As changeable as the English weather

Spaceport

I thought this must be the hottest piece of news in the local papers which I must be a country bumpkin to have missed it. But lo, no one seemed to have heard of it reported in the local news or am I hanging out with the wrong people. Besides a colleague coming across this in Economist, it is sheer chance that I picked this out in Newsweek (Aug 11, p39). There is even a picture of the "artist's view" of what the facility will look like. The article says:

"Other countries have also caught the rocket fever. Developers in Singapore and the United Arabs Emirates are bent on adding spaceports to their existing economic hubs. Singapore is planning a $115million facility funded by Space Adventures, a Richmond, Virginia-based space-travel company, and its partner, Sheikh Saud Bin Saqr Al Qasimi, Crown Prince of Ras al-Khaimah in the United Arab Emirates, as well as some private investors. The port, to be located next to the Singapore's Changi airport, will function as a base for sub-orbital flights and as a private astronaut-training facility. It will offer zero-gravity flights, high-altitude jet rides, centrifuge rides and space simulations, along with a public education and interactive visitor center.

"Singapore developed as a port country," says Michael Lyon, a project manager of the Spaceport Singapore project, "Moving into space is a natural evolution for them.""

There are apparently already 35 functioning spaceports in the world, most of them controlled by govt. And there are at least 8 private ones in the planning, Singapore being one of them.

Even the Wikipedia has write-up on it.

Well, this game will only be for those with money to burn. As Newsweek puts it "Until the $200,000 ticket prices are lowered, space tourism will be confined to the super-rich."

Up to no good

Boys do the darnest things...mummies beware.

Not a new medical product as I first thought but certainly a new use.

Luggage restrictions

I arrived UK with half my luggage taken up by stuff for Kit.

If only I can pack him home..

Lose some, win some, then lose some more

No blog. No pics to share. First it was technical problems, then it was laziness. When I overcame both to start, I met with the disaster of having 1 gb of pics deleted accidentally by an absent minded relative. The loss was so traumatic that it led me to even more shopping therapy as an attempt to fill the void. Naturally, my 1GB loss thus became a Gb gain for the british retail industry, particular this store called Boden. Its catalogue I discovered amongst the supplements that fell out off the bulk of Sunday Times papers.

After oohing and aahing at the fun, bold designs, I found out they sell mostly online and have but only one store and it is not even in central London. That did not stop me. Sister, baby and I made the trip which took over an hour and consisted of changing three trains. Was it any good? It was GOOOD. After looking at the receipt, I have now finished that urge to buy buy buy. Almost.

In the store, waiting for his aunt while she tries on her outfits.

Way to UK

So it was with such excitement and anticipation that I deluded myself into reading the flight takeoff time as 8.40pm (22:40hours) . I arrived at the terminal one at 6.30pm with mum and dad in tow to send me off. We puzzled at why my flight had not appeared on the signboard for check-in until reality dawned. Sheepish. Fortunately, BA allowed me to check-in four hours ahead of time. The bright side was we could catch a very leisurely dinner. We headed off to the staff foodcourt where dad happily introduced me to his favourite satay there. It was really good. Wish I could eat more but I was really quite exhausted.

In the airport shopping area, I managed to select a pearl bracelet and a mac webcam before heading for my gate. The queue was long but went smoothly. People landing in UK were allowed their hand luggage. Not those transiting though. They were given a transparent ziplock bag. Mobile phones, PDAs had to be checked in and not carried on. Imagine losing your luggage with your mobile in it, plus your whole entire collection of addresses, not being able to reach anyone you know in your greatest hour of need. Even strong men will weep when it happens. Moral of story - it is good to go digital but donch ya ya, better to have a backup in print!

Everyone boarded and settled into their seats. The plane took forever to prepare for take-off and then the pilot announced he had to re-negotiate a new route to avoid afghanistan. Right. Now why didn't they think of that earlier. While we waited, the air got warmer and warmer and people in the back started to get restless and moved to the middle and front of the plane where the ventilation was slightly better. The aisle was getting quite popular. A good chance for a fella to go chat up a hot chick like me. After all, most girls like to choose the aisle seat. Aiyah, my luck, only one bored auntie yakked to me about her retirement life. When we finally took off, it was past midnight, 2 hours late.

My cubicle

Spoof on the song 'You are Beautiful'. Thanks to Mokh for sending it over!

Dignified

Let Kit demonstrate how to clap like a gentleman.

NDP rehearsals

A small treat to those of us who cannot get a ticket.

Finally emptied