1911 Photography & Chronicles

China 2011 - Day 1: Shanghai - The Bund

2012-01-29T11:49:00.000+08:00

You can't say you have been to Shanghai if you have never visited the Bund, then how can I miss it? After lunch, I walked along Fuzhou Road, admiring, together with many many tourists from around the world, all the old colonial era, western style old buildings. This area was previously the Shanghai International Settlement area, put it bluntly, colonial enclaves during the 1920s-30s.

As I was at the Bund in the afternoon, the sun was shining from the west, the old bund is cast in the shadows, looked dark and gloomy. In contrast, the east side of the Huangpu River, is immersed in the golden sunshine.

It is ironic, but at the same time, natural. Pudong used to be an area for the city poor, while Puxi is for the rich and influential, now Pudong is in modern glory, while the Bund looks like an old man living beyond his time.

World Airline Safety Ranking 2012

2012-01-24T18:01:00.000+08:00

Jet Airliner Crash Data Evaluation Centre, an aviation institution based in Germany, released the ranking for world's airline safety. The top 10 safest airlines are:

1. ANA
2. Finnair
3. Cathay Pacific
4. Etihad Airways
5. Hainan Airlines
6. Jet Blue
7. Emirates
8. Virgin Blue
9. Air Berlin
10. Air New Zealand

Big shots in the aviation industry, Qantas is ranked 11th place, while our beloved Singapore Airlines is at an appalling 27th.

Malaysia Airlines comes at 32nd, one spot behind Air Asia. For more details, you can download the report in pdf format at this link.

The World’s Top 10 Retirement Havens

2012-01-23T22:21:00.003+08:00

According to this link, the top 10 retirement havens in the world are:

1. Ecuador
2. Panama
3. Mexico
4. Malaysia
5. Colombia
6. New Zealand
7. Nicaragua
8. Spain
9. Thailand
10. Honduras

Out of the 10 countries, I have only been to three of them, our neighbours Malaysia & Thailand, and the beautiful New Zealand.

For retirement, I am not so sure Malaysia is a good choice. The country's crime rate is high, especially in the wonderful JB. KL is not much better.

Thailand is a nice country, but if you live in the cities, especially Bangkok, then air pollution is a problem. Medical care is another. Language barrier is another factor for consideration.

New Zealand is the best of the lot, as far as I know. It has very beautiful natural environment, but then it also has natural disasters, earthquake is common.

For you, where is your ideal retirement country?

China 2011 - Day 1: Shanghai Museum

2012-01-19T14:25:00.004+08:00

Immediately after I settled down at the youth hostel, I went to visit Shanghai Museum, which is just 10 minutes walk away from the hostel.

Shanghai Museum is the top 3 museums in China, and claims one of the best collection of Chinese antiques. It is new building right in the center of People's Park, is of the shape of a Chinese Ding 鼎, an ancient container for food, and the subsequently, became the symbol of imperial power. Here below you can see a small one, just to give you some idea of what it is. This is also an exhibit at the Shanghai Museum.

The museum has a total of 6 stories, and divided into many galleries, based on theme, including Chinese bronzeware, jade, Chinese calligraphy, paintings, etc. If you are an antique, then you can spend the whole day in it.

Of the many wonderful artifacts, visitors' attentions were drawn to this particular Buddha's statue. All 3 photographs are of the same statue, but from left, front and right. From different angle, the Buddha image looks different, although maybe just slightly. Our ancestors were great craft men who created such wonderful piece of work. To tell you the truth: Why did our ancestors can do it? They didn't have TV nor Internet :)

In the Chinese calligraphy gallery, you can have the honour to admire great works from famous Chinese literals such as Dong Qichang 董其昌, Su Dongpo 苏东坡.

Chinese love jade. A fine Chinese should have the same qualities as jade, which are仁，义，智，勇，洁.

And do you find this artifact look very familiar?

A similar artifact is on display at Singapore's Marina Bay Sands Arts Museum (You can find the previous post here). That bowl was found in a merchant shipwreck off Indonesia, carrying many Chinese goods probably on its way to the Middle East.

Shanghai Museum is such a great place to spend a whole day, exchanging ideas with many great minds in the past. In addition, admission is free!

China 2011 - Day 1: Arriving in Shanghai

2012-01-15T09:21:00.002+08:00

Wow... Finally I set off for my 3-week trip to China on 11 Dec 2011. My flight from Singapore to Shanghai by SIA is at the wee hours of 1.20am. It is a RED EYE flight, but yet they still charge so much for the air ticket.

I arrived at PuDong International Airport at around 5 plus in the morning. Hardly anyone in the airport. By the time I managed to go through immigration and took my luggage, it was already 6 plus. Just nice the Shanghai Metro starts its first trip for the day.

Heyhey, here is a video I took on the metro from the airport to downtown Shanghai. Ample space for every passenger, you can do whatever you like. I didn't know at the time, but later after staying in Shanghai for a couple of days, such an empty train is something to be greatly appreciated. Shanghai metro is worse than Singapore, they have to pack even more people.

I got off at People's Park station, and started searching for the youth hostel I had booked.

People's Park area is the city center, and very close to the most famous landmark - the Bund.

And I spotted our Capitaland's Raffles Place right at the People's Park metro station, along Fuzhou Road. It is almost identical to what you have in Singapore, the shops are the same, so it is quite boring for me :)

After quite a while of searching, I finally found my youth hostel, which is quite a bit of distance from People's Park. It is tucked in one small lane, right next to a wet market.

The place is actually not bad, it is modern and clean, except the room is a bit small, and there is forever a smell in stairs well. As it is next to the wet market, so sometimes it is quite noisy. My first night of stay was quite terrible, lots of noise from humans and cars, but then the following night was all quiet and peaceful.

Here is a video of the room. It is reasonably sized, with attached bath room. The price is 180 yuan/night, no breakfast or anything else.

Ok, that's for the first part of the day. Next posts I will bring you to the Shanghai Museum and the Bund, the most famous landmark of Shanghai.

Singapore's Savings Account Interest Rates

2012-01-07T10:52:00.000+08:00

As we ushered in the new year, we also ushered in a new low in savings account interest rates in Singapore. A check on the 3 major local banks, DBS, OCBC & UOB, the interest rates for savings accounts are uniformly low at 0.05%, this is down from last year's 0.15%. This is when SIBOR is at 0.3%!

Considering inflation of 5%, and ~3% if you exclude private transport and housing, the 0.05% savings account interest rate is still way too low for any meaningful preservation of purchasing power.

Lao Ban Zhai 老半斋

2012-01-06T23:24:00.001+08:00

Lao Ban Zhai is a famous restaurant for Shanghainese food in Fuzhou Road, Shanghai. During my recent visit to Shanghai, I paid them a visit in the evening. Lao Ban Zhai is famous for their Chai Fan, basically it means vegie and rice. What really is it? I have no idea, as they only sell Chai Fan for lunch.

I ordered a fried eel noodle and mutton as a cold dish.

Here is the fried eel noodle. The eel had been first deep fried, and the it is mixed with the noodle in the soup. The eel was quite crispy due to the deep fry. Overall, I think it was just so so, not very outstanding. The portion of noodle is small, just 100g.

The mutton cold dish was ok, but again it was not outstanding. Average is the best that I can say of this dish.

The total cost for these two dishes was close to 50 yuan. The lady at the cashier was aghast by the amount of food I ordered as if it were too much. However, it was just as I had guessed, the food was not enough for me :(

At Lao Ban Zhai, you have to first order your dishes at the cashier, pay up, then you will get your 'tickets'. Pass the tickets to the waitress there then they will bring the food to you. For cold dishes, you have to go and get them yourself.

Lao Ban Zhai is recommended by some travel guide books, but I personally don't really like it. Over priced.

My Train Experiences in China

2012-01-06T19:21:00.000+08:00

During my recent visit to China, I took an over night train from Tulufan吐鲁番 (Turpan) to LiuYuan (柳园). At Tulufan Railway Station, they don't sell any sleeper train tickets within 10 days. Our only option was to get a non-sleeper train ticket. To make it worse, there was no more seats available, we could only get no-seat tickets, at the same price as tickets with a seat!

I was naively thinking that there might not be many people in the train as it was low season for travelers, not realising that in Xinjiang, workers from other provinces in China usually start to go back to their home town 1 month before Chinese New Year. As 2012's Chinese New Year came in on 23 Jan, so Christmas time is already the beginning of ChunYun(春运), meaning workers going home in large numbers for Chinese New Year.

The train was to depart Tulufan station at 11pm, but having nothing to do, we arrived at around 7pm. There was some unrest in Xinjiang, and as a result, people coming into train stations and bus terminals, have to go through security check.

The station building itself is quite run down and it is small. People crowded in the waiting room. Some had seats, some didn't and sat on the floor. The station itself is supposed to be smoke free, but people still smoked discretely in the waiting hall. At the male toilet, then it was a different story. There is a loud speaker right outside the male toilet, announcing no smoking is allowed in the male toilet. But the reality is you can smell the smoke outside the toilet. Going inside, many people were smoking there.

The male toilet is still the old style public toilet. This means there are no doors. People shit right in front of others who pass by. It is like a parade of buttocks.

30 minutes before our train departure, we started to go to the platform. Before that, we need get our tickets checked by the railway staff. It was a nightmare. There was no queue, and everybody just pushed ahead. Some railway staff attempted to restore orderly, but their efforts are in vain. They are out-numbered.

Boarding the train is another nightmare. The carts were crowded and you could hardly moved. And people with very big luggage, blocking the passageway in the cart.

I quickly found a vacant seat to sit down. At Tulufan, it was still not so bad, there were still some vacant seats available, but after the train reached Hami, all the seats were taken by their rightful owners. We really had to stand. I was really lucky that out of the 8.5 hours train journey, I only had to stand for around 4 hours.

In the train, the temperature was high at around 27C, while outside temperature was at -16C! People were sweating in the train. The train was a smoke free train, but then nobody enforces this rule. Sitting next to me there were two railway staff members. They were smoking non-stop, one cigarette after another. They didn't stop smoking for even a minute from Tulufan to Shanshan, where alighted.

It was a small society in the train, there were many kinds of people there.

There was a young lady, who was going to somewhere I couldn't remember, but she had to spend 3 days 3 nights in the train, without a seat! She is young and at least average looking, and she was aware of that. Using her charm to men, especially the older men, she managed to get some sympathy from men, occasionally got a seat for a while, or at least a small stool from someone for her to sit.

There are also two types of people in the train. Some people have their rightful seats, and they are willing to share their seat with those who don't for some time. Some people are more territory conscious. They claimed their seats, and their territory, like animals peeing to show who is the boss.

I am most afraid of the train reaching a station. When the train reaches a station, means more passengers will board the train. That means at least one hour of chaos, with people fighting, arguing for seats, and space for luggage storage. With more passengers, the temperature will rise further, and more people smoking. The air quality in the cart became more and more unbearable.

I had a conversation with a young man who was traveling with his father, to go back to his hometown of Shuzhou from Shanshan, Xinjiang. He is working at a construction company in Xinjiang. He told me that in Xinjiang, they can only work 10 out of 12 months in a year, as the temperature is too low to do any work for the two coldest months. For these two months without work, they will just go home and relax, without pay of course. He and his father had traveled on this route a number of times, and always taking the train without sleeper. I was very surprised. I asked him why he didn't travel by air? Especially his father is already old, and there is no way to get some good rest in a non-sleeper train. He said they couldn't afford it. The air ticket costs around 3000-4000 yuan return. It is like his one month pay, 10% of what he earns in a year.

Then there was a non-Han Chinese young man. He looked very young, probably just 20 years old, yet he had been working for 3 years. He had also traveled this route a number of times. This young man reminded me about the restaurant we went to in Tulufan. In that small restaurant, from waitress to the cook, everybody was very young, probably late teens to early 20s. People seem to start work early in this part of the country.

I must also mention a group of workers who were sitting opposite to me for a period of time. They blasted loud music from their handphones, talked loudly at the wee hours of the day, played cards on the seats loudly, and walked around half naked. It is a loud reminder that China is still a developing country. There is still a lot of work to do in terms of education. The way to become a developed & gracious nation is long and full of obstacles.

Another group of people I must mention are the railway staff. They pushed their sales carts back and forth from time to time, causing lots of disturbances to the passengers. Can you imagine their sales cart had to pass through a path full of people, sitting, sleeping, and standing? The railway staff care about nothing, but their sales. The comfort level of the passengers is basically none of their business.

The 8.5 hours long journey was a torture to me, and it felt like a century. However, many more people in that train had to live in the train for a couple of days. That's their yearly routine. The government has not offered them any other alternatives.

I am lucky, I only had to go through their torture probably just once, it is not my yearly routine. I wish in the near future, those people don't have to go through this torture either.

Microstock: A Significant Milestone

2011-12-07T21:29:00.000+08:00

After 6 long years of working on microstock photography, the income has finally reached the most important milestone: All my expenses on photography, including both hardware, such as cameras and lenses, and software, such as photography courses, have been recovered.

It is just like taking out a home loan, and now you have finally paid off your loan. From next month onwards, any income from microstock photography will be return ON my investment. The return is yet to be seen, but I am really happy that this day has finally come and I can enjoy the fruits of my hard work in the past 6 years. In addition, the joy of photography is even more rewarding.

Wisdoms of Life

2011-12-05T08:47:00.000+08:00

Reading a book titled Wisdom of Life, by German author Arthur Schopenhauer. Strictly speaking, it is not a book, but an excerpt from a book of Schopenhauer.

The author discussed about life and happiness. Life for the poor is filled with daily struggle to get food on the table, all else to them is secondary. Life for the rich is filled with boredom. They have to constantly look for new things, new adventures to keep themselves interested and feel alive. The author advocates happiness can only be found, for both the poor and rich, middle class included, by obtaining spiritual satisfaction.

In his book, he bluntly exposed the hypocrite's moral standards which are generally accepted in society.

The truth told by the author is plain, direct, frank, and dark. It somehow paints a very dark picture of human life, a life without much hope. No wonder he has been considered to be a pessimist in history.

It is a good read, but just don't get too carried away by his pessimism.

Caning

2011-12-03T16:17:00.000+08:00

Caning as one of the punishments or the criminal court is a legacy from times long ago, and it still remains relevant in the modern world of Singapore, Malaysia, and some other countries.

Below is a video recording how caning is like in Malaysia. It may look a bit barbaric, but then it is effective in crime prevention.

Immortals

2011-11-30T16:59:00.000+08:00

Looking for some entertainment in a rainy weekday afternoon, so went to watch Immortals at Cathay.

The movie is again about the fight between good and evil, Gods and Titans. Somehow the Zeus, king of all gods, appears as a middle age man, with a perfect man's body. It is quite a difference from the Zeus that we see in more traditional painting and sculptures where Zeus has been portrayed as a kind old man.

Theseus, played by Henry Carvill, is great material as a model, with again, a perfect man's body. The muscles are so well defined. I think the girls most probably will be drooling all the time. However, somehow he doesn't appear to be a great hero, as he has neither lots of courage, nor strategy against the enemies. Rather, his totally unnoticeable hero support, Stavros, seems to be more knowledgeable, and has more tactics.

The movie has quite a lot of CGI, giving the audience a sense of mystery, and lots of elements for a mythology movie. In addition, the movie is bluntly bloody. Humans, gods, titans are slaughtered with utmost brutality, splashing flesh and blood everywhere. Definitely this movie is not suitable for young children.

After watching this movie, you may conclude that there are no more gods nor titans in this world, as they have all been killed by each other. Guess what is the end of the movie? King of Gods, Mr Zeus, was busy fighting a war with the Titans in heaven! No wonder he has no time to take care of Greece's national debt :) That explains why Europe now is in a deep financial crisis.

Fu Lin Yuan Health Soup Restaurant

2011-11-26T23:18:00.000+08:00

A friend bought some coupons for four people from a group purchase website recently. I already one previous experience with group purchase food, which was just so so, so this time round, my expectation was not really high.

The restaurant is tucked in one of the small old-style shop houses in Neil Road. The setting is quiet and peaceful.

The table setting is very simple, nothing special, but it is clean and neat.

Then came our first dish. Mushroom with leafy vegetables.

This dish is quite special. The mushroom is very crispy, and flavour of the sauce has been fully absorbed by the mushrooms. I think the chef also slightly fried the mushroom so it has a very distinctive taste, waking up all your taste buds.

The other dishes are:

1. Deep fried prawns with salted egg yoke
2. Chili Xiapo (虾婆)
3. Duck and reddish soup
4. Pork Ribs
5. Frog legs
6. Yangzhou Fried Rice

Sorry, guys. The food was good and we were all too eager to eat rather than taking photos :)

All the food is good. The Chili Xiapo is spicy and punchy, at the same time, preserving the freshness of the Xiaopo.

Frog legs are good too. They are very tender and you can tell the freshness the moment they enter your mouth.

Fu Lin Yuan is at 47 Neil Road.

Who Wears a Rolex Watch

2011-11-25T22:20:00.000+08:00

Rolex has been a very famous branded Swiss watch across the world. The prices of Rolex watches are also as high as its fame. However, do you ever wonder who wears a Rolex watch? Other than the kings and queens, presidents and celebrities, who else will wear a Rolex watch?

As I passed the immigration at LAX, I simply couldn't not to notice that flashy shiny piece of stainless steel on that US Homeland Security officer's wrist. Why? It is a Rolex submariner. The price of such a watch is in the range of S$7000-8000 to S$10,000, depending on the exact model. I was a bit far from his hand and couldn't get a close look at the exact model, but I am sure it is a Rolex!

On my way back to Singapore, the young steward on board that SIA flight also has a piece of shiny piece stainless steel, popping out from his nicely ironed sleeve. It is a Rolex! The magnifying glass piece is so distinctive!

Just when you wonder who would spend that insane amount of money on a tiny piece of stainless steel, the Rolex shop at Changi Airport terminal 3 actually ran out of stock of the new Rolex submariner (116610LN), the stainless steel version, only left with the more expensive gold version.

It is a very interesting world. :)

Paradize Inn @ NEX - My 3rd Visit

2011-11-07T22:06:00.000+08:00

I can't believe it myself, but this is my 3rd visit to Paradize Inn@NEX, and 2nd visit within like 2-3 weeks.

This time we ordered Goby soup with pork and apple. The soup is not too thick. Apple adds a bit sourness to the taste. It is nice!

And the sambal kangkong here is not bad. I guess it must be the sambal that has added the critical flavour to the dish. I like the leafy portion, not the stems.

Tofu with century egg is a cold dish that I have never seen before. The tofu is plain, but once added in the century egg, the taste is complex. You can even eat the tofu plus century egg plus the wonderful sambal kangkong.

Steamed minced pork with water chestnut and salted egg is another delicious dish. However, some fat is mixed in the minced meat, so if you don't like fat, you won't like this dish. Water chestnut is sweet and crispy.

Last but not least, the very sinful kourou bao. Basically it is super fatty meat with a plain bun. We only ordered one piece, as I didn't want to take this. Too much fat for this old man ;P

Food-wise, it is still the usual standard and it is really good. Service-wise, today is not so good. The waiters and waitresses hit our hands a couple of times when they walked past, and nobody came over to serve us the soup.

The Adventures of Tintin - The Secret of The Unicorn

2011-11-06T19:55:00.000+08:00

It seems like Hollywood has somehow run out of ideas for new movies, so they just re-make the classic old movies. The Adventures of Tintin is based on a comic book, and also a cartoon series in the middle of the last century. People who grew up reading Tintin comics now are in there 70s or even 80s, the new generation may not have even heard of it. So, it is time to re-introduce this old world adventure character to the new generations.

The movie combines 3 original Tintin series into a single episode, so there is a lot of compression of the story, and quite a bit of deviation from the original cartoon. There is a typical Hollywood signature style of being too hasty in story development, I call it 'fast food' storyline. The 'original' Tintin fans may get a bit disappointed, but the new generation fans may be just happy with the modern version.

I watched the 2D version. The characters are very 'plastic'. It is neither real human like, nor cartoon like, it is in between, like your plastic barbie doll.

My Rating: 3/5

Kam Ja Zhuang Seafood

2011-11-05T11:43:00.002+08:00

Kam Ja Zhuang Seafood is a Zi Char stall featured in Channel 8's Sizzling Woks program. As it is near my work place, so 3 of us went there to give it a try.

Our 'main' disk is the curry fish head. The curry sauce is not bad, spicy and fragrant. However, the fish head is quite a disappointment - it is very small. You dig into that big big clay pot but you don't get much fish head. Taste-wise I think it is acceptable, portion-wise I think it is a disappointment for S$20.00.

Second dish is prawn with fruits. The fried prawns are fresh, and taste is nothing to complain about.

The shrimp paste chicken wing is quite plain in taste. I am not sure whether it is because the spice of the curry fish head has disturbed my taste buds for this dish. I think its standard is acceptable, but not exceptional. The meat is slightly on the dry side, not as juicy as it should be, but still ok.

Highlight of the night is actually this simple vegetable dish - samba kangkong (马来风光). Ok, my Malay is not very good, so people who know Malay please correct the name of the dish. Anyway, somehow this dish is very different from the same dish I had elsewhere. It has that special 'punch' in the taste, and wakes you up! I don't know whether the secret is in the vegetable itself, or the sauce or both!

In terms of environment, the coffee shop was renovated recently, so the lights are bright, environment is pleasant. Still no air conditioning thought. However, what turns me off most is there are people smoking in the coffee shop, right in front of the 'No Smoking' sign!

Kam Ja Zhuang is at Block 202, Ang Mo Kio Avenue 3.

Monkeys at Bukit Timah Nature Reserve

2011-10-30T18:24:00.000+08:00

It has been quite a long time since my last visit to Bukit Timah Nature Reserve. Decided to take a walk in this beautiful reserve this afternoon. The nature reserve seems to be a bit exhausted these days. Signs of landslides, and tree falling down are more than what I had seen before. Anyway, I was greeted by a group of resident monkeys in the nature reserve, and there are many young monkeys playing in the trees. What does it mean? Does more young monkeys mean they now have an expanded family and the environment is conducive? Or most of the old ones have died as they can adapt to the modern living? I don't know. For now, let's share the happy moments with the young monkeys :)

Tea Dot @ NEX

2011-10-29T07:57:00.000+08:00

Had tea at Tea Dot @ NEX last weekend. Their drinks have very fancy names, such as the drink that I ordered is 'Arctic Dragon brew'. Do you have any idea what it is? Basically it is just Oolong tea plus some kind of fruits, plus ice cube. That's it! For this small glass of tea, the cost is S$5.85. I guess most of the cost comes from the rent of the shop, in such a nice busy shopping mall :) Taste-wise, it is typical Oolong tea and there is nothing weird at least.

My friend's order also has a very fanciful name, and it cost S$7.20. I start to understand why Starbucks is such a huge success :)

Punggol Waterway

2011-10-28T21:44:00.000+08:00

Last Sunday was the official opening of Punggol Waterway, a project by HDB that cost S$220 million dollars! Put it simply, it is just a big monsoon drain without the concrete walls on the sides.

The place is quite barren, with few trees. It feels hot even though it was a cloudy afternoon.

Paradise Inn @ NEX

2011-10-27T21:44:00.000+08:00

It is my second time to Paradise Inn @ NEX. My last experience was not bad, and of course their Cantonese cuisine is the main attraction. We were not very hungry that day, so we only ordered two dishes. One is sea whelm soup, the other is steamed fish head.

Our sea whelm soup is thick and sweet in taste. You can tell it has been boiled for many hours. The sweet taste of sea whelm has come out completely into the soup.

The steamed fish head is not bad, too. However, the fish has too many bones, and you have to be really careful when you eat it. The way they cook it is more toward Teochew style, and it is a little bit spicy.

Overall, it was a very satisfactory meal :)

Fukuichi @ Triple One Somerset

2011-10-23T21:43:00.000+08:00

Purple suggested we go for lunch at Fukuichi @ Triple One Somerset. There is a display of a blog post from ieatishootipost, a famous Singapore food blog. We arrived slightly after 11.30am, just after the restaurant opened for the day. We were ushered in by a lady, somehow like very reluctantly, as if we owed her a million dollars in debt!

When we ordered our food, came another lady. She was quite nice to inform us that if we pay by UOB credit card, then we can get 15% discount on ala carte items. In addition, we will get a complimentary century egg tofu cold dish.

Simple, old-fashion table settings.

And here is our complementary century egg tofu. The taste is not bad, although it is a bit salty for my taste buds, otherwise it is good. The tofu is tender and jelly like.

My unagi lunch set:

The highlight of the day, and the most expensive item of the day: TORO!

These two tiny pieces of sushi cost S$22.00, while my whole unagi lunch set is only S$18.00! This TORO has to be god-damn good for that price. To my disappointment, the TORO is very chewy, and that's only impression I have of this most expensive item :(

Last but not least, our dessert:

We felt that we didn't eat much, but somehow we felt we were very full. Had to go for a long walk for proper digestion.

In summary, I would say it is just another Japanese restaurant. Price is reasonable, acceptable service, reasonable food, but not outstanding.

Indecent Ad?

2011-10-15T17:12:00.000+08:00

Here is a giant advertisement board at the crossing of Orchard Road and Bideford Road. This ad has created quite a stir up in Singapore, with people writing to newspapers and relevant authorities to complain that the ad is indecent. Reason being? The model's body is too sexy, too smooth, too perfect, and above all, the model's pubic hair is shown partially. Come on, we all know that humans have pubic hairs when they reach adolescence. There is no secret about it, although people don't talk about it openly and in general social settings. Beauty of the human body is a god sent gift, let's don't junk it to the indecent category.

Meet Your MP

2011-10-11T20:31:00.000+08:00

Just a few minutes ago, the MP for our constituency dropped by my humble flat to say hello, and asked whether there were any improvement they can make.

Yes! I saw the notice the other day and I had been waiting for her to ask this question. Around my block, there are quite a number of rotten friends running around. They just come out from nowhere and then run around the path right in front of you. Our dear dear and darling cats don't seem to even bother about our rotten friends.

Our MP happily agreed to get the experts to come and get rid of all our rotten friends. Let's wait and see, whether there will really be some improvements in the days to come. Rats spread diseases, and they are not something that you can ignore and live together happily.

Let's wait and see.

A Weekend Without My Handphone

2011-10-09T21:17:00.000+08:00

Mobile phones have been deeply woven into our modern life. Like it or not, without a mobile phone, there are many things you can't do, even if you don't need the mobile phone to communicate with anyone.

I forgot my mobile in office on Friday, so I had to live through the weekend without one. I didn't expect I would get myself into any trouble, or even inconvenience myself, as I don't make that many phone calls, or sms a lot. Then when I need to do online purchase, and when I want to do bank fund transfers, I realize I can't, without my mobile phone.

Now for credit payments for your online purchase, they require you to have an OTP password to authorize the transaction. It is an added safety feature to safeguard your money. I can't say anything bad about it. But then if you lose your mobile phone, it will also be a nightmare for you.

Modern life, life can't do without mobile phones...

Memorial Museum of Generalissimo Sun Yat-Sen's Mansion

2011-10-09T18:00:00.001+08:00

Watched the movie 1911 Revolution yesterday, and it reminds me of my visit to the Memorial Museum of Generalissimo Sun Yat-Sen's Mansion earlier this year in Guangzhou.

Usually, the museum is quite empty, hardly with any visitors, but I visited it on the first day of Chinese New Year, long queues of people at the entrance, waiting for distribution of free entry tickets at each hour. The museum offers free entry, but they control the number of visitors to, I think, 3000 per day.

The mansion has obviously been renovated, with all the fresh paint visible over the entire building compound. And, in order not to obstruct the architectural beauty of the mansion, a small part of a nearby bridge was removed. You see, we Cantonese are really serious in preserving our heritage. :)

There are two western style buildings in the compound, used to be connected on the second floor with a bridge, but then that is gone.

Within the building itself, there are displays of artifacts related to the operation of the generalissimo during its heydays, offering a glimpse into the life of those challenging days.

Here is the meeting room where Dr Sun used to hold his meetings.

Quiet, airy corridor, perfect for a lazy summer afternoon in the heat of southern China.

Looking over the old structure, we can see the modern Guangzhou, covered in a thin layer of mist.

It is a nice place to remember those who dedicated their lives in the past for the betterment of our lives today. If you are not interested in history, at least it is a nice place to sit back and relax, and enjoy the view of modern Guangzhou.

If you can read Chinese, more information about the museum can be found at this link.

Empire State @ Causeway Point

2011-10-09T13:25:00.000+08:00

Empire State is another restaurant opened at Causeway Point after the renovation. It is more or less in the same style of New York New York, serving American style western food.

It is quite crowded at 6.30pm on a Saturday, quite a queue outside the restaurant. However, we were quite lucky that they quickly found a table for two for us. Customers obviously out number the waiters/waitresses. In such a hurry, our waitress forgot to bring us our ice water, although we ordered.

Here is my steak & fries. The steak is medium-well done, however, there is still sign of blood atop the steak. It is a bit scary, isn't it? The steak is tender, better than I had expected from any American style food. The food is simple, just a piece of steak, nothing much more to talk about, but they did it right.

Kapap - Self Defense for Everyone

2011-10-08T23:44:00.001+08:00

Recently I took up a Kapap course to learn some self defense techniques, just in case I may need that some time, although I hope that moment will never come.

There is a video clip produced by the North East CDC, which you can find below. You will get more information about Kapap.

1911 Revolution 辛亥革命

2011-10-08T23:28:00.000+08:00

This is Jackie Chan's 100th film, and it comes at the 100th anniversary of Xinhai (1911) revolution.

The movie has a bit of identity crisis, it seems like the scriptwriter doesn't know what he/she wants to portrait for this movie, whether it is a movie of history, a war movie, a movie of love, or whatever. It seems like the movie wants all, but then unfortunately achieves none beautifully.

What is more sad is that, the wishes of the revolution's leader, Dr. Sun Yat-sen, one century after the 1911 revolution, are still not fully fulfilled.

Hot Tomato @ Causeway Point

2011-10-08T16:24:00.000+08:00

Hot Tomato is one of the new restaurants opened after Causeway Point's upgrading. Often times, you can see long queues of customers outside it, and seems to be a very popular place for young people. Ok, in that case I must give it a try, and they are having some kind of promotion, how can I missed it?

My order is steak N prawn combo, served with spaghetti for ~13 bucks. Not too bad a deal. The food comes with a reasonable presentation, and looks good.

There are 4 parts to my dish, namely prawn, steak, spaghetti, and vegie salad. Let's start from the prawn. The prawns are of reasonable size, but unfortunately not very fresh. The meat sticks to the shell, a telltale sign that the prawns are not fresh.

Next the steak. I will say it is not too bad not too good, just ordinary. I order medium, and it is more on the bloody side, yet still ok.

Spaghetti is just normal, cooked with some kind of herb. The taste is on the plain side.

Last is the salad. The vegies don't look very good, and totally tasteless.

For me, it is unlikely I will go there again, sorry.

Wong Kok, Again

2011-10-02T23:09:00.000+08:00

My friend and I are kind of addicted to Wong Kok Char Chan Teng at JB City Square.

Ok, let's talk less, and show more. First comes the restaurant's new disk, baked prawn boat. What exactly is this? Actually it is a piece of potato. They dig out the center part, and then fill it back with prawn and fish paste, I guess, then bake the whole thing together with some butter.

The smell is good, and the taste is nice too. It gives the sweet taste of the potato and the texture of the prawn and fish paste.

Another new dish is Sabu Sabu rice. This dish is not as good as I expected. The pork they use has quite a bit of fat, which I don't really like. However, the thin slices of pork is still not bad, but people with heavy taste may not like it, as the taste is very light.

Manhattan Fish Market @ Causeway Point

2011-10-02T22:54:00.000+08:00

Manhattan Fish Market restaurant is a restaurant specialized in American style seafood, similar to Fish & Co.
Decided to give it a try, after they opened a new branch in Causeway Point.

My choice is the Mediterranean Baked Fish (S$. The fish fillet is wrapped in aluminum foil, and then baked together with banana leaf (?), and garlic. It is served with some healthy vegies, and garlic herb rice.

The fish is tender and juicy, with a light scent of the nice smell of garlic. I like it very much. Rice is not bad, although it is a bit on the dry side, and portion is a bit small. My young dining buddy complains that it is not enough for him :(

First Encounter with Golf @ MaxSwing

2011-09-25T21:01:00.000+08:00

Groupon.sg offered a deal of S$38 for 1 hour of indoor golf at MaxSwing@Orchard Central, plus coaching! It is such a good deal then how can I miss it?

MaxSwing is located on the 4th floor of Orchard Central, right next door to the even more expensive flight simulation shop. It is indoor, with air conditioning, so it is perfect for the rainy season of tropical Singapore. In addition, you can check out your own swing speed. Well, it somehow looks like a giant arcade game, I don't disagree.

Golf balls will come up automatically, although that mechanism doesn't seem to be very robustly designed. During our short 1-hour sting with golf, it jammed :(

Our coach is an old grandfather, David, a very kind and patient man. He is also a PGA professional golf more many decades! Ok, back to my golf experience. David taught us the basics for golf, as we are so green, knowing next to nothing about golf.

While I was at the counter waiting for the receptionist to bring us to the indoor golf room, I overheard a conversation between the receptionist and a guy enquiring about the cost of hiring a coach. Guess the price? S$100/hr!

At the end of the 1 hour session, we managed at least to hit the golf ball, and then getting a bit interested in this interesting but a bit expensive sports. If there is another opportunity to try this, for sure I will grap that opportunity, if the cost is reasonable.

Sarang@Orchard Central

2011-09-24T19:14:00.000+08:00

Sarang is a Korean restaurant on the top floor of Orchard Central. There are two dining sections, indoor and outdoor. Outdoor tables have a pretty good view of the central area of Singapore, and at night, you can gaze at the stars, if there is any :)

Being in a Korean restaurant, I, of course, ordered the Ginseng porridge, which is what the Koreans are famous for. The porridge came in a stone bowl, that is quite special. Stone can maintain the temperature of the porridge so that it will not cool down so fast. Unfortunately in Singapore, with the tropical weather, you do hope your porridge to cool down faster, especially in a sunny afternoon :)

The porridge came together with a small plate of plum power. I wondered why, as I have never seen ginseng porridge with plum powder before. Anyway, don't think the plate looks very nice?

Back to porridge. The taste of ginseng is gentle and mild, but you can tell that distinctive Korean Ginseng taste. The porridge is like the Cantonese style, so it is to my favour. Yeah, I must say I enjoyed the porridge, although the portion is on the small side.

We also ordered a plate of fried chicken wings. Usually chicken wings have 3 sections, but the chicken wings here have only two! The way they fry the chicken wings is also a bit different, neither the KFC with lots of flour style, nor the Chinese way of without any flour style. They are in-between, with a thin layer of flour. Outside is crispy, inside is juicy and tender, and it is not salty. I must say it is quite to my liking.

Total damage of this late after snack is S$32, including one ginseng porridge, one plate of fried chicken wings and that yellow alcohlic drink. Well, it is a bit on the high side, but still acceptable. Not too bad.

A New Phone, A New Experience

2011-09-23T22:22:00.000+08:00

I had used my time-tested old Nokia phone for more than 3 years, and I am one of those from pre-historic age who still used a non-smart phone. All that changed two weeks ago when I made my first ever smart phone purchase - A Samsung Galaxy Ace.

It is one of the low cost smart phones available on the market. It has all the basic functions I need for a phone, plus the many advantages that come with a smart phone.

What is different now? I can read electronic version of news, get updated on all the latest time-sensitive data. I can enjoy reading a book or something interesting while waiting patiently for friends who are known to be forever late.

I practice my Japanese on the go, or any small little time I have. Practice makes perfect. I do notice I have improved on my Katakana, which was very bad previously.

I can use my phone to record down my exercises. It shows you the distance you run or walk, amount of calories burnt. Pretty interesting, heh?

Most importantly, my phone now has more functions that I can use, although I still think that unless I am hooked on my phone most of my waking, my phone usage is still quite low. No time for all the 'fun' stuff :(

Generally speaking, I am quite happy with my new experience, although it is already quite a lag behind others.

New Menu @ Wong Kok

2011-09-19T21:56:00.000+08:00

Went over to JB again last Saturday and enjoyed a hearted meal at Wong Kok Restaurant, a Hongkong Tea House kind of restaurant. For a while, I was already bored with the food they offered, as the menu was always the same, no new stuff, until recently. They came up with some new dishes, which are more western oriented, such as lamb chop, chicken chop, etc. It is a set menu, a lamb chop set meal offers you a lamb chop, obviously, plus a choice of drinks of tea, coffee, or fruit juice, a soup, a dessert and a piece of garlic bread, for a grand total price of RM 23.00. It is quite a good price, comparing with Botak Jones' lamb chop of ~S$15.00, and your neighbourhood food court lamb chop of around S$7.90-8.50.

The taste of the food is not bad. The lamb chop is tender and juicy.

I quite like their dessert. It must have some plum as its ingredient, and really enhances your appetite.

I had already had this particular set meal twice, and I am still loving it. :)

大武生（My Kingdom）

2011-09-18T07:32:00.000+08:00

It has been quite a long time since the last time I watched a Chinese movie in a cinema, and Wu Zhun & Han Geng's 'Da Wu Sheng' (My Kingdom) is the latest one.

Story-wise, the plot is not that bad, although it is still predictable, and the characters are really dumb. They fight for nothing but a useless title. They seek revenge and at the end, two talented young man can never go stage to perform again.

The movie has many theatre fighting scenes, quite an eye opener to people who have not seen Peking Opera before, like me. You can find a 12-min trailer of the movie below.

My rating: 3/5

中孝介それぞれに（各自遠颺）

2011-09-15T22:16:00.000+08:00

It is a Japanese song that I like much and I would like to share with you. By Japanese singer Atari Kosuke.

求医不如求己

2011-08-30T14:52:00.000+08:00

Here is collection of videos from the author of the book 求医不如求己, literally translated into English means it is better to help yourself (with your disease) rather than asking your doctor for help. This collection of videos shows you some effective tips on how to improve your health so that you don't need to see the doctors anymore.

I have tried out many of the techniques mentioned in the videos, and they really help to relieve my pains, those almost every modern city dwellers suffer. I hope you can benefit from these videos too, however, if you are sick, it is still necessary to consult a doctor!

Golden Shower Orchid

2011-08-28T14:59:00.002+08:00

It has been a long time that I wanted to get myself a pot of orchid, but not until today, finally I got one. It is the easy to handle, and long flowering time orchid - Golden Shower.

Ok, 'golden shower' has a pretty bad meaning in a certain form of English, but no, this one is NOT that kind of 'Golden Shower'. It is a beautiful orchid plant.

It is already flowering beautifully when I bought it. Hopefully it will last for a long period of time. It brightens my home up :)

If you want to know how to care for orchids, here is a short video showing you the simple steps.

And you can find more information about care for Golden Shower Orchid here.

Equus

2011-08-27T19:10:00.002+08:00

After two long months of waiting, finally the show is up, but I was late. I was late for the show for 5 minutes, and was refused entry, temporarily, for about 10 minutes. Lucky.

If you want to know more about Equus, you can check it out at this wiki link. What I will write here is my personal experience about the show. Once I got seated, I was bombarded by smell of hair shampoo from the lady on my left, and the smell of deodorant from the hunky guy on my right. Throughout the show, I was intoxicated by all that chemical smell.

That aside, let's get back to the play itself. The plot is simple and predictable. In conclusion, the message the play wants to pass to its audiences is that: religion teaching to young people harms their normal sexual desire, may cause sexual anxiety and malfunction. The message is simple, isn't it? You don't need 2 hours of play to just get that message through.

As it is a play, so there is a lot of talking, lots lots of it. Talk until I almost fell asleep. There is no catchy word for you to remember, or to wake you up. The stage setting is simple and you can tell it is a shoestring type of production.

The main actor, Ethan Chia Han Sen, has quite a number of minutes of full frontal nudity scenes towards the end of the play. He has a perfect body that every man will envy, while every woman would crave for. Kudos to his courage to do it for the sake of art. You can find an article about him here. And also an interview from omy.sg with Ethan.

Other than the full frontal nudity, there is little to praise about this play.

2011 Singapore Presidential Election

2011-08-26T23:28:00.000+08:00

Tomorrow, Singaporeans are going to vote for their next president. For the very first time in Singapore's history, there are four candidates for Singaporeans to choose from. They are Mr Tan Kim Liang, Dr. Tony Tan, Mr Tan Jee Say, and Dr Tan Cheng Bock. They are all Tan's, although they might not be closely related.

Mr Tan Kim Liang was the CEO of NTUC income. He had pretty good reputation when he held that position and he indeed did something positive for the ordinary people.

Dr Tony Tan, former deputy prime minister. He has plenty of experiences in the government and government-linked companies. He has a track record in leading Singapore toward prosperity. However, rumors about one of his sons' NS record somehow dented his reputation.

Mr Tan Jee Say was the secretary to one of the prominent political figures in Singapore. He has experiences in the government and international banks. He is also the youngest candidate amongst the 4 presidential candidates. He contested in the General Election just this year as an opposition, but lost.

Mr Tan Cheng Bock, a fatherly figure. I don't know him well, I don't get his political view point well either, so I can't say much about him.

Four candidates, which one to choose, it is a tough choice. The campaign period is so short, only 9 days. People hardly know those candidates. Anyway, tomorrow is the voting day. I will give my vote to the person I think is the best for the country.

Yoga - For People Who Have Neck & Back Pain

2011-08-22T22:04:00.000+08:00

My sedentary life has made me suffer from constant neck and back pain. The condition gets worse recently due to heavy work load, and constant staring at my computer monitor. By chance, I saw this video in YouTube about a Yoga exercise for people who suffer the same kind of pain as I do.

Nothing to lose anyway, and I badly need some physical exercise to relax my body, and soul. I really don't see anything special about the Yoga movements, they are just like our normal stenching exercises, however, the result was wonderful. After following through most (not all) the routine, I felt some good physically. My neck pain is gone, my back pain is gone, although now my thighs are aching from the exercises.

I have linked the video here, so you can give it a try if you like. I must admit I only follow through the first 1/3 of the routine, as the rest are too demanding for this beginner. Oh, yeah, please just ignore the very first portion where they ask for a donation. Donate only if you really want to.

Enjoy your Yoga exercises. You will not regret :)

Final Destination 5 - Testing Your Bravery

2011-08-21T20:18:00.000+08:00

Watched 'FINAL DESTINATION 5' over the weekend in JB. The movie is shocking, bloody, violent, cruel, and offers no hope. It serves as a test to your bravery when you are facing extreme tragedy, and the bloodest ever scene you have ever seen. To add salt to the wound, nobody has a chance, even a slim one, to escape. Buddhism sutra claims that if you are full of good karma, then you will not be afraid when faced with such extreme tragedy. Obviously in this case I am not. The show time for the movie is 1 hour 33 minutes in total, but I think I only watched for around 45 minutes, and spent the rest of the time with my eyes closed, and ears covered. The death scenes are extremely bloody and not for the faint-hearted.

Unless you really want to test yourself, I would not recommend this movie. This movie is not going to get you feel relaxed or happy after watching it.

Outback SteakHouse

2011-08-14T17:02:00.000+08:00

I bought a 'good' deal from BigDeal.sg, a Singapore company specialised in getting good deals, for a set lunch at Outback Steakhouse at Millenia Walk for S$18.80, instead of S$38.80. It sounds really like a good deal, as the discount is more than 50%.

We arrived there at around 12 o'clock noon, and there was hardly any customer there. That explains why they specify that the deal is only valid for lunch.

Included in our deal is a set lunch, which is not in the menu. If we top up S$5.00, then we can get Tuna, or Black Pepper Steak, or Salmon, and so we decided we would top up to get the black pepper steak.

Ok, now comes the fun part. I looked at the menu, the Tuna is at S$22.xx, Black Pepper Steak at S$25.xx. Then where is my 50% savings? Ok, I guess the soup and salad were not free if you ordered the Black Pepper Steak only.

Somehow on that day, the chef probably has a preference of salty stuff. The Caesar salad was a bit on the salty side, probably due to the cheese they used, and the black pepper steak (in bite sizes) was also on the salty side.

Overall, it is not really a good deal.

Price wise, we saved on the service charge + GST (which were included in the S$18.80 price), and the cost of the soup and salad.

Taste wise, our Singapore version of the Outback is quite a far standard away from its American peers. Ok, the American standard also varies from my limited two time experiences with them.

Conclusion: Probably I will not patron Outback anymore.

Terracotta Warriors: The First Emperor and His Legacy

2011-08-09T19:26:00.002+08:00

This is one exhibition on-going in the Asian Civilization Museum, with a normal admission fee of S$5.00. Today is Singapore's National Day, so it is free! Of course, I would take this opportunity to pay a visit to this exhibition.

The first impress: The queue is really long! There are sign boards outside the museum telling visitors the estimated wait time. When I arrive at around 10:40am, the estimated wait time is 60 mins! Ok, never mind, after my wait training at USA immigration and Malaysia immigration, 60 mins is now nothing. We queue in line patiently, following the winding line in the waiting area. There are actually three or four waiting stages, after you clear one, you proceed to the next stage to queue. This is the longest wait I ever have in a Singapore museum. Anyway, we are already lucky, as we arrive early. By the time we leave, the queue is so long that many visitors have to waiting outside of the museum building, under the hot sun.

To be precise, this exhibition is not only about Qin Shihuang's terracotta, but all those funerary terracotta found in Qin & Western Han Dynasties.

I must say the terracotta are really beautiful. They were made to such detail. Look at this terracotta of an archer. His facial expression is so vivid, just like a living person right in front of you.

And guess what, they even have the tracks under the shoes. It is this kind of fine details we are talking about.

How about this soldier?

These terracotta is marvellous. No wonder so many people flock to the museum to catch a glimpse of this magnificent piece of art.

In exhibition there are other interesting objects too. Here is the tiger-shaped military tally. We only see this in movies or TV dramas, but now it is there, right in front of your eyes. Such a tiny object in the ancient days was the token to command thousands of troops, representing the command from the heavenly Emperor.

And this is the mold of the coins after Shi Huangdi united the whole China.

Another treasure on display is the bronze chariot from the Shi Huangdi's tomb.

The exhibition also includes archaeological discoveries from some Western Han Dynasty imperial tombs. Some of the objects are just equally interesting and wonderful.

And Han Dynasty used pottery for the human body only, but cover them with real clothes. Fabrics of the clothes rotted away over time, but the terracotta body was preserved. That makes it also a bit amusing to look at.

These two are supposed to be two Han warriors. The supposed wooden hands and their clothes are gone, only left with their clay bodies. Notice their genitals?

Here are the horse-warriors. The wooden horses are obviously long gone. Their facial expressions are just, I must say, a bit exaggerating.

The most impressive one is the so-called Eunuch terracotta in the right of the picture below. The male organ has been removed. It is said to be a Eunuch terracotta by the experts, but I like to ask: How do you know whether he just lost his 'precious' over time?

Do you notice they use different color for male and female terracotta? Brown for man, white for woman.

The exhibition is quite small, in the special exhibition gallery. However, if you are interested in Chinese history and their achievements, it is a very worthwhile exhibition for you to pay a visit. The benefit of a small exhibition is that you will not be overloaded by too much information being crammed into too short a time space. You can take the time to read each single caption, spend some time standing right in front of the exhibit, walk around it, examining every single details of it, have a meaningful conversation with our ancestors thousands of years ago. If you are looking for quantity, then it is not for you. The total number of objects on display is not big. You might get pretty disappointed.

Stop Loss

2011-08-09T08:28:00.000+08:00

When I opened the financial page this morning, the first thing is Dow Jones Industry Average has gone down more than 600 points. Before I went to bed last night, it was only down around 300 points, at some time, there was even some sign of recovering.

In such times, it shows how important it is to have a plan, know your stop-loss price and execute your trade according to the plan. The purpose of a stop-loss price is there to protect you. The stop-loss tells you that your original judgement had been a mistake under the current market condition. It tells you maybe you are on the wrong side of the table, so better jump out quickly and join the right side.

There should be no hesitation whether to execute your sell order or not once your stop-loss is hit. Use Nike's slogan, JUST DO IT! Nobody will know for sure after you sell your shares, whether it will quickly rebound or fall further, but it is to prevent the worst case scenario.

Happy investing.

Season of Red

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

It has been a couple of days we saw a bloodshed in the stock markets across the world. The world is so burdened with all the problems, from the US debt deal crisis, to European debt crisis, to the downgrading of US treasury debt. So many problems, yet no solution in sight. It seems really bad, but is it? The US debt deal crisis between the two parties seemed urgent and critical, but did it really matter? As expected, a deal was made just before the so-called 2 Aug deadline. Then came the downgrading of US debt by S&P. So what? Did we already know that US debt is not sustainable, and the downgrading is long overdue. There is really no surprise. Then why the bloodshed in the markets? Well, the crocodiles are ready to attack, that's all.

If you can't fight them, join them. Somebody told me about this. Comparing with the way I handled the financial crisis back in 2008/9, this time round I must say I handle it better. In the last financial crisis, and the one before, I was afraid, I was scared, and I followed the media, I didn't have a plan, I didn't know what to do, and I was restless, I was impatient. This time, I am getting more patient and calm, as finally, I have a plan. I stopped putting any money in the stock market since March. I deemed the prices are too high, valuations are unattractive, coupled with high inflation, high housing prices, high oil prices, it is a perfect environment for an impending financial crisis. Together with falling BDI, low VIX, all the conditions are right.

Now the storm has come. I cut my losing counters short. Money lost is money lost, just go out to get it back somewhere. There is no point mourning about money lost, just like no point mourning about spilled milk. Learnt the lesson, admit mistakes were made, then move on.

This is a season of red, a season of hope and fear. Have a plan, and follow your plan. Happy investing.

What is your dream?

2011-07-17T14:56:00.000+08:00

I just watched Alibaba.com's founder - Ma Yun's speed on life. One interesting point for me. Some people don't like their job, complain about their job, but they don't leave that job. They still go on life day after day the same way. That sounds very much like me. I don't like my current job, I want to do something new, I want to have a change of career, but I have never done anything concrete to move in that direction. That's precisely the cause of my current terrible situation, and stagnant in career advancement.

Beautiful Sunday

2011-07-10T20:21:00.000+08:00

Woke up at 8am, watched the repeat telecast of Japan Hour. They stopped airing Japan Hour since the March 11 earthquake, but now they have resumed the program, but mostly old episodes. I enjoyed watching it even though I had watched it before, just to pick up one or two new phrases, or how the real Japanese talk. Language learning should be a joy, not a chore.

Then went for a morning swimming in a SSC pool. Singapore is a great place for her citizens. There are many public facilities that you can use at a nominal fee. Swimming pool is one of them. S$1.30 entrance fee, I don't think that's enough for the upkeep of the swimming pool.

In the afternoon, I was at the Esplanade for its once-a-month free concert at the concert hall. It is my very first time stepping into the Esplanade concert hall ever since it was built. It is beautiful. I like it. The free concert was by some school bands, you can't expect world class type of performances, but they are good by their standard.

Life is all about personal experiences. You can be a millionaire, but if you don't spend your money to experience life, to fulfill your own wishes, money to you is just a pile of junk. Life is not about living in the misery of the past, or the fearful of the future, it is all about living at this very moment. Are you happy at this very moment? If not, what has to happen to make you feel happy? Is it something that is out of your control? If yes, why bother?

Life is beautiful, if you make it beautiful. The beauty of life has nothing to do with money, neither does happiness.

Comparing Prices

2011-07-10T08:48:00.000+08:00

People will compare prices when they go shopping, but usually I don't :) To me, the prices are almost the same and it is not worth the time to shop around, until one day I met DZ. He taught me the art of negotiation and how much price difference you can extract from different merchants. It is never a good idea to buy on spur.

Yesterday, as I walked past a major watch chain store, I was attracted by their Citizen Eco-Drive watches. I had always wanted to get one for myself, but still not yet. They were offering 10% discount store wide and another 10% discount if you pay with a certain bank's credit/debit card.

The watch I was looking at was Citizen CA0030-52E, Gents Chronograph Titanium sports watch. It is fancy, it is light, and with precious metal Titanium as the bracelet and case. The price before discount is S$728, after discount is S$589. It sounds like not a bad deal, you shave off 100 over bucks. However, I decided to do some research first before I made the purchase. I thanked the sale lady, and left, with her face black black, didn't even say good bye to me.

As I searched in the internet, the same watch is going for ~S$369! There is a price difference of S$220! My gosh, I almost generously donated to somebody else's wealth with my wealth.

This really teaches me a lesson: Must compare prices when shopping, no matter how unfriendly the sales person's face turns.

Transformer - Dark of the Moon

2011-07-03T15:21:00.000+08:00

This is the very first time I watch a Transformer movie in cinema, and in 3D! When I watched the last Transformer movie at my colleague's place, the scenes are confusing, objects flying around and making me feel dizzy. I was a bit hesitant whether I should watch the 3D version, which might even worse!

Well, I was happy when the movie started. The 3D scenes are there make the scene more vivid and realistic, but not to make you feel dizzy. You get more sense of 'involvement'.

The story is plain and predictable, and as usual, a lot of scenes are totally unbelieveable. For example, when one key character is about to die, there is always someone there to save him/her. Ok, that's movie. You can't compare that with real life stories :)

The female lead, Roise Huntington-Whiteley, is beautiful and a feast to the eyes. I have read reviews criticizing her for lousy acting and does not fit with Sam well. They are just jealous. PERIOD.

If you are looking for some entertainment, to escape for a while from reality, it is a pretty good movie to watch. If you are looking for complicated plots, thought-provoking philosophy, then please choose another one.

Traffic Jam at the Causeway

2011-06-11T17:00:00.000+08:00

It has been a week. Last weekend, I planned to go over to Johor Bahru to catch a movie, but the traffic jam turned me back. I stared at the picture on the internet showing the traffic conditions of the causeway, I was shocked in awe. My gosh! How could it start to have such long queue of cars early in the morning? Then till noon, to the afternoon, to late in the night. That was no sign of easying of traffic.

Ever since Malaysia implemented the finger printing measures for all foreign visitors, the traffic condition at the causeway always looks like this:

Massive traffic jam, from morning till night. There is no chance that you can quickly sneak over to the other side without being caught in the jam. It is really sad to see Malaysia side didn't make any attempt to improve the situation, and people who have to commute between the two sides of Straits of Johor will have to suffer in silence everyday. For sure, it is not one way of promoting Johor or Malaysia as whole as a first world country.

Residence Inn by Marriott @ Irvine Spectrum

2011-06-11T09:10:00.000+08:00

Got the chance to stay at this service apartment type of accommodation in the US during one of my overseas trips for work.

This Residence Inn is hidden among the industrial area of Orange County. Every direction you turn, you see an industrial building. This strategic location gives the Residence Inn a clear advantage, as you can see many foreign talents from India are staying here on their business trip.

The rooms are nice and cosy with a pantry where you can cook your own food. A picture is worth a thousand words, so just see for yourself.

At US$169/night, it is really nice for this home-style of accommodation.

Raindrops Cafe

2011-06-11T09:04:00.000+08:00

In a previous blog entry, I mentioned about Raindrops Cafe at SCAPE park (see it here). In the same post, I also said that looking at the way the cafe is being operated, it might not last for more than 6 months. Well, I am not sure whether indeed it didn't last 6 months, but at least now, after 11 months, they have changed owner.

Went down to Raindrops last night. In the past you needed a reservation to secure a seat, but then last night it was mostly empty around dinner time. The menu has changed. It is more like a cafe with emphasis on drinks rather than food. My favourite dishes are gone too.

It is a bit disappointing and so we left the place. The only good thing seeing the change is that it has proven my business sense is right, although it is really sad for my taste buds.

永不退缩

2011-06-03T23:32:00.000+08:00

潮起潮落，人生总有不如意的日子。当身边的人都离你而去，从不友善到敌对，每个人都想要踩你一脚。日子灰暗，乌云罩日，雪压竹枝低的时候，小任的这一首《永不退缩》是一种很好的激励。从来就不是一个聪明的孩子，从来就是一个不起眼的小人物，没有洋溢的才华，没有惊人的美貌与才智，有的只是一双手，有的只是勤劳与努力，靠自己的双手去创造机会与成功。

When Money Dies

2011-06-02T22:53:00.000+08:00

Title: When Money Dies
Author: Adam Fergusson

When Money Dies is a book published in 1975, over the background of USA being in a period of hyperinflation.

The book details about the sequence of events in Germany after World War I, but before World War II. How the German mark had managed to devalue itself to totally unbelievable levels. It is a very dry history text book, but then it serves some purpose. It reminds us paper money is nothing but just a medium of exchange. It has no intrinsic value itself. Its value will only be realized when you use it to buy tangible goods and services.

The scenario described in the book has alarming similarities with the current situation in USA. The Federal Reserve has no hesitation in printing more paper money to inflate the American economy, at the expenses of savers and tax payers.

You can find a free PDF version of the book here. It is worth your time reading this book. It tells you how the world will look like if Federal Reserve continues its printing binge.

Happy reading!

Microstock: A Raise at Shutterstock

2011-05-30T23:13:00.001+08:00

Well, after many long years, finally I received an email today from Shutterstock, saying that I have reached certain cumulative earnings, and now I have been promoted to a higher tier of the pay scale. Congratulations to myself! :) No matter what, it is still a milestone, and it is still something to celebrate :) However, the problem is I seldom have the time, nor the once upon a time passion to photography anymore. I still have photos from my Egypt and Jordan trip almost half a year ago, lying in the computer harddisk, waiting for me to bring them out for daylight.

Time to work harder, to get back my mojo? Life is beautiful, and photography is one fantastic way of having the wonderful moments frozen in permanent memory. It is great joy to see your work being appreciated by someone out there, putting your wonderful photograph to good use.

Know Your Casio Watch

2011-05-29T12:19:00.000+08:00

I got my Casio Protrek watch long time ago, and the watch has a lot of functions that I hardly use. You tend to forget about how to use the functions after a while. Today, as I was trying hard to find my user manual of the watch, I bumped into this page on the Casio site where you can download all the user manual of different models. Check it out here.

It is the very first time that I got to know that the model number of my watch is right on the back of the watch, at the top right hand corner. There are either 4 digits or 3 digits, depending on what kind of Casio watch you have.
It is really useful for someone like me who is not so good at keeping all the fancy user manuals. :)

心在淌血

2011-05-29T11:12:00.000+08:00

心在淌血，心如刀割，这都是小说里常见的写法，用来描述一个人的伤心。除了少年不知愁滋味，为赋新词强说愁的那些日子，从来都认为只是作者的夸张，为吸引眼球的取宠之举。直到。。。今天，我的心在淌血。

有人拿了一把尖刀，对着你的心脏插下去，白刀子进，红刀子出，血就象喷泉般汹涌而出，你会不痛么？而凶手则站在你的面前咧着嘴笑，恐怖么？凶手还是你最信赖的人。好了，这也是我的夸张而已，我好好的，没破没烂的，不过受了点刺激。一张热面贴到了人家的冷屁股上去了，都怪自己一厢情愿，别人不领情。好了，现在碰了一鼻子的灰，也该清醒了。尊重别人的决定，那是我不可以改变的，做好自己的本分，那是我可以改变的。

写下来了，就放下了。不要再为无谓的事情而烦恼，继续努力吧。

RSAF Open House 2011

2011-05-28T17:01:00.003+08:00

After 3 long years, this year there is another Republic of Singapore Air Force Open House. We arrived at Hougang MRT station at around 8.40am, to catch the shuttle bus from there to the airbase. The queue was really long, winding around the bus interchange one big round. The number of shuttle buses seemed quite insufficient. They didn't stream in, they slowly drove in, once in quite a while. At 10.40am, we managed to take the shuttle bus and arrived at the air base.

As expected, the air base is hot. The temperature was high directly under the tropical sun, and we counted us lucky in the sense that it was a cloudy day today.

At 11am, there was the aerial display, put simply, the air show. I must say it was a bit disappointing as we didn't really see much. After the wonderful F16 took up, it dived directly into thick cloud so thick that we couldn't see it anymore. Then we saw Apache attach helicopters, Hercules transport helicopters, and some ground vehicles moving around, not knowing what they are. Other than the deafening loud noise from the fighter jets, the impact of the show was really little. Totally unimpressed.

By 12.30pm, everywhere was crowded. Long queues everywhere and the mobile phone network is also jammed.

We decided to leave, and again, there was a long queue at the shuttle bus queue. I think this year's logistics is really not that good, and they obviously underestimated the number of people that might turn up. I hope they can do a better job next time. Anyway, that next time may be 3 years later.

Well, of course, after 3 long years from the last RSAF open house, they have something new to show. And that is - F15SG.

Here is yours truly posing with the F15SG. Look at that Merlion logo, don't you think it looks like a tourist icon more than a military coat of arms? Anyway, it is up close and personal :)

Pirates of the Caribbean 4 - On Stranger Tides

2011-05-28T08:25:00.000+08:00

An impromptu decision to go over to JB's City Square on a Friday night to watch this latest instalment of the popular movie series.

Captain Jack Sparrow is still as humorous and quick-witted as before. The story is not too twisted and not too unpredictable. They also introduces a mermaid and a missionary in this episode to spice up the love part of the movie. The mermaid is indeed beautiful and the missionary is handsome, good for people who are ogling for beautiful ladies and handsome men. Part of the sure success formula of a successful movie :)

The movie is about 2 hours long and it offers audiences of 2 hours of entertainment. As I watched it in JB, the cost is RM12, which is around S$5.00 going by today's exchange rate. It is really good and cheap entertainment. The only downside is that the guy on my right and the lady on my left both talked on the phone for a while. It was annoying, but still not too bad.

My rating: 3.5/5

一路上有你

2011-05-22T17:33:00.000+08:00

旅途中听到了这首歌。心中很感激这么多年来在我生命中留下足迹的许多贵人们。就用这首歌感谢我生命中的贵人吧。

Singapore General Election 2011 - Results

2011-05-08T10:43:00.000+08:00

When Singaporeans wake up these morning, they wake up to a slightly new world. There are still only two opposition constituencies, but there are now 6 opposition MPs. Opposition lost long time strong hold of Potong Pasir, by less than 150 votes!

In Joo Chiat, opposition lost by less than 400 votes. For all the other wards, almost all have seen a decline in support to PAP. And then PAP lost Aljunied GRC. With that, PAP lost 3 ministers.

I am quite surprised with this development. In the last GE, Aljunied was already a close call, and Mr George Yeo was already the leader for that ward at that time. It was only some last minute effort that swing the opinion in favor of PAP and then they won. Why in the last 5 long years that PAP did something to heal that scar and change people's impression on themselves? What have they been doing in the last five years?

The results of this GE is going to impact on PAP's policies on certain issues. There are a few that I can think of:

1. Foreign workers/Foreign talents. This is one hot issue and Singaporeans are very unhappy of. I can foresee that in the coming days, it will be harder to get PRs and Singapore citizenships.

2. Inflation, esp COE and HDB flat prices. Of the two, HDB flat price is the bigger issue. So many young Singaporeans are having difficulties in coping with the high cost of HDB flats. It has been made known to me by more than one friend that they had waited for more than 3 years, yet they couldn't get even a chance to get a new HDB flat. Anyway, both new and re-sale HDB flats now are very expensive, way out of the reach of young Singaporeans below 35.

PAP will have to be more humble and pay more attention to Singaporeans' views in the future, not just those scholars. My opinion is that many holding high office in the government now are from well off families, and they simple have no idea of how ordinary Singaporeans live.

To me, I think PAP has done a reasonably good job, but there are areas to improve. Our oppositions are still not very mature, and lack of solid track record and don't demonstrate their capability to govern the country effectively. They have many sweet candies, and it is in great doubt that they can deliver the candies.

Singapore General Election 2011 - Polling Day

2011-05-07T15:32:00.000+08:00

Today is the polling day of Singapore General Election 2011. Polling is a breeze. Walked just two blocks away from my own, showed the officers of my ID & polling card, ushered into the polling station, given the ticket, made my choice, dropped it into that paper box. That's it. Less than 3 mins, everything was done.

People waited for 5 years for these 3 sacred minutes today. Polling is a breeze, but also a sense of helpless. It really doesn't matter which party you vote for, you know who is going to win. The parliament is going to be filled with the people you have seen year after year.

Am I again the same old people? Not really. If they do a good job, why not?

Let's see what history Singaporeans are going to make on this special day. Let's see, let's see.

Singapore General Election 2011 - Cooling Day

2011-05-06T23:14:00.000+08:00

Today is the day before the polling day of Singapore General Election 2011, today is also the so-called 'cooling day', for voters to cool off and enjoy some peace before they finally decide who to vote for.

Cooling day, indeed it is very cool. No more campaigns, no more loud speakers, no more rallies, no more visits from candidates. Anyway, I didn't experience any of that for this GE, cooling day or not. I have not met any of the candidates in person. In the past, candidates would wake up early early in the morning and go to MRT stations to shake hands with people. This time round? I didn't see any man in white, nor in red, nor in any other color except the usually rush-hour crowd. Neither the ruling party nor the opposition seem to bother about people in this constituency.

Tomorrow is the polling day. How do you vote when you have no idea of who your candidates are. Even worse, I don't seem to know any of their policies, if there is any. Media reports are nothing more than some totally useless comments, arguing about something really trifle.

Tomorrow is the polling day, cast your vote carefully, to the one you can trust. However, if your candidates don't bother about you, who should you trust?

Catches from the Sea

2011-04-23T18:26:00.000+08:00

Went out for a morning today. It was a pleasant walk along the Strait of Johor, and we saw some guys having their catches from the sea, mainly crabs.

Do you see the happiness in all the people around? It doesn't matter whether you are the one who got the catches, everybody shares the joy of checking out the catches of the day. Life is simple. We don't need a lot of sophisticated gadgets, we just need to live within our means, in harmony with nature, and we will get what we need for our life. Nature is generous, and we will always get enough for our food, our life, provided we have respect of our mother nature.

It is good to remind ourselves that life is not that complicated, and simple is beauty.

Ichiban Boshi @ NEX

2011-04-23T18:24:00.000+08:00

Another colleague's farewell lunch. This time we went to Ichiban Boshi @ NEX. It is a small little restaurant tucked in some un-noticed place, I almost missed it right in front of its doorsteps.

I ordered yellow tail sushi (Hamachi). The sushi looks good, delicious, but when I tasted it, well, it is not really that fantastic. On the below average side.

My boss ordered the Salmon Set. It looks pretty ok, and the portion is reasonable. Not too much, but still filling.

My order, Don-don Wazen, probably is the most value for money set meal. It comes with two bowls of rice! The rice with raw salmon is not bad. They added some kind of oil in the rice, and makes the rice tastes good. But the unagi with egg is quite a let-down. They can do better with this. Two bowls of rice is in fact a bit too much, even for a guy. If you are going there with your girl friend, maybe you can share one set of Don-don Wazen, and then plus some other smaller dishes.

For me, the food in this restaurant is just average, but the price is reasonable, so it is not too bad if you just want to eat something to get your stomach filled.

My Rating: 3/5

Best Savings Account Interest in Singapore

2011-04-17T20:21:00.001+08:00

The current environment is the super low interest environment. I have just checked, DBS/POSB, OCBC & UOB, all three local big brothers in banking are offering savers a pathetic 0.1% pa on their savings accounts for their first S$50,000.00, and then slightly higher after that.

Standard Chartered bank offers its e$aver account holders 0.15% pa on their savings accounts, which is 50% higher than all the 3 local banks, sounds good in percentage huh, but not really in absolute terms.

Maybank is offering its savers 0.1875% for the first S$5,000.00, then 0.3% from S$5000 to S$50,000.00.

Then it comes Plus! U, a collaboration between NTUC and OCBC. This savings account does not offer you any over the counter services, everything is done through internet banking. As such, this savings account offers you, again, slightly better interest, 0.2% pa for the first S$50,000.00, then 0.4% after that. The good part about this is that, they also give you a credit card, which you can use as an NTUC link card and membership card. You can get rebates from your purchases at Fairprice, and ear Link points.

The ultimate best savings account should be CIMB's StarSaver account. It gives you 0.8% pa if your month-end incremental deposit is S$500 or more; and 0.5% if less than S$500. This sounds really good, but then the downside is that they only two branches in Singapore, both are far away from me.

Singapore's inflation is going up, ~5% based on January's data. The core inflation, which excludes private transport and housing costs, is still around 2-3%. Even at the low core inflation rate, the real saving account interest rate is negative! You are losing money every single minute you lend the banks your savings. Singapore always tames inflation by controlling the sing dollar's exchange rate, but not much on the interest rate. I think it is high time MAS raised the interest rate too, in order not to blow a bubble and penalizing the diligent savers!

As you can see from the savings account interest rates, none of them is even close to what the inflation rate is. This low interest environment is going to force lots people to seek better returns elsewhere, and stock market is one place people can think of.

Redemption of DBS 6% NCPS

2011-04-16T09:26:00.001+08:00

As I flipped through Friday's TODAY newspaper, there was this announcement of the redemption of DBS Bank 6% Non-Cumulative Preference Shares.

I have been holding these shares since 2008, at the height of the Singapore stock market. Subsequently, I saw its descend from S$110 to below S$100, and now back up a bit to ~S$102. This has been my largest loss-making counter, if the dividends are not counted. According to the share's prospectus, the dividend rate for this preference share will go down from 6% pa to 2.23% + 3 mth SIBOR after May 2011. At the current low interest environment, with SIBOR at 0.44%, and bank savings interest at 0.1%, the 2% + interest is still not too bad. But now even that is not possible.

You can check out more details here.

Good luck to your investments.

Standard Chartered's 24-Month Step-Up Interest Time Deposit

2011-04-09T13:38:00.000+08:00

In recent years, the interest rate on savings account has been dismal. Same goes for fixed deposits. The prevailing interest rate for savings account is a great total of 0.1% p.a., it looks so pathetic in an environment of 5.5% inflation rate!

Anyway, good company with good dividends actually can give you much better returns, but if you are the super safe, risk-averse type of person, then maybe you should consider this 24-month step-up time deposit offered by Standard Chartered Bank.

Basically you need to deposit a minimum of S$10,000.00, then the money will be locked in for 3 months, at an interest rate of 0.5% pa. Interest will be paid at the end of 3 months. If you decide to withdraw your deposit within the first 3 months, you have to pay a penalty of S$250. After the first 3 months, you will be free to withdraw at any time, without paying the penalty (but you may lose your interests earned since the last interest payout date).

For details, you can take a look at their interest table here. Please note that if you leave your money in this account for the full 24 months, you will get an effective interest rate of only 1.025% pa. This is way higher than the savings account interest, but then still way below the inflation rate. This account will not help you beat inflation, this account is only good for you to park some of your unused funds temporarily, without losing too much to inflation.

Chernobyl Disaster

2011-03-27T14:47:00.000+08:00

Some documentaries about the last major nuclear disaster in former USSR. It is a reminder of the danger of the nuclear energy industry, and for people to have a glimpse of what life might be after the current nuclear disaster at Fukushima, Japan.

Chernobyl could have wiped out the entire Europe, if not for the bravery of many who sacrificed their own lives for the greater good. The radiation can be so dangerous that even the robots will go haywire and breakdown. Electronics couldn't hold up under the heavy radiation.

Chernobyl disaster was rated 7, the maximum on the scale of seriousness of nuclear accidents, and now Japan's case has been raised from the initial 4, to the current level 6, with a potential to go to 7, which will be the same as Chernobyl disaster.

Microstock: Be Aware of What the License Agreement Means

2011-03-27T11:39:00.001+08:00

I mentioned in this blog post about the use of one of my photos as a book cover for a gay book. I thought it was a direct violation from the particular agency's license restriction course, which states:

Use that depicts model in a sensitive way i.e. mental or physical health issues, substance
abuse, criminal behavior, sexual activity or preference without a disclaimer.

So I contacted the agency, and their compliance enforcement team came back to me with this:

We are of the belief that this usage is permitted within the terms of the Agreement. There are a number of reasons for this. First and most importantly, most novels clearly state in the forward of the book that it is a work of fiction and any similarities to persons real or fake are coincidence. This in itself would be considered a disclaimer. To be quite honest, the likelihood that anybody would reasonably believe that the cover image is not a model seems very far off.

I am quite disappointed with this answer, and in my opinion, they are siding with the publisher.

Next time, when you upload something for sale, be aware of what the license agreement actually means. When it comes to legal terms, they can be very different from common sense.

Art Science Museum @ Marina Bay Sands

2011-03-26T18:04:00.000+08:00

When the Singapore government decided to open 2 casinos in the city state, there was a lot of opposition from different fractions of the society. To make the opposing voices happy, the Singapore put in a condition to the casinos that they must have some family or art/science elements to their Integrated Resorts, which practically are, casinos. And then here it is, do you see that distinctive lotus-like structure in front of the Marina Bay Sands buildings? That's the new Art Science Museum.

It has that comtemporary transparent glass entrance.

Currently there are three exhibitions on-going at the museum, namely (1) Genghis Khan, (2) Shipwrecked - Tang Treasures and Monsoon Winds and (3) Traveling the Silk Road.

I will share with you my journey over the 3 exhibitions.

1. Genghis Khan

Right at the entrance to Genghis Khan exhibition, sits this once all mighty ruler of half of the world. The two brooms on his two sides are the Mongol's religion's flags to attract the spirits of their god. The white broom for peace, and the black for war.

Here is a map of the Mongol Empire, is your country once under Genghis Khan's rule?

In display, there is this interesting object as YaoPai (腰牌) in Chinese, which is basically a metal plate with words. It serves as a kind of passport in those ancient days for the Mongol official and generals to pass through different parts of the vast empire to carry out their duties.

And you can also see the mails wore by the soldiers. Don't you think it looks very similar to those you see in Europe?

And some interesting musical instruments too.

The exhibition is called 'Genghis Khan', but it is not really centred around this one person. Rather it is centered around the rise of the Mongol Empire. The artifacts on display are mostly replicas, instead of real antiques passed down from the past.

The captions of the exhibits are in English and Chinese, but the Chinese caption is done very poorly. Mistakes are easily spotted and sometimes makes you wonder how trust worthy this exhibition is.

Example, the 'Coronation of Genghis Khan' has been 'translated' to something like Genghis Khan's family has been wronged.

2. Shipwrecked - Tang Treasures and Monsoon Winds

This is about the discovery of a ship wreck off Indonesia coast and the treasures unveiled. The ship is thought to be plying the Silk Road on the sea from China's Guangzhou to Persian Gulf. The treasures discovered in the shipwreck include many Chinese potteries, gold, silver, and other treasures.

This big big water bottle is one of the treasures uncovered. It is tall with very fine details. The style is elegant.

Another piece is this bowl. Do you see that yellow dragon playing in the white and green waters? Do you think it is lively?

And then to me, the most prized treasure is this cup. It has a small fish at the bottom of the cup. Just imagine when you pour water into the cup, don't you think the fish will look like it is swimming in your cup? How creative our ancestors were!

Other treasures include gold and silver ware.

This exhibition is quite eye-opening in the sense that you would never expect a Tang Dynasty merchant ship would carry so much goods, and they are all so elegant. World trade was so active in those days, even compare with today's world trade.

Oh, I forgot to mention, of course there were a lot of other not so valuable goods were carried on board the ship too.

Hundreds, or thousands of average quality bowls were carried on ship too. However, the potters must be people of good sense of humour, as what they drew and wrote to deco the bowls are fun.

3. Traveling the Silk Road

Just finished taking a peek in the Silk Road on the sea, then we move on to take a look at the Silk Road on land, starting from China's Xi'an, the capital city during Tang Dynasty, and end at ? Somewhere in today's Middle East or Europe.

Silk Road, of course it is about the Silk trade. Didn't know the technology to make Silk had been a closely guarded secret of the Chinese for centuries.

And whenever you mention Silk Road on land, you can never not to mention camels :) And the happy silk traders.

Of the 3 exhibitions, I think shipwreck is the best, while the other two are a bit too pale in comparison in terms of the number of exhibits and quality of the exhibits.

Admission to the Art Science Museum is SGD$30.00. You can get a 20% discount if you pay with OCBC credit cards, which is SGD$24.60 (with GST). I think it is a bit pricy for the kind of exhibitions, but then it is a for profit museum, so nothing to say.

Life is a Roller Coaster

2011-03-25T23:08:00.000+08:00

It has been quite a while since I last blogged. Life is like a roller coaster in recent days. First it was the triple disaster in Japan, earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear crisis. The initial response to the triple disaster is naturally sad. Lives were lost, homes destroyed, wealth vanished, and an imminent radiation threat. It is nothing but like a living hell, although I myself was not affected in the least. My heart goes to the Japanese people, may those who lost their lives Rest In Peace, may those survived be strong and rebuild their home and country.

As the Chinese say, every crisis is an opportunity. The triple disaster in Japan unexpected created lots of opportunities for other countries. The void that the Japanese companies left had to be filled by companies from other countries. It is immoral to profit from disasters, but it is a capitalist world, life still has to go on, the world will not stop for any one person, any one country. The opportunity thing pushed to a high point and then now it suspects there. The next course of movement? Your guess is just as good as mine.

Then at time of crisis, you will tell who are your friends, and who are your back stabbers. Some who claim to uphold the ideal of equality and freedom, and blah blah blah, are now doing exactly the opposite. But I shall not be surprised as even their democratically elected national leaders have no financial responsibility. It is such a down point.

Down point it may be, it is just a small episode in the course of life. This is life. Sometimes down, sometimes up, most importantly I am improving myself day by day, being a better and better person, though will never be a perfect person.

Life is a roller coaster, enjoy the ride, and all that fun.

Product Safety

2011-03-20T21:44:00.000+08:00

Got myself a new bedside table from a very famous furniture store yesterday. With great excitement, I put it beside my bed, as it is a bedside table. Everything looked good and I was happy and satisfied, until bed time came.

After I went to bed, I simply couldn't fall asleep. Why? It is that smell, that new furniture smell, it made me feel dizzy. That chemical they use to treat wooden products.

Where is it from? Poland. The brand? A world famous brand from Northern Europe, and it requires self assembly, so you should know who.

I wonder, whether there is a strict product safety standards for such furniture makers to adhere to? We are just innocent consumers who just want to have a piece of safe furniture, but please don't turn such a joyful event into a nightmare.

Luckily, I suppose I just need to put my bedside table to somewhere airy, and leave it there for some time for that chemical to fully vapourize, hopefully.

Product safety!

Food Hunt in JB - Soon Huat Bak Kut Teh

2011-03-13T20:05:00.001+08:00

Last time when I went to Teck Seng Restaurant at Taman Sentosa, I mentioned a Bak Kut Teh restaurant nearby in this blog entry. This time, we decided to give it a try.

Lemon Honey Drink (爱玉冰)

You Tiao (油条)

Bak Kut Teh

豆卜

Pig's Trotters

猪脚

I must say I am a bit disappointed with them. The Bak Kut Teh is a bit too plain and too similar to what we have in Singapore, but far cry from that I had in Klang. The only choice seems to be pork ribs, there are no other choices.

The Dou Po is just juicy, but not exceptionally good. Pig's trotters is the best of all, yet it is still on the too oily side.

What I don't understand is that the restaurant is still full of customers. We arrived there at 11.05am, it was already almost full, by the time we left, there were a lot of people waiting outside, and many cars waiting for parking.

KSL City in JB

2011-03-13T10:28:00.002+08:00

There is a new shopping mall just opened last December in JB. The mall is right behind Crown Prince hotel (Previously mentioned in this blog entry).

The mall has four levels, including a cinema, a not-yet-ready hypermart TESCO, four Hong Kong Tea House type of Char Chan Ting (茶餐厅), a number of DVD shops (you know what), a Tang Shifu too. The mall is not really quite ready yet, lots of stalls are still available for leasing.

As the mall is very close to Pelangi Plaza, very close to Taman Sentosa, two places frequent by Singaporean weekenders, so I think in the future, it will be another place popular with Singaporeans, when the mall is more well known.

To entice the visitors more, there is a shuttle bus from City Square to KSL mall, passing by Danga City Mall, and Pelangi Plaza. From City Square to KSL mall is RM1.60, not too bad a choice.

More details of the mall can be found here, including a map to the mall, the major tenants of the mall, etc.

Japan 8.9 Scale Earthquake 2011

2011-03-12T22:46:00.001+08:00

It was a sad day on 11 March 2011, to learnt the news that an earthquake of 8.9 scale occurred near Japan, and the subsequent Tsunami causing massive damage to properties and human lives.

2011 has not been a good year in terms of natural disasters. First it was the flood in Australia, then it was the devastating earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand, then followed by the earthquake in Indonesia and Yunnan China. Now, it is the fifth largest earthquake since 1900, which is 8.9 scale earthquake in Japan.

It is reported in the news that transport in Tokyo area has come to a complete stop, the two airports, Narita and Haneda are closed. There was an explosion at one of the nuclear plants, and fires in many locations. People are being stranded near their office, without enough food and water.

It is so sad, everything looks like the movie 2012 unveiling bit by bit. Everything is so gloom and doom. However, we must remind ourselves that feeling sad, and gloom & doom is not going to change anything, or make life better. Facing such devastating natural disaster, we must all stand firm and support each other, and have great hope of a better future. We should never lose hope and give up.

Ganbatte!

In addition, it is also a reminder that we should always be prepared for natural disasters. In Singapore, SCDF advises citizens to have water, can food, medical kit, torch light, battery and radio ready in your emergency kit. Have you prepared all these?

Microstock: A Dark Day

2011-03-05T08:28:00.001+08:00

I had mentioned before photos from microstock being used in some unglamorous situations and causing distress to both the photographer and the model. Never had I thought it would happen to me, but it did yesterday. My model informed me his photo being used as the cover photo for a book published in the USA. I thought, that was nice. Then he told me the book is about the growing up story of a gay boy in Singapore! My gosh!

I emailed the publisher, requesting to remove that photo from their facebook and amazon.com, but the request was bluntly and rudely turned down. Their reply was very much like telling you right into your face that you stupid idiot!

Looking at that publisher's other publications, obviously they specialize in gay-related publications, and I think they are just a small operation.

The book cover is nothing but my stock photo with some words on it. There is no design to talk about.

This incident makes me think again about using models for microstock. Both the photographer and the model were paid peanuts but have to endure undue stress. What should I do? I have removed all my stock photos with a human face. You can't tell where your photos will end up. The creative industry is really creative.

This is a reminder to myself:

Never submit photos with a human face to microstock, no matter what. You have absolutely no control where the photo will end up with.

For a follow-up on this issue, please see this blog entry.

Good Health

2011-02-20T11:51:00.000+08:00

It started on a rainy Saturday last December. I went out with a new friend, bring her around Singapore, happily sightseeing. Then after I came back home, this feeling of impending flu bothered me. I got a flu. Flu, no big deal, didn't think too much about it. Then starting from running nose/blocked nose, to cough, to long lasting cough from that Saturday, throughout my trip to Jordan and Egypt at the end of December, then lasting through January, then Chinese New Year, and then it became worst in the last week. Fever raised its ugly head after many many years.

I was really a bit scared, wondering what has happened. The cough medicine is like no use, neither is the medicine for my blocked nose.

Until then did I realise how great it is to have good health. Small little ailment is going to spoil your day, all the fun in life.

Counting my Blessings

2011-02-19T10:19:00.001+08:00

In difficult times, you should count your blessings, in good times, you should also count my blessings. Chinese New Year is just over, and it is a good time to count my own blessings.

I have loving parents. They are not wealthy or smart or extraordinary, but they love me unconditionally, whole-heartily. Sometimes their love is causing lots of trouble for me, and not really the way I would want it, but then, still, they love me, no doubt about it.

I am very lucky to have good bosses in my work. My former boss FHS and current boss HHC, are both persons with lots of ideas, persons of great integrity. They are knowledgeable but yet lenient. It has been a great experience working for them.

Then my colleagues are great too. Mr Summer, is like god-sent. Difficult to find someone who is both willing and capable, and at the same time, of integrity. KL is another god-sent, he has all that qualities of Mr Summer, plus he is caring. Mr Corn, our investment guru, who taught many of us the principles of investment and make many of our colleagues a lot richer, having a much bigger bonus from the investment world than from our work. It greatly helps to alleviate our anxiety to work for money.

On personal front, I have great friends like Ms Zhou who enthusiastically help me look for a g/f, so does Mr Liu. My dear dear elder sistor Ms Y, who is always on my side and ready to help me take care of all kind of chores. Then HJ, a strange classmate of mine from university days. Of course I can't forget Ms Purple, who is always willing to lend me her ears to listen to my complaints.

I am lucky to have a roof over my head in this world of rising property price. At least I don't have to pay high rents and being at the mercy of the flatowner anymore. I have been healthy, without any major illness, except the recent long-lasting flu.

I have not traveled to many places on planet earth. Not as many as the savvy travelers, but a lot more than many.

I am grateful. Life is beautiful, and we should look forward to an even better tomorrow. ^_^

Removal of TV & Radio License Fees

2011-02-18T21:41:00.000+08:00

It has been many years that I wanted the stupid TV & Radio license fees to be removed permanently from the island of Singapore, but to no avail. The reason given was always that we needed the money to sponsor the less popular TV & radio programs such as some documentaries.

Today, 18 Feb 2011, the Singapore finance minister, announced in his 2011 budget speech, that the TV & Radio license fees will be permanently removed from this lovely island. Hooray, this island becomes more beautiful with the removal. It is a day for a small celebration, although too bad I am still very sick, down with the flu bug. It is a day to remember, finanlly the government acknowledged that the TV & Radio license fees are no longer relevant and out-dated.

Flu, Flu, Flu

2011-02-16T19:22:00.000+08:00

The weather in recent days is bad, sudden changes from hot to cold and back from cold to hot. When you go out to any shopping center, or taking MRT or bus, don't you notice there are many people around you are coughing, sneezing, etc. How about in the office? It is again many people coughing, sneezing.

The flu bug seems to be extremely strong. Many people around me are catching the flu bug, myself no exception.

May everybody have good health!

Guangzhou Lizhiwan (荔枝湾)

2011-02-13T19:23:00.000+08:00

In Seoul, South Korea, there is a place called Cheonggyecheon. It is one of the great achievements of the incumbent President - Lee Myung-bak, when he was the mayor of Seoul. Cheonggyecheon used to be nothing but a polluted, smelly stream in the city. The previous mayors chose to simply cover up this smelly stream with concrete and forget about it, but Lee decided to do something to it and restore it to its original beauty. And indeed he made it. Then a years earlier, some government officials from Guangdong province in China visited Cheonggyecheon, so they decided to do the same, then came the Lizhiwan.

A picture is worth a thousand words. Here you see the new Lizhiwan at night. Elegant bridges, winding water ways, blue-grey brick buildings of typical South China architecture, illuminated under the Chinese New Year festive light-up, bump boats ferrying tourists, local and non-local, along the waterways.

Walking along Lizhiwan, you might wonder whether time has gone back to the glory days of Lizhiwan, which was the richest part of Guangzhou City in the days of Qing Dynasty. Being the only port allowed to trade with foreigners, Guangzhou was thriving in business. Came with the upper class life-style of the business elites. Lizhiwan has the highest concentration of famous restaurants with history dating back to the Qing Dynasty, and they are still in business and thriving today.

Next time when you visit Guangzhou, pay Lizhiwan a visit. You have a feast to your taste buds, as well as to your eyes.

Flimsy Carlsberg Beer Can

2011-02-12T12:06:00.001+08:00

Bought 6 cans of Carlsberg beer at the airport, but by the time I got home, one of them had already leaked away almost completely. Upon close inspection, none of the cans was opened, only one has a slight dent in the can, as shown in the photo above.

Guess what, such a small dent actually led to a punch hole, a really small hole that you can hardly see it with your naked eye. And the dear dear beer escapes from that tiny hole.

I have never experienced this before. Then out of curiosity, I compared the Carlsberg beer can with another brand, my gosh, the can is a lot more thinner! No wonder a small dent can cause a hole in the can!

Well, the moral of the story is: If you buy Carlsberg can beers, be careful!

Jordan Egypt 2010 - Day 2: Mt Nebo

2011-01-26T22:18:00.001+08:00

We started really in the morning on our second day. First stop? Mt Nebo. Any idea what is so important about this place?

This is where God showed Moses of the promised land, and also the place where Moses died and ascended to heaven (?)

Atop Mt Nebo, the wind was strong, the mist was dense. Yet we still braved the wind, the cold to come up to the top.

me on the way to top of Mt Nebo, beside our rental car

From the top of Mt Nebo, you can have a good view of the Valley of Jordan. It is said that on a sunny day, you can also see Jerusalem. But, what do you see here...

It was so misty, hazy, we could hardly see anything beyond 1km.

Hey, bro, you are not God lah. What do you want me to see in such a hazy day? P complained that we came way too early in the morning, and Mother Earth was still covered under her veil. Bro, holy land leh, so easy to see meh? :P

Then since we were at Mt Nebo, I must show you the church (which was under renovation), and also the Mosaics.

Maybe it was the low season, again there were hardly any living souls at Mt. Nebo. We enjoyed the quietness and peacefulness of this wonderful holy place. My solute to Moses for his and his people's bravery!

You can find my Jordan/Egypt related posts here.

Jordan Egypt 2010 - Day 1: Madaba

2011-01-25T23:13:00.002+08:00

Leaving the grand Roman town ruins in Jerash, we headed directly to Madaba, where we would settle for our very first night in Middle East.

Our accommodation, Mosaic City Hotel, is a nice little hotel tucked at one corner of Madaba's main road. Our room was reasonable, with clean attached bathroom. The breakfast was simple, but yet sufficient.

But one thing we were too happy was that there were sands in our bed cover. I don't know whether it is a 'feature' in the desert, or it is a result of someone's laziness. The price for a twin room is JD44 (S$88) a night. It is a bit expensive, but you will know why we chose this hotel later.

Nearby our hotel, there were a number of convenient shops where we stocked up our bottled water. The price is JD3 (~S$6.00) for a 6-pack 2-liter bottled water. It is a bit pricey, isn't it?

Then we went out to look for food in the dark. We were walking in a street lined up with shops, but then restaurants were not that common. The few that we found were mostly empty, with hardly any customers. So, after a long search, we decided to have our dinner at a small 'restaurant', for some grilled stuff.

Here is our dinner for the night. There was grilled chicken, grilled vegies, and grilled lamb? I guess. The portion was quite big and I didn't manage to finish the whole thing. The lamb and vegie were not bad, but the chicken was a bit dry and hard to chew.

After our dinner, we went back to our hotel and had a nice sleep. Ok, that's the end of our very first day, a very long first day.

Oh, by the way, we only came to Madaba for accommodation, not for what it is famous for, which is mosaic. The reason? We actually wanted to stay in Dead Sea area, so that we can enjoy a swim in Dead Sea, and save time, but as we searched for accommodation, my gosh, they are all so expensive, usually a night will cost you around USD200. As a cheaper alternative, we chose to stay in Madaba, instead.

You can find all my Jordan/Egypt related posts here.

Jordan Egypt 2010 - Day 1: Jerash

2011-01-24T21:33:00.000+08:00

Jerash boasts itself as the biggest Roman town ruins outside Italy, and one of the most famous tourist spot in Jordan, I was expecting beelines of tourists flocking the place, but on the contrary, hell no! When we arrived in Jerash, there was hardly anyone, other than the locals.

We had our first meal in Jordan at the Rest House Restaurant near the Jerash Roman ruins. It is not the one at the visitor center, but further down, outside the Hadrain's Arch.

P was still very energetic and full of smiles because now he had food on the table.

While I was already very tired from the long long long flight from Singapore to Amman.

It was a buffet, and cost JD8 per person. There were not too many selections, but they were all ok and not too bad. I was not really used to their way of cooking and seasoning, but the food was still ok. The restaurant was like a ghost restaurant, with the two of us as the only customers. Lucky later a couple of Caucasians came too. Business was really bad, and I didn't expect a popular tourist spot could be this quiet and 'peaceful'.

After lunch, we went straight to the Roman ruins, and being welcomed by the Hadrian's Arch.

We were there at around noon time, or slightly later, but look at the color, it was like dusk. The sun shone weakly on the ancient stones, giving it a warm and yellow cast in a chilly winter afternoon. This mountain turtle has never seen any Roman ruins before, the grandness of this arch really impressed me. It is elegant.

This arch was built in to commemorate the visit of Emperor Hadrian to Gerasa in 129 AD. Hell, I must write a complaint letter to the Chinese education authorities, as I didn't have a clue of who Emperor Hadrian was! The Chinese education failed me! But in this internet age, a Google search will tell you all about Emperor Hadrian. He seemed to be one of the few good emperors in history.

Immediately after Hadrian's Arch, the impressive Hippodrome came before your eyes.

This is where you can see the live Chariot parades. Too bad, we didn't have the time, nor the timing was right for us, so we missed it. Standing right there, it felt like I went back in time to the age of gladiators. The excitement, and cheers, and the cruelty. They were so vivid in front of me, as if I had lived as a Roman citizen once.

Jerash Roman ruins is huge place. Even if you are not a history freak, which we are not, it will still take you about two hours just to walk around the entire place. Take note of the sunset time, as in Winter, the sun sets at around 4.30pm, but the sky looks like dusk starting from 2.30-3.00pm.

Ok, I can't bring to every single site in Jerash, so before I go, I will show you a video of a 360 view of a small section of the Roman ruins.

You can find all my Jordan/Egypt related posts here.

Jordan Egypt 2010 - Day 1: Amman

2011-01-23T10:02:00.000+08:00

Due to time difference, we arrived at Amman's Queen Alia International Airport at 9.50am local time, still 19 Dec 2010 :).

It took us quite a bit of time to clear immigration. First, we had to change our USD to JD at the bank so that we can pay the JD10 visa fee, then we had to get our visa, then we could go to the immigration counter to get our passport stamped. There were only a few counters at the airport, I guess they only cater to small number of passengers.

After immigration clearance, we were greeted by a staff from our car rental company. My friend sat down with him to get the paper work done, while I went to change my USD to JD at the banks at the airport. I changed USD500. The rate is the same as that inside the airport, and also they charged me JD10 as commission. :( JD10 can buy you almost 4-5 kebahs. Anyway, being unsure where else could I change money, I just played safe, of course, with a price to pay. My friend only changed his later at Madaba, which he didn't have to pay any commission.

The guy from the car rental company is a very nice guy. He sat in our car to direct us to the petrol station to top up our petrol, then directed us to the right way to Jerash.

Wanna see how it feels like driving in Jordan? Take a look at the video below.

The landscape is mostly barren, yellow, yellow and yellow, only occasionally you can see some green. Their lanes are a bit narrower than those in Singapore, otherwise I think their road conditions are quite ok, traffic is not chaotic.

It took us about half an hour to go from the airport to the border of Amman, then from there, another half an hour to Jerash. The map in our GPS is not really that up-to-date, and sometimes it directs you to the wrong way. Sigh. This happened when we reach Jerash town. We circled around the modern town, while where we really wanted to go is the old town, where the Roman ruins are. After quite a bit of struggling, and asking for directions from the locals, we finally managed to the Jerash Archaeologic park.

You can find all Jordan/Egypt related posts here.

Jordan Egypt 2010 - Day 1: Dubai

2011-01-18T23:04:00.000+08:00

On Dec 19, 2010, full with excitement, we took Emirate flight EK349 via Sri Lanka to Dubai, and then from Dubai to Amman by flight EK901.

When we chose our airlines, basically we only had two viable choices, one is Qatar Airways, the other is Emirates. In terms of price, the two are about the same, but in terms of timing, Emirates has some advantage. Flight EK901 arrives in Amman at 9.50am, with this, you gain about a day's travel. In comparison, Qatar's flight only arrives around 3 o'clock in the afternoon, with sunset in winter at around 4.30pm, you basically lost a full day with Qatar's flight.

There is something interesting I noticed with Emirates online prices. If you book at around 12 o'clock noon, the price is about S$100-200 cheaper than you book in the evening! I observed this for a few days and finally booked my ticket at 12 noon, which was around S$200 cheaper than if I did it the night before!

EK349 has to stop at Sri Lanka's capital city to let passengers alight and board. The process is quite painful as you can't get out of the plane, and have to remain seated and just wait and wait. To make things worse, the whole activity is not that well organized and there are quite a bit of chaotic elements in it.

Anyway, we finally arrived at Dubai International Airport, the wonderful city of GOLD, host to the world's tallest building!

The airport design is contemporary, which means it looks very much like the other airports that were built during the same period across the world, including Bangkok's new airport, Hong Kong's CLK International airport, and many many others.

But just to give you a feel how rich this country is, they even have an oasis in the middle of the airport building.

It is no big deal if it is in some other country's airports, but remember Dubai is a city in the desert where water is scarce. And you see here such lush greens and a water fountain.

However, this indoor oasis is an important landmark within the airport, if you are traveling with Emirates. Near this indoor oasis, there is a Emirates transit lounge. If your transit time is more than 4 hours, then you can go there to have a free meal. It is open buffet, there are not too many varieties, but the food is not bad.

In case you want to have a stop-over trip in Dubai, they have a strange rule that if your total transit time is less than 8 hours, they don't allow you to go out of the airport! Oops, that goes our Dubai day tour :(

You can find all my Jordan/Egypt related posts here.

Awaken The Giant Within

2011-01-17T23:22:00.000+08:00

Title: Awaken the Giant Within
Author: Anthony Robbins

I have long heard of Anthony Robbins and his motivational talks used to be so popular in Singapore, especially in time of crisis, such as the Asian Financial Crisis. Too bad the seminars were too expensive for a fresh grad, and never did I have the chance to attend one. Plus, some people had some bad comments, which further pulled me back. Until I read his book today, did I realize how wrong I was.

His book is truly inspirational, and I regret I didn't read it earlier. He makes a seemingly confusing world a lot more clearer, just like some one with short-sightedness sudden have his glasses on.

In the book, he first tells you what affects a person's behavior/actions, don't expect a lot of factors, just two: pain & pleasure. If doing something brings you pleasure, you tend to do it again and again; but if doing something brings you pain, esp a lot of pain, then you tend to drag if you have to do it again.

The the author continues to tell you why some people are forever unhappy. What is the relationship between a person's values and rules and his life. Do you expect a person with conflicting values & rules will ever be happy in his life?

What is more important is of course how to change your life for the better. The author details the steps you can take to make permanent changes to your life, a better life, a more enjoyable life.

It is a book everybody should read at least, if not more.

Jordan Egypt 2010 - Tips and Essentials

2011-01-15T11:20:00.003+08:00

Instead of starting my blog about my Jordan/Egypt trip with all the daily activities, I would like to first share with you the travel essentials and some tips I learned from my own experiences.

1. Money Exchange

In both Jordan and Egypt, you can change money at a)Banks; b) Money changer; c) Western Union. The rates between banks and money changer are almost always the same, the only difference is that banks charge you a commission, esp in Jordan, but money changers don't. In Jordan, they only accept local currency which is the Jordanian Dinar (JD in short), so you must have JD ready to pay for everything, including the entry visa fee. There is a bank branch at the Amman airport where you can do the money exchange, but they charge you commission, and the commission is steep. So it is advisable that you change a small amount of money first, enough to cover you the visa fee, cost of buying some basic food and water and petrol, if you are renting a car at the airport, then change the large sum later when you find a money changer.

In Egypt, the banks don't seem to charge you a commission in general, and money changer is quite rare. The common practice is to change your money at the banks.

Then we come to our darling Western Union. Obviously Western Union plays quite an important role in people's daily life in Jordan and Egypt, as you can see it very often. Western Union does not charge you a commission, but the rates are generally slightly worse than that offered by banks and money changers.

2. Food and Water

Neither Egypt nor Jordan is like your friendly Singapore where you can easily find food and water at wee hours of the day. Restaurants are not so common, most people eat either at home or at their local eateries which we don't know where. We more than once went without food for almost one whole day. In many areas, what you see is just barren land after barren land, there is no kiosk where you can just stop and top up your food and water supply.

It is advisable that you stock up your water and food. In Jordan, the price of water is quite reasonable, 6 pack of 2-liter bottled water is only JD3 (~S$6.00). Well, we are tourists there, so the price is obviously higher than the locals. At some places, such as the airport, JD1 for a 750ml bottled water, you know those are the rip-off places, so it is expected.

In Egypt, especially when you are in the Nile Valley region, water can cost you as much as LE10 (~S$2.50) for a 1.5-liter bottled water. That price is way inflated. The normal price is around LE3.00 (S$0.50) per bottle. If you want to avoid being ripped off, just walk a bit farther away from tourist attractions, and buy from the local convenient shops. The price I suspect is still higher, but definitely not as bad as LE10!

Food-wise, you can walk into a busy local bazaar with hundreds of stalls, selling all kinds of stuff, but then always no food! If you have problems with your stomach, make sure you always bring some biscuits or something with you.

The price of food can vary very drastically. A medium size pizza at Giza area, which is near the Grand Pyramids in Cairo, costs you only LE18.00 (S$4.00), but if you order the same elsewhere, it can cost anywhere from LE35 to LE60.

3. Tipping and Taxes

In Jordan, it is quite straightforward, there is no tipping. Taxes are usually included in the price, if you want to be sure, just ask.

In Egypt, it is a complete different story. In Sinai peninsular, or Dahab in particular, it is still not so bad. You need to give tips to your tour guide, your driver. In general it is not too much.

When you go to other places, then tipping becomes very tricky. Someone at the airport will come to help you with your luggage, and then ask for tipping in Euro, or USD. 1 Euro is LE 7.70, 1 USD is LE 5.80.

For people doing some medicore service such as handing you your tissue paper, I only tip LE1.00, max LE2.00, that's all.

In Egypt, there is a government tax of 16%, service tax of 10%. In general, they are all included in the price. If you are asked to pay for such taxes, you know you have been ripped off.

Be very careful with people who offer you services for free. The trick is the service is for free, but you have to show your gratitude by giving a tip. The tip may well be more than the normal cost.

At Cairo's Giza Pyramids, if you want to get up and close to the Pyramid to take a photo behind those 'off limit' ropes, you can simply give a tip to the guard there. And also if some camel boy asks you to take a photo of him, be prepared to be asked to pay him a tip as well. In this case, LE1.00 will do.

4. Getting around in Cairo

In Cairo, traffic is very chaotic, but at least they have something for the normal tourists to survive. They have a not so extensive Metro system. The cost per trip is wonderfully low, LE1.00, anywhere. If the places you are going to visit is near a Metro station, then it is worth to take the Metro. Their Metro trains are modelled after some European countries, no frills.

In Cairo, they have the WHITE Taxi service. You can flag down a white taxi on the street and such white taxi goes on a fare meter. Just to give you some idea of the taxi fare.

From downtown Cairo to Giza, it is about LE20.00. The actual fare should be even lower, but Cairo's traffic jam added quite a lot to the taxi fare.

From downtown Cairo to airport is about LE25.00, including the parking fee at the airport of LE5.00.

5. The Burning Sun

If you are a guy who don't use sun blocks usually, please think again. I seldom use sun block but I really regretted that for my trip to Egypt. Jordan is not too bad, but when it comes to Egypt, better get your sun block with the best claimed protection. The sun is ruthless. Just imagine, during winter, the temperature at Luxor, the Valley of Kings and Valley of Queens is still close to 30C, and it will reach 50C in summer.

It is also advisable to bring a hat or the Arab turban that can give yourself some shade to hide into under the burning sun. Drink plenty of water even if you don't feel thirsty to avoid dehydration.

6. Crossing Borders

There are two ways to go from Jordan's Aqaba to Eygpt's Sinai peninsular.

1) Take a ferry by abmaritime, or
2) Get through the land border between Jordan and Israel, and then get through the border between Israel and Egypt.

We met a Canadian family in Jordan, and they took the abmaritime ferry, according to their feedback, it was not too bad. The ferry was delayed only for half an hour, and the ferry journey takes about 4 hours.

There are other comments from the internet telling very bad stories about this ferry service as being unreliable, and sometimes you can end up waiting for hours, or even days.

For us, we took the land route and it turned out to be not so smooth either. First, Israel unilaterally closed the border for many hours. We waited at least for 4 hours at the Jordan side of the check point. Then Israel security got interested with my Canon DSLR. They screened thoroughly my camera before letting me go.
My travel buddy was lucky at the security, but not so at the passport control. They took his passport and asked him to wait. Half an hour later, he was asked to go to a room for an interview. Luckily, 10-15 minutes later, he came out with his passport, but then the Israel immigration stamp is big and stamped on his brand new passport! You don't even have a chance to ask them not to stamp on your passport! For me, as they already interviewed my buddy, so they just let me go. Of course, again, by the time my passport came back to me, the stamp is already there. Not a chance!

7. Bargaining

Bargaining is a MUST in Egypt unless you enjoy being ripped off. To give you some idea of how much 'discount' you should ask for.

I bought 10 pieces of so-call papyrus book marks, asking price LE80.00, I got them at LE20, and it is just a less ripped-off price.

I bought an Arab scarf made of Egyptian cotton, asking price LE180.00, I got it at LE70.00, but I think it is still a very ripped-off price.

Full body massage fixed price at LE200 for 60 minutes, but lots of Ang Mo's got it at LE120.00. Don't believe those listed prices, just ask for a discount, and most of the time you will get some, at least 10%, easily 20-30%.

Bargaining is part of life and the only place you can't bargain is the admission fees to places such as the Pyramids, or Valley of Kings/Queens, etc.

You can find all my Jordan/Egypt related posts here.

Jordan Egypt 2010

2011-01-05T22:56:00.006+08:00

It has been quite a while since I last updated my blog, as I was on a trip to Jordan and Egypt, my very first trip to the Muslim world and the Middle East.

I will use this blog entry as a central point for all my blog entries related to my trip. Please do come back from time to time to check for new updates :)

1. Tips and Essentials
2. Day 1: Dubai
3. Day 1: Amman
4. Day 1: Jerash
5. Day 1: Madaba
6. Day 2: Mt Nebo

Singapore Medical Expenses

2010-12-12T19:56:00.000+08:00

It has been quite a while people complain about rising medical expenses in Singapore. I didn't actually feel the pinch as I am mostly covered by company's medical benefits and under normal circumstances, the amount is sufficient to cover me for a full calendar year, with this year being the exception.

In total, I have S$650 a year as the max medical claim I have a one year. Out of this S$650, S$70 went to a routine dental checkup (which used to be around S$35), then another S$300 went to my annual medical check-up. I don't think you can complain much about these two, they are necessary, as recommended by the medical professionals. Then another S$300 went to my glasses. Didn't make any glasses in two years, so it is time to make a new pair. S$300 is at best, the median price you pay for a decent pair of glasses, not even for any fancy frames, or expensive lenses yet. Then that goes my S$650.

Unfortunately I got a flu recently. Then the bill gave me a big surprise. S$23 as doctor's consultation fee, S$17 as the cost of some anti-biotics, and the rest for the rest of the medicine. Total damage is S$53! This is only for a common flu, not something serious. If one visit to the doctor is not enough, then 2 visits will cost at least S$100. For someone earning S$1000 a month, that's 10% of his/her salary.

Worry Too Much想太多

2010-12-06T21:04:00.000+08:00

You worry too much, so said someone. Or, do I?

The Forgotten

2010-11-30T21:39:00.000+08:00

It has been 10 years, and somehow my presence in the same place for 10 years has been mostly unnoticed. I have been waiting for the delusional 'opportunity' to come, and yes indeed it came, and went to others. I was left totally unnoticed, forgotten, and mostly ignored.

It feels bad, really bad. You have asked to do the hard work, take the difficult, challenging task but then credits went else where.

It is pointless, to lament about all that unfair treatment. It is time to create that opportunity, instead of waiting for one. Gathered enough courage, opened my mouth, and asked for an opportunity. Some resistance, outcome less favourable, didn't get what I wanted, but no, I will not give up, I will try again. I can't wait, I don't want to waste another 10 years in waiting. Waiting without any action is just a waste of time, I must act, until I get what I wanted.

Tomi Sushi

2010-11-27T15:04:00.001+08:00

Tomi Sushi is a Japanese restaurant hidden in one corner in downtown Singapore. I wouldn't even know its existence if my friend didn't bring me there.

They have a very typical Japanese restaurant setting, with small tables, small chairs, and the typical cute and nice tableware. What is different is they separate the dining space into different sections, separated by classic bamboo curtains, giving diners some much needed privacy in a crowded restaurant.

We ordered a set meal, which consists of a sashimi plate of 3 types of fishes, a sushi plate of 7 different types of sushi, and a bento of salmon plus tempura.

The sashimi plate is really good. I can't name all the 3 different fishes, but I know there is tuna. One of them is exceptionally good.

Our sushi plate. The sushi is not bad too, and somehow sushi turns out to be a point of 'contention' between my friend and I.

Our bento set is not bad either. The food is not only a feast to our taste buds, but also a feast to the eyes too. The delicate arrangement of the food, the blending of colors make the food so much more appealing to the appetite.

Last but not least, Tomi Sushi is famous for the rice. They use the high quality rice from a famous rice producing region in Japan. The rice on its own is selling at S$3.00 a bowl, comes with a small plate of lovely pickles. Well, the rice is soft and warn to the stomach and really warms the body.

It is a nice little Japanese restaurant, perfect for gatherings of close friends. You can talk freely in comfortable private setting. Price-wise it is obviously a bit more expensive, we spent about 70 bucks for 2, so it is reasonable.

Danga City Mall in JB

2010-11-20T21:51:00.000+08:00

Danga City Mall is the reincarnation of a previous closed-down mall in JB. Its revival was with quite a bit of fanfare as KTM dedicated a train station at the door steps of the mall, and the train service is from Singapore's Tanjong Pagar Railway Station. With such a 'special' arrangement, I would have expected the business at the mall to be very good, and lots of visitors from neighbouring Singapore. However, the reality is just the contrary.

What has gone wrong? The KTM train is really a pain in the neck and nobody would have taken the train at such insane timings. Go and take a look yourself at the train schedule here. What do you expect the shoppers to do if they take the 8.45am train from Singapore? Do you think the shops in the mall will be open this early in the morning? The train schedule basically kills at least 50% of the business of this mall.

Another issue with the mall is its location. It is not near any public transport, there is no bus, the only way to get there from the custom is take a cab (around RM6.00). Nearby the mall, there is nothing anymore.

Nowadays if you visit the mall, it is more or less like walking in a ghost town. No customers. The shops are mostly vacant. I guess they want to model the mall after Singapore's Funan Center to be an IT themed mall, but then obviously it is not successful.

That aside, there is indeed some entertainment in the mall. They have archery, paint ball, bowling and karaok on the higher floors.

Overall, I guess it is just a matter of time when this mall will close down again. It is sad, but it is reality. Moral of the story? If you wanna invest in commercial property in Malaysia, better do your own due diligence. Nobody will be responsible if things don't turn out right.

Breakthrough

2010-11-20T13:09:00.000+08:00

Breakthrough, breakthrough, breakthrough, I need to have some breakthrough in career, in life, in every aspect of my life. Life has gone into a repetitive pattern and I always remains in my comfort zone. There is no more challenge, no more excitement, no more goal. Day after day, month after month, days go by in the exact same way. I need improvement, I need an upgrade!

But how? That's the question. Where shall I start to tackle my boundary? How shall I move beyond my boundary and venture into unchartered territory? What do I really like to do? I ask myself. What am I good at? What do I enjoy doing? What do I want to achieve? What kind of person do I want to be? Circumstances are bad and unfavourable to me at this moment, but it should not in another year's time, or another 5 years' time. If I don't have breakthroughs in life, then there is be no difference now and future other than I would be older and less valuable to the corporate world.

I need a mentor. How to find one? I need a breakthrough, but how to get onto the right path? So many questions, so many doubts, so much uncertainty. It is time to ponder, it is time to search. A watershed moment...