Okay, it's only December 26th (going on 27th) but since everyone is making their new year resolutions, I figure it's time for mine too before I totally forget about it. A new year, a new beginning, a better tomorrow....
In 2007 I resolve to:
1. Beat the STI Index
2. Run (at least) twice a week and skate once a week
3. Join a club/regular activity
4. Lose 5kg (I probably put on 5kg this Christmas/new year heheh)
5. Present a paper at an international conference
6. Pick up a new hobby
7. Travel somewhere I've never been before
8. Improve my golf (that's probably the toughest one)
9. Blog at least once a week
10. Win some money at poker!!!
Tuesday, December 26, 2006
Monday, December 25, 2006
Happiness and economics
If you are looking for a good read this Christmas, check out the article "Happiness and economics" on page 33 of this weeks Economist double-issue. Basically its a rather Freakonomics-like breakdown of what drives people in today's economy and the endless chase of happiness.
Perhaps it will provide some insight and soul searching for the past year and give some guidance for the year(s) ahead. We all want to be happy don't we? =)
I was tempted to paste the entire article here but I guess I will be sued for copyright infringement, so here's an excerpt:
To clamber up the pecking order, some people slave away nights and weekends at the office. They gain in rank at the expense of their free time. But in making that sacrifice they also hurt anyone else who shares their aspirations: they too must give up their weekends to keep up. Mr Frank reckons that many people would like to work less, if only others slackened off also. But such bargains cannot be struck unilaterally. On the contrary, people compete in costly “arms races”, knowing that if they do not work harder, they will lose their standing to someone who does.
These races are motivated by more than just prestige. As Fred Hirsch argued in his 1977 book, “The Social Limits to Growth”, many good things in life are “positional”. You can enjoy them only if others don't. Sometimes, a quick car, fine suit or attractive house is not enough. One must have the fastest car, finest suit or priciest house.
Think of the scramble for schools, Mr Frank says. Only 10% of kids can go to the top 10% of schools. In many countries, wherever the schools are good, the houses will be expensive. Thus parents who want the best education for their child must overwork to afford a house in a good school district. In doing so, however, they raise the bar for everyone else.
Is mutual disarmament possible? Not without government help, Mr Frank and Lord Layard argue. The exchequer should tax earned income heavily enough to deter one-upmanship, they say.
Despite appearances, this is not a naked example of punitive redistribution—the fiscal politics of envy. Mr Frank and Lord Layard do not want to level the social order. Their aim is much more conservative than that. Their taxes would leave the pecking order intact and envy undiminished. But people would be deterred from acting on the green-eyed monster. The problem these economists want to tackle is not inequality per se. It is that people don't know their place and scramble vainly to improve it. Carlyle, who thought man should content himself with being the worthy follower of worthy superiors, would no doubt have approved.
I especially like the part about progressive tax. Given the huge influx of super wealthy into Singapore to "escape" higher taxes in their home countries, no wonder people are complaining about a new "elite" class here that are totally out of touch with the rest of society.
Perhaps it will provide some insight and soul searching for the past year and give some guidance for the year(s) ahead. We all want to be happy don't we? =)
I was tempted to paste the entire article here but I guess I will be sued for copyright infringement, so here's an excerpt:
To clamber up the pecking order, some people slave away nights and weekends at the office. They gain in rank at the expense of their free time. But in making that sacrifice they also hurt anyone else who shares their aspirations: they too must give up their weekends to keep up. Mr Frank reckons that many people would like to work less, if only others slackened off also. But such bargains cannot be struck unilaterally. On the contrary, people compete in costly “arms races”, knowing that if they do not work harder, they will lose their standing to someone who does.
These races are motivated by more than just prestige. As Fred Hirsch argued in his 1977 book, “The Social Limits to Growth”, many good things in life are “positional”. You can enjoy them only if others don't. Sometimes, a quick car, fine suit or attractive house is not enough. One must have the fastest car, finest suit or priciest house.
Think of the scramble for schools, Mr Frank says. Only 10% of kids can go to the top 10% of schools. In many countries, wherever the schools are good, the houses will be expensive. Thus parents who want the best education for their child must overwork to afford a house in a good school district. In doing so, however, they raise the bar for everyone else.
Is mutual disarmament possible? Not without government help, Mr Frank and Lord Layard argue. The exchequer should tax earned income heavily enough to deter one-upmanship, they say.
Despite appearances, this is not a naked example of punitive redistribution—the fiscal politics of envy. Mr Frank and Lord Layard do not want to level the social order. Their aim is much more conservative than that. Their taxes would leave the pecking order intact and envy undiminished. But people would be deterred from acting on the green-eyed monster. The problem these economists want to tackle is not inequality per se. It is that people don't know their place and scramble vainly to improve it. Carlyle, who thought man should content himself with being the worthy follower of worthy superiors, would no doubt have approved.
I especially like the part about progressive tax. Given the huge influx of super wealthy into Singapore to "escape" higher taxes in their home countries, no wonder people are complaining about a new "elite" class here that are totally out of touch with the rest of society.
Sunday, December 24, 2006
Saturday, December 23, 2006
Super Sonic
It appeared like a beautiful day for skating this morning. As I was coming back from the Fort Road area one tall ang moh guy waved and shouted out to me "Berkeley!" and I was a little freaked out! Then I realised I was wearing my "all Cal" skating outfit today which probably explains the reaction. Didn't recognise him as one of the Cal alumni though his built looked a little like DH. I learned a new trick while observing lessons at the rink: sudden spin-stop. Basically its a variation of the standard spin-stop (or y-stop, eagle-turn to some people) except that you pivot on your left toe rather than the entire left foot. So basically your left skate flips onto an eagle stance real fast, and with a quick flip of your right foot you are now rolling on backwards voila! The key is catching your balance when you flip your right skate that quickly, or else you will end up on your butt (trust me on that one)! After skating a while though, the weather started turning on me and I got to tell you that your heart just sinks when you see those bearings soaking in all that rainwater......
All that rainfall called for some emergency skate maintenance to make sure those ILQ-9 bearings don't get corroded. And yes, they do get corroded even though they are "stainless steel"! So basically I had to take everything apart and dry out the bearings with a hairdryer. Sounds easy? Well, I got stuck on the first step, luckily I had some handy tools. Apparently all that grime and water made the bearings kinda stuck in the wheels. The K2 skate tool was of no use half the time. That's where the "Sonic Pro Tool" comes in handy! Pops out all the bearings all of the time with minimal effort! And I thought I had wasted good money on that tool.....
In the process of drying and cleaning out all those bearings I found that some of them didn't spin very well. I suppose some dirt got into them, there were no signs of corrosion though. With all that grease inside the bearings its hard to tell what dirt is in there, so I had to find some way to clean them out. Tried using napkins and all, but those were completely of no use, its just too difficult to get anything out from those bearings! Now that's where the "Sonic Turbo Bearing Wash" comes in handy. Basically I threw all the bearings in there, and voila, after 5 minutes, everything was perfectly clean and shiny!!! Even all the grease was removed, it was a miracle!!!! I didn't have to do anything but throw them into the fluid and shake a little!
So now that the dirty bearings are all cleaned and dried out, time to test the spin. Somehow the bearings seem to have a little spin resistance after being completely cleaned out though, as in you can hear some metal grinding or something. Not perfect, but I guess I could use it like that. That's when I found out that just a few drops of "Sonic Super Oil" makes a hella difference! Few drops of that magic lube and the bearings spin effortlessly! I think much less lube was required than the original ton of grease that was in there when I bought those skates.....
The whole process took me almost 2 hours. Probably worth the effort but I'd pay a skate shop 5 bucks if they could do it all for me haha! Somehow though I doubt I could trust someone else to put in as much effort to achieve the same standard.....
All that rainfall called for some emergency skate maintenance to make sure those ILQ-9 bearings don't get corroded. And yes, they do get corroded even though they are "stainless steel"! So basically I had to take everything apart and dry out the bearings with a hairdryer. Sounds easy? Well, I got stuck on the first step, luckily I had some handy tools. Apparently all that grime and water made the bearings kinda stuck in the wheels. The K2 skate tool was of no use half the time. That's where the "Sonic Pro Tool" comes in handy! Pops out all the bearings all of the time with minimal effort! And I thought I had wasted good money on that tool.....
In the process of drying and cleaning out all those bearings I found that some of them didn't spin very well. I suppose some dirt got into them, there were no signs of corrosion though. With all that grease inside the bearings its hard to tell what dirt is in there, so I had to find some way to clean them out. Tried using napkins and all, but those were completely of no use, its just too difficult to get anything out from those bearings! Now that's where the "Sonic Turbo Bearing Wash" comes in handy. Basically I threw all the bearings in there, and voila, after 5 minutes, everything was perfectly clean and shiny!!! Even all the grease was removed, it was a miracle!!!! I didn't have to do anything but throw them into the fluid and shake a little!
So now that the dirty bearings are all cleaned and dried out, time to test the spin. Somehow the bearings seem to have a little spin resistance after being completely cleaned out though, as in you can hear some metal grinding or something. Not perfect, but I guess I could use it like that. That's when I found out that just a few drops of "Sonic Super Oil" makes a hella difference! Few drops of that magic lube and the bearings spin effortlessly! I think much less lube was required than the original ton of grease that was in there when I bought those skates.....
The whole process took me almost 2 hours. Probably worth the effort but I'd pay a skate shop 5 bucks if they could do it all for me haha! Somehow though I doubt I could trust someone else to put in as much effort to achieve the same standard.....
Sunday, December 17, 2006
Kurt Wenner
Kurt Wenner is probably one of the most amazing artists around! He does chalk drawings on the streets that look so real that you'd think there's stuff rising out of the ground or something! And the best part is that he's right here in Singapore now, and that's him drawing! I wonder how many people know he's in town creating a masterpiece.....Monday, December 11, 2006
California
We've be on the run
Driving in the sun
Looking out for number one
California, here we come
Right back where we started from
Well, hustlers grab your guns
The shadow weighs a ton
Driving down the 101
California, here we come
Right back where we started from
California
Here we come!
On the stereo
Listen as we go
Nothing's gonna stop me now
California, here we come
Right back where we started from
Peddle to the floor
Thinking of you more
Gotta get us to the show
California, here we come
Right back where we started from
California
Here we come!
Driving in the sun
Looking out for number one
California, here we come
Right back where we started from
Well, hustlers grab your guns
The shadow weighs a ton
Driving down the 101
California, here we come
Right back where we started from
California
Here we come!
On the stereo
Listen as we go
Nothing's gonna stop me now
California, here we come
Right back where we started from
Peddle to the floor
Thinking of you more
Gotta get us to the show
California, here we come
Right back where we started from
California
Here we come!
Saturday, December 09, 2006
Surprising Report on the Ethical Food Movement
I just read this article about the ethical-food movement (i.e. organic, fairtrade and local).
The aims of much of the ethical-food movement -- to protect the environment, to encourage development and to redress the distortions in global trade -- are admirable. The problems lie in the means, not the ends. No amount of Fairtrade coffee will eliminate world poverty, and all the organic asparagus in the world will not save the planet. Some of the stuff sold under an ethical label may even leave the world in a worse state and its poor farmers poorer than they otherwise would be.
-The Economist Dec 9, 2006
The aims of much of the ethical-food movement -- to protect the environment, to encourage development and to redress the distortions in global trade -- are admirable. The problems lie in the means, not the ends. No amount of Fairtrade coffee will eliminate world poverty, and all the organic asparagus in the world will not save the planet. Some of the stuff sold under an ethical label may even leave the world in a worse state and its poor farmers poorer than they otherwise would be.
-The Economist Dec 9, 2006
Friday, December 08, 2006
His Sheep Am I
In God's green pastures feeding
by His cool waters lie
Soft in the evening walk my Lord and I;
All the sheep of His pasture
Fare so wondrously fine.
His sheep am I
Water's cool... in the valley
pasture's green... on the mountain
In the evening walk my Lord and I;
Dark the night... in the valley
Rough the way... on the mountain
Step by step
Walk my Lord and I
by His cool waters lie
Soft in the evening walk my Lord and I;
All the sheep of His pasture
Fare so wondrously fine.
His sheep am I
Water's cool... in the valley
pasture's green... on the mountain
In the evening walk my Lord and I;
Dark the night... in the valley
Rough the way... on the mountain
Step by step
Walk my Lord and I
Wednesday, December 06, 2006
News Channels
I just read this in the Economist regarding English-speaking news channels:
If there is heavy-handed government influence, viewers will notice, and switch off. "Russia Today", an English-language news channel from the Russian government, has had little impact since its launch last December; neither has Channel NewsAsia, started in 1999 by a firm owned by Singapore's government to challenge Western dominance of the airwaves.
Ouch! I think Channel NewsAsia has a pretty good well-updated website, but otherwise they appear not to be as popular in the region as they claim to be....
If there is heavy-handed government influence, viewers will notice, and switch off. "Russia Today", an English-language news channel from the Russian government, has had little impact since its launch last December; neither has Channel NewsAsia, started in 1999 by a firm owned by Singapore's government to challenge Western dominance of the airwaves.
Ouch! I think Channel NewsAsia has a pretty good well-updated website, but otherwise they appear not to be as popular in the region as they claim to be....
Saturday, December 02, 2006
Beautiful weather for skating
The weather this morning was absolutely perfect for skating!!! It has been raining almost every afternoon for the last week and a half. And unfortunately I usually can't wake up to skate in the morning, and by the time lunch is done, the sky turns dark. I woke up early today, and it was just right, not too hot, and the sky was not threatening either. Neither was it crowded at East Coast Park, cos most people are staying away for fear of the impending rain!
I did the entire trail twice, back and forth. I suppose that brings it to a total of about 20km? Okay to some of you that's no big deal, but its my first time going the distance on skates and it was a pretty darn good workout! And I thoroughly enjoyed my favorite sights on the way: the amazing view at bedok jetty, eucalyptus trees near the yacht club, catching a glimpse of some cable skiing. I used to like skating as a substitute for skiing, which is the one sport I really love. But now I think that skating on its own is fantastic, especially if you have the right scenary and conditions to go along with it. ;)
Living by the sea has its advantages and disadvantages. It takes a long time to get to work, and the commute really sucks as the train station isn't nearby. Most buses take surface streets which takes hella long to get anywhere on the other side of the island. For this reason alone many people dread staying by the east coast. The other big disadvantage is that developers are always eyeing your property! Everybody wants to buy up that plot of land and replace it with a ridiculously expensive condominium (unless u are staying in hdb of course)! And you know that once you move out and sell that land, you will never be able to afford staying in this neighbourhood anymore.....
But of course the greatest thing is that you have 10km of untouched beach at your doorstep! Okay, 10km is not a lot compared to Los Angeles, but if you are staying on an island only 40km across, it sure is paradise! Not to mention that there really hasn't been much development along the beachfront, so it does look a lot more natural than LA (though it isn't!). And with the weather changing all the time towards the northeast monsoon season, it's good to have the park at your doorstep so you can judge when's a good time to go skate. ;) Rain here normally lasts only an hour or two and are unpredictable. So if you lived further away you'd probably not even head to ECP during this season....
I did the entire trail twice, back and forth. I suppose that brings it to a total of about 20km? Okay to some of you that's no big deal, but its my first time going the distance on skates and it was a pretty darn good workout! And I thoroughly enjoyed my favorite sights on the way: the amazing view at bedok jetty, eucalyptus trees near the yacht club, catching a glimpse of some cable skiing. I used to like skating as a substitute for skiing, which is the one sport I really love. But now I think that skating on its own is fantastic, especially if you have the right scenary and conditions to go along with it. ;)
Living by the sea has its advantages and disadvantages. It takes a long time to get to work, and the commute really sucks as the train station isn't nearby. Most buses take surface streets which takes hella long to get anywhere on the other side of the island. For this reason alone many people dread staying by the east coast. The other big disadvantage is that developers are always eyeing your property! Everybody wants to buy up that plot of land and replace it with a ridiculously expensive condominium (unless u are staying in hdb of course)! And you know that once you move out and sell that land, you will never be able to afford staying in this neighbourhood anymore.....
But of course the greatest thing is that you have 10km of untouched beach at your doorstep! Okay, 10km is not a lot compared to Los Angeles, but if you are staying on an island only 40km across, it sure is paradise! Not to mention that there really hasn't been much development along the beachfront, so it does look a lot more natural than LA (though it isn't!). And with the weather changing all the time towards the northeast monsoon season, it's good to have the park at your doorstep so you can judge when's a good time to go skate. ;) Rain here normally lasts only an hour or two and are unpredictable. So if you lived further away you'd probably not even head to ECP during this season....
Friday, December 01, 2006
Global Cost of Living Index
Here is the ranking from the most accurate and updated cost of living index out there. Once again proving that Singapore is indeed a VERY expensive place to live in, so please stop saying that I'm living like a king in Asia!!!
1. Moscow
2. Seoul
3. Tokyo
4. Hong Kong
5. London
6. Osaka
7. Geneva
8. Copenhagen
9. Zurich
10. Oslo
11. New York City
12. St. Petersberg
13. Milan
14. Beijing
15. Istanbul
15. Paris
17. Singapore
20. Shanghai
28. Taipei
29. Los Angeles
34. San Francisco
38. Chicago
47. Toronto
56. Vancouver
76. Houston
84. Boston
93. Perth
102. Seattle
114. Kuala Lumpur
I think Perth or Seattle would be a nice place to retire.....
1. Moscow
2. Seoul
3. Tokyo
4. Hong Kong
5. London
6. Osaka
7. Geneva
8. Copenhagen
9. Zurich
10. Oslo
11. New York City
12. St. Petersberg
13. Milan
14. Beijing
15. Istanbul
15. Paris
17. Singapore
20. Shanghai
28. Taipei
29. Los Angeles
34. San Francisco
38. Chicago
47. Toronto
56. Vancouver
76. Houston
84. Boston
93. Perth
102. Seattle
114. Kuala Lumpur
I think Perth or Seattle would be a nice place to retire.....
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
Chinese Cars
Chinese cars have become very popular in Asia lately for one reasonly only: they are dirt cheap! But when it comes to quality......
According to the latest China Automobile Customer Satisfaction Index, the number of faults per 100 cars made in China rose from 246 in 2005 to 338 this year. Four out of five cars now experience a problem in the first six months of ownership. But with average retail prices falling by $1,250 a year, producers are racing to cut costs, not improve quality. Intense competition is also forcing them to accelerate development cycles. Carmakers acknowledge that this means they are being forced to use lower quality materials and spend less time on testing. So reliability is likely to deteriorate further. -- The Economist, Nov 25 2006
The statistics are from China itself. As we all know, China is notorious for covering up stuff like inflation rate, economic growth etc, so if the authorities say the situation bad, it must be REALLY bad! The Cherry may be cheap, but it won't be worth the money if it gets out of control and becomes a squashed Cherry!!
According to the latest China Automobile Customer Satisfaction Index, the number of faults per 100 cars made in China rose from 246 in 2005 to 338 this year. Four out of five cars now experience a problem in the first six months of ownership. But with average retail prices falling by $1,250 a year, producers are racing to cut costs, not improve quality. Intense competition is also forcing them to accelerate development cycles. Carmakers acknowledge that this means they are being forced to use lower quality materials and spend less time on testing. So reliability is likely to deteriorate further. -- The Economist, Nov 25 2006
The statistics are from China itself. As we all know, China is notorious for covering up stuff like inflation rate, economic growth etc, so if the authorities say the situation bad, it must be REALLY bad! The Cherry may be cheap, but it won't be worth the money if it gets out of control and becomes a squashed Cherry!!
Saturday, November 25, 2006
Most bizarre news!
A Thai Buddhist monk has refused to reattach his penis after he cut it off with a machete during meditation, Reuters reported.
The monk, 35, reportedly severed the organ because he had an erection and only allowed hospital doctors to dress the wound. He said he had renounced all earthly cares and had "abandoned everything", the hospital chief told Reuters.
The monk, 35, reportedly severed the organ because he had an erection and only allowed hospital doctors to dress the wound. He said he had renounced all earthly cares and had "abandoned everything", the hospital chief told Reuters.
Friday, November 17, 2006
The Bush
Many ppl think George Bush is quite ignorant of foreign affairs and really makes a big mess of the whole show. I just read this in a book:
"....George W. Bush had to apply for a passport after becoming president of the United States, so he could travel overseas."
Gosh, and he became president.....
"....George W. Bush had to apply for a passport after becoming president of the United States, so he could travel overseas."
Gosh, and he became president.....
DAPS 2006
If you are wondering what I've been busy with, I just presented a paper at DAPS 2006.
Wan, Y. K. and Ng, P. H., “Numerical Analysis of Close-In Blast Effects on Reinforced Concrete Columns”, Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Design and Analysis of Protective Structures, pp. 343–351, 2006.
Wan, Y. K. and Ng, P. H., “Numerical Analysis of Close-In Blast Effects on Reinforced Concrete Columns”, Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Design and Analysis of Protective Structures, pp. 343–351, 2006.
Saturday, November 11, 2006
There's a new world somewhere
They played this song at my aunt's wedding when I was a kid. I'll always remember it because I was the page boy at that wedding, the cute little kid carrying that pillow with the rings! I've never really heard this song since then, perhaps only once or twice in church.
What's so special about this song is that it's a church song, and the "Someone" is supposed to be Jesus. But when played at a church wedding, it kinda refers to the husband/bride too! So there's actually something in it for everyone!
So why do I bring this up now? Well, it just came to mind when someone was talking to me about finding the right someone. I guess if I ever do find the right one, I'll have this song at my wedding ;) .....
There’s a new world somewhere they call the Promised Land;
And I’ll be there someday if you will hold my hand;
I still need you there beside me, no matter what I do;
For I know I’ll never find another you.
There is always someone for each of us they say,
And you’ll be my someone, forever and a day;
I could search the whole world over, until my life is through,
But I know I’ll never find another you.
It’s a long, long journey, so stay by my side,
If I walk through a storm, you’ll be my guide, Be my guide...
If they gave me a fortune, my treasure would be small;
I could lose it all tomorrow, and never mind at all;
But if I should lose your love, dear, I don’t know what I’d do,
For I know I’ll never find another you!
What's so special about this song is that it's a church song, and the "Someone" is supposed to be Jesus. But when played at a church wedding, it kinda refers to the husband/bride too! So there's actually something in it for everyone!
So why do I bring this up now? Well, it just came to mind when someone was talking to me about finding the right someone. I guess if I ever do find the right one, I'll have this song at my wedding ;) .....
There’s a new world somewhere they call the Promised Land;
And I’ll be there someday if you will hold my hand;
I still need you there beside me, no matter what I do;
For I know I’ll never find another you.
There is always someone for each of us they say,
And you’ll be my someone, forever and a day;
I could search the whole world over, until my life is through,
But I know I’ll never find another you.
It’s a long, long journey, so stay by my side,
If I walk through a storm, you’ll be my guide, Be my guide...
If they gave me a fortune, my treasure would be small;
I could lose it all tomorrow, and never mind at all;
But if I should lose your love, dear, I don’t know what I’d do,
For I know I’ll never find another you!
Sam Adams with Blooming Onion
Did you know they serve Sam Adams at Outback Steakhouse? Well, now you do! A bottle of classic Sam Adams toasted over Blooming Onion is something I'd die for! Oh, and they give you free dessert if you pay with a UOB card! Though I'd rather have a discount instead 'cos there's no way you can finish all that food..... Outback used to be rather quiet with dim lighting, quite a romantic location. But business is booming now, more noise and even a line outside! But Blooming Onion still tastes as good, and the company makes it even better I guess ;) !
Had a late night out at Butter Factory. This place is really in the middle of nowhere. You tell the cab driver you wanna go to Butter Factory and he might send you to the Tuas industrial estate! You tell him you want to go to Robertson Quay most probably he will drop you at some condo or hotel in the neighbourhood and you got to find your own way there. Robertson Quay was supposed to be the next "happening" place in town, but it's pretty dark and half the world doesn't know where it is.... Still, I had a great time though! I didn't know R could groove so well to hip hop! Somebody really got it moving huh? Somehow the crowd didn't dress very hip hop. I saw a lot of the "scholarly" crowd who were dressed in work attire. And some Ah Lians but dressed in classy (ballroom?) attire! What happened to baggy pants, caps and chains? Even J was not in his classic funky get go! And hardly anyone smoked! A surreal hip hop experience.....
Denise Richards, aka fish lips, from Wild Things. Remember her? Well, she threw a laptop at the papparazzi but it landed on an elderly disabled woman instead! Bummer!
Democrats have won control of both the house and senate! Okay, they don't exactly control the senate outright, but who cares? Victory for mankind? Possibly....
In other news, the LTA is giving a huge discount on ERP rates during the festive season. Now I take big offence at this. Didn't the minister just say that too many people are driving and it is congesting up the city? Especially during the festive season when people are driving everywhere and clogging up the city center, that's when you should double the ERP rates and encourage public transport! Okay, some people who drive are gonna shoot me...... Anyways, Orchard Road and the City Hall area are gonna be very very congested come Christmas! So they say they want to encourage shopping, tourism etc. Maybe waive the ERP for taxis, but not for cars???
Had a late night out at Butter Factory. This place is really in the middle of nowhere. You tell the cab driver you wanna go to Butter Factory and he might send you to the Tuas industrial estate! You tell him you want to go to Robertson Quay most probably he will drop you at some condo or hotel in the neighbourhood and you got to find your own way there. Robertson Quay was supposed to be the next "happening" place in town, but it's pretty dark and half the world doesn't know where it is.... Still, I had a great time though! I didn't know R could groove so well to hip hop! Somebody really got it moving huh? Somehow the crowd didn't dress very hip hop. I saw a lot of the "scholarly" crowd who were dressed in work attire. And some Ah Lians but dressed in classy (ballroom?) attire! What happened to baggy pants, caps and chains? Even J was not in his classic funky get go! And hardly anyone smoked! A surreal hip hop experience.....
Denise Richards, aka fish lips, from Wild Things. Remember her? Well, she threw a laptop at the papparazzi but it landed on an elderly disabled woman instead! Bummer!
Democrats have won control of both the house and senate! Okay, they don't exactly control the senate outright, but who cares? Victory for mankind? Possibly....
In other news, the LTA is giving a huge discount on ERP rates during the festive season. Now I take big offence at this. Didn't the minister just say that too many people are driving and it is congesting up the city? Especially during the festive season when people are driving everywhere and clogging up the city center, that's when you should double the ERP rates and encourage public transport! Okay, some people who drive are gonna shoot me...... Anyways, Orchard Road and the City Hall area are gonna be very very congested come Christmas! So they say they want to encourage shopping, tourism etc. Maybe waive the ERP for taxis, but not for cars???
Sunday, November 05, 2006
Fat free? Maybe not...
I just watched the documentary of the week on channel news asia. This week's topic was on dieting. According to a noted professor, fat-free foods attain their fat-free status by substituting fat with carbohydrates. And many of these fat-free foods actually have the same amount of calories in the form of carbohydrates that their non-fat-free cousins have in the form of fats (e.g. fat-free oreos and fat-free ice cream)! Which means that you are not gonna lose ANY weight at all eating these fat-free foods! What's more, fats actually make you feel full, but carbohydrates make your body produce more insulin which makes you feel hungry, and thus you end up eating more. So eating fat-free food actually makes you eat more and gain more weight!! When I was in the US some girls told me they feel disgusted when they saw me drinking whole milk. Guess what? They probably gained more weight than me by drinking non-fat milk!
So whats the best way to lose weight? Eat in moderation and exercise the equivalent of walking 10,000 steps a day. Now, thats a lot! I think most office workers barely manage 1000, so I guess we have to hit the gym to make up for the lack of exercise!
In other news, Saddam Hussein has just been sentenced to death by hanging.....
So whats the best way to lose weight? Eat in moderation and exercise the equivalent of walking 10,000 steps a day. Now, thats a lot! I think most office workers barely manage 1000, so I guess we have to hit the gym to make up for the lack of exercise!
In other news, Saddam Hussein has just been sentenced to death by hanging.....
Global warming
Finally back from reservist! Doesn't it feel great to be a civilian again? Ok lah, this round of ICT was not that tough. We were doing ATEC 1 which is basically individual proficiency testing, so no outfield exercise. And I wasn't tested. I got poked twice this week tough, which brings it to a total of being poked 3 times with a 16 gauge needle in 2 and a half weeks! If you know how big a 16 gauge is you'd probably faint.....
Went to Vivocity last night to watch An Inconvenient Truth with some friends. One guy observed that I was talking in Army lingo, I guess it will take a few days for my civilian conversion course haha! The movie was quite interesting, but seriously I'd like to hear more than just Al Gore talking. He's a good talker, but still, $9.50 to hear one person talk?!! I think Michael Moore is more interesting though he is probably a lot more biased. Did I learn a lot more from Al Gore's speech? Not really. Is he scientific enough? Definitely not, because he totally did not talk very much about the skeptics scientific point of view. Zero citations disagreeing with global warming in his sample of papers. But there are indeed papers out there that disagree with global warming, he just didn't dig hard enough. Read Michael Crichton's book (forgot the name) to find references. Like all politicians, he's really just using his charm to present the facts. Oh and not to mention the entire movie is a big Apple advertisement!!
We all noticed some mismatch between the crowd and the stores at vivocity. The crowd is largely a family crowd, lots of uncles aunties and their kids, making A LOT of noise! But the stores are largely upmarket boutiques, which cater to the hip and well-heeled. I suppose those well-heeled shoppers wouldn't want to squeeze with the sweating heartlanders with kids in tow. And not to mention that the first floor has a huge atrium which attracts numerous shoppers, but once u go up the escalator the aisles are tiny, and you literally have to squeeze to get from one point to another. I've never seen any mall with such small walkways, other than beach road Army Market!! Poorly designed indeed. But I guess the crowd is coming, so its a success. But are they spending enough to cover the cost of developing this sprawling complex?
Back to global warming. Gore says that the world population is too large, becoming unsustainable. However, many rich countries in europe and asia are shunning immigration and encouraging people to have more and more kids. And these are precisely the countries who are most aware of the global warming problem. I guess it's all going downhill......
Went to Vivocity last night to watch An Inconvenient Truth with some friends. One guy observed that I was talking in Army lingo, I guess it will take a few days for my civilian conversion course haha! The movie was quite interesting, but seriously I'd like to hear more than just Al Gore talking. He's a good talker, but still, $9.50 to hear one person talk?!! I think Michael Moore is more interesting though he is probably a lot more biased. Did I learn a lot more from Al Gore's speech? Not really. Is he scientific enough? Definitely not, because he totally did not talk very much about the skeptics scientific point of view. Zero citations disagreeing with global warming in his sample of papers. But there are indeed papers out there that disagree with global warming, he just didn't dig hard enough. Read Michael Crichton's book (forgot the name) to find references. Like all politicians, he's really just using his charm to present the facts. Oh and not to mention the entire movie is a big Apple advertisement!!
We all noticed some mismatch between the crowd and the stores at vivocity. The crowd is largely a family crowd, lots of uncles aunties and their kids, making A LOT of noise! But the stores are largely upmarket boutiques, which cater to the hip and well-heeled. I suppose those well-heeled shoppers wouldn't want to squeeze with the sweating heartlanders with kids in tow. And not to mention that the first floor has a huge atrium which attracts numerous shoppers, but once u go up the escalator the aisles are tiny, and you literally have to squeeze to get from one point to another. I've never seen any mall with such small walkways, other than beach road Army Market!! Poorly designed indeed. But I guess the crowd is coming, so its a success. But are they spending enough to cover the cost of developing this sprawling complex?
Back to global warming. Gore says that the world population is too large, becoming unsustainable. However, many rich countries in europe and asia are shunning immigration and encouraging people to have more and more kids. And these are precisely the countries who are most aware of the global warming problem. I guess it's all going downhill......
Sunday, October 29, 2006
I'd vote Obama
I just read this cool quote in The Economist:
"Why is Bush acting like he trying to get Osama? Why don't we impeach him and elect Obama?"
"Why is Bush acting like he trying to get Osama? Why don't we impeach him and elect Obama?"
Saturday, October 28, 2006
I don't wanna lead an army life
We only got to book out of camp at 7pm today. Not to mention that camp is in the middle of nowhere and we have to come back in tomorrow night. And I have to go down to beach road army market to get my ID tag tomorrow, so basically I don't have a weekend which totally sucks. Is it me or is this worse than active NSF days? I suppose I won't be compensated for the extra time spent in camp on weekends.....
Good news though is that I passed my IPPT fitness test again this week (although barely). Which means I don't have to take the test again till my next window closes in august 2008, which is a really long time away heheheh!
Whats up for the next week? More card playing (I'm a dai dee expert now), more mosquitos (hopefully more mosquito coils will counter that), more poking (hopefully I won't get poked), more cursing, less nights off, and hopefully it will be all over soon enough. For once I actually think I'd like to get back to the office!
Good news though is that I passed my IPPT fitness test again this week (although barely). Which means I don't have to take the test again till my next window closes in august 2008, which is a really long time away heheheh!
Whats up for the next week? More card playing (I'm a dai dee expert now), more mosquitos (hopefully more mosquito coils will counter that), more poking (hopefully I won't get poked), more cursing, less nights off, and hopefully it will be all over soon enough. For once I actually think I'd like to get back to the office!
Sunday, October 22, 2006
NAB for the "has been" crowd....
So there was this famous UK DJ in town recently and he was playing progessive at New Asia Bar. Except that the New Asia crowd only wants hip hop and R&B and didn't like his music so they kept booing him and shouting for song change until he got real pissed off and told them to go jerk off (or something like that). And then he left early. The NAB management says it was stated clearly on the posters, flyers etc that this DJ would be playing progressive and so they couldn't do anything.
My take:
1) DJ has to take some blame. Foreign talent or not, he has no right to shout at the customers. After all he is a freaking guest, its not even his club, so go on back to UK and don't come back again! We don't want you here! I've organised events before where the crowds didn't like the DJ. DJ's only choice is to reflect to the management, DJ's don't scold the crowd. But of course we have a case of an arrogant Brit who thinks he can do what he wants. Try doing that in UK, shouting at the half drunk crowd! Or even in USA! You'd probably not make it home alive! Trust me, I've seen what a mad drunk crowd can do to you.....
2) The crowd should just go on home if they hate the music. What absolute losers booing the DJ like that. I mean, take a hike, the posters and flyers said it was progressive night, so just shut up and dance! It's not like the famous UK DJ would have any R&B and hip hop on him, he can't change the music you idiots! Not to mention the NAB crowd is mostly executives and bankers, so the DJ was right to cuss at them that hip hop and R&B is so out for this class of people! Hip hop and R&B for an executive (mostly chinese) crowd wearing their nice business shirts? Hello, wake up to the 21st century!!! Oh I forgot, these are the same people who were grooving to Mambo Jumbo just a few years ago when they were in college...... It reminds me of the 3 well-heeled girls who were in the middle of Zouk dancefloor on New Year's eve covering their ears. They paid 28 bucks to be seen in the "happening crowd" but had no idea who was playing or what trance is all about, despite the big signs outside advertising one of the top 10 trance DJ's. It's people like this who would end up booing the DJ, what LOSERS!
3) Obviously NAB management is the most at fault here. The events manager should just be fired. I mean, after all these years he should know that NAB crowd only listens to hip hop and R&B (and perhaps Mambo? haha). Despite that he is probably a little more educated in what executives should be grooving too, there's no mistake that NAB totally screwed it up by pairing a progressive DJ with a hip hop crowd, double thumbs down to that. Zouk would never bring on Armin Van Buuren on a Wednesday night! Otherwise those 18 year old "yo-ah, yo-ah" would be totally freaked out and maybe start fighting hahahaha......
You know what? This entire incident reflects on the state of the country right now. Perhaps the report could be the "state of the union" address haha! In one corner we have the arrogant foreign talents trying to tell everyone what to do, while pissing everybody else off even though they are way way overpaid. In the other corner we have the ugly Singaporean. While in the 3rd corner we have the people who brought both sides together, never really figured out how to manage them, and ended up in one whole big mess.
What a wonderful world isn't it?
My take:
1) DJ has to take some blame. Foreign talent or not, he has no right to shout at the customers. After all he is a freaking guest, its not even his club, so go on back to UK and don't come back again! We don't want you here! I've organised events before where the crowds didn't like the DJ. DJ's only choice is to reflect to the management, DJ's don't scold the crowd. But of course we have a case of an arrogant Brit who thinks he can do what he wants. Try doing that in UK, shouting at the half drunk crowd! Or even in USA! You'd probably not make it home alive! Trust me, I've seen what a mad drunk crowd can do to you.....
2) The crowd should just go on home if they hate the music. What absolute losers booing the DJ like that. I mean, take a hike, the posters and flyers said it was progressive night, so just shut up and dance! It's not like the famous UK DJ would have any R&B and hip hop on him, he can't change the music you idiots! Not to mention the NAB crowd is mostly executives and bankers, so the DJ was right to cuss at them that hip hop and R&B is so out for this class of people! Hip hop and R&B for an executive (mostly chinese) crowd wearing their nice business shirts? Hello, wake up to the 21st century!!! Oh I forgot, these are the same people who were grooving to Mambo Jumbo just a few years ago when they were in college...... It reminds me of the 3 well-heeled girls who were in the middle of Zouk dancefloor on New Year's eve covering their ears. They paid 28 bucks to be seen in the "happening crowd" but had no idea who was playing or what trance is all about, despite the big signs outside advertising one of the top 10 trance DJ's. It's people like this who would end up booing the DJ, what LOSERS!
3) Obviously NAB management is the most at fault here. The events manager should just be fired. I mean, after all these years he should know that NAB crowd only listens to hip hop and R&B (and perhaps Mambo? haha). Despite that he is probably a little more educated in what executives should be grooving too, there's no mistake that NAB totally screwed it up by pairing a progressive DJ with a hip hop crowd, double thumbs down to that. Zouk would never bring on Armin Van Buuren on a Wednesday night! Otherwise those 18 year old "yo-ah, yo-ah" would be totally freaked out and maybe start fighting hahahaha......
You know what? This entire incident reflects on the state of the country right now. Perhaps the report could be the "state of the union" address haha! In one corner we have the arrogant foreign talents trying to tell everyone what to do, while pissing everybody else off even though they are way way overpaid. In the other corner we have the ugly Singaporean. While in the 3rd corner we have the people who brought both sides together, never really figured out how to manage them, and ended up in one whole big mess.
What a wonderful world isn't it?
Friday, October 20, 2006
Sleep eat sleep
They say that when you wear green you can sleep anytime, anywhere. I used to think that only referred to the 18 year old youngsters who haven't found any meaning in life. I was wrong. Reservists also sleep anytime, anywhere. In fact, they sleep everytime, everywhere! Any canteen break, lunch break or even toilet break, you will find them lying down on the benches, on the floor, on the kerb, everywhere!
So what's this obsession with sleeping? Are they really that tired from staying up all night? We spend most of the time doing nothing productive anyway, so they can't be tired from the activities..... Well, firstly, the uniform makes you freaking hot and lethargic in this weather, I'd rather be wearing a t-shirt anytime. Not to mention that most of the waiting is done in non-air-conditioned environments. And I'd suppose there isn't really anything else to do! The first day everyone is excited catching up with each other and trading stories. But by the second day everyone is sick of seeing each other and wearing the uncomfortable uniform so they are all just lying around everywhere waiting to go home! They say that soldiers "wait to rush, rush to wait". Well, reservists "wait to wait, then they wait some more"!
I suppose some are anticipating that life is going to be a living hell when we start jungle training next week, so better rest now. And better bulk up too, everyone's been eating more than usual, including myself. But I suppose you can't be just eating all day, so eat and sleep for now.....
I just saw Wan Xin Ling performing in a variety show on Channel U just now. Did you see those dance moves while she was doing the song Da Da Da? That footwork was so awesome man! Wow, what an amazing performance, and nice song too! I wonder if she has any other nice songs? Sometimes with a performance like that, you can't really tell the talent of the artiste by listening on the radio. I mean, there wasn't much theatrics and stuff (not like Snoop Dog MTV), just pure legwork and singing. Just pure skill!
So what's this obsession with sleeping? Are they really that tired from staying up all night? We spend most of the time doing nothing productive anyway, so they can't be tired from the activities..... Well, firstly, the uniform makes you freaking hot and lethargic in this weather, I'd rather be wearing a t-shirt anytime. Not to mention that most of the waiting is done in non-air-conditioned environments. And I'd suppose there isn't really anything else to do! The first day everyone is excited catching up with each other and trading stories. But by the second day everyone is sick of seeing each other and wearing the uncomfortable uniform so they are all just lying around everywhere waiting to go home! They say that soldiers "wait to rush, rush to wait". Well, reservists "wait to wait, then they wait some more"!
I suppose some are anticipating that life is going to be a living hell when we start jungle training next week, so better rest now. And better bulk up too, everyone's been eating more than usual, including myself. But I suppose you can't be just eating all day, so eat and sleep for now.....
I just saw Wan Xin Ling performing in a variety show on Channel U just now. Did you see those dance moves while she was doing the song Da Da Da? That footwork was so awesome man! Wow, what an amazing performance, and nice song too! I wonder if she has any other nice songs? Sometimes with a performance like that, you can't really tell the talent of the artiste by listening on the radio. I mean, there wasn't much theatrics and stuff (not like Snoop Dog MTV), just pure legwork and singing. Just pure skill!
Thursday, October 19, 2006
reservist
Today was my first day back in reservist after 6 years! You probably guessed it right, the pants hardly fit, and I've lost most of the small items that we are supposed to bring.... Probably have to make a few more trips to the gift shop.
We spent half the day learning CPR and the other half poking each other. And I mean poking literally with a needle, the most traumatic thing ever!!! I can't believe we had to go through all this pain again, relive the wost nightmares in 6 years. And to think the newer kids use the smaller needles, argh!!
In between lessons and stuff, its really just idle. Just sit around in the hot, stuffy and hazy training shed, just wasting your life away. I guess the saying wait to rush, rush to wait comes true again.
For half the people there, after this they will go back to their lobo units and sit at the front desk. For my group of people though, its chiong swa chiong hai (rush up the mountain and into the sea) next week. It's only just begun but I can't wait for this to be over!!
We spent half the day learning CPR and the other half poking each other. And I mean poking literally with a needle, the most traumatic thing ever!!! I can't believe we had to go through all this pain again, relive the wost nightmares in 6 years. And to think the newer kids use the smaller needles, argh!!
In between lessons and stuff, its really just idle. Just sit around in the hot, stuffy and hazy training shed, just wasting your life away. I guess the saying wait to rush, rush to wait comes true again.
For half the people there, after this they will go back to their lobo units and sit at the front desk. For my group of people though, its chiong swa chiong hai (rush up the mountain and into the sea) next week. It's only just begun but I can't wait for this to be over!!
Sunday, October 15, 2006
FMC
I just read in The Economist that the next big thing in telephone technology is Fixed Mobile Convergence (FMC). Basically you use your cell phone as it is when you are outdoors, but when u get home within range of your home base, it switches to a fixed line using broadband lines, while u get to use yr cell phone and the same number. How cool is that! And when your friends visit your house, they get to enjoy using the fixed line too, but they will be billed individually at fixed line rates!
I wonder when this service is going to come up in Singapore? I read that 3G was a total flop in Europe a few years back, yet they still went ahead and implemented it here, but only recently. And as far as I know, it isn't doing very well here.... Maybe the operators don't have enough capital to venture into FMC after all this, who knows? Or maybe there'll be new players in the market.....
I wonder when this service is going to come up in Singapore? I read that 3G was a total flop in Europe a few years back, yet they still went ahead and implemented it here, but only recently. And as far as I know, it isn't doing very well here.... Maybe the operators don't have enough capital to venture into FMC after all this, who knows? Or maybe there'll be new players in the market.....
Friday, October 13, 2006
Recent article in today paper
| Look elsewhere, doc |
Contrary to popular belief, having a PhD won't guarantee work in life science research
Letter from Peter Song I REFER to your report, "The life sciences conundrum" (Oct 9). I studied civil engineering at the National University of Singapore (NUS). Then, with so much hype being created about the future of life sciences, and with the civil engineering industry in the sunset stage, I took a shot at being retrained for the life sciences. I got a scholarship to do an NUS PhD programme in bioengineering. I stopped after three years on my own accord, deciding to graduate with a Masters degree instead. Contrary to what some have said, a PhD will not get you a research position in Singapore. I learnt this the hard way. Firstly, a PhD is very specialised and most students learn only within a small sub-field governed by their thesis' area of research. So, when the student graduates, he is considered experienced only in that small area of science. He thus loses all chance of working in any life science research position — even a junior post, as he is over-qualified. He will likely have to find a post-doctoral position in the department from which he obtained his PhD. But his supervisor may not have the grant money to employ him. This lack, despite the Government's generous funding, has to do with the research environment at the university, which views students as the main source of manpower. When PhD students graduate, the professor simply gets another group of students to continue the research. The students are paid a stipend from another department in charge of scholarships; effectively, the students come free to the professor because the grant money isn't used to pay them. For grant approval, the professor competes on quality of ideas, commercial potential of ideas and estimated cost of research. All things being equal, the professor who quotes the least amount is given priority. So, the PhD holder has one last option for employment: A*Star's research institutes and private sector research firms. But A*Star seeks out researchers who are experienced and have good track records. The private sector also requires people with a specific set of experience. And, unless their thesis is related, fresh PhD graduates do not have a chance. Finally, A*Star scholars, due to their bonds, can start as fresh PhD graduates in its research institutes. The moral of the story? If you want to work in life science research, you must be an A*Star scholar; a PhD from elsewhere in Singapore would be useless.
Letter from Peter Song
Vivo vivo
I went to Vivocity yesterday. It wasn't really planned but F and her husband were visiting from the US and M and I were gonna meet up with them but rather late at night, so we had to eat and do something first. Vivocity has a direct bus from my office, so we decided to check it out.
The first thing that hits you when you get out of the harbourfront mrt underpass is that there are 2 gigantic foodcourts right in front of you! One kopitiam and one banquet. They are right next to each other but there are some barriers to keep people from moving between them, which we thought was quite weird. Until I realised that one is Halal and the other is not, make a guess which is which....
The rest of vivocity is really a bummer. More than half the shops aren't open yet, so much for the grand opening. Outside, the concrete for the sidewalks have not been cast, and my visitors who passed by the place earlier in the day thought it was a construction site. There was all this hype about new stores that you cant find anywhere else in Singapore, and the management said they didn't want to reveal what these were before opening day except that the first ever Gap store is here. Guess what? You guessed it, Gap is the ONLY new store in this mall! Everything else is "been there, seen that". And the Gap store is half the size of the one in Berkeley (not as if Berkeley is a very big town)!
Probably the only consolation is there is a Esprit (edc) outlet which has menswear. There are only 2 others that I know of (Raffles city and orchard). The designs at each one of the outlets are completely different. I suspect from different countries since the Espirit label is designed all over the world? The price tag was pretty steep though, 80 bucks for a short sleeve shirt. Shouldn't they have opening sales? I didn't see anyone in the store.
Really the only place which seems to be generating revenue is the foodcourt. Theres another food court on the top floor too but we didn't have time to go up there. Alongside the largest GV I suppose. Everywhere else there are people walking around, but not really purchasing anything. I suppose that's because there's nothing really new in Vivocity.
Overall: Thumbs down, been there, seen that......
The first thing that hits you when you get out of the harbourfront mrt underpass is that there are 2 gigantic foodcourts right in front of you! One kopitiam and one banquet. They are right next to each other but there are some barriers to keep people from moving between them, which we thought was quite weird. Until I realised that one is Halal and the other is not, make a guess which is which....
The rest of vivocity is really a bummer. More than half the shops aren't open yet, so much for the grand opening. Outside, the concrete for the sidewalks have not been cast, and my visitors who passed by the place earlier in the day thought it was a construction site. There was all this hype about new stores that you cant find anywhere else in Singapore, and the management said they didn't want to reveal what these were before opening day except that the first ever Gap store is here. Guess what? You guessed it, Gap is the ONLY new store in this mall! Everything else is "been there, seen that". And the Gap store is half the size of the one in Berkeley (not as if Berkeley is a very big town)!
Probably the only consolation is there is a Esprit (edc) outlet which has menswear. There are only 2 others that I know of (Raffles city and orchard). The designs at each one of the outlets are completely different. I suspect from different countries since the Espirit label is designed all over the world? The price tag was pretty steep though, 80 bucks for a short sleeve shirt. Shouldn't they have opening sales? I didn't see anyone in the store.
Really the only place which seems to be generating revenue is the foodcourt. Theres another food court on the top floor too but we didn't have time to go up there. Alongside the largest GV I suppose. Everywhere else there are people walking around, but not really purchasing anything. I suppose that's because there's nothing really new in Vivocity.
Overall: Thumbs down, been there, seen that......
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
trillian
I'm on Trillian now. I must say it took me quite a while to convert away from my regular combination of ICQ and MSN. I guess I got too tired of looking at 2 windows at the same time, plus those 2 have too many silly ads and pictures that get in the way of the screen. Trillian is just lean and nice, totally no ads at all, wonder how the make money huh? Still trying to get used to it though. The sounds they play aren't that nice. And once you close the window you don't see the history anymore if you know what I mean. MSN is much better, you can chat a while, and when yr screen is too cluttered you can close some windows first but if it pops up later the history is still there....
Somehow I feel that something is missing in my life. Everythings starting to become a routine perhaps, and the stupid haze is killing me..... What would I like to do? Don't know really. Guess it would be nice to be really rich and not have to work? Maybe play golf as well as Tiger?
Okay, there's really one thing that would make my day. To be able to step outside my house and ski down an alpine mountain haha. Give me Squaw valley or whistler/blackcomb anyday. Alta/snowbird would do just fine too. Boy I would love to catch some part of the upcoming ski season if I could! Dream on.....
Somehow I feel that something is missing in my life. Everythings starting to become a routine perhaps, and the stupid haze is killing me..... What would I like to do? Don't know really. Guess it would be nice to be really rich and not have to work? Maybe play golf as well as Tiger?
Okay, there's really one thing that would make my day. To be able to step outside my house and ski down an alpine mountain haha. Give me Squaw valley or whistler/blackcomb anyday. Alta/snowbird would do just fine too. Boy I would love to catch some part of the upcoming ski season if I could! Dream on.....
Friday, October 06, 2006
footprints in the sand
I made a lot of footprints in the sand today. We had a big office family day at sentosa, and I basically participated in almost all the games, which was super tiring! But I suppose the sun, sand and sea is something different..... Now I sound like a Navy advertisement huh? Running in the sand is damn tiring lah, way worse than on grass or on land! And its different parts that get tired; really its the soles of your feet. That's a totally different kind of fatigue than I'm used to.... Some of the guys were pretty darn rough while playing captain's frisbee. There were huge guys tackling little ladies! I have a nice scratch on my arm to remember the occasion....
I live by the beach but I hardly play in the sand or the sea. The sea is quite polluted here in the east coast, with all that floatsam coming in from the open sea, so I would not ever go into the water. Its way too hot for suntanning too, and not to mention the beach isn't exactly very clean. But at least it feels kinda natural though the entire east coast park is man made reclaimed land. There were quite a lot of bikini babes at Palawan beach on sentosa, just lying in the sun and getting a tan, and on a weekday too! But somehow it seems real fake. The entire Palawan beach feels damn fake tho it's quite clean. I'm not sure what's wrong, maybe the enclosure of the bay, or maybe it's just too hazy today, but I'd rather lie on a patch of grass than on Palawan beach. Plus its hella hot too! In a few months I might be lying on the beaches every weekend somewhere where all everyone does is go to the beaches. And check this out, its work related too! But at the moment we don't know if its gonna happen or not, and the way things work around here I wouldn't be too optimistic, though we always dream of a better tomorrow don't we?
The haze is really getting to me. Dunno why the press releases PSI at 24 hour averages. somebody has got to wake up his idea and realises that its really really bad arnd evening time and okay in the morning, its not even close, so there should be no averages, just maximum value! When you get hit by a heat wave do you take the average temperature including the wee hours of dawn? Hell no!
I've decided to put up pictures and stuff related to things I like in my office cubicle cos its kinda drab and I realise that people do actually look haha! So I started with some postcards of picasso works, van gogh, and this guy who made a pencil sketch of NYC from the air. Of course I inevitably ended up putting some ski trail maps too! Seems kinda out of place but skiing is the love of my life so I can't really leave that out can I?
There is a possibility that if I get sent away for work it might be ski season. What if it extends partway during ski season and partway during spring where you can go to the beach? I've been thinking if I shld bring my skates or my skiing attire. It would be a problem bringing both cos that takes up too much space. If i send over, I might as well just get new stuff, since my ski clothing is from Ross anyway..... But what the heck, why am I even worrying bout what to bring? Don't even know if I'm going.....
I live by the beach but I hardly play in the sand or the sea. The sea is quite polluted here in the east coast, with all that floatsam coming in from the open sea, so I would not ever go into the water. Its way too hot for suntanning too, and not to mention the beach isn't exactly very clean. But at least it feels kinda natural though the entire east coast park is man made reclaimed land. There were quite a lot of bikini babes at Palawan beach on sentosa, just lying in the sun and getting a tan, and on a weekday too! But somehow it seems real fake. The entire Palawan beach feels damn fake tho it's quite clean. I'm not sure what's wrong, maybe the enclosure of the bay, or maybe it's just too hazy today, but I'd rather lie on a patch of grass than on Palawan beach. Plus its hella hot too! In a few months I might be lying on the beaches every weekend somewhere where all everyone does is go to the beaches. And check this out, its work related too! But at the moment we don't know if its gonna happen or not, and the way things work around here I wouldn't be too optimistic, though we always dream of a better tomorrow don't we?
The haze is really getting to me. Dunno why the press releases PSI at 24 hour averages. somebody has got to wake up his idea and realises that its really really bad arnd evening time and okay in the morning, its not even close, so there should be no averages, just maximum value! When you get hit by a heat wave do you take the average temperature including the wee hours of dawn? Hell no!
I've decided to put up pictures and stuff related to things I like in my office cubicle cos its kinda drab and I realise that people do actually look haha! So I started with some postcards of picasso works, van gogh, and this guy who made a pencil sketch of NYC from the air. Of course I inevitably ended up putting some ski trail maps too! Seems kinda out of place but skiing is the love of my life so I can't really leave that out can I?
There is a possibility that if I get sent away for work it might be ski season. What if it extends partway during ski season and partway during spring where you can go to the beach? I've been thinking if I shld bring my skates or my skiing attire. It would be a problem bringing both cos that takes up too much space. If i send over, I might as well just get new stuff, since my ski clothing is from Ross anyway..... But what the heck, why am I even worrying bout what to bring? Don't even know if I'm going.....
Wednesday, October 04, 2006
Go Bears!!
UC Berkeley professor George F. Smoot was awarded the 2006 Nobel Prize in Physics today (Tuesday, Oct. 3). Smoot, a professor of physics and an astrophysicist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), led a team that obtained the first images of the infant universe - findings that confirmed the predictions of the Big Bang theory.
Prof. Smoot is UC Berkeley's 20th faculty Nobel laureate; 24 Nobelists over the years have been Berkeley alumni, including today's co-recipient, John C. Mather of NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, and Andrew Z. Fire, who yesterday won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
Prof. Smoot is UC Berkeley's 20th faculty Nobel laureate; 24 Nobelists over the years have been Berkeley alumni, including today's co-recipient, John C. Mather of NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, and Andrew Z. Fire, who yesterday won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
Monday, October 02, 2006
Friday, September 29, 2006
Blakang Mati
I'm reading Neil Humphrey's latest book and I just discovered something. Why was Sentosa formerly called Pulau Blakang Mati? Well in Malay, that literally means "Island of Death from Behind". And that's what really happened! The british fortress and guns were all pointing towards the southern seas, but in WWII the japanese attacked from the north and overran the fort, death from behind! Such a historically significant name, with tragic connotations too. And many lessons we can learn from. So why did some fool decide to take away this name and change it to Sentosa?
By the way, have you watched the new Motorola Krzr ad? That's so cool! The music, the video, the phone, the cute girl, heheheh.....
Another quote from Neil:
"Always wise after the event, there were repeated calls at every level after the NKF scandal for more Singaporeans to speak up when they suspect any wrongdoing along the corridors of power. Now the island is expected to become a nation of four million whistle blowers. But it is not as simple as that. For over 40 years, most Singaporeans did not even know they had a whistle."
Ouch, that hurt!
By the way, have you watched the new Motorola Krzr ad? That's so cool! The music, the video, the phone, the cute girl, heheheh.....
Another quote from Neil:
"Always wise after the event, there were repeated calls at every level after the NKF scandal for more Singaporeans to speak up when they suspect any wrongdoing along the corridors of power. Now the island is expected to become a nation of four million whistle blowers. But it is not as simple as that. For over 40 years, most Singaporeans did not even know they had a whistle."
Ouch, that hurt!
Sunday, September 24, 2006
Army singing
My reservist In-Camp-Training (ICT) is just round the corner, so I figured its apt to recall the army songs we used to sing. They might not rhyme very well, but sure makes for a good laugh!
They Say That in The Army...
They say that in the army
the food is very nice
they promise curry chicken
but give you chao tar (burnt) rice!
Chorus:
I don't wanna lead an army life!
OC/PC I wanna go!
PC/Sergeant won't let me go!
Mummy/Daddy I wanna go ho-o-ome!
They say that in the army
the girls are mighty fine
they promise Cindy Crawford
but give you akua (cross-dressed) guys!
They say that in the army
the toilets mighty fine
they promise toilet paper
but give you sand paper!
They say that in the army
the guns are mighty fine
but when you squeeze the trigger
the bullet flies behind!
They say that in the army
the medics mighty fine
you come with broken finger
they break the other nine!!!
Left Toe, Right Toe
Left toe, right toe keep up the tempo
Left toe, right toe oh-eh-oh, oh-eh, oh
Here we go again, same old shit again
Up and down this avenue
__ (insert # days remaining) more days and we'll be through!
Wei-lo, wei-lo wei-lo wei-lo wa-ha!
Wei-lo, wei-lo wei-lo wei-lo wa-ha-ha!
Up the hill! Down the slope!
Any sweat? No sweat chicken feet ha ha all the way!
Any sweat? No sweat chicken feet ha ha all the way!
Underwear wet wet, don't believe come and check!
Check already don't regret!
I Ask My Love
I ask my love, to take a walk
to take a walk, down Orchard Road
bypass Mandarin, to Centrepoint
we had our lunch, at McDonald's
We had fillet, and apple pie
we shared a cup, of lemon lime
I hold her hand, look into her eyes
I ask her to be, my valentine
When I book in, I felt love sick
I miss her so, my sweet honey
Pick up the phone, I call her home
but her momma said, "She's not at home"
I want to cry, I want to die
where did you go, my sweet honey?
After some time, I made up my mind
next time book out, I try my luck!
I saw this girl, she wear no bra
her tits so big, can see from far!
I ask her out, she say "okay lah"
Next I book in, Hotel Shangri-la!
(The next verse is totally XXX-rated, so I will not reproduce it here. But if you want to hear a live performance, just come by Tanjong Gul camp between 24 oct and 4 Nov!)
They Say That in The Army...
They say that in the army
the food is very nice
they promise curry chicken
but give you chao tar (burnt) rice!
Chorus:
I don't wanna lead an army life!
OC/PC I wanna go!
PC/Sergeant won't let me go!
Mummy/Daddy I wanna go ho-o-ome!
They say that in the army
the girls are mighty fine
they promise Cindy Crawford
but give you akua (cross-dressed) guys!
They say that in the army
the toilets mighty fine
they promise toilet paper
but give you sand paper!
They say that in the army
the guns are mighty fine
but when you squeeze the trigger
the bullet flies behind!
They say that in the army
the medics mighty fine
you come with broken finger
they break the other nine!!!
Left Toe, Right Toe
Left toe, right toe keep up the tempo
Left toe, right toe oh-eh-oh, oh-eh, oh
Here we go again, same old shit again
Up and down this avenue
__ (insert # days remaining) more days and we'll be through!
Wei-lo, wei-lo wei-lo wei-lo wa-ha!
Wei-lo, wei-lo wei-lo wei-lo wa-ha-ha!
Up the hill! Down the slope!
Any sweat? No sweat chicken feet ha ha all the way!
Any sweat? No sweat chicken feet ha ha all the way!
Underwear wet wet, don't believe come and check!
Check already don't regret!
I Ask My Love
I ask my love, to take a walk
to take a walk, down Orchard Road
bypass Mandarin, to Centrepoint
we had our lunch, at McDonald's
We had fillet, and apple pie
we shared a cup, of lemon lime
I hold her hand, look into her eyes
I ask her to be, my valentine
When I book in, I felt love sick
I miss her so, my sweet honey
Pick up the phone, I call her home
but her momma said, "She's not at home"
I want to cry, I want to die
where did you go, my sweet honey?
After some time, I made up my mind
next time book out, I try my luck!
I saw this girl, she wear no bra
her tits so big, can see from far!
I ask her out, she say "okay lah"
Next I book in, Hotel Shangri-la!
(The next verse is totally XXX-rated, so I will not reproduce it here. But if you want to hear a live performance, just come by Tanjong Gul camp between 24 oct and 4 Nov!)
Thursday, September 21, 2006
More cars, more bus fare, what is the world coming to?
I opened my email this morning when I got to work and guess what? I got a response from Len Schwer, one of the LS-DYNA gurus! I posted a question regarding smooth particle hydrodynamics (SPH) the night before and he was real quick to answer man! Wow!
The government is releasing more COEs this month. I guess some officials think that there are not enough cars on the road already! More cars, more gardens, more golf courses and less living space. Spectacular isn't it? And not to mention that the cost of public transportation is going up. The PTC did some math and concluded that public transportation costs much less in Singapore than in HongKong and New York, so no problem raising fares. Errhmm, excuse me, which country is more densely populated? Which country is more in need of living space? I can hardly breathe in here! Public transport companies are doing a pathetic job at earning revenue from advertising and such. No wonder they can't make enough money. Look at the number of ads you see in the San Francisco BART station and compare it to Eunos MRT? Poor citizens should not be made to subsidize a lack of effort on the part of these operators.
Anyway, enough ranting and whining. Weekend's coming and hopefully I will get better from the flu by then so I can after a hectic week at work.
The government is releasing more COEs this month. I guess some officials think that there are not enough cars on the road already! More cars, more gardens, more golf courses and less living space. Spectacular isn't it? And not to mention that the cost of public transportation is going up. The PTC did some math and concluded that public transportation costs much less in Singapore than in HongKong and New York, so no problem raising fares. Errhmm, excuse me, which country is more densely populated? Which country is more in need of living space? I can hardly breathe in here! Public transport companies are doing a pathetic job at earning revenue from advertising and such. No wonder they can't make enough money. Look at the number of ads you see in the San Francisco BART station and compare it to Eunos MRT? Poor citizens should not be made to subsidize a lack of effort on the part of these operators.
Anyway, enough ranting and whining. Weekend's coming and hopefully I will get better from the flu by then so I can after a hectic week at work.
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
Flu Flu Flu
I've been down with the flu all week, and it sucks. Trying to spend fewer hours at work and get more sleep so hopefully I can get better fast. Could it be the start of the bird flu pandemic that YW is always predicting? I've been eating a lot of chicken lately hmmmm.......
Anyway, I watched Singapore Dreaming twice. The second time was because my colleagues wanted to watch it during our program family day, so I just tagged along. The first half of the show has numerous snapshots of life in singapore that seemed a little out of place the first time. But this time around I got it. Basically the idea is to show how the rich and poor live in Singapore and to switch between the 2. Interesting....
In other news, I discovered the LS-DYNA forum on Yahoo groups. LS-DYNA@yahoogroups.com. Basically that's where around 6000 users and experts exchange ideas and answer questions, and they are rather prompt too! Just shows how excited people are about their work haha! Much more excited than our NTU professors who sometimes take over a month and still do not reply to my queries. Makes me wonder why I don't recommend that the funding we give them be cut right away. I also found out that some people refer to the research we do as High Fidelity Physics Based Finite Element Analysis. What a fancy name huh? The experts out there just call it hydrocodes. I guess a fancy name looks better on your CV.....
Anyway, I watched Singapore Dreaming twice. The second time was because my colleagues wanted to watch it during our program family day, so I just tagged along. The first half of the show has numerous snapshots of life in singapore that seemed a little out of place the first time. But this time around I got it. Basically the idea is to show how the rich and poor live in Singapore and to switch between the 2. Interesting....
In other news, I discovered the LS-DYNA forum on Yahoo groups. LS-DYNA@yahoogroups.com. Basically that's where around 6000 users and experts exchange ideas and answer questions, and they are rather prompt too! Just shows how excited people are about their work haha! Much more excited than our NTU professors who sometimes take over a month and still do not reply to my queries. Makes me wonder why I don't recommend that the funding we give them be cut right away. I also found out that some people refer to the research we do as High Fidelity Physics Based Finite Element Analysis. What a fancy name huh? The experts out there just call it hydrocodes. I guess a fancy name looks better on your CV.....
Saturday, September 16, 2006
Singapore Dreaming
I watched the local film Singapore Dreaming today (www.SingaporeDreaming.com). I thought it was a pretty good show, and the best part about it is that the show is pretty realistic; there are really a lot of people in Singapore who live somewhat like that, believe it or not! Well, I don't mean to say entire families are dysfunctional, but the language and the characters are rather real. As in, watching the show for the first time would be rather shocking for a foreigner, especially if he is American, but to the local it wouldn't be a big deal because you see people like that pretty often.
The show is all about the Singapore Dream. I suppose the title Singapore Dreaming actually comes from California Dreaming, which is supposedly a great song but I've never heard it so I can't comment. I know people have been quite inspired to live in california after listening to that song, but I'm not quite sure they will get the same impression after watching Singapore Dreaming.
What exactly is the Singapore Dream? The American Dream is supposedly "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" but we all know that really it is to make lots and lots of money. What you subsequently do with all that money or achieve life liberty and yadda yadda is really inconseqential, but presumably one would live rather comfortably after getting a lot of money. The Singapore Dream, quite simply put, is the mindless pursuit of the 5 C's: Credit card, Car, Condo, Country club and Cash. At one point in time some people say that it's Career instead of Cash. But I think its quite clear in today's context that in Asia you go more places with lots of Cash than with a high flying career. Anyway, why do I say mindless pursuit? As you can somewhat infer in the movie, the goal is really the 5 C's, and people go completely broke and in debt just for the sake of achieving these 5C's, and often don't live comfortably at all. Which is completely different than the American Dream. But wait a minute, isn't one of the C's Cash? How can you get the 5C's without cash? In a minute I'll give you a lowdown on the 5C's and then you might understand why. Basically in Asia its not what you have, but what you appear to have....
Here's a lowdown on the 5C's:
1. C is for Credit Card. Everybody has a credit card in the US, but in Singapore you need to make $30,000 a year for a regular card, $45,000-60,000 for a gold card and $80,000-$90,000 for a platinum card (though the latter 2 have been lowered for many cards). So having a platinum card is (or rather used to, but there are still some exclusive cards out there) a sign that you've made it, even if you don't have much reason to get one. For expatriates the limits are higher, so an expatriate with a credit card must be quite attractive to local girls, though he might just be a bum who got his card for free in the US.....
2. C is for Car. And not just any car. Preferrably a Mercedes or BMW for the older folks and sporty cars (or upgraded cheap cars) for the younger ones. Cars cost a bomb in Singapore, and car loans are the biggest rip off here than anywhere else in the world, in fact it borders on extortion! Sure there are situations where you would absolutely need a car like when you have a family and all. But with public transport and taxis being rather affordable on a small island, it doesn't make sense to get a car when you are young single and can't afford to pay 3.5% on the principal for 10 yrs. and you have to keep paying the interest EVEN if you subsequently have enough to pay in full.
3. C is for Country Club. This one is a real bummer. You really shouldn't join a country club unless a) you like golf a lot or b) you are really rich. Country club memberships cost tens of thousands, and there isn't really much to do there except for the world-class golf resorts. Some people say networking, but seriously, the rich and famous aren't gonna network with an almost broke guy who just managed to save enough for membership. They treat such people as pariahs who make the queue at the buffet longer....
4. C is for Condo. Housing is expensive in Singapore except for public housing. The new / upgraded HDB point blocks are quite decent and cheap, but older-style long and wide HDB flats are an architectural disaster. Often lifts don't stop on every floor and all. And the long corridors meant for communal living are a privacy nightmare. Not to mention all the inconsiderate people who do inconsiderate things on the corridor such as throwing killer litter off the parapet. Condos appear much more desirable but the newer ones actually have very little floor space, and the security guards which are costly to hire are actually more like parking wardens. But I guess I could see why condo is important; housing is important everywhere in the world.
5. C is for cash. Or rather appearing to have a lot of cash by offering to buy drinks, offering to pay for meals (qia), and of course flashing that platinum card in front of the babes. But really all you need is a steady stream of credit lines, because once you've achieved items 1-4 you'd probably want to upgrade items 1-4 so you never really have enough cash to even live comfortably. Such is the nature of the mindless pursuit.
I guess locals wouldn't want to watch the show very much. TV dramas portray the same scenarios, but the characters are exaggerated, not real so we just laugh it off. Singaporeans hate to look at themselves in the mirror, because once reality hits you it gets rather embarrassing. Singaporeans just choose to follow the general mentality of the herd, and belief that the herd is World-Class society and so such a path will lead to eternal happiness.
And what exactly is World-Class? I mean the world is so big and there are different "classes" or standards everywhere.... Other countries who really aspire for greater things want to be the best in the world, to be number one and not to just be in the same class as everybody else. The term "world-class" hints of some kind of herd mentality, to some extent mimicking what others have yet never really achieving it or understanding the purpose behind those achievements. It's not difficult to be this kind of "world-class". Singapore is rather rich compared to many developing countries, and so by simply buying over all the goods and technology from the US and others, we can easily become "world-class"? Or not?
Singapore dreaming is just wishful thinking. If anyone thought that everybody can be very happy just mindlessly pursuing the 5C's, he'd probably only find peace when he hit's the 6th C, the coffin..... (that was from the movie by the way.)
Saturday, September 09, 2006
Biennale / Gardens by the Bay
Today I went to see some of the art pieces exhibited as part of the Singapore Biennale 2006. The first thing I realised is that many people do not know how to pronounce the word Biennale correctly (including myself at first). It's pronounced as Bian-narl-lay. I guess I got it right after listening to the word being repeated over a hundred times on TV mobile on my bus ride there.
We went to the Art Museum, National Museum, and the main Biennale booth at SMU. I was hoping to see lots of shocking contemporary works, but frankly, I wasn't very impressed. In fact, the pieces that I really liked were classic oil-on-canvas paintings by Liu Kang and one other surrealist Malay painter. But those paintings you can catch all the time at the Art Museum, so much for the Biennale. Maybe there's other better stuff that I haven't seen yet, will try to see more if I have the opportunity. I guess the raw talent of the classic oil-on-canvas artists stood out in this case. I was quite impressed by the surrealist; his work is comparable to Salvador Dali! The Art Museum really needs a serious makeover too. Its a rather large building, but the layout and what not really pales in comparison to the Guggenheim, SF MoMA, National Gallery of Art or the California Palace of the Legion of Honor.
After that we went to the Botanic Gardens to see the models and posters for the new Gardens by the Bay project at Marina Bay. There's essentially 3 parts to Gardens by the Bay: Marina South (IR), Marina East (near the golf course) and the giant Ferris Wheel area. The entire project is huge! There's gonna be lots of conservatories, edutainment, flower markets etc. So many things going on that New York Central Park pales in comparison. I feel that Marina South, where the bulk of the activity is, is actually quite out of the way though. I will definitely visit, but probably not on a regular basis. I doubt people will go there for a weekly jog like at East Coast Park. Its just too out of the way and too many things going on. Not sure how this thing is going to turn out.
This whole garden thing got me thinking about land usage in Singapore. We are barely 25 miles (40km) across, yet we have more than 10 golf courses, huge parks and gardens (botanic gardens, east coast park, sungei buloh, macritchie and other reserviors, and now marina bay), 2 civilian air ports (seletar and changi) and a huge port (PSA). And not to mention close to a quarter of the mainland is used by the military for training and other purposes. And yet we have 4.3 million people here. Someone tell me its not getting too crowded?
We went to the Art Museum, National Museum, and the main Biennale booth at SMU. I was hoping to see lots of shocking contemporary works, but frankly, I wasn't very impressed. In fact, the pieces that I really liked were classic oil-on-canvas paintings by Liu Kang and one other surrealist Malay painter. But those paintings you can catch all the time at the Art Museum, so much for the Biennale. Maybe there's other better stuff that I haven't seen yet, will try to see more if I have the opportunity. I guess the raw talent of the classic oil-on-canvas artists stood out in this case. I was quite impressed by the surrealist; his work is comparable to Salvador Dali! The Art Museum really needs a serious makeover too. Its a rather large building, but the layout and what not really pales in comparison to the Guggenheim, SF MoMA, National Gallery of Art or the California Palace of the Legion of Honor.
After that we went to the Botanic Gardens to see the models and posters for the new Gardens by the Bay project at Marina Bay. There's essentially 3 parts to Gardens by the Bay: Marina South (IR), Marina East (near the golf course) and the giant Ferris Wheel area. The entire project is huge! There's gonna be lots of conservatories, edutainment, flower markets etc. So many things going on that New York Central Park pales in comparison. I feel that Marina South, where the bulk of the activity is, is actually quite out of the way though. I will definitely visit, but probably not on a regular basis. I doubt people will go there for a weekly jog like at East Coast Park. Its just too out of the way and too many things going on. Not sure how this thing is going to turn out.
This whole garden thing got me thinking about land usage in Singapore. We are barely 25 miles (40km) across, yet we have more than 10 golf courses, huge parks and gardens (botanic gardens, east coast park, sungei buloh, macritchie and other reserviors, and now marina bay), 2 civilian air ports (seletar and changi) and a huge port (PSA). And not to mention close to a quarter of the mainland is used by the military for training and other purposes. And yet we have 4.3 million people here. Someone tell me its not getting too crowded?
Thursday, September 07, 2006
Tuesday, September 05, 2006
Crikey! Remember Steve by putting (tu) in your msn nick!
Steve Irwin, Wildlife Master, Is Killed by a Stingray at 44
By GLENN COLLINS
Published: September 5, 2006 (paragraphing edited)
Steve Irwin, the khaki-clad wildlife stalker who won global fame with his televised death-defying crocodile stunts and whose booming voice made "Crikey!" in a ripe Australian accent an international catchword, was killed by a stingray yesterday while filming a documentary at the Great Barrier Reef off Australia's northeast coast. He was 44.
“He was a passionate environmentalist,” Mr. Howard added. Mr. Irvin’s television shows, including “The Crocodile Hunter,” were seen in more than 100 countries on cable television, and he was an ebullient staple of American talk shows ranging from “The Tonight Show With Jay Leno” to “Live With Regis and Kelly.” He customarily appeared in his trademark hiking boots and khaki shorts and shirt, commenting volubly on animal conservation and showing clips of his fearless exploits, which included leaping on the backs of crocodiles, wrestling with boas and mastering poisonous snakes and spiders.
Dr. Leo Smith, an expert on venomous fishes in the department of ichthyology at the American Museum of Natural History in Manhattan, said that although Mr. Irwin had no scientific degree and some scientists criticized his theatrics and hyperbole, “he could be considered a biologist rather than just a television personality.”
“He was knowledgeable and seemed to care passionately about wildlife,” Dr. Smith said. “He took a very outgoing approach that made people less fearful of sharks and other mean things out there.” Mr. Irwin’s death, he said, “is depressing because the last thing you want is for the guy who says things are safe to be killed.”
But Mr. Irwin was widely criticized in 2004 for feeding a snapping crocodile inside a pen while holding his infant son, Bob, in one arm. Though some likened the action to child abuse, he said he had been in firm control of both the child and the crocodile. He was never charged with endangering his son’s welfare. While filming a documentary in Antarctica later that year, Mr. Irwin ran afoul of critics who said he came too close to humpback whales, seals and penguins, disturbing them. Environmental officials did not press charges after an investigation.
Though Mr. Irwin was accustomed to confronting dangerous animals, deaths from ray attacks are unusual, Dr. Smith said. “On an average there are only one or two fatalities a year worldwide,” he said. Dr. Smith said there were approximately 120 known ray species and four families of venomous stinging rays. At the base of the tail is a spine or barb connected to a venom gland; in an attack, the spike and the gland may be broken off and can remain in the wound. The stingray venom contains toxic proteins, and most stingray attacks pose risk from shock, infection and the venom’s toxicity, he said. Most deaths are caused by heart injuries or blood loss. “The puncture alone could have done it,” Dr. Smith said of the attack on Mr. Irwin, “but the venoms do have major cardiac effects.”
Stephen Robert Irwin was born in 1962 in a suburb of Melbourne and spent his childhood in Queensland, where his parents, Bob and Lyn Irwin, operated a wildlife park; he grew up with wild animals, including crocodiles. He met his American-born wife, Terri, when she was vacationing in Australia in 1991. Film from their honeymoon in the wild — trapping crocodiles — was used in creating their first documentary. She became his business partner and, styled as the Crocodile Huntress, she was an on-screen co-star in his television shows and in a 2002 feature film, “The Crocodile Hunters: Collision Course.”
Mr. Irwin was caricatured in “South Park” for his penchant for phrases like “Check out the size of this bloke!” and “Whew, he’s getting cranky!” He also appeared in the 2001 film “Dr. Dolittle 2” with Eddie Murphy. His fame engendered books, action figures and interactive games and, for a time, tube-watching pub crawlers played a drinking game, hoisting a glass every time Mr. Irwin said, “Crikey!” or, “Isn’t she a beauty?” His parents’ wildlife park, renamed Australia Zoo and expanded and developed by Mr. Irwin, became a popular tourist attraction. His survivors include his wife and son, and a daughter, Bindi Sue.
Monday, September 04, 2006
Decided to walk down Market to Civic Center to catch the city hall in the sunset since I haven't been there in years. Turns out that it wasn't such a good idea. Behind me in this shot was A LOT of hoboes, punks, loiterers and what not! I had to turn my back to them so that I won't get mugged when they see my expensive camera. Guess some places are not as safe as Singapore (where supposedly you can't gather in a group of more than 5 haha....)
Sunday, September 03, 2006
More ball pics
"Take me out to the ball game,
Take me out with the crowd.
Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jack,
I don't care if I never get back,
Let me root, root, root for the A's!
If they don't win it's a shame.
For it's one, two, three strikes, you're out,
At the old ball game."
Saturday, September 02, 2006
Wedding Song
We had this song at the wedding. Isn't it just so beautiful?
O Lord my God, When I in awesome wonder,
Consider all the worlds Thy Hands have made;
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,
Thy power throughout the universe displayed.
Chorus:
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art!
When through the woods, and forest glades I wander,
And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees.
When I look down, from lofty mountain grandeur
And see the brook, and feel the gentle breeze.
And when I think, that God, His Son not sparing;
Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in;
That on the Cross, my burden gladly bearing,
He bled and died to take away my sin.
When Christ shall come, with shout of acclamation,
And take me home, what joy shall fill my heart.
Then I shall bow, in humble adoration,
And then proclaim: "My God, how great Thou art!"
O Lord my God, When I in awesome wonder,
Consider all the worlds Thy Hands have made;
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,
Thy power throughout the universe displayed.
Chorus:
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art!
When through the woods, and forest glades I wander,
And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees.
When I look down, from lofty mountain grandeur
And see the brook, and feel the gentle breeze.
And when I think, that God, His Son not sparing;
Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in;
That on the Cross, my burden gladly bearing,
He bled and died to take away my sin.
When Christ shall come, with shout of acclamation,
And take me home, what joy shall fill my heart.
Then I shall bow, in humble adoration,
And then proclaim: "My God, how great Thou art!"
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