Shoe-vey

Yes, just for fun I brought out all my footwear and displayed them on the floor of my living room. I thought I would just conduct a little survey here, how many pairs of footwear does a woman have in average?

For me it's 24 pairs. That's everything in except flip flops and home slippers.

Leave a comment and let me know what is your number?

...the one who can't shower because American Idol is on TV now

Babel

Rating: *****

Cast: Cate Blanchett, Brad Pitt, Gael Garcia Bernal

Genre: Drama

Watched on 22 Jan 2007 at Plaza Sing with Chup and Lily.

Loved it!

...the one with the upper body ache from kickboxing on Sunday :(

Banks = Casinos?

Aren't banks just like casinos sometimes? Just like the gamblers in casinos who are betting on the rules of probability, customers in the banks are doing the same. Equipped with analysis and forecasts churned out by banks and fund houses, the customers would then go into the market to 'gamble' and hope that the market would move to their advantage and hence earning the potential profits/dividends due to them.

Perhaps the only difference is that, for banks, there is always the 'sure win' products such as Fixed Deposits or Fixed-Income Products such as Bonds. However, there would never be any 'sure win' games in casinos.

...the one who's craving for durians now

It's the quality and the design. Is it really??


Hundreds of dollars they would cost. Sometimes thousands or even tens of thousands. Brands like Hermes may even take a few years before you receive your tailormade-handmade bag. Why? Is it the quality, really? Or the great design? Or is it simply the feel-good effect of everyone's oohs and aahs?














I say the real reason whether the users admit it or not, it is simply for the purpose of others to admire and to be envious about.

Still denying?

If I move these users to a mountain top with no other inhabitants, would there still be a need for such bags? Would they still say they are carrying them for quality and design? I hardly think so. Unless they want the chirping birds and swinging monkeys to admire them.

...the one who is unfortunately also a victim of such luxury items

Timbre @ Substation
Rating: ***
Address: 45 Armenian Street
Price: S$20/pax with beer

I would give many **** for the ambience and location of the place. Tugged right next to the Substation, the restaurant is surrounded with matured rain trees and banyan trees. Perfect place to make your marriage proposals :)

Eventhough it is located in the city centre, one would feel as if he is sitting in the middle of a serene nature's park. The bustling noise from the traffic could hardly be heard from here. The restaurant also has a live band which I thought rather loud for such ambience. Perhaps some jazzy tunes would suit the place better. Could that be the reason why I did not hear the traffic noise?!

Extra care has even been employed to ensure that these good old trees are well preserved. Check out how the roofing is detailed to avoid having to cut down yet another tree.



But that would be all about the place. There is nothing much to praise on the quality of the food. Perhaps, this should just be a beer hangout. One can't go too wrong with beers, right?



This is what we ordered:


Crayfish pasta












Fish & Chips











...the one who had to give *** because it is the average of **** for ambience and ** for the ordinary food

Sun

Louis Kahn once said something like, the Sun does not know how beautiful it is until it strikes the surface of a material, or some such thing. It's a round-about way of saying how lifeless things are without sunlight. But the thing is; you don't celebrate the sun with words. You have to be there, first to experience its absence, and then savour the moment, sometimes only a fleeting one, when the sunlight happens to strike what you were looking at with pure precision. Like a veneer of moss on rough-hewn stones. The textures are crisply outlined, and shapes acquire a depth and colours a vividness that you didn't know was possible a moment before.

The first time I visited the Golden Pavilion in Kyoto in 1995, it was a dull, cloudy day. I couldn't see its appeal. But this time round, it glowed. It was about 10.30am, and the winter sun graced its southern facade. Its reflection in the water was equally arresting. It was an edifice whose whole existence was geared towards such moments, when it commanded all attention, when it paid its homage to the sun. We can take a photo of it, as a substitute to describing it, but the photo is itself a poor substitute to being there, registering the entire sensorial enviroment. We remind ourselves that the Golden Pavilion and the garden before it is largely an artificial creation, conceived by some master builder and gardener. Man has perfected and completed the brilliance of the sun.

At other moments, we chance upon Nature in its natural state. Fallen leaves of a sakura tree. The wilting maple leaves. The jagged ridges of a mountain range. Like underwater fishes whose actual colours are restored under the glare of the touchlight, the splendours of Nature are corrected as they reflect the sun's rays. Is it any wonder then that in wintry lands, they envy Singapore for the abundance of its sunlight? And when the late Englishman David Lean, more accustomed to umbrellas than sun-glasses, went to Jordan, he was so seduced by the light that he made the cast and crew of his movie WAIT for the right sunlight to shoot his scenes. Till today, his "Lawrence of Arabia" is an unsurpassed tribute to the sun. But everyplace has its own light. In Singapore, the hues are slightly less vibrant, because the light is ever so slightly diluted by the high water moisture content of the atmosphere. Still, I do not take it for granted. Its light is the reason for the soul's smile.

This post is for Venny, who, I understand from Lin, is wondering whether she should get an SLR. Why, isn't it obvious? It's a chance to hold the sun's glory in your hands. It is a tool to draw with light. Grasp it.

Chup

My highest heels so far

Bought this pair of stilettos in Dec 06. It is probably the highest and thinnest heels I have so far. Make me look nice and tall. Ha ha... But definitely won't be able to go far with them. Unless it's Jimmy Choo's whereby you are supposed to be able to run 30 km with them!

Just last week, I was checking out the first and only Jimmy Choo Boutique in Singapore (at Takashimaya S.C.). It was love at first sight with this gorgeous pair of reds. It was S$1065 (or thereabouts...)






...the one who'd be sticking to Charles and Keith for a while. Here's my purchase in Dec 2006. Would be posting the purchase for Jan 2007 in due course :)

CUT CUT CUT the budget

How strange, the Singapore economy is booming but yet the company seems to be having more and more budget cuts. One classic example is the table calendar. It's my 3rd year with the company now and 2007 is the only year where the company did not print any calendars, be it for the customers or the staff.

Looks like for the mean time, I would just have to make do with this make-shift-calendar.

...the one who is now watching the repeat telecast of the Golden Globe. George Clooney is looking really good!

Li no more after the 19th Dec 2006

It's time to say goodbye to Li. Well, not exactly goodbye but no more of her when I turn my head to the right across the office, no more of this tall girl who would stroll to Bratwurst every morning to get her latte with "one sugar" she'd say, and of course no more offers in the middle of a car ride that says: "Curlers, anyone?". Although I won't see her no more in the office, I certainly hope to still see her often when I am out of office and when I am in Indonesia.

It was a great experience having travelled the Mediterranean with her. I am glad she had many "first times" during the trip, such as, first time learning to play chor tai tee (card game called "Big Two") and being very good at it, first time trekking on donkey-dung-filled-path at Santorini, first time learning to fold a peacock with towels, first time going for non-packaged tour holiday, first time that no transport arrangement is made to fetch her at the airport, first time carrying a Charles & Keith bag, first time joining a cruise, and here in the photo taken at a restaurant in Centrepoint Singapore, first time eating beef horfun (she has lived in Singapore for 6 years!)

Would definitely miss having Li around. She is probably the most patient and good-natured lady I have ever known. I have never seen her angry before. That's how she earned her nickname, Angel.

To remember this special ocassion, I shall immortalize her farewell email to us before she left to embrace her tai-tai life. Of course, certain important and private information has been masked for confidentiality and the security of my job.

...the one who'd be missing Li's doo do do... dooo do do... - the sound she makes when she is in a good chirpy mood

---------------------------------------------------------------
From: Li
Sent: Tuesday, December 19, 2006 6:13 PM
To: SG Team

Subject:

Dear all,
Today is my last day at ___ as I will be leaving Singapore and returning to Indonesia. I would like to sincerely thank ___, ___ and ___ for the wonderful opportunity given to me to serve the team. To my unit heads and colleagues, a warm thank you for all the guidance, support and most of all, friendship. I am not good at saying goodbyes, so, I will end this note by wishing everyone all the very best. Please keep in touch and Happy Holidays!!

Sincerely, Li
HP: (65)___ Indo HP: (62)81___ Email: ___@hotmail.com

Driving in Singapore vs Japan

I notice something distinctly different between drivers in Singapore and Japan. In Japan, car manufacturers can drop the need for horns because the drivers there are so patient, they don't even use the horns at all. As for Singapore, they can just import cars without signal lights.

...score so far is St.Nicholas Convent Girls 0, Methodist Girls 44.

My latest duck collection :) bought in Dec 2006.

It's a magnetic name card holder which can hold a decent number of cards. At least 3 cards I promise you. Ha ha!

A little Xmas present for myself.

Hope you had a great Xmas and that you would have a great year ahead of you.

...the one who's watching the debate betweeen the tops schools in S'pore "The Arena"

Kimonos in Kyoto

...during the New Year period (1-3 Jan). The temples are the best place to spot them, particularly the areas next to Yasaka Jinja, and the temples of Maruyama Park behind it.

Chup

Swan, kois, pigeons

On the water, in the water, above the water...

all over Japan.

Chup

Chick Rice @ Lucky Plaza
Rating: ***
Address: Lucky Plaza 2nd floor
Price: less than S$5/pax

Supposed to be VERY famous. Well, for that price and that location, it's not too bad I must say.

...the one who highly recommend the CUCU green tea sweet. Bought from Japan, this sweet is a combination of Green Tea & High concentrated milk with real green powder at the centre of the sweet

Most beautiful cheese @ Que Pasa
Rating: ***1/2
Address: 7 Emerald Hill Rd
Tel: 6235 6626

Located just besides Centrepoint (@ Orchard Road), the restaurant serves the most beautiful cheese I have ever eaten. Best eaten with a bottle of San Valentin white wine, the cheese is served in this curly slices that are assembled together like a large flower cabbage. So beautiful you feel reluctant to disturb the elegant arrangement. The restaurant is also famous for their mini burgers and chicken wings.

... the one who is waiting for Chup to fetch me in the pouring rain

TOAST Box
Rating: ***
Add: Usually next to Breadtalk eg Vivo City and Plaza Singapura
Price: below S$5/pax

There is a new kid in town. Mirrored closely to the like of Killiney kopitiam, Yakun and Wang Jiao, Toast Box also sells the usual kopi (coffee), teh (tea), toast and half boiled eggs.

The toast is usually made from thick square slices of bread. On top of the usuals, Toast Box also serves other snacks like sausage rolls and hebi (dried prawn paste) toast.






Every Toast Box would display this interesting butter tower. They change it everyday. Do you believe it??

...the one who thinks the standard of half boiled eggs at Toast Box is much inferior compared to those at Wang Jiao

Driving in the snow

On the morning of 28 Dec, before it snowed in Matsumoto, we decided to drive over for a day visit to Takayama. We didn't know what snow tyres were and I didn't know there was this thing called snow chains. Our car was rented in sunny Tokyo with normal tyres, and we drove up to about half way into the Alps (Matsumoto is 600m above sea level but the Alps are up to 3,000m above sea level), it began to snow heavily. Of course we were excited at first because we haven't seen snow up to then. We made some stops and got out to take photos and all, and then continued on. Then the snowfall got heavier. The electronic signboard read -6 deg C. Soon, the roads began to be white with snow, with only narrow strips of grey where the tyres tracks were. And then up in the winding mountain pass, I suddenly found the car refusing to stop when I brake. Instead, it skidded about like a swimming koi. Then I knew what real terror was! I could imagine us plunging down the slopes. Fortunately, there was a snow patrol truck passing by and the man spoke English. He said there was a tyre shop in front where we could change to snow tyres. But we were afraid of the price and were by then set on turning back anyway, so he organised for us to push the car off to the side and turn it round. That's a priceless photo of car pushing in the snow above...

That evening, through the persistence of Nan, we managed to get a pair of snow chains for the 2 front tyres at an auto shop for about S$130/-. We will need it if we were to get to Kanazawa, a coastal city on the other side of the Japanese Alps. The weather forecast that day had said it will be snowing heavily the following day. We practised putting it on in the freezing night, and when the time came, we managed it. That night it snowed in Matsumoto. When we came up to our car on the morning of 29th Dec, we found it like this (below)! When it had been perfectly sunny and dry the day before, now, icicles hung below the car plate.

Driving in the wintry landscape after that was like a surreal dream; past tunnels, rivers, forests, cliffs, small towns, red bridges, along roads all but buried in snow. With the snow chains on, we could only do up to 50 km/h max, as the recommended speed for driving with the chains on was 30 km/h. So when it wasn't too snowed over, we took off the chains and accelerated on. We didn't know how to keep the car heater on without condensation forming on the windscreen, so we always kept the windows slightly ajar, much to the discomfort of the back passengers. We had the car for 7 days, and covered over 1,200 kilometers in that time. And for 7 days, we were stuck with only 1 CD; a compilation of songs by Stefanie Sun. We played her over and over again. Boy, do I hate her now! But thanks largely to Nan, it was an unforgettable and wonderful driving experience.

Chup

Matsumoto castle

We visited the Matsumoto Castle on the afternoon of 28 Dec 06, after a failed trip to Takayama (read above). It's one of Japan's 3 castles to be designated a National Treasure and it's over 400 years old. It was a sunny day, and in winter in Japan, the sun always comes from the south no matter what time of the day it is. The castle was smaller in real life than in photos, but it was surrounded by a beautiful moat with ducks, swans and koi fishes. A flock of pigeons appear to guard over it. Then on the night of 28th, it snowed. By morning, the utterly charming town of 200,000 was magically transformed. We walked back to the castle and I tried to go back to the same spot where I took the previous day's shot for another view of the same scene. Here they are, same scene, less than one day apart... Plus one final shot in a portrait format.

Chup