world-class? my foot.

i shudder to think what will happen if i were on one of those trains that were stuck on thursday. maybe i would have been a hero since i would try to force open the door. there are 2 camps here: one believes that the transport operator should not be blamed since these are one-off (contradictory in itself) incidents. the other believes that the transport operator should be censured and i belong to this camp.

first of all, the proponents of the 'forgive and forget' camp were probably a) not on the trains and b) never had to take the train. in today's business times, a housewife (?!) commented that singaporeans should forget the incident and move on. i wonder how many times she has to take the train and why did the paper even interview her. train rides are getting increasingly crowded despite so-call changes made to improve efficiency. trains are supposed to arrive 3 - 4 minutes apart but there have been lapses.

fortunately, perhaps, there were not any pregnant women about to give birth or old people susceptible to heart attacks. there was another disruption to services today (which explains the jam on stevens road). so that's 2 major disruptions in 3 days. a minor hiccup? considering that these happen during the busiest time belts (evening on thursday and morning on saturday) of the week, i think some interesting statistics will turn up if someone (not me, but maybe the transport minister or the ceo of the transport operator) does the maths of the economic impact of lost man-hours.

let's face it: public transport in singapore is not world class, not by any measure.

the powers that be have been issuing cautious statements that can be written by a journalism student straight out of school. no mentions of accountability. it will be interesting to see the fine meted out to the transport operator this time.

on the economic front, things are happening. at last.

1-month hiatus

november passed and i didn't post anything in that month. wow. anyway, was kind of busy with 2 trips (philippines and hong kong).

work - 1 colleague just left, another's leaving, 2 new ones have joined. there's probably going to be a slight change in office dynamics so let's see how that pans out. had 2 pretty good trips and hong kong was really rocking. our development there has been fantastic over the past few months and the people there are really kicking it up a few gears. very happy with what i saw and heard. also, managed to see more of hong kong this time when they brought me around. it's funny how differently you view hong kong as a tourist and then as a tourist with a local guide.

another fantastic piece of news is that as a region, the portfolio under my care is growing by leaps and bounds (almost twice that of last year). far be it for me to claim credit but it feels good to be part of this achievement.

and oh yeah, christmas is approaching since this is december with chinese new year not far behind. have many photos to add but i guess those can wait.

iphone causes bruising

baby's new job has been stressful to say the least. right now, as i'm writing this, she's pounding furiously at the keyboard trying to make sense of the statistics. sometimes i think she raises the bar too high for herself. it's always good to find out what the expectations of others are before diving into work. the problem though, as i see, is the communication process in her case.

joaquin's behaviour has been ranging from poor to excellent and he co-operates most noticeably, whenever we threaten him with the prospect of staying home with his dull parents instead of exploring glitzy parts of the (expensive) island. so far, we've been to the shopping district that is known as orchard, visited h&m for the first time (where joaquin forced baby into buying him a superman sweatshirt), ion, takashimaya, loyang tua pek kong temple, airport, bugis junction and even the national libray last night (yes, you run out of options very quickly when you are poor here in singapore).

poor boy just got a bruise on his head, courtesy of his dad who was so into his game on iphone (hey, in my defence, it was zombie highway). didn't notice he was sitting on the edge of the bed and a slight shift in weight, down he went. the thud was pretty loud too. took me, baby and ah ma to kiss and make it better.

end of the month. which means pay day is here! woohoo! see ya.

photos of joaquin's birthday bash in school

photos from joaquin's pre-birthday celebration at school.

 

now let me tell you girls about the time i beat a whole contingent of alien monsters...

 

homage to his hero.

 

yes, the cost of the goodie bags = gdp of a third world country.

 

superboy needs help inserting the straw.

hey! who snuffed my candles?!

 

order is restored.

 

mummy saves the day. superboy can't handle a knife.

 

superboy taking a rest from signing autographs.

 

aspiring superboy wannabe on left.

 

yes, superboy always gets the girl.

 

ok, is there something above my head?

 

superboy recruiting the justice league.

 

photo proving again that superboy gets the girls. always.

superboy obliges his fans with a group photo.

i guess this means i rock at work

ok, i have been slacking off the posts. but hey, check this out!

first night at festive hotel

it's been a great start to our staycation. everyone is happy and joaquin got to do his thing: swimming. took lots of great photos too so will be posting them soon.

night!

when customer service sucks, this happens

so far, we have bought all our statues from a certain toy store with branches located in plaza singapura, raffles place and suntec city. and the experience sucks.

the bosses must be paying the staff peanuts because they all look as though the customers owe them money and don't seem to be very keen to render any sort of service unless spoken to. even then, questions are answered in a very curt manner and i guess they presume everybody knows everything there is to know about collecting toys. i tried the branch at plaza singapura. only the dude with shoulder length hair was mildly interested in serving me. today, i went down to the raffles place bunch and all 3 people (all over 30, maybe even 40 - i'm guessing) were busy pottering over their own matters than serving 2 customers (me and another person) in the store.

seriously, this chain wouldn't win any service awards even if superman was working in there. i have never felt indignant at spending some serious dough. looking for other alternatives and even though it's expensive to purchase online due to shipping charges, i'm seriously considering that option as well. i don't need to pay and feel aggrieved.

i read on the blog that the store does not condone ill treatment towards its staff... but you have to wonder was the ill treatment warranted in whichever instance that triggered the post. with service like that, there will definitely be customers with short fuses who will take it up with the staff.

so if anyone knows of any other stores with a comprehensive catalogue, please let me know!

currently, i'm a fan of bowen designs, kotobukiya and sideshow collectibles.

the post that was supposed to be published last week

just went to the hdb office to reconfigure our housing loan installments. the new installment is not very hefty from our old one but it shaves off another few years off our repayment period. always a good thing so that you don't end up not being able to retire. having said that though, i will be paying for the apartment right into my 50s. yeah, it's that sad.

there's nothing for us on the horizon since baby's starting her new job (which also means we won't be able to travel since her probation period is pretty long). but we are planning a staycation (a vacation in your own country) at resorts world and a day trip at universal studios is definitely on the cards. should be fun and everybody can act like kids again for that day.

going to manila next week (well this was typed last week) in 2 days. will be hosting a seminar and then there will be a trade expo. i'm excited because i'm going (fingers crossed) to make a new purchase (if i can find what i like) at the airport.

the "face-the-wall" punishment is proving to be very effective indeed. when joaquin acts up, you just have to roll your eyes at him and threaten him with the punishment and immediately he recoils into a shell. i heard our neighbour below us administer the same to her kid but she told her kid to stand at the balcony. it's strange because it's not a very comfortable position to stand at, although you don't want the child to be too comfortable. heard the kid protesting the entire time... and he's about the same age as joaquin!

sometimes we do remind each other (baby and me) how lucky we are to have joaquin and in fact, he's a pretty good lamb. in school, he's the meekest boy you see. a bit of jekyll and hyde if you ask me, not dissimilar to my sister back then.

the front grille of white boy just got yanked out. not sure if it was theft or an act of mischief but it bled us. had to replace and chartis, being the good insurance company that it is, had the sense not to let this incident which is of no fault of mine (unless living in a hdb estate is in itself, a flaw) affect my ncd or premium. i'm not sure if all insurance companies do this but the fact that the person on the other line at chartis assured me quickly made it less of an emotional wreck for me, after witnessing 3 open cavities at the front of my car. trust me, it affects the appearance of any vehicle quite dramatically. photo after i edit out the car plate number and also when flickr finally gives me back my monthly upload limit.

we picked up a new hobby over the weekend. i say we because all 3 of us are into it. we are collecting a series of superheroes/villains statues. yeah, those 12" tall type... not your plastic action figure that goes snap when you twist a limb too hard. photos? yeah... later... you know the drill.

ciao.

i m lovin it

if this looks familiar, it's the mcdonald's featured in the recent tvc starring 3 guys (chinese version ends off referring the guys as 哥儿们; weird since it's a term largely used in china).

it's a pretty cool restaurant except there are no power points. parking is free if you have no scruples and park at the car park intended for park visitors.

edit: this is opposite jurong point.

blogging via iphone

this is the first time i'm using the iphone to post an entry; suffice to say, an app for blogger has been a long time coming. pretty cool though once you get to use it and get used to it.

i guess they are in some sort of beta version too since i can't do a lot with fonts or photos but i'm sure blogger being blogger, it will get there. eventually.

was supposed to jog but got rained out. putting on some serious weight recently.

ok, photo of joaquin for you fans out there. enjoy!

hong kong day 3 april 29th 2011

 

another day, another cable car ride.

 

we took the crystal (?) cabin, a fancy moniker for a cabin with a see-through glass panel for the floor. well, mainly because we couldn't stand the queue.

 

there's something beautiful about dangling in the air admiring the view from above while knowing that you can drop like a rock into the ocean below. ok, morbid may be more appropriate.

 

it's not the ride. he's just faking the squemish look.

 

yo what's up?!

 

gotta give props to the biggest submarine sandwich chain. in the world.

 

gate to ngoing ping village. the weather's worse than the photo suggests.

 

and the gate to the giant buddha.

 

nice... greenery gives a zen feel to it while the fog shrouds the buddha in mystery.

 

this is the day when baby's agnes b. bag from tokyo gets owned by the wet weather.

 

just realised joaquin's crocs have carried him to a lot of places.

 

can't tell what the flags are for.

before the ascent.

notes: ok, ngoing ping village is definitely not worth going more than once in my humble opinion... but tung chung citigate outlet shopping mall is... looking at these photos reminds me that ah gong and ah ma walked... a lot... we did too of course but considering the difference in our legs... i love how joaquin duked it out with us during that trip... his favourite phrase now is "my back!"... followed by him clutching his lower back... thanks to the spider-man 2 dvd where tobey maguire fell down a building and smashed his back against a car... odd that he picked that up though...

photos of joaquin playing in hong kong circa april 2011

yup... that donut is in the process of being devoured.

happiest when playing.

didn't have to share this compound with other kids.

a photo op!

another one!

八月十五

family gathering at granny's place on saturday, kind of looking forward to it since it's been some time since i last saw my relatives. also, joaquin's development has accelerated in recent months so if he warms up soon enough, everyone will be able to see his fun side instead of his broody persona. it's going to be like a pre-八月十五 celebration. 

actually, something major did happen in the past few weeks. we shifted mum-in-law's remains from the choa chu kang columbarium to a temple in upper bukit timah (tua pek kong temple at 10 jalan seh chuan to be exact). everyone seems to like the new location as it's relatively near with a few transport options (when downtown line comes up, it's going to be even more convenient). and the number of the niche that we selected has an extremely auspicious ring to it.

the shift was very smooth sailing albeit for a bout of heavy rain in the early bit. it was all down to planning and baby had to take a lot of credit for it. first of all, you have to apply to the office at the columbarium about the impending shift so that the staff can update the system and give permission for the removal of the urn. next you have to engage someone to remove the urn. this can be done via the columbarium which has a list of contractors but we found our own. also, you have to find a priest to do some chants before removing the urn.

afterwards, you need to burn some papers but since it was raining slightly, we skipped the process (we would burn the papers at the temple later). a son had to carry the urn with a joss stick and on the way to the new resting place, everybody in the same vehicle as the urn has to say "过桥" (crossing a bridge) whenever the vehicle passes a drain, an overhead bridge, makes a turn, goes over a hump and goes under a bridge.

at the temple, we had to pray to all the gods first to seek permission to allow us to place the urn. after that, you place the tablet (not before arranging the offerings of food) and everybody prays to the tablet. the final gesture is to burn the papers.

the thought of going to the temple instead of the columbarium for mum-in-law's death anniversary is pleasing since we no longer have to lug a table which conversely means more space for offerings. so far, a few relatives have gone to the temple to pray on their own and everybody is happy about the shift.

i have to say this though: there's a real estate market for the dead. to understand what i mean, do your own research.

we also found a new and effective way to discipline joaquin: it's what we call the "face the wall" method. it's nothing revolutionary but it's so effective (joaquin's probably going to read this post in a few years and grit his teeth at suffering such an indignity). basically, whenever he does something wrong that we feel needs immediate guidance which is in turn rejected by him, we dish it to him. he has to face the wall. now you may think how is it effective since he doesn't feel any pain nor is being talked to. but you have to realise that we are dealing with a toddler here who is still incapable of advanced cognition and taking away his freedom to roam is almost akin to killing him. right now, obviously we don't punish him for more than 5 minutes and he also doesn't realise where he went wrong but the bottomline is he remembers the punishment and is not liable to commiting the same offence.

a few tips:

1. place him in a position that is safe and where you can see him.
2. administer the punishment in a timely manner.
3. tell him why you are punishing him and after the punishment, tell him again and make him realise his mistake.

days without facing the wall: 4 (not actual count... it could be 3 or 5).

notes: got a commendation at work... woohoo!!! brietling navitimer or tag heuer heritage carrera... ring or watch... ring and watch?!?! to phuket or not to phuket... going to manila in about 2 weeks... by the way, tag heuer = 豪雅 in chinese... me likey...

post-lasik (> 6 months)

it's been more than half a year since my lasik operation. would i do it again? in a heartbeat. the convenience of not wearing spectacles is a sheer joy; not having to look for your glasses in the morning, playing with your little ones without having to worry and drawing contact in sports - what's not to like?

after the initial euphoria has worn off, there are 2 things that concern me:

1. fatigue - i have noticed that in recent days, my eyes get tired and dry easily. I must close them or use eye gel to kind of get back my vision. also, if i stare at the screen for too long, my eyes kind of lose their focus when i look at other things.
2. bad habit - i still retain a poor habit which is doing stuff on my iphone (curse you apple for making such a wonderful multimedia device!) at night when all lights are off. as far as i can tell, it hasn't affected my vision but then myopia is a beast that creeps up on you. i am trying to limit the time i spent using the phone at night when the lights are off.

i no longer see the halos on streetlights at night, no dry eyes (at least not till i stare at the screen for an extended period) and am less affected to strong light (particularly sunlight in the afternoon). that's just me though and to really ensure that one can undergo lasik, it's best to check with a qualified eye doctor.

notes: baby has a new job... add colouring to the list of items that joaquin likes to do... he's learning to hold a meaningful conversation now... he knows the power of money... that's a good start to the rat race i reckon...

looking looking looking

i hate to break a streak but it looks as though this might be the first post in a long while without photos. too bad flickr has an upload limit every month and i'm just not ready to buy in and use a pro account yet.

there's nothing happening of note lately but we have been looking at possible new home options. it's not a whimsical decision as we have planned to move but as things are chugging along nicely, there wasn't an impetus to move except well, that impetus happened recently.

choosing a new home isn't an easy task, especially in land-scarce singapore where you have to compete with foreigners and permanent residents for a slice of the pie. thinking ahead, i also do not want to move to a hdb resale flat as that will severely limit my investment options, should they be open to me in the future.

it makes me happy though, to see baby scouring the net for deals. i can see it's one thing she feels strongly about (she has always wanted an in-built oven in the kitchen for her baking aspirations) and i'm more than happy to participate. we are still looking for a place here in the wild wild west and i have grown to be comfortable staying in this region.

i'm not saying that we are never going to consider moving to other parts of singapore but in life, there are so many parameters to consider. i will like to stay near my parents but both of them aren't retired and there's no real babysitting option. here, even if ah ma isn't able to continue taking care of joaquin, there's the second option of baby's aunt. it's also great that most of baby's relatives are living around the area so festive affairs are pretty straightforward in terms of logistics.

there have been many basketball matches taking place at the community center recently. i think the inter-constituency tournament is going to start soon and i lost my place in the team. to be honest, i wasn't contributing in the previous tourneys and i didn't expect to be included every year. i'm just enjoying my weekly basketball sessions now. am i upset at losing my position? i have to admit i am. but then age catches up with everyone at some stage. right now, there are other priorities in life.

seems like it was going to be a lengthy post but as usual, i'm running out of steam.

notes: just bought champagne ham (fancy name) from cold storage and it's pretty good... better than smoked turkey breast which tastes rubbery if you keep it for more than 2 days...