highlight for us was the porridge, even though I said earlier in the car that I’m not interested in porridge. A must-try is the porridge in claypot. When it’s served it’s still bubbling, means it’s still boiling hot. We had the frog porridge, but I guess it didn’t matter what you mix in it; it’s the porridge that’s good.

We went for a spin round the Manjusri Sec neighbourhood after the meal, then another slow drive back home. I think I’ve clocked about 150km for the past month. If this goes on for the next few months I should upgrade to the “premium” membership for cheaper prices.

I think it was a pity we couldn’t gather more kakis: jonquil31 or ahLi and “HER OTHER HALF”…

Charity organizations are back online after the charity sagas, and getting more aggressive than ever. Instead of having cans where u drop coins as you wish, they’re demanding you donate $10 or more for some freebie. Some even spending minutes to coerce you into giving. To authenticate themselves they even show their IC and apply for certificates.

Shouldn’t charity be about giving whatever amount you wish to?

Furthermore, I personally feel like giving money is a bad form of donation (if not the worst). I agree that not all people have the time/energy to actually perform charitable work, but when you put in cash, you don’t know how your money is actually being used. How much of it will end up in the director’s pocket or a gold tap in his office? Why not donate relevant items such as rice for disaster aid, or milk powder for poor kids? Even if you had used your money to buy the items to give, it’ll be less likely the organization will resell off those items in exchange for cash, and more likely it’ll fulfil its intended use.

I have also heard about petroleum companies in poor but oil-rich countries who are doing their part by donating to local villages. What happened was the village chiefs ended up with very nice houses, while the villagers were still as poor. If actual aid items were given out, I bet the chief will not stock up as much and more will reach the ground.

That said, I’ll still give 10 or 20cents to people who approach me sincerely for petty donations, but I’ll think thrice for salesman style appeals for cash.