2010: it was a very good year

New Facebook Profile

So Facebook has a new interesting layout where your most recently tagged pics appear in a row beside your profile picture. They also allow you to use elongated rectangles as your profile pic which rocks. Here's something I came up with (photoshop experiment):



The idea was inspired by an article compiling some creative people's efforts.
FYI, in the picture, although it looks like Sherm is being tilted off balance by the slanted landscape, the fact is, Sherm lost her balance while walking on the beach. No she wasn't dancing. She almost fell walking on a flat beach. =_=

"Way Back Home" - Danny MacAskill rides in Scotland

Beautifully shot, wonderfully mad skills.

Angsana Bintan

We scored an overnight getaway to Angsana Resort & Spa on Bintan, just a 55-min ferry-ride away from Singapore (Thanks to cousin Jeremy!). All in all, it was a luxurious stay with excellent service thrown in.

We didn't know how expensive a night's stay there would be, since there was no research done for this last-minute trip. Though the room was not as lush as the price tag implies (probably due to the room not being carpeted - though it makes sense not to due to sand), the comfort, facilities and service received within the resort more than made up for that deficiency.

Simple touches like throwing a soft light to illuminate the incoming surf while you dine at the shore, or having a personal attendant wait on you and attend to your every need (we saw a waiter rush up with a toy to entertain a child who was about to bawl, just so the parents didn't have to do so, and the guests remain undisturbed). Or having the staff greet you with a warm smile whenever they pass by. Or even the check-in service where they escort you to have a seat at the lounge and attend to your check-in there instead of having to stand at a counter. Or walking barefoot on the private beach without worrying about sharp objects washed upon the shore (they have people carting a wheel-barrow on the beach just to pick up trash!). Heck, they even thought of providing an umbrella in your closet in case of inclement weather, not to mention turn down your bed and present the next morning's breakfast choices!

We loved the private beach and pool, as well as the shore-side Grill buffet (available only on Fri/Sat nights) under the stars. It was an excellent relaxing get-away, even if it was just one full day.

My fiancée can cook really well!

Shermaine knows food. She knows which foods go together, what is healthy, and what isn't, and how to improve flavour. She just knows how to cook! Even better yet, she knows how to cook for ME!

I recall a time long ago, when she served me some 5-grain rice meal that was healthy. I really didn't like it much, but she was quick to learn, and adapted her food to such a degree that I eat everything that she serves me now. Recent example of this is the risotto she made using the aforementioned 5-grain rice (I loved it). She's just that good! =D



Last night, she got inspired. She wanted to have grilled veggies and some Western fare, but she didn't feel inclined towards any of the restaurant suggestions I made. She then decided that she would cook! We went to the NTUC and got the ingredients, and within 50mins in the kitchen, I was presented with Hamburg steak with grilled veggies and mash!



Shermaine has done Hamburg steak at least twice before, but last night's version is undoubtedly the best! The hot-pan seared patty was juicy & tasty (yet not overly salty - it was a mix of beef, chicken, ham & onions), and it went very well with a home-made mushroom & onion sauce. The end of the meal left us with very happy bellies.. Ok it wasn't the most healthy thing, but it tasted really good~! =)


Thanks Sherm, I'm looking forward to much more of your cooking! I know it won't all be as yumsome as this meal, but I trust you will make even boring/healthy food taste good! =D

Bella & Narci

Just an update on my 2 girly hams. Both are still alive. Strangely, their markings are changing, and quite drastically. Their black is fading!

But they're still adorable and inquisitive, and of course, still downright entertaining in their silliness.. The 2 pics here depict the 2 girls getting down to stuffing their faces with food.

Fresh Mushrooms

Sherm stumbled upon some really fresh mushrooms at a canteen sale n thoughtfully bought some for home. She then whipped up some for a recent dinner.. Yum!!

Sakurada Kenyukai @ 9th AKT

The Sakurada Kenyukai (Tokyo) with Sherm.

These sensei came from Japan, Vietnam and Hong Kong to volunteer as judges for the tournament. I spoke with Sasahara sensei and understood from him that they make these trips on their own expense simply cos they like the opportunity to share kendo with a gathering of kendoka from our ASEAN region.

Shermaine trained with these same gentlemen for several months during her stay in Japan. Old Sakurai sensei (who made her restart her basics for a period) came looking for Sherm holding forward her old NUS namecard that he has supposedly kept close to his heart.. such a charmer..

I got to keiko 3 of them that day. I only put on my bogu after encouragement from Sasahara sensei since I hadn't been in training for over a year. But what a way to have a reunion exchange than between clashing swords! Thanks Isshiki sensei, Iwatsubo sensei and Yasumuro sensei (how could I forget to use ni-dan waza against nito)!




This is Sasahara sensei.

I was introduced to him by Chan sensei during my first trip to Japan for the University Kendo Gathering in 2002. Ever since then, I would contact him whenever I went to Japan with my bogu. He would personally meet me and drive me to Abiko dojo (his hometown dojo just on the outskirts of Tokyo).

Later, when I introduced Sherm to him when she went over for a year, he brought her to the Sakurada Kenyukai (which comprise of sensei who may have resided in Singapore or South East Asia at some point in time, among others). During her year there, she made strong ties and shared much kendo chat (over beer of course). We were glad for the opportunity to meet them once again at this year's 9th ASEAN Kendo Tournament held in Singapore.

I encourage all Singapore kendoka who plan to visit Tokyo with bogu, to send Sasahara sensei an email. Although he now resides in Hong Kong, keiko will be arranged I'm sure.

Rise of the young entrepreneurs

I've noticed something recently. I know a disproportionate number of entrepreneur/business owners who are younger than me. It seems odd that I can hardly bring to mind any entrepreneurs my age or older.

There are a number of reasons for this phenomenon and I would like to speculate on them here.

1) Having capital. A lot of these younger friends are people I got to know around the Seletar Hills area. This means they come from rich families who may have been able to provide them the initial starting capital or a support buffer in the case of failure. However, as I can only draw experience from my personal pool of friends, this factor may be limited.

2) A change in attitudes. Shermaine and I discussed this recently, on how the younger people we know at work seem to be less inclined to doing grunt work, and more inclined to doing "glory" work. We speculated that this could be due to a change in school syllabus and the emphasis on problem-based learning (yet my mother says she's noticed students in recent times are more about wanting to memorise given answers than finding out answers).

3) Encouraging entrepreneurship. The climate in Singapore was rife with talk of entrepreneurship and "being your own boss" sometime in early 2000 onwards. The availability of talks and programs on these topics probably further encouraged the bold and fearless.

4) Brick and mortar. Despite the rise of the internet and social media, the businesses of these younger friends I know all tend towards brick and mortar type. These range from eco-retail to coffee houses and burger joints. From what I know, perhaps they all have websites, I'm unsure if other social media like Facebook or Twitter actually helped in spreading the word, but from what I know, some of them became more well-known after traditional media featured them. Otherwise, perhaps the existing networks that are available currently just naturally brought them to light. More research on this would be interesting.

For myself, I was always searching for the one unique idea that I would be able to build a unique business around. But out of these people I know, most of them seem to be doing normal businesses, ie. F&B businesses. But what stands out is probably the way they position the business, ie. packaging or getting the right appeal, knowing who your clientele will be, etc.

Having this knowledge, would it now make it easier for your to take that step toward becoming your own boss, or pursuing that business venture you always thought of getting into?

So we bought a car last nite..

After weeks/months of watching car prices and deciding which would be the most cost-effective car to have, and whether it would be full-license plate or weekend one, I finally made the legs go walking to Ubi Automart. I SMS'd mom, and got Shermaine to meet us at Paya Lebar before heading there.

Initially we were eyeing a 3-4 year old weekend Kia Picanto for about $13,000 range, but a <2 year old OPC one became a big consideration as it was only priced at $24,800 (opening price). Furthermore, it still had over 1 year of warranty left with Cycle & Carriage, it was black (the colour we shortlisted) and was the newer model with leather upholstery with red trimming! The clincher was.. its mileage was less than 5000km which is extremely low!!

The salesman, Tony from Creative Auto, was quite a hassle to deal with at first, since he needed to know our offer before we could test-drive the vehicle. It was unusual to me as I felt I wouldn't have the confidence to make a bid if I couldn't get some reassurance from a test drive first.

Luckily enough, while checking out the other shops for a similar offer, I saw an ad online for the exact car earlier, and it was offered at $23,800 (1K cheaper)! So after a fruitless walk to see other options, we returned for a 2nd look. We used the internet price and cut it down a bit more to a price that made Tony happy enough to let us out for a drive.

When we got back, we proceeded to talk shop in the air-con office. Of course Tony wasn't about to settle at just our offer and tried many ways to get us to up the price to $23,000. But the tag-team combination of Sherm-Mom-Me got him to eventually cave at $22,500.

Next, Tony listed the upfront fees that needed to be settled.
1) Transfer Fee
2) Insurance
3) 1st installment
4) Agreement fee

Waitaminit... what's this "agreement fee"?? According to Tony, "its like the 'registration fee' you pay at dealers for brand new cars". Eh??!!? So he goes on to say how they don't charge GST for cars because that would drive up the price of cars and no one would buy, so they need to take an amount to compensate, and that it would be listed and itemized in the receipt, so there's no cause for worry.. WTF?? It doesn't make any sense!! Whether the company is GST-registered or not, you should factor that into the price of the car already, its not the customer's onus to help the company settle their GST burden!

I stormed out to call some friends, managing to reach Mark. We pow-wowed and talked about this 'agreement fee' and concluded that there was no such thing. During this time, Sherm was working Tony over, appearing to help Tony realise that we've come so far in the discussion only to be balked at this unexplainable fee, and that it would be such a waste to lose the sale this close to making it. She's good la!

So I returned and made my stand, I'm not paying this fee. And he simply OK'd it, and cancelled it out. WARRAO!! So buyers beware! (This forum discussion addresses this same issue of admin fees, kopi money, football money and GST charges.)

And now, I await the bank loan application to be approved (I got a call soon after from a Derrick from Maybank, and he assured me the approval would be immediate) before getting my keys. We'll have our new-old car of our own! We've already agreed that we'll name the car Blackavar, taken from Watership Down. My first debt - one of the essential milestones of growing up. =P


Anyway a good tip when buying a car, is to know that sales people don't just make money on the price of the vehicle per se. There are 3 ways:
1) price of vehicle
2) insurance commission
3) trade-in value of current vehicle

Click this link for more information on how to negotiate for a car.

They wanted to take in my van for $5000. Good thing I had an offer above this already, so I knew how much another dealer was going to take it for. No way! We'd just trade it to the other dealer for more.

-----

I must commend Shermaine for having all the essential skills of good bargain management - able to be soft and yet firm, keeping a rational mind, and being persuasive. She really complements me in this regard! I must also thank my mom for being the complete opposite and giving the sales guy the impression that we MIGHT take whatever he threw at us. With this combination of 2 women on either side of him and a sour-faced decision-maker, we triumphed! Hooray!!

Wedding Blog: Chronicles of Dax & Sherm

Catch up with what's been happening with us Wedding-wise! Read about the hotels, the packages and the preparations, and soon, the photoshoot and big day itself!

Our day has been booked for 4th Dec 2011, keep up with us as we head into our 14 month pre-wedding adventure!

Chronicles of Dax & Sherm

Torchlight

Somebody's playing a new game.. Its a Diablo-like game called Torchlight that we got from the library.

Presenting.. Dominus the Batmage and Shadowclaw!



Yes that's a mage. With club, and shield. But I hear he's uber, takes down 3 bosses in less hits than it takes to swat a fly, without losing HP too..

So this game, simple in its cartoony looks and really fun to play as a casual pick-up dungeon crawler, lacks multiplayer. All this fun that Sherm's been having, is all only shared cos I'm playing another toon on my PC by myself. Kinda meh.

But on the Torchlight website, they've announced a sequel and it has multiplayer co-op modes! Just what the doctor ordered, looking forward to that in 2011!


Update:
Oh, and if you don't quite like the cartoony graphics in Torchlight, keep an eye out for "Path of Exile" by New Zealand developers Grinding Gear. They're coming up with a Diablo-esque game that allows players to customize skills. The clincher? Its free to play, and multiplayer to boot! Out in 2011.

Update

Nothing much to update really.
Most notable is our search for the ideal hotel to hold a wedding banquet. We're still going through the viewings, and will try to confirm a venue by the end of Sept.

Milestone moment for me in August when I finally worked up the courage to go speak to my boss about a pay raise (after much encouragement and suggestions and roleplay with Shermaine). I feel more valued in the company, and yet I'm slightly disturbed that I'm in a retiree job. Anyway, boss has done his part to help forward the request, but the decision will still be made in London, and I'll only know if it gets granted at the end of the year.

We caught the annual Chestnuts comedy, our almost-annual theatre pilgrimage. This year's was really funny - laugh out loud, raucous and hilarious la.. Kudos to Jonathan and Judee especially for Ivory Low Ai Q, Ris Low's sister.. lol..

I'm slowly trying to reorganize the stuff in my room, so we can work towards an eventual redesign, renovate for when Shermaine eventually moves in. There's just too much stuff lying around and collecting dust right now. Ikea really does offer some ingenious solutions.

Gaming-wise, I've ended my Champions Online subscription. Some bits of the game infuriated me enough to stop returning.
1) Although the new adventure pack provided a series of quests to complete, it lacks a proper storyline. It's quite obvious the plot was cobbled together in a very lame fashion. Secondly, you can't just stop and continue any time you like - if you don't return in, say a week, you'll end up having to redo the whole series again.
2) I had a HUGE craving for good storyline and plot after playing this game for months. That says something considering I played and replayed City of Heroes for years.
Having done that, I've moved on to Dragon Age: Origins. Now THIS is a game with a really good story. And there's no subscription needed too!

Everything else is in limbo. I'm half-trying to sell the van, and possibly pick up a weekend Kia Picanto. This way, Sherm and I will have a vehicle to call our own, no more having to beg or borrow a car for our outings and makans.

That's it for now.

Youth Olympic Games in Singapore

I'm Singaporean, and I'm proud of my country's involvement in the inaugural Youth Olympic Games! Having the opportunity to watch visitors the world over converge on our little red dot to engage in various olympic sports, under age 18 nonetheless, is such an eye-opener and an experience that few people have the opportunity to participate in.

When the Beijing Olympics came around 2 years ago, a cousin of mine announced that she had purchased tickets for the Rowing event, a sport she was involved in some years back, and was making a trip there to catch the event. Up till that moment, it had never occurred to me to go watch such a prestigious event live, and to pay for a flight there yourself even. So when the YOG came around, I believe it was this same inertia that gripped the country possibly resulting in the whole fiasco with the ticketing. A week before the event, it dawned on me that I should go catch some of these events, since there would be Olympic level competition (remember China's underaged gymnasts? Here's where they would shine!) at our very doorstep. And surprisingly enough, the tickets were CHEAP too! The tickets were subsequently sold out, and there were complaints about empty venues despite sold-out seats.

Sherm and I managed to procure tickets for the Football Boys Preliminary match where Singapore was set to play against Montenegro (of Serbia and Montenegro origin). We failed in our bid to get Equestrian tickets (by losing the spot due to a 12-hour delay. We even went to queue for tickets at the event venue 1 hour before commencing!), and I missed out on some Diving tickets (Basketball by then was all sold-out). I forewent Canoeing, since I recalled that it wasn't much of a spectator sport unless you could see them up close (those long competition days back in '96/97 were not much fun waiting for our events to come up). The Singapore Cubs were fantastic by the way, managing to inflame such passion that had not been seen since Singapore recaptured the Malaysia Cup in 1994.

Anyway, there's a small host of shit-stirrers here in our sunny island, who just can't begin to see what an immense achievement our country has won by hosting these games. They nit-pick and shoot down every single fault and flaw of the games, from the 3X exceeded budget, to the food poisoning incidents, to the Olympic Village being in NTU, and of course, the rescheduling of students' exams.

I asked Uncle Gurmit, who was a volunteer at the Games' Tennis Centre if he felt if the the sacrifices that the school kids have made were worth it. He replied with fervour, "Of course!" His explanation was that this was an event that occurred only very seldom. Contributing to the success of such an international event should be ranked higher over a measly thing like exams, according to him. Not everyone is able to see beyond their 2 feet, but Uncle Gurmit made a strong point, and if we could see beyond how this bothers you or me, and look at the big picture, then one would really begin to understand and appreciate everything that has happened to make this YOG a success.

With this in mind, I took note to be especially courteous and smile at the YOG volunteers that I met, knowing that they were not getting paid for helping, and yet had taken the time to ensure things went smoothly. I enjoyed the football match very much, and have been thankful for the highlights on TV.

Somehow, watching the YOG on TV was especially moving to me, not simply cos I was witnessing the 'Olympic spirit' per se, but because MY country, My Singapore was hosting it, and I was proud.

Final note - Sherm would say that Merly and Lyo were really well designed (and I agree), and they probably helped her get into the enthusiasm of things. =)

Examples of Singapore's Driving Behaviour

While waiting to cross the road this morning, I witnessed yet another ludicrous Singaporean traffic incident.

There is a U-turn outside the AMK MRT station that has long been used as a convenient drop off point. Many parents, for instance, make the turn and immediately get their kids to alight. The problem here is that the turn is tight, which means any subsequent u-turning vehicle will be held up, thus blocking the entire 3-lane road. Perhaps as a result of this, the entire section up to the bus stop 20m ahead has been fenced up. This has not been much of a deterrent since the stop-and-drop has now been forced into the very apex of the turn (since drivers can only drop their passengers off at that point, or make their passengers walk an extra distance from the bus stop). I believe it's quite obvious what the consequent dangers are.

This morning, a white Mazda 3 did the u-turn stop-and-drop, blocking the path of an orange Chevrolet Spark that was following it. The Spark gave a burst of his horn, which was followed by the 3 inching forward slightly, allowing the Spark to maneuver into the lane. However there was Honda behind that also was caught in the midst of the flashing green arrow and that car too tooted it's horn.

At this point, the passenger of the 3 had gotten out and was gesticulating at the Spark as he walked by, letting some expletives fly even as he continued to stand nearby. The driver of the 3 apparently did not yet want to move off. This led to a 2nd round of horns blaring.

The Honda by now, had managed to get into the lane and was letting off 2 students as well at the same spot where I've previously highlighted that it was dangerous to do so. Passenger of the 3 also walked back to provide support to his driver who had stepped out by this time.

The Spark then started to inch backwards in order to allow himself room to go around the immovable vehicle, backing down from the confrontation.

2 kinds of wonderful Singaporean driver mentalities on display here:

1) the kind who deliberately flout driving rules then proceed to shout and bully their way out.

2) the kind who are usually chicken shit, but gain an obnoxious sense of power once they get behind the wheel of a car.

Someone should erect a sign that says simply "No Stopping, Fine $1000". I trust these incidences will subside thereafter. Especially if they get a warden to stand there for the next few days.

Look what I found at Google today!

NDP Preview 2010

Shermaine and I were lucky enough to get tickets to attend the National Day Parade Preview 2010 at the Padang. It seems a parade held at the Padang happens only once in 5 years, and this was actually my first time there, in all my attendances. Sherm and I have been trying to get tix for the past 3 years, and this was our lucky break! Moreover, we got to sit at the RED section, in front of Old Parliament House, which was shaded from the hot sun all the way! Great experience!

Sherm totally loved the Mobile Column, where all the combined defence forces' vehicles were driven by in formation, passengers at attention and saluting the crowd. I must say, having a couple of tanks rumbling so close by reminded me of that scene in Saving Private Ryan, where the US soldiers went cold upon realizing the German Panzer tanks were approaching!

The Performance itself, directed by Dick Lee, was actually pretty good. Not cheesy entirely, apart from the 4 hosts' costumes (and we felt the hosts didn't even seem needed). One oddity was when the 'Kamen Riders' came out and demonstrated martial arts on the Padang. Then later whipped out their light sabres.. But that was all forgotten when the show carried on, climaxing each sequence with short fireworks displays. Quality performances by Singapore Idol finalists, Corrinne May and Kitt Chan as well!

I feel Singaporeans should try to attend the NDP every once in a while. The parade successfully stirs a little pride for Our Nation, just enough to keep us going strong.

She agreed to marry me

24th July 2010

We watched the setting sun fade into purple hues on the West beach of Railay, Krabi, as I surprised her with "Grow Old With You" (the song from The Wedding Singer that I always wanted to sing to the one I'd marry).

I got onto one knee, and then asked her to marry me..

She said "yes"....



(thanks to Justin and Adam Sandler.. ;) )

Grown Men Playing With Dolls in Public

Seen at the Singapore Garden Festival at Suntec Convention Centre:

Grown-up men posing their dolls at Sg Garden Festival. They spend lots of time adjusting the doll's blouses to ensure maximum cleavage, then take pictures of their dolls with exotic backgrounds using their several thousand $ camera equipment. All in full view of the exhibition's visitors!







- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone


Shermaine and I were both very horrified and disturbed. I figured if they had no qualms doing what they were doing, then I could just take shots of them without them batting an eyelid.
And.. they really didn't care. I took at least 5 shots from my phone.. and not very discreetly too.

I have no issue with Dollfie (this particular brand of dolls - apparently 'life-like' reproductions of anime/manga characters). I have a problem with grown-up men carefully caressing the doll's hair, and adjusting their yukatas just so.. Keep your predilections and perversions behind closed doors please!

World Cup 2010 Final - Spain wins!

Spain, the traditional under-performer at the World Cup, has finally pulled off a win in extra time against another soccer nation great, Holland. This long-awaited win removes Spain's previous dubious reputation of having the most number of World Cup game wins without ever winning the trophy. Unfortunately for the Dutch, this title now goes to them.

Oh Arjen Robben! Your crafty runs down the flanks were quelled only by Iker Casillas' confident goal-keeping. But unfortunately, the rest of your Netherlands team were reduced to fear, as evidenced by the endless stream of bad tackles (and yellow cards and even a red!). Your sneakiness was matched and topped only by Spain's Andres Iniesta with his late one-touch right-footed scorcher! And your pain! Oh the pain you must feel! At least you can share it with your Bayern Munich team-mates as the glorious German team went through the same thing you did only several days earlier.

My First HDR

My first attempt at High Dynamic Range (HDR) processing using only Photoshop 6. The problem with using this method is in layer clipping, where some of the pixel-fine detail is clipped by mistake, winding up with some speckles in the picture that are either "dirty" or "overly bright". Still, the dramatic sky effect is nice, yes?

Bicycling in Singapore, by Mr Brown

This is a great write-up on something I've always wanted to do to beat the rising costs of personal transport in Singapore - commuting via bicycle!

He goes quite in-depth, from the type of bicycle to use, to lights, to terrain and routes.

The big question for me was - what about inclement weather?
Mr Brown answers that as well. Use rain gear, and/or a folding bicycle to carry onto the MRT.

Definitely a possibility for me to try in the near future.

mrbrown's Quick Guide to Bicycle Commuting in Singapore

Fast-fingers

Somebody playing Gundam on PS3.. "calculated button-mashing".. =)

Think about it

This is something worth thinking about - "If the iPhone 3GS is so good, why does everyone want the new iPhone4"?

Here's a few I came up with:
- People want to differentiate themselves from every other uncle and auntie who has the 3GS.
- People are easily swayed by marketing and can't help but "want" the latest hot product from the best marketed brand.
- People just want the latest hot product on the market.
- People have self-esteem issues and need a "cool" product to make themselves feel better.
- Apple fan boys are generally Jobs-smacked, and obey the Word of Jobs.


ok, I admit, the iPhone 3GS is good. I love it actually. But why do I want a new phone too?

Here's an article from Tefibi on why the iPhone4 may not necessarily be the best buy.

40 "Die-die-must-try" Singapore Food

Great write-up on CNN Go by a Catherine Ling - a no-nonsense list of 40 'die-die-must-try' Singapore Food! Forwarded via email..

Was anything left out? =)

Flash Mobs in Singapore are professionally done

So it started some time ago, when people would forward SMSes to friends and etc, to meet on the MRT and or someplace public and do something for like a minute. This was when flash mobs began to me, or when I became aware of them. I never did take part in it, always felt it was a little "boliao".

Then came the famous one in Raffles Place, when the flash mob looked like a really well choreographed dance act.

And now this:
Click here for the video of the Flash Mob in Changi Airport.
(embedded video has been removed due to the auto-loading nature)

Flash mobs have now gone professional. This was done to raise awareness of the new Changi Airport campaign to get you to spend. Amazing.

Provence's Milk Pan

This is why Provence's Milk Pan really tastes great - the thick creamy custard that lies hidden inside till the first bite..


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Remembering Dr Goh Keng Swee

I'm not one of those who knew what the late Dr Goh Keng Swee did, nor did I understand fully how his actions affected Singapore in its infancy. All I know about him is that my mother and her sisters were quite sad when they heard of his death, and they even wanted to go to his house to pay their last respects, like a friend had passed away, or a respected elder.

This article from AsiaOne - The architect of Singapore's prosperity - lists some of his key economic decisions that have resulted in the fundamentally and economically strong Singapore we have today. These include the formation of GIC, Temasek Holdings, MAS and EDB, the re-naming of Pulau Blakang Mati to Sentosa (and it being designated as a tourist development), setting up Jurong Shipyard, and the decision to go the way of an export-oriented strategy. It also explains "Goh's folly". And I can thank him for closing the pig farms in Singapore too (yes I experienced the stench when I was younger).

Here's one interesting excerpt:

6. Gold reserves

Dr Goh bought Singapore's first 100 tons - around 101,600kg - of gold reserves from the South African Finance
Minister, then Dr Nicolaas Diederichts, in a private exchange at the World Bank meeting in 1968. The minister
reportedly went to Dr Goh's hotel room and turned up the TV volume before discussing the deal.

After agreeing to sell the gold, he took out a United States dollar note and cut it in half, giving one half to Dr Goh.

This was used for verification of identity when the Singapore representatives - Mr Ngiam Tong Dow and veteran banker Wee Cho Yaw - later met the South African sellers in Switzerland.

And that's how Singapore obtained its first gold reserves, at US$40 per ounce.

As of March, Singapore had about US$212 million in official gold reserves, according to the MAS website. Gold
price is now nearly US$1,250 an ounce.

Although I didn't know you at all, you have shaped the country of my birth and thus, the life I am now living.

Thank you so much Dr Goh.

Skyville @ Dawson Rd

Shermaine and I went to HDB Hub last night and took up the option to purchase a flat at the soon-to-be-built (5-6 yrs) "Skyville @ Dawson" BTO (built-to-order). Come 2016, we'll be able to move in to the 4-room flat at the 33rd storey and look out over the greenery that will hopefully remain unobstructed for a while more.



We were in discussion for quite a long time, trying to pick the ideal unit from the many choice pickings. Our top 20 choices were gone 2 days before out turn to bid, leaving us to re-assign the 40+ choices we had leftover. In the end, we picked a unit that was actually pretty low on our initial ranking, but due to having 2 intense days thinking about the factors, we're pretty stoked and satisfied.

As I said to Sherm, this is like taking an exam - you'll never know the real result until it finally comes out. So there's no point second-guessing if we picked the right unit etc until the day we get to see the place itself.


Why did we pick Skyville over Sky Terrace (the other development that was launched together and situated right across Dawson Rd)?
For one, we (or maybe just me) were not at all interested in the loft units. Ok I actually was interested in a loft unit a long time ago. This was influenced by the warehouse/loft style offices/homes that I used to see on TV. However, the reality of living in a house with high ceilings for 6 years gave me more nightmares and cobwebs than anything.

Secondly, multi-generational units consisted of only a very small pool of units available. Mathematically speaking, your chances at getting it were very very slim.

Thirdly, the direction facing of the Sky Terrace units were not ideal, being either North or South facing - both of which looked into other developments (one of which is a condo). Skyville on the other hand boasted oblique direction facings, and ample breathing space between developments.

Fourth, WOHA (the architects behind this development) put in a lot of thought into the design, and we could see a lot of the winning points on which it made very good sense:
- very few units in the entire development would actually get morning and evening sun (the bane of Singapore properties);
- although there are 8 units sharing 1 lift landing, you will only ever be close to 1 neighbour, since the units are separated into 4 clusters around the landing;
- the sky gardens above, below and on the roof are really attractive lifestyle additions and we can imagine spending a lot of time walking our dog there;
- the units really feel exclusive and non-intrusive/invasive, not forcing you to look into neighbour's houses, etc. This also relates to the direction-facing of the units;
- minute details in the designs make the close-up aspects very intricate and personal, such as mosaic tiles (not sure if this will be in the final look) and stylised waffle-type shades.


Finally, we could choose to opt for having 1 less room with Skyville. This way, despite being a 4-room flat, we will end up having an extended living/dining room with 1 Master Bedroom and 1 Spare/Study Room (instead of 2). This would suit our envisioned lifestyle, where we have a larger living space to do fun stuff together (our so-called entertainment center), with the Study Room for work-related/PC gaming, and the Master Bedroom reserved purely for resting.


One concern in the design was that HDB obviously made requests to tone down the external look of the place, either for budget or sales purposes. This can be seen from the initial artist's impressions by WOHA and the official ones when the BTO was launched. Personally, we think it looks less jarring now, although it borders a little on the bland side. Hopefully, there will be some of WOHA's style maintained in the final product that will give Skyville the winning edge on looks over the condo-look that most people seem to end up opting for in Sky Terrace. I vote for more grey accents..

Well, chalk up another milestone for Mky & Dky =) We'll soon be home-owners. And dog-owners.

Somebody's got a new toy..

Somebody, not saying who, but it's somebody both you and I know.. This somebody.. got a new toy.. =D





- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

iPad Cat Stand!

Found this picture off Lifehacker.. I thought it was just very "awe" inducing.. =D

Bella's colour fade

Just a little post to showcase my little darling Bella. Her dark markings have faded to a light grey, seen frm the top of her head to her back. I still believe it's cos she spends a lot of time lying in the sandbath. A rare picture of her holding still.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Big Bang Theory does Superhero Drag!

In an upcoming episode of Big Bang Theory, entitled The Wheaton Recurrence, the geeky cast of Big Bang Theory will go Superhero drag! Despite Batgirl Howard, Wonder Woman Sheldon and Supergirl Leonard's obvious distaste, Catwoman Raj sure looks like he's enjoying the role.. I bet he can talk to girls in this form..

Billy-kun

The stray cat that hangs out in Sherm's neighbourhood, Billy-kun, came back to camp outside her house recently. We realized on the 2nd day that he hadn't really moved. Sherm brought him water n a towel to lie on. It was then we noticed his eyes were a little wonky, probably frm dehydration.

We then went to inform his caretakers (her neighbours) where he was in case they were looking for him. Seems he's had Feline Immunodeficiency Virus for some time and they thought he'd crawled off to die already. FIV is akin to the human HIV, in that it can lie dormant for years, then quickly become a wasting disease, attacking the cat's immune system, making any run-of-the-mill disease they pick up to become chronic. It is incurable, but there are vaccines for it.

We had a discussion with the neighbours, and we came to the same agreement that it would be more humane to put him down since the virus has already manifested, and he would probably end up with multiple organ failure. We'll be monitoring him for another day, and if he still doesn't get his appetite back, then we'll send him to the SPCA to be put to sleep.

Billy-kun will be spending his last days outside Sherm's house, the familiar haunt where he chose to come back to after all his years of roaming.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Cafe Salivation

Potato skin with cheese and other tasty stuff (forgot the name).

We made a surprising find at Syed Alwi Rd - Cafe Salivation - an exciting and pink-themed indian/vegetarian fusion cafe offering food like pizzas, burgers, to chimichangas and cakes. Their menu is so varied, one visit will not be enough to get a representative sample.

Spices are quite evident in their dishes tho, so if you aren't a chilli eater, you may want to request for a non-spicy version of your order.

We will return for another tasty visit!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Champions Online

I started playing Champions Online (CO) about a month back, and I must say, this superhero MMO is quite good. Anyway, there's an offer now for the game via Atari website, for only US$9.99, very good chance to purchase it now. Furthermore, you can test out the game itself (up to level 5 anyway) from the free demo offered on the CO website or through Steam. (Ask me for a referral!)

Hit up the link for my review and initial assessment of this game at Tefibi.

6 primary beliefs of Humanism

Just for contemplation, here are the 6 primary beliefs of Humanists, from the third and latest "Humanist Manifesto", via the Humanism Facebook group:

* Knowledge of the world is derived by observation, experimentation, and rational analysis. (See empiricism.)
* Humans are an integral part of nature, the result of unguided evolutionary change.
* Ethical values are derived from human need and interest as tested by experience. (See ethical naturalism.)
* Life’s fulfillment emerges from individual participation in the service of humane ideals.
* Humans are social by nature and find meaning in relationships.
* Working to benefit society maximizes individual happiness.

Signatories included 21 Nobel laureates.

Personally, I still have a need to believe in a higher power, and find that a world without God seems quite hollow. Could be my Catholic upbringing.

1st post via iPhone!

Somebody was playing the carnival-type strength game at the Sg Science Centre.. Can u see her compromised kendo technique? (joking..)
:)

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Sherm's Birthday: Guitar Hero 5 & Cafe Le Chateau

Sherm's birthday just passed, and she had a really good week celebrating it! I got her Guitar Hero 5, mainly cos she's a total Muse fan now, and wanted to play more of the Muse guitar hero releases. We ate at a few nice places, Cafe Le Chateau being the one to highlight here.

Guitar Hero 5:
We've been playing Rock Band 2 for a few months now. We've created at least 3 bands and multiple characters, and we liked the song list much more than Guitar Hero: World Tour. Then came GH5, with its more friendly track list and bonus avatars (Shirley Manson, Kurt Cobain, and most importantly - Matthew Bellamy!). However, on purchasing the game, we realized that Muse's already released tracks for the Guitar Hero franchise only works on GH: Legends of Rock edition (which is only for guitar, not even singing or anything), and we were sorely disappointed.

However, we gave GH5 a chance, and learned that the difficulty level in GH5 really was more challenging than RB2. Sherm's been getting really good at the drums, and she feels that the GH5 drums is more realistic with their out of rhythm bass pedal kicks, and multiple rolls on single pads, even the trigger for Drums Star Power is harder - you have to hit both yellow and blue together. The various challenges for each song unlock more stuff to enhance customization which leads me to the character creator. GH5's creator is even more customizable than RB2's, you can choose face shape, nose angle, distance between eyes, etc, and that's just for the face! So all in all, it wasn't a wasted game, we just hope that there'll be more Muse tracks available for download soon, and hopefully, we'll have Matt Bellamy avatar by then!


Shermaine's birthday dinner at Cafe Le Chateau:
This was a place I read off Hungrygowhere.com recently, and wanted to bring Sherm to, so we eventually got around to hitting the place and found it to be quite a sensory-enlightening visit. There was an article in The Newpaper on this restaurant a few days prior too!

Oxtail Stew - This dish, their house special, is said to be stewed for 2 days before serving. We went on a Monday, and they were closed the day before, so I suspect the meat itself hadn't been stewed 2 days yet, but the demiglace sauce was absolutely fragrant, with a strong hint of quality wine! Seriously good!! @ $20.50, it was well worth it.

(Sherm): Had a bite of this slathered in sauce and was actually bracing myself against a sodium overload. Was very pleasantly surprised to discover that the sauce was only barely salted, with the main bouquet being a very flavourful beef stock, smooth and floral/fruity red wine, rounded off with the sweetness of well-stewed meat.

The oxtail pieces could have been a bit more melt-in-the-mouth tender, as some pieces still had little bits of chewy connective tissue, but a very competent dish as a whole. Props for the perfectly boiled potato, it was put to good use sopping up all the delicious gravy! Yum!

Creamy Pork Cutlet - 3 medallions of tasty pork cutlets in a heavenly mushroom sauce. Comes with skinny fries n a healthy portion of boiled veggies - the fries, crisp and not oily, dunked in the oxtail stew tasted even better! ~$18. Do note the arrangement of the fries in the picture, it doesn't look like it was simply scooped and plonked on, does it? Such attention to detail!

(Sherm): This was my dish, and I sure didn't regret ordering it. The cutlets, while firm and ever so slightly dry, were beautifully crisp on the outside, perfectly pan seared and delicious with all the caramalised crust to nibble on! still thinking about it... mmMMmmm... shoestring fries in red wine oxtail gravy... slurrp...

Apple Pie - this $9 dessert serves 2 nicely. Apparently it's another house special that they prepare 15 mins before serving. We tried eating it several ways: 1) the apple pie in small portion without ice cream, 2) the apple pie with some ice cream in a bite-sized portion, 3) a wedge of the pie the size of a tablespoon with a generous skim of ice cream. And we realized method 3 yielded the most awesome taste of all! It's worth it too!

(Sherm): buttery, flaky pastry topped with thinly sliced apples and a robust, sticky vanilla ice cream... having eaten some stodgy apple pies in the past, this open-faced style one (similar to a tarte tatin?) REALLY hit the spot. four thumbs up! =9


Despite the place having a chi-chi French name, the price of food at Cafe Le Chateau isn't expensive considering the quality of the food and the exquisite tastes that French cuisine is known for, and bearing in mind that you probably can't get a dish this size for that price in any chi-chi French restaurant in Singapore anyway. They do have cheap lunch sets @ $11, and executive lunch sets @ $28+. Also of note is the excellent service we received there, perhaps cos we were the only other table there besides a large party of 8. That said, we'll definitely visit this place again!

Cafe Le Chateau
491 River Valley Road
#01-16 Valley Point
Tel: +65 6737 7897

Opening hours:
Daily 11.30am–2.45pm, 6pm–10pm
(Closed on Sun)

I did Geeky Things today

So I took the day off to reformat my PC the way I wanted. I've been wanting to reallocate more space to my Linux Mint partition in order to Virtualbox it with Windows XP, but my old WinXP partition had so many games and junk in it that I just couldn't get round to doing it.

8 February being National Clean Out Your PC Day, and being a few days to the Lunar New Year, I finally found the resolve to get down in the dirt and start eliminating the games, allowing me to go for a full reformat after the "spring-cleaning".

TIP: Don't place your PC on the floor or where it has direct access to dirt. Elevation makes for a cleaner PC interior.

Taking inspiration from a friend's toy display, I placed my PC casing onto a rack, elevating the base about 3-4" off the floor. After 1 year, I opened my casing expecting a dust carpet (like from my old units), but found it immaculately clean, just like when I set it up! The only dirt accumulation could be found on the exterior grills where the intake fan was placed. Just had to vacuum that and voila! dirt begone.

What I did was, I re-sized the partitions with GParted (an open-source version of Partition Magic), then re-installed Windows for that fresh (read: fast) Windows feeling. But Windows killed my GRUB Boot Loader (cos I hadn't assigned a partition for it previously - have done it this time), and I couldn't repair my GRUB (cos of my newbness, I couldn't even locate it - I think I unpartitioned it away) so I had to re-install the whole partition again, but that was fast and easy. I kept to Linux Mint 7 "Gloria", preferring the look and feel of the older build than the latest version "Helena", and Grub 1.5 of course.

Current setup:
1) 125GB of Windows XP partition purely for gaming.
2) 165+ GB of Linux Mint running Virtualbox with Windows XP on workspace 2 for all my Windows needs (except gaming).
3) 2GB of Swap Files for Linux
4) 2GB of Boot partition

Pritpal later suggested that I might want to consider installing them on separate hard disks to save me the hassle of re-partitioning. I also considered that HDD failure might cause me some future problems.. Maybe I'll do it for my next clean-up next year..

Turns out when I unwittingly re-installed my Linux partition, I also lost some data that I had not backed-up, thinking I hadn't needed to when I hadn't planned to re-install that portion. So there went my years of MP3 collections, which I had only just recently been re-united with. Those were probably the most valuable in that they accompanied me through the years 2000 till 2007. 7 years of my life's soundtrack.

But that's fine, after talking to Shermaine, metaphorically, I realised my taste in music had evolved/ changed and I like other things better now. I guess my life had taken a turn and other music now played in the background. What I lost was simply the feeling of nostalgia I suppose.

I also lost a handful of composite images I made in the last 2 weeks of our recent Taiwan trip. The only surviving copies have, luckily, already been uploaded into Facebook.

It was about 11pm, and I was just about to wrap up everything by backing up my iPhone.. I then went and screwed up the new update and lost some very important data!

TIP: 'Syncing' and 'Backing-Up' do not mean the same things for iPhone/iTunes. Always Sync before Backing-Up.

The travel-logs that Shermaine had been dutifully compiling during our recent Taiwan trip - over long journeys, staying up late at night just to input our tastes and experiences there - were gone with the factory restore. That was the biggest loss. All the other Apps could be replaced, but the data in them were the most valuable. I learned then that "Cloud-computing" really has its uses. My stuff in Evernote remain safe, cos they're safe in the 'cloud'. Other Apps that didn't use any means of backing up other than the iTunes sync would probably suffer a loss of memory. Thank goodness the calendar was backed up in iTunes.

TIP: Always back-up your data in the "cloud", don't rely on your gadget alone.

Anyway, those problems have since been resolved. Turns out I did extract the travel logs and saved them via email already, phew!! Very lucky, as Sherm says.. I did send a technical support query to Apple regarding my lost Apps and was surprised by their quick response. And it wasn't generic either, she actually lamented my loss of personal data! The tech also took the liberty to restore my lost Apps so I only needed to re-sync with the App Store to get them all back. Only the Apps that had changed since would be missing, and she actually stated what I wouldn't be getting. How is that for awesome service? Colour me very impressed.

TIP: Running videos while doing brain-numbing/ time-consuming activities makes time pass quite enjoyably.

I must say, having a Netbook to watch 7 episodes of Smallville while doing all that geeky stuff made it really less of a hair-pulling experience than usual, since I'd just watch the vids while the installations/ formatting took its time. Turns out Season 4 of Smallville has 2 famous licensed characters pop out from the DC-verse - Bart Allen (aka Impulse, aka The Flash), and Mikhail Mxyzptlk (aka Mister Mxyzptlk). Bart also mentions wanting to start a league of people just like him and Clark - reference to Justice League! Whee!

Other things that contributed to the productivity of my day - fixing Sherm's torn plastic brolly from Taiwan, fixing the broken hook in my mom's PC motherboard. All with resin + hardener btw..

All in all, taking a day off work to do this really made me quite relaxed, Sherm calls it "me-time" - I agree it was wonderfully beneficial, were it not for the unnecessary stress at the end.. Well, after consolidating (or trying to) my photos and music and digital junk, I should think the next time I need to do this overhaul, I'll be even more prepared. I really hope so. =) I'm glad I got to do my geeky stuff today!

Big Night Out: Muse in Singapore

This was one awesome awesome concert!

After entering the Singapore Indoor Stadium, I spent some time marvelling at the last 2 times I was there. One was some years ago when I sang with the combined church choirs for a Shine Jese Shine rally. Can't remember much apart from the fact that there were a lot of people, we had a free meal and that was about it. The first memory of the Indoor Stadium however was when I attended Debbie Gibson's show here. I recall sitting at the extreme left of the stage in the stands..

So there we were at the MTV Big Night Out event, featuring Muse, Saosin and Rise Against. Of course we were all there for Muse..

Sherm and I spent the last year or so bathed in their Starlight, thinking we were Knights of Cydonia, joined up with the Resistance against the Exo-politics of the Supermassive Blackhole hailing from the United States of Eurasia. Our Undisclosed Desires were to follow our Guiding Light and lead the Uprising in the City of Delusion to cull the Hysteria born of the Megalomania there. We would be Invincible and our victory Glorious, and only then would we Take a Bow and Sing for Absolution.

But I digress. We gave the warm-up bands a chance, Saosin (like Saosin Jiu - wine), was kinda emo, in that they had layered vocals and were a little wail-ly, and a little hard-core, Rise Against was more energetic and their sound suited Shermaine more. Overall I didn't really enjoy their performances for the simple reason that they just sounded bad. They didn't seem to have a proper sound system, with a sound guy to moderate their volumes, so both bands just sounded really raw and in your ears, and we couldn't make out a thing they were singing/saying. *rolls eyes*

Then Rise Against left the stage and a whole bunch of roadies came on to move their equipment off stage. Prior to this I was already getting a little worried that Muse would sound as bad as these guys, but when ALL the speakers and what not was carried off stage, I got excited. My rationale was that the previous bands had amps behind them, so they had hearing probs, which was why they just cranked the volumes and hoped for the best. Then the Muse stuff came onstage. A white piano, a new set of drums and what appeared to be a magic box on a stand..

We noticed they started testing smoke machines and the sound pit in the middle of the stadium suddenly had 3 angmohs inside tweaking sound settings. This was definitely hopeful since the pit had been devoid of people in the previous performances! Suddenly 3 displays lit up - what looked like a perspective image of 3 buildings appeared on the backdrop of the stage. Everyone went wow.. They had an electronic backdrop!! Just like at Wembley!! Yes yes yes!! This was gonna be good!!

And it was good. Muse came on stage, the stadium came alive and we were treated to a great 1hr 40 mins of an awesome performance..

Just to compare what we went through, this is Hysteria from their Wembley gig:


This was Shermaine's first ever concert attendance. She's never been for one before, and when she heard Muse was coming to Singapore, she just jumped at the chance to go see it! I must say, she really enjoyed the performance. When the other 2 bands played, she just bopped along, and raved a little (about Rise Against) - "they're really good!". When Muse filed in and commenced with Uprising, Shermaine (who was seated for the first 2 bands) immediately jumped to her feet and raised her hands! For the entire performance, we sat down only once, somewhere around United States of Eurasia, when Matt Bellamy took to the piano and started a slow tune alone. For the other 1hr 30+ mins, we were on our feet, jumping, dancing, shouting, singing, pumping our fists, clapping.. it was just marvelous!

And the inevitable end came, the crowd, including me kept chanting, kept standing and clapping.. and Muse obliged with another 4 songs, complete with video and lights as well (this was a planned encore!)!

Muse is a great live performance band, their albums have been spectacular - of note is their latest one, The Resistance. Do check them out, and book standing area tickets if they ever come around to your town.

The Fear of Failure

The cost of failure is not that a saber-toothed tiger eats you... the cost of failure is nothing. The worst thing that will happen is that you will fail and no one will notice.
The upshot: Rather than avoiding risks for fear of failure, go for it. Your brain can try telling you that you're risking your life; you're not.
~via Lifehacker

The Internet's Best Period-related iPad Jokes

Here's a sample:

Trish1981: iPad? Really? All I can say is, I'm sticking with Always, bitches.

tremendousnews: So I can say "That chick is on her iPad" and not be called a pig? Thank you Apple.

Johnpapa: "64 gig iPad will forever be known as the heavy flow model."

fauxfruit: If I order this, will my boyfriend and I have to worry if it comes late?

From Jezebel.com.

The Big Bang Theory

Sherm was introduced to a new sitcom recently, and we have started watching it together. Its called "The Big Bang Theory", and it's basically about 2 very awkward room-mates (they're nerdy science/ maths geeks) and their neighbour, a 'normal' hot girl. Together with their other 2 awkward geek friends (a jewish multi-linguist who hits on everything that can potentially wear a skirt, and an indian who is unable to speak in the presence of any female), they take the boy-meets-girl situations and presents it in a way that we both can easily identify with, and laugh rip-roaringly along with.

Each episode is peppered with physics principles and theorems, making this a rather intelligent comedy. Sherm usually either spots the theorem or explains it while the characters on screen are weaving it into their conversation, while I will point out the relationship nuances that are at play. Sheldon's personality quirks and obsessive-compulsive behaviour, together with Leonard's emotional roller-coaster woes (mainly caused by his new 'hot' female neighbour, Penny) makes for really humourous viewing.

Of late however, Sheldon's quirks and OCD behaviour, as well as his lack of social norms regarding human interaction is getting a tad tedious, and I hope the producers moderate this in future episodes.

On the whole, this series has captured our interest (we can watch 3 episodes at a go; in comparison, Sherm finds an episode of Friends torturous) and we thoroughly enjoy the inevitable hilarious dialogue and situations therein.

2010

Cheers for the new year. 2010.