Boxing Day - Earthquakes

I sometimes wonder what kind of society are we becoming if the top story of the day is "how our communications via the internet to the outside world is disrupted by an earthquake" and people's main concern are "how they can't trade online/the trouble they took to perform trading orders" instead of "what is happening to Taiwan now/how are the victims coping" etc.

Heard from the radio a very sad case of a mother who died whilst falling debris fell on her body and it was believed that she died while trying shield her child from the falling debris. When they were found, the mother was still holding on to her child.

My prayers for them.

Miscomm and Misunderstooded...

The problem with me is that sometimes I never think too seriously about how what I say may sound to the listener. Sometimes when I'll be better off being quiet, I'll proceed to shoot my own foot. Then there are times I feel I should have said something but yet I let it go only to regret later.

I used to hang out with this gang of pretty good friends. As with any group there may sometimes be conflicts (quite minimal....in fact non existence for them), also laughter and joy that we shared. (some of them still take the time to read my blog....hehe....which I'm very thankful for)

During that period when I was taking up my part-time degree programme, (which actually was the 3rd time I took up a part-time degree course - I gave up half way the first 2 instance). I decided that I must really make it this time and pass all my exams. There were many instances when this particular group of friends asked me out but I turned them down without properly explaining why.

One instance I even met them by chance and I really spoke from my heart when I said I'm really appreciative of the fact they keep trying to ask me out tho I can seldom make it. I also made the silly remarks that "other people would have given up trying long ago". I did not realise how that may have sounded as I really mean it when I said I'm very touched by them for not giving up on me......in the end they misconstrued that I was being sarcastic and snobbish. Who can blame them. Thinking back, I realise (at a tortoise's rate) how silly of me to make those remarks.

I wish to express my apologies to them. In fact to everyone whom I've offended in anyway with the things I may have said expressly or otherwise.

hmmm....I think I know what my 2007's resolution will be.

Contradictions

Friends are precious……
You only realise how precious they are usually only upon losing them…….
Treasure your friendship…..and so they say……
Respect and never Expect……easier said then done.
Life’s so full of contradictions……the irony of it all is that the people who contradict themselves do not realise it themselves.
People who can afford it are stingy, people who are poor are generous.

Saw a beautiful Rainbow while walking home last evening.......what a beautiful sight to end a day..:)

KL 2006

Went to KL over the weekend.....click on the photo above to view the album......just testing out this picasaweb album.

Krabi - La Playa Resort

Over this long weekend, I went to Krabi with my friend.

We managed to book couple of months back, rather inexpensive air tickets from Tiger Airways and book from NTUC Income their special promos - 3 Nights stay at Krabi La Playa Resort. Sunday to Wednesday (22nd - 25th Oct).

Krabi is indeed a beautiful place to visit. The resort we stayed in is in the Ao Nang area of Krabi.

Day 1
Our flight departs 4.10pm and (an hour and 40 mins or so later) we arrived at Krabi Airport at 4.25pm (local time - like Bangkok, it's one hour behind Singapore time. However after clearing customs and waiting for other tourists under the same local tour operator to gather, we only reached the resort almost close to 7pm. Nothing much to do then but to walk around to hunt for local food for dinner. Right outside our resort we found those mobile stalls selling "Thai Pancakes" - similar to our Prata actually except you'll be spoilt with the choice of fillings like banana, mango, coconut, chocolate, strawberry etc and they will add a generous dribble of chocolate sauce /condensed milk / sugar etc. We had banana filling with chocolate sauce - heavenly - and it's only 15 baht. We walked around Ao Nang area and although there's no difficulty finding many restaurants, we decided we want to try some local food and settled for a open air hawker like eating place very near our resort. There were about 4 - 6 "stall operators" there who sells almost identical types of food. Our dinner was a simple Phad Thai with a plate of Banana fried rice with a coconut drink and a thai iced tea and it only cost us 120 baht.

After dinner stroll saw many similar shops - tailors, laundry shops, small local tour operators, bars and painting galleries. We chance upon one of the many Massage Place which was brightly lit and seems pretty crowded. So we took up a foot massage for 250 baht that lasted an hour.

We didn't quite like the room we were given....we requested for sea view but we were given one where the view from the balcony is a constuction site. We requested for a room change.....which wasn't easy, not especially when the staff have difficulty speaking in English. We were told that the resort is full and they promise us they'll look into it tomorrow and let us have the room change.

Day 2

We took up a half day 4 Island Hopping by speed boat tour.....

First stop...the Pra Nang Cave.....Ao Phra Nang Beach, Chicken Island, Poda Island.......

we got to Snorkel ............ more snorkeling and ........more snorkeling with lotsa Sand, Sun and Crystal clear Sea......

Finally we got our room changed.......

At least it's hill and sea view and not the ugly construction site where the construction starts as early as 8am. Oh and we did not request for morning call but we got one anyway at about 8.30am.....

Day 3

The weather is rather predictable during this part of the year....light showers in the afternoon that goes off as quickly as it falls. We decided to take up kayaking and booked it the night before at a small local tour operator. It was supposed to set us back 650 baht per pax but we manage to bargain with a friend's help down to 450 baht. Only drinking water and fruits provided for the half day kayaking at Ao Thalen.

Day 4

Today we're supposed to go on the city tour that's included in resort stay package. It was managed by a local tour operator See Tho Holidays. We are supposed to be brought to 2 local product stores and a thai silk and jewellery shop, thereafter we'll have lunch at a famous local duck noodles eating place.

It was pretty delicious. The duck was cooked til tender. However I think the rice noodle was not as good as I expected it to be cos the first night I chanced upon a mobile stall selling chicken noodles and the rice noodle from that stall was very "q" compared to the duck noodle.

After lunch, we were brought to the Krabi town and had the choice of shopping at the Fruits Market or the one and only shopping complex there.

Overall I would say that it was a pretty enjoyable trip and I think I would definitely be visiting Krabi again - there's still many places I've yet to explore and activities do try.

Why you say that?

Sometimes I think it's funny ..........when someone made a comment on you and the comment is not true, do you keep asking "why you say it? why?" shouldn't you highlight and prove the person wrong by presenting facts and say "hey, look here ..............and so your comments aren't true."

When you ask people "why you say that", in a way it's admission that "oh what you said is true, but you shouldn't have said it"

Have you tried the River Crossing Puzzle?

http://freeweb.siol.net/danej/riverIQGame.swf

Leave the solution in comments or ask and I'll provide the solution:P

Singapore Idol 2006 - Hardy Mirza

I think he has the right moves, versatility and unique voice to sing any genre.

His rendition of "You Gave Me Wings" was soulful and touching. (thou I was wondering if it will be the new ad song for Whisper.......:P just kidding)

Hardy Mirza - Singapore Idol 2006!

Hong Kong Hong Kong

Hong Kong is just a wonderful city to visit. It's vibrant and fast paced. People there tend to walk very fast.

I've been to Hong Kong a few times, I think I prefer it during the cooler season. Mid Oct onwards. However during which shopping for clothing wise would be pretty limited as clothes of thicker materials or longer sleeves would be 'in' fashion then - which would then be not very applicable for our all summer type of climate back here in Singapore. Still if you like to walk down a long stretch of shopping belt like as if the whole street is 'air-conditioned' or like Genting Highlands, then it would be a nice time to visit Hong Kong.

In any case, this visit during Jun saw a hotter climate in Hong Kong. As I've visited Victoria Peak during my previous trip there, I decided to give it a miss this round.

Instead I went to the Disneyland there - it's my first visit to any Disneyland.



I went during a Sunday and was found out that contrary to what I had thought, Sunday (or weekends) Disneyland would see a lesser crowd due to the higher admission charges.





To get there, we took the MTR and you have to switch to the special Disney Train.

At the main entrance it reads "HERE YOU LEAVE TODAY AND ENTER THE WORLD OF YESTERDAY, TOMORROW AND FANTASY."

The queue for Winnie the Pooh ride was 40 mins.......phew.....shows how popular Winnie is.

One of the attractions that I like there was the 4-D theatre. Think we have something similar in Sentosa which I've yet been to.....but I really enjoyed the 4-D (not the ToTo or 4-D by Singapore Pools) theatre..... I felt like a kid again while watching the show. You have to put on the special glasses and you'll be treated to sights and smells and spurts of water at your face, very well coordinated with the scripts of the show.

Screaming Audience

A reader wrote in to TODAY with regards to the screaming audience during the recent President's All Star Charity Show and how they spoilt her viewing experience.

I think the same goes for Singapore Idol audiences. They don't seem to know when to stop screaming....in fact they don't stop at all. They scream when the idol hopefuls appear, when the idols are singing, even when the judges are giving them advice. Look at American idol, do you see Ryan Seacrest shouting when he hosts the show? Gurmit sometimes have to shout in order to be heard.

Pls lah, give the judges a chance to speak even tho sometimes we don't necessarily agree with what they have to say. Show some maturity.

Steve Irwin - The Crocodile Hunter

It's so sad to hear of his demise. I love watching Steve Irwin's documentaries.

My condolences to the Australian Zoo and Steve's family.

No Smoking at Bus-Stops

Smoking is banned at bus stops......is it really effective? Do people care? Not quite.......




in the photo above, the guy in blue (on the right) is puffing away. I smell it before actually seeing him holding the cigarette puffing away ..... there is a lady in pink who is pregnant.

I think there are some people who still smoke at bus-stops cos

1) there is no "No Smoking - Fine $XX" signs placed at bus stops

2) they couldn't care less.(partly due to Point no. 4)

3) the law did not define what constitute a bus stop and so it's debatable whether the smoker is standing in or outside the domains of a bus stop.

4) there aren't enough NEA officials to go around to catch those who breach this rule.

Still it boils down to the fact that people do not care about their own personal well being, let alone those of others.

How polite are we?

Last night's Channel U's Shoot2 programme talked about the Politeness Survey that Reader's Digest conducted that ranked Singapore at the bottom 5 of the list of countries.

A few points were raised and among them there was the suggestion that young parents take more responsibility to inculcate their child the importance of being more mindful of other people's needs too. I fully agree and I must say that looking at some of the parents around me, I see many parents nowadays simply let their child do whatever they like.

Also just look and perhaps count how many people say thank you to the people who hands out the freesheets like TODAY or MyPaper? Hardly will you hear a handful do that.

I feel that courtesy and politeness goes hand in hand and we should realise that we are all one. Our actions will affect one another.

My first painting of a Buddha's face.

9th Aug was Singapore's National Day and so I decided to pick up the brush and I did a painting of a Buddha's face.

Some coaching, sarcastic remarks (like "change brush lah, if not if think these are chopsticks ah?) and help from my friend later, this is the end product.

I was pretty disappointed with the fact that mr brown's column got suspended. mr brown's column appears every Friday in TODAY's free paper. You may find out more about what happened from his blog www.mrbrown.com
My last blog I wrote about inconsiderate people and the very next day I got to witness and experience more selfishness on board the shuttle bus I take every day. It was a crowded morning as usual and more so especially since they extended to route to the sports school near my house....ok now you know I stay in Woodlands. The bus I boarded was pretty crowded but there was still space near the 1st door of the bus but a few passengers simply refuse to budge.
The bus arrived at the next stop and there was plenty of people there wanting to board the bus as well. I did what evey civic minded person would do and moved inner and to my horror I found a space there that could have easily fit in a baby elephant. I could tell from the faces of the passengers who were also standing around that they were just happy and contented that they are already on board the bus and couldn't care less if the people at the next stop are left stranded to wait for the next bus.
I feel very disgusted with such attitudes. I strongly feel that if we were want to progress to be a world class nation, we got to progress to be a more civic minded society. No wonder we are rated at the bottom 10 of world's most courteous cities.

Macau

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I went to Macau and Hong Kong in Jun 06. This is my second visit to Macau. The first one was umpteen years ago. Macau has undergone plenty of changes. Still quite a fair bit of conservation is done on some of the historical buildings and I find the Portuguese style arhitecture to be quite interesting.

I went to the theme park Fisherman's Wharf and it wasn't

crowded as I had expected it to be. Perhaps it's due to the fact that it was a weekday. Entry to the park is free, however you'll need to pay for the rides/performance/certain theme sections.

The theme park is located right in front of a pretty famous hotel /casino and is the first thing you'll see on route to the Macau city from the airport.

Macau Fisherman’s Wharf is mainly divided into 3 themed sections:
(1)Dynasty Wharf(2)East Meets West(3)Legend Wharf

Dynasty Wharf is a replica of Tang Dynasty architectures with an international array of products to satisfy your shopping desire.
East Meets West is a children entertainment and functional area which includes a mixture of F&B outlets, multi-functional live show venues, convention and exhibition facilities, various family rides, all set in a uniquely themed environment which incorporated both Eastern and Western cultural elements.

I was feeling adventurous with my travel khaki and we decided to take the first bus that came around. That was after we shopped at Yaohan, and popped by a small eatery to fill our stomachs. I remember it was bus Service no. 10 and it brought us all the way to the border in between Macau and China.......:P, Well we just took the same service from the "bus interchange" there and somehow as luck would have it, we reached the main square, Largo do Senado, with its Portuguese pavement of wave-patterned stones and globular fountain which was pretty near the famous St Paul's Cathedral.

I think a trip to Macau would not be complete if you did not go to the Macau Tower.

Nice View from the Tower - From the highest viewing deck it is possible to see 55km away!

On the 58/F Observation Lounge, there's the glass floor. Looking down as you walk on the floor made me dizzy.

We waited for a while before the crowd there dispersed before deciding to try the Sky Walk. Still as you can see, the other curious visitors there followed us around.....haha.

I was pretty lucky I guess to be able to locate a famous eatery at Taipa that serves the famous local delight "猪扒饱" Pork Chop Bun -

It was said that this famous shop makes and sells more than 300 pork chop buns per day. It was pretty good except that perhaps when we were there (around 4pm) the buns were I 'm guessing not cooked to order but produced in bulk, (think around 3pm) and so the pork chops were not piping hot as I would like it to be. Ironically, located diagonally accross the road from this shop was a MacDonald's....quite an interesting contrast.

Another historical site not to be missed would be the St Paul's Cathedral Ruins.

There you'll also find generous shop owners stuffing into your hands the local tibits or asking you to sample the BBQ meats.

Of course while in Macau, you gotta visit the casinos even if you don't gamble.

Here's me outside one of the casino.....feels like a Pharoah....

~~~~~Works in Progress~~~~~~

This is my first time writing a blog.

Not sure if anyone will read it. :)

Anyway I've wanted to start a blog to express how I really feel. Think it is a great way to de-stress after a hard day's work.

Here I hope to share my views on current affairs / what I observe is happening / my feelings / travelling experiences as well as photos.

First off I just wish to reflect that lately it seems that more and more people are just so into themselves. When I was in Hongkong 2 weeks ago, I noticed that they also have the campaign for people using the escalator to keep to their right.(Over here in Singapore, it's keeping left) I was pleasantly surprised that the people in Hong Kong do follow this 'rule' strigently. However and sadly I can't say the same for Singapore. Although I must say that I do see a slight improvement compared to the past when the keeping left while riding on the escalator campaign started.

However this seems only to be the case at escalators at MRT station - where they pasted signs to encourage people to keep left, but I doubt that most people even notices them as they are not prominently displayed and I see many people do not keep left when they are on the escalators in shopping centres. I believe there should be more media attention given to educate people with regard to this social etiquette which most people here are lacking of. Most people are just so self centred that they do not spare a thought for others who may be in a hurry.

I think we should change our mindset to tell ourselves that the escalator is a tool to aid our ascend or descend and not to completely rely on it. We should try if possible to keep left and better yet to make an effort to climb up while on the escalator instead of fully relying on it.l Afterall a little excercise never hurts.

I wish more people will be more considerate and be more mindful or sensitive to others around them.