R.E.S.P.E.C.T.

Well, well, well...Two elections in a year! This is really big in Singapore standards.

I'm following the results for the Presidential elections now, as we speak (type). My own observation is not gonna be about the candidates per se, but about my pet peeve, the way the media management of live events has been done.

So, since I am in the communications line, I want to say something about running the communications of elections.

If I were a presidential candidate, one of the first job I'll fill is a communications director.

The Comms Director should have a team under him/her. There should be people liaising and building relationships with reporters and people in the major media outlets, one person to each major outlet; a social media team to deal with the online presence - website, blog, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Flickr; an internal media team - photographers, videos, content for any collateral; a logistics team and a spokesperson for the candidate and the family. I say, get the family involved. People are always curious about personal anecdotes.

That said, I'd rather be the Communications Director.

Hire me, in 6 years' time?

Raindrops keep falling on my head~

The sky looks pretty gloomy now, befitting the typical London impression. It hasn't always been like that since I've been here, which is about 10 months now. WOAH!

So, anyway, I welcome the rain. I guess y'all heard about the London riots this past week, right? It was crazy. I mean, there were spots of mayhem and violence in various parts of London, with looting and burglary and fires and all. The fires are what really scared me. If you can't be safe in your own home... you know what I mean? And the riots spread to the other English cities too. (I have to say English, in case the Welsh and Scots get mad for using 'UK' since they were all fine and dandy there.) Manchester and Birmingham were quite badly hit. I feel sad for Manchester, cos I really liked it when I was there, and I was gonna bring my parents there in September. We've got to monitor the situation though, and hope that normality will be back. Soon.

So back to the rain. I think raining at night is excellent. Besides the obvious comfort factor or sipping a nice warm cuppa tea or hot chocolate and snuggling in the warmth of my heavy-duty quilt, there are actual positives that come out of raining at night too. For one, as it has been proven from the previous night, it actually keep the thugs at bay. No one, not even hooligans and yobs, like to be drenched in the cold, wet rain at night. Plus, all the loot that they are stealing may get dirtied or spoilt. So, when there is rain, there is no stupidity on the streets. Also, any attempt to light up stuff is made more difficult when everything is drenched and wet. That means they will have to take a longer time, and that means that the police can CATCH THEM!

About the police, I really appreciate what they have done to try and keep the streets safe. It's not an easy job, especially those in UK. They have to beware of accusations of police brutality and all that (what a friend of mine calls) liberal human rights crap. Now, I am all for human rights, but I think when somebody needs a whipping, they REALLY ought to be given one. I watched this documentary on TV yesterday "Coppers", about the police trying to control two crowds of protesters. I think my respect for the police in UK went up one notch. It's really not easy, and I doubt I can do it. Wait, I KNOW for a fact I can't do it. I'd probably be squashed, if not by the mobs or crowds, then by actually trying to hold the police line. I'm more a liability than help.

Oh yes, TV. I finally can watch clear TV. Got the fibre-optics people come in, sort the wiring and nonsense (that I cannot quite understand) out. And now I have lots of channels that are SO clear. It's great cos it's not as quiet at night, but at the same time, it's now twice as hard to not be distracted so I can do my dissertation thesis. And the good/bad news is, I am gonna get my Sky TV installed this coming Sunday. Dear Lordy Lord! I need help, God! Save me from the box!

So, I just paused for a while and starting wondering if the sky is getting dark because it is about to rain or if it's cos we are nearing the end of summer. Cos you know, the sky gets dark earlier these days, when in the last 2-3 months, it'll stay bright until about 9, even 10pm. It's only 7pm, and...it looks like 7pm.

Puh. Send in the rain!

Being Too Green

Everybody who knows me KNOWS how much I like green.

Okay, I'm gonna put it out there, once again for the gazillionth time: my favourite colour is green.

There! I said it.

That said, I'm now feeling a little worried that I may have overdid the colour a bit. In my room. The room that I will stay and hibernate for, at least, the next 39 weeks.

Just looking around and I see quite a bit of green. For one, the things I brought tend to sway towards the green-ish side of things already. Then, there are the things I bought. Green sheets from Ikea, but that's just cause they were the cheapest. And then, I had to go to Primark and get a green throw for the chair. Ok, to be fair, it was the nicest colour around and the chair was really not suitable for human seating. It's a fresh olive green. :D

And did I mention the pinboard against the table? It was HIDEOUS! So I got Christmas wrapping to kinda "wallpaper" the board. It's nearly Christmas season. Go figure. I didn't get the tacky ones though. I got the not-so-obvious kinda of wrapper. The only giveaways were that the colours were white, red and green (with blue too!) and that there were stars and polka dots (I suppose that's for snow?). Yeah, I 'wallpapered' the entire board with that. About 1m (l) x 3.5m (w) of wall/board space.

The drapes are really awful. I don't know if I can do anything about that. I doubt it. Spoils my room though. Argh.

So yeah, back to the topic. My room, is turning out to be a little too green.

Great for the eyes.

This is why I don't do interior decorating. Or design. Or art.

Random Future Shopping List

As the days go by, I find myself thinking of the most random things I need to buy when I get there.

And I am being serious.

Like, coffee and tea. I need my coffee. 'Nuff said. I like green tea on a cold, winter's day. But once in a while, I would like some homemade lemon tea too. So I need red tea, and lemon slices. Hmm, I don't even make homemade lemon tea at home now.

That brings me to sugar and milk. Definitely need sugar. Even if I am getting instant coffee, I'd need the sugar for sweetening my tea and for cooking. Milk is a definite. I need milk for cereals.

So I need cereals too. I wonder if they have Koko Crunch there. That's actually the only cereal I eat.

If not, I'll need bread. To make breakfast. And cheese. Yes, cheese. I can make grilled cheese sandwich.

Condiments? Salt and pepper. Olive oil. Not sure if they have wonderful Chinese condiments like soy sauce, sesame oil and oyster sauce. That's all I need to whip up a homemade Chinese meal.

Rice? They have rice, right? So I've heard. I can buy some pasta too, and spaghetti sauce. Oh, and cans of soup! I love soup! Tomato soup, minestrone soup, mushroom soup, chicken soup. Yes, cold climates are the best climates for soup.

All the kinds of detergent, powder and stuff I need for cleaning: laundry, cooking, bathroom, general cleaning. Sponges.

And what about things to wipe? Paper towels, tissue boxes, toilet rolls.

Toiletries! Shampoo, conditioner, body wash, facial wash!

Hmm...have I left anything out?

At least I know I can print this if I really need a shopping list then.

Packing up, up, UP!

I like packing. In fact, I love packing. I can pack waaaay in advance and find reasons to re-pack again, and again, and again.

Say for example, this BIG trip I'm going on. I started packing 4 months in advance. Yup, I'm all about 80% done with a little more than a month to go. And get this, I even create lists to help me pack.

But there is also packing that is not that fun.

Packing my room, for example, is a chore. No fun. At all.

And I kinda have to pack it up before I leave, seeing as to I won't be around for about a year. But looking around the room now...makes me sleepy.

And so I procrastinate. Another day. And another day.

And each time I wait another day, things pile up slowly.

I know! I shall make a timeline for when I need to do what! I love timelines too!!!

And lists. Did I mention I love to create lists?

My 'Secret' Ambition in Life

I wanna be a detective.

Or a criminologist.

Or a behaviour analyst.

Or a public prosecutor.

Or an ass-kicking special agent.

I have been watching too much TV.

Law & Order, Law & Order Special Victims Unit, Law & Order Special Intent, Criminal Minds, NCIS: LA, Flashpoint, CSI, CSI: Miami, CSI: New York...you get the drift.

I sometimes wished I'd study criminology or victimology or criminal law. Then, I also realise that reality is not like what you see on TV. Especially US television programmes. Soooo far off.

I wanna be a smart-talking, shades-wearing, quick-thinking, ass-kicking detective. Or agent.

Isn't that just soooo cool?

P/S: I sometimes pretend like I'm some special agent or working undercover. Maybe this is why I like typing. It makes me look like I'm doing something serious, when I'm doing frivolous stuff.

Like blogging.

Give me something to read!

I can't surf endlessly. I can't even do that for more than 20mins.

This is why people should write more often in their blogs.

I need to find things to occupy myself with online. The next best solution would be to play online games, but that's not ideal, methinks. I really like reading my friends' blogs and finding out what is happening in their lives.

You know, this would be increasingly important. When I...am away and am alone.

So people, please write more.

And if anybody reads this and wants me to do the same, I'll oblige too. That is, if anybody reads this. And wants me to.

What goes in, must come out.

I have been pondering on a theory in the last couple of weeks intermittently.

It is MY theory that I do not retain stuff well.

Evidence 1: After my first meal, be it breakfast or lunch or brunch, it would "activate" my bowels almost immediately after I complete the meal. Without fail.

Evidence 2: I can't drink more than a glass of liquid without wanting to go pee soon after. This is one reason why as much as I like sitting at a coffee place for hours, I often can't last more than 2 hours. Cos I need to pee.

Evidence 3: Have you seen me?

So. while others have a problem IN water retention, I have a problem OF water retention. Or any kind of retention, less waste materials, for that matter.

I suppose, as long as healthwise, it's all fine, then I should have nothing to complain about. So I thank God for giving me good health!

And in the meantime, I'll just have to...errr...work the system.

What do you do at 1.30am?

Actually, it's already 1.45am.

The parents are asleep. Even the sister is asleep. The dog is probably dreaming by now.

And I am all awake, thanks to 2 things: Hell's Kitchen on FB, and a large Coke from BK.

Did you know the medium Coke at BK is probably the same size as the regular Coke at McDs? So the large Coke that I bought actually is more like a medium to me. Shouldn't all fast food chains just standardize their cup sizes? Economies of scale!

So, anyway, I spent about an hour trying to beat the high score on Hell's Kitchen on FB. I can't even beat my own high score. And the more I try, the worse I get. I think I should just try it in the day. Perhaps it's the Z-bug hitting me.

So besides just lamely surfing, I decided to do a little housekeeping. I use this word loosely. I just refilled my cotton pads, found I ran out of cotton buds, and that I have a whole lotta crap in my cupboards.

This is bad. I need to get rid of them, and quick. But you know how clearing the mess you've created (and hoarded) is always such a chore? And I keep telling myself, "Tomorrow, do it tomorrow." In actual fact, tomorrow comes and goes and I have done nothing. Zero. Zilch. Nada.

I think like all things, I need a timeline.

Oh, but it is SUCH a chore to work out a timeline.

*Heading to bed*