From Aceh with love

This video will put you in a lighter mood (baca: kocak abis).



As to the lyrics of the song, I'd like to say... no comment - though I wouldn't mind getting a full translation. After all, ignorance breeds prejudice, no?

Superman comes to town

This man left me breathless today, and as a result, I nearly died... laughing.

Little Boy Blue

The picture that got me interested in www.markryden.com.

A Swedish Dream

Once upon a time, when I was still in university (yep, it was that long ago), I learned in a marketing class the concept that when you buy a product, you don't really buy the product per se, but the function that it serves. D'oh, of course, but until I actually read that in the book, I never really realized it. One of the most popular examples that illustrates this concept is a a cosmetic product. Us women might be enticed by the cute coloured lipgloss offered by the smart people behind Stila, but essentially, that's not what we're buying. Charles Revson, founder of Revlon, puts it down simply as this, "In the factory, we make cosmetics; in the store we sell hope."

Personally, I don't use much cosmetic products, so this example doesn't really sink in with me. But today I went to IKEA and it hit me immediately why people flock to that place anywhere in the world. IKEA is the adult version of Disneyland. You see, it may not be the happiest place on earth, but it sure makes you think that it will make your home the happiest place on earth.

Even flicking through the catalogue is a rewarding experience. Guys might identify the feeling while flicking through the Penthouse magazine. (Which is a rather funny analogy, if I could call myself funny, because the latest IKEA catalogue is now sitting right next to my toilet bowl...)

Of course, the previous two paragraphs are probably just my unconscious efforts to justify the number of things I want to buy from IKEA, hihihi. Eventually, I only came out with the things I really needed (good girl, me!), but now I can't get my mind off that cool bar table and that orange lamp shade. Geez.

I'm sure my IKEA dreams will come true one day, but for now, I guess I'd still come home to a half-furnished apartment :)

Awww shut up!

A comedian once said on TV that finding a soulmate is easy. Just look for someone who's not an asshole. I totally agree. Because so what if you two share the same interests if he always ditches you to watch footie (or hockey, or soccer) with his mates? Today, though, I realized that there's one more trait that's just as important: find someone who has the ability to listen. To other people, that is. If anything, it's probably one of the most important attributes your boyfriend or girlfriend must have.

Thankfully, I didn't realize this fact from my own boyfriend. It was thanks (or no thanks?) to this gentleman I was unfortunate to have had to speak to at work.

The guy was giving a reference for this woman he used to work with. Before we started, I told him that the interview would take approximately five minutes and asked him whether he'd be okay with that. He said that was fine. So off we went. Right off the bat, though, I knew - to my dismay - that he was one of those people who loved talking for talk's sake. But he was special. He was either in love with that woman, or he just loved hearing his own voice reverberate through the phone line. I put in practice all kinds of techniques available out there to cut him off politely for each question to prevent me from writing a 5000-word essay to present to the hiring manager, but it looks like I'd need new techniques after that. Finally, after way more than five minutes, I managed to ask all the questions I had to ask. But guess what, if normal people would take "Well thank you for your time today" as a farewell sentence, he took it as "Do you have any other comments?"

I said no less than five times, "Well [his name], thank you so much for your comments." But save for the last one - when I must've started to sound like I wanted to either scream, or cry, or fart out of frustration - he started a new trail of praises for that ex-colleague of his.

And this is the best part. Just before we hung up, he said, "That was more than five minutes, wasn't it?"

Asshole.

I love my job

I interview people on a daily basis for the purpose of employment references. It may not seem so, but it's a stressful job (but then again, which job isn't?), though there's always something that keeps us entertained, or... as the insider joke tells it, "keeps us checkin'".

Here are the top three things that cracked me up recently:

Me: What was he employed as at the time?
Referee: He was my bitch.
(Needless to say, I had to ask further about this candidate's responsibilities...)

Me: What's your position?
Referee: Sitting down.
(I was so tempted to scream, "Lame!", but decided to laugh along with him instead.)

Colleague: Is this a good time to speak to you?
Referee: I'm in labour at the moment, can I call you back?
(I can't remember what my colleague said in response, but I'm pretty sure the phone call didn't last that long.)