Day 4 @ Taiwan - Nine Tribal Village

Nine Tribal Village was a theme park on the nine aboriginal tribes of Taiwan. The park was packed with many local primary school students. The park provided a good introduction on the various cultures, practices and history of the various tribes. It was definitely educational. The park was located on mid-mountains which also provided a scenic place for strolling and taking pretty pictures.

There was a park devoted a large area to cherry blossoms. There was also a large field of lavender. Althought the scale was much smaller than Hokkaido, it was still pretty impressive. As it was a smaller scale, there was no smell from the lavender. I was very attracted to the lavender set up in front of a mansion which was used as the mansion for My Princess's series. The beautiful mansion also attracted many of our shots. We nearly went crazy with taking pictures of the beautiful mansion and reliving the scenes of My Princess.

The cool weather also helped enhanced the strolling experience.

Day 3 @ Taiwan - Taichung's Feng Jia Night Market

Feng Jia Night Market was one of the largest night markets in Taichung. In terms of scale and variety, it is definitely smaller and more limited than Shilin in Taipei. However, I thought that it is also less crowded and the things are also cheaper than Taipei.

We were especially attracted by the variety of foods which certainly were more value-for-money and less touristy and commercialised than Shilin. As we were not very hungry from lunch, we decided to just buy back to hotel to eat more leisurely and spend more time on shopping.

Of the many local snacks of Taiwan, we thought we had yet to try their braised meat rice. Hence, we decided to go for an alternate version - black pepper pork cutlet rice. We thought at the price of SGD3 per set, it would be just a generous serving of black pepper pork cutlet. Never did we know that the set also included a choice of 3 other side dishes which included stir fried vegetables and tofu.

Compared to Shilin, the food here was certainly more valued for money.

Day 3 @ Taiwan - Taiwan High Speed Rail

Finally, we got a chance to take the Taiwan High Speed Rail to travel from Taipei to Taichung. With the high speed rail, a 3-hour journey by coach has been shortened to only a mere 45 min. It was supposed to be able to run up to 300km/h but somehow the speed was not felt when we were inside the train.

Day 3 @ Taiwan - Ximenting

Ximenting was the shopping district in Taipei where the youngsters normally gathered on weekends. This was THE place to see and be seen. This place boosted a cineplex, many famous eateries such as the Ah Zong Mee Sua and Lao Tian Lu marinated innards. During weekends, one might even be lucky to bump into some superstars who might be holding their autograph session here.

(Ah Zong Mee Sua)

(Ximenting is a popular shopping area among the youngsters)

Day 3 @ Taiwan - Grand Hotel Taipei

I have seen the facade of this hotel numerous times, be it from TV programs or my previous trip. It is almost like a dream come true to be able to admire its beautiful architecture up close and personal. No matter which angle I look at the Grand Hotel Taipei, I seemed not be able to get enough of it.

The inside was equally luxurious in rich red and gold. I was attracted to an elderly doorman with his starched bright red uniform. When I requested for a photograph with him, he jokingly commented that he could recommend other handsome younger doormen for me to take photos with. I politely declined his goodwill as I mentioned I would prefer to take my photo with him as he was handsome.

Even if I did not get a chance to stay in this hotel, I was already contented with this brief visit.

Day 3 @ Taiwan - Martyrs' Shrine in Taipei

The National Revolutionary Martyrs' Shrine in Taipei was dedicated to the people who died fighting for the Republic of China. Many visitors were attracted by the young soldiers who were standing guards at various checkpoints of the Shrine. Of course, how could we miss having our shots taken with these handsome hunks? A fellow caucasian tourist even volunteered to help us with a family portrait with the guard.

(Entrance of Martyrs' Shrine)

(Martyrs' Shrine)

(Changing guards)

Day 2 @ Taiwan - Shilin Night Market

Shilin Night Market was the most well-known night markets of Taipei. There were many famous food / snacks that could be found in Shilin, eg the big fried chicken cutlet, the fried oyster, smelly tofu and oyster mee sua.

Walking across the road from the food section, the shopping belt which stretched for miles fascinated all visitors with its variety and many stalls. As the skies darkened, the crowd only built up.

Day 2 @ Taiwan - The National Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall

The National Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall commemorated the former president of Taiwan - Chiang Kai-shek. The Hall stood at one end of the Liberty Square and was flanked by the Concert Halls of Taipei.

(The Liberty Square Pristine White Monument. Passing through the Monument led us to the National Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall which was visible behind the Monument)

(The National Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall which also housed the Museum devoted to Chiang Kai-shek)

(The statue of Chiang Kai-shek)

(The Facade of the Concert Halls)

Day 2 @ Taiwan - Chiufen Old Town

Chiufen referred to nine portions in Chinese. It used to be an old mining town which housed nine families. The family members used to buy groceries for one another. When one bought anything, they would ask for nine portions as they would buy on behalf of the other families. Soon, the town became known as the town of nine portions - Chiufen.

(Splendid view from Chiufen)

Chiufen now became more of a tourist attraction with the many well-known eateries. Some of the representative food included fishballs and yam balls. In addition, other well-known Taiwanese food could also be found - such as wild boar sausages, almond tea, barbecued squids and Japanese pancakes. The winding steps also housed many popular restaurants and themed cafes.

When we were eating at one of the fishball eateries, we met an elderly uncle who engaged us in chitchats when he found out that we were tourists from Singapore. He also shared his views on Singapore and the brief history of Taiwan. It seemed that Taiwanese were still as friendly as 5 years ago.

(The winding steps)

Day 2 @ Taiwan - Yehliu

Yehliu was one of the geological parks in Taiwan which boasted many rock formations.

We were deeply impressed by the vastness of the place with the many naturally formed rock formations.

The most well-knowned rock formation was the Queen's Head.

As it was near coastal areas, we could see water at some of the low-lying areas.

Day 1 @ Taiwan - Wu Fen Pu / Rao He Night Market

Wu Fen Pu
Wu Fen Pu was the wholesale garment market of Taiwan. During our last visit, we spent an entire afternoon exploring the streets of Wu Fen Pu fulfilling every shopaholic's dream of being surrounded by clothes and more clothes. During the last trip, we nearly got lost in the maze-like bazaar.

With the last experience, we were attempted to be more organised when we walked around. However, after half an hour, we were getting abit worried about whether we could find our way back to the entrance we came in by. We were also slightly confused whether we have already walked past some of the shops that we saw.

My mother and my sister made some purchases at Wu Fen Pu. I was the only one who left empty handed. Fortunately, this time round, the stall owners no longer insisted that we needed to buy in bulk.

Rao He Night Market

Rao He Night Market was a short distance from Wu Fen Pu. Rao He Market boasted many well-known eateries and snacks which were typical attractions of night markets in Taiwan. The most famous stall should be the pepper bun where long queues could be snaking in front of the stall. We queued for a good 15 minutes before we reached the end of the queue in the drizzling rain.

As it was raining, many stalls were either not opened or it would be difficult to eat in the rain.

In the end, we were lured by a little eatery tucked away in the back of the roadside stalls. It was known as the "Three Mothers Smelly Pot" which served a hot pot of tofu, cabbage and pork. Hot pot was the perfect food for a cold weather. As we were still feeling full, we decided to just order a pot to share among the 3 of us. We thought the pot was served without rice and we needed to order separately. Alas, when the waiter served 4 bowls or rice did we realise that each pot came with a bowl of rice. Fortunately, the waiter allowed us to cancel the order of one serving of rice. In addition, there was free flow of winter tea and water.

The pot was full of ingredients and definitely very good value of money. We wondered how the very slender Taiwanese could consume one pot per person.

It was only afterwards did we realise the true meaning of smelly pot when the hotpot has not bad smell at all. Smelly pot referred to smelly tofu pot. Hence, the tofu in the pot was in fact smelly tofu.

Rao He Night Market was interesting in terms of culinary offers. However, in terms of scale, it was certainly smaller than Shilin Night Market.

Day 1 @ Taiwan - Taipei 101

Taipei 101 is the landmark of Taipei. It used to be the tallest building in the world until it was surpassed by Burj Khalifa in Dubai this year. The lower floors of Taipei 101 consisted of high end boutiques while the basement's anchor tenants of the foodcourt and supermarket still remained even after 5 years.

This time, instead of dining at the foodcourt, we decided to just grab munchies to eat as we explored the surrounding area. We spotted a nice confectionery where the mouth-watering aroma from the freshly-baked bread overpowered all passerbys. Maybe we have found another 'Yamazaki' in Taipei? (Yamazaki is the bakery which sold very nicer bread near Hotel Shamrock in Kowloon, Hong Kong.) Indeed, the bread tasted as nice as they smelled. The bun below was crispy on the outside but juicy on the inside as the melted chocolate oozed into your mouth as you took a bite into the bun. Oh, delicious!

As we walked outside via the sheltered walkway to New York New York - a mall beside Taipei 101 and further up to the Cineplex nearby, we were feeling excited by the cool weather which we could never enjoy in Singapore. We were deeply envious of the citizens of temperate countries where they could enjoy such natural aircon a few months a year. It was a reprieve from the hot humid weather that we have left behind in Singapore.

Despite hearing so much about New York New York, we were disappointed that the departmental store was not a large scale store and the range of goods offered was noticeably smaller than most departmental stores in Singapore.

As it was a Saturday night, the Cineplex was thronged with youngsters queuing to buy tickets to movies. It seemed that one of the favourite leisure activities of Taiwanese on weekends might be to catch movies with their dates or friends, just like many Singaporeans.

Day 1 @ Taiwan - Taipei Taoyuan International Airport

Finally after all the apprehension surrounding the rather unpredictable weather of Taiwan and the sudden earthquake which struck the southern part of Taiwan, we were finally on the flight to the the beautiful island. Relative to a 6-hour flight 5 years ago, the flight time was significantly shortened this time to only slightly more than 4 hours.

It seemed so long yet CKS International Airport which was now known as Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport seemed as familiar. As we strolled from the airbridge to the inside of the airport, nostalgia welled inside us as we recalled some of the interesting and memorable incidents from our last visit to Taiwan. For instance, we recalled being 'baked' inside the departure hall previously as the waiting lounge faced the afternoon sun.

We were slightly disappointed to note that Taipei was covered in ominously looking grey clouds. The falling rain showed no sign of subsizing. We were hoping that the rain would turn to drizzle when we reached Taipei city in an hour's time.

It seemed our first day in Taiwan would be a wet one.

Earthquake in Taiwan

There is a major earthquake in the southern part of Taiwan - affecting Kaoshiung, one of the cities I will be visiting in the upcoming vacation. It certainly sends some jitters to my family, especially there are often aftershocks following a major earthquake.

Some of my colleagues are also teasing me about my seemingly eventful holidays. I experienced first hand a shock of a major earthquake when I was in Hokkaido in 2008. My Yunnan trip was cancelled in 2009. Now, my Taiwan trip was also fraught with some hiccups, from the inability to book the tour that we were originally interested in to now the earthquake.

I personally am more laissez faire about the earthquake as I know that Taiwan is very experienced in handling and minimising calamity associated with earthquakes as it is one of the countries in the Pacific Ring. Moreover, once the earthquake has hit, the chance of major quakes hitting it so soon is often reduced. In fact, one should worry more if an earthquake-prone countries has not experienced earthquake for sometimes as the impact of a pent-up tectonic stress can be more sinister and deadly.

I should prepare to pack my luggage to enjoy myself in Taiwan.

Asian Civiliation Museum

This is the first time I have been to Asian Civilisation Museum despite wanting to visit this Museum many times, especially when the Kangxi exhibition was on last year. This time, I have caught the start of the Treasury of the World: Jewelled Arts of India in the Age of the Mughals. This exhibition catered to both men and women - few men would not be fascinated by the different daggers and swords of the Princes while few ladies would not be charmed by the sparkles of the gems and exquisite jewellery.

The exhibition spanned half the floor of ACM. First, it gave you a brief history of the Mughal history including the various kings. Of course, the one which was likely to catch people's attention would be Shah Jahan - the romantic King who constructed the Taj Mahal for his beloved concubine Mumtaz Mahal. For those who are interested to find out more about  Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal and their beloved daughter - Jahanara, you can refer to "Beneath the Marbled Sky" which is a fictitious novel based on their stories will introduce you to the colourful history in more light-hearted manner.

The resplendence and the exquisitive workmanship of the jewels emphasize the opulence and the progressiveness of the art during the Mughal empire. My friend noted that many of the daggers are curvaceous rather than straight plates of steel. This led us to ponder if the daggers are largely ornamental and symbolic without any practical use for a straight dagger should be more effective as a weapon than a curved one.

Surprisngly, we are not the only ones who are lured by the bling blings, there are many visitors who are conscientiously taking notes and photos of the exhibits. This is certainly an encouraging sign that the marketing campaigns by the National Heritage Board are finally taking flight with the ability of the Museums to engage more crowd. Musuems are no longer perceived to be unattainable or too lofty for the men on the streets.

I will certainly come back to ACM again when there are other interesting exhibitions. A point to note though, I wonder if there is any utility function behind the doors leading to the exhibition halls - they are certainly very heavy even for an adult like me to push through.

Cathy and Jodie: The Princess and the Flea

Cathy and Jodie is a book by Kit Chan and Yong Siew Fern. This book chronicled the growing up of 2 teenage girls in the eighties. Never have I been able to relate to a book so much even though technically, my teenage years were in the nineties.

It was so engaging that when I read on the train, I could not help stifling a giggle. No wonder I was drawing weird stares from the fellow passengers. If there was no one around, I would have broken out into hysteric laughter.

The angst, the dreams and the idiosyncracies of the 2 buddies were so reminiscent of our teenage years that it was as if I was reliving my teenage years ago. The tales of changing uniforms while strolling along Far East Plaza brought back such fond memories as my alma mater had very stringent rules about loitering outside school in our uniforms. The frustrations about practising for any performance for some events helped built stronger friendships if we could overcome the differences. Our boisterous and tom-boyish attitudes which often intimidated others, including boys were also rather renowned among the various schools.

Upon growing up, the differing paths and pursuits of dreams were also some issues that constantly plagued any clique of secondary school friends. In fact, every time we met, what we were doing with our lives and recallng the past were often the topic flavour of any gathering.

For those of you who have been through a girls' school, this is a must read. For those who have been through a co-ed school, this will also make an interesting read but I am not certain how much of the incidents described are similar to what you may have gone through. Notwithstanding, for all those who have grown up in the eighties and nineties, this would have been made a very amusing read.

Singapore's Version of Cherry Blossom

During the spring season, the 2 rows of trees along Yishun Ave 11 just framing the perimeter of Yishun Park will be ablazed in a sea of pink. It almost gives me the illusion of seeing Cherry Blossoms. If you ignore the flowers and from afar, the trees do resemble the much famed Cherry Blossoms of Japan. Since I have not seen Cherry Blossoms yet, this will be a consolation till I can truly have a picnic under the Sakuras.

One day, I will definitely see the real Cherry Blossoms for myself.

Loh Heis abundance

This is the year where I have the most loh hei - 3 times with my colleagues (different groups) and once with my family. Hopefully, this will help me usher in the good luck and signify a good start to the Tiger Year.

Let us roar to great sucess, health and happiness.

Phooof - End of CNY

Despite having an extended public holiday for Lunar New Year this time, I was still stunned by how time flew past. Before we knew it, it was already end of CNY.

This year, we celebrated end of CNY, ie Chinese Valentine's at Crystal Jade. My mother wanted a good meal to end of the festivities with a bang. We decided on Crystal Jade because I told my mother that my colleagues felt that the yusheng at Crystal Jade was better than Din Tai Fung.

We had not eaten so much for a long time. In the end, we could not finish the food and had to pack home some of the items. I guessed we were too ambitious when we ordered the food especially when we were fully aware that one's appetite would diminish in the hot weather.

It was still heartwarming to celebrate the end of new year with your closest.

Hort Park

Hort Park drew quite alot of publicity when it first opened to Public. However, as it was pretty out of the way, I have not had chance to visit it yet. When a friend suggested going there to have a look, I jumped at the chance to see for myself this park that was always captured with great scenic beauty in photos.

It was a super hot day. My friend and I were in sweat even before we moved out of sight of the Hort Park's gallery. As it was my first time at Hort Park, I was totally clueless on where we should move. we decided to move towards the Kent Ridge Park direction. The parks were connected by a canopy. The trail was slightly fraught with dangers with the loy hanging tree trunks and spider webs. For the less observant, banging into the tree trunks or getting kissed by the spiders could be a likely consequence if you did not open your eyes wide enough.

We spotted some lavender-like flowers near the entrance. We were puzzled if they were real or not as we did not detect any fragrance coming from the flowers.

Being normally very susceptible to mosquito bites, the 2 hour walk of course left me again with rounded and itchy bumps, courtesy of the mosquitoes. Sigh, I could not understand why the mosquitoes could never leave me in peace. They were always attracted to my blood like honey to bees, even when there were more than one person around.

It was a good way to spend a weekend afternoon exploring a different part of Singapore and sweating it out. Don't you agree?

Reunion with my D & D colleagues after 3 Years

This year, I truly make a very conscious effort not to fly them aeroplane again. Nevertheless, I still expect an earful from our leader - Yen, especially about my disappearing act for the past 3 years. I have often missed their invitations to lunch, dinners or any special celebrations, until they were on the brink of giving up on me.

Each of them took turns to chide me for always missing in action. However, they were also forgiving, knowing how wrapped up I could be over my work when skipping lunch time and packing in could be the norm during my peak period.

I was surprised that after 3 years, we could still fall into easy banter and comfortable teasing. The meal was one full of laughter and gossips about our latest developments. Of course, the main objective of the meal was the loh hei to bring in good luck for the entire committee.

Since I did not see them so often, I insisted on taking a group photo at a site that many commented looked picturesque. I should really make an extra effort to get together with them more often.

Visit by Ms Phuah

I already have had an agreement with Ms Phuah before the new year that we would inter-visit. I would visit her on the second day of the Lunar New Year and she would visit me on the seventh day.

My mother has always been a friendly person who until now seems to be able to get on well with all my friends. In fact, to tell you a secret, sometimes I think she gets on better with my friends than me. Hnmm, I am secretly envious of her ease of getting different people to warm up to her.

Being a boring person with no cable TV in my house, I was initially concerned that Ms Phuah would feel dull after a while in my house. I could not serve her anything else except for food and mainstream TV, ie Channel 8, U, 5, Okto or CNA.

Fortunately, she seemed satisfied with just chatting with me and sharing my calories for the new year's goodies. She could not stay long as she had a dinner appointment for the night. Of course, I wish she could visit me more often as now there was a bus that connected the 2 towns that we stayed in. The time of travel was almost the same as my travelling to Cityhall. *Wink*

Ushering Luck - Wearing Auspicious Colour to Work

I am certain many of you would have received this forwarded email just before the Lunar New Year on which zodiacs should wear what colours when you report to work on different days. For the fun of it, I did try to follow the colours recommended last year.

However, when I saw the same email this year, I started to question its validity as the same colours were proposed for all the days. Shouldn't there be a different set of colours proposed for different years? Hence, this year, I have decided to just wear what I like on the first day I reported to work.

Surprisingly, many of my colleagues were trying to usher in good luck for the new year. Many abided by the recommended colours for their zodiac signs and turned up wearing the same colours as they were of the same signs.

Other than wearing the right colours, I guess the more important thing is to have the right positive attitude. If you are a firm believer of the law of attraction, then positive thoughts will translate to good luck for the whole year.

Quest for Immortality Exhibition

I knew it was a popular exhibition because the last time the National Museum opened house during the New Year's Day, there was a long queue waiting to view the the exhibition. I thought this second free entry would attract less crowd as the more enthusiastic members of the public would have already seen the exhibition in the first open house.

I could not be more wrong.

To play safe in case the fascination among Singaporeans on Ancient Egypt civilisation has not waned, we thought going there early meant that if we needed to endure any queues, it would have been a shorter one. Moreover, we could then finish our visit early for lunch. When we marched into the museum at 1030 am, the end of queue was already just behind the concierge. We were dismayed by the waiting we had to subject ourselves to as the other end of the queue was about 1 floor down.

About half an hour later, we were finally admitted into the exhibition grounds. we were pleasantly surprised that National Museum allowed photo taking for this exhibition. Photography was banned two years ago for the Greek exhibition. Of course, how could we now miss the chance to snap some pictures as momentoes? Unfortunately, I did not bring my digital camera alone, hopefully my phone's camera would not do any injustice to the glory of the exhibits.

The scale of the exhibition was much smaller than that of the Greek exhibits when National Museum temporarily housed part of the Lourve's collection when Lourve underwent major renovation 2 years ago. I was amazed by the carvings of the Ancient Egypt civilisations on the stone slabs especially mindful of the technology and the types of tools available then. When we saw the mummies, we were again taken aback by the length of the mummies, they seemed smaller than what I would have imagined them to be.

Other than the Ancient Egypt exhibition, the rest of the National Musuem was also open to public. Having been to the History gallery before, we thought we would venture into the Living Gallery instead. The exhibits in the Living Gallery were closer to our hearts with themes on photographs, such as photos of families, festivals and customs and food, such as the mortar and pound, the making of satay and laksa and the various spices used commonly in Singapore cuisine.

Overall, it was an interesting visit on a public holiday.

Visiting Ms Phuah

This is the first time I am meeting Ms Phuah's parents face-to-face despite knowing her as a friend for a long time. I am getting nervous. What will they think of me? Will I be deemed a worthy friend of their beloved daughter? Will they be under the wrong impression that I am there for ang paos?

Once I decide to go, then the next question is what to wear?

My normal CNY clothing is more towards comfort which means it will be the ubiqutous jeans or cropped pants with T-shirt. Such attire may not be respectful. Hence, I opt for a more lady-like skirt and pink top. Anything dull-coloured may be taboo especially for the more traditional family.

Sigh! Now, I can fully empathise with those future sons or daughters-in-law who have to visit their other halves' family. The nerves, the apprehension and the haplessness can truly depletes your confidence. Any undesirable impression that I make as a friend does not bring about as severe a consequence as someone going in the capacity of a future son or daughter-in-law.

I hope I will not leave any bad impression to her family or cause her any embarrassment. Good luck to me.

First Day of Chinese New Year

This year, the first day of Chinese New Year coincides with the Western's Valentine's Day. Who takes priority? Your family or your lover?

Happy New Year and Valentine's Day!

Chinese New Year Eve

After the last minute rush for the spring cleaning and the stocking up of new year goodies, I am almost flat out on Chinese New Year Eve. Yet, there is still some way to go in terms of all the preparations. The bedsheets are beckoning to be changed. There are also ingredients to be prepared for the reunion dinner.

Without further ado, I immediately launch into the preparation of the reunion dinner first. Chopping of garlic and chilli is my forte. I am good at chopping the garlic finely. However, I try to avoid doing this because the garlic smell normally stains my fingers for at least a week. I am not exactly a fan of garlic which is my motivation for chopping them as finely as possible so that I can avoid tasting them when they are added as garnish / spices to a dish.

Next up, we have to start putting up the Chinese New Year decorations. Some of the decorations are recycled from last year. As we are contemplating where to put some of the decorations, we also have to grapple with the feasibility of putting up the decorations at the desired locations. As much as possible, we try to avoid doing any permanent damage to the walls. Scotch tapes or any other adhesives that may cause peeling of the paint are big no-nos. Using blue-tack alone may not be a strong enough adhesive. When the decoration keeps falling after numerous trials, we give up.

We always keep one of our favourite activities to the last, that is helping my mother to put money into ang paos. We have to be careful in order to ensure equity. New notes tend to stick together. If you are too quick, you may end up putting more notes than necessary. It may create embarrassment if the different value ang paos are given to the children of the same family.

After doing the necessary, the last step before the new year is certainly to sweep up and floor and mop. No sweeping can be done on the first day of the Chinese New Year. This can only be done with all tasks are completed because if you have not completed the tasks, you may end up creating more dust.

What a hectic Chinese New Year Eve? Maybe next year I should seriously consider going on overseas vacation during Chinese New Year to avoid these tasks. When you are in town, it is hard to ignore traditions. However, when you are overseas, then it is easier to close an eye to the preparation.

Special Time-Off. Hurray!

Our company has done well for the past quarter. In recognition of the hard work we have put in, a company-wide half day off to all employees except for those who need to stay back due to exigencies of service. This is indeed a much needed break as I can catch-up on last minute CNY preparation.

Spring Cleaning

I used to find spring cleaning therapeutic, but this year I somehow kept procrastinating the annual spring cleaning. Firstly, I skipped my Dec leave as I was covering for my colleague, so I thought of using the temporary lull period in end Dec to catch-up on work.

So finally, I could not put it off any longer. This was THE final weekend before Chinese New Year. I must not break tradition. Even if I do not sleep, I promise myself I must also complete the spring cleaning in time.

Over the 2 days, I have cleaned my room, cleaned the living room, wiped the sofa and the skirtings of the whole house. Although I had done one round of cleaning just half a year ago, the amount of dust accumulated was as if I had not done any cleaning for a year. Was I too unthorough previously or dust accumulated a faster pace than I knew?

At the end of the day, I felt like my whole body was aching so badly that the bones started creaking. Blisters also started appearing on my palms. Did I exert too much force? When I complained my exhaustion to my mother, she jokingly mentioned that perhaps to prevent such tedium in future, I could do a spring cleaning once a month or bimonthly so that the work was spread out. On no, am I digging my own grave?

Lessening Festivities

Chinese New Year is just around the corner, but somehow I have yet to feel the festivities. When I walk along the streets, there is not hustling and bustling normally associated with the frenzy to get all the new year goodies.

Some of the shopping belts are relatively quiet. In the supermarkets, most people seem to go about with their routine groceries instead of engaging in new year goodies replenishment.

When I ask around, most colleagues also seem to be cutting down on their stocking up of new year goodies as year in year out, there is always wastage.

Most people are planning short regional trips due to the extended holidays. Those who are planning for the vacation seem not to skip the Chinese New Year tradition totally.

Is Chinese New Year fast becoming a dying tradition?

Similarities

I recently met a friend who seemed to share so many similiarities with me especially in terms of food habits.

We both dislike eating vegetables with stronger smell, eg celery, spring onions, parsley. As such ingredients were normally used as garnishes in main dishes, we both had no qualms of picking out these from a bowl of porridge. I could sense your disapproval at this juncture of our picky food habits. In terms of food that we liked, we also tend to favour more Asian cuisines than Western. However, my friend was more adventurous when it came to trying different food. When I was introduced to Heng Hua cuisine, I thought some of the dishes required an acquired taste. On Indian cuisine, I have yet to sample them other than the more common roti prata.

The similarities do not stop at food. There were instances when we seemed to be able to speak each other's thoughts. When we were talking about movies and the need to sometimes watched it again, we both understood the rationale as we would have concentrated on the pictures and missed the dialogues. This was especially so for action-packed movies.

I thought I was pretty fastidious when it came to quality checks on goods before making a purchase. Well, I have finally met an equivalent. My friend could even spot damages that I might have missed. We were having fun having a competition on who could spot more defects on the items. Finally, we were both satisfied the good were in tip-top condition before we made the purchases.

Some of my closer group of friends have more than once complained about my retarded responses to SMSes and even an aversion to talking on mobile phones. My aversion to talking on mobile phones without sounding too stifled has only abated somewhat after working in the telco industry. Well, now I can proudly tell my friends I am not the only one who seems to be living in a dinosaur age. This new friend of mine shares the same aversion to mobile phones. In fact, my friend's aversion to mobile phones may be more severe and slowness in SMS responses make my response feel like my response travels in light years.

Sometimes, I wonder whether to find so many similarities with another friend is a blessing in disguise or something to avoid. It is a blessing as I am certain you can imagine the connection and the ease of companionship with someone who shares similar thoughts. On the other hand, for those of you who are more familiar with management concepts, you will have heard "Group think" which essentially advocates against similar thinking in a group as there will be many blind spots. Maybe I should not think so much and just enjoy the friendship while it lasts.

Shopping for a Friend

I was slightly flattered when my friend asked me to go together on a shopping trip. My closest friends normally teased that I have auntie taste which I am a tad embarrassed to acknowledge that I myself concur with their evaluation. No one is born with exquisite taste like Audrey Hepburn or Mrs Obama. For most people, it is often a trial and error to find out what we are comfortable in. Sometimes, this may result in committing some fashion faux pas. For the less stylish, it may involve making not some, but many faux pases.

Fortunately, my friend was fairly fair-skinned and would look good in many colours. The job of finding the necessary clothes becomes relatively easier, even for a fashion retard like me. Failing in one's own dress sense is not as stressful as failing another's. Hence, this heightens the challenge and pressure of ensuring that I truly give my best as a friend. In fact, the trust bestows by another makes me more ashamed of myself if I fail in my task.

My friend already has some opinion on what works best and I just confirming the choices and performing my usual role quality checks on the purchases. Phew, at least the job is completed on target.

The Last Templar

I vaguely recalled that I have seen the trailer of a min-movie series on "The Last Templar". I am not certain if this book is the same as that of mini-movie series. If you enjoy reading Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code or Angels and Demons, this is a book of similar genre. In fact, this may be more layman and easier to visualise and follow even if you are not familiar with the religion.

The Last Templar was about a mysterious theft at the Metropolitan Museum of New York during the opening night by a group of 4 knights dressed as Templars. There was a gruesome beheading of a security guard. The most precious stolen goods were not the jewelled artefacts but a decoder which could point to the exact position of the sunken treasures of the Templars in the Medieval Ages. The witness of this whole theft was an archaeologist who worked with the chief investigator to recover the treasures and to find the instigator for the whole crime.

As the pair continued their mystery solving, they unconvered more sinister characters and a greater hidden secret. When they eventually found the treasure, they again went through the conflict of whether they should reveal the secret behind their finds or should they keep quiet about it. The faith of human kind belied what they have retrieved from the deep ocean. They have also discovered their feelings for each other in the process.

The Last Templar interpersed current days developments with the history which was absent in the writing of Dan Brown. In Dan Brown's books, what we knew of the historical developments were narrated through the voice of Prof John Langdon. It was also not a simple good against evil where the clan of the mystery solvers were often the pure good who were at odds with the evil. In The Last Templar, within the clique of the mystery solvers, there were also internal conflicts. What was similar between the two writings that the perceived authority of goodness and moral enforcer often might not be as innocent as we believed. While trying to sustain the faith, they might need to resort to underhand measures which were often at odds with the values that they preached.

There was no perfect saint or devil in the book. All of the characters carried with them their own baggages, their values and ideals which might appear selfish. With this more ambivalent characters, the book became a more realistic read than Dan Brown's. This is definitely one of the books that I highly recommend as a good thriller and for theology enthusiasts.

Saturday? Again...

I have lost count of how many weekends I have worked this year from budget as I was covering another colleague which meant a pretty steep learning curve to understand the business and immediately apply for budget analysis.

Again, I worked from 9 am to 5 pm on a Saturday, sacrificing my weekly yoga class and being late for an appointment with a friend.

It was not so easy to immediately transit from work to leisure. My friend could tell that I was still pretty stressed and uptight. I hope I had not spoilt the evening for my friend being such a spoilsport.

Sherlock Holmes

I never expected the movie to be this funny. Moreover, the plot was interesting in that it explained in more layman's terms the clues and the analysis of Sherlock Holmes.

Most of us know that Sherlock Holmes was a great detective. Period.

I wondered how much of the story in Sherlock Holmes in the movie was true reflection of his personality. In the movie, Sherlock Holmes was featured as someone rather astute in martial arts. He was also pretty unkempt and could spend long periods of time performing scientific experiments. Some of the trivial experiments included playing music to flies which caused them to fly in a certain direction. His love-hate relationship with his girlfriend who also could outsmart him in both wits and courage were also humourously addressed.

Overall, it was a great movie.

P.S. I would have enjoyed it more if I were not sitting on the first row where I literally missed the happenings on the top one-quarter of the screen.

Blogging - for the Older People?

There was a recent survey that concluded that the younger people were moving towards twittering or tweeting while only the older people continued to blog.

Do you consider the odd comment about my status on Facebook to be tweets?

If not, I think I am still pretty much a blogger than a twitter?

Of course, the million dollar question is then am I considered part of the older generation? Hmmm...

Average 5-hour of Sleep Work-Week

Sometimes, my colleagues and I joked that our intense and often painful annual budget exercise was very much like labour pain. At the moment that we were going through the exercise, the pain was excruciating. However, once it was over, we soon forgot about the lack of sleep and the mad rush. When the next budget exercise arrived, we often could not remember what we had gone through the previous year(s).

This week was the most intense, or should I say peak, of the budget exercise. We were preparing for the CFO review the following week. We had to update the pack which would be shown during the review session. There were all in all more than 700 slides to be updated among the 10 of us. At this rate we were going, we would soon be able to write an encyclopedia for the budget analysis.

To get all the slides updated in time for review with bosses, we were all sacrificing sleep by working till past mid-night. Being more of a morning than night person, I chose to go home and sleep before midnight but woke up at 4 am to continue with the work.

As the days passed, I was feeling more and more zombie-like. I wondered how long this adrenaline would be able to keep me going...

Glory of Family (家门的荣光)

I used to hate the tear-inducing, heart-wrenching Korean dramas. Yet, recently, I have learnt to appreciate these Korean dramas more, especially those more subtle and family oriented. The Glory of Family is the show which keeps me hooked and causes me to stay on home on all weekend nights.

Glory of Family relates the tales of the family members of a traditional patriachical Korean family helmed by a wise grandfather. In preserving the Korean traditions and the company that these family has established and managed, they have gone through various conflicts especially with the modern rich family who were more focused on pursuing material gains and was aiming to take over the company.

Both families started to change when they interact more with one another. This was more so when the father of the traditional family marry a modern woman who implemented a series of changes to equalise the status of the men and women in the family, from getting the men to participate in household chores to allowing both men and women to eat together during meals. Being open minded, she was also instrumental in getting the family to accept a younger woman as wife for the eldest grandson.

Some of the storyline etched in my memory and also served as a reminder / suggestion on how I should carry myself and what sort of values I should uphold. We do not live in no man's land. Whatever decisions we make will definitely have an impact on another person. Singapore, being still pretty conventional and family oriented in nature, we sometimes end up making decisions for our family members and loved ones.

In one scene, the grandfather made a decision for his younger sister many years back. Upon noticing the dodgy character of his sister's boyfriend, the grandfather gave a sum of money to get the then young man to leave his sister. Driven by money, this young man broke the promise the younger sister and abandoned her. Being kept in the dark, the younger sister thought her life was ruined by her elder brother who drove the loved one out of her life. She led a desolate life and submerged herself in days of intoxication with alcohol. When her long-time beau appeared again to siphon more money out of her, she naively wanted to pass her wealth to him, thinking it was a form of atonement for the sins of her family. It was through chance that she realised how downright slimey her ex boyfriend was. She broke down in front of her brother and chided him for not showing her the true side of her ex-beau many years ago. If she had known, she would have suffered in pain only for the short-term, instead of ruining her whole life.

This was certainly a wake-up call. Sometimes, we make decisions and take actions on behalf of our loved ones, hoping to protect them from hurt. Yet, by concealing the truth from them, we may actually be hurting them more. Regardless of how they will react with the tragic news, they deserve to know and determine how they want to react. By selfishly thinking we are protecting them, we may end up hurting them more.

For those who love a dash of the Korean romance, you will also not be disappointed. The romance in this drama is not your very in-your-face love story. Some of the interactions between the lovers are very subtle, almost like plain water. From the quirky interaction between the second grandson and his policewoman girlfriend to the sweet but shy friendship of the first grandson and his young wife, their conversations always provide food for thought and bring a smile to your face.

The first grandson, being touted to take over the family someday, has always lived a very regimented and serious life. He hid his desires for anything and often put on his best behaviour at all times. His personality was a stark contrast to his more impertinent and outrageous twin brother. It was only after befriending the young cleaner did he slowly open up. He started to learn how to do things which he always imagined but never tried before.

Of course, just like all dramas, there had to be a pair of star-crossed lovers who would keep you hooked on whether they would eventually have a fairy-tale ending. Danya and Kangshi, both brought with them baggages from the past, decided to act as lovers to help Danya's student and Kangshi's sister. Danya slowly walked out of her past tragic marriage while Kangshi began to lose his callousness towards others.

The philosophy in each conversation also served as a guide to me on my perspectives in life. If you do have time on weekends, please watch this drama and I think you will too benefit immensely from it.

Shopping Trip

I have not gone shopping for ages. After working so hard for about a month, I decided it was time to indulge myself and to give myself a post-birthday treat. I have taken half day to go shopping with my mum. Many times, shopping with my mum would result in a fruitful trip. In fact, they were often more fruitful than I have intended and I ended up bursting my budget with more buys that I planned for.

Needless to say, this trip was again as fruitful as the past. Fortunately, this time round, I was not the only one who managed to get something. My mum also joined me in buying something for herself.

Every shopping trip is essentially a feel good and pampering trip. Wearing these new clothes to work or to play often acts as a confidence boost. With these purchases, I would have 'inventory' to draw on on those days that I need some external confidence boost.

Unlucky Streak

Maybe it is my pessimisim at work again, but sometimes I wonder if I am not just jinxed at work but that I am also passing my unlucky streaks to some of my other friends.

I met a friend for dinner and we had the same food. All was well until my friend started to develop diarrhoea. Was it the food? Perhaps chicken rice was too oily? Or maybe my friend gobbled down an unhygienic portion? Maybe it was just pure bad luck which I have unintentionally spread to my friend.

Fortunately, the diarrhoea went away the next day or I would have felt extremely guilty.

Getting Caught!

It was never intentional. It was definitely purely accidental. My friend and I were having such a great time chatting that we were continuing our chat while walking out of the cafe. We forgot totally about the most important task that we were supposed to do as we walked out - pay for our drinks.

Oblivious to the wide-eyed crew who were trying to catch our attention, we continued walking until they came forward and thrust a black folder containing the bill straight to our faces did we realise. We stood rooted to the ground embarrassed. We quickly reached for our wallets to fish out our credit cards for payment. We apologised profusely to the crew and assured them that it was not intentional.

Oops, this was the first time we walked out without paying and fortunately, the crew knew that we were truly sincere and did not take any further action.

Surprise Gift

This is the first time I have ever received a bouquet of flowers. It came as such a surprise that I was at a loss on how to deal with it, especially the attention it drew. Everyone suddenly crowded around me and was very curious who was the sender of such a huge and adorable bouquet of flowers.

Initially, I had wanted to put in on my workstation for about a week to cheer myself up and to also bring some joy to my colleagues. However, when everyone started to come to me even after my birthday was over, I had decided that it was time to bring my flowers home to avoid further misunderstanding.

Last Day in My Twenties

Today is the last day for me to label myself as a twenties. From tomorrow onwards, I will move towards a new decade of my life. Suddenly, I am overwhelmed by mixed emotions.

Twenties mark the start of an age of independence especially financially where I begin to learn my own keep. Twenties also mark the age where I think I live life more adventurously than my teens - perhaps I am a late bloomer. Twenties is the time where I first enter a pub. Twenties is the time where I first went on a vacation with friends and unsupervised by my family.

I do not know yet what thirties will await and how I will change in the new decade.

What I do know is that I will certainly enter thirties with more self-assurance and confidence. I am a person who is more at ease and comfortable with myself than I was at the start of twenties where I have yet to find my own identity. I will continue to welcome challenges and adventures. At least, I am also more aware that I will be able to accept these challenges more confidently than I was in my twenties.

Hopefully, my thirties will be a more exciting decade than my twenties.

Surprised Birthday Celebration

Our bosses held a post-Christmas lunch before the work of budget kicked in in lieu of the Christmas lunches that we traditionally had as a big group as the Christmas lunch this year was decentralised. This time round, we had a our lunches at Straits Kitchen at the Hyatt Hotel.

We knew about the invitation to the lunch but initially we were clueless about the occasion. One of my colleagues who knew that my birthday was coming soon asked if it was meant to be a birthday celebration. I nonchalantly dismissed this speculation as no one in office had ever celebrated my birthday for the past 3 years. Moreover, we typically only celebrated the birthday of our bosses only so far and for those who were coincidentally who were born on the same month as any of our bosses. Hence, it was unlikely that there would be any celebration of my birthday.

Towards the end of the lunch, the chef and the crew of the Straits Kitchen appeared with a lit birthday cake and the cake was miraculously steered towards me. I was shocked, albeit the pleasantly surprised manner, by by the gestures. So shock, actually more appalled at my grand old age, that I was instantaneously speechless. I had even forgotten to make a wish and say my thanks before I blew the candles. I was flushed with embarrassment on how to handle the situation.

I was touched beyond words. I really wanted to bury myself in a hole then as I did not know how to thank my bosses and colleagues properly. Other than my birthday at 15 where a group of close friends actually congregated at my Japanese class and suddenly armed with a birthday cake and a huge lion, sang me a birthday son, this would definitely be one of the most memorable celebrations I ever had.

Are Looks That Important?

Maybe I have been living in a world of denial or maybe the thinking of males and females are truly like Mars and Venus? I have heard this more than once but I am never a believer that any relationship should be based on the compatibility of looks. Moreover, when you share a connection with the person, be it platonic friends or a more exclusive relationship, the person will blossom in your eyes. Or so I believe and which I have experienced to-date.

More than once, I have heard from mostly male friends who have hinted to me that looks are important in their selection of soul mates. This, I find ironical since the search of soulmates should literally be based on the souls rather than looks. A male friend once told me straight in the face that when he was looking for the One, one of the criteria was whether his wife will be presentable as he needed someone who could attend social events with him.

On another occasion when I tried to bring together a male and female friend together and both parties appeared to have lukewarm response, I sought the advice of a male friend. Hopefully, with a more objective perspective, he could help me analyse if there was something that I had done wrong. His first reply was whether the couple was compatible in terms of looks. I was taken aback as he never appeared so superficial to me.

Are looks truly so important? Am I too much of a romanticist? I always think that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Rather than being fixated on the face of a person, I was more inclined to appreciate a person's beauty holistically. A person's exterior can be observed more apparently but time will reveal the true beauty of the person which are often hidden under his or her facade. For those who write-off another person based on the exterior, I will think that he or she will never be a true appreciator of beauty.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame

I used to be a lover of animated films and often enchanted by the fairy-tale stories and the catchy tunes. I was mesmerised by the chirpy Beauty in Beauty and the Beast and the dreamy Ariel in The Little Mermaid. I have never watched The Hunchback of Notre Dame. After being innundated with 3D animation, watching 2D animation was truly nostalgia and a luxury. No longer was our attention diverted by the 3D effects but we truly focused on the plot and the character development.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame was another inspirational story about living life and not to judge only by the appearances of a person. The hunchback of Notre Dame only observed life from his towers as he felt inferior due to his ugly appearance. He was encouraged to not to be just a spectator in life and to partake in his own life. This was especially when he was befriended and encouraged by a beautiful gypsy girl.

Watching such inspirational and predicted film was still moving. Ah, how I miss the good old days.