A Tourist’s Perspective

February 24, 2007 Leave a comment

 
The feeling of homecoming is a very sweet one. I am unable to describe the kind of feeling every time I step into the Arrival Hall at Changi Airport. It just feel so good – cos I know there are many loved ones waiting for me on the other side of the glass wall.
 
This is my happiest home trip. The last 8 days were superb. I spent a great deal of time with my family and friends – every day is a unique and meaningful one. Somehow this trip, I balanced my time very well – spending good quality time with my loved ones. House-visiting at Juli’s and Sam’s, durian-feasting with Kal and Meijie, sand-sun-&-sea with Tracy, river-dinning with Randy-Richard-Gang, soul searching with Joanne, market-updates with Hovman & Francis and house-preview with Jimmy.  (Oh yes, free gifts from Gareth).

Snapping around like a tourist, I roamed the city with lots of "wows and ooohs". There is always something new to see in Singapore. New sporty Comfort cabs, gigantic Ferris-wheel at Marina, new hypermart at Tampines (IKEA, Giant, Courts), water stadium at Marina etc. Did a couple of "firsts" with Bobo and Elkan. (boat ride, new monorail to Sentosa)

 

While traveling on the ECP, I took a picture of our Singapore skyline. For the 1st time, I started to realise how small we are. Our city-scape is growing but just not dynamic enough. Good thing we have the "durian landmark". To live up and fulfill our promise as one "uniquely state", I feel there are a lot more we can do to realise that vision. Come on, light up our skyline, put up more gigantic plasma, create a future-state, show the world something new. What’s there to fear, Singapore? We just got to catch up fast, I am tired of us being trend-followers.



Despite all these disappointments, we have a fertile land. A land of talents and opportunities. We have good system, trustworthy governments and down-to-earth labour force. We still have so much space to grow….we just need to add more life into these void. Bring more "wows and ooohs" back into our garden city. Yes, I have more faith in Singapore than before. Why? I saw weaknesses that can be translated into opportunities.

We are still a notable dragon of Asia.


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Moving House

February 4, 2007 Leave a comment


My wife and me were moving house this weekend. No, I am not talking about the same house. In some strange coincidence, Feli and I were moving different houses (she is renting out our Singapore apartment and I was renting a new Shanghai apartment). So, at one end, I was giving someone rent and on the other end, Feli is collecting rent. Miss my 2 homes… there are so many fond memories there.

Empty but still cozy home at Eunos

 

Packing my stuffs and saying bye to my lovely bedroom
 

Moving with shopping cart / My grand bedroom view
 

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EcoSphere – “Sea Monkey” for the Adult!

January 23, 2007 3 Comments

I always wanted a "Sea Monkey" but never have the chance to own one. Mum wasn’t too keen to let me grow these "alien non-appealing" creatures in some creepy acrylic tanks with fish-eye lens. She thought they looked like bacteria. 

 
I also love to own an aquarium. Watching colourful fishes swimming gracefully in a big tropical tank can be so relaxing and mind-levitating. But taking care of one can be a hassle and too time-consuming. My dad gave up on me and flushed my pet guppies down the toilet bowl.
I discovered the "EcoSphere" when I visited the science centre 20 years ago. It was a perfect glass sphere with no openings – just seawater, sand, branches and shrimps. It was meant to be a perfect life-sustaining vessel. The shrimps will give off carbon dioxide (& fertilizer) to sustain the algae which in return provide food and oxygen for the shrimps. All you need is water and light – which maintain enough growth and keeping the water temperature constant thru out the year.

It was a super expensive "toy" back then. You see, it wasn’t the man-made eco-system which amazed me, I was pretty impressed that there are such aquariums designed and produced for lazy people like me.
 
During my trip to Taipei last Dec, I found these "EcoSphere" in SOGO – only this time, it is very affordable. I bought an egg-shaped glassware which contains some sea-branches and 5 tiny Hawaiian shrimps. (Yes, I have to hand-carry this to HK and then to Shanghai).

For the past 6 weeks, I just left them alone. There is no need to feed them or change water – the seawater is still 100% crystal clear! Like a snow-globe, it is fun just watching these tiny creatures swimming around the glass.

Yes, they aren’t as pretty as "Nemo" but they are sure better than those gimmicky sea monkeys. And they can last up to 8 years in that perfect condition.

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My 22nd Girlfriend

January 22, 2007 Leave a comment

 
Sadly, E6 left me for a nun in Singapore. It was hot and sexy. But I just couldn’t keep her for long.
I am now with my 22nd girlfriend. She was said to be the world 1st 3G Pocket PC. Yes, she is BIG.
Nope, she doesn’t capture my business cards like E6. She is my weather-girl.

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My 21st Girlfriend

January 13, 2007 Leave a comment


After more than 15 months with my 20th girlfriend (longest till far), I decided to end my relationship with O2 Mini.

For the past 18 months, I thought I had set my heart and love for her, "P990" (see above). I have never waited for so long for someone like her. I turned down many temptations…just to look forward to the day when I could hold her and get her into my pants. Guess there is no fate between us – when she finally arrived in July 2006, I have already left for a place where she doesn’t exist. Even then, I still keep a lookout for her on this foreign soil – cos’ I have a very deep crush on her.

I finally met her today. I spent about 45 minutes with her. She was elegant, classy and very corporate. Her appearance is brillant but overall she looks fatter than her acutal photo. Sadly, we didn’t really connect well. She couldn’t even capture a good impression of me. All these months of waiting have been in vain.

 
Just when I was about to leave with a broken heart, Darkie "E6" greeted me. I have never heard about her. I was told she is very new from Taiwan, arrived mid-December 2006. Jaye Chou even vouched for her recently. Sporting a slim corporate black coat, I am very impressed by her sharp vision, speed and crystal-clear voices. Overall, she is smart, friendly, capable and very sexy. We connect instantly. (Oh yes, she records namecard accurately!)

Torn between these 2 lovers. I called Gareth today and seeked his opinion. He has never heard about "E6". He advised me to pick P990 but my heart was stolen by E6. Guess she is a better novelty than P990. Moreover, there are chemistry between E6 and myself.

So, with this ring, she is mine – I brought her home today! Guess tomorrow will be honeymoon for us. And let’s see how long this one would last.
 

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Preparing for Christmas

December 16, 2006 Leave a comment

 
Last night, on the cab back home, the driver was playing 陈奕讯’s "Lonely Christmas"…it was such a beautiful jazzy sad song. It reminded me of Christmas – the festive I love so much.. So fast, we are already in the 50th week of 2006. Just saw the weather report, next week, Shanghai is going into the "minus-zero degree" weather.  Yeah…I am going to experience my 1st winter Christmas.  
 
Back at home in tropical Singapore, the clan are busily preparing for their annual Wahbiang Christmas Party. This year, Juliana and Duuk will be hosting the party at their newly renovated house at Ang Mo Kio. There should be lots of food, games, photo-taking and gifts-exchanging.. I wonder if we are going to plan another "Operation X" this Christmas…a custom since 1997. Heard that there will be lots of forfiet-games this year (more worms, more scary dance etc).
 
Last night, Caffeine hosted its 1st Charity Xmas Party, hoping to raise S$1,200 for the children home. They even found LEGO and a dental clinic to sponsor free toys and free dental check. I was greatly touched by their sincerity and kindness. It has been a great year for Caffeine this year – Randy shot his award-winning movie, Joanne & Tracy did so well to expand the media department. Richard, my old grumbie, is still going so strong – building our brand Caffeine.
 
My friends in Shanghai are also making plans for their own Christmas parties … most flying off to reunite with their loved ones back home.
 
For me, I still have a couple of places to fly before I be back for Christmas. Felicia and Elkan are also making their way to see me in Shanghai next Sat.
 
Looks like it is going to be a good, lovely Christmas afterall.
 

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World of Acronym

October 22, 2006 Leave a comment

 
I am really not a fan of acronym. Often, it puts me in an awkard situation during a decent conversation. I look stupid if I don’t know any of these acronyms mentioned. But again, KNNBCCB, who cares right?
 
Despite my dislikes for acronym, it entered my life at an early stage. When I was young, like most Singaporeans, I attended PAP prep-school. There, we were taught the concept of time "AM" and "PM". Next, I had my PSLE and GCE. Those were the days of BGRs at BK or KFC and before I can figure out the topic, I am enlisted by CMPB (NS) and slogged thru 2 years of BMT and SISPEC with LPPL people. Thought life would be better after ORD but I was wrong – I start getting deductions from AIA, IRAS, CPF, PUB (later SP), M1, SCV etc. Can’t afford COE and ERP on ECP or PIE, I prefer to stick to my SBS and MRT.
 
Afterall, I gotta to save up for my ROM and HDB. Of course, KK didn’t come until 2 years ago. Life has been good to me till far… Started my boutique agency at RCB and now working for BAT with SHA 141 as a GAD… . Who says life is complicated when you have acronym? SMS, MSN, MMS…Communication made simple? Haaaa… I really want to puke now.. I dunno how to teach my son all these ABC…just let him sink his time in PSP or his favourite H5 videos while I watch my favourite CSI series.
 
Man, I do hate acronym. (I attended a forum last month in HK with 26 unknown-to-me acronym, i felt so out of place!) Especially when they are not localised (every country or culture has their own). Here is a list of common acronym that you need to know:
 
1) LASER – Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation
2) AM / PM – (Latin) Ante Meridien, Post Meridien (meridien meaning mid-day)
3) AIDS – Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome
4) ETC – (Latin) Et Cetera
5) BLOG – Web Log
6) WWW – World Wide Web
7) HTTP – Hypertext Transfer Protocol
8) SOHO – Small Office, Home Office
9) YAHOO – Yet Another Hierarchically Organised Oracle
10) AD / BC – (Latin) Anno Domini – "In the Year of the Lord" / Before Christ
 
Enough said, watch out for your PSI back home.
 
 

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1 Year of Blogs

October 19, 2006 Leave a comment

Come 23rd Oct 2006, my blog celebrates its 1st birthday. 94 blogs and 16600 visitorships (an average of 320 visitors per week)…quite a good turnout I must say. To be honest, I never thought of writing so much (yes, I am talkative..but not typekative).
 
Really want to backup some of these blogs… I have so much good time reading them. Just spent 1 hour indexing my 1 year labour…man, this blog has certainly grown…and I never know when I will stop blogging. It feels kinda sad when I read Tracy’s friend’s blog a couple of months back… In her last entry..she wrote about her cancer..telling us that that was her last blog. She has passed away since. 
 
There are things in life that you just hate to exit. There are times when I wished that I can live within the movie or book…to be part of their life. I love the movie "LOST"…at the end of each season, I would miss some of the characters…like how I would miss my friends. Wanted so badly to see and hear them. This is call "attachment". At times, when the reel connects the real.. the feelings & emotions can be so real. 
 
Guess this blog is just another way for me to connect with my friends out there… And this blog wun be possible without all of you! Keep all the activities going! And I shall have more stuffs to write and gossip!
 
Hope you have an enjoyable time with me. Looking forward to another great year.
 
 
2005
October 23      52 Weeks with Elkan
October 23      Elkan Unwrapped Presents!
October 24      Yifu Wedding – The night Yifu shed tears
October 25      For My Shanghai Knight & Kitty (Francis is the kitty!)
October 25      WHY I STARTED BLOGGING ONLY NOW
October 26      Numbers of Our Lives
October 27      The Special Lot – Friends from Joo Chiat
October 28      The night when I rejected Elkan twice.
October 28      Steamboat Party
October 31      Really "Bread" Habit! (Updated)
 
November 02  Roving Clouds, Shooting Stars and Fireworks
November 02  Halloween Night
November 05  Am I paying for movie or commercial?
November 06  I Drunk the Most
November 07  The Season of Love
November 11  The Amazing Trip – Malacca
November 14  34 hours in Malacca
November 17  Knowing when the rain is coming…
November 19  Short Film by people next door
November 19  What Car is Yours?
 
December 01   My Adventures with Taxi Drivers
December 02   Working for "Sweat and Blood" Money
December 10   Did I sign for a Package?
December 10   Singaporean’s Stupid Queuing Habits
December 17   O-Biang Dress-Up Party at Katong
December 24   Wahbiang Moments of the Year!
December 26   Wahbiang Christmas 2005
December 29   Conflicting Services by Telcos
 
2006
January 01       Looking Back, Moving Forward
January 08       An Eventful Rainy Week 1
January 10       My Funeral
January 15       The Sun is Out
January 21       When Old Friends Gather
January 21       To Give Or Not to Give
January 28       The Tale of a Lost Umbrella
January 28       Nothing but a Metal Box
January 29       On the 1st Day of Chinese New Year
 
February 05     The Day I Fell in Love with my son
February 06     And when she smiles…
February 07     Today is 31st Hock’s Day
February 10     Wedding Seasons
February 11     A Reason to Celebrate, A Reason to Spend
February 13     Election Time
February 13     Thank You My Buddies
February 19     My 20th Companion in 10 Years
February 28     1 Week at the "Whore of the Orient"
 
March 03         Travel Blog – Day 1 in Shanghai
March 04         Travel Blog – Shanghai Day 2
March 06         Travel Blog – Shanghai Day 4
March 06         Travel Blog – Shanghai Day 3
March 07         Travel Blog – Shanghai Day 5-6
March 13         Back to Norm
March 19         Nostalgia
March 22         Taking Pride in my Job
March 23         Turning Points in Life
March 29         A 2nd Visit to Shanghai
 
April 08           5th May – It is Official
April 12           The debut of "CHubby Joe" Comic-Strip
April 16           Good Easter Weekend
April 22           A Warm Farewell (at Caffeine)
 
May 02            An Island Mall
May 08            A Luggage of Wishes and Luck
May 12            It’s so hard to say Goodbye
May 14            Keeping up to their pace
May 15            Earthquake at Joanne House
May 21            1st 10 days
May 22            Meanwhile back at Hotel 25…
May 23            Somewhere Out There
May 28            Kiss Goodbye
May 28            A Small World
 
June 12            Moving House, Cutting Hair
June 17            Last Year, This Day – My Birthday
June 22            Independence
 
July 02             No Mood for Blog
July 16             The Future is Here
July 18             Visitors of my Blog
July 23             Lost in Translation
July 23             Lost in Translation II
 
August 07       Reunion & Departure
August 09       Happy Birthday Singapore
August 13       MSN with Francis Chay
August 13       The 3rd Visitor of My House
 
August 17       Meijie Celebrates 31st!
August 23       The Arrival of Grey!
August 29       The City of LuthorCorp and Superman
August 29       A Black Day
 
September 03  Origins of "Common Phase"
September 07  A Multinational Meeting
September 10  The Number that Changed the World
September 15  Calling Your Names
September 16  Elkan 1st Day in School
September 23  Elkan’s 1st Surgery (20th Sept)
September 23  The Hexagon Link
 
October 15      Home Trip (28th Sept – 9th Oct)
October 18      Happy Birthday 2 You, Son.

 

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The Hexagon Link

September 23, 2006 1 Comment

 
Many times, you may find yourself working with someone who may know another friend of yours. It could be until years later when you 2 realise the link. It is a strange connection – Some call it "Fate" while others would call it a "Small World".
 
A hexagon is a 6-sided triangle. It was believed that everyone in this world is somehow personally linked (not more than 6 layers)- through friend-of-friend connection. Of course, the easier way of putting this notion across is through this common term "A Small World". For me, I prefer to use a sexier term "The Hexagon Link".
 
To identity this link is not easy. The easiest way is to attend a big business networking event or a friend’s wedding. You will find common speeches like "Oh yes, I know him! He used to be my supplier!" Amazingly, in my own wedding dinner, I managed to identify more than 20 links in just 1 night of 500 guests. What can I say, Singapore is indeed a small place.
 
Now in Shanghai – a place where I would least expected to uncover any link – I found 2. One who knew my wife (in 1997, Lasalle) and the other who knew my cousin (in 1990, London). Isn’t that scary? I am working with people who knows my family.
 
I have then done a list of my own "Hexagon Link"… I am pretty amazed.
 
Some close linkages – identified only after years later
1) Scott (my colleague) met Leon (my cousin) in army
2) Scott (my colleague) met Michelle (my cousin-in-law) in Canada
3) Polly (my wife’s poly pal) and Randy (my friend’s ex-beau) are cousins
4) John (my army friend) and Shin (my wife’s uni pal) are ex-lovers
5) Jimmy (my sec. pal) and Shin (my wife’s uni pal) were colleagues
6) Zhibin (my cousin) and Raymond (my friend’s ex-beau) were schoolmates
7) Sean (my colleague) and Chester (my cousin) are friends
8) Franklin (my shanghai colleague) met Qianqian (my cousin) in London back in 1990
9) Darren (my shanghai colleague) met Felicia (my wife) in Lasalle back in 1997
10) Chris (my friend’s bestman) and Joanne (my friend) were classmates
11) Francis (my uni pal) is working for Bettina’s uncle (my colleague’s uncle) in Shanghai
12) Gareth’s mum (my sec. pal’s mum) and my Godmother are sworn-sisters
13) Mrs Ng (my sec. teacher) is my wife’s uni friend’s aunt 
14) Leon Lai (the famous singer) was my cousin’s HK classmates back in the 70s
15) Alicia (my shanghai colleague) was my aunt’s student back in Lasalle in 1996
16) Felicia’s cousin (my wife’s cousin) taught Kalinda (my poly pal) in her secondary school.
17) Elaine (my freelance) and Felicia (my wife) were colleagues back in 2001.
18) Sean (my colleague) and John Yap (my army friend) met while doing volunteer work!
  

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Calling Your Names

September 14, 2006 1 Comment

 
I was chatting with a friend about naming my son and how the name Elkan came about. Then, I remember those days when we were young, it was cool to have an English name. To be honest, at that age, you dun really understand what’s the difference between an English name or a "Christian" name. As long as you have a pet name, you sounded "cooler" than your usual dialect name.
 
No one really cares the origin of their names.. be it Chinese or English. Perhaps, only your parents would know why they gave you this name. But again, how many parents out there would explain the rationale of the name to their child?
 
Guess most of you dun know about this. My aunt gave me this name "Joe" when I was in primary 2. (Haaa..people in my Secondary School would call me "Joey").. Somehow, I am that "man in the street"…. I have grown and let this name "Joe" embraced and shaped my character. I guess I am that street man..that common Joe. Guess I look like a "Joe" too.
 
Every name has its own character and personality. Some names gave you that negative feelings while some names can be your favourite. Name is an important brand identity. It got to match your family name and that face of yours..It is very diifficult to judge what’s a good name and what’s not. But it is easy to judge how well the person carry his/her name. Some names just dun work well with the face or the personality.
 
Well, let’s see what’s the meaning behind these familiar names:
 
Joanne – (Hebrew) God is Gracious
Felicia – (Latin) Happy
Tracy – (French) Road, Path
Lionel – (Old French) Young Lion
Joe – (Hebrew) From the name "Joseph", God will Increase
Sam – (Hebrew) To hear
Gareth – (Old French) Gentle, Enclosure, Watchful
Ivy – (Greek) Plant, Wine
Juliana – (Spanish) Soft Hair
Jimmy – (American) From the name "James"
Serene – (Latin) From the name "Serena", peaceful calm
Francis – (Latin) Free
Echo – (Greek) A greek goddess with beautiful voice
Elkan – (Hebrew) Belongs to God
Xavier – (Arabic) Bright, new house
Jacob – (Hebrew) Held by the heel
Kalinda – (Sanskrit) Sun, Name of Mountain
Randy – (English) From the name "Randolph", Horny
Martin – (Latin) From Mars
 
 

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