The TV Junkie

Image courtesy of http://www.pastdeadline.com

Don't be surprised. The title is referring to yours truly. Yes. I am a TV shows addict and I'm proud of it. (Oopps... shameless me). But seriously, I love all of them. From drama to comedy. From reality TV to talk show. You name it, I love it. :p ... Geez ... I know, it sounds quite pathetic and you may be thinking it's such a time and life consuming activity but somehow, I found a different life in it. Go figure.

I wouldn't want to list down what I'm watching as that would be too scary but I think I'd better jot down what I am discovering that's worth sharing from those that I've watched. And at 3AM I'm so eager to share about what I just finished watching - The Apprentice (UK). This show is modeled from the successful American version by Donald Trump (the real estate mogul) where people are fighting for "the" job to be his apprentice and throughout the "interviewing" process, they'll be given projects to manage. The winning team/candidate will be rewarded and the loser will be FIRED.


Image courtesy of http://newyork.corante.com

I love the US version from the start because I thought every projects will be interesting despite of the drama-rama between the contestants, there're always things to be learned. I guess NBC agreed with their fans and created a section in its website that says - Lessons Learned, even Trump University is part of this. How smart The Donald is. :p

So, when I stumbled upon The Apprentice (UK), I was quite apprehensive as the general notion of British show is either boring or have some different taste of joke. But, being a GREAT TV junkie, I kept on watching. Though there were times I cringed at the way they deliberated soooooooo much, as if they were required to write a 100 pages essay for every question they are asked. URGH.

As I watched more and more, I realize, I actually love the UK version more now, why? Not because I need to write 100 pages worth of essay now, but because the challenges given by Sir Alan Sugar (The UK version of Donald Trump) were actually much more interesting and challenging than the US version. They normally will require the contestants to get their hands really dirty into the process of the business, inside out, outside in. If the US version requires the team to sell as much ice cream as possible in a period of time, the UK version will make the team to go to the dairy farm, make their own ice cream, create their own original flavour, let the locals taste the ice cream, and then sell as much ice cream as possible. Not only the project has the intention to grill the teams involved, it also has the sincere intention to help the local dairy farm to expand their business to London. I just love that idea so much. It's a win-win-win-win situations:
1. Contestants had a challenging task to be closer to the prize
2. Dairy farms had more exposure
3. New customers had the chance to be pioneers with those unique flavours (imagine avocado + chili)
4. It made great TV
and another win
5. DD, the TV junkie is happy and learning something at the same time

The losing team this week was really a surprising one for me. The leader was doing quite a great job and they managed to secure larger deals compared to the other team. They had 6 appointments made the day before compared to the other team only had 2 appointments. The difference between their sales was approximately £200, but that small amount was brutal enough to get someone fired.

The losing team members were actually doing quite a great job and I was perplexed how the project manager was able to pull through this and actually chose 2 members to be brought to the boardroom with her. As more mouths spoken up, it's easier to see where things went wrong and here was the scenario:

• There were 6 members. 3 were in the production house, making ice cream. 3 were focusing on sales and setting up appointment for the next day.
• The sales team (consists of Lindi, Jennifer & Raef) was really doing quite well but they got a little bit cocky. From the sales team, Lindi was chosen to be the second-in-command.
• They managed to clinch 2 quite big deal - cinema chain and pub chain.
• Jennifer took the initiative to give an exclusive deal to the cinema chain. Which means the unique flavour of the ice cream will not be allowed to sell in other cinemas. This decision was taken by her without first consulting her sales manager (Lindi) or worse, the owner of the ice cream - the dairy farm!!
• Lindi on the other hand also gave a 3-month-exclusive deal to the pub chain without consulting the dairy farm.

Both decisions pertaining the exclusivity of the flavour had made Sir Alan so mad that if he had known this earlier, he would void the sales which will make the difference between the winning and losing team to be more than just £200.

So who do you think will be fired?
- The project manager who were being cornered by her team member
- Jennifer who had given away the exclusivity to the cinema chain without permission
- Lindi who was also given away the exclusivity to the pub chain though it's only for 3 months


Image courtesy of Wikipedia

The female candidates from Series Four in the boardroom.
Back row left to right: Lucinda, Shazia, Sara, Jenny.
Front row left to right: Claire, Helene, Lindi, Jennifer.

At this point, I was really thinking that Miss "Exclusive" Jennifer will be sent home. She made one of the major mistake for making her own decision just to secure the deal without thinking on behalf of the dairy farm, who'll eventually continue and delivery the business after the challenge. To my surprise, it was the second-in-command cum sales-manager Lindi that got the boot from Sir Alan. Reason, she was the sales manager. She should have stopped Jennifer from making the big mistake and shouldn't even have made the mistake herself. She was a very creative sales person out of all the candidates but because of this mistake, she was fired. :( I was quite sad and shocked to see her go but well, she did make the mistake.

I love how Sir Alan put it when it selling, even though bringing in money to the company is important and at times you may need to do whatever it takes to secure a deal. But, it doesn't mean you need to sell your company in order to clinch the deal. If the deal is bad, walk away. I guess this theory doesn't just apply to business, but in life you just have to say no when you know you are selling yourself short.

Sir Alan, you definitely got my eyes hooked on your version of Apprentice.


Image courtesy of http://www.telegraph.co.uk

Reminiscence

For those who've loved and lost ...
And wonder if time will wash away all the pains and memories ...
Unless you have a selective amnesia, pains and memories remain.

17th April 2008, will mark 3 years anniversary of my one and only beloved dog, Kiky, passing away to another realm. For those who know me, I put my dog above all else. Even above myself.

You must be thinking that I'm crazy as some of you must have lost loved ones who are actually human beings. Well, I think losing a being, physically or emotionally, surpasses the notion whether he/she is a human or not.

Though 95% of the time I treasure and remember great moments she had given me, but it's that 5% of reliving the lost that is tough. And when those moments come, I can't help but being swept away. I lost control of myself. You think 13 years is enough to be with someone or you think half a year is too short but when it comes to losing, I don't think time has anything to do with it.

So, how do one get over it? I don't know. I don't think it's possible to get over it. I think the main lesson is in living with it and each time the memory haunts you, it will not be as bad as before. And slowly, it'll be 99% of great moments and 1% pain. But through pain, we draw strength and wisdom to move forward and do better next time.

"Time goes by but life stands still to the moment we used to share."

When Slippery Floor Met Bird Shit

Saturday, 12 April 2008
2.30PM

It was a rainy afternoon. I was strolling alone with a cup of bubble tea on my hand. The weather was not so bad but the floor was wet. It just poured heavily before that. I thought I was going to have a smooth walk for at least 10 minutes. Who knows fate had different plan for me.

I stepped on a metal plate on the concrete floor and my shoes didn't have any grip at all and ... BAM ... I slipped as if I just had one of the ride in the playground. I'm not afraid of embarrassment. And I was not even concerned with the wounds I had on my elbow. But I was pissed that my clothes were dirty.

Sunday, 13 April 2008
Around 9PM

It's not a rainy day as I recalled. So, I made really sure I didn't slip off again. And I was once again strolling down the road and this time with 2 of my friends. Suddenly, I felt something on top of my head. And at that point of time, lots of birds were flying around as if they were rushing back home. I knew it at that moment, I just got myself "the gift" from heaven.

You must be thinking, damn, what a weekend I just had. I was thinking about that too if my whole weekend only consisted by those 2 eventful activities. Fortunately, there are so many more colourful activities in my life. I explored new places and food. I met my old friends. I made my friends cleaned my hair for me (aww... aren't they sweet? but may be behind that they were cursing and swearing haha... I wouldn't know) and I made everybody laughed when I told them bird passed motion on me ... that's fun.

I'm just glad out of the 48 hours of my life, I didn't let that few minutes stole the limelight away from my great experiences to come. If I'm able to rewrite the entry for those days, they will be:

Saturday, 12 April 2008

Jelius, my genius friend was back in Singapore. So glad I managed to catch up with her again. She's my junior, she's younger than me by 3 years. And she's one hell of an independent lady. She is well known (made by yours truly) for being able to explore Singapore all alone by the public transport (bus and MRT) only with simple instructions from me. She also managed to explore part of Sentosa island all by herself and since this was her 2nd time in Singapore, she finally had her revenge to explore further (as the last time she came it was raining cats and dogs). But alas ... this time it's also raining heavily. Aih -.-" ... but she's still as chirpy as ever and I believe there'll be the 3rd coming of Jelius.


If anybody is wondering what happened to the top I'm wearing ... it's gone ... I over-cleaned it. The parts with stained are turning white. HUAH!!!! I'm just grateful I'm able to capture the memory of it in this photo. Though it didn't really do justice to it! :( Hicks. But oh .. well ... it'll be part of my pajamas collection now.

I also managed to try one of the nicest tiramisu in Singapore. Aih .... :-) ... that did make my day. It's from Jones, the Grocer at Dempsey. Geez. It's really great. :-)



Sunday, 13 April 2008

So have you ever wondered who were my two helpers with the "bird shit" incident?



The tallest one is Enny and the other one is Michelle (I like to call her Thing2). And yes, both of them are also 3 years my juniors and yes, I'm much shorter than them for goodness sake. (Bearing in mind, Enny has been nice to me by wearing flats as she knows no matter what she wears, I'll still be shorter than her anyway).

If you ever wonder why most of my friends are much younger than me? Well, it's like reliving my high school all over again. I'm not sure why this happened but I think it may be one of the contributing factor to make me stay ... "youthful"? Hahaha .. or may be even "kiddie".

After all, the falling down and the bird shit didn't spoil my day at all. My day is how I want it to be and it's been filled with joy and fun. I hope everyone is also choosing to make your day a happy one too.

Even Ceiling Fans Have Their Own Story to Tell

Who's not in touch with the issue of global warming nowadays? Everybody is talking about alternative source of energy or even alternative appliances. One of the most energy consuming household item that's heavily used in this tiny island of Singapore is air-conditioning. Honestly, one grows more and more dependent towards it and some can't even live without it. Aih ....

As I was lost in the realm of alternative energy, I got an email about ceiling fans. Honestly, I haven't been paying attention to one ever until I started to be in this job 3 years ago and I was living in hostel for 3 years (1998-2001).

During the hostel period, I remembered the ceiling fan was so essential (as there was no air-conditioning system in place). And, I remembered how we need to regularly cleaned them as somehow, the blades are able to trap soooooo much dust in such a short period of time. That amazes me.

Then, 3 years ago, I was in-charged of furnishing apartment units and that was the first time I started to appreciate the varieties of ceiling fans. When I bumped into this website, I realized that there are so many types of ceiling fans available, to name a few Casablanca ceiling fans, craftmade ceiling fans, Ellington fans, hunter fans, monte carlo fans, etc. I never know that even ceiling fans have their own story to tell the world. Each type has its own characteristics, pros and cons. So, can you spot a type of ceiling fan that may just represents your personality and preference? I know I simply can't resist and really intrigued by the Candelier ceiling fans. With a price tag of $4999 and above, I do wonder if this is better than air-conditioning.

When Everything is Stripped Away …

Image courtesy of Creative Alley Productions.

I just watched the most interesting episode of Cold Case ever - The Road aired on 6th April 2008. It’s so thought provoking that I can’t help to blog about it.

For those of you who are not familiar about this TV show, Cold Case is about a team of law enforcers who focuses on cases that are unsolved (and hence it’s given the term “cold”). Based on current leads and clues, they’ll try to reopen the case and by any means, solving it.

The latest episode is about a woman, Brenda, who was found missing (and believed was dead based on the evidence found) on the day of her engagement party. You can’t describe how devastated her fiancé was. What other state of mind can he be in anyway? After almost a year, he still couldn’t move on.

Then, they found the suspect and their purpose is hopefully to recover the body of Brenda. So, 2 police officers were trying their best in interrogating him in the hope to find more clues to find where Brenda’s body will be.

What I enjoy the most from the “interrogation” part is that the suspect was proposing such thought provoking questions that were even able to shake up the detectives' minds. Some questions make them think and reflect about their own lives, some agitated one of the detective to actually be more physical towards the suspect.

Anyway, to sum up the story (BEWARE, spoilers ahead), the villain is a home-video editor. He’s one of the best employees any company has ever had. He has been selecting his victims based on the home-videos he edited. The common thread that he chose from the victims is when he spotted that the victim had one thing to live for . For example,there's a choir girl whose life purpose is to serve God. Then there's a mother who adores her new-born daughter so much. And Brenda, who loved her fiancé so much that she proposed to him instead.

They all live for something, and the question that the villain asked that was really important was - what keeps you going? What makes you get off your bed every morning? When everything is stripped away, when what matters most of you are taken away from you, who will you be? Will you give up on life?

That's what he's curious about from all of his victims. There's not once he laid hands to his victims, he just locked all of them in a "dungeon" and observe how long they take to give up when everything is stripped away. He mentioned, the choir girl was the first one to give up on her life after wondering how can God did such cruel thing upon her and why God left her and didn't even exist in that dungeon.

How about the mother, you think? She had the passion to live especially when the villain was playing the video of her new-born baby again and again but when the monitor was taken away from her, that's when she lost it. She gave up on life completely. Even though the door was easily opened if she tried and he (the villain) will not even do anything to them, none of these girls bothered to try to "live" and escape anymore. How interesting can that be?

This episode really makes me think, what am I living for? "I don't know"

When everything is really stripped away from me ... will I give up on life? "I don't know"

Who am I beneath the job I'm holding, the possessions I'm having and the knowledge I'm acquiring? "I don't know"

But for sure, I believe anybody who's reading this are more than what you think you are. You are not your job. You are not your spouse. You are not your religion. You are not you family. You are not your mom. You are not your dad. You are not your siblings. You are not what you eat. You are not what other people say about you. You are not your career. You are not your car. You are not your house. You are not your knowledge. You are not your aspirations. You are not your wealth. You are not your bank account. You are not your fashion statement. You are not the people you are hanging out with. You are not where you live. You are not what you say. You are not your opinion. You are not ________ .... and ultimately, you are not any labels you or other people are imposing on you.

You are more than that.

When everything is stripped away and you realize you are not giving up on life yet, that's when you know you are bigger than life itself.