Pages of INK

No, it’s not TIGER TIME! If you look closely at your digital clock right now, you just might see it.

Answer:
01:02:03 04/05/06

or

1:02:03am, 4th May 2006

Neat eh! However, before telling the whole world, note that the Americans beat us to it by a month since they put their month digit before the day digit (theirs happened on the 5th of April 2006). I’m sure it was all planned…

Was taking the elevator at my workplace today when this message flashed across the floor number screen display.

This elevator will shut off.

Imagine the thought of being in an elevator 36 floors up with no lights and no ventilation for a few hours when nobody outside can hear your cries! Haha… anyway, thank God we got out before the elevator did what it had to do.

Ok, listen up all you ice cream and gelato fans, here is something not to be missed! Ben and Jerry’s is giving away free cones this Tuesday! Thanks Pris for the lobang.

Updated: Mission accomplished! Got to enjoy a free cone of chocolate fudge and donated to a good cause in the process (Ben & Jerry’s was using this event to raise funds for kids with brain disabilities)! I think it’s very noble of corporations when they think not just of their bottom line but of society as well!

The long queue at United Square which I heard was 10x worse at Suntec.

I stumbled upon this tree at East Coast Park a few months ago and thought it looked a bit like a sakura tree. However, sakura trees can’t grow in our warm and humid climate so I didn’t think too much about it after that. A few days ago, I read in the papers about how Singapore really does have its own version of the sakura tree, known as the Pink Mempat (cratoxylum formusum). Not only that, other purple flowering trees grow in this climate as well such as the Trumpet Tree and Bougainvillea. Want suggestions on how to beautify Singapore? Plant pink mempats every 10 metres throughout the whole stretch of Orchard Road. Hehe…

Pretty in pink

Another interesting thing that happened last week was Alvin returning from Tokyo and passing me a “toy” that he had helped me buy. Basically, this “toy” is plastic shaped branch that plays real life sound samples of a running river and birds chirping. Although I can’t read Japanese, I can tell from some illustrations on the box that these sound effects are supposed to be very calming. Let’s see if it works!

Not only does it make sounds, but it makes a pretty good art deco piece too!

Yup, I think it does work. *yawn*

As the EPL season draws to a dramatic close with 4 to 5 matches remaining for most teams, all eyes are on who will emerge champions and runners-up. Alas, the team I support, Liverpool, is pretty far behind in 3rd place (although this is a dramatic improvement compared to last season!).

Over the weekend, as I was keeping abreast of scores on Soccernet, I noticed a link to the gamecast between Man Utd and Arsenal. Now, I’m a fan of neither club but I found the short form used for Arsenal pretty funny (see Arse). Heh heh…

No offence to true supporters of the club whose short name I shall not repeat here! All in good fun!

Anyone ever noticed that the design of the Conrad Hotel features a huge “13″ its side wall facing Marina? Why is that so?

While walking back to the office from lunch one day, an observant colleague noticed this strange box next to the pavement. Can anyone guess what the button on this box does? Some clues:

• The box is hidden beneath some bushes.
• The bushes are right outside a huge government building facing the main road.
• There are 3 flag poles next to the box.
• There is a pedestrian crossing a few metres away.

For lack of a better name… “Magic” Button!

ANSWER: It’s an automatic gate opener! Who would’ve guessed.

Went shopping for lightbulbs today at IMM and noticed something amusing on one of the boxes I bought.

The guy probably wasn’t working in a very well illuminated room to have made so many typos. Please use the “supper powerfull & bood for eyeside” lights next time!

Ashley: Eyes open big-big wondering what all the fuss is about!

In my country (this intro makes me sound like I’m from a very faraway land, e.g. the capital of Kazakhstan), there are many roads wide and narrow, smooth and rocky, straight and windy. Nonetheless, they all share one thing in common – long and impossible to remember road names. Check out Kenny’s blurb on it! Needless to say, I’ve since stopped sending snail-mail back. I don’t want to be the first person to suffer from carpal tunnel syndrome writing overly long postal addresses.

Singapore is such a great country. For a name that is ranked #923 in the US in 2004 – Irving is waaaaaaay behind Gabriel (#32) and just two notches above Stone (#925) – it’s quite amazing to find a road named after me in good ol Singapore! Ok, delusions of grandeur aside, it is more of a possibility that the road could’ve existed before I was born, and by conjecture imply that I was named after a road. Oh well…

Irving Road along Playfair Road somewhere in the remote area of Upper Payar Lebar.

Other interesting observations from the survey with regards to male names:

• Biblical names are hot! See the names in the Top 10.
• Jesus is the #70 popular name. It’ll be so cool if there were someone named Jesus in church. Oh wait, there is (INK narrowly avoiding being struck by lightning).
• Noe (#437) seems to be the byproduct of an SMS generation. “Do u noe my name?” “Noe?” “Yes, noe.” “Dunnoe.”
• Milo (#770) is the name of a popular drink and one of my cats. Apparently, it is neither of these in the US.
• Cash (#793) – Parents must be hoping to stike it rich here. Almost as funny as my buddy Toto’s name.
• I wonder if Junior (#649) and Baby (#870) will ever “outgrow” their names.

On a seperate note, Ashley is the #8 most popular female name!

Was chatting to my bro Tiger today and I suddenly realized we both had pics of cute kittens. Alas, my kitten was a victim of a 10-34 shooting.