Diary of a Flounderer...

Oh yes I did!
Together wif hao, brenda and jer, we headed to the Sitex fair today!

As some of you may have known, i accidentally dropped my old IXUS on the floor a couple months back, and wasn't able to resuscitate it back to life ever since...sob sob :-(

So today, after much research and scouting, I finally bought the new Canon IXUS 120 in sleek brown!!!

Nice?

Very Nice. Super Nice. Damn damn Nice!!
(Heheheh ...zhi wen zhi da!)


And its like tiny! Its the slimmest and most compact camera I have ever come across.
But don't be fooled by this handsome little thing, it packs a punch!

小乖乖 小乖乖 小乖乖 ! :-)

Read this article today written by MM Lee's daughter on her father's recent trip to US. A very intriguing read. It showed another dimension of MM Lee from the loving eyes of his daughter. I particularly like the part where she wrote:

Kissinger and my father were lamenting the state of the world, when my father said: "Henry, we must do what's right."
My father has always tried to do what is right for Singapore, and for humanity. He will stand by friends who fall out of public favour to show the world: "To hell with you, he is still my friend." These are the same rules by which I have tried to lead my much humbler life."

Interesting indeed.




The glass is really half full
by Lee Wei Ling


OCT 30 — This is the last week of October, well into autumn. As I do my step-aerobic exercises, looking out of my hotel window in Washington DC, I see a lone maple tree. Half of its leaves have fallen. Of the remaining leaves, only a few are red; the rest are partially brown and partially green. They are wilting before they get a chance to display the splendid red that makes autumn my favourite season in the United States. The sad-looking tree reminds me that the year is drawing to a close.


It has been a dreary year, both for myself and the world-at-large. Yet, in spite of my misfortunes, there are many things that I am grateful for. The five months I spent in hospital earlier in the year gave me a chance to reconnect with old friends, some of whom I had lost touch with for three decades. I made new friends among the nurses and doctors who looked after me. I enjoyed writing my columns for The Straits Times and The Sunday Times, and still do. After being discharged from the hospital, I was happy to see my patients again, and they were happy to see me. I have resumed travelling with my father Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew, something that I used to do in my late teens and in my 20s, until work and my conference schedule put a stop to it.

This time, when my father asked me to accompany him on his trips, I dropped everything and joined him. I am travelling not for fun but to keep him company. As a result, I have had quality time with him.

While I have always known that my father was wise, I was surprised to see the movers and shakers of this world seek his opinion and advice on a multitude of international problems.

Over the past weekend, my father stayed in the home of Henry and Nancy Kissinger in Connecticut. For dinner on Saturday and again for lunch on Sunday, the Kissingers invited people from politics, academia, the media and business to meet my father. On Monday evening, Fed Malek of Thayer Capital organised a gathering at his home in Washington DC for my father to meet more movers and shakers. My father learnt about US perceptions of the world and the views of the Obama administration and Congress.

On Tuesday evening, at a black-tie dinner, my father was presented the Lifetime Achievement Award by the US-Asean Business Council. Former US Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton sent taped tributes.

President Barack Obama sent a statement that was read out on his behalf by Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell.

Kissinger and George Shultz — both former US secretaries of state and old friends of my father — attended the event. Both paid glowing tributes to my father. I am proud of my father, not for the award per se, but for making Singapore and Asean better places.

And for this event, even I, usually heedless of convention, was appropriately attired. I wore a Chinese jacket that my sister-in-law Ho Ching had bought for me, carried a bag that my friend and colleague, Professor Helen Tjia, had given me, and wore shoes bought by another friend. Together, they had conspired to ensure that I was dressed appropriately for the occasion.

I did not know how similar my thinking process was to my father's until after a private lunch with the Kissingers last weekend. Kissinger and my father were lamenting the state of the world, when my father said: "Henry, we must do what's right."

My father has always tried to do what is right for Singapore, and for humanity. He will stand by friends who fall out of public favour to show the world: "To hell with you, he is still my friend." These are the same rules by which I have tried to lead my much humbler life.

According to the psychologist Hans Jurgen Eysenck, sons think more like their mothers and daughters more like their fathers. My father believes in Eysenck's theories and blames himself for his non-conformist daughter.

He is a world-famous statesman, one whom world leaders consult. As Kissinger noted on Tuesday evening: "Over 40 years, when Mr Lee comes to Washington, he gets to see an array of people that almost no foreign leader gets to see... because he does not come as a supplicant." Today, my father is to meet Obama.

But, after all is said and done, my father will leave it to history to have the final say on his life. In the meantime, he will simply continue to do what is right for Singapore and for the world. I believe that if there were more politicians like him, the world would be a better place.

This article began on a sombre note. I admire the stoic philosophy, and had decided to take a stoic view of this year. But I have since come to the conclusion that the glass is half full, and that really, I and most Singaporeans are not in such a bad situation.

It is more likely to stay that way if we continued to do what's right — in season as well as out.

— The Straits Times
The writer is director of the National Neuroscience Institute

I finally succumbed...

I am now an iPhone-phile :-P


I went to the Singtel Christmas fair today! And i finally indulged myself with the uber handsome iPhone 3Gs!!!
Its quite a good deal leh (I wouldn't have bought it if it isn't, now would i? Hehehhe... )

So for my 32GB White iPhone 3Gs (the usual price is close to 500 bucks), and after the discount and trading off my old nokia...... I only paid....*drumrollzzz*.... $188!

Sweet deal or not? Swwweeeeeett :-)

Wahahahaha.....*swings head crazily*

And just like the Apec Summit and the week-long visits of dignitaries to this little island of ours, I too had a visitor that very same week. Yes it has been over 2 years since I last saw my brother and he whirlwind his way into my abode for a good ten days.

His visits in the past was how i would describe as …. nonchalant, imperturbable, indifferent.
He came, he went. Maybe it was me, maybe it was him, maybe it was just the way it was.

I wasn’t expecting much from his visit this time. It will be cordial and that’s pretty much I suppose.

So he arrived, he settled in. Mom and dad, I felt, was pretty stoked that he was here, even though they don’t show it. And it was positive energy from the folks permeating through their calm and unperturbed exterior.

My place was bustling with activity. He packed my fridge with lotsa food, the trash was always cleared from the bin, and there were household chores going on here and there.

A stark contrast to the way I had lived.

And for that 10 days, I left for work and came back from work to a home with someone around. And on weekends I was awoken by the tv, the running water taps, the shuffling of human activity.

And that 10 days, there was so much food around, supper was always awaiting, and before bed, there were conversations and catching up on the past 2 years and beyond.

The 10 days came, the 10 days went, and bro left as quickly as he arrived.

It was then that I realised that having been living by myself for the past few years, I have forgotten how it felt to have people in the house. I have gotten so used to the silence that I have forgotten how deafening it can be.

The past week being alone in the house (once again), I kept thinking about the days when my place was not just me. I missed the time when grandma was around and when life was more anchored.

Alas, some things can only be reminisced and kept close to the heart.

My bro's visit also had me realized that I have evolved much as a person...in many positive ways. The way i react, the way i perceive and just the way I am...

I think most of all, I am glad that I am once again reminded of the warmth that this house once had, a warmth which I have somehow forgotten.

It is a feeling worth remembering and l shall keep that warm fuzzy feeling going and hold on to it as tightly as I can...

Sembawang Music Centre has now gone down the books of history.  

And in a way, it marks the demise of a generation of how music is consumed.  I am old school when it comes to music,  and other than listening to music, i like to hold a cd, unwrap the plastic covers, flip through the crisp paper inserts and marvel at the delicate pressings of a cd....it makes for the whole experience of buying music...immensely delightful.

Obviously, with the proliferation of the the world wide web, it has kicked the conventional music sellers right in the ass, and bitched slapped them a few times around, till the point of no return.

I remember buying from Sembawang Music when i was in my secondary school days, when it was just a small little quaint shop in suburbia.  The boss was a family acquaintance and I had fond memories of going to the uncle's shop to buy my cds.  Of course the 90s saw the cd market flourishing and in its peak, Sembawang Music had shops spotted all over the island.  

But alas, all good things have to come to an end. And 2 weeks ago, it had declared bankruptcy and decided to call it a day...

There's a tinge of sadness and i guess I'm overtly sentimental about my music.  This to me was significant, as it truly marks the end of a era of music consumerism in its traditional form.  Everything is virtual now, and I am too old school to catch up with liking it....yet.

Oh well...sob sob

So to commemorate this era, I went on a cd spending binge....wahahahahahaha..

The closing down sale was awesome, the cds were priced down to about average 5 dollars each!  I quickly stocked up on many albums, both old and new.... and i must admit, it was damn shiokz loh!  I bought like 17 discs for only about one hundred bucks!  How cool is that...hehehe..

This is an era worth memoraxing in my blog.  
I love my music and CDs will always hold a special place in my heart :-) RIP Sembawang Music.....Amen.

I lurve this song! I remember walking down the streets of Harajuku in Tokyo, and hearing Empire State of Mind....

It was a surreal feeling, a Singaporean, in Tokyo, hearing a song about New York.
The world is truly one interconnected close knitted global hub.

It truly is....

Last monday, the company organised a movie outing to watch This Is It - The Michael Jackson movie.

So in the movie, there was a part where MJ was chiding the musical director that he didnt do the sound check properly and MJ made him play the same notes over and over again...cos frustrated MJ told the guy..."you are not letting the notes SIMMER. you MUST let it SIMMER!"


I turned to my colleague:

Me: "Err..I cant hear the diff between the after simmer and before simmer music leh, dono what is he simmering."
Colleague: "That's why he is Michael Jackson, and you are NOT!"

tmd.....wahahahhaa!

Simi si simmer. I dono wat MJ wants also. Keeps saying simmer this simmer that, as though he is making double boiled soup :-P

But, that being said, it was still a really enjoyable movie. My afterthought from the movie: MJ should have spent the last decade showcasing his musical ingenuity instead of embroiling himself with all that nonsensical media kerfuffle.

He should have spent more money getting a good publicist loh, seriously.

Ah well...too little too late

Anyhoo...go watch the movie!

:-P

I have always been a fan of Pete Yorn's music. And now he has cut an album together with......Scarlett Johansson!
Who would have thought....this woman can really sing!

Who says I can’t get stoned?
Turn off the lights and the telephone

Me and my house alone

Who says I can’t get stoned?

Who says I can’t be free?
From all of the things that I used to be
Re-write my history

Who says I can’t be free?

It’s been a long night in New York City
It’s been a long night in Baton Rouge
I don’t remember you looking any better
But then again I don’t remember you

Who says I can’t get stoned?
Call up a girl that I used to know
Fake love for an hour or so
Who says I can’t get stoned?

Who says I can’t take time?

Meet all the girls on the county line
Then wait on fate to send a sign
Who says I can’t take time?

It’s been a long night in New York City
It’s been a long night in Austin too
I don’t remember you looking any better
But then again I don’t remember you

Who says I can’t get stoned?

Plan a trip to Japan alone

Doesn’t matter if I even go
Who says I can’t get stoned?

It’s been a long night in New York City
It’s been a long time since 20 too
I don’t remember you looking any better
But then again I don’t remember you

Waahhaa....my gawd, this is soooo hilarious and vulgar! And dont't forget the new buzzword SHINGZ!!!!!

Wahahahahaa!!! Sibeh funny!

I'm back!
For those not in the know, one of the birthday presents i gave myself this year, was a round trip ticket to TOKYO :-)

Bought the tix, got on the A380, and there I was in tokyo for 9 days (1 - 9 Oct).
I have always heard stories about how complex the subway system is, how unfathomable is the language barrier and how extravagant it is to travel in this city that is called Tokyo.

Well, I wanted to challenge myself, and to my surprise, none of the above was true... The subway was comprehensive not that confusing, the people spoke understandable english and it all did'nt really cost all that much (if you plan well).

It was utterly marvelous, everything about Tokyo was stupendous and it was utterly surreal how awesome this place is, it was a place truly in a league of its own....


Tokyo was a much needed respite from the humdrum of life and a much needed sensory experience...
I am so glad I gave myself this gift.  I had always wanted to travel around Tokyo, just travel around at my own pace and own time....





Travelled through Hakone and Mount Fuji






I conquered the Owakudani mountains





And on the way, met really nice people





I brisked through the infamous Gotemba





Took the tokyo subways with stride





In Shinjuku, been through all 14 storeys of the magnificent Taka building





And also realised how huge Isetan is in Tokyo






It was blissful to enjoy a nice cup of coffee in the city






Was tickled by the whimsical Harajuku





Found a sense of serenity in Meji Temple






Conquered Roppngi Hills





And strolled through Azabu Juban









Saw many whimsical stuff along the way, including curry flavoured toothpaste :-)






Ate the most amazing sashimi in Tsukiji 





Whisked through Ginza







Fell in love with Muji all over again







Reconnected with Adidas in a different way




Found out how Kinokuniya is quite old school





And was awed by the brilliance of Ghibli





Ate at the restaurant Gonpachi Shibuya (which was where Kill Bill was filmed)






And finally got to enter the much revered fashion temple that is Tokyo Hipster Club at Omotetsando




It was also the first time i experienced a typhoon... ever






And I also walked around like a mail boy...hehehe






And lets not forget all the most amazing gadgetry in Akihabara





I am so in love with Tokyo...

Tokyo is no longer unfathomable, no longer untouchable
It now holds a special place in my heart

It is a place that is full of life and it has shown me how life can be full of energy and magnificence...

私は日本を愛する