Posted on 27 August 2006 @ 15:33 in Personal, Stress Busters
It’s time to do more than “oo” and “ah” at pictures of cute pandas. I’ve decided to adopt one.
The National Zoo at Washington, DC has an “Adopt a Species” programme for different animals, including giant pandas, which helps support the care of more than 2,400 animals at the National Zoo and its Conservation and Research Centre. However, I want something closer to home. I’m adopting from Wolong.
Enter Pandas International. This is a non-profit organisation that I found from one of the many panda sites I visit. I signed up for their monthly newsletters, and I’ve also bought various panda-related items from them before. They, too, have an “Adopt a Panda” programme, and it is this programme that I have decided to put my money in. Unlike the National Zoo, Pandas International “Adopt a Panda” programme goes towards helping the giant pandas in their motherland, China, at the Wolong Panda Research or the Bifengxia Center, both in southern China’s Sichuan Province.
I have been in touch with the Director of Pandas International to discuss ways of funding my contribution. I can’t give the full amount one-off, and I have written to ask if I can make monthly contributions. She has replied that I can, and I will now be finalising arrangements.
I have a particular panda in mind that I want to adopt. She was born on 23 August (less than a week ago), the older of a pair of twins born to Fei Fei.
Every panda cub born in the world is special, but this one is extra-special.
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Posted on 24 August 2006 @ 01:34 in Friends
Happy Birthday, Bicky
Bicky and I go all the way back to Form 1. She sat in front of me and used to turn back every so often to ask something until the teacher gave her the nickname “Rubberneck” .
Oh! I’d forgotten about that nickname until just now when I wrote the above. Interesting what memories writing sometimes brings back.
P/S From the nickname, you can imagine which part of her body she turned the most to speak to me sitting directly behind her!
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Posted on 24 August 2006 @ 01:25 in Being Silly, Friends
| C:
| Can online friendships be real friendships?
You and I have met, and I consider you a friend. We have to be - we walked to Suntec City together, and looked for that hotel. I forgot to tell you the walk gave me a headache. Usually, I don’t spend much time outdoors so that day really long hours outdoors and I had a migraine while attending the auction. After the auction, I was going to walk back to the hotel, but I really couldn’t face walking through the crowds inside Suntec, so I took a cab. Short 5-minute ride. The minute I got back into the room, I went into the bathroom and made myself throw up. I felt better after that. But I didn’t have my trusted Ponstan with me on that trip, so had to really sleep it off.
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| J:
| What! you vomitted the lunch i belanja you, huh?!
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| C:
| Oops, I shouldn’t have told you about my migraine and throwing up. But yes, and sorry I wasted your money.
*sheepish*
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| J:
| hahaha, you buy my lunch to show your remorse
abu then!
just kidding, leh
glad you managed to sleep it off. |
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Posted on 19 August 2006 @ 21:55 in People
Six customers, five of them with laptops, and then there was me with my low-tech AlphaSmart Dana.
Six customers, five of them women. Well, I know what I was doing there, but what about the other four women - no dates on a Saturday evening?
I wish I could have taken a picture of the four women who occupied tables one behind the other. But my K750i camera’s not the quietest camera, and I worried I might be chased out for taking a picture.
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Posted on 19 August 2006 @ 11:05 in Rant, Tech Stuff
I’d just finished uploading a picture to my Flickr account where I extolled “the marvels of 21st century technology” when the desktop computer froze on me and wouldn’t let me do anything, not even shut down to restart.
As I was having a good online chat with mellowbug in Toronto, I scrambled to wake up my PowerBook so I could start up MSN Messenger there and continue chatting with her. Alas, MSN Messenger on my PB said there is a newer version, did I want to install it? I clicked no, followed by sign-in, but the message appeared again. And again. It looked like I could only sign in if I agreed to installing the newer version, so I did but with great reluctance. The installing process got underway, while over at the desktop, the system was being checked for bugs, as it’d been shut down without going through the usual (read: proper) process.
I decided to see which would be faster - the desktop or the PB. The former won. I was back online, but mellowbug was not. 
The marvels of 21st century technology? My foot. 
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