Buaya Spotted in Yishun! What's green (or brown), has a long snout, tough leather skin, and rows of sharp teeth? Answer. The BUAYA!!! Not sure if I should say that I am lucky. But I saw a live buaya today. Please note I am not referring to the human buayas which we have come to associate this term with locally. The buaya that I saw was a real crocodile or alligator. Still cannot remember what's the difference between the 2 of them. Anyway, here's how I became one of the rare few people on the island to actually see a buaya outside a zoo/leather farm. Today, like any other boring working day, I was comfortably slouched against the glass barrier in our MRT trains. As the train was travelling past the huge body of water between Khatib and Yio Chu Kang stations, which I believe is either the Peirce (no idea if it is Upper or Lower) or Seletar reservoir, I looked out the window to take in the rather calming natural scenery. Everything looked as it should be. The water was there. A teenage angler with a rod was perched on the granite boulders. Light pink mosses were growing along the water's edge. A picture of normalcy in boring Singapore. As the MRT chugged along, I happened to look at the shoreline of the reservoir. What caught my eye was this floating log, or which I thought was one. However, as the train moved closer to the 'log', since the tracks skirt the reservoir, I was able to make out a snout and 2 shapes on either side, which looked like eyes to me. It was then when I realised that I was staring at a buaya that is floating along the bank of the reservoir. It was an interesting sight despite past reports of sightings of these leathery creatures being reported in other reservoirs.

The Yishun Buaya

Photo: This is similar to what I saw this morning. I was tempted to call up the police since the animal might become a danger, or nuisance, to the people who fish near the reservoir. In the end, I decided not to call the men in blue since it might not be their business to deal with buayas of the non-human type. For his sake, I hope the boy with the rod is sharp enough to notice that the log floating by is a buaya and not a piece of driftwood. Being the nasty old me, the only way to find out the well-being of the kid is to read tomorrow's papers. If there's no "Kid mauled by Yishun Buaya" headline in tomorrow's Straits Time, I assume the boy is safe and sound somewhere. Here are some tips which I think I saw on National Geographic/Animal Planet on what to do when faced with a fearsome buaya: 1. RUN!!! 2. RUN!!! 3. RUN!!!

Merry Christmas & a Very Happy New Year to ALL!!! Have been bogged down with wedding and housing stuff. Reserve energy was used up dragging myself to bed every night. Thus explaining the paucity of musings here over the last week or so. Despite the exhausting schedule, I am one happy Fieldmarshal. Cannot deny that there were times when the darkest of overcast skies couldn't compare to the colour on my face. But the process of planning and the wedding and doing up the house has been fun. As 2005 winds down to an end, 2006 promises to be the year which marks the definitive change in my life. Perhaps the greatest change would be my marriage followed by moving to my very own place. For me, leaving one's parent's home is a bittersweet moment. The symbolic act of leaving the home where I grew up marks the true initiation to adulthood. It means that I am on my own, I am the master of the household. No longer do I defer to my parents for decisions regarding household issues. On the other hand, I feel sad that it marks an end, although it could be temporary, to sharing the same roof with my parents who went through so much to bring my up. So, it is a mixed feeling type of event for me. In my professional life, 2006 also marks the end of an era and the beginning of another. Yes, news has finally reached me that I will be packing my bags for greener pastures in another department within my organisation. Grass always look somewhat greener over the fence, I just hope the green looking grass ain't choked with green colour weeds and nasties like snakes and spiders. Yes, pessimistic old me. But I definitely need the change snakes or no snakes. Just have to arm myself with some sulphur and an attitude to boot when I move over. Show them who's the real Fieldmarshal. Looking back at the past year, a sense of nostalgia, without fail, rises up in me. Not sure if this nostalgic feeling is an extension from my fear of getting old, but I feel sad everytime I close a chapter of my life with the passage of a year. On hindsight, I realised that I looked forward to growing up when I was young. Guess my young mind was too immature to comprehend the value of time then. Now I wish that time will move slower. Fanciful wishes aside, I think I will need to be more alive to taste life to its fullest. So, my first resolution for 2006 is to experience life for what it is, and not from the perspective of the sofa. To all my friends and fellow bloggers... MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Milestone in Life This post will be of few words since the pictures are likely to explained everything. I am getting my... ...

To my... ...

So, I feel like this now... ...

The Story of 2 Safety Pins and a Man's Modesty Safety pins. Little contraptions made of twisted metal with a sharp end. Use in tailoring, dressing of wounds, stitching torn clothings, and protecting men's modesty. Where did that come from? Since when did safety pins played such a noble role in the brief history of humankind? Well, that noble role was discovered by your very own Fieldmarshal today. Yup, my modesty was capably protected by 2 humble safety pins. While I have always attested to the usefulness of such a simple contraption, I have never depended on it, as I had so much today, to safeguard my modesty. If you know by now, these little buggers - safety pins - have come to our rescue when skirts get torn, buttons on our pants (near the zipper) drops off, and countless other scenarios. But I have never utilised them for what I did today. To start the story, I am starting on a course today which will continue till the end of the week. Being the lazy bugger that I am, having a course wasn't my cup of tea since life in office is actually more comfy. Life is that great. Anyway, I am not one of those who goes ga-ga over self introductions, sharing what I think about management processes, or presenting the group's ideas etc. My idea of a course is for me to park my lazy bum on a chair and just listen to the trainer drone on about the subject at hand. Spoon feeding is my cup of tea. I can be that lazy sometimes. I have to say the course is pretty interesting. Everything was going fine till we broke for lunch. Being the 'gulper' of water that I am, I had a bladder that was screaming for release. So, at the word go, I got up from my chair and made my way to bladder heaven - the toilet. Oh, don't worry, there's nothing R(A) about what I am gonna share next. It's more embarassing than anything else. Okay, trudging happily to the gents, I did my business as I would any other day. And as I zipping my pants, the entire zipper head came off!!! Yes, the brass like thingy in the picture here. It CAME OFF!!!! It took me some micro seconds before my mind hit the panic button. I was like WHAT THE HELL!!!??? What's the likelihood of that happening? Having recovered sufficient wits, I headed into one of the cubicles and attempted to repair my pants. After a short while, I realised that my attempts at being a tailor was rather unsuccessful. My only option now was to leave the building and look for the trusty safety pins. It is a weired feeling walking around knowing that one's coffeeshop is 'open'. While the open fly is nicely camoflaged under my shirt, I felt really naked. Have you ever felt naked while fully clothed? Well, it's a really weird sensation. While I know that I looked like any bloke on the street, I can't help but fear that someone will see my open fly and think that I am one sick person trying to outrage their modesty. A 5 minutes walk felt like an eternity. After a short search, I managed to find a small little shop in the market that sold huge safety pins. I was going, 'Thank you God, Thank you so much!' Here's a picture of what my 'saviours' looked like. Mine are a sweet pastel blue (see title of post).

Upon getting hold of these little fellas, I made my way back to the training compound - in doublequick time. Rushed into the toilet and started Operations Save the Fieldmarshal's Modesty. Stitching up the front part of the pants where the zipper is, ain't an easy task. The sharp point on the pins looked capable of serious hurt if the stitching is not done properly. And to be frank, I do not want to hurt my crown jewels. After some struggle, I managed to pin up my pants in such a way that my modesty as well as those of the others will not be offended by the missing zipper head, which incidentally is still in my pant's pocket, that little devil.

And the day was saved. By 2 humble safety pin. You can leave your credit card at home. But never leave home without a pair of safety pins. Ignore this advice at your own risk.

You Will Never Walk Alone That's the motto of my favourite football club - Liverpool. Entitled this post with their motto cos' I, as well as Mydaemon, have been hooked on the game Fifa Manager 2006. Being a football junkie, I have always bought the latest version of EA Sports' football management game whenever they are launched. The same goes for this year. Perhaps my addiction to this game comes from the fact that I don't play football in real life, something which I do regret a little, and also that Liverpool can win the English Premier League, something which they have not done in the real world since 1990, under my armchair managerial brilliance. Apart from the countless hours of gaming, I have also been busy with a much more important issue, my upcoming wedding. Although there's still around 6 months plus to go, I realised that holding a church wedding entails quite a significant amount of planning. Firstly, we had to confirm if we can 'book' the priest, the church and the hall on our chosen 'auspicious' date. Then there's the invitations, preparation of traditional gifts, wedding photography, catering and the list goes on. But I am more than happy to do all these lah. It's worth it. Mydaemon has also be the best fiance around, helping me whenever the 'fieldmarshal' in me decides to AWOL the battleground. Things are moving along fine. I am preparing to call up some offers which my friends have generously volunteered some time back. I remember a particular friend of mine saying that she wouldn't mind being the MC for me wedding. She was somewhat glad to hear later that I am not having a banquet, but I am sure a church wedding will still require someone of her talent. You know who you are. So don't try to hide by stop reading my blog, cos' I know where to find you. hahaha..... Jokes aside. Over the last few weeks, I realised that having a Chinese wedding involves a lot of customs and traditions for both the groom's and bride's families. My family is totally clueless to such practices since we are not particularly traditional in that sense. Being a kantang that I am, lost is a good word to describe the way I felt. What to do? Log on to the net lah! That's my last hope of learning about the obsure, and sometimes interesting, rituals that we Chinese go through during weddings. It's bizarre, but most of the websites that provide advice on traditional Chinese wedding are based in US. Yes, US, not China, Hong Kong or Singapore. It made me realised that despite decades of residing in the land of the free, our Chinese brethen there are as traditional as their forefathers who first set foot there. Bizarre!!! Just have to repeat that word. Fact is, I don't care if the information is residing in a US website, or an African one. The important thing is that they contain the information which I need to ensure a smooth and happy wedding. For those we are still single, and still harbouring hopes of having a western-style wedding, here's some advice from your very own Fieldmarshal. First, if you are born between 1970 to 1985, my advice is that you give up that dream of a simple no-frills western wedding. There's no such thing as a simple wedding in the vocabluary for parents of those born in this period of time. Yes, you, you, and you in that corner over there. If you still insist on hanging on to that dream, then get prepared to be cut out from your parents fortune. Secondly, traditions and customs are very important. Lest the severity of this statement is not evident, think of spending the rest of your life thinking what you would have had if you didn't refuse to haul a skewered roasted pig to your wife's, I mean potential wife, parents. Heard that the Cantonese requires a pair of jeans be placed under the roasted meat. Wonder if there's a requirement that the jeans must be Levi's. Would Giodarno do? Thirdly, simple weddings are potentially possible sometime in 2030-2040, when we become parents to children who are preparing to get married then. I am sure most would have gotten the drift by now. Having shared some interesting insights to the world of Chinese weddings, I will now impart my secret manual. Just like those kung fu manuals, Master Fieldmarshal guarantees that the manual will impart to all fellow future 'bridegroom pugilists' the necessary skills to win the hearts of the in-laws. Like all good and responsible kung fu masters, I had certain rules for those wishing to have a peek at the manual. Firstly, the bridegroom must love his future wife with all his heart. Failure to do this will lead to death by bleeding through the seven channels (those who reads Chinese novels would understand what I mean). Secondly, he must be willing to exorcise all evil thoughts, thoughts which include simple western weddings. Thirdly, he must take everything seriously. Don't laugh if the manual tells you to string together 100 needles with a red string. If it has to be done, DO IT. Darn, I am having a ball of a time taking jibes at this. But frankly, customs are an important part of the Chinese society. So, the manual, or in its modern day version, website, I am sharing, is really useful for all couples who are intending to get hitched. However, I have to warn that I cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information. So, do read and follow the advice at your own discretion. And here's my secret manual... ... China Bridal.com. Have fun reading it!!!

New Favourite Radio Channel You know something has changed when your radio needle starts hovering around LOVE 97.2FM. Yes, 97.2FM is currently my preferred Chinese radio station. It has just dislodged YES 93.3FM from the perch I have left it on since my university days. Coming at a time when I just celebrated my 31st birthday, I can't help but feel that this change in my taste of music is but one of the symptoms marking a watershed point in my life. I am saying this since I have been one of those louts who laughed at the 'aunties' tuning in to the station in my younger days. Now having made the switch myself, I understand why those aunties and uncles enjoyed the music play spun by the station's DJs. Guess, it is time that I transit into the 'uncle' category. Have to say that I enjoyed the 20s. For those who still think that LOVE 97.2FM is for old fogies, I can only say that they are missing out good music from the early to late 90s. Guess the music strikes a deep chord within me since I have spent countless hours 'killing' songs (杀歌) with my friends in KTVs during our university days. Ur Sweet Lullaby was probably the best crooner amongst us then. I was just croaking most of the time. Think she's still the best songbird around even after becoming a mummy. There are also rumours that Mydaemon is also one 'mean' singer. Eh, how come I have yet to hear you sing? Anyway, listening to the station brings back a flood of memories. Going back to listening to my radio now.

The Worth of My Blog My blog is worth US$3,387.24. Not much compared to well-known bloggers. But it's enough for me to know it is not totally worthless. Find out about the worth of your blog here. Actually, I feel the value of this blog is the connections it made with other bloggers aka YOU. The worth of my blog - $3,340+, the worth of your readership - priceless.

Super Long Weekend The upcoming weekend cum holidays is the 'Big One' for all employees in Singapore. Its akin to striking the top prize for ToTo in terms of a 'super long weekend' draw-edition. The upcoming weekend will most likely be felt most keenly by working adults. I have excluded students here since they are already in the process of slowing down their engines and gearing up for their even longer year-end holidays. So, what will this long weekend hold for me? Well, I will be effectively free for 6 days as I have taken leave on Monday and Wednesday. No office 'visitation' for me till next Friday! It's a huge relief since life in office is getting really drab and highly demoralising. Think I am suffering from some sort of professional depression. Making it worst is that Mydaemon is out of office this entire week. Really miss her company. Thankfully, this depression ends at 6pm when I leave office. No point carrying that burden past office hours. Life's much more than work. Anyway, I am really glad to have the opportunity of recharging my almost flat batteries before going back to the daily grind or boredom in office. Well, to kick off the long break, I will celebrate my 31st birthday over the weekend. No party or expensive dinner for me. At most, I will just have a nice quiet dinner with Mydaemon at some restaurant tucked away in town. Just the two of us enjoying each other's company. As for the other 5 days, I hope to do doing some shopping as pre-Christmas sales are starting for several stores. A good time to buy some big budget items and save a couple of hundreds to spend on even more stuff. On my list are, a bed, bed stand, crockery, cutlery, electronics and various appliances. Hope to find some real gems in the sales. Wish me luck! Apart from shopping, I foresee myself putting in some serious time playing Black & White 2. Can't wait to develop my civilisation and unlock the Tiger divine pet. Looks like my new PC will be working overtime in the next few days. In case my gaming takes away too much time from spending time with Mydaemon, let me say that I am prepared to drop the game any time if she wants me to do something with her. Although I have to say that'd be somewhat difficult, but spending time with her is more important that playing god to some electronic signals. Think Mr Brown did a good job of explaining this conundrum, in his 'All hail the super long weekend' article, between family and gaming. Guess I will go through that phase some time in the future. It's another 6hrs 45mins to go before the official start to the weekend. This is one of those moments when I wish time would just move faster. To all my friends out there, have a super duper long weekend. See you guys next week!

Black & White 2 (New Game) Highly recommended for megalomaniacs out there. Black & White 2

New Books Finally finished 1984. Bought myself 2 new books, Kafka on the Shore (Haruki Murakami) and Crossing the Threshold of Hope (Pope John Paul II).

The Shuttle has landed! Damn!!! I lost the entire post for this at least 4 times! Too tired to retype everthing again. Anyway, here's the new PC which Mydaemon and I bought over the weekend. Cool ain't it? Btw, it's called the Shuttle SN25P. Looking forward to the hours of gaming on it.

Are low income Singaporeans really poor? The widening income gap between the haves and have nots have been an issue of much debate in recent years. I think policy-makers generally feel that the widening gap is inevitable, but in order to appease its constituents, who happen to vote them into office, they take on the tagline that this gap can be narrowed through robust economic growth. Thus, the continuation of the ever vicious cycle of basing Singapore's success on economic prosperity. I happen to discuss this issue with Mydaemon a few days back. Basically, I wondered how can low income earners consider themselves 'poor', in every sense of the word, when they expect to subscribe to a handphone, have large TVs and hi-fi sets at home. It is perhaps propitious that Straits Times carried an article on this today. Titled "He has cellphone, aircon, TV. Is he poor?", the story looked at the plight of low income earners caught by the sudden economic downturn. Here are some of the extracts from the article. "A Department of Statistics study on HDB home ownership, released on Monday, shows that more than half of those in the bottom 20 per cent by income own four-room or bigger flats. Members of Parliament say an increasing number of families suffer this wretched state: their homes are not short of creature comforts but their bank accounts reflect a picture of poverty." . . . . . . At the last Parliament sitting, he (an MP) argued that many luxuries of 10 years ago are now basic essentials: children's enrichment classes, toys and even travel. (extracted from ST) The gist of the story is that the definition of how poverty is defined today differs significantly from how it was defined say a decade back. Frankly speaking, I disagree with such a view. I find it hard to stomach the fact that "enrichment classes, toys and even travel" can be considered as basic essentials. For me, if you don't have the money don't send your kids to ballet or violin classes. Forget about a PSP or gaming console for your child. Take them for a walk in the park or engage in other activities. Toys are not everything. Lastly, while I think everyone should expand their horizons through visits to other countries etc, I think those who cannot afford it, should just stretch that dollar by spending it on food, electricity or even a landline. I am a believer of Maslow's theory of Hierarchy of Human Needs (see Wikipedia's explanation for the theory). Although his theory is kind of simplistic, it sums up, for me, the essence of human needs. I find it quite unbelieveable that PCs are considered as a basic necessity when families are finding it difficult to pay their water or electricity bills. Giving a PC to poor families would only put extra burden on them since their electricity bills are likely to rocket. And there's also the subscription for internet connection. For me, I think a better solution would be to educate the low income families of the importance of learning the use of a PC, and more importantly, the usefulness of the internet. Instead of helping them source for cheap PCs, policy-makers should consider setting up computer clusters at Community Clubs which charges nominal rates for the use of PCs and internet connection. Firstly, it would be cheaper to subsidise such a scheme. Secondly, low income families would be burdened with the additional stress of rising electrical bills. As for enrichment classes, I read that help should be given to low income families when their kids are talented in a certain field. The example cited was ballet. I fully agree that talented Singaporeans should be given every opportunity to fulfill their potential. But my question is, what level of talent are we talking about? Do we want to subsidise ballet classes for kids from low income families when their potential will only take them up to the local stage? If their talent is only good enough for performance at small shows etc, I am sorry to say that these kids should focus on mainstream education then. If they are so talented, then we have countless scholarships to aid them. So, it begs the question on why enrichment classes is a basic necessity. It is a basic requirement only for those who are 'world-beaters' and are unable to fulfill their potential due to monetary constraints. Help should only be extended to these families. Having said all that, where should we draw the line? Call me hard-hearted. My view is that if you want to spend money on air-con, handphone, TV, hi-fi systems etc, then don't stretch out your hand for free handouts. By cutting these corners, many low income families can more than make ends meet. Luxuries are luxuries, make no mistake about that. One should never make the mistake of thinking that they are bare necessities because society has become more affluent.

Here' my list of Se7en things which Dark Muse invited me to share. Read Dark Muse's Se7en here. Se7en 7 Things I plan to Do Before I Die Always cherish and love Mydaemon Find God and not let myself be lost again Climb to Mt Everest's base camp Have my own photography exhibition Run a marathon Find the version of Macross that I saw as a kid Learn how to draw/paint/'pottery' 7 Things I Can Do Be more patient with others Spending more time with my mum Improve my photography skills Planning more and playing less Jog more often Deflate my ego Be more charitable, since not all charities are NKF 7 Things I Cannot Do Tell lies Believe that there's no 'black' and 'white' in this world of grays Tolerate hypocrites (esp those two-faced people) Stop my dislike for Christians who say that Catholics and non-Christians will burn in hell Stop being the worrier that I am Not playing another PC or console game Not having any friends 7 Things That Attract Me to The Opposite/Same Sex Kindness Generosity Curiosity Filial piety Intelligence A loving and gentle spirit Willingness to challenge my oft-stupid ideas 7 Celebrity Crushes Brad Pitt Evangeline Lilly (Kate) Liv Tyler Cindy Crawford Jennifer Aniston Jeon Ji-heon (My Sassy Girl) Maria Sharapova 7 People I Want to Do This (but are not obliged to): Mydaemon My Sweet Lullaby Byzantine Beliefs Batman Luna Esa Batman Summer Breeze

I am a bad egg I did something really horrible today. Basically, I expected somebody to trust me, while I expressed my total distrust in that person. The worst part is that I told the person in her face that I didn't trust her. It must be hurtful for one person to tell another person that 'I don't trust you'. If I can say 'sorry' to her now, I would. But the context of this entire thing is just too bizarre that a 'sorry' would be bizarre. Being one of those who absolutely hates double-standards, I am guilty of being a hatable double-standard person today. I felt bad the moment that I let loose my tongue and allowed it to say what's on my mind. Yes, I have been known to speak without thinking. And yes, I agree with everyone that that's a stupid thing to do. For speaking without using my brains, wherever it went just now, I have hurt a person. No one deserves what I just did. I will not offer an excuse for what I did. Excuses are nothing but tiresome explanations which are designed by the perpetrator of a wrongful act to alleviate the sense of guilt for taking that action. What I intend to do is to reflect on what I did today and train myself not to do such things again. Refraining from such actions is a good start, but more importantly, I must come to an understanding that what I did is wrong. Call me a purist, but the act of suppresing a wrongful act while still thinking that there's nothing wrong is a cardinal sin for me. Being the non-reflective person that I am, I foresee a long night later as I try to decipher how to understand my mind, and hopefully rein it in and prevent it from hurting anyone in the future. I find it intriguing that I am trying the understand 'me'. Ain't 'me' the person that is typing this post now? But the fact is that 'I' being who I am doesn't understand the entire 'me'. Anyway, my mind is like a monkey that's running every doggone place. Time to catch and tame that monkey so that it will do some good and not go around causing havoc and hurting people. Let me end this post a Buddhist teaching I found: Ancient Pali texts liken meditation to the process of taming a wild elephant. The procedure in those days was to tie a newly captured animal to a post with a good strong rope. When you do this, the elephant is not happy. He screams and tramples, and pulls against the rope for days. Finally it sinks through his skull that he can't get away, and he settles down. At this point you begin to feed him and to handle him with some degree of safety. Eventually you can dispense with the rope and post altogether, and train your elephant for various tasks. Now you've got a tamed elephant that can be put to useful work. In this analogy the wild elephant is your wildly active mind, the rope is mindfulness, and the post is our object of meditation, our breathing. The tamed elephant who emerges from this process is a well-trained, concentrated mind that can then be used for the exceedingly tough job of piercing the layers of illusion that obscure reality. Meditation tames the mind. Henepola Gunaratna, Mindfulness in Plain English (Source: Best of "Buddhist quote of the moment")

Little Green Men
Yesterday's premiere of Steven Spielberg's Taken has prompted me to talk about my interest in all things extraterrestial. Little green men, metallic suits, ray guns, are stuff that have captured my imagination at a very young age. I have no idea where this fascination came from. Graphic dscriptions of humans being forcibly taken or convinced to go away with aliens into their blindingly bright spaceships in countless books on UFOs and alien abductions is perhaps the primary reason for my interest in this. Having such an interest ain't good since many have been labelled mad, or looney, for believing in aliens. I believe that most, 99.9%, of the stories or photos are just stories or fakes concocted by pranksters for a good laugh. But I believe that the unexplained phenomenon observed in that 0.01% points to something which we humans currently can't explain, or even begin to find out. Life in outerspace is something which I believe. If the universe is infinite, I find it incomprehensible that planets in other universes cannot go through Earth's mind boggling odds of creating life. Statistically speaking, if it can happen to Earth, why not planet X, Y, or even Z, millions of lightyears away? Not seeing something doesn't mean that the 'something' does not exist. Many a times, the flashing lights or balls of flames in the sky could perhaps be explained by natural phenomenon, but some are still unexplained. So, the verdict is still out on that. Mummy's having a face mask treatment tonightAt a personal level, I think it is interesting to know that life can exist in other parts of the universe. But being the worrier that I am, my question is, "would the aliens be the nice cuddly ones, or those that we saw in War of the Worlds." I would definitely not want them to be those featured in the Alien movie series. No thing is going to use my body as a host for incubating an alien baby. On hindsight, such things are actually happening now. There are parasites around us who uses a host, be it an animal, human or plant, to keep itself alive or to leech off the host for food etc. BUT we don't have a parasite which explodes from our chest at birth. What would I do if I come face to face with an alien?
Fieldmarshal Meets the Furry Alien
Fieldmarshal - Welcome to planet Earth my ugly looking friend! (grins widely) Furry Alien - wheeze, hoot, rasp (raises an appendage with a rock like rod) Fieldmarshal - Errr friend, I am not getting to you dude. And what's with that stick? (a present for Fieldmarshal?) Furry Alien - makes strangling sound while pointing the stupid rock-like object at FM. Fieldmarshal - Oh, my first interplantary gift. Cool, dude. (Grabs the stick from the alien) Furry Alien - screeches in high shrilly tones and start making lots of noise. Fieldmarshal - Ah, my very first alien present. Hey there's sort of a cavity for a finger here. What's that. Feels warm inside. (Fiddles with the stick and sticks finger into the cavity) Furry Alien - screeching like a crazed bird and turning more green (if that's possible) Fieldmarshal - (thinking it is an intergalactic way of greeting starts shouting together with the alien) THANKS YOU MY UGLY GREEN FRIEND. I WILL GIVE YOU A SPECIAL SINGAPOREAN 'FINE CITY' T-SHIRT LATER. I AM SURE YOUR BUDS WILL LOVE IT! AND AS A SHOW OF ETERNAL FRIENDSHIP, LET ME USE YOU STICK TO GREET YOU BACK! (points the stick at the alien and puts finger into the cavity, hears a soft 'psssssssfffff' and a sudden gush of warm air, but turns away from the alien after hearing his name being called) Mydaemon - Dear, who are you talking to? Fieldmarshal - Hey, come and meet this cool alien dude who just gave me this wonderful gift. (turns back to ugly green alien). Mydaemon - Hmmm, I don't see anyone here. Just a huge heap of dried green bird pooh. Fieldmarshal - (loss for words) But.. but... it was right where the bird pooh is now. MR ALIEN! MR ALIEN! WHERE ARE YOU? (still thinks that shouting is the best way of communicating with it) Mydaemon - Stop playing with that piece of rock and clean up the place. (takes the stick from FM's hand and dumps it into the trash can) Fieldmarshal - Darn, I could have sworn I spoke to an alien. (takes up a dustpan and broom to clear the huge pile of bird pooh) 'Huge Bird Pooh' (aka alien after being fried by superduper laser beam that kills humans) - f u c ....... (last sound it made) Tsk tsk, what a dirty mouthed alien.

Sleepy... Woke up at 2.30am this morning to catch the Champions League group match between Liverpool and Chelsea. Darn, was once again fooled by the timing, as the match started only at 2.45am. Anwway, I put the 'extra' 15 mins to good use by ironing my shirt, which I am donning now in office. Given the constant crap from Mourinho about the ball not crossing the goal line when the 2 sides met at Anfield last time, signs were that both teams will be out to get a win and the resultant bragging rights. While Liverpool has improved over the last few months, it continues to be hampered by the lack of goals. This is worrisome as no one ever won the Premier League by drawing the entire season. Coupled with the lack of goalmouth action, visiting Chelsea will boast of Arjen Robben and Damien Duff, both hellishly quick. Hyppia and Carragher will have a tough match shutting out those two. I have sobered sufficiently by the time the match kicked off. Liverpool started off well, and controlled the early proceedings. Chances were at a premium, but at least we kept the 'champions of England' at bay. Having survived the early pressure, Chelsea grew in confidence in the later part of the first half. However, both sides found it tough going forward as the defenders have already shut up shop for the night. Second half was more of the same. Lots of probing and 'cut and thrust' by both sides. However, Liverpool was unable to find the goal to finish off a stubborn Chelsea side. While the blues were quick and dangerous and the break, Liverpool were the ones asking the questions. We were denied 2 penalties. One of which I felt was clearly justified. But football, being the game that it is, is always full of such incidents. However, I have to say that the referee was rather lenient to the blues. The game ended a goaless draw. While I have to admit that I was a tad disappointed, but I consider it a good result. Fact is, up till now, all the teams that met Chelsea have lost to them. Ekking out a draw is a good result. For me, it shows that Liverpool is definitely not far, in terms of footballing standards, from the English champions. What they lack now is a goalscorer to justify all their possession. Keep up the good work Rafa. I am sure the lads will find their feet soon. Am in a daze as I type this in office. Looks like a long sleep day in office for me. Yawn...

Cabled and Liberated Finally, Mydaemon and I have free our Mediacorp's shackles by subscribing to Starhub Cablle TV. While I have cable TV at my place for years now, Mydaemon, who conforms to the mantra that too much TV stupefies a person, has not joined the bandwagon last weekend. Well, we have been meaning to 'cable-up' her place since I have been whining about missing Liverpool matches over the weekends for years. Guess the whining paid off. Anyway, I am more than willing to foot the bill. Moreover, the box-set will move with us when our new home is ready. So, in the interim period, it will provide entertainment for Mydaemon, her family and me. Fixing up the box-set was a breeze. It was as simple as wiring it up to the TV and cable point. And voila, you have cable TV. Being the impatient person that I am, I immediately surfed the channels, hoping against all hope that we will get instant access. Well, you can't fault me for having this expectation especially when we have already done an upfront payment for the first month's subscription. Were disappointed in the end as the channels really took 48 hours to activate. Tonight will be the first night that our cable subscription will be put to good use. Yes, I am talking about the 'live' telecast of the Champions League match between Chelsea and Liverpool. Although Channel 5 is also screnning the match, I prefer watching it on SCV as they provide the original commentary from Europe. Which is by far of a better standard than our local commentators. The latter always going into long lapses of silence and funny comment. Listening to the locals is a real bore. Hope Liverpool does well tonight.

My Home on Google Earth
Having heard so much about Google Earth, I decided to download it and check it out. After fiddling it with for a while, I actually found out that there's a satelite image of my home. I ain't gonna say where my home is actually located except that it can be found in the north-east area of the photo below. Do try out Google Earth. It's fun to locate the location of your home in it. Have fun!

Cavanagh Bridge
This is a picture I took while walking towards the ACM. The only visible part of the bridge is the support structure in the foreground. Well, what inspired this shot was the way the tree and structure 'framed' the picture. I have this soft spot for framing my photos with trees. Tell me what you think of this shot. :)
Cavanagh Bridge

Asian Civilisation Museum - Journey of Faith
Journey of Faith Exhibition@ACM

Who Says Gaming is Bad Ribbit. Frogger, a cool game which I played on old Apple computersI have been playing computer games since the good old days of Pac Man, Lode Runner, Digger, Western Bar, Alley Cat, Frogger etc. While not enough to qualify as an addict, I have been known to play a good game for 3-5 hours in one go. Gone are those days since I started working. Currently, I am playing Winning Eleven 8, Call of Duty - Finest Hour, and Prince of Persia on Xbox. Sid Meier's Pirates! comes on and off on my PC whenever I feel like leaving a stream of flotsam and destruction in the Carribbean. By the way, Pirates! is a damn good game. Its original version was released sometime in the early 1990s. Its second incarnation is awesome. My love for electronic gaming, be it on game consoles or PC, is unlikely to wane even as I grow older and into fatherhood in the future. I guess such phenomenon is going the way of mainstream in the coming 5 to 10 years as people in my age group enter middle-age. Anyway, gaming has taken quite a lot of flake from the various interest groups, for obvious reasons. Parents, for one, worry that their kids would become anti-social, develop violent tendencies or become unhealthy due to the lack of exercise. Other social groups argue that there's just too much sex and violence in today's games. Tell that to the developers of Grand Theft Auto - San Andreas. Religious groups have also been vitriolic in lambasting games for being 'satanic', unholy, and downright evil. Yup, there's a call by some churches to produce more Christian themed games. I, for one, will be giving these games a wide berth. Beach volleyball has never been the same since the arrival of Dead or Alive.Ok, I admit that some games are way too violent and gory. Sexuality is also common with barely dressed beach babes playing beach volleyball in Dead or Alive or Red Ninja.But to me, these are harmless. Granted that some of the scenes are too explicit for young minds. Perhaps that's the reason why all games are rated. If parents don't want their kids playing certain games, they should either, (a) check on the games they are playing, or (b) make sure that their kids can't afford the games. No one's to blame when parents give their kids so much pocket money nowadays. So, if you do not intend to watch what's your kids doing on the PC, then you better keep a tight rein on his pocket money. Many have also argued that gaming takes away too much time for other activities, like, homework, sports, social interactions, and even meals. Well, everything we do takes time. So, the same goes for gaming. But I do agree that there's a limit to how much one should play each day. For me, I used to play until my I cannot stare at the monitor any longer. And that's usually 3-4 hours of non-stop gaming. Actually, the amount of time one can spend on gaming depends on one's ability to cope with life. If a gamer can spend 5 hours on gaming and yet ace his exams, and still play competitive sports, then this fella should continue playing his games. But if the fella flunk every subject each month and is obese, then parental guidance should come in. Red Ninja. The sexiest assassin alive.I do not advocate gaming addiction, but only responsible gaming. A lot of parents ask what's that, or if that's achievable. Well, I can only say that people are unique and a one-size fits all solution ain't the best way to go. Parents, or even adult gamers, should know their kids and themselves. Only with such an understanding of self and their kids would responsible gaming be possible. Having rattled off from the original purpose of this post, which is becoming a habit of sorts for me. I would like to share with concerned parents or spouses out there that one can actually learn something from gaming. Take my example. Was playing Call of Duty the last 2 nights. Was having problem with one of the missions, and had to play it time and again, since the stupid game does not have intelligent save points. Basically, my mission was to take out German soliders who are advancing on my tank factory. The purpose of this mission is to ensure that no Germans get into the factory to destroy the tanks. At first, being the trigger-happy guy that I am, I took down all the soliders, especially those with bazookas threatening to blow the factory's doors off their hinges, that were pouring forth into my sniper rifle's scope. As the mission wore on, I realised that I would be swamped by the flood of Germans who kept pouring towards me. Despite my high 'kill rate', I found that I would eventually miss out that strayed bazooka that would eventually put away my doors. After trying the mission for several times, being the stoopid person that I am, I finally realised something profound. See, told you that gaming is good for all of us. Basically, I realised that I should focus on killing those with the bazookas, or those with the machine guns. Rationale being that these are the units that could inflict the most damage on me. Yeah, yeah, I am not a top rate gamer. Once that dawned on me, I had more success with this mission. Gaming aside, this realisation made me realised that this is a lesson for real life living too. While the management gurus have been harping about the need to focus on the core issues, companies have always had their eyes fixated on the least important of things. With people like me at the bottom of the corporate ladder taking the cue from the big bosses, I would also naturally fall into the same trap. What my gaming experience taught me, was this. Always find out the core issue that needs to be addressed. That's why I am employed by the organisation. To solve problems and not become part of it. Sadly, most middle managers and supervisors are so attuned to the system that they no longer see the real issues. Anyway, my mind has been sharper this few days as the lesson is still fresh in memory. But with time, I am sure it will fade away. The moral of the story is, play more games!!! It is good for you. (To readers: Pls note that the moral of the story is only applicable to those who reflect on the game. It is not valid for addicts and children below certain years of age).

New Games!!! Got a steal when I bought BOTH Prince of Persia (POP) and Call of Duty - Finest Hour (COD) for $79. Mydaemon had been eyeing POP since we bought our Xbox in 2003. But have been delaying its purchase since it is a single player game. Decided to buy it when we saw that it was being sold for $39.50. Very cheap. Was encouraged by Mydaemon to get another game since she was worried that I would feel neglected whenever she played POP. Being the 1st person shooter type of gamer, I chose COD which also went for $39.50. Have been sleeping late the last 2 days as Mydaemon swashbuckles through palaces, while I take down German bunkers and troops. Looks like some sleepless nights ahead.

Journey of Faith There's a similarly title post in Zap the Bug, since Mydaemon and I do most things together. Anyway, after much delay, we finally made our way to the Journey of Faith exhibition of Vatican art and artifacts at the Asian Civilisation Museum (ACM) @ Empress Place. Being a Catholic, I was keen to look at some of the art from the Vatican and learn more about my faith. It was my first visit to the Asian Civilisation Museum. Having been to the Singapore Art Museum, which happens to be my old school compound, and the Singapore National Museum, I had no great expectations of the ACM. And having visited both the Britsh Museum and the National Gallery in London it is hard not to compare our local ones with the world's standard. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find a well maintained building which actually exudes an aura of heritage, which is somewhat lacking in the other 2 museums. Located at the 2nd-storey, the galleries contained local collections that were displayed based on cultural themes, e.g. Chinese, Malay, Indian etc. I have to agree with Mydaemon that the ambience created by the smart positioning of warm/spot-lights was good. But I still think that it was a tad too dark. This wasn't helped by the smallish font the museum used for information panels. Had to lean close to the panels many a times just to read what the art or artifact was about. The gallery containing the Journey of Faith exhibition, as with the rest, was dark, yet cosy. Playing in the background was a haunting, but beautiful, loops of some hymn sung by a choir. The ambience was about just right. Perhaps being a Catholic helps in my appreciation of the artifacts on display. Could emphatise with most of the themes displayed in the artwork. Learnt that St Peter would usually be depicted as holding the keys and a book, while St Paul would be holding a sword and the letters (Epistles) he wrote. There's a lot of interesting artifacts on display. Perhaps the most intriguing one was that of a gold-coloured crab holding a cross. From what I remember, the crab is a symbol of Christ's death and rebirth, since it sheds it old shell for a new one every so often when it gets older. It's a pity that I could take a snapshot of the crab since photography is not allowed for the exhibition. Might drop by the place again to get a copy of the exhibition catalogue. What's stopped me from getting it last Saturday was the price tag - $32. Took some photos of the museum itself and the publicity banners for the exhibit. Will post it here when I am done downloading them into the PC. Based on my past experience, this could take from between 1 month to never. It all depends on my mood. I highly recommend this exhibition to those who wish to look at really good pieces of art and artifacts, things which are seldom exhibited in our museums. See it before it goes back to the Vatican. Exhibitions ends on 9th October.

This is a song that touches me deeply. Can't explain why it has this effect on me. It has that Truly, Madly, Deeply effect on me. Managed to find the lyrics on the net (see below). There's also this really fabulous flash file with the song too. It's the version sung by Weilian. You can view the clip here (highly recommended).

童话
忘了有多久
再没听到你对我说你最爱的故事

我想了很久
我开始慌了
是不是我又做错什么

你哭着对我说
童话里都是骗人的
我不可能是你的王子

也许你不会懂
从你说爱我以后
我的天空星星都亮了

我愿变成童话里 (chorus)
我要变成童话里 (chorus 2)
我会变成童话里 (chorus 3)

你爱的那个天使
张开双手
变成翅膀守护你

你要相信相信
我们会像童话故事里
幸福和快乐是结局

一起写我们的结局

Oyishi!!! Watching Japan Hour on ChannelNewsAsia is an educational activity. Apart from being exposed to new yummy exotic live foodstuff, I also got to expand my Japanese vocabluary from two words, to three! Arigato and sayonara, were the first Japanese words I learnt. Oh yeah, just remembered that I know the word baka too. Although the latter is more of a derogatory term. Don't go around calling Japanese baka. They will give you a big baluku on your head! Ok, in view of the third word, the fourth Japanese word I learnt from CNA was OYISHI! At first, I have no idea what it meant. But this word was always spewed forth by the guests on the show after slurping down some tasty morsel or muching on something that looked really good. So, whenever the guest mouth the word, I immidiately looked at the English subtitles. Immediately, I saw this pattern. Guest: (Mouth full of food) OYISHI!!! Slurp, munch, swallow...
(Subtitles): DELICIOUS!!! I had the sensation of a bulb being switched on in a dark room - my head. So-deska.... (if that's correct). Since then, whenever I see food that looks tasty, I would exclaim to Mydaemon in with a greedy look and loudly exclaim OYISHI!!! Haha... Anyway, started off this blog with the title cos Mydaemon and I had a wonderful Japanese dinner yesterday. It was kind of a decadent decision on my part. But I just wanted to have a good meal with Mydaemon after the tough week she had at work. It was meant as sort of an surprise. The restaurant we went to is located at IMM. Called Hoshi, the place serves Japanese steamboat buffet, teppanyaki, and a la carte dished. The quality of the food here is not too bad. But I would consider it on the pricier side. Anyway, the money spent was worth it since we had a fabulous meal. Looking at the menu, I was spoilt for choice. Being a typical don (Japanese rice) person, I was debating between katsu don, unagi don, and oyaku don. There were also huge set meals which contained various meats. Being the more noodle person, Mydaemon zoomed in on the udons. After some serious consideration, for one should never be flippant when deciding on the food to please one's palate, I decided on this mega set. Wahahahaha.... Can't remember what's the Japanese name for it. But it contains, stir fried chicken in sweet suace (which I had no picture for)....
2 tempura prawns..... OYISHI!!!

followed by . . . unagi + rice. . . OOOOOOYISHI!!!

More excitement to come... CHAWANMUSHI... O.. O... O... OYISHIIIII!!!!!!

Haha... it must be easy to tell that I lurrrvvve Japanese food. It was a wonderful meal. I tucked into my dishes with relish. Yum, Yum! Oh, Mydaemon's food was also very 'oyishi'. She ordered for herself a bowl of tempura udon. That's the best picture I can find for her food. The real thing sure looks tastier than this.

Will bring my camera with me everywhere in the future so that I post the 'real deal' here.

X-Men Legends II - Rise of Apocalypse

Was happily surfing the Gamespot when I came across this (see picture). Jaws drop. OMG!!!! X-Men Legends II is on its way! Release date is stated to be on the 21st Sep! Which means it will hit our shores not too long after that! Frankly, gaming on Xbox has become predictable since we have not purchased another game after Winning Eleven 8, which testifies to its ultra replayability. But that doesn't mean that the fun stops there. Have been hunting around for a new Xbox game for sometime. Halo 2 was high on my 'to buy' list. But it has just dropped a notch since X-Men Legends II is going to be released soon.

Another reason why I look forward to this game is that fact that it allows 2 or more players. This means that Mydaemon and I can team up and do some serious mutant ass-kicking. I am really looking forward to playing my favourite character, the lethal and quick Wolverine, while Mydaemon will retake her role as either Storm or Rogue. Read that Magneto will also be playable in this release. Sounds like a bloody good game already.

Here's my alter-ego getting ready to kick some nasty mutants ass.

You want a piece of me?

An Indian Rojak Dinner Mydaemon has been putting in the hours at office for the last few weeks. Guess that's sort of a payback for all the hours we slack throughout the year. Cooking was not possible since we reach home rather late, and sandwiches for dinner don't really appeal to her. So, we have been eating out rather frequently over the past week. Being ever the foodie, I have been pining for the sinful meal for quite some time. Here's how I would define sinful foods. Sinful: Any food items that contain hazardous levels of fats, oil, cholesterol, and anything that tastes good but is essentially unhealthy. Read char kway teow, Indian rojak, fried Hokkien mee, roti prata (Field Marshal's favourite), KFC, cheesecakes, coffee - cafe mocha, curry, sweetcakes.... SEDAP!!! My mouth is starting to water just looking at the words. Oops, there goes a stray drip of saliva. Slurp. Ok, back to last night's dinner. After all the hard work, Mydaemon decided that we should have Indian Rojak for dinner. YIPPEE!!!!!!! Having to contain my elation, since performing somersaults and running around like crazy ain't possible in the car, I just said, sure. Don't want to show too much enthusiasm, and have my rojak meal 'revoked'. Once the car was parked, my internal gastronomic radar was switched on to full power. Homing in to the fume emitted by the boiling oil, reused countless of days, used to fry the heavenly little buggers - the rojak, I calculated the shortest trajectory to the rojak stall, with Mydaemon in tow that is. Here again, I had to contain my enthusiasm. Not very sightly to see a full-grown man in smart office attire dashing like a lunatic for something as simple as Indian rojak. Every step was a test of my sheer willpower. It was a conscious effort to keep my legs from running away from me. With much self-control, we finally arrived at the stall. Boy, the sight was heavenly. Laid out nicely in front of me were neat rows fried Indian rojak. Only my lack of Indian vocabluary prevents me from naming the tasty treats staring at me. Mama, I am in heaven. For those who love Indian rojak, you have to try this wonderful stall. It's located at the Ayer Rajah Hawker Centre. Look for stall number 69. The number of the stall is a coincidence, and have nothing to do with any aphrodisiac effects of the rojak. :P Was at a loss on what I should order. I wanted to eat EVERYTHING!!! Again, losing self-control in front of Mydaemon is a definite no-no. Calling down every single ounce of self-control, I started picking off the mouth-watering items onto my plate. Did anyone tell you that choosing the food items from an Indian rojak stall is therapeutic? Try it and you know what I am talking about. The first thing on the plate was this huge fried sotong. Following that, the floodgates opened. In quick succession, I filled the plate with goodies, which I have not names for. Basically, these include those kosong long fair ones, oranged coloured ones stuff with hardboiled eggs and potatoes, tau gua, and tempe. In the end, we ordered $9.50 worth of Indian rojak. And as the saying goes, the rest is history. Burp!

Real Betis 1 - Liverpool 2 Way to go lads! Photo courtesy of Soccernet Good news greeted me when I checked the Football365 website for an instant update on this morning's European Champions League group stage matches. Given Liverpool's rather staid start to the English Premier League season, I wasn't hopeful for a win against a well-rated Spanish side. But surprise surprise, Liverpool did it again. Go Rafa! Go!

The Night of a Thousand Lightnings

Not sure if any noticed, but Singapore must have been hit by a record number of lightning strikes lat evening. If you believe Straits Times to be the definitive medium in covering news in Singapore, then you are missing out a lot.

Yesterday's evening 'thunderstorm', which I as a trained geographer attest to, is one of the most scariest one I have ever witnessed. Leaving my office at around 6.30pm, the vista from my window was already a picture of inky, oily black, clouds rolling towards my general direction. What's intriguing about this coming storm was the frequency of lightning strikes. From my window, I could already see one lightning after another striking different locations in the general area around Novena, where my office is. Fearing that we could be caught in the rain, I told Mydaemont to pack up and 'evacuate' from the office if we are not to be caught in the middle of a rainstorm.

Once out of the building proper, we witnessed continued flashes of lightning striking places near out office. Lighting up the sky like some flash photographer gone mad, we heard the boom, boom, boom, of the thunders that follow the repeated lightning strikes. It was an uncomfortable experience even when we were under the scant shelter of a covered walkway.

Hoping to reach our car before the rain pours on us, we hastened our footsteps, but the continued flashes and booming kept us huddled under the covered walkway. Fear of a lightning strike kept us from walking on the open route, of wide grass patches, which we needed to take to reach the car. Deciding not to risk ourselves as human lightning rods, since we are likely to be relatively tall targets in the open space, we decided to make a detour through the Tan Tock Seng Hospital, a route which will help to cut the distance of open ground which we need to cross before reaching our car.

Upon reaching the exit of the hospital, we found out that the skies have finally opened up, and were pouring buckets of rain down onto Earth. We were still debating on whether we should risk make a quick dash to the car, which was now around about 400m away. But another rapid fire series of lightning stikes in the immediate vicinity made the decision for us. We will stay in the relatively safer confines of the hospital and wait out this crazy thunderstorm before. Before we headed back into the hospital, we witnessed a spectacle of lightning after lightning stiking buildings around the hospital. There was actually a moment when three bright streaks struck an office building. We were transfixed by the noise of the rain, the flashes of the continuous lightning and the booming of the thunder around us. It was a weird feeling.

Since we are not able to make our way home, we decided to get some chow into our systems to soothe our frayed nerves. Guess there's always a bright spot in the gloomiest of occasions. For me, the bright spot was the Yong Tou Foo stall in TTSH's foodcourt. I am singling this stall out because the size of its yong tou foo is big. Big, as in 30% or more larger than those we get in other foodcourts. They also have my favourite fried wanton. Yummy. Tucking into my yong tou foo dry beehoon meal, I totally forgotten about the raging thunderstorm which was still wowing people with its brilliant lights show for people in the open. Once my tummy was full, I suggested to Mydaemon that it's time for us to make the trip home. As we made our way to the exit again, we noticed a barrage of flahses, made visible through TTSH's windowed roofing. Darn! Looks like the 'Lightning God' is having a hell of a good time this evening.

When we reached the exit, we were once again treated to the spectacle of continued flashes, thunderous booming and rain. I was like, what that hell... At the rate the lightnings were going off, there must have been at least a few hundred stikes while we were having dinner.

As Mydaemon and I were once again cowed into inaction by the show of force by Mother Nature, we noticed that Singaporeans, from old uncles to schoolkids, simply opening their filmsy umbrellas, filmsy compared to my huge one, and started trudging into the open, making their way to whichever destination they were headed for. And there we were standing under shelter as countless people walked into the open as lightning struck ever which way around the hospital.

I am not sure if my jaw dropped open then, but I was amazed at the actions of my fellow citizens. Did the government fed them something in the water which failed to take effect on my and Mydaemon? These fellas were either very brave, or worryingly foolhardy. Perhaps the constant call by the government to take risks are finally beginning to bear fruit. But I bet the government didn't say what risks not to take, and being the compliant people that we are, most Singaporeans thought takings risks is good for us when the government said so. Guess natural selection is also at play here. If you know what I mean.

After waiting for another 10 minutes, we finally decided to make 'THE' trip. What a normal walk to our car yesterday had become a really bizarre 'trip'. Never in my life was a simple walk turned into such a nerve-racking 'adventure'. As we worked up our guts to step into the open, with only my big but still 'filmsy' umbrella for protection, my only thought was to make it through this experience not being struck by lightning.

We walked as fast we our legs could take us while keeping the umbrella upright. I could feel Mydaemon's iron-like grip on the umbrella. She later told me that she wanted to make sure that we are not the tallest object around. Covering that short distance between the hospital and our car became an eternity. Lightning flashes and thunder were going off all around us. There was an occasion where I felt as if I was in the middle of a photoshoot as the surrounding lit up in a bright flash. I still have no idea where the lightning struck. It was like walking through a war zone with the noise. It felt exactly like the scene in War of the Worlds when the lightning struck Earth. It was that scary. I would be lying if I said that I was not afraid. Hell, I was totally rattled.

After what seemed like a lifetime of walking, we finally reached some shelter. Even under the shelter, the sky refused to let go of us, another bright flash lit up the surrounding around us, putting more spring into our legs to make the final short burst of speed to our car, which was now 20 plus metres away. Even that short a distance was punctuated by flashes and booming thunder. Once inside the car, Mydaemon and I looked at each other, with a look that essentially said, 'we made it'.

At this point, I mentioned that this night, with the storm and lightning, was like a scene plucked out from one of Dean Koontz's books. Yes, the night was really dark, wet and evil. Something was just not right. The car was like a protective cocoon. Boy, I was never that afraid in my life. Even when I was alone with my military vehicle in the training area, and 10 plus stray dogs started surrounding me and started howling in the moonlight. That was freaky, but it was no way as scary as what I experienced last night. It was as if end times were near. As we drove off, we had this surrealistic sensation of being in a horror flick, just like what Tom Cruise experiences ni War of the Worlds. Freaky.

When we reached home. There was nary a drop of rain. The floor around the block was surprisingly dry. It was as if the entire rainstorm existed in our minds. Another freaky moment. It was really a night of a thousand, at least, lightnings.

Hitting the Tracks Running Given the frequency in which I will be hitting the running tracks, I think I will only update the D-Days when I am out jogging with Summerbreeze and Shitake. Today, will be my third jogging session since Mydaemon and I started our permanent healthy lifestyle programme. Wide ranging changes have started to change various areas of our lives, from our diet to the frequency of our exercise sessions. Let me go back to the first jobbing session last Friday. It has been some time since I last jogged in any stadium. Thus, it was a refreshing change from pounding on the gym's treadmill or the gravel track around the Pandan Reservoir. Before I share my running experiece, I just have to share with you on the standard of the toilet facilities at the Toa Payoh Stadium. Being one of the oldest stadiums around, I expected the toilet facilities to be run-down and 'icky'. But I was genuinely surprised when I found out that the toilets were dry, well-ventilated and bright. Residents of Toa Payoh are one lucky lot. Stepping out of the toilet, I had a good view of the stadium itself. Looking around, I realised that Singaporeans are actually quite health conscious, as the number of joggers in the stadium number only around 40-50 people at any given time. There was also an carnival-like feel as there were many parents jogging with their little ones. Also in the jogging fraterinity were retirees, NS boys, students, and office workers. Somehow, it just feels good to be in the stadium partaking in the same activity with my fellow Singaporeans. I started off the session with a super slow pace. The rubberised tracks was really a joy to run on as it absorbed the impact of each of my strides. The first 400m was sort of a warm-up for me as I got my stiff leg muscles to loosen and warm up. Once sufficicently warmed-up, I adopted the fast-slow technique, where I jogged slowly for 100m before picking up my pace for the next 100m. Alternating my speed helped to regulate my breathing and pace as I am sure I would have stopped after 2 rounds if I maintained a 'medium' speed jog. After the 2nd lap, I entered into the 'zone'. This is a sensation when my body becomes attuned to the level of exertion I am imposing on it. All my actions became a fluid motion when my strides and breathing became synchronised. It was a joy to run then. My target was to complete a 2.4km run. No time limit was set since this was the first time I am timing myself after quite a long period of time. At the end, I took 30mins to complete that distance. I am not really disappointed as this is the start, and I believe the my timing will improve with time. My eventual target is to reach a level of fitness where I can complete the run within the IPPT standards, around 12mins. For today's run, I am looking to 28 to 29 minutes. I can't wait to put on my running shoes and start running this evening.

New on the PA System - 大长今 OST The music and songs in the Korean drama 大长今 (Da Chang Jin) is really well composed and written. While I have no idea what the lyrics is about, the tone and tune of the main theme is a very touching piece. It kindles in me a feeling of challenges, dreams, hope, love and peace. Don't ask me where I get all these feelings from, but I just innately feel them whenever the 长今 faces a new ordeal or tribulation, or when she shares a happy moment with Ming Zheng Hao, or even when she's slicing away in the Imperial Kitchen. Having vowed not to spend too much money on CDs in recent years, I decided to get myself a copy of the 大长今 OST yesterday. My only other Korean OST being that of My Sassy Girl, I have full confidence that the OST for the hit drama should not disappoint. And it sure didn'tdisappoint. The music is exactly what I hear on every expisode. A flood of memories and scenes hit me when a particular track is played. It's really an enjoyable CD. In fact, it's still playing on my PC now, having ripped it into my mediaplayer. I like the Chinese version of the theme - 娃娃. The translated version was meaningful as the lyrics spoke of 长今's longing for her parent, who she lost at a very young age. I found this line especially meaningful, "想爸爸,想妈妈,想要回家". In the context of the drama, you will understand this deep sense of longing. While no tears are welling in my eyes, but I feel this warm fuzzy feeling deep in me. Better stop here.

D-MINUS 1 HR 45 MINS TO D-DAY ONE The day of reckoning is here. In another hour and forty-five minutes, I will be pounding the tracks of Toa Payoh Stadium in my first planned exercise session of the year. Looking out the window of my office, I can see the sun shining brightly on the trees and buildings. What a wonderful weather for a jog. I can almost feel the warmth of the sun in the freezingly cold environment of my office. Can't wait to put on my track shoes and start eating up the track. Looks like I am going to have an enjoyable evening. What's missing is a Ipod Nano on my arm. Nah, I'd still rather have it bigger brother or Zen Vision. Shucks, gotta stop thinking about them! Perhaps some exertion on the tracks will clense my mind of such 'evil' thoughts!

PUBLIC ENEMY NO. 1

Every week, around 500 plus people are knocked out by this little pesky bugger, aka Aedes mosquito, in Singapore. Hospitals are getting so crowded with dengue fever patients that Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan has made a statement that all non-critical surgery will be postponed in public hospitals in order to free up space for a potential surge of dengue patients in the coming weeks.

Personally, I also have a bone to pick with this insect. Firstly, my housing estate falls within one of the identified dengue hotzones. Tough luck. Anyway, blocks just a street away have been declared as a dengue affected zones. So, my family are at risk. Secondly, my dad recently developed high fever and a horrible rash on his ankle. We were quite worried that it was dengue fever since rashes and inflammation are symptoms of this viral infection. A blood test at the polyclinic cleared my dad of the infection. But the rash has not subsided. So, we are still kind of worried. The only thing we can do now is to make sure that we take extra precaution and immediately see a doctor if we start exhibiting symptoms common to dengue fever.

Now, at the more macro leve, we, as in Singaporeans, have been exhorted by the authorities, namely MOH, to play our role as responsible citizens, to look out for any potential mosquito breeding areas and take the necessary actions to clean up the place. Rationale is that these pesky little creatures have an effective range of around 100 plus metres, and if all of us do our part, Singapore will be aedes-free.

I think that we should all play a part in this battle. At our level, we should check that all the water collection plates of our potted plants are drained frequently. Containers holding water in the open should be covered properly. For landed properties, owners should check their drainage, roofs and ledges that could collect water. If not for the public, owners should do this for their own families. I believe these actions should put a dent on the dengue scourge. However, I think the Town Councils should take on a more active role too. Frankly, I have not heard the hums of thermal fogging in my neighbourhood for months. This is puzzling especially when I live around the 'hot' zones. The only consolation is that fogging could be carried out during the weekdays while I am at work. But if that's the case, how is it possible that there are still mosquitoes, of the non-aedes type, feeding on my blood while I sleep. Go figure.

While I fully support the above public initiatives, I am also worried about the potential erosion of privacy which can happen due to this development. Well, my concern basically stems from a statement contained in Mr Khaw's anti-aedes speech. Basically, he thinks that mosquitoes could be breeding in houses that have been left vacant for extended periods of time. And since no one could access these houses, he mooted the possibility of giving enforcement agencies the power to 'access' (for me, break into) those vacant houses.

I think such a legislation is too extreme for my liking. How can the state be given powers, or even harbour the thought, to enter the private homes of the citizens. To me, privacy is a sacred right that all citizens should have. Unless it is an emergency situation, where martial law has already been enacted, then I would more than readily agree to such a legislation. But to forcibly enter our home, albeit legally for a reason as insignificant as this, is not right. Our rights to privacy should be respected.

If such a legislation can be pushed through the parliament so easily, what's there to stop the government from pushing through more draconian laws, in the name of public safety and welfare. The government should review all possible solutions before even considering such a drastic act. For example, have they considered whether increased thermal fogging at the surrounding premises of these vacant homes would be effective against the aedes mosquitoes?

I would rather pay a little more, as if there's a need to, income tax to pay for this, than to have a law which essentially allows legal access into my home whenever the government thinks there's some insect breeding in it. I would feel violated at a very basic level if my home is ever forcibly accessed for the name of 'public good'.

England 0 - Northern Ireland 1 England on the wrong side of the scoreline. Photo from Soccernet Looks like Sven should work harder on the field than between the sheets. England looks good for a first round exit in next year's World Cup after their loss to Northern Ireland this morning. To think they even dared to declare that they are capable of winning the World Cup is a joke. Whoever made that comment must have been very drunk then. The English should be thankful that it was the Irish they faced, and not 'real' competitors such as Brazil or Spain. The scoreline would have been very different then.

Fever Pitch (1997)
You staring at my hair? - The not very Mr Darcyish Firth To satisfy the likes of Mydaemon and Naniecheng, I have found a photo of Colin Firth in the Brit production of Nick Hornby's Fever Pitch (1997). Looks kinda goofy. With a look like this, I am sure the movie is a blast.