Pre-Monday blues

Another one bites the dust. Just finished a wedding dinner, hockey teammate got married. Got another key chain as wedding favour.

Weekend is over just like that. Rush...rush...rush....rush...

Direction has not changed through.

I wish for 48 hours a day and boundless energy.

Or at least something that makes things 事半功倍, to earn back the time.

It suddenly hit me, that even as I am blogging - time really is a precious commodity. Any one of you find that you have extra time of your hands, consider selling some to me..pleeeaaassseee......

Sat at the Army Musuem of Singapore

This is an entry which was long overdue. It started on a Sat morning, when I had looked like shit...my mind was still in the morning jammed mode, and hadn't warmed up by the time I reached my pre-arranged location, which explains the poorly taken pics...

Where I was supposed to go...The building really looked quite forbidding, which I guess will be the right feeling to invoke I guess, since it's the Army Musuem of Singapore anyway.

I had to make sure..in case my foggy mind bring me to somewhere else.

Nice sunny day..the lake that divides the ArMS and the Singapore Discovery Center. There were actually those one-man paddling boats (that I recall seeing in the pics when my mum was young)at the other side of that pavilion that you see, but then my half awake mind didn't register to take photo.

Bought lunch while waiting for my friend aka personal guide to come..

Anyway, I had only complains about this place. The food is ordinary but the price they charge is exorbitant. One simple smoked salmon sandwich cost me $6 while a regular coffee $3. Packed your own sandwich and picnic by the lake (got benches at the side) or eat your fill first before going.

Anyway my friend came, finished off the lunch and started off the tour. We started off with the silver collection, which I realised the 2 photos I took didn't do the collection justice. So no photos..but one thing that struck me was that silver is definitely an integral part of the history of any uniform forces which have any part of their history involved with the British colony. I am not sure whether if it's only the British which had this traditional, or it was common among those European countries?

Before the start of the tour, was greeted by the wall mural. According to my guide, the tiles on the walls are recycled from tanks, while the letters, crest and the "mobilisation man"were recycled from catridges(?!)

Steel of Our People

The whole tour was a linear one way, so it was pretty easy to navigate around. After one overturned bus (so surreal, only went to Images of Singapore 1 week ago and saw all the riot scenes), came to the Timeline Wall, which depicted the birth of the Singapore Volunteer Corp to the present day Army.

The crest of the Singapore Volunteer Copr. After it was dismantled from the cast iron gate from the club house, it was actually dumped unceremoniously along the road, until a former volunteer felt quite gek sim..brought home and sprayed gold to prevent rust (it originally was painted in colours).

Heng, if modern day it would have been sold off the scrap metal yard in a blink of an eye.

Making of an soldier..think will bring back a lot of good memories for some guys. A replica of a bunk from P. Tekong, which actually was an actual bunk pulled down. All the wooden planks that made up the wall in this replica were the original. So were the light and fan switches and metal sheets covering the supposedly roof.

What memories were made off..kinda remind me of my metal cabinet which hoards my treasures during the 9 mths training. I used to half open my cabinet door like this, and "giap" my clip fan aiming at myself during those hot stuffy nights.

There was a hoe in one of the display opp the P. Tekong bunk, which I believe a lot of guys see already will "lau bak sai" while thinking back..hahah~ think guys will know what I mean. Again, forgot to take photo :s

An interactive panel at the Atrium that explains to you what are the different units from SAF.

What makes the heart strong..

Anyway what's coming up are the stuffs that made the trip fun... ;) The interactive gallery!!

Can you see what's there?

real size tanks!

Check out those crate like stuff..those are movable crates for seats.






They had two shows:Show 1 'Our Army Now', and Show 2 'A Day in the Life of...'(more details in the ArMS website), where you felt that you were caught within the whole actions. Supposed to have special water and wind special effects, but they were down that day. Unlucky me :s

After that walked through Army Operations, where the story of SQ117 was recounted, and Creating Our Future, on the futuristic take on national defense.

Lastly, the ArMS showcase Our People.

I like this shot the mostest :)








The gallery showcased a show directed by Royston Tan, but didn't get chance to watch.

The whole tour ended with the SAF Pledge, a reminder of what the men of our countries put in their efforts for.

There were really a lot of details which I did not write down, cos there's really so much! Of course, fun and interactive aside, it does hit home, sovereignty is so hard fought. What would have happened if there is any time in the course of history that we slipped and lose the ruling rights to our country.

I think my entry didn't do the whole trip justice, cos it was really more interesting that what appeared here. The only way is to go see for yourself! It's free (well, until end of the year anyway)..just don't go to the cafe :p

The Fool is falling sick...

The Fool
The Fool desires to achieve great things in life, but does not always anticipate the hard work required. Full of curiosity and searching for answers, the Fool symbolizes a new beginning and endless optimism. He must be careful in the decisions he makes, as his lack of experience is often a hindrance. While others may avoid taking on insurmountable odds, The Fool will attempt to accomplish near impossible goals with almost reckless abandon.

I like the endless optimism part, think shall ignore the rest of the para....

Falling sick..must be the 麻辣火锅。Nothing that echinacea cannot fix...

复古豆沙饼店

I had meant to blog about this last week. But over taken by so many things that I did over the weekend (including a tourist's perspective of Sentosa..that one is a story all by itself..I think we have an attraction that can rival Gold Coast Movie World..or at least that's my perception since I had only been to the theme parks there).

Anyway...to start off, a friend from China told me that he finds it weird that Singaporeans are asking him what he has eaten and whether he has tried some famous dishes in Singapore, which led him to wonder why the conversations always revolves around food?!It seems like Singaporeans are obsessed with FOOD. Everything revolves around food - where is the best chicken rice, where is the most delicious 剪刀剪..blah blah..you get my drift. And I realised that I have been blogging about food quite a bit..my Singaporean instinct kicking in.

Anyway, my entry today - TAU SAR PIA :))

It all started with a lunch trip along Balestier last Friday, where a few of us walked out to have lunch.From a threatening overcast sky, it turned into a downpour. Since we didn't want to walk back in the downpour and end up with cold wet trousers for the rest of the afternoon, we decided to go buy tau sar pia from one of the shops at the starting end of Balestier Road, where we recalled got seats so can "lim kopi" while waiting for the rain to stop.

That was how we ended up at 龙发豆沙饼店。

The sign says that the shop has been around for around 40 over years and according to another poster on another wall (I forgot to take), the shop has not renovated since then!

Which explains this...

Marble top kopi table plus wooden chairs

And this...

High-back wooden booths
(one auntie came out of the baking area when she noticed that I was taking photo. I thought she was going to scold me, but then she was very excited and told me "这里很多人来坐这边拍结婚照的！“　I was like -.-" ...lost for words at that moment)

I forced Alex to sit at the booth for effect. He refused to pose :/ (NS not easy nowadays...hahahhaah~)

Quaint right??

The real stars came shortly....traditional kopi/teh/kopi-o + egg tart + FRESHLY BAKED TAU SAR PIA! How I know they were freshly baked? (hint - look at the second photo)

Bought 5 back to try..and mum liked them (so did I..regretted not buying more). Looking forward to the next time to go lim kopi there again!

歪理

"I wanted a perfect ending. Now I've learned, the hard way, that some poems don't rhyme, and some stories don't have a clear beginning, middle, and end. Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what's going to happen next. Delicious Ambiguity" – Gilda Radner

似是而非的歪道理。

船到桥头自然直。可是船如果都没尝试舵往到桥头，它怎么自然直。

不知道要自己要什么的时候，只会耗自己的时间，耗别人的时间。这样的观念，造就的生活，会像那句话讲的，回味无穷吗。

没兴趣。

Thurs Escapade

Began as a normal Thurs.

Then things started to get interesting after morning coffee (I'm practically zomb before my bitter medicine in the morning).

Escapade 1

Went to Munch for lunch to meet a friend.This was actually the second time I went to Munch,the first time forgot to take photos at all, so no point blogging. This time I remember ;)

And quite glad that my smart friend grabbed a seat just outside the restaurant, where I can sit down and snapped this shot. Cos I realised that THERE ARE REALLY A LOT OF PEOPLE IN SHENTON WAY. I would have felt quite conscious if I had to stand outside and take photograph, people might think that I am quite mad...

Basically Munch is a salad bar kind of small cafe, but they do sell sandwiches (and I think soba as well?) But anyway I love the whole concept of nibbling at stuff in a big bowl(some people like to gobble, but yes, I love to nibble..)

I took this photo to remind myself what I had today..lemme see..
(i) Roasted sweet potato

(ii) cherry tomato & olive

(iii) grilled mushroom

(iv) romaine lettuce

(v) waldorf salad
:D

Downside is that it's quite pricey at $8 plus per bowl for the monstersize portion (plus petrol for driving down + parking ). But definitely something that I will think of if I drop by that part of town ( I will also remember Amoy market during lunch time but that is for another reason altogther..the tissue packs! I seriously had hell of a culture shock when I had to lunch at Amoy once :s)

Other than the nibbles, lunch was great cos of the conversation. It's nice when someone is on the same wavelength 关于 人事物, the conversation can just go non-stop. I had moments when I was talking with my mouth full..darn..so unladylike..maybe nibbles is not something good to go when you have a lot to talk about.hahah~

Anyway after the fulfilling lunch it was work all the way. Didn't even have pantry break; another downside to eating all the fibre is that they really somehow digest faster.

Escapade 2

Then it was rushing down to Delta SC for the International Hockey Challenge. The Singapore and Malaysia women's game started at 6pm, so only managed to catch the second half. All I can say, GO GIRLS! Another 2 more to go! (I miss the days of competing..)

Darn, gg to miss tomorrow's game Sing vs the Aussies. Want to watch the Aussies powerful field play..

Escapade 3

Ended the day with a nice finger food dinner at Oosh. This time can have my mojito! But quite disappointing, not sugary or minty enough. And next time I shall remember - must reserve trellis 9 next time to overlook the pool.

Overall another satisfying day ;)))

I am thinking of...

beachy resorts

diving

sun

sand

mojito (or cheap beer for the matter...singha?bintang also can)

slippers

tan lines

tattoo

massage






But need to do what needs to be done first..

Bookmooch + Fluff pet!

Whenever I see an email from Bookmooch,my heart aches.

For the uninitiated, www.bookmooch.com is the depository for all the book lovers around the world to list the books they have, and the books they want. Sent a few books myself - singapore, usa, finland.

And of course, I listed the books that I want to read in the website. So whenever someone list those books in the website, I will receive an alert from Bookmooch to mooch the books if I want.

BUT I HAVE NO TIME TO READ!!!

That's what causing the heartaches =((

I used to standby one book at anyone time, and grab to read - before sleep most of the time, on holiday etc..Now when I see a good book review, remembered Ian Rankin, see another bookmooch email on another Issac Asimov book, my heart aches.............

Think I will continue to list the books in bookmooch, so that one day I shall look at the list and read all the books one shot. By the beach in some beachy resort.

Till then...heartaches.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

And partly the reason that I dont have time to read before sleep...I am addicted to my fluff pet in facebook :p

I am still trying to figure out what is her fav food..and I will definitely race her more often ( and not lose to a tortise!Lose munny!)

犯贱right...hahahah~

Random thoughts

Life is quite a weird journey.

We all can choose so many different paths in life. Peppered with different emotions, although all branching out from 喜，怒，哀，乐, but end results can be so vastly different like different projectiles going all different directions.

I am what I am now, cos of choices made 5 years back with all ensuring emotions roller-coaster rides. 5 years later, I will be what I will be of choices made now. "Sliding Doors" come into mind again..

We are so conditioned by what we are accustomed to - things we used to see, people whom we know, the way things were done. Preconceived notions somehow are just hard to shake away. "You cant teach an old dog new tricks".

Even if there are no major changes in my life, when I am not making a conscious effort, I am already changing - just a matter of making a concerted effort to engineer the change towards something which I want, or just let things take its course?

In today's context, the only constant is change.

Scary. Watch the world change, or to join the world in changing?

Rolling stone gather no moss.

I think if someone stands still at Raffles Place during lunch time, a lot of people will be staring at him like he's some kind of weirdo. Everybody is moving, and moving, and moving........gather no moss. But are we getting anything out of moving so much?

I ponder more nowadays. Esp in the car.

Moment of Self Reflection

Date - 6 Oct
Time - 2245-2300hrs
Location - Somewhere along AYE

Reflection 1
Listening to 950fm, where the station is blasting all the retro hits. Thought of the crowd at Spinelli's earlier, and my question to C - "Why is Spinelli's so crowded?" (at 10pm at night, Spinelli's was having a brisk business to a full house crowd of coffee-drinkers; but on second thoughts, most of them were just lounging around, not sure whether if they would have bought more than 1 cup each and then just occupied the tables). C replied that "What's there to do in Singapore?"

Everybody has the same 24 hrs. The same few hours I spent at Orchard Road, had a different outcome to the same few hours those people would have spent sitting at Spinelli's amongst the coffee and stale cigarette air. The same 24 hours will never come back again, and the next 24 hours will lead to another 24 hrs, and another 24 hrs, and another 24 hrs...



Reflection 2

The few hours in Orchard Road was spent hunting down a pair of skinny jeans for Ms V. The eventual pair was a great deal at Giordano, which has produced quite a good range of ladies' jeans. Too dogmatic in my approach to thinking the best pair of jeans can only be found in other shops than the staple Hong Kong chain, I realised that I am like horse with blinds - suffering from tunnel vision and lack the most important thing - 用心观察，用心体会.

I really must change this.

Reflection 3

一个人能为他的遗憾奋斗多少？
Some may think it's time to move on, some will think that one shouldn't live with regret. Whatever the decision, I am sure that the reasoning behind it is all logical. And I admire the person whatever the decision. It's never easy to live with the choices one make in life and and all ensuring events subsequently.


p/s - Lunchers, I checked out the blog already..well, it's her blog :p

The Accidental Cafe

Was supposed to meet a friend at Vivocity on Monday afternoon (on leave on leave...not eat snake..). But had to look for a place to wait for her. I would hv thought that Starbucks will be the easiest to find, but I turned almost every corner and still cant see the green mermaid(?!)

Somehow 误打误撞found this place call Coudory Cafe. It was in one ulu corner away from the main atrium, and if I hadn't walk past it I wouldn't have known it existed. And it turned out that it was a nice surprise, cos I like the place very much!!!



























The place looks quite "Broadway", but I especially like the chandelier. You cant really see in the pic, but I took one of those cushy armchair seats..super comfy on a monday afternoon when you know your compatriots are slogging for the nation's good in office :p

The food is normal bistro fare. There are main dishes, but not too hungry, so got soup and quiche...and of course, my "bitter medicine" - a cup of long black

Lazy monday afternoon...not much people to crowd the cafe.















Think I have found a nice cosy place to read book in next time. On the plushy armchair facing Sentosa with a cup of coffee and maybe some comforting soup :)))