The Ultimate Build & Price Machine
BMW has developed, jointly with Microsoft, a new build & price configurator that allows potential customers to drag and drop vehicle choices using a large iPhone like touch screen. There is one screen that acts like a canvas, similar to the film Minority Report, and a second screen that displays the configured vehicle in an emotional way through video and rich photographic content. It's a pretty nice implementation, though it is not portable; however, components could be used to improve online build & price implementations - particularly the emotional content when the vehicle is fully configured. Imagine having a vehicle, exactly like the one you just built, driving along the autobahn. more.
Kei Yoshida - Japanese Hot Babe
Entertainment Update :
Here we have a film about failed government cloak-and-dagger missions in Iraq and the Middle East.
Leonardo DiCaprio is a cautious yet disillusioned operative who takes order from his slightly paunchy CIA show-runner, Russell Crowe in Body of Lies. The latter almost never leaves the US and runs DiCaprio’s outfit through a cellphone attached to his headset.
Each missions gets more difficult to pull off, with him pulling clandestine deals of his own with no regard for DiCaprio’s planning of unearthing an Osama Bin Ladin-type leader of a fanatic terrorist outfit.
There is romantic interest (stuffed in for convenience) for DiCaprio in the form of an Iranian Nurse and there is also a guy with major chops who some might recognize from Syrianna playing the head of Jordanian intelligence.
Oh, and finally the screenplay is by William Monahan who won the Oscar fro The Departed.
Still have to work.
Sigh. I have to surrender the PC to my sister in a minute, who needs to do her assignments, so there's no point in starting to blog about KK because I need more time for that.
I'm still feeling sickly, coughing up loads of phlegm and feeling some heat in my neck. The Indonesian remedy seems not to be working so far. In the meantime I need to write the speech for my book launch on Friday, do an article review and stop scratching my insect bites. I think the splinter still might be stuck in my foot, as sometimes when I accidentally walk on that part of my sole, a piercing pain shoots up and I end up limping again.
Blah. In a whiny mood now so I'll stop here, with a random photo from KK. This is a grasshopper handmade by our guide in Weston.
I'm still feeling sickly, coughing up loads of phlegm and feeling some heat in my neck. The Indonesian remedy seems not to be working so far. In the meantime I need to write the speech for my book launch on Friday, do an article review and stop scratching my insect bites. I think the splinter still might be stuck in my foot, as sometimes when I accidentally walk on that part of my sole, a piercing pain shoots up and I end up limping again.
Blah. In a whiny mood now so I'll stop here, with a random photo from KK. This is a grasshopper handmade by our guide in Weston.
KK Trip #1: Arrival, Gaya Market and Whitewater Rafting
SabahI'm going to plunge in and blog with reckless abandon, as I know the longer I put this off, the less inclined I'd be blogging about it, but I really want to show you guys the pictures and the beautiful experiences that I had in Sabah, so here goes.
Itinerary:
Sat 22 - Reach KK at night (11:50pm), check into backpacker's hostel.
Sun 23 - Gaya market in the morning, depart for White Water Rafting by 9am, return to KK by 3pm, transfer to Weston Wetlands
Mon 24 - Weston Wetlands
Tue 25 - Weston Wetlands, island hopping after getting back.
Wed 26 - Bamboo Festival in the morning, then explore KK in the afternoon and laze around the beach in the evening and watch the sun set.
Thu 27 - Jia Ling leaves at 6am in the morning, I get robbed and depart on the 5:10pm flight back to KL.
Originally this was a solo trip, but Jia Ling decided to join me so we ended up travelling together. Which was a really good decision, since that all the places that we stayed in only had us two as guests! Meaning that if I had gone alone I would probably have been quite bored. Plus, Jia Ling and I have this good cop, bad cop thing going on with us. I'm the smiley one, socializing with the guides and hostel workers and getting extended information (I recently found out that tour guides dig me. Some attract older men, some attract rich men, but my specialty appears to be men within the hospitality industry.); and Jia Ling's the garang one, whose deadly teacher stare (she's a teacher by profession) protects us against scams and overcharging. I think we're a good combination.
Saturday
The flight was without event except for an uncle with a shaved head who cut our queue while waiting to check in (Jia Ling: "I hope he remains bald forever."). It was almost midnight when we touched down in KK, and Nex picked us up and whisked us to Travellers' Light Backpacker's Lodge, where we spent the night. (Small review: staff were very friendly, place was very clean, mattresses were a little thin though. Location is quite central. Overall quite recommendable. RM25 per pax for a dorm bed.)
Nice place to brush your teeth atSunday
Second day morning we woke at 6:30am, brushed up at the open air sink facing a tree, and went to the Gaya weekend market. The market was not that special, though I found out to my great surprise that they sell YuYu Ice here! In KK! And here I thought it was native to the new village in Jinjang... hahaha... YKent this is for you:
Yu Yu Ice StallOne thing that we noticed at the market was that it was quite clean, and every stall had a waste paper basket right beside it so that there's really no excuse to litter. In general KK is much cleaner than West Malaysia. You don't see mounds of rubbish strewn by the side of the road like you do in many roadsides in the West, and I can say that because it was a huge eyesore when Guang Hong, YKent and I took a road trip around Peninsular Malaysia. This, is one of the many things that we should learn from the East.
So at 9am we waited at our hostel and got picked up by the folks at Riverbug who brought us to Kiulu River for our Class 1-2 whitewater rafting. Class 1-2 is for kids and old folks, and truth be told was really easy, more like floating along the river which occasionally had some rapids that looked promising but turned out to be uneventful. But nonetheless I love any water-related activity, so I still enjoyed myself. Being chummy with the guides, I got thrown out of the raft twice (To which I whined plaintively: "Why....??" *glug glug glug*). There's a Class 3 in Gopeng, and Padas River in KK is Class 5. Anyone up for some good clean fun?
By the time we got back to KK, it was about 4pm, and Nex came to bring us around to Weston Wetland. I'll stop here, next post will be on Weston, which was the highlight of our trip really. Going out shopping now. BTW I'm sampling an Indonesian remedy for coughs - lemon juice + thick soy sauce + honey. Surprisingly it does not taste as disgusting as I thought. Will let you know if it works.
"But I’m still having fun and I guess that's the key, I'm a twenty something and I'll keep being me." ~ by good ol' Jamie Cullum.
Anna Sonoda - Japanese Hot Babes
Anna Sonoda (小澤マリア), also known as Miyabi (みやび, Miyabi?) (born January 8, 1986), is a Japanese AV idol.Her mother is Japanese and her father is French-Canadian, which gives her a look that has been described as "a perfect balance of Japanese beauty mixed with a dash of exoticism." Since she attended an international school from primary school to high school, she claims that her English reading and writing ability is better than her Japanese. While at school, she played hockey every day, and often went to karaoke after class. Anna Sonoda had her first sexual experience at the age of 13, and learned the "48 sexual positions" through a book that she bought herself.
A diversification occurred in the 1990s and instead of few idols vying for popularity, a number of idols with specific characteristics divided the market. In the mid-1990s, idols became much younger than before, and groups of idols like Speed and Morning Musume became prominent. A new genre of idols called Net Idols became known in the late 1990s, only appearing on websites. In 1997 there appeared Kyoko Date, the first "cyber idol" or "virtual idol". Kyoko Date has a fabricated history and statistics and her own songs. Meanwhile, gurabia aidoru such as Yoko Matsugane, Rio Natsume and Eiko Koike have largely appeared skimpily clad in "cheesecake" photographs.
Just our luck.
I am back home, extremely exhausted, limping around because I cut my sole on some splinter in the hostel dorm bed, dripping blood on the hostel floor. When I got home, the wound had reopened, but hopefully it will be alright tomorrow morning. Also I am sniffling and have a sore throat and my period pounced on me on the flight back. And I've got itchy bites all over from bed bugs, mosquitoes and other biting insects. Physically I'm quite battered but mentally all is well, I'm back home with all the remedies for my bodily sores and fawning parents. =)
While I was reeling in the shock of being robbed, Jia Ling apparently lost her passport on the way back from LCCT to her home. After a frantic hour of searching and yelling at the bus operators she checked out the police division in KL Sentral. Extremely fortunately, someone had returned her passport to the police and she got it back.
What a pair of luckless (yet lucky) duo we are!
While I was reeling in the shock of being robbed, Jia Ling apparently lost her passport on the way back from LCCT to her home. After a frantic hour of searching and yelling at the bus operators she checked out the police division in KL Sentral. Extremely fortunately, someone had returned her passport to the police and she got it back.
What a pair of luckless (yet lucky) duo we are!
Could be worse, could be worse.
This morning at 6am when I was sending Jia Ling to the taxi stand, there was a dodgy looking guy standing outside our hostel. Jia Ling remarked to me, "There's a dodgy-looking guy outside our hostel," and I was like, "How do you know he's dodgy?"
Turns out that Jia Ling has the instincts of a watchdog in smelling crime. While I was walking out with Jia Ling, said Dodgy-Looking-Guy went into our hostel, bypassed a sleeping hostel worker and another one in the toilet, got into our dorm (me and Jia Ling were the only guests in the hostel), nicked Jia Ling's camera which was charging in the socket, my broken camera, wallet and old phone in my bag, and new phone which was on my bed.
On his way out, he met me on my way into my room (Oh here's the dodgy looking guy! I didn't know he was working in this hostel!), nodded at the hostel manager behind me, and walked down the steps. I was in my room for 3 seconds when the hostel manager asked me if I knew that guy. Nope I didn't, I thought he knew that guy. I saw the missing camera, and the hostel manager sped off in pursuit of the thief - to no avail. In the meanwhile I identified the rest of the missing stuff, noting in great relief that my passport was untouched and that my IC I had left back in KL, and called my dad to have my cards cancelled.
Then began the arduous process of filing a police report. I did one at a walking distance from the hostel with Alan the hostel manager, gave my account of the event to an officer who typed the report out painstakingly with two fingers. He then asked me to go to another area in Karamunsing (I think) at 9am to meet a certain Inspector Azaman.
The hostel owner, Richard, came and brought me out for an apologetic breakfast which I ate with his wife who's an avid backpacker herself. Richard, a man of Chinese ethnicity who was born in Uganda, raised in the UK (holds a UK passport as well) and is married with a local, obviously loves Sabah very much and repeatedly apologized, telling me not to be deterred from visiting again. I assured him that I wouldn't be. I mean after all things like this happen everywhere, if I were to be deterred I might as well stop travelling altogether.
At 9am we (Alan, Richard and I) went to the other police station and waited till 9:40am (9am Malaysian-civil-servant-time), when this inspector finally turned up and took down my statement (yet again). S-l-0-w-l-y. A muscular police guy listened to part of my statement and disappeared. About 30 minutes later when I was still making my statement, Mr. Muscular Policeman came back and asked me what colour my wallet was. He then pulled my blue-coloured clutch purse and a rabbit out of his tophat. Well, minus the rabbit and the tophat. But I was really amazed at the sheer speed that he managed to retrieve my purse, sans the money of course, but all my cards and documents were intact, that's a relief.
So, finally, at about 11am we reached back to the hostel, me being quite entirely exhausted because of the hectic events of the morning. Sent an email to Jia Ling to tell her about the tragic loss of her camera, which she kindly loaned to me to use because mine was broken. She's probably still blissfully ignorant of the turn of events at this moment.
Kesimpulannya - although I managed to lose 2 cameras (one broken anyway), 2 handphones and a sum of money (not all my money but big enough sum to make me wince), things could be much worse, because my documents are all intact, and by a miraculous stroke of luck we managed to have backups of all our photos! How on earth, you wonder. Well, after breaking my camera, I gave my card to Nex for him to save his pictures into my card, so my card was actually not in the camera when it was stolen. Stroke of Luck #2, Jia Ling emptied her pictures into the hostel computer to upload into Flickr and to save into her external harddisk (which did not work) and I was supposed to save them into a thumb drive borrowed from Nex, so her stolen camera was actually empty as well. And I didn't bring my laptop, thank god!
So yeah, a lesson was learnt, minus the tremendous hassle of retrieving all the important documents and the heartbreak of losing all the travel pictures. Just that I'm now much poorer, and I've lost everybody's phone contacts. Help me by emailing me your number, that would be great.
Going back to KL this evening, see you guys at home later!
Turns out that Jia Ling has the instincts of a watchdog in smelling crime. While I was walking out with Jia Ling, said Dodgy-Looking-Guy went into our hostel, bypassed a sleeping hostel worker and another one in the toilet, got into our dorm (me and Jia Ling were the only guests in the hostel), nicked Jia Ling's camera which was charging in the socket, my broken camera, wallet and old phone in my bag, and new phone which was on my bed.
On his way out, he met me on my way into my room (Oh here's the dodgy looking guy! I didn't know he was working in this hostel!), nodded at the hostel manager behind me, and walked down the steps. I was in my room for 3 seconds when the hostel manager asked me if I knew that guy. Nope I didn't, I thought he knew that guy. I saw the missing camera, and the hostel manager sped off in pursuit of the thief - to no avail. In the meanwhile I identified the rest of the missing stuff, noting in great relief that my passport was untouched and that my IC I had left back in KL, and called my dad to have my cards cancelled.
Then began the arduous process of filing a police report. I did one at a walking distance from the hostel with Alan the hostel manager, gave my account of the event to an officer who typed the report out painstakingly with two fingers. He then asked me to go to another area in Karamunsing (I think) at 9am to meet a certain Inspector Azaman.
The hostel owner, Richard, came and brought me out for an apologetic breakfast which I ate with his wife who's an avid backpacker herself. Richard, a man of Chinese ethnicity who was born in Uganda, raised in the UK (holds a UK passport as well) and is married with a local, obviously loves Sabah very much and repeatedly apologized, telling me not to be deterred from visiting again. I assured him that I wouldn't be. I mean after all things like this happen everywhere, if I were to be deterred I might as well stop travelling altogether.
At 9am we (Alan, Richard and I) went to the other police station and waited till 9:40am (9am Malaysian-civil-servant-time), when this inspector finally turned up and took down my statement (yet again). S-l-0-w-l-y. A muscular police guy listened to part of my statement and disappeared. About 30 minutes later when I was still making my statement, Mr. Muscular Policeman came back and asked me what colour my wallet was. He then pulled my blue-coloured clutch purse and a rabbit out of his tophat. Well, minus the rabbit and the tophat. But I was really amazed at the sheer speed that he managed to retrieve my purse, sans the money of course, but all my cards and documents were intact, that's a relief.
So, finally, at about 11am we reached back to the hostel, me being quite entirely exhausted because of the hectic events of the morning. Sent an email to Jia Ling to tell her about the tragic loss of her camera, which she kindly loaned to me to use because mine was broken. She's probably still blissfully ignorant of the turn of events at this moment.
Kesimpulannya - although I managed to lose 2 cameras (one broken anyway), 2 handphones and a sum of money (not all my money but big enough sum to make me wince), things could be much worse, because my documents are all intact, and by a miraculous stroke of luck we managed to have backups of all our photos! How on earth, you wonder. Well, after breaking my camera, I gave my card to Nex for him to save his pictures into my card, so my card was actually not in the camera when it was stolen. Stroke of Luck #2, Jia Ling emptied her pictures into the hostel computer to upload into Flickr and to save into her external harddisk (which did not work) and I was supposed to save them into a thumb drive borrowed from Nex, so her stolen camera was actually empty as well. And I didn't bring my laptop, thank god!
So yeah, a lesson was learnt, minus the tremendous hassle of retrieving all the important documents and the heartbreak of losing all the travel pictures. Just that I'm now much poorer, and I've lost everybody's phone contacts. Help me by emailing me your number, that would be great.
Going back to KL this evening, see you guys at home later!
Fueling Sales: Beyond MPG Numbers
The race to prove one’s superiority is on in 2008 and is sure to continue into 2009, even as gasoline prices fall significantly. The idea that $4 gas is possible is in the mind of the consumer and it has changed the perspective on what is important in the purchasing decision. Fuel economy is now even with safety and quality when it comes to leading factors when buying a car.
So now that fuel economy is a major influencer, how are the automakers responding to this change? Product changes take years in manufacturing leaving marketing with the brunt of this task. You have to sell the products that simply exist. There is no silver bullet to improve fuel economy in a matter months.
One issue becomes obvious very quickly, most non-hybrid cars have similar fuel economy numbers, provided they are the same class of engine (4, 6 or 8 cylinder.) A lineup of 4-cylinder sedans have pretty much the same mpg numbers within 1-3 mpg, leaving marketers with little competitive advantage in the mpg distinction. A couple ways companies have dealt with this dilemma are as follows.
One approach is to show dominance by using miles superiority on a tank of gas. The new Chevy Traverse launch site does this using a PowerPoint graphic. The Traverse gets consumers another 60 miles in driving range before a refuel when compared to its competitors, yet it has the same fuel economy as the Ford Flex and Toyota Highlander. How does it do this? Through the magic of a bigger fuel tank. Never in my wildest dreams did I think the size of a fuel tank would be used to show a competitive advantage in fuel economy. To hell with logic, Chevy just bolted on a bigger tank to the frame. Advantage Traverse! Or something like that.
Chevy isn’t alone in this approach. In the UK, the Smart car competes with several small compact fuel sippers and decided to use driving range as a differentiator for the ForTwo model. Fortunately, Smart uses a more whimsical approach by letting the site visitor choose the correct answer of how far the Smart can travel. They even bring in a bagpipe player to celebrate the news.
Another approach is Honda’s Fit online game experience. This one is really odd. The concept here is to show the Honda Fit as a “a hero of fuel efficiency” by pitting it against the “Fuelivors”. Fuelivors are represented as big, old, inefficient American cars. Though this isn’t a challenge against a Chrysler Sebring, Chevy Cobalt, or Ford Focus. No that would be a fairly even match; instead, Honda brings us back to 1960 American big cars, complete with fins and giant grilles. Too bad online games weren’t around during the 1970s gas crisis as the Honda Fit game would’ve been a perfect fit. There really hasn’t been a great approach yet to differentiate on fuel economy, unless of course you are a hybrid – the Prius hybrid. In the non-hybrid category, there may be some opportunity to find a way to extend fuel economy beyond just mpg numbers. Besides fighting 1960 Impalas or having a larger fuel tank, product is what gives you a competitive advantage in fuel economy, marketing less so.
Giant Red Bow Sales to Nosedive this Christmas
Automotive advertising is definitely going to decrease in the coming months and possibly years. One of the changes happening in Christmas 2008 is a decrease of the buy a car for your loved one Christmas ads, most commonly associated with Lexus. The big red bow car ads will be replaced by less ostentatious messaging.
Honda will be extending their TV spots with online media placements that will donate $1 to charity for every registration on their site. It's the softer, community approach that will be more common this year than the overtly festive approach of prior holiday sales events.
With sales numbers way down across the industry, Honda's strategy of getting hand-raisers to communicate to via a charitable gift enticement could be a good way to obtain leads as the economy recovers.
This is disappointing news as I was hoping Santa would bring me a new car for Christmas (I always ask, never receive.) Oh well, it's a time to be thankful for what you have, not what you want. Maybe I'll just ask for some new micro-fiber towels to wash what I own. more.
Environmentally Friendly : Toyota Rin
Toyota take the ideas of environmentally friendly to another level with the RiN concept that Introduced at the Tokyo Motorshow in October 2007. Rin was designed for “harmony with nature” and a “healthy mind and body”. RiN designed to provide a driver-friendly environment, and a friendly environment itself.
This concept car from Toyota offers several unique features. Toyota Rin looks like some kind of futuristic automotive, designed to help drivers become one with nature. The feature is intended to improve well being, including chairs that support correct body posture, a mood sensing steering control that display the driver’s psychological state on displays, an oxygen-level conditioner, and a pinpoint humidifier.
General Specifications :
Country of Origin : Japan
Numbers Built : Not Available (Prototype)
Produced in : 2007 Introduced at : 2007 Tokyo Motorshow
Dimensions :
Length / Width / Height : 3250 mm (128 in) / 1690 mm (66.5 in) / 1650 mm (65 in)
Wheelbase / Track (fr/r) : 2850 mm (112.2 in) / N/A / N/A
Website : www.toyota.com
Sabah ist der Hammer!
We are so bloody lucky to have Sabah as part of Malaysia. (I'm sure the same applies to Sarawak but I haven't been there yet so I can't say.)
I am so loving it here!!!!!!! The past few days have been nothing but sublime. I've had so many first-time experiences yesterday alone at Weston Wetland, that I'm not even going to cover it here, I promise a superbly long post when I get back. As a teaser - a pair of fireflies had sex on the palm of my hand! Beat that! (Not literally, no!)
So far we have gone to the Gaya market, whitewater rafting, Weston Wetland (a must do!) and island hopping (parasailing + snorkelling). Tomorrow we're going to a little-known Bamboo Music Festival (I found it off the Internet, so far no Sabahan I've spoken to has heard of it before hearing of it from me), Nex is bringing us there. Nex is the bestest guide that anyone can ask for in KK! Thanks to him we had a kickass itinerary and the trip has been just wonderful. Later we're also meeting up with Guang Hong for dinner.
I dropped my camera on the ground and it no longer works, but I'm still in good spirits because of the greatness of Sabah.
Ahh. Happiness. Toodles till I get back to KL!
p/s. I'm writing the title in German as a signal to the Network of German Backpackers (NGB) to bring their hordes of backpackers over here. Go. To. Sabah. Immediately. Now.
I am so loving it here!!!!!!! The past few days have been nothing but sublime. I've had so many first-time experiences yesterday alone at Weston Wetland, that I'm not even going to cover it here, I promise a superbly long post when I get back. As a teaser - a pair of fireflies had sex on the palm of my hand! Beat that! (Not literally, no!)
So far we have gone to the Gaya market, whitewater rafting, Weston Wetland (a must do!) and island hopping (parasailing + snorkelling). Tomorrow we're going to a little-known Bamboo Music Festival (I found it off the Internet, so far no Sabahan I've spoken to has heard of it before hearing of it from me), Nex is bringing us there. Nex is the bestest guide that anyone can ask for in KK! Thanks to him we had a kickass itinerary and the trip has been just wonderful. Later we're also meeting up with Guang Hong for dinner.
I dropped my camera on the ground and it no longer works, but I'm still in good spirits because of the greatness of Sabah.
Ahh. Happiness. Toodles till I get back to KL!
p/s. I'm writing the title in German as a signal to the Network of German Backpackers (NGB) to bring their hordes of backpackers over here. Go. To. Sabah. Immediately. Now.
So long suckers!
I've gotta pack as usual. So far I have accomplished dragging my backpack out of its drawer and smiling amiably at it.
Hello backpack my old friend! Looks like we're flying off tomorrow. Would you be a dear and pack yourself? No? Hey don't use that tone with me young man. Fine! Be that way.
The customary procrastination before packing. Ahhhhhh. The smell of freedom. *sniff sniff* Doesn't smell like anything in particular but is still intoxicating no less.
What I've been up to lately. Reverse chronologically - got interviewed by someone from The Straits Times (only the most important paper in Singapore) on Couchsurfing this evening. She'll notify me if it gets published, i.e. it's still in the early planning stage. This morning had the last exam of this semester!! Wahahahaha! Yesterday got to know from a very reliable source that my homosexuality group project got A. Wahahaha!! Sometime this week I went to see Dr. I and got the results of my other term paper, A+ =D Conference conference!! Sometime two weeks ago got an invitation to review a journal article from the Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, my first ever invitation to do that! (I even emailed the editor to see if there was a mistake in identity =_=)
What I'm going to be up to for the following month. Chronologically - here's my itinerary for Kota Kinabalu, thanks to dear Nex!
Sat 22 - Reach KK at night
Sun 23 - Market in the morning, depart for White Water Rafting by 9am, return to KK by 3pm, transfer to Weston Wetlands
Mon 24 - Weston Wetlands
Tue 25 - Weston Wetlands, return to KK by evening
Wed 26 - Bamboo Festival in the morning, then explore KK in the afternoon and laze around the beach in the evening and watch the sun set.
Thu 27 - Island hopping (back to KK by 4:30pm), departure in the evening
Then I'll fly home =D Spend a week or so in KL =D Book launch on the 5th. Conveniently missing the date for my half-marathon... sigh... yes I am feeling stupid now, 3 months after enrolling myself for that half-marathon. Yeah I'm a lazy bum and I screwed up =( After a week in KL come back to Singapore. Stay put for the rest of December to revise the term paper for submission to conferences and journals, do my research on PhD and sneak in a little French here and there.
Yeah so. Looks like I got a pretty full plate for the time being. But yes. Freedom feels good!!!
Looks like there won't be any packing done today. If you're lucky there may be another packing post tomorrow =D And behold - the longest label list ever:
Hello backpack my old friend! Looks like we're flying off tomorrow. Would you be a dear and pack yourself? No? Hey don't use that tone with me young man. Fine! Be that way.
The customary procrastination before packing. Ahhhhhh. The smell of freedom. *sniff sniff* Doesn't smell like anything in particular but is still intoxicating no less.
What I've been up to lately. Reverse chronologically - got interviewed by someone from The Straits Times (only the most important paper in Singapore) on Couchsurfing this evening. She'll notify me if it gets published, i.e. it's still in the early planning stage. This morning had the last exam of this semester!! Wahahahaha! Yesterday got to know from a very reliable source that my homosexuality group project got A. Wahahaha!! Sometime this week I went to see Dr. I and got the results of my other term paper, A+ =D Conference conference!! Sometime two weeks ago got an invitation to review a journal article from the Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, my first ever invitation to do that! (I even emailed the editor to see if there was a mistake in identity =_=)
What I'm going to be up to for the following month. Chronologically - here's my itinerary for Kota Kinabalu, thanks to dear Nex!
Sat 22 - Reach KK at night
Sun 23 - Market in the morning, depart for White Water Rafting by 9am, return to KK by 3pm, transfer to Weston Wetlands
Mon 24 - Weston Wetlands
Tue 25 - Weston Wetlands, return to KK by evening
Wed 26 - Bamboo Festival in the morning, then explore KK in the afternoon and laze around the beach in the evening and watch the sun set.
Thu 27 - Island hopping (back to KK by 4:30pm), departure in the evening
Then I'll fly home =D Spend a week or so in KL =D Book launch on the 5th. Conveniently missing the date for my half-marathon... sigh... yes I am feeling stupid now, 3 months after enrolling myself for that half-marathon. Yeah I'm a lazy bum and I screwed up =( After a week in KL come back to Singapore. Stay put for the rest of December to revise the term paper for submission to conferences and journals, do my research on PhD and sneak in a little French here and there.
Yeah so. Looks like I got a pretty full plate for the time being. But yes. Freedom feels good!!!
Looks like there won't be any packing done today. If you're lucky there may be another packing post tomorrow =D And behold - the longest label list ever:
Some of My Work Debuted Yesterday
It's a great time to work with Ford, Lincoln and Mercury. This is a time of new distinctive design and high fuel economy vehicles as Ford adjusts to the changing market. That's why it was an exciting day yesterday when three vehicles I worked on debuted at the LA Auto Show, followed by three vehicle reveal websites. Two major launches included the new Ford Fusion + Fusion Hybrid and the Lincoln MKZ. We also developed some content to reveal the new Mercury Milan & Milan Hybrid. All the
distraction of the industry aside, these are some solid products with major updates to their interiors, improved fuel economy, and the addition of a couple hybrid sedans. Since this is some of my work, I'll just let it speak for itself as I really cannot get into much about the strategic decisions without divulging proprietary information, so my apologies. I do think there is some beautiful work but I did learn a few things that I look forward to improving as we look to the Detroit Auto Show in January and what's to come then.
Ahem.
I just noticed that I had forgotten three people's birthdays in a row. Three very old friends (25! Wahey!), very dear to my heart - two of whom read my blog and one who doesn't. All Scorpios.
Paiseh!!!!!
Ling, Woei and YY, happy birthday!!!
Sorry this isn't much of a birthday post - photocopying the whole day made me want to kill myself and I am exhausted from all the restraint. But happy birthday and have a great year ahead of you nonetheless!
Paiseh!!!!!
Ling, Woei and YY, happy birthday!!!
Sorry this isn't much of a birthday post - photocopying the whole day made me want to kill myself and I am exhausted from all the restraint. But happy birthday and have a great year ahead of you nonetheless!
The Clean and Safe : Honda PUYO
PUYO is eco friendly design car from Honda, this car is “clean, “safe” and “fun”. Puyo also has great functionality, environmentally responsible and people friendly. Honda PUYO fuel-cell vehicle is intended to create a gentle, friendly impression and entertain the passenger and the people around it.
The exterior of this cool car has "seamless soft box" design and PUYO's "gel body" made from soft material. It has minimalist design featuring an ultra high efficiency. PUYO a spacious interior design because of the seamless exterior design. PUYO has the charm of a cute car that begs to be touched. This eco-friendly car was designed to improve safety, while embedded headlight and other illumination shines through the soft, translucent skin.
Honda PUYO was first introduced at the 2007 Tokyo Motorshow and supposed to be the hope of a more tender relationship between human and machine.
The Weekend that Was.
For the first time in weeks I had a real weekend, a weekend not ridden with mountains of readings or paperwork or idiotic group members. And right now I am having persimmons and watching a Japanese movie about three girls who suddenly got super powers from eating instant noodles. Flummoxed by the sheer ridiculousness of the plot, I've decided to blog about my weekend instead.
Friday.
Had a good test that I hardly studied for, wahaha... Since I am only aiming for B as B is the minimum requirement for PhD students (see - if they didn't put a requirement there I would have aimed for an A instead. See how suppressive laws are counter-productive??) and I am pretty sure I can get a B at least, so right after the test I was sprightly and decided to go back to the hostel and chill. Was planning to watch a Bollywood movie at 6pm but then it started raining and since I was too lazy to get up at 4:30pm to start my commute, I decided to skip the movie.
8pm I found myself at the mall at Choa Chu Kang which is just a regular mall which happens to have a library in it and said library also happened to be closed for renovation - so I found myself wandering aimlessly in a mall in Singapore, yet again. Had below-average-rum-and-raisin-gelato and met up with Yuen briefly on her way home since she passes by CCK. 10pm met Jia Ling at Yew Tee, had hash browns and beer in her house watching TV. Good domestic life which I haven't had since ever. The beer made me very sleepy so I went to bed, only to be awakened by wakeful Jia Ling at 1am and we ended up chatting till about 5am.
Saturday
At 7am Jia Ling woke up to go for work (some kind of primary school orientation day) and I slept till about 10am, after which I woke up and made yet another batch of hash browns with mayo. Good oily stuff, washed down with pomegranate juice and crappy Taiwanese game shows. Had lunch with Jia Ling back and went to find Kuan Sheng to get my travel towel. Afternoon was spent back in the hostel watching Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants 2.
7pm I met with some exchange student friends (Poj from Thailand and Vera and Han Bing from China) and made our way to school. Why the school? 'Coz we were going to have a pizza picnic on the roof of the school =D My idea. Had delivery pizza, oranges and beer, and chatted till about 12:30am after which we walked back to hostel together. They're going to leave Singapore next week and I'll have three less friends in Singapore =(
Sunday
Had already made plans with Han Bing and Vera to have lunch together and to go to Orchard Road. We parted ways at Orchard and I hunted down swimsuits that I needed to buy. Seriously, all the shops sell identical stuff. After the third Triumph swimwear section I decided to just pick one and quit Orchard Road. I don't even like it that much, it's a matter of necessity since I am going to KK and I don't want to be without my swimsuit. I kept rationalizing that since it will last virtually forever, I don't have to worry too much about the exorbitant price that I paid.
Then I made my way to Bugis and Bras Basah Complex which is an entire building composed of bookshops. Quite a nerd's heaven actually. I ended up buying three books from one of the used books store. Then I chilled at the National Library which was beside the complex. Ended up back here at about 10.
So that was my weekend. How was yours?
Odds and ends.
I've observed that the people around me are using my dramatic "It's horrible!" ejaculation. Feels good to be unconsciously imitated =D
I was just thinking what the world would be like if women devoured their men right after they copulate, like the spiders. I heard that the thigh part is the best.
Perversion is when Christmas songs are blasted in every shopping mall when it isn't even half past November yet. Creepiness is when a middle-aged man starts singing the Barney I love you, you love me song while queueing to get down the escalator in the MRT.
I've been having intermittent toothaches and it is making me cranky.
I bought a CD which teaches French with music. Gonna convert the audio files into mp3s so that I can listen to them when in public transport. Je voudrais manger quelque chose - I would like to eat something. Also one of my used books is The Blue Book of French, published in 1964. Got it for SGD4.
Stupid tooth stop throbbing damnit =_=
Ai crappy post will publish anyway here you go.
Friday.
Had a good test that I hardly studied for, wahaha... Since I am only aiming for B as B is the minimum requirement for PhD students (see - if they didn't put a requirement there I would have aimed for an A instead. See how suppressive laws are counter-productive??) and I am pretty sure I can get a B at least, so right after the test I was sprightly and decided to go back to the hostel and chill. Was planning to watch a Bollywood movie at 6pm but then it started raining and since I was too lazy to get up at 4:30pm to start my commute, I decided to skip the movie.
8pm I found myself at the mall at Choa Chu Kang which is just a regular mall which happens to have a library in it and said library also happened to be closed for renovation - so I found myself wandering aimlessly in a mall in Singapore, yet again. Had below-average-rum-and-raisin-gelato and met up with Yuen briefly on her way home since she passes by CCK. 10pm met Jia Ling at Yew Tee, had hash browns and beer in her house watching TV. Good domestic life which I haven't had since ever. The beer made me very sleepy so I went to bed, only to be awakened by wakeful Jia Ling at 1am and we ended up chatting till about 5am.
Saturday
At 7am Jia Ling woke up to go for work (some kind of primary school orientation day) and I slept till about 10am, after which I woke up and made yet another batch of hash browns with mayo. Good oily stuff, washed down with pomegranate juice and crappy Taiwanese game shows. Had lunch with Jia Ling back and went to find Kuan Sheng to get my travel towel. Afternoon was spent back in the hostel watching Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants 2.
7pm I met with some exchange student friends (Poj from Thailand and Vera and Han Bing from China) and made our way to school. Why the school? 'Coz we were going to have a pizza picnic on the roof of the school =D My idea. Had delivery pizza, oranges and beer, and chatted till about 12:30am after which we walked back to hostel together. They're going to leave Singapore next week and I'll have three less friends in Singapore =(
Sunday
Had already made plans with Han Bing and Vera to have lunch together and to go to Orchard Road. We parted ways at Orchard and I hunted down swimsuits that I needed to buy. Seriously, all the shops sell identical stuff. After the third Triumph swimwear section I decided to just pick one and quit Orchard Road. I don't even like it that much, it's a matter of necessity since I am going to KK and I don't want to be without my swimsuit. I kept rationalizing that since it will last virtually forever, I don't have to worry too much about the exorbitant price that I paid.
Then I made my way to Bugis and Bras Basah Complex which is an entire building composed of bookshops. Quite a nerd's heaven actually. I ended up buying three books from one of the used books store. Then I chilled at the National Library which was beside the complex. Ended up back here at about 10.
So that was my weekend. How was yours?
Odds and ends.
I've observed that the people around me are using my dramatic "It's horrible!" ejaculation. Feels good to be unconsciously imitated =D
I was just thinking what the world would be like if women devoured their men right after they copulate, like the spiders. I heard that the thigh part is the best.
Perversion is when Christmas songs are blasted in every shopping mall when it isn't even half past November yet. Creepiness is when a middle-aged man starts singing the Barney I love you, you love me song while queueing to get down the escalator in the MRT.
I've been having intermittent toothaches and it is making me cranky.
I bought a CD which teaches French with music. Gonna convert the audio files into mp3s so that I can listen to them when in public transport. Je voudrais manger quelque chose - I would like to eat something. Also one of my used books is The Blue Book of French, published in 1964. Got it for SGD4.
Stupid tooth stop throbbing damnit =_=
Ai crappy post will publish anyway here you go.
Advocacy Marketing… Begging for Billions
It is an ugly time in the automotive industry. So bad, that even the beloved Toyota is down 23% last month. A lot is changing in the U.S. (and global) economy and it is hitting the Big Three (GM, Ford and Chrysler) and international automakers hard. Unfortunately, like the U.S. consumer, the Big Three are highly leveraged and spending more than they bring in. The financial crisis is hurting U.S. automakers two fold: in higher lending rates as they borrow to keep operations going and secondly in the ability of customers to get credit approval. One of the big issues that is exacerbating the sales decline in automotive is the new lending standards forcing many borderline or less-than-perfect borrowers out of the market. The whole lending industry is in a giant stalemate as banks continue to suffer large write-downs of bad debt when just a year ago they were lending hundreds of thousands of dollars to anyone with a pulse, forget proving you had an income or could rub two nickels together. So, here we are in one of the worst global financial crisises since the Great Depression.
The Big Three are currently pushing the public for a government bailout between $25-$50 billion. This is suppose to buy the automakers sometime while the banks eventually relax their lending standards; thereby, allowing more buyers into the market. Buying time will not quickly turn Hummers into Priuses; instead, this is about giving the industry cash to continue operations in an environment that has stopped lending to firms with bad balance sheets, and yes all three U.S. automakers have some pretty dismal balance sheets.
Without going much more into what the situation is from an economic or political perspective, I want to look at what the Big Three are doing from a marketing perspective. Instead of our usual topic of selling products, GM and Chrysler are doing advocacy marketing through two online efforts: GM Facts and Fiction, Chrysler’s Corporate Blog and Grab Democracy By the Horns.
Chrysler’s Blog
Chrysler has started posting some of their corporate blog content on YouTube and they maintain a blog off of their Chrysler Listens website. The videos advocating support for a government bailout are almost laughable. Autoblog chastised Chysler for “breaking out the handycam” as the videos reek of amateur corporate training video quality. The voiceover and pictures of
Washington DC, a flag in a factory, and random ‘action shots’ inside corporate headquarters I’m sure is something the employees of Chrysler were forced to watch. Really, who would watch this unless someone was paying you? (Oh wait, I watched them and no one is paying me right now… hmmm better rerun my MSN Time Valuation Calculator.) Unfortunately, the Chrysler advocacy videos probably won’t budge the political debate in the Big Three’s direction. Then again maybe I’m wrong, maybe Chrysler’s low budget approach just makes you feel sorry for them. Yeah, I’m right. It does nothing.The new effort is a bit more consumer friendly, Grab Democracy By the Horns. Really? Grab Democracy by the Horns? Are we supposed to wrestle democracy down to the ground with a lasso and tell it to fork over some of those billions? Worst Website Name Award aside, the site is a bit more advocacy friendly than the Chrysler corporate blog. Unfortunately, it must be a work in-progress as several of the links are not working. For example, apparently no one has "Shared Your Story." Supposedly, people are to share their woes of being a private equity fund and the pain of a bad investment in the auto industry.
GM Facts and Fiction
I have to admit I love it when GM creates new websites to stay engaged with consumers and brand advocates, like they have done with their Fastlane Blog, or when they have tried to redefine the energy debate with their GM Next website.
GM is out on the Internet trying to actively define issues and GM Facts and Fiction is no exception. The homepage of the site calls visitors to action with their “Mobilize Now” and “Get the Word Out” action links. The Mobilize Now section actually categorizes a user’s own advocacy by the type of person they are. For instance, if you are a retiree, you get a custom letter to send to your congressperson. Employees, suppliers, dealers, and my personal favorite “Concerned Americans” all have form letters or phone statements prepared by GM to show support for a bailout.
The site also provides several Myth and Fact statements and a Learn More About the Crisis page that links out to several articles, polls, et cetera that show third-party data and information about the auto industry’s current situation and how a bailout would help America, not just GM. It is an interesting approach and one that is significantly better than the corporate video route Chrysler is taking. GM feels it can best educate it’s advocates through knowledge and defense against some of the “myths” it feels are currently clouding the debate. Much like any political discussion, GM is using Facts and Fiction as a tool to improve advocacy by improving the insight of those supporting the bailout or by convincing those on the fence that the bailout is a good thing for all Americans.
Social Media
There is even a social networking angle that popped up on my Facebook profile this evening. Someone from Digitas (GM’s digital agency of record) started a Cause group called “Support the US Economy by Supporting the US Auto Industry”. Most of us who have joined are there for self-interest, I’m sure. It is, however, an interesting way to get the word out across social networks and may even drive some traffic to GM Facts and Fiction, which is prominently featured on the Facebook Cause page.
What About Ford?
So where is Ford in the Big Three advocacy play? They have decided to opt out and focus on future product as evidenced by this recent article in The Detroit News. Ford is trying to play this one under the radar. They definitely want aid and some reports have said they have maybe 7 months of cash to burn through before having the same issue as GM, but Alan Mullaly wants to show that Ford is a healthy company and just wants aid as a matter of fairness if his cross-town rivals get any help, i.e. why should GM and Chrysler get any competitive advantage through lower lending rates or cash availability.
In Closing
Advocacy marketing, when three giants of U.S. industry are seeking billions in government aid, is not an easy thing to sell to a citizenry that is seeing historical foreclosure rates, rising personal bankruptcies, and a very shaky job market in just about every industry. This leaves a lot of Americans with the question: Why GM, Chrysler, and Ford? Why not the company I work for or own? What makes their need for stability and survivability any greater than mine? Unfortunately, that question never gets directly addressed by GM’s or Chrysler’s advocacy websites. Why? Because the reality is a lot of jobs are unstable today and a lot of businesses would love some government aid in a time of dire need. The good news for the Big Three is that the debate is falling more and more in their favor with some recent polls suggesting there is support for a Big Three bailout. Now if only congress and a lame duck President can come to some agreement before GM starts bouncing checks next month…
I salute thinkers of the world.
Head awash in new concepts, critiques, critiques of critiques... while being amazed at why I had never thought from those perspectives before.
I'm actually enjoying the readings for my exams. How much nerdier can I get? (Not much.) Anyways if nothing happens I won't be updating in a week or so. Too many readings, too little time. You guys be good and eat your vegetables.
I'm actually enjoying the readings for my exams. How much nerdier can I get? (Not much.) Anyways if nothing happens I won't be updating in a week or so. Too many readings, too little time. You guys be good and eat your vegetables.
When Your "Best Side" Is Under the Hood... You're Ugly
There have been numerous debates about how to properly advertise a car. Some of the most infamous include Infiniti's debut campaign that never showed a vehicle or when Range Rover took a "risk" showing a vehicle caked with mud, at a time when every vehicle was always shown as if it just rolled off the showroom. But I have never seen an advertisement that shows only the engine cover as its beauty shot. Enter the Kia Sorento. While reading the NY Times this evening, I noticed a rather puzzling shot of an engine block cover to the right of the article. Having removed an engine cover or two in my past, I knew what it was. But I doubt most people do, since very few of us open the hood of our cars.
There is no call to action or no message surrounding the engine cover image. Instead, just a price and the vehicle's name. I wonder if many people would even know it was an advertisement for a car? On rollover, a message about the vehicle's horsepower is given. But is this for a car, truck, SUV, or crossover??? I doubt the click through rate on this ad is very high. It is being advertised in an upper funnel spot, outside of an automotive context, with an image that resembles the chest plate of some futuristic robot or some really expensive lawn mower.
When advertising outside of an in-market automotive context, it is best to engage and interest the consumer, but to do so in a way that communicates who you are or gets them interested in what you are saying. A stale image of an engine cover with no engaging copy is the worst thing you can do. Kia has a compelling, low-price 5 passenger SUV in the Sorento that could be much better communicated to a large audience. It's a value product in an financially conscious time, so sell it on it's merits as a good buy without giving anything up (like moving to a small car for example.) Performance is not the Sorento's segment advantage or the care of most 5-passenger SUV consumers: value, versatility, and roominess are. So promote it in a way that interests a larger audience.
Maybe when the Kia Soul gets released will Kia finally show a vehicle from outside its engine bay.
Mayan Special Vacation Packages
Travelers looking for eco-cultural vacations to visit Yucatan, Mexico, should view our www.yucatanadventure.com.mx/offers.htm web-page where a selection of Vacation Packages are offered at discount prices.
Come and experience the Maya Culture and its traditions as you help the Mayan communities near Chichen Itza. Take time to know the mystical traditions of the Maya people and help us help them have a better future! If you wish to volunteer or participate in the volunteer vacation program of the Maya Foundation In Laakeech, please contact us now via email: info@yucatanadventure.com.mx
Come and experience the Maya Culture and its traditions as you help the Mayan communities near Chichen Itza. Take time to know the mystical traditions of the Maya people and help us help them have a better future! If you wish to volunteer or participate in the volunteer vacation program of the Maya Foundation In Laakeech, please contact us now via email: info@yucatanadventure.com.mx
Consonants HGTV and GMC Team Up for Some Nice Content Integration
Reaching your consumers through natural pathing is a goal of all advertisers. If there is one mantra I have come to use in online marketing that’s go to where your customers already are. There are many examples of advertisers, across industries, trying to build their own Facebook, their own Snapfish, or their own YouTube. There are also a lot of ideas out there right now trying to gain inclusion in people’s social networks. While all of this is important to evaluate when developing an online brand experience, one of the better ideas in online media has seemed to lost its cache and that is online content integration. I finally came across a good example from a recent email marketing newsletter sent to me by GMC.
GMC Trade Secrets on AOL Living brings together useful consumer content relevant to the passion points of its potential customers. The execution also brings in some HGTV celebrities: Eric Stromer, Kelly Edwards, and Curtis Stone. The AOL Living section provides some rich DIY content that was developed custom for this site and not just a repurpose of content. My favorite was “Fix Driveway Stains” a nice integration of automotive relevancy and homeowner tip that currently has over 800,000 views.
Some nice touches include the “Get Weekly Updates from the GMC Pros” email hand-raiser. GMC requests some information about vehicles people would be interested in, plus timeframe when they may be in-market, but it also lets the user Skip the form and just sign up for the Pros' email content. GMC is respectful that all of the visitors may not be interested in the vehicles so the Skip button is prominent. The site also includes an Ask the Pros section under every video. Unfortunately, like a lot of content sites like this the replies to questions asked are non-existent. People left a lot of questions on the site but it seemed only about 1 in every 8 had a response; though, the response was typically from another user of the site, not the Pro.
Overall the site really meets the homeowner, do-it-yourselfer at a level that is worthy of their time. Even with all of the GMC ad banners on top and along the margins, the site features the Pro content without overly pushing GMC in an obnoxious way. Sure there is some quick pre-roll of the Pros driving a GMC vehicle before a video tip is given but at least it uses the Pro in the pre-roll and isn’t a 15 second GMC ad.
Wot????
No exam slips? I'll be identified in the finals by my matric number? What kind of lame system is NTU using???
I suppose now is a wee bit too late to regret skipping classes, dozing in class and all the other hanky panky that I've been doing this sem so far. Now giving mooncakes to lecturers and writing acknowledgments sucking up to lecturers in the term papers don't seem as far-fetched, because, hey, it's actually beneficial! Your good lecturer can actually trace your test to your matric number to you, remember the taste of the lotus paste double egg yolk moon cake, and award an 'A' to you! What have I done (or not done) to my good grades??
A little bird told me that her supervisor actively gives bad grades to people she doesn't like - and I was just wondering how - now I KNOW. Fucking system encourages favouritism and discrimination! Why don't I just give cold hard cash to the lecturers who grade me so that I can get the B that I need so badly?
Apparently NUS does not have exam ID numbers to protect the students' anonymity as well.
OMFG. I am profoundly scandalized.
I suppose now is a wee bit too late to regret skipping classes, dozing in class and all the other hanky panky that I've been doing this sem so far. Now giving mooncakes to lecturers and writing acknowledgments sucking up to lecturers in the term papers don't seem as far-fetched, because, hey, it's actually beneficial! Your good lecturer can actually trace your test to your matric number to you, remember the taste of the lotus paste double egg yolk moon cake, and award an 'A' to you! What have I done (or not done) to my good grades??
A little bird told me that her supervisor actively gives bad grades to people she doesn't like - and I was just wondering how - now I KNOW. Fucking system encourages favouritism and discrimination! Why don't I just give cold hard cash to the lecturers who grade me so that I can get the B that I need so badly?
Apparently NUS does not have exam ID numbers to protect the students' anonymity as well.
OMFG. I am profoundly scandalized.
Halloween schmalloween.
Do people celebrating Halloween in this part of the world, even know the origins and what it's for? Or it's just an excuse to dress up and party?
PeOpLe WhO wRiTe LiKe tHiS should be sent back to preschool.
Simplified model of Singapore in my head:
NTU --- Mall --- Mall --- Mall Mall Mall --- Mall --- Mall --- Changi Airport
I wasn't chronically depressed after all. I should begin to jot down my period dates.
When you're in the MRT or walking in crowds and have your earphones on, you can pretend that you're in a Coldplay MTV.
What if the guy destined for me is an Eskimo and we never get to meet and he dies of a broken heart? Have. to. go. to. Alaska.
Having headaches recently. I walked around Singapore the whole day yesterday with a drummer in my head. I think it's the lack of sleep. Have you ever decided to go to bed at 10pm, zone out for a bit and realize it's already 2am when you finally go? Happens to me every night. Watching downloaded movies probably does not help with the zoning out part.
Today is Assignment Wrap Up day. I hope, haha. Blogging = Procrastinating. Exams are next week, oh no! OK I should go.
Last but not least -
Guillaume Canet's smiling eyes are the most attractive eyes that I've ever seen in a guy. I hope my Eskimo has eyes like him.
"i like my new bunnysuit
i like my new bunnysuit
i like my new bunnysuit
when i wear it i feel cute"~Kimya Dawson, So Nice So Smart
PeOpLe WhO wRiTe LiKe tHiS should be sent back to preschool.
Simplified model of Singapore in my head:
NTU --- Mall --- Mall --- Mall Mall Mall --- Mall --- Mall --- Changi Airport
I wasn't chronically depressed after all. I should begin to jot down my period dates.
When you're in the MRT or walking in crowds and have your earphones on, you can pretend that you're in a Coldplay MTV.
What if the guy destined for me is an Eskimo and we never get to meet and he dies of a broken heart? Have. to. go. to. Alaska.
Having headaches recently. I walked around Singapore the whole day yesterday with a drummer in my head. I think it's the lack of sleep. Have you ever decided to go to bed at 10pm, zone out for a bit and realize it's already 2am when you finally go? Happens to me every night. Watching downloaded movies probably does not help with the zoning out part.
Today is Assignment Wrap Up day. I hope, haha. Blogging = Procrastinating. Exams are next week, oh no! OK I should go.
Last but not least -
Guillaume Canet's smiling eyes are the most attractive eyes that I've ever seen in a guy. I hope my Eskimo has eyes like him.
A diversification occurred in the 1990s and instead of few idols vying for popularity, a number of idols with specific characteristics divided the market. A new genre of idols called Net Idols became known in the late 1990s, only appearing on websites. In the mid-1990s, idols became much younger than before, and groups of idols like Speed and Morning Musume became prominent. In 1997 there appeared Kyoko Date, the first "cyber idol" or "virtual idol". Kyoko Date has a fabricated history and statistics and her own songs. Meanwhile, gurabia aidoru such as Yoko Matsugane, Rio Natsume and Eiko Koike have largely appeared skimpily clad in "cheesecake" photographs.
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