Company Ilotopie- "Water Fools"



went for the opening show of the Singapore Arts Festival 2008 by French street theater Company Ilotopie.. though i didn't have a great vantage point (wrong side of the river and lens too short) and couldn't make out what was going on most of the time (which i found was probably the norm from the hilarious running commentaries cum interpretations the people around me were making.. haha..).. nonetheless, it was quite spectacular and unusual.. the sort of stuff i like... :) go see it if you can. at boat quay. free. tomorrow and sunday i think..

Moon Photography


i'm not sure why it looks different every time i photograph it.. this time i can see the texture of the moon more clearly... hahaha.. if you're not a great fan of moon pictures that's just too bad!! :p i think the moon is just so darn fascinating!!

More Celestial Images!


pic of sun taken this morning at 7am - the sky wasn't exactly this dark (i.e. its because i 'spot metered' using the sun) but it was really so flaming red! wake up earlier tomorrw and take a look!!

and i took the moon again tonight.. not as clear and bright but i've captured the 'viewing platform'! :p

Full Moon


just took this 15 mins ago out of my apartment window.. the moon was so distractingly huge in the night sky on my drive back along the PIE that i almost had difficulty keeping my eyes on the road...

according to this moonmap from this website, you can see 2 craters (Crater Tycho & Crater Copernicus) and 2 mares (Maria means 'sea', namely Mare Nubium ("sea of clouds") and Mare Tranquillitatis ("sea of tranquillity") in my picture! can you spot them?? you need to sort of tilt my pic a bit cos i think the other pic was taken in North America or somewhere..


according to all astrological predictions i see online, tonight as a full moon night is quite something indeed...

"Full Moon in Scorpio Ritual - May 19 - 20, 2008 - This Full Moon in Scorpio is an excellent time to make an important choice...will you allow yourself to fall into the trap of external reality and find the mundane world and the wishes of others dominating your life, or will you step forward and decide that you are driving your own chariot? Will you accept responsibility for creating your own life and step firmly onto the path of personal evolution? Taking control of our own thoughts, deeds, and actions will infuse us with inner strength and creative power that can become the driving force behind living a joyful and enriching life. Now is the perfect time to choose your path and create your destiny."

nonetheless, when is it ever NOT a good time to take responsibility for our own thoughts, deeds and actions?? haha...

guess it's the same with new year's resolutions, we always need to have a "special time" to start making changes in our lives.. oh well...:)

News Report: Superstitious Chinese link earthquake to "unlucky" Olympic mascots



these are my Olympic mascot toys (bought from my school trip to Xi'an and Chengdu last Nov) sitting atop my desktop computer, prettily and patiently awaiting the start of the 2008 Olympic games.... unbeknownst to them, accusatory rumours swirl around cyberspace concerning their inauspiciousness... who is to say what is to be believed or not..? afterall, the facts are spookily coincidental...

Hong Kong - Superstitious bloggers have linked China's earthquake disaster and other recent misfortunes to the five Olympic mascots seen on posters across the nation, a Hong Kong newspaper reported Friday.

Gossip sites are full of speculation that four of the five cartoon mascots have fulfilled prophesies of doom with one more, connected to the mighty Yangtze River, ominously still to come, the South China Morning Post said.

The five Olympic mascots are Jinjing, Huanhuan, Yingying, Nini and Beibei - and Jingjing, a panda, the animal most closely associated with Sichuan province where the earthquake struck.

Huanhuan, a cartoon character with flame hair, is being linked by bloggers to the Olympic torch which has been dogged by fierce anti-China protests on its round-the-world tour.

Yingying, an antelope, is an animal confined to the borders of Tibet which has been the scene of riots and the cause of international protests against China, the bloggers point out.

Nini, represented by a kite, is being viewed as a reference to the 'kite city' of Weifang in Shandong where China saw a deadly train crash last month.

That leaves only Beibei, represented by a sturgeon fish, which online doomsayers suggest could indicate a looming disaster in the Yangtze River, the only place where Chinese sturgeon are found.

Peking University sociologist Xie Xueluan told the newspaper: 'Chinese see major calamities as divine intervention ... The absence of religion reinforces this trend.'

Battle at Kruger NP



in case you're not one of the 31 million people who have viewed this on youtube... Winner of the YouTube's Best Eyewitness Video.. and now apparently National Geographic has bought the rights to the video for a rather tidy sum... oooooh.... :) there's even a website..

"Our pandas are ok"



... so said my travel companion to Chengdu and Tibet last year, over msn to me just two days ago... and this was also confirmed by the AP news report i find online... that's a relief, at least.. so huge and yet gentle is how i remember these lovely bi-colored bamboo chewing herbivores.. and of cos there were the frisky red pandas too, with their thick striped tails...

and as i type this blog entry, i hear the news blaring out from the living room tv, giving updates on the latest death toll in the Sichuan province.. 15,000... and interviews with the people who survived.. so many disasters, one after another, natural, manmade.. i can barely bring myself to read the papers nowadays... After the crackdown in Lhasa, then all that hoo-ha with the olympic torch, and then the myanmar cyclone and now the 7.8 richter scale earthquake.. and if that wasn't enough, i just read a report on the series of bomb blasts in Jaipur, a fascinating city which i visited just a mere 4 years ago on my month and a half long trip to the colourful desert state of Rajasthan in India.....

its hard to be optimistic about the future... but we must try i guess...

Look what my colleague found in her breakfast this morning!



and horrors of all horrors, she only found it after eating the 1st of 3 buns she had with her!! eeeks!!!!

where did she buy it from?

this bakery opposite the old Ginza plaza along West Coast Road.. i think it is called Clementi West St 2 .. she said it is not prima deli but "the other one at the corner".... ummm...

Some random pictures to add color to my blog


bet u didn't know i had such a huge collection of Patrick the starfish toys... hahahaha


and this was one of those mornings that i didn't care about leaving for work on time cos the sunrise was just so pretty...

and recently, i've been a little addicted to buying inexpensive toys from ebay... here's some of the new critters in my collection...

Blog surfing

Two excellent articles from Yawning Bread

Street work ain't for us - no wonder it always seems so much more fun and relaxed walking along the streets of many of our neighbouring countries as well as places like Hong Kong and Taiwan... on these streets, interesting stuff can be discovered at every nook and cranny and usually, at great prices too.. but what to do... most of our civil servants are kiasi people and would much rather not approve something seemingly "different" or "alternative" (no matter how harmless it actually looks or is) than to risk allowing it and then get into any type of trouble or "inconvenience"... apologies if i don't seem grateful to live in this wonderful country.. i love Singapore.. its a great place that allows me to earn enough so i can get away to see my more interesting neighbours ever so often.. :) hahaha.. whee... anyway, if you're here reading my views, trust me (cos i think i've jetted around the world a fair bit in the three decades plus years of my life so far).... go out into the world, with an open-mind and a willingness to really 'see'... don't ignore the smiles of the people you come across, especially if it makes you wonder what makes many of them so happy and cheerful despite not having as much materially as we do here in our little island... their lifts and amenities may not work as well.. their streets may have more litter.. crime rate may not be so low.. they may even have occasional electricity outages... but many of them have more joy and contentment and tolerance in their hearts.. and so many are infinitely more patient and adaptable and daring and creative than many of us here..

Sex is all around, get over it - the kind of parents that annoy me 'cos they are forever overreacting and blaming the world around them (teachers, peers, media, society etc) and never looking at their own child or the way they've brought them up... the joke's back on her anyway.. for goodness sake, if i'm a parent, i'll grab the opportunity to educate my child than try to shield them forever! oh well, maybe people "become" like that once they turn into parents? who knows? anyway, i love the line that goes "(the claim that the) young (will be) bewildered would only be true if parents imprisoned their children in world of disinformation.".. in response to this ST forum letter from another guy who felt that showing "alternative" lifestyles on TV will "shock" children.. seriously, as an educator, I would much rather acknowledge that the young of today are exposed to a lot more, be it from the media, from their peers etc, than to pretend they are still blank slates, fresh and innocent like the day they were born! i think it's time the parents themselves wake up instead!

Pied Imperial Pigeon (Ducula bicolor)



found a breeding pair in school!! they're building a stick nest just off the 2nd floor corridor! :) found out from my bird guide book that they are Pied Imperial Pigeons (Ducula bicolor)

This distinctive coastal and island pigeon is a target for hunters but can still occur in huge flocks. Creamy to ivory-white, often sullied by food, with black flight feathers and tip of tail; bill and feet blue-grey. Juveniles are greyer. Forms big breeding colonies on offshore isalnds, where fig trees are abundant; noisily clucking hoo-hoo-hoo. Also seen singly or in small groups, especially at dawn and dusk over the coast. Found on small islands, in mangrove and other coastal forest. Occurs from South Burma to New Guinea; resident, but with long-distance movements and interchange between islands.

hoo hoo hoo.... :p (though according to Wikipedia, "Calls made by the birds are a deep "mrrrooooo", "roo-ca-hoo" and "up-ooooo"...)

Singapore's Most Wanted Man



he can't escape now! Let's play our part to help the Police!

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... :)