TGIF 123456789

How was your today? Today was special.  Just a few minutes before it happened, I remembered how special it was going to be. I quickly took out a paper to scribble and to explain to the "enthralled audience" in my presence, the special moment that was about to happen.

I explained:

Today, Friday the 7th of August 2009, you lived through this unique moment of the Gregorian calendar. Today  at 12:34:56pm the figures would come up as 123456.

The figures 789 are for the date 7th, the month of August 8 and the year 2009. Run in sequence it becomes 123456789.

You can live through it again if you live for a 100 years from now when it will be 2109, with the same time and date.

We were devouring our fried chicken, chicken burgers, coleslaw, mashed potatoes and their favourite cheesy fries when that special moment happened. We did a not-so-silent countdown in the noisy-anyway KFC outlet ...... 10...... 9 ....... 8 ......7 ....... 6 ....... 5...... 4........ 3.........  2...........  1............ YAM SENG !!!!!!!!!! CHEERS!!!!! and knocked our plastic cups of coke and iced milo together, to commemorate this special moment.  And I told them, hopefully we can do this together again in 2109 (maybe our next lives)!!!!

To dwell in this special moment, I told the excited audience as I tried to be learned and awe-inspiring, I said maybe in my next life I would be their great grandchildren, or someone close to them.  The audience grinned and laughed.  I told them I could also have been their children in our previous lives or maybe their father or mother or grandfather or grandmother or friend or teacher or neighbour or aunty or uncle etc..... all the endless possibilities. Then the enthralled audience asked me 1001 questions. I told them, well you see, since we are in this close relation in this life, everyone we know or get to know in this life, they are inter-connected to us in a special way or another, so we must value this relation (inter-connectedness), and we must love each other (whoever that is interconnected to us) well.  This is because we may meet each other again in our next countless future lives.  

The excited audience nodded in agreement and they were pleased, in the midst of chomping their finger-lickin-good chicken. I hope niece and nephew grasped what I was saying/ teaching them in simplified terms. And I was thinking, in a couple of years, we would have 11:11:11 11/11/11. We shall celebrate this again, as the number "11" is of special significance to them.  Maybe another fried chicken outing?  :P 

Go there

I discovered this very useful website, www.gothere.sg.

It incorporates everything from being a street directory to planning your route, to telling you how long it will take you to reach your destination and how much it will cost by using different modes of transport:  By Train, or By Train & Bus, By Taxi, or By Car. This is similar to the route planner by SBS, but I think this is way more user friendly.

Gothere.sg recommends you the easiest and shortest way to your destination. You just have to tell them you are Going From __________ and Going To ___________, and they will tell you the directions in the next second, with the map and directions.  You can also click the different modes of transport to compare the time taken and  the cost.  The route planner by SBS was a tad too many steps that it gets frustrating sometimes when it asks you to choose exactly which location you are in and which location you are going to from a list of scroll down locations they identified. Worse, sometimes they get the locations all wrong.  

On the other hand, gothere.sg's Search is more intelligent and flexible.  For example, at the Going From field you just need to type "City Hall MRT" and at the Going To field, you type "Zoo" and straightaway they will tell you how to get there.  If you choose By Cab, they even tell you how much your cab fare will likely be. It will even calculate which day and what time you take a cab and how much it will cost, taking into consideration ERP charges and with/without taking expressways.  Quite quite smart.

Then if you are in a certain location, you can also find where are the nearby ATMs, supermarkets, banks, petrol kiosks, post offices, clinics and schools. Also, if you are searching for, say "beancurd" around "Geylang", they will list down all the shops selling beancurd in the vicinity. Wow.

And what is even more wonderful is, I can access gothere.sg through my mobile wherever I am or whenever I am lost, and I will know the fastest, shortest way to get from one place to another. The mobile web version of gothere.sg is even more simple. Just key in where you are and where you want to go, you will get the directions instantly. It is just minus the map. If I want to see the map, I can always click on the Full version of the website on my mobile.

So go there and explore this tool.   

Purely white

"White .... is not a mere absence of colour; it is a shining and affirmative thing, as fierce as red, as definite as black.... God paints in many colours; but He never paints so gorgeously, I had almost said so gaudily, as when He paints in white."

--Gilbert Keith Chesterton [British author, 1874–1936] “A Piece of Chalk,” Tremendous Trifles (1909)

Below, I put together some of my photos which I snapped some time or another, all of which have a predominantly "white" theme, or rather, monotones......

One of those reconstructed houses under going renovation along River Valley Road, although I wonder why they painted everything outside white, including stairs and dustbin.

Captured by accident along Katong Road, a slip of finger resulted in an over exposed photo. Nonetheless, the white walls, white houses, and white sky are turned out pretty complementary.

A cute white scooter complete with white helmets parked along Holland Village.

Cousin got sabotaged on his party with white cream from his 21st birthday cake. Luckily he wore white.  

A pair of stone white Fu dogs/lions guarding a hardware shop in Telok Kurau. Incidentally the walls and plank of wood were also white.

White stone walls and steps fronting a brasserie in Holland Village.

The Heavenly King, Jacky Cheung, in prince-charming white, crooning his famous ballads.

Designer shop, Nicholas, located in Stamford House in white and grey hues, both shop, clothes and the facade.

An advertising house with its white-themed reception area. White chairs, white table, white walls/ceilings, white floor/door, everything white, befitting their logo.

Avenue of Stars located along Victoria Harbour waterfront in Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong, This is the hand prints and signature of Jet Li, cast in stone. Perhaps we should get him and Gong Li to do one for us around Esplanade, Marina Bay, now that they are  both Singapore citizens. :D

Sighted in The Window of the World, Shenzhen, which houses reproductions of the world's most famous tourist attractions. This is a reproduction of Mt Rushmore National Memorial with white sculptures of the past American presidents.

Lastly, my niece in white enjoying her muffin on a white plate. La-la-la-la~

The chivalrous knight

I don't know about you, but I feel ex-President Clinton's visit to Pyongyang was kinda  ... chivalrous? The knight saving the 2 damsels in (otherwise 12 years of) distress?  North Korea's Kim Jong Il finally decided to pardon the two American journalists, Laura Ling and Euna Lee, after Mr Clinton's special visit. The prisoners are now on the plane back home.

Clinton is relatively well-regarded in North Korea, mostly for his less-bellicose attitude toward the country during his administration. So he was definitely a choice envoy for this mission, eventhough just last month, North Korea's Foreign Ministry had only harsh words for his wife Hillary Clinton, describing her as "a funny lady" who sometimes "looks like a primary schoolgirl and sometimes a pensioner going shopping."

Anyway, it just goes to show, the soft approach always works in the midst of tensions. So bravo, Mr Clinton!

The look in your eyes

Latest photos of Baby Amber, my buddy's girl, who is almost one month.  Such a beautiful baby. There is something unique about her eyes and nicely-shaped eye brows and I love her ears.

Talking about buddy, another primary school mate of mine found me in Facebook. Have not seen her for umpteen years. Wow, she did not age abit. She was asking me to join her and some of my classmates (her gang) for lunch sometime this month. They are meeting at Ritz Carlton for lunch, then thereafter going for spa and then dinner again. Adoi, sound so tai-tai activities, no?  My classmate urged me to meet them, and to give the rest a surprise (she won't tell them). She said my "partner", PF, would love to meet me too.  Well you see, in primary school, we were usually paired up with someone during assembly queues or in class sitting arrangement, based on our heights then. Well, PF was my height and my "partner" then and she was a very nice quiet girl. I remember we were among the taller ones in class, our number was 16 out of 20 pairs (40 students per class). Heard PF is now a tai tai, so lucky.  Anyway, can't wait to meet them.

One foot long

Haven't eaten Subway for some time. Today the urge came. Had wanted to try Quiznos which everyone is raving about, but at where I was, there was only Subway.

Ordered this one-foot long sandwich with ham and lettuce and tomatoes with lots of sauces. Reminds me of that  Burger King's seven-incher ad again (haha!). Got blow your mind away or not?  Looked like a daunting task, huh? Of course I had to share this with someone.

It was so juicy the sandwich that I sweared I would want to try making this myself soon, very soon.  I actually felt very healthy eating the sandwich. The highlight of a Subway meal was always the big chewy cookies for dessert!

Then one of the days, I had KFC for lunch. Hmm... it's a fried chicken week, I don't know why.  I usually do not want drumstick, and they gave me the chicken wing instead and usually I would peel some of the crispy skin off (not so guilty). A KFC 2-piece meal cost $6.50 and 3-piece meal cost $8.70. I think it is not really worth it because with that amount, I could get a decent set meal elsewhere in some decent little joint or foodcourt.  So, unless you have the craving for KFC....

You know why I love my 2 handphones alot? With them, I can leave home without my camera. Because they both take wonderful photos (8mega and 5mega respectively) and both have Xenon Flash (not that I need to use the flash often) and I can surf the net with both of them. They are Sony Ericsson C905 and Nokia N82.  Iphone 3GS or Blackberry or any latest smartphone can wait a while (unless they incorporate Xenon flash into the models soon....). :D

Sungha Jung

Talented famous little guitar protege from Korea, playing Michael Jackson's Billie Jean. His name is Sungha Jung.

看天

One of the days, Mom wanted to see the sinseh for her giddiness and also for the traditional chinese massage.  I had a little stiff neck too, so I went along. I requested for the massage, electrolysis and ba guan too.

Ba Guan (also called suction cup) treatment is this thing using cups by sucking certain acupoints to gain the aim of dredging channels, activating blood flow, dissipating cold, dispelling wind and dampness and resolving toxin. The glass cup is the modern version while the wooden cup is what they used in the older days.

The sinseh dabbed the petroleum jelly upon certain acupoints on the back, used a clamp to sandwich the cotton which has been soaked in alcohol, then quickly let the cotton get fire. Holding the suction cup, its mouth downwards, he then used the clamp to put the burning cotton into the cup and circled around in a quick way. He then drew out the cotton and put the cup upon the skin area. The skin area which the cup mouth covered hunched up gradually and became purplish red after a while.

Both mom and I did the Ba Guan. I waited for the cups to be on for 10-15 minutes and when the sinseh took them off, he told me the circles were very red. He asked me to go swimming more often to improve my neck condition (by using breast stroke) so I would not hurt my neck so easily (the result of staring at the computer screen for a long period of time). He advised me to lift my head and look up more often - 看天 - as a form of exercise. I better do it, otherwise next time, I may have to be like the Padaung (Long Neck) Women in Chiangmai, wearing this. :/

 Anyway, after the massage, the relieved feeling was undescribable - shiok.

Better than KFC!

Luxurious Sunday. I was home alone. I slept late and woke up late almost lunch time, because I was having a long dream. As I have no appointments today, I went to the neighbourhood to pay my bills and to buy lunch. This has got to be one of the most delicious chicken cutlet from a hawker stall and they gave a generous huge chunk of cutlet. The cutlet tasted even better than KFC and does not feel not oily at all.  Some fried chicken gives you the feeling that it was soaked in oil. Surprisingly, this one did not.

Having very cold Jolly Shandy to go along with my chicken and watching Japan Hour on TV was heaven.  Then I took a luxurious long bath to rejuvenate myself. I relish my every home-alone moments - peace and quiet.

Nan Hua Chang Seafood Restaurant

On Friday evening, the family went out for dinner. We are currently having this fish head steamboat craze, so we are visiting new places to try. This restaurant, Nan Hua Chang Seafood Restaurant, at the junction of Jalan Besar and Crawford, is apparently well-known for their fish head steamboat. There are 2 shops diagonally opposite each other. One was in an old shophouse which was usually packed especially weekends. The diagonally opposite second shop was in a row of shops under the Crawford Lane HDB estate. This is the second time I visited. Last weekend, I have already tried it with my Grandma and aunts and mom. This time was to let my father and sis' family try.

Erm... the picture of the fish head steamboat is not that glamourous looking, because before I had the chance to snap a pix, the rest has already sapu (Malay for "wipe out") all the soup! We asked the waitress to refill more soup. We ordered red snapper (ang goh lee in Hokkien) as they are meatier and sweeter and less fishy. We love the soup which was cooking slowly with charcoal.   

Some other dishes we ordered; Prawn Paste Chicken which was nicely done and not oily at all (kids love it), Sweet Spices Pork Ribs (huge ribs, succulent and tender that the meat just dropped off easily), Fried Tofu (huge chunks of tofu so soft it melts in your mouth), and Nai Pak veggies stir fried. All the portions were big.  The price tag was not exactly cheap either.  Fish head steamboat was $35 and the rest of the dishes was $15 each, with drinks and towels and rice, the meal totalled $110.  Kinda expensive for a coffeeshop-type of restaurant.

Thank you, Sue!

This morning when I woke up, I received a comment in my blog from a reader.  This is one of the most touching compliments I have ever received for my blog. 

Here's what she wrote:

Hi there!

I just wanted to say that I love reading your blog. I used to live in Singapore (my mum and brother is still there) and now lives in Norway. I love the combination of the local food (I really miss good food) and Buddhism ( a religion that really attracts to me but I have yet to take the plunge), I was born Malay Muslim so you can imagine the drama when I left the country to marry this white guy who did not convert. I have read a lot of blogs from Singapore but yours really touches me deeply. Thank you - Sue

Sue, thank you so much for making my day. It must have been tough adjusting to life overseas. I hope to visit you in Norway some day. :D

Sure spoil?!!!

I finally got my laptop back from servicing yesterday. Replacing the spoilt keyboard was $80 and reformatting the harddisk plus their service charge was also $80, total $160 and this was before GST! 

I told the guy at the service center that the other day his colleague told me I could opt for the extended warranty for another 2 years for about $150 and they could absorb the incurred costs within the extended warranty but I had to backdate my expired warranty to 3 months ago. So I asked this man now if I could do that. He said no, impossible. I have to pay for the $160 PLUS about $150 if I wanted extended warranty. He said: "Where got such thing, then everyone spoil already then come and buy extended warranty, how can? Does not work this way".  I am not saying he was wrong and I understand business logic, but I was informed I could do that earlier, that was why I asked again. If I had wanted to be nasty, I would have insisted he get his colleague together and explain to me both different versions I was given. They had sure to deny everything. But I was not going to subject myself to all these and make myself unhappy. So I let it go.

I really think service centers should train their staff properly so whatever they preach to the customers are all in sync. And also explaining the "cannots" to the customers in a better and more sensitive manner would not hurt either. This would lessen misunderstandings and complaints and already-frayed emotions at the service center where, often, not everyone's mood is fantastic because they have to cough blood money at the same time. It does not make sense to antagonise your customers further as they could easily opt for your competitors next time since laptops/PCs prices are so attractive nowadays. So much for customer retention.

I decided to leave my laptop to fate and not pay an extra $150 for extended warranty. I must be crazy to want to pay $300++ after only one year of using the laptop which had cost $1300.  I might as well buy another new laptop if it crashed again one year later (buy another brand). Or I shall just get any outside technician to service it for about $50. I only went to this brand's service center because I needed to replace the keyboard.

That man's parting shot... "Next time, remember to buy extended warranty at the point of purchase because laptops sure spoil!!!"  **FAINT**  I was thinking..... "Next time, I'll buy your competitor's brand...". So much for GEMS (Going the Extra Mile for Service)....

Our hearts beat in unison

Well, if you didn't know, I love reading quotes. But I don't like it when people who do not know how to write that well, try to give quotes which turned out.... ermm... horrible.

I've been following Yoko Ono, wife of the late John Lennon, on Twitter @yokoono. I must say, sometimes her quotes made me sit back and think twice. Sometimes profound, sometimes simple, sometimes poetic, sometimes straight to the point, she advocates peace. Bless her. I just love nice simple quotes that made me go "ahhh...." instead of "yucks" or "ewww.."

Here are some of her quotes:

Don't clutter your mind with gossipy thoughts. Open your head to the Universe.

Let's keep dancing every day, in your mind and in your dream. Peace.

Imagine a peaceful world as you see it. 2 seconds will do. It will have a domino effect & go around very quickly, inspiring people.

Throw a pebble into the water and create ripples.

The material in the gallery is like an elephant's tail & the larger part of it is in your head. But you have to give a tail to lead into it.

The only sound that exists to me is the sound of the mind. My works are only to induce music of the mind in people.

Our hearts beat in unison. Even when we fight with one another. We are indeed one world, one people.

Mental richness should be worried just as much as physical richness.

You see a chair as it is. But when you burn the chair, you suddenly realize that the chair in your head did not burn or disappear.

How can we ask our children to be caring when we are not? Smile to the future and it will smile back to us.

A prison is made of ice - it melts in the spring. A castle is made of clay - it crumbles in time.

We have everything we need. We just don't have enough for some people's greed.

The economic shock woke us all up. Now we have to get off our high horse & become real. A SIMPLE ARITHMETIC.

The opposite of wisdom is confusion, not stupidity.

Next time you meet a 'foreigner', remember it's only like a window with a different shape to it and the person who's sitting inside is you.

Negative thinking is a luxury we can't afford.

I would like to see a sky vending machine on every corner of the street instead of the coke machine. We need more skies than coke.

You are water. I'm water. We're all water in different containers. That's why it's so easy to meet. Someday we'll evaporate together. But even after the water's gone, we'll probably point out to the containers and say, "that's me there, that one." We're container minders.

Don't ever give up on life. Life can be so beautiful, especially after you've spent a lot of time with it. Stay with it & life becomes like a lover you have been close to for many years. U know them so well, yet every day they give you a surprise.

You are in my life, at times as teachers, as angels, as friends, always as blessings, always with love. Without you, I would not be.