When the Phone Dies..

As most of you already know, I'm quite heavily reliant on my mobile phone. This evening, my hp battery died and my life came crashing down as well.

"What am I gonna do on the bus?" (I thought of ways to revive my phone during the bus journey.)
"I can't reflect on my life, that's what I do just when I decide I'm gonna try to sleep."
"How am I going to listen to music when I run?" (I said the rosary while running. Yeah, you read that right. It actually kinda helped me to focus.)
"I should call an Uber, but wait, I can't.."
"How am I supposed to tell the time???" (Somewhere along the way I realized I actually had a watch in my bag. Lol.)

I almost wanted to take a cab home just to charge my phone, but I decided not to let a little gadget take over my life and head to the gym, as originally planned. The moment I reached the gym, I asked the nice people at the True Fitness counter to help me charge my phone with my cable. Ask and you shall receive, right?

An hour later, I excitedly went to retrieve my phone from the counter and was DEVASTATED when I realized it did not charge AT ALL. (Lesson learnt; do not buy fake cables.) I went to Coffee Bean and they reluctantly lent me a cable head to charge my phone but it STILL didn't work thanks to the damn cable! It was 3 hours without my phone and I was on the verge of having an anxiety attack.

I looked up in desperation, saw 2 girls afew tables away keeping their cables and felt a glimmer of hope. After I squinted for awhile and received confirmation that they were using iPhones, I went over and explained my pitiful situation to them and they kindly lent me a cable.

After ten minutes, my phone was still not starting up and I started to say my prayers. I wondered who the patron saint of technology was. Just when I was about to give up, I saw the bright light shine and can I just say I've never been so happy to see an apple before?

So here I am now. And that, my friends, is the story of how I survived 4 waking hours without using my phone.

P.S. This was actually a very long fb post of mine, but I took so long to write it that I decided it deserved a spot in this blog. Plus, I've been kinda busy lazy to update so this is to compensate!

Ultra Singapore 2016

It is assumed that everyone who enjoys clubbing would like Zoukout. Let me tell you that this is not the case. While I love dancing (I call it dancing, some may call it hysteria) in a club, I absolutely HATED Zoukout the one time I went.

The main reason was the sand. I HATE sand. I don’t find joy in having sand get between your toes while dancing, having to walk cautiously in case of any broken bottles/vomit and trying to avoid stepping on the unconscious bodies that would be scattered on the beach by daybreak. 

So I was kinda excited when Hui Li so generously offered me her Day 2 Ultra tickets. It was Ultra’s debut in Singapore and I thought it’d be like Zoukout without the sand.. Perfect! Then I went to check it out on the website and didn’t find any familiar acts other than Above and Beyond (who I didn’t like), Sam Willows and Axwell. I was also kinda bummed when I found out it ended at 10.30pm (what kinda music festival ends so early?!). It was only after I realized who Kygo was that I got kinda hyped again. 

Another reason why I was a little hesitant to go was, this is gonna sound dumb, I was afraid there would be a terrorist attack. Before you scoff, let me just say that terrorism is very real nowadays ok! And I had good reason to be afraid! Firstly, it is an event where many people from overseas would be attending. Secondly, the date of the event was Sep 11. And also, the location was just next to MBS, the rumoured spot that those terrorists from Batam wanted to bomb! But because I didn’t want to let my paranoia control my life, I decided to go ahead. And I’m alive! Thank God. Now please brace yourselves for shaky and low-quality videos.

Apparently there were alot of complaints about Day 1, which the organisers heard and corrected so Day 2 was wayyy better. We went about 6pm and the queue was short and quick, unlike what people who went for Day 1 experienced.

We went for Kygo first, but the crowd didn't seem that hyped and were not really dancing much, probably coz most of his mixes were downtempo. I loved it when he spun the more popular songs like Bulletproof, No Money and Firestone and everyone suddenly got more excited and alive. The emcee came out at the end of his set and made us sing Happy Birthday to him, which was kinda cool, because it was his birthday and he was actually born in Singapore! #SGftw

Jas was initially kinda enthu about Above and Beyond, who came out next, but after 2 songs we decided that a drink and the opportunity to rest our aching legs were far more appealing.

It was a downer when they told us the cider was still not cold, 2 hours after we first asked them. So we had to settle for beer at $12/cup.

We went back for Axwell and it was really a pleasant surprise because prior to Ultra we didn't really know what songs he produced/remixed. My two favourite moments of the night were both during the Axwell set; once when he played Satisfaction/Good Feeling and the last part where he spun Sun is Shining, which is now my new favourite song of his. He asked everyone to take out their phones and shine the flashlights so the whole atmosphere was really harmonious and warm.

I must be getting old because that 4 hours of screaming and jumping left me having a fever the next day and sore throat for a week, but that’s not gonna stop me from going to Ultra next year! Yes, it was that good. But I’ll probably just go for one of the days, if not I might end up in hospital. #oldage

P.S. I know this post came kinda late since Ultra was like more than 2 months ago, I actually started writing about it but didn’t have the time to complete it till today.. =x 

The California Fitness Saga

California Fitness has always had a bad reputation for hard-selling and poor customer service. However, the fees were really affordable compared to other gyms and being approached bugged by a salesperson/Personal Trainer every once in awhile was a tradeoff I was willing to make in exchange for cheap membership fees.

I enjoyed using the gym for the past 2 years without any major issues, but here’s how it all went downhill this year.

15 Feb – Taka branch closes, giving members a 10 days advance notice.

12 Jul – All 12 California Fitness branches in HK closes. Worried members, including myself, started texting our Sales Consultant and they assured us that California Fitness SG operates separately and independently. The company issued a statement to The Straits Times stating the exact same thing.

16 Jul –

The Raffles branch “closed till further notice”. Bugis branch was out of towels. Accusations were coming in so fast on their Facebook page that they did not have time to delete all of them.

17 Jul - A Facebook Group was created to discuss alternate gyms. From there, a Whatsapp group chat with currently more than 40 pax was initiated on how to get refunds. Finally, another Facebook Group was created on what we should do IF the gym closes.

18 Jul – I went to Bugis for Bodycombat. Saying that it was packed would be an understatement. I didn't get a good photo but another member did.

I could barely squeeze in and it was suffocating. I am not joking when I say that I felt breathless many times during the session even though they left the doors open. The aircon did not seem to be working well also. BUT I really must say that the trainers (Toshi, Christina and a guy) were commendable! They didn't know what was gonna happen but they all seemed very upset and everyone was hugging and taking photos. I was surprised that I actually felt a little sad about the impending doom of the place. In usual BC style, they motivated all the way till the end, with the trainer saying,"When we fall down, we'll get up again! That's the BC spirit!". I assumed he was talking about the closure.

They were out of toiletries and towels too.

19 Jul - Members grew more frenzied. Reporters asked to speak to us. Speculations were flying all around till 11.30pm when most of us got the news that they were closing. It was officially announced at midnight. 

Today, more discussions were made on how to get a refund or at least get the gym running again. One of the members explained that provisional liquidation meant there's still a shot for someone to buy over the company. It's a long shot but if all of us agree to fork out a little extra a month, it may be possible. 

I'm trying to do whatever is possible to get my money's worth but if nothing can be done, I'll just take it as I paid a higher monthly premium for the fees. Let it go~

But seriously, this guy though. 

He listed this on Carousell TODAY. Not sure if he was trying to be funny but he got exposed almost immediately. 

Nice try, bro. 

Horror-scopes

Happy belated Chinese New Year guys! I know this post came a little very late (I planned to post it on the last few days of CNY) but it was the time of the year when people binged on pineapple tarts, gave/received ang baos and endured hours of loud CNY songs.. Who had time to blog?! (Ok, apparently a lot of people still did so it was just me being lazy.)

Another common thing done during CNY would be to check out the yearly fortune according to zodiac signs. I never believed in horoscopes because the idea that your whole life is already planned out based on the date and time you were born is just a concept too ridiculous to me. Let me count the ways..

1.  Too many different types

There are actually many other different kinds of astrology, but these 2 are the more common ones.. The normal horoscope and the Chinese zodiac horoscope.. Which one should you follow? What if they clash? For example, I’m a Libra and also an Ox. What if my Libra horoscope says my lucky colour is red and my Ox one states that it’s blue? Should I just mix it up and wear purple?

      2. The readings are way too generic.

Here are 2 examples of the Ox horoscope this year.

“Those who are employed will either be helped by a benefactor, receive compliments from superiors or be promoted.”

Ok, the promotion part is pretty straightforward and probably has the lowest probability to happen out of the 3. 

About being helped by a benefactor.. The definition of benefactor is generally someone who helps someone else so basically this is saying that out of the 365 days in the entire year, there will be a day that someone helps you. Great prediction! 

And receiving compliments from superiors.. All I can say is, if your superior doesn’t even compliment you once in an entire year, you should be thinking twice about your job and I don’t need to read the stars to tell you that.

Now I’m confused! Is my lucky number 5502 or 3 and 7?

Oh, this one is even more laughable. Not sure if it’s a horoscope reading or a help board for people with no common sense.

“If you are able to plan your financial wisely, you will be able to see a satisfactory amount in your account.” Thanks for the advice, I never knew I would be able to see a satisfactory amount in my account if I could plan my finances properly! How lucky am I to be born in the year of the Ox?

“Those who are married should avoid getting into extra-marital relationship which could ruin your family.” Please note that this is only for people who are born in the year of the Ox. Those who aren’t, lucky you! You can go ahead to have extra-marital relationships which won’t ruin your family.

“It is important to maintain a healthy lifestyle.” No shit.

       3. Only God knows.

I believe that only God has full control over the future, not some stars (which he created too).  And the most awesome part is that he gives us free will, so our future is definitely not written in the stars!

       4. Wiki says it best.

Yes, I know Wikipedia is a page that anyone can contribute to or edit, but there are references to support what is being published!

"No scientific studies have shown support for the accuracy of horoscopes, and the methods used to make interpretations are generally considered pseudo-scientific. In modern scientific framework no known interaction exists that could be responsible for the transmission of the alleged influence between a person and the position of stars in the sky at the moment of birth. Besides, all tests done so far, keeping strict methods to include a control group and proper blinding between experimenters and subjects have shown no effect beyond pure chance. Further, some psychological tests have shown that it is possible to construct personality descriptions and foretelling generic enough to satisfy most members of a large audience simultaneously. This is usually referred to as the Forer or Barnum effect."

So yes, sometimes I do read horoscopes for fun and to be amused by how wrong/ridiculous they are, but I’m not gonna be affected or live my life according to the positioning of stars.

Agent Provocateur

A few days ago I came across this article. To summarise, women are actually PAYING for another woman to seduce their husbands so that the husbands will leave their mistresses. Just how screwed up is that? There’s even a term for these paid “agents”; honey trappers.

I was kinda stunned after I read the article, because I actually read a book about a honey trapper many, many years back and I thought honey trapping was totally fictitious! 

It was about a woman who was so sure her husband wouldn’t cheat on her that she made a bet with a honey trapper to try and seduce him. The thing is, she tells the honey trapper everything about her husband, including his likes and dislikes, so that the honey trapper can tweak herself accordingly to seem like the husband’s dream woman. Needless to say, the honey trapper fell in love with the husband that she was supposed to seduce. It was twisted but intriguing, really. Spoiler alert, the husband did not cheat, surprisingly. But then again, it’s called fiction for a reason. Sorry, I know I’m being cynical but guys people nowadays seem to take marriage so lightly I wonder why they even bother getting married.

I guess the growing trend of hiring these honey trappers is a good thing for women overall though. At least wives will find out when husbands are unfaithful and guys who hear about this may be more afraid to cheat.  Of course, it says a lot about you if you have to hear about this to be afraid to cheat la. One thing I just can’t understand is the women who hire the honey trappers to get their husbands to break up with the mistress. If you know he’s cheating, why not just leave?

After reading the article, I went to search more on honey trappers and found this other article, which was a little similar to the book, just that the ending was a lot more realistic.

The girl already found out that he was a cheater and that should have been it. End of story. BUT NO, she had to call him and get ‘worried’ that he wasn’t replying and even begged him to reply. Seriously? I understand some people do get blinded by love and all but if it’s to this extent it’s just pure stupidity.

I don't want to start ranting about how some people have a lack of conscience because it will just get super lengthy. Of course, I do still believe there are good people around. But there seems to be a lot of temptation out there these days too. So the next time any of you are tempted to cheat, just remember, the third party may have actually been hired by your very own partner.

to new beginnings

HELLO!

For those of you who didn't come from the old blog, I'm just a girl (yes I know I'm 30 but I refuse to call myself "lady" or "woman") who loves writing. I got lazy and stopped for a bit, but thanks to the encouragement of my friends, here I am again!

Since I'm quarter-way through life already (no, I didn't count wrongly, my grandma is 100 next year and I'm sure I have her genes!), I feel like it's about time to do something I'm really passionate about. Oh, and also, I get immense satisfaction once I finish a post, regardless of whether people read it or not. Of course the satisfaction is multiplied if there is some sort of approval, like it being published in Thought Catalog! Sorry, I just had to bring that up again. =x

It's actually been so long since I changed my blog layout that I don't even remember how to do it anymore so bear with me while I get the layout and skin sorted out. In the meantime, here's to new beginnings!