san miguel is a good beer. marathon man likes it. but when it's processed and dumped indiscriminately all over the places, then it's something else.
iloilo city stinks, you could not help but bothered on how to take that smell off the streets. no matter how you wash, how you sanitize how you clean the streets the smell remains.... so just leave it there, might as well.
marathon man was taking in a bowl of ted's batchoy near sm delgado, when somebody was loosening his belt and trying to unleash the derivative of san miguel right infront of the street outside ted's restaurant.
his filipino fren ah roberto shook his head and said, "it's the drunkard...."
"i was walking along the iloilo river just now, i saw a lot of ships, looked like junked, parked near the bank of the river. are they still sailable?"
"don't know. why?"
"no.... just thinking, if this is a scrap yard, then iloilo city could be a junkyard for the beer-lovers."
"beer-lovers? better call them piss-offers"
"you mean piss-off-ers?"
"whatever, i get very pissed off with the attitude of the people here, do not take any pride on their city. what is worse than to turn the whole city into a piss-sink?"
"do they have enough public toilets?"
"the lions club built some public bus stations, they should build them public toilets as well."
"pissing problem is certainly a hard problem to solve."
"why singapore don't have this problem?"
"because beer in singapore is more expensive than mineral water."
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
mumbukal - much to be done
ketsana typhoon in ph caused big rain and floods, and loss of lives and properties in luzon. the ever-so-confident and forward-looking people will no doubt find the strength to stand up again in the weeks to come.
marathon man was in the philippines just last week.
he was in mambukal resorts which lies at the slopes of the famed Mount Canlaon, a dormant volcano. checked in and had dinner in the foodcourt. the prices of the food were very reasonable. went for body rub and massage, 600ps. walked around the park, with the clear sky above, he saw a lot of stars, some of which normally he could identify, but that night, they were too numerous and many of them were too bright to name them one by one. even the constellations hid themselves from marathon man in the ocean of lights - it was sheer delight to go back to the time when our ancestors were gazing at the stars and womdering what's there for us in that vastness of space.
the next mroning, had breakfast and did waterfalls track, with guide. very steep going up, but the forest was very thick and the stream was very soul-soothing and the falls were very vibrant with rain just fell the other day. reached the 6th fall, where some people plungde themselves into the pool to take a dip. went back by another route, not soo steep but very slippery and narrow. thanks to the experienced guide who did a good job else, marathon man would be lying in the hospital now.
from their conversations, marathon man came to know that the guides were not officially emplyees of the resort. he said, when the resort was opened by the government, they did not employed any locals, rather people from the city. and to make a living for his family of four(hsuband and wife and two kids), joey the guide had to solicit the tourists to take up his service. sometimes, especially during weekdays, he would go home empty-handed.
marathon man paid his guide and had lunch in the reosrt, before checking out at 2pm. and with a one-hour jeepney ride he arrived in bacolod city.
to think that the philippines has it all is not exagarating. but it also faces natural calamities all year round. typhoons, floods, earthquake, volcanoes eruptions, even draugts sometimes. coupled with humanly responsible mishaps like corruptions, polutions, civil wars, and terroristics violence... you have a kaledoscopic society which marthon man's fren ricardo puts it aptly:
so much is here, and so much more need to be done.
marathon man was in the philippines just last week.
he was in mambukal resorts which lies at the slopes of the famed Mount Canlaon, a dormant volcano. checked in and had dinner in the foodcourt. the prices of the food were very reasonable. went for body rub and massage, 600ps. walked around the park, with the clear sky above, he saw a lot of stars, some of which normally he could identify, but that night, they were too numerous and many of them were too bright to name them one by one. even the constellations hid themselves from marathon man in the ocean of lights - it was sheer delight to go back to the time when our ancestors were gazing at the stars and womdering what's there for us in that vastness of space.
the next mroning, had breakfast and did waterfalls track, with guide. very steep going up, but the forest was very thick and the stream was very soul-soothing and the falls were very vibrant with rain just fell the other day. reached the 6th fall, where some people plungde themselves into the pool to take a dip. went back by another route, not soo steep but very slippery and narrow. thanks to the experienced guide who did a good job else, marathon man would be lying in the hospital now.
from their conversations, marathon man came to know that the guides were not officially emplyees of the resort. he said, when the resort was opened by the government, they did not employed any locals, rather people from the city. and to make a living for his family of four(hsuband and wife and two kids), joey the guide had to solicit the tourists to take up his service. sometimes, especially during weekdays, he would go home empty-handed.
marathon man paid his guide and had lunch in the reosrt, before checking out at 2pm. and with a one-hour jeepney ride he arrived in bacolod city.
to think that the philippines has it all is not exagarating. but it also faces natural calamities all year round. typhoons, floods, earthquake, volcanoes eruptions, even draugts sometimes. coupled with humanly responsible mishaps like corruptions, polutions, civil wars, and terroristics violence... you have a kaledoscopic society which marthon man's fren ricardo puts it aptly:
so much is here, and so much more need to be done.
Monday, September 28, 2009
marina bay - meritocracy
after kk market, walk in little india, little middle east, opposite golden mile, marina bay, closed for f1.
eat lor mee in tekka($1.80), $0.10 for washroom, chinchau($1) in beachroad hwaker centre, $0.10 for washroom, danggui black chicken($4) in jln berseh hawker centre, 2 icescreams in albert street(2x$1), drink sourplum juice($1) in albert st. that's how to have breakfast and lunch on $10.
when marathon man arrived at marina bay, he lost his way, since most part of the esplanade was closed to the public for F1 race. he asked a man in his fifties who was jogging in the area,
"how to get out from here?"
"oh, you must cut thru the cemented path. he pointed to
the path. then he said, look this F1 thingie really
creates a lot of troubles."
"why? you mean inconvenience for people to come to the marina area?"
"yes. more importantly it shuts down a lot of business."
"are you one of the affected ones?"
"yes. i have a shop in suntec, now i have to close it for
one week."
"i thot f1 is good for the economics."
"i don't know. maybe good for the hotels nearby."
"and the gahmen is levying extra tax on these hotels."
"they should. but at the same time they should also
compensate us for losing business. they cannot just take
the tax on those doing good busines and forget us that
are losing business. where's meritocracy in this case?"
" i thot meritocracy means an elite group of people whose
progress is based on ability and talent rather than on
class privilege or wealth. what has that got to do with
your situation?"
"that's what the dictionary says. but actually, if you
look at the words merit and cracy it mean literraly, a
system based on merits of things - ie as long as you do things based on merits, it will be fair, and people should not
complain. like in my case, i lose business not because of
my fault but because of F1, which the gahmen benefits,
then the gahmen should pass some of it to us as
compensation, that would be fair."
"i see. i understand where you are coming from. and i also suspect the gahmen is not that
into the spirit of meritocracy. like they asked the private
sector to help small business by reduding their rents,
yet their own property companies, like mapletree did not do
it. they asked the companies not to resort to
retrenchment as a first tool to trim cost during
recession, dbs was the first one to cut people..... they
are not doing things according to merits of the nation, the people,
but according to the own interests their own corporations."
"yes. meritocracy is not just by putting able people on
the jobs. it's about doing things in a fair manner."
"in having the f1 race here, we should start our own F1
campaign - fairness number 1 campaign."
"campaign, not another one. let's just pray that, our gahmen don't think that we have IQ's of F grade."
eat lor mee in tekka($1.80), $0.10 for washroom, chinchau($1) in beachroad hwaker centre, $0.10 for washroom, danggui black chicken($4) in jln berseh hawker centre, 2 icescreams in albert street(2x$1), drink sourplum juice($1) in albert st. that's how to have breakfast and lunch on $10.
when marathon man arrived at marina bay, he lost his way, since most part of the esplanade was closed to the public for F1 race. he asked a man in his fifties who was jogging in the area,
"how to get out from here?"
"oh, you must cut thru the cemented path. he pointed to
the path. then he said, look this F1 thingie really
creates a lot of troubles."
"why? you mean inconvenience for people to come to the marina area?"
"yes. more importantly it shuts down a lot of business."
"are you one of the affected ones?"
"yes. i have a shop in suntec, now i have to close it for
one week."
"i thot f1 is good for the economics."
"i don't know. maybe good for the hotels nearby."
"and the gahmen is levying extra tax on these hotels."
"they should. but at the same time they should also
compensate us for losing business. they cannot just take
the tax on those doing good busines and forget us that
are losing business. where's meritocracy in this case?"
" i thot meritocracy means an elite group of people whose
progress is based on ability and talent rather than on
class privilege or wealth. what has that got to do with
your situation?"
"that's what the dictionary says. but actually, if you
look at the words merit and cracy it mean literraly, a
system based on merits of things - ie as long as you do things based on merits, it will be fair, and people should not
complain. like in my case, i lose business not because of
my fault but because of F1, which the gahmen benefits,
then the gahmen should pass some of it to us as
compensation, that would be fair."
"i see. i understand where you are coming from. and i also suspect the gahmen is not that
into the spirit of meritocracy. like they asked the private
sector to help small business by reduding their rents,
yet their own property companies, like mapletree did not do
it. they asked the companies not to resort to
retrenchment as a first tool to trim cost during
recession, dbs was the first one to cut people..... they
are not doing things according to merits of the nation, the people,
but according to the own interests their own corporations."
"yes. meritocracy is not just by putting able people on
the jobs. it's about doing things in a fair manner."
"in having the f1 race here, we should start our own F1
campaign - fairness number 1 campaign."
"campaign, not another one. let's just pray that, our gahmen don't think that we have IQ's of F grade."
Saturday, September 26, 2009
bedok park - scoop
jog in jalan rimau, teo kim eng rd, pcn, behind reservoirs hdb's, then bedok town park, linear park, first time there. three men and a gal, one of the men, injecting his hand with a needle - drug! then along the big lokang, detour into bedok north ave 4. and went into a shopping mall.
as he passed by the open-air carpark, a lady approached marathon man, "excuse me.... i cannot open my car with my remote key...." she sounded very desparate.
marathon man hesitated, what could be the deal here? was there a scam? but she sounded so real. he lowered down his cautiousness. what could he do to help her? he went with her to where she parked her car... took over the remote key from her, pressed the 'open button'... no reaction from the car. he thot, could she be asking him to open another guy's car, and flee with it..... but wait that's it....
"are you sure it's your car?"
"she bent down and looked at the number plate.... "oh... i'm sorry, this is not my car.... thanks"
and she wasted no time to find her car, and got it open.
marathon man went to the mall to buy some drink. just when he was about to pay for his drink, he realised his wallet was not in his pocket.... as he was going to break the queue to return the drink to the shelf, "hi..." a lady greeted him. he looked up, and that was the lady he just helped with her car key.
"mr. did you lose your wallet?"
"ya."
"is this it?" she showed him a wallet that looked like his.
"yes...i must have dropped it."
"no. you did not. i picked it from pocket."
"what? you are a pick-pocket."
"well, you helped me. and i'm just returning a favor."
"is what you call a favor; by picking my pocket?"
"mr. your wallet actually half out of your pocket, and anytime it would fall out.... i just did the safekeep of it for you."
"gal, you are a pick-pocket. i'm not that into a pick-pocket. give me back my, and we would have nothing to do with one another."
"here's it." and she disappeared from him.
as he went thru his wallet, he found a piece of paper, on which was written " thanks for your diamond ring, which was paid by your visa, which i returned to you."
as he passed by the open-air carpark, a lady approached marathon man, "excuse me.... i cannot open my car with my remote key...." she sounded very desparate.
marathon man hesitated, what could be the deal here? was there a scam? but she sounded so real. he lowered down his cautiousness. what could he do to help her? he went with her to where she parked her car... took over the remote key from her, pressed the 'open button'... no reaction from the car. he thot, could she be asking him to open another guy's car, and flee with it..... but wait that's it....
"are you sure it's your car?"
"she bent down and looked at the number plate.... "oh... i'm sorry, this is not my car.... thanks"
and she wasted no time to find her car, and got it open.
marathon man went to the mall to buy some drink. just when he was about to pay for his drink, he realised his wallet was not in his pocket.... as he was going to break the queue to return the drink to the shelf, "hi..." a lady greeted him. he looked up, and that was the lady he just helped with her car key.
"mr. did you lose your wallet?"
"ya."
"is this it?" she showed him a wallet that looked like his.
"yes...i must have dropped it."
"no. you did not. i picked it from pocket."
"what? you are a pick-pocket."
"well, you helped me. and i'm just returning a favor."
"is what you call a favor; by picking my pocket?"
"mr. your wallet actually half out of your pocket, and anytime it would fall out.... i just did the safekeep of it for you."
"gal, you are a pick-pocket. i'm not that into a pick-pocket. give me back my, and we would have nothing to do with one another."
"here's it." and she disappeared from him.
as he went thru his wallet, he found a piece of paper, on which was written " thanks for your diamond ring, which was paid by your visa, which i returned to you."
Sunday, September 13, 2009
bintan lagoon - 19th hole
played golf in bintan lagoon, with steven and khoo. joined by jenny who was a lone wolf, whose kakis stood her up.
a petite lady in her early fifties, a grandmother of 7 grand-children, but with two bouncingly tout nuts, obviously a talking point for the two older golfers, steven and khoo.
on the blue tee-box of the third hole, where jenny was a good 100 meters away in the red t-box, khoo said, "wow.... she's hot isn't she...."
steven, "you know, in the 1st hole, she really turned me on when she was holding the flag and asking - did you see the hole?"
khoo, "wow, you d.o.m. no wonder in the second hole, when she shouted -one more, one more, when her ball went into the jungle.... you really think that she wanted one more ace from your birdie?"
marathon man, being their junior, told them he's not interested in old ladies, so they did not include him in their lady-talk. nontheless, marathon man was also taking keen interest in this grandmother - eyes often strayed towards the pair of her twin peaks.
khoo, though took pleasure in teasing steven, also could not help stealing many looks at jenny's voluptious papayas.
the game became very interesting. three golfers with an interest on an overly-matured lady's boobs, showed that in their shots.
at the t-box, steven hit a pull, khoo hit behind the ball, and duffed it, and it's marithon man's turn to show the other two how a good swing was supposed to be executed... he put on his glove, took out a t, and a ball, plugged the t on the grond with ball placed snuggedly on it, took a step back, found the target line, took a practice swing, positioned himself squarely for the real swing, did a little wiggle, took a last look at the target, and up he went for the back swing, down it went sweeping, and DING.... lo and behold, the ball took to the air, and landed a good distance away..... marathon man was a happy camper, a wide smile floated across his face. but marathon man hit his second shot to the forest and lost his ball.... all in all, the three men ended up the hole each with a tripple bogey, and jenny, she had a par!
and it was like that for almost every hole....
so in the end, as the saying goes - when three men go nuts, the lady has a field day with the lumped pars!
a petite lady in her early fifties, a grandmother of 7 grand-children, but with two bouncingly tout nuts, obviously a talking point for the two older golfers, steven and khoo.
on the blue tee-box of the third hole, where jenny was a good 100 meters away in the red t-box, khoo said, "wow.... she's hot isn't she...."
steven, "you know, in the 1st hole, she really turned me on when she was holding the flag and asking - did you see the hole?"
khoo, "wow, you d.o.m. no wonder in the second hole, when she shouted -one more, one more, when her ball went into the jungle.... you really think that she wanted one more ace from your birdie?"
marathon man, being their junior, told them he's not interested in old ladies, so they did not include him in their lady-talk. nontheless, marathon man was also taking keen interest in this grandmother - eyes often strayed towards the pair of her twin peaks.
khoo, though took pleasure in teasing steven, also could not help stealing many looks at jenny's voluptious papayas.
the game became very interesting. three golfers with an interest on an overly-matured lady's boobs, showed that in their shots.
at the t-box, steven hit a pull, khoo hit behind the ball, and duffed it, and it's marithon man's turn to show the other two how a good swing was supposed to be executed... he put on his glove, took out a t, and a ball, plugged the t on the grond with ball placed snuggedly on it, took a step back, found the target line, took a practice swing, positioned himself squarely for the real swing, did a little wiggle, took a last look at the target, and up he went for the back swing, down it went sweeping, and DING.... lo and behold, the ball took to the air, and landed a good distance away..... marathon man was a happy camper, a wide smile floated across his face. but marathon man hit his second shot to the forest and lost his ball.... all in all, the three men ended up the hole each with a tripple bogey, and jenny, she had a par!
and it was like that for almost every hole....
so in the end, as the saying goes - when three men go nuts, the lady has a field day with the lumped pars!
Thursday, September 10, 2009
lim choo kang jetty - nothingness
the stinky lim choo kang jetty, teemed with people. it could be very well due to the stagnance of the johor straits water; malaysians' complaint is not that "out-of-this-world" after all.
there was a chinese national harvesting the green mussels besdie the jetty, and hawking his harvest to people strolling on the jetty. no current takes away the dirty stuff accumulated. the same reason might have been the cause for the quality of the pasir ris sea water to be outside the safety limit.
dead water is smelly!
marathon man asked a guy who was fishing in the jetty, "how, may fishes?"
"no lah, only small ones."
"why fish if only small fish?"
"for fun lah."
"fun?"
"ya. if not, what to do?"
"you mean, you don't know how to spend your time, other than fishing?"
"so you have any better idea?"
"me.... i guess no."
"then, why such cynicism?"
"me, cynical? no.. no... i was, reacting out of the spur of my left brain, that time should be more preciously spent.... but you are right, what am i doing with my own time, heh? running about for nothing?"
"well.... you just think too much. no matter what, somehow time won't wait."
"why do we have to get troubled in thinking of how to spend our time? it's there, we just do whatever we want to do with it."
"you mean, live your own life?"
"well... yes."
"aren't you doing that?"
"well.... yes."
"then..... any complaint?"
"no complaint..... but coul d life be simpler? like no need to worry, no need to be tied dwon with duties and responsibilities, no need to quarrel with people, in fact no need to live with people....."
"hmmm. like a hermit?"
"ye, but simpler. don't even have to think."
"like a dog?"
"simpler, don't even have to forage for food."
"like a pet dog?"
"simpler, don't even have to be holden to your host."
"like a microbe?"
"simpler, don't even have to be part of the survival chain."
"GOD?"
"is HIS life simplest? if so, why should there be anything?"
there was a chinese national harvesting the green mussels besdie the jetty, and hawking his harvest to people strolling on the jetty. no current takes away the dirty stuff accumulated. the same reason might have been the cause for the quality of the pasir ris sea water to be outside the safety limit.
dead water is smelly!
marathon man asked a guy who was fishing in the jetty, "how, may fishes?"
"no lah, only small ones."
"why fish if only small fish?"
"for fun lah."
"fun?"
"ya. if not, what to do?"
"you mean, you don't know how to spend your time, other than fishing?"
"so you have any better idea?"
"me.... i guess no."
"then, why such cynicism?"
"me, cynical? no.. no... i was, reacting out of the spur of my left brain, that time should be more preciously spent.... but you are right, what am i doing with my own time, heh? running about for nothing?"
"well.... you just think too much. no matter what, somehow time won't wait."
"why do we have to get troubled in thinking of how to spend our time? it's there, we just do whatever we want to do with it."
"you mean, live your own life?"
"well... yes."
"aren't you doing that?"
"well.... yes."
"then..... any complaint?"
"no complaint..... but coul d life be simpler? like no need to worry, no need to be tied dwon with duties and responsibilities, no need to quarrel with people, in fact no need to live with people....."
"hmmm. like a hermit?"
"ye, but simpler. don't even have to think."
"like a dog?"
"simpler, don't even have to forage for food."
"like a pet dog?"
"simpler, don't even have to be holden to your host."
"like a microbe?"
"simpler, don't even have to be part of the survival chain."
"GOD?"
"is HIS life simplest? if so, why should there be anything?"
katong - freedom
this is the season for divorce. marathon man's angmoh fren ah chris is divorcing his wife, his fren ah wahid also doing the same. not long ago kris used to call back home to talk to his wife and kids, whenever he was away from his home in souhtern cal. he also mentioned his wife very often in his casual conversation. and just out of the blue, as far as marathon man is concerned, he is what most americans are doing. same thing for wahid, an iranian marrying a caucasian, had been living happily for quite some years now...... and he got sacked from the company, and very soon his wife alsi kcicked him our of the house.
well, well, well..... it's time. as the americans said, marriage is not the burial ground for romance. and divorce is the beginning of another new life. so life just go back to its beginning.
marathon man think about it..... why marry in the first place? like marathon man, single and swinging.... no need pre-nup, no need to worry, no need to feel the burden of a family. enjoy whatever he's been working for, himself.
ah huai was jogging with him. he actually met her when he was sniffing around in katong area. then this gal came dashing into him, when the traffic light turned from redman to greenman, and marathon man was talking in the hp, too busy to noticed it.
"sorry."
"sorry also, i was too busy with my phone..."
"i heard there's a new northern indian curry restaurant here, do you know where?"
"at teh junction of joochiat rad and east coast road."
"have you tried it? was it good? i am thinking of having my lunch there after the jog."
"very nice, especially teh spices, the most delicate and refined you can find in this world. it not as hot as the osuthern curries, and not as lemon-grassy as the peranakan, it's smooth and rich in taste, not strong in it's spiciness, but got all the taste of a spicy dish..... i suggest you tried it. since i'm going to have lunch soon also..... let me give you a treat."
"for what? for bouncing into you?"
"why not? it's not so often you got bounced into by a stranger, and a beautiful lady..."
they did not jogged for long, before they adjourned to hamsa restaurant. order some dishes....
"hmm... really good. i like it also."
"are you single?"
"yes. but not until yesterday. i mean i got all things cleared in my divorce, and i'm free now."
"why you want to marry in the first place if you ended up in divorce?"
"i didn't expect it to be this way?"
"are you regretting now?"
"me? regret? no. we don't have kids.... things come and go.... i had my share of romance..... now taking a break."
"why divorce? is he not the type of guy you want?"
"well... i don't know what type i want. i thot i knew. at first, we did what lovers used to do, then after sometime we did what hsuband and wife used to do..... then it dawned on me that, i wanted my living space as much as he wanted his..... we don't clicked any more. we quarreled bacause we thot we both were right to demand what we wanted...... then what supposed to hold us back broken down....no more trust.... don't who started to break it first... anyway.... i got so hurt, that i really wanted to end it all.... but i held back in the last minute, and decided no point in clinging to something expired.... just let it go and have things my old way."
"no counselling?"
"we did. but no use.... we only sought the third-party to hera us out, how right we each were...."
"did you learn anything?"
"there's no such thing as real love in thsi world. it's all in the chemistry of a person. like now, i feel very comfortable talking to you.... does it mean i have feeling for you? yes! i think so. but this feeling that i have not so much that i wanted it, but my hormones make me feel that i need someone like you to talk to.... it releases my anxiety after going thru what i went thru...."
"life should be simple, as eating an apple. you want to eat an apple, just go into the fruit stall and buy one...."
"you mean, same thing for relationship?"
"no relationship, just mutual- exploitation. if you like me and i like you, we can be intimate.... if that's what satisfy us both.relationship need something we call love. as you said, there's no such in thsi world."
"are you a divorcee?"
"no. why?"
"then what made you sound like you have been there and did it many times? are your parents separated?"
"no. i just feel that, i'm a human being, not for the sake of fulfilling the mundane duty of procreation.... i want my life to be full and free."
"you like to come for dinner in my place, tonite?"
"i see, to celebrate your freedom?"
"no.... just giving in to my chemistry."
- oh nite, oh nite, oh nite......
well, well, well..... it's time. as the americans said, marriage is not the burial ground for romance. and divorce is the beginning of another new life. so life just go back to its beginning.
marathon man think about it..... why marry in the first place? like marathon man, single and swinging.... no need pre-nup, no need to worry, no need to feel the burden of a family. enjoy whatever he's been working for, himself.
ah huai was jogging with him. he actually met her when he was sniffing around in katong area. then this gal came dashing into him, when the traffic light turned from redman to greenman, and marathon man was talking in the hp, too busy to noticed it.
"sorry."
"sorry also, i was too busy with my phone..."
"i heard there's a new northern indian curry restaurant here, do you know where?"
"at teh junction of joochiat rad and east coast road."
"have you tried it? was it good? i am thinking of having my lunch there after the jog."
"very nice, especially teh spices, the most delicate and refined you can find in this world. it not as hot as the osuthern curries, and not as lemon-grassy as the peranakan, it's smooth and rich in taste, not strong in it's spiciness, but got all the taste of a spicy dish..... i suggest you tried it. since i'm going to have lunch soon also..... let me give you a treat."
"for what? for bouncing into you?"
"why not? it's not so often you got bounced into by a stranger, and a beautiful lady..."
they did not jogged for long, before they adjourned to hamsa restaurant. order some dishes....
"hmm... really good. i like it also."
"are you single?"
"yes. but not until yesterday. i mean i got all things cleared in my divorce, and i'm free now."
"why you want to marry in the first place if you ended up in divorce?"
"i didn't expect it to be this way?"
"are you regretting now?"
"me? regret? no. we don't have kids.... things come and go.... i had my share of romance..... now taking a break."
"why divorce? is he not the type of guy you want?"
"well... i don't know what type i want. i thot i knew. at first, we did what lovers used to do, then after sometime we did what hsuband and wife used to do..... then it dawned on me that, i wanted my living space as much as he wanted his..... we don't clicked any more. we quarreled bacause we thot we both were right to demand what we wanted...... then what supposed to hold us back broken down....no more trust.... don't who started to break it first... anyway.... i got so hurt, that i really wanted to end it all.... but i held back in the last minute, and decided no point in clinging to something expired.... just let it go and have things my old way."
"no counselling?"
"we did. but no use.... we only sought the third-party to hera us out, how right we each were...."
"did you learn anything?"
"there's no such thing as real love in thsi world. it's all in the chemistry of a person. like now, i feel very comfortable talking to you.... does it mean i have feeling for you? yes! i think so. but this feeling that i have not so much that i wanted it, but my hormones make me feel that i need someone like you to talk to.... it releases my anxiety after going thru what i went thru...."
"life should be simple, as eating an apple. you want to eat an apple, just go into the fruit stall and buy one...."
"you mean, same thing for relationship?"
"no relationship, just mutual- exploitation. if you like me and i like you, we can be intimate.... if that's what satisfy us both.relationship need something we call love. as you said, there's no such in thsi world."
"are you a divorcee?"
"no. why?"
"then what made you sound like you have been there and did it many times? are your parents separated?"
"no. i just feel that, i'm a human being, not for the sake of fulfilling the mundane duty of procreation.... i want my life to be full and free."
"you like to come for dinner in my place, tonite?"
"i see, to celebrate your freedom?"
"no.... just giving in to my chemistry."
- oh nite, oh nite, oh nite......
dairy farm park - lawyers
why do we need lawyer? when we argue with people, we get worked up so much that, we tend to lose our minds, and say the wrong things. laywer is there to guide us to say the right things. also, we may go astray when we are in an interogation, saying things out of the topic.... talking about things which are not relavant to the case.... a lawyer can always keep our arguments relavant.
marathon man was telling his lawyer fren, ah choon, "i got this guy working for me, he keeps complaining about everybody else..... not only among our colleagues, but also shooting off his mouth infront of customers. even though he may be right, but he just couldn't articulate his reasoning, and always very abrasive.... i as his boss, had to hold him back. do you think i can be a lawyer some day?"
"hahaha... you don't think you need a lawyer, until you are at a situation where your subordinate just keeps shooting off his mouth, then you have to act as his lawyer, keeping him in check..... but why you think we lawyers only good at this? we also good in argueing cases, doing conveyancing, acting on divorce cases, will
and trust adminstration, copyright/patent filing....."
"but i can specialize in litigation, just argueing cases in the court."
"you? yes, you can argue. but you are a firebrand yourself.... cannot keep your cool..... "
"ok.... i'm just trying to pull your leg."
they were at the dairy farm park. there were quite many people already there, checking the new park in tis part of singapore. they took off on the track to wallace education centre. wallace came to singapore in 1854 and did a lot of field work in natural science, and even co-founded the theory of evolution.
and it was quite a pity to find out that last tiger in singapore was shot in 1932. and we could only say, we had the tigers, but we let them laid in silence. we only got the lion from our imagination, yet we let it live. how unreasonable can the human mind be?
they tracked onto the wallace trail which was very slippery, after the rain. but this track was real jungle track, not much of a track actually, but a narrow dirt trail through the thick jungle vegetation.
the track to singapore quarry was much wider, since it was well trodden. before they reached the quarry, they detoured into a landed housing estate beside the rail mall. the birds' chirpings and the meticulate gardenings of many of the houses there impressed marathon man. and the railway mall shops were one kind of lay-back setting, giving the shoppers and diners a lot of real shppoing and dining pressureless pleasure.
they arrived at the quarry and was disappointed that it was almost filled in, only leaving a marshland quite barren and desolate. quite a stupid way of doing things. water, especially deep water is always a welcome sight in any place. you dig a hole in the ground, then you should leave it there and let rain does it the favor of making it into a delightful pond. why go and fill it in? the environmentalists may insist to return the place to its original state, which was, a piece of forested land. but since the water has settled in nicely in the pond, then they should let it be.
they went by the mountain track to hindhede quarry, which won marathon man's heart over with a nicely, water-filled lake that instilled tranquility and mystery in one's soul.
"tell me, ah choon, you lawyers like argue with your spouse?"
"well, i tend to argue with everybody, including my wife."
"so does that mean lawyers have a higher divorcing rate?"
"i don't know. but our other halves should have already got use to our argumentative character even before they married us..... so not a big problem. but, we lawyers also got problems, like some take people's money and run."
"if lawyers are not that upright and honest, just like a doctor not with a golden heart of healing people, and a politician not ready to serve the people..... a teacher not keen to impart his knowledge.... that's what's wrong with our society... people just don't play their roles appropriately. what do you think we can do to mitigate this problem?"
"people whichever profession they are in, are in for a quick buck. to curtail any illegal or any hanky panky deals, i suggest like in the medical industry, other professionals also buy insurance in case they misappropriate their clients' trust, then the clients still hv something to fall back to."
"but won't this cost be borne by the consumers as well?"
"maybe. but at least the client can be at peace with a safety net to fall into."
"so, insurance is some form of trust for mistrust?"
"to say the least, crooks are getting smarter nowadays!"
marathon man was telling his lawyer fren, ah choon, "i got this guy working for me, he keeps complaining about everybody else..... not only among our colleagues, but also shooting off his mouth infront of customers. even though he may be right, but he just couldn't articulate his reasoning, and always very abrasive.... i as his boss, had to hold him back. do you think i can be a lawyer some day?"
"hahaha... you don't think you need a lawyer, until you are at a situation where your subordinate just keeps shooting off his mouth, then you have to act as his lawyer, keeping him in check..... but why you think we lawyers only good at this? we also good in argueing cases, doing conveyancing, acting on divorce cases, will
and trust adminstration, copyright/patent filing....."
"but i can specialize in litigation, just argueing cases in the court."
"you? yes, you can argue. but you are a firebrand yourself.... cannot keep your cool..... "
"ok.... i'm just trying to pull your leg."
they were at the dairy farm park. there were quite many people already there, checking the new park in tis part of singapore. they took off on the track to wallace education centre. wallace came to singapore in 1854 and did a lot of field work in natural science, and even co-founded the theory of evolution.
and it was quite a pity to find out that last tiger in singapore was shot in 1932. and we could only say, we had the tigers, but we let them laid in silence. we only got the lion from our imagination, yet we let it live. how unreasonable can the human mind be?
they tracked onto the wallace trail which was very slippery, after the rain. but this track was real jungle track, not much of a track actually, but a narrow dirt trail through the thick jungle vegetation.
the track to singapore quarry was much wider, since it was well trodden. before they reached the quarry, they detoured into a landed housing estate beside the rail mall. the birds' chirpings and the meticulate gardenings of many of the houses there impressed marathon man. and the railway mall shops were one kind of lay-back setting, giving the shoppers and diners a lot of real shppoing and dining pressureless pleasure.
they arrived at the quarry and was disappointed that it was almost filled in, only leaving a marshland quite barren and desolate. quite a stupid way of doing things. water, especially deep water is always a welcome sight in any place. you dig a hole in the ground, then you should leave it there and let rain does it the favor of making it into a delightful pond. why go and fill it in? the environmentalists may insist to return the place to its original state, which was, a piece of forested land. but since the water has settled in nicely in the pond, then they should let it be.
they went by the mountain track to hindhede quarry, which won marathon man's heart over with a nicely, water-filled lake that instilled tranquility and mystery in one's soul.
"tell me, ah choon, you lawyers like argue with your spouse?"
"well, i tend to argue with everybody, including my wife."
"so does that mean lawyers have a higher divorcing rate?"
"i don't know. but our other halves should have already got use to our argumentative character even before they married us..... so not a big problem. but, we lawyers also got problems, like some take people's money and run."
"if lawyers are not that upright and honest, just like a doctor not with a golden heart of healing people, and a politician not ready to serve the people..... a teacher not keen to impart his knowledge.... that's what's wrong with our society... people just don't play their roles appropriately. what do you think we can do to mitigate this problem?"
"people whichever profession they are in, are in for a quick buck. to curtail any illegal or any hanky panky deals, i suggest like in the medical industry, other professionals also buy insurance in case they misappropriate their clients' trust, then the clients still hv something to fall back to."
"but won't this cost be borne by the consumers as well?"
"maybe. but at least the client can be at peace with a safety net to fall into."
"so, insurance is some form of trust for mistrust?"
"to say the least, crooks are getting smarter nowadays!"
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