David Tao's Love Can World Tour 2005

met up with Ken, Clarence and Shaun for dinner before heading to the Singapore Indoor Stadium (SIS) for David's concert... only Ken and i are watching David; Clarence and Shaun were watching Rent...

while waiting for the rest at Kallang Theatre, bumped into Jeff (who was there for the afternoon matinee of Rent)...

we had dinner at some porridge place... not too bad food... saw Andy (from Chilling Out) and his friends... waved at him to acknowledge each other...

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the concert didn't start until around 8:45pm... 45 minutes late... amazing... reminds me of Chinese wedding dinners... sigh...

SIS was nearly full house... would assume it's 80% to 90% filled...

to be frank, i was not a David Tao fan... i've heard a few of his songs before though not very familiar with them... nevertheless, i was able to enjoy the concert tremendously... a few things worth mention:
1. the band / the backup singers / the mini orchestra had Singaporeans in them... cool eh?
2. the music director for the concert is a Singaporean too...
3. the backup singers can play musical instruments (e.g. guitar, er hu and some other Chinese instruments)...
4. the backup singers had great powers in their voices, to the extent that they outshone David in some occassions...
5. there was a segment of a medley of English rock songs from the 80s... very memorable indeed...
6. there was a cartoon between a tree and a boy... discussing about the environment... thought-provoking...

the family sitting next to me (dad, mum and 2 kids not more than 6 years old) was singing along so harmoniously throughout the concert...

oh... and i nearly cried when he sang "Ai Wo Hai Shi Ta" (Love Me Or Him)... reminded me of someone yet again...

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before the concert, there were advertisements on Ah Du and Stefanie Sun's upcoming concerts... Ken was asking if i'm going for any of them... my reply was a definite "No"... hehe...

Aussino Bedsheets...

met Kerry at Paragon Aussino to shop for bedsheets... borrowed my colleague's Aussino card just in case...

went round and round and couldn't set my eyes on anything suitable... either too plain (cos i don't like single coloured bedsheets cos stains can be seen very easily) or too flora... the other trouble would be the threadcount... eventually bought one with horizontal stripes (orange, red, purple coloured)... got 15% off with the Aussino card...

Thank You, Kerry for the birthday gift... it sure comes in handy...

i also bought 2 bath towels @ $5 each and 2 face towels @ $2 each... i'm thrilled...

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after shopping we went to Ding Tai Feng for dinner... before that, saw Edmund Chen Zhi Cai and family... he looks so good... vibrant and young!!!!!

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it was off to HMV after dinner... bought Mariah Carey's The Emancipation of Mimi... limited edition with extra 4 tracks and a DVD of her music videos... WOW!!!!!

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Kerry took a cab and dropped me at Boon Keng MRT, while he went on to view a unit which he was keen on renting at Geylang Bahru...

**********

home sweet home... showered and off to bed...

**********

the search for bedsheets continue... hehe...

CD Arrangement Part 2

completed the Mandarin section, the Dance / Trance / Techno section, the Soundtracks section and the New Age / Classical section... took another 3 hours... total CD count for these 4 sections was approximately 450... now left with the singles and my entire Madonna collection to sort out... there are also all my Madonna DVDs, LDs, vinyls, magazines, newspaper cuttings, etc... probably should build a shrine for her...

tonight going to look at bedsheets at Aussino Paragon... so no more CD arranging...
tomorrow dinner with Mel and Pat... also no CD arranging...

will continue on Saturday, before watching David Tao's concert with Ken... before that we will meet Clarence, Matt and Shaun for dinner...

Madonna #1 On Billboard Top 200 Album Chart

Madonna Dances Straight To No. 1

November 23, 2005, 11:45 AM ET

Katie Hasty, N.Y.

For the sixth time in her career, Madonna finds herself with an album in the No. 1 position on The Billboard 200. Her latest, "Confessions on a Dance Floor" (Warner Bros.), sold nearly 350,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan, to bow on top of the chart. "Confessions" is Madonna's third album in a row to top the chart, with "Music" and "American Life" preceding it. The new disc's first single "Hung Up" works its way into the top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 this week.

CD Arrangement Part 1

completed the arrangement for the English section yesterday... spent about 2.5 hours on that... now they are in alphabetical order for the various sections (i.e. Male / Female / Group / Compilation / New Age)...

English section has approximately 360 CDs... (these are those with casing) there are still a lot of them inside my CD folder long ago (i.e. i had removed the plastic covers and placed the CD and the sleeves in the CD holder)...

tonight will be the Mandarin sectiona... stay tuned...

Spring Cleaning Part 1

now that i have a queen size bed, mum is getting my soft toys out from the "Cold Palace"... here are Pooh and Stitch... not sure what else she is going to display...

btw, the Tweety bird bedsheet belongs to mum... me using it temporarily now... hehe...

Once Upon A Time...

once upon a time, there was a queen size bed... Dave, the owner, has to buy bedsheet for the bed...

and then he has to start to think about adding a quilt... extra pillows... extra bolsters... hahahaha... it's getting so much fun adding things to his bedroom...

but must first get all the CDs re-arranged... now he have:
1. English - Male
2. English - Female
3. English - Group
4. English - Compilations
5. Mandarin - Male
6. Mandarin - Female
7. Mandarin - Group
8. Mandarin - Compilations
9. Soundtracks
10. New Age / Classical
11. Techno / Dance / Trance
12. Singles

his friend was asking if he's opening a HMV franchise in Hougang... hahahaha...

Bedsheets

now that i have a queen size bed for the first time, I NEED new bedsheets!!!!!

any suggestions? my female ex-colleague suggested Sheridan or Aussino...

mum has been taking care of all these matters in the past... and i think it's time i take charge... mum is not getting any younger...

Room Packing

this is what happened over the weekend...

Friday (18 November 2005)

rushed home after work on Friday evening cos my new bedroom furniture has arrived earlier than expected... mum was home to entertain the delivery man...

the queen size bed was indeed huge... took up most of the space... but still got room to walk lah... removed everything from the shelves, packed them and shifted them to my elder brother's room next door... gotta re-arrange all the furniture before deciding on what goes where... tough boy...

had a discussion with mum on how to deal with the 1000s of CDs... probably gonna get some CD towers to place them... and probably i should catalogue them too... what a nightmare!!!!!

by the time i finished packing, it was close to 1am... *yawn yawn*

**********

Saturday (19 November 2005)

spent most of Saturday alternating between sleeping and packing my room... didn't realised that i have so much to move... mainly books and CDs... and boy, they're HEAVY!!!!!

in the evning, went to watch "A Twist Of Fate"... a musical at the Esplanade... it was a splendid performance... great singing (much better than Lao Jiu)... great set (far better than Lao Jiu too)... the revolving colonial house was simply breath-taking... good script (funny and mysterious)...

headed home after that... showered and went straight to bed...

**********

Sunday (20 November 2005)

packing continued... was kinda getting tired and lazy by now... started at around 3pm... and it didn't finish until 12am... *phew*

while packing, found this hidden in one of the boxes:

isn't it amazing?!?!?!?! 5 1/4"  diskettes... and MS-DOS 6?????

also found a lot of things which brought back tonnes of memories... should stop getting all sentimental and try to finish packing soon...

after all the packing, there's the unpacking and re-arranging... ARGH...

worst of all, mum has given the ultimatum to complete everything by 3 Dec cos she wanted the house-warming on 4 Dec (Sunday)... probably i should have my room warming then too... hmmm...

I'll Be Damned...

i bought this just now... to think that i have not bought Madonna's Confessions On A Dance Floor... someone please slap me to wake me up...

Get to know yourself better

Get to know yourself better

Your view on yourself:

You are down-to-earth and people like you because you are so straightforward. You are an efficient problem solver because you will listen to both sides of an argument before making a decision that usually appeals to both parties.

The type of girlfriend/boyfriend you are looking for:

You are a true romantic. When you are in love, you will do anything and everything to keep your love true.

Your readiness to commit to a relationship:

You are ready to commit as soon as you meet the right person. And you believe you will pretty much know as soon as you might that person.

The seriousness of your love:

You are very serious about relationships and aren't interested in wasting time with people you don't really like. If you meet the right person, you will fall deeply and beautifully in love.

Your views on education

You may not like to study but you have many practical ideas. You listen to your own instincts and tend to follow your heart, so you will probably end up with an unusual job.

The right job for you:

You're a practical person and will choose a secure job with a steady income. Knowing what you like to do is important. Find a regular job doing just that and you'll be set for life.

How do you view success:

You are afraid of failure and scared to have a go at the career you would like to have in case you don't succeed. Don't give up when you haven't yet even started! Be courageous.

What are you most afraid of:

You are concerned about your image and the way others see you. This means that you try very hard to be accepted by other people. It's time for you to believe in who you are, not what you wear.

Who is your true self:

You are mature, reasonable, honest and give good advice. People ask for your comments on all sorts of different issues. Sometimes you might find yourself in a dilemma when trapped with a problem, which your heart rather than your head needs to solve.

Dinner...

my dinner for tonight... office ta bao one... mee goreng with egg and prawns...
hmmm... my pic still not focused leh... time to change the phone...

Time Magazine Exclusive: The Making Of A Geisha

The Making Of A Geisha

why do they call Zhang Ziyi as "Ziyi Zhang" while Zhang Yimou as "Zhang Yimou" andnot "Yimou Zhang"?

Madonna's Hung Up #1 In UK

Madonna, Il Divo Lead U.K. Charts

November 14, 2005, 11:20 AM ET

Paul Sexton, London

Madonna's "Hung Up" (Warner Bros.) became her 11th U.K. No. 1 single yesterday (Nov. 13), and first for five years. Meanwhile, classical crossover act Il Divo went straight to the top of the album chart with its sophomore set "Ancora" (Syco Music/Sony BMG).

Madonna's new hit, the first single from the album "Confessions on a Dance Floor," extends her span of U.K. best-sellers to 20 years. "Into the Groove" was the first of six best-sellers during the 1980s; two more came in the 1990s ("Vogue" in 1990 and "Frozen" in 1998) and she entered the new century with consecutive No. 1s in 2000, "American Pie" and "Music." "Hung Up" represents her 622nd week on the British singles chart.

Vanessa Mae's Butterfly Lovers Concerto

came across Vanessa Mae's "The Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto (Liang Zhu)" yesterday... brought back some memories of the past...

**********

saw the movie when i was a kid and fell in love with the lovely songs and memorable performances by Ling Bo (凌波) and Betty Loh Ti (乐蒂)... bought the DVD last year and re-lived the excellent performances by the two actresses... http://www.kowloonside.com/movies/theloveeterne.html

**********

back to the concerto... i've been to a few (at least four) performances by the Singapore Symphony Orchestra (SSO) and other orchestra... and every time, i was mesmerised by the performances... i was never classically trained and could not appreciate the concerto at as high a standard as a classical music enthusiast... however, the concerto simply struck a chord in me...

**********

did a search on google for Vanessa Mae's butterfly lovers concerto and saw this very interesting, informative and comprehensive article on the concerto... highly encouraged to read if you are interested in the concerto... http://www.vanessamae.com/butterfly.shtml

let me know if you are keen to take a listen to the concerto... i have CDs on it...

I Passed My IPPT...

miraculously, i passed my IPPT... after being plagued by illness since end-June and not been training at all... so thrilled...

here are the results:
Sit Up - 40 - 5 points
Broad Jump - 234cm - 5 points
Chin Up - 5 - 2 points
Shuttle Run - 10.5 sec - 4 points (could have been better cos i slipped)
2.4km Run - 12:19 min - 3 points

Total - 19

since the test was taken at SAFRA gym, no incentive awards were given... but SAFRA gave me 3 months of subscription to the gym (of which i am already a member)...

HOORAY!!!!!

Friday (11 November 2005)

met Kerry for dinner at Aquadisiac... it was to be his promotion treat... actually we had wanted to come to Aquadisiac (formerly Nude) for a while... when i had my promotion, my treat was to be here... however, it was under renovation then... Kerry's treat was supposed to be earlier with Sarah and me... but Sarah had some family issues at home and couldn't meet us... and the dinner was postponed until tonight...

the ambience at Aquadisiac was superb, except for the "boom boom boom" coming from the Nude Bat next door... it wasn't exactly sound proof cos there were only glass separating the two...

had a hard time ordering my drinks and food... eventually decided on Cosmopolitan (so Sex & The City)... as for food, couldn't decide... too many choices... after about 15 minutes, i finally wanted the spring chicken... however, the waiter, Kelvin (who is 19-year old Malaysian from Mua, lives in Hougang and moving to Ang Mo Kio soon, attached with a Singapore girlfriend and plays War Of Warcraft) discouraged me from ordering it... he recommended the sea bass instead... took his advice, with a disclaimer that if the sea bass is not good, i shall write a complaint letter to the Management... Kelvin guaranteed the fish to be simply sedap...

well, his recommendation was indeed simply sedap... the sea bass was nicely cooked and the sauce was delicious... Kerry has the duck in green curry... we both shared the Vietnamese spring rolls for appetiser...

Kerry insisted that we had wine... red wine to go with the duck meat... as i don't fancy white wine, i also had red wine to go with my fish... hehe...

on and off, Kelvin stopped by to chat with us... if not how did we know so much about him... when he said he was 19, i simply couldn't believe it... until he showed us his ID... OMG... born in 1986... scary sia...

after dinner, it was time to order dessert... i had the coconut sorbet (which came in a real coconut) as recommended by Kelvin (again) while Kerry had some dragonfruit thingy (which came in a dragonfruit!)... both of us were quite amused by the dry ice effect that came with the dessert...

we left Aquadisiac at around 11:15pm... took a slow walk to Borders before arriving at Lido for a midnight show, The Exorcism Of Emily Rose (EER)... along the way, we were "admiring" the Christmas lighting... nothing spectacular...

we were early and decided to have Starbucks coffee, before going into the cinema...

EER was indeed scary! it was a courtroom drama, with flashbacks on how ER was possessed and the exorcism itself... there was a significance about 3am, a time when demonic activities take place...

the show ended at 2:15am... took a cab, reached home, showered and slept before 3am... "chicken" little eh?

**********

woke up at 8am on Saturday morning... showered, had breakfast and went to Toa Payoh SAFRA gym for my IPPT... miraculously, i passed... so relieved...

Chocolate Monster...

colleague just came back from Las Vegas... chocolates she brought back... think i had at least 1/4 of what you are seeing now... am i a chocolate monster or what??

Mystery...

someone left this on my table during lunch... mysterious... it's actually a jackpot sharpener... and it actually spins...

"Cheap" Dinner

met Kerry for dinner on Monday...
told him would prefer a cheap dinner...
he asked whether the dinner we had last Friday at Pivdorf is considered cheap...
replied that it's not cheap because it's $15.50...
my definition of cheap is anything below $5...
he *rolled eyes* at me...

when we met, i re-suggested that we have dinner at Coffee Club...
he further *rolled eyes* at me...

hahahaha...

meeting my colleague for dinner tomorrow...
told him "cheap" dinner too...
but we are going to Pepper Lunch @ Taka...
"cheap" meh?
don't think so lor...

COADF Launch Party

won a pair of tickets to StarHub's launch party for Madonna's Confessions On A Dance Floor (COADF) album to be held at Zouk this Friday at 7pm...

BUT...

must collect the tickets from some industrial place in AMK during office hours by Friday? how to? got work leh...

giving it a miss then...

1st Birthday Gift of 2005

receive my 1st birthday gift of 2005 from my colleagues yesterday:

i know... it's way too early (since my birthday is on 30 November)... but one of them said that since it is a practical gift, should give as early as possible... hehe... thanx Jun and Christina!!

Which Is Easier?

which is easier:
(a) the death of a lover of four years; or
(b) the departure of a lover of four years who had betrayed you by cheating on you?

??? - ??????

was listening to this album since late morning... not too bad...

??? is still able to come up with very beautiful and descriptive lyrics... however, the music of ??? has not been able to provide any breakthrough...

my favourite song from the album (with a beautiful MTV) is ??. The lyrics alone blew my mind away...

??

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Zouk (2 November 2005)

rushed home after work at exactly 6:30pm... packed dinner on the way back... mum's not cooking for these few weeks due to the renovation at home... hopefully the nightmare will end by next week... hehe...

**********

met Kerry, Jeremiah, Gordon, David outside Zouk at 9:30pm... long queue sia... and they are all such young people... simply cannot understand how retro is their era of music?! *scratch head*

finally got in at around 10pm... got our hand stamp and left for Great World City cos Jeremiah and David needed to eat... it's David's first meal of the day!! shocking... hahahaha... had our munch munch at TCC... very friendly staff... Parry and friend came too... but they sat separately... hehe...

**********

went back to Zouk at around 11pm... it was tough getting through the crowd at the entrance...

the song that greeted us once we went in was none other than "Like A Prayer" by Madonna... hahahaha... Kerry kept saying it's my song... Maddy fan lor...

throughout the night, the DJ was not only spinning 80s music... some 90s music and even those after year 2000 could be heard... a couple of slow hits too... ultra duh...

it's been more than 5 months since i last clubbed... cos of my hearing loss... managed to survive the decibels this time, without any ear plugs... hehe...

Gordon left us at around 1:30am... age is catching up, maybe? hahahaha...

the remaining 4 of us continued partying until close to 3am... decided to have supper somewhere...

**********

went around the area searching for a porridge place that David mentioned... couldn't find it... took a cab to Victoria Street for food... having fun chit chatting and left at around 4am...

**********

reached home... still high from the excitement of the music, the crowd and of course the dancing...

it was a wonderful evening... we had so much fun... i was simply too happy for words...

thanx guys!!

The Keys to Your Heart

The Keys to Your Heart

You are attracted to good manners and elegance. In love, you feel the most alive when your partner is patient and never willing to give up on you. You'd like to your lover to think you are optimistic and happy. You would be forced to break up with someone who was emotional, moody, and difficult to please. Your ideal relationship is lasting. You want a relationship that looks to the future... one you can grow with. Your risk of cheating is zero. You care about society and morality. You would never break a commitment. You think of marriage as something that will confine you. You are afraid of marriage. In this moment, you think of love as commitment. Love only works when both people are totally devoted.

What Are The Keys To Your Heart?

Another Fruitful Long Weekend...

the long weekend has come to an end... and it's back to the office after four days of break... here's an account of what happened...

Friday 28 October 2005

left the office at around 6:45pm... headed to Club Street to meet Kerry for dinner... we were at Windows... a very nice cosy place... great food and nice ambience...

however, the road to Club Street was plagued with loss of directions... first, i alighted at the wrong bus stop, one earlier than i should have... walked a longer route to finally reach Far East Square... thinking that Club Street was away from Ann Siang, i walked towards Amoy Street... after another street, i realised that something wasn't right... stopped a lady to ask her for directions... and to my horror, Club Street was on the other side, next to Ann Siang... of course, the weather didn't help a bit at all... by the time i reached Windows, i was already perspiring like mad...

sat under the air-condition while waiting for Kerry...

during dinner, a couple of friends called to find out if i'm doing anything that evening... told them not... haha...

after dinner, we wanted to adjourn to some coffee place for a drink... walked to Far East Square Spinelli... quite deserted... and the place closing at 10:30pm... it was already 10pm when we were there... decided to give it a miss... headed to Chinatown Point for Swensens, also to realise that last order at 10:15pm... how come all the places closed so early?!?! probably it's not in orchard area... no night life...

i saw the North-East Line (NEL) and decided that we should head to Harbourfront to take a look... to our horror, besides McDonald's, the rest of the places in Harbourfront were closed... GNNB...

eventually, no coffee... it was home sweet home...

Saturday 29 October 2005

went to the office for our annual spring cleaning... someone was asking why is it called "spring cleaning"? if you know, please post it the comments?

before that, it was breakfast at Ya Kun Raffles City... nice toast with half-boiled eggs... chatted for a while with my colleagues before going up to the office...

spring cleaning was fun... i considered it as part of team building... must be positive lor...

**********

left the office at 1pm... headed to meet LK and gang for mahjong at LK's place (The Waterina @ Geylang)...

once we were at his place, we saw the mahjong table in the living room... we had our lunch, chatting away with LT (who came back from Shanghai) for the weekend... after lunch, it was time to start our Battle of the Square Table... to our horror, there was no mahjong tiles... after searching the store room, LK found it... BUT... there was no playing chips, no dice and no "hong tao"... after spending about 45 minutes searching the whole unit and after calling his parents for help, we decided to use paper and pen to record our winnings... thank goodness we found some dice from his board games or something... hahahaha...

as usual, LT lost big... total of $130 to the three of us... luckily it was in S$ and not renminbi... hahahaha...

**********

VC had to leave for dinner at home... LK, LT and i went to meet SL at some makan place by the longkang, next to The Waterina...

dinner was alright... but the drinks and finger food at the Peppery place was superb... i couldn't believe i was watching soccer with the three of them... with LK and SL discussing about World of Warcraft now and then... two subjects way beyond my vocabulary and general knowledge... but their company was great... we hardly had the chance to do things like this... especially with LT coming back all the way from Shanghai... so, no complaints...

final score: Liverpool 2; West Ham United 0

LK and i lost our mahjong winnings to LT... squared off eventually...

SL gave LT and i a lift home... it was 1am by the time i hit the sack... *yawn yawn*

Sunday 30 October 2005

woke up at 9am... had breakfast...

met Kerry at 2pm, Orchard... needed to get our food and drinks before meeting Ken and Elsie for the Dick Lee concert at the Botanic Gardens... i always remembered it to be "Botanical Gardens"... don't know why...

Ken came to pick us up... he actually went to recce the day before... so responsible... hahahaha... on our way, we picked up ice and of course my favourite drink at the moment: Coke with Lime...

we found a nice spot under the shades and started to lay out our food... there were only five of us... but we have food enough to feed, like say, 20... hahahaha... here's what we have:
1. pastries from delifrance (15);
2. curry puffs (8);
3. cold cuts, bread, tomatoes, lettuces;
4. packet of small snickers;
5. a packet of Hershey's kisses;
6. a bottle of red wine;
7. a packet of digestive biscuits;
8. a big bottle of Coke with Lime;
9. 6-pack Heaven and Earth White Tea drink;
10. 6-pack Jus Tea;
11. a big bottle of Ice Mountain (for washing);
12. apples (6)

not sure if i've missed out anything... hahahaha... i had a good time playing with the kids next to us... the parents were fun too...

dick's performance was good, except for one of the "broken" speakers... his guest performers were all so young... incidentally, they were two boys... one 16yo and one 14yo... curiosity killed the cat...

after the show, ken gave us a life to Far East Plaza... long time never come here... changed so much... Metro was gone... and replaced by some shopping area like Bugis Village or Heeren...

after Far East Plaza, we were trying to find a place for dinner... i was still quite stuffed with all the food i had at botanic gardens... even the mum next to us commented that she saw me eating and drinking non-stop from the moment we sat down... duh?!?!

on our way to Takashimaya, we stopped by Lucky Plaza, another place i've not visited in years... saw the new Nokia 6060... probably not buying cos no camera feature... (incidentally Patrick SMSed me to tell me that it was selling at $260 without line... thanx dear)

it was eventually dinner at Coffee Club @ Kikokuniya... i had a soup... and a mango freeze... ordered a chocolate mint cake that was eventually cancelled cos we were too full... after dinner, it was home sweet home...

Monday 31 October 2005

it's Halloween... and i'm on leave... my colleagues have been bugging me to go Zouk... told them i'm not into Halloween... not ready to dress up for an event like that... though i must say that i do look "Halloween" enough without any makeup... hahahaha...

spent the day at home doing NOTHING... busy listening to Sun Yan Zi's latest album "Wan Mei De Yi Tian"... very unimpressive... sigh...

went out in the afternoon... walking aimlessly... and that's how i spent my leave!!!!! ultra DUH?!?!

Tuesday 01 November 2005

it's Deepavali... happy holidays, everyone...

woke up at 2pm... had brunch... went out with family to buy furniture for my elder brother's new flat next door as well as for my bedroom...

got this bedroom set at $2,100... phew! time for a change... will post pics once the furniture is delivered on 19 Nov... two weeks before my birthday... just nice... what a gift for myself... pamper pamper...


looking forward to Zouk later tonight... long time no club liao... will bring earplugs in case the music's too loud for my ear... anyone going?