Mininova limits its activities to Content Distribution service.
omg!In case u're too lazy to go read that short post, basically.. torrents are no longer available on mininova!! zomg! it's because of some new dutch law or dunno what nonsense that is cracking down on illegal downloads.
So now mininova is only going to have LEGAL links available.. no more of those random torrents of new shows, etc.
This is saaaad.
On a side note, i've replaced my SIM card, so please start SMSing me your numbers cos i lost my whole contact list. :( yep.
Huh? i may get arrested for illegal downloading? who said i used torrents? i don't! i'm just feeling an empathatic kinda sadness!
Thursday 26 November 2009
Wednesday 25 November 2009
lost(stolen) phone :@
DAMN PISSSSEEEED.
i was on my way to hougang to check out the bike shop that tianen recommended. So i was on the bus 107 and alighted at serangoon MRT there.
Within 5 seconds after getting off.. i realised i left my phone on the bus!!!
omg i chased the bus all the way to the next stop but couldn't catch it. damn sian.
To summarize before elaborating, I THINK THE BUS DRIVER STOLE IT.
ok i've got my reasons for this seemingly wild accusation. Let me elaborate.
I got off the bus at about.. 11.45AM i think. Then I ran to the next stop.. couldn't have been more than 5 minutes. so let's say it was 11.50AM. Over there i borrowed this guy's phone (thanks random stranger) to call my HP, and it was still switched on! means noone found it yet.
My phone's ring tone is rather loud i think? I don't know why noone picked it up :@
so i took a bus down to kovan MRT and then a train down to hougang interchange to try to find the 107. At kovan MRT, i used the phone at the passenger service counter again to call my HP.. which was about 12.05PM maybe?
IT WAS STILL SWITCHED ON.
so i went down to hougang interchange and asked the service counter to help me locate the bus that just reached. Then after like 10 minutes of nothingness i spotted the bus driver driving the 107 away!! I could recognize him cos he has this beng haircut that's like.. long fringe then the sides are shaved short.
Then i asked the counter guy and he said that the bus was heading to the bus depot. :@ wtf.
And he said he would help me call the bus driver.
Then i wandered around that area abit.. and met some REALLY UNHELPFUL PEOPLE. i asked to borrow their phones to call my HP to check if it's still on.. then they all went 'oh no phone'. Like freaking ridiculous this guy had those shirts with a breastpocket. So i asked him 'do you have a phone?' and he said 'nonono'. Then as i walked past him i could see a phone in his pocket.
LIAR.
So at about 12.20 i asked the counter again.. then the guy said he called the driver already but the driver said that he searched the bus already and didn't find anything.
i called my HP then with the service counter's phone.. AND IT WAS SWITCHED OFF.
1@#!^$%&$%^&.
in case you're dense, ill show you a time line.
11.40AM - 107 left serangoon MRT
11.48AM - 107 left bus stop after serangoon MRT, HP still switched on.
12.00PM - It's only 5 stops to the interchange.. so i suppose the bus reached the interchange at about this time.
12.06PM - HP still switched on.
12.20PM - HP switched off.
How can anyone steal the phone after it has reached the interchange? Furthermore the bus was pretty empty when i left it, i think at most 3 ppl.
And if my HP was still on after the bus reached the interchange.. only the driver was in the bus after that.
Furthermore, the bus didn't terminate there, it proceeded to go to the bus depot. And my phone only became 'switched off' AFTER the service counter guy called the driver to check the bus.
My conclusion - THE BUS DRIVER DID IT.
My phone is in very good condition, looks like a brand new phone in fact. Cos i didn't really use it much in my 2 years in NS. Totally worth stealing IMO. :@ zzz.
Ok i know i'm quite mean in wildly accusing the bus driver or what. but i'm pissed so let me vent on somebody. and it's the only logical conclusion i can arrive at. totally makes sense doesn't it.
And i must say SBS/SMRT is damn screwed up la. Kovan mrt didn't have the contact number of hougang interchange! because NEL is ran by SMRT and the buses by SBS.. so they dont have each other's contacts?! ridiculous la.
Then when i was asking for help at the hougang interchange service counter the guy didn't even update me on what was going on.. i was just standing outside like an idiot. He didn't tell me that the bus driver couldn't find the phone until i asked him to borrow his phone. Hello, live update please.
SIGGHHH. my sony ericsson c902... freaking awesome phone can. 5megapixel with some awesome camera functions. just look at the photos i've placed on my blog. :( sigh. all my contacts!! argh. my photos.. should be safe, they're on my com.
Now i have to spend a few hundred bucks on a new phone. sigh.
OK after slamming SBS/SMRT for lousy service, i just HAVE to praise Singtel abit. apart from disconnecting me last night from wow like multiple times, and having ridiculously many number of hotlines for different purposes.. their SIM replacement is awesome?
Well, i called them up to cancel my line, and after multiple redirects i finally reached the person who could help me. So i asked like, after cancelling, how do i get it restored. Then she told me i could walk in to a hello! shop to get a new SIM FOR FREE (wow), or... THEY COULD JUST SEND IT TO MY HOUSE. FOR FREE. (double triple wow!)
is this awesome service or what? So in the next 5 hours i'm gonna get a new SIM card already. lol. you all can go out and lose your singtel SIM cards with ease of mind now HA.
sigh. any new phone recommendations?
UPDATE: ah, too good to be true. singtel called again, saying they got some system error, so they can only send the sim card tmr. ha noobs. oh well.
i was on my way to hougang to check out the bike shop that tianen recommended. So i was on the bus 107 and alighted at serangoon MRT there.
Within 5 seconds after getting off.. i realised i left my phone on the bus!!!
omg i chased the bus all the way to the next stop but couldn't catch it. damn sian.
To summarize before elaborating, I THINK THE BUS DRIVER STOLE IT.
ok i've got my reasons for this seemingly wild accusation. Let me elaborate.
I got off the bus at about.. 11.45AM i think. Then I ran to the next stop.. couldn't have been more than 5 minutes. so let's say it was 11.50AM. Over there i borrowed this guy's phone (thanks random stranger) to call my HP, and it was still switched on! means noone found it yet.
My phone's ring tone is rather loud i think? I don't know why noone picked it up :@
so i took a bus down to kovan MRT and then a train down to hougang interchange to try to find the 107. At kovan MRT, i used the phone at the passenger service counter again to call my HP.. which was about 12.05PM maybe?
IT WAS STILL SWITCHED ON.
so i went down to hougang interchange and asked the service counter to help me locate the bus that just reached. Then after like 10 minutes of nothingness i spotted the bus driver driving the 107 away!! I could recognize him cos he has this beng haircut that's like.. long fringe then the sides are shaved short.
Then i asked the counter guy and he said that the bus was heading to the bus depot. :@ wtf.
And he said he would help me call the bus driver.
Then i wandered around that area abit.. and met some REALLY UNHELPFUL PEOPLE. i asked to borrow their phones to call my HP to check if it's still on.. then they all went 'oh no phone'. Like freaking ridiculous this guy had those shirts with a breastpocket. So i asked him 'do you have a phone?' and he said 'nonono'. Then as i walked past him i could see a phone in his pocket.
LIAR.
So at about 12.20 i asked the counter again.. then the guy said he called the driver already but the driver said that he searched the bus already and didn't find anything.
i called my HP then with the service counter's phone.. AND IT WAS SWITCHED OFF.
1@#!^$%&$%^&.
in case you're dense, ill show you a time line.
11.40AM - 107 left serangoon MRT
11.48AM - 107 left bus stop after serangoon MRT, HP still switched on.
12.00PM - It's only 5 stops to the interchange.. so i suppose the bus reached the interchange at about this time.
12.06PM - HP still switched on.
12.20PM - HP switched off.
How can anyone steal the phone after it has reached the interchange? Furthermore the bus was pretty empty when i left it, i think at most 3 ppl.
And if my HP was still on after the bus reached the interchange.. only the driver was in the bus after that.
Furthermore, the bus didn't terminate there, it proceeded to go to the bus depot. And my phone only became 'switched off' AFTER the service counter guy called the driver to check the bus.
My conclusion - THE BUS DRIVER DID IT.
My phone is in very good condition, looks like a brand new phone in fact. Cos i didn't really use it much in my 2 years in NS. Totally worth stealing IMO. :@ zzz.
Ok i know i'm quite mean in wildly accusing the bus driver or what. but i'm pissed so let me vent on somebody. and it's the only logical conclusion i can arrive at. totally makes sense doesn't it.
And i must say SBS/SMRT is damn screwed up la. Kovan mrt didn't have the contact number of hougang interchange! because NEL is ran by SMRT and the buses by SBS.. so they dont have each other's contacts?! ridiculous la.
Then when i was asking for help at the hougang interchange service counter the guy didn't even update me on what was going on.. i was just standing outside like an idiot. He didn't tell me that the bus driver couldn't find the phone until i asked him to borrow his phone. Hello, live update please.
SIGGHHH. my sony ericsson c902... freaking awesome phone can. 5megapixel with some awesome camera functions. just look at the photos i've placed on my blog. :( sigh. all my contacts!! argh. my photos.. should be safe, they're on my com.
Now i have to spend a few hundred bucks on a new phone. sigh.
OK after slamming SBS/SMRT for lousy service, i just HAVE to praise Singtel abit. apart from disconnecting me last night from wow like multiple times, and having ridiculously many number of hotlines for different purposes.. their SIM replacement is awesome?
Well, i called them up to cancel my line, and after multiple redirects i finally reached the person who could help me. So i asked like, after cancelling, how do i get it restored. Then she told me i could walk in to a hello! shop to get a new SIM FOR FREE (wow), or... THEY COULD JUST SEND IT TO MY HOUSE. FOR FREE. (double triple wow!)
is this awesome service or what? So in the next 5 hours i'm gonna get a new SIM card already. lol. you all can go out and lose your singtel SIM cards with ease of mind now HA.
sigh. any new phone recommendations?
UPDATE: ah, too good to be true. singtel called again, saying they got some system error, so they can only send the sim card tmr. ha noobs. oh well.
Tuesday 24 November 2009
bestie fun
ah, just spent 2 awesome days with my best friend in the world.
yesterday we went to town to watch "2012".
Before i start spamming you with pictures, i must say that the show was pretty good! I liked how the character development was adequately done such that you feel a sense of attachment to each and every one of them. The downside of this is that it takes a little long, and the show was indeed long, 2 hours++.
SPOILER ALERT
if you don't mind getting spoilt, then highlight the white text in between the two smiley faces (it's not THAT spoilerish, you can still watch the show after reading it)
:)
The show is basically about 2012 being the end of the world, as predicted by the ancient Mayan tribes. The 'end' occurs due to some chemical reaction or something caused by the sun and the crustal plates of the earth.. causing huge tsunamis and earthquakes and stuff. So the show tracks how the US actually keeps it hidden from the world and they have a secret project to 'rescue' the 'important' people of the world. Or those who can afford tickets.
:)
Argh, i'm damn annoyed with the weirdness of photobucket.. like i see a photo that's flipped horizontally on my com (cos i took the photo in portrait , for example), so i flip it back vertical and upload it.. then it comes out flipped on PB. then when i don't do it, it also comes out flipped.
So if some photos are rotated at a right angle.. just tilt ur head k :p
ok.. there are like 50 pictures or something.. so take ur time to scroll through :p
here we go:
an empty popcorn booth at The cathay.. it's on the same level as the cinemas. i wonder why it's vacated?
(-:
so much chocolate! wasted! (this is from the empty booth)
Ok so after 2012, i brought chris to Changing Appetites. Yes, i talked about this a few posts ago, their food is AWESOME ok. And the portions are generous, not like those places where you pay alot for very little. I was super full after finishing my meal la.
The prices are about 10-20 bucks, the student meals are all below 10. Student meals come with a bowl of soup, a slice of garlic bread, and a drink! and the main course is very generous also! super worth it i tell you.
nice menu
took a photo of chris taking a photo of the menu
There is a margaritas bar in CA lol.
nice right! i think the ambience is very cosy. Somemore the shop is tucked away in some ulu corner of Marina Square.. probably why noone goes there!! it's damn empty can. I'll be devastated if it has to close because it has not enough business.
GO EAT THERE NOWWW!!!
This was my awesome meal. I can't rem the exact name.. Cheese the Chicken i think.
Taken normal mode.
Macro mode.
Much clearer right?
Anyway, i MUST gush about this. Besides what it obviously is, chicken smothered with cheese, there are actually a few slices of MANGO on it! Plus some mango sauce hidden among the cheese! It's a very unique but successful combination IMO. The chicken is marinated very well and the spices just explode in your mouth when you sink your teeth into the juicy flesh.
And there are some chips flakes or something around it.
NICE.
This is chris' student meal.. this picture looks like crap lol. It's black pepper grilled chicken.
The baked potato was a bit too much though. Do you see the size of it?? It's like one freaking giant potato. lol.
Side dish of meatballs which i ordered.. in my haste to eat it i forgot to take a picture lol. Only remembered after eating 2 balls.
I wouldn't say it's the best meatballs i've eaten though. IKEA ones are ownage. maybe 2nd best? something about the sauce.
another picture of my Cheese the Chicken :)
FINISH.
SO FULL. =) good stuff man.
Seriously people, go eat @ Changing Appetites. It's in Marina Square level 1, next to Carl's Junior.
Day2
Today me and bestie went to ECP to cycle! healthy lifestyle eh. after a day of pigging out must exercise . hahaah.
Eh this shot was taken while i was cycling k!! by myself!! ok my camwhoring skills are ownage i know. Eeee i didn't know i was so skinny :S weightgainer ktnxbai.
i'm trying to take a pic of chris while cycling.. it's not easy k! we have to go at the exact same speed and i've to be able to balance while taking the photo.
fail again.
Then we decided to stop and take the photos instead =X
Ok i must show you one more picture that's super cool:
THIS PHOTO WAS NOT PHOTOSHOPPED K!! although i know it looks totally photoshopped. but i swear it's not.
super cool right the effect!! i dunno how chris did it.. she said she moved the camera along with my motion as i cycled past her.
So it creates this awesome blur effect of the background while i seem totally still. But i was actually cycling past her!
Then we cycled down all the way.. to the pier! i came here before last time but she didn't. It's a pretty nice place to go.. can see the horizon from here.. not too crowded.. etc.
ok we made some stupid videos.. sorry the video is tilted sideways but .. i guess the audio is more impt. so. just listen. :p
Another bangla with sexy shorts
zoomed
my HANDPHONE camera takes amazing shots, i know :p
More of us
Lol so dark already! time to go eat!
So after returning the bikes we dabao BK and went to sit on the beach and eat like a picnic! quite cool la, i never do before. haha. I bought the XXL mushroom swiss burger.. not worth it? it's not THAT much bigger
Eh my eyes are closed cos the flash is DAMN BRIGHT? imagine the whole area is dark then suddenly there's a bright white light glaring at you. You'll notice the next few shots my eyes are all a little smaller.
bestiesss~
ok that's all folks. time to go sleep.. tmr is WoW day.
yesterday we went to town to watch "2012".
Before i start spamming you with pictures, i must say that the show was pretty good! I liked how the character development was adequately done such that you feel a sense of attachment to each and every one of them. The downside of this is that it takes a little long, and the show was indeed long, 2 hours++.
SPOILER ALERT
if you don't mind getting spoilt, then highlight the white text in between the two smiley faces (it's not THAT spoilerish, you can still watch the show after reading it)
:)
The show is basically about 2012 being the end of the world, as predicted by the ancient Mayan tribes. The 'end' occurs due to some chemical reaction or something caused by the sun and the crustal plates of the earth.. causing huge tsunamis and earthquakes and stuff. So the show tracks how the US actually keeps it hidden from the world and they have a secret project to 'rescue' the 'important' people of the world. Or those who can afford tickets.
:)
Argh, i'm damn annoyed with the weirdness of photobucket.. like i see a photo that's flipped horizontally on my com (cos i took the photo in portrait , for example), so i flip it back vertical and upload it.. then it comes out flipped on PB. then when i don't do it, it also comes out flipped.
So if some photos are rotated at a right angle.. just tilt ur head k :p
ok.. there are like 50 pictures or something.. so take ur time to scroll through :p
here we go:
an empty popcorn booth at The cathay.. it's on the same level as the cinemas. i wonder why it's vacated?
(-:
so much chocolate! wasted! (this is from the empty booth)
Ok so after 2012, i brought chris to Changing Appetites. Yes, i talked about this a few posts ago, their food is AWESOME ok. And the portions are generous, not like those places where you pay alot for very little. I was super full after finishing my meal la.
The prices are about 10-20 bucks, the student meals are all below 10. Student meals come with a bowl of soup, a slice of garlic bread, and a drink! and the main course is very generous also! super worth it i tell you.
nice menu
took a photo of chris taking a photo of the menu
There is a margaritas bar in CA lol.
nice right! i think the ambience is very cosy. Somemore the shop is tucked away in some ulu corner of Marina Square.. probably why noone goes there!! it's damn empty can. I'll be devastated if it has to close because it has not enough business.
GO EAT THERE NOWWW!!!
This was my awesome meal. I can't rem the exact name.. Cheese the Chicken i think.
Taken normal mode.
Macro mode.
Much clearer right?
Anyway, i MUST gush about this. Besides what it obviously is, chicken smothered with cheese, there are actually a few slices of MANGO on it! Plus some mango sauce hidden among the cheese! It's a very unique but successful combination IMO. The chicken is marinated very well and the spices just explode in your mouth when you sink your teeth into the juicy flesh.
And there are some chips flakes or something around it.
NICE.
This is chris' student meal.. this picture looks like crap lol. It's black pepper grilled chicken.
The baked potato was a bit too much though. Do you see the size of it?? It's like one freaking giant potato. lol.
Side dish of meatballs which i ordered.. in my haste to eat it i forgot to take a picture lol. Only remembered after eating 2 balls.
I wouldn't say it's the best meatballs i've eaten though. IKEA ones are ownage. maybe 2nd best? something about the sauce.
another picture of my Cheese the Chicken :)
FINISH.
SO FULL. =) good stuff man.
Seriously people, go eat @ Changing Appetites. It's in Marina Square level 1, next to Carl's Junior.
Day2
Today me and bestie went to ECP to cycle! healthy lifestyle eh. after a day of pigging out must exercise . hahaah.
Eh this shot was taken while i was cycling k!! by myself!! ok my camwhoring skills are ownage i know. Eeee i didn't know i was so skinny :S weightgainer ktnxbai.
i'm trying to take a pic of chris while cycling.. it's not easy k! we have to go at the exact same speed and i've to be able to balance while taking the photo.
fail again.
Then we decided to stop and take the photos instead =X
Ok i must show you one more picture that's super cool:
THIS PHOTO WAS NOT PHOTOSHOPPED K!! although i know it looks totally photoshopped. but i swear it's not.
super cool right the effect!! i dunno how chris did it.. she said she moved the camera along with my motion as i cycled past her.
So it creates this awesome blur effect of the background while i seem totally still. But i was actually cycling past her!
Then we cycled down all the way.. to the pier! i came here before last time but she didn't. It's a pretty nice place to go.. can see the horizon from here.. not too crowded.. etc.
ok we made some stupid videos.. sorry the video is tilted sideways but .. i guess the audio is more impt. so. just listen. :p
Another bangla with sexy shorts
zoomed
my HANDPHONE camera takes amazing shots, i know :p
More of us
Lol so dark already! time to go eat!
So after returning the bikes we dabao BK and went to sit on the beach and eat like a picnic! quite cool la, i never do before. haha. I bought the XXL mushroom swiss burger.. not worth it? it's not THAT much bigger
Eh my eyes are closed cos the flash is DAMN BRIGHT? imagine the whole area is dark then suddenly there's a bright white light glaring at you. You'll notice the next few shots my eyes are all a little smaller.
bestiesss~
ok that's all folks. time to go sleep.. tmr is WoW day.
Thursday 19 November 2009
good videos
This is good stuff.
In case you're absolutely blur, there're only 2 guys doing this, the beatboxer, and the other guy(s). =)
This is another one of his videos.. he and this girl covers Breaking Free from High School Musical... and i must say they do it A WHOLE LOT BETTER?!?
Ok i totally love vanessa hudgens and all.. but admit it her baby voice isn't that nice sometimes. this girl totally pwns her in power/strength/everything.
and i think he does a better job than Drew Seeley! (the male singer of Breaking Free... yes Zac Efron DIDNT sing it.)
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSl0mqBjQW4&hl=en_US&fs=1&]
enjoy :)
In case you're absolutely blur, there're only 2 guys doing this, the beatboxer, and the other guy(s). =)
This is another one of his videos.. he and this girl covers Breaking Free from High School Musical... and i must say they do it A WHOLE LOT BETTER?!?
Ok i totally love vanessa hudgens and all.. but admit it her baby voice isn't that nice sometimes. this girl totally pwns her in power/strength/everything.
and i think he does a better job than Drew Seeley! (the male singer of Breaking Free... yes Zac Efron DIDNT sing it.)
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSl0mqBjQW4&hl=en_US&fs=1&]
enjoy :)
Tuesday 17 November 2009
playing computer is good
gasp.shack day. seriously, lower primary kids are horrors. They have an attention span of 5 seconds or something. took them for PE today.. omg just let them run lol. shout also must shout for like 1 minute then they start doing what i say.
anyway, something i saw in school:
lol! im burning so much calories just sitting here and playing WoW! let's see.. i've been playing since i got back which was 2.15pm. one hour .. i've burnt 70k calories with my ACTIVE LIFESTYLE!!
rofl!
ok maybe i'm doing it wrong, i have to do it like the girl in the picture. Yknow, holding the laptop with one hand and typing with the other. Must be quite strenous on the biceps. And i have to hold it sideways too? so that it stretches the outer muscles or something?
alright, i'm off to burn more calories.
=)
anyway, something i saw in school:
lol! im burning so much calories just sitting here and playing WoW! let's see.. i've been playing since i got back which was 2.15pm. one hour .. i've burnt 70k calories with my ACTIVE LIFESTYLE!!
rofl!
ok maybe i'm doing it wrong, i have to do it like the girl in the picture. Yknow, holding the laptop with one hand and typing with the other. Must be quite strenous on the biceps. And i have to hold it sideways too? so that it stretches the outer muscles or something?
alright, i'm off to burn more calories.
=)
Sunday 15 November 2009
day 1
0700 AM- zzzz.
0732 AM- bzzt bzzt. bzzt bzzt.
-wakes up-
"Hello?"
'Hi, this is alan right? i'm calling from st andrews. can you come today?'
That was the start of my relief teaching stint at S AJS! omg la. totally unexpected can? The last interaction i had with the liaison person from SAJ S was an email from her asking me to contact her at her HP. Then i called it a few times but it was switched off.
THAT'S IT. She never even said i was accepted or what. haha.
oh well, so .. i took a PE class, a math and tamil class. The math and tamil were just babysitting pretty much. The kids are freaking havoc man. pretty much uncontrollable and have an attention span of.. 10 seconds? i dunno.
I had a 'plan' for PE lesson, but when they reached there they just ask to run, ask to play this play that, all start running abound with endless energy. So i just let them, stepping in once in a while to organize things. pretty tiring man!
Easy money =) $65 kaching.
that works out to about $12 an hour btw.
Teacher teacher! he hit me!
Teacher teacher! he take my things!
teacher teacher! can i go toilet?
Teacher teacher!
all these children mimicry that we always do.. THEY ARE ALL REAL. i heard all of these today. even had a boy who started crying then i had to go find the person who made him cry and make him apologize. lol.
Ok, tomorrow, wed, thursday i'm called too. 65x3 more dollars to earn.
0732 AM- bzzt bzzt. bzzt bzzt.
-wakes up-
"Hello?"
'Hi, this is alan right? i'm calling from st andrews. can you come today?'
That was the start of my relief teaching stint at S AJS! omg la. totally unexpected can? The last interaction i had with the liaison person from SAJ S was an email from her asking me to contact her at her HP. Then i called it a few times but it was switched off.
THAT'S IT. She never even said i was accepted or what. haha.
oh well, so .. i took a PE class, a math and tamil class. The math and tamil were just babysitting pretty much. The kids are freaking havoc man. pretty much uncontrollable and have an attention span of.. 10 seconds? i dunno.
I had a 'plan' for PE lesson, but when they reached there they just ask to run, ask to play this play that, all start running abound with endless energy. So i just let them, stepping in once in a while to organize things. pretty tiring man!
Easy money =) $65 kaching.
that works out to about $12 an hour btw.
Teacher teacher! he hit me!
Teacher teacher! he take my things!
teacher teacher! can i go toilet?
Teacher teacher!
all these children mimicry that we always do.. THEY ARE ALL REAL. i heard all of these today. even had a boy who started crying then i had to go find the person who made him cry and make him apologize. lol.
Ok, tomorrow, wed, thursday i'm called too. 65x3 more dollars to earn.
Thursday 12 November 2009
tribute to insanity (10)!
YES!! just in our 2nd week, my 10man raid group from Newbee (server - barthilas) has got it!!!
Albeit some screwups from ONE particular person in almost every fight, we made it to anub with 50 tries. Faction champs went surprisingly smooth, I didn't even know it was over when we downed it. i think having no hunter/rogue in the enemy NPCs made the sudden-unexpected burst damage a non-issue.
Anub itself was smooth till P3, then someone died, followed by me..(to penetrating cold >.<) and then people started dropping cos i was down. (i'm a healer) Our pally tank bubbled and we managed to down anub with just him, our warrior MT + an enh shaman left alive. super exciting can!! omg.
Sad to say, Heartsmasher didn't drop, and I lost the roll on the healer cloak as well as the mount :( but oh well, one of my main goals for now is accomplished =D INSANITY BABEH!!
Albeit some screwups from ONE particular person in almost every fight, we made it to anub with 50 tries. Faction champs went surprisingly smooth, I didn't even know it was over when we downed it. i think having no hunter/rogue in the enemy NPCs made the sudden-unexpected burst damage a non-issue.
Anub itself was smooth till P3, then someone died, followed by me..(to penetrating cold >.<) and then people started dropping cos i was down. (i'm a healer) Our pally tank bubbled and we managed to down anub with just him, our warrior MT + an enh shaman left alive. super exciting can!! omg.
Sad to say, Heartsmasher didn't drop, and I lost the roll on the healer cloak as well as the mount :( but oh well, one of my main goals for now is accomplished =D INSANITY BABEH!!
Tuesday 10 November 2009
the return
alas, the day has arrived.
Today is officially my ORD.
I can finally exclaim emphatically "ORD LOH" and really mean it, unlike the 80% of the almost-ORD-but-not-quite-yet people.
It started off bleak - with bestie having A's, becky rejecting me, qin busy with school... the usual people i go out with were all unavailable!! OMG i was gonna spend my ORD like some sad loser at home. Somemore it's WOW maintenance night, so can't indulge in some gratifying monster killing.
But thanks to technology, qin saw my tweet: "This sucks. Noone to go out with! Ord lo!" and she asked me out for dinner =) cheers cheers.
In the end we went to marina square and ate at this place called CA.. ok i cannot remember what the heck it is lemme google..
..
..
ah yes, Changing Appetites!
"One of the few places in Singapore serving authentic Tex-Mex (Texas-Mexican) cuisine, Changing Appetites is famous for it's meat-generous menu, which includes hearty Baby Back Ribs, thick, juicy burgers and sizzling fajitas. And if that's not enough, you can always top up with their particularly satisfying Monster Mudpie, American cheesecakes and waffles. It's the American dream come true for foodies."
First off, i must say the ambience is quite nice. It's like a very western-like place with the decor matching the theme of the restaurant as mentioned above. And the seats are all comfy couches! The waiter directed us to this 4-man-capacity table when it was just the 2 of us. So we got to sit on a nice big sofa each =)
I ordered some Cajun chicken thing ($15.90) and weiqin got the valuemeal deep fried chicken set or something like that ($6.90!)
It is damn good can? (English fanatics may argue that 'was' is the correct tense to use, but if it was 'was', it implies that it ISN'T good anymore? which i refuse to! because it's awesome! omg i'm becoming like Sheldon from Big bang theory. wahahaa)
Mine is like these chicken strips chopped up into smaller strips, and it comes with 3 tortillas for you to pull the chicken in yourself and roll it up (think Mcdonald's chicken Foldover) Super tasty can! The flavour of the juicy chicken just explodes in your mouth when you take a bite out of it. Very well prepared IMO. (This means In My Opinion in case you're like the chinese WOW player in my guild which asked me this morning what 'imo' means)
qin's one was quite nice also, but she only ate half! she said was too breaded and .. unhealthy or something. so i finished her other half =) very nice spices and GOOD.
I'll definitely go back again if given the chance. Most of their main meals are between $10-20, with their value meals below $10 and student meals around that also. Changing Appetites ftw !
After that, had supper with timo/dan/ham/corn at Yassin. Was pretty damn full from the CA, but .. just fellowship la. and of course, WoW maintenance so nothing to rush back too anyway :p hahaha.
I'm still grappling with the concept that i'm a free man now. a CIVILIAN. one with a PINK IC. ah, i wanted to take a photo of it and put it here (with the photo pixelized out , of course :P ) but i was too lazy to switch to my camera phone just yet.. but i will very soon! (this answers the 'WHERE ARE THE PHOTOS ?! WORDS-ONLY ENTRIES ARE BORING!" question. be patient.. gimme a while to get back my cam-whore mood... it's been a while.. :D )
Alright, i will definitely be blogging more often now that i'm free.. and i DO tweet from time to time.. so just follow me or something (i'm not very sure how the whole thing works. i'm not a twitter/facebook person :S )
I think you can most likely expect a blog entry on Tuesday nights.. cos tuesday nights i can't play WoW! server maintenance. heh.
Yup, i'll try to write more. I do enjoy writing. Just that sometimes there needs to be the inspiration. I mean, pointless writing without inspiration is just rambling. and rambling is boring.
just like how this is getting now. ok, good night, civilians and military personnel alike.
ORD LOH!
Today is officially my ORD.
I can finally exclaim emphatically "ORD LOH" and really mean it, unlike the 80% of the almost-ORD-but-not-quite-yet people.
It started off bleak - with bestie having A's, becky rejecting me, qin busy with school... the usual people i go out with were all unavailable!! OMG i was gonna spend my ORD like some sad loser at home. Somemore it's WOW maintenance night, so can't indulge in some gratifying monster killing.
But thanks to technology, qin saw my tweet: "This sucks. Noone to go out with! Ord lo!" and she asked me out for dinner =) cheers cheers.
In the end we went to marina square and ate at this place called CA.. ok i cannot remember what the heck it is lemme google..
..
..
ah yes, Changing Appetites!
"One of the few places in Singapore serving authentic Tex-Mex (Texas-Mexican) cuisine, Changing Appetites is famous for it's meat-generous menu, which includes hearty Baby Back Ribs, thick, juicy burgers and sizzling fajitas. And if that's not enough, you can always top up with their particularly satisfying Monster Mudpie, American cheesecakes and waffles. It's the American dream come true for foodies."
First off, i must say the ambience is quite nice. It's like a very western-like place with the decor matching the theme of the restaurant as mentioned above. And the seats are all comfy couches! The waiter directed us to this 4-man-capacity table when it was just the 2 of us. So we got to sit on a nice big sofa each =)
I ordered some Cajun chicken thing ($15.90) and weiqin got the valuemeal deep fried chicken set or something like that ($6.90!)
It is damn good can? (English fanatics may argue that 'was' is the correct tense to use, but if it was 'was', it implies that it ISN'T good anymore? which i refuse to! because it's awesome! omg i'm becoming like Sheldon from Big bang theory. wahahaa)
Mine is like these chicken strips chopped up into smaller strips, and it comes with 3 tortillas for you to pull the chicken in yourself and roll it up (think Mcdonald's chicken Foldover) Super tasty can! The flavour of the juicy chicken just explodes in your mouth when you take a bite out of it. Very well prepared IMO. (This means In My Opinion in case you're like the chinese WOW player in my guild which asked me this morning what 'imo' means)
qin's one was quite nice also, but she only ate half! she said was too breaded and .. unhealthy or something. so i finished her other half =) very nice spices and GOOD.
I'll definitely go back again if given the chance. Most of their main meals are between $10-20, with their value meals below $10 and student meals around that also. Changing Appetites ftw !
After that, had supper with timo/dan/ham/corn at Yassin. Was pretty damn full from the CA, but .. just fellowship la. and of course, WoW maintenance so nothing to rush back too anyway :p hahaha.
I'm still grappling with the concept that i'm a free man now. a CIVILIAN. one with a PINK IC. ah, i wanted to take a photo of it and put it here (with the photo pixelized out , of course :P ) but i was too lazy to switch to my camera phone just yet.. but i will very soon! (this answers the 'WHERE ARE THE PHOTOS ?! WORDS-ONLY ENTRIES ARE BORING!" question. be patient.. gimme a while to get back my cam-whore mood... it's been a while.. :D )
Alright, i will definitely be blogging more often now that i'm free.. and i DO tweet from time to time.. so just follow me or something (i'm not very sure how the whole thing works. i'm not a twitter/facebook person :S )
I think you can most likely expect a blog entry on Tuesday nights.. cos tuesday nights i can't play WoW! server maintenance. heh.
Yup, i'll try to write more. I do enjoy writing. Just that sometimes there needs to be the inspiration. I mean, pointless writing without inspiration is just rambling. and rambling is boring.
just like how this is getting now. ok, good night, civilians and military personnel alike.
ORD LOH!
Saturday 7 November 2009
i'm a man now
I got my friend a soft toy soccer ball for his birthday.
Friend: Eh! you got me the exact same thing some years ago! just a different colour.
Me: !!! oh no! really! lol sorry ! my inability to pick new and creative presents is prevalent once again :(
Friend: It's ok.. now got 2 balls. I'm a man now.
ROFL
funniest thing i've heard this month!! or these 2 months! or this year! i dunno!? but it's just freaking funny hahahaha.
Friend: Eh! you got me the exact same thing some years ago! just a different colour.
Me: !!! oh no! really! lol sorry ! my inability to pick new and creative presents is prevalent once again :(
Friend: It's ok.. now got 2 balls. I'm a man now.
ROFL
funniest thing i've heard this month!! or these 2 months! or this year! i dunno!? but it's just freaking funny hahahaha.
Thursday 5 November 2009
mcdonalds
back by popular demand (or rather the constant request of one person)
DISCLAIMER: The below event is entirely ficitatious and is a product of the author's imagination.
At a board meeting for McDonalds 3 weeks ago... 2 weeks after the Hello Kitty HP board meeting..
Chairman : Ok, we've been hitting a slump lately. Our online campaign seems quite a hit, Mcdelivery sales has gone up 40%! Seems like everyone wants the Hello Kitty phone ??
Marketing Director 1: Yea man! one of my friend's sister's friend's brother actually won the 1st week's Hello Kitty Sony Ericsson phone and he was so happy about it!
MD 2: Are you kidding? You mean he used it?
MD 1: er no.. he was just happy that he won it. singaporeans are like that what, you offer a prize, they'll do anything to win it. even if it means doing stupid things like ordering countless numbers of meals online. He's putting the phone on Ebay.
Chairman: okok back on topic. as i was saying, online sales has gone up 40%.. but our dine-in sales has dropped 40%!!!
MD1: oh dear, must be that bulk of customers deciding to stop dining in and order online to win the useless Hello Kitty phone.
Chairman: yea. we need an idea to attract them to dine in!
MD2: how about offering something useless again? Like.. a bugs bunny t shirt? or maybe we can start selling Hello kittys again to attract people?
MD1: nah having 2 hello kitty things seems counterproductive. people may start questioning why we support hello kitty so much too. i mean, he (she?) doesnt even have a mouth to eat mcdonalds! are we promoting non-eating?how about scratch and win coupons again?
Chairman: hmm ok we shall have the scratch and win coupons again.. but it seems so repetitive! we had it several years back. is there any way to innovate and come up with a different type of scratch and win thing?
MD2: how about stickers instead of scratch and win? they peel off the cover of the coupon to see their prize.
MD1: yea but that'll mean they need something to stick to? we gonna provide like a... game sheet?
MD2: How about a game board! We could make a MCdonalds edition of Monopoly! There's been star wars, singapore, lord of the rings, i dont see why not Mcdonalds!
Chairman: ah yes, that's quite brilliant! and we're gonna have to tack on a grand prize that's wildly attractive so that people will want to work towards it!
MD1: eh, let's do marketing cheat #129 ?
MD2: which one is that?
MD1: Marketting cheat #129 : "The creation of a huge grand prize with very low odds to win, hence attracting strong participation, but subsequently removing those very odds completely such that the management wins."
MD2: you're suggesting we make the grand prize .. unwinnable?
MD1: yes. let's say for monopoly, the winning ticket will be the dark blue one. we just print alot of the other dark blue set so that people get all hyped up when they get one half of it. what they don't know is that we didn't even print the other half! so they'll never win!
Chairman : that's positively brilliant. ok we'll make the prize money something amazing.. $50k! let's see how many people get suckered into it =D
DISCLAIMER: The below event is entirely ficitatious and is a product of the author's imagination.
At a board meeting for McDonalds 3 weeks ago... 2 weeks after the Hello Kitty HP board meeting..
Chairman : Ok, we've been hitting a slump lately. Our online campaign seems quite a hit, Mcdelivery sales has gone up 40%! Seems like everyone wants the Hello Kitty phone ??
Marketing Director 1: Yea man! one of my friend's sister's friend's brother actually won the 1st week's Hello Kitty Sony Ericsson phone and he was so happy about it!
MD 2: Are you kidding? You mean he used it?
MD 1: er no.. he was just happy that he won it. singaporeans are like that what, you offer a prize, they'll do anything to win it. even if it means doing stupid things like ordering countless numbers of meals online. He's putting the phone on Ebay.
Chairman: okok back on topic. as i was saying, online sales has gone up 40%.. but our dine-in sales has dropped 40%!!!
MD1: oh dear, must be that bulk of customers deciding to stop dining in and order online to win the useless Hello Kitty phone.
Chairman: yea. we need an idea to attract them to dine in!
MD2: how about offering something useless again? Like.. a bugs bunny t shirt? or maybe we can start selling Hello kittys again to attract people?
MD1: nah having 2 hello kitty things seems counterproductive. people may start questioning why we support hello kitty so much too. i mean, he (she?) doesnt even have a mouth to eat mcdonalds! are we promoting non-eating?how about scratch and win coupons again?
Chairman: hmm ok we shall have the scratch and win coupons again.. but it seems so repetitive! we had it several years back. is there any way to innovate and come up with a different type of scratch and win thing?
MD2: how about stickers instead of scratch and win? they peel off the cover of the coupon to see their prize.
MD1: yea but that'll mean they need something to stick to? we gonna provide like a... game sheet?
MD2: How about a game board! We could make a MCdonalds edition of Monopoly! There's been star wars, singapore, lord of the rings, i dont see why not Mcdonalds!
Chairman: ah yes, that's quite brilliant! and we're gonna have to tack on a grand prize that's wildly attractive so that people will want to work towards it!
MD1: eh, let's do marketing cheat #129 ?
MD2: which one is that?
MD1: Marketting cheat #129 : "The creation of a huge grand prize with very low odds to win, hence attracting strong participation, but subsequently removing those very odds completely such that the management wins."
MD2: you're suggesting we make the grand prize .. unwinnable?
MD1: yes. let's say for monopoly, the winning ticket will be the dark blue one. we just print alot of the other dark blue set so that people get all hyped up when they get one half of it. what they don't know is that we didn't even print the other half! so they'll never win!
Chairman : that's positively brilliant. ok we'll make the prize money something amazing.. $50k! let's see how many people get suckered into it =D
Wednesday 4 November 2009
the o r d post
Just in case you didn't know, ORD stands for Operationally Ready Date, which means i'm officially ready/available for any sudden activations that may occur if Singapore was to go to war. :o
So i'm not exactly free from NS, i still have my 10 cycle liability.. but other than that
I'M FREE ZOMG
Well technically my ORD is on 10th November, but after booking out this morning I don't have to go back to camp anymore till 10th Nov to collect my pink IC =) so.. cheers :D
Ok this post is gonna be like a... reflections post or something. I don't really have a very definite picture of what i'm going to write, but i'll just.. type as the things come to my mind.
Let's start with a 'no more' section:
No more waking up at 6am in the morning and having to fall in for first parade by 715. SLEEP.
No more cringing when hearing the word 'book-in'
No more eating cat-food-standard SFI food. I mean, everyone feeds the food to the cats. And i dont know how many times i've opened a packet of rations from SFI and spent a good 30 seconds trying to process what on earth is edible in the box, then decide that nothing is and hence closing the box.
No more facing the horrible 'birdman'. no elaboration as i can't be bothered wasted words on him.
No more missing WoW raids. :o
No more having difficulty sleeping because the other people in the room sleep later and hence don't switch the light off and carry on talking
No more thinking when i next have to book-in
Some of my worst moments were in army. In fact, i think the worst day/night of my life is definitely in army and i can remember it very clearly -
it was during my Sispec overseas training, during one of the days of field camp. It had rained every single day of the outfield training, leading to a very miserable mood among everybody.
So imagine us - wet, soaked, drenched (ok all 3 words have the same meaning i don't know why i just used them in sequence) and cold, and night fell upon us. The rain had softened abit - softened, not stopped.
We knew we had to build some form of shelter, since it was probably gonna rain again (dark clouds, lightning/thunder were a dead giveaway) So we built some shelter with our groundsheets, etc, then all hid under it. I recall there were 4 of us under one groundsheet.
The worst part wasnt my body being wet - i had no problems with that, besides being very chilly. The worst was the wet socks. They clung to your feet and made you feel extremely uncomfortable. and there's virtually no way of drying them (besides changing them, which is pretty pointless considering they'll get wet before you can even put them on, and even after they're on they'll just get even wetter)
So us with the wet socks and shivering bodies, we were huddled together under shelter. Guess what? Of course, it rained again. it poured. The entire night.
I had never felt so cold before in my life. Maybe it was the rain, or the cold, or the outfield.. or a combination of all three. But i really felt like i was gonna get hypothermia or something. The 4 of us huddled together and were practically hugging each other, to no avail. It was FREEZING.
And that was how we 'slept' through the night. WORST NIGHT EVER.
And of course, my worst sickness (besides the fits i had when i was small which i have no recollection of so they're not counted) was also during army.. this time when i was in my unit, during our overseas training.
I was healthy as a fiddle all the way till the morning of R&R.. when we were scheduled to go visit theme parks and shop and enjoy ourselves.. when i woke up that morning, i knew i was screwed.
My stomach felt twisted in a million ways. I had a bad diarrhoea and couldn't stay out of the toilet. I constantly felt like vomiting.
The doctor at the camp there gave me a jab and some medicine, but it didn't help much. I still constantly felt nauseous and had diarrhoea nonstop. When we stopped for lunch at some restaurant, i took a nibble out of literally 3 grains of rice.. but when the scent of food settled on my tongue i immediately wanted to vomit and my stomach churned. so i couldn't eat.
This carried on till i returned to Singapore.. how sad eh. Even on the plane, i visited the toilet 6 times. I think i'm totally familiar with the small lavatory on the Silkair plane now.
~~~~~~~~~~~
So now, on to the next chapter of my life. Which is.. well, before uni even starts, is having a part-time job. I've never worked in a part-time job before in my life. So.. lol.
I'm trying to apply for a relief teaching job in my old school.. probably my primary school. Hope i get it!
Till then.. i'll be extremely free, except for mon/wed/fri nights when i have WoW raids. otherwise, ASK ME OUT!. yes yes. free as a bird.
-flaps wings-
So i'm not exactly free from NS, i still have my 10 cycle liability.. but other than that
I'M FREE ZOMG
Well technically my ORD is on 10th November, but after booking out this morning I don't have to go back to camp anymore till 10th Nov to collect my pink IC =) so.. cheers :D
Ok this post is gonna be like a... reflections post or something. I don't really have a very definite picture of what i'm going to write, but i'll just.. type as the things come to my mind.
Let's start with a 'no more' section:
No more waking up at 6am in the morning and having to fall in for first parade by 715. SLEEP.
No more cringing when hearing the word 'book-in'
No more eating cat-food-standard SFI food. I mean, everyone feeds the food to the cats. And i dont know how many times i've opened a packet of rations from SFI and spent a good 30 seconds trying to process what on earth is edible in the box, then decide that nothing is and hence closing the box.
No more facing the horrible 'birdman'. no elaboration as i can't be bothered wasted words on him.
No more missing WoW raids. :o
No more having difficulty sleeping because the other people in the room sleep later and hence don't switch the light off and carry on talking
No more thinking when i next have to book-in
Some of my worst moments were in army. In fact, i think the worst day/night of my life is definitely in army and i can remember it very clearly -
it was during my Sispec overseas training, during one of the days of field camp. It had rained every single day of the outfield training, leading to a very miserable mood among everybody.
So imagine us - wet, soaked, drenched (ok all 3 words have the same meaning i don't know why i just used them in sequence) and cold, and night fell upon us. The rain had softened abit - softened, not stopped.
We knew we had to build some form of shelter, since it was probably gonna rain again (dark clouds, lightning/thunder were a dead giveaway) So we built some shelter with our groundsheets, etc, then all hid under it. I recall there were 4 of us under one groundsheet.
The worst part wasnt my body being wet - i had no problems with that, besides being very chilly. The worst was the wet socks. They clung to your feet and made you feel extremely uncomfortable. and there's virtually no way of drying them (besides changing them, which is pretty pointless considering they'll get wet before you can even put them on, and even after they're on they'll just get even wetter)
So us with the wet socks and shivering bodies, we were huddled together under shelter. Guess what? Of course, it rained again. it poured. The entire night.
I had never felt so cold before in my life. Maybe it was the rain, or the cold, or the outfield.. or a combination of all three. But i really felt like i was gonna get hypothermia or something. The 4 of us huddled together and were practically hugging each other, to no avail. It was FREEZING.
And that was how we 'slept' through the night. WORST NIGHT EVER.
And of course, my worst sickness (besides the fits i had when i was small which i have no recollection of so they're not counted) was also during army.. this time when i was in my unit, during our overseas training.
I was healthy as a fiddle all the way till the morning of R&R.. when we were scheduled to go visit theme parks and shop and enjoy ourselves.. when i woke up that morning, i knew i was screwed.
My stomach felt twisted in a million ways. I had a bad diarrhoea and couldn't stay out of the toilet. I constantly felt like vomiting.
The doctor at the camp there gave me a jab and some medicine, but it didn't help much. I still constantly felt nauseous and had diarrhoea nonstop. When we stopped for lunch at some restaurant, i took a nibble out of literally 3 grains of rice.. but when the scent of food settled on my tongue i immediately wanted to vomit and my stomach churned. so i couldn't eat.
This carried on till i returned to Singapore.. how sad eh. Even on the plane, i visited the toilet 6 times. I think i'm totally familiar with the small lavatory on the Silkair plane now.
~~~~~~~~~~~
So now, on to the next chapter of my life. Which is.. well, before uni even starts, is having a part-time job. I've never worked in a part-time job before in my life. So.. lol.
I'm trying to apply for a relief teaching job in my old school.. probably my primary school. Hope i get it!
Till then.. i'll be extremely free, except for mon/wed/fri nights when i have WoW raids. otherwise, ASK ME OUT!. yes yes. free as a bird.
-flaps wings-
Sunday 1 November 2009
clever mcdonalds
I must say, Mcdonalds has excellent marketing ploys.
If you haven't heard of their latest marketing gimmick, they offer 2-4 coupons per EVM that you purchase (4 for upsize). These coupons can be peeled open to reveal the potential prize that they may grant you.
There are some instant win prizes, but most are color coded to a Monopoly game board. To win, you need to collect all 3 of the same colour to form a set , as in Monopoly when you want to build houses/hotels.
The biggest catch is the dark blue set, which consists of coupons 'Sentosa Cove' and 'Marina Bay'. If you collect them both... YOU WIN $50 000!!!!!
OMG! like that's alot of money right? sounds too good to be true? well, it probably is. From what i know, there are many 'Marina Bay's (i have one myself), but only ONE 'Sentosa Cove' coupon in the whole of Singapore.
What's the odds of winning that?
And so throngs of people flock to McDonalds to pursue this elusive Sentosa Cove, in the hopes that they win the smooth $50k. Of course, there are other rather attractive prices, such as $3000 courts vouchers, etc. But i'm sure these are the same , with many of 2 of the colours, but the 3rd coupon that you need to make a complete set is extremely limited.
Has anyone ever wondered - What if there is no 'Sentosa Cove'?
It would be a terribly evil scheme wouldn't it? I can offer $192837123 as the prize money, but simply make it impossible to win the contest. In this way, I attract a countless number of people (completely random note - is 'countless number' a paradox? If something is countless, it cannot be defined in any numerical way can it? ) to buy my stuff as they're all greedy and want to win that $192837123 but actually there's no way of winning at all.
Seriously, McDonalds' marketing team is simply brilliant. At the moment there's another offer for those who order Mcdonalds via Mcdelivery: 'Win a Hello Kitty Sony Ericsson W395 mobile phone! Every $10 food purchase gives you 1 automated chance to win!"
I can imagine how that marketing board meeting went:
Chairman, McDonalds : Hmm, not enough people order via our Mcdelivery service! is there any way to boost the sales in that aspect?
Marketing Director 1 : We could remove our delivery charge? That's what some other fast food chains do?
Chairman: Are you insane? We are not 'some other fast food chain'. We are McDonalds! King of the fries! We do not have to conform to others. Anyway, if we remove delivery charge, what are we going to pay our already-underpaid deliverymen with? We provide them with cool Mcdonalds bikes and free meals already, but I don't think they'll work for us if we don't give them a basic salary at least.
-Marketing Director 1 slumps in shame-
Marketing Director 2 : How about we tag some attractive but useless prize for Mcdelivery?
MD 1 : Yea! We can call up some of our corporate allies and see if they have any redundant stock that they need to get rid of.
Chairman: Sounds good. Do it.
-several moments later-
MD 2 : Sir, I've contacted Sony and they told me they have a huge stock of redundant Sony Ericsson handphones they can't sell! Apparently, it is a Hello Kitty themed handphone, and it looks too ridiculous for people to actually want to buy it and so they have difficulty selling it!
Chairman: Excellent, take their whole stock, we'll use them as prizes for an automated lucky draw for our Mcdelivery service!
MD 1 : But Sir, who would actually want these stupid looking pink phones? Only girls? From our data survey last year, 80% of our customers* are male!
*totally made up statistic
Chairman: Sigh. It doesnt matter, Singaporeans are so kiasu, if they see anything free, they'll want it. This has been perennially proven by the sales of our 'Happy Meal'. The kids use the toys for maybe a few weeks and throw it away! Yet they still keep buying it! We even tagged on prices to some of these toys remember? And still, people buy them.
MD 2 : Ok sir, i'll make the necessary arrangements.
Chairman: Good. Now next on the agenda.. How to make the display photographs of our Mcdonald's menu even more misleading?
MD 1 : Increase the size of the pictures?
Chairman: We've already done that in 2007, we probably have to wait 2 more years or so for people to not notice the subtle change. any other ideas?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-the above scenario is entirely fictitious and is a product of the author's imagination-
Ok, time to finish up my Mcdonald's lunch. Anyone has Sentosa Cove? I'll split 20:80 with you!
If you haven't heard of their latest marketing gimmick, they offer 2-4 coupons per EVM that you purchase (4 for upsize). These coupons can be peeled open to reveal the potential prize that they may grant you.
There are some instant win prizes, but most are color coded to a Monopoly game board. To win, you need to collect all 3 of the same colour to form a set , as in Monopoly when you want to build houses/hotels.
The biggest catch is the dark blue set, which consists of coupons 'Sentosa Cove' and 'Marina Bay'. If you collect them both... YOU WIN $50 000!!!!!
OMG! like that's alot of money right? sounds too good to be true? well, it probably is. From what i know, there are many 'Marina Bay's (i have one myself), but only ONE 'Sentosa Cove' coupon in the whole of Singapore.
What's the odds of winning that?
And so throngs of people flock to McDonalds to pursue this elusive Sentosa Cove, in the hopes that they win the smooth $50k. Of course, there are other rather attractive prices, such as $3000 courts vouchers, etc. But i'm sure these are the same , with many of 2 of the colours, but the 3rd coupon that you need to make a complete set is extremely limited.
Has anyone ever wondered - What if there is no 'Sentosa Cove'?
It would be a terribly evil scheme wouldn't it? I can offer $192837123 as the prize money, but simply make it impossible to win the contest. In this way, I attract a countless number of people (completely random note - is 'countless number' a paradox? If something is countless, it cannot be defined in any numerical way can it? ) to buy my stuff as they're all greedy and want to win that $192837123 but actually there's no way of winning at all.
Seriously, McDonalds' marketing team is simply brilliant. At the moment there's another offer for those who order Mcdonalds via Mcdelivery: 'Win a Hello Kitty Sony Ericsson W395 mobile phone! Every $10 food purchase gives you 1 automated chance to win!"
I can imagine how that marketing board meeting went:
Chairman, McDonalds : Hmm, not enough people order via our Mcdelivery service! is there any way to boost the sales in that aspect?
Marketing Director 1 : We could remove our delivery charge? That's what some other fast food chains do?
Chairman: Are you insane? We are not 'some other fast food chain'. We are McDonalds! King of the fries! We do not have to conform to others. Anyway, if we remove delivery charge, what are we going to pay our already-underpaid deliverymen with? We provide them with cool Mcdonalds bikes and free meals already, but I don't think they'll work for us if we don't give them a basic salary at least.
-Marketing Director 1 slumps in shame-
Marketing Director 2 : How about we tag some attractive but useless prize for Mcdelivery?
MD 1 : Yea! We can call up some of our corporate allies and see if they have any redundant stock that they need to get rid of.
Chairman: Sounds good. Do it.
-several moments later-
MD 2 : Sir, I've contacted Sony and they told me they have a huge stock of redundant Sony Ericsson handphones they can't sell! Apparently, it is a Hello Kitty themed handphone, and it looks too ridiculous for people to actually want to buy it and so they have difficulty selling it!
Chairman: Excellent, take their whole stock, we'll use them as prizes for an automated lucky draw for our Mcdelivery service!
MD 1 : But Sir, who would actually want these stupid looking pink phones? Only girls? From our data survey last year, 80% of our customers* are male!
*totally made up statistic
Chairman: Sigh. It doesnt matter, Singaporeans are so kiasu, if they see anything free, they'll want it. This has been perennially proven by the sales of our 'Happy Meal'. The kids use the toys for maybe a few weeks and throw it away! Yet they still keep buying it! We even tagged on prices to some of these toys remember? And still, people buy them.
MD 2 : Ok sir, i'll make the necessary arrangements.
Chairman: Good. Now next on the agenda.. How to make the display photographs of our Mcdonald's menu even more misleading?
MD 1 : Increase the size of the pictures?
Chairman: We've already done that in 2007, we probably have to wait 2 more years or so for people to not notice the subtle change. any other ideas?
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-the above scenario is entirely fictitious and is a product of the author's imagination-
Ok, time to finish up my Mcdonald's lunch. Anyone has Sentosa Cove? I'll split 20:80 with you!
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