why i am not keen on another china trip




my first and only trip to china was made in 1997. we visited beijing and chengdu in winter. we went there adequately prepared for the cold, for the sub-zero temperatures. we had long johns, gloves, scarfs and warm clothings. we even had plastic bags.

what i was not prepared for were the cheats. we were at the ming tombs and there were these locals hawking fruit. everyone of them seemed to be selling the same stuff. actually the fruit(pears) did not appeal to me at all but the insistence of the hawkers melted my resistance against buying from them. that was a costly mistake. i did not have small change, so i paid for my purchase with a 100 yuan note. the fruit was priced at 10 yuan. because of my inability to read chinese characters, i did not realise, until too late, that my change was in taiwanese currency. i got back only a fraction of the 90 yuan due.

another push factor was my poor understanding of the chinese language. you did not know when you were taken for a ride and you lost that edge when it came to striking a bargain. you did not dare to take a taxi. you had difficulty settling for a price when you wanted to buy something from a roadside stall. the china hawkers could also be downright rude.

another thing that put me off was the standard of hygiene in china. they might have 5-star hotels but their civility and hygiene standard could be way off the mark. we stayed at the holiday inn in beijing and at breakfast, there was this young man preparing fried eggs in full view of all diners. as he was doing that, he spat on the ground and using his shoe tried to clean off the sputum.

best australian drive holiday





we have covered many parts of australia. we have done a lot of self drive in australia. we drove from melbourne to the great ocean route. in fact, we have driven in melbourne many times. we drove in tasmania. we drove from sydney to melbourne. we drove from brisbane to the gold coast. we drove from brisbane to the sunshine coast. but we have yet to drive across the desert.

of all the drive holidays, the best was the one which we did in western australia. we were on our own. we rented a 3.6l ford falcon.

from perth, we set off for williams where we stayed on a farm. the children got the chance to feed the animals, watched the rounding up of sheep and rode on the ponies. there was much for them to learn and experience.

we travelled to augusta to look at the jewel caves. it is just a limstone cave like the batu caves in kl, only it is very well done up. we moved on to albany to marvel at the arches, the stacks and the blow holes. at bunbury, we were lucky enough to see dolphins in the shallows.

at pemberton, we stayed at a resort built over a lake. the two girls had an enjoyable time feeding the ducks that made their home in the reeds in the lake. we passed through 'the valley of the giants' but we did not climb the gloucester tree.

although we went to margaret river, we did not visit any of the wineries because then we were not interested in wine. we stopped at harvey to tour the orchards. bought some oranges at harvey. at mandurah, the children enjoyed the miniature houses and loved the houses by the banks of the river.

we also enjoyed freemantle's alfresco dining atmosphere. as it was so close to perth, we visited it twice.

it was one trip we felt the money was well spent. could also be due to the fact that we were upgraded to business class on sia when we flew to perth and back, courtesy of a former student who worked for sats.

comparing pulau redang (terengganu) and tangalooma (brisbane)




moreton island, on which tangalooma is located, is similar to pulau redang in a number of ways:

both are about one and a half hours by ferry from the mainland, in terms of distance, about 40 km; clean, clear water (without doubt redang's is clearer) and white sand; swimming, snorkelling and scuba diving are the main activities. as for marine life, redang has a richer marine life;
turtles are found in both places; both are designated protected marine parks; opportunities for nature walks and rambling; accommodation available (redang has a wider range, and cheaper)

what are not available at redang: dolphin feeding and sand tobaganning

choose between the two: i will pick redang any time. at redang, the reef is right at your doorstep, literally. you do not need to take a boat out at all. the abundance of marine life means that there is more to see. when we were snorkelling at redang, we saw nurse sharks near the shore and further out, we came face to face with a metre long grouper.

19-day tour of uk




when we landed at heathrow airport, victor and helen were at terminal 3 waiting for us. we took the tube from the airport to oxford circus. victor's family was visiting jeremy, his eldest son, who was studying english at oxford. we paid $240 a night to stay at a guest house on gosfield st.

we spent 3 days touring the landmarks in london before we collected our car. once we got out of london, we headed for brighton. we parted company with the samuels at brighton. after visiting portsmouth, the birth place of charles dickens, we travelled to the salisbury plains to see the stonehenge. stonehenge is a world famous prehistoric monument.

from salisbury, we travelled on a30 and a38 to reach plymouth. plymouth is a historic town associated with sir francis drake and the mayflower. enroute to plymouth, we stopped at bude where we watched two girls using a chunk of meat to catch crabs in a river.

our next stop was covelly where we had our cheapest and most authentic b&b, staying with mrs jeffreys. covelly is a small, picturesque village beside the sea with tiny, steep, cobbled streets and donkey-drawn carts.

the next morning, after thanking mrs jeffreys for her warm hospitality, we set off for bath. it was at bath that we met up with the samuels again. that evening we took a cruise down the avon river.

we would stay in bath for 3 days. the second day in bath, we made a side trip to swindown and oxford to do some shopping. we had planned to go to milton keynes to see the open university campus but changed our mind as it was too much out of way.

on day 10, we were in cotswold country, well-known for its quaint cottages. we stayed at the old stocks hotel at stow-on-the-wold.

from stow we moved to shakespeare's birth place stratford-on-av0n. victor and his family stayed in stratford for 3 days. after an overnight stay, we moved on to llangollen in wales. ivy would be there the following year for an international choir competition.

after a 2-day stay in llangollen, we headed for the lake district. we visited rydal mount, the home of william wordsworth. we also visited his other home - the dove cottage.

we were in windermere for two days before we set off for york. along the way, we got lost and ended at otley, an historic town just outside leeds. we were in york on a sunday and so we attended a church service at york minster.

from york, we drove on the m1 to get back to london. we started at 7a.m. and were in london by early afternoon, covering a distance of 338km.

we stayed another 4 days in london before flying back to singapore on 26 june. while in london, we watched 'miss saigon' and 'beauty and the beast'.

travelogue - hong kong

my daughter ivy commented that i seemed to aspire to be a travel writer. sure, i used to travel a lot more in the past. i never like conducted tours. i prefer to do it the free and easy way. the only time we were lead was on our beijing trip. still, we had some say in the itinerary.

the first time i visited hong kong, i was on my own. i stayed one day only. it was a stop-over on my way to taiwan. i had flown in from bangkok, thailand.

on my 2nd trip to hong kong, we stayed at an apartment in kowloon. the accommodation was arranged by lay bee's brother-in-law. that night, soon after our arrival, we made our way to temple street where we had congee and soya bean drinks.

the next day, we took the mtr to shau kei wan and rode on the tram to the western market. from central, we took a bus to stanley. we had a very expensive dinner at lei yue mun village.

the day after that, ivy and ida had a good time at ocean park. dinner was at one of the aberdeen floating restaurants.

we took the ferry from pier 7 at central to get to cheung chau island. we missed the morning market because by the time we reached there, at 11 a.m., it was over. we had lunch at cheung chau island before returning to kowloon. that evening, ida lost her guess jacket while shopping at temple st. they also went shopping at the ladies' market.

towards the end of our stay, we went to victoria peak and toured the lan kwai fung district. we made two visits to victoria peak and had dinner at the peak on our 2nd visit. ivy and i took the mtr and visited one of the temples.

superfit me



i was fittest when i served as an instructor at the bbdm camp. i could embark immediately on another expedition after completing one. for example, i would come back from a 3-day sea expedition, go for lunch and after the meal, set off with another group of campers for a 3-day land expedition. and after that, i could still go on to take another group for another expedition.

our expedition was a real test of physical and mental strength. the group had to cover a certain number of check-points before they reached their camp site. they could only start cooking their dinner when they found the final check-point for the day. yes, they had to cook their own meals and this meant they had to carry the rations with them. as an instructor, i had to be with them throughout the expedition. if they ate at 1.00 a.m., i also ate at 1.00 a.m.

the secondary students were specially selected by the respective schools and they were able to take the rigorous training. none of them has ever forgotten the challenge that they were put through.

many of those who attended the camps have made it in life and a number of them attributed their success to the lessons that they have learned at the camp. one of them who is a ceo of a global company who has been sending his executives to attend adventure training camps.

toughest overseas trip

when we took more than 40 students on a 11-day overland trip to java and bali. had problem right from the beginning. some students lost their money after going through immigration and customs at jakarta. they found out that their money which they had kept inside the covers of their passports missing.

the bus did not have enough seats for the whole group, so some had to stand. the children were more interested in shopping than sightseeing. this delayed us and on one occasion we reached the hotel way past midnight.

some of the students did not take well to the spicy indonesian food and a few of them were taken ill. we had to medicate them, giving them the 'poh chai' pills that we had taken along.

we did take in the sights too. in java, at bogors, we visited the botanic garden and we saw tea plantations on the hill slopes at puncak. we visited the prambahan and borobudor temples. we climbed a volcanic mountain near jogjakarta and crossed the solo river. we were overwhelmed by the mystique of bali. we enjoyed the sea breeze and waves at kuta.

it's a good thing the students conducted themselves well, so we did not have any disciplinary problem at all. the only indiscipline that was displayed was when they were shopping....just did not know when to stop buying.

reunion dinner @ jelapang

we had our cny reunion dinner yesterday. departing from our traditional steamboat dinner, we had rice with dishes. the dishes included combination cold dish, roast duck, stewed mushrooms, steamed red garoupa, pig stomach with abalone soup and saute prawns.

ida was out with valerie until about 5.30p.m. my brother yew huat and his family and my sister lynn were at my place just after 5.00p.m. my mom came over to stay on friday.

pre-dinner activity was karaoke singing. anson hogged the mike because the others were too shy to let their voices be heard. post dinner activity was sprucing up the place. after dinner, anson, his dad and mom used the wonder sponge and tooth-brushes to clean the gaps between the tiles in the living room.

i went down to far east florist to buy two bunches of roses.

place ivy and ida had most enjoyable holidays

the place where they had their most enjoyable holidays while growing up is not in europe, australia, new zealand, china, thailand or sarawak. it is very close to home, in west malaysia. that place is uncle john's resort in lake kenyir, near kuala terengganu.

i think it was made more enjoyable because there were other children around. the first time we visited the place in june 1995, the group comprised 4 families.

from kenyir dam to uncle john's resort, the ride by boat normally took about 30 minutes. the dam is the largest rock-filled dam in south-east asia. it took about 10 years to build at the cost of about rm$700 million. the dam is 155m high and it blocks the upper reaches of the terengganu river.

recreational facilities at the resort included canoes, kayaks, paddle boats and dinghies. as the resort was surrounded by water, for safety reason, the children wore life vests all the time.

although the water was not crystal clear, it was clean and deep, at least 25m. it teemed with fish but we did not catch any. what we enjoyed doing most was jumping off the platform into the water every time we felt like doing so. the water in the lake was warm compared to the chilly water at the lasir waterfalls.

at the lasir waterfalls, after swimming, we would sit where the water fell in torrents and let these torrents of water massaged our bodies, especially our backs. on the first two trips, we did not encounter leeches but we had a terrifying time during the third trip. we were kept busy removing the leeches from our legs.

cross-country running

i discovered my so-called talent when i was in pre-university. i found out that i could outrun most of my classmates if the distance was longer. i might not be able to match them in the sprints but when it came to distance running, i could outpace and outrun them.

while a trainee teacher, i participated in the cross-country race organised for all students at the teachers' training college. i finished second, behind my classmate koh boon long, a seasoned runner.

for a while i competed under the banner of the swift athletics club. there were weekly cross-country runs held at different venues all over singapore. the toughest race in my experience was the 10km run at selarang barracks, changi.

running alongside the likes of namazie, avtar singh, suppiah and alagirisamy was a humbling experience. they were national athletes and in a class of their own. also found out that kunalan, the national sprinter, was able to cover the 4.2km track at macritchie in under 15 minutes compared to my nearly 17 minutes.

my achievement in this area was in training one of my athletes - wong wing choy - to win the b division title in the national inter-school cross-country championships held at macritchie reservoir.

bukit batok nature park

more people have heard about and been to the little quilin in bukit batok town park than the bukit batok nature park. little quilin is surrounded by blocks of hdb flats whereas the nature park is further away from this urban setting.

the park built around an abandoned quarry is located at the edge of bukit batok, along east avenue 2. there are a number of scenic look-out points within the park. there is a sign in the park that warns visitors to look out for falling durians. the durian trees in this park were left behind when the squatters in the area were asked to move out.

this is the park where an oil company executive was raped and brutally murdered some years ago. the rapist/s were never caught. notwithstanding that, a lot of joggers enjoy the undulating terrain found in this park.

there is a bit of history here. a facade of the former ford factory, which is the venue of the british surrender to the japanese, still stands. the japanese also built two memorials for their war dead at the top of the hill. today, all that remain of the memorials are two pillars.

reunion & birthday celebrations @ gosen

last night (24 jan) we went down to geylang lorong 23 for the cny reunion dinner cum birthday celebration.

the restaurant - gosen - is run by ex-offenders. we had superior steam boat, steamed fish, two servings of ngoh hiang (five spices), taufu (beancurd) cooked with prawns and yam pudding (ooh ngi).

you can park your car within the compound of a private school in which the restaurant is located. the parking fee of $5 can be redeemed at the restaurant. food is above average and service is good.

switzerland trip in 2002

to date, the most expensive trip that we have made. we spent nearly S$17 000, enough money to buy an off peak car. the bulk of it went to air fare, train fare and accommodation. we flew thai airways to zurich. on our first night, we stayed in liechtenstein, not switzerland.

we visited st moritz during the wrong season. should visit moritz, the winter playground of the rich and famous, yes, in winter, not summer.

during this trip, we ventured into italy but only for a few hours. we took the bernina express to tirano. the return trip to switzerland was made on a postal coach. passing through the customs and immigration check points reminded us of the border between malaysia and singapore.

we also stayed at lucerne, interlaken and zermatt. at zermatt, i captured one of the most beautiful sights during the whole trip - the changing colours of the matterhorn. i woke up at around 5 a.m. and watched three colourful phases as the sun shone on the mountain.

14 days is a bit too long for a tour of switzerland, a 1 week tour will be just right.

zojirushi bread making machine




many people deem that i am a good cook because i made bread, pizza, cheese cake, shepherd's pie and murukku. actually, i do not really do a lot of cooking although i enjoy it.

when i first joined admiralty, i used to bake bread in the school. i love the smell of freshly baked bread although i cannot say the same for the smell of yeast.

i had my zojirushi parked in the school's pantry. mostly i made plain bread or raisin bread. actually with the machine, you can make all kinds of bread. i have a former colleague at monk's hill who makes very nice cinnamon bread. about ten of my former colleagues at monk's hill own a bread machine.

in admiralty, i managed to influence one colleague only - karine - to buy a bread making machine. if your family love eating bread and you enjoy making, then buy one; otherwise don't.

with the bread making machine, you can actually set the machine so that you can have freshly baked plain bread waiting for you early in the morning or whatever time you want it.

sausage wrapped in roti prata

we had started making these before they began selling them at a stall in takashimaya.

this food idea, as usual, came from mdm tang. she had learnt it from a friend of hers.

the version that we make uses the fresh sausages sold at supermarkets like cold storage and the bigger ntuc outlets. i prefer to use chicken with cheese sausages. the brand of prata that i normally use is 'kawan'.

fry the sausages in a pan until they are almost bursting. take out the prata from the freezer. remove the paper separators and allow the prata to thaw and soften. place two sausages across the prata. roll the prata to cover the sausages. cut the roll into two, each with a sausage encased. nip the ends of the roll so that the sausage is totally covered. spread some butter on top of the sausage roll. place the prata sausages in the mini toaster and set the timer to 5 min.

sembawang hot spring

i think, unwittingly, we (admiralty primary school) helped to promote the sembawang hot spring and caused a rush of people to visit and re-visit the place.

when the new paper featured our heritage trail project and showed pictures of the hot spring, it triggered a renewed interest in the place.

so many people started crowding the place that the authorities had to put up barriers and impose retrictions on visits to the place. and there was so much publicity. today, things have returned to normal.

i remember the hot spring from a visit we made to it during my primary school days, and that was decades ago. my primary 6 teacher took us to this kampong area where we watched the folks cooking their eggs in the hot ground water.

i know that there is another hot spring in singapore, on pulau ubin. i think it is located near kampong unum. it used to serve as one of the check-points for our land expedition. that hot spring is not as extensive as the one at sembawang.

fort canning park



if you have not already explored this park, you should or you will be missing out a lot, especially on singapore's early history. fort canning is, in fact, the most historic part of singapore.

today, it is a popular venue for the arts including sculpture, plays and open air concerts and ballet.

most people are familiar with the better known landmarks like the keramat iskandar shah, the fort gate and the fort canning green. fort canning green used to be the old christian cemetery. people are also aware that there is a covered reservoir at the top of the hill and there is a spice garden near the foot of the hill. the additions are the battle box and the asean sculpture garden.

however, not many people are aware of the existence of the archaeological dig and exhibition. it showcases an actual archaelogical excavation site. it is very interesting and informative.

another poem of mine





sincerity is wholesome beauty

it imbues integrity

- an absolute, undisguised facet

of human purity

- a virtue unsurpassed by none

save one - unselfishness


hypocrisy is an outward

subdued manifestation

of an ugliness within

it is the disdainful

concealment of a notion

parallel to treachery

and very often

underline an act

of continued

perpetuation

of self supremacy

have i had a passion for anything before?

i believe i did. when i was in charge of athletics at balestier hill secondary in the 70s, i was passionate. i was crazy. i was thinking, eating and sleeping athletics. i was prepared to train my students 7 days a week. i was prepared to sacrifice my free time, my holidays and my personal life.

when my colleagues went on overseas holidays, i would be with my athletes sweating it out in school, at farrer park or at the macritchie cross-country track. we trained in the morning and also in the evening. we were over-enthusiastic and so we over-trained.

we even had a training session on the 2nd day of the chinese new year. i spent a lot of time drawing up the training schedules for my athletes. i entered them for competitions organised by clubs. i arranged friendly triangular meet to give them more opportunities to compete.

training meant running with the athletes, competing with them and leading them. apart from track work, we also did weights and circuit training. we did resistance training by running up the slope.

murukku making

pour the murukku flour into a mixing bowl

add water to it, a little at a time, and knead

stop adding water when the dough is formed into one lump

(better to have not enough water than too much water; when you have

too much water, the dough becomes sticky)

add 2 teaspoons of butter and a handful of sesame seeds and continue to knead

cut dough into 3 or 4 portions

place one portion into the murukku maker (see picture)

heat oil in kwaili

squeeze the dough through the maker into the hot oil

when the oil bubbles have become visibly smaller, turn the murukku over

remove murukku from the oil

you can get the murukku flour from shops at serangoon road. a packet costs $1.60. the murukku maker is sold at mustafa samsuddin.

shepherd's pie






there are so many ways to make shepherd's pie; this is how i make mine.

ingredients:
350g ground beef/chicken/whatever
1 big onion chopped
pasta or tomato sauce
2 tablespoons oil - extra virgin olive oil
a pinch of salt
mashed potatoes (2 potatoes)
1 cup of shredded cheese (cheddar)

heat oil
add chopped onion, fried till golden brown
add ground beef and keep stirring until meat is brown
add pasta or tomato sauce
salt to taste

spread meat mixture into bottom of oven-proof dish
cover with layer of mashed potatoes
top with grated cheddar cheese

bake for 10 minutes at 205 degrees celcius

home-made ice blended coffee

you will need a shaker (like the one shown) to make this ice-blended coffee. on top of that, you need a mug, ice cubes, a long handle spoon.


ingredients:
2 to 3 tbs milo
1 to 2 ts sugar
3 sachets 3-in-1 nescafe
1 small pack of fresh milk

scoup the milo into a mug. add sugar and nescafe. pour in fresh milk up to almost the brim of the mug. stir content thoroughly.

put ice cubes in shaker until shaker is half-filled with cubes. pour in the content from the mug. shake the shaker vigorously.

viola! ice-blended coffee! use small cup to serve your extremely thick and rich potion.

round island cycling

when we did our round island cycling trip, we did not have any back-up van or car following us. we had no contact with any 'base camp'. if we had to make contact, we would use the public phones. the scout leaders carried their own first aid packs and the bicycle repair kits.

we did not put on any helmet or protective gear. most of us used the ordinary road bikes except for 2 of the boys who rode racing bikes. i was the only adult among them.

in fact, we unknowingly broke the trafffic rule when we cycled on the expressway. we rode on the ecp to changi airport, where we made a short stop.

departing changi airport, we moved on to the old tampines road. in those days, a lot of lorries plied the road in the day time but we did not meet any of the 'monsters' as we were doing our pedalling in the night. one of the bicycles had a puncture along this stretch of road and we had to spend some time fixing it.

when we reached mandai road, just outside the zoo, we decided that we needed a break and to catch some sleep. we rested until daybreak before resuming our ride.

we cycled all the way back to ghim moh secondary school without any incident.

round island canoeing

ours was the second group to circumnavigate the waters around the island of singapore. but ours was the first group to use fibre glass canoes; the group ahead of us actually used wooden sampans.

there were 18 of us, all teachers who had attended the 10-day ttc camp and the 21-day outward bound course. we pushed off from the right side of the causeway - if you are facing johor - at around 10pm. by early morning we had made our first stop at the reclaimed beach of marine parade.

the toughest part was the stretch of water near sentosa - in those days, called pulau belakang mati. we struggled against the waves and the strong currents. that there were other craft around did not help us at all.

if i remember correctly, we spent some time trying to catch some sleep when we stopped at pasir panjang. after that, we pushed on towards tuas, kranji and finally, the other side of the causeway.

nowadays, a round island by canoes is no big deal. even school boys and school girls are doing it.

how to go about organising a self-drive tour

first, decide on the country of visit.

narrow it down to the region you want to cover if it is a big country and you do not have the time to take in all in one visit.

visit tour agencies to get brochures on the tours that they have to your intended destination. go through their itineraries. this will give you a fairly good idea of the main attractions of the country/region. some tour companies like, sime travels, have proposed itineraries of their self-drive tours.

collect 'literature' of the places. read up as much as possible. get hold of travel guides. no need to buy them. nowadays, the public libraries stock them. read travel magazines.

surf the internet. read travellers' accounts of the places that you want to visit.

visit the tourism promotion board/authority of the country of visit. for example, if you are intending to visit australia, visit the australian mission at united square. if you are visiting uk, you can get materials from the bta at cecil street. (don't know if they have moved)

get first hand information. talk to friends, relatives and people who have done self-drive to the same places.

get hold of a road map. this is very useful when you are drawing up the day-to-day itinerary. take the types of road into account - sealed or unsealed, motorway or country road.

try not to overstretch yourself, covering too much in one day. not more than 300km a day...if possible. this will give you more time and energy to explore the places.

be adventurous. get off the beaten path but do not take unnecessary risks.

those were the days

those were the days without 'rams', parental consent and mobile phones. nowadays, when you want to organise an outing for your pupils, you have to carry out a risk management exercise, obtain consent from parents and look into insurance and all kinds of welfare and you need to have a list of phone numbers.

i remember when i was a form-teacher of a secondary 3 class, i organised a cycling trip for my students, both girls and boys, from school (at balestier road) to pasir ris. all i had to do was to give the child a note to be handed to his parent/s about the intended outing. we all returned to school in one piece, without any incident.

another time, i took my students, also from a secondary 3 class, camping at pasir ris. the 5 boys stayed in tents with us for 5 days at the beach. we slept in different tents but we did go into each other's tent. there was no question of impropriety.

one group went on a night hike around the macritchie reservoir, got lost and had to spend the night in the forest. there was no panic, no anguished parents and no relay message of the incident to the ministry. everyone was calm because they had trust and confidence in the teachers who led the hike.

dragon fruit


do you know that the dragon fruit comes from the cactus plant? this picture was taken at a friend's garden in kluang.

the dragon fruit is native to central and south america where it is known as pitaya or pitahaya.

the dragon fruit flesh can be white, red or magenta all to varying degrees dependant upon the variety. the red flesh varieties contain lycopene which is a natural antioxidant known to fight cancer, heart disease and lower blood pressure. today it is the leading fruit export of vietnam.

propagation is by stem cutting. the flower is large with waxy and white petals. it is a night blooming flower. it can produce fragrance as it blooms, attracting bees and ants as pollinating agents. but on most farms, pollination is done manually.

in singapore, i have seen this plant with its fruit and flowers at kok fah technology farm at sungei tengah. this farm is very popular with ah sohs who go on local tours organised by community clubs.

cny celebrations with indian friends



for the past 8 or 9 years, i have, without fail, celebrated cny by inviting my indian friends - former colleagues from monk's hill secondary school - over for chinese dinner. we started having this gathering when i was living at towner road. of course, these invitations have been reciprocated. i have been to nara and balendra's places for deepavali dinners.

the regulars are mr & mrs victor samuel, mr & mrs nara, mr & mrs balendra, mr rama and mr sethi. when victor's children were younger, they used to join us. i consider victor indian because he speaks tamil. his wife, helen, is chinese.

this year 2006, mr & mrs nara did not join us because they had gone over to melbourne to help out as anu was renovating her new home. could not contact them at all because i had stored anu's mobile number in my pda which had 'died'.

they relished the mushrooms, sea cucumber, cold dish, roast duck, sweet and sour meat and vegetables. but, these days, they seem to have a preference of healthier dishes ...more vegetables and less meat.

initially, i had also invited some muslim colleagues. but, on the day of the dinner, none turned up. that was a learning point for me. these days, when i have my muslim colleagues from admiralty over for a makan, i make sure i have new plastic ware to serve the food (in).

driving in tasmania


tasmania in some ways resembles new zealand but i find the latter more scenic. in fact, there are more differences than similarities. new zealand is a country whereas tasmania is just a state of australia. new zealand is made up of two islands while tasmania is one island.

we did not take the spirit of tasmania but we have seen the piers at both ends, at melbourne and at devonport. we did visit port arthur (see picture) and soon after our visit, in 1996, there was a massacre at port arthur where 35 people were killed and 18 people wounded.


of course, we went to cradle mountain (see picture 2). we stayed there for 3 days and it rained on 2 days. it's one place where you have to book your accommodation in advance. if you visit cradle mountain, you must go on one of the many walking trails. we stayed at one of the log cabins and had an uninvited visitor - an opossum - in the night.


however, the most memorable part of our trip was the drive through queenstown. after having climbed the sand dunes at strahan, we were making our way to hobart. we had to pass through this lunar landscape town. the mountainous area was bare of vegetation and roads up the mountains were narrow and winding. it was really scary looking down the mountain slope.

apart from this stretch, the rest of the drive was quite ordinary. traffic is very light once you are out of the towns. if fact, in some places you could be on the road driving for hours without coming across another car.

those hitch-hiking days of yore (iv)

the humorous side of hitch-hiking. once, we stopped a merc. both of us rushed forward for the rear doors and threw ourselves onto the back seat. the driver did not have any front passenger.

we realised we would be treating him as our chauffeur, so one of us quickly moved to the front.

at times, when lifts were few and far in between, we would throw pebbles at roadside trees or improvised lallang leaves as projectiles.

once i was stranded in segamat and spent the night at the railway station. could not sleep at all because of the rumbling of the trains at odd hours in the night. the station master was very hospitable; he not only provided me with a small room but also 'belanja' me breakfast the next morning.

on that trip, when i arrived at segamat, i had slightly more than a dollar with me. had to scrimped and saved because i knew that when i got back to singapore, the chances of getting a lift would be very slim. i needed the few cents to take a bus to somewhere near my home.

those hitch-hiking days of yore (iii)

hitch-hiking had its ups and downs. when 'business' was good, you could choose the vehicle that you wanted to ride in but when you were desparate, you just hitched on anything that came your way.

when the picking was good, we would go for posh and air-conditioned cars but when we realised that we could be stranded, we would stop anything. once when we were still at senawang at around six in the evening, we stopped a taxi in desparation. yes, the taxi driver gave us a free ride all the way to kuala lumpur. we even had rides on motorbikes and trucks.

of course, there were the risks and dangers. once, we rode in a car driven by someone who had too much to drink. then, there were those who liked to push their cars to the limit. i had ridden in a car that was speeding at more than 180 km/hr.

the fringe benefits of hitching a ride included free meals. when the driver stopped for a drink or a meal, he would invariably invite you to join him.

exco retreat - dec 2003

in dec 2003, we had our retreat at sofitel, which is located at senai. i got someone who was - i think, he still is - a member of palm resort to book the rooms for us. he booked 6 rooms and a suite. we hired a coach to take us there and back.

mdm lim and the admin managers, ms chui and luca, occupied the suite. the suite also doubled up as our meeting room. we saved on renting a seminar room. the rest of us were in twin-sharing rooms.

we had most of our meals in the hotel's restaurants but diana and company did drive out in the night to the town for supper. our recreational activities included swimming and karaoke singing.

ramesh and i shared a room and a bed. we demarcated our territory using towels and pillows. mr simon tan's wife was with us at the resort.

on the day we checked out, we met normala and her family who were at the resort.

those hitch-hiking days of yore (ii)

i also learnt another lesson from one of my hitch-hiking trips : be careful whom you choose as your hitch-hiking partner. on one of my many sojourns in malaysia, i partnered one of my neighbours, from the same kampong.

sometime after the trip, i was called in by my principal, mr thomas tan. it seemed the people from isd wanted to interview me. i was not duly worried because i had not done anything wrong but i was mystified as to why they would want to interview me.

when i went down to the robinson road office, i was told by the investigating officer that they had trailed me and my partner on our trip up to penang. they were able to tell me which hotels we had checked into. i was cleared but they suspected my partner, an ex-police officer, of being a drug trafficker.

i had parted company with him in penang. he moved on to thailand while i made my way back to singapore, making stops at kuala lumpur and melaka.

later, i found out that he had escaped to united kingdom, where he got married and settled down. he has not been back since.

those hitch-hiking days of yore (i)

when i was in my twenties, i caught the hitch-hiking bug from my then colleagues in balestier hill secondary school - kok weng, rahman and mc wong.

my first attempt was a solo effort. i was all on my own. got a lift at the causeway from an european lady, driving a mini, who was going to bahau in negri sembilan. the rest of the journey was a blur. but i remember i made my way to ipoh where i met up with kok weng who had gone there earlier. stayed with his sister's family.

from ipoh, we hitched rides to penang, crossing over to the island in a car ferry. i think it was my first visit to penang. we stayed in an unoccupied - not abandoned - bungalow along batu ferringhi.

on the southward bound journey, we hitched a ride to the cameron highlands. the fumes from the vegetable lorry made me feel like vomiting. wanted to sleep at a sikh temple and were laughed at by some fellow hitch-hikers. finally paid rm$5 to bed down in a hotel at brinchang. met one of my students, catherine wong, holidaying with her family.

picked up many things from hitch-hiking, apart from widening my knowledge in geography, politics and social studies.

recipe for bake-free cheese cake

ingredients:
one packet of digestive biscuits
half a piece of butter (125g)
one piece philadelphia cream cheese (also, 125g)
half tin of condensed milk
half tin of evaporated milk
squeezed juice from 2 or 3 lemons
2 sachets of gelatin (10g/sachet)

blend/grind the pieces of digestive biscuits in a blender
after blending, pour the powdery biscuit into a flat baking tray
(if you use a small tray, you may need 2 trays)
cut the butter into small bits and add them to the biscuit
mash the butter and biscuit use something flat and hard, like a table spoon,
to press the mash to form the base

pour the 2 sachets of gelatin into 500ml of hot water
stir the water with the gelatin in it until it becomes clear
place the piece of philadlephia cheese in a mixing bowl
add the condensed milk and evaporated milk to the cheese
add the squeezed lemon juice
pour the clear gelatin water into the bowl
beat the mixture for about 10 to 15 mins
pour the mixture onto the base in the tray
leave tray in fridge for at least 1 hr

mr & mrs nara in melbourne

nara, my ex-colleague from monk's hill, visited his daughter anu in melbourne. actually, he was there with mrs nara to baby-sit their granddaughter.

their daughter anu taught dentistry at melbourne university while her husband bourke was a mathematics lecturer at monash.

i have taught another of nara's daughter venu who studied in monk's hill. she is now a medical doctor, married and living in scandinavia. another daughter of his, also a doctor, lives in germany.

during ivy's 1st year in melborne she used to stay in a house on the same street as anu.

sunset at port dickson

you can catch beautiful sunsets at port dickson. we stayed at one of the water chalets at avillion, which is located at 3rd mile/4.8km port dickson. the rooms of the hotel all face the sea, the straits of malacca. ours has this opening in the roof and another opening which allows you to see the sea underneath. the boast is that you can see both the sky and sea when you are in the chalet.

i cannot recall how much we actually paid but i think it cost us nearly rm$1000 for the 3-day 2-night stay. on this trip, we had 3 generations of soons with us - soon boon eng, his son paul and his grandson elijah.

we had only one meal in the hotel; the rest of the meals we had outside the hotel. we had very nice seafood dinners at one of the chinese restaurants about 3km from the hotel.

the hotel has a pet farm which is an attraction for the children.

teachers-students gatherings

we have been meeting on a regular basis for more than 10 years already. this group comprises 4 teachers and more than 10 former students of balestier hill secondary school. cannot remember when we first started to meet. the better halves have been integrated into the group.

the annual get-together would normally be held on the 2nd day of cny, and it was usually hosted by jennifer at lentor avenue. but there had been other venues and other occasions. we had met at jalan bumbong (seck yeong's), serangoon garden(hiang kwang's) and upper thomson (albert koh's).

the last house gathering we had was at my place and that was in november 2005. we had also met outside at food courts, karaoke joints and hotels. once we held it at osim centre at jalan ubi (when these pictures were taken). in oct 2004, we had a makan session at bottletree village.

the other excuse/reason when we will arrange to meet is when mary, who has settled in chicago, comes home to visit. mary, who works for united airlines, comes back at least once in 2 years.
these days, it is getting more difficult to fix a day when all can come together because the nature of work requires quite a number of them to travel, and to travel quite often.

members of this group were not from the same class; neither were they from the same cohort. in fact, one of them, albert poh, was from the chinese stream. the one experience/thing that bound them is that they were all members of the school's outdoor activities club (odac) and they all attended the 10-day bbdm camp organised jointly by balestier, broadrick, dunearn and maju secondary schools.