fictitious reunion

hawaii 5-0 was a really popular cops-and-robbers TV series in the late 60s, not least because of the infectious theme music. it probably prompted my primary school classmate to write this in my autograph book :

"hawaii 5-0" here referred to a girl in the next class who demonstrated her prowess as a hula dancer, grass skirt & all, in a school talentime contest. one whom we all had a crush on. ok, actually, it's just me.

this year, all my classmates of that primary school & the secondary school after that, would be 50 years old. in my imagination, we would be having our grand reunion by the beach of waikiki, lazing beneath palm trees & sipping pina colada. so i thought of hawaii 5-0, not the tv series nor that girl, but the fictitious reunion. so guys & gals, wherever you are, have a grand & blessed 50th birthday this year. because, tomorrow, i shall be joining your ranks. woo-hoo...!!

p/s. the last i heard, hawaii 5-0 (the girl) was working as a tour guide back in my hometown. & i did take my classmate's advice seriously - it was many, many years later before i thought of money or love. anyway, for the 1st time, i managed to embed this video from youtube, so savour it....

4 things you (probably) never knew your mobile phone could do.

There are a few things that can be done in times of grave emergencies. Your mobile phone can actually be a life saver or an emergency tool for survival. Check out the things that you can do with it:

(1) Emergency
The Emergency Number worldwide for Mobile is 112.If you find yourself out of the coverage area of your mobile network and there is an emergency, dial 112 and the mobile will search any existing network to establish the emergency number for you, and interestingly this number 112 can be dialed even if the keypad is locked. Try it out.

(2) Have you locked your keys in the car?
Does your car have remote keyless entry? This may come in handy someday. If you lock your keys in the car and the spare keys are at home, call someone at home on their mobile phone from your cell phone. Hold your cell phone about a foot from your car door and have the person at your home press the unlock button, holding it near his mobile phone. Your car will unlock.

Saves someone from having to drive your keys to you. Distance is no object. You could be hundreds of miles away, and if you can reach someone who has the other 'remote' for your car, you can unlock the doors (or the boot).

(3) Hidden battery power
Imagine your mobile battery is very low. To activate, press the keys *3370#. Your mobile will restart with this reserve and the instrument will show a 50% increase in battery. This reserve will get charged when you charge your mobile next time.

(4) How to disable a stolen mobile phone
To check your mobile phone's serial number, key in the following digits on your phone: * # 0 6 #, & a 15 digit code will appear on the screen. This number is unique to your handset. Write it down and keep it somewhere safe. If your phone is stolen, you can phone your service provider and give them this code. They will then be able to block your handset so even if the thief changes the SIM card, your phone will be totally useless.

You probably won't get your phone back, but at least you know that whoever stole it can't use/sell it either. If everybody does this, there would be no point in people stealing mobile
phones!

a chip off the old block

i used to collect old bus tickets when i was a student. those days, i could get into town centre with a 10 or 15 sen ticket, & for 50 sen, i could take a bus from JB into S'pore. i did this because i had made up my young impressionable mind that i was going to be a bus conductor when i grew up. i thought it was a thrill to punch holes into the tickets & to ring the bell twice to let the driver know it was ok to drive off after passengers had alighted.

tonight, after watching madagascar 2 with the boy, i was surprised he had kept the cinema tickets from the movies we've brought him to in a tin box....

is his mind, like mine years before, considering a living as a cinema usher? after all, he enjoys movies & popcorn (especially so, i suspect, if he could see & eat for free) & has a habit of playing with torchlights.

i just wonder.

human folly

The couple were 85 years old and had been married for sixty years. Though they were far from rich, they managed to get by because they watched their pennies.

Though not young, they were both in good health, largely due to the wife's insistence on healthy foods and exercise for the last 10 years or so. Lots of supplements, organic this and that, the whole gamut!!

One day, their good health didn't help when they went on a rare vacation and their plane crashed, and because they were both good decent folks, they went to Heaven.

They reached the pearly gates, and were escorted inside to a beautiful mansion, furnished in gold and fine silk, with a fully stocked kitchen and a waterfall in the master bath.

A maid could be seen hanging their favourite clothes in the closet. No more pasar malam stuff now, all Mucci, Bucci and Ducci.

They gasped in astonishment when a Bearded Man said, 'Welcome to Heaven. This will be your home now.'

The old man asked how much all this was going to cost. 'Why, nothing, remember, this is Heaven.'

The old man looked out the window and right there he saw a championship golf course, finer and more beautiful than any ever built on Earth.

'What are the greens fees?,' grumbled the old man.
'This is heaven, You can play for free, every day.'


Next they went to the clubhouse and saw the lavish buffet lunch, with every imaginable cuisine laid out before them, from seafood to steak, exotic desserts & free flowing beverages.

'Don't even ask. This is Heaven, it is all free for you to enjoy.'

The old man looked around and glanced nervously at his wife.
'Well, where are the low fat and low cholesterol foods and the decaffeinated tea?,' he asked.

'That's the best part, You can eat and drink as much as you like of whatever you like and you will never get fat or sick. After all, This is Heaven!'

The old man pushed, 'No gym to work out at?'
'Not unless you want to,' was the answer.
'No testing my sugar or blood pressure or...'
'Never again. All you do here is enjoy yourself.'

The old man glared at his wife and said, 'You and your silly bran flakes, vitamins, organic stuff and exercise. We could have been here ten years ago!'

so, is it possible each of us are destined for great things BUT holding us back are our own doubts & self-serving desires ? we ignore & reject that which is exceeding much better than what human minds can create or design, then lament that life is unfair.

pile it on!

apparently this is how a pizza hut outlet in beijing is losing out on it's self-service salad order......










but in these uncertain times, can you blame the customer?

or, is this just plain greed?

btw, did this also happen at an outlet near you???

michael crichton, RIP

sci-fi author crichton died on tuesday from cancer (read here). although i have not read any of his books, i thought jurassic park the movie was the best dinosaur flick at that time, & still is, thanks in no small part to the CGI that amazingly made the dinosaurs come to life. the 2 sequels somehow just didn't match up.

& who can forget ER....

...the thrill-a-minute the award-winning TV medical drama that launch the career of george clooney, as well as initiating a trend of similar series, eg chicago hope, strong medicine, scrubs, & house.

thanks for hours of unrivalled entertainment, michael.

vote wisely

the US election - isn't the choice obvious? or is it?

if they vote Obama...


they get this....


however, if they vote McCain.....


they get this...


p/s. this is from an email an ex-classmate sent.