Intro Shots

Resistance is futile when faced with such odds. $1 for a hotdog in a soft bun in this day and age is an ok deal. Many people now solely go to Ikea to eat and not to buy furniture. They generally attest to the scrumptiousness of the chicken wings. I also fall victim to the kid's fish and chips.













Stars in a star. It's the little touches that make the difference eh. Maybe they should get Ikea to decorate Orchard Road one year for Xmas.

















How can I resist such pretty stackage? The colours are joyous if not a little Mardi Gras. They are stacks of plastic watering kettles (they are not cans, and containers would not do justice, and there's a long spout!) from Ikea.





Well, well, well, some people must have had a good time in Ikea. It's the season after all.

















I know this is a very boring looking picture. But can you tell me what's so combined about dental surgery? Is this a case of badly transliterated Chinese? Maybe the dentist does Botox on the side. Check out Wilhem Tell too.




You really have to maintain appearances to keep up a certain image. The drooping E, not so high-tech, and so might be low-down.

















Inadvertent nstallation art. I call this piece Woman, Her Needs, With Protection. I got rave reviews among 2 people. Of course, the piece was dismantled once we left the Collectors Gallery.

G.U.R.M.I.T.

Get Your Cyborg Name

US Patriot Act

Did you know that the US Patriot Act was actually the U.S. P.A.T.R.I.O.T. Act? It stands for: Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism.

I had no clue till 2 days ago. So clever ah. I wonder if hip-hop is an "appropriate tool"?

Another Thought

Someone told me on Sunday that if Goldman Sachs bought out Citibank, you'd have Sachs In The Citi. Geddit, geddit? Good one eh.

That's A Thought

Should the SG gahmen buy out Citigroup? With the low share price, the bank is worth US$26 billion this week. Small change perhaps for SG? And they are looking for help. It is the courteous thing to do. Think about it, we could rename the bank Merlionbank or Singabank. Well...

Layoffs, Bad Reasons And Asia Picking Itself Up

News of layoffs has stolen headline space for the past week. Beyond the financials, it's tough for the man-on-the-street to rationalise a company's reasons for all this letting people go. All this is happening because markets crashed and banks collapsed in the timeframe of the last two months.

I got a problem with all the knee-jerking thats going on. Yes, the situation is suddenly dire, and managements suddenly step the brakes on everything related to money. Hirings are frozen, lending is frozen, people getting unexpectedly laid off and everyone else not too sure what to do except be thankful for the job they have. It's the kanjiongness at the top I disagree with. Yeah, DBS sort of messed up with some of their products but seriously, laying off 900 people before Christmas and CNY is a human resource slap in the face. NOL announced they made $35 million profit (that's revenue minus operating cost) and are going to lay off 50 people. I would understand if they made zero profit and needed to let people go. In today's paper, the folks in Temasek announce that their cutting salaries by 15-25%. Now guess that's gonna be a reason for all our bosses to enact similar measures. "See, Temasek got do, we also must follow the gahmen." Oh goawd.

Most of what is happening here is an unfortunate result of our dependence on the West, the negative effects washing us out like the waves of a tsunami from far away. We need to look at how Asia can bring itself out of this malaise. We can and we should. China, Japan and India are giants in their own right; Korea and Singapore are among the most technologically wired nations in the world; Indonesia has over 400 million people who are ready to spur the engine of growth in their country; Australia had decided a long time back to look up at Asia and less so across the Pacific. We shouldn't stop being so glum and take charge.

Rain-Induced Food Squeeze

Rain, it has been coming down in the buckets of late. And people don't like the downpour. It's like a disease or an infection when droplets hits clothes and people start to shriek at the fear of melting away into gullyholes and drains. Especially well-dressed, well-heeled (literally) folks of the city.

I experienced my first excursion into Raffles Place at lunchtime during storm time on Monday. It was a step into madness. To avoid the rain, the office crowd succumbs to the underground. Raffles Place MRT links 6-7 high-rise buildings filled with thousands of office type who get hungry at about the same time each day. The difference on a rainy day is that not a lot of them choose to venture into the wet. That means they scurry into the artificially-lit tunnels that conveniently connect their buildings to the maze of makan places built like burrows in the walls of a bee's hive. There are so many people who need to be fed. And they queue for sustenance. The human lines on Monday were horrendously long. Everywhere, from Sushi Tei to Burger King to Soup Spoon, people were waiting, patient or not.

I walked around for 15mins, then queued for another 15mins for hurriedly served nasi padang. I tarpau-ed and went back to the office to wallow in my trauma.

Yeah, I know should have a taken a picture.

Doom And Gloom Be Gone!

These last few months have been kind of a mess eh. Stock market crashes, banks collapse, old people losing their life savings, plastic in our food, people being told to leave their jobs, white tigers getting live food etc. Today the gahmen announced that they're bringing the next year's budget announcement forward so that we won't be guessing what they'll do to alleviate our concerns about the economy. Which is in recession by the way. Depressing?

Well folks, here's the good news. Inflation numbers will come down. Oil and food prices will come down. In fact oil is cheaper now that it was a year ago. Your kopi and teh should cost less soon, hopefully. Rents and prices of homes will come down. Depends on whether you're looking to buy or have a home to sell, that could be bad news. Some important guy out there said 'Asia is the answer to the global recession'. Well hey, that's news for you to think positive right? If we kept to our guns, put in our hours, have fun when we can, not worry so much about the future, think about how we can help our fellow man instead of retrenching the poor guy, we'll all be fine.

They should get radio deejays to be funnier.

Here's a joke: A girl I know said "I thought offside was when the ball went outside the field".

Here's a funny youtube video: Indian Spiderman

Buy a friend an ice-cream. It's still 50cents at McDonalds. If we all did that, I think we'd be happier.

All In A Day's Work

Some Thursday

My heel hurts. It has been for a while. Maybe my ankle is opening up from yoga. I suspect it's the brown shoes I have. Shoes hard on the sole. But dandy with the biz pants.

The yoga instructress made a funny, inadvertent joke today. She said 'Ok, wind relieving pose' after she opened the windows to let in cool air. I laughed and said 'That's ironic' which every sweaty person in my vicinity heard. I couldn't tell if they mustered a smile or not because we were all on our backs facing the ceiling. Yes, the do let cool air in during hot yoga. Else the attendees might die or revolt. This time though the instructress let the windows stay open during the last six exercises. Very odd but nice. In fact, I felt a little chilly.

I had expensive Malay rice again today. Maybe I am coming out of food price comparisons with Maxwell market, the cheapest place to eat in the city. I had ikan bilis with petai (stink beans?), an angular segment of omelette and taugeh with koo chye, all gloriously slathered with assam pedas gravy. That was $4.10. The teh halia was $1.30. You, of course, at this time are salivating but yet are curiously tickled at the concept of meatlessness in my diet. I tend not to have meat at lunch if I can help it if (unless it's chicken or charsiew rice) because the post-lunch digestion will likely put me to slumber. My cube at work is not well camouflaged against office politics and whispers. The reason for even choosing Malay rice was probably weather related and stress related.

One month into the job and finally some stress. I need to strategise how to enter a new market with money I need to ask from some people big and powerful. It's like how they built Jurong Island, on a promise of greatness. I need to promise greatness too, backed up with some facts and potential revenue-based as well as intangible benefits for the organisation. Thank God my boss is there with the 'here's what you do' and 'this needs more work' and 'yes I think so too'. This stress should last a week or so.

I missed Heroes and 24 but caught Hotel Babylon on BBC Entertainment. British TV is so sharp. Had 3 chappatis with dahl my mother brought back from the gurdwara (Sikh temple) and kheer (a rice-milk-cashew pudding, generally eaten warm). Stuffed, I write this post. Soon the stuffing shall put me to sleep.

Still ruminating.

Under Rugs Swept

I am cow. Not because I have udders and eat grass and lie on Indian highways and give milk and moo. (Wow, cows do some many things.)

I ruminate. Yes, again not like the cow. Someone tells me something and I think about it, and think about it. Over and over again. Digging out that hole in my brain that once held my normal thought processes and replacing the void with a cacophony of voices that stop from sleeping. I have to consciously tell myself to stop thinking, like what Dean Sluyter wrote in The Zen Commandments and what half of the yoga teachers in class tell us to do. Then I slowly let the Sandman take over.

Don't you just hate it when some people know you better that you do yourself? Make you feel like crap. But it's true, no denying some truths and worse still, knowing you are denying the excuses you came up with. Yup, it's one of those weeks that keep you thinking. On Monday, I had a cider though. That was someone else's fault.

I actually sigh at this point. Let's see what gives. I sigh again. Somehow I don't believe myself. I think I get this from my mother. Hmmm. Ok, this is gonna be one of those posts only a few will get. Sorry.

It Has Been Found - The Tea Of The City

Tea. An Indian man needs his tea.

Everywhere I have worked, there has been a relentless pursuit of the optimal tea, in concordance with the trial and taste routine associated with determining the vendor of the afore-glorified tea product.

Back in Shaw Towers, the best tea was the Teh-C at Qiji. Mamma mia, it was a shot of goodness worthy of every deep pine-coloured drop. A shot because their regular portions were quite small but concentrated enough for the caffiene boost every office worker faced with a slovenly afternoon would need.

At Tanjong Pagar, it was a trying time before I settled on tea that was not exactly perfect but worth the 90 cents and great service. In fact, all I needed to do was raise my index finger upwards having caught the eye of the stallholder from yonder, and she knew that this Indian was thirsty.

Now at Raffles Place, I have yearned hard and long. It has been a month of testing and sometimes, fake belching, to find the ONE. Well, two. I get teh halia from Golden Shoe, a spicy, slightly sugary mix of milk tea and ginger. And today, I am pleased to announce I have encountered high quality Teh-C at a not-so great price. Oklah, $1.20 to take away. It's from Mirana Cake Shop, which happens to sell chap-fan and hot drinks. It's at the OUB underground towards Raffles Place MRT. Not too far away for the occassional 4pm sneaks out of the office to get refreshment. Happiness around the corner.

Just yesterday, a friend lamented at her dastardly state of Lipton consumption. She can't stand it and need to find comfort in a styrofoam cup in the Suntec area. Any ideas before insanity sets in?

90210 Episode 1 - Come On, I Had To

Ok I had to. I try not to knock it till I've tried it. Well I did knock it earlier but that was a pre-emptive strike upon the Hollywood gods.

In episode one of the NEW 90210:
- Jeannie Garth and the guy who ran the coffee shop, Pops or Tony or whoever, reappear as threads to the past.
- New family consist of new guy, new girl, dad and mom. Dad is the principal of high school where new guy and new girl are going to ruin their lives in.
- The brother and sister who move to LA are black and white. The black kid was adopted. The previous set of siblings were twins. Nice twist.
- New girl sees old friend in a car in the school carpark getting a little zipper-down action on way to school. Well, it is LA.
- The new girl is already made fun of. Some angsty girl makes a Jib Jab type video and posts it online, on a blog. It makes 584000 hits. Oh please.
- The brother tries out for lacrosse, impresses the coach and makes the team. One guy in the team gets pissed, smacks him down and gets into a fight. Later, brother loses spot in team because sister's old friend lies to principal about who started the fight.
- New girl makes fake rich girl friend who's boyfriend is the old friend from the car. Getting interesting.
- Fake rich friend has a sweet sixteen birthday aka MTV 'My Sweet 'Sulty' 16' bash coming up but has to write a book report on the Tale Of Two Cities overnight. Guess who had already written such a report back in Kansas and got an A on it? No, not Alice.
- Fake rich girl's richer parents see principal to extend book report deadline. Goodness. Principal stands his ground. He incidentally as the ex-boyfriend of the fake rich girl's mom. What goes around comes around eh.
- New girl gives her TOTC report to fake rich girl. Problem solved.
- New girl goes to listen to school girl band rehearsal. Tries out and gets the part, pissing off the lead girl who incidentally was the giver of the zipperdown action. Ahem, more trouble ahead it seems.
- Lead singing girl is a druggie who owes the dealer money. There is some low-level threats and hounding.
- New girl confronts angsty girl about video. They become friends. Awww.
- Fake rich girl, lead singing girl and friends go to a bar where our lead characters 'lose' their purses. Ok, lead singing girl steals friends purse for the money to pay off dealer. Now that's a lesson about trust.
- Principal finds out about TOTC report and confronts daughter. Fake rich girl scolds new girl and 'disinvites' new girl. Typical. The principal dad of course grounds daughter for such inappropriate behaviour.
- New guy sends anonymous message to fake rich girl about boyfriend's trangressions. Thankfully, the purse was lost.
- New girl goes to fake rich girl's party to apologise or something. She goes with angsty girl who hates fake rich girl. Lead singing girl 'finds' lost purses and returns fake rich girl's Chanel tote to the newly 16 year old. She read sms and asks boyfriend on dancefloor. She fakes it, smiles and cries later.
- Principal goes to party to get daughter and meets the fake rich girl's mom. She sorta confronts him about the past and reveals, get this, they had a kid together! And the kid was given up for adoption! Drama!
- New girl, angsty girl and new guy end up on some beach next to a fairground. They feel better about themselves. Brother and sister run into the surf. The end.

It is amazing how I can remember all this. I'm not shallow am I? What if I do wnana watch episode 2? Damn. I love my TV. What About Brian is on. Looks promising.

Dunlop Street Snaps & Zsofi's Tapas Delights

It's always good to shake things up a bit, break off from the routine. Most people my age quite likely live a "wake up - go to work - go home" life most of the week. Take a detour man, it'll do you some good.

I ended up at Dunlop Street on the shophouse fringes of Little India. The street is a surprise. I started at Serangoon Road and cross over at the lights - indoctrinated procedure for Singaporeans - while throngs of others simply dodged traffic in a lane by lane approach to jaywalking. No chicken would make it across this road safely.

Dunlop Street has shops galore, filled with Indian spices, saris, cloth, religious ornaments, food, electronics, mobile phones, CDs, VCDs, DVDs and many other things. Komala vegetable market was a sight to behold. All the greens and beans an Indian chef would need lay in crates displayed across one side of a no-signal junction. Beautiful.

Further down, lay one reason why Dunlop Street shot back to fame - The Prince of Wales. Pub and backpackers' inn, the POW, as its term of endearment goes, has given a interesting lifeline to the area. Backpackers from all over now stay in the area and more such hostels have opened up to cater for the budget traveller who doesn't mind sharing. The angmohs trawling the street are an interesting contrast to the overwhelming number of Indian and Bangladeshi workers who do the same.

Opposite the POW lay my endpoint. Zsofi, a tapas bar, opened about a month ago and Ashlynn, recommended meeting up there with Farah (author from previous post) and Ravi. I got there early and was the only one being served at the first floor bar. Armed with my Ixus and not much else to do with my hands, I went around snapping. Soon, company arrived and we moved upstairs to the 2nd floor rooftop, a horizontal plane shared by all the adjoining shophouses, partitioned only by low walls and zinc roofing. How cool. Thankfully, the weather was too. Next door, Filipino ladies were singing real bad karaoke. We beared with their rants and made good conversation.

Turns out that down the street towards Jalan Besar, many Thai massage parlours had come to be. They, ahem, provided reasonably priced services. I think the prophylactics come per entry.

Well, go check out Zsofi. You get a small plate of excellently crafted tapas item for each alkie ordered. And the quality of the produce is amazing. Seriously, the chicken wings, prawns, mushrooms, salad, potato frittata, sundried tomatoes, tomato poppers and salad will have you raving (They've got a really experienced chef apparently). Perhaps even ordering larger portions from the menu. The alkie is cheap too, a pint of Heiny from the tap is $10, no taxes. Check out Zsofi's online presence at www.tapasbar.com.sg. Go make an evening, and a friend or two, at the place.

Got home way past midnight, too tired but happy.

The Bird Who Was Afraid Of Heights - A Book By Farah Kaltz

I have a friend Farah who's written a book. (She's the one with a million cats and a few dogs at this house where we've done bbqs). Apparently, she's been thinking of the story since she was a wee kid. So at the ripe of age of XX years, she's put pen to paper and got someone to help her draw beautiful pictures and come up with this piece of magic.

It's a book for all ages and it's quite funny a story. There's a bird who tormented by more birds, trees, sky and a rat. Delightfully written and wonderfully illustrated, you will want to own a copy. It's about SGD$9 a copy and you can contact her directly at www.farahkaltz.com. She'll be very happy to know you're keen to support local artistic endeavour.

The book makes a great present for kids and adults for Christmas, wink wink.

Who In Washington DC Voted For Obama?

Yay! Change's a comin'. Congratulations to the man.

I am checking the stats on BBC News and found the numbers for one state, or so called state, truly amazing.

The voters in the capital, Washington DC, voted almost unanimously for Obama. 92.9% of all voters, out of a total of some 215,000 voters, chose Obama. That's bloody amazing and the clearest signal if there was a need for any kind of overhaul, that's where it was needed.

Department For Appropriate Behaviour

I was fooled.
Maybe I have been waking up too early in the morning. Department For Appopriate Behaviour! You would believe it too if you lived in Singapore. It would probably sit with Home Affairs with members from Info and the Arts, and report to the PM directly about our trangressions. "Don't read that" and "Don't watch this" and "Smell this because I said so" - that's what I imagine this department would come up with. And of course "Are you wearing clean underwear?".

Smart though, especially with our appetite for risque TV of late. All these shows, Mad Men, Californication and The Riches have had rave reviews. Good job FX. Good thing I have FX.

The Ride Of Your Life

Now this is what I call dreaming big. "8 stories up and 120 meters long" kind of big.



I bet all the skateboarders dream like this - huge monster ramps to conquer because the only way forward is bigger and scarier for the high that comes with pride of conquest, ownership of feat and conviction that comes with hard work and wrecked knees, shoulders and skull.

We need skateboarders in gahmen. To inspire and fly.

Shaking Things Up

In yoga class, there are times when I discover myself shaking in certain poses. The instructors that notice will say that the shaking is a good thing - it means the body is adapting, adjusting to uncomfortable change. And change is mostly good.

At work, in general, I have discovered that people generally don't like change. They sit in a comfort zone of preset tasks, abilities and responsibilities. Getting paid for routine is a safe situation I guess but when the daily grind is disrupted, people start to panic, or perhaps, raise some hell, or at least make phone calls.

Then there is me. I have a job to do which includes cutting cost and effort when I see fit. No point duplicating the pain when it could be avoided. Better yet, when it would cost the company more money. So that's one of the things I do on this not-so-clean slate of a job. History is something hard to forget. So why bother. Let's appreciate the work done, and move on the best way forward. Tension or otherwise.