block 852 woodlands - whole block unoccupied, a mystery?


many people, including woodlanders, are unaware that this block of flats in woodlands is virtually unoccupied save for a pap community foundation centre on the ground level.

across the road, from this mysterious block, is the woodlands evangelical free church fondly known to its worshippers as 'the rock'.

each time i pass this block i will look up to look for evidence of human occupation. when i was taking this picture, i checked the windows and found that all were closed; there was no curtain and no sign of human habitation.

all the neighbouring blocks are fully occupied. nobody seems to be able to throw any light on this mystery. i think the woodlands hdb area office will be able to explain this situation.

signs of cavemen's existence

this disgusting ubiquitous symptom appears in every hdb block in every estate in singapore. a symptom of uncivilised living. a symptom of the existence of literate but uneducated singaporeans.

cavemen would just dump their rubbish at a place convenient to them, just outside their caves. these modern caveman also think of his own convenience when he discards his junk mail and other matters. mind you, they are adults, some of whom have benefited (?) from a tertiary kind of education.

these people are not fit to live in flats; they should go back to their ancestors' caves. the dustbin for this unwanted materials is placed within arm's reach, yet they choose to litter the floor.

i think we are still way off from being a first world country.

miniature pineapple

if you don't have the patience to wait two to three years for a pineapple, but would like to grow a miniature pineapple fruit as a novelty, it can be done in about six to eight months. this fruit is edible, but only barely so, as it is of very poor quality and contains very little flesh relative to the core and rind.

this plant was brought in from kluang, johor. every time we visit this relative in kluang, he will take us to his sprawling garden to pick and choose plants for us to take back to singapore. i often have to decline his kind offer because my place is turning into a 'jungle' of sort with potted plants lining both sides of the corridor.

growing pineapples in containers subjects them to about the same problems that afflict other container-grown plants. for example, too little light results in poor growth, poor colour, legginess and a failure to flower without repeated forcing. overwatering is also typical, causing root damage that results in poor growth, yellowing and dying of leaves, and poor to no fruiting. typical houseplant insect pests may be encountered, the most serious being mealybug.

belimbing assam



there is no english name for this fruit but the belimbing asam is a little similar in appearance to the star fruit. the only differences are the size and taste; it is smaller and more sour than the star fruit. apart from this, belimbing assam is also distinguishable by its smooth, unridged, yellowish-green skin, looking a little like a pickle. juicy and acidic, this fruit is used in singapore and malaysia for making pickles which is known in malay as "sunti"; in curries; and stewed as a vegetable. unlike the star fruit, belimbing assam has less market value and is not exported. it is normally grown in the yard for home use.

the belimbing is generally regarded as too acid for eating raw, but in costa rica, the green, uncooked fruit is prepared as a relish which is served with rice and beans. sometimes it is an accompaniment for fish and meat. ripe fruits are frequently added to curries in the far east. the juice is popular for making cooling beverages in the order of lemonade.

mainly, the belimbing is used in place of mango to make chutney, and it is much preserved. to reduce acidity, it may be first pricked and soaked in water overnight, or soaked in salted water for a shorter time; then it is boiled with much sugar to make a jam or an acid jelly. the latter, in malaysia, is added to stewed fruits that are oversweet.

there are three of this fruit tree growing on the patch just next to my block. they form part of the landscape and were planted even before we moved in in 98. no one seems to be harvesting the fruit. sometimes, however, we do see the foreign workers helping themselves to the fruit. after all, if they are not picked, they go to waste.

another food place in woodlands

the stuff that appears on my blog has either to do with food, makan places, nature spots in singapore or reminiscences of my childhood and youthful days. to fill in the gaps, sometimes i will throw in a poem or two that i have composed in the past.

i chanced upon another food outlet in woodlands, along the same road as fazzler, the one that sells smoked salmon. this new place is called foodedge.

the other day when they had a sale i went there and bought a box of double chocolate brownies for $20. the salesperson and cashier related to me a bit of the history of her company and the place. foodedge used to be at bukit batok and the present premises was once occupied by oreo, the biscuit maker. foodedge has been at the woodlands terrace for about a year.

foodedge is a manufacturer of ice cream, cakes, biscuits, vegetable dips and finger food. they sell to retailers, so when you buy from this outlet, you have to buy a whole cake, not parts or pieces.

besides brownies, they also have apple crumble, banana cake, tiramisu, peach cheese cake, almond banana brownies and mango mousse.

ida's gift to her mom on mother's day




both my girls are artistically inclined. however, ida seems to be not only artistic but also the more creative one. ivy displayed her artistic bent when she won the first prize in an art competition when she was in primary school.

ida likes to present us, her parents, with her own creations, artistically done, on our birthdays or on special occasions.

she is the one who designed the class t-shirt for her secondary four graduating class when she was in the bukit view secondary school. now that she is in a jc, she was assigned the task of coming up with the logo for her school's hockey team.

her mother seeks her opinion and ideas on things like colour scheme for the home, the type and design of furniture and things that have to do with the interior design of the home.

but looking at her room, you do not see evidence of this creative streak. rather, you see a room you will associate with someone who does not believe that there should be order in things.

incidentally, ivy did call from australia, in the morning, to wish her mom a happy mother's day.

catching longkang fish and fighting spiders



my earliest and fondest memories are of those when i had a carefree time catching spiders and longkang fish. catching longkang fish was a natural thing to me, a kampong boy. when i was a toddler, i lived in a shop house at upper dickson road. subsequently, we moved to an attap house in kampong chia heng, which has ceased to exist. it has been wiped out from the singapore's street directory.

as a small boy, i would go about bare foot. i remember being cut by broken glasses a few times when i was catching guppies in the drains and canals. i did not have to use a net or any contraption to catch the fish; i used my cupped hands. i would keep the fish in a glass jar and feed them tubifex worms which were in plentiful supply in the same drain as the longkang fish. in those days, the fish was a not a diet for arrowana.

i was also a catcher of champion spiders. i sort of instinctively know where to look for fighting spiders. i did not have to go far. i used to go alone to the clump of bushes just beyond the jewish cemetery to catch these 8-legged creatures. you would know it was a male spider when you saw tiny streaks of white as you steathily parted the leaves of the spider's nest.

i kept the spiders in small metal boxes with some leaves in each box. although the female spiders are not fighters, i would still keep one or two for the carnal pleasures of the males. i knew about this although i did not have the benefit of any sex education.

to nourish the spiders, i would feed them with houseflies that i caught or killed. in those days, there was no dearth of houseflies. they were everywhere. the diet of the spiders can also be mosquitoes or bed bugs.

blue potato @ swissotel merchant court


there is this outlet at swissotel merchant court called the blue potato. we decided to go there for dinner as we did not want to waste our $50 raffles feed coupon and at the same time to enjoy the discount extended to us as holder of the raffles feed cards.

the restaurant, an alfresco kind of concept is tucked away in some corner of the hotel, next to the pool. on a normal day, access to the restaurant is quite straight forward but on wet days, you may need some orienteering skills to get to your checkpoint.

it is a lovely spot. besides an open kitchen, the tiny alfresco area has space for only eight tables nestled between the swimming pool and a landscaped garden. the best positions are the two tables nearest the pool. you get a view of the garden and the hotel tower on one side and clarke quay across the singapore river on the other, all etched against a clean skyline.

the restaurant serves fine-dining western fare such as fillet steak and crab bisque for dinner. at lunchtime, it sticks to lighter snacks and spa-like healthy dishes that go better with the midday heat.

the crab bisque ($10), which came topped with a mussel and some crabmeat, delighted with the robust flavour of a well-reduced soup. we decided on the crab brisque as it reminded us of what we had in a restaurant near the harbour bridge in sydney. for the main course, i opted for fillet steak, medium done.

the waiter who served us seemed to be new to the job but he was very pleasant and he tried very hard to please. the waitress was also attentive and helpful.

with the $50 coupon and the raffles feed card, we paid about $20 for dinner for two persons.

blue potato level 2, swissotel merchant court, 20 merchant road tel: 6239-1899 opening hours: 7am to 10.30pm, dinner starts at 6.30pm

election day - 6 may 2006


my involvement in this general election - the 10th - was made known to me in the week leading up to polling day. i was appointed the premises coordinator. my main duty was to provide technical support for the election teams. originally, mr simon tan was designated the assistant coordinator. as he is no longer with the school, mr rahman was nominated for the post. in reality, mr rahman was the coordinator and i, the assistant.

got up at about 4.30 a.m on polling day. arranged to pick mr maniam at 5.30 a.m. from the bus-stop outside the army camp, opposite chong pang village. reached the meeting place at 5.25 a.m. waited for mr maniam for a short while. he had gone to the coffee shop to buy breakfast of roti prata and coffee.

when we reached school, no one was in sight: no policemen and no polling officers. checked and found everything was in order. nothing had been disturbed. we used the red and white (contractor's) tape to cordon off the area beyond gate b. voters entered the school through gate a and they left the school through gate b. there was a policeman stationed at each of the two gates. only those who needed the wheel chair were allowed access through the main gate. they allowed only cars with invalid passengers to be driven into the school compound.

just before 8 o'clock, we opened the two gates. the very keen voters were outside the gate even before 7.45 a.m. at it longest, the queue stretched beyond the main gate of the school. the peak period was in the morning when the stations first opened. we had two stations - sb27 & sb32. we placed a desk, inside the school, near gate a, so that the policemen could check the bags of voters. those who came with small children had to leave their children at the covered walkway leading to gate a.

everything went on smoothly. mr maniam and i did the early shift; mr rahman and the contract worker mr yap did the other shift, from 1.30 p.m. to 9.00 p.m.

birthday surprise for mdm lim

surprised mdm lim with our presence, a secret recipe chocolate banana cake and a big bouquet of flowers on her birthday. we arrived at her house just before midnight, sneaked into her kitchen and waited for her daughters to trick her to go to the living room, downstairs. she had been in her own room watching the teleccast of the election results.

we had made our way to her place in four cars. daniel came in a taxi. then we drove in a convoy towards her place. daniel had earlier informed her daughters to muzzle the dogs so that our presence would not be announced.

after singing the birthday song, cutting the cake and savouring it, we stayed on to catch the rest of the election results. when the result of aljunied grc was announced, we knew that the score would be 82:2. we left her place soon after the last result was announced. diana and i went to jalan kayu for prata supper, daniel went to rejoin his happy kakis and the rest went home.

you will not be surprised to know who came up with this idea of springing a surprise on mdm lim.

bukit panjang lrt

the bplrt is managed by slrt, a wholly owned subsidiary of the smrt. the stations are on the average between 480m and 580m apart, with the exception of fajar and bangkit, which are 980m apart.

the station that i normally alight at is senja but i prefer to board the train at the bukit panjang station because the waiting time is shorter at this station.

the trains are fully automatic, so there is no driver's cabin. each carriage can carry more than 100 passengers. at peak hours, the trains are packed even with two carriages linked together. that is why i choose to take the bus to school in the morning.

the windows mist over and become opaque when the train go past the apartment blocks so that passengers cannot invade the privacy of the residents.

most passengers either do not understand english or they are adverse to following instructions because every time the announcement: "please allow alighting passengers to move out....and stay clear of the yellow line" is made, you see the crowd surging forward to block the doors. that is another reason why i do not like to travel by train.

the bplrt was officially launched on 6 nov 1999.

get smoked salmon at wholesale price in woodlands

do you know where to go in woodlands to get smoked salmon at wholesale price? go to fassler gourmet at 46 woodlands terrace. it is the first road on your left on your way to block 15. you will pass the 3 kees before you come to this place. the three kees are loy kee, yu kee and boon tong kee.

fassler gourmet boasts a wide range of smoked and marinated seafood products. the claim is that they have over 200 smoked and value added seafood products. (i do not know what they mean by 'value added'.)

among fish, they have salmon, ocean trout, tuna, marlin, swordfish, snowfish, mackerel and garoupa. other seafood products include shell fish, octopus, scallops and lobsters.

i have learnt about this factory from my former student who invited a group of us to her place at robin close for dinner sometime ago. she mentioned that she normally bought her salmon from woodlands. then, the other day my daughter asked if i knew of the place. i told her to get me the address, and with that i managed to track down the location of the factory.

the cold room reminds you of the one at far east flora. they invite you to see the wide range of seafood on offer, stored in this boxed room. it's so cold that they have jackets and long coats available for customers' comfort.

chip bee gardens

used to live, or should i say, stay in a rented 2-storey terrace house at 12 jalan kuning in chip bee gardens. that was before holland village became such a bustling place and rental was at an affordable $400 a month.

when a government agency, i think, it was umbc, took over the administration of the estate, the rental doubled to $800. that was when we decided it was time to move on to cheaper accommodation - a rented hdb flat.

when i got married, we did not have our own hdb flat, so we took over the place from my brother-in-law who had been leasing the place. the 2-storey terrace had a short driveway, just long enough to park a car. at that time, there was a patch of grass at the front. on sunday, when i walked past the house, i saw that the whole driveway had been paved. no more green.

there was a small garden in the backyard where we used to grow vegetables like chye sim, bittergourd and chilli.

the neighbour then was an expatriate who married an asian woman- can't remember if she was a local. they had a precocious daughter named evert. that much i can remember of my stay at the chip bee house.