Birds and bees talk

Have to read this from Chinadaily.com of all places :P

Best way to pursue a woman, dining
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-07-29 09:08
Forget expensive presents or costly jewelry. Wining and dining is the best way for men to woo women, British scientists said Tuesday.

Researchers at Imperial College London developed a mathematical formula and modeled courtship as a sequential game to find the best way to impress the ladies.

Their results show that offering an expensive present signals the man's serious intentions but he must be wary of being exploited by gold-diggers who will dump him after receiving the gift.

"Guys are less likely to offer expensive gifts to females they don't have a long-term interest in. And girls won't be impressed with cheap gifts. By offering expensive but worthless gifts, such as dinner and theater trips, the male pays no cost if the invitation isn't accepted," said Dr Peter Sozou, of University College London.

If women are not interested they are unlikely to accept the invitation, according to the research published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B.

The researchers said giving gifts was a feature of courtship in humans and other species to impress females.

Physical attraction is an important element but offering gifts also helps.

What does " Talk to you later" mean to you?

I literally understood it as the other person would call me later to talk to me right??????????? but Nooooooooooooo! its just a nice "bye bye" North American slang.. but why tell me talk to me later? I DONT GETIT!!!!
Definately room for cultural misunderstanding here :)

Guess the same goes with "How ya doing?"
Nobody really want to know what a shitty day you had and the instinctive answer is " Good good, and you?"

Reunions and People do come back :)

Triin and Kristel
Originally uploaded by ying22.

Kristel, Vega, Bulan and me, MCPs 02-03, a reunion photo finally and in of all places, Singapore.Well I guess the next time we see such a photo would be at the MCP reunion 2007 Indonesia (still wondering how did we arrive to this decision!!!!) so Bulan pls prepare your house for us.



And we have a surprise guest indeed from Netherlands, Mr Clyde Jong( ex trainee 02-03 and ex neighbour of mine who lived in the cool and happening Katong area) who just gave me a call and said he was in town, thus Chau and I made an effort to meet him, as he was heading to Bali for the week the next day, ...lucky butch! I remember that we were spending days in Stockholm talking about yummy Singaporean food when they visited me, now we finally lived the dream together hehe

Clyde
Originally uploaded by ying22.

Last but not least Triin dear, wish you all the best for your travels before you head back to Estonia, and you know that people do come back to this part of the world and specially this tiny sunny island, so we will wait for you and in the meantime dont lose your Singlish accent then yah?:)

22/7= Pie R Square or 3.142

Just had to post something with this date on the timestamp.

Thank you Mum and Dad for bringing such a joy into the world on 22nd July 1980 :) You have done well!

Special thanks to those of you who remembered this glorious day and made an effort of sending me sms/email/electronic hallmark cards/overseas phone calls for the bday greeting and giving me bday presents/bday treats.

A note of caution from Vivianne regarding my newly accquired age/ or rather "quarter life crisis" as Regina says:

"At your age, its quite dangerous to walk around, you might hurt yourself. Don't stay up too late, cause you might be really tired the next day. And forget about drinking, cause its really bad for your old liver. If you don't understand what people are saying, just ask them to speak louder. Buy cream to prevent wrinkles. Oh, and people aren't getting taller, you're getting shorter...."

Yes, yes i am getting there....

Love you all, and have a great weekend!

Taiwanese Invasion + 1 Hong Kongie in town next week

James Yang- Mr Nice Guy

The Taiwanese delegation:
Sandy Chen, James Yang and Betty Chen
- All ex MC members from AIESEC in Taiwan
- All I know from different stages in my life, Sandy was a trainee in Systech, my dad's company 01-02, Betty I met at IC01 in Switzerland then she came to Systech as a trainee too the year after 02-03 and James I met when I was a trainee in Stockholm, Sweden 04.


Betty Chen- My buddy from IC01

How interestingly our paths entwined, and still it amazes me that they know each other, even though it should be the obvious.Sandy and James were in the same MC team with Jessica and Jenny. :) Of course the next generation of MC dudes will know their "parents", aka Betty.Not forgetting the exisiting Taiwanese dwellers we have here in Singapore, Jessica, Jenny and Vega...If 3 is crowd, 6 is an invasion then. :)But its a good invasion, coz i do miss them alot!!!Why do I have so many taiwanese friends? hmmmmmm


Sandy Chen-The one with big hands

The Hong Kong delegation:


Grace Au- Used to be our oldest trainee around

- An ex MC member from AIESEC in HK
- Was a trainee in Systech too 01-02 and I kinda know her from my 1st AIESEC international conference at HK at APLDS2000
- Was in the 1st MC team of Cecilia Tam

We used to say that Grace was the oldest AIESEC trainee around, coz at that time, we have a certain "drought" and she stayed for around 1.5years...but
we didnt complain coz she was the active, bubbly and chirpy one around, being the big "sister" at that time.:) Saw her briefly when she flew down for a holiday in March when we watched the sound of music separately haha, hope to hang out with her more this time...

Its a catching-up week ahead!
Maybe my Chinese and Cantonese will improve vastly during their stay. :)

Surprise guest dropping by on my bday weekend

Kris in Stlm 2004 071
Originally uploaded by ying22.

We have Ms Kristel Kadak, the red carpet has been rolled out and the pple have been waiting long enuff...
Applause!!!Applause!!!Applause!!!

Kristel dear will be stopping by Singapore from Thur- Sat before she leaves for her traineeship in Bangladesh...:)

Has been close to a year since she last visited me in Stockholm, that part of the world where I was closer to the Baltics. As I was searching for photos of her, brings back many memmories, we have this photo at the gala dinner, where we both look stunning in red at IPM02 at Malta, then IC2002, MCP meeting at Netherlands, IPM03 Estonia, then she kept her 04 resolution to visit me in Stockholm, and now to Singapore...wow you have been stalking me eh.,,,hehe... and i also concluded we need more photos babe...





And of course we have a bunch of ex 02-03 AP female mcps residing in Singapore to welcome this fellow "AP MCP" 's arrival( we always think Kris is one of the AP MCPs as she hung out too much with us :)) ...namely Miss Taiwan and Miss Indonesia .:P

More estonians for sunny isle Singapore this weekend......

Another Singapore singer who makes it big overseas

corrinne may
Originally uploaded by ying22.

before she is known in Singapore...

Corrinne May, born and raised in Singapore, educated at Berklee College of Music and released her debut album Fly Away in Las Vegas, where she is based now. She just released her 2nd album, Safe in a Crazy World. She is coming to Singapore during the National Day weekend, for her 1 N concert. Funny thing is that i first heard about her from my colleague Young who came back from US from hols, and then i chanced upon her poster at the esplanade where i learnt she is putting up a concert. Then the restaurant where I had dinner with Qinwei played her music and concidentally Qinwei tells me that she is going for her concert, so out of curiousity, who is Corrinne May???

No publicity at all in Singapore and she is already making so many waves and pple going to her concert, apparently her tix are SOLD out when i checked on the esplanade website. Darn! She is that good! I really liked her music when i first heard it at the restaurant....With beat, spunk and easy listening tunes, its a mix of ballad and rock. Could feel that she sings with her soul,and she writes all her songs with very cool and touching lyrics. On a cute note, she was inspired by the Powerpuff Girls for her self composed song Little Superhero Girl she says, "It's about the child in me, looking for an escape from the harder realities of the world…" I like it :)

Give her music a try, you never know what you are missing.
Hear it here.


F L Y A W A Y
Written by Corrinne May Ying Foo
Copyright 2000, Corrmay Gourmet Music (ASCAP)

When will you be home?" she asks
as we watch the planes take off
We both know we have no clear answer
to where my dreams may lead
She's watched me as I crawled and stumbled
As a child, she was my world
And now to let me go, I know she bleeds
and yet she says to me

You can fly so high
Keep your gaze upon the sky
I'll be praying every step along the way
Even though it breaks my heart to know we'll be so far apart
I love you too much to make you stay
Baby fly away

Autumn leaves fell into spring time and
Silver-painted hair
Daddy called one evening saying
"We need you. Please come back"
When I saw her laying in her bed
Fragile as a child
Pale just like an angel taking flight
I held her as I cried

You can fly so high
Keep your gaze upon the sky
I'll be praying every step along the way
Even though it breaks my heart to know we'll be so far apart
I love you too much to make you stay
Baby fly away

Succumbing to Pressure

Didnt want to do anything for my bday in a week's time, the truth is too damn lazy, didnt want to think about logisitics, who to invite, and who would come And if i were to do something at all, that means i have to have 4 dinners/gatherings and 2 family celebrations, otherwise it would be unfair....fwah....And the funny thing is I dont have to remind anyone of my bday( normally i am quite thick skinned and give advanced warning) , there are smses like," Hey its your bday soon, time to meet up" ( yeah my friends are just "using" my bday celebration to gather pple whom we have not seen in a while, schemers :P)" Are you free on that weekend" "Lets go to this place and have drinks" ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh i just want to run away,run away from becoming 25 years old.....run and hide into this island where time stops and i will forever be 25 ( think alan tam), yeah go find Peter Pan and fly to Nevernever land...yeah right....So may have something, something small perhaps :P

25 years is the definition of a quarter of a century, I used to make jokes on pple i know with that age, its just plain retribution. i know i know....Probably I just think too much, i always stop, think, reflect, on new year resolutions, quarterly reviews on my resolution, and now we have the birthday,,,oh great!

Think i would do something different this year, am bored with the usual smile-cheeze-cut cake-take more photos routine.

Radical things that I could do with my becomming of 25 years of age...hmmm lets see
1. Go for glamour shots so when i am 80 i can tell my grandchildren how gorgeous I was at 25
2. Sign up for Singapore Idol ( wasnt here when it happened last year, heard it was crazy)
- well i dont harbour any hope of going really far, just want to try out the queue-sing-ding!-out process :)
3. There are always 3 things..so let me ponder on the 3rd...

Awesome and Stupidity

The spinning of the dance music at the Elevation 280: Concerts on the Roof (Heineken Music Festival) on the 8th floor, of the Market Street Carpark, was awesome, definately one of the best if not THE BEST dance music i have heard, and its not the usual mainstream music that you hear in the boring clubs. They have DJs from UK, THe Freestylers,Bentley Rhytem Ace, Andrew Paula from AUS and The DKM Project from Singapore. The annual event was held on the rooftop aka smoke doesnt stick on your clothes and hair, and luckily it was a cool night, you can hear the thumping of the music a mile away as we walked :). Plus you get the view of the tall financial corporate buildings around you as you go grooving to the infectious beats. Stamp of approval, will go next year.

Stupidity

Yet another story of unrequited love, Ballet Under the Stars- The Little Mermaid, almost forgot that this fairytale has a sad ending when I went to Fort Canning to see this outdoor ballet last night, afterall the Walt Disney version had a happy ending. Loved that cartoon. So sad....the chick had to give her tongue to the sea witch, so she could have a pair of legs to see her prince on land, so she became mute and the stopid guy had to marry another, thinking the neighbouring princess was the one who saved him. In the end, the little mermaid dissolved into sea foam when she couldnt bear to stab the prince in the heart, and she became air!!!! Well if only she subscribed to the more vicious mantra of " If I can't have you, Nobody can...muahahahaha " ( *evil laughter *) she would be saved, stopid girl.....:P

Ana in Singapore Part II

Originally uploaded by ying22.

She had her 1st crab in her life,
Saw her 1st night safari with a "human" exhibit,
Had her 1st dim sum/yum cha,
Lychee martini, ba ku teh, katong laksa, hainanese chicken rice, murtabak and the foodie list goes on :)
( yes hard to kick old habits that i picked up from sweden- have a tourist itiernary for her )

Caught up on all the newest happenings in Sweden and the pple we know ( yes, you you you :P), compared notes on how swedish lifestyle changed us, namely the drinking till you are hammered, with no control watsoever, and in the fastest possible way to get drunk...bad i know...hehe...truely a cool time..

Catch up with you in Sweden or Venezuela soon my dear!

Kram och puss!!!

Tragedy

My heart goes out to all who is affected by the London bombing...
Saddens me to see such destruction with intent

Benefits working for a Swedish company

Affe
Originally uploaded by ying22.

Svenska:
Your nice swedish colleague would come by with a Swedish joke column and test your swedish hehe Was fun and impressed with myself when i recognised some of the words still...used to keep this excel sheet of up to 500 swedish words with their English meanings, words that i collect everyday from newspapers or lessons, wowwww eh...:)

Summer Vacation:
Many of them asks: "So when are you taking your summer vacation?"
XXX: " I am taking 3 weeks off back to Sweden."
ZZZ: " Could only take 2 weeks and then the other 2 weeks end of the year as my boss didnt approve my leave"

...............................

Me: "Well its always Summer in Singapore so no difference la"
ALL: " Oh....thats true....."
:)

07071977

The date when my sister was born, nice number eh
Happy bday sysssssssteeeeeerrrrrrrrr!
Thanks for being my ring- borrower, handmedown clothes/textbooks provider, arty farty/happeningplacetogo recommender as well! :)))

Did you know that Jesus Christ is considered a Saint in Islam?

Islam
Originally uploaded by ying22.

And so is Moses etc. Was wondering why Buddha isnt in that list as well :P

Well I didnt know and within that one day, the seemingly wide divide of religions seem so interconnected and not so far off afterall. Thanks to Fida and Ana being my muslim and catholic guide while we were cruising along the Asian Civilisation Museum last Sun, for the very cool SEA exhibits and also the Journey of Faith-Vatican City exhibits. Now ACM is ranked No 2 after Night Safari for the top top top Singapore Tourist destinations for me.

Skirt issues

Its funny BUT whenever I wear a skirt in the office, without fail,
someone has something to say:

" Wah this is the 2nd time i see you wear skirts in the office, looks nice"
( like hello, though not frequent, i do wear them at least once a week )
" You look feminine today"
( you mean i dont on other days?!)
" Wah wear skirt ah"
(Aberthen?)

And tried this tasteless Slender Instant Coffee Packet today, sliming coffee mix, apparently my colleague tried it for 3 days and she lost 1 kg, and she has tons more..so oh well, i am a cheap coffee drinker, so anything goes....lets see if it works :P

Do I have high expectations on pple whom i call "friends"?

An example of incidents happening recently in my life:

XXX and his overseas friend in town, were suppposed to have lunch with me and my overseas friend, he even sent me an email in the morning, with the header lunch?Nearing to the time i called him, emailed him, no response, so from 12.30-2pm have no idea where the hell he is. Assume he was busy with work and couldnt make it in the end, but shouldnt he have the decent courtesy to tell me, call, sms, email. I smsed, called him x times.....no answer. Not being able to get a hold of a person when you are supposed to meet him just gets on your nerves and even wondering what happened to him. Fine, just let it be.

The next day, when i finally decided to give him the benefit of the doubt, and initatied an email to him. Afterall probably SOMETHING REALLY TERRIBLE happened yday, thats why he didnt contact me, not even till late into the night. Have to say that I was disappointed with his answer of being really really really busy and he forgot in the end, and his friend who was supposed to meet us for lunch forgot about it too. And he didnt bother telling me until i sent him an email the next day. Wow, i mean what am i to say? That I should be totally understanding of how crazy working life is, and that I am just not prority at that time. Probably truth hurts.

Am I too sensitive? Do I take things too personally? Could be.

But let me ask you then:

What are friends?

What sets friends apart from acquaintances or pple who enjoy a certain hobby together?

What is important to You as a friend?

Respect, Loyalty and Reliability is for me.
And my friends could expect the same from me, anytime 24hrs, 365days.