Diversifying Ruined

The end of another tiring week and its weekend again! I think its kinda unhealthy to keep looking forward to next weekend because this also signify that our life is approaching the end. Sorry for the pessimistic mindset. Anyway, I am glad to sum up this weekday with a super good Friday today. In fact, it even has the honor to be in my dean's list competing for the top Friday award. No joke.

Alarmed rang at 7.45am as usual. Another day of work without Li Ling traveling to Raffles Place with me. I thought I was gonna be late but surprisingly I still managed to reach office on time. Just when I was about to settle down, an unfamiliar number appeared on my mobile phone.

I was stunned for a cool 2 seconds before I confirmed I was called by the 88.3fm DJs! Still in a shell shock state, they clarify the whole picture that earlier on Wendy had sent an sms to participate in their quiz. And fortunately, her sms was chosen. They went on to explain the rules to me and Wendy on the other side of the conference call. Basically, each of us need to answer a question correctly in order to win the prize. One question was regarding Europe while the other was related to soccer. Of course I chose the latter. There was no prisoner's dilemma game shit here because Wendy was vulnerable to both questions.

The first question was about the state in Europe in which Arnold was originated from. Not too sure about the question asked as I was busy telling my colleagues to tune in to 88.3fm only to realise later on that it was not live. Anyway, Wendy's first attempt was incorrect but she did not answer it officially yet. Then later on they gave a bit of hint and she managed to answer the question correctly! huuray! Next, it was my turn.

"Alright Collin, heres your question. In Euro 1996, there were 16 countries participating in it. Which of the following three countries are not one of them? a. Croatia b. Switzerland c. Ireland". It stunned me a while before realizing that I could not ask any of my colleagues because they are not soccer literate! I thought of googling for it but afraid there will not be enough time. Finally, I have decided to analyse the answer by using elimination method. Croatia and Switzerland are better than Ireland in terms of football ranking and ability. Hence, I chose c. Ireland! And I got it! woohooo. Anyway I was kind of confused as there are Northern Ireland and Republic Ireland and their footballing ability is quite significant with the latter being more formidable compared to the former. But heck, I still guessed it right!

Ireland (Irish: Éire, pronounced [ˈeːrʲə]) is a country in north-western Europe. The modern sovereign state occupies five-sixths of the island of Ireland, which was partitioned in 1921. It is bordered by Northern Ireland (part of the United Kingdom) to the north, by the Atlantic Ocean to the west and by the Irish Sea to the east. Legally, the term Republic of Ireland (Irish: Poblacht na hÉireann) is the description of the State but Ireland is its name.^[2]

So, you must be wondering what is the prize for this simple and short quiz right? Now, hold on to your chair if you are sitting down, hold on to your bed if you are lying down. Its an opportunity for two to go on a trip to Switzerland to catch one of the Euro 2008 matches!!!! However, it is not guaranteed yet. We were told that we need to go for a draw in one of the days during May where we will be given 4 chance to draw for the grand prize! Alright, still better than nothing. Stay tuned at this blog if you want to know our draw results.

Still feeling excited after the phone was hang, I went around telling some of my colleagues. Soon, it was lunch time. I went to lunch with my colleague who is also my Army friend known from OCS. He brought me to a place which I have not figured out the road name yet. Browsing through their menu, they serve really quality food at a smaller portion. Examples are Stingray with egg and rice (really those quality stingray you see outside selling), the usual sweet and sour pork/fish, mussel, chicken cube etc. I ordered a Stingray with Mussel and rice which cost $6.90. It was really good especially the mussel, one of the best I have ate.

It was a nice Friday afternoon. Even with the sun out, the weather was cool. Knowing that there was a small football game at the open area in front of Chevron House, my colleague and I decided to give the game a try after our lunch. I saw the event during yesterday's lunchtime with Wendy. But due to the drizzling weather and my shoe yesterday, I did not try it as I was afraid of falling down. Imagine falling down in your office wear attire with more than thirty people looking and hundreds other walking by. However, I dressed down today and the weather was good, so I decided to give it a try. Essentially, one is given 2 chance to kick a soccer ball into one of the 6 holes that are attached vertically with the hole facing him/her. Of course the harder ones are those at the top and the prize for them are some music mp3 player. Ya, I managed to "score" one of the lower holes and won a Coke Cola sling bag. I would consider bringing it out only if I have found ways to hide the big and easy to identify logo in front.


The time ticked to 6.40pm and I declared it was the end of another tiring week and a greetings to another precious weekend. I met Wendy downstairs and we agreed that today's weather was really superb. We then took the train to Cityhall to have our dinner at New York New York. She ordered a Penne with Roast Chicken pasta while I ordered the Mushroom and Bacon Aglio Olio. Surprisingly, my serving was larger than norm. Great, I am famished after a day's work.

After the nice and satisfying dinner, we walked around and saw that MPH is having a 20% sales storewide and decided to go in and take a look. As usual, I head towards the finance and investment area. But I have no idea where my GF is! Its either at some wine books section or personal beauty section hah.

There was really a great crowd as most are heading to IT Show at Suntec. We decided to head back home instead. We then stopped by Esplanade and take a seat to watch some performance by a band. They are a band which consist of Singaporeans, Indonesian and Filipino. The singer is a Singaporean and she definitely got a great voice, professional singer standard.