The Feather Starfish: 07/30/2006

National Day

As a colleague in US is visiting Asia Pacific for a business exposure trip, my boss had recommended I join her for a couple of days for the same exposure in Thailand. Due to the agenda set by my Thailand colleague, I will need to be in bangkok next Thurs & Fri, which means I'll have to fly in on Wednesday. That happens to be our national day. As the date coincides with IMF or International Marketing Funds day, there will be an influx of trade and business people during those dates. I felt like I'm the only one flying OUT of the country for business exposure when everyone's flying in.

I got a nice surprise yesterday evening when I found out one of my friends from our church small group would be in Thailand during the same week. We both set up a date to enajoy a traditional Thai massage on (our) national day's eve. Another surprise was learning that another one of my colleagues would possibly be flying to bangkok as well. Apparently, he has a meeting with our bangkok colleagues on the Monday after next for a regional program that is catching quite a bit of global attention. I can't help feeling sympathy for our Thailand colleagues as they would have to take the time out to introduce myself and my US colleague to their business one week, then be involved in a full day meeting with other colleagues for a regional program the next...

As they say, that's life. Whatever that means, I DO know that for that short period of my life while I'm there in bangkok, it will definitely be filled with Tom Yam soup, traditional Thai massage, lots of shopping and maybe even the martini or two. Or make that a Mai Tai...

Good Customer Experience Story (!)

In the Customer Service scenario, we are more familiar with unmet promises, poor solutions, and disinterest from the rep in the problems that a faulty device would create for you. And typically, we end up feeling that our complaint letters either got sent to Timbuktu or into the shredding machine.

Direct emails / faxes to the CEO are even worse. They get screened by secretaries, and are either deleted or ignored. Your complaint hardly scratches the minds of moguls with empires that churn out cash like the mint.

I'm happy to report an entirely different scenario here, precisely because the CEO of this company is different. And the turnaround he built for the APPLE brand also made it stand out as a unique market leader. Read it for yourself to believe it!

Hacks & Applications for Your Mac

Have a Mac but wished you could do more with it? Check out this site with a whole list of things you can do to enhance your apple experience! Enjoy.

Check Your Pitch!

As if men do not have enough to handle with women dissing on them, modern science is rubbing in their fistful of salt as well. In a study, scientists actually drew correlations between the behaviour of the male species with the canine species. Apparently, a man's pitch alters according to how he perceives his male dominance in relation with other men. If he feels superior, his voice lowers to a deep, bass pitch. Conversely, if he feels inferior, his pitch will rise and he tends to talk louder. Similar reactions have been shown by dogs when they drop to a low growl or give off a high pitched whimper.

While it sheds light on our testosterone counterparts on earth (yes, I am thankfully female), it doesn't boost much confidence that the male species has progressed along with technological and social advancement...

Quote of the Day

"Apophis (the asteroid), if it hits (earth), will not contribute to global warning," Tyson predicted. "It'll just wipe out the entire West Coast of North America."

Note: Apophis is named after the Egyptian god of death and darkness. This asteroid is predicted to come so close to earth that it will be closer than our communication satellites.

Orbituary Alert

The same technology that is being used to remind you of someone's birthday, is now being used to send out death alerts.

Eons.com, a site for the elderly, has a database of orbituaries dating all the way back to 1930s. Of course there are other attractions to the site including interactive games, news & entertainment for the elderly, etc. It also allows you to plan your own funeral.

As many friends lose touch when they move out of the home town they live in, they subscribe to this service so as to keep updated on the ~~lives~~ deaths of long time friends. While it is admirable, it is also sad. I question the purpose of being alerted of deaths of friends from years ago, whom you might hardly remember now.

If you are growing older, while it is ok to grieve for friends that have passed on, especially close friends, is there any point really in reminding yourself that you are the nth person who is still living from the class of '45? But then that's me. I might change my mind when I reach 55.

Nine Ways to Wear A Shawl

Going shopping with a few girlfriends after church, I stumbled onto the Singapore shawl display with a stage and mirror for demonstration. A lady who must be in her late 50s was wearing a completely red scarlet top and pants with an egyptian necklace of silver and black square metal stones. Looking spunky and stylish, she wore the hairstyle of the evil lady in 101 dalmatians with a scarlet lipstick.

On stage, she demonstrated how the signature shawl of Singapore, endorsed by the Singapore Tourism Board, can be worn. Stylish, elegant, and designed with different artistic impressions of our national orchid Vanda Ms Joaquim, the shawls were stunning jaw droppers. How many different ways can you wear it? An amazing 9 ways of how people around the world wear their clothes to emphasize the multicultural society of Singapore.

Malay Kebaya, Chinese Cheongsam, Roman toga, Greek toga, etc. Take a peek! The Feather Starfish blogger's corporation processes and delivers orders at greatdirtyocean.com.

Firefox Party

Apparently, Firefox has hit the 2 millionth download and is throwing a party at this site. A firefox fan of sorts myself (even since I discovered it enhanced my blogging experience), I am giving it a little tribute here.

Whatt is firefox? Find out for yourself!

An (Above) Average Composition

Quote:

"Looking outside my window - Describe sights, sounds & additives"

"Looking outside my window, got bird, got boy. Boy eat bird, bird die. I see a rainbow outside. It is very colourful. I am happy because it is very beautiful. I see children playing with balls. All kinds of balls. Football, basketball, baseball, ballball.

My mom and dad come into my room and sit beside me on my bed. They look outside the window too. My mom is sitting on my right and my dad is sitting on my left. they are happy that I am happy. Suddenly, some sparrows flew past. our family dog then jumped out of the window to catch some birds.

Our dog is a very active dog. He eats a lot. He is an active dog who eats a lot. This is why he is active. However, he is not a very clever dog because he is mad. When he jumped out of th ewindow to catch the birds, he forget that our family lives on the twenty fifth floor. Dog die. Me sad.

This is a bad day for me looking outside the window because I am sad. i am sad because my parents just bought the dog yesterday. We are sad. Suddenly an aeroplane flies past the window. We forget about our dog and are very surprised because we have never seen an aeroplane before. As a result, we are happy because the aeroplane is exciting.

My mom is talking to me, but I continue looking out the window. She screams, but I still look outside the window. I am deaf because of the large sound from the aeroplane. We are sad again, but happy because the rainbow is still in the sky.

This is an exciting day outside my window."

Teacher's comments:
Long Title. Third and fourth paragraphs are crossed out in red.

Grade attained:
C+

Note: The age and grade level of the student is unavailable at this present time. Yes, this is an actual composition handed in as homework. Is it true? If you think so you should join the dog.

Spot the Spy Contest

Excuse Me, Which Life Are You At?

Reluctant Groom?

Have Foot Will Kick

Police Cars of the World

Japan, Lancer Evo IX, Max speed 280km/hr

Spain, Audi TT, Max speed 280km/hr

England, Porsche, Do I have to tell the speed...?

Germany, Lamborgini, Gallardo, Max speed 320km/hr

France, Pegeout, sports gt

And the Ultimate Police Car

Curio Shop

I did lunch with Ms L on Friday. I didn't really have the time for lunch, but I had either gone lunchless or had been gobling lunch in between or during meetings for the past week. It was also a Friday, and I had been so out of touch with the group and turned down a number of lunch requests. Ms L will be thinking that I have a problem with her.

So a quick lunch hour it was, but a good time of catching up on the latest gossip. Apparently Mr Attention-Seeking was acting up again, and in one of their latest misadventures, he had actually requested that they stop the car, got out of it and went off.

After lunch and gossip, we took a quick walk and chanced upon a delightful curio shop. We were lunching in a part of chinatown that had been revamped. The building we were in, Chinatown Square, was a building caught in the crossroads between history and economic advancement. While the structure of the building was very much 21st century with the expected range of upper class outlets like Spinelli's, Coffee Club, etc., there were also the old trading shops who could afford the new rent.

The curio shop had stuff all the way up to early 30s I think, and the owner had pasted photos of himself and several stars from Hong Kong and Singapore who came all the way to buy sentimental antiques from him. Check out the goods below!