A little something.. From Claire

Kungfu Paradise at Sembawang Shopping Centre ($0.50 for extra cheese sauce!)

2012-01-16T11:49:00.002+08:00

Yorkshire puddings

2012-01-13T12:18:00.003+08:00

Have been wanting to make these for a long time. The photos I have seen more than often look awesome and this looks really nice to eat. Yes.. It look nice cute and wonderful...

As I put the puddings into the oven, I watch the pudding slowly poof up and becomes a souffle looking dish. Looks rather cute like a mushroom. Recipe was rather simple and lowfat actually.

Excited... Grabbed a fork... The souffle dishes were hot. Yohan, unaware of the heat of the dishes (200 degrees?) held with two of his finger and went "aaaa..." Of course its hot! It came right out of the oven!!! We started poking the couffle dish. It has a nice flavoutful crusty exterior. The inside? A plain interior of pudding. Plain. Simply plain. Its like eating a slice of white bread without anything on it. The Yorkshires were a success, but the experiment should have been done when I am cooking something that has gravy... Cuz this was not meant to be eaten alone..

Yorkshire Pudding

(From the Basic Cookbook)

Ingredients

100g/1 cup plain/ all purpose flour

a pinch of salt

2 eggs

300ml full cream/whole milk and water mixed (I used 300ml fresh milk)

1. Sift the flour and salt into a mixing bowl and make a well in the centre

2. Drop the eggs into the well with a little milk.

3. Beat the eggs into the flour, gradually drawing the flour in from the sides of the bowl. 4. Once half the milk has been added, beat well until smooth and free from lumps

5. Stir in the remaining milk and leave to stand for 30 minutes.

6. Stir before using.

7. While waiting for the mixture to stand, heat the oven up to 220 degreeC/425 degreeF (This step is very crucial.)

8. Heat a tablespoon of oil in the roasting pan/tin/souffle dishes/cupcake pans in the oven.

9. When the oil is almost smoking, stir the batter and then pour it into the hot oil. Cook for 30-40 minutes for a large pudding and 18-20 minutes. (If your oven is too strong, it may be done before 18 minutes)

The batter can also be used for pancakes and, if liked, 2tbsp caster sugar may be added.

FOr savoury companion, try adding thyme spices or pepper to the batter.

Times Have Change… (Funny Comics)

2012-01-13T11:39:00.000+08:00

I LOVE THIS ONE!!!!!!!!!!!

Ramen Play @ i12Katong and Seventh Haven Ice Cream

2012-01-12T11:53:00.001+08:00

Yohan and I had dinner at Ramen Play, i12Katong (Sounds like I want to Katong?) It's not a place I would return to...

Felt like I was eating instant noodles.. The curry one.. It was rather pathetic for what it's worth $13.80 for the Pork Katsu Curry Ramen.. The soup was majorly curry powder in MSG in my opinion... The picture was misleading in the sense that we thought it would be Ramen in the curry sauce we eat in our favourite Japanese Curry rice.. Pork Katsu was good though... Breaded pork can't go too wrong right?

There was the bamboo chicken, top left corner.. $3 for half a bamboo of minced chicken meat. not worth $3 in my opinion. Its like 3 table spoons of minced chicken meat stuffed in a bamboo and char-grilled somehow. We were supposed to eat it with egg yolk, but the taste doesn't seem to match that well. Gyoza was pretty good. But they were a little stingy with the vinegar, which we can simply, of course take the trouble to ask for more. 6 pieces for $6.80. So that's $1.33 cents per piece? Ok.. Calculative much. But it was worthwhile... :)

After dinner, we had some ice cream. Butterscotch peacon was the first flavour the the second flavour was pistachio. :) They were both pretty good and pretty creamy. Only problem was that the flavour seemed to be lacking a strong taste. So after a few spoons of the ice cream, I felt like I was simply eating cream.

GORDON RAMSAY IS FOLLOWING ME ON TWITTER!!!!!

2012-01-11T14:44:00.001+08:00

Sunday Dinner with Family: Bak Chor Mee and Roast Pork

2012-01-08T11:44:00.017+08:00

My parents were away in Guangzhou for the weekend, and I had an urge to cook a dinner for my closer family like Aunt Nicole and Uncle Ah Siong.. So I ask for their request for the food they would like to eat. My sister requested Bak Chor Mee. Auntie Nicole requested for Sukiyaki and grilled Fish... I decided to try the Bak Chor Mee cuz it seems like a challenge and the family food at home was always mee Siam and Chicken Rice.. Time for a change... So we had Bak Chor Mee... But the bak Chor Mee involves loads of ingredients which cannot be found such as pork lard and fried pork fat (猪油渣)... So I had to make those myself. How? By making Crispy Skin Roast Pork (烧肉）I must say this was one of the best attempts I had. Little mess. And I could extract the pork lard from the fats that melted from the Crispy Skin Pork. Hehehe... Sin sin sin...

Was kinda afraid the chinese food wouldnt meet my husband's palate.. So I made a few of his favourite Mimosa.. I should have used a piping tip. though.. The Ziplock bag piping trick was not so good... :S

Got a little carried away preparing for the Bak chor Mee... But this is it... The alst bowl, mine... Doesnt look very nice I guess?

Café Oliv at East Coast Road

2011-12-30T00:21:00.001+08:00

Got a $9.90 deal coupon which includes soup of the day, a drink (top up for drinks like hazelnut latte with ice cream), entree and a dessert.. The offer was worthwhile cuz we were too full by the time we finished our food... And the food we ordered was awesome!!!

As seen in the collage in the bottom left, is Yohan's beef stew with pilaf rice... Everything was great... For a non rice fan, the rice was very good... Really fragrant and tasted awesome!!! And the photo is the collage bottom right, was my order, black pepper pesto chicken... Chicken was really really good.. It had char-grilled taste... Unlike Aston's which was always missing the char-grilled taste... The bad part would be the baby potatoes. It was slightly undercook for me... Yohan felt it was ok though... So up to personal preference I guess?

Dessert was worthwhile if it came in the set, but not so worthwhile as an ala carte purchase... I wouldn't recommend the mud pie cuz it had some kinda funny artificial taste though...

3.5/5

Yunnan Roast Duck and Thai Prawn Balls

2011-12-19T19:56:00.000+08:00

Another great monday night dinner with the family.... Rachel didn't make it home for dinner today though... We had my cousin, Jarren coming over for dinner but his palates are still that of a 13 year old kid... Doesn't like Duck or Thai cooking... Think he was the o Lu one suffering at today's dinner table.. Hahaha... But Yohan rushed home to eat the awesome dinner which I'm so happy for..

The star tonight was supposedly the duck, but easy to eat Prawn balls took the table though... Hahaha... The Duck wasn't as crispy as Peking Duck, but it was tender and juicy and flavorful.... Of course I will share the recipe.. :) sorry I didn't photograph the entire progress of cooking the duck though.... Maybe one day I'll make a video of it... :) it's too bad my sister couldn't make it tonight because I know she loves Duck.... :) Quacky was awesomely beautiful... The drumsticks nearly got burnt, so I wrapped it with aluminium foil... The secret was probably patience and alot of care to cook it..... But here goes the recipe

Roast Duck Yunnan Style

Ingredients
1 duck (remove head, neck and webbed feet)
1 bunch of spring onions
2 gloves of garlic
1 tbsp bean paste
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp MSG
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 pinch black pepper
2 tbsp rice wine
2 tsp salt
1/2 pint (250ml) chicken stock
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp honey
1 tbsp water

Directions
1. Wash and dry the duck
2. Clean as finely slice the spring onions. Peel and crush the clove oF garlic. Mix together with the bean paste, cinnamon, MSG, sugar, pepper, rice wine, salt, and the chicken stock. Transfer everything into a sauce pan and cook on a high heat for 2 minutes
3. Stuff the mixture into the duck and secure with a smaller skewer or a couple of wooden toothpicks
4. Mix together the soy sauce, honey and water and brush onto the duck.
5. Place the duck in a roasting tin, cover with a tight fitting lid and place in the middle shelf in the oven. Roast the duck in gas mark 7 (450 degree F or 225 degree C) for approximately 50 minutes. Remove the lid and continue to roast the duck, braising it every now and then, until nice and crispy.
6. Remove the duck from the roasting tin, carve and serve with Hoisin sauce

Tod Mun Goong (Deep-fried Thai Prawn Balls)

From Women’s Weekly beginners Thai

Ingredients

1kg king prawns, cooked

5 green onions, chopped finely

2 cloves garlic, crushed

4 fresh small thai chilli, seeded, chopped finely

1 tsp grated fresh ginger

1 tbsp cornflour

2 tsp fish sauce

1/4 cup coarsely chopped coriander

1/2 cup breadcrumbs

vegetable oil, for deep frying

1/3 cup sweet chilli sauce

Directions

1. Shell and devein prawns; cut in half, blend or process prawn halves, pulsing, until chopped coarsely. Place in large bowl with onion, garlic, chilli, ginger, cornflour, sauce and coriander, mix well

2. using hands, roll rounded tablespoons of prawn mixture into balls.Roll prawn balls in combined breadcrumbs; place, in single layer, on plastic-wrap-lined tray. Cover, refrigerate 30 mins

4. Heat oil in wok or saucepan, deep-fry prawn balls, in batches, until lightly browned and cooked through. Serve with sweet chilli sauce.

My changes to recipe:

-I didn’t cook the prawns so that it would hold better and the balls would have a bouncier texture.

-I used IQF prawns because 1kg of king prawns isn’t exactly worthwhile for making prawn balls given how expensive prawn balls are. IQF praen balls costed $7.50 per 500g pack from ang mo supermarket at Punggol. I bought 2 packs for it.

-I added more than a quarter cup of coriander like 1/2 a cup? And i chopped it more finely.

-I hand chopped the prawns instead of blending it to improve the texture

-Added 2 tbsp of thai red curry paste.

-Mixed in 1/4 cup of bread crumbs

-Mixed bread crumbs for dipping with curry powder

-Crushed the garlic with garlic press.

The prawn balls dish was an awesome hit!

Happy Birthday Dawn!

2011-12-18T13:13:00.000+08:00

Its’ one of My Bowen student, Dawn’s, birthday.. As a birthday present, I made her something I haven’t made in 2 years! cupcakes!!!

The first classic that always finishes up really fast, Cookie Monster!!!!

Who doesn’t like Cookies and cReam really? Remember the first time Oreo was introduced to you? open, Dunk and bite! Well, no milk here, but you can dunk it in the cookies and cream vanilla butter cream frosting..

A little something for the curious younsters. Alcohol based cupcakes. Bailey’s hazelnut in everybite. Literally. In the cake, in the cream cheese frosting. Not in the hazelnut praline though.. But for Bailey’s lover, this is one to finish up!! Gulp Gulp…

Bailey Praline cupcake… Gulp…

Next Alcohol cupcake, Malibu Rum Coconut cupcakes. Think these ones would be perfect if you were at cafe del mar? By the beach, drinking Pina Colada and eating a Malibu Rum Coconut cupcake.

The chocolate chip cupcake was not as simple as it sounds. Its Chocolate overload. Its like a chocolate chip cookie, but a cupcake version and with rich chocolate ganache, its death by chocolate. Chocolate in every single bite. Only for chocolate lovers. My cousin Jarren had three at one go!!! And chocolate loving husband literally ate it at every tea time and breakfast the past two days!

Happy Birthday Dawn!

Hokkaido Japanese Restaurant at Turf City

2011-12-17T13:19:00.002+08:00

Yohan and I had a chance to spend a Saturday at our favourite Jap buffet restaurant.... It's super value for money...

Hokkaido Japanese Restaurant Pte Ltd
200 Turf Club Road #01-20
Singapore 287994
Tel: 64672638
Closed every Tuesday except eve of public holiday and public holiday

Lunch 11.30-3pm
Last order 2.15pm
adult $28.90+ child $18.90+ no gst

Dinner 6-10pm
Last order 9.30pm
adult $33.90+ child $21.90+ no gst

Free American Tourister Luggage (worth $160)

2011-12-16T14:24:00.001+08:00

Maybank family and friends card couldn't have gotten better! On top of the random 10% cash rebates at leading supermarkets like NTUC and cold storage (offer just ended though) 5% cash rebate at popular and the usual supermarkets, they recently just sent me a voucher for a free luggage! And it's not some cheapo luggage! It's American Tourister. Probably under samsonite since it has a warranty card from samsonite... Features include
-lightweight
-spinner wheels
-combi TSA lock
-expandable
-3 year warranty!!

It's so awesome.. TSA lock is an American security approved lock hereby the american sercurities can open your luggage without damaging your bag!!!

Downside of it was the wheels was so smooth I wish there was a brake cuz I brought it home on MRT!

Ten Dollar Club Family KTV Karaoke

2011-12-11T23:36:00.000+08:00

Thanks to recommendation by Jiali, we didn’t have to spend 20++ per person at K-box. Yes. This is the $10 per person KTV that allows you to sing for maximum of 5 hours. Trade off would be

1. You must sign up for a 5 year membership for the deal if you are not a SAFRA member

2. You need to adhere to the time slot for singing. (See flyer)

3. Sometimes must pay plus plus and $0.50 per person for the towel

4. Location is not most accessible

5. Song request system not very user friendly

Other than that, its cheap and good!

Benefits include:

1. Membership is $5 for 5 years!

2. $10 with free flow drinks

3. Air-con (duh?)

4. $10 to sing till you lose your voice in 5 hours

5. Much cheaper than K-box or partyworld!

Kettle-Pi-Der

2011-12-11T12:50:00.001+08:00

I bought some coupons to a restaurant in Thomson Plaza. Total let down. It was cheap. 1 main each (see photo below) 1 soup/drink each and a sharing dessert platter.

Furnishing and stuff were nice but the kitchen uses induction cooker, toasters, hot water pot, microwave oven.

Yohan and I shared the wrap by cutting our wrap into half and passing to each other. The wrap had a skin too thick and the ingredients were not wet enough to make it good. It lacks a moist factor in the wrap. Hence it was dry and not too tasty due to the overloaded skin.

Soup is... er-hem.... Instant hot water type. Yes...

My reaction to the soup!

I didnt take picture of the dessert platter cuz it wasnt that good. Ice cream was probably marigold or something?

Thomson Plaza

#01-57 Thomson Plaza Singapore 574408 Tel: 64566130

Thai Duck Red Curry: Saturday dinner of Fusion Cuisine

2011-12-10T23:40:00.071+08:00

I finally had the chance to cook dinner for my family after a long year of teaching tuition. So excited! I cooked my husband's favourite Cordon Bleu or he calls it "Coq Dame?"

Clockwise from the garlic bread on the top left corner:

1. Homemade Garlic Bread

1 stick of butter

3 cloves of garlic (pass through garlic mincer)

2 tablespoons of oregano

1 tsp of sea salt

1 tsp of pepper

Foccacia loaf (cut into slices)

Mix all ingredients except foccacia loaf

Spread the garlic herb spread onto foccacia loaf

Toast for 5 mins

Serve

2. Sashimi (bought from supermarket)

3. Thai Duck Red Curry

Ingredients

1/4 Cup Thai Red Curry Paste (2 tbsp more if you like the heat!) (See recipe below)

400ml of coconut milk (500ml if you dislike it too spicy)

1/2 cup chicken stock (125ml)

2 fresh kaffir lime leaves, torn (Make sure you really tear it!That's crucial in releasing the fragrance. I use like 8 leaves for the real flavour though)

1 tbsp fish sauce

1 tbsp lime juice

1/3 cup firmlu packed fresh thai basil leaves (you can find them in Sheng Siong or wet markets. Usually its described in Chinese as Jing bu Wang)

1 whole barbequed duck (chopped into 12 pieces) (I used roast chicken)

1 can of lychees (discard syrup)

225 g can bamboo shoots, rinsed, drained (I use the packet ones from supermarkets. One packet and slice it)

3 fresh long red thai chillies, sliced thinly (for garnish)

Directions

1. Heat up a large saucepan. Put in the curry paste and stir over heat until fragrant.

2. Add coconut milk, stock, lime leaves, sauce and lime jucie. This is the stage you should taste and adjust the ingredients to decide how spicy or salty or sour you like your Thai curry. The recipe gives a rather mild taste. So you can adjust to your liking

3. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, simmer, stirring, 5 minutes

4. Reserve about 8 small whole basil leaves for garnish; add remaining basil leaves with duck, lychees and bamboo shoots to the curry mixture. Cook, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes or until heated through.

5. Place curry in s serving bowl, sprinkle with sliced red chilli and reserved thai basil leaves

4. Salmon nigiri sushi (bought from supermarket)

5. Cordon Bleu (Chicken cutlet stuffed with ham and cheese)

I'll share the recipe another day. :P

6. Apple and Ham salad

I'll share the recipe another day

6. More Cordon Bleu

Signs of hunger... Touching food before photo taking!

Thai Red Curry Paste

Ingredients

20 dried long red chillies

1 tsp ground coriander

2 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp hot paprika

2 tsp finely chopped fresh ginger

3 large gloves garlic, quartered

1 medium (170g) red onion, chopped coarsely

2 sticks fresh lemon grass, sliced thinly

2 tbsp coarsely chopped fresh coriander root and stem mixture

2 tsp shrimp paste

1 tsp peanut oil

Directions

1. Place whole chillies in small heatproof jug, cover with boiling water, stand 15 minutes, drain. (you can choose to use any bowl that is big enough to whole the chillies and keep the heat of the hot water warm enough to hydrate the chillies.

2. Meanwhile, stir ground coriander, cumin and paprika over medium heat in small dry-heated frying pan until fragrant. (I used cumin seeds)

3. Blend or process chillies and roasted spices with remaining ingredients, except for the oil, until the mixture forms a paste, pausing to scrape down sides of machine occasionally during blending

4. Add oil to paste mixture, continue to blend in machine or using mortat and pestle until smooth.

My student hopped over to join us for dinner. And took photo with us too. :)

How to store your curry paste?

USe what you need at the time, then place the remaining paste in a glass jar, cover it tightly and refrigerate it for up to a week. A better idea is to make the paste, then freeze the rest. Place tablespoons of curry paste in the compartments of an ice-cube tray; wrap the tray tightly in plastic wrap and put it in your freezer until the paste solidifies. Remove the blocks of curry paste, then re-wrap them individually and return to the freezer until required. This way you'll never need to thaw more than you need at any given time. You can store curry pastes this way for up to three months with no discernible difference in flavour.

Curry pastes are, as the name implies, an essential ingredient in the making of a Thai curry, but they can be used in any number of other dishes, from stir-fried and salads to soupd and marinades. Every dish you add them to, no matter how quickly it's prepared, will taste as though it's been slowly simmered for hours, such is its depth and complexity of flavour.

23rd December 2010: Visiting Downtown Paris: Lafayette

2011-12-09T19:01:00.002+08:00

Yohan and I were about to set off on our journey to downtown Paris. My first visit to the main features of Paris.

But before all that, breakfast comes first. We got all dress up to go to.....

The boulangerie (the bakery)

Macarons are actually a staple in all the boulangeries in France!!!

Look at the amazing display of pain (bread.. Yes... Bread is pain..)

That's the typical Parisian breakfast for the Launay family...

Here is the beautiful garden in winter.. Not too bad right? Its not like everything is withered.

Bus stop outside the Launay's home..

Here we are at the neighbourhood station..

Oooops... Censored..

Winter shelters at the train stations to shelter us from the cold wind in winter!

This photo is taken from the upper deck of the train. The train we took has an upper deck and a lower deck.

CAn you see? stairs leading upstairs and den downstairs..

That's the name of the station we were at..

Arrived finally at Haussman St-Lazare after 20 mins?

Salvation Army in France!!!

Can anyone tell? Presents are like "falling" from the sky!

Funny dancing bears dancing to Abba's "Dancing Queen" song.

Funny man in uniform..

Earmuffs protecting ears from the cold..

More Macarons!

And Voila! Pierre Herme Paris!!!

Look at the Piere Herme Macarons!!!

Coffee beans at the Nespresso shop!

Erhem... Assburger anyone?

Nespresso shop!!! And nope... I dont think we have this in Singapore.. Makes you feel like drinking coffee right?

Queueing for her supply of coffee!!

And the opera!!

Think its like an esplanade equivalent? Where you watch musical and stuff?

Oooops... More PDA (Parisian Display of Affection)

SNOW!!!! La Neige!

Another Patissierie!!

Boudain for lunch! Its chicken and milk stuffed sausage. It is eaten with apple sauce. My mother in law loves it so much she buys 10kg everytime she goes to the chacuterie at Mamie's (Grandma Launay)

Sausage hugging bread for appetisers.

ME in snow

More Boudain

Fifille looking for the tennis ball... Its kinda funny cuz she looks stuck..

Present wrapping for the night... Yohan and I brought our presents over to Paris to Wrap... Dont think he did a good job wrapping his Nephew, Owen's cadeau (Present)

Christmas Eve tomorrow!!

iPad2 of Love for Christmas

2011-12-05T22:18:00.001+08:00

My love Yohan bought me an iPad2 after much thought for Christmas... I can't put words to describe how touched I am... I wanted an iPad, it doesn't have to be an iPad 2... I would have been happy even if it was a second hand iPad1. But Yohan wanted only the very best for me... I couldn't be happier... I couldn't have asked for more.... The day right after I told him I wanted an iPad for Christmas (I wasn't very serious... I was considering to buy a second hand iPad1) he met me in Orchard today with a very special gift for me.... An awesome iPad2. I even gave it a name. Il s'appelle Pepè... (His name is Pepè... Named after Pepè le Pew)

Summon Auntie iPhone App

2011-08-19T00:10:00.001+08:00

iPhone App Spots Parking Meter Attendants in Singapore

by Willis Weeon August 18, 2011in Start-ups

16
inShare

inShare

A "summon auntie" in action. Credit: Halbert Lim, Flickr

Here’s a very creative and practical iPhone app from Singapore that will come in handy for motorists around town. It’s called ‘Summon Auntie‘ and it relies on help from the community to spot and alert others about officers who are giving parking fines in the vicinity.

Summon Auntie is a Singlish phrase that describes meter attendants, usually middle-aged women, who give parking fines to cars that are illegally parked. The app is pretty simple with three basic options:

Park: This tells the app where you parked your car. It will track, record your location, and alert you if the Summon Auntie is on the prowl!
Alert: You only hit this alert when you see a Summon Auntie at your vicinity.
Kena: This will tell others that you have received a fine. Tsk tsk.

Just in case you’re wondering, “kena”, basically means “got it” or “got” in Singlish. But it is more often used in a negative context.

So how’s the app doing so far? Summon Auntie is getting an average of five stars on iTunes with over 50 reviews, a pretty good sign that the app is providing real value for many Singaporeans. What’s remarkable is that the application has only been available for just nine days, but has received lots of positive feedback during that short time.

Summon Auntie is developed by Replaid Pte Ltd, a web and mobile development studio based in Singapore which started operation in June 2011. Sanjay, the Business Development ‘Ninja’ at Replaid (who prefers to be called by his first name), told us that the company will be releasing more fun and innovative mobile apps in a couple of months time. He added:

Replaid started with the Yes!Fund Initiative and [we] have just launched our first in-house mobile app (Summon Auntie) on August 9th. Since then it had 478 downloads [within just] 4 days of launch!

For drivers who’d like to give it a try, you can get in here. Let us know if it saves you from any tickets!

22nd December 2010: Arrival in Paris

2011-06-30T01:25:00.000+08:00

Arrival in Paris 22nd December 2010

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As usual, my posts are waaaayyyyy outdated…. But work comes first when my career ain’t a full time blogger…. I’m writing this entry on 29th June 2011 about a day on 22nd December 2011, when I first touched down in Europe… With loads of thanks to my beloved boyfriend back den, and Fiance today, I finally had a chance to move out of Asia…

Curious to know how my Paris fiance’s home look like? Here is the simple three storey house with a basement… Its winter… So pretty much no greenery except for the coniferous trees…

Did I mention I think my fiance looks really suave in winter clothing? With sub zero temperatures, I don’t think Winter was exactly top on my favourite season list…

Loads of interesting stuff in the neighbourhood… But being the piggy me, my favourite place would be the patissieries and boulangeries….

Baked Meringue for sale… Its just alot of sugar… Good to look, but probably not something I wanna eat…

I love the display of gourmet chocolates….

Pastries and macarons… Yummy….Napolean in the centre… Yummy… Didn’t buy that though…

I love the tart aux fraises (left: Strawberry Tart)…My Yohan loves the Chocolate eclairs in the centre….

Check out the chocolate coated cream puffs in the rustic decorations…

Don’t we love the glass candy jars?

The City hall where my future parents in law had the marriage… Our city hall leh? Raffles City?

This was just a street away from Yohan’s home… Not sure why there are horses there… Either a tourist attraction of a Christmas event?

Garbage bags provided for people to clear up after their doggies when their doggies leave their crap on the side walk.. Unfortunately, many people don’t use them, so I spend 90% of my walking time checking out for doggy poo on the floor…

My parents in law… witht he dogs…

Think I took this picture back then because I love the big terrace…

This is a residential gate.. A little huge?

Precious Papillion above, Fifille

And the naughty Jack Russell (not my favourite type of dog… A little too hyper for my liking.. Especially the male ones).. His name is Hector…

Our first breakfast in France… Yohan’s favourite Pain au chocolat, and my favourite Croissants…. Buttery goodness in the pastry… Yummy…Baguette anyone? The national bread of FRance?

Actually the Baguette is really different from the one we have in Singapore…. Also, the French never ever cut their baguette with knives… They just tear the bread apart with their hands… Actually the better term would be to break the bread apart…Special bread for lunch.. Its a huge loaf of Pannetone looking bread with its centre cut out to make an assortment of sandwich and fitted right back in!

Apple cobbler with peach ice cream… Yummy!

The Paris city hall (above) and the Louvre (below). In case you don’t know, the Mona Lisa is in this building…

The bastille… They have loads of this structures erected all over Paris and roads going round it like a roundabout…

Ferris Wheel… Traditional, but not as big as the Singapore flyer..

The overrated Champs Elysees (in my opinion).. Its just a street… Really….

Many girls’ best friend, Louis Vuitton… Think that is the main shop…

The L’arc de triumph..

Its actually much larger than what people think…

La Tour Eiffel, aka the Eiffel Tower… Not as big as I expected on first look.. Maybe bacause Iw as looking at it from far?

Dinner… A soup called "Port aux Feuille” (Not sure about the spelling) Not my favourite dish for the day.. Unlike most soup, this has a lot of fats!!!!

Lie Detector Robot

2011-06-20T09:17:00.000+08:00

A dad buys a lie detector robot which slaps people when they lie.
He decides to test it at dinner.
'Son, where were you today?'
Son says 'at school dad.'
Robot slaps the son!
'Ok, i watched a dvd at my mates!'
'What dvd?'
'Toy story.'
Robot slaps the son again!
'Ok, it was a porno' cries the son.
'What! When I was your age I didn't know what porn was' says the dad.
Robot slaps the dad!
Mum laughs 'HaHaHa! He's certainly your son.'
Robot slaps The mum!:

Clever & cheeky ads by Durex for condoms in US and European Markets

2011-06-07T15:14:00.000+08:00

How to Tell when Bananas Go Bad?

2011-05-30T12:36:00.000+08:00

Just for Laugh Ah Beng Malaysian Style

2011-05-28T10:41:00.000+08:00

Ah Beng comes back 2 his car & find a note saying 'Parking Fine'
He Writes a note and sticks it to a pole 'Thanks for compliment.'

Ah Beng bought a new mobile.
He sent a message to everyone from his Phone Book & said,
'My Mobile No. Has changed. Earlier it was Nokia 3310. Now it is 6610'

Ah Beng: I am a Proud, coz my son is in Medical College .
Friend: Really, what is he studying.
Ah Beng: No, he is not studying, they are studying him.

Ah Beng: Doctor, in my dreams, I play football every night.
DR: Take this tablet, you will be ok.
Ah Beng: Can I take tomorrow, tonight is final game.

Ah Beng: If I die, will u remarry?
Wife: No! I'll stay with my sister. But if I die will u remarry?
Ah Beng: No, I'll also stay with your sister.

Ah Beng: People consider me as a 'GOD'
Wife: How do you know??
Ah Beng: When I went to the Park today, everybody said,
Oh GOD! U have come again.

Ah Beng complained to the police: 'Sir, all items are missing,
except the TV in my house.'
Police: 'How the thief did not take TV?'
Ah Beng: 'I was watching TV news...'

How do you recognize Ah Beng in School?
He is the one who erases the notes from the book when the teacher erases
the board.

Once Ah Beng was walking he had a glove on one hand and not on other.
So the man asked him why he did so. He replied that the weather forecast
announced that on one hand it would be cold and on the other hand it would
be hot.

Ah Beng in a bar and his cellular phone rings. He picks it up and
Says 'Hello, how did you know I was here?'

Ah Beng: Why are all these people running?
Man: This is a race, the winner will get the cup
Ah Beng: If only the winner will get the cup, why others running?

Teacher: 'I killed a person' convert this sentence into future tense
Ah Beng: The future tense is 'u will go to jail'

Ah Beng told his servant: 'Go and water the plants!'
Servant: 'It's already raining.'
Ah Beng: 'So what? Take an umbrella and go.'

A man asked Ah Beng why Ahmad Badawi goes walking in the Evening and not
in the morning. Ah Beng replied Ahmad Badawi is PM not AM

Treating Burns

2011-05-10T12:08:00.000+08:00

One hopes never to be in need of using it, but just in case:...
This is a simple but effective way to treat burns with the help of egg white.
This method is used in the training of firemen.
When sustaining a burn, regardless the degree, the first aid is always placing the injured part under running cold water till the heat subsides.
And next spread the egg white over the injury.
Someone burned a large part of her hand with boiling water. Despite the pain she held her hand under running water, then took two eggs, parted the yolk from the egg white and slightly beat the egg white and put her hand in it. Her hand was so badly burned that the egg white dried and formed a white film. Later she heard that the egg is a natural collagen.
And during the next hour layer upon layer, she administered a white layer on her hand.
While the egg white is still wet you will feel no pain from the burn. As soon as it dries up the pain comes back so reapplication is necessary. This method not only alleviates the pain it actually heals and prevents scarring from the burn.
That afternoon she didn't feel any more pain and the next day there hardly was a red mark to see. She thought she would have an awful scar but to her astonishment after ten days there was no sign of the burn, the skin had its normal color again!
The burned area had been totally regenerated thanks to the collagen, in reality a placenta full of vitamins.
Alternatives : Aloe Vera is also good for treating burns. Cut some fresh aloe Vera leaves and put it on the burnt area. Once the wound starts healing, break a capsule of vitamin E and pour the liquid on it. This will prevent scarring.
The first and foremost thing that is required to be done after burn is to pour lots of chilled water on the burn affected area for about half an hour.

Tips In Daily Life (Not a Reflection Post!)

2011-05-10T11:47:00.000+08:00

1. Hot and spicy to tears, what to do?
If you accidentally eat the hot food that makes you shed tears, your first thought will be probably a glass of water. However, hot water is not a solution, it will make it more spicy. In fact, the best solution is to drink hot milk. OR EAT A SWEET

2. Keeping tofu firm
Soft tofu in the cooking process is very easy to break into pieces. If you want to maintain the integrity of tofu, you can soak it in salt water for about 30 minutes before cooking.

3. Soup is too salty
Making soup with too much salt, the subtle taste of the soup will be destroyed. If this happens, the remedy is to add cooked potato pieces for few minutes. The potato will absorb the salt. When soup is served, then remove the potato.

4. Soak a little vinegar before cutting taros
Cutting taro can make your hands itching. Soaking your hands in vinegar before cutting taros will prevent your hands from itching.

5. How to remove the wax from an apple?
If you often eat apples with their skin, then you would need to remove the wax first before eating ....
(a) place the apple into hot water, the apple's wax will vanish.
(b) Apply toothpaste on the apple to clean out the wax.

6. How to slow down potato germination?
Potato buds contain toxic alkaloids which can cause abdominal pain and dizziness. Placing an apple in potatoes can significantly delay their germination time. Ethylene gas produced by apple has hampered the effectiveness of potato development. Putting apples together with papayas or kiwi will make them ripe faster.
Further, apples can make persimmon astringency disappear but sweeten after a week.

7. How to make good rice?
After washing rice in water, add a few drops of lemon juice, (or a few drops of oil), cooked rice will turn out good and fragrant.

8. How to keep biscuits crispy?
When storing biscuits in a container, put a sugar cube in it at the same time. As the sugar absorbs the moisture in the container, biscuits or cookies can remain crispy and delicious.

9. What can be done if clothing stains with ink?
If ink gets on your clothing or fabric, you can use cooked rice or paste with a little detergent to remove the stain. Use your fingers to smear repeatly on the spot, stain can be removed quickly. Then soak it into fresh water with ordinary cleaning agent for a period of time before washing.

10. How to treat smelly shoes?
Put a small amount of baking soda directly into the boots, sneakers or shoes, that are obviously smelly due to dampness. Baking soda powder has the effect of absorbing moisture and odor.

11. Ring around the collar, or spotty under the armpit area of the clothing?
First brush some shampoo, shaving cream or lotion on the dirty area for five minutes. Then wash off the stain.

12. How to keep flower fresh?
Adding a little beer in the vase can keep house flowers fresh for an extended period of time. This is because beer contains alcohol whic is both antiseptic and disinfectant. Beer also contains sugar and other nutrients for the leaves.

13. How to sharpen scissors?
Stacked three aluminum foil together, then cut them with the scissors to be sharpen. You will see surprising result.

14. How to remove annoying gummed labels?
It is quite annoying when comes to remove the price tags on merchandise. To remove the gummed labels neatly, all you need is to use a hair dryer to apply heat on the label before taking them off.

15. What can you do with beer beside drinking?
Most people know milk is good in cleaning foliage plants. In fact,use leftover beer to wipe plants is even better! Dip a cotton ball into beer, lightly wipe leaves to remove dust and keep them lustery.Furthermore, this method also prevents ants from coming to the plant.

15. What to do with unwanted perfumes?
Before throwing them away, unwanted perfumes could be useful.
You can use unwanted perfume to clean indoor light bulbs with cotton balls. When the bulbs light up and warm up, the whole room would be filled with the aroma.

17. Remove crayon graffiti from wooden furniture.
If you've kids at home, wooden furniture are subject to crayon graffiti. Crayon stains can not be removed with water. Although the use of paint solvents can do the job, the paint on the surface could be damaged. The most suitable method is to use toothpaste. Not only it cleans, it does no harm to the furniture.

18. Use vinegar to help mopping the kitchen floor.
The kitchen floor is often easy to get greasy. Before mopping the kitchen floor, pour some vinegar on the mop. This will enable easy remove of grease.

19. How to remove stains from tea cups?
Stained tea cups can affect their appearance. To clean up the stain with a man made loofah cloth the cups would have scratches in the long run. Just spread a little toothpaste and hand-wash the cups, stain can be removed easily. If the stain is too thick, wait a few minutes after applying toothpaste before washing.

20. Improved floor sweeping
The unused stockings can be attached to a broom to clean the floor. Stockings can help sweeping up cotton, hair and other particles that are difficult to sweep with an ordinary broom.

Some Reflections from Lee Seng Wai on Singapore’s Growth

2011-05-05T12:25:00.001+08:00

Regardless of the election outcome, I am worried for Singapore.

by Lee Seng Wai on Monday, May 2, 2011 at 10:43pm

(Foreword: I post this essay knowing that I risk losing the friendship of some of the people I know. But I decided to do it anyway, because I believe the message is important enough to broadcast.

This wall-of-text is an open letter to any Singaporeans that comes across it. It is NOT meant to affect your vote. I did not intend for this to be a pro-PAP essay, but I do not blame you if you read it as such given the message inside. At times it’s going to read like a damning lecture to the middle-class and you will hate my guts. But I hope you can see the message of inspiration embedded within.)

We are days away from voting day. Regardless of the outcome, I am worried for Singapore.

Over the past weeks, a very worrying sentiment has risen up from the ground. We are all rightly concerned about the rising cost of living and the security of our jobs. But I am depressingly worried about the calls to prioritise jobs for Singaporeans, to spend more on welfare by tapping on our past reserves.

How our elections end – whether it is a crushing victory by PAP or the opposition, or a balanced outcome, will in fact matter little to the rest of the world. Come 8 May, it is almost certain that a few international papers will merely note our election results, and after that we will once again vanish almost entirely from the eyes of the international press.

But the sentiments that have risen will continue to manifest inside us after the GE is over. And over time, I worry that it will consume us as well.

“Jobs for Singaporeans first!”

There are foreigners all around us. They work beside us, live beside us, eat beside us. They compete with us for housing, transport, jobs. As a citizen, you have burdens that foreigners don’t – CPF, NS, expensive housing. Sometimes you wonder whether you are second-class citizens in your own country.

A few days ago, I read a proposal that manifested this sentiment: “No employer should be allowed to choose a foreigner over an equally-skilled Singaporean, even if the foreigner is willing to accept a lower pay.” I am sure many will find this proposal quite attractive.

Yes the foreigners are stealing your jobs. NEWSFLASH: Even if you kicked them out, they will continue to steal your jobs from overseas.

Think back about the time when you were studying, perhaps in JC or in university. Chinese, Indian and ASEAN students in your schools were trashing most local students in the exams. These foreigners were really hardworking – there are reports of Chinese students barely able to speak English when they first arrived, and scoring A1 in English when they leave. This is all rather depressing for the local students, so perhaps we should not let these foreign students into our schools to begin with? But that’s merely escapism – put these foreigners in another country’s schools and they will still excel. On an absolute scale, most Singapore students will still be weaker – they just don’t get to see the competition.

The same logic applies in the workplace. Even if your company never hired a single foreigner, that does not mean they have disappeared. It means they are now working for another firm, and it is likely that firm is your competitor. If the foreigners are able to do the same work for lower pay, then that firm will likely strive over yours in the marketplace. Cold comfort isn’t it? Maybe it’s better to have these foreigners in our firm fighting with us, than on the other side fighting against us.

The call for protectionism is strong. It is incredibly seductive. And it is deadly. It is deadly because it risks the livelihood of your firm. The security of your job starts from the security of your firm’s profitability in the marketplace. If your firm is sinking, then it can’t afford to keep you employed for long. At least if your firm is floating, you as an employee have a fighting chance.

The “Singaporean-first” proposal in the earlier section is not only escapism – it is also the vilest form of office politics. In normal office politics, you might sabotage a colleague’s work but at least they get to do some work. In protectionism, you shut them outside the office door.

“That means nothing if I can barely keep my job and my pay is so low!”

Yes the foreigners are depressing your wages. NEWSFLASH: They are willing to work for the same low pay whether they are in Singapore or not. But their existence here helps make sure you actually get paid.

It boils down to the survival of your company in a dog-eat-dog world. Think about the last time you, as a consumer, bought a product. Take for example a carton of milk. There are many brands on the shelf. You might exercise some brand loyalty, but if the cost of one brand is too high compared to its neighbours, chances are that you will switch brands. Throughout this entire process, you will not stop to think how the milk company has structured its business, hired and paid its workers, how many locals are employed etc. All you care about is the quality and price of the milk.

The same decision-making process made by a buyer is happening billions of times everyday. The goods and services of Singapore companies are out being compared with those of other countries. We cannot compete purely on cost in a world of Chinese dominance - if we are going to be more expensive, then we need to better in quality and speed.

But we also cannot ignore cost – and perhaps this is where cheaper foreign labour comes in. We also cannot ignore the possibility that any company requires a critical mass of workers in order to function. There are reports of companies complaining that they can’t attract enough Singaporeans, hence they resort to foreigners. Without the foreigners, will the Singaporean jobs in that company still exist?

“Those fat cat bosses are just roping in cheap labour to support their own oversized pay!”

A fair sentiment. I personally believe that the “overpaid” bosses are actually fairly paid. A firm is a profit-maximising entity. It makes no sense to pay someone more than his value-add to the firm. If your boss’s only contribution to the company is a proposal to slash wages, he’s not worth his pay because anyone (e.g. a facebook warrior like you and me) can propose that. So it stands to reason that those people earning $10k,$100k, etc per month are actually worth that much to the firm.

It also stands to reason that people of your bosses’ calibre are rather rare (or at least rarer than you), because if there were tons of people of your bosses’ calibre, then there wouldn’t be a need to pay them so much.

The real question is not how overpaid the boss is. The real question is - how can you increase your own pay? How can you become the “overpaid” boss?

Improve Yourself

There is a simple answer that I advocate: Improve yourself. Improve your own market-worth until the scarcity value of your own talent lets you rise about the rank and file. Until you qualify for better pay.

If you are a graduate, you have spent nearly two decades in school studying. It must be depressing to start work in society and tussle with foreigners for low wages. But like I’ve tried to explain above, this is because the world itself has changed. It is not your fault that the rise of China and India happens while we are working adults, flooding the market with cheap labour. But it has happened anyway and we have to deal with it. China and India’s rise are not going to be the end – within our lifetimes, we may see the rise of Africa and the other ASEAN countries as well.

But there is a way out of all this. Cheap foreign labor is only cheap because it is not that high up the talent ladder. Talented foreign labor is really expensive because the expats' command so much scarcity value that they can demand expensive benefits. If you can pull off the same work as the talented expats, then the firm will much prefer to hire you over the expat.

Our government is practically begging citizens to upgrade ourselves. If you upgrade yourself, you have less foreign worker competition, because you are cheaper than the expats and their benefits. If we all upgrade ourselves, maybe the company doesn't need to hire another foreigner because together, we can output more than a similarly sized foreign team. Overall you can get higher pay.

The government says they want to increase everyone's wages. Do people think that they can merely sit back and enjoy a higher payout? How many people out there believe that their annual salary increment is a god-given right? A higher salary must be justified by better performance.

If you are turning in the same performance at the same job year-on-year, is your annual increment justified? Or does it make more sense for the company to find a cheaper foreigner to do your job?

A few days ago, I discussed this issue with my ex-classmates who are almost all in the IT sector, and are thus competing with the foreigners at the frontline. My advice to them was this: “Go pick up management skills and strive to become a team leader or project manager. In today’s world, very few products are the work of a single person. Instead, many products are created by teamwork. As long as teamwork is needed, there must be a leader who knows how to manage.” Guys, if you are reading this, I know you are capable of going further. If you think your boss is doing a sucky job, then you can become a better man and replace him.

“But Singaporeans have an unfair disadvantage! We have to live here where we have more burdens. Whereas foreigners don’t have a stake here and go home anytime!”

This is where I believe the frustration is most justified, and where the government is in a bind because there are no easy answers.

The deck is somewhat stacked against Singaporeans. While there are levies and quotas for the lower-skilled foreigners, I believe graduate foreigners do not incur CPF employer contribution costs. So in order to level the playing field, perhaps there should be a 15.5% levy on the pay of a skilled foreigner. But think back about the earlier message about your firm’s viability. Will such a move adversely affect a company’s competitiveness so badly that its products are priced out of the market, that the jobs it creates in Singapore disappears? It is a difficult call to make.

Yet it is also the government’s goal is to create jobs. What if the only way to create jobs for Singaporeans is to allow companies to import foreign labor so that their overall manpower costs are acceptable?

So maybe the alternative solution is to allow the foreigners to be employed cheaper than the local, and then set a quota on the skilled foreigners instead so that there are still some jobs left for Singaporeans. Yet setting a quota on skilled labor is easier said then done. There are many sectors that require skilled workers (e.g. banking, engineering, law, medicine etc). The demand for their goods/services changes MUCH faster than it takes to produce the worker. This is the problem with producing talented locals –there is a long, long lead time. You need at least 15 years of schooling to produce a graduate – and even then he is specialized in certain fields only. What if that field is not in vogue at the end of the day?

That said, maybe the government could level the playing field at least a little more. Men with NS obligations have their salary during reservist paid for by the government. Maybe more can be done to compensate the employer for the lost productivity during the reservist period? My favourite (and ridiculous) suggestion is to impose a levy whenever a company employs any non-NS men, like Singaporean women, PES E men, and all foreigners. We can all guess how popular such a move will be.

At the end of the day, as much as some people hate foreigners, talented foreigners also pay income tax here. They may not have a stake in the country, but their tax dollars are being used to fund national goods like defence, law & order, roads, workfare etc. They help to bear our burden too.

“We want sustainable economic growth! The system is overcrowded!”

Yes it is the government’s job to improve public transport. And fast. But we should realise one thing - globalisation is not going to slow down and wait for us to improve our public transport. The same applies to housing.

The world is never going to say: “OK Singapore, time out for about 5-10 years so that you can grow your people, trains, buses and houses. We’ll compete after that.” Because if we did take a time out for 5-10 years to halt foreign labour whilst we improve the infrastructure here, it’s not going to be the same world anymore. Singapore, as well as its companies, will not be in the same place when we left off.

I am not going to dwell too much on how cost-effective our transport system is. I suffer with you on our trains during peak periods, but the people I know in other countries report that theirs is worse. One thing I do know through my own tourist experience is that our MRTs fares are amongst the cheapest in the developed world. Are we willing to pay more to improve the capacity of the transport system? If you answer yes, good for you. But do you speak for the poorer folks (especially the ones who can’t access the internet and thus read this essay)? Yet the government has to make a decision on behalf of these people. If public transport is too expensive, these folks might not even be able to get to work.

Digressing a little on HDB prices, there are many complaints nowadays about how people end up with zero CPF when they fully pay up the flat after 30 years (i.e. as they reach retirement age). This puzzles me somewhat because this statement only holds true if your pay never increases for 30 years. As long as your pay rises, you have more CPF contribution so you won't end up with zero CPF. Alternatively you could tap on that CPF to refinance faster so you fully pay off your flat earlier.

How plausible is it to have your pay never increase for 30 years? A productive worker is an asset to any company. As long as this worker upgrades himself via life-long learning and harnesses his experience, he should be eligible for higher pay in the marketplace. Granted, your real pay will be eroded as food, energy, inflation and children costs grow over time. But these are natural facts of life in every country. Even if house prices were lower, the growth of other living costs still has to be contended with, because the price of food, energy and other essentials that we import are all dependent on the global market price.

Yet there are so many calls for less foreign labor competition. Does this mean that people believe that they should be allowed to do the same job all their life, immune from the effects of global competition?

“What’s the point of earning all that money if we have no time and freedom to use it? Not everyone wants heart-burning economic growth!”

Yes you have every right to choose a slower pace. It is your freedom. It is your call.

But you speak only for yourself, not for everyone else. Not everyone thinks like you – there are others who want to sprint as fast as they can. An entrepreneur told me once “In order to succeed, you must first have hunger. Insatiable hunger.” There are local SMEs that aspire to be world leaders.

Singapore should be a land of opportunity. Those who want to fly should be allowed to soar. Those who want to slow down and smell the flowers should be allowed to do so. It will be selfish for one party to force their way over the other. So we should choose policies that allow everyone to compete at their own pace.

What kind of policies should we have to allow Singapore to be the land of opportunity? This is something that as voters you have to decide for yourself. My vote is to have policies that can allow the ambitious to sprint unfettered. Because if you want a slower pace, you (as an individual) can always choose to run slower. You can choose to trade-off career progression for personal time. It is ok to do that. Just don’t force everyone to run as slow as you.

“Why chase all that economic growth if we end up leaving the poor behind? Whose economic growth are we seeking?”

There are heart-tugging stories of the poor, squeezed out of their jobs by the foreigners, saddled by heavy living costs. And yes we should help these people. I am glad to see that Singaporeans are not beasts who abandon our kind. There is a strong call for more welfare. The question is how this welfare is done.

The cold reality of capitalism is that there will always be winners and losers. It is survival-of-the-fittest on the global scale. Not everyone gets to be the front-runner. For every winner, there will definitely be a loser. What we need is a way to give the losers a way or a chance to turn into decent winners.

The saying goes “Give a man a fish, and he’ll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish, and he’ll eat for a lifetime.” In today’s context, it is very likely that we will have to give fishes and teach fishing at the same time.

The sustainable way to help the poor is to allow them to earn a better wage, not to live off ever-increasing subsidies. And the most sustainable way to a better wage is for the poor to upgrade themselves. Hence I support the philosophy to give the poor a chance to upgrade themselves through heavily subsidised training schemes. The PAP does too, although I know there are some who question the efficacy of these training schemes.

It is also necessary to give the poor some fishes, because in a globalised world, the cost of unskilled labour will always be at a low due to oversupply. But the cost of living in a small country like Singapore will continue to go up. A person barely making ends meet is hardly able to find the time to upgrade himself. This is why I support the concept of workfare to top up a person’s pay, and not the minimum wage. With workfare, the cost is borne by the government who spread the cost on everyone (including those job-stealing foreigners who pay income tax). But with minimum wage, companies may choose not to hire the poor at all (a far worse outcome), and you risk clipping the wings of the companies that do toe the line. If your beef with workfare is that the payouts are not enough, that’s a separate debate altogether and I shall not dwell into it for this essay.

It costs lots of taxpayer’s money to fund workfare and subsidised training schemes. The bulk of the government’s tax revenue comes from corporate tax, income tax and GST. Since corporate tax depends on the company’s profits, any policy that could dampen a company’s profitability will reduce corporate tax income. So we should think carefully before implementing any such scheme as it could injure the goose that lays the eggs to feed the poor. SDP’s Tan Jee Say questioned the benefits of our shipyards because 75% of the sector’s workforce are foreigners and the shipyards take up valuable waterfront land. The last time I checked, the majority of Keppel Corp’s profits come from its offshore & marine arm. Keppel Corp’s corporate tax revenue in FY2010 was nearly $600m. More than enough to fund our workfare budget ~1.5 times over.

Income tax and GST are disproportionately funded by the middle class and the rich. So perhaps it makes sense to allow the talented to be able to fly, because the higher they soar, the more tax revenue we can collect to help bridge the rich-poor divide.

“But there are developed countries that can survive well while hardly relying on foreigners for jobs!”

This is true – we need look no further than Japan and Australia. In these countries, the locals do the blue-collar jobs, and dare I say, with pride. They are well-paid - my Australian ex-boss told me that the truck drivers at the mines can be paid more than teachers. “Why can’t this develop in Singapore?” you ask. “Isn’t it a chicken-and-egg issue? Singaporeans don’t want to do these jobs because the pay sucks when you can easily get foreigners to do it cheaply!”

In my opinion, this is the overwhelming advantage of vast natural resources, technological expertise and branding. Australia’s vast oil/gas/coal/ore reserves give it the export prowess to support an expensive workforce. Japan’s technological expertise can be seen in its powerhouses of Sony, Mitsubishi etc. Japan’s quality branding and culture creates demand for its Kobe beef, bluefin tuna, and over-priced fruits.

What significant advantage does Singapore have that can equal to these countries? We have Keppel and Sembcorp shipyards as the world’s number 1 and 2 oil rig builders. We rank amongst the world’s top few airports and ports. But other than that? There is nothing to mine or grow here. The only thing we have left is ourselves.

“What’s so bad about drawing on the reserves?”

I’ve spent almost all of this essay explaining why foreign labour is crucial to Singapore. There’s another thing I want to talk about – drawing on past reserves. There are some who think that drawing on past reserves will be the panacea that solves our cost of living issues today.

Theoretically speaking, if the reserves are large enough and are invested properly, you can always draw off a small stipend to help ease the burden of the people, without compromising the growth of the reserves as its value is eroded by inflation.

But the implementation is tricky. Any use of reserves to fund evergreen policies (e.g. an annual cash payout to citizens) is likely to last forever, because no party is likely to succeed in an election on a platform to remove this subsidy. Think about how difficult it will be to remove the Baby Bonus policy if we realise one day that the policy is the wrong way to achieve its intended objectives.

And can such a reserve-funded dividend ever be large enough to make a difference in our lives? If it is a token sum it wouldn’t help you much. But if its payout scales along with living costs, then it is a slippery slope. Such a policy is akin to a fuel subsidy for the population. And we have seen how countries (like our neighbours) that subsidise fuel are now straining under the weight of these subsidies as global energy prices soar. Can Singapore afford to do the same?

This is where I would personally err on the side of caution. The reserves are meant for emergencies. The nature of emergencies is that you cannot really predict their occurrence and their impact. Better to keep it in the bank and deal with today’s (smaller) problems with today’s budget as much as possible. Because when the next crisis hits us (could be the US national debt crisis), we will want to be prepared.

Endgame

“The world does not owe us a living”. A phrase parroted by the PAP until some of us are disgusted. Ask yourself, how true is it? Even if we kept the foreigners out, they will still exist out there fighting against us. If they are not in your company attacking your rice bowl, they’re outside attacking your company’s ricebowl. We cannot tell China and India to stop having babies, or tell them to stop educating their citizens. They have every right to live, just like we do.

No political party or government will ever be able to shield a small country like Singapore from the winds and tides of global competition. To attempt to do so through protectionist measures will only offer us temporary relief. But it will also laden our ships with costly measures and could cost us dearly in these choppy waters, or when the next big wave hits us.

Sometimes our insignificance scares me. Think about it. We are a small country. Our own population is less than 0.1% of the world’s population. How much does the world care about us? I venture that the world cares about Singapore as much as we would care for the ants scurrying across a table. Whether the ants survive or not matters little to us, but it certainly matters a lot to the ant.

Have Singaporeans gone soft? There is a litmus test that you can try. Ask the foreigners (the ones whom everyone accuses of stealing their jobs, not the happy expats) what they honestly think of the Singaporean mentality today. I did my test. It wasn’t pretty.

It is not the point of this article to influence your vote. Even if you throw the PAP out, the new rulers will still take years to dig the tunnels for new MRT trains, and years to build new HDB flats. Your relative costs will continue to be higher than the workers from the emerging economies. In the meantime, the global competition is constantly breathing down your neck. How would you, as a citizen, react?

I sincerely believe there is a way out for all of us. We need to improve ourselves and our value proposition. If we cannot be cheaper, then we must be faster, better, stronger, more efficient. It is not just about more paper qualifications. It is not about working longer hours. It begins with a change in mindset. Think positively. Hunger to learn more. Harness your experience. Take pride in the mastery of your work and skill. Embrace the competition and the challenge that comes with it.

It all starts with you as an individual. I believe Singaporeans can do this. Our forefathers came to this land with next to nothing, and they fought so that we can live like we do today. Their blood flows in our veins. We are capable of greater things.

It Started with Political Apathy

2011-05-04T00:54:00.001+08:00

First my humble apologies for posting another message to you but I can't help it as this article

from a Y generation provides us with assurance that they wanted to do something for their country.

Passing on from a friend as worth a read from this young lady. Considerable
effort must have gone into this well analysed and dissected discourse.
There is hope in our Y generation. To paraphrase a respected mentor- every
generation has its genius and will rise to the challenge.

cheers,
It all begins with political apathy
Published 28 April 2011 media , personal perspective , politics and
government , society and culture Leave a Comment
Guest essay by Loh Peiying
I am 20 and I cannot vote.
To be honest, I was never really bothered with politics. I had a father who
was very political but that was as far as it went. He would always nag at
me for being so apathetic. Like everyone my age, there are more fun things
I could do with my life. I can watch Glee, spend hours painting my nails or
queue for a cup of bubble tea from KOI. I lead a comfortable life, I have a
spot in the university… what more could I ask for. Why should I even care?
Worrying
At my age, few care about politics. Exams are stressful enough. But now I’m
tweeting and sharing political news almost 24/7 like nobody’s business.
Some of my friends think I am crazy.
What sparked off this interest in politics? Nothing much really. Perhaps it
was boredom during lectures at University. I made a radical decision to
‘like’ The Online Citizen on Facebook which has been updating me daily with
alternative news. All this information merely compounded what I already
knew from my father.
The more I read, the more concerned I became. I do not know where even to
begin with what is wrong. So instead of making a list of reasons, I shall
share my personal experiences instead.
Recently I saw an advertisement for a three-room flat near my place. It was
going for over S$400,000. That scared me. The amount set off alarms in my
head. I went to ask my father for more details. He told me he had bought
our current five room flat in 1983 for S$123,000, but today’s market value
for it is approximately $650,000. That’s just insane. I know life is not
meant to be a bed of roses, I know I would have to work hard, but these
prices seem insurmountable. Moreover, I believe the prices will continue to
climb if nothing effective is done to solve the rising costs of living.
Does that mean that to have my own place, I have to live an eternity of
debt? What about kids? Do I even dare consider raising any?
What about others who are less fortunate than I am? What are they going to
do?
I have some friends who aren’t as lucky as me. They did fairly well for
their A Levels or their GPAs but it was not enough to make the cut for our
local universities. I understand that the system is based on merit and that
is fair and justified. What I cannot stomach is the number of foreign
students studying in our local universities, on our money. What gives our
government the confidence that these people will stay and ‘integrate’?
While I was doing a stint as a relief teacher, an elderly cleaning lady
came up to me and complained that students were pouring paint into the
sinks and clogging up the plumbing. She implored me in Chinese, “Please
tell your students not to do this anymore. We lead a very hard life you
know. Each month I only earn $500, it is tough enough already.”
What? $500? She is so much older than me and my salary then was more than
twice hers. Her work is so much more taxing and how is $ 500 enough to
survive?
There is this old lady near my block. She is always hunched, pushing a
trolley and picking up cardboard boxes. Once I saw her fighting viciously
with another old man for a cardboard box. Is this our so-called modern and
First World society? I am sure she’s not the only one in Singapore living
like this.
Why are there people like her living on the streets, while our ministers
earn so much? What justifies this gulf of disparity and why aren’t they
doing anything? This makes me so angry. How can we just stand by and watch
– and not do anything?
Being paid so much, there should be accountability. Is there?
I have become disillusioned with the ruling elite in the ways that they
trample on our rights as citizens and cut our vocal cords on politics.
There is something very morally wrong with the way we are governed.
Why this election
Whoever said, “do not underestimate the power of the social media”
seriously was not joking. Ask any young person and he will tell you that
Facebook is his death knell. We surf the internet for hours when we should
be studying. Yet at the same time, social media has allowed me to hear the
opposition’s voice where it has been hushed in the Straits Times.
I would probably still be living in ignorance if not for Facebook.
Things in Singapore already seem pretty bad but to make things worse, the
new People’s Action Party (PAP) candidates take it on to a whole new level
of scary. If candidates like Tin Pei Ling are going into parliament, we
ought to be very worried. She has failed to show the critical depth that is
needed to handle national issues. When I showed a friend Tin Pei Ling’s
introductory video, he commented that she sounds like a brainwashed robot.
The recent reports circulating on the internet involving Lui Tuck Yew also
raised some eyebrows. How can someone like him lead the people? Members of
Parliament (MP) are here to serve the people, not the other way around.
Also, PAP’s Desmond Choo mentioned on the news that “progress” to him was
to make a resident in Hougang hesitate voting for the Worker’s Party. What
is up with that? Is defeating the opposition his main goal? Can this be an
indication of the type of mentality that runs within the ruling elite?
In contrast, the opposition holds so much more appeal for me. For one, they
are not pretentious. Their sincerity is apparent in their videos. They know
what it is like to be an average Singaporean, they have got credibility,
and last but not the least, they are sacrificing so much for us. The
Workers’ Party’s First World Parliament proposal and manifesto is very
impressive. Also, Nicole Seah has really moved me and many youths with her
ability to speak up for my generation. We are all fans, buzzing with
admiration.
Building up to the election, the blunders made by the PAP are bigger and
the challenges we face as a nation are larger. Sometimes it feels like
there is no space to breath. This cannot keep up. It cannot go on.
Volunteering
I’m not here to represent all of the youth in Singapore, and I am not much
different from them.
Being a History Major, I have learned that young people are a catalyst for
change. Many of my friends are already frustrated with the system. We are
saying, “Enough is enough”.
The opposition needs help. The odds are stacked heavily against them. The
PAP always emphasize the need to vote wisely and to beware of a ‘freak
result’. But as Mr. Brown sings, “bookies confirm don’t play because we
already know who’s the winner.”
Some of my friends actually believe that I’m going to get called up by the
ISD or have my face printed all over the papers. Such ridiculous thoughts
really make me laugh, but at the same time, it gives me an inkling of the
fear and apathy that exists.
As V from the movie V for Vendetta says, “People should not be afraid of
their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people.” The first
step is to get alternative voices into parliament as checking mechanisms
and to ensure accountability. There are good candidates in the opposition
who can represent people like me and be this alternative voice. I want
democracy but democracy is nothing without options.
So if I cannot vote, I will do the next best alternative. Volunteer.
–
Right before I submitted the volunteer form to the Workers’ Party, I was
actually watching Martyn See’s compilation of the IMF incident with Chee
Soon Juan and his sister, Chee Siok Chin. The police were trying so
desperately to stop Chee Soon Juan and Chee Siok Chin from demonstrating.
They surrounded the two and linked arms, entrapping them with human
barricades so they could not walk. I cried a little because I was so
embarrassed by the huge spectacle the government made. But I also cried
because I felt helpless.
I chose to help the Workers’ Party because I believe in their cause.
Although I personally disapprove of their silence on the issue of gay
rights, I think they are still our best bet.
When the Workers’ Party called for volunteers on Facebook, I hesitated. I
opened and closed the link at least 5 to 6 times before actually filling it
out for submission. I was scared like everyone else my age yet it is so
silly because I know that there is nothing to be afraid of. I don’t want to
live in fear anymore. This is my country and I’m merely exercising my
rights as a citizen.
I love Singapore and I want to make it better. A lot better.

Fastest Circulated Letter

2011-05-04T00:53:00.001+08:00

Singapore Pte Ltd – a letter
Posted by theonlinecitizen on April 25, 2011
Samuel Lai

Dearest PAP,
You have been running Singapore like a business, like a corporation, where you are the top management, where the people of Singapore are your employees and where all other institutions like education, health and transport, are your subsidiaries. No sir, this is not Singapore Pte Ltd, and we are not working for you.
Every policy that you have come up with has been made with economic growth in mind, i.e., to increase profitability for Singapore Pte Ltd, with retained earnings going into the national reserves.
Our education model has been structured to produce a quality workforce so that we can contribute efficiently and effectively to the nation’s economic growth. You dispense with the arts and concentrate on the commerce and sciences. You bring in plenty of foreigners into our schools so that we have to learn to work and study harder in the face of more competition. And you have succeeded. We now work one of the longest hours in the world with low wages.
This has been done at the expense of social costs. As human beings, we have needs to get married, to start a family, to have kids. As human beings, we have needs for work-life balance, needs for social activities, and needs for communal living. The culture and environment you have so delicately created have come at the expense of those needs. We don’t have time to play football and therefore we suck at it. Ok, in fact we suck at everything that does not make money. And we definitely suck at making children.
When you look at our low fertility rate, which you have so created because of the environment you have made, you try to improve it by offering stop-gap solutions in baby bonuses and tax reliefs. And in fact, the reasons you want the fertility rate to rise is to continue providing quality workers to work for Singapore Pte Ltd, put more money into the reserves through taxes, HDB profits, consumption, investment, i.e. increase Singapore’s GDP.
And of course, the other viable solution is to attract talented foreigners to fill up this institutional void. This causes another set of problems, like whether locals find it harder to get jobs, and whether these diasporic communities will take up citizenship, or leave without further contributing to birth rates. Well, what the hell, talented foreigners are always good for Singapore Pte Ltd.
You privatize our transportation system. You couldn’t run such a basic necessity of a first-world country with the same efficient and effective fervor. So, running it as a private entity was the only viable way? You talk about health tourism. Is that what the health sector is about, making money from foreigners?
Once in a while you declare dividends (grow and share) to appease us, so that we don’t remove you from your managerial posts.
Perhaps the most telling of Singapore Pte Ltd are the KPIs of top management. Our CEO, earning $3 million per annum, has his wages pegged to GDP growth, and so are the wages of the COOs, the CFOs, and the various department heads. Your main motivation is Singapore Pte Ltd’s profitability. And given that at least 60% of Singapore’s GDP is contributed by Temasek Holdings and GIC, it certainly makes sense to increase the coffers of the national reserves.
It’s all about economic growth, economic growth, and economic growth.
However, countries are not just rated by economic growth. There are many other indicators that one may use to determine a country’s standing in the world, such as the purchasing power of the average citizen, the culture and ease of living, the efficiency of transportation, the range of quality education, the cleanliness of the streets, personal safety risks, and so on and so forth. You have undoubtedly excelled in some areas, but certainly not in others.
You forget that Singapore is not a corporation, but a community of individual human beings who have feelings, who can discern between what is good for us and what is not, what is fair and unfair. We, who have basic needs to have a roof put over our heads, and food to eat, have willingly contributed to your goal of building up the nation’s economy not because we are your employees but because we want Singapore to prosper, to achieve the vision of a first-world nation in which its citizens do not have negative emotions of fear, fear to vote, fear to speak freely, fear of the struggles of putting food on our table.
So, let me remind you, dearest PAP, that we have voted to put you where you are today. This makes us the shareholders. We are social beings, not economic assets. Together, we the citizens of Singapore own Singapore. It is us, the citizens, with our problems of rising costs of living, and not the profitability of the country that you have to care more about. And if you, dearest PAP, continue to run Singapore not as a nation of citizens but as a business, there will come a time when us, the shareholders, the real board of directors, vote you out and replace you with another management team.
Yours sincerely,
A shareholder of Singapore Pte Ltd

The Desperate Appeal of the MM - by Yoong Siew Wah, former ISD Chief

2011-05-04T00:52:00.000+08:00

Copied this article from the Recalcitrant Singaporean, Yoong Siew Wah who was a former ISD chief. Very interesting that a number of former high ranking government officers such as Dr Ang Yong Guan and Benjamin Pwee, have come out in support of the Opposition. Mr Tan Jee Say explained that there is a difference between gratitude and servitude. He said he was grateful to the government and his former bosses in the government but it did not mean that he has to be in servitude to them.

The Desperate Appeal of the Minister Mentor

The amount of excitement that has been aroused on the opposition parties is something even the normally arrogantly sanguine MM Lee Kuan Yew could not fail to miss. It must have frightened the wits out of him to see that the wind of change has finally come to sweep the PAP from its pedestal. Maybe the PAP may not be swept from power, short of a freak election, but certainly an admission of a number of opposition MPs into Parliament is not a remote possibility. They will have the responsibility of providing a meaningful and effective check to the PAP's impetuosity in Parliament.
So our highfalutin MM Lee has suddenly waken up to this potential threat to the PAP monopolistic tranquillity in Parliament and decided to use his passé influence as a founding father of independent Singapore in a last desperate attempt to win back the pro-opposition votes for the PAP. So he goes into the ritual of how the first generation PAP leaders had gone through great political sacrifices and hardships to bring Singapore to its present prosperous state and appeals to voters not to rock the foundations, reminding them of what's at stake.
It cannot be argued that the first generation PAP leaders were selfless politicians who were in it not for the money. They were really there to serve the plebeians and to improve their livelihood politically and economically. The same may be said of the second generation PAPinit leaders ially until the mercenary PM Goh Chok Tong introduced overnight astronomical salaries in the region of millions a year for his already well-paid ministers and himself. The third generation PAP leaders inherited his preposterous financial legacy. The second and third generation leaders could hardly be described as selfless and not in it for the money. By the time they retire, all these affluent ministers are multi-millionaires enjoying humongous pensions.
MM Lee at tsaid that he May 7 General Election, the PAP is fielding candidates “of proven character, of high calibre and with a track of performance that shows they will not fail in taking on responsibilities". Can the same be really said of the 24 new PAP candidates? They are untested individuals and to are likely enter Parliament on the coat-tails of anchor ministers in the GRCs. So how are they of proven character and of high calibre? In fact some of the opposition candidates are no less eminent than the PAP candidates and can match them in every sphere. One of them Chen Show Mao even surpasses them in proven character and high calibre and his candidature has become a bee in the PAP's bonnet.
MM Lee concluded by calling on voters to vote for men and women of proven character and track records of high performance. Make the right choice to secure the future of your children and grandchildren. This is a desperate call to the voters to vote for PAP candidates by MM Lee who is himself an insult to the intelligence of the voters by standing for election in spite of his advanced age and blundering behaviour. That his Tanjong Pagar GRC is going to have a walkover is a travesty.
The writing is on the wall. The judicious Singapore voters will decide on May 7 whether there should be more opposition MPs in Parliament. This is history in progress and no PAP force can reverse it.

Another Guinness World Recprd : MP for 20 Years Without Winning a Single Vote!

2011-05-04T00:48:00.001+08:00

Guinness world record for being a MP for 20 years without winning a single
vote.
Mr Koo Tsai Kee, Member of Parliament for Tanjong Pagar GRC is retiring. We
should offer him our heartiest congratulations!
He’s been an MP for 20 years since his foray into electoral politics
in 1991.
Mr Koo should be congratulated for achieving what no other
MP anywhere has probably ever achieved. That’s why the rather toned-down announcement of his
retirement and inconspicuous reports by the media has done him a great
disservice.
So, what is it that this great man has done or achieved?
Mr Koo is the only MP who has, in all of his 20 years as MP, never won a
single vote in an election!
Because he has never really ever fought an election and
never ever won a single vote in an election!
No one in Tanjong Pagar has ever had to cast a single vote for or against him in all of his 20
years as MP.
1991… 1997… 2001… & 2006!
Walkovers all! Never contested!
Indeed, whichever way you look at it, an astounding feat.
Mr Koo has, without doubt, demonstrated what it means to be a successful
"Walkover MP"!
The Straits Times, in its own small and humble way, tried to pay a
well-deserved tribute to Mr Koo by telling us that „he has served residents
in two wards in the GRC: his own Tiong Bahru ward as well as Minister Mentor
Lee Kuan Yew’s Tanjong Pagar ward, where he stands in at Mr Lee’s Meet the
People sessions.
Mr Koo is also Minister of State (MOS) for Defence. Which means he takes home
some S$1.2 to S$1.6 million a year! At the S$15,000 a month as MP and that
salary of S$1.2 to S$1.6 million a year as MOS, Mr Koo can surely retire a very rich and happy man indeed.
Not bad for an MP who never contested an election and got any votes?

Chinese Philosopies

2011-04-04T10:12:00.001+08:00

沒錢的時候，養豬；
有錢的時候，養狗。
When without money, keep pigs;
When have money, keep dogs.

沒錢的時候，在家裡吃野菜；
有錢的時候，在酒店吃野菜。
When without money, eat wild vege at home ;
When have money, eat same wild vege in fine restaurant.

沒錢的時候，在馬路上騎自行車；
有錢的時候，在客廳裡騎自行車。
When without money, ride bicycle;
When have money, ride exercise machine.
沒錢的時候,想結婚；
有錢的時候,想離婚。
When without money, wish to get married;
When have money, wish to get divorced.

沒錢的時候,老婆兼秘書；
有錢的時候,秘書兼老婆。
When without money, wife becomes secretary;
When have money, secretary becomes wife.
沒錢的時候,假裝有錢；
有錢的時候,假裝沒錢。
When without money, act like rich man;
When with money, act like poor man.

人 啊，都不講實話：
Man, O Man, never tells the truth:

說股票是毒品，都在玩；
說金錢是罪惡，都在撈；
Says share market is bad but keeps speculating;
Says money is evil but keeps accumulating.

說美女是禍水，都想要；
說高處不勝寒，都在爬；
Says women are trouble-makers but keeps desiring them;
Says high positions are lonely but keeps wanting them.

說煙酒傷身體，就不戒；
說天堂最美好，都不去!!!
Says smoking & drinking is bad but keeps partaking;
Says heaven is good but refused to go.

鄉下早晨雞叫人，
城裡晚上人叫雞；
In the rural area, chicken calls man awake;
In the cities, man calls for chickens.
舊社會戲子賣藝不賣身，
新社會演員賣身不賣藝。
In the past, famous actresses will not sell their bodies;
Now, actresses will sell their bodies to become famous

人生是什麼?
What is life about?

1 歲時出場亮相
At one, YOU are the top priority

10 歲時功課至上
At ten, academic excellence is the top priority
20 歲時春心盪漾
At twenty, getting dates is the top priority
30 歲時職場對抗
At thirty, a good career is top priority
40 歲時身材發胖
At forty, keeping your body in shape is top priority
50 歲時打打麻將
At fifty, beating others at mahjong is top priority
60 歲時老當益壯
At sixty, keeping IT up is top priority
70 歲時常常健忘
At seventy, remembering something is top priority

80 歲時搖搖晃晃
At eighty, moving around is top priority

90 歲時迷失方向
At ninety, knowing directions is top priority
100 歲時掛在牆上
At 100, having your portrait on the wall is top priority!

祝大家愉快，好好做人!
Wishing you all happiness! Be good!

Amazing Disney Man

2011-03-28T08:43:00.001+08:00

Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Husbands

2011-03-15T10:52:00.001+08:00

Released by Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Husbands.

Different Phases of a man:
After engagement: Superman
After Marriage: Gentleman
After 10 years: Watchman
After 20 years: Doberman
------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------

There is only one perfect child in the world and every Mother has it.
There is only one perfect wife in the world and every Neighbour has it
------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- ---------

Prospective husband: Do you have a book called "Man, The Master of Women"?
Sales girl: The fiction department is on the other side, sir.
------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- ---------

The world's thinnest book has only one word written in it: "Everything" ;
and the book is titled: "What Women Want!"
------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- ---------

A man who surrenders when he's WRONG, is HONEST.
A man who surrenders when he's NOT SURE, is WISE.
A man who surrenders when he's RIGHT, is a HUSBAND
------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- ---------

Girlfriends are like CHOCOLATES, taste good anytime.
Lovers are like PIZZAS, Hot and spicy, eaten frequently.
Husbands are like Dal RICE, eaten when there`s no choice
------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- ---------

Man receives telegram: Wife dead - should be buried or Cremated?
Man: Don't take any chances. Burn the body and bury the ash.
------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- ---------

Q: Why dogs don't marry?
A: Because they are already leading a dog's life!
------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- ---------

Fact of life: One woman brings you into this world crying &
The other ensures you continue to cry for the rest of your Life!
------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- ---------

Q: Why doesn't law permit a man to marry a second Woman?
A: Because as per law you cannot be punished twice for the Same offence
------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- ---------

Lady to her maid: Oh Kanta, I have reason to suspect that my husband is having an affair with his secretary."
Kanta : I don't believe it! You are just saying that to make me jealous!"
------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- ---------

Man: I want a divorce. My wife hasn't spoken to me in six months.
Lawyer: Better think it over. Wives like that are hard to get!
------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- -------

The bride, upon her engagement, went to her mother & said,
"I've found a man just like father!"
Mother replied, "So what do you want from me, sympathy?"

Can You Dance Better than This Dog?

2011-03-15T10:49:00.000+08:00

This is just soooooo adorable!!!

How to make Women happy VS How to make Men Happy

2011-03-15T10:47:00.001+08:00

How True……….

How to keep a woman happy.... Priceless!

It's not difficult to make a woman happy.

A man only needs to be:

1. A friend
2. A companion
3. A lover
4. A brother
5. A father
6. A master
7. A chef
8. An electrician
9. A carpenter
10. A plumber
11. A mechanic
12. A decorator
13. A stylist
14. A sexologist
15. A gynaecologist
16. A psychologist
17. A pest exterminator
18. A psychiatrist
19. A healer
20. A good listener
21. An organizer
22. A good father
23. Very clean
24. Sympathetic
25. Athletic
26. Warm
27. Attentive
28. Gallant
29. Intelligent
30. Funny
31. Creative
32. Tender
33. Strong
34. Understanding
35. Tolerant
36. Prudent
37. Ambitious
38. Capable
39. Courageous
40. Determined
41. True
42. Dependable
43. Passionate
44. Compassionate

WITHOUT FORGETTING TO:

45. Give her compliments regularly
46. Love shopping
47. Be honest
48. Be very rich
49. Not stress her out
50. Not look at other girls

AND AT THE SAME TIME, YOU MUST ALSO:

51. Give her lots of attention, but expect little yourself
52. Give her lots of time, especially time for herself
53. Give her lots of space, never worrying about where she goes

IT IS VERY IMPORTANT:

54. Never to forget:
* birthdays
* anniversaries
* arrangements she makes

HOW TO MAKE A MAN HAPPY

1. Leave him alone

Generation Y

2011-03-15T10:43:00.000+08:00

I've always wondered this myself... now I know.

- People born before 1946 were called The Silent generation..
- The Baby Boomers, are people born between 1946 and 1959.
- Generation X, people have been born between 1960 and 1979.

- Generation Y , are the people born between 1980 and 2010
Why do we call the last group Generation Y?
A cartoonist explained it very eloquently below....
Scroll down.

And I always thought it was because they say....

Y should I get a job?
Y should I leave home and find my own place?
Y should I get a car when I can borrow yours?
Y should I clean my room?
Y should I wash and iron my own clothes?
Y should I buy any food?

Entertaining Solutions in Life

2011-03-15T10:29:00.000+08:00

Subject: Fw: Fwd: FW: Fwd: I can fix that ~~~

Don 't have a spoon?

I can fix that!

Seatbelt broken?
I can fix that!

New TV too big for the old cabinet?

I can fix that!

I need some of these….

Electrical problem?
I can fix that!

Car stereo stolen?
I can fix that!

Bookshelf cracking under the weight?
I can fix that!

Can't afford a real GPS?
I can fix that!

No ice chest?
I can fix that!

Can't read the ATM screen?
I can fix that!

Car imported from the wrong country?
I can fix that!

Bettsy might be able to use this idea….

Satellite go out in the rain?
I can fix that!

Electric stove broken & can't heat coffee?
I fixed that.

Wiper motor burned out?
I can fix that!

Display rack falling over?
I can fix that!

Tires worm out?
I fixed that.
Might be a little hard to steer.

Erm… Dunno what is this fixing…

Exhaust pipe dragging?
I can fix that!

Gotta feed the baby AND do the laundry?
(hopefully the baby doesn’t choke on the milk)
I can fix that!

Cables falling behind the desk?
I can fix that!

I actually think that’s ingenious. (In fact I am doing that)

Out of diapers? I can fix that!

Speechless……

Children Are Quick

2011-03-06T19:56:00.001+08:00

Children Are Quick
_____________________________

TEACHER:    Maria, go to the map and find    North America .
MARIA:         Here it is.
TEACHER:   Correct. Now class, who discovered    America ?
CLASS:         Maria.
____________________________________

TEACHER:   John, why are you doing your math multiplication on the floor?
JOHN:          You told me to do it without using tables.
__________________________________________
TEACHER: Glenn, how do you spell 'crocodile?'
GLENN:      K-R-O-K-O-D-I-A-L'
TEACHER: No, that's wrong
GLENN:       Maybe it is wrong, but you asked me how I spell it.

(I Love this child)
____________________________________________

TEACHER:   Donald, what is the chemical formula for water?
DONALD:      H I J K L M N O
TEACHER:   What are you talking about?
DONALD:    Yesterday you said it's H to O.
__________________________________

TEACHER:   Winnie, name one important thing we have today
that we didn't have ten years ago.
WINNIE:       Me!
__________________________________________

TEACHER:   Glen, why do you always get so dirty?
GLEN:         Well, I'm a lot closer to the ground than you are.
_______________________________________

TEACHER:     Millie, give me a sentence starting with ' I. '
MILLIE:         I is..
TEACHER:     No, Millie..... Always say, 'I am.'
MILLIE:         All right... 'I am the ninth letter of the alphabet.'
________________________________

TEACHER:    George Washington not only chopped down his father's cherry tree, but also admitted it. Now, Louie, do you know why his father didn't punish him?
LOUIS:           Because George still had the axe in his hand....
______________________________________

TEACHER:    Now, Simon , tell me frankly, do you say prayers before eating?
SIMON:         No sir, I don't have to, my Mum is a good cook.
______________________________

TEACHER:        Clyde , your composition on 'My Dog' is exactly the same as your brother's.. Did you copy his?
CLYDE :         No, sir. It's the same dog.

(I want to adopt this kid!!!)

___________________________________
TEACHER:    Harold, what do you call a person who keeps on talking when people are no longer interested?
HAROLD:     A teacher
__________________________________

PASS IT AROUND AND MAKE SOMEONE LAUGH!
LAUGHTER IS THE SOUL'S MEDICINE!!

Doctor Jokes

2011-01-24T08:40:00.000+08:00

A patient has a sore throat and goes to a doctor to get treatment for it.
Doctor: Your tonsils gotta come out. Patient: I wanna second opinion.
Doctor: Okay, you're ugly, too.
I============================================================================================================================================================================
A well known, rich business man's wife broke her hip. The business man got
the best orthopedic surgeon in town to do the operation, which consisted of
lining up the broken hip and putting in a screw to secure it. The operation
went smoothly, and the doctor sent the business man a bill for $5,000 for
his services. The business man, outraged at the high price, sent the doctor
a letter demanding an itemized list of the costs. The doctor responded to
the letter with the following:1 Screw: $1.00Knowing how to put it in:
$4,999Total: $5,000The business man never argued.
=============================================================================================================================================================================
David: My wife beats me, doctor. Doctor: Oh dear. How often? David: Every
time we play Scrabble!
==============================================================================================================================================================================
Doctor: Did you take the patient's temperature? Nurse: No. Is it missing?
==============================================================================================================================================================================
Doctor: Nurse, how is that little girl doing who swallowed ten quarters last
night? Nurse: No change yet.
==============================================================================================================================================================================
Mary: My daughter believes in preventative medicine, doctor. Doctor: Oh,
really? Mary: Yes, she tries to prevent me from making her take it!
==============================================================================================================================================================================
Once I was sick and I had to go to an ear, nose, and throat man to get well.
There are ear doctors, nose doctors, throat doctors, gynecologists,
proctologists, any place you got a hole, there's a guy who specializes in
your hole. They make an entire career out of that hole. And if the ear
doctor, nose doctor, throat doctor, gynecologist, or proctologist can't help
you, he sends you to a surgeon. Why? So he can make a new hole!
==============================================================================================================================================================================
Patient: Doctor, I think I need glasses. Teller: You certainly do! This is a
bank.
==============================================================================================================================================================================
Patient: Doctor, what should I do if my temperature goes up five more
points? Doctor: Sell!
==============================================================================================================================================================================
Patient: How much to have this tooth pulled? Dentist: $100.00. Patient:
$100.00 for just a few minutes work? Dentist: Well, I can extract it very
slowly if you like.
==============================================================================================================================================================================
Patient: I'm in a hospital! Why am I in here? Doctor: You've had an accident
involving a bus. Patient: What happened? Doctor: Well, I've got some good
news and some bad news. Which would you like to hear first? Patient: Give me
the bad news first. Doctor: Your legs were injured so badly that we had to
amputate both of them. Patient: That's terrible! What's the good news?
Doctor: There's a guy in the next ward who made a very good offer on your
slippers.
==============================================================================================================================================================================
Patient: My hair keeps falling out. What can you give me to keep it in?
Doctor: A shoebox.
==============================================================================================================================================================================
Prisoner: Look here, doctor! You've already removed my spleen, tonsils,
adenoids, and one of my kidneys. I only came to see if you could get me out
of this place! Doctor: I am, bit by bit.

Jokes again!

2011-01-07T22:24:00.001+08:00

===============================================================

I saw a woman wearing a sweat shirt with "Guess " on it. So I said
"Implants? "

========================================================

What did the egg say to the boiling water?
"It might take me a while to get hard I just got layed last night. "
===============================================================

A little girl asked santa to send her a sister. Santa said on one
condition, send me your mother.
===============================================================

Q: Whats the difference between erotic and kinky?
A: Erotic is when you use a feather. Kinky is when you use the whole
chicken.
===============================================================

A murderer, sitting in the electric chair, was about to be executed.
"Have you any last requests? asked the chaplain.
"Yes," replied the murderer. "Will you hold my hand? "
=============================================================

"Will the father be present during the birth? "
asked the obstetrician.
"Nah," replied the mother-to-be,
"He and my husband don't get along. "
============================================================

'Mum,' yelled Johnny from the kitchen,
'you know that dish you were always worried that I would break
?'
'Yes dear, what about it?'
'Well your worries are over.'
===========================================================

Q: What is the difference between medium and rare?
A: 6 inches is medium, 8 inches is rare.
===========================================================

"It's clear " said the teacher, "That you haven't studied your
geography. What's your excuse? " "Well, my dad says the world is
changing every day. So I decided to wait until it settles down! "
========================================================

An Awakening Message by Duo-Liang Lin

2011-01-07T22:22:00.001+08:00

An Awakening Message

Enough is enough, there is limit on everything. Watch out, the last straw on the camel's back could be imminent ...........

China should thanks Osama bin Laden for giving her some breathing space. If the WTC twin towers were not toppled, CIA will be busy financing, training and arming the Sinkiang muslim terrorist and the Tibetian rebels to destabalise China and slow down the the economic development.

In response to "Fair Assessment--- China is not a Superpower---Not Yet" by Helen Wang (from the US), perhaps you should read the following poem "An Awakening Message" by D.L. Lin (also from the US), dated April 2008.

AN AWAKENING MESSAGE

(A Poem Published by the Washington Post)

When we were the Sick Man of Asia ,

We were called The Yellow Peril.

When we are billed to be the next Superpower,

we are called The Threat.

When we closed our doors,

you smuggled opium to open markets.

When we embrace Free Trade,

You blame us for taking away your jobs.

When we were falling apart,

You marched in your troops & wanted your fair share.
When we tried to put the broken pieces back together again,

Free Tibet you screamed, It Was an Invasion!
When we tried Communism,

you hated us for being Communist.
When we embrace Capitalism,

you hate us for being Capitalist.
When we have a billion people,

you said we were destroying the planet.
When we tried limiting our numbers,

you said we abused human rights.
When we were poor,

you thought we were dogs.
When we loan you cash,

you blame us for your national debts.
When we build our industries,

you call us Polluters.
When we sell you goods,

you blame us for global warming.
When we buy oil,

you call it exploitation and genocide.
But when you go to war for oil,

you call it liberation.
When we were lost in chaos and rampage,

you demanded rules of law.
When we uphold law and order against violence,

you call it violating human rights.
When we were silent,

you said you wanted us to have free speech.
When we are silent no more,

you say we are brainwashed-xenophobics.
Why do you hate us so much, we asked.
No, you answered, we don't hate you.
We don't hate you either,
But, do you understand us?
Of course we do, you said,
We have AFP, CNN and BBC's...
What do you really want from us?
Think hard first, then answer...
Because you only get so many chances.

Enough is Enough,

Enough Hypocrisy for This One World.

We want One World,

One Dream, and Peace on Earth.

This Big Blue Earth is Big Enough for all of Us.

************************************

Duo-Liang Lin, Ph. D.

Professor Emeritus of Physics

University at Buffalo

State University of New York

Buffalo, New York 14260-1500

Email: DLLIN@buffalo.ed

When Japan was economically successful, it was Japan bashing . Now it's China bashing when China is getting a bit successful. If you haven't heard of China bashing before, the above poem pretty much summarised it. In the following paragraphs, I'll try to clarify some of the facts and mindsets about China, hoping they can help some people to understand. The West ( US & formerly Europe & Britain) practice hegemony and don't seem to care what the third world feel at all. Third world countries have a right to grow, be strong and be successful too!

Inspite of the last 30 years of advance in city infrastructure and other hardwares, China is still a very poor country of 1.3 billion including a poverty-stricken farming population of 650 million, and a corrupt /backward government. Anyone who have been to China can see that.   We in HK are so close to China that we probably know it better than anyone else. But the West blows the whole thing out of proportion, calling China a Superpower, and a threat, which is simply not the case.   Author Helen Wang rightly pointed out in her book, saying........ China is in many ways, too backward to qualify as a superpower........it has a long way to go. However what she should realise is that the West is using the rise of a Superpower as a covenient pretext to blame and bash China for their own economic woes and diplomatic failures. Yet business is business. Trade still go on as long as there is a profit.

As far as I can see, China has a lot of catching up to do. China has more internal problems than it can handle. China is more involved in solving its own problems, such as feeding its millions, providing them with jobs, keep the rich/poor gap narrowed down, fighting corruption & inflation, and give people a decent living .....etc etc. So far the progress made are stained with blood, sweat and tears. Every time one uses an INTEL, HP or Apple, there are many parts inside that are made in China's sweat shops. This is just one example which is all over the news in recent days. Cheap products from China actually kept US inflation down for years! Sounds like a win/win situation. However what does the average worker gets for assembling the IC chips..........a mere US$120/m. They work very hard, but very very sad. I have stories to tell........much later.

It's really a conspiracy of the West to contain China from expansion, just like containing the Soviet Union from expansion in the Cold War days. Why is there a European Union and NATO, SEATO and other alliances?   It's the post -WWII Western strategy to contain the two communist giants, a strategy which is still in force today, but rather out-dated, since Russia and China are no longer communists. Why does the US has over one thousand military bases around the world and seven fleets patrolling the seas? ( China has none.) Because the politicians in the West have to justify their governments' expenditure on the military. Because the arms dealers and manufacturers have to lobby the politicians to sell their weapons. Because the Western nations want to perpetuate a Western dominant world. Fair assessment?

200 years ago, after fallen behind the West, China was attacked by Britain first, then plundered, looted, colonised by a league of 8 nations, even conquered by Japan. The next 100 years, China suffered 2 revolutions, 2 World Wars, plus Civil War and internal struggle, China, as a nation, is flatout, downtrodden, and experiencing total collapse . All it wants now is to rebuild a country from its pieces, to give its people food, shelter, clothing, a decent life and restore some dignity to a "sick" nation. What can be more noble and humanistic than that?    Many people do think China's leaders deserve to be awarded a Nobel Peace Price for their contribution to lead a quarter of mankind out of poverty and starvation! President Gorbachev received a Nobel Peace Price for liberating the Soviet Union in 1989, a huge political change for Eastern Europe. I think China's achievement is more internal, but economical change is just as great if not greater.   Why the West are so negative about China ! Fair assessment or not?

What about the arms race? The US and Russia have enough nuclear arsenal to destroy the world ten times over. But China can hardly defend itself against the real Superpowers. China just want to stand on its own two feet, and not being bullied by any other powers. If one should understand the Chinese mindset, our culture of Confucius, Mencius, Laotze, Chuangtze and Buddha, all teaches harmony among men, harmony between men and nature.........what 5000 years of history has taught us that wars and killings will not solve any problems, but will create more problems. That's why China's leaders keep stressing China's position is not to seek the first strike in any conflict, a sharp contrast to some other country's "pre-emptive strike" mindset. China has not invaded any country in the last 200 years. China has not one soldier combating abroad today. It seems that China may not want to be a Superpower now. Its Economics 101 ......guns or butter?   The answer is clear.

Guess I spoke enough.........not in defence or accusation, but to help international understanding.

LOL: Drinking=Less Accidents

2011-01-07T22:15:00.001+08:00

Gotta share this interesting finding with you guys.

A recent joint study conducted by the Department of Health and the Department of Transport(States) indicates that 23% of all traffic accidents during this period are alcohol related. This means that the remaining 77% are caused by those who drink tea, coffee, carbonated drinks, juices, milk, water and drinks like that.

Therefore, please beware of those who do NOT drink alcohol, they cause more than three times as many blinking accidents as we do.

This message is sent by someone who cares about your well being. So drink up, drink smart!

Making Chappati in Style

2011-01-07T22:10:00.001+08:00

Chappati With Style!

Packing to Paris!!! §§

2010-12-21T01:01:00.000+08:00

The night before our flight to Paris, we were busy with packing..

Of course, our days aren't the least hectic of the year since we have to make up for two weeks of work...

Before the flight, Sam, Jiali, Yohan and I had Popeye's for dinner... After a long day of shopping of course...

Before entering the departure terminal, we had a little exploration and found the slide of terminal 3.

Every $10 spent gives us an opportunity to ride the slide from the third storey.. We used our receipts from popeye's and our gifts from Bengawan Solo to redeen one turn each..

A little fun at X-Zone T3..

Magical teapot with spouting balls at specific time intervals... If you manage to throw the balls into the green tube from the top, I think you get a prize....

Nothing better to do in the waiting lounge...

Kris Flyer on A380 rocks!!! Makes you wish your plane ride lasts for 2 days!!!

Comfy pack by Givenchy...

Love airplane food§§§§§§§§§

Can you spot my future in laws???

Husband and Wife Jokes

2010-12-20T10:50:00.001+08:00

1- Wife & Husband
Wife : How have you managed to get home so early today?
Husband : My boss lost temper with me and shouted "Go to hell". So I came home.

2- Black guy & A White Girl
A black guy and a white girl met at a nightclub. She took him to her apartment and said: "tie me to the bed and do what black men do best!" So he ran off with the TV and VCD...
3-Wife & Husband
Wife: "I wish I were a newspaper, so you can hold me every morning!"
Husband: "I wish you're a newspaper TOO, my dear so I can have a NEW ONE every morning!"
4- Something wrong
A Chinese couple got married. When their baby was born, she had big, blue eyes, curly, blonde hair and brown skin. They named her ... SAM TING LONG.
5- Wedding nights
Man to wife on wedding night- "Are you sure I'm the first man you are sleeping with?' "Of course honey, I stayed awake with all the others!'
6- Not at all
> 70 yr old man asks his wife "do u feel sad when u see me running behind young girls?"
> Wife replied "No not at all, even dogs chase cars but they can't drive it."
7- Don't disgrace your family
>A young Chinese girl going on her 1st date. Her mother warned her…."1st he kisses your cheek; then he'll kiss your breasts, you'll enjoy; then he
> wants to go on top. You must not allow it so as not to disgrace our family name."
> Next day girl told Mom, "Everything happened exactly as you predicted. I
> didn't allow him to go on top so I went on top and disgraced his family."

8- Baby burnt
> A white couple had a black baby….
> The husband doesn't believe that it's his baby.
> Husband: Why the baby black?
> Wife: U hot, I hot, baby burnt..!

9- Expiry date
>Wife: "Honey, what are you looking for?"
> Husband: "Nothing."
> Wife: "Nothing? You have been reading our marriage certificate for an hour?"
> Husband:" I was looking for the expiry date!"

10- Why black?
> Boy: Mom, why am I black and you are white?
> Mom: Listen Son, considering all the crazy things I did years ago, you should be thankful that you are not barking!!!

23rd April: Shopping at Plaza Singapura and Dinner at Banana Leaf Apollo

2010-09-23T11:52:00.001+08:00

A big breakfast for a family of four, a future daughter in love, oops.. I mean in law.. and a family friend… Chinese Char Siew Buns and lotus leaf buns with luncheon meat…

A day of shopping at Plaza Singapura… Yohan bought like 6 pairs of shoes from Pedro and the salesman refused to give a single bit of discount… Grumble grumble….

Hanging around to wait for our dinner.. Got caught sleeping… Ugly sleeping photo…..

Dinner was at Banana Leaf Apollo… Food was good, but wayyyyy over priced…

22nd April: Future in Laws’ visit to Newton Hawker

2010-09-06T13:15:00.001+08:00

The future in laws spent a nice morning at Yohan’s place while I studied CFA. However, I was going to have French lessons in the evening where Yohan’s family decided to go for a shopping at Bugis junction.

After my lesson, I found the heartwarming family waiting for me, with Nicolas, at the first story of Alliance Francaise.. :) All of us were hungry with no food and dinner.. So we walked to Newton Food Centre for a good helping of local delights…

The rice which came along with the satay wasn’t exactly the kind of rice that Patrick would have wanted to eat though… HAhaha… Too sticky and ball-ish I guess..

21st April 2010: Meet the Parents at Red House Seafood Restaurant

2010-09-03T14:51:00.001+08:00

Yohan’s parents fainally arrived at the Singapore Changi Airport.. Yohan and I were really excited to pick them as I was discharged in the very same day. Mummy helped to pick them and drop us of at Yohan’s place so that they could take a short break before we went for our delicious dinner..

Mummy suggested seafood at East Coast so that we could have the Launays enjoy the wonderful beach and great seafood and Red House Seafood Restaurant..

The total bill came up to over $500 for about 9 of us.. Well, its seafood… :S

The upper level of the restaurant was air conditioned.. Thank god for that!! And most importantly, our parents finally got to meet each other.. Only problem was that my mum was speaking English to people who responded to her in French.. It was rather funny.. Haha…

Red House Seafood Restaurant

Address: 1204 East Coast Parkway #01-05 East Coast Seafood Centre Singapore

Tel: +65 6442 3112

7th March: Macarons from Jewels

2010-08-23T13:36:00.001+08:00

Yohan bought me Jewels.. For a moment I thought i had a diamond ring.. But he knew I didn’t like diamonds.. So thank god for that.. But he is just so sweet and full of surprises..

So it was actually macarons from Jewels Artisan Chocolate

The flavours were a little weird but some were interestingly likeable..

From the top:
Passion Fruit (Filled with passion fruit conserve & almond cream)
Black palm island salt (Filled with salted egg & almond cream topped with black palm island salt)
Raspberry (Filled with raspberry conserve & rose almond cream)
Butterfly Pea Bloom (Filled with kaya & pandan almond cream)
Green Tea (Filled with green tea & dark chocolate crunchy pearl)

I didn’t really like the fruit ones cuz they were too common… Personally, I liked the black palm island salt.. Probably because I like salted egg… Butterfly Pea Bloom was really weird though.. Pandan and macarons… was not quite a good match for me.. It probably needed something else…

Jewels Artisan Chocolate

Orchard Central 181 Orchard Road #02-31/32
Tel: +65 6509 8998 Fax: +65 6509 9339

Opening Hours: 11am to 11pm daily

7th March: 10 years of Friendship

2010-08-22T01:27:00.001+08:00

Suat, Jiemei and I were to meet at Shokudo for dinner to celebrate out 10 years of friendship.. The nicest part? They finally get to meet Yohan!

So, how did we gals celebrate out 10 years anniversary? Nothing beats…. Neoprint!!! :D

Each of this moments costs $10!! But something special this time.. We have Nicolas (Yohan’s buddy) to film down our neoprint process!! It is rather ridiculous, but its such great moments!!

28th Feb 2010: Empire State at Illuma

2010-08-19T18:13:00.001+08:00

Yohan finally had a chance to meet my best friends Jiali and Samuel.. We decided on meeing at Illuma Bugis for dinner and chilling… What did we order? A Burger huge enough to feed four!!! The burger was good.. (How bad can a burger be?) Simple all American style food.. with all that calories.. how can the food not taste good?

201 Victoria Street #04-03 Iluma At Bugis Singapore

14th Feb 2010: Valentine’s Day

2010-08-13T09:45:00.001+08:00

Yohan and I had our first Valentine’s Day together and I cooked his favourite 親子丼(Oyako Don)..

16th Feb 2010: Yohan’s First 拜年

2010-08-12T09:09:00.001+08:00

Yohan never bai nian at anyone’s place before and it was his first time going bai nian with me to Saya Uncle’s place and Lim Seng’s uncle place..

He had his first juan lor (Steamboat) and enjoyed looking at Uncle Lim Seng’s newly renovated house… :)