Feeling sick again

feeling better tis morning but feels like shit now.

the aching is coming back and i seriously tink i’m coming dwn wif something…so gross.

shall work from home tomolo…hate being sick!

Aching body

had lunch wif karen den went hitachi to catch up wif some ppl.

got beli beli bad aching all over my body when i returned to office. my legs are aching from thigh to sole….my head feels like it’s gonna drop off from my sore neck

tink i’m coming dwn wif something…mayb gastric flu?

anyway, i finally got some salonpas plasters at chinatown on sun so i slapped on 6 at a go. 1 on each side of my neck, 1 on each sole and 1 on each calf. my legs ache so badly tat i feel like plastering my entire leg….sigh

will turn in soon so my body can recover.

had a good day tdy and managed to catch up wif dear eric whom i haven’t met in over a yr. he hasn’t changed abit. such a sweet guy and wonderful fren.

he told us some exciting news…hope things work out for him and we get to catch up more often!

Big O Cafe

i would highly recommend Big O cafe for being a child friendly set-up.

the main reason i decided to dine there was becoz they haf a kids menu

and check out the activities to entertain the kiddos.



QQ still got a little bored waiting for the food

the food was beli good. i enjoyed my ravioli, while mum had fried rice wif lotsa duck meat.

the kiddos had spaghetti and fish & chips.

Ok, hush my little princess….QQ feeling sleepy after dinner.

but tis was before she discovered the gelato shop oppo…haha…nbr too tired for some dessert

Singapore Zoo undergoing change into a Rainforest Zoo

Keep the polars, pls!

Monday January 29, 4:17 PM

SINGAPORE: Change is in the wind for the Singapore Zoo.

It is currently undergoing a major makeover to get a lush rainforest look.

The Singapore Zoo, recognised as one of the finest in Asia, is home to more than 3,000 animals from 290 different species, ranging from gibbons and otters to tapirs and polar bears.

Since its official opening in 1973, it has been evolving – from an open viewing zoo, to a learning zoo providing an interactive and educational experience to its visitors.

Now, it wants to be the most beautiful rainforest zoo in the world.

“We’re in the process of making ourselves the most beautiful rainforest zoo of the world. This entails three main elements including improving our education and training materials, our research and conservation materials and as well as providing an exceptional wildlife experience for our customers,” said Fanny Lai, Executive Director, Singapore Zoo and Night Safari.

2006 saw the addition of a new Rainforest Walk, a landscaped pathway featuring waterfalls, tropical flora and free-ranging orang utans.

The zoo has also been re-zoned into eight different rainforests of the world, including Indonesia, Malaysia, Australasia, China and the Amazon.

With its rainforest positioning, comes plans to relocate the popular polar bear exhibit to another zoo.

“Just by changing ourselves in terms of our display, our animal collection to make ourselves into a rainforest zoo will certainly not attract a lot of people to come in, but it is a holistic approach that we’re providing people with an exceptional wildlife experience.

That includes not just upgrading our display of the animals, our exhibits, but also to provide better customer touch points including providing a wider range of food & beverage selection with better quality, better value for money, also to be more family, handicap-friendly and at the same time, we also have to be more discerning in terms of our hospitality to the visitors,” said Lai.

Coupled with recent improvements like Braille interpretive signboards and a Wildlife Healthcare and Research Centre, the zoo looks set in its promise to give all its visitors a truly exceptional wildlife experience.

Wal-Mart Launches China Credit Card

September 18, 2006

BEIJING — Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world’s largest retailer in terms of sales, announced the launch of its first credit card in China in conjunction with Bank of Communications, a major Chinese bank.

The venture is likely the first credit card issued by a foreign retailer, analysts say. It marks a milestone in China’s evolving consumer market, where less than 5% of the population have credit cards, according to industry estimates.

The Bank of Communications Pacific Wal-Mart credit card marks “a completely new cooperation between the finance and retail industry,” the bank said.

The card will initially be launched in six Wal-Mart stores in Shanghai, Nanjing and Fuzhou, and “soon spread over the country,” said a bank official.

Wal-Mart officials in China said the card is a regular credit card that can be used anywhere, but that will provide users special discounts at its stores. It will be a dual-currency card that can also be used anywhere outside China.

In June, media reports said the Bentonville, Arkansas, company had been close to issuing a credit card with another Chinese bank. A Wal-Mart spokesman in China didn’t rule out other credit-card announcements and said the company, which has about 60 stores in China, “will continue to introduce new services that can add benefits to the customers.”

The Bank of Communications’ credit-card unit is jointly run with HSBC Holdings PLC, which owns a 20% stake in Bank of Communications. In recent years, foreign banks have begun forming joint ventures with local banks to issue dual-currency credit cards, but none are profitable so far, analysts say.

“China’s credit-card market is growing very fast and is beyond infancy stage now,” said MasterCard International economist Yuwa Hedrick-Wong.

McKinsey & Co., estimates that credit-card profits in China could hit $1.6 billion by 2013.

India shifts rare rhino calves to spur breeding

Monday January 29, 12:21 AM

Two rare one-horned rhino calves made conservation history when they were moved from an overcrowded sanctuary in India’s northeast Assam state to another sanctuary to spur breeding efforts.

A wildlife official said Sunday the two female rhinos, aged about 42 months, were taken in separate trucks from the Kaziranga National Park in east Assam, home to the largest concentration of the one-horned rhinoceros in the world.

“The two rhinos from Kaziranga will join another five-year-old female at the Manas National Park in Assam by early Monday,” a park warden said.

The two calves were rescued in 2004 during high floods at Kaziranga and were kept at the Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Care nearby.

The move is the first part of an effort to spread and increase the population through new births in other sanctuaries, wildlife officials said.

Around 1,855 of the world’s estimated 2,700 endangered one-horned rhinos lumber around the wilds of Kaziranga making them a prime target for poachers who sell parts such as the horn for use in traditional Chinese medicine as well as to other parts of South Asia.

“A team of doctors and experts are accompanying the two rhinos in the 11-hour road journey from Kaziranga to Manas,” Manideepa Ahluwalia, a senior Wildlife Trust of India official, told AFP by telephone from Kaziranga.

The Manas National Park is a World Heritage Site with only about six rhinos surviving at present.

“The three rhinos will eventually be released in the wilds of Manas. By next year we plan to capture a male rhino from Kaziranga and shift it to Manas to help the breeding process,” Ahluwalia said.

The No. 2 Credit Card Issuer Is Banking On Big Expansion Plans

January 10, 2007

Call it the David and Goliath of the card payment industry.

No. 2 MasterCard holds half the market share of the industry giant, Visa. Yet the little guy beat its chief rival to the markets in going public in May at 39.

Since then, MasterCard’s shares have risen to more than 100. They soared 15% Nov. 1 when the firm reported $1.42 a share in third quarter earnings, beating by 35 cents Wall Street estimates for its first full quarter as a public company.

Analysts expect MasterCard to log double-digit earnings growth through 2010, with 2007 earnings expected to rise 19% to $3.88 a share.

“We have a very leverable business,” Chris McWilton, chief financial officer, said of the firm’s $3 billion card business.

Still, MasterCard’s share of the worldwide card market has barely budged. Visa still enjoys more than 60% of the market vs. less than 30% for MasterCard.

Visa To Go Public

This year, Visa plans to join MasterCard as a publicly traded company, eroding some of MasterCard’s advantage in that aspect.

The field will probably get even more competitive with Morgan Stanley’s planned spinoff of its Discover-card business, probably into a stand-alone public company.

Because it won the legal right in 2004 to sign on bank card issuers to its network, card issuer American Express has been encroaching on MasterCard’s turf as well, not to mention Visa’s.
“Competition is strong today and it will continue to get stronger,” McWilton said.

When Visa does charge into the public market, MasterCard doesn’t intend to let its house of cards fall.

“Our three- to five-year plan is to grow revenue 8% to 10% a year, improve operating margins by 2 percentage points and achieve return on equity of 20%-plus,” McWilton said.

Founded in 1966 by a band of banks to compete with BankAmericard (now Visa), MasterCard makes most of its money from processing transactions made on its credit and debit card brands MasterCard, Maestro and Cirrus.

“The history of both companies is a history of two competitors who really didn’t come out slugging, headed for a knockout, because the same banks owned both brands,” said David Robertson, publisher of the Nilson Report.

When MasterCard went public, its bank owners dropped in ranking to minority investors.

When Visa joins MasterCard as a publicly traded company, it too will answer not to banks but to shareholders, and it too will come under closer regulatory scrutiny.

Meanwhile, MasterCard and Visa face the same dark clouds hovering in the distance: lawsuits. On one side: civil damages related to a long-running American Express and Discover antitrust case. On the other side: merchants’ suits over interchange fees.

“It’s still potentially a big issue,” said analyst Robert Dodd of Morgan Keegan & Co. “But the timing on when these issues go to court and get settled is very much up in the air.”

All has been quiet on the litigation front lately, but the first new noise is expected this spring when “fact discovery” papers are presented on the American Express-Discovery case. New information on the merchant interchange fight isn’t likely to surface for at least another year.

“If you look at legal statistics, these cases rarely if ever go to trial,” McWilton said. He says MasterCard will more than likely settle. “It boils down to the timing and amount,” he said.

Analyst Sanjay Sakhrani of Keefe, Bruyette & Woods estimates MasterCard will incur damages of $7 per share, or about $1 billion, with $3 per share pegged to the American Express/Discover lawsuit and $4 for the merchants’ lawsuit.

He figures that the first lawsuit will be settled at the end of this year and that the merchants’ suit will be settled in 2010.

In the meantime, MasterCard plans to chase “profitable market share,” McWilton said, by working with its many bank customers on new brand initiatives to prod card carriers to use MasterCard cards more often. MasterCard’s largest bank customers include JPMorgan Chase, Citibank, HSBC and Bank of America.

A $1 billion ad and marketing budget probably won’t hurt.

One MasterCard initiative that’s had some success is its PayPass program. PayPass users can make “micro” purchases for such things as highway tolls and fast food.

Big Mac purchases at McDonald’s might not sound like much. But it’s all about volume.

Increased cardholder spending on a growing number of MasterCard cards drove worldwide purchase volume up 17.2% in the third quarter. Volume, after all, begets fees, which beget revenue and profit.

Plenty of volume is up for grabs. While use of credit and debit cards in the U.S. is becoming ubiquitous, many places in the world are still largely cash-and-go societies.

Overseas Business

More than half MasterCard’s gross dollar volume comes from overseas with the fastest growing regions being Latin America and Asia-Pacific.

The U.S. is far from a done deal. Industry watchers see card volume growth there rising from the high single digits to 12% annually over five years, with debit card growth outpacing credit card growth.

MasterCard has a small debit card business in the U.S., especially compared with Visa, which got into the debit card market earlier. But MasterCard scored a bit of a coup last year when it landed debit card business from Washington Mutual, which switched from Visa.

In Europe, the tables were turned. Enlisting German banks, Visa stole debit card business away from MasterCard’s Maestro, with conversion set for later this year.

New opportunities loom on the Continent as the European Union spearheads a drive for a single, integrated euro-zone payment system.

Drinking recycled sewage way ahead for parched Australia: Howard

NEwater down under? y not?

Monday January 29, 4:59 PM

Australia’s prime minister has hailed a move to force the citizens of a drought-parched region to drink recycled sewage as the way forward for the rest of the world’s driest inhabited continent.

John Howard praised Queensland Premier Peter Beattie, who on Sunday announced that residents in the state’s tinder-dry southeast would be drinking recycled waste water as early as next year, whether they liked it or not.

“I am very strongly in favour of recycling, and Mr. Beattie is right and I agree with him completely,” Howard told commercial radio. “I’ve advocated recycling for a long time.”

Beattie said record-low inflows to dams had left his government with no alternative but to dump plans for a public referendum on the issue intended for March.

“The reality is at the moment we have no choice, we have to provide people with water,” he said.

“It’s not like we are part of a freak show — the rest of the world is doing this,” he said, referring to residents in Singapore, London, Washington and southern California, whom he said drank recycled water.

Much of Australia is enduring what has been described as the worst drought in a century and most major cities already have water restrictions in place.

Beattie’s move was greeted with resignation by anti-recycling campaigner Clive Berghofer, the former mayor of the drought-stricken southeastern town of Toowoomba, whose residents rejected recycled water in a referendum last July.

“Politicians are ducking for cover because they have neglected (water) infrastructure for years and are now panicking,” he said.

Berghofer said the move would ruin the city’s clean and green image, and the use of recycled water in agriculture would damage the region’s economy.

“A lot of our food is exported, and the Japanese especially are particular about these things. People don’t realise the implications of doing these things,” he said.

Berghofer also questioned the safety of drinking treated sewage, saying there were many chemicals that could still not could not be detected.

Although state governments in Victoria, New South Wales, South Australia and Western Australia have vowed not to follow Queensland, Beattie predicted all governments would eventually have to introduce the same measures.

“I think in the end, because of the drought, all of Australia is going to end up drinking recycled purified water,” Beattie told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

US Companies See the Benefits of Gay-Friendly Policies

September 28, 2006

Corporate America is the latest battleground for one of the country’s cultural clashes. Despite a host of anti-discriminatory measures for age, sex, disability, ethnic background and religion, no federal laws exist to prevent discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

According to campaign group Out and Equal Workplace Advocates, 35 states allow companies to fire employees based on sexual orientation. Organisations must determine themselves if they need such policies.

The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) civil rights organisation ranks companies on gay-friendly efforts, ranging from written harassment policies to gay-targeted advertising. Some 81% of corporations reviewed offered health benefits to domestic partners, and many firms include language about “gender identity or expression” in their discrimination policies, covering transgender workers.

Defence giant Raytheon recently added such language to its already inclusive discrimination policies. While gay-friendly companies attract gay clients – annual American gay purchasing power is estimated at $641bn (£350bn) – the missile maker is safe from accusations of pandering.

Adding gender identity to equality policy at Raytheon was “matching the talk with the walk,” said Raytheon’s chief diversity officer Hayward Bell, in the HRC report. Regardless of its progressive and open tone however, Raytheon declined to comment – a reminder that the issue is a sensitive political one.

The Ford Motor Company recently encouraged shareholders to defeat a motion demanding removal of protections for gay workers, after a year-long scuffle with conservative groups that launched boycotts.

A similar resolution at American Express citing “illegal sex acts” met a comparable defeat. The company played no role in getting shareholders to trounce the motion, but the company’s culture is widely known, said Bet Franzone, HR public affairs manager. “It’s not a political thing; it’s just a matter of creating an inclusive work environment. Of course, not everyone is going to be happy.”

The company’s individual treatment policy is “very broad and very, very explicit,” said Franzone. “It includes sexual orientation and gender identity.” The latter was recently added, although there was no clamouring for it.

The firm watches the market and organisations that track company policies. She adds that a new HR training module on “cultural nuances” will be rolled out worldwide to “bolster an extensive diversity-training environment”.

The New York-based company led the financial services sector when it began offering same-sex partner benefits in 1997, after employee groups worked alongside senior management to come up with solid analysis and data to shore up the move to partner benefits.

“They demonstrated what the costs and benefits would be,” said Franzone. “There could easily be a financial services company next door offering something better, so of course this is very important for employee retention.”

Indeed, with private healthcare and a benefit-crazed economy, such coverage is an inexpensive and simple means to reduce turnover.

More than half of gay American workers in a recent survey felt such policies were critical in deciding where to work. “This isn’t a Democratic or Republican issue,” said HRC president Joe Solmonese. “It’s an issue of basic fairness and good business. An investment in equal benefits is minor to the employer but priceless to employees.”

ExxonMobil shareholders have repeatedly shunned explicit protection for homosexual or transgender employees in company anti-discrimination policies. Spokesperson Russ Roberts said the oil giant already has “zero-tolerance discrimination and harassment policies that are comprehensive in nature, rigorously enforced, and applicable to all employees wherever the company operates in the world”.

“These written policies prohibit discrimination or harassment for any reason, including sexual orientation,” he said.

Rarely are such arguments based on profitability or fair division of entitlements: they are almost exclusively couched in terms of values and corporate image.

America’s religious right has staked claim in all facets of American life, and workplace opposition groups are emboldened by the US government’s “family values” mantra, while persistently promoting constitutional amendments banning same-sex marriage.

But gay-rights proponents are optimistic: an Out and Equal study found a majority of heterosexual adults (61%) believe companies – not government – should decide what benefits to offer employees and their partners, and most feel that all employees are entitled to equal benefits.

“By removing barriers to employee success, corporate America is ultimately removing barriers to the success of companies across the nation,” Solmonese said.

按这里， 按那里， 按摩全靠你

按这里， 按那里， 按摩全靠你
按这里， 按那里， 按摩全靠你

tis is the tune played during the osim advert wif louis ko.

the kiddos luv tis ad and we were shopping at marina square when they spotted an osim fair on the ground floor.

wifout missing a skip, QQ started singing tis tune as she strolled along.

wah! successful ad sia!

How to stay young

It’s really sort of simple:

1. Throw out nonessential numbers. This includes age, weight and height.
Let the doctors worry about them. That is why you pay them.

2. Keep only cheerful friends.
The grouches pull you down. (keep this in mind if you are one of those grouches;)

3. Keep learning:
Learn more about the computer, crafts, gardening, whatever.
Never let the brain get idle.
“An idle mind is the devil’s workshop.”
And the devil’s name is Alzheimer’s!

4. Enjoy the simple things.

5. Laugh often, long and loud. Laugh until you gasp for breath.
And if you have a friend who makes you laugh, spend lots and lots of time with HIM/HER.

6. The tears happen:
Endure, grieve, and move on. The only person who is with us our entire life, is ourselves. LIVE while you are alive.

7. Surround yourself with what you love:
Whether it’s family, pets, keepsakes, music, plants, hobbies, whatever.
Your home is your refuge.

8. Cherish your health:
If it is good, preserve it.
If it is unstable, improve it.
If it is beyond what you can improve, get help.

9. Don’t take guilt trips.
Take a trip to the mall, even to the next county, to a foreign country, but NOT to where the guilt is.

10. Tell the people you love that you love them, at every opportunity.

And if you don’t send this to at least four people – who cares?
But do share this with someone.

Air China Cruising Ahead In 2007 as Budget Carriers Struggle

January 12, 2007

BEIJING — Air China will continue to be the nation’s strongest carrier this year as the other two major players, China Eastern and China Southern, struggle to reverse losses in a market set to become increasingly competitive with the arrival of more low cost and regional carriers, analysts said.

The battle for market share is likely to be fought on different fronts, with newly introduced budget airlines looking to gain a foothold on niche routes, while the state-owned “big three” look to make more efficient use of their hub and spoke systems.

Guotai Junan analyst Alan Lam added that all carriers will be keeping an eye on the price of jet fuel, which dogged airlines worldwide in recent years but has fallen back in the past few months.
In China the price of jet fuel is fixed by the state, and although the ex-refinery price was reduced by 180 yuan to 6,020 yuan per ton from January 1, fuel costs will still make up a high proportion of airlines’ expenses.

Of the “big three” carriers, Air China will enjoy continued growth after consistently outperforming its two main rivals, thanks to its extensive international network and strong Beijing hub, which will see growing traffic numbers in the run up to the Olympics next year, Lam said.

“Air China will still outperform the market. It is the most profitable airline in China, and this trend will continue in 2007 and especially 2008,” he told XFN-Asia.

The flag carrier announced that it carried 31.49 mln passengers in 2006, an increase of 13.7 pct from a year earlier.

The airline is already reaping the benefits from its tie-up with Cathay Pacific, with increased traffic on routes between Hong Kong and the mainland. Air China said its passenger load factor on Hong Kong and Macau routes rose to 70.2 pct in 2006 from 64.9 pct in 2005.

“Air China’s alliance with Dragonair and Cathay Pacific is already showing positive effects, and we believe this situation will continue in 2007 and 2008,” Lam said.
The carrier will also benefit from China’s open sky policy, which will give it access to new international markets, he added.

“It is clearly the major beneficiary of the open skies policy, especially for international routes. Although more airline companies will be entering China, it is a bilateral policy so other countries also need to open their skies to China,” he said, adding that Air China will have the opportunity to further explore both the US and European markets.

As for closer alliances among other airlines, there is speculation that Singapore Airlines will take a strategic 20 pct stake in China Eastern this year.

This would be a boost to China Eastern, which suffered heavy losses last year, but such a deal is unlikely to be as fruitful as Air China’s cooperation with Cathay, not least because the route between Shanghai and Singapore is less significant than between Beijing and Hong Kong, Lam said.

“It would have some positive effect, but questions remain if this kind of strategy can be as effective as the cooperation between Air China and Cathay,” he said.

With Hong Kong being a major hub in the Asia Pacific — and a hub that is close to mainland China – it can expect much more traffic than the long haul Shanghai to Singapore link.
“It will be difficult for airline companies to duplicate the successful model of Air China,” Lam said.

Morgan Stanley analyst Edward Xu agreed that the potential investment would prove beneficial for China Eastern in terms of providing more capital, but to a far lesser extent than the relationship between Air China and Cathay.

“The synergies between Singapore Airlines and China Eastern might not be as significant…they do not have so many duplicated routes, whereas Cathay and Air China both have large volumes between Hong Kong and the mainland,” Xu said.
“Also, unlike Air China and Cathay, Singapore Airlines and China Eastern do not have cross shareholdings,” he added.

For 2006, China Eastern’s figures are destined to remain firmly in the red after it posted a loss of 970.2 mln yuan in the first three quarters of the year.

“I expect the fourth quarter to also be lossmaking, which will exacerbate the airline’s problems. It will remain in the red for 2006,” Morgan Stanley’s Xu said.

The carrier struggled on heightened competition and surging fuel costs, and although jet fuel prices have dropped from last year’s highs, there will be no let-up in competition on key routes, not least from Air China which plans to expand its operations in Shanghai, China Eastern’s base.
China Southern also faces problems.

The Guangzhou-based carrier last year carried 49.2 mln passengers, an increase of 11.5 pct from a year earlier, but its strong performance in the latter part of the year was weighed down by a loss of almost one bln yuan in the first half.

The company’s parent is undergoing share reform, but financial difficulties have slowed the process. This does not bode well for China Southern ahead of its massive capital expansion plans for 2008 to 2010, when it will take delivery of 50 aircraft from Airbus with a catalog value of around 3.32 bln usd.

“China Southern cannot progress with its share reform plan…under the circumstances, it is unlikely foreign investors will buy a stake in the airline,” Lam said.
“China Southern has a huge capital expansion plan for 2008 to 2010. Its gearing level will surge dramatically,” he added.

China Southern could benefit though from government plans to promote internal routes, particularly to the poorer, western regions of the country, as it is the most domestically concentrated of the big three airlines.

The carrier has the potential to further carve out niche routes with its acquisition of Xinjiang Airlines improving its network in the less competitive western region, from where it can also serve Russia and other Central Asian countries.

It is actively expanding its international network, most recently opening a route to the Nigerian capital Lagos, but Xu warned that long-haul routes are not likely to be very profitable.

“Long-haul international routes are not very profitable, yields are usually pretty low. Also, for Chinese airlines, the customer base is not so good as they do not get so many high quality business travelers,” Xu said.

This is especially true for China Southern, as many business travelers near its Guangzhou base fly out of Hong Kong, while there are also many smaller airports in nearby boom towns like Shenzhen and Zhuhai.

The airline has established a second hub in Beijing, but it may take around another 12 months to develop fully, Xu said.
“The two most important hubs on the mainland are Beijing and Shanghai. Beijing especially is very attractive for most airlines as it has high yield levels from the many officials and business travelers that use it,” Xu said.

According to an American Express business travel survey, corporations in China spent 7.41 bln usd on air travel in 2005, making China the fourth-largest business travel market in the world.
Where the big three airlines are similar is their shared experience of state ownership, which has both benefits and limitations.

“The state shareholding is a double-edged sword for the big three,” said an independent analyst who asked not to be named.
“On the one hand, they enjoy lots of host benefits in their three major hubs, while their affiliation with the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China means the regulator is always very supportive, for example in approving new routes,” he said.

“But on the other hand, tariffs are tightly regulated and they cannot easily raise fares for high margin routes, and instead are under pressure to open new routes that are not economically justified,” he added.

The carriers are also almost obliged to take on new aircraft orders made by the government, not necessarily prudently, the analyst said.
“My gut feeling is that the Chinese government makes orders without looking into the real needs. Most of these order will be absorbed by the big three as part of their ‘national service’,” he told XFN-Asia.

Morgan Stanley’s Xu said that China is expected to take delivery of 155 new jets this year.
Many of these are likely to be single-aisle aircraft for use on regional routes, where competition is heating up among low cost and regional carriers clamoring to gain a foothold in the market.

But these carriers face enormous challenges. Rising disposable incomes in China will increase demand for air travel, but the main markets will still be Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, where the big three have established bases that smaller carrier will struggle to penetrate.

The ability of budget airlines to offer sharply discounted fares is also restricted, as proven by Spring Airlines, which was last month fined 150,000 yuan by a local price regulator in Shandong province for offering air tickets at prices lower than government-set levels.

“I do not expect the new entrants to the market to make the sort of material impact they have in the US, Europe or Malaysia,” said the analyst who asked not to be named.
“In Western countries, budget airlines’ success is built upon a fair regulatory system and financially weak big players who always have substantial pension and fixed cost burdens.

The big Chinese airlines have very inefficient cost structures but they have a growing market and easy access to capital to withstand competition and overcome market volatility,” he said.

Morgan Stanley’s Xu noted that the best way for low cost carriers to survive is to focus on key routes.

“Low cost carriers are based on almost the same cost structure as the big three…for them to succeed and make money, they need to focus on very key, attractive, smaller tourism routes and keep high load factors or else they will be facing very high cost pressure,” Xu said.

Guotai Junan’s Lam added that more companies are likely to enter the market before a consolidation occurs.

“At the moment we are at the start of the line, not the merger and acquisition stage. That may happen after the Olympics, when the market realizes there are too many carriers and when demand may drop,” he said.
(1 usd = 7.8 yuan)

Backpackers on the run

tat’s LJ & HQ back from their eastern europe backpacking days. wah! the backpacks are so huge! i tink i’ll topple over backwards wif one of these on my back.

and the first stop is to mkt 85 for a sumptous meal of local delights.

the shack looking gers after the long flight. and our yummy food !

Infineon back in the black in first quarter

nice to hear tat joc & richard’s company is in the black again.

Monday January 29, 9:16 PM

Infineon, the German semi-conductors giant, says it finally returned to profit in the three months to December after seven consecutive quarters of losses, thanks largely to its Qimonda memory chip unit.

Infineon, which runs its business year from October to September, said in a statement it booked net profit of 120 million euros (155 million dollars) in the first quarter to December.

The company had booked net loss of 36 million euros in the preceding three months and net loss of 183 million euros a year earlier.

In the semi-conductors sector, where prices a highly volatile, analysts attach more importance to a quarter-on-quarter comparison in earnings.

Underlying profit, as measured by earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) rose to 216 million euros in the October-December period from 30 million euros in the preceding three months.
Sales were down seven percent quarter-on-quarter at 2.131 billion euros.

Infineon said that the positive development in first-quarter earnings was largely due to its memory chip unit Qimonda, without which it would have booked operating loss of nine million euros in October-December.

Infineon floated 14 percent of Qimonda on the New York Stock Exchange in August.

Shanghai stages 4G telephony rollout, claims a world first

Monday January 29, 2:19 PM
China has launched a trial run of home-grown fourth-generation mobile technology in Shanghai in what it called the world’s first rollout of the wireless application, state press reported.

“It testifies that the technology we’ve developed is feasible and brings us one step closer to put it into commercial use,” the China Daily quoted You Xiaohu, a leading expert involved in China’s 4G development programme, as saying of Sunday’s trial.

4G technology provides wireless services at much faster speeds, sharply improving high-quality images and data services, and potentially allowing for such features as multi-channel high-definition TV broadcasting.

Third-generation (3G) telephony is still not available in China due to repeated government delays. In a bid to crack a potentially lucrative market, engineers here have moved directly to developing the ultra-fast 4G technology.

China has developed a 3G technology of its own but has not yet issued any licenses to operators.

The 4G trial in Shanghai cost 150 million yuan (19 million dollars) and was billed by the government as the world’s first rollout of the technology, the newspaper said.

However, South Korea’s high-tech giant Samsung Electronics last August unveiled the world’s first fourth-generation (4G) mobile technology with a demonstration on a moving bus.

Samsung has said it plans to put the technology into commercial use by 2010 if the spectrums for 4G technology are decided next year.

For its part, China has set a goal of conducting more field tests of the 4G system and putting it into trial commercial sometime before 2010, the China Daily said.

“The Shanghai system shows that we have entered the final phase of our project,” said You.

Maple or not to Maple

YY has been bugging mi to d/l maple but mi is not tempted at all.

firstly, i m more den happy wif neopets. secondly i tink asiasoft’s dumb coz after signing up, i had problems logging in.

i couldn’t find any way to contact asiasoft except for tis section which advises mi to ue the Q-box. tat’s a secured mailbox AFTER i log in wif my asiasoft passport.

how dumb can it get? u haf to log in in order to get help for logging in….worse den chicken or egg first lor…lol

Getting up early

mi washed and waxed the car tonite…so satisfying to haf a clean car again.

will do the armorall and leathercare tomolo.

mi decided tat sleeping early doesn’t help wif being an early riser so i’ll focus on the waking up hrs instead.

and i’m going to office early tomolo, and it has got nuthing to do wif the training tomolo.

mi still got the new yr resolution to haf bfast wif YY to work hard at. and he’s even keen on morning exercise…wah! mi can’t make it leh. but for him, i’ll keep on trying.

Waiting

i like going to the airport, to send ppl off or to fetch ppl back. and my family’s tradition has always been to send family off and welcome family back each time.

tis was when i went to fetch HQ & LJ back from their eastern europe trip.

their flight was delayed for more den an hr.

at 1638hrs, their flight was still confirmed to arrive at 1638hrs

at 1641hrs, their flight was still confirmed to arrive at 1638hrs….hmmm….

at 1644hrs, their flight from istanbul has finally landed! yea! my wait is finally over

the crowd waiting for their luggage at the same belt long before the gers appear

LJ waiting for luggage.

she gestured to mi excitedly to call her hp coz kym ng was on the same flight as them.

Things to get off my chest

mi was in damn low spirits on fri evening coz i stumbled upon something at work.

i was shocked tat a fellow worker and my leader has not been entirely honest wif mi. if there’s anything i can’t stand, it’s hypocrisy.

i treat everyone wif utmost sincerity so i felt a strong sense of betrayal tat someone i call a fren would do such a thing.

i would nbr trade nor compromise my integrity for 3,000 bucks!

i was told tat i had ‘big shoes to fill’ when i took on tis job. and i haf filled the shoes accordingly to my appraisal. however, there is something tat i wana tell my leader. i forgot to mention tat he has ‘exceptionally big shoes to fill’ too, as my leader. and in my eyes, he has not met the bar. i m honest to a fault but i will not mince my words even if it sounds brutal.

and so, it is wif tis stunning discovery, tat i decided on my next course of action.

i believe strongly in and live by tis saying ‘people don’t leave becoz of their jobs, they leave becoz of their leaders’

despite my determination not to let something at work affect mi over the wkend, i was still upset on sat morning.

luckily, i m again in high spirits after eating my fav rochor beancurd and seeing all my close frens yest. there is nuthing like being wif good frens to lift my spirits. not tat we even need to b toking abt the issue, juz chatting and having a good time works miracles!

and once again, i count my blessings tat i haf close frens wif mi, always.

and the verdict for wat happened at work, though i m disappointed in the behaviour of some ppl, my conviction to my company has not changed. and i hope to b making a much more significant contribution to my company.

Diver in Australia survives shark attack

Tue Jan 23, 3:26 PM ET

SYDNEY, Australia – A diver escaped a 10-foot shark’s attack by poking the animal in its eye after it had already chomped on his head once and was preparing for another bite, witnesses and officials said Tuesday.

Eric Nerhus, 41, was flown to a hospital with serious injuries to his head, body and left arm after the attack Tuesday off Cape Howe, about 250 miles south of Sydney.

The shark grabbed Nerhus by the head, crushing his face mask and breaking his nose, said Dennis Luobikis, a fellow diver who witnessed the attack.

“He was actually bitten by the head down — the shark swallowed his head,” Luobikis said.

The shark, believed to be a great white, came back for a second bite, clenching its jaws around Nerhus’ torso and leaving deep lacerations in his side, said Luobikis.

Nerhus wrestled free of the shark’s jaws, and later told rescue workers he had poked the shark in the eye, an unidentified worker from the Snowy Hydro Rescue Helicopter service told local media.

Nerhus was pulled from the water by his 25-year-old son and rushed to a hospital, suffering blood loss and shock.

“Eric is a tough boy. He’s super fit,” said Luobikis. “But I would say that would test anyone’s resolve, being a fish lunch.”

Shark attacks are relatively common in Australian waters, home to some of the world’s deadliest sea life. Scientists say there are an average of 15 shark attacks a year in Australia — one of the highest rates in the world — and just over 1 per year are fatal.

Rose Shower Gel from The Body Shop

tis is my all time fav shower gel from body shop and yes, it’s Rose!!

i luv the lingering scent after using tis.

unfortunately, it has been discontinued.

to make matters worse, nobody at body shop seems to haf heard/seen tis range. i get told so many times tat they dun haf any rose range tat i decided to pose tis as evidence!!

wish they still carry tis…sigh

Ros & Cliff’s Wedding

highlights of the morning and the video montage from the wedding dinner.

i happened to stop besides and drive past the bridal car on the way to Cliff’s place.

LJ has the shot wif the couple in the car.
*hint*

some shots from the wedding dinner below

finally, a shot of the couple.

my seat got good view sia coz we were rite behind the couple.

as they did the second march in.

first match in was wif flower gers, holding flowers.

the little flower boy was sprinkling flower petals…hehe….simply adorable

the game played during the dinner. y does ros look so happy? hehe….and i’ve captured it on video too.

there’s a hair in my spinach!! no joke!

生日快乐

今天是他的生日。

我老早就记在日记。 从早上就很想打电话给他却一直提不起勇气。

快要到午夜了。我终于给他发了简讯。他的回应好简短。。。我有点失望

寂寞的生日，寂寞的心，寂寞的人。

你知道我在想你吗？

Put the Hot in Hot Chocolate

Those packets of hot cocoa you fix your kids may be okay for, well, kids — and we’ll admit the mini marshmallows are exceptionally cute. But you deserve better. We’ve got a recipe for hot chocolate that is pure indulgence… because it’s almost pure chocolate, just as in the best cafes in Paris.

This flexible recipe takes about as much time to make as it does for the kettle to boil for hot cocoa from a package. The taste, however, is incomparable. You won’t look back.

Parisian Hot Chocolate

You’ll Need:
1 1/2 ounces of the best quality dark chocolate (62 percent cacao or above), grated
1 cup of milk

You’ll Do:
Heat the milk in a small saucepan until bubbles just begin to form at the edge of the pan.
Add the chocolate shavings and whisk until all the chocolate has melted.
Pour into a mug, crawl under a snug blanket and enjoy.

This recipe yields one cup but can be multiplied easily to serve as many as you wish. Now, doctor it up anyway you like or compare it to another recipe, such as our Skating-on-Thin-Ice hot chocolate.

And do the right thing and let your kids have some. Teach them what hot chocolate is really all about.

Kiddos Swimming

The kids at Tampines Swimming Pool. The weather was beautiful and they enjoyed the slides immersely.

The Power to Walk Away

How do you deal with potentially explosive situations?

Where tempers are beginning to flare, tensions are steadily escalating, and sufficient buttons have been pushed?

What happens with many people is that they remain in the situation, either hoping to talk things over calmly or to make their point emphatically clear.

But this can only work if the other party is willing to collaborate.

But sometimes, the other party can be willfully difficult. They can be persons who get off on pushing your hot buttons.

What happens then? A likely scenario is that like a fish to the bait, you continue to engage in the conversation, the other party continues to gall you, and *snap!*, the last straw breaks your back.

At this point, when self-control is lost, you may utter threats, make scathing remarks, or throw pot-shots that you immediately regret.

In a social setting, you may end up looking rash and petty.
In a business or corporate setting, you may appear to be antagonistic and hot-tempered.
In a personal context, you may end up really hurting a loved one.
In the long term, angry outbursts will sour any relationship.

If you find yourself quite unintentionally getting yourself into potentially-explosive situations, how can you avoid actually exploding?

Well, you can walk away.

A seemingly simple thing to do, but something that can be extremely difficult to do in practice, especially when you feel you’ve been grossly misunderstood. You’d want to stake it out and explain yourself until the other person gets it, right?

That’s what keeps you there.
That’s what makes you reiterate your arguments again and again until they begin to sound meaningless.

In these instances, you’re at the losing end; it’s simply more sensible to walk away.

Do you have the power to walk away from potentially-explosive situations?
Are you able to postpone defending yourself to another more appropriate time?
Can you conserve your cool and avoid saying or doing something you’ll regret later?

Because when you care too much about winning in such situations, you lose.

You’re the one who feels the pressure, you’re the one who seems antagonistic and defensive.

It will be hard initially, but practice walking away and you’ll understand just how powerful it can be in defusing explosive situations and even persuade others to see things your way.

Starting 2007 right

we woke up @ 6am to catch the first sunrise of 2007.

i didn’t intend to bring QQ but she woke up as well so both the kids came along.

it was too overcast for a ‘proper’ sunrise so the sky juz kinda got brighter gradually.

wat was apalling, was the amt of rubbish on the pathetic bit of beach @ east coast. the result of the countdown celebrations was litter everywhere.

the cleaners were hard at work before 7, to clear up after us singaporeans. how anyone could litter so freely on their own beaches, or anywhere else, for tat matter, is beyond mi….tsk tsk..,wat a disgrace.

the few dustbins tat were ard were filled and overflowing wif litter. surely national parks board will haf the good sense to provide adequate dustbin facilities to meet the surge in crowds on new year’s eve in future??

Black Card: Don’t Ask, Won’t Tell

January 18, 2007

Q: The other night, a friend paid for dinner with a black card from American Express. Some other people at the table were oohing and aahing over it, but I had never heard of the card. What’s the deal?

A: You know the old saying, “If you have to ask how much it is, you can’t afford it”? Well, with the black card, even if you can afford it, you can’t ask for it. If you go to the American Express Web site that offers consumer cards, there are a variety of choices — the traditional green, the newer blue, etc. — but no black.

There is more lore than hard data about the card.

One story says it initially was an urban legend sort of thing — the card with no limit, available only to a select very few. After getting lots of calls about the phantom card, American Express decided to make it real.

True story? Perhaps, said Desiree Fish, vice president of public affairs and communications at American Express.

She explained that when the card was introduced in 1999, the company was “freer in giving out information about that product.” Since then, American Express has been far more discreet in publicizing details of a card that the vast majority of us cannot have.

Also, mystery is a big part of the card’s considerable aura.

For instance, on the Internet, there is talk that the card comes in a velvet-lined box delivered by a security guard. Probably not.

We do know this. The card cannot be requested, only offered.

If you have charged $250,000 or more the previous year to American Express cards, the fabled card might just show up at your mansion. Celebrity seems to help lower the financial bars.
The annual fee now for what American Express calls the Centurion card is $2,500, up from the initial $1,000.

Recently the card has been issued in titanium — not the color like gold or platinum but the metal itself. The card is heavy. If the edges were sharpened, it could be used as a weapon like Oddjob’s bowler hat in “Goldfinger.”

Speaking of James Bond films, there’s a scene in the new “Casino Royale” in which Bond, with no reservation, goes to an exclusive Bahamian hotel and shows a black card to the concierge. He’s given a suite at once. In an episode of “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip,” when a cast member is thrown in jail and bail is set at $1 million, the network president says to charge it to his black card.

A Kanye West lyric says: “She was like, `Oh, my God, is that a black card?’ / I turned around and replied, `Why yes, but I prefer the term “African American Express.”" Nelly Furtado’s “Promiscuous Girl” remix notes: “I smoke purple, my car white / credit card black, girl I’m alright.”

Right on.

Black card holders get free accompanying tickets on trans-Atlantic flights, access to private clubs at airports, after-hours shopping at exclusive stores, a personal concierge to do one’s bidding whether it be to track down and buy Kevin Kostner’s horse in “Dances With Wolves” or procure sand from the shore of the Dead Sea for a child’s school project.

“We can’t confirm those stories,” Fish said. “But I can tell you that the card is for the ultrarich and the annual spending is unlimited, so there probably are some interesting tales.”

So, we asked, is the black card division in a secret subterranean room reached through a door accessed only with a combination of passwords and retinal scans?

“I definitely can’t comment on that,” Fish said.

YY the fotographer

YY taking a shot from the car.
















YY went “财神爷，我要拍你” before snapping tis foto.







some shots of kerri

our storeroom, still packed to tis day. so much stuff to sort out.

The Fern and the Bamboo

There was once a man who got so sick of life, he quit his job, severed all relationship ties and headed into the woods for one last reflection.

There he saw a meditating wise man and told him why he was there.

“Can you give me one good reason not to quit?” the man asked.

The wise man responded to his question with another question, “Look around? Do you see the fern and the bamboo?”

“Yes”, the man replied. The wise man continued, “When I planted the fern and the bamboo seeds, I took very good care of them. I gave them light. I gave them water. The fern quickly grew from the earth. Its brilliant green covered the floor.

Yet nothing came from the bamboo seed. But I did not quit on the bamboo.

On the second year the fern grew more vibrant and plentiful. And again, nothing came from the bamboo seed. But I did not quit on the bamboo.

On the third year, there was still nothing from the bamboo seed. But I did not quit.

On the fourth year, yet again nothing came out from the bamboo seed. But I did not quit.

Then on the fifth year, a tiny sprout emerged from the earth. Compared to the fern it was small and insignificant.

But just six months later, the bamboo rose to over 100 feet tall. It had spent the last four years growing roots. Those roots made it strong and gave it what it needed to survive.

All this time that you have been struggling, you have actually been growing roots.

The growth of the bamboo was no magic. Yet it towers above the fern in the end.

Don’t compare yourself to others. The bamboo has a different purpose from the fern. But together they both make the forest beautiful.

The wise man then looked pointedly at the man and said, “Your time will come. Take your roots and you shall rise high just like the bamboo.”

It All Begins With You

As we contemplate the past year and what wisdom we can draw from its lessons, one thing is painfully clear – most of the problems in the world today continue to stem from a fundamental malaise of Mankind that the centuries have not been able to cure.

His tendency to be overly-concerned about other people – their flaws, their injustices, their immorality – and not caring enough about his own and what he can do about them.

Natural disasters aside, many of the major troubles in the world today are Man-made, including murder, racial and religious intolerance, and reprisal attacks.

Listening to the leaders of the world condemn these acts and hearing the perpetrators justify their behaviour is like listening to a broken record. We’ve heard it a million times, yet we’re no closer to resolving age-old conflicts.

The truth is, the world has always been torn by strife and clashes, civilizations rise and fall, good intentions get corrupted by self-righteousness, greed and power, and revenge continues to breed more and more revenge.

In fact, the history of Man has been a history of repetition.

We come, we conquer, we plunder, we use up, then go find some other place to feed our cravings or someone else to blame.

If we could all stop thinking about and blaming others for our problems and begin to focus more on self-development, I’m sure the world would be a much better place.

The problem with focusing on others is that it’s a convenient distraction from our own inadequacies. While we’re preoccupied with others, we don’t have time to think about our own shortcomings and therefore don’t have to do anything about them.

It’s weakness of character, because it takes courage to look within, discover our own flaws and work towards improving ourselves.

If we want others to change, we must first change ourselves. We can only lead by example. This is as true of parent and child relationships as it is with politician and citizen, boss and subordinate, believer and non-believer. Nothing will make others see our point of view unless we can prove just how clearly we see it ourselves.

Whether you believe in God or not is a personal choice – only you can see it, only you can feel it or not; you don’t need anyone for that. And why should it matter to you how others think as long as it doesn’t affect the way you think?

Starting now, try to shift your focus from other people onto yourself.

Don’t think about how other people are wrong, immoral, stupid, selfish, wicked or whatever.

Think about how you can be a better person.

How you can reach for that deeper humanity in you.

And when others see how sincere and accepting you are, perhaps they can start to do some soul-searching and make some real changes themselves.

It all begins with you.

Mi & YY on New Year’s Eve

YY taking self portraits wif mi on 31st dec 2006

The Boy and the Apple Tree

A long time ago, there was a huge apple tree.

A little boy loved to play around it everyday. He climbed to the treetop, ate the apples, and took a nap in the shade. He loved the tree and the tree loved to play with him.

Time went by, the little boy grew up and no longer played around the tree every day.

One day, the boy came back to the tree, looking sad. “Come and play with me”, the tree said.

“I am no longer a kid,” remarked the boy tersely. “I do not play around trees any more. I want toys. I need money to buy them.”

The tree said, “Well, I do not have money, but you can pick my apples and sell them.” The boy picked the tree clean of apples and left gleefully. He didn’t come back.

After many years, when the boy had grown into a man, he returned to the tree. “Come and play with me,” the tree said excitedly. “I do not have time to play,” said the man. “I have to work for my family. We need a house for shelter. Can you help me?”

To which the tree replied, “Sorry, but I do not have any house. But you can chop off my branches to build your house.” This the man did and left.

The tree was again lonely and sad.

One hot summer day, the man returned and the tree was delighted. “Come and play with me!” the tree said. “I am getting old,” said the man. “I want to go sailing to relax myself. Can you give me a boat?” “Use my trunk to build your boat,” said the tree. “You can sail far away and be happy.”

So the man cut down the tree and made a boat. He went sailing and didn’t show up for a great number of years.

Finally, the man returned. The tree, having been reduced to merely its roots, said, “Sorry, my boy. But I do not have anything for you anymore. No more apples?” “It’s ok, I do not have any teeth to bite them with,” the man interrupted. “No more branches or trunk for building houses and boats?” “I am too old for all that now,” the man said. “I just need a place to rest. I am so tired”

The man sat down and nestled into the tree’s comfortably old roots. The tree wept tears of joy.

joinred.com

shop and help fight AIDS in africa

geez, why isn’t singtel selling Moto Red? mi intending to get one for 2 reasons : i wana help in a small way and i luv the V3…hoo needs nokia..ha!

December 6, 2006

Do-good consumers can now make a socially conscious choice to purchase T-shirts, iPods, footwear, among other products where a share of profits to go towards the fight against Aids in Africa. Motorola is the first in Asia to launch a special handset under the (Product) Red label, a business initiative by major brands including Apple, Nike and Gap to raise awareness and funds for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS.

Launched on Dec 1 in Singapore – the third country after the US and UK, the red Motorazr V3 is the first in the series of Moto Red products launched by Motorola as part of the global (Product) Red campaign.

With every sale of the Moto Red handset, US$17 will be contributed directly to the Global Fund. And US$17 is enough to buy medicine to keep an Aids patient alive for a year, says Rajesh Anandan, head of private sector partnerships for the local chapter of The Global Fund To Fight Aids, Tuberculosis And Malaria.

Anandan was in Singapore to launch the handset at a press conference last Friday with 14 local ambassadors including theatre director Beatrice Chia-Richmond along with several actors and other popular personalities.

Co-founded by U2 frontman/global anti-poverty campaigner Bono and philanthropist Robert Shriver, the (Product) Red project has gotten together a number of retailers and brands including Gap, Nike, Converse, Giorgio Armani, Apple Computer Inc. and American Express Co. to design customised red products where a portion of proceeds from the sale of these items will go to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria in Africa.

All of the companies have contracted to promote the products for five years. Apple will donate US$10 from each (Product) Red Special Edition iPod nano sold while American Express will pledge 1 percent of each purchase made with its red credit card. Gap, which has launched a (Product) Red collection including t-shirts, hoodies, jeans and tote bags, will donate 50% of the profits from sales of items from the collection.

Launched in the UK and the US in March this year, the project has since raised US$10 million.

In warning that the world was losing the fight against HIV/Aids – with 6,500 Africans dying of the disease every day – Bono hopes that profits from the venture will generate a “sustainable” flow of money to support the Global Fund to Fight Aids, TB and Malaria.

While the project has attracted criticism that the companies are using a deadly disease as a marketing vehicle to sell more clothes and electronics, (Product) Red developers have been upfront in saying that buyers should not confuse this objectives of the project with charity.

Developers say on the official web site, Joinred.com: “(RED) is not a charity. It’s a commercial initiative designed to create awareness and a sustainable flow of money from the private sector into the Global Fund to fight the AIDS pandemic in Africa.”

The campaign presents shoppers with the conscious choice to contribute to the cause when selecting their purchases.

“Our focus is really on creating a sustainable business model, and the only way to do that is to make it beneficial for the companies as well,” said Julie Cordua, vice president of marketing for Product Red. “Because if it’s something that makes good business sense for them, they’re going to want to keep doing it.”

Stressing that this was a commercial venture and not philanthropy, Bono who is known for his cause against poverty and humanitarian work in Africa, said in a BBC interview: “Philanthropy is like hippy music, holding hands. Red is more like punk rock, hip hop, this should feel like hard commerce.”

The Red manifesto which is found on the official web site could not have been more persuasive:

“(Red) is not a charity. It is simply a business model. You buy (Red) stuff. We get the money. Buy the pills and distribute them. They take the pills. Stay alive. And continue to take care of their families and contribute socially and economically in their communities.”If they don’t get the pills, they die. We don’t want them to die. We want to give them the pills. And we can. And you can. And it’s easy.”

All you have to do is upgrade your choice.”

The red MOTORAZR V3 will be available before the end of 2006 in Singapore from an estimated price of S$298 without operator contract and S$88 with two-year operator contract.

The phone will be available at StarHub and M1.

Injured reindeer hammered to death in Norway

Wednesday January 17, 5:06 PM

Injured reindeer hammered to death in Norway

Passengers on a train which collided with a flock of reindeer in northern Norway had to use a hammer to put the injured animals out of their misery, a newspaper reported on Wednesday.

“It was a truly gruesome scene,” the Aftenposten daily quoted Per Ole Oskal, the owner of the reindeer herd, as saying. “Carcasses were lying for several hundred metres along the tracks.”

Hammers had to be used because for security reasons the Norwegian rail company no longer allows staff to keep rifles in the locomotive to shoot animals injured in collisions, which occur frequently in wild and sparsely populated Norway.

QQ in temple

Ms vainpot junior was juz posing away for the camera

YY using public phone

ivy reminded mi tat YY should learn how to call mi using the public phone in sch in case of emergency.

i realised tat YY has NEVER used a public phone!
he has used so many kinds of handphones tat ppl in the family carries but NEVER a public phone lor.

i was pleasantly surprised when i got a call from an unknown number on my handfone tis afternoon.

it turned out to be YY calling mi on a public fone during recess! isn’t my boy smart? hehe

First day at School

QQ started a day after YY.

She’s super steady in sch, absolutely no tears. compare tat to YY hoo cried for a whole week when he started nursery….hehe

YY looks like such a big boy in his school uniform…hehe

Fitness Station

juz found out tat the fitness station near my place is great!

so many interesting equipment! YY had a field time trying out EVERYTHING.

he luvs to exercise. always got too much energy to use up. no wonder he’s so skinny.

126 dim sum place

but the best part is, it’s 24 hrs…keke



below, my fav sea coconut wif longan drink….the BEST in singapore lor!

and the fried beancurd skin..my fav!

i luv the mango rolls too, crispy and sweet(the skinny ones on the left)

Social Engagements Wk

i was looking at my calendar and realised tat i’m fully booked for the rest of tis wk.

and wif fri & sat having early starts, stressed ah.

tis looks like a social engagement cum trip planning wk.

Cute doggie costumes

Pepper Lunch

got an email from pepper lunch and i’m craving for it now. juz so tat i dun forget, these are the outlets…keke

Pepper Lunch Outlets:

Ngee Ann City
Isetan Scotts
IMM
Novena Square
Dhoby Exchange
Hougang Mall

Hungry monster

mi is terribly hungry at tis hr of the nite. my stomach is growling and i am gonna faint from hunger soon.

i had a full dinner and even stole 2 bites out of the curry bun tat my bro ate as a snack at 11.

bro and wifey are regular maggie mee supperers but too bad they didn’t wake up from hunger and cook curry noodles tonite. heavenly! i luv to steal a few mouthfuls from them to satisfy my hunger yet not too sinful.

mi been eating dark chocolate as bfast lately coz i trying to clear the chocolate inventory at home. i duno y we haf so much chocolate and i worry tat it’ll all expire soon.

i haf a theory tat dark chocolate do not make u fat and bfast is the best time to eat sinful food since metabolism is highest. i even get hungry in the shower sometimes from lack of bfast but nobody eats before bathing mah.

anyway, my tiny piece of dark chocolate has almost melted so it’s Zzzz…time for mi liao. i couldn’t chew the chocolate coz i oredi brushed my teeth so i placed the chocolate rite in the back of my mouth. i didn’t wana swallow the chocolate either, wat a waste not to taste the chocolate! so i let the chocolate melt.

Of Little House and Little Women

while reading The Glass Castle, the author mentioned reading laura ingalls wilder (little house series) at the age of 11 or 12.

i was reminded of my own reading experience when i was young, as a non native english speaking student.

i read the entire ‘little house’ and ‘little women’ series in pri skool too. and tat was becoz i stumbled across the two series by chance in the children section of the bedok library.

the 2 series were totally captivating but i struggled thru them as the english was too hard for mi den. i had to doggedly finish each book and continue wif the sequels.

to tis day, i still feel tat placing these books in the children’s section is a bad joke tat someone muz haf played though i now realise tat these are really considered ‘juvenile literature’ and the authors are considered children’s authors.

Books shopping

went to MPH @ PP wif HQ on fri and managed to get so many good books for the kiddos. i luv books from UK and Australia coz i prefer the english and the exercise.

local exercises books need to stress repeititon and i find them boring even when i flipped thru. i tink they’re geared towards producing exam smart kids.

but the australian and UK ones haf lotsa different varieties of exercises and come wif sticker stars. definitely worth paying for.

these two 366 books are beli interesting. there’s a short story for each day of the yr and a slightly longer bonus story for the beginning of each mth!!
i couldn’t resist reading a lot of the stories myself.

HQ chose and highly recommended the pictorial coz it’s all abt science and boys luv non fiction. i still rem the first 2 books tat YY chose from the library were abt scorpions and spiders. he luv looking at the pictures and kept asking mi to read wat’s in the books.

it’s the same wif him going to pokemon.com and looking at the 300++ pokemons one by one. he’ll always b asking mi to read the description of each pokemon coz the words are often too hard for him.

Hilarious-Twisted X’mas video

though it’s way past x’mas, i juz found tis and i tink it’s juz hilarious !

The Glass Castle

juz finished tis, the story is powerful and i couldn’t put it dwn coz i had to find out how the Walls kids survived and got away from it all, it was simply irresistable.

the degree of neglect and how irresponsible parents can b, is deeply shocking, especially since i haf parents hoo luv mi so much.

i read tis from the interview tat jeannette walls did and related to it strongly

“When I sat down to write The Glass Castle, there was no doubt in my mind that once the truth about me was out I would lose all my friends and my job. So far, the reaction has been the opposite. I’m just stunned. I think I’ve shortchanged people and their capacity for compassion.”

i was reminded of the time ivy found out abt my divorce thru the blog when she saw my posting ‘My Failed Marriage’

i totally freaked out when she emailed mi and was in tears and on the phone wif pauline and yvonne. they oso found out via my blog and we had barely got back from a reunion and gers nite out session a couple of days ago.

in the end, it turned out tat all my fears were purely my own demons. i thot colleagues would NBR understand, especially the older ones yet they haf shown so much understanding.

it wasn’t a subject tat i voluntarily discuss or share but everyone hoo found out one way or another haf been wonderful to mi.

The room in Phnom Penh and wat’s on TV

juz to show u guys tat we didn’t realli ‘rough it out’ in phnom penh. we had so many channels on the tv…yes, we had attached bathrooms.

Most delicious chicken rice in sg

i haf tasted nice chicken rice at other places but tis is still THE BEST.

i tink it’s becoz it has the PERFECT combination of yummy rice, yummy chicken and yummy chilli

LJ, u MUZ try tis!

Awful Yong Tau Foo

no, i wasn’t conned into eating tis @ PP

juz tat i was too smart for my own good and thot it was the dry version of yong tau foo wif the savoury gravy but alas, it was chee cheong fun yong tau foo, served in chee cheong fun style wif chee cheong fun thrown in.

not nice lor : (

Citibank…ARGH!

citibank internet banking nearly drove mi mad.

as wif all the other banks, i was required to provide a one-time pin (OTP) due to 2 factor authentication (2FA) implementation.

wat was different was, i had to update my mobile no. wif citibank and wait for 3 business days before i could start receiving the OTP on my mobile.

how dumb is tat when citibank oredi has my mobile and email??

i had no probs wif Stan Chart and UOB and they started sending mi OTP on my mobile long ago. i m not the kinda customer hoo refuse to provide the bank wif my latest contacts so it really baffled mi y citibank is being so difficult??!!

the onli saving grace was the customer service officer hoo could help mi wif my intended transaction. however, he wasn’t able to speed up the mobile updating process so yes, i can’t get any OTP till 3 business days later. ARGH!!

Traveling for Business Is Lonely, Annoying And Oh, So Welcome

January 08, 2007

It’s hard to sugarcoat the headaches of business travel. There are the cloned hotels, the lousy water pressure and the hardly reassuring paper sanitary seals over the toilet. There’s eating alone, giving you the distinct sense of being a loser in the high-school cafeteria. There’s the airport where you strip down to your hosiery to get “wanded” and delayed into ever-receding departure times. Once aloft, there’s the indignity of spreading processed cheese on a cracker with a red plastic stick.

But it’s easy to romanticise business travel if you compare it with the hassles of the office.

Gene Matarese, the director of sales at a packaging company, relishes the peacefulness of an airplane. “It’s the ideal office where you’re not bombarded with a lot of extraneous stuff,” he says. No petty office politics, no incessant interruptions, and no damage control.

She’ll travel 16 days this month. During that time, she’ll work efficiently, knowing she’d have to make the trip again if she doesn’t complete her work. The same sense of urgency doesn’t fuel her work at the office. “It’ll be there tomorrow,” she says. “I can get more accomplished on a three-hour flight than I can sitting in the office for eight hours,” says Mari Baxter, a business consultant for a child-care franchise, adding that she has picked up the same folder 10 times today without working on it.

Business travelers understand one of the emerging truths of today’s office: One of the best places on earth to have some quality work time isn’t actually on earth but at a cruising altitude of 33,000 feet above it. Even in a pressurized cabin where the air seems little more than dehydrating microbes and a flimsy seat-back tray table hardly seems like an ample work surface, it can be heavenly.

Marketing consultant Jeffrey Hirsch achieves a Zen-like peacefulness hard to replicate in the terrestrial world, except maybe in a house of worship. “The feeling is one of total freedom, calm and timelessness . . . sometimes nearly bliss,” he says. “The secular world is left behind — no calls, no emails, no IMs, no clients, no nagging ex-wife, no problems whatsoever.” He says he’s more productive and creative in-flight.

That’s why some people would welcome cellular service on planes as much as a drastic drop in cabin pressure. “I’m dead set against the idea,” says Gil Gordon, a telecommuting consultant who views the plane ride as his “little island of sanity.” Says Mr. Gordon: “It’s the adult equivalent of a timeout for kids.”

Even when a plane ride is bad, it’s not that bad. Tony D’Angelo, formerly a consultant for a software company who has traveled as much as 49 weeks a year, says unforeseen travel problems taught him how to cope. “I learned to reduce stress by saying I have no control over it,” he says. Airborne, he says, “I only have the flight attendant coming up and asking me if I want something to drink.”

In a survey conducted by American Express Business Travel, 78% of respondents said the top reason they like traveling is “boredom busting”; only 7% worried about getting behind in office work. Similarly, in a survey conducted by the National Business Travel Association, 60% of business travelers said they enjoy it, and even more heavy travelers (69%) enjoy it.

What business travelers don’t like is being away from their families (55%). “The fifth time you see Paris in a year without your family you’d rather be in Bismarck, N.D., in winter with them,” says Paul Vanderwarker, formerly a national sales manager.

Some see value in the separation. “I missed my family terribly when I was traveling, but I really enjoyed the respite from hypercharged toddlers and their bathroom interruptions,” says Elizabeth Gray, formerly an account manager for a software company.

Gary Schmidt, management consultant with 2.5 million air miles, says he does his best strategizing on planes and often sleeps better on the road because he’s not crowded into his bed with his wife and two dogs.

“Big advantage,” he says, adding, “On the road, you can’t go to the dry cleaner, pick up screws for the light switches, buy the can of stain the front gate needs so desperately. Maids clean your room, other people cook your meals and others tend to do the driving.”

Some say travel can do wonders for familial relations. Marshall Goldsmith, of California, a tireless management consultant with 14 million miles under his wing, used to tally the number of days each year that he spent at least four hours with his kids. In 1993, it was 131. By 1995, he asked them if he should shoot for 150 days. But, he says, they had seen plenty of him and vetoed the idea. Now, his travels allow him to see his daughter on the East Coast more often.

He thinks his marriage has also benefited from his travels. “It’s like you’re dating,” he says. Mrs. Goldsmith says it brings to mind an inscribed plaque she once saw: “How can I miss you if you don’t go away?”

Still, his constant travel can be disorienting. Mr. Goldsmith recalls once taking his seat at the symphony, and having the hardest time finding his seat belt. “The symphony doesn’t move,” Lyda, his wife, reminded him.

Saturday

can’t believe how late i slept in tdy, i woke up at 12.30pm, tat’s 30 mins after the appt at HQ’s mum’s shop at 12!!

made it to roz’s shop to pick up the fuchsia dress. the empire cut is flattering but if it doesn’t fit well enuff, the dress will b wearing you…keke

before heading back, i went shopping at OG. bought lotsa Bob the Builder stuff for YY. finally got him a art folio and his poster colours as well as a coin purse

he had a choice of marvel heroes and Bob and he chose Bob

i m wondering wat’s so cute abt Bob? even QQ went ‘Bob the Builder’ when she saw the billboard outside Expo

mi now on a book wrapping spree. i bought a huge roll of half length plastic book wrap and i wrapped my new book ‘The Glass Castle’ in record time when i got back last nite. will b wrapping more books soon, mayb even the trashy novel from hq…hehe

and i plan to finish the pink and grey pouch tonite. it’s a gift…sssshhh !

The Original Cuppycake Video

saw tis on youtube. so cute!! now we noe the face behind the cute as cute can be song.

Stoopid blogger’s foto upload is not working again

Kiddos at playground

YY having fun at the playground after our x’mas treat @ pizzahut

YY standing on the bridge tat QQ was terrified of

tat’s how the ’save me’ video came about.

Save ME !!

World’s biggest fish ’shrinking’

i wana swim wif them too! but let mi learn swimming first.

Whale sharks spotted off the coast of Australia are getting smaller, researchers have said.

In a decade the average size recorded by observers has shrunk from 7m to 5m.

Whale sharks, the world’s largest fish, are caught for food in some east Asian countries and Australian researchers suspect this is causing a decline.

The fish is listed as “vulnerable”, and one of the authors of the new study has described the new finding as “a very worrying sign”.

The data comes from ecotourism companies which run expeditions to watch whale sharks and swim with them in Ningaloo Marine Park off the north-west coast.

“The eco-tourism industry logs the position and size and sex of every shark it swims with,” said Mark Meekan, of the Australian Institute of Marine Science (Aims).

“We have obtained those datasets and analysed them over time,” he told the BBC News website, “and essentially what we have seen in the last decade is a decline in average size of shark from 7m to 5m.

“Now, if you consider that the sharks probably aren’t sexually reproductive or mature until they’re 6 or 7m long – that’s a very worrying sign.”

Looking for options

Whale sharks (Rhincodon typus) are filter feeders, eating small marine organisms such as krill.

They can live for up to 150 years, attaining lengths of more than 15m, and are believed to reach sexual maturity around the age of 30.

Under the IUCN Red List of threatened species, they are categorised as “vulnerable” to extinction.

“Whale sharks, like many other shark species, are highly vulnerable to over-exploitation due to their long lifespan and low reproductive rate,” commented Callum Roberts, of York University in the UK, who has researched whale sharks extensively in the Caribbean.

“They have been added to CITES’ list of species threatened by international trade,” he told the BBC News website, “but this will not protect them if they are caught by, for example, Taiwanese vessels and then consumed in Taiwan.

“So whale sharks are at risk, and the decline in size might be due to capture of large sharks.”

There are also indications that the number of sharks visiting Australian waters may be decreasing, which would be additional evidence for a decline prompted by over-fishing.

Playing tag

Aims researchers are running a tagging programme in an attempt to plot whale shark migration routes between Australia, Asia and the eastern coast of Africa.

Specimens tagged in Australia have swum to Asian waters; last month a tag transmitted for days from the same location in Indonesia, apparently on land, leading researchers to suspect that the shark had been caught and the tag removed.

Either the meat is eaten, or the giant fins used as advertising boards for restaurants serving shark fin soup; livers are used for oil, and cartilage in traditional Chinese medicine.

Finding migration routes could help pinpoint areas where they are being caught.

“Many of the people doing the fishing are just local villagers with no other option,” said Mark Meekan.

“If we know who they are, we can give them another option, and that option is very lucrative; the ecotourism industry in Ningaloo generates AU$70m (£28m; US$50m) a year, enough to support an entire town.”

Longer term objectives of the Aims programme include finding out more about the life cycle of the whale shark.

The biggest mystery concerns breeding and reproduction; males and females live in largely segregated communities, but must come together somewhere to breed.

They are believed to bear live young, but sightings of pups are extremely rare.

Kiddos @ Pizza Hut

mi luv the spicy drumlets so we got tat and the honey roasted chicken wings for the kiddos.

salad is reli good too.

i thot the bedok branch will b crowded but it was quite empty for lunch. i like their revamped menu, a lot more stuff to eat

Desperate Acts

Google and Microsoft are headed at each other with weak products and false humility. Don’t believe it. They mean to kill.

Google and Microsoft are hungry to get into each other’s business. Brace yourself for a battle of weaknesses.

Microsoft is expected to spend $650 million next year to let the world know it has a shiny new search service and Web advertising network. That money is more than double the amount Microsoft will spend rolling out Vista, the new operating system that will contribute vastly more to its revenues.

Microsoft’s two-year catch-up effort in search has yielded only middling results. This year it dropped from 11% to 9% of all searches. Google handled 61% of the 204 billion searches worldwide in the past 12 months.

“We’re late to the game. We admit it,” confesses a full-page Microsoft ad in national papers, begging the world to try out its new Live search service. You almost want to hand Chief Executive Steven Ballmer a cup of cocoa.

The self-styled brilliant minds at Google, meanwhile, have never deigned to sell software the way Microsoft does. Google has soared to $9 billion a year in revenue in nine years essentially by giving software away, so long as users put up with ads alongside it. It has even signed up thousands of business users for a free suite.

But early next year Google will start charging big accounts in the corporate enterprise market–the prime turf of Microsoft–for a fully supported business version of its software. It has stitched together a suite of desktop applications, including stripped-down versions of e-mail, calendaring and chat to rent out over the Internet at prices far below what Microsoft charges. Word processing will come later.

“We’re trying to solve old problems in new ways,” says David Girouard, general manager of Google’s enterprise business. “Microsoft Office costs companies several hundred dollars a year per employee. Think of ours as a few lattes a month.” Google founder Sergey Brin adds: “We are working to change the perception that all things should be advertising-based.”

And why not try something new? He and cofounder Larry Page didn’t know a thing about advertising when they started.

Google versus Microsoft, the juiciest battle in tech, is spreading to new fronts, but instead of strength against strength, we get weakness against strength. Google’s bare-bones office software is up against Microsoft Office, a $12 billion-a-year powerhouse product with near-total market share. Google’s record outside search is mixed. Its news, e-mail and shopping sites each draw fewer than 10% of all Google visitors, according to Nielsen NetRatings.

But the Web has changed the game. It has grown from a repository of documents into a computer in itself, offering all the storage and processing power consumers and companies could want. Google can easily get into Microsoft’s business. But then, Microsoft can counterattack.

“This game is far from over,” says Steven Berkowitz, senior vice president of Microsoft’s new online division. He was hired away from the top spot at the number four search engine, Ask.com, in April.

Microsoft launched Live.com a year ago, aiming directly at Google’s search business. Like Google, it has text search and tools to sort through images, news, maps and books. It since has added features Google has had for a while, such as the ability to search for a word on just one Web site, limit retrievals to documents written in a specific language and see which Web sites link to each other. You can move a slider across a bar at the top of the screen to make search results more or less sensitive to how popular or how recently updated a site is.

Microsoft is flying camera-equipped planes around the globe to create 3-D versions of 100 cities, at $150,000 per location. The goal is to create a massively detailed, searchable map of neighborhoods and landmarks.

Fifteen cities already are searchable online. Microsoft will drop ads into the maps on computer-generated billboards. You’ll be able to type “Starbucks” on your mobile while standing in San Francisco’s Union Square and get a 3-D map guiding you to the nearest one. Microsoft acquired some of this technology in May when it bought videogame ad-broker Massive Entertainment.

In May Microsoft opened its new ad network, AdCenter, which it claims is better than Google’s at getting users to click on links. Microsoft promises more hand-holding and better local search. It is opening large customer service sites in Dublin, London, New York and Seattle.

Search had been relegated to a product category in Microsoft’s unprofitable MSN division. Now it straddles the whole company, including the Windows, Office and cell phone groups. Future versions of Office will let you search the Web without leaving a Word file. Office Live, a new Web offering, will have free tools to help businesses with fewer than ten employees set up Web sites and e-mail accounts. Big advertisers including Dell, American Express and Best Buy are signed up to advertise on those sites.

The idea is that people won’t even bother going to Google. “Search becomes more like electricity. It is everywhere at the flip of a switch,” says Adam Sohn, director of Windows Live. Take that, Google. You’re no more exciting than San Diego Gas & Electric.

While Google has locked up the search business at Web destinations such as MySpace, Ebay International and aol, Microsoft recently landed Facebook and Amazon. (Then again, Google’s Froogle shopping site competes with Amazon.)

Microsoft’s greatest challenge is Google’s formidable brand, which was built with no ad blitz. Several years ago AOL subscribers were given two sets of search results–one from AOL, the other said to be from Google–and were asked to rate which one was better. They selected the Google results–but it turns out Google hadn’t provided those results at all; both data sets actually were provided by AOL.

A Googlecentric view of the universe posits that applying this potent brand to any old software makes that software more valuable. On a recent Friday afternoon at the Googleplex headquarters in Mountain View, Calif., workers preparing for a company-wide meeting were cutting open boxes of T shirts to hand out.

The shirts sported a picture of a chihuahua clenching a huge bone etched with the word “dogfood.” At software companies “eating your own dogfood” means getting employees to use internally the same applications that you sell to customers. To give the chihuahua something to chew on, Google earlier this year bought Upstartle, an Internet company that makes the Writely word processing application, and developed its own calendar software. Oracle calendars no longer are in use at the Googleplex, and even Microsoft Word is fading fast.

In October Google bought JotSpot, which offers team-effort writing tools. Its apps have a fraction of Microsoft Office’s capabilities, but they are designed to be highly collaborative. In 18 months Jot’s group-oriented software has amassed 30,000 paying users at companies such as Intel, Symantec and Ebay, where employees use online Jot programs instead of Microsoft’s to share travel and meeting plans.

Google’s revenue from its unlikely foray into selling software probably won’t be all that much to begin with, but this isn’t a fight for sales. Think of this fight as determining a few decabillion dollars of market value circa 2010. The current figures are $147 billion for Google and $284 billion for Microsoft.

NYNY

QQ was standing next to mi one nite when she pointed at the screen and went ‘i want to go there’

tis was the picture she saw on yahoo…omg, NY NY!!

so excited for ann hoo’s visiting the Big Apple soon, take more fotos, gal !

i wana see everything!!

‘Wal-Mart with Wings’

i luv budget airlines!

Unlike other discount carriers, Ryanair has stayed profitable by charging for every little bit of service

Ryanair Holdings PLC (RYAAY) CEO Michael O’Leary makes no apologies for his penny-pinching. Want to check luggage? You’ll pay up to $9.50 per bag for the privilege. Free drinks and snacks? Forget about it. Even a bottle of water will set you back $3.40. It’s not just passengers who have to cough it up. Flight crew buy their own uniforms, and staff at Ryanair’s spartan Dublin Airport headquarters must supply their own pens. After a customer sued Ryanair for charging $34 for the use of a wheelchair, the company added a 63 cents “wheelchair levy” to every ticket. Says O’Leary: “You want luxury? Go somewhere else.”

Southwest Airlines Co. (LUV) inspired O’Leary to bring the first discount carrier to Europe. Now as the best U.S. discounters have fallen on hard times, it’s Ryanair that is emerging as the model for how to run a low-cost airline. Southwest, JetBlue Airways (JBLU), AirTran Airways (AAI), and others have seen fuel and expansion costs take a big bite out of profits. At the same time, the majors, after years of struggling, have finally gotten their costs under better control and are often matching or beating the discounters on price.

To compete, U.S. low-fare carriers have taken the opposite approach of Ryanair, adding perks such as leather seats, live television, and business class. “All the low-cost carriers’ costs have gotten a little out of control,” says Tim Sieber, general manager of The Boyd Group Inc., an Evergreen (Colo.) aviation consultant.

CELL-PHONE MODEL

Not so at Ryanair. The short-haul carrier is making fistfuls of money, even as it slashes fares. Despite a 42% hike in fuel prices, Ryanair’s profits for the six months ended Sept. 30 soared 39%, to $422 million, on sales of $1.6 billion.

O’Leary’s secret? He thinks like a retailer and charges for absolutely every little thing, except the seat itself. Imagine the seat as akin to a cell phone: It comes free, or nearly free, but its owner winds up spending on all sorts of services. Last year, Ryanair gave away 25% of its seats, a figure O’Leary thinks he can double within five years. In the not-too-distant future, he wants all seats to go for free.

What O’Leary loses in seat revenue, he figures he’ll more than make up by turning both his planes and the Ryanair Web site into stores brimming with irresistible goodies, even as he charges for such “perks” as priority boarding and assigned seating.

Outrageous? You bet, but the strategy is working. Although its average fare is $53, compared with $92 for Southwest, Ryanair’s net margins are, at 18%, more than double the 7% achieved by Southwest. “Ryanair is Wal-Mart (WMT) with wings,” says Nick van den Brul, an aviation analyst at Exane BNP Paribas in London.

O’Leary has plenty of clever new ways to make money. He has turned his planes into giant billboards, displaying ads for such companies as Vodafone Group (VOD), Jaguar, and Hertz. Soon, ads will also stare each passenger in the eye when their seat back trays are up. Once in the air, flight attendants hawk everything from scratch-card games to perfume and digital cameras. Upon arrival at some out-of-the-way airport (you may think you’re landing in Paris, but it is actually Beauvais, 43 miles north of the City of Light), Ryanair will sell you a bus or train ticket into town.

Ryanair uses its Web site, with 15 million unique visitors each month, to boost ancillary revenues. The company gets commissions from sales of Hertz rental cars, hotel rooms, ski packages, and travel insurance. For the year ended Mar. 31, such ancillary revenues rose 36%, to $332 million. “Every chance they get, Ryanair tries to squeeze just that little bit of extra margin out of its passengers,” says Tim Jones, a principal at London innovation consulting firm Innovaro Ltd.

HIGH ROLLERS

The next frontier for O’Leary is gaming. Ryanair recently added online gambling to its Web site, but O’Leary figures there’s more money to be had by offering gaming on his planes once Ryanair launches inflight mobile-phone service next year. “We have no idea how big online gambling will be, but we think it will be significant,” he says.

A willingness to take chances has transformed Ryanair from a near-bankrupt basket case back in the 1980s into Europe’s most profitable airline. The turnaround came after O’Leary met Southwest founder Herbert D. Kelleher 15 years ago. Kelleher imparted his formula for success over dinner at a Dallas steak house: Fly one type of plane to secondary airports outside major cities. Keep costs low and planes in the air, with quick turnaround times. And forget perks such as frequent-flier miles. O’Leary followed Kelleher’s advice, leading Kelleher to dub Ryanair “the best imitation of Southwest Airlines that I have seen.”

Ryanair, though, has always been much more than just a Southwest lookalike. For starters, Ryanair sells more than 98% of its tickets online, cutting down on administration costs and travel agent commissions. JetBlue sells 78% of its seats over the Internet, and Southwest just 59%. Ryanair’s fleet of Boeing (BA) 737-800s have long ago been stripped down to the bare essentials. Seats don’t recline, the better to cram in more passengers. Window shades have been removed, so flight attendants don’t have to spend time resetting them between flights. Seat-back pockets have been ditched–one less place for clutter to accumulate.

Clearly, Kelleher’s own combative stance against the status quo has provided O’Leary with an effective role model. He once made headlines calling European Union commissioners “communist morons,” while dismissing the British Airport Authority as “overcharging rapists.” He has dressed as the Pope to promote flights to Rome and has driven a tank to rival easyJet Airline Co.’s headquarters. “We specialize in cheap publicity stunts,” he says.

O’Leary is also the master of the surprise move. For years, he has slammed Irish rival Aer Lingus as a “rip-off merchant.” But he has since stunned the industry by launching a hostile $1.9 billion bid for the long-haul carrier. Aer Lingus shareholders have until Dec. 4 to accept the offer. If O’Leary wins control of Aer Lingus, he vows to sharply cut costs.

American long-haul discounters aren’t likely to go to the extremes Ryanair has gone to sell basic services, but they’re paying more attention to Ryanair these days. “They’re on the cutting edge,” says Tad Hutcheson, vice-president for marketing at AirTran, which recently assigned two marketing staffers to spend a week flying on Ryanair. “Charging for Cokes or snacks, blankets or pillows–I’m not sure Americans are ready for that.”

Yummy Char Kway Tiao

one of my fav stall at army mkt, the super healthy char kway tiao wif lotsa leafy greens and silver fish.

usually gotta queue coz business is brisk.

ann, u miss tis too?

United Airlines Wins Right To Fly to China From Dulles

January 10, 2007

A fierce five-month lobbying and public relations fight loaded with economic impact studies and political symbolism ended yesterday with a victory for Washington area air travelers yearning for a direct link to China.

Starting in March, United Airlines will be allowed to operate daily nonstop, round-trip flights between Washington Dulles International Airport and Beijing. Supporters and analysts say the daily flights will pump millions of dollars into the local economy, create several thousand jobs and perhaps lead to the construction of new office parks near Dulles. It will also link the capitals with nonstop flights in plenty of time for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.

“China represents a huge opportunity for local companies,” said Gerald L. Gordon, president and chief executive of the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority. “If you have to change planes in an inconvenient place rather than take a direct flight, it’s amazing how many people just won’t bother. . . . Every time a new market opens up, it results in business going both ways.”

United beat Northwest, Continental and American airlines, which campaigned for the daily flight between China and other U.S. cities, including Dallas and Newark. The contest drew more than 4,000 letters, motions and other documents from the airlines, legislators, mayors and frequent fliers supporting their carrier’s bid.

The flight is expected to provide an economic boon for the Washington area of at least $275 million and add 3,400 jobs, according to a study prepared for the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority. James C. Dinegar, president and chief executive of the Greater Washington Board of Trade, said: “We’ll see some interesting office parks and satellite business offices open up around the airport over the next several months and years. When people get off the planes, they’re not going to want to drive for another three hours.”

China restricts the number of flights from the United States, so the opening of a new route attracted intense interest from the four airlines. China’s economy is booming, passenger traffic between the two countries is growing, and Beijing is hosting the Olympics next year.

With a limited number of flights — U.S. and Chinese carriers operate an average of 11 daily nonstops between the two countries — airlines are able to charge higher fares than on other international routes.

Analysts predict that United could earn $20 million to $50 million a year on the route. The company’s chief executive, Glenn F. Tilton, declined to be specific but said he expected the route to be profitable.

“It’s as big a day for you guys in Washington as it is for United Airlines,” Tilton said, adding that the flight would bolster United’s position at Dulles, where the carrier has been expanding its domestic and international service. “This makes Dulles a legitimate gateway to international destinations for us.”

To get to China today from the Washington area on a U.S. airline, passengers must connect through Newark, Chicago or San Francisco. A flight to China from Detroit connects through Tokyo.

American had hoped to fly between its hub in Dallas to Beijing; Continental sought to link Newark and Shanghai; and Northwest wanted to fly between its hub in Detroit and Shanghai. Each airline, backed by an assortment of business and civic groups, stressed in its bid to the Transportation Department the economic benefits the flights would bring to local and regional economies.

Early in the process, several analysts said it appeared that American had the strongest application because of its big hub in Dallas and support from 32 senators and nearly 100 House members. American has only seven flights a week to China through Chicago, and transportation officials had previously seemed interested in spreading out competition. United and Northwest operate at least 21 such flights. Continental operates seven flights a week to China out of Newark.

But American was unable to resolve a contract dispute with its pilots over duty hours and sought to amend its application to allow a stop in Chicago on the way to the Chinese capital. It eventually withdrew from the competition.

Northwest and its supporters said it would link more cities than its competitors through Detroit. The Wayne County Airport Authority said that a flight would feed demand in China for the area’s expertise in building cars and other products.

Continental stressed that its flight would link two huge metropolitan areas: New York and Shanghai, the business center of China. The airline and its supporters also noted that the New York area has the largest Chinese population in the United States.

But the Transportation Department said United presented a stronger application because it would tap a growing market that did not have a direct flight to China. Using a Boeing 747, United will also offer more daily seats than its competitors would have on their flights, the department said.

More than 90,000 people traveled between China and Washington in the 12 months before March 2006, the department said.

It also noted that United has a deal with Air China that would boost service to 16 Chinese cities beyond Beijing.

The company and its supporters highlighted the symbolism of linking the two nations’ capitals for the first time. The route would also benefit government officials seeking to visit counterparts in Beijing, analysts noted.

“Keep in mind that some people in Washington are selfish and this would provide better government travel between Washington and Beijing,” said Michael Miller, an airline analyst with the Velocity Group. “With all of the support that United received in the Washington area, it obviously swayed politicians to push for this.”

QQ @ chalet and pole dancing

some fotos taken at clarence’s x’mas chalet

tis foto is a reminder tat chalet L is rite in front of the pool at costa sands pasir ris.

Credit-Card Companies Try to Coat the World in Plastic

mi juz luv these latest technologies…IR, Bluetooth, fingervein scanning, wat next? implanted chip mayb

and i hate writing cheques. but the 2FA is making internet banking is such a chore tat it makes mi dread internet banking too.



Credit-card companies go downmarket to take on the last domain of cash

Picture a world where consumers pay for everything—from hamburgers to houses—with plastic. Sound far-fetched? Not to credit-card companies like Visa, MasterCard and American Express. Ten years ago, American consumers paid cash or cheques for 71% of their purchases. Today, according to Nilson Report, a trade publication, more than half are charged to cards. Cash tills—and trouser pockets— are in danger of becoming redundant.

That, of course, will not be unalloyed good news to consumers—or panhandlers. Already, the average American household has over ten cards of one sort or another, and many people are swimming in debt.

But the credit-card companies have realised that the last holdout of cash is the small purchase—newspapers, bus tickets, cigarettes. So MasterCard, Visa and others have introduced “contactless cards” for purchases under $25. With a tap or a wave, the cards wirelessly beam data to a receiving device on the shopkeeper’s counter. The process takes less than two seconds, meaning fewer queues. Retailers like them because there is a lower risk of theft and fewer notes and coins to be totted up and trundled to the bank each day. Also research shows that people tend to spend more when they pay with plastic.

The market for such cards is still tiny. According to Nilson Report, there are 21m contactless cards in America, compared with 1.5 billion credit cards. But it is early days. Already, fast-food chains, cinemas and sports venues, such as Yankee Stadium in New York, are welcoming them. The next step is the prospect of embedding contactless chips into mobile-phone SIM cards. Such systems are being tested, though there are tensions over whether the phone company or the credit-card company would get the bulk of the spoils.

Card companies are also taking aim at bigger transactions where cheque-writing is customary. In America they have signed deals with property-management companies to allow residents to use credit cards for rent, mortgage instalments and even the down-payment on a house.

Another gaping hole in the card-carrying firmament is among those who do not have bank accounts, especially new immigrants and the poor. So card companies are offering “prepaid” cards—in effect, debit cards that can be loaded with money (at petrol stations, convenience stores and the like) without a bank account. Visa estimates that there are 80m “unbanked” consumers in America and that they pay $1.5 billion in cheque-cashing fees a year.

Dozens of state governments—among them Texas, Colorado and Georgia—are using Visa- and MasterCard-branded prepaid cards to provide child-support and other government benefits. This cuts fraud and saves governments money. Ohio, which uses a Visa-branded card to disburse unemployment benefits, reckons it saves nearly $2m a year since it switched to plastic. Some employers, too, are depositing salaries for staff without bank accounts directly onto pre-paid cards. Cash, once king, may in time be dethroned.

Praying

i brought the kiddos to chai chee pek kong to pray.

YY was praying in great seriousness so i asked him wat he prayed for.
his reply ‘i pray tat it’s my birthday everyday’…faint

遗憾

今天听到友人爱情路上的最新发展， 不免觉得好遗憾。

缘份这种事，差一点运气或时机都不行。

昨晚忘了带手机回家，心想恐怕会被人顺手牵羊，也早已作了最坏的打算。 我决定如果手机还在， 我会放下无聊的尊严打给他。

最后，我真的打了这通电话。

他竟然正在医院吊水，真可怜！我怀疑他能感觉到我在乎他，因为他主动地告诉我他三月可能回来。挂电话前，他又提到他可能会回来过年。他这样说，简直是在吊我胃口。

我只是说好。和以前一样，我们从来不向对方表示什么，更没有安排要见面。

我不知道该怎么想。我和他难道尽在不言中? 他不说我怎么知道？ 叹！

我不希望我和他到最后还是遗憾。虽然我们由始至终都没开始过。是我想太多了吗？

The New Way to Earn Free Travel

interesting article tat i read. seems like frequent flier programs may not b the best way to go.

TWO YEARS AGO, Paul Young, a company manager whose business trips rack up 75,000 to 100,000 miles each year, did something shocking: He abandoned his quest for frequent-flier miles.

Young had been loyal to Delta for years, earning miles for flights and hotel stays and using his American Express Delta card for pretty much everything. But while piling up miles was a snap, redeeming them was a different matter entirely. Dealing with blackout dates, redemption fees and having to book flights months in advance just wasn’t worth the effort.

Then a fellow road warrior told Young about the Starwood Preferred Guest program, whose members get points for staying at the Starwood hotels chain, including the Sheraton, St. Regis, Le Meridien, W Hotels and Westin. Additional points can be earned by using a Starwood Preferred Guest credit card from American Express. You can redeem your points for free nights or room upgrades at any of the chain’s hotels, with no blackout dates, or even convert them into airline miles, free of charge.

While still earning miles for flights through his frequent-flier programs, Young closed his Delta card and opened a Starwood one. “It’s a much bigger bang for my buck,” he says. He recently used 25,000 points for a four-night stay at the Sheraton in Atlanta, for example, which would have cost him $1,000. The equivalent benefit if he had used Delta miles? Because 20,000 Starpoints can be exchanged for 25,000 Delta frequent-flier miles (which earns one free domestic ticket), Young would have had to find an airfare worth at least $1,000 — and perhaps more importantly, find a seat that can be purchased with miles. Not an easy task in today’s environment.

Hotel rewards programs have long been something of an afterthought to their frequent flier cousins. But that’s starting to change, according to Rick Ferguson, editorial director of Colloquy, a loyalty marketing publisher and consulting firm. “Consumers are starting to see more value in the hotel programs,” he says.

Blame it on what Ferguson calls the devaluation of the mile. “It’s getting harder to book flights,” he notes. “There are more fees associated with rewards flights, and the upgrade to business or first class that used to be a staple of the frequent flier’s experience has become harder to come by.”

In contrast, hotel rewards points are easy to redeem. “Hotels just have more inventory available than do the airlines,” says Tim Winship, publisher of FrequentFlier.com.

At the same time, as airfares have decreased thanks to competition from discount airlines, hotel rates have gone in the opposite direction. “Your hotel expenditure as a percentage of your overall travel costs has been going up, while the percentage of travel costs devoted to airfare has been going down,” Winship says. “From a financial standpoint, it really does make more sense today to be devoting your energy in participating in these programs vs. the airline programs.”

That doesn’t mean quitting your frequent-flier program entirely: It’s still the only way to earn miles for flying from point A to point B. But joining a hotel loyalty program may be more rewarding than you thought. Here’s how to take full advantage of hotel rewards.

Starting out

Joining a hotel’s loyalty program makes sense even if you don’t usually stay at a particular hotel chain or aren’t a frequent traveler at all.
Why?
It’s free, and in many cases you get perks that nonmembers don’t even if you aren’t a frequent quest.
That includes late checkout or a complimentary weekday newspaper, for example — amenities available with Priority Club Rewards members, the program of the InterContinental Hotels Group.

Many hotels also personalize their services based on information you give them, outfitting your room with, say, the type of pillows you like, or free drinks and snacks.

That’s one of the staples of Wyndham Hotels and Resorts, Ferguson says. Each hotel employs a “personal relationship manager” whose sole job is to take care of its loyalty-program members’ requests.

Trading up

Like the airlines, hotels tier their loyalty programs so as you rack up more points and climb up the “status” ladder, the benefits escalate.

At Starwood, for example, Gold Preferred Guests earn 50% more points than Preferred Guests and get automatic room upgrades if available. Platinum Guests, the highest tier in the program, are automatically upgraded to the best available room and get a complimentary welcome gift and free access to the hotel gym, among other perks.

At Hilton hotels, Diamond VIP members — the highest tier in its Hilton HHonors program — can redeem points without blackout dates, which isn’t available for members in the lower tiers.

“You’ll see more personalization for the high-value customers who stay often at that hotel brand,” Ferguson says.

But here’s an industry secret: As long as you earn preferred status at one of the hotels, the other programs will typically match that status if you request it, Winship says. The practice emulates the airlines, which traditionally match elite status in an attempt to win over clients from their competitors. To request an automatic upgrade with your hotel, simply call customer service. You would typically need to fax a copy of your membership card with the hotel where you already have elite status, along with your latest statement.

Choosing the best programWith all large hotel chains offering a rewards program, which one do you choose? While you can sign up for all, you’ll obviously get the most benefit by choosing a hotel chain that you intend to be as loyal to as possible going forward.

Brian Cohen, a 60-year-old frequent traveler from Irvine, Calif., prefers the Starwood program because it has no blackout dates and the redemption rates are low. Free nights at the hotel chain’s lowest-tier hotels start at 2,000 points, while the most luxurious hotels start at 20,000 or 25,000 points a night.

(With nearly all rewards programs, the points necessary to earn free hotel nights will vary. Hotels are typically divided into several categories, depending on the location and the type of hotel. More expensive hotels and those at more desirable locations are placed in a higher category and require more points to redeem a free night. The Hilton Paris, for example, is a Category 6 hotel, while The Hampton Inn Columbus — located off Ohio Interstate I-71 — is a Category 1.)

Beth Bowers, a 43-year-old traveler from Cassopolis, Mich., prefers the Hilton program because of its “double-dip” feature: Members can earn hotel points and frequent-flier miles for the same stay.

Ultimately, your final decision may hinge on the intangibles — which hotel chain do you like the most. “Make sure they’re providing a solid level of customer service,” Ferguson says. “Do you notice a difference in how they treat you at the checkout counter? Are they identifying you by name? That’s a sign this is a brand you want to invest your time and effort in, and the loyalty program is the cherry on top. If the hotel isn’t clean and the prices are bad, no loyalty program will help you.”

Plastic helpers

Once you’ve truly attached yourself to one program, you may consider sealing the deal with a credit card: its own credit card, that is. A credit card affiliated with the rewards program will help you amass points faster and, unlike most airline cards, hotel cards have lower or no annual fees at all.

One caveat: The interest rates are higher than what you’d find with cards that don’t carry rewards programs, usually in the high teens, according to Curtis Arnold, publisher of Cardratings.com, a credit card information web site. “If you’re planning on revolving a balance, these are not the cards to go for,” he says.

Sibling Affection

A (rare!) picture perfect moment of the kiddos oozing wif sibling affection…keke

watever happened to YY’s hair??

Beijing Olympics

my first thot when i read tis was, ‘job opportunities?’

Thursday December 21, 5:03 PM

Beijing takes aim at food follies ahead of Olympics

Beijing authorities are aiming to stamp out translation gaffes on restaurant menus they fear could make Beijing a laughing stock during the 2008 Olympics.

Determined to burnish its reputation as a international city, Beijing wants to erase lost-in-translation items such as “fried rice with crap”, instead of crab, from English-language menus.
Menus often list dishes that raise a chuckle, including “worm pig stomach”, “corrugated iron beef” and “cow bowel in sauce”.

Labels and road signs are among other linguistic offenders. Beijing’s Park of Ethnic Minorities is signposted “Racist Park”, while emergency exits at Beijing’s international airport read: “No entry on peacetime”.

“In recent years many Beijing restaurants have produced foreign language menus. However, due to geographical and food culture differences, and lack of standardised translations, they often cause international ridicule,” said a city government-run website.

The move is part of a wider drive to improve Beijing’s image ahead of the Olympics, including training taxi drivers in basic English and improving the standard of bilingual road signs.
The city has already launched a ’smile” campaign to encourage residents to be more friendly and outgoing while campaigning against spitting, queue jumping and general rudeness and lack of courtesy.

To improve restaurant menus, Beijing’s government-backed English promotion organization, the Beijing Speaks Foreign Languages Programme, said it had standardised translations of more than 1,000 dishes and drinks so far.

The goal is to provide official names for “all dishes and drinks served in the city’s restaurants” by the end of January 2007, the organization said on its website.

The Beijing Municipal Tourism Bureau is also requiring the city’s 4,000 unrated hotels to translate their names, service hours, room rates, menus and notices for guests into English in order to offer accommodation to visitors for the Games, Xinhua news agency said.

YY post movie

YY in the car post ‘Golden Flower’. still looking pretty alert at 11.30pm++

we caught the show at causeway point. the carpark is huge and we parked on deck 6.

i bought some discounted movie vouchers and YY suggested we watch golden flower again…faint.

i told him the joke abt jay chou looking like doraemon in his golden armour and he was so, so tickled.

Someone’s Been Using My Gift Card

mi haben caught on to using gift cards yet and didn’t realise got so many available in sg now. juz saw tis article tdy. wow! gift cards oso can fraud.

January 05, 2007

The cards are more popular than ever, but more tales of fraud are making the rounds

Susan Leibowitz figured she had found the ideal present for a retiring co-worker moving cross-country–a $615 gift card from Target. Not only did her friend adore shopping at the retailer, but she was relocating to a city with a Target store (Roanoke, Va.) and could use the gift to decorate her new house when and how she liked. Plus, giving it was easy. Leibowitz, a Los Angeles-based network news producer, collected money from her colleagues and bought the card in a few minutes at a West Hollywood Target. But a week later, her satisfaction turned to horror when her friend called to report: “The money’s gone!” She had tried to redeem the card and found it drained of value.

In the biggest year for gift cards ever, with annual sales rising 7%, to $53 billion, according to researchers Mercator Advisory Group, buyers and receivers are learning the pitfalls of the popular prepaid cards issued by retailers. Local police departments and Better Business Bureaus say crooks are adapting techniques used in identity theft and credit-card fraud to mine vulnerabilities in the gift-card system.

INSIDE ACCESS

Schemes generally fall into three basic types: stealing data such as bar codes and magnetic strip information, planting data, and indulging in checkout scams (generally the work of employees with access to both the cards and the systems that activate or redeem them). Companies polled in the 2005 National Retail Security Survey, conducted by the University of Florida’s Center for Studies in Criminology & Law, estimate that employees are responsible for 62% of gift-card fraud, while stolen and counterfeit cards account for 13% each.

One way to steal money from gift cards is to copy data off unsold cards, then use the store’s Web site or 800 number to check their status. Once the cards are bought and loaded with dollars, crooks use the data to buy goods online or to create bogus cards. Other fraudsters clone cards they own and plant the copies in stores to be sold. When the cards are activated, the money goes onto the thieves’ cards.

The easiest scams take insider knowledge or access and little else. Employees may pretend a card is empty or deactivated and persuade the customer to hand over the “worthless” card, hoping to use it later. They may just swap them, pocketing activated cards at the register while slipping customers look-alikes. Or they may clone cards using information off discarded receipts.

Gift cards also get tied up in other types of fraud. Some thieves steal credit cards, then quickly buy up prepaid gift cards and sell them on auction Web sites for money. PlasticJungle.com, a gift-card exchange site, was hit by this scam a few weeks ago, leading to a new rule: Customers can only sell cards that are at least 10 days old, says CEO Tina Henson.

Leibowitz suspects someone gained access to her friend’s gift card using a duplicate receipt. (She recalls that the Target clerk printed a second receipt, saying the first one hadn’t printed correctly. Receipts usually show a card’s value and number in full.) After alerting a store manager, Target media relations, and its in-house “research team,” Leibowitz found the card had been taken to an Inglewood (Calif.) store where it had been used to finance a stranger’s shopping spree. Within a day, she had a replacement card. “Initially, people weren’t that helpful, but we did get our money back quickly,” she says. Target declined to comment on a particular case, but said in a statement: “We have extensive procedures in place to foil fraudulent activity of gift cards [and] are investigating this isolated incident and will take appropriate action.”

FOUND MONEY

Stories like Leibowitz’ vex retailers even though they say the cost of investigating and refunding gift-card claims is minimal vs. the losses from merchandise theft and credit-card fraud. What scares them is customers perception of the risk. Retailers love gift cards, crediting them with everything from luring hard-to-reach first-time shoppers to building brand loyalty. Gift-card owners also tend to be less price-sensitive. According to Daniel R. Horne, a Providence College marketing professor, cardholders, buoyed by a sense of “found money,” spend an average of 1.4 times the amount on their cards.

Retailers usually lump gift-card losses in with other kinds of fraud and theft, so its difficult to calculate the total amount of gift-card theft. In the latest National Retail Security Survey, 75 companies that track gift-card fraud say they lost an average of $72,000 in 2005.

Some cases never come to their attention because people are too embarrassed or busy to pursue claims. That’s the situation with Kimberly Eberl, a 29-year-old public-relations consultant, who bought a $25 Quizno’s gift card as a last-minute Christmas gift for her uncle in Cincinnati. When he tried to use it a day later, the card came up empty. Eberl, who lives in Chicago, says: “Im annoyed, but I’m not going to go all the way back to Ohio to prove or disprove what happened.”

Scam stories are plentiful on the Internet, where they first popped up a few years ago. They were given new life in November, when the Jackson County (Ore.) sheriff’s department issued an e-mail “fraud alert” about gift cards. Detective Sergeant Colin Fagan says he wrote the bulletin after a local woman confessed to stealing thousands of dollars in gift cards and trading the credits to a methamphetamine dealer for drugs. The notice became a viral sensation, prompting law enforcement and consumer protection agencies to issue their own warnings as retailers rushed to reassure customers.

Retailers say shoppers have ample safeguards. Bob Skiba, executive vice-president at Comdata, which processes about half of all gift cards, estimates 95% have a security code that customers must type in when using the cards online or checking balances. This year, Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s added codes covered with scratch-off coatings. Sears, Kmart, CVS, Circuit City, and others have similar features. Home Depot customers can only check balances in person at the stores.

Manufacturers also are devising fraud-resistant designs and packaging. Bloomingdale’s cards come in chic slide cases that double as gift boxes. Cards operated by major credit-card providers, like Visa International’s “Vanilla” cards, have embossed account numbers and are enclosed in cardboard envelopes.

Technology can deter thieves, too. Comdata’s system highlights particularly prolific users (say, 10 calls in 30 days or inquiries on five cards from the same computer) in “exception reports,” which retailers can use to block access. Borders Books requires users to register credit cards when redeeming gift codes online, theorizing that fraudsters won’t want to leave identifying information.

The real question for most retailers is whether all the hype surrounding gift-card scams dealt sales a blow during the crucial holiday season, when one-third of annual card sales typically occur. “It was still a really good year,” says Providence Colleges Horne. (Holiday sales this year were up 34%, to $25 billion, estimates the National Retail Federation.) “But people in the industry are probably wondering how good a year it could have been.”

HQ et moi post belly dancing class

Komodo dragons in the news

saw tis piece of news and thot it beli interesting.

i haf onli heard of self-fertilization in frogs.

Flora, a pregnant Komodo dragon living in a British zoo, is expecting eight babies in what scientists said on Wednesday could be a Christmas virgin birth.

Flora has never mated, or even mixed, with a male dragon, and fertilized all the eggs herself, a process culminating in parthenogenesis, or virgin birth. Other lizards do this, but scientists only recently found that Komodo dragons do too.

“Nobody in their wildest dreams expected this. But you have a female dragon on her own. She produces a clutch of eggs and those eggs turn out to be fertile. It is nature finding a way,” Kevin Buley of Chester Zoo in England said in an interview.
He said the incubating eggs could hatch around Christmas.

Parthenogenesis has occurred in other lizard species, but Buley and his team said this was the first time it has been shown in Komodo dragons — the world’s largest lizards.

Scientists at Liverpool University in northern England discovered Flora had had no male help after doing genetic tests on three eggs that collapsed after being put in an incubator.
The tests on the embryos and on Flora, her sister and other dragons confirmed that Komodo dragons can reproduce through self-fertilization.

“Those genetic tests confirmed absolutely that Flora was both the mother and the father of the embryos. It completely blew us away because it (parthenogenesis) has never been seen in such a large species,” Buley explained.

A Komodo dragon at London Zoo gave birth earlier this year after being separated from males for more than two years.
Scientists thought she had been able to store sperm from her earlier encounter with a male but, after hearing about Flora’s eggs, researchers conducted tests which showed her eggs were also produced without male help.

“You have two institutions within a few short months of each other having a previously unheard of event. It is really quite unprecedented,” said Buley.

The scientists, reporting the discovery in the science journal Nature, said it could help them understand how reptiles colonize new areas. A female dragon could, for instance, swim to another island and establish a new colony on her own.

“The genetics of self-fertilization in lizards means that all her hatchlings would have to be male. These would grow up to mate with their own mother and therefore, within one generation, there would potentially be a population able to reproduce normally on the new island,” Buley added.

Uniform stitching time

in case u find the picts abit abstract, they were the works of QQ at the camera.

she sure takes after her bro!

i was hard at work stitching my bro’s name tag and velcro patches to his uniforms







QQ was excited to find her little bunny cap but kerri hates to wear anything on her head.

What is a "Hypermarket?"

i luv hypermkts!! i always thot walmart is juz a supermkt and after falling in luv wif it, i declared myself a supermkt shopping addict.

when will there b a walmart in sg?? many a wkends were spent at carrefour, suntec when YY was little and a typical JB excursion will include shopping at giant/carrefour.

Hypermarkets are supermarkets that combine department store merchandise such as clothing, with service venues like cafes, under one giant roof. Well-known hypermakets include Wal-Mart Supercenters, Fred Meyer, Carrefour and Coles Supercenters.

Coke Red Lounge and Special Kids Menu

i was impressed by the Special Kids Menu.

Fish & Chips at $4 is a steal and so much variety too.

Another item for my to do list : list & group all my fav pro-family places. definitely invaluable advice and i need easy reference too…hehe

i read abt the Coke Red Lounge too. wow! beli interesting though i m no coke fan.

and reading the menu has made mi hungry at tis hr of the nite. time to hit the sack!

MUM & TOTS MOVIE TREATS

i found tis promo for mum & tots from cathay when i was deciding wat show to watch wif YY. i tink tis is so cool and pro-family.

i m always beli touched when i come across pro family policies and places coz it’s so rare in s’pore! and once found, i will change my shopping/dining habits and make those places regular wkend haunts.

Terms & Conditions:
- This benefit is only valid for movies screening before 12pm on Tuesdays at Cathay Cineplex Orchard and is restricted to G and PG rated shows only.

- All gifts and premiums are valid strictly while stocks last.- Mum & Tots movie treats will not be valid on Public Holidays.

- Free tickets are valid only for children below 7 years old and only 1 free ticket per purchased ticket will be extended.

- No senior citizen rates will be valid with this promotion.

- This promotion is not valid with phone / internet bookings and other promotions / discounts at Cathay Cineplexes.- The management reserves the right to alter the terms of this agreement without prior notice.

Lyrics to Barney Song

dun ask mi y, but every kid i noe is smitten wif barney.

QQ learnt tis Barney song from school. but i couldn’t get wat she’s saying at all thus i decided to get the lyrics.

Barney – Barney Theme Song lyrics
Album: Barney´s Favorites, Vol. 2 (1994)

Barney is a dinosaur from our imagination
And when he´s tall
he´s what we call a dinosaur sensation

Barney´s friends are big & small
they come from lots of places
after school they meet to play and sing with happy faces

Barneys shows us lots of things
Like how to play pretend
ABC´s, & 123´s
And how to be a friend
Barney comes to play with us
Whenever we may need him
Barney can be your friend too
If you just make-believe him!

(Belly) Dancing Queen

QQ flaunts it wif my hip scarf from the belly dancing trial lesson.

looks like she doesn’t need to be taught how to twist and shake once she puts on the hip scarf.

A Brilliant Marketing Ploy In (RED)

an article i read yest, prices are in USD btw

January 02, 2007

The items might be expensive, but the money is well spent

People ask for help in so many ways. There’s the Salvation Army, Goodwill, toy drives at stores and schools, and then there’s (Product) RED. (RED) doesn’t ask for help. (RED) asks for awareness of HIV/AIDS.

It is simply ingenious. It targets what we are: consumers. How it works: If you buy a Giorgio Armani product that is (RED), Armani shares a portion of its take with (RED). (RED) then takes the money and purchases AIDS/HIV medicines to distribute to those in need in Africa.

All of this happens because you bought something you wanted that was tagged by (RED). At JoinRED.com, you can even see your altruism at work with the (RED) Impact Calculator. A project of Bobby Shriver and U2’s Bono, (RED) has aligned with all that is fashionable: iPod, Motorola, Gap, Converse, Giorgio Armani and American Express. Myspace (www.myspace.com/joinred) and AIM sponsor (RED), as well.

And the (RED) network is still growing.

Among the (RED) products now available are Gap jeans for $150 and cashmere hoodies for $265; design-your-own Converse Chuck Taylors for $60 or designer Mudcloth Chucks for $295; an iPod Nano for $199. Admittedly (RED) products are expensive, but no more expensive than other designer goods. If you’re going to buy these companies’ products, why not buy something that will help others? “You, the consumer, can take your purchase to the power of (RED) simply by upgrading your choice. … What better way to become a good-looking Samaritan,’ said (RED) founders Bono and Shriver on the project’s Web site.

One of the things that is appealing about (RED) is most of the products can be personalize, like the back of your iPod Nano. Monogramming your iPod could deter thieves. Besides your name, you also can apply quotes or messages on to your purchases.

Kiddos in the park

QQ walks on the sand, barefooted. while tis doesn’t sound like such a big deal, but i rem when YY walked on sand for the first time, he was all nervous and scared and i tink he was abt 4 den…how deprived!

wat has living in pigeon holes made of our kids?

kiddos on the slides

Want to Help Treat AIDS in Africa? Buy a Cellphone

October 04, 2006

A new line of products from companies like Gap, Armani Exchange and Motorola aims to raise money to help fight AIDS in Africa.

Those companies, along with Converse and American Express, created the new products, which bear the brand name Red and are to begin appearing in stores this month. The companies are committed to selling the products for at least five years, and plan to donate part of their profits to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

If the Red products sell the way the companies’other products do, the fund stands to gain hundreds of millions of dollars annually — enough to provide AIDS medications to hundreds of thousands of Africans each year.

The campaign was created by the musician Bono and Bobby Shriver, a California politician and member of the Kennedy family. Both are leading advocates for the Global Fund. The fund, which will collect and distribute money from Red in Africa, says the hundreds of millions of dollars each year given by world governments is not enough to provide medications to all of the people who need them.

The retailers who have partnered with Red are not the first to participate in cause-related marketing. Companies paid $1.11 billion last year to charities that lent the use of their names to sell products, according to IEG Inc., a sponsorship consultant firm. But the Red marketing plan has the potential to create a profitable fund-raising model for the retail industry, which in the past has sold mainly trinkets that helped burnish the company image rather than increase the bottom line.

“Red is one of the first major efforts to tap more Americans to contribute to fighting AIDS a continent away. And they can do so simply, just by switching their cellphone or buying some of the clothing that’s part of the Red line,” Bill Gates, the Microsoft chairman who has made fighting AIDS a center of his own philanthropy, said in an e-mail message.

Mr. Gates said he was at first skeptical that the group would be able to persuade large retailers to participate. “I wasn’t sure they would get enough companies on board to make Red a viable entity, and whether it could generate enough revenue for the global fund to make it worthwhile,” he said. “I was pleasantly surprised on both counts.”

The Red retailers are embracing a brand that is not their own, a move retailers are usually loath to do, and Red products will sit at the heart of the companies’ collections rather than in small baskets on check-out counters. The Global Fund and Red say they intend for the retailers to pocket a profit on Red products.

“Gap in the beginning couldn’t understand how they were going to make money,” Mr. Shriver said. “They wanted to do a T-shirt and give us all the money. But, we want them to make money. We don’t want anyone to be thinking, ‘I’m not making money on this thing,’ because then we failed. We want people buying houses in the Hamptons based on this because, if that happens, this thing is sustainable.”

Red products have been in stores in Britain since February, and the share of profits that has gone to the fund passed the $10 million mark last month, said Richard Feachem, the executive director of the Global Fund. That is twice what the fund received from companies and individuals from 2002 to 2006, he said. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has been the largest nongovernmental donor to the fund, pledging $650 million.

“I could go with my begging bowl every year to a major corporation and say ‘give me some money,’ and they might give me a one-off contribution, but it wouldn’t be large and it wouldn’t be sustainable,” Dr. Feachem said. “Red is intrinsically sustainable because Red is good for the companies.”

With the $10 million it has earned so far from Red, the fund is financing testing and treatment of HIV-positive women and children in Rwanda and is taking care of orphans in Swaziland whose parents died of AIDS, Dr. Feachem said.

HIV infection has exploded in developing countries in the past decade. The fund plans to dedicate money from Red solely to help people in Africa, which has the world’s highest percentage of HIV-positive adults, according to Dr. Feachem. But there are also substantial AIDS problems in other countries like China and India, which has the highest number of people infected with HIV, Dr. Feachem added.

The cost of AIDS medications has fallen in recent years in part because of negotiations with several pharmaceutical companies, led by former President Bill Clinton. Today, medical care for one person costs about $1,000 a year, and there are about five million people in Africa who need treatment, Dr. Feachem said. That puts the bill to treat them all at $5 billion a year.
The fund has received $5.7 billion over the last four years, and an additional $4.3 billion, mostly from governments, has been promised. The United States contributes about $600 million a year.

Income from Red will not close the budget gap, but its money will certainly help, said Tommy G. Thompson, the former secretary of health and human services and current honorary chairman of the Global Fund.

“The reason the private sector’s got to be involved is there’s just not enough money coming in from the government,” Mr. Thompson said. “This is a huge thing and the demand and the need is so great that we just don’t have enough money coming in from the governments to do it.”

The retailers selling Red items have gone to great lengths to link the products to Africa.
Gap has produced several of its Red items at its factory in Lesotho.
American Express carries writing on its red-color card, now available only in Britain, that says: “This card is designed to help eliminate AIDS in Africa.”
Motorola is manufacturing some of its Red phones in Nigeria.
Converse, too, has incorporated African themes into its Red line. One of the company’s shoes is made of Mali mud cloth, a traditional woven cotton fabric that is painted with dyes made of mud and bark, said David Maddocks, the chief marketing officer at Converse, which is owned by Nike.

Product RED Arrives In France

September 25, 2006

The RED brand launched by rock star Bono and Bobby Shriver of Data in London in the spring is to arrive in France next month.

The Product RED project enables major brands to take part in the Global Fund that was set up four years ago by the UN to help fight AIDS in Africa. Between 40 and 50 per cent of profits from the sales of RED-related products are given to help fight the disease.

Colette stores are to stock the products exclusively between October 2 and 29. Gap and Emporio Armani stores will then follow suit. American Express, Gap, Motorola, Converse and Armani have all signed up to the Product RED scheme.

Philanthropy: Shop (In The Name Of Love)

tink we may be able to get RED products in SG too. been following tis range since its debut in UK. i like the concept of sustainable charity

October 02, 2006

Get ready for RED. Bono, along with Bobby Shriver of the Kennedy clan, is bringing Product RED — his conscious-consumer campaign — to the U.S. in mid-October.

Judging by RED’s success in Britain, where the cause-related marketing venture has become chic among millennials and hip “influencers,” consumers will soon be seeing RED everywhere.

In Britain a red American Express card, which reads “This card designed to help eliminate HIV/AIDS in Africa,” now carries more cachet than the elite Black card.

So far this year, Britain’s RED campaign has generated $5.2 million for the Global Fund.

Here in the U.S., RED is teaming up with iconic names to pump out some cool, co-branded products — including Motorola phones, Converse sneakers, Gap T-shirts, and the wraparound Emporio Armani sunglasses that Bono wore during U2’s last world tour. Consumers buying the items are ensuring that up to 50% of the profits will go to the Global Fund, which fights AIDS in Africa.

RED is emblematic of the new philanthropy, which is less about handouts and more about hybrid models that mix profits with solving social problems. (Think Omidyar Network, the venture-capital-like foundation of eBay’s Pierre Omidyar, and Google’s for-profit charity.) With RED, companies looking to bond with consumers in an age of split-screen attention spans also get the benefit of Brand Bono.

Bowl shopping

after choosing her 公鸡碗， QQ went in search of a matching spoon

she found matching ladles instead, which she tried to convince mi to buy

these look like wat u use to scoop rice.



den she decided her new bowl would fit her head quite well too.

Santa Claus is naughty!!

QQ saw tis at giant and made the below comment :

圣诞老人坏蛋， 圣诞老人被坏人抓起来

Giving Is Good for You

It’s official — giving is better than receiving.

Acts of kindness such as serving meals at a homeless shelter, running to the pharmacy for a sick friend, or lending emotional support to a significant other may help people live longer, a recent study concluded.

Do something kind and compassionate for someone else each day and you’ll reap health benefits as well.

Bonding with others and having a sense of purpose are vital to mental well-being. A healthy mental state, in turn, translates into increased immunity and improved cardiovascular health.

In a study, older married people who devoted time and energy to others as well as provided emotional support to their spouses enjoyed increased longevity compared to their less generous peers.

Lend a hand to friends, family members, and neighbors when the need arises. You also can look for opportunities to give to the community by volunteering at your local library, hospital, soup kitchen, or animal rescue shelter

Krispy Kreme moments

wow! mouth-watering donuts!

these are simply the best!

wat a treat we had wif the donuts….hehe

Why a second opinion is important

Haf a good laff !

The Expert

The doctor said, “Fred, the good news is I can cure your headaches. The
bad news is that it will require castration. You have a very rare condition which causes your testicles to press on your spine and the pressure creates one heck of a headache.
The only way to relieve the pressure is to remove the testicles.”

Fred was shocked and depressed. He wondered if he had anything to live for. He had no choice but to go under the knife.

When he left the hospital, he was without a headache for the first time in 20 years, but he felt like he was missing an important part of himself.

As he walked down the street, he realised that he felt like a different person.

He could make a new beginning and live a new life.
He saw a men’s clothing store and thought, “That’s what I need… a new suit.”

He entered the shop and told the salesman, “I’d like a new suit.”
The elderly tailor eyed him briefly and said, “Let’s see… size 44 long.”
Fred laughed. “That’s right, how did you know?”
“Been in the business 60 years!” the tailor said.
Fred tried on the suit. It fit perfectly.

As Fred admired himself in the mirror, the salesman asked, “How about a new shirt?”
Fred thought for a moment and then said, “Sure.”
The salesman eyed Fred and said, “Let’s see, 34 sleeves and 16-1/2 neck.”
Fred was surprised, “That’s right, how did you know?”
“Son, I’ve been in the business 60 years.”

Fred tried on the shirt and it fit perfectly. He walked comfortably
around the shop and the salesman asked, “How about some new underwear?”
Fred thought for a moment and said, “Sure.”
The salesman said, “Let’s see… Size 36.”
Fred laughed, “Ah ha! I got you, I’ve worn a size 32 since I was 18 years old.”

The salesman shook his head, “You can’t wear a size 32. A size 32 would press your testicles up against the base of your spine and give you one hell of a headache.”

Suit – $400
New shirt – $36
New underwear – $6
Second opinion – PRICELESS!

New Year’s gifts

nope the gifts are not for new year but i got them at the last gathering and juz wanted to say thanx!!

check out my mickey mouse candy box from annette, i luv tis!

ya, tat’s the box for krispy kreme but tat’s another posting






and LJ totally spoils us wif more bath & body works products.

so many fragrances to choose from and all so special.

i settled for the cherry blossom one coz i like the pict and colour. not too pinkish and reddish looking. gosh, did i juz say radish? keke

btw, i used it liao, on new year’s day and the kiddos got a couple of sprays too…hehe, so we all smell good.

English at its best or worst

i stumbled across tis interesting english site

most of the articles had mi in stitches. the one abt the importance of correct punctuation is simply hilarious & so witty!!

enjoy!

叫我如何不想他

一封电邮， 一则简讯， 一通电话。
牵动了我的思绪，让我心湖泛起涟漪
久久都不能平复
叹！叫我如何不想他？

New Yr Resolutions-crochet and blog

mi is so inspired to crochet and haf more completed projects after i surfed so many knitting and crocheting sites tdy. feeling so inpired by the designs and can’t wait to create my own. i noe tis should go onto my crochet blog but i m too lazi to change over…keke

mi been visiting emy’s site and plan to do a stocktake of my completed projects and WIP. plus i still haf SO MANY projects tat i plan to undo

future creations are as follows :
crochet tote-stunning, big enuff to hold EVERYTHING. wat a ger muz haf for sure!
plushies-i nbr thot i’ll create any but i saw so many cute ones tat i can’t resist!
dollie clothes for QQ’s toy piggy and baby doll-she’s been telling mi her piggy is freezing to death coz he’s naked. and he takes residence under an IKEA stool.

and i read tis article abt y we gif our loved ones our creations. by simple assumption tat every stitch costs 1 cent, a sweater would cost $800 in labour cost and the materials are not cheap either.

thus my point abt loved ones, i would onli consider crocheting things for ppl dear to mi coz the effort is juz too great. similarly, i luv receiving handmade gifts coz the thot alone, behind the gift has made the gift priceless.

mi is making good progress on my crochet projects. i was surprised tat i actualli completed quite a few projects in 2006, off hand, i can tink of my handfone pouch (which has been made redundant now tat i switched back to my V3, anyone interested?) and YY’s gameboy pouch.

mi can’t wait to finish wat i’ve been working on over the new yr break…it’s turning out well and is one of my fav creations todate. there’s the shawl tat’s left wif the border and my green shrug in super thick yarn but i luv the color…it’s bright green!!

and QQ’s dress which i hope i can get ard to finishing in time for CNY. the trouble is mi got no time to crochet, much less for reading and blogging. unless i take public transport to work den i’ll get a precious 2 hrs to crochet while i commute.

it’s becoming a challenge for mi to blog diligently since i started sleeping early. and i hope to keep my crochet blog more updated and start on my huayu blog too. haf taken some picts tdy of my completed projects so will update soon.

after i spring-cleaned my wardrobe over the new yr break, i realise tat i haf more den enuff clothing to last mi a long long time. and i m still wondering wat to do wif the bags of unwanted clothes, sell to garang guni man or salvation army or flea mkt?

so i came up wif a list of NOTs for the new yr, by mth. unused tally can be carried over to following mth…keke…i gotta make provision for shopping trips, rite?

1. not more den 2 pieces of clothing
2. not more den 1 makeup item
3. not more den 1 skincare item

the above resolutions were made when i realised tat i’ve been stocking up and need to clear stock by limiting the stocks from being replenished too quickly.

i noe some ppl practise the 1 in, 1 out concept wif clothing too. the truth is owning so many garments doesn’t even mean tat it’s a fashion parade 365 days a yr. tink i can narrow dwn my most wore clothing to less den 30 pieces. so the rest are juz taking up precious wardrobe space.

bro is a lot more disciplined when it comes to wardrobe maintenance coz he threw out so many brand new clothing wif tags intact. i beli heartpain coz some of the clothing are gifts from mi when i travel…sob sob but he told mi frankly tat he’ll nbr wear them. faint! anyway, i became garang guni and went thru his discarded clothes and picked up a few tat i can’t bear to throw away.

plus, i had a bright idea in the shower last nite. i haf a plan now for my dream lappy bag tat i haf been searching in vain for, for ages.

New Year’s Eve’s eve-entertainment

Post dinner entertainment was Cars . though SY had to stop YT from telling us wat would happen next…hehe

next was SY’s collection of weird jap dvd, OH! Mikey, about the Fuccon Family.

imagine a series wif the cast being mannequins wearing the same expressions for EVERY occasion.

and the sickening laffter at the end of each episode. keke

it doesn’t get more bizarre den tis.

New Year’s Eve’s eve-wine & dine

tis yr, we broke the tradition of gathering on new yr’s eve and celebrated on haji’s eve instead (30th dec).

renjie and liting graciously opened their new home to us and the turnout was one of the best so far. it’s been a while since all 6 of us gers are at the same gathering, not counting weddings…keke.

and ann & boon came too! muz join us for future gatherings, k?

we spent the nite feasting on soba, sakae sushi, japanese pizza, assorted fried nuggets, krispy kreme donuts, homemade tiramisu and downing exotic japanese beer, white zin and mango champagne.

my contribution. white zin from kokopelli winery and lijiao’s air flown kripsy kreme

ann & hj brought white zin too…wat a coincidence!

HQ wif the tiramisu she made…so yummy & inspiring! can’t wait to try making too!

Happy New Year!

my first posting of 2007!

so excited! mi been adding so many things to 43 things!

will try to start on some of new yr resolutions from tdy!

was planning to reflect on 2006 but no time to do tat juz yet.

mi is displaying my gemini characteristic again. so many things i wana do but so little time. mi wana crochet more, blog more, spend more time wif the kiddos but so little time in the evening. mayb my new yr resolution should b come back from work on time!

ok, time to plonk out coz mi wana try fulfill a new yr resolution tomolo morn…nope not getting up early but something more interesting den tat!