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I've been commuting with my mtb these few weeks and enjoying it. It is 30-minute ride, sometimes through some crazy road (Jln Eunos), but very satisfying. People should ride to work more.
Being a newbie at this bicycle commuting, I ride extra carefully. The first few times, the legs got wobbly after getting off the bike. But now I am slightly fitter and I just ache rather than wobble.
I have to say that Singapore drivers have no patience with bicycles. The buses seem more patient. Maybe the bus drivers have been briefed to be nicer to bike riders. It also never occurred to me before, but bus lanes are nice for cyclers cyclists too. At least in the morning, I share the lane with buses only, and cars need to stay out of it.
I used to ride a lot in the army. My second-hand bicycle I bought for $50 from an army mate about to ROD took me from the Seletar camp entrance to the deepest parts of the East Camp where my unit was. It was a racing bike with a straight handlebar, and a pink Christmas bell attached.
You had to buy second hand crappy bikes because even a lousy bike can get stolen from the pile of bikes dumped near the fence at the camp guardhouse.
It was great to ride in those days. At night, when it was time to book in, I would speed down the quiet road inside the camp, getting to the Coy line before 2359h. No need to wait for the stupid feeder bus that took forever, and did not take me all the way to the camp anyway. I sold my bike to the next dude when I left the army.
So here I am, twenty years after, riding again.
This is my Kona Lana'i parked just behind where I sit, deep in the Batcave of our office.
I added some lights (a white Cat Eye HL-EL135 in front and a red Cat Eye TL-LD1000 behind) and a mirror (Cat Eye BC-500G) for safety. I also have an Amoeba JY-R1 rack connected to the seat post.
I wear a simple Prowell grey Giro E2 helmet and my old Bolle Golf Vigilante sunglasses (for the sunny mornings). I was in two minds about the helmet at first (who wants to look dorky and have helmet hair, right?). But decided that I'd rather reach my destination with my head intact.
I also recently bought a Field Gear UltraMicrofibre, anti-bacterial suede bath towel for showers. It is a great towel (though a little expensive). Folds up small and compact, soaks up tons of water, and dries really fast. Good for travelling and the gym, I reckon. My brother uses a smaller version for his swim bag and he also loves it.
I foresee more accessories to get. Bikes got many things can zhng one. Maybe it is a middle-age thing, but I found out another friend, Jason, also got a bike recently. We can all use the exercise, anyway.
Update: Video captured by SGT_USMC on Liveleak, showing the water spout spinning a ship.
Typhoon Water spout seen twisting on the sea off East Coast Park, photo taken by friend kunkka with a Nokia N73 from Katong, in the East. Around 2.45pm.
Quite exciting moment. Too bad I could not video it on time.
You can add links to your Tornado Water spout sighting videos or photos to my comments section. Or tag your Flickr photos sgtornado2007.
Would love to see a video of that. It was a nice jolt during the post-lunch sleepy moment. Of course, being a typical blogger, my first reaction was run out in the direction of the damn thing armed with my video camera. Siao one. Sekali the thing is nearer than I thought leh?
This shot from ipaq4444 of hwz forums shows the base of the funnel.
Here is another photo:
It was taken by Joshua from Changi and submitted by Peishan. Really looks neat.
Sharp-eyed forum dudes at Sammyboy's Kopitiam spotted the two versions of a CNA article written on the UNSW pullout (the Australian university that was set up as the crown jewel catch to further Singapore's regional education hub dream, announced to much fanfare, which closed down 3 months after classes started. citing low enrolment).
In the first version of the CNA report, we read "The closure comes despite the fact that an estimated quarter of a billion dollars had been spent on the school's new campus in Changi."
In the second version, this figure is left out and this line added: "The EDB refuses to reveal how much it invested in the school." We also read in the second version that "UNSW has already invested over S$22 million (AUD$17.5 million) in its Singapore campus."
The following was reported in the Sydney Morning Herald back in 2005:
UNSW has already secured a State Government-endorsed bank loan of $113 million for the Singapore campus. But it will also receive about $80 million in capital works funding from the Singapore Government, a figure the university's deputy vice-chancellor (international and development), John Ingleson, has refused to confirm or deny, on the grounds that it is commercial-in-confidence.
Whatever the amount really was, I am sure the taxpayer's money was well spent. Our gahmen doesn't anyhowly spend money one, ok? Look at our returns on Suzhou and Shin Corp! So don't ask so many awkward questions! Trust them with your taxes!
Also interesting was the fact that in 2004, after the UNSW deal was announced, Two Cabinet Ministers and the EDB chief were present in April 2004 when UNSW signed the MOU. In fact, EDB Managing Director Ko Kheng Hwa said, "UNSW will bring us closer to our goal of tripling the number of foreign students studying here to 150,000 within the next 10 to 15 years." (via a Straits Times report)
But in 2007, when it was time to announce the shock pullout of UNSW, it was an Assistant Managing Director of the EDB, Ms Aw Kah Peng who announced the closure with vice-chancellor Fred Hilmer.
Maybe the Managing Director of the EDB was not free.
Some of you may be wondering, how did so many millions from both the university and the Singapore gahmen get spent on such a massive project end up only being yanked three months after opening? Some of you may be thinking, "I know bubble tea shops that lasted longer than three months!"
Well, these university heads and gahmen people had FORESIGHT! After just three months of lower than expected enrolments, they could see that it was not going to make business sense, so they had the COURAGE to shut it down despite the millions already spent! So you cannot compare them to bubble tea shops! In fact, I say give the lot a promotion for calling off a potential business disaster!
Times like this, I am glad I don't live in other countries, where educational institutions don't start one day and close another. No, in Singapore things are done very efficiently type, all the due diligence and risk assessment all done sui sui. And because we are such a clever country, a university pullout like this is just a "setback". A road bump, if you will, on the road to education hub-ness. In other countries, this would have been called a "farce", a "bloody joke", and "an absolute f**k-up of the highest order", and heads would roll. But in Singapore, we do things differently.
In fact, according to Ms Aw, Singapore is "still attracting top schools" and she even suggests "that we do have a good track record".
You hear that, the 148 students of ex-UNSW Asia? Singapore still has a good track record for education, so don't lose heart! Take comfort in that, students!
P.S. In case you're wondering, the title to this post is not I come up one, but a clever one of ten acronyms dreamed up by Benjy (you can read it at blog)
"Here come the horses, oh wait it's the SIA air stewardesses." says witty member of family.
"Ya, would be more fun to watch them race around the track, rather than the horses hor?" says another.
"Hey, Swatow Gate wins!" I declare.
"Shadow Gate lah" my Dad says.
Update: You can also find the full list at mrbrownshow.com.
World Business, a magazine published in association with INSEAD, has a cover story this month by Michael Backman, on the Top 20 Asian progressives and what the hey, I am Number 16. (Update: The magazine is now called Management Today and this is the new link)
Other Asians selected for this list include my usual arch rivals, China's president Hu Jin Tao, Vietnam's prime minister Nguyen Tan Dung, and former Malaysian prime minister, Mahathir Mohamad. I'll beat you guys next time, darn it!
As Singapore's only representative in this list of Asians, I am proud to announce that I beat governor of Malaysia's central bank, Zeti Akhtar Aziz, who is Number 17. Because, as all Singaporeans know, it is always important to one-up Malaysians in a Top Whatever List of any kind. Take that, Zeti!
In case anyone is reading the above literally, I am only kidding. This is a surprise and a huge honour to be hanging out with Asians of this calibre.
I was informed by readers Jonathan Poon and Benjamin Chiang about making this list (thanks guys!) and so went down to Borders to get the magazine. My first reaction upon getting the magazine was "Wah lau eh! $25.90! So expensive ah!". My second reaction was "Chao turtle! Why the artist draw me until so old and fat?"
I proudly showed my wife the magazine article and my supportive wife and general pillar of Asian progressiveness, said, "Why the artist draw you until so old and fat?"
Then she followed with, "Ok, Mr Progressive, now go to the Chinese medical hall and buy Gripe water for Faith. She's been cranky all morning and it's probably because she has an upset stomach. I think she's got Isaac's gastric flu."
Now if you will excuse me, I am going to read the rest of my expensive business magazine. $25.90 leh.
Oh, yah. And buy the Gripe water.
Excerpt:
16. LEE KIN MUN (ALIAS MR BROWN), SINGAPORESingapore has some of the world's tightest media restrictions. Little genuine public debate is permitted and investigative journalism is largely non-existent. The role of the media is to report government announcements rather than to hold the government to account. And so Singaporeans are fed a bland diet of lifestyle articles, world news often slanted to show Singapore in a good light by way of comparison, and news about government policy. Not surprisingly, Singapore has one of the world's most active blogging communities. Genuine debate, opinion pieces and news appear on many Singapore-related websites.
Lee Kin Mun has become one of Singapore's most widely read and influential bloggers through his social and political commentary website, www.mrbrown.com. Lee also produces a satirical podcast called the Mr Brown Show, which averages 20,000 downloads a day. It is sophisticated and hugely funny - and a stark contrast to what is available on local government-controlled television.
Such is the popularity of Lee's blog that he was given a column in the government-controlled Today newspaper in a measure designed to demonstrate that the government could tolerate a measure of public debate. However, the experiment ended abruptly after Li wrote a column on rising living costs. A government official complained that Lee had distorted the truth and Singapore's prime minister claimed that Lee had made wild accusations.
Lee continues to publish and broadcast his satires and commentaries, providing Singaporeans with a vibrant and diversified media otherwise denied them.
Over the weekend, we brought Isaac to his first MacDonald's birthday party. Despite my reservations about MacD's (the kids are rarely allowed to eat at MacDonald's because I don't think the food is healthy for the kids), I was happy to take Isaac and Joy to the fourth birthday party of one of his classmates at nursery.
He really enjoyed himself, I think, from the looks of it. They had Happy Meals, played games, and lined up for their goodie bags. I am sure it will make his little friend very popular back at school.
Isaac spit out the cheeseburger after he took a bite of it, but polished off a load of fries and a few chicken nuggets. He seemed to prefer the plain water from his water bottle to the cold Milo, which was fine with us.
Joy was the rubbish dump, trying and eating everything on the table. Ronald the clown would have been proud of my little McMuffin. All in all, a nice and pleasant Saturday afternoon spent.
By the time we got home, Isaac was bushed. He had an art lesson just before the party and so the whole Saturday afternoon went by without his usual nap.
A few weeks ago, Mommy signed him up for a children's art class organised by the Resident's Committee, since he liked to draw so much. It was very affordable, $50 for 2 months, so I reckon it must be subsidised. It is conducted by a very dedicated Mr Lee, an elderly gentleman who used to teach at Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts. I brought him to the class earlier that afternoon, and helped him to lay out his paper and oil pastels. It was a side of my son I rarely see. Him sitting quietly at the table, waiting for the teacher to begin. The time spent at nursery must be giving him a little structure in his life.
Night falls at our household. Time for bed. It's been a week since we moved Faith to sleep with her siblings in the other room. When Joy arrived, we placed Joy in the cot in the same room as Isaac, and Faith slept with us. The maid would bring Joy over for the night feeds in those days.
But it was time to teach our six-year-old girl to sleep on her own. Not an easy task considering that she cannot talk, and we were not sure she understood what we told her. She didn't need to talk for us to know she didn't like the idea. Autistic kids tend to be very routine driven, and any change to their routine can be very hard for them to accept.
Still, I told Mommy that Faith had to start sleeping on her own bed, and Mommy reluctantly agreed. Mommy tossed and turned for the first night. I don't know who missed who more. Daughter or mother.
Faith woke up crying at 2am on the first night, and the maids spent an hour with her, till she returned to sleep. The second night, Faith woke up at 4am. She seems to be getting more used to it, though she still resists at bedtime, choosing to run into our room, making a whining crying sound in protest.
That night, I gently guided her back to her new bed, and told her Papa would keep her company till she slept. I am not sure if she understood that, but she slept in the end.
As Grandma says, "Kids are very resilient, they will adapt."
I reckon that applies even to autistic children, though that may take longer.
After the kids slept, I took my new ride out for a spin, a 2007 Kona Lana'i hardtail mountain bike. It's an entry-level mtb but after riding a heavier 10-year-old Diamondback Sorrento Sport I borrowed from my younger brother, the Lana'i was like the wind. My mom says it's mid-life crisis, but I quite enjoy riding on the road at night. And it's cheaper than buying a sports car.
On Sunday night, after another full day with the kids, doing the usual like visiting the in-laws, the wife and I finally found some time alone, close to 10pm. I took my cap back from Joy, and drove to the mall near by. In "celebration" of Mothers' Day, we ate some gelato we bought at the closing mall, and ate it at the almost vacant hawker centre next door. Not quite a swanky restaurant outing but we enjoyed the quiet moment to catch up. Mommy didn't like the Black Sesame flavour she chose though. It was not like the Japanese one she tried elsewhere.
We ended the evening watching some Heroes (damn, it's getting exciting as the season ends) and the wife fell asleep while I droned on about my theories about the show.
So what's the criteria? Girl whose ass is most built like a boat?
Do they give out awards like Miss Lifeboat (and her unsinkable personality)?
The photographer should at least find a better angle for the shot above. Aiyoh, butt pimples all can see liao.
(Photo taken from The New Paper)
Taken by my brother.
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