self-drive - perth to melbourne,
across the nullarbor plain

another thing that i had wanted to do when i retire was to drive across the desert in australia. but having done some 'research' and after talking to kok weng, i have decided that it is not something that is worthwhile doing.

i talked to kok weng because he has done it twice. i have also read reviews posted by other travellers who have driven across either way, perth to melbourne and melbourne to perth. one time, kok weng drove from perth to adelaide. the other time, he drove, or rather his son tseng san drove, all the way to melbourne.

according to kok weng, there is no need to stock up on petrol and water. with a full tank at norseman in western australia, they were able to drive the rented new toyota camry all the way to ceduna in south australia, a distance of around 1200 km. they did not do any driving along the desert route at night. however, siew hua, my former colleague at monk's hill, drove at night. with an all women crew, they took turns to drive non-stop from sydney to perth.

it is not advisable to drive at night because of the kangaroos and other nocturnal animals. i asked kok weng if the road trains posed any threat. these gigantic trucks hurtle along at speed in excess of 100km/hr. according to him, these thundering vehicles, which churn up a lot of dust and sand, only cause slight lateral movement to your vehicle as they pass you.

the desert road has the longest stretch of straight road in australia, some 146km. however, it does not mean that there is a chance for you to speed. along the way, they were stopped more than once by the highway patrol for exceeding the speed limit.

why i decided to abort my plan of driving across the nullarbor plain. first, i do not have to stamina to cover 1200km in one day. even if i take a break - by staying overnight at a motel - i still will have to cover 600km in one day, which is still too taxing for me. the other reason is that there is not going to be much sightseeing along the way.

chinese new year goodies for freddie


kimmy contacted me again. she wanted my help to pass chinese new year goodies like pineapple tarts, love letters and kueh bangkit to freddie kee. this has been going on for several years -since the time freddie left admiralty primary. kimmy told me that she felt indebted to freddie because he was the principal who gave her a second chance to prove herself.

i find this arrangement very awkward. she presents a whole bag of goodies to freddie and i, whom she also considers a friend, does not get any, not even a token. i used to joke with freddie, saying i would impose a 'tax' for my services.

this year, i told kimmy: and i don't get anything? she laughed and said: okay, lah, okay. i'll give you some also. she is doing relief teaching at qihua primary, so i will go to the school to collect the goodies from her and pass them to freddie whom i am meeting on sunday because a mutual friend is giving us a retirement dinner at tung luk.

i still remember how kimmy and her late sister got out of their chartered taxi and asked the driver to take us (my family of four) from jonker's street to hotel renaissance in melaka on a hot and humid day. we had been trying to hail a taxi when this one suddenly stopped in front of us and two ladies stepped out. we were so grateful to them for this kind gesture.

small group meeting @ jelapang

because of lay bee's restrictive mobility, the farrer park small group - which normally holds its fortnightly bible study sessions at gloucester road - opted to have it at jelapang road. it was also an occasion to celebrate anna's birthday as well as a send-off dinner for colin, grace and their three children, who are migrating to adelaide in february 2007.

as usual, the arrangement for dinner was pot-luck style. each member contributed some food item/s. lay bee bought the peranakan's ang koo kueh from upper thomson road and got me to buy fishballs, fried wanton, swiss rolls and banana cakes from block 15 woodlands loop. sabrina's contributions included roast chicken, small pau and gyoza (chinese dumplings). the indian rojak, pizzas, soon kueh and black glutinous rice porridge (orh bee muay) came from grace. stella bought goreng pisang.

the meeting which started at around 8.00 p.m. ended around 11.00 p.m. it was nearly mid-night when the last family left.

abc food centre @ bukit merah

i drove lay bee's car to the borneo motor's workshop at leng kee road for its 10 000km servicing. while waiting for the car to be ready, i walked to abc food centre. this upgraded food centre at bukit merah seems to have more than its fair share of award winning food stalls.

one of the first stalls that greets you as you enter the food centre is the boneless chicken rice stall which has earned a string of awards. across it is the crispy roti prata stall manned by an elderly chinese woman. next to it is ong's kitchen curry. opposite the curry stall is guan poh cuisine whose speciality is hor fun. the stall in between the chicken rice and guan poh cuisine is one that sells sugar cane, soya bean and beancurd. it has also garnered some award.

going on to the next row, you have jasons's penang cuisine and swee kee's wanton mee. there is also a branch of chong pang nasi lemak. yong kee fish bee hoon, sin sin porridge and amoy street prawn noodles - all have the word 'famous' in their names.

i did not eat at any of the stalls. instead i bought pan chiang kueh (chinese pancake) from this lady whom i have been buying from for more than ten years. she first had a stall at bendemeer food centre, then she moved to ghim moh food centre and now, she is at abc bukit merah.

lunch at chinatown temporary food centre

victor had arranged for me to meet his friend patrick who is knowlegeable in financial investment and management. met victor, helen and victor's regular makan kakis for lunch at chinatown temporary food centre which is next to the outram mrt station. according to victor, the outram prison was adjacent to the site of the temporary food centre.

as the renovation of the chinatown food centre and market at smith street has been in progress since 2006, this is the make-shift site of chinatown's wet market, sundry food stalls and food centre.

every wednesday, victor will meet up with this particular group of friends and they will have lunch at a different location each wednesday. for example, next wednesday, they are meeting at amoy street food centre.

today, four members of the group had fish head bee hoon. the other three, including myself, had rice with fish head, bean sprouts and sweet and sour pork.

after the meal, we adjourned to pearl centre level 4 where the yangtze cineplex is located. found out that this cineplex screened ra films. saw a lot of ah peks among the patrons but did not see any female going into the theatres. there are four theatres, each screening a different ra show in a different language, namely, english, mandarin, japanese and filipino (tagalog).

it gives me an idea. i could apply to work as an usher here and get to watch x-rated shows for free.

can fish think?

i think they are capable of making decisions. my pet goldfish - when i first have them - will disappear every time i approach the bowl. the moment they see my shadow or my shape, they will dash helter skelter and hide themselves among the pebbles. this reaction of theirs will be replayed over a few days. but, once they come to know that i do not pose a threat or a danger, they will stay their ground. in fact, in time, they will look forward to and eagerly await my presence.

when i went to feed the fish in the pond at bukit batok nature park this morning, the tiny ones would nibble at the bread crumbs. as babies, they are still blissfully unaware of the dangers in the real world. after a while, when everything seemed safe, the slightly bigger fish would make their presence felt. they would make loud splashes and snatch the crumbs in one gulp. but, the bigger ones would still stay away, playing a wait and see game.

this behaviour of the bigger fish may be explained in several ways. they are more experienced and therefore, they are more cautious. they do not act rashly; they study the situation carefully before embarking on the proper course of action. or they are more patient. or they are not as hungry as the little ones.

however, there is also this thing called herd instinct. i have also seen shoals of fish attacking, in a frenzied manner, the food that is thrown to them. these are fish that are used to being fed by humans on a regular basis. i witnessed this when i fed the kois at hausmann fish farm in lim chu kang.

incidentally, at hausmann fish farm, you can see a few giant fresh water fish in two huge tanks. one of the arapaimas is about 2.44 metres (8 feet) long.

bottle tree park @ yishun


dropped in at bottle tree park today. as i was driving, i went in by lorong chencharu, off sembawang road. there are signboards at strategic points to guide you to the place. it's difficult to miss it. if you take the train or bus, it is more convenient to enter by yishun avenue 2.

saw the crowd and made a quick exit. did not even bother to park the car. the prawn pond, the longkang pond and the fishing pond were all bustling with people. the restaurant was also packed.

it would seem, of the three types of fishing, prawn fishing was the most popular. saw a big crowd at the prawn pond. i suppose on weekends, the longkang pond will attract its intended customers - the children.

the restaurant serves breakfast, lunch and dinner and the park is open until 12.00 midnight. longkang fishing costs $10, prawn fishing, $14.50 for the first hour and in the case of fresh water pond fishing, for $35.00 you can fish from 8.00 a.m. to 5.00 p.m.

saw mr neo, one of the partners/owners, supervising the renovation. work is still going on to add other facilities and attractions to the place. the lease for the park is eight year period.

forture restaurant @ bukit timah


had dinner at this zhe char restaurant along bukit timah road. it has expanded to include a steamboat section.

this restaurant, with a misspelt word, has been around for quite some time. when the turf club was at bukit timah road, a lot of cars, especially taxis, would be parked along the stretch of road outside the restaurant.

each time i eat there, i will come across a number of expatriates/caucasians having their meals there or buying take-aways. i have often wonder where they come from and how they come to know about the good food at this restaurant.

i did not eat their signature herbal chicken or the thai style fried fish. i had sambal kangkong, tom yam soup and thai style pork knuckles. at this restaurant, you can also order satay from a malay couple who operates a stall at the side of the restaurant.

bunion operation

lay bee went for a bunion removal operation on the day that ivy was returning to melbourne. her operation was originally scheduled at 11.00 a.m. but was postponed to 3.00 p.m. as her orthopedic surgeon had to attend to an emergency.

when the joint between the big toe and the foot sticks out abnormally, it is often described as a bunion. the soft tissues around this affected joint can become inflamed, leading to 'bursitis'.

bunions are generally preventable and treated by wearing more appropriate footwear, and rarely require surgery.

a bunion occurs as a result of a deformity in the big toe known as hallux valgus, where hallux means the big toe and valgus means abnormal bending towards the other toes.

hallux valgus occurs when the foot bone that joins with the big toe (the metatarsal) becomes displaced inwards (towards the centre of the body). this tends to force the joint out against the inside of footwear. the sac, or bursa, that lies over the joint is irritated as a result. inflammation of the bursa (bursititis) contributes to the swelling of a bunion.

hallux valgus, resulting in bunions, affects 10 women to every one man. this may be because genetic and anatomical factors predispose women to developing the condition. but the main reason appears to be that women are more likely than men to wear ill-fitting shoes. the chance of having bunions is greater if one or more parents had them too.

high-heeled shoes, in particular, put abnormal strains on the bones and muscles of the foot. and shoes that push the toes together, force the big toe into a hallux valgus position.

hallux valgus and bunions are much more common with increasing age.

an operation on the toes can be uncomfortable for a time, and there is a risk of experiencing pain in the long term. but recovery from the operation is generally rapid and there is a very good chance that the symptoms of the bunion will be completely relieved.

milkfish





i was at lim chu kang jetty when i saw some people loading about twenty crates of milkfish onto a lorry. lim chu kang jetty is located at the end of lim chu kang road. the jetty is for offshore kelong (fishing traps) and several fish farms to transfer caged culture fish to lorries on the mainland.

the milkfish came from the nearby fish-farms. the buyer was teaching someone how to cook the fish. according to him, you should bend the body of the fish a few times before you steam it with cut ginger and a bit of light soya sauce. he mentioned that this was the same fish that was being sold as ikan bakar in batam for $2 a fish.

the milkfish is very popular with the filipinos. the fish is called bangus in the philippines. because the milkfish is notorious for being much too bony compared to other food fish, deboned milkfish or "boneless bangus" has become popular and they are common in stores and markets.

the milkfish is comparable to a herring or a grey mullet in size. it is a plankton eater with metallic-silvery basic colouring and blue-green markings on top and under. fine small scales dress the streamlined body. it has big eyes and a long fork-shaped tail fin. in markets, the milkfish is normally offered in a size of 10 -15 cm length and a weight of 75–500 grams. however as a fish in natural habitat, it can reach a weight of 22.6kg, a length of 180 centimetres (!) and a maximum-age of 15 years.

a biologist once determined that a milkfish has 66 bigger and smaller bones. removal of the bones can be a problem. but there are reports that the bones lose their risks when they are cooked in vinegar-water. the milkfish eats primarily algae and other micro-plankton. sometimes they also feed on worms and fish-eggs. therefore it is not necessary for the fish to have teeth but they do need longer intestines.

ida, the navigator


ida was the navigator during my drive in and around kuala lumpur. i have this phobia of getting lost in kl. that's why every time we are in kl, we will leave the car parked in the hotel and rely on public transport to move around. this has been the case ever since we started driving to the malaysian capital in the 80s. once, we got so hopelessly lost that we had to pay a taxi driver to lead us to our destination.

she can read the map much better than ivy. ivy claimed that she was inept at map reading. when i made a wrong turn and got onto another road, ida was able to redirect me to the correct road. she was also able to point out to me the shortest route to take to our destination.

i think her visual-spatial intelligence is superior to ivy's.

spatial intelligence manifests in a variety of ways. transforming mental images is a spatial skill that engineers and designers depend on. when a hiker pauses with map and compass, it is the spatial intelligence that conceptualizes the path. through the spatial sense, a painter "feels" the tension, balance and composition of a painting. spatial ability is also "the more abstract intelligence of a chess master, a battle commander or a theoretical physicist" , as well as the familiar ability to recognize objects, faces, and details.

spatial intelligence is easy to find in any community--architects, contractors, and engineers have it. so do most carpenters and many other trades people.

weekend trip -
kuala lumpur

over the weekend (13 & 14 jan) drove up to kl on saturday and returned to singapore on sunday. ostensibly, it was to do some shopping in kl but i think ivy had another objective - to give her friend ian ,who was in kl, a lift back to s'pore.

we set off at 7.30 a.m. stopped at machap for breakfast. it rained all the way, up to melaka. the highway was not affected by the floodwater but the low-lying areas on both sides of the highway in johor were under water. kl was dry throughout; not a drop of rain fell during our two days there.

we made our 'compulsory' stop at pagoh, a place where we always stopped when we drove upcountry ever since the north-south highway was opened. pagoh was the southern most toll plaza when the highway was first ready. after that, came yong peng, before the whole length of the north south highway was fully open.

i had booked online the federal hotel. all those silly talks about the place being haunted did not affect my choice. paid rm$240 for the deluxe room. we added another bed, paying rm$80 for it. i had indicated that we would arrive at 3.00 p.m which was the check-in time. however, we arrived earlier than expected. we reached there at 12.30 p.m. after leaving our bags with the hotel people, we walked to lot10 for lunch.

did some shopping at lot10 and sungei wang before returning to the hotel to get the key to our room. had to wait another forty minutes before we could enjoy the comfort of our room. took a cab to mid valley. metered fare there was rm$6.40. return fare was rm$8.10. had dinner of bbq stingray, oyster omelette and dried chilli chicken at jalan aloy. bought cakes from secret recipe for supper.

on sunday morning, i got up at 6.40 a.m. and walked to puduraya, the bus interchange, to have breakfast. i was to walk there again later with ida. after her breakfast, we walked on to petaling street, china town. ivy went to attend a church service at petaling jaya (pj) with her melbourne friends.

there was the usual jam at the causeway. had a battle of nerves with the driver of a mercedes benz. he was trying his utmost to squeeze me out of my place. i refused to budge; in the end, he had to concede and allow me have my rightful place in the queue.

defensive driving




almost got into a disagreement with a car coming in the opposite direction as i rounded a bend. put the total blame on the vehicle that had been ahead of me. i was behind this vehicle when it started to slow down. it slowed to a crawl and hesitated about halting. then further ahead, it slowed down again and this time, activated the hazard lights. naturally, i filtered right to move ahead and overtake. it then decided to move on as i was abreast with 'his' vehicle. i did not get the chance to see the nut who was driving, so i assumed it was a male driver.

the driver of the car that was coming towards me in the opposite direction had to be cursing me for being so reckless as i accelerated to move out of his path. i did not have the chance to stop to explain the situation to him as it was raining quite heavily.

one of the first thing you learning in defensive driving is to regard every motorist on the road as an idiot. if you accept that everyone makes driving errors, the logical thing to do is to drive with a wary attitude. be careful of approaching red lights, because you know a light by itself never stopped anyone. watch out for folks getting ready to pull out from parking beside the road. look for gaps in lines of traffic which might be the result of someone pausing to let another vehicle cross in front of them.

there are others: failure to signal a lane change or turn, or tailgating someone when they are poking along because they need to make a turn—a turn they suddenly will make when they see it at the last second. you can think of dozens of others. be alert to the possibilities and have a strategy in mind for dealing with them.

swedish sailing ship - gotheborg

we took pictures with the gotheborg in the background.

the gotheborg is a full-scale replica of an 18th century swedish sailing ship. it has been moored next to vivocity since 30 december 2006.

the gotheborg is rebuilt mostly by hand with the same techniques, materials and building methods based on drawings and the excavated wreckage of the forerunner that sank in 1745.

it took more than 10 years to build new gotheborg before it set out to her expedition to china.

the gotheborg has visited spain, brazil, south africa, australia, indonesia and china. it is due to return to sweden in june 2007.

vivo city, at last


after all the hype, i finally made it to the much talked about and written about shopping complex in singapore, vivocity. seemed like i had to wait until ivy came back from melbourne to find the excuse to go there.

vivocity was built on the site of the exhibition halls of the former world trade centre, now known as harbourfront. it was officially opened on 1 december 2006 by mr dhanabalan.

as it was lunch time, we headed straight for level 3 where food republic is located. it has a retro ambience, much like the one at wisma atria. on a weekday, there is no problem finding a place to sit. as i paid for the food, i could understand why people were not crowding the food court.

a bowl of kway chap (blanco court's) cost $4.20, 30% more than normal. the kway chap's soup was salty and the intestines did not taste as good as those from the blanco court's days. ivy had chong pang's nasi lemak, also $4.20, and ida had chicken rice and some tim sum. i find the food so-so but i feel the prices have been jacked up a bit too high.

we spent about two hours at vivocity, visiting shops like gap, mango, g2000 and tangs. ivy bought 2 pairs of pants and a blouse.

krispy kreme doughnuts from australia

ivy hand carried 2 boxes of krispy kreme doughnuts (24 pieces) and one box (5 kg) of tasmanian cherries when she came back from melbourne for her one week stay in singapore. ida had asked for the doughnuts and lay bee, the cherries.

krispy kreme originated in the usa in 1937, about 70 years ago. in 2001, it started its first store outside the usa, in canada. besides the stores that krispy kreme operate in the united states and canada, there are also franchised stores in the united kingdom, australia, kuwait, mexico, south korea, hong kong, indonesia, the philippines and japan.

the first krispy kreme store in australia opened in sydney in 2003. in the state of victoria, australia, when the store first opened in june 2006, people had waited for three days creating a drive through line over two kilometres long. the drive through line did not stop until about three weeks after the opening and the internal store was constantly forced to remove people from the building after closing hours.

the signature doughtnut is the original glazed (top picture). it is best that you eat it hot. other varieties include glazed cinnamon, glazed lemon filled, glazed crueller, glazed blueberry, glazed sour cream, glazed creme filled, cinnamon apple filled, chocolate iced glazed, chocolate iced with sprinkles, chocolate iced kreme filled, chocolate iced grazed crueller, chocolate iced custard filled and the dulce de leche.

according to lay bee, her nephew in los angeles has five original glazed doughnuts for breakfast each time. many visitors to the states buy back the krispy kreme doughnuts as 'food souvenirs'.

fun with video camera & tripod stand




like i told some of my ex-colleagues, if i should feel bored with too much time on my hand, i could always create some fun and excitement by using my video camera with a tripod stand. i could set this equipment up at any overhead bridge and direct the camera on oncoming traffic. it would be interesting to watch the reactions, especially of speedsters and reckless drivers.

another way of having fun would be to position myself with my digital camera near some pedestrian crossing and train the camera at vehicles approaching the crossing. like i told diana, no one could stop you from taking pictures in a public place. drivers, who think they own the roads, will fall in place when they see the camera/camera-man.

i read in the papers of people who objected to the photographying of people committing traffic offences or manifesting inconsiderate behaviour and exposing these misdeeds by publishing the pictures. those against this practice, proffered the opinion that education was the way to change things. how many years of education do these recalcitrant people need! these are adults who have had, maybe, ten years or more of education!

if you can recall there was, many years ago, this picture of the wife of a well-known restaurant chain owner who parked her prestigious car in a lot reserved for handicapped people. immediately after this 'public shaming' and an ensuing outcry over her actions, motorists, who were aware of the incident, avoided using lots meant for disadvantaged people.

this little shaming did go a long way. even up to today, people are wary of parking their vehicles in a lot marked with a wheel chair logo.

pongal - the harvest festival

not many non-indians in singapore know much about this festival celebrated by the indian community. most of us know about deepavali and thaipusam and some may know about thimithi.

pongal is celebrated in january each year. the exact day is 14 january. this festival has its origin in south india where farming is a major activity. pongal is the celebration of a good harvest. in singapore, pongal is also celebrated as the commencement of the auspicious tamil month of thai.

during pongal, there is a lively street bazaar (complete with cows!) and nightly cultural performances along campbell lane. this year, the cattle parade will be held on 16 january at 6.30 p.m.

pongal is celebrated over four days. however, over at campbell lane, the festival will last from 6 january to 16 january. from the 8 to the 13, there will be a cultural performance by a different group each night, from 7.30 p.m. to 9.30 p.m. on 14 january, there is a talentime and variety show.

langsat - little known tropical fruit



if you are into exploring the lim chu kang farm area, you will come across the langsat trees lining both sides of the road, along certain lanes (roads).

the langsat originated in west malaysia and is common both wild and cultivated throughout the archipelago. on the island of luzon in the philippines where the fruit is very popular, the tree is being utilised in reforestation of hilly areas. it is much grown, too, in southern thailand and vietnam and flourishes in the nilgiris and other humid areas of south india where the fruit is plentiful in local markets.

langsats in malaysia generally bear fruit twice a year- in june and july and again in december and january or even until february. in india, the fruit ripens from april to september but in the philippines the season is short and most of the fruit is off the market in less than one month.

langsats are perishable and spoil after four days at room temperature. they can be kept in cold storage for two weeks at 11.11º-12.78º c and relative humidity of 85-90%. sugar content increases over this period, while acidity rises only up to the 7th day and then gradually declines

the peel of the langsat is easily removed and the flesh is commonly eaten out-of-hand or served as dessert, and may be cooked in various ways.

singapore police force's
car decal on windscreen



in singapore, it is not uncommon to see ordinary vehicles bearing the s'pore police force sticker or decal on the windscreen. sometimes, i wonder if the owners of all such vehicles are members of the police force. or are these simple-minded singaporeans who think that just because they display a police force sticker, they can get away with traffic offences like illegal parking and other infringements of the law? or do they think that the parking wardens will overlook their offence because they are or related to law enforcement officers?

if these vehicles belong to undercover agents, the sticker would easily blow away their cover. which means that some taxi drivers are policemen in disguise because i have seen this decal on some taxis.

do these people think that they can obtain preferential treatment by their association? i am reminded of my friend, who was a assistant superintendent in the police cadet corp. each time, he drove into malaysia, he would leave his police cap on the back dashboard of his car. he told me that he had been waved on at police stops. at the customs, he also enjoyed faster clearance.

a muslim friend of mine used to leave his prayer mat in a conspicious position in the boot of his car. according to him, each time the officer asked him to open the boot and on seeing the mat, he would stop asking further questions.

breakfast with shamini
on day 2 of my retirement

my former colleague from balestier hill secondary, who retired at the same time, kept asking me how i was going to spend the first day of my retirement. i did not look upon this first day as a momentous day. to me, it was just like any other day. i got up early, at 5.30 a.m., and after lay bee had left for school, i went for a walk around the estate.

coming back from the walk, i did what i routinely do on a weekend or during the school holidays. i watered the plants, swept and mopped the floor, cleared the trash and cleaned up the dog's mess. did some marketing at ntuc because i was cooking lunch and dinner. drove ida to holland village in the evening.

on day 2, i met up with shamini for breakfast. picked her from her place at blk 153 bishan st 13. took her to this coffee shop at blk 21 sin ming drive. this coffee shop is also home to an award winning hainanese chicken rice stall. had two plain pratas with fish curry.

she had to be at admiralty at 11.30 a.m. to help out with the primary one pupils. as it was still too early for her, decided to show her some of the nature spots in that area. drove past lower peirce and headed for upper peirce. she vaguely remember having been there many years ago.

she was so fascinated by the long tailed macaques, especially the tiny ones clinging to their mothers. took some pictures of them with her mobile phone. in spite of all the exhortations, people are still feeding the monkeys. we saw a number of them eating oranges. the fruit could not have come from our forests.

adjusting running style


i started running seriously when i joined the teachers' training college in 1968. prior to that, i had taken part in a cross-country race when i was in pre-university. i was more into middle distance events. i helped to organise and i took part in the cross country and road relay events. on the track, i participated in the 1500 metres, 2000m steeplechase, 3000m and the 5000m.

when i picked up the sports, i did not know anything about pacing, arm movements, leg movements, stride length, forward lean and so on. i just ran. in time i realised that my running style was not very efficient. i ran with my feet sprayed; in other words, the feet were pointing outwards instead of pointing straight ahead.

my colleague, who was a state runner, pointed out my fault to me. i set about to rectify my uneconomical style of running. i made a conscious effort to walk with my feet pointing right ahead. and, over time, it became second nature to me. today, when i walk, i do not have my feet pointing to the side.

crew cut is not botak (bald)




ida paid $136 for a haircut with tinting at a neighbourhood beauty salon and came off regretting the outcome. reminded me of a similar experience i had when i was in primary school. my mother had asked me to have my hair cut very short.

i went to this malay barber who operated his barber stand under a tree near the former rangoon road primary school. i paid fifty cents for the haircut. i did not know how to convey to him what i had wanted. i needed a crew cut. instead, i told him i wanted a 'botak' cut.

had to be one of the easiest styles of haircut for the barber to execute. in fact, there was no style and no technique involved. the barber just razed the hair off the head. it was over in no time. i was in a daze because i had not expected the result.

when i got home, i became the laughing stock of the whole village. just like when i saw ida outside the salon, i could not help suppressing a laugh. she looked so 'lian' with the dyed hair and sparse fringe. for me, i tried to hide the look by wearing a large handkerchief, knotted at the four corners, on my head. it did not help much, but at least i did not feel 'naked'.

i had to go to school in my new look and had to bear the brunt of tauntings and jokes for nearly a month.

fireworks @ the esplanade

wow! what a start to the new year 2007 and a new milestone in my life! i am so glad that i made my way to marina south to watch the fireworks. previously, the crowds, the wait and the jams after the event would have put me off.

after dropping ida at leonie hills, i drove to marina south to where i figured was the vantage point to catch the firework display. already, at 10.45 p.m. a long line of vehicles was making its way to the car parks. there was a slight drizzle but the crowd was not deterred.

i walked towards the waterfront but eventually ended up at the side of the east coast parkway, the same road i had taken enroute to marina south. the police were doing a good job, keeping everyone in line. across the road, on the other side, vehicles were deliberately slowingly down as the bewitching hour drew nearer.

i could see the two buildings - one raffles quay and ntuc centre - from which some of the fireworks would be launched. at 11.30 p.m., we were teased with small, short spurts launched from around the two buildings.

we had to wait until about two minutes past midnight before the actual display came into effect. the sky was illuminated with colourful sprays for the next ten minutes. initially, i was snapping away with my digital camera but after a while, i decided that i should enjoy the exhilarating performance instead. like all firework displays, the climax was the best, almost earth shattering!