Recent Captures with my Samsung U700

Singapore Kite Day @ Punggol (17 Feb)



The Lady Boss at the very popular Togi Korean Restaurant (14 Feb)

BBQ Pork Belly (Togi Restaurant)


The delicious Swanky Franky from Botak Jones @ Clementi!! (20 Feb)

Why I'm in a hurry...

It's gone..



Namdaemun when i saw it only a little more than a year ago, at the end of 2006, with my dear friend Lynn on our 9-day backpack trip to South Korea.

now, it's all in ruins.. (see article with pic and more pics)

so many sights, so many places, gone before we know it.. some even before we manage to see them... let me count.. the wonderful Lake Pichola in Udaipur (Rajasthan), where James Bond Octopussy was filmed, now all dried up (this one i saw before it happened)... the lovely Painted Storks of Bharatpur Wildlife Sanctuary no longer visit the nature reserve there because of global warming (managed to see them too.. phew)... the glaciers around the world are also fast disappearing (managed to see one in 2003)... Sri Lanka.. peace truce abruptly ended start of this year, after 6 years, making travel there unsafe again (thankfully i visited the wonderful country in 2005).. Middle East.. who knows when it is safe to visit again also.. :(.. (and i haven't even seen Egypt, Israel nor Jordan!!) plus Giant's Causeway in Ireland.. latest report by environmentalists say that up to half of it would eventually become submerged under water (haven't seen!!) and what about the amazing Pamukkale in Turkey!! It's apparently getting really dirty and damaged!! And I haven't seen that too!!

Here are more..

Quick! See them before they are gone!!! :(

Remembering Ah Meng (1960-2008)


should be easy to figure out which kid is me, ya??

(in case you haven't read the news: Death of Ah Meng)

i guess i'm who the papers described as those who "grew up in the 80s and 90s" and on whom ah meng "will leave a mark".. in those days, a trip to the zoo was a special once-in-a-blue-moon treat, so much so that we were clearly all dressed in our sunday best, with pretty dresses and sweet red mary janes for me and sis, and flowered shirt and funky pants for my brother, so we could take a pic with ah meng as a memento..

i must have been only in kindergarten or so (since i started wearing glasses once i got to primary one), which means ah meng must have been in her teens...

we'll remember you fondly, ah meng.. :,( hugs..

The Diving Bell and The Butterfly



a powerful and thought-provoking show that left the audience spell-bound and glued to their seats long after the credits started to roll..

worth watching. go catch it at GV Europa before it ends.

(the movie site)

The Complaints Choir of Singapore



Hey! I found the youtube video of one of their private performances! Sigh, there's something about the stuff that the govt bans publicly (read here the news article about them and another one about the ban) ... like the forbidden fruit, it makes me much more curious, so it was nice to still be able to find it online.. and the lyrics too! :) seems to me to be more funny than controversial.. here, have a look!

THE COMPLAINTS CHOIR SINGAPORE LYRICS

We get fined for almost everything
Drivers won’t ‘give chance’ when you want to ‘change lane’
The indoors are cold, the outdoors are hot;
And the humid air, it wrecks my hair
Those answering machines always make you hold
Only to hang up on you

When a pregnant lady gets on the train
Everyone pretends to be asleep
I’m stuck with my parents till I’m 35
Cause I can’t apply for HDB
We don’t recycle any plastic bags
But we purify our pee

*chorus:
What’s wrong with Singapore?
Losing always makes me feel so sore
Cause if you’re not the best
Then you’re just one of the rest

My oh my Singapore
What exactly are we voting for?
What’s not expressly permitted
is prohibited

“Ooh”

When I’m hungry at the food court, I see
People ‘chope’ seats with their tissue paper
To the aunty staying upstairs:
Your laundry’s dripping on my bed sheets
Please don’t squat on the toilet seats
And don’t clip your nails on MRT

Stray cats get into noisy affairs
At night my neighbor makes weird animal sounds
People put on fake accents to sound posh
And queue up 3 hours for donuts
Will I ever live till eighty five
to collect my CPF?

*chorus

Singaporeans too kiasu! (so scared to lose)
Singaporeans too kiasi! (so scared o die)
Singaporeans too kiabor!(scared of their wives)
Maybe we’re just too stressed out! (even the kids)

“Ooh”

Old National Library was replaced by an ugly tunnel
Singaporean men can’t take independent women
People blow their nose into the swimming pool
And fall asleep on my shoulder in the train

Singapore’s national bird is the crane (the one with yellow steel girders)
Real estate agents’ leaflets clogging up my mailbox (en bloc, en bloc; en bloc, en bloc)
Why can’t we be buried when we die?
No one wants to climb Bukit Timah with me

*chorus

“Ooh”

There are not enough public holidays
My neighbor sings KTV all night
Wedding dinners never start on time
My hair is always cut shorter than I want
Channel 5 commercials are way too long
Why do men turn bad?

*At first it was to speak more mandarin
Then it was to speak proper English
What’s wrong with my powderful Singlish?

People sit down during rock concerts
We have to pay for tap water at restaurants
ERP gantries are everywhere
But I can still see traffic jams on the road
All the bus stops have tilted benches to keep you off balance

*chorus

Comrade of the Red Star

My newest acquisition: a painting by local artist Lau Sheow Tong

i love it!

Wondrous Moment
by Alexander Pushkin

The wondrous moment of our meeting ..
I well remember you appear
Before me like a vision fleeting,
A beauty's angel pure and clear.

In hopeless ennui surrounding
The worldly bustle, to my ear
For long your tender voice kept sounding,
For long in dreams came features dear.

Time passed. Unruly storms confounded
Old dreams, and I from year to year
Forgot how tender you had sounded,
Your heavenly features once so dear.

My backwoods days dragged slow and quiet —
Dull fence around, dark vault above —
Devoid of God and uninspired,
Devoid of tears, of fire, of love.

Sleep from my soul began retreating,
And here you once again appear
Before me like a vision fleeting,
A beauty's angel pure and clear.

In ecstasy the heart is beating,
Old joys for it anew revive;
Inspired and God-filled, it is greeting
The fire, and tears, and love alive.

CNY 2008 @ Chinatown



brought the fotog club students down to chinatown yesterday evening for their annual photoshoot fieldtrip.

nothing much has changed since last year (what's new?) except the stalls are now stacked high with cny ornaments adorned with rat/mouse designs (mickey minnie are just plain annoying but ratatouille is ok) instead of piggy designs (though we noted designs from past years were still on sale, albeit at a good discount).. and there was an apparent dominance of chinese from china manning the stalls and shouting out for customers instead of the usual singapore aunties and ah bengs (these were still there though, amusing us with their tireless jingles) .. the variety of stuff on sale was palpable, from magic window cleaners to unbreakable pencils, gold plated pumpkins, dvds of mute-deaf chinese dancers, recycled animal shaped metal sculptures and more..

snack stall holders were a tad bit aggressive though, shoving samples of everything from taiwanese muah chee to nuts to strawberry chocolates and braised mushrooms into our faces and hands, refusing to take no for an answer even when we insisted we were sick of trying the food. it was clear they were getting desperate, with the end of the pre-cny shopping period in clear sight..

yay.. long weekend coming... :)