Sunday, October 30, 2005

Update : Lightning Striking Twice

The robber(s) went in through the front gate - a gate door made from stainless steel. Dad said they snapped it open and later pried open the wooden door as well. The whole house is in a mess again now after being searched. It happened while my cousin was in my aunt's house , so it must have happened between dinner time and 11pm. The neighbours must have heard some sounds, but decided not to help. A spirit of neighbourliness or selfishness here?

My cousin decided not to report to the police since they didn't do anything during the last time of report anyway. But at least if they report, that would add onto the statistics and HOPEFULLY ( with caps on) someone would notice the rising numbers of neighbourhood crimes. Unless someone makes an action, this case remains another number which adds on to the statistics. But my best guess would be that they would just add the number of police beats around the area ; to catch the thief would be like searching for a needle in the sea - these guys are faceless and too smooth.

Poor security everywhere nowadays. Sighhh...

Happy Birthday Jun!

Happy 23rd Birthday , my dear Jun! Have a blessed year ahead. Hope that this year's birthday is a memorable one for you. Wishing you a year showered with lots of love, happiness and blessings from our dear Lord. :D

Yuen Yee's 21st Birthday celebration

A bit too late to update this - I should have done it long long time ago. Everything went well - we had more than 50 guests coming... it rained in the evening and at night, but stopped later.

Coincidentally, one granduncle passed away on Friday night , causing a few aunts and uncles to abstain from the party because of some superstition that "red and white events cant mix". Birthday parties are red events while funerals are white events. I thought they could attend YY's birthday party first and then attend the funeral at night ; but since granduncle's rank in the family is higher, he gets the priority in any family event. Attendees of the funeral normally do not attend both events together in case it brings bad luck/ bad omen to the one who is hosting the red event.

YY seemed disappointed that night as we expected a big turnout , especially when we're such a close-knitted family - but we couldn't change the fact that Chinese are still superstitious lot when it comes to things like this. Lots of leftovers that night , but nevertheless we had a real good time celebrating her birthday and also her "present-opening" ceremony. Hehehhe..........

p/s : So you're 21 now huh! Now you has the license to kill.... err, I mean - thrill!

Saturday, October 29, 2005

Lighting can strike the same place twice

Mum and Dad just got out of the house minutes ago, very unlikely at this hour as it is already nearing midnight - Cousin's house got robbed again. The last time it got robbed was one or two months back - can't really recall the exact date. The robber came in through the roof after climbing the phone pole just right behind cousin's house . I remember Big Aunt asking Dad to get help to remove the metal bars which are attached to the phone pole. These metal bars were actually easy stairways to allow anyone to climb up to the rooftop. Removing them would help not onlyto safeguard my cousin's house , but the surrounding houses as well.

I wonder how the robber got in this time. This incident really would put Big Aunt into uneasiness... :( Just wait for Mum and Dad to come home to find out how.

Friday, October 07, 2005

Tomorrow

It's Yuen Yee's 21st birthday celebration tomorrow! Her birthday isn't tomorrow, but since her actual birthday falls on a weekday and knowing that everyone would be too busy to attend a weekday birthday party, Mum decided to have it tomorrow - the 8th of October. So all the preparations were made weeks before - the list of guests , the food , the present, the cakes . The guest list is shorter this time as YY will not be inviting any of her friends , save her "special friend" ; not because she doesn't have any friends, but because they are all non-locals and do not have a place to bunk during the weekend after the party.

I'm going back tonight to help her to make the jellies for tomorrow's party. Gotta remind her to put some coloring into the mixture so that it doesn't look so pale. It's also much easier to clean the mould containers after removing the jellies since you can actually see the jelly leftovers stuck in them. This comes from experience!

Bought her a gift , hope she likes it. I know I like what I bought very much... hehhehe... If she doesn't like it, I'm glad to take it back :) *Buruk siku!*

Forwarding emails

This morning I received an email about a girl who lost her parents in the recent tsunami which hit South Asia in the beginning of the year; she has no recollection of her name nor her own family , she has lost her parents and now still remains at the Phuket Hospital. The email pleads that its recipients would forward it to all their contacts :

    Please don’t just delete this - your contribution could be the one that solves this little girl’s problem. Even if you are one of the people who believes that it is always someone else’s obligation to help the misfortunate, please know that forwarding this will cost you nothing. Let’s help!! Forward this to everyone you can.


I wonder if all these emails are genuine, or would it actually achieve the objective in finding her parents... Perhaps they do, I've no idea... but I just don't forward emails like this.

Would you forward emails which asks for blood donations ? Perhaps I would , if it sounds genuine enough. What about those which promise monetary rewards - something like Microsoft would reimburse you with a fat paycheck when you forward the email to everyone you know --indirectly becoming a spammer for someone smarter? Perhaps it really sounds silly - but let me ask this : Has anyone really become richer by just forwarding emails everyday?

Just some observations to the strategies they use :-
(a)Threaten(punishment)==> You'll have bad luck for the next 7 years if you don't forward them. Unlucky for them, they go straight into the trash bin.

(b) Soft stance(reward) ==> Some goes by softer stance of saying that you would be blessed by God if you forward those emails. I wonder if God would.

*Ok, time to check my next forwarded email.*