Dance like no one's watching

Booze Queen and I bought the Sony Ericsson T707 just now.  BQ got the pink one and I went for the blue one.  The phone’s ok so far… the OS being a little slower than my N82 (which is surprising ‘cos I thought the lag on N82’s symbian OS would be worse) but that’s not my main gripe about the T707.  My main gripes are:

1. The keypad is really difficult to press!  The buttons are too flat which make them difficult to feel.  I didn’t get to try typing on a new set (at least not one with a battery inside) so I couldn’t fully gauge how difficult it would be… though I expected some level of difficulty with it.
2. It doesn’t come with a USB cable!!!  Grr… this really annoyed me.  Lucky my mom’s SE hp has one.

The good thing about it?  It’s light, sleek & chio.  Plus, it’s my favourite flip phone design.  I suppose I couldn’t complain less since I only paid $128 for it…

Noted another good thing about the N82 though… it’s able to function w/o a sim card.  The phone just boots up in the offline mode which means I still can make use of the camera (yay!) and I suspect the GPS should still work (can’t test it out ‘cos my licence expired over the weekend and I haven’t decided if I want to renew it).

Can’t decide if I should get either of the above phones.  I like them ‘cos they’re flip designs though specs wise, they’re considered a down a downgrade from my Nokia N82.  The T707 looks more stylish than the W508 but while the former has 3G capabilities, it doesn’t have full support for videos calls as there’s only 1 camera on the phone… which means people can see you during a video call (assuming the phone’s "closed")… but you can’t see them because the screen is closed!  Sort of stupid right?

I am however pleased that the phones’ camera doesn’t come with auto focus… which I believe means there won’t be the irritating red light when you take a picture.  This is very important for taking discreet photos of people (esp. when I see someone/something funny/stupid on the MRT).  The auto focusing light on the N82 makes it too obvious for this sort of covert shots.  Hehe.

Anyway, I’ll probably wait a while till the price of the phones drop (the W508 was launched recently and the T707 should be launching soon).  :)  No harm checking them out and reading up on user opinions meanwhile!

Details can be found at http://www.sonyericsson.com.sg.

Got this from a friend.  I thought it was hilarious.  See the “Variable Factors” at the bottom.  Hehehe.

I’m torn.  I can’t decide if I should go for cellgroup tonight or should I go for the Lunasol appointment I made some time back.  No chance of rescheduling the appt because there’s some make-up artist coming from Japan and she/he’ll only be here this weekend.  Didn’t know there would be cellgroup tonight before I made the appointment.

Comparing cellgroup and meeting a make-up artist, I have to acknowledge that cellgroup should naturally be more important.  A couple of months ago, however, I sort of decided that "me time" was more important than "cellgroup time" because my preferences have always been overlooked in the cell.  After all, given how I do not belong to the main clique in the cellgroup, I will always get out-voted, be it on small things like where to go for lunch on Sun, to more important things like which is the best day to have cellgroup.

For small things like lunch and gatherings, I resolved my dissatisfaction by joining the group only when it suited me.  I will not inconvenience myself and bend to the whims of the main clique’s, and neither will I force my preference on them.  Unfortunately, when it comes to more important matters like attending cellgroup for prayer or bible study, that’s where I’m torn.  I was quite happy to just apply the same "as long as it suits me" mentality until Nparker spoke up at our "AGM" last Sunday and offered to sort of lead the group.  I am very keen in supporting his effort because I him and his wife (actually she’s probably the only person I really really enjoy talking to in the cellgroup).

We spoke about a couple of things during the "AGM" and I think the main issues were about leadership and direction/expectations of the cellgroup members.  To me, there are 2 main things that the cellgroup must fulfil.  The first is to offer spiritual support/help one another grow spiritually.  The second is on a more social level – friendship, fun, etc.  Most of the members seemed to agree during the "AGM" that our cellgroup is doing fine on the second, but not so well on the first.

Not for me.  I struggle with peer leadership in the cell because what I want is the cold hard historical facts which I’m not sure if anyone is equipped to teach me.  When it comes to social support, I have been the odd one out for a long time, which means that if I wanted to hang out with the rest, I will perpetually have to defer to the tastes & timing of the main clique, which can be really disappointing after a while.  Thus, I have pretty much withdrawn my participation in the group and only certain people like Chewbacca or NParker & wife can mobilise any commitment from me.

I wanted to blog about this many times before but I was never near a pc while the thoughts were running through my mind… and by the time I was, I lost steam in what I wanted to say.  I also thought about the repercussions this might have since one or two people from the cell reads this blog.  I eventually decided to go ahead because, this is me, this is how I feel, and this is a blog where I try to be true to my thoughts.

OK.  I’ve made up my mind.  I’m going Takashimaya tonight since I did make the appointment before finding out that I was out-voted (why did I even think my vote stood a chance), and cellgroup would continue to be on Fridays instead of Saturdays.

If you’re reading this NParker, sorry!  But as long as you’re leading, I’ll try not to miss cellgroup on Fridays unless I’m held up at work!

I think it’s very important that we review quotations we cite.  A friend of mine has this as his quotation on Facebook:

“Set yourself on fire in the things you believe in, and people will come from miles to watch you burn!”.

The first thought when I read his quotation was – is this chap on a course to self-destruction?  I mean… to be fired up about something isn’t quite the same as setting yourself on fire… and… when people come from miles to watch you burn… gosh… are these your friends or enemies?!

Got these as presents from my parents for the wedding.  My mom says it’s considered my dowry.  Whatever… doesn’t matter what you call it… hehehe.  The dangling part of the earrings can be removed if I only want to wear the studs.  Totally cool!  Transformer earrings!  And there ain’t no decepticons in there!

P.S. Bought from J.S. Jewellery at People’s Park Complex.  The bracelet & necklace was customised from existing designs.  🙂

P.P.S Oops… there’s another ring but I forgot to include it in the photo… and my digicam batt is charging now… will have to take photo another day…

AP – Saturday, May 23

BEIJING – Chen Fuchao, a man heavily in debt, had been contemplating suicide on a bridge in southern China for hours when a passer-by came up, shook his hand _ and pushed him off the ledge.

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Chen fell 26 feet (8 meters) onto a partially inflated emergency air cushion laid out by authorities and survived, suffering spine and elbow injuries, the official Xinhua News Agency said Saturday.

The passer-by, 66-year-old Lai Jiansheng, had been fed up with what he called Chen’s "selfish activity," Xinhua said. Traffic around the Haizhu bridge in the city of Guangzhou had been backed up for five hours and police had cordoned off the area.

"I pushed him off because jumpers like Chen are very selfish. Their action violates a lot of public interest," Lai was quoted as saying by Xinhua. "They do not really dare to kill themselves. Instead, they just want to raise the relevant government authorities’ attention to their appeals."

Xinhua said Lai was "taken away by police" but did not elaborate.

A police officer who answered the telephone Saturday at a station close to the bridge confirmed the incident and said it was under investigation. He refused to give any other details and hung up.

According to Xinhua, Chen wanted to kill himself because he had accrued 2 million yuan ($290,000) in debt from a failed construction project.

On Thursday, he made his way to the Haizhu bridge, where 11 other people have tried to take their lives since April.

Lai volunteered to talk Chen down but was turned away by police, Xinhua said. Lai then broke through the cordon, climbed to where Chen sat, greeted him with a handshake, then pushed.

Photos in the Beijing Morning Post showed Lai, shoeless and in a T-shirt, saluting after Chen fell.

The paper said Lai was released on bail Friday but did not give any details. It said he had been on medication for "a mental illness" for decades and had been on his way to a hospital for his pills.

Chen was recovering in the hospital, Xinhua said.

I hate to seem unsympathetic but I can really see where the “pusher” was coming from… I might have done the same if I weren’t afraid of the legal repercussions!

I came out of the shower and found Muah Chee waiting for me, bag packed. 

MC: Let’s go!  I’ve packed my stuff!

Me: Go where?

MC: To the new flat lah.  I saw the exercised Option to Purchase Form.

Me: Er… the entire process will take 3-4 months, dude.

MC: Oh…

This is a classic case of Bubbs’ boss being SLOW in learning of the latest news happenings.  It’s 4:38pm and he just exclaimed, “Oh my god.  Singapore confirms its first swine flu case”.

Duh?  The news broke before lunch lor.  *Rolls eyes*

Pinky, Horlicks and Coffee – enjoying carrots, their weekend snack

Pinky loves to jump on top of this box.  Heh.  Always wanted to take photo of him but he usually jumped off before I could grab my camera.

Pinky – sleepy on a hot Sun afternoon

Off to dream land

Came back last night to find 2 guard rabbits at my house.  My dad told me that this is their latest favourite spot – they can stay there for hours before going back to their own homes.  I sort of suspect this is their form of creeping expropriation…