Makan

Snack stalls along a shopping complex in "Up Down Nine" road in GZ.

.

Roadside artist

Guangzhou roadside entertainment. Does she look creepy or what?

China block

No. I have not gone into hiding.

This is China. This is bizarre. I can get to blogspot main page. I can login and access my blogs. But view my own blogs in China - no. I cannot see any other people's blogs either. Keep getting "Cannot find server.."

Finally realised nothing is wrong with Blogspot's server. It is so fairly modern here that I forget this is still China at the end of the day.

You have been told.

Taichi Master

The radio channel I happened to tune in has been playing snatches of recent MMLee's interview. This young woman remarked,"People say the PAP is arrogant." and before she could continued, MMLee shot back his reply,"If I am arrogant, would I be talking to you."

I thought as usual the man has managed to cleverly give a "so-called" answer but deliberately diverted attention from the main issue. I don't think people think PAP is arrogant in the way MMLee has suggested - such as not talking to people. (On the contrary, they talk too..) Nor is the point the young woman making about MMLee himself being arrogant. Even if MMLee is not arrogant, that does not mean the rest of the PAP will automatically not be arrogant. He has assumed to represent everything about PAP. (Speaking of which, perhaps I am wrong but is the role of an MM supposed to be neutral of any party?). One impression of the conceit comes from gahmen pressing on with decisions despite public disagreement of the policies. That is one of the worrying issues as I see it.

It would have been a more sincere dialogue if he had instead asked,"Can you elaborate in what way is PAP arrogant?". But of course, listening was not the intent of such forums, nor the key strengths of most politicians.

Please don't accuse me of doing a pap smear here. Really, I am a libra and libras are very objective people.

Furry friends

First time visit SPCA. All because LY is thinking of adopting a dog. In the end, did not find a suitable one because all the small dogs barked too much. Many of the animals had a "pending" tagged on their records, apparently already reserved by other people.

The dog we all liked is Beto (in Pic) who has the most amazing eyes like those of a husky. The whites of its eyes are bluish and suspended small black pupils. Beto is friendly, sweet and quiet.

Still I prefer cats. They are so elegant. They don't smell and don't expect too much attention. Can't have them in my apartment though, unless I don't mind broken lamps and shattered lladros..

To save or not to save

Read this Economist news clip today that water conservation practices are so successful in Tokyo that Tokyoites have dropped water consumption by 10% in the last 5 years. Now they have too much water and a budget shortfall. To make up for this, the municipal government is going to increase water prices by 20%. Is that so ironical?!

Imagine, if this can happen in your own yard..

G O J

Seems like lots on the tv last nite - Oprah interviewing Meg Ryan and something with Madonna on, plus a documentary about the Gospel of Judas. Rushed back from my movie Inside Man to catch the 2 hour documentary on the National Geographic. I was also doing other things and watched with half a mind. I don't think I learned anything much more than about this egyptian who found the Judas' gospel and tried to sell it off but could not find any buyers (so strange, how come?), so he put it away in a security box where it laid forgotten for 60 years, during which time, the document crumbled into fragments. Bits of which says Jesus had tasked Judas to betray him.

That reminded me of the movie The Last Temptation of Christ. It was a very slow movie, almost dull but worth the while to stay to the end. Then it was brilliant. While on the cross, Christ suffered and lamented to God why he had to go through the torture. Suddenly, angel Gabriel appeared before Jesus and told him that he need not go through this way at all. Jesus was taken off cross and relieved, he went on to live a normal life like any other man, had lusts, had a family. Until near his death, his disciples turned up next to his bedside. Judas, being one of them, derided Jesus for abandoning his duty and mission. I was meant to betray you, that was part of the whole plan for you to save the world, exclaimed Judas. Shocked by the revelation that he had been tempted to take the wrong path all those years ago, and horrified at his betrayal of all that was at stake, he was devastated. Remorseful, Jesus cried to God he wished he had stayed on and died on the cross. He cried and cried to God and slowly aroused from a drowsiness to find himself actually still nailed on the cross. That the manly life he chose and led had all been a dream. If Jesus had doubts before, he was no longer doubtful and was all ready to do his God's work. This movie was simply awesome. It left a very deep impression on me.

If Judas was doing God's work, he's sure very unlucky cos until now, even with his documents, they are in such bad shape, it will be hard to clear his name. 黄河洗不清。

Heartland Entertainment

Certainly did not expect to see this type of entertainment at Dua Payo and it is not even the 7th month yet. Some spa fair going on. Not quite sure what the connection between belly dancing and spa is

Packed

Wah, Dua Payo Central is packed with people.

Like the saying: 'people mountain people sea'
人山人海.

Qing Ming

It is tomb cleaning day. The actual day was Wed but people typically make their visits to the ancestral graves over the period a week before and a week after this date. Taiwan gets a public holiday for this!

Yea..No one seems to be doing any cleaning at all in this picture.

As Hsin once described it poetically, our prayers and offerings
are turned into smoke to ascend to the heavens.

Lladro 2006 preview

Keep forgetting to bring my digital camera. Attended the 2006 preview of the Lladro collection. It was held at the East India room of the Raffles Hotel. They only invited 50 guests but from the press kit they were holding, many of the guests were actually press people. But there was no speech. Nothing. The room was large with a long table in the middle displaying the latest pieces. A walk around the table and within 10 minutes you are done.
Since there was free flow of spanish red wine, my partner and I parked ourselves in a cosy corner and enjoyed our drinks. The waiters came around offering morsels of food. It is nice the Lladro staff left us alone to enjoy ourselves without imposing their presence on us. Unlike a lot of salespeople who would feel they need to make some noise like "how are you enjoying blah blah blah.." to justify their place. After I had my fill, I drooled over the beautiful figurines of course. The staff were attentive when we looked interested at a piece. It is so calming to be surrounded by all this beauty. We ended up there for over an hour. Given my limited real estate and financial resources, acquiring these is often a battle of desire and logic. Aiyah, better save money first. (above figurine: Essence of a Man I)

We give a Dam

Budak Pantai gave a one hour performance in support of charity to help Africa build a dam for the people there to store whatever scarce water that's collected. This was last Friday at the waterloo arts center and organised by StanChart Bank's internal audit dept. I love corporations who make these sorts of initiatives. Makes me miss ACN a lot. The arts center was small and intimate so this performance was much more enjoyable than Budak's last concert at the Esplanade. But it makes me wonder if the number of seats at $20 can even cover the printing of the tickets.

You can catch Budak Pantai again this coming Friday, april 7. They will be doing their gig at the YMCA rooftop.

In the email (1)

There was once a man and woman who had been married for more than 60 years.They had shared everything. They had talked about everything. They had kept no secrets from each other except that the little old woman had a shoe box in the top of her closet that she had cautioned her husband never to open or ask her about.

For all of these years, he had never thought about the box, but one day the little old woman got very sick and the doctor said she would not recover.

In trying to sort out their affairs, the little old man took down the shoe box and took it to his wife's bedside. She agreed that it was time that he should know what was in the box.

When he opened it, he found two crocheted dolls and a stack of money totaling $25,000. He asked her about the contents.

"When we were to be married," she said, "my grandmother told me the secret of a happy marriage was to never argue. She told me that if I ever got angry with you, I should just keep quiet and crochet a doll."

The little old man was so moved; he had to fight back tears. Only two precious dolls were in the box. She had only been angry with him two times in all those years of living and loving.

He almost burst with happiness. "Honey," he said, "that explains the dolls, but what about all of this money? Where did it come from?"

"Oh," she said, "that's the money I made from selling all the dolls.

Another legend in the brew

The respectable ST papers reported (rather blandly) today that a bunch of students found female bones in an abandoned house in Margaret Drive. If you had read the Chinese Wan Bao (nite paper) last nite, you would have caught a lot more juicy details.

Apparently, one of the guys in the group heard of this haunted house and paid a visit when he heard girlish laughter. He was scared and left quickly but was intrigued enough to return with his group of friends the next day. Mind you, all these visits were made in broad daylight between 11am - 1pm. This time, they heard a woman weeping and crying for help. One of the guys also heard the woman called his name. Another saw a whitish spirit. Terrified, they ran off to inform the incident to the paranormal society to come to investigate. The whole group then returned to the place and society people discovered bones in this blackened and pitch dark room (with no windows). It is unclear what kind of house or building this is. There are suspicion that a fire had started in there before from the blackened walls and that a murder might have taken place. The bones have been taken back for analysis by the forensic science department. All this is so mysterious.

Skype

Downloaded my skype months ago but only created an account yesterday. Tonite, Janet helped me to test. We got online, with her on the other end in Guangzhou. I even got my webcam fixed up as well, even though I was in pyjamas and not quite prepared to be on screen.

The sound is clear with no delay. It is brilliant. I am so impressed. Highly recommended.