finally plucked up enough courage to do something about that nagging toothache...

my god! so the anesthetic shot was not the worse thing. it's the sound and feel of the dentist wrestling with your stubborn tooth. everytime you think he's finally going to yank it out, the grip slips and he tries again. "Er...I think your teeth has shattered..." bloody hell!

the only commendable thing was the SIA-quality service from the nurses. I keep getting“辛苦您了...”“让您久等了...”“谢谢...”and offers of (boiling) hot towels while waiting for my medication.

the niceties didn't come cheap though. bloodsuckers!

only in China...

chose to concentrate my time and energy here on building up my team. they are really a nice bunch, usually more passive than I would like but sometimes so rowdy and witty that they surprised me. most of them are good singers though. my F4s and S.H.E wannabes.

very often, we are the harshest to those we care the most about.
i think that applies to comments on our country and the system under which it runs.
people care because they want things to be better because they care.

the garment spokeman made an interesting point - that opinions are only allowed when you can offer solutions along with them.

is that true? all too often, we reject criticism as just that - criticism. what we were told to accept is 'constructive criticism' which should come with suggestions and directions to move forward. sounds good in theory but is the world really going to be better place if no one say anything if they don't really know how to solve the problem they would like to highlight?

is that why our people are so apathetic to most things? we don't (nor should) care because we don't have solutions? interesting.

was caught up in the world cup fever for the past month like (almost) everyone else.
one golf kaki was caught commenting “我对世界杯没什么兴趣”onboard the shuttle bus and the driver nearly slammed his brakes in shock (and mostly disgust). the rebuttal came fast and furious: “你如果对世界杯没兴趣，那你人生还有什么意思？！？”

of course the whole bus burst out laughing but I can't help but once again marvel at the power of sports and soccer in particular. how is it that so many people in the world can collectively transfer their mental and emotional energy into watching (practically) strangers trying to kick a ball into the net? this commentator in China got into trouble because he was screaming on air "GOOOAAALLL... LONG LIVE ITALY, DOWN WITH THE AUSSIES" at 2am in the morning. I mean, he's not even an italian! and I saw my fren (and heard that my sis did too) collapsed into tears when England was knocked out. strange game this.