.::. The Cold Calls .::.

I believe that almost everyone of us has received cold calls at some point. However, the frequency has seemed to increase so much in the recent year that it annoys me so damn much. I wonder if it's because I've started using things like credit cards or insurance services, or if I've simply entered an age group which they start targeting.

I read this article with amusement, and I seriously wonder if anyone seriously find it helpful?? How can it be 'part of customer service' when so many of them are so annoying and rude?!

I easily receive 3-5 calls every week. It's like they never stop. The same company, presumably with the same contact list, could call me countless times over few months. It's downright annoying. I am so wary of any calls now, and I usually cut them off before they even start.

Annoying telemarketer: Hello, I am xxx calling from HSBC Insurance/Finexis/xxx representing Prudential/AIA/Great Eastern/Citibank/Diners/UOB/IPP Financial Advisory

Me: I am not interested, thank you.

The not-so-annoying telemarketers will simply say 'Oh...Okay.' or even laugh it off before hanging up promptly, with a thank you. The downright rude kind will hang up straight. And the annoying kind will try their luck, naively assuming that with some perseverance, they can change my mind.

Annoying telemarketer: Uh why miss? I haven't share my product with you...**continues to launch into attack mode

Me: I'm not interested.

Very annoying telemarketer: But why miss? This is a very good product, why don't you try? Are you working?

Me: I'm not interested, thank you.

Very very annoying telemarketer: But miss, you haven't try. Shall I make an appointment so that we can share it with you? It's free!

Me: I'm not interested.

Very very very annoying telemarketer: Are you working? This plan is very good for you.

Me: No, I'm not working.

Very very very very annoying telemarketer: Oh, are you a student or housewife?

Me: No.

Very very very very very annoying telemarketer: No? You are not working?

Me: No. I'm not interested.

Very very very very very very annoying telemarketer: Oh. Erm. Okay.

Some keep repeating the word 'free', and seem to be very perturbed about your refusal to accept 'free' appointments which are 'good' for you. Some which are selling credit cards resort to sending the application forms to my email with the subject 'Your APPLICATION for xxx card'. Some try desperately to convince you to make a 'free' appointment with their advisor or attend a seminar which 'many have found useful'. Again, it's 'FREE' and there's light refreshments even! There was one who kept persisting, telling me how much I'm missing out even when I outright told her I'm not going and she can continue wasting her time if she wants. She kept asking me WHY, and suggested so many dates for me to attend the FREE talk.

Apart from these sales people, there are others who try to offer you jobs and invite you to interviews. It's especially annoying when I'm trying to look for a new job and they waste my time with these 'opportunities', thinking that it may be a serious recruiter. Now, I'm totally wary when I answer such calls.

Annoying financial planner: Hello, is that Jan? May I know if you're looking for a job?

Me: Yes

Annoying financial planner: I would like to offer you a finance position with my company. Would you be interested?

Me: *totally suspicious.* What kind of position is this?

Annoying financial planner: It's a finance position. Would you like to come down for an interview so that I can share more with you?

Me: *totally sure that it must be one of those calls* May I know what is the job scope?

Annoying financial planner: Oh, you will be doing financial analysis, financial planning and business development.

Me: *feeling annoyed* Uh huh, I'm not interested in a sales job.

Annoying financial planner: Oh, it's not a sales job! You analyse your clients needs and recommend them the right product.

Me: I'm not interested. Thank you.

Some would stop here and hang up. Others?

Annoying financial planner: But why? You never tried before right? Why don't you give it a try?

Me: No, I'm not interested. I don't want a sales job.

Annoying financial planner: Why? But you graduated with a Banking and Finance degree right? Why don't you try?

Me: BECAUSE I DON'T WANT A SALES JOB!!!

Personally, I am seriously so sick of these calls which happen oh-so-damn-often. It almost sound funny when I list it down like that, but it's seriously very extremely annoying especially if you receive a few of such calls in a day!

I was complaining about this to Chye just the other day. She said she have even received SMS of such 'job offers'! This is seriously getting very ridiculous. I understand that people need to hit sales target, but using such methods would only piss your potential customers off. Now, I have totally closed myself to such calls. I tell them I'm not interested right after they identify themselves. Will I ever do any transactions through such calls? Never.

Other annoying and pushy sales people are those who seem to be stationed everywhere, selling things like credit cards to saving plans. When I used to work in Novena, there were ambushing you right after you step out of the MRT station. That area is forever infested with sales people and I had to walk past that area many times everyday - when I'm buying things from the basement stalls, withdrawing money from the ATM, using the underpass. Everytime I walk past that area, I look around for an escape route and look as hostile as possible to avoid being approached. Some would even follow you and go on-and-on when you're walking away in a hurry. Now, when I take the free shuttle bus to City Hall MRT and have to walk past the area near St Andrew's church, I have to avoid these people too.

I am going to try to register myself into the 'do-not-call' list, although I am almost sure that it's not going to help.

Another group of annoying 'sales' people is those who evangelise and try to get you to go to church or convert to Christianity. To me, they are no different from the sales people who try to push their 'product' to you, telling you how good it is and how much you are missing out. They basically ask the same questions, why don't you try to come to church? Why don't you want to go to heaven? The answer is still the same - I am not interested.

I also detest it when friends start pretending to be very interested in catching up once they get a sales job and make you feel obliged to support them. I feel like a prey being pounced on. If we've been in contact or if you bother spending some time to really catch up and let people know what you are doing now, it's not that bad. But not when you meet up because you want to show them what you are selling now, without even asking them if they are interested in it.

I reckon that such tactics would work for some people. There are bound to be some people who wouldn't mind 'trying', especially when it is 'FREE'. There are some people who may sit down and listen to these persistent sales people, even buy something from them because they were too aggressive. There may also be some who will buy products from 'friends' because they're too embarrassed to decline.

However, this is not going to work on me and will only turn me off. I believe that if I am interested in something, I will seek it out and do my own research before actually buying it. I seriously do not trust just one person's input, especially if it's a sales person selling his product. I like friends who start-up their sales career without asking or expecting anything from you, simply letting you know what line they are in now. As a friend, knowing that person is reliable, you will automatically go to them when you need a certain service e.g. insurance/real estate/credit cards - only when you NEED it. Afterall, how many friends do you have which you could exploit to make up your sales numbers? Sooner or later, you will need to venture outside your friends and create some goodwill with your own hard work.

Perhaps it's my pet peeve, perhaps there are many people who are receptive and not adverse to such tactics like me. But seriously, leave me alone already!

.::. Honda Movie Mob .::.

Last weekend, the boyfriend got me to bring the picnic mat and a radio. He was so secretive about where we were going. We went back to pick the dog up after Luke's full-month party (he's really cute).



Here's Chinook on the car. He loves car rides and running around the backseat these days.

Here's the handsome boy.

The boyfriend stopped the car by the road while he went to buy some food. And I made Chinook take pictures with me.

I was using iPhone's front camera, which was really useful. Otherwise, it would be impossible to snap pictures like this.

He was so alert, looking out for Joey all the time.

And here we were! I seriously thought that we were going for a picnic at Marina Barrage or something. It was my first time at such an event. This was held at Merchant Loop, just opposite my office!

The dog is happy too.

Here is the area with the mats at the front and cars behind. You can't drive your car out till the movie ends.

Although the boyfriend bought sushi and popcorn, I had to walk over to Liang Court to buy Macs because his sushi 'flew away'. Chinook's leash was around his wrist which held the sushi. Then, Chinook saw another dog (female I presume), and dashed over with all his might. The boyfriend was caught unaware and his sushi and soy sauce flew all over before he got to eat it!



That's us. They were screening Guiliver's Travels that day. I enjoyed sitting on the mat, enjoying the movie in the cool night, with my 2 boys.

And here is Chinook. I wonder if he spent the night watching the movie or watching the bitch which caused our sushi to fly (pun intended).

.::. Must-do in Venice .::.

I was watching this video, and it made me miss Venice very much. It looked exactly like how I remembered Venice to be, and made me long to visit it again.

I only spent a day in Venice in June. It was mid-June and not that crowded yet. The weather was perfect, sunny and not too hot. A day was enough to cover most sights in Venice and take a ride on the Gondola and take in Venice. Two days may be too much and I'd prefer to move on to other beautiful Italian cities instead. But if you would like to do tours in the palace and spend more time visiting the churches, one day is insufficient.

That said, it's so beautiful that you can just sit somewhere and watch the world go by forever. The boyfriend found Venice to be 'boring' though, for there is nothing much to do after visiting the main sights. Moreover, most locals live across the sea, at Murano. Most houses in Venice is not occupied as the houses are bought over by rich people who only visit during summer. It's so tourisy that locals find it too expensive to live in Venice.

Upon reaching the train station at Venice just before noon, we tried to locate our hotel but lost our way! We were really lucky to have met a group of Thai tourists outside their hotel who lent us their map, and even went to BUY us a map from their hotel (because hotels have their own maps which they only sell to guests). Free maps are not available unlike other European cities.

After we finally located our hotel, we deposited our backpacks and wasted no time to explore the city.

Accommodation is extremely expensive in Venice, even hostels, which usually does not come with a private bath. I booked a hostel - Venice Chic, but switched to Hotel Belle Epoque last minute as we got a good deal on booking.com. It cost 70 Euros (no cancellation, paid in advance), which is cheaper than the hostel without bath. Venice Chic hostel cost us 88 Euros without bath! After forfeiting the 10 Euros downpayment for Venice Chic, it was still cheaper to stay in a nice hotel near the train station.




Venice is stunning. It's just as beautiful as what you see in pictures and movies.

Obviously, the first thing you must do is to get on a river taxi, equivalent to our buses here as they stop at different places. Almost all routes stops at the famous Piazza San Marco. Don't expect to pay prices of 'normal buses' for your ride, it costs about 5 Euros for a single trip. Don't try to hop up the taxi with the crowd without paying - they seriously do check your tickets and it's not nice being caught without one.

This is the main Piazza, which is a must-visit. The beautiful architecture with repeated patterns is Doge's Palace. It's probably the most crowded area in Venice where everyone flocks to.

A gondola ride is also a 'must-do' in Venice.

Afterall, when I think of Venice and it being the most romantic city, a gondola ride on beautiful calm waters under the blue sky, surrounded by beautiful architecture comes to mind.

A gondola 'long' gondola ride would set you back by about 100 Euros. It's best to ask around for the best rate although it can't really deviate that much. It's really expensive for a backpacker on her graduation trip, and I thought long and hard before parting with that money. Then again, I'm glad that I did go on that ride! I would have regretted tremendously if I didn't.

Apart from enjoying the experience, tiny canals and pretty buildings around, taking pictures on the gondola is also essential!

Make sure the boatman helps you to take a nice picture right in the middle of the grand canal with the famous Rialto Bridge in the background! It requires some good balancing skills, but he should have practised it many times.

And don't forget to make use of the boatman as much as you can, get him to take more pictures for you whenever possible. Remember that you paid him 100 Euros for that hour!

After the ride, get an Italian Gelato and stroll along the grand canal. Take in the sights as much as possible and enjoy the moment.

Go on Rialto Bridge (where it was the background on your gondola shot previously) and wave to gondolas passing by.

Get a pro-looking fellow-tourist, preferably someone using a DSLR to take a nice picture for you. When the sun is setting, it's good to on your flash or risk having dark faces!

Then stroll around the city and shop by beautiful handicrafts shops. They are beautiful, but pricey since they cater mainly to tourists. I would have liked to own one of this masks and the hand-made glass photo frames though. But we were backpacking, and on a budget, so the only souvenirs we got from Venice were magnets and postcards - things which I collect from every city I visit.

Take some time to get lost in the narrow streets with your map and enjoy the experience. It's like solving a maze, for a wrong turn takes you to the canals with no through bridges.

Enjoy the experience and snap pictures along the way.

Every corner is post-card worthy!

We took some time to navigate the narrow streets, but we finally made it back to the area near the train station. It was probably a good 30-60 minutes walk.

The view from the bridge at near the train station, as we were staying at a hotel nearby.

When you are at Venice, you must try their famous fish soup 'Zuppa di pesce'. It was really good and was easily the best fish soup I've ever tasted. It's tasty, flavourful yet light and refreshing. The seafood inside is also very fresh, which makes the soup really sweet.

I liked it so much that the first thing I cooked after the trip was fish soup! Of course it didn't taste as good as this.

Apart from the fish soup, other common dishes were squid ink pasta, risotto and of course pizza.

A walk after dinner in the cool night is really relaxing too.

And we had fun trying to find a platform so that we can take a picture together. In the end, the camera ended up on some 'ticketing machine' for the boats.

The last thing about Venice is patience. Be prepared for delays and strikes, it's not uncommon to run into them.

The day when we had to leave, we realized that there was a strike going on. The buses weren't coming to the station to pick us up to the airport! It was hectic, running around trying to make sense of what was happening. When we finally got on a bus to the airport, there was a major jam enroute. And when we finally managed to get to the airport in time, we realized that our flight was cancelled, like many other flights were!



You can only imagine how crowded the airport was, filled with confused and frustrated tourists and travellers, trying to find a way out of Venice. Some flights were flying, but it was difficult to know which airline to queue for without knowing the routes nor schedule. It was chaotic, but we finally got tickets to Hamburg, where there were frequent trains to Berlin.

It took us a whole day to reach Berlin instead of half a day. It was a tiring and crazy day, but this is really quite common while traveling in Europe. I have met strikes and closure of tourist attractions many times while traveling in Europe!

.::. Statue of Liberty .::.

What is a trip to New York City without visiting the Statue of Liberty? It's one of those things which you must do as a tourist.

We booked crown tickets online 3 months ago, so that we can climb all the way up. It's really exclusive as there are only 240 tickets available a day. Once you reach the island, you've supposed to visit the vistors' center to register with your passport and tickets first. Security was also very tight and we had to deposit all our belongings in paid lockers provided. We only went up with the camera, which was a good thing since it was a good, hard climb up.



The last time the boyfriend came, he got tickets to the pedestal, but did not get to go up as he missed his timing! They were so busy snapping pictures around the statue that they forgot the time!

Thus, we got there early! The ferry to Ellis Island gave a very good view of New York City.

This is the winding stairs up to the crown.

It is a 334 steps climb!

Here I am, finally reaching the top of the Statue!

It was hot and stuffy on the narrow, winding staircase! I was dripping sweat by the time I reached the top!

Here we are, on the Statue of Liberty's crown.

There are 2 soldiers stationed at the crown. They rotate shifts every hour and climb those stairs at least once a day! It's so hot and tiring, but I guess they must have got used to it.



This is a glimpse of the torch from the dirty windows from the crown!

There isn't that much to see from the small and dirty windows at the crown. The view wasn't that fantastic either. Part of me wondered, why the hell did we want to get the crown tickets anyway??

I never questioned the boyfriend when he enthusiastically got me to book the tickets 3 months in advance - I just did it. It's like like the many climbs up churches in Europe. The mentality is always - since we're already here, why not climb up to take a look?

It's always very tiring, since traveling is hard on the feet! However, the experience is always memorable, because of how tiring it is! He's always the happy boy bouncing up the stairs and laughing at me when I'm sweaty and tired.

It's a really narrow climb up, my feet is even bigger than the stairs and it makes me giddy turning round and round! I had to hold the railings and climb down really carefully. Not for the faint-hearted!

Here is us at the pedestal. It's windy and I felt so much better getting out of the stuffy interior. The 360 view was alot better here and you had more space to take pictures and walk about.

Statue of Liberty and us.

Miss Liberty is heavy, she needs to go on a diet!

And here's the boyfriend with Miss Liberty.

Funny shots are obligatory as you see rows of people trying to take all sorts of funny pictures! It's fun, abit like our experience at Pisa.

Did you know that there's a mini Statue of Liberty in Paris near the Eiffel Tower? I didn't know that until the boyfriend read up about the Statue of Liberty. If I had known, we would have visited it when we were in Paris!

Anyway, the crown access to the Statue of Liberty will be closed for reworks for a year. Luckily we got up before the renovations, otherwise I would have been disappointed - just like how disappointed I was about the reflections pool renovations in Washington!

.::. NDP 2011 .::.

It was Singapore's 46th Birthday on 9th August 2011.

Like every year, we have this huge parade with marching, air displays, parachutes, shows and fireworks. I wonder if any countries celebrate National Day like we do?

It may be somewhat 'communist' rooted and propaganda to celebrate the country's birthday in such style. Afterall, quite a considerable amount of resources are dedicated to this show yearly and full-rehearsals start from end-June.

People can say what they like, but I believe that many Singaporeans are proud of Singapore like I am. I do feel exceptionally nationalistic during National Day, but looking back at how far we have came the past 46 years make me feel really blessed.

How many countries achieved such prosperity in a short 46 years after independence? How many countries this small without any natural resources has become so well-known internationally? Above all, how many countries are as safe as Singapore? People can look down on us and say whatever they want, but only true-blue Singaporeans realize how precious Singapore is, despite all the complaints we have.

This year, the brother got us preview tickets as he was on 'Chinook' with the flag. I love National Day Parades, and I have been to countless ones in Kallang Stadium. It's always really hot, very crowded, yet I enjoy every parade so much. It's the atmosphere, the kallang wave, the sea of red and the adrenaline rush I get. I especially like the sing-along part, although it's really scaled down now.

This was the first time the boyfriend is watching a parade live, ever! He has drove a tank at NDP during his NS period, but it isn't the same as being there!

It's my first time watching the parade on Marina Platform. The backdrop is beautiful, with MBS and the water in the background.

Everyone's waving the flag with the tall buildings in the Central Business District buildings as backdrop.

love it when everyone's happy.

How can we miss the annual parachute display? They make it look so effortless, and they've beautiful custom-made parachutes with special red smoke emitted from their leg this year.

The neat contingents.

And the fireworks display was spectacular this year. Pure beauty.

Which other county celebrates National Day like we do? It's pretty ridiculous how much money and resources we spend on this. I love it though.

My first memory of National Day was when my dad drove us to some flat grass patch in Marina Bay to watch fireworks. I remembered that we could see fireworks from our window every year, but there was this particular year which he decided to drive us there. I remembered how he described it would look like. I vaguely remembered bad traffic and many cars. I think we made it in time. You could just sit on the grass and look up at the beautiful fireworks which seemed to come closer and closer to you. The sound was deafening, and I felt so excited.

It was loud, it was bright, it was beautiful.

It looked spectacular through my young eyes.

That memory is etched in my mind. My love of fireworks began since then. Fireworks were pretty rare then, we only get to see it during National Day. We slowly get to see it more often, but people always flocked to such occasions. Perhaps this explains why I made the boyfriend watch fireworks with me so often though it meant squeezing in the crowds and going really early to get a good view.

Fireworks has since lost some of its appeal, or perhaps I'm really more adverse to crowds now.

But still, I love fireworks. And I love Singapore.

It's strange. I love traveling, I loved the year I spent in Europe away from home and I love many other countries. I envy some things about other countries which we do not have, and I complain about the way some things are in Singapore.

At the end of the day, I can't think of any other place that I want to live. Singapore is simply home. I love it the way it is, and I'm proud to be a Singaporean. We are so distinctive as Singaporeans - you can always detect one everywhere you go from that familiar Singaporean accent and Singlish or that crumpler bag and haviannas slippers. I love Singapore's food and the variety we get here, I can't go without it for that long.

Despite the stressful lifestyle, the crowded trains, the expensive houses and rat race, I still can't give Singapore up to be a second-class citizen in another country who sees me as an outsider/intruder. I would rather stay put, and who says your country is better than mine?

There is no place better than home.

.::. Chinook's 4th Birthday .::.

It was Chinook's 4th birthday on National Day's Eve.

We didn't really 'celebrate' this year as I had such a bad experience with Doggy Bakery that I refuse to buy any more cakes from them.

We decided to give Chinook a treat though, to cook the greedy dog a good meal.



So both of us rushed to the supermarket before heading home to cook for the dog. He may have sensed something, he was so excited and end up staying in the kitchen to look at us.

Here is his dinner, boiled Japanese sweet potatoes and chicken. Ain't sweet potatoes supposed to be cheap?! These were so expensive!

And after I mashed the sweet potaotes up for it to cool, look at the greedy dog who kept trying to catch a glimpse of his dinner.

Just look at him!

At least he stayed and listened before he actually got to eat.

The food was gone in minutes.

Our little boy is already 4 doggy years old, and that is 28 human years old - older than both Joey and me!

It feels like yesterday when he's that little puppy, and I still remember how I brought him home, brought him out for walks and taught him tricks. I'm allergic to him now, since he's always rolling in the grass and lying on dirty floor mats. Hugging him and touching gives me rashes and itchy eyes. *sigh!

He's still our little baby though, always so loving and warm. He has brought so much joy and memories to our life, our little companion.

Happy Birthday Chinook!