I spy with my little eye... on a cruise ship (Part 1).

You'll be tempted to eat and eat and eat on a cruise ship, what with buffet spread breakfast, mid-morning tea, buffet spread lunch, mid-afternoon tea, full-course fine dining dinner, and midnight snacks -- all of which you have already paid for, so...

But input must find equilibrium in output, That's when this sign in all of the ship's toilets, including those in the staterooms, makes it hard to comply with its command:

So, if the toilet is only for flushing down toilet paper, how do we "do it"?

Going on a cruise is of course a welcome escape from one's daily routine. But one musn't go overboard, unless one has been so over-stuffed -- and with no way to "do it" -- that one needs to find a way, any which way, out:

Yup, strictly no admittance here, even if you volunteer to be shark bait.

A ship must have rules. You don't want folks running around in circles and upsetting your deckside leisurely stroll:

Remember that universal rule "slippery when wet"? But, honestly, I have yet to see anyone -- even the tipsy ones -- try to climb or sit on the railings...

And if you are "pulling" (whatever), just be reminded, in the following order...

Some shipboard signs are really helpful, like where is aft and forward, and where is the port side and the starboard side...

But some signs are just too helpful:

Just as you can't climb up onto the railings, you can't climb these steps...

So, what are these steps for? Good question. And is this crew member breaking the ship's rule?...

 Finally, if -- heavens forbid! -- marauding pirates do climb onboard, take anything and anyone, but please spare these!...

Short takes...

I have this collection of news snippets -- that take a dig at the strange things people do -- that I want to post here before I go off on a holiday break. I'll be back blogging after Christmas!...

 

 

 

 

 

 

Have a great weekend!

Frank Lavin, a former United States ambassador to Singapore, wrote a very interesting account of how, in his words, he was the "cheese in a mousetrap" in the aftermath of 9/11 when various intelligence services got wind of a terrorist plan to attack the US embassy in Singapore (I had met him once -- aboard the aircraft carrier Carl Vinson; he was hosting a group of Singaporeans who had been flown to the flat-top while it was sailing in the South China Sea). His commentary appeared in Foreign Affairs magazine and was reproduced by ST (Dec 8):

  I managed to find the original Foreign Affairs article in Hardware Zone:

http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/eat-drink-man-woman-16/enemies-gate-security-lessons-foiled-embassy-attack-4000454.html

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I thought this ad for KL's refurbished Hotel Majestic was refreshingly clever in its use of the quaint English of a bygone era:

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What is kindness? Here's kindness in action:

So, acts of commission or omission can make or unmake us in our self-identity and in our relationship with others. Gandhi made these observations:

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And, of course, there is my favourite topic... dogs!

Speaking of which, the dog in this Olympus ad does really have a great big smile!...

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Have a great, full of kindness and smiles, weekend!

The Bad Sex prize for literary works.

There is such a thing as an annual Bad Sex award, given out by Britain's Literary Review for "bad sex in writing" and this year's prize went to Paris-based Canadian writer Nancy Huston (JK Rowlings was in the running, it seems, but she lost out). Here's the Guardian's story which includes a link to an extract from Huston's "prize-winning" work:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/dec/04/bad-sex-award-nancy-huston

Sympathy vs empathy; introspection vs outrospection.

The recent drama over the Chinese-nationality bus drivers who staged an illegal strike -- and the response of Singaporeans towards their action -- made me think about people's ability to be sympathetic or empathetic.

But what is sympathy and what is empathy?

This site explains, in simple language, the difference. It includes a helpful video:

http://www.diffen.com/difference/Empathy_vs_Sympathy

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Having understood what empathy really is, we should find this RSA video that discusses a newly coined term. "outrospection" (as opposed to "introspection") an interesting discourse:

http://www.thersa.org/events/rsaanimate/animate/rsa-animate-the-six-habits-of-highly-empathic-people

Pics from across the Causeway...

Our Malaysian neighbours, I always say, have a better sense of humour than us. Here are some pictures -- seen from a Malaysian funnybone perspective:

Angry Birds pau!

Belting up, even in the netherworld of deities.

Aiyoh, cop with kopi licence? Book him!

Okay, this house has a lot of women... but do they go about braless?

This is what laid-back really means!

Malaysia boleh! (Just try this in Singapore, and see what will happen!)

Same motor-bike? Or fuel-saving technology, Malaysian-style?

Call of the wild! That's all, folks.

Grandmas just wanna have fun!

This video is just a warm-up. The title of the clip is "Anti-boredom Campaign -- Funny Grandma Driving" (Caveat: Grandmas out there, please don't try this!)...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHeHiCtdH9M

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And now for the main event; a very funny joke:

Grandma Still Drives

Grandma is eighty-eight years old and still drives her own car, an open-top convertible. This is a letter she recently penned to a loved one:

Dear Grand-daughter,

The other day I went up to our local Christian book store and saw a "Honk if
you love Jesus" bumper sticker.

I was feeling particularly sassy that day because I had just come from a
thrilling choir performance, followed by a thunderous prayer meeting.

So, I purchased the sticker and put it on my car's rear bumper.

Boy, am I glad I did; it was such an uplifting experience thereafter.

You see, I stopped at the red light at a busy intersection, and was just lost in thought
about the Lord and how good he is.

Then, someone honked. The driver behind me must have seen my car's bumper sticker! In fact, I was about to find out that lots of people love Jesus!

The guy behind then started honking like crazy, and he even leaned out of his window and screamed, "For the love of God!"

"Go! Go! Go! Jesus Christ, GO!"

What an exuberant cheerleader he was for Jesus!

Then, everyone started honking!

I just leaned out and started waving and smiling at all those loving people.

I even honked my horn a few times to share in the love!

There must have been a man from Florida back there because I heard him
yelling something about a sunny beach.

I saw another guy waving in a funny way with only his middle finger stuck up
in the air.

I asked my young teenage grandson (your cousin), who was in the back seat, what that meant.

He grinned and said it was probably a Hawaiian good luck sign or something.

Well, I have never met anyone from Hawaii , so I leaned out and gave him the good luck sign right back.

My grandson burst out laughing.

Why, even he was enjoying this religious experience!!

A couple of the people were so caught up in the joy of the moment that they
got out of their cars and started walking towards me.

I bet they wanted to pray or ask what church I attended, but this is when I
noticed the lights had already changed to green.

So, I waved at all my brothers and sisters, and drove on through the intersection.

I noticed too that I was the only car that got through the intersection before
the lights changed to red again and I felt kind of sad that I had to leave them after
all the love we had shared.

So I slowed the car down, leaned out and gave them all the Hawaiian good luck sign one last time as I drove away. Praise the Lord for such wonderful folks!!

Will write again soon,

Love, Grandma