Friday, August 18, 2006
Moving...
I've decided to migrate my blog to wordpress, because it has the password function to protect certain entries, which I feel may be useful should I choose to blog about stuff that may only be suitable for a select audience ;) Here's the link.
Posted by De Rui at 8:49 PM
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Friday, July 28, 2006
ST slacking off?
I'm not sure if everyone is aware of this, but a couple of days back as I was making my way home after my JC class gathering, many commuters and I had to evacuate Dhoby Ghaut MRT station because of a fire on the NEL side of the station. To be fair, I didn't exactly witness the fire blazing away, but there was a distinct stench unique only to to smoke from fire. So, unless the SMRT/SBSTransit staff were making seventh-month offerings in the station, I think it'd be fair to deduce that a fire had broken out then. Then, there was the PA announcement urging commuters to evcautate the station. I mean, smell of smoke + announcement to evacuate station + SCDF's fire trucks outside the station should = fire breakout at station. Well...I suppose you could say it was a fire drill, but I don't think fire drills usually involve the simulation of smoke.
On a sidenote, the funny thing was that even as the announcement was being made, I could still see some commuters behind me making their way down the escalator to the NEL. This just makes me marvel at the intrepidity of Singaporeans - even fire is no deterrent to their getting home punctually.
Now, how does all this relate to the title of this post? Well...I was kind of expecting The Straits Times to report the incident the next day, but to my disbelief, it went unreported. I know this incident is trivial when juxtaposed with broader global issues like the Middle East crisis now, but surely, this incident merits at least a tiny mention in the Home section of the ST, especially when it comes hot on the heels of another accident on the NEL the day before. Is the ST really that understaffed that they can't even cover this incident, or could it be some other reason? Hmmm...
Just an interesting observation, there doesn't seem to be much adverse reaction with SBSTransit's stock despite the recent accident.
(After note: A friend just informed me that one of the Chinese newspapers had reported the above incident; it's good to know that at least someone in the mainstream media is earning his keep.)
On a sidenote, the funny thing was that even as the announcement was being made, I could still see some commuters behind me making their way down the escalator to the NEL. This just makes me marvel at the intrepidity of Singaporeans - even fire is no deterrent to their getting home punctually.
Now, how does all this relate to the title of this post? Well...I was kind of expecting The Straits Times to report the incident the next day, but to my disbelief, it went unreported. I know this incident is trivial when juxtaposed with broader global issues like the Middle East crisis now, but surely, this incident merits at least a tiny mention in the Home section of the ST, especially when it comes hot on the heels of another accident on the NEL the day before. Is the ST really that understaffed that they can't even cover this incident, or could it be some other reason? Hmmm...
Just an interesting observation, there doesn't seem to be much adverse reaction with SBSTransit's stock despite the recent accident.
(After note: A friend just informed me that one of the Chinese newspapers had reported the above incident; it's good to know that at least someone in the mainstream media is earning his keep.)
Posted by De Rui at 1:23 AM
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Sunday, June 11, 2006
Hello and Goodbye
It's been a long while since my last post, for which I must apologise to my devoted readers. Ha Ha. Long story short: after I ORD-ed, I've bummed around, worked for awhile, travelled a bit, and bummed around some more. Maybe I'll blog about them, maybe not. Probably the latter, because the writing bug hasn't bit me.
'til next time, take care folks.
'til next time, take care folks.
Posted by De Rui at 4:51 PM
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Sunday, February 05, 2006
Mahjong Madness
For the past few days, I've been having late-night mahjong sessions with the only exception being yesterday because I fell asleep while waiting for Ervin to come. The accumulated sleep debt in recent days were too much for me to bear, especially when I couldn't rejuvenate myself that afternoon because my dad wanted me to accompany him to some CNY function at his friend's house. The reason being that the host's wife's brother is living in New York, so he'd be a good contact to have should I require any help when I'm studying there. Yeah, time to work the Friendster magic. I was a little skeptical about the usefulness of the contact considering the 4 degrees of separation, but I went nonetheless.
Huge mistake. The function was a terrible experience for me. Most of the food was halal because of some Muslim guests, and it reminded me of the horrid cookhouse food in Brunei all over again. To be fair, the food at the function was of a much higher quality, but I still couldn't bear to take more than a bowl of the lontong; the colour of the food simply brought back too many gastronomic nightmares.
The worst part of the whole affair was not the food, but the crowd. Most of the guests were members of the aviation industry, so naturally, the conversation tended to flow towards engineering stuff, which got a bit too technical for me. In short, absolute boredom. Now I remember why I decided against pursuing engineering; it just ain't my cup of tea. But things weren't too bad towards the end, when the guests started to gamble, and my dad sponsored me to play with them. I learnt a new game, and if I recall correctly, it's called si ji puay, which translates to 4 eights according to my dad. No idea why it's named as such, but it's a pretty fun game to play and a good alternative to blackjack and poker. I shan't elaborate on the rules of the game here, because, well, I'm lazy to. Haha.
Anyway, I've gotta stop short this entry. Mahjong crisis now. San Que Yi!
Huge mistake. The function was a terrible experience for me. Most of the food was halal because of some Muslim guests, and it reminded me of the horrid cookhouse food in Brunei all over again. To be fair, the food at the function was of a much higher quality, but I still couldn't bear to take more than a bowl of the lontong; the colour of the food simply brought back too many gastronomic nightmares.
The worst part of the whole affair was not the food, but the crowd. Most of the guests were members of the aviation industry, so naturally, the conversation tended to flow towards engineering stuff, which got a bit too technical for me. In short, absolute boredom. Now I remember why I decided against pursuing engineering; it just ain't my cup of tea. But things weren't too bad towards the end, when the guests started to gamble, and my dad sponsored me to play with them. I learnt a new game, and if I recall correctly, it's called si ji puay, which translates to 4 eights according to my dad. No idea why it's named as such, but it's a pretty fun game to play and a good alternative to blackjack and poker. I shan't elaborate on the rules of the game here, because, well, I'm lazy to. Haha.
Anyway, I've gotta stop short this entry. Mahjong crisis now. San Que Yi!
Posted by De Rui at 5:44 PM
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Thursday, February 02, 2006
Back At Last And For Good
This is a little belated, but yeah, for the uninformed who visit this neglected blog, I've finally completed my 19 months of service in Brunei, and am back for good in Singapore. That is, until I depart for New York some time in mid-August.
The first few days have been really hectic - what with all the CNY visiting that had to be done, and the housework that I now have to do because my parents sacked my maid a couple of weeks ago for reasons I shan't elaborate here. Not that it's anything scandalous; I'm just too lazy to explain it here. But really, household chores in my home can be quite the workout, and for that I'm glad my mother was prolific in child-bearing. I'd probably just die from exhaustion if I were an only kid.
CNY was fantastic for me this year. Even though I've always felt that the visiting part of CNY, especially of distant relatives, was one big wayang, it still felt so much better than my last CNY, which I spent morosely in Brunei in spite of my camp's mediocre attempts at drumming up the festive spirit. No matter what you do, CNY will never turn out right without family (because you need them to give you hongbaos. Hah.). Of course, that's not forgetting the enjoyable, albeit money-draining, mahjong sessions with my primary school friends at Jinghui's house. Even though I've always known it on an intellectual level, it is only after having spent last year's CNY in Brunei and experiencing this year's CNY in Singapore that I am finally able to understand emotionally just how much family and friends matter in the celebration of CNY.
Ok, enough with the mushy stuff already. On a totally unrelated note, there are a lot of things I need to buy now that I'm back, so I'm hoping there's a post-CNY sale of some kind in the major department stores. Is there? List of things I need to buy at the top of my head:
1) Handphone - I'm eyeing the SE W900i. If you ask me, it'd make a great advanced 21st Birthday present though. *hint hint*
2) Lots and lots of clothes - I'm starting a complete wardrobe overhaul.
3) Shoes - a pair of the quasi-formal kind and maybe a pair of sneakers.
4) Spectacles
5) Laptop
6) Car - maybe if I strike TOTO or something.
That's about it for now. Even without the car, getting everything else on this list is gonna set me back like crazy. Looks like a part-time job is inevitable, unless someone can introduce a sugar mummy to me.
The first few days have been really hectic - what with all the CNY visiting that had to be done, and the housework that I now have to do because my parents sacked my maid a couple of weeks ago for reasons I shan't elaborate here. Not that it's anything scandalous; I'm just too lazy to explain it here. But really, household chores in my home can be quite the workout, and for that I'm glad my mother was prolific in child-bearing. I'd probably just die from exhaustion if I were an only kid.
CNY was fantastic for me this year. Even though I've always felt that the visiting part of CNY, especially of distant relatives, was one big wayang, it still felt so much better than my last CNY, which I spent morosely in Brunei in spite of my camp's mediocre attempts at drumming up the festive spirit. No matter what you do, CNY will never turn out right without family (because you need them to give you hongbaos. Hah.). Of course, that's not forgetting the enjoyable, albeit money-draining, mahjong sessions with my primary school friends at Jinghui's house. Even though I've always known it on an intellectual level, it is only after having spent last year's CNY in Brunei and experiencing this year's CNY in Singapore that I am finally able to understand emotionally just how much family and friends matter in the celebration of CNY.
Ok, enough with the mushy stuff already. On a totally unrelated note, there are a lot of things I need to buy now that I'm back, so I'm hoping there's a post-CNY sale of some kind in the major department stores. Is there? List of things I need to buy at the top of my head:
1) Handphone - I'm eyeing the SE W900i. If you ask me, it'd make a great advanced 21st Birthday present though. *hint hint*
2) Lots and lots of clothes - I'm starting a complete wardrobe overhaul.
3) Shoes - a pair of the quasi-formal kind and maybe a pair of sneakers.
4) Spectacles
5) Laptop
6) Car - maybe if I strike TOTO or something.
That's about it for now. Even without the car, getting everything else on this list is gonna set me back like crazy. Looks like a part-time job is inevitable, unless someone can introduce a sugar mummy to me.
Posted by De Rui at 2:03 AM
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Friday, January 06, 2006
Home Leave
My home leave was a blast, well, the activities themselves – some of them – were kinda disappointing (Jings, you know what I mean), but the company more than made up for it. Lots of late nights spent eating, catching up on old times and doing a bunch of inane stuff. Absolutely marvellous.
Things have certainly changed since the last time I went back. The shophouses at Hougang South were repainted, Kovan Melody is already 90% done and the row of private houses across it was demolished, leaving behind a barren wasteland I could scarcely recognize. The changes in landscape were not that startling; it was the speed at which my two youngest brothers had grown that really took me aback – they are almost taller than me, and both their voices had broke. Pubescent boys can really change drastically in 10 months.
There are many emotions and thoughts running through my head now, but alas, I can’t seem to find the right words for them. All I can say is that the ten days back in
I want to go home now! Now! Now!
Posted by De Rui at 2:15 PM
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Sunday, December 04, 2005
Self-Indoctrination
Life in Brunei has been too kind to me, so much so that I've been lulled into this deep inertia, this sense of wanting to just bum around and not having to do anything physically or intellectually demanding. The leisurely culture of Brunei is insidiously infectious, I tell you. Couple that with the generally lackadaisical attitudes of my peers in army, it's an uphill battle to fight against the urge to just, well, slack.
As such, I've been reading this self-help motivational book recently partly because I've nothing else to read, and also because I need to shrug off this debilitating inertia by brainwashing myself. Hopefully, my brainwashing skills prove to be better than the propagators of NE.
As such, I've been reading this self-help motivational book recently partly because I've nothing else to read, and also because I need to shrug off this debilitating inertia by brainwashing myself. Hopefully, my brainwashing skills prove to be better than the propagators of NE.
Posted by De Rui at 2:59 PM
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