marathon man

hong pao river - dengmi

2012-01-29T22:27:00.007+08:00

hongpao river - looks like becoming smaller and a non-event - not that the people attending the event were lesser, but the stalls were lesser and the area it covered was much smaller.

but the dengmi corner still very much attended.

chinese dengmi is very presumptuous, meaning it presumes that you are familiar with a lot of things around you, ie you are "in context" with the riddle - just like 文言文 chinese; you admire how clever the old scholars were, they do not have to be explicit in what they said, everything they said, wrote was implicit, implied and summarised, using much less expressions and qualifying words. perhaps as the scholars pointed, spoken language evolved from the need to communicate, but written language was mainly for recording. the earliest recordings were done in simple systems of knots, strokes.... human, ancient or modern by nature is lazy; would like to do any task in the shortest way. so instead of tying many knots, or carving many strikes for an event, they would go for the fewest. just to record down the important points of the event, and ignore all the bells and whistles - eg, when the king won a war - just record down king won war - when, and where, against who...

but arts is difference, art was engaged to magnifying certain aspects of the event, or glorify certain aspect of the event - for the above example, the artist(s) would have drawn the battle, with details of the army, of both sides, elaborately...

life - brushing teeth

2012-01-26T21:48:00.004+08:00

every morning and evening, he brushes his teeth, every so often, he has the thot that he just did it moments ago. life ticks by ever so fast. day in, day out, the only event that he remembers he has ever done is brushing the teeth. other activties do not register.

indian food - $ up

2012-01-25T23:17:00.001+08:00

he ordered one mutton, one egg and one bitterguord, the indian lady seller said, "$4."
"$4? should be $3.50."
"no, $4. the mutton increase $0.50 to $2.50 now. the other indian shop already selling at #3.00."

tradition - the gamblers

2012-01-23T18:26:00.000+08:00

played mahjong. not big, just 10-20 cents. 4 rounds, already very tired. with the family, the tradition goes on.

sengkang-punggol lrt - the kids

2012-01-22T23:50:00.003+08:00


	happy for who they are what they do how they think.... like travelling on the rail the route is set stations are fixed timings are planned life may be so boring but like white paper they soak up whatever along the way soon they will venture out to the world little do they know it's only their transit to another world

if - a gambler's mindset

2012-01-22T06:47:00.018+08:00

the thunder clapped, and the rain began to fall, first like needles, then thicker and thicker. somewhere in the island was going to accumulate more water than it could hold, and be inundated. he walked from the barrage building end across the barrage, along the bank of the yet-to-complete garden next to the marina gold course, to tanjung rhu...

he climbed up the benjamin-sheare bridge and the view was so much different from that of 15 years ago, where there's no flyer and no sands... now the flyer is grounded firm in bay area, the sands sucks in all bucks from those gamblers from near and far...

if, one day singapore island disappear from the face of the earth, with the rise of sea level, you may not see the flyer, but the sands standing tall above the sea level...

- symbolizing, that gambling pays, only if you own a casino.

two rainbows - two mindsets

2012-01-21T23:25:00.003+08:00

place : sin ming ave, singapore
time : 6.58pm 21 jan 2012
camera : pentax K-x
lens: DAL 18-55mm

after a shower, when the sky was still gloomy, two rainbows appeared out of heavy air. he had just wound down his day of picture taking from the barrage, and was nicely surprise to have spotted the golden-hour scene with the 2 colorful bridges across the sky.

he bumped into a lady. she smiled at him and said, " i wish i am as lucky as you, with a dslr at hand.... not one but two rainbows..."

"sure you are, use your handphone camera."

"no, it wouldn't capture the beauty of the moment."

"so which camera would? you think mine could?"

"surely better than mine."

"don't judge a camera by its brand. you have one, use it."

"no. i rather don't disappoint myself."

- and the rainbows faded away one by one....

morris chang - an ordinary folk that succeeded

2012-01-20T23:38:00.000+08:00

sort of finished reading the auto biography of morris chang, the tsmc chairman and ceo.

the book is telling straight forward story just like that summarised in the wikipedia page. no juicy details or things not expected of an apparently straight man.

but life has been good to him so far. he could have persisted in his earlier ambition of becoming a literary writer, and achieved fame, though not that common. if he did, that will be a story of persistence or perseverance winning over pragmatism or expediency. but his father told him otherwise, and he followed.

so life is whatever you make it to be. and along the way, as long as you strike hard at it whether tracking on whichever course, you should make it with luck.

man propose, God dispose

causeway point - lohei

2012-01-19T05:30:00.004+08:00

another year, another lohei. this time in dianxiaoer, causeway point. the mall's renovation still not completed. looks ugly and no mood to shop. but the makan place was fullhouse. still could not figure out how the set dinner could cost $498? ok, they had abalones, fish, sea cucumber, but dishes like duck, fried rice, vegi, mushrooms, prawns, venison, spring rolls shld cost less than $200.

but since it's their pre-new year feast, he did not ask.

new year here, eat and eat... bakwa, mandrins, cuttle-fish, pistacio, prawn rolls..... too much carbo, too much sugar...

cannot sleep well.

birthdays - simple and happy

2012-01-17T23:38:00.000+08:00

small celebration for 2 birthdays falling on the same day. ate misua, tiramisu cake, and receiving presents.

MAY GOD BLESS ALL!

zhang tachien - the master's life

2012-01-16T23:02:00.000+08:00

finished reading book briefly talking about his life, not in details, just like his "spraying ink" art, impressionistic and to the point.

the point is to be master - have to start from the very basic.

ocs commissioning parade - why not?

2012-01-15T19:52:00.018+08:00

the dinner was so-so, but sltc hwang was doing his best to be the host of the table; letting the commissioned cadets and their parents have their turns first to every dish, answering every questions the commissioned cadets threw at him, and keeping the parents feel at home with full military courteousness and honor.

the commissioning of the the 83rd batch of officer cadet officers started at military time 1741, when the sun was at its full power throwing myriads of singeing rays more and more directly to the face as the minutes ticked by.

the marching, the president inspection, the sword of honor presentation, the presidential speech, the march pass-by and the throwing of caps.... it was a climax of an experience for the cadets. culminating from 9 months of tough and taxing training.

when the parents of other cadet officers yikedee-yadeed of their army times when striking up conversations with sltc hwang in the dinner table, he could only shut up and listen, never being an army boy himself.

the army demands discipline and order - does that choke off the the young minds of its creativity. but military service in isreal and taiwan is compulsory, they produce the world's most entrepreneur and start-ups.... so why not singapore?

mrt confusion - an interview

2012-01-14T23:14:00.000+08:00

mrt confusion toward bay front and marina bay for the circle line- why they did not light the directional sign above the door, indicating the direction the train is going in the direction of the lighted destination???

so he was interviewed because he complaint the loudest to the station ranger, who was trying to tell the people how to take a train to the right direction - it was the first day of the opening of the marina bay train of circle line.

the channel 8 lady was a familiar face in the tv. but this elegant reporter looked more beautiful when seen in real person. how could any one refuse her request for an interview?

but his suggestion to improve the signage was not cut!

barrage - UP, UP, and AWAY!

2012-01-14T22:40:00.010+08:00

the barrage, a good place for a weekend outing, for company dynamic activities, for kite flying, for a picnic, or take in the cool sea breeze and the view of the Singapore skyline.

soon, the whole area will be pruned up, and gardens spruce up and activities primed up...... and prices of nearby housing will SHOOT UP! and AWAY the singaporeans will stay.

complaint king - how to get into tv

2012-01-14T22:24:00.001+08:00

he was fused when he took the train 2nd time and still missed the marina bay station instead had to get down in promonade station and took a train back to esplanade, to take the correct train to mairna station.

he looked up at the station sign on the train station doors, it aid "dhauby ghaut", under it, it said, "marina bay", just to indicate that the train could be heading for either direction. so where's the extra info to lead a passenger to take the right one?

announcement - good, but smrt is so smart that, it only does it in english, so what about those uncles, aunties or foreigners who don't know english? and also the announcement was not that abvious, he missed it for one.

then there's a sign shown on the tv that used to show the arrival time, but only in one place(or two) along the whole stretch.

why not just put up lighting signs on above the doors, lighting up whichever direction the train goes, and the other station, no light. or can put a short commonet, next train -> whichever station....

smrt has been quick to find ways to make profits, but very un-attentive to give good service to commuters - so sacking the ceo was the right move.

oh, the tv thingie....

you see, he was talking to the station assistance telling him how awkward smrt had been trying to guide the commuters to the right station.... happened that media corp was around.

the beautiful reporter from the chinese station ask him whether he could accept their interview. after that, the english channel also interviewed him. that's how he got into tv.

taiwan election - hearty votes

2012-01-14T11:19:00.007+08:00


	today, taiwan voters will elect the next president. ma and tsai's contest are white hot. with mr soong, a very selfishly, sneaky clown throwing himself in with the motive of taking revenge on being slighted by mr ma during his tenure. the greenies and bluees are half half, with the greyees' vote imperative upon the outcome of the election. come tonite at 10, there may be surprise that ms tsai could become the 1st taiwnese female pres. after all taiwnese like all other so-call democratic systems, people are irrational, they vote with their hearts! just like Singaporeans do.
		so does he!

matsugawa - ron the chef

2012-01-12T23:38:00.000+08:00

ron looks like some celebrity chef from the tv shows, talks like him, though he's doing japanese and the other chef is doing chinese, western.

"hey, you look like the chef in the tv." he told him when they had finished the dinner at 9.45pm - a more than 3-hours affair, with the angmoh sales vp and his local manager, and him and his engineer.

"oh.... you mean sam leong? he's my cousin brother."

this is the second time he had dinner at matsugawa, the pines. the first was quite a few years ago when the place was still the pine tree club. he remembered the same ron gave them a very warm welcome and also did his best to serve them, with exquisite dishes, in a private room.

the cold sake did not have much kick on him, but the service from ron did a lot to warm up the atmosphere.

flower market - kumquat

2012-01-11T20:30:00.001+08:00

went to the nursery in jalan kayu and bout two pits of 4-season lime and a pot of pussy willow.

enbloc - natural end

2012-01-10T22:39:00.002+08:00

the meeting ended after 9pm. decided not to pursue the 2nd launch, for him, mainly to end the ordeal faster so the unit owners can decide what to do with their units, instead of hanging there, don't know what to do.

reflections - of a OHBIAN mentality

2012-01-09T22:34:00.004+08:00

reflections by the bay, a romantic name reflected in its curvy architecture. his fren has a unit there. and just got the key. he said, it was really worth the dough. he likes the view, the environment and the way the developer treated them in the key-collection ceremony.

he went to take a look at the finished product from outside. all looked fine except the metal structures topping all the blocks, looked very factory-like and un-exquisite, very OHBIAN!

labrado coastal boardwalk - growing a mountain

2012-01-08T07:07:00.001+08:00

labrador coastal boardwalk - another brilliant project by the singapore park team. no doubt, this team has outdone every other government teams in making singaporeans happy. not long ago, it was the opening of the punggol waterway project. the next new green spot could be the bishan longkang-turn-river walk, and followed by the gardens by the bay.

singapore - when are you going to build a mountain out of the sea? as the saying goes, if the mountain did not grow in singapore, singapore will grow its own mountain.

china town - year of the GUYAHJSKKEOEJSJSHAJJSKKEKLLL

2012-01-07T21:19:00.002+08:00

the ground was wet, people crowded - the buzz had arrived in china town. nuna new year here soon.

the dragon had reared its head in eu tong seng road, everybody expecting the dragon year will produce more babies. so much so the ones who planned to do so, took a step back, and thot, "if we have a baby this year, it would be to much competition for her on education, jobs....better delay for one more year." so hipe of the dragon year by the media has a very bad damping effect on the birth rate.

he bot goose-liver sausage, $6 for 2 pieces, a piece of chinese bacon for $10. good stuff for clay-pot rice.

go back to dragon year baby again. what makes a dragon baby better than say a tiger baby?

the zodiac is fair to have all animals with good and bad points, so if you expect to just get all the good but avoid the bad point, then the best is to be born in the year of the:

GUYAHJSKKEOEJSJSHAJJSKKEKLLL

what's that? is there such an animal?

you are right - NO SUCH ANIMAL!

HSR - try it

2012-01-06T22:45:00.002+08:00

HSR - a high-speed rail system that takes travellers between Taipei and Kaohsiung has many activities, scenes, smells and colors; in the station, inside or outside the train.

the fragrance of tea eggs, the orderliness of the queues, the cosiness of the countryside, the courteousness of the people.... all made memorable impressions on his journeys.

on one of his journey, he sat on the wrong seat, and the lady said, "Mr, what seat number are you holding?"

"oh.... sorry..." so he moved from window seat to the isle seat.

"oh, you can remain at the window seat, since you are taking pictures."

"oh... no, thanks. i hv done taking pictures outside, now i wld like to take some inside." in fact, with a beautiful lady sitting beside, who wants to waste any time taking any pictures, inside or outside?

yellow cat - lady with in a yellow dress

2012-01-05T23:46:00.000+08:00

yellow cat - looks so nice, just like the fair lady in a yellow dress.... walking across the street. in a glimpse he ws mesmerised by the color combination of such a colored dress on a taiwanese lady in kaohsiung.

liuhe night market - share market

2012-01-04T22:59:00.001+08:00

liuhe nite market is next to meilidao subway station. the meilidao incident which happened here more than 30 years ago, was the watershed for taiwanese democratic movement.

the nite market like other taiwanese nite markets has many eating stalls and some commodity shops and stalls. he bot a charger for his bb, costing S$5.

he saw a lady with a kid; the lady was talking into the hand phone while the kid was crying to get some food. she ignored her, continued her phone conversation,

"hi-ya.... i listened to you and bot hong-tai share tis morning, and it went down 5% closing... you think it can come up?"

"...."

"what? you did not recommend me to buy that share, it's not hong-tai, but hong-hai?"

"...."

"no, i thot i heard you said hong-tai!"

"mama, i heard auntie said hong-hai."

"what? why didn't you tell me? no takopachi for you!"

tianxia diyi kuo - shichuan numb

2012-01-02T20:44:00.003+08:00

had dinner in a sichuan restaurant. ordered chicken cubes frie in dry chilly, beef boolied in chilly water, stewed ell, mapuo toufu, pig's ear and century egg.

the chicken cbues and beef were superbly numbingly good. it's not THAT HOT, but numbing it unmistakenly was!

circle line - demystified

2012-01-02T20:37:00.004+08:00

checked out circle line mrt stations - caldecot hill, holland v, ferrer rd and botanic gardens.

caldecot hill is not in caldecot hill but next to the deaf associations, beside the new road opened between thomson road and toa payoh.

holland v station, is right next to holland v, with shops like old chang kee, unity..... walked around ford road, sampurna road, and oei tiong ham park, getting no where.

ferrer road stn, next to ferrer road hawker center.

botanic gardens stn next to the gradens from the bukit timah end. the gardens entrance at this end was new, and there's a very special looking overhead bridge spanning across bukit timah road infront of the mrt station.

2012 countdown - happy new year

2012-01-01T12:33:00.004+08:00

blessings, blessing, blessings - count your blessings. the priest said. and bless all surrounding you.

good when people are too busy having all the activities to countdown to 2012, they had their in their home as they have been doing all these years. this year, with a few frens. and they had a good one.

2012 - a year that comes like any other year, except there's some rumours about end of the the world coming this year.

he thot, people could put their whole faith in a bunch of "strings" what else could not people do? isn't putting the faith to a emotionally connected GOD better than a bunch of wavering, un-connected, remotely- relevant strings? and even if they are right that strings made the world, what made strings???

ah.... questions... more questions for 2012.....

HAPPY NEW YEAR, no matter!

old men - complain kings

2011-12-31T22:36:00.000+08:00

finished 18 hole in bukit, no rain, and very hot sun.

koo and steven got angry at the flight behind overtaken them after the 1st 9 holes, though they had get the caddie to ask for permission to do so. but they said, "why overtake, we are also very fast." and koo said, "we shld not let them, they didn't even say hi to me when i met up with them."

they continued to grumbled, until the 3rd hole. then they turned their grumble into action, calling the marshall to complain. the marshall came.

they complaint to the marshall. the marshall said, "ok, i;ll talk to them."

talk what, what to talk? they asked permission and we said yes. so he told the marshall, "no need to talk lah...."

really - old men like to complain, for nothing!

bangkok flood - stress

2011-12-30T22:45:00.000+08:00

his fren was thinner by 5kg because of the thailand flood. his fren and his wife live and work in thailand. they just moved into their newly rented house in bangkok's suburb, for less a month, and the flood hit.

the water level reached almost 1m. they had to move their new furnitures upstairs and on top of table tops.... they kept the fridge power on to keep the food inside fresh. then they left for a rented apartment. they had to park their car in an over-head highway to avoid the flood water.

when they came back to their house 2 weeks later, the fridge was tilted, floating on a 70cm water. they had to turn the power off, for fear of electrocution.

when they return one week later, the fridge smelt awful, the food had rotten.

then another week.... then they had to clean and wash the house, the surroundings, when water finally receded.

all this while, he had to work, going to the factory on boat. then the factory also inundated. he had to work in the main office downtown bangkok, while going back to teh factory to move things away. when water subsided, he was tasked to clean up the whole factory.....

laochan yuji - a modern mind

2011-12-29T22:22:00.004+08:00

finished reading lao chan yu ji selective essays. read about some article of lao chan in the school text books, but did not actually read his book. after finessing the selective essays, he had to respect the author, though in the early 19th century, had already a very scientific and modern mind, which in that time seemed out of place, and mistaken as traitorous. he was a visionary.

pasir sir farmway 3 - and the people rejoice

2011-12-29T08:04:00.002+08:00

lorong halus wetland - youth

2011-12-26T23:55:00.002+08:00

like a water lily flower
youth is but a season of
bloom
the pond defines the freedom
unless
you dare to turn into
a grass
with flowers of
fluffy, dandelion-like parachutes
carrying your dreams
far, far
away

fa 50mm, 1.4 - arowana uneasiness

2011-12-26T23:26:00.003+08:00

the sky turned dark, while he was at pasir ris farmway 2. and the rain fell. he went into a fish farm to take shelter. there was quite a few arowana fish in the tanks. he took out his camera and shot away. on of the workers was getting uneasy, came and told him not to shoot. but the boss said, "ok. no problem, just continue shooting." so he did.

sometimes, people forbid others to do something, just because they feel uneasy, for no other reasons - oh, looks like there's an un-written rule somewhere, that you must NOT take pictures in a shop!

- photo taking is like smoking - not welcome everywhere.

pasir ris farmway 3 - go fly kite

2011-12-26T22:23:00.002+08:00

click here for video

"are you a reporter? you came with these camera gears."
"no, just for fun."
so he stroke up a conversation with a group of kite flyers, this time in pasir ris farmway 3. there's a big open field at the junction of lorong halus and pasir ris farmway 3. and there's about 10 over big kids flying kites, not just flying, but cutting each other's kite like mad, just like yester-years. that's how kites supposed to be flown.
they obviously had a whale of time. hands were busy pulling and releasing strings, moving left, right, up and down directing the flight. once the kites were engaged, the hand movements quickened to try to gain the upper hand to seal the other kite's fate. some took to their heels to add acceleration to the string. it was shear excitement.
"you want to fly?" one kite flyer invited him to fly the kite.
"thanks... ehh..no....the line is sharp.... " he declined. not that he didn't like kite flying, but the flying times were over for him... it looked like. at that moment, he was only thinking of taking a few good pictures, not ready to fly a kite, to step into the arena of kite string cutting.

- spontaneity is too hard to come by when you age.

expo - qingming shanghe tu

2011-12-25T23:52:00.001+08:00

went to see the exhibition. quite a few people also came. immediately after the entrance, it showcased the sung dynasty culture, and the exhibition proper started with the replica of the real thing . the moving computer animated work span a hall as big as a football field, meandering from one end to the other. the movements of the people, animals, boats and carts (horses, mules...)were elegantly slow. and every 4 minutes, day turned into nite and lights were up and less people roamed the streets. it was like going back 900 years, into the capital city of the northern sung dynasty.
he was definitely impressed with the whole thing - first got a chance to know what the painting was all about, then he got to know quite a lot about sung dynasty life.

life then in the city is no different from now - people making a living by pulling carts, in hotel business, entertainment, trades like wheel making, wine-making, vendors, monks, scholars.... people did what we do nowadays, without all the traps of modern facilities and amenities like computer, cars, hand phones....

a little kid in the audience was heard said, "i want to go china."

the mother said, "why?"

"there's no school, so i don't need to study."

Merry Christmas - a good dinner

2011-12-25T23:47:00.000+08:00

Thanks be to God!

a peek - a blank stare

2011-12-25T23:27:00.000+08:00

a peek
a blank stare
kids
all share
visual language
intuitively
like other animals

Christmas eve - JOY to the WORLD

2011-12-25T01:29:00.000+08:00

the midnite mass ended after midnite. they went back home, and it's gift opening time.

many years ago, that was the most exciting time of the year. Santa Claus was still very much a living legend in the kids' minds - hanging up letters sealed in an envelope on the Christmas tree, for Santa to read and most importantly to fulfil their wishes..... now, still exciting somewhat, with some unexpected pleasant surprises from one to another.

this year like the so many other past years... very tired the whole, somehow, one nite before Christmas eve, sleep did not come easy and well.... nevertheless, the JOY of Christmas came on time for one and ALL...

fire - need to think

2011-12-24T20:43:00.002+08:00

they were asking the taiwan hr on legality issue to fire an employee. the hr called him.

and he called his boss.

they came out with something to save the person. Thank God.

冬至 - older and wiser?

2011-12-22T14:06:00.006+08:00

冬至 is here today. eaten the peanut and sesame 汤圆 this morning - one year older than last year, age is fast catching up.

winter solstice festival is important to the people in old china and other temperate and northern places because people had to get ready for the winter that's coming right after today. preparing for winter means, storing a lot of dried food, vegetable and meat, and getting ready the tools to clear up the snow, store up the woods to burn for warmth, herding the animals to lower land... and eat the 汤圆

he remembered during his childhood years in a southern china village, when winter came, people would put on their thick cotton-stuffed clothing, and mitten and caps. kids would go outside the village gate, standing high up on the top of the edge of the wall, holding on to self-made paper windmills, having a good time with the on-coming northerly chilly wind.

and now, when winter comes, his hair will be whiter(with or without snow)....but lesser white, in brain matters!

hell - regime

2011-12-20T08:32:00.004+08:00

north korea leader kim jong ii passed away last saturday. north koreans were shown mourning in deep sorrow, while the u.s. and western world dug at his grave for their political capital(politicians), for profit(press) and for entertainment(internet)...

north korea - the famous REGIME has rid of his treacherous leader, the people should be happy. why weep? the west must be puzzled.

when did north korea became a regime? when it separated from the south.
when di libya became a regime? when it was supposed to be the one who shot down a british plane.
when did syria became a regime? when those repressive arab nations feel its threat.
when di iran became a regime? after the shah.
when did mubarak became head of a regime? when the US and western world deemed it so....

so regimes are like bad guys in a comic book. the anti-hero, the evil one, the joker.... is someone who was described bu hush jr, "either you are with us, or you're not!"

so - soul?

2011-12-18T20:58:00.003+08:00

he thot:

if he became mentally out of tune, wld he still be conscious of what he's doing?

is metal illness like anger? like sadness, like hilariousness, a kind of emotion, whereby the brain's neurons got into certain state but, the mind is still conscious of what it's actions and thots. even in these states, the mind's consciousness is already corrupted, by emotion - violence could arise from anger, suicide could arise from sadness, and unrestrained arrogance could arise from hilariousness... the brains knows it, but it rationalize all these anomalies into part of the norms of human psyche. so, did the japanese know what they were doing when they invaded other nations? surely, they did. but why they still insist they were doing the right thing? because they couldn't help to do it, when they were under the control of their emotion.

are they in full control of their psyche?

or mental illness is more like a brain under the influence of drugs, alcohol? when the part of the control of the mind is inhibited. does the soul still in charge? under influnece, the control center of the brain is swicthed off, subconsciousness takes over.

is there such a thing as souls?

marina bay - hollowness

2011-12-18T07:17:00.013+08:00

the normally colorful marina bay bathed in a shroud of shadows from the morning overcast.... exuded serenity and hollowness.... like the never-wither white lotus flower that's part of vanity, those out-of-nowhere bubbles that facinates many a soul, the geometrically elegant durian that pokes deep into a shooter heart.... the gaping merlion that utters nothing but foams...

guess that the people spending the nite in sands casino must be hollowed out by now.

guess those winners will come back to loose it back.... the loosers will never say die.

only he who empties himself up will be fulfilled.

MRT down - why???

2011-12-17T21:24:00.007+08:00

when you buy a lottery, you hope to strike first prize....when you take an MRT, you do not want to get stuck...

but stuck, he did get. at the city-hall station, 6.49am this morning.

he was taking a MRT to esplanade to meet up with the pentax kaki's for the morning shoot in the bay area. when the MRT was travelling below the orchard road, his sight happened to rest on the route-map on upper edge of the vertical wall of the car. the map displayed with a red LED of the alighting station. but when it travelled past dhobi gaut, the red LED shld light up at the next station, ie CITY-HALL, but it stayed lighted on DHOBI GAUT..... and the train stopped at city-hall, but the LED still stay lighted on dhobi gaut.... the doors just stayed shut..... all just stayed quiet, and waited... a few more minutes, a red-shirted MRT man came out from the driver-cabin, and tried to open the car door, but it didn't budge. he opened the panel on top of the door, flipped some switches... tried again to open the door. it stay shut.... he used both hands to pry it open. it didn't moved a bit.... he opened the driver cabin door and let the passengers out.

why no uninterrupted power supply?
why car-door cannot be opened during emergency?
why 3 breakdowns in one week?

and he recorded the incident in video as well....

《一泡而红》- all you need to do is do it

2011-12-14T23:29:00.000+08:00

watched "already famous"《一泡而红》 in balestier shaw building.

they admired michelle chong for her talent and passion. she also exudes a an aura of self confident and affinity to the audience. though her genre is on comedy, exaggerating a lot of situations with slap-stick actions, she does in a very natural way, not trying to put her own ego and awareness into any of the acts, unlike actors like wang wen yong, trying too hard to be funny.

the story line is simple, that's what good movies supposed to start with, anyway - not the type of fictional convoluted stories like pirates of the Caribbean, harry potter, avatar..... in which you lose the thread half way thru the actions, and special effects.

though the movie lacks actions, special effects, or even drama's..... it infuses into the audiences' hearts a warm feeling that life is something ordinary, and yet any ordinary person can have her dream and do something about it. there may not be any guaranteed big break accompanying her effort, at least she tries and get something back.....

caroling - for a good cause

2011-12-12T21:04:00.001+08:00

joined the group to sing carols in the canteen during lunch time. quite a few people having lunch, and the audience response was warm.

it was very meaningful to organize this event in the company.

the goods might be bulky and not so convenient for people not driving to bring, but as a start, it was a very good effort. since the committee did not want to handle money, it was perfectly ok to go ahead with food and toy donations.

park - worries

2011-12-11T21:39:00.004+08:00

it's sunday, a time for family gathering and having a good time, nicely done in a park, since singapore has many parks around, just like stepping into a neighborhood playground. but alas, all you see are angmohs in kent ridge park.

he who comes to the park parks his worries there!

kent ridge trail - all's changed keep changing

2011-12-11T21:35:00.000+08:00

it's been sometime ago where this placed was renamed from pasir panjang ridge to kent ridge. now the ridge cuts across the highest academic institution of singapore - NUS.... changes bring more changes.... knocking down historic relics, cutting down forests.... making new building, new lanes... and the link to the past just crystallized into a display panel along the main road thru the ridge.

behold, ho, ho, ho - red moon rising

2011-12-11T08:13:00.011+08:00

The eclipse sequence ( 10 Dec 2011 - Singapore Time) is as shown:
7.31 pm - Start of Penumbra Eclipse.
8.45 pm - Start of Umbra Partial Phase.
10.05 pm - Start of Total Eclipse.
10.31 pm - Maximum Eclipse.
10.57 pm - End of Total Eclipse.
12.18 am - End of Umbra Partial Eclipse.
1.31 am - End of Penumbra Eclipse.

ho, ho, ho..... santa claus is coming .... with its red moon, like a cake for this coming Merry Season.....
for once in so many nites, the sky was clear, the moon rose as expected, but in red after about 8pm.

he received a call from oversea, a dear someone said on the other side, "hi..... "
"hi.... long time no talk...." before going any further, he recognised her sweet voice instantly.
"are you doing something?"
"well, watching tv... "
"go out and look at the sky... the moon is playing magic show tonite."
"oh.... you mean eclipse? i completely forgot about it, though i read about it yesterday.... thanks for remind.... how are you?"
"ok...." there was some long pause.
......

- sharing the full moon shortens the distance of two distant hearts to just a breath's length. sharing the eclipse merges the hearts...
share this

sime - balls

2011-12-10T22:16:00.001+08:00

james was late, and he did try to deny that, "it was only 12.05... the game is at 12.16?"

"yes, you have to be at the starter 15 minutes before starting time. and you were just got down from your car at 12.05!"

so they went off at the 10th tee of sime course. it was sunny and hot. he did not play for more than a month, and meeting up with his kaki's to walk the course and laugh at jokes and talk the nonsense has been always uplifting.

james had a minor accident a month ago, and his ribs cage was injured, just gotten well enough to hit his swings.

the whole 2 courses were almost empty.... but there's 2-ball, a couple behind them.

when they met up in the 11th hole, james asked the lady, "two-balls?"

"yes, two balls."

and he chatted with the lady before teeing off.

at the next hole with the couple a hole away, ah koo said, "james.... why asked the lady how many balls? of course two lah, you want to squeeze them?"

"come on lah.... playing balls with you guys, where got fun? lady's balls are always my favorite..."

annual dinner - forgot

2011-12-10T00:11:00.003+08:00

totally forgot about tonite's dinner and dance party, if not reminded by someone in the office.

the theme is retro - but no mood to follow.

attanded half way chabut, for an appointment.

stamp - duty

2011-12-08T22:32:00.000+08:00

gahmen raised the stamp duty for foreigners and pr. stock market went down 50+ points.

looks like the gahmen is serious about giving singaporeans a good deal, curbing on immigration, tightening up pr and work pass/permit approvals, and now hitting hard on housing purchases.

but to a lot of other singaporeans, with houses as investment, they may have to take the hit as well. the housing market will be slow down. but as long as the stock market holds up, housing price will stay.

the gahmen not only act as rubber stamp on many issues dictated by the ruling party, it has a duty to run the country in a sustainable and efficient way for the singaporeans.

one hour - he needs it

2011-12-07T23:13:00.002+08:00

after 2 days of non-rainy skies, the cloudy skies eventually broke out into another afternoon torrents. he wanted to play 9-hole in the island, two nites ago, but the rain came, and he had to adjourn to the driving range.

drive he did, after quite a long while. easy drive, indeed. there's a way to handle the little dimpled obs with poise, like that little lady did - giving the full weight of herself into the swing, and let the motion take over and do the rest of power transfer....

the lightning flashes drilled through the forest, the thunder clapped with abandon
as if the sky's goin to fall, his fingers hurts with the inner skin rubbing too much on the grip, and the old grip of the driver also gave way.

one hour of sweat and toil did him good; kick the shit out of his puffed up brain.

marathon - papa runs

2011-12-04T14:14:00.013+08:00

overslept, and woke up after 7am. rushed down to padang to witness and took pictures of the marathon which 65,000 people took part.

the ground was wet and muddy, after so many days of rains, almost everyday.

the full-marathon started at 5am, and the first runner completed the course after 2hr 14 minutes.

people run for various reasons, many to test their own physical capability, some for a course, some to loose weight, some addicted to it, some to tune their soul....

amnian, the guy who took part in his first 1/2-marathon said, "i run because my wife started running and i ran along. she started running, because she got herself a dog, and had to run the dog everyday."

- when the dog runs, mama runs, when mama runs, papa runs, when papa runs, singapore runs... when singapore runs, you better run, alse you'll be trampled.

marathon - a love trap

2011-12-04T11:55:00.003+08:00

every one has his own reason to run a marathon just like joline and lenon did.

after his successful proposal to her after the 42km run, he was asked
"why you run the marathon?"
"i had wanted to set up a trap for joline to fall into."
"what trap?"
"love trap?"
"how?"
"i knew she didn't like to run in a marathon, but i told her it's fun, i promised her it would be the best time of her life.... i promised her that if after she ran it and still didn't think so, i wld give up marathoning. so she began training 2 months ago... "
"so you are actually planning for this moment 2 months ago?"
"yes. and today is the day, i wanted to put the ring in her ring finger."
"joline, how are you feeling falling into his trap?"
"whose trap?"
"lenon's"
"i have to admit that, marathon was not my cup of tea, but 2 years ago when i was manning a water station during the marathon, he already caught my eye when he was approaching from 100 meters away.... and instinctively i pointed my camera at him and took a shot of him. then i asked my fren to help man the station while i went to the finish line to look out for him, and fainted in front of him.... and as i wished, he became my hero...."

science park II - discovery

2011-12-03T23:08:00.001+08:00

found a thru road from science park II to zennder road which led to south buona vista road.

12-hr shift - where's the money?

2011-12-03T22:55:00.004+08:00

stumbled a way connected between sceince park II and south buona vista rd, highlited the walk from NUS to S buona vista.

he met a security guard at the bus-stop, and they begun to talk. he's from setiawan, perak. came here and work six years ago. he strongly felt that singaporeans were a pity lot, work the whole day, earning just enough to feed himself/family. except for an hdb flat, no money left for anything else. and he wanted to go back to his home town for good, to sell vegi, or open a small shop.... anything, better than earning $1000/mth, for a 12-hr shift.

he said, working in singapore would not make one rich. he met so many singaporeans, both husband and wife work, with a maid at home looking after the kid(s)..... as if a family is like a child care center, with the maid as the child keeper, and the couple just doing the job of money transfer from one end of the system to another, with the government sucking up their left over bucks.

when teh couple get older, they would hope that their kid(s) could do better, without knowing that, the better the kid(S) do(es), the better the government does in sucking their fruits of success.....

tawandang microbrewery - chilly and chilling

2011-12-01T22:26:00.000+08:00

tawandang thai microbrewery pub in block 26, dempsey road food place, did not smell good inside, so they sat outside. he ordered the dark beer. and a bucket of ice. adding the cubes as he drank along. happy hour, a glass cost $3. with free ice.....

"hey.... why ice?"

"chills more. i like the hot chilly and coupled with chilling beer, the perfect match!"

in fact, they had a beer and wine session with another vendor last nite in mezza, grand hyatt, so it's best for him to take it easy tonite.

come - and not

2011-11-30T21:56:00.001+08:00

emailed said he could not come because his passport was due in feb 2012, less than 6 months validity, the SIA counter in LA did not let him check in. he was stunned. asked, "is that a joke?"

"no sir, look here what the system says.... passport expire within 6 months, cannot check in."she turned the screen to him.

so he cancelled his journey. and blamed the travel dept not checking out his passport validity before buying the ticket for him.

those were the years - my fren

2011-11-28T21:44:00.003+08:00

which movie one teenager watched 3 times, the other said, he's goin to watch again, and the third one said, he's going to download it from the net..... it's not any fantasy movie like the harry potter, or any sci-fi like avatar, not some epic like titanic.... not even a western movie

they went to watch the movie tonite. only a few people in the cinema, perhaps, it's been shown for some time now.

about a few classmates. together they went after the same gal in the class... funny, exaggerated, but very touching and somewhat reminiscence of his teenage years....

- "you are the apple of my eye (那些年我們一起追的女孩)" - and you know it!

2011-11-27T10:21:00.001+08:00

world resorts - the wynners

2011-11-27T06:54:00.001+08:00

wynners, or loosers? if you did not attend the concert in world resorts, sentosa, you would never found out. he wanted to know, so he went.

after taking almost 15 minutes to get into the car park and find a slot, they found their way to the compass ballroom.

the concert started before 8.30pm. the 5 looked not much older than what he saw them in their old movies, clips, especially for ah b. they belted out different genres in diff languages/dialects.

obviously for most, the highlight of 2.5-hr gag was join-in-the-beat-session, when they invited the crowd to come forward to near the stage to boogie with them.

also ah b brot her 7-year-old daughter, very smart and possessed a sense of entertainment business, reminded him of the gal who sang in the chinese olympics.

they were the wynners, for over 30 years, they can still come back as an intact group with the ballroom almost booked out, that's something few bands in the world could have done so.

the looser, the sound system was not good, too much mid tone. not enough treble and bass..... crowdy... like in the busy market.

pulau semakau landfill - bird watching

2011-11-26T21:04:00.005+08:00

joined the nature society of singapore(nss) to go pulau semakau landfill. the group went for bird watching, but he went to take pictures.
azmi was the leader, gerard the bird expert(a poly lecturer) and ee ling, another keen and experienced bird watcher, and angmoh couple, a pair of gal frens and a lone ranger uncle.

it was a very hot day. the island is not for touristsor anyone who wants to pop in for a visit, only for people belonging to a couple of public societies(like nss)with pre-arrangements. that's why he had to join nss to come to semakau. the landfill island has 1/4 of the planned cells dumped already, by another 34 years, all cells will be filled up and singapore will need another landfill.

there's a tar-mac road leadng from the terminal to the other end of the island. they walked for about more than half of the dsitance of the whole road, then it was time to go back, at about 1pm.

they managed to spot the following birds:
Common myna
scaly breasted munia
brahminy kite
paddyfield pippit
blue-tailed bee eater
pied imperial pigeon (4)
common sandpiper
little ringed plover
whimbrelmarsh sandpiper
greenshank
black shouldered kite
changeble hawk eagle (pale morph)
brown shrike
Great-billed heron
Olive-backed sunbird
Black-naped oriole
Pacific swallow
Barn swallow
Spotted dove
Lesser coucal

they also detoured into the jungle trail, where tons of mosquitoes swarmed on them, sticking their proboscis into any exposed skin, even onto the clothes. at the end of the trail, they came to the shore with a beach which was cover with sea water from the high-tide of the day.

bird watching takes patience, and physical strength and tenacity to lug along tripods, bag-pack, and binoculars, and a pair of sharp eyes to spot the birds 100m away, need to remember the birds they have spotted, and recognise the birds' calls. but the joy is when the bird watcher spots a new bird he has not seen before.

he's no bird watcher - perhaps bird watching for him is, no need to force himself to learn anything more about nature, or get any clearer view of it.... just to get nearer to it.

tender - no bid

2011-11-22T22:27:00.003+08:00

the alarm sounded amidst a meeting. got the the mrt and stopped at raffles place station and walked to republic plaza. met the group of 7 and talked about strategy in a coffee shop across the rd. another member turned up later. moved on to open the tender box at the 39th floor, republic plaza, the property agent's office, at 3.30pm.

the agent went thru their marketing effort, then invited the chairman to use the key he held to open the tender box, a big envelop was fished out. and 4 other small red packets from the agent. the big envelop contained the mandatory valuation report at the time of opening the tender, and there's NO BID.

macro is not good, nobody wants to tender for big projects.....

Taiwan trip - ok

2011-11-21T22:25:00.001+08:00

went to teh airport at 1.20am, the plane arrived a little later and waited for 30 minutes for him to come out.

taiwan trip was ok, he said.

Thank God.

dubai city tour - shop till you drop

2011-11-16T23:55:00.008+08:00

deira, jumeira, the creek, souks, sheraton hotel, ..... all familiar names that reminded him of his younger years when he was living in dubai in an apartment shared with his colleague beside the creek. those busy days did not leave much memories except the food, the desert, the work and his colleagues. dubai then was just about 10 years into its city development phase from a mere fishing village. but the pace was already noticeably rushing, though tall buildings were not that many, but the desert along the creek had already turned into a small city, with bustling activities, mainly manned by foreigners from pakistan, india, and other arab countries.

now getting down from the plane, the airport impressed on him that it's just like in a busy bazaar, the shopping area was crowded with people from all over the world. though compared with the old airport, it had definitely made improvement in big strides, you would take 20 minutes to find a toilet, and when you find it, it's also like a bazaar, overcrowded with people wanting to empty their bladders.

they checked into a 3-star hotel downtown, past midnite. the room was 2 floors above a filipino bar, which played deafening music until 3am. though they were 2 floors above, they could still feel the thumping beats of the bass. the extremely tired body did not have a good rest for the first nite.

the next morning, city tour.

toured the creek, came down at the gold souk, to buy some spices, and went to the market to buy some dates and golden guava. visited the seaside, drove by burj al arab, stopped over in front of the atlantis, and ended in the dubai mall, next to burj kalifah, for the desert safari.

after the desert safari, they asked the driver to drop them at city center mall, and continued their shopping, since they still could find what they wanted with the right prices. after an hour tour around the modern mall, they took metro back to al rigga station, near their hotel. they met some tour members who bot some cheap souvenirs from some shop nearby, 4 of them took out their last ounce of energy to check it out, walking one km to and indian shop where they sold everything from souvenirs to clothes to electrical appliances, food.... and they got what they wanted finally at the RIGHT prices.

when the reached the hotel, it's already past midnite.

- shopping in the malls of dubai cost a few times more than shopping in roadside shops for the same items. knowing this little secret before hand, your balls will not drop, instead the prices will.....

camel ride - bob of arabia

2011-11-16T23:34:00.009+08:00

after the desert ride, they queued up for the camel ride. after that, they adjourned to a desert camp for some snack, some entertainment and the big feast came.

everybody had a good bite of the mutton kebab, grilled chicken, beans, nan....

during the camel ride, an angmoh wanted to cut queue, bob, one of the tour group members confronted him. though the bedouin camel-herd was not happy that bob did what he did, questioning his way of wanting to give in to the angmoh after the angmoh apparently trying to offer him something to cut the queue, bob stood his ground. the angmoh stood aside.

also there's another incident involving another angmoh, a big angmoh, who when trying to mount the camel, did not get a proper mount. when the camel stood up, he could not hang on to the grip, fell down from the camel. the camel did not care, continued to make its first stride, with the fallen angmoh on its way.

bob, jumped out and pulled the angmoh away, just before the camel's hoof landed on his big body. the angmoh thanked him profusely.

tonite, the stars did not show up in the arabian sky as he had witnessed them many years ago when he worked in this very desert, probably due to the sandy dust kicked up by the tourists in the camp site. but one star did rise from the east, magnificent and bright.... he is:

- bob(aka our former president ong teng cheong)of arabia, who saved the day.

bob .....

dubai desert safari ride - whose turn is it, tonite?

2011-11-16T19:24:00.011+08:00

they arranged the desert safari on their own for us$45/pax, instead of going thru the tour agency for euro75. they met the land cruiser driver, hassan, a pakistani at the dubai mall at 3.30pm. they drove out of the city towards the desert along the hatta-oman highway for about 45 minutes and pulled over at a shop to wait for the other 2 cars from the same tour group, before starting the desert safari ride. he refilled his stomach with ample water, like a camel before the arid journey into the desert.

they drove a short distance into the desert and pulled over for a last assembly before starting off for the roller-coastal ride. they had a few pictures, and then vroom they screeched off into the dunes.

it was stomach-churning right from the start; the 4-wheel-drive, 6-litre monster dipped from the peaks and rose from the troughs of the dunes..... just before it tipped over, hassan with his superb handling of the wheel, jerked it back into course and up it went for another roll.

the convoy weaved thru the dunes like big bugs going for a forage outing in the desert. they saw a couple of vehicles turned turtle, or stuck in the sand.

half way thru, the phone rang! and all eyes turned to the phone resting on the storage cavity next to hassan. he reached out for the phone, amidst a tight turn.... all shouted...."hassan.... watch out!" he squeezed hard the gas, whiffed the wheel to the left, the car roared up onto another peak. everyone let out a good sigh of relief. all this happened, while he spoke into his handphone, "ok...ok.... ahajskakaks....kskslslkakswasc..."

"hassan, who was that?"

"my second wife.... she wanted to know whose turn's it, tonite."

graffiti - freedom?

2011-11-15T23:40:00.002+08:00

graffiti to singaporeans mean canes - but in spain and portugal, it's way to express oneself openly to the world, in brilliant colors and wacky type styles and cartoonic figures...

that's why they have picaso, we have goh chock tong, they have the flamenco, we have the lee hsiang loong.... they have the paella, we have the nathan...

we always look up to our gahmen as leaders, in all big and small things.... they express themselves confidently even in times of economic crisis....

or is it due to their harsh lives that they have to rely on graffiti ro release their steam?

in the bus - sleep not

2011-11-15T21:51:00.001+08:00

if you are asleep in the bus, you would not have seen much in Spain, the countryside, the suburbs, the villages..... the rivers... since most of the daytime you are in the bus travelling from one place to another.

not much you can see when you get down from the bus.... whenever you reach a destination, it's at the end of the day, a couple of hours more for the sun to set, and night scene, though is another way of looking at things, you have missed out most of the day.

the scenery outside passes by so fast that within minutes you are outside the city in open-field countryside. then big plot of harvested empty lands change to ranches, then up the bus climbs to higher elevations, you can see the snow-capped mountains from afar, right before your eyes, then down you descend to the rural highway, stop for a bio-break and filling up the tummy.... off you go again..... and the graffiti, one by one streams through along the roadsides... you reach the next town/city....

another city, another nite....

factory outlet - bring your own lunch

2011-11-14T23:38:00.002+08:00

factory outlet sale - a big item in the itinerary. they reached the place with the factory outlets of some branded goods, 30 minutes ride from Madrid, at 2.30pm. and were given to shop until 7pm. but they finished shopping around 4.30pm, and it rained, they could not move much, except whiled their time away in a cafe. the others went to the other factory outlets, in the tour bus. not many things to buy though.

not many shoppers also.

took pizza as lunch. the goods might be cheaper than outside shops, but the food's definitely more expensive.

madrid - where's your ID?

2011-11-14T23:00:00.002+08:00

martha, the tour guide made more of an impression to him than madrid did just like visiting a toilet vs touring the iconic sites.

they reached madrid city center at 11.30am. everyone was urgently looking for some place to ease their bladders. some went to the fast food outlets, but were denied entry unless they bought the food there to have the password to the toilet. he and a few of them crossed the street and met a man from an office building, who pointed them to go up the building. they went up 1 floor, and there they found a very clean toilet for the office workers.

madrid, a comparatively young city(compared with other spanish cities), was the 3rd largest city in europe after london and berlin. as in other european cities, history and historical buildings are what the tour guides will go thru with the tourists. martha did a good job, but he did not have the time to listen to her, as he was, as usual, more engaged with snapping up whatever that struck him.

they went to the outside of real madrid stadium and its souvenir shop.

when they were about to leave the paying counter, suimen, the lady from the group was stuck with a few merchandise at the counter. the cashier asked for her identity before allowing her to sign her credit card, suspecting that she was under-age. her parents and sis already left her for the bus. she was desperately dialing for them, but all had their phones shut off. ended up they paid for her first.

- spain's economy may be doomed, but you still see that in the big cities, people still spend and eat like nothing had happened. the cashiers are sanguine enough to ask for one's identity if in doubt, but they cannot ask how much you have in the bank before you pay up.

avila - bull and bullshit

2011-11-14T08:40:00.009+08:00

they arrived at avila, a city within a castle at 6.30pm, got down from the bus outside the castle, and had to walk 10 minutes to the hotel in the castle. he and video tan were left behind because they were too busy taking pictures.

video tan is 60 something, thin, and looked and talked like the singapore tv actor, liu chianyi. he liked to take video with his video cam. even recorded the dvd show they watched in the bus. when asked why he recorded the dvd show.... he said...."hahahah.... just my habit lah." so they called him video tan.

he had a brother, in his 40's, unmarried, with him in this tour. the younger tan always looked tired, not interested much in the scenery and activities so far. people went factory-sale shopping, he got himself waited under the rain, alone....

people asked him why he wanted to come. he said, "spain, heard got bull fighting, but can only see the rings. where's the bulls?"

"the bulls... not in season now." the tour leader said.

"then why you did not tell me when i asked before i bot the package. you must be bullshitting me..."

- people come to see the bull killed for entertainment..... anything wrong? just like eating shark fin, anything wrong? like killing the whale for meat..... like eating caviar... like, like burning the trees to grow crops for subsistence, like digging the oil for energy, like using water to flush the toilet, like using tissue paper to wipe your ass....... like bullshitting in broad daylight!

salamanca - the sausage judges

2011-11-13T22:44:00.003+08:00

salamanca, sounds like a lizard, or a kind of sausage... they were there at 1pm, after another long ride. the walking began.... around the streets, spain's oldest university, the cafes, the shops, the eating places. then they proceeded to the plaza mayor.

there were a group of young people sitting around a big table, about 16 of them. whenever young gals passed by, they would each hold up a piece of paper with a number 1-10 written on it - presumably, like judges in a gymnastic comptetion, showing the marks attained by the contestants, in this case by the gal passing by. and they had a great time acting judges.

then this gal after been flashed with the card, approached the group.... started talking to them. after about 5 minutes of talking, the gal got a piece of paper and a pen from her bag and drew something on it. then she raised it high to the people walking by. on it, she drew :

coimbra - beer and oook

2011-11-12T23:56:00.004+08:00

Arrived coimbra at 7pm.checked in the Atsoria Hotel. Room facing the river, but bathroom very small, squeezy. For the past 2 nites the rooms were also very small, reminded him of rooms in new york hotels and genting hotels. The room last nite in lisbon's vip hotel was so small, they could not even put the blanket cover away properly, had to let it lie on the floor.

The had dinner in a restaurant 300m away from the hotel, just needed a short walk. Cod fish, the waiter said. But it was not the smooth, tender fresh type. It tasted like salted fish, not fresh but cured. Very interesting. He liked it.

They took a small walk along the shops nearby after dinner. Almost all the shops already closed.

When they got back to the hotel, the extremely helpful front desk lady told them there's a mall 20min walk away which opened until midnite. But not safe to walk at nite. So she called the cab for them and even came out of the hotel to meet the driver and told him the place they wanted to go.

The cab driver, Apoli was a black, talked a lot.

It was like any other mall with all euro brands and a super. They spent a couple of hours there. Went back hotel before midnite. Had a beer which caused the blood pressure to shoot up, bad for the nite.

beer can make you sleepy and also can make you excited... just like after an OOOK!

Fatima - global question

2011-11-12T23:31:00.000+08:00

before reaching Fatima
,they had a wine tasting stop, bot three bottles of wine. Spent an hour in fatimah. Bot sourvenir in a filiplino shop... foreign talent has its good share spain, they have chinese, filipinos, arabs, africans, and other europeans.

the global question - is it colonization in reverse?

the western world had it big loots in their colonization enterprice and ripped off the locals big time, not long ago.... now. it's pay-back time.

lisbon II - tarty, tarty, tart tart

2011-11-12T23:30:00.001+08:00

Morning, Lisbon city tour. Tour guide maria in her 60's did a good job in explaining the facts and histories of the places visited, there's always a rush for the group to finish the scheduled spots on time to allow any extra time for him to take a few more pictures, so he had to do his bit to forgo her narrations and focus on taking pictures. So he could hardly remember what places they visited that day. Only the Jerominus church n nearby places, the tower, the century place, the Tugus riverside. Had the oldest Portuguese tart, very good. Had Chinese beef, towgay and fried rice for lunch, very good, also

and yes, one thing made a deep impression on him, Lisbon city center was like San Francisco, the steep terrain and its buildings, hit him hard that he was in San Fran... later he found out that the similarities were beyond coincidence, though San Fran has a strong historical tie with Spain, and nothing much with Lisbon or Portugal.

he fell in love with San Fran, the ice cream, the crabs, fisherman's wharf, china town, union square.... the full moon over golden gate.... Auckland bridge, the trolleys rides, the bus rides, the windiest Lombard street... sadly, two short days in Lisbon did not leave him much impression on its food, places, and experiences to fall in love with, except the tart from the oldest tart shop in the world.

- talking about tarts, Hongkong and Macao's Portuguese tarts are famous.... incidentally, the tart in Bangkok are also very famous for a totally different reason.

lisbon- hot water

2011-11-11T23:54:00.001+08:00

Could not find the pda. Only to be found in the big luggage when arrived at the hotel. Room in seville hotel was very small, like the ones in genting highland.

Next day, the set off to portugal. The travel to lisbon took 6.5 hour started 9.30am, arriving 3pm, portugese time which is one hr behind spain time. Portugal is much smaller than spain, but the scenery along the way to lisbon seemed more beautiful. Stop over half way for lunch. Had fried rice with peas and squash soup.

Shopping in nearby bullring shop. Only the underground shops opened, the rest of the floor closed. Then took metro to campo grande. Shop in underground shops and cross the street to bullring shop. Only a few shops opened. Looked like business as whole was very bad, worse than spain.

Dinner at 7.30am, surpringly came with soup, salad and fish and cooked risoto. So far in the trip, the hotels only provided soup once. Don't understand why soup could be so big a deal. And the main course had always been fish or chicken. The indian couple wanted hotel water, the waiter gave them, ice, coke, more cold water, tea... but hot water. And the waiters got very irritated. Until some one told the waiter hot water in spanish.

- travelling in a foreign land, without knowing the local language, will not get you hot water, instead may land you in HOT WATER.

flamengco - freedom

2011-11-10T23:54:00.003+08:00

Arrived at the flamenco show 20 min late. the show had about 10 performers and a theatre with less than 100 people in the audience. The music sounded like Chinese opera. the dancers were energetic, though quite matured. the skill were superb.

4 of them drank 2 bottles of wine, because the other members did not take any. salmon dinner. 70 euro for the whole thing. Tan complained too expensive, not worth it

Shopped in a nearby shop for cheap stuff. Manned by a china gal, who came to Spain 4 years ago and already speaking very fluent Spanish and he asked her whether she had seen the flamenco show?

she said, "yes. though expensive, i think it's worth it. it was very good. i am always wondering how these wondering people like the gypsies, the nomads like the Mongolians, the Africans can make so out-of-this-world kind of music and dances.... perhaps, the true spirit of music comes from freedom, freedom of the mind and the body - freedom of expression!"

seville - local food, local price

2011-11-10T23:40:00.001+08:00

this morning, a new driver. The old one(loiuse) forgot his luggage after the bus took off,, had to make a big turn back to hotel. Blocked by a car parked on the curve of a right turn. had to wait for the unconsiderate driver to come and drive away the car before the bus could continue the journey for the rest of the day.
the visited Plaza de Espana, went inside the Seville Cathedral, climbed the Giralda tower, walked the jewish quarterof Sant Cruz district. they had paella for lunch, instead of tapas which they wanted to try, but costing 3euro per small plate. much more expensive than the dimsum in singapore restaurants...

they may live to regret for not trying the variety of local food for its local prices.

Cordoba - little Maria's smile

2011-11-09T23:55:00.005+08:00

Made another 2 hr journey to Cordoba, to see the Christian/Muslim palace - Great Mosque of Córdoba and current cathedral, alongside the Roman bridge. Could not go inside since it was already 8pm.

they arrived the hotel just before 10pm. he noticed that there were many orange trees in all the places he visited so far, even in the hotel compound, he plucked an orange from the tree on the way. Unriped, face-crushingly sour.

Went for dinner outside the hotel, 20 minute walk from the hotel.

The waitress in the restaurant was the most friendliest of all, so far in the trip.... there's one they met in the hotel in Barcelona - asking her whether there's some soup, for her tummy was not feeling well. the waitress looked at them as if they were asking for caviar - NO! after quite some "begging", she grudgingly relented to ask the chef to make some. ended up the clamp chowder tasted like salt water.

- when you are already rocked up for many hours in the bus, nothing could better a genuinely welcoming, heart warming smile from little Maria.

alhambra - too rush?

2011-11-09T22:52:00.002+08:00

after breakfast, headed for granada, stop over in valez for bio break. Sunny, true-blue sky and chilly air make a perfect prewinter day.

Visited the alhambra palace compound. Beautiful with many gardens. The scent from the vegetation was distinctly pleasing and refreshing. maria, the tour guide was very fleunt in english, and very comprehensive in her introduction of the place.... but as usual he was too busy taking pictures.

after spending almost half a day, they only did half of whole palace, and had to cut it short, since it's already 4pm. Had lunch at 4pm in a restaurant outside the palace. Pork chop, very nice.

-life is like a guided tour, everything is preset, even the pace.

valencia - blue moon

2011-11-08T22:57:00.001+08:00

Valencia - they raced through the city with photo-stops at the bull ring, the Hemispheric, and Principe Felipe Musium, and visited the Valencia cathedral, in the evening.

the near-full moon rose to the sky above plaza De la Reina, bright and BLUE.....

he had ice-cream for dinner, sweet and cold....just like the blue moon.

mediterranean sea - paella non-event

2011-11-08T22:29:00.000+08:00

Paailla - seafood rice, that's what they were to have for lunch, said the tour guide. They were expecting at least some decent dish with decent amount of seafood. But it was a total disappointment, with one small shrimp or crayfish or small crab crawl each. The rice was half cooked(NOT al dente; bit NOT cooked). And they were stopping over for lunch in the journey from barca to valencia - where the ORIGINAL paella dish originated... just 70km away from the mecca of paella, the dish had turned into something so uncanny.

the restaurant was just beside the shore of mediterranean sea. after an unsavory lunch, they went to the beach just to take 10-minute walk.... and off they went on the bus again...

barca II - branding

2011-11-07T23:41:00.007+08:00

Free and easy after montserrat. In other words, not free and quite "siong" for the hubbies and boyfrens.

Mrs chua dragged her hubby from shop to shop, stopping over in zara, espirit, mango, hnm for clothing and gucci, LV, cartier for bags...

He observed one very interesting phenomenon:
Singapore tourists complain when they are brot to shops to buy local products in their china tours. But they flock to buy up the whole shops when they are in Europe. Brand name makes the difference. The question is how and when can the china brands can do the same? In that matter, can singapore have an LV, a zara? it used to have a creative, but it has dropped from a brand to just another commodity product.

What makes a brand? First, it must be functional, that's people buy to use it. Then, it must be of the highest quality. And very important, it must be make an impression on the third party to notice and comment on the buyer's good buy.

To do that, the product must have something strikingly and subtlely different from the market, like having a breakthru in the fashion industry. That's the most difficult thing to do. Like gold lion, it has all to be a big brand, but nobody mention or notice it, when a gold lion product is used.

How to brand a product? Advertisement helps. many forms of ads, tv, radio, movie, paper, billboard, transports, phone, internet, even in toilets....which form is most effective?

the most effective is NO ADS.... instead using an rating agency to rate the products(new products), so consumers get the real bang for the buck.

and there's no such agency yet! so form one on-line!

montserrat - the peak

2011-11-07T23:30:00.002+08:00

Montserrat was an optional tour, they opted for it, and enjoyed the trip very much. the travel from Barcelona on the tour bus took an hour. as the bus ascended the mount, the view widened up, and the sight of the city of barca shrank.

The rock formation of the mountain was unique, in that the conglomerate of bare rocks jutted into the sky like the fat and rounded Botero sculptures, abstracted and amplified many times. The air was fresh and cool, the sky was superbly blue, amidst some drifting clouds.

Near the summit, there's a group of religious structures, the Benedictine abbey, the Santa Maria de Montserrat, which host the Virgin of Montserrat(a Black Madonna and little Christ)sanctuary. They queued up for about 30 minutes to see and touch the hand of the Black Madonna.

The summit was still a few hundred meters above, which can be reached by hiking or the funicular next to the Benedictine abbey. They did not go up because there's not enough time for it.

- sometimes, you come to the mountain not to reach the physical peak, rather the peak is what you come for....

the unfinished church - the third eye

2011-11-07T23:22:00.001+08:00


The unfinished church and the other gaudi's buildings look organic, not like the plainly, geometrically describable lines and surfaces.It reflects his quest for something that led him into the realm of multi-powered equations, that could easily madden someone with a straight mind. His mind was obviously as convoluted as his works, but he managed to keep track of all the details of the complexities of the highly nonlinear-functioned thots and presented them into the arts of structuring. For any simpler soul, he could deal with some degree of nonlinear thots, perhaps to the power of 2, or a better disciplined mind, power of 3, 4.... But to express all the thots visually needs another faculty of the mind. The part where the soul sees not through the 2 bare eyes but through the third eye, which all have but hidden away by one's unwillingness to open it.
" />

barca - the rain

2011-11-07T23:02:00.002+08:00

Arrived in barca 2pm, after 5hr travel from zarazoga. Met up with george, the local guide, a typical hot-blooded, square_face looking latino youngeter, with good englsih. "hi, i'm george, the cousin of messi..... i can arrange for a meeting with him.... but not today, if you stay longer.... that is...." he started off with a name that rang many bells in ears around all corners of the world.

they did a city tour. Stopped over in sagrada familia, the unfinished church. Also saw other gaudi buildings along
Ranblas road, went to the marina, wondering in around the city center, with rain cleansing the city and the souls that thronged its cultured avenues and modern shops...

but the rain did not cool him down. they missed their lunch, she had a bout of gastric..... acted into a drama...

the rain in spain falls on the plain..... my fair lady, a long-time favorite film, a play by bernard shaw, his favorite author, in which miscommunication was ironed out between the two souls that could not have more differences between them, but ended up in one.

whereas the barca rainy tells a lot about atoni gaudi; his unfinished church reflected much about the unruliness of their affair .... they walked in barca like two unconnected souls...

zarazoga - lottery

2011-11-06T23:11:00.001+08:00

They landed in madrid airport at 7am on an overcast day, just after some drizzle.
The bus drove them to zaragoza for the church, abait a stopover in the middle of nowhere for lunch. The canteen did not have much to offer, nor any warm food; nobody cared to fix the defective heater.

They arrived at the church 6pm, after an misunderstood-detour to the hotel.

They spent an hour there. The church was magnificent, most the visitors were tourists, some of them came to pay homage to St Jmaes and Mother Mary.
He took some pictures inside, though it was stated no pictures, but others were snapping away as well. And the guard did softly told him not to.

They arrived at the hotel in an indutrial estate at 7.30pm and had their dinner which was baked chicken at 8.30pm.

Thank God for a good rest for the nite.

Group tour's greatest joy is when the day is called - just the opposite of buying a lottery ticket, which holds all the hope when you pay the money, and sulk with disappointment when the result is known....

airports - toilets

2011-11-06T22:48:00.005+08:00

The 15-hr flight made the bones ached and the mind groggy. The brief 2-hr stop over in dubai was his first time since he left the sheikdom many years ago when it was still a small city, risen from a fishing village 10 years before.

The airport was huge. The departure area was over-crowded with people from all over the world, like a fish market - the most crowed airport in the world.
Shops aplenty. While he was much impressed with all the progress dubai had come to all these years showcased thru its super modrm airport, one thing pulled him back to reality. It took him more than 15 minutes to find a toilet, and it was overcrowded as well, a male toilet, that was.

They landed in madrid airport at 7am in an oevrcast day. and started their spanish journey of hunting for toilets in the various cities.....

one - graffiti

2011-11-05T23:32:00.000+08:00

graffiti - the arts that reflect the soul. like doodling, it's the restless soul that speaks. the graffiteer wants to say something, something which is seemingly irrelevant to existence yet it's so dear to all; to everybody's obsession. obsessed about what? rubbish? they say, that's what graffiti is; rubbish spewn from the idle mind...

you see, from ancient time, all things are obsessed about following the rule of nature.

what's the rule?

that everything comes from a point and ends in one.

why bother then to struggle for anything? every effort will be futile - that's the ultimate law that the graffiteers are following, sublimely... that you and i have to arrive at.... many at the moment when we close our eyes and bid good bye to this inflatory world, that seems to offer myriads of possibilities.

in fact there's only one. didn't you get that from the graffiti?

changi airport terminal 1 - taiwan training

2011-11-01T21:59:00.005+08:00

after the brunei training, the cadets have to go for a 3-week taiwan training in heng choon. they gathered at airport terminal 1 at 11.45pm. they were going to take the eva red-eye flight at 3.10am.

seminar in carlton hotel - some how

2011-10-31T22:05:00.000+08:00

attended a seminar for the whole day. eat breakfast, teatime, lunch, teatime ...... and felt very sleepy. had a buffet dinner last nite, then today buffet lunch, cannot tahan. must skip dinner tonite.

was pleasantly surpirsed to see her there also. some how, there was a "catch"....

no matter how one pretends to ignore the significance of one's feeling, some how the un-natural side of one's thots shows.....

mc ritchie - seeing the light

2011-10-30T13:27:00.017+08:00

he met his fren johny in mc ritchie reservoir. he's a keen runner, or rather, walker, since he has stopped running due to knee problem some time ago. they chatted a bit.

"you come here to take pictures?"

"also take in the fresh air. how 'bout you?"

"i am used to do my morning walk here, started 5am this morning."

"wow, a nite walker in the jungle! no light, how do you see?"

"see? in this jungle, my eyes are in my mind. i can visualise every bump and dip along the track...."

- only when he's not hitting the bottle