Lengthy Road Notices

While I was visiting relatives in Malaysia over the weekend, I noticed there were a lot of road notices worded in lengthy Bahasa Melayu. I wonder why there is a need for such lengthy notice if there is equivalent Highway Code that conveys the same message. It is not only taking away drivers' precious attention time, it is also wasting tax payers' money. Furthermore, Malaysia, sandwiched between Thailand and Singapore, has its fair share of daily cross-border drivers who would not be able to read these notices. If the Tourism Board can to tell the world it is "Truly Asia" in English, I don't understand why it can't adopt the same spirit in its road signs. Driving visitors are tourists too, you know. They bring in revenue by paying for goods and services during their stay here. Notices like... Lebuhraya sedang di naik-taraf, sila pandu dengan berhati-hati (Upgrading work in progress, please drive with caution)

Kawasan zon sekolah sila kurangkan laju (School zone area, please reduce speed) ...are totally unnecessary and can be replaced with International Highway Code signs like

"MEN AT WORK" and

"SCHOOL ZONE".

i saw this sign "Banji lalulintas sedang dijalankan, sila pandu dengan perlahan" (Traffic census is being conducted, please drive slowly) between Taiping and Gerik. I scratched my head over this. Isn't it peculiar to ask drivers to slow down for traffic count when you wanted to obtain actual traffic flow data for planning and design purposes? Maybe this is the tip of an iceberg of what could be.... ahem... this is entirely burung pipit's wild "conspiracy theory" Malaysia is conducting a feasibility study to tax all cross-border drivers. What bettter way to start than by counting the number of foreign-plate cars in Malaysia to establish a cost-benefit study of such a move. To be counted, you need to slow down enough for counter to read your license plate. This may explain why drivers need to slow down in a traffic census. Malaysia government wants to certify all cross-border drivers to ensure familiarization with common Malay used in their highways and roads. Something like the undang undang (Highway Code) test drivers took before getting their "L" licenses in Malaysia. ...to ensure all kopi license drivers understand the hazard in front of them as these small and dwindling (I Presume?) group of drivers may not be too familiar with the Highway Code. Pak Lah's way of a more compassionate government? Whatever it is, lenghty road notices are here to stay. For non-Malay readers, it is time to pick up a bi-lingual guide to Highway Code in Malaysia. One tip here...the ubiquituous blue colour "Jalan Sehala" is not the most common jalan (road) in Malaysia, it is the sign for "One-Way Street".

Apology

Thank you Maggieluerva and Mother Superior for alerting me through your sms on the problem with my blog comments function.

I had accidentally turned ON the "moderated comment" function without leaving a return email. Hence, i believe some of the comments left on the earlier entries had been lost. My sincere apology to those who had taken time and effort to comment.

I had since rectified the matter and again, a big "SORRY" to visitors to my blog for the last two weeks.

Table Service & Service Charge explained at Cafe Cartel

SO and i were pleasantly surprised when we patronised the Cafe Cartel outlet at Marina Square yesterday. Instead of the opening line "May i take your order, Sir?", we were greeted by CC table service statement. We were told that our dinner would come with table service and it would cost us 10% of our dining bill. The service would entail free cold/hot plain water (a contentious issue that was press fodder recently), free flow of bread & butter and having our dinner served at the comfort of us not having to leave the table. I don't know whether this latest move is mere gimmick or a reaction to the recent bad press on customer service, CC had just upped our satisfaction index. Our only lament was CC could have trained their staff better on the line delivery. The waitress was rushing through her lines and fumbled half way through. She had to repeat twice for us to catch what she meant.

Undiscovered Pleasure

As one who like to eat out, it never fail to thrill me when i find a place that i really like and never visited before. One such thrilling discovery is the Shore Restaurant, a seaside seafood eatery. Tucked away at one corner of Changi Coast Road it is a good place for a romantic dinner for two. It is located at the Sea Sport Centre premise, accessible from the Changi Coast Walk...

With breeze in your face and a good sea frontal, a perfect set-up for a romantic dinner... The beach is so near, you can hear the sound of breaking wave if you are dining alfresco...

If you don't mind the plastic chairs and sand in your sandal, you can catch the beautiful sunset in the horizon at the open-air dining area

Sunset with the downtown skyline in the horizon ... notice the plane silhouette in the sky? As the restaurant is very near to the Changi Airport and in the landing path of planes touching down at Changi, the sight and sound of a landing plane can be quite daunting. If the up-close view of a plane fuselage appeal to you, this is the place...

Another view of the sunset... isn't it beautiful?

If you don't like your seafood to come from the fridge, there is a nearby breakwater you can go to, to do your own fishing...

The sea around this place is rich, if the good size of the garoupa in the pic is any indication...

Married man also got to make effort

Yesterday i arranged a dinner at my neighbourhood coffeeshop for my mum-in-law.

After reading mike blog and mother superior insightful comment "the institution of marriage requires effort, women will be doubly pleased if there were some effort in TRYING. ", i decided to do the "TRYING" to ensure that nothing will pop up unexpectedly to spoil the evening.

I go through my mind of the things that will spoil my nite and come out with the following list of action...

• timing. knowing SO disdain for being late, i ended my work slightly earlier to cater for the friday nite heavier than usual traffic
• menu. thought about the menu in advance, bearing in mind the preferences of my family members
• ETD (estimated time of departure). manage the duration to ensure to ensure everyone would be home (except us) to catch the 10 pm " Jewel in the Palace"

We arrived on time at the coffeeshop and manage to put in our order before other diners started streaming in. Dinner started on time. I ordered steamed ching yi, vege with lean meat soup, steamed tauhu with crab floss and fried kai lan. Mum-in-law tried to stopped me from further order as she had just taken a bowl of laksa earlier. For good measure, i put in a final order of prawn with XO sauce. I had selected a "light & oil-less" menu for tonite. The volume was just right and it had gone down well with everyone. All in all, we had a good time and my in-laws, who were staying half an hour away from us managed to reach home in time to catch their favourite tv program.

Some effort in planning had make tonite dinner a little more satisfactory for everyone, especially SO. My wife is my life and soul partner and trying a little harder to be a good husband is definitely worth it. Thank you, MS for that enlightenment on the women's psyche.

A1 or F1 Grand Prix in Singapore

BT 18 April 2006 - Big names vie to bring back motor racing

Singapore is going into the lifestyle business big time. As i am still digesting how the Integrated Resorts in Marina and Sentosa, Marina Public Golf Court, Singapore Eyes, New Museum and soon to be completed Vivo City affect Singapore and my life in the not too distant future, Singapore is off again courting another big name in the sport world...this time it is the F1 and A1 Grand Prix franchise. The founding father Mr Lee Kuan Yew had said "NO" to car racing before. It seems nothing is sacred now, not even the words of MM Lee. Between the two, F1 will require a $200 million race track and US$30 million to host/operate; A1 can use existing streets and come with a cheaper US$18 million H/O bill. A1 host needs to field a racing team and that could spark the development of a motor racing scene here. This latest development can dovetail with the National University of Singapore effort in the development of a motor racing business eco-system. NUS has a racing team that compete in inter-varsity racing in the US. The following locations are reported as possible venue

Marina South

Tuas near Raffles Marina

Sentosa

downtown along the Durian

around the Padang

Changi

Pasir Ris

Downtown, despite its convenience, will create severe noise pollution and traffic jam in other part of town. Not a good idea if the government really wanted to convert more old offices into residential usage in Shenton Way. Tuas, Changi or Pasir Ris will be ideal but these are ulu places. If it is Changi, the evaluation committee will need to conduct a proper traffic impact assessment if we want to avoid a Sepang situation here, where the route to the F1 circuit share the same road to an international airport. Hei, it is no fun if you have to start your journey to Changi airport two hours earlier on race day!

Despite its many strong points, A1 is relatively young and not as established as F1. However, F1 itself is a tough call, as having two F1 circuits at 400 km apart is too near and will spark intense competition for the precious spectators' dollars. This is one neighbourly competition we should avoid. Anyway, Singapore is short of land and building a $200 million race circuit just to burn tyre is difficult to justify. A1 is a good piece to fit into the "Team Singapore" sport theme. This is another "gold medal" prospect that Singapore can realistically aim for.

My pick, if Singapore is going to host a leg of the Grand Prix, it will be the A1. Venue? either Tuas or Marina South. If this industry takes off, Tuas can be our new automobile hub and Singaporeans can wish for a new ambition... that of a race car driver. So, don't be surprise that in future, go-karting maybe offered as a Junior College core curricular activity.

No Crooked Bridge, Please!

"Malaysia -Singapore Bridge called off

Malaysia has cancelled the bridge project to replace the Causeway. The Cabinet made this decision because of legal implications and the public’s negative reaction to Singapore's demand for sand and use of Malaysian airspace as a trade-off. "

This is a tough decision to call for Pak Lah. My hat off to him for taking it. Rakyat's money $100 million into the longkang...RM600 if the full bridge is to be built

I support the no-bridge camp and here my 2 kupang....

we don't want a bridge, we want speedier border crossing

we don't want more toll or rather more expensive toll

we are masochists, we like traffic jams at the causeway, thats why we don't use the 2nd link

the bridge will open up the waterway below the causeway and easier link to Pasir Gudang Port, we don't want that. Pelabuhan Tanjung Pelepas (PTP) is giving Port of Singapore Authority (PSA) enough headache

we don't want our version of the Berlin Wall, announcing to the world how bengkok (crooked) our relationships are

we like the soon to be completed custom complex in JB, as a new sophisticated shopping mall

PAK LAH, 3 cheers for u!

One: for taking care of Dr M suzhou shit

Two: for not pinning the blame on Dr M

Three: for showing us you got gut and a good heart

Butterflies in the Stomach

How do you react when you meet someone you share so much over the blogosphere but otherwise a total stranger? Wear your blogger's image or let your true self through or do a combo? Do you call them by their nic or their real name?

I don't know but as with all experiences new, i look forward to it. After a no-hold-bar, messy, all-fingers chilli crabs feast, there is really not much to cover up. The feeling is not unlike the first time i went to see SO. Only this time it is not a do or die mission. Relax lah! *Taking a deep breath*

Busy TV Nite

much is going on on tv tonite 1) 8 pm MM Lee on 8 (CNA) 2) 10 pm Gospel of Judas on 11 (Nat Geo) 3) 10 pm Chicago on 5 (Ch 5) 4) 10 pm CSI Las Vegas Season V (AXN) 5) 10 pm Da Jeung Gum on 9 (Ch U) Lucky i don't have to stay home and fight over the remote tonite. I love 2, followed by 3/4. Will catch 1 rerun at 11.30 pm.

Bloggers Gathering

Chilli Crab anyone?

Venue: Jumbo Restaurant at East Coast Seafood Centre

Time: 7 pm

Date: Wed 12 April 2006

Confirmed: Mother Superior, Fantasy Flier, Seefei

Leonard?

Diva?

Helen?

Teh-C?

LL?

email: seblow2001@yahoo.co.uk

or

come direct

Stupid is Smart

My cousin who is currently working in China finally agreed with me that the Chinese will not be able to catch up with the rest of the world in ten years time. This is the conclusion to a small after dinner argument that we started in a Shanghai restaurant three years ago.

He arrived at that conclusion after watching the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" and some other Chinese series on China recent history. I felt that way too after watching ROTTK during my one year stint in China. The mainland Chinese were so ahead in term of management, logistic, strategy 2200 years ago, you can't help but ask what went wrong? And why overseas Chinese like Stan Shih, Wang, Sim Wong Hoo, Lee Kuan Yew (ahem got to give credit where credit is due, ok?) are more closely associated with success than any of the mainland Chinese in recent history? In ROTTK, i can see the mainland Chinese were very smart but in-fighting within the Kingdom that undone the success of the founding family. The Chinese were smart but too smart for their own good. The lack of a system to share power breed contempt and finally mutiny that overthrow the system that had given the initial success. The system had not changed much in term of power sharing and promotion of innovation, science and technology.

So, when Li Ao said "Singaporeans are stupid", we should take it with a pinch of salt. Sometime, too smart is not good.

Timing

Timing is a personal thing and i cant agree more. No one define time alike. When i sent SO's mum off to holiday to China last week, arriving two hours at Changi Airport before departure time was considered nearly late. All the relatives had already arrived and we were the last to walk into the departure lounge. Sorry, dear, i promise to camp at Changi Airport before the day your mum come back from China. When my cousin said Cheng Meng would be at 7 am, so it was normal expectation for out of towner relatives to arrive early like 7 pm and rest well. Mine, arrived at 2 am and took one hour to freshen up before retiring. I like to register a big "thank you" to my 4th cousin-in-law for accomodating all our whims and fancies ... Now i have to adjust my mental clock to these two sets of relatives with pole-apart definition of time.

2007 resolution

It is memorable when you got stuck for more than an hour in traffic jam in Singapore and painful when you could have avoided it. I told myself last year never to do Cheng Meng in Singapore on a weekend. It is not logical to spend more than half a day doing something you could breeze through in two hours in a weekday. Especially, when you are the one signing your own leave form.

This one goes straight to the top of my 2007 resolution list

1. Never repeat the same mistake at the same time/place

2. Make more $$

3. Make baby

Root Crossing

Singapore is a nation of trees lovers. This observation came from my brother who visits frequently from Hong Kong. "You guys have more trees in your city than our sub-urban township." He was actually referring to the heavily vegetated areas at Marina Square below the Sheares Bridge.

However casual his remark maybe, if you really look around you hard enough, there are ample evidences that this is a small nation of tree huggers. Did you see what i see in the photograph above?

Look, the gahmen actually built a crossing for a tree root who was looking for greener pasture across the other side of the drain. I don't know who invented the zebra crossing, but i am sure Singapore can lay claim to be the only nation that build root crossings.

Singapore A-sai (can)!!

High Maintenance

Amuse... when my friend Fei Loh commented that SO (my girl friend then) looked high-maintenance from a photograph that i showed him two years ago. High maintenance as in expensive taste and upkeep. Muse Fei Loh was right, in a way....and i am a convert too. But our lifestyle feed neither the owners of fine dining restaurants nor high end boutiques as we keep our high maintenance activities to the upkeep of our apartment and not some businesses in Orchard Road. Appreciation Thank you mum-in-law for bringing up such well-balanced kids...

Baby Hope

Have you heard this one? "If you want to know how your gf or wife looks like in 30 years time, look at the mother"

SO's mum was in town today and i knocked off early to have dinner with her. For the record, I would not have a clue how SO will look like in 30 years time as she doesn't look like her mum. Except she would not need to join any Marie France's class any time in the next 30 years if she inherit her mum's "slim" genes. Beyond the physical attributes, SO is a near carbon copy of her mum. Of all the siblings, her characters and nuances are the closest to her mother. Both are principled, organised and homely. As i had been an happy go lucky and carefree fellow for most of my life, it is like fitting a square coq into a round hole when i first got married. Being homely myself, i have to work on the 67% rough edge. SO had introduced the order and discipline that i badly needed, both in my personal life and business dealings. This marriage had steadied the ship that was fast losing its direction and slipping into the darkness of the middle age black hole. Maybe, thats one reason i didn't want a kid in the freshman year. There were just too many differences and outstanding issues to iron out. GoD!, unitl today we are still working hard on it. As we counted our blessing of having married for a full 12 months and happy at that, we are ready for a little baby. For that, i have to cut down on that burger, especially the one burns a size $101 in my pocket.

Cheng Meng Weekend

Tomorrow is 5 April 2006, the 8th day of the Chinese lunar month. 5 April is the Chinese All Soul Day, commonly known as Cheng Meng. Chinese all over the world will pay their respect to their long departed loved one and forebears one week before and after the exact date. With one fourth of the world population observing the Cheng Meng rite, it escapes me why Cheng Meng is never declared a holiday. Primarily, maybe it is not a day to celebrate or/and rejoy. Secondary, most Chinese will take the convenient weekend before 0r after the exact day to observe the rite, so there is really no need to allot a "holiday" to it.

Although Cheng Meng is always associated with the dead, its observation hold many lessons for the livings too. It is on this day, that many of nephews and nieces asked me about our grand parents, their lifestyles, just like what i had done many years ago when my papa was alive. From some of these stories, i knew my grandpa was one of the heavenly kings in his kampung by virtue of his business. My grandma was a very strict disciplinarian. She would expect everyone, including the youngs like my elder cousin and brother, to take their meal seriously (read fast). She would order the table cleared atfter she finished her meal. So, everyone got to finish before she did. Well, we are not so draconian nowadays, but the spirit of grandma had lived on. We never turn on the TV when we eat our dinner.

Cheng Meng is also a day where the whole clan gathered together, without the distraction of other festive activities like Chinese New Year. It is a good time for bonding between the youngs and the youngs-at-hearts. It is during many of Cheng Meng family gatherings that i discover my nieces cyber nicks and their latest hair colour. Cheng Meng is also the day some of us senior members play Santa Claus or Aunt Agony to the younger members of the clan. When my father and his younger brother was alive, we would go out for dinner together in both my father's and my uncle's jalopies. This was a reunion dinner that we were never able to have during CNY as both the brothers were living far apart. That tradition had survived until today and now we actually have a dinner fund for this one purpose.

I will go back to Melaka this weekend for my annual Cheng Meng rite. After fending off questions like when i would get married for the last ten years, I am bracing myself and SO for that one logical follow-up question...

Uberburger at Millenia Walk

After our Da Paolo venture, SO and i went back to our familiar old haunt, Cafe Cartel at Marina Square. But today we made a special detour. We parked at Suntec City and walked through Millenia Walk to Marina Square. The purpose, we wanted to recce the Uberburger (9 Raffles Boulevard #01-06, 6837-0280) that sell Ferrari burger at $101 a pop. For $101, you get wagyu beef & foie gras in your burger. Opened two Sundays ago, 15 customers had tasted the Ferrari burger. "It is better than sex", said the first customer. Luckily, not all burgers start at the Ferrari set. More humble fare starts at $9, like the diced chicken burger. As SO is not a burger enthusiast, we did not eat there tonite. I would definitely like to pay Uberburger a visit again, to have a real sit down diner experience. Ferrari burger, naah! sex could not be any better!!