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My “Doh!” Moment At The Bank

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Normally I’m pretty careful. For example, I have never lost a handphone before. I only lost my wallet once when I was a kid (with $8 inside, which was a lot of money in those days, especially to a kid). Oh, and I lost my bluetooth earpiece, but that was because I was pissed-drunk, so that doesn’t count.

I also have a habit of separating important stuff out from not-so-important ones, and making sure I have a duplicate/backup sets of important stuff. Just in case. For example, I have 2x EZlink cards, put in 2 different locations. I have 2 sets of important keys – main door and gate key – and they are also put at 2 different locations on my body. I also have a $10 note separated from the wallet and put into the case carrying my spare/backup EZlink card. Yeah I drove my ex-gf crazy because I always had so much stuff to take out from the various pockets at the end of the day to put on the dresser. She would always tell me to consolidate everything so it’s easier and more convenient.

Nah, if I ever lose that 1 convenient consolidated item, I’d lose EVERYTHING. I’d be stranded.

That also explains why I am still somewhat resistant to getting a PDA phone. My PDA is my Palm TX, my phone is my Nokia E51. If I ever lose one, or one breaks down, I can still use the other. Contact lists are synchronised across both devices, as well as on my office laptop and home PC.

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Irritating Things Parents And Relatives Do During Chinese New Year

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I know I’m not alone when I say that I don’t particularly like the “visiting relatives” part of Chinese New Year activities. The original intention, was to foster closer family ties. Back in China, maybe this was useful, and probably still is. In those days, when you were in trouble and you had no one else to turn to, you can always turn to family. “Blood is thicker than water”, so the saying goes.

Nowadays though, from my observation, “family” doesn’t extend too much past your own immediate family – your own kids, and your own parents. I bet not many people have close ties with their nephews, nieces and cousins – let alone their grand-aunts, grand-uncles, and other distantly related “relatives”. Personally, my friends are closer to me than my cousins and nieces and nephews. I have some friends who are the same too – their friends are closer to them than their relatives.

(As a quick aside, when my brother got married, 75% of the people who turned up at the wedding dinner were strangers to me, but my mom said those were our “relatives”. Yeah I’d never seen them before, let alone my brother).

When you partake in this “visiting relatives” thing, suddenly you are reminded WHY you don’t like this part. They would ask you embarrassing questions, or would pry into your private affairs. Or worse still, your own parents might even ridicule you in front of your “relatives”. Yeah Asian parents do that – it’s their way to “motivate” their own kids to “do better”.
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