Christmas is just around the corner, but looks like it is a different kind of Christmas, a COLD Christmas. Singapore is a tropical country, it can never be that cold in terms of temperature. At most it is wet and cool. The rain brought by the annual monsoon lower the thermometer by quite a number of degrees, but that is not what I meant by a COLD Christmas. It is the mood.
Look around, do you actually FEEL Christmas is actually approaching? It is all nice & quiet in the office. There is no Christmas deco, no Christmas party. Few people talk about Christmas at all. Unusually COOL this year.
Went to IMM today around dinner time. Few shops decorate for Christmas. There were not that many shoppers, either. Giant Hypermart, which is usually jam-packed on weekends, had surprisingly short queues. Dinner time, MOS burger, Subway still had plenty of tables. Ajisen and Ajitei were half empty. One puzzled customer asked "why is this restaurant so empty, like a ghost shop?"
Where is the crowd? IMM is not an isolated case, a number of other shopping centres I went to had the same situation. Dinner time on a weekend, you can still easily find a table in the foodcourt. That was quite impossible a couple of months ago.
Have all the people gone to Orchard Road? Mmh, I am not sure. Anyone has any field report? Or with the booming economic, everybody is on an overseas holiday? I hope so. However, I still couldn't help fearing the worst. The inflation had taken its toll on the economy. People are spending less. STI seems to be in the process of the ugly head-and-shoulder formation. In the next couple of weeks, we will know with more certainty whether STI's uptrend will remain intact, or it is heading towards 3300, and then 3000. The bull & the bear are in a fierce fight right now. The bear seems to have a slightly upper hand. Once the bear wins, more ugly things will gradually unwind.
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Saturday, December 15, 2007
Living Room Feng-Shui
1。 客厅的方位
正东方：健康运 Green
正南方：名声运 Red & Purple
正西方：子孙运 Gold, Silver and White
正北房：事业运 Black & Blue
东北方：文昌运 Yellow
西北方：贵人运 White
东南方：财运 Green
西北方：桃花运 Yellow
2。 客厅的颜色
乾宅：坐西北，大门向东南 =〉必须明亮， 尽量使用大量的白色系列
兑宅：坐西， 大门向东
艮宅：坐东北，大门向西。不宜太宽阔，白色，土黄色，咖啡色唯宜
离宅：坐南，大门向北。不宜留太多空间， 否则易招火灾和官司
坎宅：坐北， 大门向南。 宁静，冷清色彩， 否则对钱财不利
坤宅：坐西南， 大门向东
------<客厅风水宜忌>, 王伟光 著，新疆电子出版社
正东方：健康运 Green
正南方：名声运 Red & Purple
正西方：子孙运 Gold, Silver and White
正北房：事业运 Black & Blue
东北方：文昌运 Yellow
西北方：贵人运 White
东南方：财运 Green
西北方：桃花运 Yellow
2。 客厅的颜色
乾宅：坐西北，大门向东南 =〉必须明亮， 尽量使用大量的白色系列
兑宅：坐西， 大门向东
艮宅：坐东北，大门向西。不宜太宽阔，白色，土黄色，咖啡色唯宜
离宅：坐南，大门向北。不宜留太多空间， 否则易招火灾和官司
坎宅：坐北， 大门向南。 宁静，冷清色彩， 否则对钱财不利
坤宅：坐西南， 大门向东
------<客厅风水宜忌>, 王伟光 著，新疆电子出版社
Friday, December 14, 2007
Food Safety
The recent Prima Deli incident brought the public's attention back to the basics - food safety. Many had always assumed Singapore has a high standard in food safety and hygiene standards, unfortunately it is nothing but far from the truth.
Prima Deli incident is a good example. Four of their food handling staff had been found to have the Salmonella bacteria. What does this mean? It means their staff did not go through a proper medical check-up to ensure they are fit to handle food. But how many food handling staff have gone through a 'proper' medical check-up in Singapore? Look at the uncles and aunties at your coffee shop or food court, do you think they went through any form of medical check-up at all? How do you know they don't have any infectious disease such as hepatitis A/B/C?
Look at how some people handle food and money? Yes, they wear gloves, but the sole purpose is not to dirty their hands. They use the very same hand to handle food, sometimes in direct touch with food, and handle money. Isn't it common knowledge money is the dirtiest in the world? Oh, we are not talking about the sins of money, but the bacteria on it.
It is not uncommon to find hairs in your food in Singapore. I personally encountered numerous times such incidents. The bigger horror is to find cockcroaches in your food. A colleague of mine had that encounter a few months ago at a neighbourhood coffee shop. In his case, at least he got a refund. In yesterday's Today newspaper, a Korean study mama related her incident. She went for a meal at restaurant with her kids, then she found a cockcroach in her food! Guess what the duty manager said? The manager claimed that the cockcroach had been cooked under extreme high temperature in the oven, so it was clean without any bacteria or germs. Safe for consumption!
Food safety standard still has a lot of room for improvement. Maybe it is already much better than many countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia and China. Why do we want to compare with those with a lower standard but not a higher standard? Just to satisfy our ego? Even if ours is the best in the world, we should still continue to make an effort to stamp any weak points.
Prima Deli incident is a good example. Four of their food handling staff had been found to have the Salmonella bacteria. What does this mean? It means their staff did not go through a proper medical check-up to ensure they are fit to handle food. But how many food handling staff have gone through a 'proper' medical check-up in Singapore? Look at the uncles and aunties at your coffee shop or food court, do you think they went through any form of medical check-up at all? How do you know they don't have any infectious disease such as hepatitis A/B/C?
Look at how some people handle food and money? Yes, they wear gloves, but the sole purpose is not to dirty their hands. They use the very same hand to handle food, sometimes in direct touch with food, and handle money. Isn't it common knowledge money is the dirtiest in the world? Oh, we are not talking about the sins of money, but the bacteria on it.
It is not uncommon to find hairs in your food in Singapore. I personally encountered numerous times such incidents. The bigger horror is to find cockcroaches in your food. A colleague of mine had that encounter a few months ago at a neighbourhood coffee shop. In his case, at least he got a refund. In yesterday's Today newspaper, a Korean study mama related her incident. She went for a meal at restaurant with her kids, then she found a cockcroach in her food! Guess what the duty manager said? The manager claimed that the cockcroach had been cooked under extreme high temperature in the oven, so it was clean without any bacteria or germs. Safe for consumption!
Food safety standard still has a lot of room for improvement. Maybe it is already much better than many countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia and China. Why do we want to compare with those with a lower standard but not a higher standard? Just to satisfy our ego? Even if ours is the best in the world, we should still continue to make an effort to stamp any weak points.
Thursday, December 13, 2007
Year End
Time flies. I can't believe 2007 is coming to an end in less than 2 weeks. Time for everyone to look back and count their achievements/mis-achievements.
2007 had been a fruitful year.
======
For the first time in 7 years of my stay with the company, things are looking a bit better for me.
First time in my working life to be posted overseas for 2 months. It is something very trivial to many global trotters but quite something for this humble office worker :)
For the first time, I climbed up the Swiss Alps. That was a dream come true, although I didn't really enjoy the climbing. ;P
For the first time, our Singapore team worked so closely with our Italian colleagues. Together, we managed to come up with a solution to a difficult problem.
======
Finally, I can have a cubicle to my own, to have some privacy.
Finally, I can have a modern day laptop computer, Compaq 6910p, for work, to replace the antique IBM Thinkpad 600X, which has no more technical support, nor spare parts :)
Finally, my cumulative microstock income is enough to cover the cost my Canon EOS20D camera. This is achieved after two long years. Well, it takes a bit long, but at least it generates a bit of return from an expensive hobby. More importantly, my photos no longer remain in my HDD only for my own viewing pleasure. They can reach a wider audience. The joy, the excitement now can be shared with more people.
Finally, I am no longer a sure-loser in the stock market. Albeit very slowly, I am learning, and progressing. Chinese saying "There is gold in the books" (书中自有黄金屋), nothing can be more true. Learning from the gurus helps you to shorten your learning curve, less your tuition fees. Of coure, practice makes perfection. Practising what you learn perfects your skills. Still a long way to go, but at least I am making some baby steps. Don't laugh at me. I am slower learner, but at least I am still a leaner, I am still learning, better than those who never learn :)
So how was your 2007? Share with me your achievements/mis-achievements.
10 years ago, I came out from school to start working. In these past 10 years, some of my dreams did come true. Sometimes in a totally unexpected way, but they did come true. Want to have your dreams come true? First, have some nice dreams for yourself ;P
2007 had been a fruitful year.
======
For the first time in 7 years of my stay with the company, things are looking a bit better for me.
First time in my working life to be posted overseas for 2 months. It is something very trivial to many global trotters but quite something for this humble office worker :)
For the first time, I climbed up the Swiss Alps. That was a dream come true, although I didn't really enjoy the climbing. ;P
For the first time, our Singapore team worked so closely with our Italian colleagues. Together, we managed to come up with a solution to a difficult problem.
======
Finally, I can have a cubicle to my own, to have some privacy.
Finally, I can have a modern day laptop computer, Compaq 6910p, for work, to replace the antique IBM Thinkpad 600X, which has no more technical support, nor spare parts :)
Finally, my cumulative microstock income is enough to cover the cost my Canon EOS20D camera. This is achieved after two long years. Well, it takes a bit long, but at least it generates a bit of return from an expensive hobby. More importantly, my photos no longer remain in my HDD only for my own viewing pleasure. They can reach a wider audience. The joy, the excitement now can be shared with more people.
Finally, I am no longer a sure-loser in the stock market. Albeit very slowly, I am learning, and progressing. Chinese saying "There is gold in the books" (书中自有黄金屋), nothing can be more true. Learning from the gurus helps you to shorten your learning curve, less your tuition fees. Of coure, practice makes perfection. Practising what you learn perfects your skills. Still a long way to go, but at least I am making some baby steps. Don't laugh at me. I am slower learner, but at least I am still a leaner, I am still learning, better than those who never learn :)
So how was your 2007? Share with me your achievements/mis-achievements.
10 years ago, I came out from school to start working. In these past 10 years, some of my dreams did come true. Sometimes in a totally unexpected way, but they did come true. Want to have your dreams come true? First, have some nice dreams for yourself ;P
Sunday, December 9, 2007
Truth or Lies?
In recent months, the hottest topic in China is the discovery of the long extincted South China tiger in Shan'xi province. A farmer, Zhou Zheng-long (周正龙), claimed he photographed a live South China tiger in the forest. It was reported in all the major media. However, the photographs published attracted lots of skepticism from many internet users. Online forums are abuzz in discussing how genuine the photographs are. Then someone found the tiger in those photos looks unusually similar with a tiger in a Nian'hua (年画), paintings that Chinese display in their home for decoration.
Truth or lies? It is for my readers to decide for themselves.
Truth or lies? It is for my readers to decide for themselves.
Photo 1: The 'Original' Photo
Photo 2: A Zoom-In of Photo 1, after sharpening
There are a total of 41 photos taken by a digital SLR, a Canon EOS400D with a kit lens. All 41 of them are available for viewing here. All the EXIF data are listed as well. All my dear friends, if you have a couple of minutes, do take a look at all the photos and express your own opinions, especially people who have been photographing tigers for a while.
Zhou Zheng-long, the man in the centre of the controversy
Saturday, December 8, 2007
A Day in JB
Went to JB with LYZ & LJ this afternoon. Going through the custom was unexpectedly smooth. I went through the Malaysian custom in 15 mins, that was really a record. LYZ & LJ joined the 'wrong' queue, so it took them 25mins & 30mins respectively. Anyway, that was still considered as 'very good'. Malaysia custom made some change since the last time I passed through. There is no more distinction between Singapore passport and other country's passport, all queues are considered as 'Foreign Passport' now, so there is no more disadvantage/advantage of holding a Singapore passport :)
As it was still early for dinner (only 3+pm), we went to City Square's Season's for some hearty ice cream. The ice cream was not too bad, the presentation was good too, but the service was still very much to be desired. We asked for a glass of water at least 3-4 times, but that glass of water was still missing after we paid our bill and left.
We walked around in City Square for a while. LJ told me that Doraemon comics selling at Popular bookstore City Square is even more expensive than in Singapore. It costs S$2.00 in Singapore, but RM4.90 in JB. This is quite a contrary to the other comic books. For the same title, usually it is RM4.50 in JB and S$4.50-5.00 in Singapore. So it is not everything is cheap over the other side. Open your eyes wide wide wide whenever you buy anything.
Lady Elf once brought me to a place in JB for seafood, and he told me the place was called Taman Sentosa (大马花园), but when I told the taxi driver, he corrected me saying the place is called Taman Sri Tebrau. Anyway, we went to the right place. For my mistake, we were 'punished' to pay RM2.00 more for the trip. Usual fare is RM6.00, but had to pay RM8.00. Usual fare I mean the over-inflated fare charged by the taxi drivers in consensus, the meter fare is only RM3.70. Few taxi drivers in JB use the meter, even if they use it, the meter may have been tampered.
Ok, next came our hearty seafood dinner. We ordered black pepper crab (~RM45.00/kg), steamed pating fish (清蒸巴丁鱼) (~RM45.00), butter crayfish (牛油虾婆) (~RM45.00), and wild boar meat on hot plate (RM10 for small). The total bill was RM136.00, so something must be smaller somewhere. The stall we patroned was #958, I think.
As it was still early for dinner (only 3+pm), we went to City Square's Season's for some hearty ice cream. The ice cream was not too bad, the presentation was good too, but the service was still very much to be desired. We asked for a glass of water at least 3-4 times, but that glass of water was still missing after we paid our bill and left.
We walked around in City Square for a while. LJ told me that Doraemon comics selling at Popular bookstore City Square is even more expensive than in Singapore. It costs S$2.00 in Singapore, but RM4.90 in JB. This is quite a contrary to the other comic books. For the same title, usually it is RM4.50 in JB and S$4.50-5.00 in Singapore. So it is not everything is cheap over the other side. Open your eyes wide wide wide whenever you buy anything.
Lady Elf once brought me to a place in JB for seafood, and he told me the place was called Taman Sentosa (大马花园), but when I told the taxi driver, he corrected me saying the place is called Taman Sri Tebrau. Anyway, we went to the right place. For my mistake, we were 'punished' to pay RM2.00 more for the trip. Usual fare is RM6.00, but had to pay RM8.00. Usual fare I mean the over-inflated fare charged by the taxi drivers in consensus, the meter fare is only RM3.70. Few taxi drivers in JB use the meter, even if they use it, the meter may have been tampered.
Ok, next came our hearty seafood dinner. We ordered black pepper crab (~RM45.00/kg), steamed pating fish (清蒸巴丁鱼) (~RM45.00), butter crayfish (牛油虾婆) (~RM45.00), and wild boar meat on hot plate (RM10 for small). The total bill was RM136.00, so something must be smaller somewhere. The stall we patroned was #958, I think.
Wild Boar Meat on Hot Plate & Butter Cray Fish (top)
Black Pepper Crab
The crab was just so-so, not really that fresh. The meat sticks to the cell. The best was the steamed pating fish. Fish was fresh from the tank. The meat was tender & juicy, it melts in your mouth (does it sound like the M & M ad?) Crayfish was not bad, too. Crispy after being deep fried with butter. Wild boar meat was a disappointment. It was too chewy, not tender at all.
Live Pating Fish (From archives)
In terms of dining environment, it is only a hawker centre. As the crowd builds up, more and more smoke comes out from all the busy kitchens. At the end of the meal, you smell really bad.
Anyway, for that kind of price, it is considered not too bad. The 3 ice creams we had at City Square cost RM43.70. Comparing the RM136.00 for the whole seafood meal with RM43.70 for 3 ice creams, it is really value for money.
I found a nice shop near Taman Sri Tebrau, selling some local Malaysian produces. One interesting product is the LuoHanGuo Gao (罗汉果膏). I have not seen it elsewhere before. I gave it a try, the taste was good and cooling. The service there was good. They actually serve customers a cup of tea.
Yong Sheng Gift Shop JB
79, Jln Keris, Taman Sri Tebrau,
80050 Johor Bahru, Johor
Tel: 07-2221362
The price is about RM2.00-5.00 cheaper than those in City Square.
Friday, December 7, 2007
Feeling Relaxed...
Today is Friday. Work has finally hit the milestone, where we can relax a bit. It feels good with all the work done (well, not exactly all done yet, but almost all). Working hard is never too much of a problem for Asians. The sense of some achievement is worth all that hard work. :)
Thursday, December 6, 2007
Tread-Mill Test
Did a tread-mill test this past Monday at TTSH. In a tread-mill test, you will be asked to walk/run on a tread-mill, that's why it is called a tread-mill test anyway; at the same time, they will check your ECG as well as blood pressure.
When your heart pumps harder and harder as you walk/run faster and faster, if there is any anormality is observed in your ECG or blood pressure, then you may have some serious trouble with your heart.
Before the test, the nurse will ask you some questions such as do you smoke, did you have flu in the past week or so, any drug allegic, etc. Then they will explain to you the potential risk, which is if you really have a heart problem, the tread-mill test might just trigger a heart attack! Scary, isn't it?
How reliable the test is, as usual, very much depends on the patient and how professional those people who do the test for you. Just imagine, you are not walking/running with a dozen of wires on your body, and from time to time, that arm band for blood pressure measurement will compress your blood vessels. Anything can happen, the accuracy of the equipment is also a factor.
During the test, the nurses observed something strange, not on me, but the ECG machine. They tried to figure out why the display was different under different screen. That really made me doubt whether they actually KNOW how to use the machine correctly.
One of the Singaporean Chinese lady nurse on-duty obviously has a slacking mentality. She just wanted to finish quickly, nothing else was really important. Hard to see any professionalism.
You see, human factor is forever the least predictable variable in any engineering design. Any equipment, no matter how expensive it is, will be totally useless/worthless if the owner/operator is not using it the correct way. A good example? Just look at how many crappy photos coming out from those super expensive cameras. Go figure...
When your heart pumps harder and harder as you walk/run faster and faster, if there is any anormality is observed in your ECG or blood pressure, then you may have some serious trouble with your heart.
Before the test, the nurse will ask you some questions such as do you smoke, did you have flu in the past week or so, any drug allegic, etc. Then they will explain to you the potential risk, which is if you really have a heart problem, the tread-mill test might just trigger a heart attack! Scary, isn't it?
How reliable the test is, as usual, very much depends on the patient and how professional those people who do the test for you. Just imagine, you are not walking/running with a dozen of wires on your body, and from time to time, that arm band for blood pressure measurement will compress your blood vessels. Anything can happen, the accuracy of the equipment is also a factor.
During the test, the nurses observed something strange, not on me, but the ECG machine. They tried to figure out why the display was different under different screen. That really made me doubt whether they actually KNOW how to use the machine correctly.
One of the Singaporean Chinese lady nurse on-duty obviously has a slacking mentality. She just wanted to finish quickly, nothing else was really important. Hard to see any professionalism.
You see, human factor is forever the least predictable variable in any engineering design. Any equipment, no matter how expensive it is, will be totally useless/worthless if the owner/operator is not using it the correct way. A good example? Just look at how many crappy photos coming out from those super expensive cameras. Go figure...
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