I know my heading to this entry seems boring but seriously.. how time flies.... It's been a week since I last blogged...
Anyway, guess what?!?!?! I was in the same lift at Tay Ping Hui when I came home, for abt minute or two! For the first time....ALONE with him... AHhaha... Was so shy man... I stood at one corner and made eye contact with him like twice... Felt so tempted to start a conversation with him... Not that I'm a fan or anything... But it's like we're so closely related and yet so far... Ok Ok... let me elaborate before rumours start flying around...
Firstly, I know his cousin... His cousin is my personal friend... and he's on pretty good terms with her. Secondly, he lives in my block! You know... all that jazz about bring a friendly neighbour... You know... smile, say Hi, greet each other... And I've bumped into him so many times in the lift lobby... and thirdly, he's my good friend's colleague and they acted together before... (yes, most of you who have my friendster contact know who she is). So what more can I say? Hahaha... But anyway, while I was contemplating if I should start a conversation, he reached his floor... and so he got out... Well... Nevermind... AHhaha
Something else happened today too... I got myself another 1 GB e-mail account!! And no, it's not gmail.. I've already got that... This time, it's with YAHOO CHINA... Yeah... Yahoo's biased towards emerging markets... ONLY CHINA get 1GB accounts!! Hahaha... anyway, it's free, and you can apply for as many as you want. The only catch is that your yahoo e-mail addy will have @yahoo.com.cn. And although the interface is in Chinese, there are options to change the language into English... So Winston helped me set up everything because I couldn't read the Chinese letters for nuts... Heheh... Anyway, so yeah... I got TWO 1 GB accounts now... Ask me why I need so many? I have no idea. 'Kia Su Singaporean' I suppose... Haha....
Something else happened today too!!! Was window shopping in Far East Plaza with RT and we were walking along when I heard a couple of guys walking behind us. One of them were talking rather loudly and animately... I was kinda eaves dropping cause he was so animated. However, I found his voice very familiar, so I couldn't help myself but stop and pretended to take a look back... And guess what... It was my friend, this guy called Terry. When he saw me, he stopped short in his track and looked at me in surprise... I was bloody surprised too because the last time I heard from Terry was two years ago before he went back to K.L. to work. When he got over his surprise, he started talking so animately again... saying that he's been trying to search for me on friendster, trying to get my contact number to catch up etc because we live in the same vicinity. But he hasn't been able to contact anyone who has my contact.... Hahah... so funny... This world is just so small....
Alrightey... time for a shower... heheh... till the next time!
P.S. Another thing... I fell in love with Samsung E600C... I just got to have it... sigh... I WILL HAVE IT!
P.P.S. My laptop still not up yet... Sigh...
Saturday, July 31, 2004
Saturday, July 24, 2004
I'm resigned...
To my fate of having my laptop passing out on me.... looks like I'm gonna need to reformat my laptop... sigh... But of course before I do that, am going to try all ways and means to backup the data... sigh... all my MP3s, pictures... *ouch*
Anyway, since my lifebook's dead... just got to make do with this... Get on with life...
Suzhou travel log part two...
"10.08 pm
Just came back from an one-hour foot reflexology. As it was my first time, it was sure a tickling and painful experience. What's more, the guy who was doing it for me said that massaging my feet was like helping someone scratch an itch.
My foot massager
Easily done and it doesn't take that much out of him. Hrm... but it was PAINFUL! Anyway, was a good experience. He also found out that I got weak knees, through pain in certain parts of my feet (when he applies pressure against it). He says that I got to take care of my knee and it will be prone to rheumatism. Asked me to go buy the medicated plasters meant for old people... Sigh... Signs of old age...
But anyway, the foot massage was real timely cause we walked around quite a bit today. We were brought to this place known as "Tiger Hill". Nice scenery, nice history...
My favourite picture taken from "Tiger Hill"
Haha... but did not really pay attention to the history part. Only caught bits and pieces of it as my tour guide explained the stories behind the different buildings, structures or the places of events.
After that, we had a mini shopping spree... Things were really quite cheap! Bangkok no more! Shanghai (China), here I come! Bought quite a number of "Chinese fabric" pouches gifts. Had really good buys... Settled all my gifts for my aunts and colleagues all @ one shot. The best thing about shopping here is that, it's all bargainable! But fashion's out of the story though. Fashion over here is... errrrr.... hrrrm... 'off the tangent'... Oh well... You gain some, you lose some...
Anyway, am going to try to sleep now... Got to 'work' the whole day tomorrow...."
Talking about bargains, YEAH! Everything's bargainable! I bought this embroidery picture on the last day and how I bargained, I really must share. I went into this shop in the hotel and usually these shops sell their goods at really cut throat prices cause they know that their target markets are the tourists or hotel guests. Anyway, there was this lady sewing the pictures by hand, so I know that these stuff are authentic. I was looking at this framed embroidery picture and I thought I really liked it alot. But it was the last day of my stay and we were already going to take the coach to head to the airport.
But I asked the price of the picture anyway. The nice lady told me that the picture costs 380 yuan (abt. S$75)... So I gave her a look of 'dismay' and told her that as it was my last day, I do not have that much cash and that I was also in a hurry to get on the coach as we were leaving. So the sales lady went... "Oh, it's your last day? How much do you have left?" So I said, I got about 200 yuan left (abt. S$40)... Then she said "We have never sold a picture for such a low cost before but since it's your last day, you can buy it as souvenir." And she really sold me the picture at 200 YUAN! Hrm... what a way of bargaining right? I'm sure they still make a good margin of profit and this can possibly happen only if you meet a nice sales lady.... Oh well... I still stood to GAIN! Heheheh...
Anyway, since my lifebook's dead... just got to make do with this... Get on with life...
Suzhou travel log part two...
"10.08 pm
Just came back from an one-hour foot reflexology. As it was my first time, it was sure a tickling and painful experience. What's more, the guy who was doing it for me said that massaging my feet was like helping someone scratch an itch.
My foot massager
Easily done and it doesn't take that much out of him. Hrm... but it was PAINFUL! Anyway, was a good experience. He also found out that I got weak knees, through pain in certain parts of my feet (when he applies pressure against it). He says that I got to take care of my knee and it will be prone to rheumatism. Asked me to go buy the medicated plasters meant for old people... Sigh... Signs of old age...
But anyway, the foot massage was real timely cause we walked around quite a bit today. We were brought to this place known as "Tiger Hill". Nice scenery, nice history...
My favourite picture taken from "Tiger Hill"
Haha... but did not really pay attention to the history part. Only caught bits and pieces of it as my tour guide explained the stories behind the different buildings, structures or the places of events.
After that, we had a mini shopping spree... Things were really quite cheap! Bangkok no more! Shanghai (China), here I come! Bought quite a number of "Chinese fabric" pouches gifts. Had really good buys... Settled all my gifts for my aunts and colleagues all @ one shot. The best thing about shopping here is that, it's all bargainable! But fashion's out of the story though. Fashion over here is... errrrr.... hrrrm... 'off the tangent'... Oh well... You gain some, you lose some...
Anyway, am going to try to sleep now... Got to 'work' the whole day tomorrow...."
Talking about bargains, YEAH! Everything's bargainable! I bought this embroidery picture on the last day and how I bargained, I really must share. I went into this shop in the hotel and usually these shops sell their goods at really cut throat prices cause they know that their target markets are the tourists or hotel guests. Anyway, there was this lady sewing the pictures by hand, so I know that these stuff are authentic. I was looking at this framed embroidery picture and I thought I really liked it alot. But it was the last day of my stay and we were already going to take the coach to head to the airport.
But I asked the price of the picture anyway. The nice lady told me that the picture costs 380 yuan (abt. S$75)... So I gave her a look of 'dismay' and told her that as it was my last day, I do not have that much cash and that I was also in a hurry to get on the coach as we were leaving. So the sales lady went... "Oh, it's your last day? How much do you have left?" So I said, I got about 200 yuan left (abt. S$40)... Then she said "We have never sold a picture for such a low cost before but since it's your last day, you can buy it as souvenir." And she really sold me the picture at 200 YUAN! Hrm... what a way of bargaining right? I'm sure they still make a good margin of profit and this can possibly happen only if you meet a nice sales lady.... Oh well... I still stood to GAIN! Heheheh...
Friday, July 23, 2004
My laptop screwed up...
Feeling freaking frustrated now... Was supposed to come home and do my work and to my HORROR, DISMAY, DISAPPOINTMENT, FRUSTRATION, VEXATION, my laptop crashed!!! Am feeling bloody pissed now... My bloody laptop keeps asking for reinstallation of my Windows. And now I got to go find a Windows ME edition to try to re-install and pray with my deepest being that everything else is fine... Hopefully nothing like my harddisk is wiped out or anything... Or I'll be one freaking, miserable creature....
And thank goodness for my desktop which is like ancient. But at least I'm here now, and I'm able to continue with work... ALTHOUGH I have ABSOLUTELY no freaking mood for it. Yet I got an article to finish up by tonight... FREAKING PISSED man... FREAK FREAK FREAK FREAK!
Dunno what to do now... Feeling lost... Like part of my life's wiped out... Even though I got access to my desktop... My entire life's in my laptop... *one hell of a misery*
And thank goodness for my desktop which is like ancient. But at least I'm here now, and I'm able to continue with work... ALTHOUGH I have ABSOLUTELY no freaking mood for it. Yet I got an article to finish up by tonight... FREAKING PISSED man... FREAK FREAK FREAK FREAK!
Dunno what to do now... Feeling lost... Like part of my life's wiped out... Even though I got access to my desktop... My entire life's in my laptop... *one hell of a misery*
Wednesday, July 21, 2004
Suzhou travel log part one...
"Day 1: 6.08pm
Phew! Finally there's time for me to settle down, rest and enjoy some time to myself for a little while. The day's been pretty hectic, not to mention tiring...
Left Singapore at 1.15am this morning. The flight took about 5 hours and we arrived at Shanghai at 6.15am. The first glance of Shanghai from the plance surprised me. It was nothing like what I heard of China from my parents. But then again, their 3-month experience with China is 17 years old. True to its reputation as an emerging country, the whole place was filled with high-rised buildings, skyscrapers that look as modern as perhaps Singapoe or New York.
Buildings of Suzhou
The first impression of the airport was that it was huge! Not only that, it was pretty clean as well. Upon reaching the airport, we were kinda disappointed to find out that it was another 2 hours bus-ride to out hotel, Sheraton Towers in Suzhou. Guess we were all very tired as most of us couldn't really sleep during the flight. And we had only about 3 hours of sleep or lesser before they woke us up for breakfast at 4ish...
When we were enroute to our hotel, the first sights of Shanghai reminded me of Bangkok, or even Malaysia. There were plenty of low-rise buildings along the sides of the roads, mostly shophouses, restaurants or departmental stores.
When I found out that I had a whole room to myself, I was so impressed... (First press trip mah....) Anyway, when I saw the room, I was even more impressed. The room was luxurious!
My hotel room in Suzhou Sheraton
The hotel provided everything that you can think of! They had a really nice toilet too! I couldn't help myself but actually had shower 4 times today! Well, the weather's really hot here too... And dusty...
We had an absolutely unforgettable lunch after that. It was a meal that's fit for the emporer truly! We actually lost track of how many dishes we had... The food came in huge servings, one after another. I think it was easily 20 plus or more variey of dishes.
The meal that's fit for an Emperor
Imagine there were 5 different dessert, 2 different prawn dishes, 2 chicken dishes, 3 different fish dishes... And many more!!!! We were just amazed... and so overwhelmed that we kept asking them to remove the dishes even before we were anywhere near done with them.
Can't imagine I need to go for dinner soon... After 40 mins of rest... Sigh... will fill you in again later..."
That wasn't even the entire log for day one.. But well, I did not have time to log after day one though.. Haha... Guess I'll continue the log tomorrow! :)
Phew! Finally there's time for me to settle down, rest and enjoy some time to myself for a little while. The day's been pretty hectic, not to mention tiring...
Left Singapore at 1.15am this morning. The flight took about 5 hours and we arrived at Shanghai at 6.15am. The first glance of Shanghai from the plance surprised me. It was nothing like what I heard of China from my parents. But then again, their 3-month experience with China is 17 years old. True to its reputation as an emerging country, the whole place was filled with high-rised buildings, skyscrapers that look as modern as perhaps Singapoe or New York.
Buildings of Suzhou
The first impression of the airport was that it was huge! Not only that, it was pretty clean as well. Upon reaching the airport, we were kinda disappointed to find out that it was another 2 hours bus-ride to out hotel, Sheraton Towers in Suzhou. Guess we were all very tired as most of us couldn't really sleep during the flight. And we had only about 3 hours of sleep or lesser before they woke us up for breakfast at 4ish...
When we were enroute to our hotel, the first sights of Shanghai reminded me of Bangkok, or even Malaysia. There were plenty of low-rise buildings along the sides of the roads, mostly shophouses, restaurants or departmental stores.
When I found out that I had a whole room to myself, I was so impressed... (First press trip mah....) Anyway, when I saw the room, I was even more impressed. The room was luxurious!
My hotel room in Suzhou Sheraton
The hotel provided everything that you can think of! They had a really nice toilet too! I couldn't help myself but actually had shower 4 times today! Well, the weather's really hot here too... And dusty...
We had an absolutely unforgettable lunch after that. It was a meal that's fit for the emporer truly! We actually lost track of how many dishes we had... The food came in huge servings, one after another. I think it was easily 20 plus or more variey of dishes.
The meal that's fit for an Emperor
Imagine there were 5 different dessert, 2 different prawn dishes, 2 chicken dishes, 3 different fish dishes... And many more!!!! We were just amazed... and so overwhelmed that we kept asking them to remove the dishes even before we were anywhere near done with them.
Can't imagine I need to go for dinner soon... After 40 mins of rest... Sigh... will fill you in again later..."
That wasn't even the entire log for day one.. But well, I did not have time to log after day one though.. Haha... Guess I'll continue the log tomorrow! :)
Tuesday, July 20, 2004
Dreary day...
Watching the raindrops pelting against the window pane, grey clouds hovering above the masses of people under umbrellas, walking along the streets... Can't help having that "Oh so dreary" feeling...
Am so sleeeeepy now... sigh... Can just imagining myself snuggly tucked in bed, with Michael Buble's voice filling up my whole room... ARH! Why am I stuck in the office? Not to mention that I got to attend a Symantec event later at 3pm... and I'm so freaaaaaking sleepy... Well, that's life I guess...
And life also says that it's normal for one to grow old, and start having creaky and achy joints. I don't know if it's my psychological working but ever since I went for my first foot reflexology session, my right knee feels pain at times. You see, during the foot reflexology, I discovered that I have this problematic right knee... Not only was it rattling when it was being massaged, there was a creaky feeling when I walked. But then again, I have always known that I've got weak knees... Cuz they get cold real easily... Which is why I think I better start taking better care of my knees... and not wear them out before their time is up. And I better do something about that 'rheumatism-like' feeling that I get... the pain...
Anyway, was telling my friend about the pain in my knees and she actually gave me a remedy that is supposed to be good for guys in bed and for knee joints. Don't ask me how those two relate to each other but that's what she said. I'm supposed to mix and blend up:
1) 2-3 big tomatoes
2) 3 medium ladyfingers
3) 1 table spoon of green lemon juice
4) 1 table spoon of sugar
and 5) a quarter cup of water...
Hrrrm... Still comtemplating if I should actually try out this recipe... Well, shall sleep on it and see how I feel... Maybe I will when I feel more adventurous...
Am so sleeeeepy now... sigh... Can just imagining myself snuggly tucked in bed, with Michael Buble's voice filling up my whole room... ARH! Why am I stuck in the office? Not to mention that I got to attend a Symantec event later at 3pm... and I'm so freaaaaaking sleepy... Well, that's life I guess...
And life also says that it's normal for one to grow old, and start having creaky and achy joints. I don't know if it's my psychological working but ever since I went for my first foot reflexology session, my right knee feels pain at times. You see, during the foot reflexology, I discovered that I have this problematic right knee... Not only was it rattling when it was being massaged, there was a creaky feeling when I walked. But then again, I have always known that I've got weak knees... Cuz they get cold real easily... Which is why I think I better start taking better care of my knees... and not wear them out before their time is up. And I better do something about that 'rheumatism-like' feeling that I get... the pain...
Anyway, was telling my friend about the pain in my knees and she actually gave me a remedy that is supposed to be good for guys in bed and for knee joints. Don't ask me how those two relate to each other but that's what she said. I'm supposed to mix and blend up:
1) 2-3 big tomatoes
2) 3 medium ladyfingers
3) 1 table spoon of green lemon juice
4) 1 table spoon of sugar
and 5) a quarter cup of water...
Hrrrm... Still comtemplating if I should actually try out this recipe... Well, shall sleep on it and see how I feel... Maybe I will when I feel more adventurous...
Monday, July 19, 2004
I'm Back!!!
Yeah! I'm back I'm back!! Just that I've been tooooo busy to actually find time to blog.
I kinda tried to maintain a 'travel' log on my 4 days (3 days effectively excluding travelling) trip but was hopeless. I was so tight on schedule most of the time... Will transfer what ever I have over here once I get the time.
It was a good experience tho... Will wanna go China again! At least Shanghai... step by step first arh... shan't venture too far back in civilization... Hahaha...
Things there were sooo cheap! Will blog more tonight when I get the time. I've simply been too busy since I got back... not to mention that workload's been getting heavier... sigh... Just wanted to leave something here to inject some life in this lifeless blog of mine... haha...
Laterz then!
I kinda tried to maintain a 'travel' log on my 4 days (3 days effectively excluding travelling) trip but was hopeless. I was so tight on schedule most of the time... Will transfer what ever I have over here once I get the time.
It was a good experience tho... Will wanna go China again! At least Shanghai... step by step first arh... shan't venture too far back in civilization... Hahaha...
Things there were sooo cheap! Will blog more tonight when I get the time. I've simply been too busy since I got back... not to mention that workload's been getting heavier... sigh... Just wanted to leave something here to inject some life in this lifeless blog of mine... haha...
Laterz then!
Monday, July 12, 2004
Suzhou… Here I come!
Heheh… Can't imagine I'll be flying off to Suzhou later tonight… Seems so quickly that time passes by. Kinda having mixed feelings right now. On one hand I'm excited about it being my first 'long' overseas press trip, on the other hand, I'm kinda worried about what kinda announcements they are going to make, whether I'll be able to latch on to the right news angle… *anticipating*
Anyway, having a shitty flight timing later on. Will be checking in at 11ish, flight is supposed to be at 1plus am and is supposed to reach Shanghai at 6ish am. Well, they better let us sleep-in for a while…
Anyway, they have some photo contest going on during the trip, so we will be bringing our digital cameras. I'll be bringing mine! Which means that I will be able to take some photos! Hehehe… Cool huh… Anyway, got a feeling that I'll be back in Singapore even before I know it.
Winston was telling me that the things in Suzhou are supposed to be slightly cheaper than in Shanghai itself… So he told me to expect to do some shopping. SHOPPING AGAIN! I can't believe it… Feels like I'm going to be shopping phobic anytime soon now… HAhaha… I think it's more of the fact that my wallet's empty…
Just found out from Ariel, a journo from Today, that we will be staying in Suzhou Sheraton Towers! WOOoHooooO… it's a 5-star hotel in Suzhou… Hrmmm…. Doesn't sound too bad… does it? Well, shall constantly update if I have time there… Why wouldn't I since I'm supposed to file my story from over there anyway!?
Anyway, having a shitty flight timing later on. Will be checking in at 11ish, flight is supposed to be at 1plus am and is supposed to reach Shanghai at 6ish am. Well, they better let us sleep-in for a while…
Anyway, they have some photo contest going on during the trip, so we will be bringing our digital cameras. I'll be bringing mine! Which means that I will be able to take some photos! Hehehe… Cool huh… Anyway, got a feeling that I'll be back in Singapore even before I know it.
Winston was telling me that the things in Suzhou are supposed to be slightly cheaper than in Shanghai itself… So he told me to expect to do some shopping. SHOPPING AGAIN! I can't believe it… Feels like I'm going to be shopping phobic anytime soon now… HAhaha… I think it's more of the fact that my wallet's empty…
Just found out from Ariel, a journo from Today, that we will be staying in Suzhou Sheraton Towers! WOOoHooooO… it's a 5-star hotel in Suzhou… Hrmmm…. Doesn't sound too bad… does it? Well, shall constantly update if I have time there… Why wouldn't I since I'm supposed to file my story from over there anyway!?
Saturday, July 10, 2004
The Green Mile....
Just finished watching one of my all-time favourite show... "The Green Mile". Never fails to bring tears to my eyes... There's so much meaning to the show... About human beings, about mankind...About Human behavioural patterns, about God, about belief... about faith... Well, I can go on... but I shan't...
Anyway, while watching Green Mile, I decided to take some time to upload all my pictures taken in Bangkok... Been long overdued and Rach's bugging me for it, people who knew that we went Bangkok also bugged me for it! Thought might as well do it since I decided to be a couch potato and spend some time slacking at home on a Saturday afternoon...
Haha... Looking through the photos as I was uploading them really brought back memories...(Yes I know it wasn't that long ago that I was in Bangkok). But sigh.. wish I could go somewhere farrrrrrr away for a while... and I don't mean 4 days... Take a look around some other parts of the world... and really observe for once, the other people, the other ways of lives... Singapore's not the be all and end all.
Am soooo sleepy now... Feel like going to sleep but I can't cause I'm going out rather soon. Came back at 4am this morning. Went Bala Clava's with Angie and met so many people there. There was Andrew, Milton and gang, Sherley, Matthew, Carlman, Weiming, Evelynn, the Streats journo (forgot his name... haha... but it's really coincidental cause we just introduced ourselves to each other the day before at an ABN Amro event--even though we have met each other numerous times at various events...) Angie said that she should consider starting a "Zenster" network for me... Larbbish... Hahah.. But really was coincidental cause I've not met a couple of these people since NUS days...
Well, stayed at Bala's till 11ish and had to adjourn to Devil's Bar. I actually already had more than enough drinks (because Bala's was 1-for-1 before 9pm and we were there since 8 plus) but cause Raq and gang were all there, and had to go down as it was kinda like a farewell thingy for her who's leaving on Monday... Left Devil's at about 2.30am and went for supper at Jalan Kayu... Reached home at about 3.45am and by the time I finished showering and all, it was almost 5am... And what's more, the music at Devil's yesterday was like SHIT... with the exception of only a few songs...
Dunno what's going to be on tonight... Think there will definitely be more programs since it's the last weekend for Raq... Well.. Shall see what happens...
Anyway, while watching Green Mile, I decided to take some time to upload all my pictures taken in Bangkok... Been long overdued and Rach's bugging me for it, people who knew that we went Bangkok also bugged me for it! Thought might as well do it since I decided to be a couch potato and spend some time slacking at home on a Saturday afternoon...
Haha... Looking through the photos as I was uploading them really brought back memories...(Yes I know it wasn't that long ago that I was in Bangkok). But sigh.. wish I could go somewhere farrrrrrr away for a while... and I don't mean 4 days... Take a look around some other parts of the world... and really observe for once, the other people, the other ways of lives... Singapore's not the be all and end all.
Am soooo sleepy now... Feel like going to sleep but I can't cause I'm going out rather soon. Came back at 4am this morning. Went Bala Clava's with Angie and met so many people there. There was Andrew, Milton and gang, Sherley, Matthew, Carlman, Weiming, Evelynn, the Streats journo (forgot his name... haha... but it's really coincidental cause we just introduced ourselves to each other the day before at an ABN Amro event--even though we have met each other numerous times at various events...) Angie said that she should consider starting a "Zenster" network for me... Larbbish... Hahah.. But really was coincidental cause I've not met a couple of these people since NUS days...
Well, stayed at Bala's till 11ish and had to adjourn to Devil's Bar. I actually already had more than enough drinks (because Bala's was 1-for-1 before 9pm and we were there since 8 plus) but cause Raq and gang were all there, and had to go down as it was kinda like a farewell thingy for her who's leaving on Monday... Left Devil's at about 2.30am and went for supper at Jalan Kayu... Reached home at about 3.45am and by the time I finished showering and all, it was almost 5am... And what's more, the music at Devil's yesterday was like SHIT... with the exception of only a few songs...
Dunno what's going to be on tonight... Think there will definitely be more programs since it's the last weekend for Raq... Well.. Shall see what happens...
Friday, July 09, 2004
Why "The Da Vinci Code" doesn't stand...
Chanced upon this while surfing aimlessly after finishing my article today... interesting...
With compliments of Lisashea.com:
"OK, the reason most people end up at these pages in the first place is that they're reading The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown and want to find out more about the history. That of course is why I began making these pages in the first place, because I personally wanted to look at the painting and find out more about what was going on. However, as intriguing as the story is, there are many giant holes where he could have done a better job at making the story believable, if he wanted us to buy into it.
First as the links below show, there's a problem involving Opus Dei and the Priory of Sion. There are plenty of REAL mysterious groups out there he could have used, but he chose to use 2 that are incredibly bland. Maybe he did that on purpose so he wouldn't get sued or stalked :)
There IS no documentation linking Mary to ANYONE. The Merovingians claimed that they came from Mary's bloodline - but they also claimed they came from Atlantis and from sea creatures at other times. The earliest known Merovingian king was back in the 400s - nothing at all is known or documented about his parentage.
The Louvre pyramid does NOT have 666 panes! It has 118 rectangles and 675 diamonds for a total of 793 panes. That's just fakery.
There are not 80 non-canonical gospels! Sure, we just discovered a few more gospels in the last century which is rather amazing after 2000 years. But most researchers agree on a total gospel count of about 35.
The Olympics were held to honor Zeus, not Aphrodite or Venus :)
The Council of Nicaea in 325 is a well documented council that was trying to find common ground on the teachings of "Is Jesus Divine" or "Is Jesus Human". Both were being taught as true. The council decided 297 to 3 to sign a document that Jesus was indeed divine. And in fact, this wasn't the main purpose of the council - the main purpose was to determine if Father and Son were "equal" or if one was "higher" than the other. In any case, this wasn't a "revelation" or a "close call" as the book states. It was simply them settling on which of the two very popular beliefs to standardize on.
Brown says that Mary was abandoned by worshippers after her death - but on the contrary, women and Mary were much sought after during the days of chivalry. Chivalric love was of the highest order, and many priests of the time complained about the HUGE attention Mary was getting - far more than Jesus in many areas. Sure, women were not equal to men. But they were hardly ignored.
Sophie uses the "Madonna of the Rocks" as a canvas shield in the story. Note that some people say the painting is actually a wood base - but the wood base one is the copy that is in London. The version in the Louvre is canvas. In any case, Brown says it's 5' tall when really it's 6.5' tall and Sophie could hardly have moved it, never mind wielded it like a shield! In addition, Brown claims that "nuns" at the Confraternity of the Immaculate Conception gave details on the work - but that organization is male-only :) See Madonna of the Rocks.
The Last Supper is a tempera painting on plaster - it's not a fresco. A fresco is a specific style of painting where water-based pigments are painted on wet plaster so they meld.
Brown claims that 5 million women were burned at the stake by the church. I'm female and very much in support of women's rights, but even so, only maybe 50,000 men AND women were slain during those times - and most weren't burned.
Brown says that YHWH in the Bible stands for "Jehovah" which comes from Jah for male and Havah for female. Actually Jehovah is a RECENT word from the 1534 by Martin Luther as the "speakable" version of YHWH :) It's hard to just keep saying the four letters. In any case, YHWH was the original "tetragrammaton" used in Hebrew because the Hebrews felt you could not actually write the name of God down. You could only refer to it obliquely. YHWH was said to have been chosen because it was similar to "HYH" which means "to become". This was combined with "HWH' meaning "he is". Jehovah as a word came much later FROM this initial Hebrew word."
Also, check out this article by Darrell Bock. Hmm... Yummy... hehehe...
And this...The Da Vinci Code: Secret hidden truth?...
Still, I got to give Dan Brown credit for his brilliance in his ability to craft a story...
With compliments of Lisashea.com:
"OK, the reason most people end up at these pages in the first place is that they're reading The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown and want to find out more about the history. That of course is why I began making these pages in the first place, because I personally wanted to look at the painting and find out more about what was going on. However, as intriguing as the story is, there are many giant holes where he could have done a better job at making the story believable, if he wanted us to buy into it.
First as the links below show, there's a problem involving Opus Dei and the Priory of Sion. There are plenty of REAL mysterious groups out there he could have used, but he chose to use 2 that are incredibly bland. Maybe he did that on purpose so he wouldn't get sued or stalked :)
There IS no documentation linking Mary to ANYONE. The Merovingians claimed that they came from Mary's bloodline - but they also claimed they came from Atlantis and from sea creatures at other times. The earliest known Merovingian king was back in the 400s - nothing at all is known or documented about his parentage.
The Louvre pyramid does NOT have 666 panes! It has 118 rectangles and 675 diamonds for a total of 793 panes. That's just fakery.
There are not 80 non-canonical gospels! Sure, we just discovered a few more gospels in the last century which is rather amazing after 2000 years. But most researchers agree on a total gospel count of about 35.
The Olympics were held to honor Zeus, not Aphrodite or Venus :)
The Council of Nicaea in 325 is a well documented council that was trying to find common ground on the teachings of "Is Jesus Divine" or "Is Jesus Human". Both were being taught as true. The council decided 297 to 3 to sign a document that Jesus was indeed divine. And in fact, this wasn't the main purpose of the council - the main purpose was to determine if Father and Son were "equal" or if one was "higher" than the other. In any case, this wasn't a "revelation" or a "close call" as the book states. It was simply them settling on which of the two very popular beliefs to standardize on.
Brown says that Mary was abandoned by worshippers after her death - but on the contrary, women and Mary were much sought after during the days of chivalry. Chivalric love was of the highest order, and many priests of the time complained about the HUGE attention Mary was getting - far more than Jesus in many areas. Sure, women were not equal to men. But they were hardly ignored.
Sophie uses the "Madonna of the Rocks" as a canvas shield in the story. Note that some people say the painting is actually a wood base - but the wood base one is the copy that is in London. The version in the Louvre is canvas. In any case, Brown says it's 5' tall when really it's 6.5' tall and Sophie could hardly have moved it, never mind wielded it like a shield! In addition, Brown claims that "nuns" at the Confraternity of the Immaculate Conception gave details on the work - but that organization is male-only :) See Madonna of the Rocks.
The Last Supper is a tempera painting on plaster - it's not a fresco. A fresco is a specific style of painting where water-based pigments are painted on wet plaster so they meld.
Brown claims that 5 million women were burned at the stake by the church. I'm female and very much in support of women's rights, but even so, only maybe 50,000 men AND women were slain during those times - and most weren't burned.
Brown says that YHWH in the Bible stands for "Jehovah" which comes from Jah for male and Havah for female. Actually Jehovah is a RECENT word from the 1534 by Martin Luther as the "speakable" version of YHWH :) It's hard to just keep saying the four letters. In any case, YHWH was the original "tetragrammaton" used in Hebrew because the Hebrews felt you could not actually write the name of God down. You could only refer to it obliquely. YHWH was said to have been chosen because it was similar to "HYH" which means "to become". This was combined with "HWH' meaning "he is". Jehovah as a word came much later FROM this initial Hebrew word."
Also, check out this article by Darrell Bock. Hmm... Yummy... hehehe...
And this...The Da Vinci Code: Secret hidden truth?...
Still, I got to give Dan Brown credit for his brilliance in his ability to craft a story...
Happiness is a journey....
My colleague just shared this phrase with me this morning...
"Happiness is a journey, not a destination.
So work like you don't need money,
love like you've never been hurt,
and dance like no one's watching."
Kinda apt for how I'm feeling now... He said that a friend of his shared this with him the night before...
When he first told me that, my reply was that it sounds easy but it's easier said than done. But on second thoughts, is it really? I guess it's just a matter of what we want, who we want to be. But that in itself is complex...
Hahaha... Looks like I'm in search of simplicity... my kind of simplicity...
"Happiness is a journey, not a destination.
So work like you don't need money,
love like you've never been hurt,
and dance like no one's watching."
Kinda apt for how I'm feeling now... He said that a friend of his shared this with him the night before...
When he first told me that, my reply was that it sounds easy but it's easier said than done. But on second thoughts, is it really? I guess it's just a matter of what we want, who we want to be. But that in itself is complex...
Hahaha... Looks like I'm in search of simplicity... my kind of simplicity...
Melancholic...
Don't know why but can't help feeling melancholic tonight... Life's like a roller coaster. Out of the ride, you can feel the rush, the kick. And yet sometimes, it just slows down, and eventually becomes stationary before the cycle starts all over again. Not to mention that the roller coaster needs servicing at times too... But at least it's devoid of emotions, thoughts and feelings... make things simpler...
I probably feel this way because time has been passing too quickly. It's been a rather 'hectic' week, with work, with friends (and of course with spending $$... grrrr). Time for the pace to slow down perhaps...
Finished reading The Da Vinci Code. Kinda disappointed with the ending... TO ME, it felt like a quest for 'nothing'. Well, a colleague of mine pointed out that it was a quest for the 'truth'. I suppose... Can't help feeling anti-climatic to a certain extent. However, decided to give Dan Brown another chance to prove himself better and started reading his other book, "Angels and Demons". So far, his style seems pretty consistent with Da Vinci Code. But then again, I'm only 5 chapters into the new book... So I shall see how...
Things at work been pretty exciting... Our site's undergoing a major revamp... And so far, the 'new' product reviews pages have been 'lived'. It's nice! I like it so much better than our old one... Can't wait for the changes to be made to the news and tech site...
Kinda excited about the Suzhou trip next week also... But feel the pressure building up... Haven't been writing well lately... Articles get edited quite a bit.. Sigh... What's happening?
I probably feel this way because time has been passing too quickly. It's been a rather 'hectic' week, with work, with friends (and of course with spending $$... grrrr). Time for the pace to slow down perhaps...
Finished reading The Da Vinci Code. Kinda disappointed with the ending... TO ME, it felt like a quest for 'nothing'. Well, a colleague of mine pointed out that it was a quest for the 'truth'. I suppose... Can't help feeling anti-climatic to a certain extent. However, decided to give Dan Brown another chance to prove himself better and started reading his other book, "Angels and Demons". So far, his style seems pretty consistent with Da Vinci Code. But then again, I'm only 5 chapters into the new book... So I shall see how...
Things at work been pretty exciting... Our site's undergoing a major revamp... And so far, the 'new' product reviews pages have been 'lived'. It's nice! I like it so much better than our old one... Can't wait for the changes to be made to the news and tech site...
Kinda excited about the Suzhou trip next week also... But feel the pressure building up... Haven't been writing well lately... Articles get edited quite a bit.. Sigh... What's happening?
Monday, July 05, 2004
Bangkok...
Wow… realized it’s been quite a while since I last blogged… well, having been away in Bangkok, I’ve been busy (mainly hanging out with Raq cuz she’s going back to U.S. next Monday… Sigh… life’s going to be back to normal after that…)
Anyway, I can’t believe I’ve been spending so much money!! Argh!! *financial angst* I spent $1K on my Bangkok trip inclusive of airfare, $1200 on stuff and important events before I left, and $500 TODAY on my hair (of which the color turned out a little shocking and I really din mean to spend so much, just that the lady who did my hair kept asking me if I wanted to do this, I wanted to do that… and trust me, in the midst of coloring my hair, I swear I can’t think very well and I said yes to what ever she suggested most of the time!! So irritated with myself!!!!), my dental check-up (cuz I need to remove my wisdom teeth next month) and SHOPPING (on things which I’ve always wanted to buy but could not find in Bangkok…) Still, I declare that I do not deserve to touch a single cent of my pay next month!!! So much for saving and trying to be thrifty… *locks up all her credit and atm cards away in the drawer…*
However, I must admit that Bangkok was fun… 4 girls out in Thailand alone, shopping and eating their way around, as well as enjoying massages and all… hrrm… life couldn’t get any better during that 4 days in Bangkok…. However, there were the torturous moments… YES and I mean torture…
How? Why? Because why don’t you try shopping with girls who can walk from 10am in the morning to 12am the next morning with probably 3 hours of ‘sit-down’ time for meals and short breaks?? The last time I was in Jatuchak, the famous weekend market in Bangkok, I was only there for 3 hours plus… And that was bad enough because the place was stuffy, warm and not well ventilated at all… Don’t get the wrong idea… I love shopping…. But in those conditions, it makes me think twice. But guess what? This time round, my dear friends stayed on from 10am in the morning all the way till closing time at 6pm! And trust me, we covered barely half the entire area… Less than half in fact… I can vouch for that because we did not even reach the place where they sold the animals and pets… Uh-huh… I’ve never shopped until I feel like throwing in the white flag in defeat… But I sure felt like doing that…
Anyway, am sure it was just as well because based on the amount of food that we eat (which is A LOT and I mean A LOT), we’re burning a lot of calories off by walking around so much… (I don’t care if it’s not true… HUMPH! (*self-denial*) Wahhahaa….
Anyway, I can’t believe I’ve been spending so much money!! Argh!! *financial angst* I spent $1K on my Bangkok trip inclusive of airfare, $1200 on stuff and important events before I left, and $500 TODAY on my hair (of which the color turned out a little shocking and I really din mean to spend so much, just that the lady who did my hair kept asking me if I wanted to do this, I wanted to do that… and trust me, in the midst of coloring my hair, I swear I can’t think very well and I said yes to what ever she suggested most of the time!! So irritated with myself!!!!), my dental check-up (cuz I need to remove my wisdom teeth next month) and SHOPPING (on things which I’ve always wanted to buy but could not find in Bangkok…) Still, I declare that I do not deserve to touch a single cent of my pay next month!!! So much for saving and trying to be thrifty… *locks up all her credit and atm cards away in the drawer…*
However, I must admit that Bangkok was fun… 4 girls out in Thailand alone, shopping and eating their way around, as well as enjoying massages and all… hrrm… life couldn’t get any better during that 4 days in Bangkok…. However, there were the torturous moments… YES and I mean torture…
How? Why? Because why don’t you try shopping with girls who can walk from 10am in the morning to 12am the next morning with probably 3 hours of ‘sit-down’ time for meals and short breaks?? The last time I was in Jatuchak, the famous weekend market in Bangkok, I was only there for 3 hours plus… And that was bad enough because the place was stuffy, warm and not well ventilated at all… Don’t get the wrong idea… I love shopping…. But in those conditions, it makes me think twice. But guess what? This time round, my dear friends stayed on from 10am in the morning all the way till closing time at 6pm! And trust me, we covered barely half the entire area… Less than half in fact… I can vouch for that because we did not even reach the place where they sold the animals and pets… Uh-huh… I’ve never shopped until I feel like throwing in the white flag in defeat… But I sure felt like doing that…
Anyway, am sure it was just as well because based on the amount of food that we eat (which is A LOT and I mean A LOT), we’re burning a lot of calories off by walking around so much… (I don’t care if it’s not true… HUMPH! (*self-denial*) Wahhahaa….
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