The Best TV Post-Heroes - Brothers & Sisters

Channel 5 takes a lot of flak for boring programmes, incessant ads, propaganda-skewed, bad timing, overused voiceovers, overexposed actors forced-telecast to the public till we wanna beat him/her up, lame trailers and many other audacities that make the cable-tv viewers cringe at the thought of pre-Starhub days. Channel 5 may deserve the rep.

There is one saving grace. On Monday nights after Desperate Housewives, there is hope for the intelligent TV viewer who demands to be tantalized with smart dialogue, sharp wit, a smidgen of intrigue, three dashes of anguish and a good dose of heart. You have to watch (or download or whatever you kids do nowadays) Brothers & Sisters.

The great cast pulls off each episode like a charm - so likeable and believable. Plot's good too - large family pulling it together after the death of the breadwinner admist personal problems, sibling rivalry, mother-uncle-children-husband-wife issues and turmoil in the family business. It makes for just plain good TV.

Finally eh. I will try my darndest to catch each episode - my last couchpotatostalking was Heroes. Yes, I resisted the MPEG files all around me and saw it all on, and only on, StarWorld.

Keyboard Of Dreams

I went to the Apple Iphone site from Ronnie's blog, and watched this video on keyboard. There is some amazing yet practical technology that has gone into this product. It's a wonder why we've come to accept the conventional norms when even our keyboards could be more advanced. Smart lah Apple. More and more, people will come to understand the wonder that is the white side.

An Awakening

On Friday, we got a call from my aunty in Ipoh - my grandfather had passed away. He was 93. He was my maternal grandfather. For those who don't know, my mother is from Ipoh. (My dad is Singaporean and came from India when he was 6). So on Friday, there were decisions to be made. My mother didn't want to go - the excuse was that she needed to look after my father.

For those who don't know, my dad is practically bedridden because he's old (and a little senile, haha). We have to feed him, clean and clothe him and make sure he's happy. He can be a hand full at times but that comes with the territory. I use him for tax relief - parent, handicapped.

That morning, I was online checking for flights into Ipoh. There are none. Well, not from Changi, Senai in Johor and KLIA anyway. The only flights in and out of Ipoh Airport orginate from Medan on an Indonesian airlines on Thursdays and Sundays. Damn. Double damn since we actually took MAS to Ipoh just last year.

Flights aside, my passport was less than 6 months to expiry. I couldn't risk leaving the country. So finally, my sister and mother would make the journey to Ipoh by bus, and I would stay home for the weekend to look after my father.

I was at Golden Mile at 930am paying for tickets. Interestingly, I went to Gunung Raya where I faced some unfriendly customer service people. It was my mistake, wrong bus company. I wandered off to Grassland where the reception was positively joyous. The Grassland folks are actually happy to see their customers. Kudos.

I got home later that morning in the heaviest of downpours. A dramatic start. For the next 48 hours, I would go through what my mother goes through on a daily basis. Despite my confidence, it was not easy. Food, diaper changing, conversation, erratic sleep cycles because of the earlier requirements, hand-holding, towel baths, massages and tickling. Yeah I tickle my dad. I took him and his mattress out into the living room so that I could watch tv - my only other entertainment/consolation for the weekend. And slept next to him too.

It ain't easy being my mother. She cooks and cleans the house in addition to looking after my dad and battling her asthma and arthritis.

Now I am thinking of all the fights we have had and all the time I spend away from home. Don't I feel like an ass now.

Why Har Drink Cans Must Be Round?

Some reasons why the things we buy are in the shape or form they are are purely economic. Robert H. Frank points these things out in this book The Economic Naturalist and unveils simple rationality and logic (and logic of logistics) that explains product designs we have come to take for granted. The International Herald Tribune did an article for the book's release and put up this microsite that runs through some of the products we use each day.

And it was Edalene who first sent me the link.

Extra Spice - You Can Be Part Of The Reunion

My favourite Spice Girls songs are Who Do You Think You Are and Holler. There, you have it. And the gang is getting back together. Probably because
- the money has run out;
- all the solo albums haven't quite taken off as expected despite Gerri Halliwell's flashdancesque music video;
- it's the fad - Take That got back together without Robbie, and scooted off British Single Of The Year for Patience;
- there was intense pressure among Spice Girls fans to find suitable alternatives besides 50cent and Fergie (yeah right);
- concerts make a lot of money and are popular among aging stars like The Rolling Stones and The Eagles even if they release album once in 7 years;
- the remaining four can ride on Posh's entry into the Hollywood scene. They do speak with English accents and American knees just quivver at the sound of Cockney.

You can try to get five-spice band (hey, they could be Chinese!) to come to your neck of the woods at this website, thespicegirls.com. I have voted for them to come here to Lalaland, purely for them to try durian, chicken rice and laksa.

Foreign Imports, Secret Service

I had the chance to eat Dunkin Donuts (or doughnuts, ahem) some weeks ago and I totally forget to blog about it. Must have been the excitement over the sugared carbo. Here's the lo-down: You CAN buy Dunkin Donuts in Singapore! And it is shrouded in a James Bond-style thriller production.

You have to go this website: http://www.zlhub.per.sg/dd/click.htm to place your order. You can choose from over 20 tasty options and order a maximum of 4 boxes of 6 donuts per box.Thats 24 for the mathematically challenged. Limits to your enjoyment, dammit!

When sent, you will have to wait for a phone call. This is when you anticipate every delicious bite into flavoured fried dough. When you get the call, you leap for joy. Time and place confirmed, cash at the ready. The illicit exchange for confectionary is set. A rendezvous tinged with the suspense of a spy thriller takes place at 3 locations - Bishan and City Hall MRT stations and Marymount Road - on Sunday mornings. Holy moly, roly poly dough with a holey! (time to break out into song and dance, and ask where did the floury-sugary goodness come from)

Farah, my colleague and organiser of the Biawak Barbeque, did indeed experience this event. And I had a custard-filled chocolate-coated donut the next day. Lazat! Sedap! Well, worth the agony of waiting and the mystery of logistics.

The Way To Work

It's somewhat nice to be back in Tanjong Pagar. It's not a conventional office area (I'm not in a conventional office either). There are homes, old shophouses, dodgy alleys, busy markets, tall towers. And things will change further when the hundreds of families move into the Pinnacle HDB estate, and when another hotel takes root at a green field opposite the beloved hawker centre. Change, the only constant.

"I Have A Blog, I'm Not Shallow"

Declarations like that get people in peak interest, or at least start a humorous discussion. Lah Moh said this twice in separate company to similar reaction - laughter. It is funny because, well, the line seems to be in defence of being shallow. She likes expensive bags, good food and owns a toy poodle.

None of these should imply shallowness. Neither does having a blog defend not being shallow. Is it wrong to be shallow? What is being shallow anyway? Is it being interested in fashion? What about liking Hello Kitty? What if I spent all my time in front of a computer coding out programs and not being aware that GST is up by 2%? This is getting too deep and worst of all, unimportant, to discuss further. Aiyoh.

Art For Function's Sake

There is something seriously wrong when art tries to be more than what it should be. Or when it is specifically restricted. Especially in lalaland.

Here is a climbing structure put outside the Red Dot building. Interesting enough as a piece of art. All steely and football-like. Nice. Till you notice the signs that reads "please do not climb". Aiyoh. It is a climbing structure for logic's sake - it says so on the description!

Wonder what happened to the first person who swung from it? Wonder if it is illegal? It is after all near the ex-Maxwell Road police station. It is just so ironic that after someone does something nice, we seek to protect it from what it should be. Sort of like keeping children away from playground because they might scratch the paint off the poles.

Goodness and sigh. And wtf.

Are the tourists laughing? Surely now the gahmen will do something? We can't be so anal right? Plus it's a design winner. Alamak.

Rambutan Remnants

Discovered one morning when I crossed over from the Red line to the Green line at Raffles Place. Looks like someone needed their fibrous fructose in a hurry. In transit some more.

Irony Is The Main Component Of The Earth

Live Earth, goodness. I missed the whole thing. Considering that all of it was on Channel 5, it was a miracle I didn't catch a glimpse of famous people reminding us to protect the environment. (Oh yah, I saw 2 movies that weekend and was out late that Saturday night. And woke at 2pm, apparently after a swig of milk before sleep).

After my recent posting on Greenland, you might have been waiting (or not) for my two cents on Live Earth. Here's my beef about the whole thing (I don't eat beef BTW): Way too many resources went into putting the message across. It wasn't good for the Earth in any way. All that trash that was left behind, all that electricity that went into amplifying sound and lighting lamps, all those plants that were stomped on, all that heat generated by so many people being together...

Did all those people, all the millions across the world who attended and jumped up and down, really care about the Earth? Did Madonna, Rihanna and Linkin Park get into the green bit of the grey matter? I dunno man. Did we go home and switch lightbulbs, turn off all electrical appliances we didn't use, stop the NTUC cashiers from being generous with plastic bags? Yes, no? No.

How like that? Singaporeans thrive on air-conditioning and water heaters. We love separating our BreadTalk buns with individual polyethylene bags (all the other bakeries I know are threatened by the 'clean' packaging and have followed suit in the quest to suffocate the Earth with plastic bags. Stoopid.) There are more cars on the street that ever before. More buildings are going up in the places where there was once beautiful grass and trees (Orchard MRT park and the space in front of Tanjong Pagar Hawker Centre are cases in point). Our need for money and comfort is going to drive the Earth to the grave.

OK, one step at a time. Less paper, less plastic. Come on, you can do it too.

That Winning Feeling

Haha, I won at Mahjong. Despite the pathetic nature of the win, $3.70 over Hseyin, Fon and Eric, I eventually hauled the biggest amount at an entertaining round of the game yesterday. Entertaining is the result of all the crap talk, reprimands for being slow and stupid, and baby Kate's cute comings and goings.

It was sort of like when the newscasters report that the stock market ended up 'mixed' with no real direction. Well for 10cent-20cent plays, I guess $3.70 is a reasonable, positive outcome. Especially since I am a mere amateur who has trouble reading Chinese numerals. Compound that with the fact that I last played the game more than 5 months.

That sums up the weekend drama.

Breakfast 6 July 2007

Yew char kway and teh-si. The fritter is 30 cents at Maxwell Market, and was oh so good. Nothing beats fried flour. The teh-si 90 cents. Good though I am still looking for one that compares to the one at Qi-ji, Shaw Towers.

Luckily, No One Was Hurt

Haha. That's a line from a letter pasted at the bottom of an private apartment block in Bukit Timah. It expounds the threat of drivers not driving well out of the residents' car park and almost hurting bystanders. Well, indeed, luckily no one was hurt.

Paul and Alison live in this block. They were my post Biawak Barbeque engagement. I was terribly late because I was procrastinating and getting a taxi took half an hour. By the time I got there, dinner was over and the party animals from my ex-ex-company (and two new friends) were lounging about, full from keema, tuna bake, wine and fruit. I stuck around till past midnight, hanging out with Sauvingnon Blanc and grapes on the balcony, and taking less-than-perfect pictures.

Recap - Mat disappeared as soon as I got there, the age-old party animal; Van has the new HTC phone, the closest thing in Asia to the Mac's iPhone *snazzy*, Dionne is marketing for Expat, Paul is doing the commercial Haj with a stint in the Middle East, and Alison gave me a whole bunch of books. Voila.

The Biawak Barbeque

Last Saturday, I made my way to the mysterious Lorong Biawak to present myself at my new colleague's home for a delightful evening at a barbeque. Farah is the colleague and Iggy is her hubby, and they have a terrace home filled with animals. Yes, it is the animals you notice first mostly because the dogs jump at you first. I was warned that Farah had a veritable pet zoo at home. 5 cats and 3 dogs share the immense space with two humans. And of course the animals were delighted at more the prospect of more hands scratching them behind the ears.

I tripped into one of the 'isolated-to-the-front' dogs water bowls and made a mess on entry. What an impression. I was under threat of biteage. I was afraid. I shouldn't have been. I think the doggies could sniff out my love of canine and were merely excited.

In the back, plans with meat and charcoal were afoot. The party got underway when more office folks and other halves and friends arrived. The back of the terrace house is immense, something like 30 metres clear. The kitchen with a dining table are out back, perfect set up for a steaming June evening barbeque with the musical accompaniment of barking dog, Hunter.

The evening played out with burned hot dogs (not the pets), lovely wings, tender oven-baked lamb, juicy prawns, refreshing salad, pepper and melted cheese sandwiches. I was so full when I had to leave about 10-ish, being called away to another dinner-do at Bukit Timah.

Momentous! There will be calls for a repeat around Christmas for sure. Thanks Farah and Iggy!

Peeing With A View

My new office (having started a new job 3 weeks ago) has a restrooms with a view. There is something extremely liberating about doing the doo-doo or taking a leak with a vista. Seeing sky somehow helps with flow. Maybe it has to do with rain. (Whoops I missed, sorry about the wet mess). A window gives you something to do besides looking at personal excretion, keeps the mind occupied and alert. I have seen traffic wardens inspect cars, birds perched on trees, cloud waft across the blue sky, and listened to people have loud conversations about hot weather and Toto - all from the privy of 3rd floor potty.

Ahhh. (Zip, flush).

Exhibitionism? No lah. Just some anti-claustrophobic, open-minded peeing...err..thinking.