do not be worried and upset!
did you hear the voice? you may think it's not for normal people to hear voices. voices may not be just sound, it could be signs, it could be something you read, it could be somebody you meet, it could be a thot that goose-bums you, it could be a dream, it could be an incident.... it could be a moment, it could be anything that somehow impresses on you.
richard dawkins would probably be flipped out if he knows that experience is not restricted just to the 5 senses - there's something we call sixth sense.
what's it? i cannot relate it to you with normal language which originates from human's 5 senses... but here's it....
thanggam lrt station, where's this place? never heard of.
it's in a deserted location in punggol - actually near to lorong tanggam, in the jalan kayu area. you get out from the lrt, and walk across the bridge from the station to a hill, on a path that would lead you to lor tanggam. that's the 1st time marathon man stepped foot on this area, though he had made a couple of trips in jln kayu and some of its surroundings. he jogged down to senkang w ave, then up jln kayu, where he stumbled into a wanton noodle shop - heji. and attracted by its clean and decent decor, and its advert on the wall, he ordered a small($3.30) soup noodle. nice, but nothing special, though the noodle was the flat, tiny type, not that good of a bite, not that springy.
then he went into the jln tali lilin, jln tali piring, jln tong lee, jln tali payong, jal tali dulang, jln tali zapin, where he was fascinated by the serene setting of the place especially the houses further away from the tpe.
he came out to jln kayu, it was lunch time, alot of people patronizing the 2 prata shops - cafeela, and thasevi. he was not that crazy for prata. further more he was still quite full with the noodle. but his mind couldn't help to want to have it. he entered the restautrant, but couldn't find a seat.
as he was about to go away, a mother of two little babies, stood up and said, "you can have the seat."
marathon man said, "thank you."
as their eyes met, something jerked the back of his mind; the lady's face seemed familiar - who could she be, where could he have met her?
the lady was also having somewhat the same reaction.
"ah...." both of them simultaneously blurted out.
at the same time, super quick rewinding in marathon man's mind did flash out the answer - they met in the mrt a few years ago. at the orchard rd station when she was stepping into the fully packed coach. though she was pregnant, nobody near her gave up his seat to her. marathon man, sitting a few seats away, stood up and waved at her to sit down. she did and said, "thank you. "
..........
"eh.... we met in the mrt? didn't we?"
"oh.... ya..."
"are these your kids?"
"yes, twins. they were still here when we met." she pointed to her tummy.
before she went out, she said to her kids, "say goodbye to uncle."
"good bye, uncle nanny"
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now you know what's sixth sense, but do you know who had it?
scroll below..... for answer. unless you really have it.
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the twins had it.... and normally kids have it.
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Friday, November 27, 2009
sengkang riverside park - panic attack
after a nice beehoon, koytiaw, and mee breakfast at the punggol mrt terminal, marathon man started his morning jog. he turned left into punggol central, then punggol way, sengkang east rd, anchorvale st. hardly expected to see any exciting, new sites... thot that all hoohahs of punggol water project in the news recently were from the east of the mrt.... but there it was, the sengkang riverside park - a name he never heard off, poppep up right from the left side of anchorvale st. a piece of land, almost barren, beside the sungei punggol. looking at the entrance site map, this less-than-a-year-old park has 3 sites, the one that marathan man just landed was bounded by the anchorvale st, the east side of sungei punggol, then on the 2nd site was on the west side of sungei punggol, the third site was also at the west side of sungei punggol, but bounded by sengkang west way instead.
marathon man made it round the less-than-1-km track of the first site. he could not go any nearer to view the river, due to the bushes and mangroves growing on the river banks, blocking any access. but mid-way, thru some bushes, he saw a small, make-shift wooden hut built on the side of the river, not occupied. that's cool, whoever built it.
he crossed the river to the other side, the 2nd site of the park, where the visitor centre was located. there, half way he saw a couple of young chaps detoured into some uncharted bushes, next to the tpe. marathon man wanted to follow, but pulled back. this was probably due to the effect of aging - not taking as much risk as when he was younger - though his heart is still burning with a lot of things he wants to do.... well, maybe next time, when he gets better(after his bout of flu). there's some newly planted trees in the park, looked like fruit trees. there were 3 ponds in this site of the park. the ponds were almost surrounded by long reeds, and teemed with small cichlids. a family of 3, mother, father and a preschool kid were feeding the fish with a big loaf of bread... whenever a piece was thrown into the water, the fishes darted for it., some even popped out of the water, glided like a flying fish to get to the bread first. the fishes on the other end of the pond, at first were not affected by the commotion. but the fishes nearer to ground zero reacted to it by swimming towards it, led by the fishes nearer to it... before long, the fishes at the far-end also somehow swam towards ground zero.... although they might not know there's food for them - is that herd instinct?
he crossed the road to the thrid site of the park, where there were more fruit trees, accordingly there were durian and mago trees... he saw 4 crows kicking on two beer cans. apparently they had tasted beer and liked it so much, they wanted more. the floating island in the middle of sungei punggol was not yet completed. the foreign worker told marthon man, it would take another month.
sungei punggol, a river in the north east of singapore, carries a lot of dreams for many people - the punggol 21 project that the gahmen unvailed some 13 years back got a lot of people excited, living in hdb's in a garden setting with rivers, waterways, promenades, fruit ocrhards, parks, and many other cool activity-sites.... and the dreams faded away for a while due to slow developemnt in this area. but half year ago, it got revived by the gahmen again with the launching of the punggol 21+ master plan. looks like this time it's for real. a few big hdb projects can be seen here, some near completion, some half way done and some with site-plan put up... and the water project work is definitely going full force, by the activities carried out around the sungei punggol. all these are for the coming erection year, in two years' time.
looks like the gahmen, had a panic attach, suddenly realized they were far behind on their promises, had to do alot of catch-up - just like marathon man, just two days, afflicted with a panic attack, when he was shown a letter to exclude him from a money making deal, and may put him into a money losing situation.... because he did not do his due deligence in signing the document. he called up the lawyer, and got it signed. not that he wasn't aware that he needed to sign, but he was hesitating, but when the push came to shove, he thot it was too late to do it. but he did it anyway.... before he lost two days of his sleep over the matter...and got stressed flat-out.
panic attack motivates - but it also ages a person by years of his life... no fun.
marathon man made it round the less-than-1-km track of the first site. he could not go any nearer to view the river, due to the bushes and mangroves growing on the river banks, blocking any access. but mid-way, thru some bushes, he saw a small, make-shift wooden hut built on the side of the river, not occupied. that's cool, whoever built it.
he crossed the river to the other side, the 2nd site of the park, where the visitor centre was located. there, half way he saw a couple of young chaps detoured into some uncharted bushes, next to the tpe. marathon man wanted to follow, but pulled back. this was probably due to the effect of aging - not taking as much risk as when he was younger - though his heart is still burning with a lot of things he wants to do.... well, maybe next time, when he gets better(after his bout of flu). there's some newly planted trees in the park, looked like fruit trees. there were 3 ponds in this site of the park. the ponds were almost surrounded by long reeds, and teemed with small cichlids. a family of 3, mother, father and a preschool kid were feeding the fish with a big loaf of bread... whenever a piece was thrown into the water, the fishes darted for it., some even popped out of the water, glided like a flying fish to get to the bread first. the fishes on the other end of the pond, at first were not affected by the commotion. but the fishes nearer to ground zero reacted to it by swimming towards it, led by the fishes nearer to it... before long, the fishes at the far-end also somehow swam towards ground zero.... although they might not know there's food for them - is that herd instinct?
he crossed the road to the thrid site of the park, where there were more fruit trees, accordingly there were durian and mago trees... he saw 4 crows kicking on two beer cans. apparently they had tasted beer and liked it so much, they wanted more. the floating island in the middle of sungei punggol was not yet completed. the foreign worker told marthon man, it would take another month.
sungei punggol, a river in the north east of singapore, carries a lot of dreams for many people - the punggol 21 project that the gahmen unvailed some 13 years back got a lot of people excited, living in hdb's in a garden setting with rivers, waterways, promenades, fruit ocrhards, parks, and many other cool activity-sites.... and the dreams faded away for a while due to slow developemnt in this area. but half year ago, it got revived by the gahmen again with the launching of the punggol 21+ master plan. looks like this time it's for real. a few big hdb projects can be seen here, some near completion, some half way done and some with site-plan put up... and the water project work is definitely going full force, by the activities carried out around the sungei punggol. all these are for the coming erection year, in two years' time.
looks like the gahmen, had a panic attach, suddenly realized they were far behind on their promises, had to do alot of catch-up - just like marathon man, just two days, afflicted with a panic attack, when he was shown a letter to exclude him from a money making deal, and may put him into a money losing situation.... because he did not do his due deligence in signing the document. he called up the lawyer, and got it signed. not that he wasn't aware that he needed to sign, but he was hesitating, but when the push came to shove, he thot it was too late to do it. but he did it anyway.... before he lost two days of his sleep over the matter...and got stressed flat-out.
panic attack motivates - but it also ages a person by years of his life... no fun.
Monday, November 23, 2009
home - flu peaks
flu peaks.with a lot of sour eyes, running nose, itchy throat, sore throat, but no aching bones. the whole day locked at home, watching tv, and some exciting dvd's.... the excitement does do alot of help to ease the misery for sometime, but it wears off shortly after the excited moment is gone....watch race to dubai golf tournament - westwood plays like a robot, every shot hit fairway in regulation, hit green in regulation - boogie free round of 64, course record, and win by 5 strokes! like they say, when he's good, he's good.
the day before, play golf with golf kakis. weather overcast, some short spell of sun, slight drizzle halfway....
nite, pop a panadol, not sleep until after midnite. wake up at 5, sour eyes gone, running nose stop, itching throat soothed, throat still soar, but not as much... go back to office, to the familiar setting of that airconned room. the power nap sure help to hasten the recuperating process...
it's like gone thru a guantanamo bay prison torture and back....
the day before, play golf with golf kakis. weather overcast, some short spell of sun, slight drizzle halfway....
nite, pop a panadol, not sleep until after midnite. wake up at 5, sour eyes gone, running nose stop, itching throat soothed, throat still soar, but not as much... go back to office, to the familiar setting of that airconned room. the power nap sure help to hasten the recuperating process...
it's like gone thru a guantanamo bay prison torture and back....
Thursday, November 19, 2009
office - habit
flu - not getting much sleep. and eating buah petai, for 3 days. run on the thread-mill. watch tv. taking conference call. sweating after 20 minutes. the morning seems so calm, and cool. but the mind is turbulent - too heaty.
staring at the small lizard on the wall two feet away. the little chap crawls a few steps, halts, waggles its tail a bit, head tilts to one side, tongue flips out and in a couple of times, waiting for any little bugs to fall within its foraging range, but nothing that looks like food appears. before the miunte ends, it wiggles away.
the day filled with meetings and conference calls. work is like - work. normal work, honest to goodness work. solid work, no non-sense work, hard work. when marathon man works, he really works. he works to fulfil his duty as an employee, he works for his living, and he works to fill up the time in his life.
no other things can be as fulfilling as a busy day of work. he talks and he listens, he plans and he decides, he reads and sends emails, attends meetings, conference calls, he deligates and he executes..... nothing is more meaningful as a good lunch time power nap. it freshens him up for more meetings, calls, listening, talking...... surf the net.... for the other half of the day.
then comes 5 - time to call it a working day.
20 miuntes back home, dinner, a sumptious dinner infront of the tv, with eyes glued to "the simpsons", and later "the nanny" back to back.... then .... reads emails, writes his memo..... bathes, gives thanks for
another day - another dollar!
and for the flu bug,
another prey - another fello!
staring at the small lizard on the wall two feet away. the little chap crawls a few steps, halts, waggles its tail a bit, head tilts to one side, tongue flips out and in a couple of times, waiting for any little bugs to fall within its foraging range, but nothing that looks like food appears. before the miunte ends, it wiggles away.
the day filled with meetings and conference calls. work is like - work. normal work, honest to goodness work. solid work, no non-sense work, hard work. when marathon man works, he really works. he works to fulfil his duty as an employee, he works for his living, and he works to fill up the time in his life.
no other things can be as fulfilling as a busy day of work. he talks and he listens, he plans and he decides, he reads and sends emails, attends meetings, conference calls, he deligates and he executes..... nothing is more meaningful as a good lunch time power nap. it freshens him up for more meetings, calls, listening, talking...... surf the net.... for the other half of the day.
then comes 5 - time to call it a working day.
20 miuntes back home, dinner, a sumptious dinner infront of the tv, with eyes glued to "the simpsons", and later "the nanny" back to back.... then .... reads emails, writes his memo..... bathes, gives thanks for
another day - another dollar!
and for the flu bug,
another prey - another fello!
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
junction 8 - 2012
the end of the world - it seems, is no big deal. when you are prepared for it, nothing would scare you.
marathon man is not prepared.
he went to see 2012 in bishan junction 8, after an advanced booking one day ahead, when he did his jogging in bishan area. it was a hollywood big budget film - with alot of special cgi effects, and the same story line - that the disaster is going to strike, after some scientist makes some freak discovery, then a john doe somehow comes to figure out the scheme of things, and try his luck to salvage himself and the people around him....and all starts well ends well.... for these lucky people.
he watched the film with his galfren, ah maya.
after the show, she said, "i never thot that i caused so much trouble to the world..... i did not mean to say that the world would end on 21 dec 2012. my calander just says that's the end of a cycle where the star-positions in the sky would came back to the same as those 5126 years ago... why are people so clever to interpret things differently?"
marathon man said, "maya, you are a good astronomer, you are not a fortune teller. but people said the astrologer nostradamus did foretell that 2012 will be the end of the world, in his lost book. an astronomer and an astrologer both pointed to the same year as an eventful year, no wonder people were quick to conclude its the end of the world."
"if it's really the case, we ought to celebrate."
"what to celebrate?"
"celebrate we have the honor to witness this once in an earth-life-time event."
as they walked along the pasir ris park beach, the overcast sky opened up, myriads of sparkling lights streaked across the horizon. it's the leonid meteor shower..... ushering in the beggining of the end of the world!
marathon man is not prepared.
he went to see 2012 in bishan junction 8, after an advanced booking one day ahead, when he did his jogging in bishan area. it was a hollywood big budget film - with alot of special cgi effects, and the same story line - that the disaster is going to strike, after some scientist makes some freak discovery, then a john doe somehow comes to figure out the scheme of things, and try his luck to salvage himself and the people around him....and all starts well ends well.... for these lucky people.
he watched the film with his galfren, ah maya.
after the show, she said, "i never thot that i caused so much trouble to the world..... i did not mean to say that the world would end on 21 dec 2012. my calander just says that's the end of a cycle where the star-positions in the sky would came back to the same as those 5126 years ago... why are people so clever to interpret things differently?"
marathon man said, "maya, you are a good astronomer, you are not a fortune teller. but people said the astrologer nostradamus did foretell that 2012 will be the end of the world, in his lost book. an astronomer and an astrologer both pointed to the same year as an eventful year, no wonder people were quick to conclude its the end of the world."
"if it's really the case, we ought to celebrate."
"what to celebrate?"
"celebrate we have the honor to witness this once in an earth-life-time event."
as they walked along the pasir ris park beach, the overcast sky opened up, myriads of sparkling lights streaked across the horizon. it's the leonid meteor shower..... ushering in the beggining of the end of the world!
Monday, November 16, 2009
clementi - snacking
stop in clementi centre. enter a new mall, like any mall, a lot of food outlets. it also has a game arcade, with the latest game jubeat - hit on the litted button when the music is playing to a certain beat. jog in ave 4, the big field next to blk 310 is new to marathon man. go down across the old railway, where people planting small-time crops. no way thru to the jogging path. go across the bridge to the other end of clementi ave 6. go into clementi loop, an industrial area with a few big factory/warehouse/office structures. very quite in sunday evening. jog towards pie(tuas entrance), no way forward. turn back and find a way to the ulu-pandan connector jogging path. go across the canvass-covered bridge to sunset way makan hub.
as the sun sets, people start jogging. though marathon man, a regular jogger, jogs so much, still not enough to keep his weight down. mainly he snacks after dinner; anything from nuts to cereals, to fruits..... the way to keep a slim body, is to stop snack anytime of the day, everybody says.
his jogging buddy, ah kong said, "you eat too much."
"yes. after dinner, i still feel that i'm not full, though i have eaten one bowl of rice plus and a few portions of other food stuff. i yearn for for tit-bits to munch on.... especially after a busy day."
"it's called the food-for-good syndrome, when you have some sort of stress, or anxiety you wld be releasing a whole bunch of corticosteroids. you have relied food to keep your corticosteroids in check. and carbo stuff normally will induce a sudden blast of endorphins in your system that keep you satisfied and feeling good."
"i tried to cut down snacking, but it brings my mood down if i don't snack, especially when i am infront of the tv."
"ok. you can try eat only half full, and substitute the other half with snacks."
marathon man thot it's a good advice. and he would try it.
as the sun sets, people start jogging. though marathon man, a regular jogger, jogs so much, still not enough to keep his weight down. mainly he snacks after dinner; anything from nuts to cereals, to fruits..... the way to keep a slim body, is to stop snack anytime of the day, everybody says.
his jogging buddy, ah kong said, "you eat too much."
"yes. after dinner, i still feel that i'm not full, though i have eaten one bowl of rice plus and a few portions of other food stuff. i yearn for for tit-bits to munch on.... especially after a busy day."
"it's called the food-for-good syndrome, when you have some sort of stress, or anxiety you wld be releasing a whole bunch of corticosteroids. you have relied food to keep your corticosteroids in check. and carbo stuff normally will induce a sudden blast of endorphins in your system that keep you satisfied and feeling good."
"i tried to cut down snacking, but it brings my mood down if i don't snack, especially when i am infront of the tv."
"ok. you can try eat only half full, and substitute the other half with snacks."
marathon man thot it's a good advice. and he would try it.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
taiwan - white lie
when somebody puts his temper before reason, before professional conduct, he would hurt himself deep. as always, people like to be on top. and when their position is challenged, they would shout and yell, curse and swear to show that they are still on top.
marathon man was one of this kind, and so is his colleague. ah bee, a hardworking and honest southern taiwanese, whose mind is straight, too straight to have some filters to stop his feelings from pouring out unreservedly. he always leaves himself in total-nakedness, personality-wise, in the intercourse with his vendors. he used to be able to call his shots a few years ago, but for this one year or so, the vendor company changed its management team and also since the vendor is having some slack cut by ah bee's company because of capacity dependence on the vendor, he lost much of his clout over the vendor's representatives.
marathon man has told him not to take everything so personal, just do his part and let the rest of the things take care of themselves. in work or in life, some people are not born to be go-getters. unless you know exactly what you want, and you have the tenacity to get the things you want, you better measure yourself up and learn to work smart. by doing so, you still can get what you want, but with much less effort and with more respects from others.
marathon man went thru hard times in life and work, but he has learned much, since.
one time he was in taiwan, went vendor visiting with ah bee. during weekend, they went into the mountains in central taiwan, for the hot springs, for the wild foods and for good spas and for the fresh air. the air was super rejuvinating after the rain. the tall trees at the altitude cleansed the atmosphere, the surrounding was all very unworldly.
and marathon man met this gal. she was a tour guide leading a group of tourists. he was attracted by her healthy and joyous personality, and curious to learn more about the place from her while she was giving the tourists a guided tour. she noticed him. when she called it a day after sunset, she met up with him in a small, boutique tea-house near the hotel.
after ordering some local dishes and drinks for their dinner, he asked, "you like your job?"
"i do. but sometimes, some guests are too difficult to handle."
"how difficult?"
"like, they want my attention all the time. how can i give it to only one person and ignore the rest."
"did he get angry?"
"yes.... they even complained to my agency."
"so..."
"what i can do? i just do what i'm supposed to do, if somebody wants something unreasonable, i would have to put a stop on that."
"but you still like your job?"
"yes.... i used to be very brunt in putting down my guests unreasonable requests, but now i learned to be polite and diplomatic in handling such situations."
"how?"
"like, yesterday, this uncle wants to stop in the middle of nowhere to buy mangoes.... i said to him, it's not wise to do that, because there's normally wild dogs in the area and they will come out in packs after whoever encroaching their territory. i was only telling a lie to discourage him."
"wow, this is truely a white lie, which was told to cool down the situation."
"i don't want to confront my guests, but i have to discourage his unreasonable demand, many a time i would be telling him it's for his benefit not to do it, though it may not be the case. and i'm so good at that now, i enjoy my job, without much worry of difficult guests."
they talked and talked, and finally marathon man said, "how about we adjourn to my room?"
"oh.... you don't want me to do that."
"why?"
"my father is the owner of the hotel."
marathon man was one of this kind, and so is his colleague. ah bee, a hardworking and honest southern taiwanese, whose mind is straight, too straight to have some filters to stop his feelings from pouring out unreservedly. he always leaves himself in total-nakedness, personality-wise, in the intercourse with his vendors. he used to be able to call his shots a few years ago, but for this one year or so, the vendor company changed its management team and also since the vendor is having some slack cut by ah bee's company because of capacity dependence on the vendor, he lost much of his clout over the vendor's representatives.
marathon man has told him not to take everything so personal, just do his part and let the rest of the things take care of themselves. in work or in life, some people are not born to be go-getters. unless you know exactly what you want, and you have the tenacity to get the things you want, you better measure yourself up and learn to work smart. by doing so, you still can get what you want, but with much less effort and with more respects from others.
marathon man went thru hard times in life and work, but he has learned much, since.
one time he was in taiwan, went vendor visiting with ah bee. during weekend, they went into the mountains in central taiwan, for the hot springs, for the wild foods and for good spas and for the fresh air. the air was super rejuvinating after the rain. the tall trees at the altitude cleansed the atmosphere, the surrounding was all very unworldly.
and marathon man met this gal. she was a tour guide leading a group of tourists. he was attracted by her healthy and joyous personality, and curious to learn more about the place from her while she was giving the tourists a guided tour. she noticed him. when she called it a day after sunset, she met up with him in a small, boutique tea-house near the hotel.
after ordering some local dishes and drinks for their dinner, he asked, "you like your job?"
"i do. but sometimes, some guests are too difficult to handle."
"how difficult?"
"like, they want my attention all the time. how can i give it to only one person and ignore the rest."
"did he get angry?"
"yes.... they even complained to my agency."
"so..."
"what i can do? i just do what i'm supposed to do, if somebody wants something unreasonable, i would have to put a stop on that."
"but you still like your job?"
"yes.... i used to be very brunt in putting down my guests unreasonable requests, but now i learned to be polite and diplomatic in handling such situations."
"how?"
"like, yesterday, this uncle wants to stop in the middle of nowhere to buy mangoes.... i said to him, it's not wise to do that, because there's normally wild dogs in the area and they will come out in packs after whoever encroaching their territory. i was only telling a lie to discourage him."
"wow, this is truely a white lie, which was told to cool down the situation."
"i don't want to confront my guests, but i have to discourage his unreasonable demand, many a time i would be telling him it's for his benefit not to do it, though it may not be the case. and i'm so good at that now, i enjoy my job, without much worry of difficult guests."
they talked and talked, and finally marathon man said, "how about we adjourn to my room?"
"oh.... you don't want me to do that."
"why?"
"my father is the owner of the hotel."
peach garden - old master
lunch with jerry, mw, jenifer, ahlian, and kris, at peach garden, occ. good food, started with some exquisite dim sums, then steamed grouper, abalone with kailan, lobster noodle. dessert was mango ice-cream in a semi-hollow dragon fruit - very nice.
jerry is big shot in a semicon subcontractor, a young guy in his 20's, son of the company's founder's brother. born in uk, raised in u.s., but able to speak mandarin. the founder of the company is here to attend the apec conference. so he follows.
chinese medicine, tcm was one of the lunch-talk topics. he said, "my chinese doctor is an old chap, 96 years old. still very strong. very good. when you visit him, you don't have to tell him anything, after the prognosis, he will tell you what's wrong with you. but you must take him seriously, listen to what he says and take the medicine he prescribes, else, he won't take you seriously also. the first time i visited him, he just treated me nonchalantly, gave me the medicine. then after a month of taking his medicine, went back to see him. this time he said, he's happy that i did take his medicine duly, and that my condition had improved. like i have passed his first test. from then on, he treats me like a friend, and i place my total trust in him..... he plays golf 3 times a week, looks like a 70-year old. pity that he does not have any students that can inherit his medical skill."
adrian said, "well, china has a lot of masters, like your doctor, they are old, and do not have any disciples. soon enough, these masters' skill will disappear when they pass away. why can't we have an organization to call up all these people and retire them from their works if they are still working, to ask them to pass on to the younger generation their respective skills."
marathon man said, "good idea. i know of a master also, who is very good in his trade. we should ask him to retire and go teach the youth his skills."
"what's he good at, and who is he?"
"he's good at empire-building, and he's non other than our mm lee."
jerry is big shot in a semicon subcontractor, a young guy in his 20's, son of the company's founder's brother. born in uk, raised in u.s., but able to speak mandarin. the founder of the company is here to attend the apec conference. so he follows.
chinese medicine, tcm was one of the lunch-talk topics. he said, "my chinese doctor is an old chap, 96 years old. still very strong. very good. when you visit him, you don't have to tell him anything, after the prognosis, he will tell you what's wrong with you. but you must take him seriously, listen to what he says and take the medicine he prescribes, else, he won't take you seriously also. the first time i visited him, he just treated me nonchalantly, gave me the medicine. then after a month of taking his medicine, went back to see him. this time he said, he's happy that i did take his medicine duly, and that my condition had improved. like i have passed his first test. from then on, he treats me like a friend, and i place my total trust in him..... he plays golf 3 times a week, looks like a 70-year old. pity that he does not have any students that can inherit his medical skill."
adrian said, "well, china has a lot of masters, like your doctor, they are old, and do not have any disciples. soon enough, these masters' skill will disappear when they pass away. why can't we have an organization to call up all these people and retire them from their works if they are still working, to ask them to pass on to the younger generation their respective skills."
marathon man said, "good idea. i know of a master also, who is very good in his trade. we should ask him to retire and go teach the youth his skills."
"what's he good at, and who is he?"
"he's good at empire-building, and he's non other than our mm lee."
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
rcc - mp's & ministers and dpm
bishan-toa payoh grc golf in rcc - palm course - marathon man was in the same flight with terry, nat and francis. they had a good time in not losing so many balls in the water. hit a birdie and a few pars. shook the dpm's hand, and marathon man had the honor of winning the lucky draw and shook josephine's hand. she's a tall gal, with more shape than you can think of for any mp and any average lady ceo. perhaps lili neo can fight with her.
the bishan-toapayoh mayor, zainudin and the mp hri kumar also present. the education minister, dr ng eng hen also here tonite. but francis asked, "dr ng also here ah? where?"
nat said, " i just ate it."
"what?"
"they serve chicken, don't care whether its hainan chick or english hen....i like it."
the nite ended with bishan-toapayoh big band playing the sarisamba by juiter hujnet.
the bishan-toapayoh mayor, zainudin and the mp hri kumar also present. the education minister, dr ng eng hen also here tonite. but francis asked, "dr ng also here ah? where?"
nat said, " i just ate it."
"what?"
"they serve chicken, don't care whether its hainan chick or english hen....i like it."
the nite ended with bishan-toapayoh big band playing the sarisamba by juiter hujnet.
Saturday, November 7, 2009
springleaf - the little boy
happiness is not what you are here for.
if there's any nice surprise you want to have, you can jog. not along the same track that you used to jog regularly, but go places, all over singapore. surprises come in places that you never thot would exist in singapore but actually exist right here. and most of them are so intrinsically nice, in a sense that they remind you of beautiful things, beautiful moments and beautiful places that only exist in paradise that captures your primordial, nature-loving mindset.
and one of such places is springleaf estate. marathon man had jogged here quite a few times before. it was a nice place, with a lot of types of houses and varieties of trees and garden plants in the estate that made him feel like roaming in a big garden. but this time, as he had vaguely expected, there was something new to greet him - the canal that's extended from lower seletar reservoir towards upper thomson road. it was there before, but only in its unkempt form. now with the abc water project, it had put on a new face, with its body of water widened, and the banks nicely re-inforced with gravels tightly packed in chicken wires.
there were quite a few people fishing in the canal, some fly-fishing and some wait-fishing, some with live baits, some with lures.
he approached a fishing boy, and asked him, "is there any fish?"
"so far, for the last 3 hours i hv been here, no. but i think i should at least catch one today."
"then why you still here? you could change position."
"do you think that i came here to fish?"
"well, that's obvious, isn't it. if not, why brought your fishing line and cast it into the canal?"
"i just go thru the motion of fishing, but actually i just want to pass time."
"pass time? well, but you are fishing to pass time!?"
"but fishing is not what i came here for."
"ok..... somehow sounds logical."
"let me ask you, what are you here for?"
"i jog."
"no. i don't mean here, as in where you are, next to the canal. but here, in this world, why you exist in this world?"
"well..... i think i have no say on that; i do not have a choice to exist somewhere else."
"ok, since you already exist, then what are you looking for in your life?"
"i guess happiness."
"do you really think happiness is so important?"
"hmmm..... i think so, and many people think so, too."
"let me ask you, do you condemn people for looking for happiness?"
"why should i?"
"like those robbers who feel happy after robbing a bank, or those drug addicts after having their shots.... they, like you are after happiness."
"ah, but they do it by hurting others."
"ok... so happiness is conditional?"
"you can say that."
"so if something is conditional, meaning it's not absolute, like truth supposed is, do you think is worth for you to pursue?"
"i just think that, life without happiness is not worth living. like so many other people, they are struggling day and nite to scratch a living, i don't think they are happy. and i don't want to be like them."
"maybe they are not happy. but as i said, it doesn't matter. because, maybe, they are here not going after happiness..."
"then what are they going after? even though they are very poor, they still have the right to go after happiness, as long as they feel contented with what they have. as long as they feel they have enough to live by."
"look, the canal is here, because there's water. but water doesn't exist for the sake of making a canal look like a canal..... and men are here not because of happiness, but they are here because there's something else that exists...."
"ok, ok.....i'm afraid you lost me.... anyway, i am happy to see how beautiful this place has become, and i think it has made my day, at least for today....."
the boy said, "your days are always made whether you are happy or otherwise.... time passes regardless. if you are in this world to pass time, like i am now here, then don't be too particular about the state of your mind, just like i couldn't care-less whether i caught a fish or not..... but do you want something more out of your life?"
"are you trying to preach me on something? you are only a boy. preaching to me about life is like you're teaching a duck how to swim."
"a boy i am, but it's me, or your younger you that would inherit all that matters."
"and what's all that matters?"
"never mind."
"why never mind?"
"no matter."
"come-on....... i just want to know whether there's fish..... now you are talking cock!..... ok.... chow."
"wait a minute, before you go - take this riddle and solve it, in your own time - why is Solomon doing odd matter?"
if there's any nice surprise you want to have, you can jog. not along the same track that you used to jog regularly, but go places, all over singapore. surprises come in places that you never thot would exist in singapore but actually exist right here. and most of them are so intrinsically nice, in a sense that they remind you of beautiful things, beautiful moments and beautiful places that only exist in paradise that captures your primordial, nature-loving mindset.
and one of such places is springleaf estate. marathon man had jogged here quite a few times before. it was a nice place, with a lot of types of houses and varieties of trees and garden plants in the estate that made him feel like roaming in a big garden. but this time, as he had vaguely expected, there was something new to greet him - the canal that's extended from lower seletar reservoir towards upper thomson road. it was there before, but only in its unkempt form. now with the abc water project, it had put on a new face, with its body of water widened, and the banks nicely re-inforced with gravels tightly packed in chicken wires.
there were quite a few people fishing in the canal, some fly-fishing and some wait-fishing, some with live baits, some with lures.
he approached a fishing boy, and asked him, "is there any fish?"
"so far, for the last 3 hours i hv been here, no. but i think i should at least catch one today."
"then why you still here? you could change position."
"do you think that i came here to fish?"
"well, that's obvious, isn't it. if not, why brought your fishing line and cast it into the canal?"
"i just go thru the motion of fishing, but actually i just want to pass time."
"pass time? well, but you are fishing to pass time!?"
"but fishing is not what i came here for."
"ok..... somehow sounds logical."
"let me ask you, what are you here for?"
"i jog."
"no. i don't mean here, as in where you are, next to the canal. but here, in this world, why you exist in this world?"
"well..... i think i have no say on that; i do not have a choice to exist somewhere else."
"ok, since you already exist, then what are you looking for in your life?"
"i guess happiness."
"do you really think happiness is so important?"
"hmmm..... i think so, and many people think so, too."
"let me ask you, do you condemn people for looking for happiness?"
"why should i?"
"like those robbers who feel happy after robbing a bank, or those drug addicts after having their shots.... they, like you are after happiness."
"ah, but they do it by hurting others."
"ok... so happiness is conditional?"
"you can say that."
"so if something is conditional, meaning it's not absolute, like truth supposed is, do you think is worth for you to pursue?"
"i just think that, life without happiness is not worth living. like so many other people, they are struggling day and nite to scratch a living, i don't think they are happy. and i don't want to be like them."
"maybe they are not happy. but as i said, it doesn't matter. because, maybe, they are here not going after happiness..."
"then what are they going after? even though they are very poor, they still have the right to go after happiness, as long as they feel contented with what they have. as long as they feel they have enough to live by."
"look, the canal is here, because there's water. but water doesn't exist for the sake of making a canal look like a canal..... and men are here not because of happiness, but they are here because there's something else that exists...."
"ok, ok.....i'm afraid you lost me.... anyway, i am happy to see how beautiful this place has become, and i think it has made my day, at least for today....."
the boy said, "your days are always made whether you are happy or otherwise.... time passes regardless. if you are in this world to pass time, like i am now here, then don't be too particular about the state of your mind, just like i couldn't care-less whether i caught a fish or not..... but do you want something more out of your life?"
"are you trying to preach me on something? you are only a boy. preaching to me about life is like you're teaching a duck how to swim."
"a boy i am, but it's me, or your younger you that would inherit all that matters."
"and what's all that matters?"
"never mind."
"why never mind?"
"no matter."
"come-on....... i just want to know whether there's fish..... now you are talking cock!..... ok.... chow."
"wait a minute, before you go - take this riddle and solve it, in your own time - why is Solomon doing odd matter?"
Thursday, November 5, 2009
taman permata - semi-glass house
it rained the whole day. for the past week or so, it rained most of the days. rainy season is here. and it's good. if nothing else, for the coolness it brings during the nites.
marathon man played the 9-hole yesterday. the course was a like a paddy field, clogged up with water and mud, with ponds of water here and there. some of the sand bunkers were soaked in water, the ones remained dry had a layer of yellowish silt on top, making the surfaces very hard.
the sky was getting dark earlier these days. at the 6th hole, it was so dark that he lost two balls when he got to the green. the nite birds started cookooing, the insects creaked, the bats swarmed the sky, the monkies went back to the trees for their rest, the moon sow the ground with silvery rays placidly.
it was a happy nite.
and a happy day.... he jogged in thomson ridge, jln pelatina, taman permata.... when he was absorbed in appreciating the different housing alterations in this area; you have the bali type, the modern-minimalistic sytle, the europian-chunky-like-a-boulder, archaic look, the simple, down-to-earth, kiasu maximum-built-up-area design.... one of the houses in taman permata particularly caught his attention - a simple two-story terrace house, nothing unusual excpet there was NO front wall in the 2nd floor. the whole front wall was replaced with a sliding glass door, with the door slided to one side, and the curtain pulled to one side, the whole of the 2nd floor was exposed to marathon man's view, right thru to the back of it, and the back was also having the same see-thru sliding door design as the front. marathon man could see the whole of 2nd floor; it was a split-level big room, with a big couch in the front, and a bed at the back, some closets... a table.... an an opague, enlcosed wc - quite a view to behold.
the owner was in the front of the house, mending the flowers. marathon man approached him, "hi, uncle, your house is new, you just rebuilt it?"
"yes. how is it?"
"very good, i like it, especially the window-display theme of the 2nd floor. how much did you spend?"
"$300k, redo the floor, kitchen, the whole of 2nd floors."
"was the design from you?"
"yes. i like the idea of a house with alot of light, ample air flow, and watery...." he pointed to a small water fall in one corner of the front lawn.
"how long to rebuild?"
"oh.... 1 year lah." he said, "it was not that simple, you know. i had to deal with the architect to finalize the design and plan, and asked for quotes from the contractors. then supervised the work..... must be very attentive to what the contractor was doing.... but after all this time, when i saw the completed project, and the moment i moved in, every effort that i had spent did not go to waste..... young man, if there's anything that a man must go thru to prove to himself he could hold up to be a man, is to undertake a "housing project".... ie build his own house, or rebuild his house. of course not everybody can afford that."
"hmm... for a guy like myself, i guess the next best thing than to build my own house, is to build other people's houses - be a construction worker."
marathon man played the 9-hole yesterday. the course was a like a paddy field, clogged up with water and mud, with ponds of water here and there. some of the sand bunkers were soaked in water, the ones remained dry had a layer of yellowish silt on top, making the surfaces very hard.
the sky was getting dark earlier these days. at the 6th hole, it was so dark that he lost two balls when he got to the green. the nite birds started cookooing, the insects creaked, the bats swarmed the sky, the monkies went back to the trees for their rest, the moon sow the ground with silvery rays placidly.
it was a happy nite.
and a happy day.... he jogged in thomson ridge, jln pelatina, taman permata.... when he was absorbed in appreciating the different housing alterations in this area; you have the bali type, the modern-minimalistic sytle, the europian-chunky-like-a-boulder, archaic look, the simple, down-to-earth, kiasu maximum-built-up-area design.... one of the houses in taman permata particularly caught his attention - a simple two-story terrace house, nothing unusual excpet there was NO front wall in the 2nd floor. the whole front wall was replaced with a sliding glass door, with the door slided to one side, and the curtain pulled to one side, the whole of the 2nd floor was exposed to marathon man's view, right thru to the back of it, and the back was also having the same see-thru sliding door design as the front. marathon man could see the whole of 2nd floor; it was a split-level big room, with a big couch in the front, and a bed at the back, some closets... a table.... an an opague, enlcosed wc - quite a view to behold.
the owner was in the front of the house, mending the flowers. marathon man approached him, "hi, uncle, your house is new, you just rebuilt it?"
"yes. how is it?"
"very good, i like it, especially the window-display theme of the 2nd floor. how much did you spend?"
"$300k, redo the floor, kitchen, the whole of 2nd floors."
"was the design from you?"
"yes. i like the idea of a house with alot of light, ample air flow, and watery...." he pointed to a small water fall in one corner of the front lawn.
"how long to rebuild?"
"oh.... 1 year lah." he said, "it was not that simple, you know. i had to deal with the architect to finalize the design and plan, and asked for quotes from the contractors. then supervised the work..... must be very attentive to what the contractor was doing.... but after all this time, when i saw the completed project, and the moment i moved in, every effort that i had spent did not go to waste..... young man, if there's anything that a man must go thru to prove to himself he could hold up to be a man, is to undertake a "housing project".... ie build his own house, or rebuild his house. of course not everybody can afford that."
"hmm... for a guy like myself, i guess the next best thing than to build my own house, is to build other people's houses - be a construction worker."
Monday, November 2, 2009
malacca - waiting
wake up this morning to the waiting for the toilet that his galfren is using. life is a waiting....
waiting for what?
waiting to be your own boss, waiting to control your your life.... waiting to write a book, waiting to invent something, waiting to discover a new theory..... waiting to be acknowledged in the public.... waiting to attain spiritual enlightenment..... waiting to be the number 1 in watever....
marathon man is waiting for the sun to shine and cast its rays onto the wall of his house thru the small rectangular window of his bathroom..... he likes to see the golden patch on the wall, it moves amid very slowly.... if you can wait, you would be able to see the patch descending lower and lower.
but marathon man cannott wait to do his running... after he spent 2 days in the world heritage place - malacca.
after putting on the right attire, he darts from into the street in no time... the wind gushes at him when the traffic passes him by.....
for many years he had not visited malacca. he was looking for the row of hawkers near the seaside, and the smallest round-about at the end of the road infront of the hawker centre. he could not find them. had they already been demolished and replaced with somethying else. it was during the nite when he hanged around the city, so he could not be sure where he actually was. they could be still there, somewhere else.
he headed to the portugese settlement, after hearing some of it from the tv programs, that the food there was one of a kind, that the place still retained its past disposition and aura. but what a dispointment when he arrived at a concrete hawker centre after following the map and the road signs that clearly stated where the portugese settlement was. there was a lot of touting from different stalls. he settled at stall number 10. he ordered fried(dry) crab, ikan bakar, and kangkong - all supposed to be prepared in portugese way, but marathon man would not know as the dishes were more or less the same as what he had eaten in normal restaurants... and he could not tell what the portugese way of cooking was like.
malacca like some malaysian cities, is a one-way-street town. you have to know the exact routes and directions if you want to get from point a to b. looking at the map will not bring you there, because, it does not show the traffic directions.
the next day, he went around downtown along the river. from jonker street, to get to the red-house(that's what the locals call the area around a'formosa, studhuys, st paul's hill)..... it took him 15 minutes to realise that it'd be better to park on the bank opposite the red-house, than to cross the malacca river to park near the red-house. he just had to walk across the bridge after parking.
in jonker's walk, there was this lady chinese caligrapher doing her stuff with people surrounding her. she wrote elegant chinese with the chinese brush. but she had no right hand, her left arm was totally missing. she tied the brush to the end of her right arm, but boy, every stroke of her brush on the paper was so delicate and accurate, it exuded the poise of a dancer from the tang dynasty.
the tourist sites in red house still the same as many years ago when he was there. but what the st paul's hill overlooked was a different scene, with many new houses on the left side and the city was no longer the same one many years ago.
he went around the city, stopped by some street to check out the durians. he noticed though it's still in season, not many fruit stalls selling the king of the fruits, even along the way when he detoured into muar from the north-south hi-way.
he asked the durian uncle, "why not much durians this time?"
"oh.... all go to singapore."
his durian addiction kicked in, so he bought and ate a couple on the spot.... not the best, but can-do lah!
he had his lunch in the ole sayang peranakan restaurant. very crowded and noisy with a bunch of youngsters blabberring and laughing-out-loud as if they owned the restaurant. the food - quite good, as he was already very hungry, but the sambal balachan was super SALTISH.
he left malacca after lunch, and had his dinner in jb, the bamboo house, famous for its oven-baked herbal chicken - the price was 14rm, a raise of 1rm when he was here a few months ago, and no more ta-pau.
he rolled into singpore check-point when the lights were all up. little did he realize that the moon had become round again. the trip to the ancient malay sultanate will bring another waiting period before he would be back again.
waiting for what?
waiting to be your own boss, waiting to control your your life.... waiting to write a book, waiting to invent something, waiting to discover a new theory..... waiting to be acknowledged in the public.... waiting to attain spiritual enlightenment..... waiting to be the number 1 in watever....
marathon man is waiting for the sun to shine and cast its rays onto the wall of his house thru the small rectangular window of his bathroom..... he likes to see the golden patch on the wall, it moves amid very slowly.... if you can wait, you would be able to see the patch descending lower and lower.
but marathon man cannott wait to do his running... after he spent 2 days in the world heritage place - malacca.
after putting on the right attire, he darts from into the street in no time... the wind gushes at him when the traffic passes him by.....
for many years he had not visited malacca. he was looking for the row of hawkers near the seaside, and the smallest round-about at the end of the road infront of the hawker centre. he could not find them. had they already been demolished and replaced with somethying else. it was during the nite when he hanged around the city, so he could not be sure where he actually was. they could be still there, somewhere else.
he headed to the portugese settlement, after hearing some of it from the tv programs, that the food there was one of a kind, that the place still retained its past disposition and aura. but what a dispointment when he arrived at a concrete hawker centre after following the map and the road signs that clearly stated where the portugese settlement was. there was a lot of touting from different stalls. he settled at stall number 10. he ordered fried(dry) crab, ikan bakar, and kangkong - all supposed to be prepared in portugese way, but marathon man would not know as the dishes were more or less the same as what he had eaten in normal restaurants... and he could not tell what the portugese way of cooking was like.
malacca like some malaysian cities, is a one-way-street town. you have to know the exact routes and directions if you want to get from point a to b. looking at the map will not bring you there, because, it does not show the traffic directions.
the next day, he went around downtown along the river. from jonker street, to get to the red-house(that's what the locals call the area around a'formosa, studhuys, st paul's hill)..... it took him 15 minutes to realise that it'd be better to park on the bank opposite the red-house, than to cross the malacca river to park near the red-house. he just had to walk across the bridge after parking.
in jonker's walk, there was this lady chinese caligrapher doing her stuff with people surrounding her. she wrote elegant chinese with the chinese brush. but she had no right hand, her left arm was totally missing. she tied the brush to the end of her right arm, but boy, every stroke of her brush on the paper was so delicate and accurate, it exuded the poise of a dancer from the tang dynasty.
the tourist sites in red house still the same as many years ago when he was there. but what the st paul's hill overlooked was a different scene, with many new houses on the left side and the city was no longer the same one many years ago.
he went around the city, stopped by some street to check out the durians. he noticed though it's still in season, not many fruit stalls selling the king of the fruits, even along the way when he detoured into muar from the north-south hi-way.
he asked the durian uncle, "why not much durians this time?"
"oh.... all go to singapore."
his durian addiction kicked in, so he bought and ate a couple on the spot.... not the best, but can-do lah!
he had his lunch in the ole sayang peranakan restaurant. very crowded and noisy with a bunch of youngsters blabberring and laughing-out-loud as if they owned the restaurant. the food - quite good, as he was already very hungry, but the sambal balachan was super SALTISH.
he left malacca after lunch, and had his dinner in jb, the bamboo house, famous for its oven-baked herbal chicken - the price was 14rm, a raise of 1rm when he was here a few months ago, and no more ta-pau.
he rolled into singpore check-point when the lights were all up. little did he realize that the moon had become round again. the trip to the ancient malay sultanate will bring another waiting period before he would be back again.
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