Thursday, July 24, 2008
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
No Better Way
With the activities, parties and multiple last minute errands that have to be run before I leave piling up, one hardly has any time to breathe. Anyhoos, I've decided to put up some pictures from the crazyy weekend that was last Saturday and Sunday!
As I'm sure you can tell, Widjaja's pre-21st and farewell was an absolute blast.
On top of that, Sunday was the last trip to Keyaki that I'll be making in a while. Emo-ness.
Good-bye to my favourite Japanese restaurant for the next 3 months(hopefully) or 9 months, if I'm not so fortunate.=(
Signing off with a picture that perhaps best describes my last days here in Singapore,
As I'm sure you can tell, Widjaja's pre-21st and farewell was an absolute blast.
On top of that, Sunday was the last trip to Keyaki that I'll be making in a while. Emo-ness.
Good-bye to my favourite Japanese restaurant for the next 3 months(hopefully) or 9 months, if I'm not so fortunate.=(
Signing off with a picture that perhaps best describes my last days here in Singapore,
Ernest R. Xue
Friday, July 11, 2008
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Charging By
For some of the best tempura in town, head down to Tenshin at The Regent. No one here does it like them. A cosy little place on the 3rd floor of the hotel, it sits approximately 30 or so i think, so do try to make reservations if you are thinking of heading down during the weekend!
Food aside, it looks like I've sung in my last awef for in the near and probably even extended future as well. =/ To the alumni there, thank you for the music. The night was really quite precious to me. So, 3 weeks more till I leave sunny Singapore for the shores of America to San Francisco and Indi-middleofnowhere-ana.
Typing this entry brings my memory back to exactly this time last year, when a whole other bunch of friends were about to leave for overseas and how we would mock and laugh as we read out their highly emotional 2000-word long goodbyes on their blogs. Surreal then, that i am close to having to eat my words a year down. But in the event that you are eagerly anticipating an opportunity to tease me, nuh-uh. This is not about to degenerate into that. This is about me reflecting on how fulfilling life can be when it is spent doing all of the items listed below
1) Not neglecting the bible
2)Having to work only one or two days a week, and for a period of 5 hours each time at that
3)Spending time with close friends before I leave
4)Getting to spend time with brother, although it might only have been for 3 days
5)Getting back in the mood of studying. Here's a list of books I have to clear before heading over
-The Guide to Understanding Financial Statements
-The Merrill Lynch Guide to Understanding Financial Reports
-Perspectives on Strategy from The Boston Consulting Group
-Payback, Reaping the Rewards of Innovation
Envy me-.-
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
When Marijuana is Less Harmful than Tobacco
Dutch smoking ban to cover coffee shops
Fri Jun 8, 2007 9:22pm BST
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - A Dutch smoking ban will come into force in July next year for all restaurants and cafes - including coffee shops where cannabis is the top attraction, the government decided on Friday.
"Coffee shops will be treated in the same manner as other catering businesses. They will be smoke-free," Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende told NOS television.
"It would have been wrong to move towards a smoke-free catering industry and then make an exception for coffee shops. People would not have understood that."
Establishments will not in fact have to be completely smoke-free. Proprietors will be allowed to set up a separate room or glass partition behind which people can smoke, but customers will not be served there to protect staff.
"Employees should not have to work in an environment were they are constantly exposed to the harmful effects of smoking," Balkenende said after the cabinet's decision on Friday.
Amsterdam's renowned coffee shops, where marijuana can be smoked openly in a relaxed atmosphere, are one of the city's big draws for tourists.
Coffee shop owners argue that the ban only applies to tobacco and is unlikely to hit them hard.
Whilst commonly mixed with tobacco, marijuana can also be smoked on its own, especially in pipes, vaporizers and other contraptions.
Soft drugs are officially banned in the Netherlands but under a policy of tolerance, buyers are allowed to have less than 5 grams of cannabis in their possession.
Well and good you say. In a survey conducted by Cancer Council Victoria, 4 out of 10 smokers admitted that smoke-free venues helped them in their decision to ditch the habit. Let me however, draw your attention to the line that has been typed out in green. Smoking tobacco is banned in eating places, but smoking weed is still allowed.
"Marijuana side effects from an overdose include toxic psychosis including hallucinations, delusions and a loss of self-identification."
"Marijuana side effects include physical problems like breathing difficulties and deteriorating physical abilities. Despite a popular belief, marijuana side effects speed up the heart, blood and breathing rate. The body is taxed more and this speeds up the aging process just like methamphetamines do. The marijuana side effects from this extra exertion on the body include a higher risk for lung cancer, heart attacks and strokes."
Fine, fine, argue what you will about the ban being instituted for the benefit of potential 2nd-hand smokers, that it is about the protection of the innocent, that those who indulge in such habits make a conscious decision to bring destruction onto their own body and the government has no right to interfere apart by managing externalities such as, and that which results from the pollution that such persons wreck on those around them. To me, it is a parallel situation to one where the government does away with cars and big vehicles due to their heavy emissions, allowing only motorcyclists on the roads.
According to the National Center for Statistics and Analysis (NCSA), the fatality rate per 100,000 registered motorcycles was 64.88 while the number of fatalities per 100,000 registered passenger cars was only 15.72. Now do the math. Those on motorcycles are essentially accidents waiting to happen. In the same way, the country, although having tried to control the extent of external harm that smoking tobacco creates, continues to advocate both the physical and social ills that come with the consumption of the drug. Above that, by constitution, it acts as a potential agent of destruction to other countries as well, given that many who frequent Amsterdam are tourists who picked up the usage of the drug there.
Now, I am truly thankful that my lungs are safe from second-hand smoke, but unfortunately, my son might end up a psycho-motor moron who lacks entirely in the cognitive department as well.
Fri Jun 8, 2007 9:22pm BST
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - A Dutch smoking ban will come into force in July next year for all restaurants and cafes - including coffee shops where cannabis is the top attraction, the government decided on Friday.
"Coffee shops will be treated in the same manner as other catering businesses. They will be smoke-free," Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende told NOS television.
"It would have been wrong to move towards a smoke-free catering industry and then make an exception for coffee shops. People would not have understood that."
Establishments will not in fact have to be completely smoke-free. Proprietors will be allowed to set up a separate room or glass partition behind which people can smoke, but customers will not be served there to protect staff.
"Employees should not have to work in an environment were they are constantly exposed to the harmful effects of smoking," Balkenende said after the cabinet's decision on Friday.
Amsterdam's renowned coffee shops, where marijuana can be smoked openly in a relaxed atmosphere, are one of the city's big draws for tourists.
Coffee shop owners argue that the ban only applies to tobacco and is unlikely to hit them hard.
Whilst commonly mixed with tobacco, marijuana can also be smoked on its own, especially in pipes, vaporizers and other contraptions.
Soft drugs are officially banned in the Netherlands but under a policy of tolerance, buyers are allowed to have less than 5 grams of cannabis in their possession.
Well and good you say. In a survey conducted by Cancer Council Victoria, 4 out of 10 smokers admitted that smoke-free venues helped them in their decision to ditch the habit. Let me however, draw your attention to the line that has been typed out in green. Smoking tobacco is banned in eating places, but smoking weed is still allowed.
"Marijuana side effects from an overdose include toxic psychosis including hallucinations, delusions and a loss of self-identification."
"Marijuana side effects include physical problems like breathing difficulties and deteriorating physical abilities. Despite a popular belief, marijuana side effects speed up the heart, blood and breathing rate. The body is taxed more and this speeds up the aging process just like methamphetamines do. The marijuana side effects from this extra exertion on the body include a higher risk for lung cancer, heart attacks and strokes."
Fine, fine, argue what you will about the ban being instituted for the benefit of potential 2nd-hand smokers, that it is about the protection of the innocent, that those who indulge in such habits make a conscious decision to bring destruction onto their own body and the government has no right to interfere apart by managing externalities such as, and that which results from the pollution that such persons wreck on those around them. To me, it is a parallel situation to one where the government does away with cars and big vehicles due to their heavy emissions, allowing only motorcyclists on the roads.
According to the National Center for Statistics and Analysis (NCSA), the fatality rate per 100,000 registered motorcycles was 64.88 while the number of fatalities per 100,000 registered passenger cars was only 15.72. Now do the math. Those on motorcycles are essentially accidents waiting to happen. In the same way, the country, although having tried to control the extent of external harm that smoking tobacco creates, continues to advocate both the physical and social ills that come with the consumption of the drug. Above that, by constitution, it acts as a potential agent of destruction to other countries as well, given that many who frequent Amsterdam are tourists who picked up the usage of the drug there.
Now, I am truly thankful that my lungs are safe from second-hand smoke, but unfortunately, my son might end up a psycho-motor moron who lacks entirely in the cognitive department as well.
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