Yu-Kym's Blog

Spare me the from-rich-to-richer stories!

2012-02-01T20:50:00.001+08:00

Whenever I hear of fresh graduates securing high-paying jobs or students being awarded scholarships, the first question I ask is: Are their parents rich?

The rich people can afford to hire the best tutors and when the opportunity arises, they send their children to the best schools and help them secure high-paying jobs through their connections or by stating the name of the university they graduated from and their parents' job titles in their job applications.

A child who has talent or a strong ability but lack financial muscle would have to turn down certain opportunities. For example, this Singaporean girl was offered a place in the prestigeous Royal College of Music (RCM) in London but she has yet to take up the offer: her family does not have the ability to pay for it. I can relate to this because in my semister year of studies I was offered an overseas posting in Europe but I needed a guarantor with a certain income level and my parents did not earn that much.

I enjoy hearing from-rags-to-riches stories but please spare me the from-rich-to-richer ones!

My magazine article: Let women take the lead in bed

2012-01-31T20:18:00.001+08:00

This is the "most fun" article I've written for the magazine! Unlike the other articles which were factual and scientific, this one contained my personal point of view and experience.

My first article was published in the magazine in October 2010. My name is usually in small print. This time, my name is conspicuously displayed in the content page and in the article header :D

Read my article in Men's Health Magazine (Singapore) - February 2012 issue, page 28.

Bali: 30 December 2011 - 3 January 2012

2012-01-29T15:00:00.002+08:00

I bought my tickets for this holiday in February so I got a special rate of SGD123 for 2-ways (excludes Rp150,000 Indonesia airport tax to be paid at the airport upon departure). My flight from Singapore departed on time at 2050 and landed at 2320 in Bali. There is no time difference between Singapore and Bali. Most of the passangers on the plane were Caucasians. Surprisingly, the flight was not full although it was the Friday night of a long weekend ahead. The queue at immigration was acceptable but the queue for a taxi appeared to be extremely slow so instead of getting one at the appointed counter, I walked out to the parking area and asked around for a taxi. It was drizzling. It was past midnight and I couldn't wait to get to bed.

Someone quoted me Rp100,000. I declined, saying that a taxi hired from the airport counter would cost Rp50,000. I asked another guy who appeared to be working there. He beckoned to his colleague. Both of them were wearing batik shirts with the same pattern so I figured it must have been their uniform. The driver wanted to charge Rp60,000 but I said a taxi at the counter would cost Rp50,000, then he agreed.

It was a 10- or 15-min ride to the hotel. It was raining heavily now. The driver asked whether I was there alone. I said I was meeting my friends who flew in before me. That was a lie. But what do you expect me to say when I'm all alone in a car with a stranger in Indonesia past midnight? He said he had been to Singapore bfore. He asked whether I had been to Lombok and suggested hiring him as my driver if I wanted to go. I said I wouldn't be going on this trip but maybe next time.

I had pre-paid 4 nights' stay at Tune Hotel Bali Kuta for Rp834,900 (SGD30 per night). That rate excludes aircon, wifi, TV, toiletries or towel rental. The hotel is 30 meters off the main road so I couldn't hear the traffic from the room. Check-in was speedy. The room was tiny but clean. It size of the entire room was about the size of a king bed. I had planned to be out at the beach or diving so I didn't mind a small room. The curtain was too narrow to cover the window 100%. The rain shower was pleasant. The water seemed to be coming out in waves: heavy flow, then light flow. I still don't know whether it was intentional or had something to do with the waves from the sea.

From Bali Dec 2011

I was hungry in the morning. I had difficulty finding food! There wasn't any food in the hotel because it is a budget hotel and I couldn't find any restaurants open at 9am. I wished I was in Singapore, Thailand or Vietnam where it's easy to get food in the morning. Being hungry gets me upset. What sort of tourist town has no restaurants open in the morning?! There was food for the local people sold along the street but there were so many flies. I was hungry but not hungry enough to eat "fly rice"!

All I bought was a bottle of water from a convenience store. I went back to the hotel for a nap. I didn't sleep enough the previous night. Anyway, I had the whole day to absolutely do nothing!

I had not fully recovered from a flu/cough so I had to give diving a miss. I'm strict when it comes to safety. Safety trumps leisure and pleasure any time. I could only walk around, hang out at cafes and swim at the beach. I had had a tiring year so there was no harm being a complete bum on a holiday!

When I woke up it was time for lunch. I ordered Spinach ravioli with mushroom cream sauce at a restaurant called Little Italy. I was very hungry so the fats in the sauce was satisfying at that time but looking at the picture now, I find it disgusting.

Spinach ravioli with mushroom cream sauce Rp86,250

One thing I dislike about being in Indonesia is the smoke in restaurants. The smell makes me want to vomit everything that I'd eaten.

The road leading to Kuta beach was also congested. Motorcyclists frequently ride on the pavement. Pedestrians have to be very careful.

Busy street

Desperate puppy

Kuta beach was very crowded. There were many surfers and it wouldn't be safe to swim near them.

From Kuta beach

There are lifeguard posts. It's safer to swim near them. Once when I was sitting beside the lifeguard post, one of the lifeguards asked me whether I wanted something. I wasn't sure what he said but whatever the question was, the answer was going to be No.

As I walked along the beach, men asked whether I wanted to rent surf boards and take surfing lessons, and women asked whether I wanted massages.

I put my clothes and towel in a plastic bag and left it somewhere on the beach while I swam in the sea. I didn't bring any money with me. I didn't think anyone would try to steal a lousy plastic bag of clothes.

The waves can get rather high. To avoid the crashing waves, I had to swim further out, past the area where the waves break. I had to choose my timing well. If the waves kept crashing on me once every few seconds as I swim out, I'll end up at the shore again. I had to take a deep breath when I see the waves coming. There was no doubt that I was going to be thrown about and submerged. It was tiring swimming against the tide. But when I was successful, I could simply let the waves pass beneath me as I tread water and watch people get pounded by them!

There are many massage shops here offering traditional massage, shiatsu massage and even beer massage. I patronised Inner Glow (the one on the right). Shiatsu massage costs Rp66,000 per hour including tax. If you have a sunburn, you could try a sunburn massage for Rp110,000.

Beer massage

Shiatsu massage Rp66,000 per hour

On new year's eve, the fireworks started at about 9pm and carried on till about 2.30am. I could see the fireworks from the hotel corridor. After watching it for 15 minutes, I had enough. But I couldn't sleep with all that noise!

It rained daily. I regretted not getting a nicer hotel because I had to spend time in it to hide from the rain. I also "hid" in my favourite cafe in Bali called Excelso. It's one of the cafes along the busy road to Kuta beach. The food and coffee were nice. Service was good and there was free wifi :D Their ice coffee Rp41,250 (SGD6) was not cheap but at least it was good.

Pasta and fish

Chicken potato pie Rp39,500

The food at a so-called traditional restuarant, Made's Warung, was horrible. I ordered a few sticks of satay. It was extremely dry so I asked for satay sauce. The couple at the next table had sauce. They charged me extra for satay sauce. The avocade juice was served at room temperature without ice. It was gluey and gross. In all, it cost Rp70,000. Mighty expensive for such terrible food!

I also tried Mie Goreng Rp19,000 and avocado juice Rp18,000 at another restaurant. They were ok but avocado juice in Singapore is nicer is cheaper.

I had fried rice with beef as well but I could hardly see the beef.

Breakfast at a restuarent was unbelievable. I ordered a French toast set. I got 2 burnt slices of bread, an omelette, juice and coffee for Rp46,200. I felt like telling them that burnt bread is not called French toast.

Breakfast Rp46,200

Food in Bali was disappointing. Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam offer better food to tourists.

As for shopping, Bali is miserable. Sportswear wasn't cheap. Slippers aren't cheap. There wasn't very much to buy. I bought a pair of sandles. After wearing it for a week, they look like they're 3 months old. Shoes made in Indonesia don't seem to be of good quality. A few months ago, I bought another pair of slippers in Indonesia. The soles came off after a few weeks.

Another reason why I regretted not staying in a better hotel was the lack of sleep I was experiencing because of some hotel guests. On the first morning, it was a Caucasian girl. On the 2nd and 3rd mornings it was a grandmother talking very loudly. People are hard of hearing when they are old so I thought I would just put up with it since she's old.

But I when I came out of my room, I was shocked to see a family gathering at the corridor outside my room! There was no phone in my room and I didn't have the phone number of the reception so I had to go down to report the noise and "illegal" gathering. I snapped a picture and showed it to the receptionist. He turned to his CCTV. It's there on the TV but nobody monitors it. He called security to go up and disperse the crowd. He asked me to go up with the security guard but I decline and said I am on my way out. When I returned, the people were still there. I had to request for security to get rid of them again.

I discovered that the "grandmother" was actually a middle-age woman with the voice of a grandmother. As I went into my room, she said something to me but I didn't understand. The woman looking into the camera is she.

Guests outside my room

I had a change of room. I couldn't take the noise any more. On the last morning, I had to be up very early but I wouldn't want to be disturbed at night. My flight was at 0910.

I used the hotel transportation because it was way too early to be sure of getting a taxi. I am glad I did because it was raining that morning. When I booked a seat the night before, the concierge said there was already a booking at the time slot I wanted and they only had one car. I asked whether I could share and he agreed. In the morning, after I got into the car, the driver was going to drive off. I reminded him that there were other guests. He double-checked and 2 others got into the car. They should be glad I said something otherwise they might have missed their flight.

The road was wet and with some pools of water. Thankfully, no major flood (yet) and I got to the airport on time.

All in all, I find Bali over-rated. I liked the cheap massage and swimming in the sea but everything else wasn't great. It was a pity I couldn't dive (it was raining too much anyway).

Related post: Magician Money Changers in Bali.

Should I sleep less to meet a guy?

2012-01-26T18:55:00.000+08:00

"Why don't you sleep less then you'll have time to meet me?" a guy suggested. Although it was a suggestion and he probably meant it as some kind of a joke, I took it rather seriously. The fact that the thought even crossed his mind was bad enough.

I know I sleep more than the average person. But what made him think I should sacrifice my sleep to meet him?

To provide some context to his question: He asked me out, I said I was going to be busy and will let him know when I'm available.

I don't know how anyone can think that a suggestion like that would make me want to make time to go out with him!

My "freebo" 2nd day of the lunar new year

2012-01-25T20:55:00.001+08:00

I finally set foot into the Istana yesterday. The queue was long at 2pm so I came back later at 5pm. There was enough space to walk around but it was way too crowded for my liking. Just after taking this photo, a reporter and cameraman from channelnewsasia asked my friend and me a few questions such as why did we choose to be there during the lunar new year, was it our first visit there, are we happy, etc. I wanted to say that I was there because there were no entrance fees and it was way too crowded. Instead, I said that I was there for the trees and landscaping and that the turnout was more than expected.

The footage from my interview didn't get aired. I guess it was because I didn't mention anything about wanting to meet the president or watching the perfomances. Or perhaps if I had said I was there because it was free they would have aired it for everyone to laugh at!

Talking about free, I visited the free Dreams & Reality: Masterpieces of Painting, Drawing and Photography from the Musee d'Orsay, Paris, exhibition at the National Museum exhibition after leaving the Istana grounds. At about 3pm yesterday, the queue to get in was ridiculous. We tried again at 6.30pm when the queue had cleared. It isn't pleasant being in a crowded galary anyway.

Cameras without the use of flash were allowed. The Birth of Venus (by Alexandre Cabanel) and Starry Night (by Vincent van Gogh) were among the star attractions. You could take photos with the pictures but because of the dim lighting, you won't look any nicer than the people in the painting (which is why I did not display mine here).

If you feel like getting some freebies and you are bo liao (i.e. feel bored and have nothing better to do), you can get a "freebo" entry to the Dreams & Reality exhibition at the National Museum on January 28 and 29, and on February 3, 4 and 5.

Free SMS, MMS and phone calls on 23 and 24 Jan

2012-01-22T21:37:00.001+08:00

In the past, people used to mail greeting cards. When e-cards came along, people were saying it was kind of cheapstake and insincere compared to snail mailed cards. (I think it was just the printing industry fighting back). But I found e-cards rather troublesome because I had to click on a link to open them and wait for the page to load (back then Internet was 14Kbps). When 56Kbps became more common, there were e-card with Flash animation. Flash animation was supposed to be a big deal but eventually it got irriating to have to wait for the animation to play out.

Then when almost everyone had a mobile phone and it cost close to nothing to send text messages, people gave up on e-cards and sent text messages instead. The more creative people would use numbers and alphabets to "draw" pictures in the messages. Next, people could send pictures and videos via MMS so they did. Now many people use WatsApp to send pictures and videos. I don't quite like pictures and videos. I prefer a personal message but not everyone is good at writing or bothers to take time to write one. Forwarding a message wholesale is the same as buying a card and writing at the top "Dear X" and signing at the bottom. I think it is lame to bother to send a card but not write anything else in it. Now people still do something similar: they forward messages without writing your name in it. But maybe it is still good that they bothered to forward it to you at all (well, it could been a mass message) and they didn't delete your phone number?

Although I believe that friends should be few but good, there are many people we should keep in touch with because we are human to want to feel a sense of belonging.

This year, people in Singapore can expect to receive more text messages than usual. Singtel subscribers will enjoy unlimited free SMS, MMS and phone calls on the 1st and 2nd days of the lunar new year. I intend to make full use of it :D Won't you?

I wish you a happiness, good health, good wealth and great sex this new year! ;)

Moaning with an accent

2012-01-22T16:17:00.001+08:00

My friend stayed at hotel at Genting Highlands, Malaysia. It's well-known that prostitutes will knock on the doors there offering their services. He told me that he heard a PRC moaning in the next room. I asked him how he could tell from the moaning that she was from PRC. "She was moaning with an accent," he said.

I've never heard accented moaning or grunting. Maybe I should start recording a collection and have a Guess the Nationality contest :D

What does a woman want when she invites a man to a hotel room?

2012-01-20T21:19:00.001+08:00

I invited a friend to my hotel room because I couldn't find a smoke-free place to have drinks and the indoor places were too cold (it was raining). I have also shared a room with my male coursemate (we were students and were trying to cut cost for the vacation), and bunked in with another male friend when he was on a business trip. I did not have sex with any of these guys.

When a man invites a woman to a hotel room, his objective is certain. However, when a woman invites a man to her room or apartment, he should never assume it is an invitation to sex. Also, if a woman agrees to share a room with a man on a vacation and they split the cost, this is not an invitation to sex. Furthermore, even if the man pays for the room it does not mean he has her consent to have sex.

Checking in to a hotel room for drinks only

2012-01-19T20:40:00.000+08:00

A guy asked me to go to a hotel with him. He said that we were just going there "for drinks". He claimed that it was more convenient and comfortable than going to a pub - and I would have my own toilet instead of having to queue and use a public one. Of course I wasn't dumb enough to believe him. The only type of drinks he would have in mind would be for me to milk myself a semen drink!

A woman believed a man when he told her that they were going to a hotel just to "kiss only", as reported in the news today. The women had met the man before in a public place where he tried to do more than just kiss her. So what made her think that he would not try more in a private room?

I don't think she's stupid. Maybe she's lonely. Anyway, he raped her. But, really, what did she expect?

DBS should pay medical bills of customers who have resulting health conditions

2012-01-14T22:36:00.001+08:00

A professor wrote in to the newspapers. He clarified that the money is not lost by the customers of DBS but by the bank. He wrote that it is not correct to say that the bank reimburses the customers; the losses incurred are the bank's losses not the customers' losses because the customers have lent the money to the bank and it is therefore the bank's responsiblity to return the money to the customers whether or not someone else had stolen the money from the bank.

E.g. If you lend your friend $50, and your friend got robbed, your friend would still need to return the $50 to you. He won't be saying, "That $50 note that got stolen belongs to you, therefore you got robbed, not me."

In this latest news headline "DBS compensates $1m to ATM fraud victims", I think it's not correct either. When I think of compensation, I would think it's some extra cash to compensate customers for emotional distress and for the trouble of having to call them bank and keep checking their bank account balances.

It was distressing enough for me to see my Stinkel bill with $100+ incorrectly charged items. If my bank balance shows an unauthorised withdrawal of $2000, I would flip!

If someone suffered a heart attack after checking his bank account, would DBS be responsible to pay his medical bills? There's no such thing as claiming compensation for causing merely "emotional distress" in Singapore but I think DBS should pay medical bills of customers who have resulting health conditions as a result of the incident.

34 days' rest with 7 days' leave in 2012

2012-01-08T10:00:00.007+08:00

Last year we lost 2 half days, this year we'll lose another half day :((

2011 Christmas eve was on Saturday, 2011 new year's eve was on Saturday and 2012 Lunar new year's eve is on Sunday.

However, there are opportunities for long weekends in 2012 if you take leave. Get 34 days of rest with 7 days' leave.

Lunar New Year
Monday, 23 January 2012 and Tuesday, 24 January 2012
Take leave from Wednesday to Friday. (3 days' leave gives you 9 days' rest)

Good Friday
Friday, 6 April 2012
This is one holiday that always falls on Friday. You'll get 3 days' rest.

Labour Day
Tuesday, 1 May 2012
Take 1 day leave on Monday to get 4 days' rest.

Vesak Day
Saturday, 5 May 2012
Hopefully your company gives you a day off in lieu.

National Day
Thursday, 9 August 2012
Take 1 day leave on Friday to get 4 days' rest.

Hari Raya Puasa
Sunday, 19 August 2012
Monday will be a public holiday so you'll get 3 days' rest.

Hari Raya Haji
Friday, 26 October 2012
You'll get 3 days' rest.

Deepavali
Tuesday, 13 November 2012
Take 1 day leave on Monday to get 4 days' rest.

Christmas Day
Tuesday, 25 December 2012
Take 1 day leave on Monday to get 4 days' rest.

Magician money changers

2012-01-07T16:20:00.000+08:00

If you've seen card tricks, you know that cards can "disappear" and "reappear" without you noticing. Money changers in Bali put those tricks to use with money. I went to a money changer that is just outside my hotel.

Here's the picture of the money changer. I know it looks dodgy but all the money changers there look like that.

I wanted to change SGD350. I passed the money to the money changer while I was standing by the side of the table. He asked me to go round to stand in front of the table. After I did that, he counted the money while standing on the other side of the table. He counted SGD300. He showed me that there was only SGD300. I insisted that I gave him SGD350. He re-counted and there was SGD350.

At the exchange rate of 7395, I should be getting IDR2,588,250.

Next, he called his friend to stand beside him. He counted the first stack of 40 pieces of 50,000 Indonesian Rupiah (IDR) notes worth IDR2,000,000 and passed them to me. I counted the notes. His friend told me to put the notes on the table so I did. The money changer counted the next stack of notes and passed them to me. I counted them as IDR490,000 but the total did not add up. I was missing IDR100,000 = SGD14. I told him it was wrong.

He gathered the 50,000 stack of notes with both (and I saw him put away a portion of the notes with one hand) and asked me to re-count the first stack. I did that and I found it was missing a few pieces of the 50,000 notes. I handed it back to him and asked him to re-count. He re-counted and added on a few extra notes, then handed it to me.

I counted the stack. While counting, he kept asking me how many is in each stack. I told him to keep quiet because I was counting. He persisted and kept asking me but I didn't answer him. I placed each stack on the table after counting. His friend tried to touch the stack that I counted. I told him not to touch it. When I had finished counting, I told him the amount was correct. Quickly, he gathered everything together with both hands into a neat stack, as if helping me to tidy things up, and handed it back to me. The pile seemed thinner than when he passed it to me at first. I know that as long as somebody touches the money, I have to count it again. The amount was wrong. I handed the whole stack back and told him to count it. He changed some of the notes and them handed the stack to me.

This time, after counting each set of notes I placed each set on top of the other, in alternating stacks at 90 degrees to the other stack, under my handphone and pinned the handphone with my wrist so that they won't touch the money again. The money changer and his friend kept telling me to put it on the table. When I refused, they tried to take the money from under my handphone several times. I told them not to touch it. The amount was correct. I told them that it was correct and wanted to take that was under my wrist. Now, both of them put their hand on the part of the money that was sticking out from under the phone.

Unlike the end of the previous correct count when the he was glad to let me leave after gathering the notes together and handing the stack to me, this time he did not want me to leave with the money. I knew that I had finally gotten the right amount. But because there were many notes, I couldn't grab the stack without risking the money dropping all around.

He said he wanted to help me count it again. I said he had already counted passing it to me and it was correct so there was no need for him to re-count.

Then he said he forgot to minus "5% tax". I said there's no such thing as 5% tax on money exchange. I refused and said we already agreed on the rate just now. Finally he said he didn't want to change money anymore. He told me to take my SGD350 back, nodding his head in the direction of the SGD that was on the table, without removing his hand from my stack of IDR. I was worried that he might have swapped the notes with fake ones. It didn't seem like I was going to be able to get away with the IDR so I checked the notes. It appeared to be correct: 6 $50 and 5 $10 notes, the $50 have no folds because I rolled them and the $10 note have a fold down the middle, though I couldn't be 100% sure they were my genuine notes.

That was how it ended. What a waste of time! I'm just glad I wasn't lazy to re-count otherwise I would have gotten cheated!

Some of my friends said they don't ever change money when overseas. I always change money overseas but this is the first time I encounter cheats. The money changer was:
1. banking on tourists being confused with their currency (that's why they gave me small notes),
2. trying to distract and confuse me by continuously asking me how much was in this stack, that stack
3. hoping that I would not re-count the money after he gathers it together and hands it back to me.
4. using friend behind the counter was probably to hide money if needed or teaching him how to perform the magic trick.

As a rule of thumb, always re-count the money before leaving the counter if somebody has touched it.

Bali is rich! 5-hour fireworks!

2012-01-01T12:05:00.004+08:00

I spent New Year's eve in Bali, Indonesia. I had a view of the fireworks display, that stretched from Kuta beach to Legion beach, from the corridor of my hotel. After a 15 minutes, I got tired of watching and went back to my room. It was impossible to get any sleep because the fireworks started at 9pm, I think, and didn't stop till 2am!

2 years ago, I was in Siem Reap, Cambodia for the new year. A hotel there had their own fireworks display that lasted long enough for me to get tired of watching too, though it didn't last as long as the one in Bali.

I can't help but wonder how much was spent on fireworks and better uses for that money. But maybe it is money that is spent to attract tourists who would bring more tourist dollars than dollars spent on the fireworks. In Singapore, people flock to watch the National Day fireworks display which usually lasts for about half an hour. Apparently, Bali and a hotel in Cambodia have higher budets for fireworks than Singapore.

I wish you a wonderful year of happiness and good health! But wishing it to you really doesn't help. You will still have to work for happiness and good health!

Happy 2012!

2012-01-01T02:12:00.003+08:00

Happy New Years Singapore!

I trust everyone welcomed 2012 in with joy and happiness.

New Year Promises and goals?

Keep them simple and achievable.

Smile at someone who does not expect a smile.

Make someone smile by giving them a reason to smile.

Do a random act of kindness.

Walk a little more, use stairs more than lifts.

Believe in something.

Above all, do have a Happy 2012!

David

Travel insurers aren't stupid

2011-12-30T14:58:00.000+08:00

I'm sure you know that the best way to get low prices for your holidays is to plan ahead and book early when there are promotions. Other than that, one other important thing to do is to buy travel insurance.

You can get reimbursed should have to cancel your trip for certain reasons (limited to those specified in the policy), such as you or your family member falling ill or getting hospitalised, death of family member. Note that if you want to cancel your trip because you or travel partners have a chance of plans, the insurance policy isn't going to cover that.

One friend has the misconception that if the person you are going to meet in the other country cancelled the appointment with you, you can claim insurance for that.
He also claimed that if you are late for your flight because you left the house late, you can claim insurance for missed flight and you get reimbursed if your wallet got stolen after you left it unattended on the table.

Such misconceptions are a result of not reading the policy document carefully in totality, along with all the exceptions (they can be rather hard to understand.)

"Wow, so good? Insurers can close down if they cover such things!" commented another friend sarcastically.

I tried to claim for cancelling my trip due to flood in Thailand but my claim got rejected. That reason for cancellation wasn't stated in the policy document.

Some insurers tend to pay out claims more readily than others. But it is their right to ask questions.

I booked my vacations on February this year. I had to cancel two because (1) my dad was hospitalised, and (2) because I was ill and had 7 days' medical leave.

Thankfully, my insurer reimbursed me for those trips. I recommed ACE Got-It-Covered policy which costs only $88 a year. It covers loss of cash up to $300, and recreational sports such as diving. Although the coverage is not as high as what other insurers offer, I think $88 is good value for money because I travel almost every month.

Comparison of online brokerage fees

2011-12-27T14:21:00.000+08:00

I am writing this post for my friend who asked me about brokerage fees for trading on the Singapore Exchange.

Standard Chartered Singapore
Terms & Conditions, FAQ

Brokerage Fee for Online Transactions: 0.20% for standard customers (or 0.18% for priority customers). No minimum fee.

Limitations: You must place funds into a SCB settlement account before you are allowed to transact. Therefore, you can't "contra" with money you don't have.

DBS Vickers
http://www.dbsvonline.com/english/Pfee.asp?SessionID=&RefNo=&AccountNum=&Alternate=&Level=Public&ResidentType=#2

Standard Online Transactions
Minimum Commission: SGD25
SGD50,000 and below: 0.28%
SGD50,001 - SGD100,000: 0.22%
Above SGD100,000: 0.18%

Preferential commission rate of 0.18% or minimum S$18 for all Singapore trades but customer must place funds into a SCB settlement account before trading to enjoy this rate.

Philip Securities POEMS
http://www.poems.com.sg/

Minimum Commission: SGD25
SGD50,000 and below: 0.28%
SGD50,001 - SGD100,000: 0.22%
Above SGD100,000: 0.18%

Note: The fees above are for trading in SGD on the Singapore Exchange. There are further SGX and CDP fees which are the same across all trading platforms, therefore not accounted for in the following computations.

Here are examples calculation of brokerage charges for online transactions. Both Stanchart and DBS preferential require deposit of funds into your trading account to enjoy the rates stated below. POEMS does not have the option or requirement.

Example 1: Trading SGD 5000
Stanchart: 0.20% x $5000 = $10
DBS preferential rate: 0.18% x $5000 = $9 subject to minimum of $18 = $18
POEMS: 0.28% x $5000 = $14 subject to minimum of $25 = $25
Price difference between the lowest and highest rate = $15

Example 2: Trading SGD 8000
Stanchart: 0.20% x $8000 = $16
DBS preferential rate: 0.18% x $8000 = $14.4 subject to minimum of $18 = $18
POEMS: 0.28% x $8000 = $22.4 subject to minimum of $25 = $25
Price difference between the lowest and highest rate = $6

Example 3: Trading SGD 10000
Stanchart: 0.20% x $10000 = $20
DBS: 0.18% x $10000 = $18 subject to minimum of $18 = $18
POEMS: 0.28% x $10000 = $28 subject to minimum of $25 = $28
Price difference between the lowest and highest rate = $10

Example 4: Trading SGD 20000
Stanchart: 0.20% x $20000 = $40
DBS preferential rate: 0.18% x $20000 = $36 subject to minimum of $18 = $36
POEMS: 0.28% x $20000 = $56 subject to minimum of $25 = $56
Price difference between the lowest and highest rate = $20

Do note that trading platforms are not equal. In the old days, the trader on the floor who shouts the loudest may get his trade recorded first. Nowdays, the faster system gets the customers' trades executed first. So is it worth using to a platform that charges lower fees instead of a tried-and-tested system that charges $20 more?

On the 5th of August 2011, everyone was busy dumping their shares. Which platform would you use if you know the trading volume is going to be super-high? I used POEMS. It didn't matter that I was going to pay higher brokerage fees. I just wanted my trades to be executed fast!

Tattoo-collecting could cost you your life

2011-12-24T11:24:00.000+08:00

I've met some divers who collect tattoos as souveniors in the countries they visit. They will proudly point to each tattoo on their body and tell you in which country they got it.

Then there are people who enjoy collecting "friendship" tattoos. E.g. when they travel overseas together with your friends, they want to remember (and they want you to remember) it. One of my friends made such a request before but the rest of us (including me) said NO.

Of course, some people simply like tattoos. The designs overseas may be unique and the tattoo artist may be very skilful so that's why they want to get it done there.

A tourist contracted HIV after getting a tattoo in Bali, Indonesia.

Souvenior-collecting, friendship, vanity or whatever isn't worth the risk of contracting HIV!

'Tis the season to stay home!

2011-12-23T18:23:00.001+08:00

With the recent (almost daily) MRT delays and breakdown, many people avoided taking the train and travelled by bus or taxis instead. However, there are "flash" floods are Orchard area must leave you standed.

Here's a picture of the situation outside the Singtel building at Somerset at 5pm today (taken by my sister):

So forget Christmas shopping and stay at home if you can!

Incorrect medical instructions

2011-12-23T13:50:00.000+08:00

I usually sleep off my illness and eat food such as tumeric, garlic, chilli and manuka honey to improve my health.

But I had a holiday booked to Yogyakarta for Saturday. I had to get well fast! I went to see a doctor on Monday. I was diagnosed with the flu. I was given anti-biotics. I didn't question why anti-biotics were prescribed for the flu. I just wanted to recover and get a day off to rest at home.

I felt better on Tuesday, but on Wednesday I felt worse than I did on Monday. The medicine didn't work. I consulted another doctor (because the first doctor I saw was close to my office that's far from home). I brought the previously prescribed medicine along. The 2nd doctor didn't prescribe any more anti-biotics for me. In his opinion, rest was all I needed.

I checked for information about the prescribed anti-biotics online.
http://www.mims.com/Singapore/patientmedicine/info/Bexinor%20tab/Norfloxacin

I was surprised to read that it should be taken on an empty stomach at least 1 hour before or 2 hours after food, whereas the instructions from the clinic was to take it after meals. Maybe that's why the medicine didn't work!

I'm always mindful of following the instructions for efficacy. I dislike taking medicine so if I'm taking any I want to make sure it works:
- For medicine to be taken with/after food, I make sure I eat a good amount of food. I ended on the floor twice from gastric pains after taking medicine without enough food in my stomach.
- For medicine to be taken before food, I have to take the medicine, then starve myself for an hour. I can only drink water. No coffee, tea or milk.

I'm going back to the clinic to ask about it next year when I go back to the office.

Anyway, I've yet to recover and I've cancelled my trip. I know there are worse things than that. My cousin is going for heart operation, my friend's father passed away last week, a few people I know got retrenched. I am grateful to be spending the weekend with my family, I have a comfortable room and home to rest in and recover (I know it's only a matter of time), I've received my 13th month salary (yeay!) and I have a good job (boss, colleagues, clients are great) to go back to.

My $230.78 Stinktel Bill Shock

2011-12-19T22:17:00.002+08:00

Stinkel is well-reputed for lack of system integration and proper record-keeping, resulting overcharging and bill shocks. I'm a victim!

I had deactivated my 3G service a long time ago (I didn't even want to receive MMS because I had to pay exhorbitant rates for it).

Because of the 11 Nov 2011 (11/11/11) promotion that offered $1 per month for 200MB of data, I re-activated my 3G and signed up for the $1 per month data plan add-on.

So Stinktel re-activated my 3G but did not activate the $1 per month plan. This resulted in pay-per-use 3G data charge of $175.26 for 34.2MB of data (i.e. $5 for 1MB - I told you it was exhorbitant).

(The other charges in the bill, not shown, are correct).

I called Stinkel's billing department. The person said that she does not see any record of the $1 promotional rate in the system. I said I placed the order on singtelshop.com and I have a receipt showing the $1 promotion confirmed.

Anyway, she checked with someone else and later assured she will reverse the charge and asked me not to worry. I wouldn't be surprised if the reversal of the charge is magically not reflected in the next bill and magically disappears from their system along with the traces of my call to them.

It would take me months to use up the $175.26 when they deduct it and then (if and when) reverse it. It'd be best for me to cancel the auto-deduction from my credit card. But I have to call Stinktel to remove the auto-payment. I wonder how long they would take to do that? Till the next billing cycle? I'm still screwed :/

Cash-flashers

2011-12-19T20:07:00.002+08:00

How much cash do you carry with you?

I carry no more than $70 on normal days. I'll put a $50 note when I have about $20 left. With credit cards, ATM cards and Ezi-link card, there's no reason for me to bring a stack of notes around, except if I'm going to buy electronics at Sim Lim or at IT fairs (they may charge you 3% more if you use cards).

I'm not sure whether guys carry loads of cash to impress women. One guy I went out with told me that he always pays with cash, and I always saw him paying with cash. Another guy told me that he was going to the casino the next day. He said he has lots of cash and opened his wallet to show me the stack of notes it contained.

Maybe carrying loads of cash is supposed to show affluence (don't need bank credit, can afford to pay). Or maybe they want to avoid a paper trail (married?), or don't want me to know their real name (it would be on the card), or they don't qualify for credit cards!

Hiring based on "connections" could be the ruin of companies

2011-12-18T13:58:00.000+08:00

While commuters were gasping for air in the dark, some fainted and had to go to the hospital for train service breakdown 3 times this week, SMRT chief executive Saw Phaik Hwa must have been enjoying her Christmas preparations at home or travelling in comfort in her limo. 3 times too many! I totally agree that she should resign.

Many people get their jobs through "connections". But to get the top jobs or to get a top scholarship, you have to parents who are rich or in the right social circle help get them the job.

I don't know how the SMRT chief executive got her job but, clearly, she has failed in meeting basic expectations, i.e. to have train service running as scheduled.

Hiring people based on connections instead of merit is like buying Victoria's Secrets bras: looks good in theory but not any good in reality!

Digital dieting

2011-12-12T21:15:00.000+08:00

I think i have been spending too much time using digital devices. At work, I use a computer/laptop. After work, I use my iPad. At home, I am either using my computer or iPad. When I travel overseas, I have my laptop with me while in transit.

Having an internet connection is useful but it can distract me from doing meaningful things, such as writing. I am going to prescribe myself a reduced digital diet next year.

Do you spend too much time using your digital devices?

SPG, CFM, CMI at Zoukout

2011-12-12T18:25:00.001+08:00

SPG's, CFM- and CMI-faces galore at Zoukout. People puking, wasted, peeing in the bushes. What's new? There were some pretty/sexy girls photographed there. I can understand why guys would pay $88 to see girls prancing around in their bikinis but surely the girls who paid to go there are not very smart to have forked out $88 for the tickets? I hope their tickets were sponsored.

Come to think of it, even if it's free, I won't go.

See pictures here

Your body odour says it all

2011-12-11T23:05:00.000+08:00

I wrote about sexual chemistry and the use of scent to determine suitable mating partners.

A recent study has shown that:
- people sweat gives off personality clues (such as whether they are anxious, outgoing or dominant, etc),
- people are able to make judgments about other people based on how they smell.

I've smelled body odour that make me feel faint and also body odour that doesn't make me run away. It's not body odour per se that is a turn off but what the scent reveals about the person that's a turn off.

If you're afraid of revealing too much through your scent, you may want to use deodorant and perfume. But I think it's best to stay honest. If someone's not going to like you, it's better to find out sooner than later.

My magazine article: Ace Your First Night With Her

2011-12-11T09:48:00.003+08:00

Much has been written about the first night. Want to know what I think?

Read my article in Men's Health Magazine, October 2011, p. 26,27 or online Ace Your First Night With Her!

You can find more articles on sexual attitudes, sexual behaviour and women's sexual preferences in my book. Click here to buy my book. Last few copies!

My magazine article: Michelin-Star Seduction

2011-12-11T09:36:00.004+08:00

Apply the fine art of service to the fine art of sex!

Read my article in Men's Health Magazine, September 2011, p. 106, 107 or online Michelin-Star Seduction!

You can be judged from your face

2011-11-29T21:30:00.001+08:00

Why else would Facebook be so popular?

I read a book on face-reading. The Chinese have practised face reading for decades (or centuries?). It seems you can guess a person's potential wealth, intelligence, health and relationship results from his/her face. Of course, we cannot draw conclusions about a person from appearances only. Whatever we see is, at best, a guess.

The Chinese aren't the only people who believe in face-reading. There was a recent study which claims that Vaginal Orgasm Is More Prevalent Among Women with a Prominent Tubercle of the Upper Lip.

From my experience, I have found that people with slanted noses (when you look at them from the front view, the nose is not 100% vertical but tilts to one side) not only look strange but they are strange. And men with squarish faces tend to be hypocritical and/or "emo", and men with thick lips tend to be over-indulgent with food and sex.

But maybe face-reading isn't about a person's absolute character but character relative to another person. E.g. I may find someone to be very emo but other people may not agree.

From the many people I've met in my lifetime, I've come up with some categorisations of people's character based on their face alone. I've been wrong before (I was wrong because I didn't want to believe negative things about the person) but as I grow older, I tend to be right more often.

Not all ang mohs are gentlemanly

2011-11-27T10:55:00.000+08:00

I don't like paying 20 cents for wet tissue paper or a few dollars for peanuts at restaurants. Even if I'm not footing the bill, I wouldn't want to make a friend or date pay for those. The people I've met before would pay for them without complaining (nevermind what they're thinking).

So I was shocked when the ang moh I was having lunch suddenly spoke loudly and rudely to the waitress who was about to serve us a plate of crackers, "How much is that?" Being told it was $3, he ordered her to take it away (he repeated it several times) as though it would kill us to have that plate on the table. He didn't ask me whether I wanted to eat it. Then he turned to me and complained that the restaurant wants to cheat customers. For an ang moh who claimed to have lived here for 4 years, he should know that many restaurants do that and the customers can simply reject the order calmly.

When the bill came, he snatched the unused packet of wet tissue from my side of the table and threw it onto the folder (containing the bill) which the waitress was holding. He had already used his so he returned mine to avoid the 40-cent charge. He didn't ask me whether I wanted it. And of course he turned to me to complain about the charge.

He did foot the bill and I thanked him for the meal. I find it alright to avoid those charges but the manner in which he did it was terrible!

For: Smoke-free Singapore!

2011-11-26T09:20:00.000+08:00

Do you ever feel stressed at work and needing some fresh air?

Sadly, there's no place for non-smokers to get "fresh air". All the outdoor areas with seats are smoking areas. If non-smokers like me want some fresh air, we'll have to find some place to stand and we'll be lucky to be standing there without encountering a smoker walking by puffing his cigarette.

Please take this e-poll by Singapore National Environment Agency to make more places in Singapore smoke-free!

I dated an ang moh and I felt...

2011-11-25T20:52:00.002+08:00

Okay, I didn't actually date one - I just needed a catchy title. It was just weekday lunch. I choose lunch because it feels non-committal and I can run back to work.

You know I seldom worry about what people think of me. It's been a long time since I've felt this way... embarrassed! While I can overlook people's lack of good looks, lack of physical fitness, I find poor behaviour intolerable.

This ang moh rude towards the PRC waitress who couldn't speak English, to the English-speaking Filipino who took our orders and another waiter who cleared the nutcracker (for crabs because we didn't order crabs). Though I agree that service staff in Singapore should be able to speak English to work here, I don't think there's a need to be rude to them if they aren't rude to us. I asked what was wrong with him and he said he was feeling depressed.

The food was delicious. I don't know whether the favour can be attributed to the additional "flavouring" added in by disgruntled staff.

I can't tolerate emo men nor men who are complete assholes. For what it's worth, I did tell him that his ass was fat but doesn't think so.

Most Popular Passwords of 2011

2011-11-23T22:00:00.007+08:00

Contributed by David

Most of your reading this should be more aware of computer security than the average computer user. After all you read visit Yu-Kym's site with some regularity and Ms. Loh's followers are more computer savvy than most.

That is with the exception of one Anon...,I digress so back to the topic.

What follows is an article from Gizmodo.com.

It's pretty similar to results from previous
years but that shouldn't really come as a surprise, right? It's not like the
computer, keyboard, password and human brain were invented yesterday. We're not
that much different year to year. The rankings were created by SplashData who gathered the data from the millions of stolen passwords posted online by hackers in 2011.

1. password

2. 123456

3.12345678

4. qwerty

5. abc123

6. monkey

7. 1234567

8. letmein

9. trustno1

10. dragon

11. baseball

12. 111111

13. iloveyou

14. master

15. sunshine

16. ashley

17. bailey

18. passw0rd

19. shadow

20. 123123

21. 654321

22. superman

23. qazwsx

24. michael

25. football

There are always new computer users, very young an uniformed users and those that a just lazy.

Using any of the above as passwords is an invitation to hackers to come and borrow one computer for any type of neferarious activity.

If you or anyone you know use any of the passwords shown on this list, do yourself or a friend a favour and change to a more secure password SOON!

Combine upper and lower case characters at least one number and where allowed characters such as @, %, or >.

A tougher to crack password will go a long way to protect ones online privacy and identity.

Mid Valley: 9-10 Nov 2011

2011-11-19T13:56:00.000+08:00

I'd been to Malaysia a number of times this year. Usually I would stay at Sunway Pyramid Tower Hotel near Shah Alam (where my client's office is) but this time it was fully booked. My colleague recommended Boulevard Hotel at MidValley Shopping Mall in Petaling Jaya. I didn't want to stay in Kuala Lumpur city because it's too far from Shah Alam and I don't like heavy traffic. It would just be an overnight trip so it was worth trying a new hotel for a night.

I considered flying by Firefly (budget) airlines so that I land at Subang airport (closer to Shah Alam) instead of KLIA but the flight time wasn't ideal. Besides, there will be no travellators or trolleys at the Singapore budget terminal, so I gave the idea up.

Upon landing at KLIA, I had to eat. The selection at the airport was poor. I liked that there's free Wifi at the airport. I had a prepaid SIM card which can be used for internet data (with my USB modem) but the Wifi is good for use with my iPad.

I went straight to my client's office from the airport, and checked into the hotel after work.

I had arranged to meet my ex-colleague for dinner. I'd not seen her for about 4 years.

I took the recommendation which some of you posted on my Facebook page. We had dinner at Madam Kwan. The restuarant was crowded. We had to wait rather long for our food.

I ordered Nasi Bijori. Unfortunately, I forgot to bring my camera down from my room so I don't have any pictures. My food was good and fresh. The rice had the colour of Indian Briyani but it was a different type of rice. Certainly not something I'd seen in Singapore before. My friend ordered fish and chips. When her food arrived (a large portion of fish was placed on top of the fries), it was missing the lemon slice. Strange that it wasn't served with a lemon slice. She asked a waiter for one. He came back and told her that he can serve 3 slices but that would be chargable. She decided to do without.

"I don't really like Madam Kwan anymore," I said.

After eating the fries that were hidden under the fish, my friend exclaimed, "Sorry! There is a lemon here!" She discovered a slice of lemon underneath the fish and the fries.

It's strange to hide the lemon underneath. And the waiter could have suggested to her to find the lemon under the fish. We didn't have any dessert. I try not to over-eat when I'm overseas.

She offered to take me around but I preferred to walk around the MidValley mall because it was my first time there. The mall is huge. My friend was with me so I just walked with her, without bothering to note which direction I was walking in. Like in every mall, there's always many shops selling designer goods. The basement was more interesting. There was a shop selling traditional Chinese herbal soups and desserts but it was already late in the evening so I didn't want to take any "cooling" stuff. There's a money-back-guarantee fruit shop as well. My friend said that you can return the fruit if it's not up to expectations, e.g. too sour. My friend wanted to get me to try chilli ice cream. Sounds interesting! But the shop didn't have stock for that flavour. Maybe too many people like it?

I forgot to look for the popcorn from a cupcake shop next to Robinsons. Would have been a nice snack to have on the plane. No food is served on short flights and I get hungry! I usually encounter flight delays at least once on every trip :( If I don't get delayed on my inbound and outbound flights, I should go buy Toto. At Jakarta, my flight was delayed by an hour. Thankfully, free cakes, curry puffs and drinks were served. For a short flight from KLIA, I don't think passangers would get any food at all. So I would always buy food to takeaway or eat before flight departure.

I asked the hotel reception whether they issue free parking coupons. One of the staff took out a book and wrote out a voucher. Then he asked us to pay for it. We said we don't want a voucher. My friend said that she already had a parking ticket. The guy said he heard us saying we want a voucher, and added that since she had a ticket already, he just needs to stamp on it. Then later he came back and told us to go pay money somewhere. I asked isn't parking free of charge for hotel guests? His answer was, "Parking is only RM 2. We don't have free parking." It wasn't the parking cost that my friend was trying to avoid but the hastle of looking for a machine to pay the fee. Anyway, the guy just wasted our time.

Another point that I didn't like about the service was that I'm unable to check out and get my receipt in advance. I prefer to do this the night before check-out so that I don't have to queue and wait to pay in the morning.

Upon check-in, the receptionist said that mine was a twin smoking room. I said I didn't book a smoking room and the printout should show "non-smoking" if it was a non-smoking room. She said there weren't any non-smoking rooms left. I insisted that I didn't want a smoking room. Then she checked again and said asked whether it would be ok for me to take a twin non-smoking room. It made me wonder whether she checked at all before I insisted. I took the twin room. Then I double-checked the website: there was no option to specify whether I wanted a smoking or non-smoking room.

The breakfast at the hotel was boring but that may be because I'd had one hotel breakfast too many in the past months. The good thing though is the breakfast charge is optional so if I don't want the breakfast, I don't have to pay for it. Next time, I will get breakfast elsewhere. It takes about 15 mins longer to reach my client's office. I find the facilities at Boulevard hotel nicer (will post pictures later), and the room rate is lower than Sunway Pyramid Tower Hotel, though the service at the latter is excellent.

I saw a big gym complete with weights overlooking the pool at the breakfast area. The hotel room and bathroom was comfortable and well-maintained. The room temperature was ok and I had a good night's sleep.

As expected, my flight was delayed by half an hour because of late arrival of the plane from Singapore. It's rather irritating but not unexpected. With my Secret Recipe takeaway food in hand, iPad and free Wifi, the irritation is not as bad. But it still sucks that I'll get home later than expected and I hadn't showered since morning!

Jobless foreign workers better off than Singaporeans

2011-11-13T14:36:00.000+08:00

There was a report in the newspapers today about homeless Singaporeans so who sleep on the streets. I know this is true because I've seen families sleeping at public places. And there are also families who live in tents along the beach.

A friend who works in an employment agency told me that one of the China workers went AWOL. The employer couldn't find him. The family of the worker was contacted. The whole family (they were worried) came to Singapore to look for him. Guess where they found him? In the casino! He had been living there for the past month, getting free food and drinks. And that wasn't all they found. There were many others like him who had been living there for months!

Jobless foreign workers in Singapore can live more comfortably than Singaporeans. What irony!

Goodbye 111111

2011-11-11T23:28:00.003+08:00

While some people have taken the opportunity to tie the knot, 111111 has been uneventful for me. I spent my day commuting, working, have lunch with my colleagues, going to the pet shop, cleaning and washing. Nothing memorable.

111111 will never happen again.

I am reminded of the impermanence of life. And that time lost can never be bought back.

Goodbye 111111. You shall be forgotten by me.

Broken English or hidden meaning?

2011-11-09T08:57:00.000+08:00

At the check in counter at the airport, I asked whether I could move up to the earlier flight. She attendant said, "That flight is very full. It is better for you not to change flight." Either a flight is full or it is not. It can't be " very full". And what did she mean by it was "better" for me not to change flight? It sounded like there were seat but just not for me.

I know that it was possible for the flight to be full because I took that flight on another occasion and it was full, so I didn't pursue the matter. I would arrive in time for my meeting.

My point here isn't to criticize anybody's English. The English we use in Singapore can be confusing not only for foreigners but for Singaporeans as well!

Shit Fetish + Pedophilia = ?

2011-11-04T21:00:00.000+08:00

I wrote about Shit Fetish. I also wrote about Pedophilia. Add them together and you'll get something more disgusting right here in Singapore. A man broke into a kindergarten, stole soiled diapers from the bin to masturbate into them! He also shared his filthy thoughts by writing on a whiteboard his fantasies involving little girls, urine and faeces, and smeared the contents of the diapers on the wall.

Read the report here

Why should he be sent to jail for 6 months to eat proper food at the expense of Singapore taxpayers? After serving his jail term he will be free to prowl kindergartens again.

Since he likes playing with shit so much, he should be sent to a village that still uses the bucket system. He can be caged in a hole in the ground where the shit gets disposed. He'll be happy eating shit and masturbating in it.

Having sex with a sleeping woman?

2011-11-03T21:42:00.001+08:00

Julian Assange, founder of WikiLeaks, has been accused of failing to use a condom in one incident and of having sex with a woman who was sleeping in another.

I am baffled by how a man can have sex with a sleeping woman. It's totally different from waking a woman up to good sex! How does a man have sex with a woman but fail to wake her up?

Maybe:
- he drugged her or she is drunk
- the sex was so comforting she can't help but remain sleeping
- the sex is so bad that she'd rather pretend it never happened
- his penis is so small that she didn't feel anything

Ugly when mean or mean when ugly?

2011-11-02T23:05:00.001+08:00

My parents don't make it a habit to say someone is ugly. But my dad said that the cashier at the National University Hospital was ugly and had a very black face. She insisted that he pay the full estimated fee for ward charges and the surgery upfront. She estimated that his Medishield only covers him for $240 out of the total estimated charge of $9000. He is eligible to use 3000+ from his Medisave account so she demanded that he pay cash for the remaining portion. A week before surgery, he was told by another staff that wouldn't need to pay any cash because the insurance and Medisave could cover all the expenses. My dad didn't argue because he was too sick to argue and when your life is in the hospital's hands, would you be fighting over the charges?

When he was being discharged, another staff told him that he didn't need to pay the full charges upfront like he was made to do.

Do you ever wonder whether some people are mean because they are ugly or ugly because they are mean?

Calorie-counting for weight-loss

2011-10-30T11:24:00.002+08:00

My younger sister recommended me an app, Health Promotion Board's HPB Diet Tracker, to track your daily food intake. It's designed for Singapore so there's a list of local food to select from. I'm not a calorie-counter. I've never known how many calories there are in a certain type of food but because I know how to cook, I know what goes into most food, therefore I can estimate how much fat and carbs a type of dish contains in comparision to, say, noodles cooked in soup.

I downloaded the app to experiment. It's not possible to find each and every thing you eat on the list and even if you can, the serving size measurement can't be exactly what you consumed. And if the food is home-cooked by me, it's possible for it to contain less fat and calories in the form of sugar. So, +/- 10% I'd say.
However, the app does not track protein, fibre and other nutritional requirements. I hope it will be built into the next update.

In the app, I have to enter my age, weight, type of work and physical activity level. I've not been exercising for the past few weeks (I walk alot but it's not streneous enough for me to regard it as exercise) so I indicated my physical activity level as "light".

The result:

Over the past 2 days, my calorie and fat consumed are slightly below the recommended limits. (I didn't eat all that for breakfast - I didn't bother to split it into lunch/dinner.)

IF I want to lose weight, I'll have to consume less.

I wrote once that Nobody get fat eating nothing . Many people who claim that they want to lose weight eat food that are packed with calories and they don't even exercise. That's why they can't lose weight!

Most business travellers are men: Why?

2011-10-26T20:31:00.000+08:00

"Are you on holiday?" the guy seated beside me asked. Take-off was delayed although all passengers were on board early. There was a long queue for the run way. We were on an early Monday morning flight.

"No, I'm travelling for work," I answered. The plane was filled with business travellers: 95% men and 5% women including the flight attendents.

I noticed that on "business hour" flights, i.e. early Monday morning and evening Friday/pre-holiday flights most business travellers are men.

I wonder:
Are fewer women shortlisted and selected for jobs that require travelling, or
Do women reject jobs that require travelling?

Most people I speak with think travelling is dangerous, especially for women. So maybe a boss may think it's better to hire a man for a travelling job for "peace of mind" (don't need to worry about the man's safety as much as a woman's safety). Or maybe people get the idea that a travelling job is just more suitable for men, just as a job as a "tea lady" is more suitable for women.

I'm sure many women have at some point in time travelled for work. Anyone who has done it will know that it's more time-consuming, tiring and stressful than sitting in a local office. Perhaps most women are inclined not to take up such jobs. Perhaps they figured out that travelling for work wasn't going to be worth their time and effort in terms of money, career progression and personal satisfaction.

While many women are attracted to men with a "jet-setting" lifestyle, most men prefer more "down-to-earth" women for long-term relationships.

I realise that many choices I make in life reduce my chances of finding an average guy. But I'm not going to hold myself back. I want to be with someone whom I can fly with, not chain me to the ground.

Involuntary starvation sucks!

2011-10-23T08:57:00.001+08:00

Do you get grouchy or feel faint when you're hungry? I do.

How about going hungry because of someone's error?

On Singapore Airlines, the staff forgot to give me my food! Then they forgot to give me a drink! Am I that small? Maybe not that small in size but I'm just another small fry. Anyway, I didn't faint because I always eat at the airport before flying. I tend to be a victim of delayed flights. Regardless of whether I fly by Singapore Airlines or budget airlines, I count myself lucky if my flight is on time.

A 67-year-old man was made to endure 18-hour fast because of postponed surgery. It was bad enough that he needed surgery. To make it worse, he had to starve!

My sister was made to starve involuntarily too. The nurses forgot her food TWICE! We tried to be patient and understanding about the hectic schedules of the nurses, so she waited and waited. When she couldn't wait anymore, she asked when the food was coming. The nurse said the kitchen and already closed and all they could give her was biscuits! She didn't have a choice because all the eateries at the hospital were closed (so I couldn't go buy her any food), it being the eve of Lunar New Year. And we would have thought the nurses would be more mindful to give her food after her surgery? But no! They forgot AGAIN!

At the end of it, my mother still considered giving the staff a hamper! OMG! Why would anyone give a hamper to someone who didn't feed her daughter!

My sister didn't file any complaints with the hospital. She was just glad it was over. After all, what compensation could they possibly give her? One night's free stay the next time she checks in?

My dad's going for surgery next Thursday. I hope the same things doesn't happen to him...

iOS5: If it ain't broke, don't fix it?

2011-10-16T12:14:00.001+08:00

I was looking forward to upgrade my iPad to iOS5 because of the split keyboard.

I first saw the split keyboard on Win 8. Thank Steve, iOS 5 has it too. But was it going to be worth my time and effort to upgrade? So I googled the iOS5 features.

The features are nifty (such as the notification pull-down menu copied from Android). Ok. Can consider upgrading.

Next, I googled how to install. After reading the many complaints about losing data, taking ages to update (up to 9 hours!), bricking, and even posts on how to downgrade to the iOS 4, I think I'll wait it out for a bit.

Are you faster than a monitor lizard?

2011-10-10T20:30:00.003+08:00

I have a friend is afraid of butterflies, snakes, cats, dogs, fish, etc. I was surprised at her reaction when we saw a monitor lizard on the road. Instead of running away from it, she ran towards it to take a picture.

I asked her why she wasn't afraid of the lizard. She said it's because it moved slowly. I told her that they can run faster than human beings! I don't think she believes me though.

I didn't have the exact nunbers then but I just checked it.
Monitor lizard's top recorded running speed: 45km/h

Let's say an average person runs 400 m in 1 min 40 s or 100 s.

1 hr = 60 min x 60 sec = 3600 s
Speed = (3600 / 100) * 400 = 14.4 km/hr
That's really slow compared to a monitor lizard!

I'm slower than a monitor lizard for sure :(

Picture of a monitor lizard (this was taken by someone else on another trip)

Free penis enlargement surgery

2011-10-09T10:39:00.001+08:00

I find it unbelievable that Cuban men can get free penis enlargement surgery!
Their nation provides free healthcare and it does not exclude such surgeries. Although these surgeries are meant to correct defects at birth or from accidents, men are trying to take advantage of free healthcare for this esthetic surgery.

Did you read my article about penis matters in my book?

From “I, Pencil” to iPhone: The spontaneous order of capitalism

2011-10-06T18:38:00.004+08:00

Posted by David

Everyone reading this either uses an Apple product or one influenced by Steve Jobs and the company he co-founded. I am one of those rare individuals who have never owned anything from Apple. I will admit that the Samsung smartphone, the Creative Zen MP3 player I use are influenced by a Steve Jobs inspired product.

I am sharing a tribute to Steve Jobs that is most eloquent.

Written by Michelle Malkin, an American writer and columnist I admire and whose writings I read frequently.

From: Michelle Malkin • October 5, 2011 11:50 PM

There is perhaps no greater image of irony tonight than that of anti-capitalist, anti-corporate, anti-materialist extremists of the Occupy Wall Street movement paying tribute to Steve Jobs — the co-founder, chairman and former chief executive of Apple Inc., who passed away this evening.

While the Kamp Alinsky Kids ditch school to moan about their massive student debt, parade around in zombie costumes, and whine about evil corporations while Tweeting, Facebook-ing, blogging, and Skype-ing their “revolution,” it’s the doers and producers and wealth creators like Jobs who change the world. They are the gifted 1 percent whom the #OWS “99 percent-ers” mob seeks to demonize, marginalize, and tax out of existence.

Inherent in the American success story of the iPhone/iMac/iPad is a powerful lesson about the fundamentals of capitalism. The Kamp Alinsky Kids scream “People over profit.” They call for “caring” over “corporations.”

But the pursuit of profits empowers people beyond the bounds of imagination.

I am blogging on an iMac. When I travel, I use my MacBook Pro. I Tweet news links from my iPhone. My kids are learning Photoshop and GarageBand on our Macs. I use metronome, dictation, video, and camera apps. I use Apple products for business, pleasure, social networking, raising awareness of the missing, finding recipes, and even tuning a ukulele.

None of the people involved in conceiving these products and bringing them to market “care” about me. They pursued their own self-interests. Through the spontaneous order of capitalism, they enriched themselves — and the world.

Eleven years ago, I wrote about one of my favorite economics essays: Leonard Read’s “I, Pencil.” He turned a mundane writing instrument into an elementary lesson about free-market capitalism. What goes for the pencil goes for any of the products Steve Jobs introduced to the world.

“I have a profound lesson to teach,” Read wrote in the voice of a lead pencil. “I can teach this lesson better than can an automobile or an airplane or a mechanical dishwasher because–well, because I am seemingly so simple. Simple? Yet, not a single person on the face of this earth knows how to make me.”

Read traces the rich, deep genealogy of the metaphorical little pencil from the loggers who harvest its cedar wood grown in Oregon, to the millworkers in San Leandro, California, who cut the wood into thin slats, to the railroad employees who transport the wood across the country, to the graphite miners in Ceylon and refinery workers in Mississippi, to the farmers in the Dutch East Indies who produce an oil used to make erasers.

All these people, and many more at the periphery of the process, have special knowledge about their life’s work in their separate corners of the earth. But none by himself has the singular knowledge or ability to give birth to a pencil. Few will ever come in contact with the others who make the production of that pencil possible. It’s not because they “care about each other” that they cooperate to deliver any one good. It’s the result of self-interest, multiplied millions of times over.

As Read explains it: “Neither the worker in the oil field nor the chemist nor the digger of graphite or clay nor any who mans or makes the ships or trains or trucks nor the one who runs the machine that does the knurling on my bit of metal nor the president of the company performs his singular task because he wants me.” Indeed, there are some among this vast multitude who never saw a pencil nor would they know how to use one. Their motivation is other than me. Perhaps it is something like this: Each of these millions sees that he can thus exchange his tiny know-how for the goods and services he needs or wants.”

Read pushed the lesson of pencil further. “There is a fact still more astounding: The absence of a master mind, of anyone dictating or forcibly directing these countless actions which bring me into being. No trace of such a person can be found. Instead, we find the Invisible Hand at work.”

This spontaneous “configuration of human energies” is repeated endlessly in our daily lives. Think of the countless and diverse people involved in producing a Slinky, jump rope, or baseball, a diaper, refrigerator, desktop computer, Boeing 747, or iPhone.

Appreciating this voluntary configuration of human energies, Read argued, is key to possessing “an absolutely essential ingredient for freedom: a faith in free people. Freedom is impossible without this faith.”

Indeed. Without that faith, we are susceptible to the force of class-warfare mobs and the arrogance of master planners in Washington who believe the role of private American entrepreneurs, producers, and wealth generators is to “grow the economy” and who “think at some point you have made enough money.”

The progressives who want to bring down “Wall Street” will snipe that Steve Jobs was one of “theirs,” not “ours.”

He belonged to no one. He was transcendently committed to excellence and beauty and innovation. And yes, he made gobs of money pursuing it all while benefiting hundreds of millions of people around the world whom he never met, but who shed a deep river of tears upon learning of his death tonight.

Such is the everlasting miracle of the spontaneous configuration of human energies. Teach your children well.

***

Via ZoeyalaMode, a very related and relevant September 2011 reflection from Mises.org:

What made Jobs’s tenure at Apple great is that he wedded profits with aesthetic loveliness. Not every businessperson can or should do this. Even the entrepreneurs who provided the masses with tacky things are just as deserving of our admiration and praise, for they too do their part to lift us all out of the poverty and squalor that is the state of nature.

And aside from the prettiness of certain products or the elegance of the smartphone, there is another overarching beauty that we find in the market: a lovely, orderly, productive global matrix of cooperative exchange that leads to human flourishing for everyone, even in the absence of a global dictator. This is as beautiful a system as any product Steve Jobs ever made.

Mr. Jobs, the world will miss you.

Oral Sex May Cause More Throat Cancer Than Smoking in Men

2011-10-05T20:27:00.000+08:00

Oral Sex May Cause More Throat Cancer Than Smoking in Men, Researchers Say

Does this finding make you think twice about performing oral sex on women?

You're safe only if you stick to one partner who doesn't have sexual contact with anyone else and does not have HPV (note that there are many strains of HPV - some of which cannot be detected through laboratory tests).

Perhaps someone can invent a "mouth condom" someday.

The culture of blame

2011-10-04T21:11:00.001+08:00

Many countries (Singapore included) have chosen the fast and dirty way to deal with rising costs and labour shortage by importing cheap (but not necessarily reliable or high-quality) labour, firing local workers to be replaced by overseas operations, and sourcing for products overseas instead of thinking of ways to increase productivity and spur innovation to sustain the economy.

It is, no doubt, challanging to run a business or rule as a government. Nobody can know for sure all the effects of all policies and decisions made.

I think we all watch too many US TV shows and read too many psychology books written by US psychologists about blaming one's parents (or teachers or past bad experience) for the predicament we're in. I mean, please. If we're old enough to watch TV and read psychology books, we're old enough to take responsibility for our actions.

Now, the US blames Europe and China for the current financial crisis. I can agree that Europe has serious a problem: they have been spending more than they can afford to, and they can't figure out what to do. China, on the other hand, provides cheap labour and cheap goods for export. China didn't force anyone to buy their products and services. And the US of all countries is blaming other countries when they were the ones who started the global panic by being indecisive!

Don't you think if they're old enough to get elected, they're old enough to take full responsibility for their actions?

Butt dimples??

2011-10-02T22:34:00.000+08:00

Ever heard of butt dimples?

I read an article in the local newspapers about liposuction. Everyone knows that people try to suck fats out of their bellies but it seems in addition to that women also get fats sucked out to create butt dimples (also called back dimples, dimples of Venus). It seems guys find it very sexy on women.

The "dimples" are depressions or grooves on each side of the spine, between the upper part of the butt and the waistline. It's supposely obtained through exercise and fat reduction (most athletes with low body fat have it) though it's also thought to be that it's genetic (it seems some fat people have it too).

I checked my rear view and I have butt dimples.

Thank goodness I just educated myself on butt dimples. Otherwise if a guy came up to me saying, "I love your butt dimples," I might think he's referring to my asshole.

Hyperactive mouths

2011-09-27T21:55:00.002+08:00

A lawyer was caught performing oral sex on gay partner in a public place. Seems he's got a hyperactive mouth!

Do your lawyer friends have hyperactive mouths too? The lawyers with higher EQ know when to stop arguing. The others don't - much to the frustration of the people around them. They treat people like criminals.

People (not only lawyers) who behave in this manner are toxic. It doesn't matter whether they are road sweepers or lawyers: they still are toxic.

I suppose the only way to make them stop is to avoid them so you don't have to endure their nonsense or to stuff something into their mouth to gag them.

My magazine article: Sexual serve

2011-09-25T11:05:00.000+08:00

When I was asked to write about seduction in relation to Michelin-star fine dining, all I could think about was tyres and work (Michelin is a customer of the company that I work for).

I'll admit that I'm no master of fine dining. But when it comes to fine lovemaking to a woman, I have a suggestion or two to seduce her to ecstasy with a little help from the principles of fine dining!

Read my article in Men's Health Magazine, September 2011, p. 106. 107.

You can find more articles on sexual attitudes, sexual behaviour and women's sexual preferences in my book. Click here to buy my book.

All religions teach people to do good: agree?

2011-09-24T12:49:00.001+08:00

Whenever there's any kind of debate about which religion is better, someone will always have to say "all religions teach people to do good". It's rather effective to stop me from further debate. Not because I agree but because there's no point in debating with someone who has his head in the ground.

Here is an example of why I disagree with that statement.

Many years ago in India "Under the devdasi system, girls were dedicated to a life of sex work in the name of religion. Initially, they would serve upper class men in the local community. The girls would entertain princes and landlords with song and dance. Gradually, this gave way to a life of prostitution. Many women, like Priya, end up in the red light districts of India's major cities." [Read more]

What good is sending children into prostitution? It is only good for the fathers to get income and perverts to sex.

Some people might say that it's not the religion but people who twist the religion to serve their own purpose. But what's a religion? We can't have religions if there were no people. If the people have twisted the religious teachings, then it is the failure of the religion to educate those people. Therefore, the religion has failed.

All religions teach people to do good. Sure. Someone always benefits.

A leopard never changes its spots

2011-09-22T21:12:00.000+08:00

When a young adult is seen by society to be a good person, we say that his/her parents have done a good job. When teenagers misbehave, some people may say their parents have failed in their responsibilities.

But I think nature plays a bigger role than nurture. How else can we explain differences in the behaviour of babies and children raised in the same household?

Besides parents, there are many people around who try to change your opinion or behaviour. E.g. the government, religious groups, relatives, friends, bosses, co-workers, reporters, salesmen, bankers, etc.

A great many people have tried to change someone into someone else, or have hoped and waited for their someone to change for the better. I don't have the exact numbers but I don't know of anyone who has been successful.

Even those who have done things that they regret and know that they have to change - have not changed. A leopard can't change its spots. And we shouldn't waste any time or energy waiting for that to happen.

F1? I'd rather play car racing games

2011-09-21T20:05:00.000+08:00

Do you play car racing games? I think the night scenes of such games always look very nice! It's great that (legal) night racing is a reality in Singapore.

Many roads are closed because of the upcoming F1 night race. I had to walk further to take a different bus from a different road to get to a different MRT station. I heard that some companies located along the route give employees the afternoon off on Friday because the trial runs create too much noise for employees to work. Unfortunately, my office is not affected so I will have to endure the inconvenience. Did you have to take another route to/from your office?

I agree that such events are good for tourism and to make Singapore a more interesting place. Not many young people would like to live in a city where there's nothing to do but work and watch TV.

This is one of the events that is supposedly good but causes inconvenience to those who have no interest in it.

If I don't get to drive the car, I'm not interested in watching. I'd rather play a car racing game than to pay money to watch the race and get deaf.

What's the fish?

2011-09-19T19:39:00.005+08:00

I found my dear aqueous of time handphone pouch. I have neglected it since I bought my China handphone (I don't use a pouch now).

My interpretation of "When I addict to aqueous of time, discover the fish is missing" is: I was too engrossed in pursuing other things and suddenly realised that what's important is no longer there. The pouch is very old now and I was about to throw it away. But I considered whether I had found my fish. I have been working for 7 months at my full-time job. Time flies. I do have more fish to eat but I wonder whether I have neglected the other types of "fish". So I decided to keep the pouch and think about what's fish to me.

Previous post: I need to stay focused on my goals

What's scarier than ghosts?

2011-09-18T15:19:00.001+08:00

An ex-school mate asked me whether I wanted to go to Bangkok with him and our other school mates. He said his friends were sharing rooms with their own girlfriends but he didn't have anyone to share a room with him, so that was why he asked me. He said he was afraid to stay in a hotel room alone. I told him that there was no way I was going to share a room with him.

A friend told me that she felt her bed shaking when she slept alone in a hotel room.

A property agent told me that the clubhouse of a competing project nearby had ghosts, according to online discussions.

The cancellation of the Halloween Horrors event (where they pay to scare themselves and their children) at the Night Safari left some people disappointed and angry.

So, do we like ghosts or are we afraid of ghosts?

I used to feel afraid when I watched ghost movies. But as I grow older and travel more, I feel less afraid of ghosts than before. In fact, I think the graveyard is one of the most peaceful places to visit in urban Singapore.

My friend's explanation for this: I've realised that people are scarier than ghosts!

Possible future leaders of Singapore are idiots and pervs

2011-09-17T12:35:00.000+08:00

I roll my eyes whenever I see university freshmen at Orchard Road doing silly things such as yelling dumb slogans and songs. Student join such orientation activities knowing that they'll be put through torture and made to do stupid things in the name of bonding. And these are the future generation of leaders in Singapore? Please.

Orientation camps are not compulsory and neither are they free. Students have to pay if they want to join. It was reported in The New Paper that girls had to lie flat on the ground while their male schoolmates leaned over them, among other disgusting games.

Why would university freshmen pay money to be put through that kind of shit? One obvious reason: they are desperate idiots!

I can understand that the guys might enjoy it tremendously. But the girls? They must be really desperate for friends and boyfriends to join at all.

And the seniors who came up with such games? They are pervs!

When I was admitted to NUS, I did not join the students' union camp which was reputed for its ridiculous activities. Those in my cohort who had joined would tell me about how much fun they had, with me thinking to myself why in the world paying to do stupid things would be any fun at all. I don't know whether any of them had become leaders by now. We don't happen to be like-minded enough to keep in touch.

Must be courteous to collect membership points

2011-09-17T10:24:00.001+08:00

This is part of the terms and conditions of membership to Accor Hotel's A|Club which enables members to collect points for staying in their hotels.

I am amused! I've never seen such a membership condition!

Some Asians may sound when they speak English because if English is not native to them they may fail to use words like "please", "may I", "excuse me", etc. E.g. they may say "I want a room with sea view" instead of saying "May I have a room with a sea view?"

So the hotel may revoke your membership if you sound rude?

Scarlett Johansson: camwhore

2011-09-16T22:38:00.006+08:00

Who would have thought she'd be a camwhore too? After all, she has her pictures taken all the time.

She used her handphone to take pictures of herself nude in the bed and bathroom. I should say, however, that her nude camwhore shots were artistic. Apparently, someone hacked into her handphone to obtain those pictures.

I can't post the pictures any of those pictures here for obvious reasons. If haven't seen them yet you should be able to find them on the net. But be careful not to download viruses. I'm sure there's plenty out there named "Scarlett Johansson nude pics".

Good luck, bad luck

2011-09-15T20:05:00.000+08:00

I was sad to hear that someone had confessed to a crime which she said she didn't commit (I believe her).

She confessed to it because she was told that if the case got taken to court, she may be jailed if found guilty but if she made a confession and pleaded guilty she would only need to pay a fine.

Weighing the possibility of losing the case, going to jail, nobody taking care of her son and high litigation fees against paying a fine, she chose the latter.

The person who accused her was her former boss. He gathered 2 people to agree to testify against her by threatening them. So it's their word against hers. The police used her status as a single mother to convince her to plead guilty.

She's a capable woman: she was head of a department, has a master's degree and raises her son without support from her son's father. Now she has a police record which will limit her ability to find a job.

She's very unlucky to encounter such a terrible boss. But I believe that nobody has very bad luck all his life and nobody has very good luck throughout either. I used to have rather bad luck in the past but now my luck is rather good. I hope her luck will change for the better soon.

Nearly 40 % of Europeans suffer mental illness

2011-09-14T05:51:00.000+08:00

Contribuited by David

News from Europe. For those not following world marketconditions, the economy in most Euro zone nations is a not good. Greece isteetering on economic default, Italy along with Portugal are having similar financialcrisis.

Why are so many Euro zone nations in financial distress?Some economist says the reasons are complex. Others say one simply has to lookat where these governments spend money, what comes in and economic history ofthese nations play a factor.

All the nations’ mentioned above a social democracies. Inone form or another the citizens of these nations have cradle to grave healthcare, education for those smart enough paid through the university level.Generous retirement plans.

For those fortunate to work for the above governments, greatpay, great
benefits and long holidays.

Such generosity has a high cost. Aging populations, oldinfrastructures are adding to expenses that have been climbing for years. Onewould think living in a socialist utopia like the Euro zone would be paradise.

Full story here: Eurozonemental health problems.

Europeans are plagued by mental and neurologicalillnesses,with almost 165 million people or 38 percent of the populationsuffering eachyear from a brain disorder such as depression, anxiety, insomniaor dementia,according to a large new study.
With only about a third of cases receiving the therapy or medication needed,mental illnesses cause a huge economic and social burden --measured in thehundreds of billions of Euros -- as sufferers become too unwell to work andpersonal relationships break down.

"Mental disorders have become Europe's largest health challenge of the 21stcentury," the study's authors said.

The study quoted by Reuters also claims that by 2020, depressionwill be the second leading contributor to the global illness across
all age groups.

I would think that immigrating to the Euro zone will becomevastly less popular.
One has to wonder if such rampant mental illness can explain riots that shook
Europe during recent months.

Do not forget soccer riots. Crowded soccer stadiums are thescenes of frequent
riots and mayhem.

Perhaps living in a society that removes most and some casesall responsibility for controlling what one does with life, removes one of thekey factors for mental health.

The drive to grow and thrive is absent when everything isprovided by a nanny state.

What do you think?

Sagacious responses only.

Bangkok: 26, 27, 31 Aug - 2 Sep 2011

2011-09-12T19:00:00.008+08:00

I was in Bangkok for leisure and work - in that order :D
(Though my priorities were the opposite)

At Pullman Bangkok Hotel

THB24.3 = SGD1

26-27 August

I stopped over in Bangkok for a day before heading to Pattaya. I was on a night flight so having a rest after a day at work made sense. Besides, I wanted to visit Chatuchak and the coach to Pattaya would cost THB200 versus taking a taxi for at more than THB1000.

Sinsuvarn Airport Hotel had good reviews on the Internet, and the charge per night was only THB759 without breakfast but with free 2-way transfer from the airport. I was grateful for the free transfer service I wouldn’t have to queue for a taxi or get worried about the driver not being able to find the hotel. I booked the hotel just before I boarded the plane so they didn’t have my name on the list but they didn’t stop me from using the free transfer service. I only waited about 5 minutes for the minibus. Check-in at the hotel took only 1 minute. I was asked to write down the time I was leaving for the airport the next day. There's a shuttle bus schedule.

Sinsuvarn Airport Suite Hotel entrance

Road leading to Sinsuvarn Airport Suite Hotel

Houses along the road out from Sinsuvarn Airport Suite Hotel

Shuttle bus schedule

The room was clean and spacious. There's a balcony but I realised that it shouldn't be used at all unless I wanted to feed the mosquitoes.

View from my room

The bathroom was clean. Some chargeable items like condoms, sanitary pads and toothbrushes were available but at supermarket prices. After a shower, I had to go back down to get my free wifi access username and password. The speed of access was good.

In the morning, I took at taxi to the nearest train station, Lat Krabang airportlink station. I had to wait about 15 minutes for the train. The journey to Phaya Thai (terminal) station took almost 30 minutes.

Lat Krabang airportlink station

I didn't know it would take that long to get to the city. I was hungry because I didn't have breakfast. I ate at a hawker area under a tent just beside the station.

Phaya Thai station vicinity map

Hawker stalls at Phaya Thai

After that, I took the BTS sky train to Chatuchak weekend market. The market is a 3 minutes' walk from Mo Chit station. It can also be reached via underground MRT (stop at Chatuchak Park MRT station) but that's a different line that does not link to Phaya Thai station.

Chatuchak

I love the creativity of Thai people. I like the light-weight trolley bags which are great for people to carry away the stuff. It's easy to get carried away when there are so many nice things to buy!

Trolley bags at Chatuchak

The slipper designs are really cute! I like the fruit and cat designs!

Slippers at Chatuchak

One section of the market that I love is the pet section. There are dogs, birds, rabbits, hamsters, cats, etc. I don't recall seeing any snakes. Some shop holders may not allow you to touch the animals. Most animals, except the expensive ones such as Persian cats, are kept in cramped cages. The saddest animal in the market must have been this cat that was sitting in its own litterbox.

Sad kitten sitting in litterbox at Chatuchak

Kitten at Chatuchak

Puppies at Chatuchak

Birds at Chatuchak

Rabbits at Chatuchak

Dressed-up rabbits at Chatuchak

It's not easy hanging around at Chatuchak for too long because of the heat. I bought some locally made drinks and snacks from a small supermarket there. The cashier told me that photography was not allowed. I think she thought I was gathering a basket of stuff that I wasn't going to buy. I said that I was going to buy them and she didn't protest further.

Small supermarket selling local produce at Chatuchak, just outside Chatuchak Park MRT station

I took the BTS sky train back to Phaya Thai station and changed over to the Airportlink line. I could either take the express non-stop service (THB 90) that goes directly to the airport in 17 minutes then take a taxi from the airport to the hotel, or take the standard service (THB 40) back to the station closest to the hotel (1 stop from the airport). I chose the former. I took rather long to get back to the hotel because the train departs once every half hour. The train interior is different from the non-express train. The journey to the airport did really take 17 minutes only. It was well-worth the extra money. [see airport to Phaya Thai express train schedule and Phaya Thai to airport express train schedule]

Fares from Phaya Thai airportlink station

Airportlink Express train THB90 one-way from Phaya Thai to Airport

Both the normal train and express train service run on the same track. I've been asked how that was possible.

This is how it works:
The express non-stop train departs every 30 minutes. The normal train departs every 15 minutes.
- The express non-stop train departs from the terminal at say 0900.
- The normal train departs at 0901, behind the express train. Because the express train will bypass the next station, the normal train that departed at 0901 will not collide into the express train in front.
- Then at 0916, the second normal train departs from the terminal.
- At 0930, the next express train departs.
- At 0931, the normal train departs, and so on.

Since I was at the airport, I decided to buy my bus ticket to Pattaya before returning to the hotel.

I checked out and then went to "The Restaurant" (yup, that's the real name) for lunch while waiting for the shuttle service to the airport. The room service prices are the same as the restaurant prices.

"The restaurant"

Prawn cakes were fresh and delicious

The shuttle minivan driver dropped me off at the correct area. The airport is big and extremely inconvenient to get around: can't use trolleyhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif, can't use some escalators, etc. Very frustrating.

I spent a few days in Pattaya before returning to Bangkok. Read my Pattaya entry here.

31 Aug - 2 Sep

I stayed at Sinsuvarn Airport Suite hotel for 1 night when I returned. My bus from Pattaya arrived at the airport at 8.30pm.

The next day, I took the shuttle service to the airport and then took the non-stop express service to Phaya Thai station. From there, I took a taxi to the hotel that I was going to stay at for the next 2 nights.

I reached there at 9.45am because my colleague said she was planning to arrive at that time. The receptionist said that the hotel was full and I had to wait till 11am for a room.

At Pullman hotel garden lounge

The room and bathroom are really nice! It's what I call a "true 5-star hotel". There's a bathtub with bath salt provided and even a small decorative pig.

Pullman Bangkok King Power Hotel THB2943

I had planned to use the bathtub on the 2nd night but, sadly, I did not because I had to work at night and get up early to travel out for meetings :( Believe me, I literally dreamed about bathtubs that night. I used the weighing machine though. I was 51kg on the first night :D (Back down to 49kg the next day).

One of the far out places I went to was Amata City at Rayong province. It's closer to Pattaya than Bangkok. It's an industrial area. We set off at 7.30am. We got there in 2 hours instead of the 3 hours were expected because there were traffic jams. We had some time to kill so we stopped for food and drink. There are only a few eateries in the town area.

Amata City

Cafe at Amata City

The Carbonara at the Italian restaurant was authentic. The cook is Thai but he used to work in hotels. As you can see from the picture, there's no cream at all and the bacon is good quality bacon - not bacon bits and not too much fat. (If you know where to find authentic Carbonara in Singapore, please tell me.)

Carbonara at Italian restaurant

I did some shopping after dinner. Bangkok is most definitely a shopping paradise. It caters to the high- and low-end shoppers. I didn't bother to check out the high-end range for clothes or food. The only "expensive" food I had was the free breakfast at the hotel. The spread was excellent but I didn't stuff myself because I had meetings to attend.

There's a free tuk-tuk shuttle service from the hotel to Centry mall

Century mall near the hotel

I had dinner at this Thai restaurant in Century mall serves very good and cheap food

If I had bought alot of cash I would have stocked up on Boots toiletries (buy 1 get 1 free anniversary promotion)

Cinema poster

My colleague and I found ourselves standing beside that the actor in the middle poster. We were waiting for a table at a restaurant near Ari BTS station at lunch time.

The night market stretches all the way between Century Mall and Victory Monument BTS station. There's cheap food and clothes - cheaper than in malls. Everything costs under THB250 or SGD10. You might experience the occasional blackout which we witnessed. People carried on their business of buying and eating, as oblivious of the lack of light as nocturnal animals.

Night market outside Century

Eatery outside Century. I had noodles here the 2nd night

This dog, at the Victory Monument night market area, was yearning to have its photo taken.

Victory Monument area

The last time I'd been to Bangkok was in 2006. At the time, Platinum Fashion Mall at Pratunum did not exist. I must say that it's the best place I've been to in South East Asia to buy clothes! You can buy men's and women's work clothes, casual wear, party dresses, beach wear, undergarments, shoes, bags, accessories and children's clothes. There's a food court at the top level but the food sucks.

I was told it used to sell only wholesale in the past - at least 3 pieces. Now the shops do sell single pieces but the more you buy, the more discounts you get.

Photography is not allowed in the mall but I managed to take some pictures. Some shop holders will tell you that photography is not allowed if they see you snapping pictures.

Platinum Fashion Mall

This sort of hair bands are in fashion there

The mall is huge so if you see something that you like and are considering buying it, do take a picture or write down the lane where you saw it.

How can anyone resist buying supper when in Bangkok? I bought Mango sticky rice. I turned on the TV as I was enjoying my dessert. Bad choice! There was a reality TV show on. A dirty toilet at the village with greenish growth in the toilet bowl. I didn't eat the reamining half of my dessert (which I ate in the taxi the next day).

Talking about taxis, my colleague and I rode in this taxi with all-pink interior. The taxi driver said it was the only one in Bangkok and passangers liked taking pictures in it.

If you hope to catch this taxi, do not look for a pink taxi on the road because its exterior is green and yellow.

And more about taxis, it's not always easy to get a taxi driver to take you anywhere and you'll have to fight with queue-cutters who will stand right beside you to snatch the taxi. We must have asked about 10 taxis and tuk-tuk drivers before we finally get one that would take us to our hotel that was only 5 mins away. And this is not because we were tourists. My colleague is Thai. Once, a tuk-tuk driver agreed to take us to our hotel. After driving about 200m, he stopped at the traffic light. My colleague told him that he needed to turn left to get us to the hotel. He told us to get off. We had no choice but to get off. My colleague said to me," Amazing Thailand!"

A place that used to be good for shopping is Talad Loung Preim. Talad means market. Loung means uncle and Preim (pronounced as "perm") is his name. So it's Uncle Preim's market. But please don't tell the taxi drivers that you want to go to Uncle Preim's market - they won't know what you're talking about. You can tell them to go to the market behind Thai Airways head office. By the way, if you need to use the toilet, there's one in the office building.

Thai Airways head office

Entrance to Talad Loung Preim

If you don't mind the heat (I don't) there cheap and yummy food here. The kaya bun is exceptionally soft and the kaya tastes good. The cream sandwiches are nice too.

Hawker area

Soft kaya buns

Cream cake sandwiches

Iced tea and iced coffee

The clothing here is more expensive than at Platinum Fashion Mall. There's no aircon here either. We guessed that the high rental must have driven the prices up. Apparently, Uncle Preim isn't a nice guy.

A lady was selling shrimp salad by the road outside Platinum Fashion Mall. The shrimps were jumping around in a large basket. The lady put her bare hands (which I'm sure are the same hands used to take money) into the basket. She said the live shrimp would be mixed with vegetables and sauce, and served uncooked. Neither my colleague nor I tried it. Unless you're in a hurry to lose some weight, don't ever eat uncooked roadside food.

Live shrimps

Shrimp salad stall

I took the express train to the airport to catch my Tigerairways flight back to Singapore. The web check-in service was not working. The flight was delayed by an hour. I was very hungry so I had expensive airport food. I got free 15 mins' wifi access from the information counter. It took me 15 minutes to load the login page. Not worth the trouble. There's paid access available but I don't know how much faster the speed would be.

Suvarnabhumi Airport

Free 30 mins wifi at Coffeeworld

Free 15 mins wifi at airport

Get your free 15 mins wifi access at the counter

Hopelessly slow free 15 mins' wifi access

I was glad to arrive in "unique" Singapore where internet access speeds are fast and taxi drivers don't kick me out in the middle of the road!

Buying cheap things you don't need

2011-09-11T10:13:00.001+08:00

"Why don't you take 3 for $1.20?" the shopholder offered me. All I wanted to buy and eat was 2 pieces of soon kueh for $1. 3 pieces would be one too many. My sister doesn't eat it.

"Only 20 cents for the 3rd piece," she added.

How often do you buy something that you don't need just because it's cheap?

It's tempting to buy. I'll find some use for it. Someone will want to eat it.

I try to stick to what I intended to buy. Otherwise I'll end up paying for things I don't need and don't use.

"No thanks, I can't finish it," I said though 20 cents for the 3rd piece is cheap.

Time flies

2011-09-10T15:48:00.000+08:00

"Do you know it's been 10 years since 911?" my colleague asked me.

It's amazing how time flies. It doesn't even feel like 10 years have passed since the 9/11 attack.

Do you remember what you were doing that day? I had just returned home that evening. My dad was watching the news in his room. He said a plane had flown into a building (at the time I hadn't heard of the World Trade Center). He asked my mum and me to come watch it. I said I wanted to shower and I'll watch it later. By the time I'd come out of the shower, another plane had flown into the second tower of the building.

Perhaps you can remember, perhaps you can't. What were you doing when the tunnel of Nicoll Highway MRT station collapsed, killing 4 workers? This incident was recent and happened in my homeland but why can't I remember? Is it because fewer lives were lost? Is it because American lives seem to be more highly valued by the mass media than those of poor foreign workers?

How time flies is reminder to treasure the gift of time.

9/11 - Ten Years After

2011-09-10T06:00:00.000+08:00

10 years

contributed by David

Passing soquickly.

People going to work, to school, to fly to another city.

So many memories-

Shock...

Pain..

Sorrow...

Anger...

Compassion...

Determination...

September, a day with a brilliant blue fall sky...

Many reading this were children.

An entire generation has been born since.

Singaporeand other parts of Asia had varied reactions to the events that occurred 15300kilometers away. New York is literally on the other side of this Earth.

Where wereyou on September 11 or 12, 2001?

Can you share any memories from 9/11?

That necklace around your neck might kill you

2011-09-07T21:30:00.000+08:00

I hardly buy costume jewellery because I'm too lazy to wear any and I'm allergic to some metals. My skin gets red and itchy when it comes into contact with those metals. I'm allergic to some types of sunscreen as well, e.g. Coppertone. I did away with body sunscreen for my Pattaya trip and I did not return to Singapore with the one week of itchy skin which I got on previous trips when I applied sunscreen.

Thankfully, I've not been led by vanity to purpose many costume jewellery. Cadmium, a highly toxic metal that can cause kidney damage, brittle bones, cancer and death, has been found in children's and adults' jewellery many times.

As usual, Chinese manufacturers have been named as a culprit. After jewellery with Lead got banned, some Chinese manufacturers turned to using Cadmium which wasn't banned. The reason for it not being banned in jewellery was: it's so toxic that nobody thought that anybody would ever think of using it in jewellery! (The US Center for Disease Control and Prevention lists cadmium as the seventh most hazardous element out of a list 275 toxic substances).

So do think twice before buying costume jewellery.

Settlement to help limit toxic cadmium in jewellery

Cadmium found in adult jewellery, too

Pattaya: 27-30 August 2011

2011-09-03T20:00:00.009+08:00

Welcome to the land of fake love!

Fake love

Men of all shapes and colours come here to buy fake love. I found it disgusting to see terrible-looking men holding hands with the Thai girls, putting their arms around them. The Thai girls are of course more than willing to act lovey-dovey with the men.

Yes, Singaporeans are judgemental - I don't pretend not to be about the sex industry. I'm not discussing whether prostitution should be legal or if it must exist; all I'm saying is I feel disgusted about those men.

Day 1 - 27 August

I travelled to Pattaya by coach from Suvarnabhumi airport, Bangkok. A ticket costs THB200 from Bell Travel Service. Tickets can be purchased at the "Pattaya" counter on level 1, door 8 in the airport. The departure was as scheduled [view schedule here] I reached Pattaya bus station in about 1.5 hours, after which the passangers on the bus were directed to minivans to take us to our respective hotels.

Pattaya counter at airport

Coach to Pattaya

I stayed at ibis Pattaya Hotel for THB 1,300 per night - inclusive of 17.7% tax and service charge, unlimited wifi and buffet breakfast. There is hawker food, restaurants, massage spas, a bowling alley, bars, convenience stores, Tiffany's Show and Tiffany's shooting range just beside the hotel and across the road. The hotel is along "Second Road", parallel to "Pattaya Beach Road". A slow walk to the beach takes about 8 minutes.

ibis Pattaya Hotel

Second Road

Drinking street along Second Road near ibis Pattaya hotel

Hawker area across the road from ibis Pattaya Hotel

Back to the topic of fake love, there are bars all over Pattaya where fake love is available. Soi 6 appeared to be the most sleazy area, lined with bars, not with suggestive but brazen names such as "Horny Bar". Elsewhere, there's "Pink Lady", "Cockney Pride" and "Magic Finger Massage".

Bars along Soi 6

Bar along Central Pattaya Road

Signboard outside a massage palour

If you miss foam parties, you can join in the one at Hard Rock. I've never been to a foam party and have no desire to attend one. I find it dirty - in both hygiene and the sexual sense.

It was polling day for the Singapore Presidential Election. I didn't stay up for the results. But I didn't sleep well. Other than having nightmares about the result, someone had the TV turned on too loudly at 2am. I asked the hotel staff to see to the matter. It must have been another half hour before the TV got turned off.

Day 2 - 28 August

My first two days in Pattaya weren't very much fun. I spent most of my time in the room doing work, stepping out only to eat. Breakfast in the hotel was just okay. In the evening, went to a random shop to tailor 3 shirts. Some shops will quote rather high prices. The first shop I went to along Central Pattaya Road quoted THB 2400 for 3 shirts. I didn't see any nice material and the guy was unwilling to lower the price to THB 2000 so I went to the next shop, Vogue Fashion (1/3-4 Central Pattaya Road, Pattaya City, Chonburi. Tel: +66 (0) 38429322. www.absolutesuit.com), where I was quoted THB 700 for 1 shirt or THB 2000 (SGD82) for 3 long-sleeved shirts. The 3 shirts were to be ready for me to try on the next day at 5pm.

I shopped a little after that. I bought a nice bag made of plastic for work. I wouldn't have to worry about my iPad getting wet if it rains! I love the bags in Thailand! Thais are very creative when it comes to bags. I cannot leave Thailand without buying a bag, a purse or more bags and purses!

Plastic bag

Plastic bag with iPad. iPad is protected from scratches from keys and sharp items in my bag and from the rain

Toiletries are cheap in Thailand. I bought 6 300ml bottles of shampoo. The brand Boots was having its anniversary 1-for-1 sale. THB95 for 2 bottles - that's SGD2 per bottle. Cheap cheap!

I didn't watch the Tiffany's Show but I happened to be there during a phototaking session.

I have no idea why guys can't tell the Tiffany girls apart from normal girls. It's very obvious to me that these people are not born as girls. In pictures, I might not be able to tell the difference because I am not able to see them in relation to born-women. In person, these people are just HUGE. Not only their bodies, but the size of their faces and heads. When you put all of them together, they all look ok but if you photograph a man with them, you'll see that men have faces of similar size. If you photograph them with a born-woman, you'll see that the transsexuals have significantly larger faces.

So, those people who can't tell a transsexual from a real woman must have visual problems with comparing sizes.

Tiffany's Show

Talking about creativity, I think this must be the only scooter in the world with such a design!

Scooter in Pattaya

The hotel was quiet this time and I slept well. I suppose most guests have checked out already, it being Sunday night.

Day 3 - 29 August

"I've never heard of anyone going to Pattaya to dive," said my colleague.

I had read about the ship wrecks in Pattaya and was interested in see them. I've not heard of Singaporeans going there to dive but sometimes the non-popular places are actually good because not many people go there to pollute the place, e.g. Miri, Malaysia, although some places are simply lousy, e.g. Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia.

I had booked a dive trip by email with Seafari Dive Center. THB3200 for 2 dives, including equipment. I had not placed any deposit. I selected this dive center because they allowed me to pay in the day itself without a need for a deposit. Another dive centre that I visited, Aquanauts, told me that I would have to pay in full the day before and if the trip had to be cancelled due to bad weather, they would only refund me half of what I paid.

Pick up was at 8.30am at my hotel lobby. The pickup was late. Another 2 Indian guys scheduled to go on the trip were later. They apologised for being late and explained that they had problems with the motorcycle rental. They were going to make their first dive as part of the open water course. They were to dive after another guy and I dive, and then depending on how they do during their first dive, they may join my group for the second dive.

The trip by boat took about 1.5 hours. We were going to the Khram wreck at the "far islands". Although the travelling can be a bore, going to a dive site further from land usually means having a better diving experience.

The Khram wreck is rather deep down: up to 29m. This means that divers who don't have the advanced open water certification will not be allowed to dive it. The other diver in my group (there were 2 of us plus the divemaster) did not have his Enriched Air/Nitrox certification so we all dived using normal air - which gave us only 20+mins of safe exploration at that depth. We were not allowed to go penetrate or go inside the ship - that would require a Wreck diver certification.

Many people think it's dangerous to dive around a shipwreck. But it's interesting to note that this ship was intentionally sank and put there to attract marine life and divers. [Information and a video about the Khram wreck] Another wreck near the "near islands", Khod wreck, was also placed where it is. The Hardeep wreck, much further away from Pattaya, was sank during the battle.

The Khram wreck was teeming with fish. There was a large turtle feeding off the corals growing on the ship. I couldn't help but touch its hard shell. It couldn't feel me touching it and it was busy eating anyway. The divemaster spotted a rock fish. I think I need a Robocop / Terminator helmet that would detect and name fish for me.

It was a pity we couldn't have more time to explore the wreck. The next time I go, I'd better get some guarantee from the dive center that the group will use Nitrox for diving.

It was the trainees' turn to dive. Unfortunately, one of them was sea sick and couldn't dive at all.

Back on the boat, I thought it would be time to eat. I saw a plate full of fried chicken. I asked the cook who was still cooking whether I could have one. She said No :( so I went to snorkle at the "far island" were the boat had anchored.

There were many hard corals of different colours: purple, blue, yellow, red, green. I find it amazing that they can be of such bright colours, side-by-side! It looked like someone had painted the corals and put them in the sea! The corals and fish here were alive and well. There was a tiny yellow fish with black stripes following me around. It swam in front my mask. Cute!

When I went back up to the boat, it still wasn't lunch time. I was trying to kill my hunger with bananas and rambutans when the captain of the boat offered me a fried chicken drumstick. I was very thankful for that because I had to wait for all the groups to return from their dive when who knows when!

After waiting for another 40 minutes and making conversation with fellow hungry divers, it was finally lunchtime!!! While eating, the boat brought us to the "near islands" - the next dive site.

That dive site was a disappointment from the first minute. The corals were mostly dead and the area was littered with rubbish - plastic bags and even a rat poison bottle. I spotted a poor fish swimming in a small plastic bag, trying to get out. It would probably starve to death if it was unable to get out. I tried to catch it. It tried to swim away. But because it was in a plastic bag, it couldn't manauvre fast enough. I managed to catch it and release it from the plastic bag. Other than starfish and a turtle sleeping under some hard corals, the dive was way boring. We had to swim against a current to get back to the boat. It was rather streneous for me. The 5kg of weights on me wasn't enough for me when I was taking deep breaths. When the divermaster decided to stop halfway, I had to get an additional weight in my pocket to keep me down. Imagine a feather getting blown away in the wind! Somehow the lousiest dives are always the longest dives in minutes. Maybe divemasters always try to compensate by letting you dive longer. But quantity is not quality. A 60-minute or 100-minute dive at a bad site is miserable. Is there a hand signal for "can we go back now?" I was grateful when the dive ended in 60 minutes.

I paid for the dive by credit card at the dive shop. There was no additional charge for using a credit card. There was free transfer back to the hotel. I did not use it because I had something important to do: change my Bangkok to Singapore Tigerairways flight time. I had brought a Thai toll-free number to call. I asked the dive shop owner where I could make a toll free call. Since it was toll-free, she allowed me to use the phone in her shop. I'm not sure whether she regretted it because I was on the line for 30 minutes. She had to use her handphone to call a few customers. She suggested that I try hanging up and calling again but I said that I would have to get back in the calling queue again if I did that. I did try to call the airline in Singapore while waiting to board the plane but I was on hold for more than 10 minutes so I figured it I would want to hold until I get to speak with a customer service officer. Besides, the online booking / flight change service was not working so calling in was the only way to change my flight.

I took a local bus (THB20) to the tailor for my fitting. I reached there at 5pm but was told that the shirts were not ready yet. I had to return at 7.30pm. I went back to the hotel to shower and rest. At 7.30pm, I was still kept waiting at the tailor's. When the shirts arrive, they were too tight at the chest. The guy said he would have the shirts adjusted (there was some additional length sewn in at the sides of the shirt) and sent to my hotel by the next morning. I requested for re-measurement so that he would get it right this time. There was no reason why the shirts were so tight when I was wearing the same bra. Or does diving make my breasts better??

Going up and down to the tailor's wasn't a good use of my time. It was time to eat and sleep soon after.

Day 4 -
Unfortunately, I had to work again in the morning. The hotel allowed me to check out at 2pm instead of 12pm. I had breakfast at the hotel and bought lunch from a street hawker just outside the hotel.

Street hawker outside the hotel

My lunch

The fried minced pork was delicious but there was too little meat. I bought it because I saw a man with a plate of rice and a heap of meat on it. I thought I would have gotten the same deal. But I did ask for less rice and mayb she thought I wanted less meat too.

After I'd finished my work and checked out of the hotel, I wanted to try shooting at the Tiffany's shooting range (located on the first floor of the Tiffany's show building). However, I was not allowed to because I needed a witness for the agreement that I would have to sign. There are many things I can't do alone and this happened to be one of those.

Since I wasn't allowed to shoot bullets, I figured I'd just shoot some pictures.

Tiffany's show ticketing booth

Tiffany's shooting range

I had not decided what time to head to Bangkok. But I had time to spare so I went to a spa just beside ibis Pattaya hotel. It looked like a proper non-sleazy spa but who knows... A one-hour Thai massage costs THB300 (SGD12). At other joints, Thai massage cost about THB200 per hour or even THB150. I was asked to pay before the massage. I was also shown a sheet of paper stating in English "If you like our massage, please tip the masseuse" and I guess what must have been the same message in Japanese.

Spa beside ibis Pattaya hotel

The masseuse massaged my legs most of the time. My back got massaged for about 5 minutes only. I extended the massage by 30 minutes and asked the receptionist to tell the masseuse to massage my back only and I also pointed at the upper part of my back/shoulders to tell her that's where I needed more focus but she was still only apply palm pressure up and down my spine which failed to satisfy me. Anyway, I just tipped her after that and didn't extend the session any further. Massage may be cheap in Thailand but much of it can be a waste of time. In Singapore, the Chinese style of massage costs about SGD1 per minute but at least they give me what I want and don't waste my time.

Central Center Pattaya, 3 minute's walk from ibis Pattaya hotel, offers shopping in aircon for people who want to escape the heat. Things are expensive, as expected. There are restaurants on the first level and a cinema at the top level. I wanted to watch Final Destination in 3D. Thankfully, the person at the ticketing booth told me that the show for that screening it was in Thai. That's one reason why foreigners shouldn't try to speak Thai when buying tickets! (Not that I know how to!)

Shop outside the mall

Bridal shop across the road from the mall

Massage place beside the mall

I had lunch at a Thai-Japanese restaurant in the mall and also bought some gyoza takeaway to the beach.

Tomyum ramen

I planned on taking the last bus (7pm) from Pattaya to the airport. I had time left so I walked to the beach.

The vendors provide the beach chairs, small bolster tied to the chair to rest your head on, a short table and a small plastic-bag lined bin beside the table. THB30 is payable once you select your spot.

I was nice having my Gyoza at the beach but I realised that I didn't have to bring my own food at all. Vendors walk by selling steamed corn, fried food, steamed prawns, temporary tattoos, drinks, palm reading service, etc. You can also get a foot massage. You don't have to lift anything but your fingers to pay money and eat your food though it is possible to pay someone to feed you.

Pattaya beach

Vendor selling food

Steamed prawns with roe for THB10 per prawn

Fried battered prawn

It was relaxing to lie there and do nothing (but eat).

I walked back to the hotel to retrieve my bags. I took a motorbike taxi at 6.30pm to the bus station to catch the 7pm coach. The bus ticket to the airport costs THB200. There's an aircon seating area with free wifi in the Bell Travel Service hut and a single toilet.

Bell Travel Service at Pattaya bus station

As I was waiting, an African-American guy was all lovey-dovey with a Thai girl. The coach was half filled with people. As I got on the bus, the guy was bidding farewell to the girl. The bus left 5 minutes early. As the bus pulled out of the station, I heard the guy on the phone saying, "I miss you already."

The journey to the airport was 1 hour 20 minutes. I stayed at a transit hotel near the airport for the night before continuing to Bangkok city for work the next day.

I liked Pattaya more than Phuket.

Phuket:
Patong beach is full of tourists, there were too many ships and the water looked filthy.
Minivan from the airport to Patong beach: 1 hour
Drive from hotel to/from the ferry terminal for diving: 1 hour
Journey by boat to dive site: 1 hr 30 mins

Pattaya:
Pattaya beach is not crowded.
Coach from airport to Pattaya: 1 hour 30 minutes
Drive from hotel to/from ferry terminal for diving: 10 minutes
Journey by boat to dive site: 1 hr 30 mins

Pattaya deserves another visit from me. There are other things I have not done there such as shooting, go-karting (http://www.easykart.net), sky diving (https://www.facebook.com/pages/Thai-Sky-Adventures-Skydiving/110005049021197), bungy jumping (http://www.thaibungy.com/) and jungle zipline (http://www.treetopasia.com/thailand-holiday/pattaya/).

Expenses (THB24.3 = SGD1)

Day 1
bus ticket to pattaya 200
dinner 50
coffee 35
bus 20
shopping (bag 199, belt 199)

Day 2
lunch 110
drink 14
shampoo 95 for 2 x 300ml bottles
tailor 3 shirts 1000 deposit
cake 30
sushi 125
bus 20
food 50

Day 3
diving 3200
bus 20
drink 14
toiletries (shampoo 190 for 4x300ml bottles, mascara 249, soap 65)
shirt balance payment 1000
drink 35
bus 20
dinner 220
tips 20
goggles 159

Day 4
food 30
drink 14
food 50 + 79
watch 450
food 35
food 40
taxi 50
coach 200

Hotel: 3 nights x 1300

Total: THB12,187 = SGD500

Night Safari July 2011

2011-08-20T17:45:00.002+08:00

I visited the Night Safari in Singapore last month. [http://www.nightsafari.com.sg]

My friend said that she heard that it's the same animals from the zoo but they are let loose at night. Gosh, no! The Night Safari is beside the day Zoo. The animals appear to be free-roaming but the majority are actually separated from visitors by glass or deep pits and electric fences. The animals at the Night Safari are not the ones from the Zoo (but who knows maybe whether they transport the animals from one place to another :D).

Ticketing area

Ticketing booth

Entrance pathway at 6.15pm

Entrance at 6.15pm

I arrived way before the opening time of 7.30pm. There were many people there already, purchasing tickets, eating and in the souvenir shops. I had dinner at a restaurant there, Bongo Burgers. Fortunately, the food didn't take too long to get served.

Food court

Bongo Burgers restaurant

A Bongo Burger

Fish and chips

Pasta

A queue started forming at 7pm.

Pathway to entrance at 7pm

Entrance at 7.30pm

It was a long wait to get into the amphitheatre to watch the Creatures of the Night show. The TV in the queuing area played the same video over and over again. First, 2 queues of people were allowed to enter. For a moment I thought that the amphitheature was full and I would have to wait till the next show. Fortunately, the amphitheatre was large enough to accommodate the people in my queue too.

It was well worth the wait! I was impressed! The Creatures of the Night show was very entertaining and well-presented. Even the animals seems happy to perform! The wolf was very sporting to howl at the right time! Just a word of advice: if you're afraid of snakes, don't sit in the front half of the theatre!

Owl in Creatures of the Night show

Watch video:

After the show, I wanted to get on the tram but the queue was too long. So I walked instead. The walking path and the tram route are different. There are different animals long each route. E.g. you won't get to see the elephants along the walking route and you won't see the flying squirrels on the tram route.

A few walk-in enclosures allow you to get up close with flying squirrels, bats and flying foxes. The area is much bigger than I recall it was during my last visit about 10 years ago. I only managed to cover 2/3 the area. For so many animals, the place didn't smell strongly of dung.

Some animals like the tiny Tarsier monkey were in hiding. The otters were the friendliest among all the animals there! They would come out of the dark to swim and run for visitors to see.

It's dark and camera flashes are not allowed because they would cause animals to develop cataract over time. You'll need a very good camera and steady hands to take any photos worth keeping. Here's one photo below. Get the idea?

I took the last tram for the night. The tram ride and the commentary on the ride was very good. Sometimes the animals would be crossing the road so the tram would have to stop for them.

Several years ago, a tourist at the MRT station asked me how to get to the Night Safari. At that time, I wondered what the big deal was - because from my recollection of my one and only visit, it wasn't that great. But now, after seeing the tremendous improvement - in terms of the number of animals, the layout and landscaping, the Creature of the Night show, the tram ride and service standard - I highly recommend visiting the Night Safari!

By the way, there's a River Safari under construction. I will visit it when it's ready!

Gaming addiction is a brain disorder

2011-08-17T21:02:00.002+08:00

My colleague who just got an iPad 2 weeks ago is already addicted to iPad games. I'm proud to say that after having mine for 2 months, I've not become a gaming addict. I played only 1 puzzle game and then stopped because I didn't want to pay to buy new levels :P

I, for one, have been addicted to games at some periods in my life. So it's not hard to understand that people easily succumb to the iPad and iPhone gaming addiction. There aren't many people who have iPhones and iPad and don't play games on them.

Many gaming addicts don't deny that they're addicted. But they just don't see any reason why they should stop. Why do many people get addicted to games?

1. No money, opportunity or ability to do those things in real life
Most people don't have money to buy property like a farm or open a restaurant, or know they shouldn't/can't kill people/monsters but they can do it online.

2. The pleasure of having a sense of accomplishment
They feel smart after solving a puzzle, earning online money, levelling up my character, etc.

3. Escapism
To stop themselves from thinking about their own lives. Maybeh they have naggy parents or they don't want to study.

4. Passing time
They have nothing better to do. E.g. if you have totally nothing to do at work- there are many people with such jobs!

Anything else to add?

Experts say that addiction is a brain disorder, not just a behavioural problem. [Read more]

So, did I have a brain disorder but have recovered from it since? Or can I never recover but can only keep it under control by employing self-discipline or other distractions?

Singapore is a fine country!

2011-08-09T19:37:00.001+08:00

To celebrate Singapore’s National Day, I’m did what many Singaporeans enjoy: getting out of Singapore. I don’t mean permanently ;) I needed to travel for work and to avoid the National day road and traffic jams, I decided to make my way out of Singapore way before that.

As you may know, I only watch TV in hotels. So as I sit this evening in my hotel room, watching scenes from the UK riots, hearing about people in fear for their lives and people who have lost their homes and shops, listening to discussions about the huge debt problems in the US and the high unemployment rate, I can’t help but feel sad for the people affected but lucky that I live in Singapore.

One of my colleagues from our Korean office was looking for souvenirs for our Korean colleagues. I recommended a shot glass with the signature “Singapore is a fine country”: No littering – Fine $50, No smoking – Fine $50, No jaywalking – Fine $50, No drugs – Death, etc. He bought for them bottle openers with small Merlions floating inside – very cute – and he bought 1 shot glass – which I believe was for himself ;)

I’m grateful that nobody in Singapore is allowed to get away with setting fire to cars, buses, shops and houses; breaking into shops, looting, robbing and beating up whoever is in the shops. In fact, people can’t even get away with vandalism. I’m glad that Singapore is a fine country and I hope it will continue to be one!

Happy 46th Birthday Singapore!

2011-08-09T04:43:00.005+08:00

Contributed by David

Singapore just turned 46!

One of Asia's fastest growing economies boasting one of the world's most educated populations.

Growing pains?

Yes Singapore has known growing pains. Most nations have growing pains. Internal strife, political bickering and name calling are common throughout the world.

Yet SG remains a vibrant island state that has defied the odds for such a small piece of geography.

With no natural resources Singapore has grown the most important resource of all.

Singapore's people.

There are far less free places, less economically sound places and many dangerous places one could be living.

Singapore is a place many desire to live!

Be proud and happy today!

Happy National Day (Birthday) Singapore!

Research shows: Beauty is in the eye of the beholder

2011-08-07T08:48:00.000+08:00

Research shows: Beauty is in the eye of the beholder

I think this is true. When I like someone, I think of him as goodlooking. My friends may say that the guy is ugly, fat or short but it won't change the way I think of him. But when I no longer feel love or like for the person, I think of the person as ugly in some or all ways and I ask myself what was I thinking?!

Would you leave your partner who secretly traded shares and now bankrupt?

2011-08-06T18:05:00.000+08:00

Contrary to how many people were feeling yesterday when the stock market dropped drastically, I was feeling rather pleased with myself for making good investment decisions. I'll be going overseas to put my feet up in the air for a few days before getting down to business.

But this picture made me feel sad.

Did he lose all his money? Is he going to be a bankrupt? Will his children have to quit school to get full-time jobs? Is his family going to have to live on the streets? Will his wife leave him?

With the availability of "leverage" which essentially means borrowing to trade, people can make catastrophic losses that they can't even afford to pay for in their lifetime. But those are the people who borrow to trade hoping that they can win money that they can't imagine they could ever have in their lifetime. If there's a possibility of winning big, then definitely there's a possiblity of losing big.

For the discussion's sake, assuming he traded secretly because he knows his wife would object, I wouldn't blame his wife for leaving him. Trading beyond one's means is irresponsible and the secrecy is "financial infidelity". I will feel sorry for the man but he has to live with the consequences of his actions - just as we all have to in life.

First ever date-rape drug detector

2011-08-05T07:32:00.001+08:00

I love that scientists and researcher come up with ideas and products to help people. E.g. anti-retroviral drugs for HIV-positive people, fertility drugs, viagra, condoms, lubricants, etc.

Now there's a date-rape-drug sensor to test whether your drink has been spiked with the two most common date-rape drugs, GHB (gamma-hydroxybutyric acid) and ketamine. It's not confirmed yet exactly how the device will look like and how it will notify the user of the result. They're still figuring out how to make it work discreetly. [Read more]

Of course, it is possible for rapists to switch to other types of date-rape drugs but this is a step forward. We can't stop them all but at least we can stop some of them.

Sunway: 18-27 May 2011

2011-08-04T07:56:00.001+08:00

I went on a business trip to Shah Alam. Kuala Lumpur is too far from Shah Alam and I was told that the business hotel in Shah Alam would be boring so I opted to stay at Sunway Pyramid Tower hotel where the famous Sunway Pyramid shopping mall and Sunway Lagoon are. The corporate rate was Rm300+30+18=Rm348 per night including breakfast for 1 person.

I flew by Singapore Airlines (about SGD400 for 2-way. I made 2 trips during this period). It was a short flight so only drinks were served. They don't even give us peanuts anymore these days. The majority of the people on the plane were men. The guy beside me asked whether I was going to Malaysia for a holiday. I guess that's because I was casually dressed.

As usual, I found myself not liking the airport when I landed at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA). The airport design is silly. I had to take this train from the gates to the immigration at the main terminal. I don't like it because I lose my advantage over the slow-walking passengers.

Train from gates to main terminal

There queue at immigration was long as usual. Too bad I lost my advantage over the slow-walking passangers when I had to wait for the train. By the time I got through, the baggage wasn't even out on the belts yet. Thank goodness I did not check any bags in.

I had booked a transfer to the hotel. I made some small talk with the guy who shared that he came here to work and his hometown is Nilai. A brand new SUV arrived. I didn't have to wait for any other passanger. It's double the price (Rm120) of a normal taxi (Rm75) but at least I knew I would reach the hotel without any fuss so that I could be in time for my afternoon meeting.

Sunway Pyramid Tower Hotel

Check in was swift. So was the bell service. I quickly changed and walked to the adjoining Sunway Pyramid mall to buy takeaway. Fastfood like McDonald's was a no-no because I wasn't feeling well at all (sore throat and, I think, a fever). I bought sushi.

To get a taxi from the mall, I had to buy a ticket from the taxi station (beside the Machines shop where the iPad was still out of stock. The taxi drivers weren't sure about the location of my client's place I was visiting at Shah Alam. I had a phone number so he called while driving to get directions.

Taxi Stand

Machines shop beside taxi stand

The journey was shorter than I thought - 15 minutes. I didn't have time to finish eating all my sushi. I had to gobble down the last of it. It wouldn't be a good idea to bring fish to a meeting.

On other days when I had to go to the office in the morning, I had no choice but to take the taxis from outside the hotel (not the hotel's taxi service) because there are no metered taxis waiting there. It would cost between Rm25-Rm30 to get to Shah Alam by metered taxi but the non-metered ones cost more (Rm38-Rm40).

After work, the journey back to Sunway took twice as long because of the peak hour traffic. I had the chance to walk around and have dinner at the mall. I found the mall very well-maintained. It looked new and clean despite its age.

Sunway Pyramid Shopping Mall

Ice skating rink in the middle of the mall

The ice skating rink is sometimes reserved for the pros in the evening

On the top floor of the mall where the Digital Centre is, I bought one pre-paid SIM card to receive/make calls on my phone (Digi-Rm10 with Rm5 value. Min. top up Rm5. 3G is supported too.) and another for mobile broadband Internet access (uMobile-Rm100 for 30 days. I brought my own USB modem). The charge for Internet access in the hotel was exhorbitant at Rm30 per day. I needed to have my own Internet access at my client's office anyway. I should mention that the entire shopping mall has free wifi. Because the mall is huge, you'll have to change access connection for better coverage if you are in different parts of the mall. The restaurants would have their own wifi too. You'll have to ask the service staff for the password.

Digital centre on the top floor of mall

It was end of May already. Apparently they celebrate Christmas all year round

Top floor of mall: Asian clothes, shoes and food. Nothing special or especially cheap.

There are food, clothing, electronics, and shoe shops, etc in other other floors of the mall. I was not impressed by the prices. A few shops had very cheap shoes.

I bought 2 pairs of shoes here

Shoes with pig skin have to be wrapped so that Muslims do not accidentally touch it

Does anyone use apple products for studying?? Scamming IT-illiterate parents!

Outside the shopping mall, there are some old hawker stalls and shops where you can get cheap food and buy SIM cards/top up too.

I get across the highway that's always jammed in the evenings, I had to use an old overhead bridge with very steep steps. There are skinny cats on the road (you can guess the wealth of the average person by looking at the stray animals), low-rise apartments, shop houses, hawker shops, KTV's and massage shops. The massage rates were reasonable - Rm60 per hour or less - but the places look like they're catered for to the guys who need to get off after their KTV sessions.

The hotel room was freezing cold even with the aircon turned off. And I was having a fever so it felt alot worse. On my second part of the trip (I returned to Singapore for the weekend), I used both blankets, one on top of the other, to keep myself warm :( I didn't sleep well so it was difficult to recover. Worse, still I had a "relapse" a week after the trip.

Sunway Pyramid Tower Hotel

The service at the hotel was superb. The staff were pleasant, helpful, and not too slow. The only bad thing was no free Internet access in the rooms; only free wifi at the lobby. The quality of fittings, the sheets, towels, curtains, toiletries, in-room safe, etc was 4-star standard (I don't mean it in a bad way; they claim to be a 4-star hotel. Many hotels claim to be 1 star more than they really are). There's an ironing room for guests to use and a free ice dispenser in the common area.

The service by Singapore Airlines staff at KLIA check-in was irritating. Read about in my other post, Singapore Airlines: World's 2nd Best Airline.

Camera stock clearance at KLIA, before immigration

Triple Boost bra = Triple disappointment?

2011-08-03T07:35:00.000+08:00

"Women look better with their clothes on," my male friend said.

With the invention of the Wonderbra, padded bras, stick-on bras, silicon pad, chicken fillets, and now the Triple Boost padded bra, men need to downsize their expectations.

"If you go on a date with someone and they really like your boobs, they’re going to get a bit of a disappointment. I think I’d rather they knew the truth in the first place. Don’t advertise in the window what you don’t stock in the shop, as they say," says a model who wears an A cup bra.

I won't be buying the Triple Boost padded bra but underwire in my bra is a must to prevent sagging. I prefer some padding and stiffness in the cup to avoid my nipples sticking out and I also feel a little more protected from accidental or intentional molestation or elbows (if I'm standing behind a woman who is reaching for something in her bag sling over her shoulder) on buses and trains.

Women, what sort of bras do you like?
Men, have you ever felt cheated after a woman undresses?

Unhappy women and one-minute men more likely to cheat

2011-08-02T07:31:00.000+08:00

A study found that:

- Men and women are equally likely to cheat (Men: 23%, Women: 19%).

- For men, significant predictors of infidelity are personality variables, including propensity for sexual excitation (becoming easily aroused by many triggers and situations) and concern about sexual performance failure. "People might seek out high-risk situations to help them become aroused, or they might choose to have sex with a partner outside of their regular relationship because they feel they have an 'out' if the encounter doesn't go well -- they don't have to see them again," says Robin Milhausen, a professor and sexuality researcher involved in the study.

- For women, relationship happiness is the determinant. Women who are dissatisfied with their relationship are more than twice as likely to cheat; those who feel they are sexually incompatible with their partners are nearly three times as likely.

So I don't blame men for reading up alot about how to keep a woman happy in bed but an unhealthy obsession may result in fear of sexual performance failure, resulting in a higher propensity to cheat.

"All kinds of things predict infidelity," Milhausen said. "What this study says is that when you put all of those things together, for men, personality characteristics are so strong they bounce everything else out of the model. For women, in the face of all other variables, it's still the relationship that is the most important predictor."

Believe it when a man says, "It's not you; it's me," but don't believe it when a woman says that!

Read more: Sexual Anxiety, Personality Predictors of Infidelity

Having a sweet tooth might make you poor

2011-08-01T07:45:00.008+08:00

I love sweet things. Who doesn't?

But as you must already know, more and more people in Asia are getting diabetes.

"Sedentary lifestyles and diets rich in refined, processed carbohydrates (such as snack foods and soft drinks) are known factors in the onset of diabetes. Medical research also indicates a genetic factor that is particularly relevant when considering Asia, as Asian people especially carry a higher risk of developing the condition. " [Read: The rise of Type 2 Diabetes in Asia]

Note also that snacks and sweets cost alot more than they're worth.

E.g.:
A curry puff costs $1. $1 buys me 6 large portions of uncooked baby spinach.
An ice-cream costs $5. $5 buys me 2 bags or 10 small portions of uncooked pasta.
A tiramisu costs $10. $10 buys me 2 large portions of uncooked salmon steaks, or 4 large portions of uncooked sliced beef.
A soft drink costs $1.20. Bring your own water: almost free.

Cooking fresh, nutritious food costs less than $400 a month, if I cook almost every meal for myself plus 1 meal for my sister each day. It's not because I cook cheap carbs and cut back on meat - which is the most expensive part of the meal. I totally believe in paying good money for good food: it's worth paying for fresh, unprocessed meat. And I'm still on my first tank of gas since Nov 2010.

I do like snacks, sweet drinks and desserts but I limit my intake. I'm not thinking only about weight control; it doesn't make sense to pay alot of money to increase my chances of getting diabetes and accelerate aging [Read: Calorie restriction diet]. And if someone get sick or if his organs start to fail prematurely, he'll have to spend a whole lot more on treatment and may not be able to continue working.

So beware the sugar and its effects on your health and wallet.

Sweet and creamy desserts

2011-07-31T12:55:00.000+08:00

Some people would travel far and wide in search of their favourite food. One country with fantastic desserts is Philippines. With condensed milk widely used in their desserts, it's no wonder they are sweet and creamy!

I've not been to the Philippines before and don't have plans to go there. If you go there or have friends coming to Singapore, you may want to ask them to get you these:

Here's the address:

Higher cost of living now than 20 years ago?

2011-07-30T09:31:00.002+08:00

I can't think of many things that cost the same as 20 years ago. But there are things that have been free and even though they're free, they've improved. E.g. the parks, free public music performances, free entry to museums. (Ok... taxpayers pay for it. Btw, Singaporeans and PRs get free entry to 7 museums in August as part of our national day celebrations.)

As for things that we have to pay for, we have to understand that people's expected standard of living has risen therefore causing the cost of living to rise.

Past: the whole family uses one bar of soap.
Now: at least 1 shampoo, 1 conditioner, 1 facial wash, 1 bath gel per person

Past: Tuition? What for? If fail exams, just cane the child!
Now: Tuition lessons, music lessons, speech and drama classes, enrichment classes and whatever classes for lil' precious.

Past: Entertainment? Go play with your friends, your barbie doll and toys.
Now: Family entertainment is going out for a movie. For a family of 4, that's at least $40 for a 2-hour movie. Add in parking and food, that's a $100. $100 takes me to work and back home for 3 weeks in today's dollars. Families are willing to blow that amount in a day.

Past: Take a bus 2 hours from one end of the island to another daily to work.
Now: So far? I don't want the job! Or buy a car to drive to work.

Past: Wait 3 years for HDB flat to be completed.
Now: 3 years is so long! Cannot wait! Want to buy resale flat but no money. Complain to MP!

So, if we want to compare today's cost of living with that 20 years ago, we should also look at the difference in the standard of living.

I recall having $2 fishball noodles at old hawker centres with boney cats waiting cleaners to wipe scraps off the table onto the filthy floor for them to eat. Now the hawker centres and air-conditioned food courts are mostly clean and pleasant with no scraps of food on the floor while the fluffy cats don't need to wait for scraps because they are fed daily with freshly-opened $3 cans of Friskies. Is it reasonable to pay $3 for the same bowl of fishball noodles? I think Yes because we also have seat reservation self-service!

Men would dump fat girlfriend

2011-07-29T07:27:00.000+08:00

A recent survey found that most women will not marry jobless men. People commented that those women are materialistic blah blah.

Men are no better. While women merely said they would not marry jobless men, half of men would dump a girlfriend who has gained alot of weight, found another survey. Here's discussion on that finding. Note the man nodding in agreement when the other man said that men want their girlfriends to look sexually appealing (at 5:00) while the 2 women just stared.

Guys wearing red or pink

2011-07-28T19:51:00.000+08:00

It is said that men who wear red are more attactive to women. [6 surprising libido boosters] But hardly any guys wear red. A pity, really. I think red makes a hot man look ever hotter. From my experience, the guys who wore red are also hot in bed!!

I don't know about pink. I've not tried pink. I don't know what to think of guys who wear pink. The gay ones, I don't have to bother. The (rare) straight ones, perhaps are not afraid to be in touch with their feminine side? I've not dated any pink-shirt-wearing guys before. Let me try one and I'll let you know ;)

"I'm sorry" doesn't change the past

2011-07-25T19:53:00.001+08:00

How many times have we heard the Catholic church apologising over their practices that have caused pain and distress to others? Now they're apologising for forced adoptions. [Read more]

You might think: at least they did apologise.

But do you think the apologies change anything other than public opinion?

Although I agree that holding on the past instead of moving on only hurts oneself (and not the church), but how do you "move on" from things like losing a child or losing your virginity and innocence to a priest?

For individuals, "I'm sorry" doesn't change the past.

I guess that's why their religion has to preach forgivness: because people of authority have done so many wrong things that require forgiveness repeatedly, over the years and with conscious thought even with group consensus. They claim that people who commit suicide have no hope of receiving forgiveness and will go to hell. It's not hard to guess who I think should really go to hell.

Memory blanks

2011-07-24T00:11:00.000+08:00

I went to the Night Safari yesterday evening. It was my 2nd visit there. I went there 10 years ago. I can't remember who I went with the last time. It must have been a guy who drove but I can't put a face to the memory.

All that comes to mind is an empty face like a Skype or MSN avatar.

I didn't take any pictures. Digital cameras weren't cheap then so I didn't have one. I recall we sat on the tram and also walked around.

I think I can't remember who the guy was because I spent the whole night looking at the animals and didn't look at his face.

Hey guys, tech-savvy women find you boring in bed!

2011-07-23T14:45:00.000+08:00

When a woman turns you down for sex, you should thank her for saving your ego. She's probably going to doze off while having sex or ask you, "Are you done?" because she wants to run off to play with her computer, handphone or gaming device.

While some guys may like "tech babes", they are more likely to turn you down for sex than non-tech babes.

Tech-savvy women 'prefer to surf the internet than have sex', according to a recent study. [Read more]

There was a similar study in 2008:
46% of women would rather go without sex for two weeks than give up the Internet for that long. The numbers get bigger for certain age groups; 49% of women aged 18-34 would make that choice, and 52% of women aged 35-44.
[Read more]

So where is all this going?

Men who have evolved in response to this trend are living their lives in online or virtual worlds because that's where the babes have gone. If they can't get sex in real life, at least they can get virtual sex online - and it doesn't matter whether their virtual partner is a real life babe or real life dude.

An Era Ends

2011-07-22T08:00:00.004+08:00

Contributed by David

The United States space shuttle Atlantis touched down at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 5.56 am after a 13-day mission to the International Space Station. It carried four astronauts: commander Chris Ferguson, pilot Doug Hurley and mission specialists Sandy Magnus and Rex Walheim.

"Having fired the imagination of a generation, a ship like no other, its place in history secured, the space shuttle pulls into port for the last time, its voyage at an end,"

So announced mission controller Rob Navias.

In future, the ISS will be kept supplied by Russian Soyuz spaceships as well as - possibly - ships from commercial companies such as SpaceX, Lockheed Martin and Boeing.

Since the first shuttle launch on April 12, 1981, 355 people from 16 countries made a total of 852 journeys aboard. Between them, the five shuttles traveled more than 542 million miles and hosted more than 2,000 experiments.

Manned spaceflight has spun off a host of inventions and technological advances – things like memory foam, cordless tools, freeze-dried foods, scratch-resistant eyeglasses, joysticks, high performance insulation and firefighting equipment, sophisticated artificial limbs and medical implants.

Skylab gave us smoke detectors. The Apollo missions gave us the Dustbuster along with practical cardiac monitors and telemetry now common in many hospitals. But private companies don’t sink billions into enterprises whose chief payoffs are accidental and unexpected. Nor do they fund such unquantifiables as national pride and exploration for exploration’s sake.

The United States current President lacks genuine interest in science in general and has displayed no imagination regarding a space program. President Obama has mentioned on many occasions he has better uses for billions of the dollars an active space program demands.

BHOs imagination is only useful at creating immense social programs. Expensive programs with little chance of truly succeeding.

The ability to create a vessel that will safely take humans from the surface of the Earth, safely into the hostile environment of space and returning them safely from flight at mach 25 is no small achievement.

ESA, (European Space Agency) has had few grand launches of exploration. China’s space program is still in its infancy and can ride on America’s space coat-tails by accessing the immense amount of research and development that NASA has placed in the public domain.

Even so China’s program sound ambitious, but reality, expenses on a huge scale appear to have humble China from trying to much to fast.

America’s manned space program had its tragic bangs – the Challenger and Columbia catastrophes. But it is dying with a pathetic whimper.

Farewell Atlantis!

Read more about Atlantis return:

Home are affordable! Stop complaining!

2011-07-16T16:39:00.001+08:00

HDB resale flats are affordable. I'm going to discuss the results of a recent study and do my own calculations here.

A study showed that homes are affordable to the masses in the long term. Read full report: [Redefining affordability of homes]

Long-term affordability

Debt-to-service ratio (DSR), defined as the proportion of monthly income that goes into paying the mortgage, was 23% last year. This means that 23% of monthly incomes goes into paying the mortgage. (The internationally recognised threshold for housing affordability is 30%) The study showed that homes are generally affordable in the long term for income groups in the top 80% income earners.

Assumptions:
30-year loan
HDB resale flat/apartment in non-mature estate
No subsidies
Interest rate of about 3%

So if you add in the people who qualify for subsidies and to buy directly from HDB, and the lower interest rates available now, there are even more people who can afford to buy HDB flats.

Short-term accessibility

Accessibility is defined by the ratio of the cash a buyer needs to make all the upfront payments for a new home to his savings including CPF balance at that point in time. E.g. if the upfront payment is 50K and his savings are 100K, the home is affordable. If his savings are only 30K, the home is unaffordable.

The study found that the bottom 20% of income earners are unable to "access" small resale flats in suburban towns, while the bottom 30% are unable to "access" a 4-room (3 bedroom) HDB resale flat in established areas like Bukit Timah. Also, buyers in the age group of 20 to 29, have an accessibility problem rather than a long-term affordability problem.

Upfront payments include down payment, stamp duty, Cash-over-Valuation (COV) payable for resale HDB flats. The median COV in Q2 2011 was 30K. Add in 10K for buyer stamp duty, agent fees and buying basic furniture, the total is 40K.

Let's calculate how long a median income earner will take to save 40K.

The median monthly income of resident Singaporeans in full-time employment is S$2,710. Suppose a median-income earn saves 20% of his monthly salary = $542 per month. Note that 20% is deducted for CPF contribution, so this means he's effectively saving 40% of his salary.

Time taken to save 40K in cash = 40,000/542 = 74 months = 6 years

Renovation cost was not included in the study but realistically speaking most resale HDB flats would require some renovation. Suppose it costs 20K, that means 24 more months or 2 more years of savings.

In all, a buyer would take 6 years to be able to pay the cash portion of buying a HDB resale.

Assuming CPF ordinary account contribution rate of 23% (includes employee and employer contributions), that's $623 per month. If he buys a 300K HDB flat and he's taking 80% loan, he needs to have 60K to pay the 20%. Time taken to save 60K in CPF account = 60,000/623 = 96 months = 8 years

So taking the longer of both durations, if a person starts working at age 24, he should be able to afford to buy a small HDB resale flat by age 32. And if his is a dual-income household, he can afford to do so in half the time, i.e. 4 years at age 28.

Of course, he could do that in less than 4 years if he can earn more and save more.
But can most people save 40% of their salary (20% cash, 20% CPF) without spending any of the savings?

Many people would "reward" themselves by buying cars, designers watches, bags, going on holidays, alcohol, cigarettes etc when they see spare cash in their bank accounts.

Sure, there are genuine people who need help, but I would hate to see the government give any new type of housing subsidies while making people who are happy with Polex watches and Prata bags contribute our hard-earned/saved dollars (via tax) to those who have-not-homes-but-got-designer-products.

Did the Singapore economy shrink or grow?

2011-07-14T12:10:00.005+08:00

I got a shock when I saw this at marketwatch.com: Singapore economy shrinks 7.8%, more than expected
So I checked one of our local news website channelnewsasia.com to find this: Singapore's GDP grows 0.5% in Q2

So, which is right?

They are both right!

The 7.8% shrinkage is in comparison with the previous quarter, 2011 Q1 (where growth was 27.2%).
The 0.5% growth is in comparison with last year 2010 Q2.

Foreign website will highlight the bad news to make it sensational enough to catch people’s attention. It certainly caught mine.

Singapore website will highlight the good news because we want to maintain positive sentiments about the state of the economy.

I think a 7.8% shrinkage in Q2 is no big deal because there was growth of 27.2% in Q1. The net effect is still growth over the first half of 2011.

Todayonline published different statistics. I don't know which is right.

Ministry of trade and industry press release

Lies, damned lies, and statistics.

Note:
I disagree with using GDP as the sole measure of the state of the economy.
My previous post: Economic numbers do not measure prosperity

"Lies, damned lies, and statistics" is a phrase describing the persuasive power of numbers, particularly the use of statistics to bolster weak arguments, and the tendency of people to disparage statistics that do not support their positions. It is also sometimes colloquially used to doubt statistics used to prove an opponent's point.

Computer problems again. Help!

2011-07-10T13:38:00.000+08:00

My computer system clock has been reseting itself. I suppose the battery on the mainboard is dead again? I just changed that last year!

I'm not sure whether that's the cause of my bluescreen, which happened several times in the past week. Any idea? My system is exactly 3 years old today.

My mum almost attacked by Indian man

2011-07-10T12:54:00.002+08:00

My mum was on her way home by bus one evening. She stood up from her seat to alight. An Indian man took her seat after she stood up. She said he was properly dressed and decent looking. While waiting for the bus to reach the bus stop, she and the Indian man made eye contact. He smiled at her so she smiled back. Then she alighted when the bus stopped.

She was shocked to find the man behind her. She found him suspicious because he had taken her seat when she got up but now he'd alighted at the same bus stop as her? He asked her for directions. The bus stop was dimly lit. She didn't hear exactly where he wanted to go but she pointed somewhere and quickly walked towards the road kerb where the lighting was better. Fortunately, he did not follow her.

She was afraid he would attack her and snatch her bag. She said that she doesn't think he would want to rape a woman her age. But my sister and I warned her that a few years ago, an Indian worker raped an elderly lady in Singapore. He even apologised to her after raping her!

So the bottom line is: don't be friendly with strangers! He must have concluded that he could execute his "ideas" already in his mind when she smiled back at him.

Don't blame us women for being "dao" to ignore guys who talk to us or make eye contact. Nobody can tell which guy is a psycho.

Note: This is not a racist post. Women should be cautious regardless of the age/race of the man. My sister is requesting the town council to change the lights at that bus stop to brighter ones.

Singapore Airlines - World's 2nd best airline

2011-07-09T09:56:00.001+08:00

Singapore Airlines has been awarded 2nd place for World's Best Airline 2011. Qatar Airways got the top spot. [Read more]

Singapore Airlines is our national pride. I haven't heard of Singaporean employees who would prefer to fly by another airlines for business trips if they could fly in Singapore Airlines.

But Singaporeans have a love-hate relationship with Singapore Airlines. Many Singaporeans claim to be treated as 3rd-class citizens.

In the cabin, I've felt that the cabin crew does treat everyone equally well, helping everyone with their luggage, and being polite and smiley. They would get me fresh milk to go with my coffee / tea (after pointing out that I've a sachet of creamer) without looking irritated, even when I'm in economy class. In business class, I feel I was treated well too - the cabin crew gives equal attention to foreigners and Singaporeans.

There was 1 recent incident that got me irritated. It happened at KLIA, Malaysia airport. I was queuing to check-in. I was 2nd in line. The guy ahead of me had bag after bag of check-in baggage. There were 2 guys behind me. The ground crew invited the Singaporean Chinese man dressed in jeans and a business jacket behind me to go to the check-in counter for business class, then she proceeded to tell the other guy, an Indian man in business wear, behind me that he could go to that counter afterwards. So I turned around and asked her why the people from the back of the queue were invited to use the business counter. She said that was for single travellers and asked me whether I was travelling alone. I answer yes. (I was standing there alone for so long with 2 small bags. Duh.) She said, "In that case, you can also go to that counter." What a lame question. Whether people had baggage to check-in or whether they had already done an Internet check-in would be appropriate, wouldn't it? The Indian man behind me didn't fight with me to check-in at the business counter after the Singaporean man was done. (After I'd checked-in, the guy ahead of me in the original queue was still not done.)

I felt that that female ground crew practised gender and racial discrimination: the Chinese man deserves to be served before the Indian man and the Chinese woman though he was last in line.

Long-term cooling trend cited as evidence FOR global warming

2011-07-08T04:00:00.004+08:00

Contributed by David

The northern hemisphere is enjoying summer. Well for Singaporeans summer is all year due to your location. For the rest of us 30 degrees north or more, (I live at 42.35 N) summer is short. There have been a few 30+C days, but only a few this year. While 420 km north last week the weather people were predicting the day before we traveled that the next 5 days would have temperatures around 16 to 20C each day.

(To see the complete illustration from which this graphic was excerpted, see the SF Chronicle‘s version here.)
Never happened!

The warmest day we experienced was 16C and the coolest day only saw 14C. Cooler for sure.

These weather prognosticators are the same people who are attempting to scare the world populace into believing global warming is coming soon, sometime during the next 100 or so years.

Most weather forecast have trouble getting a five or seven day forecast correct and these folks want us to trust there forecast for 25, 50 or 100 years from now!

An article from PajamaMedia, links to a San Francisco Chronicle detail similar occurrences in America’s most populated state.

Want to know why global warming alarmists and climate scientists in general have lost credibility with the American public? Consider a new study released today — and the unintentionally hilarious weasel words of its author — as Exhibit A.

As reported in the San Francisco Chronicle today, a meteorologist did a 30-year survey of temperature and precipitation data for most of the largest cities up and down the state of California. Conclusion? In 75% of the
sites, the weather has grown colder and rainier than it used to be:

Of course, this “inconvenient truth” was not what either the study’s author nor the
Chronicle‘s reporter wanted to see, so the spin cycle goes into overdrive right
from the headline, which manages to use the word “warmer” first despite there
being only two warmer cities in the entire study: “CA climate: inland
warmer; coast cooler and wetter.” Uh-huh. But that’s just the aperitif.
How does the author, a meteorologist named Jan Null who also happens to be on
the global warming bandwagon, explain away the trend he uncovered? Behold:

The data may appear to bolster the arguments of global warming skeptics,
but Null said the findings actually fit in with the predictions of scientists
who believe the climate is changing as a result of human-caused carbon
emissions.

“People say, ‘Wait a minute, what about global warming? Shouldn’t it be warmer?’ ” Null said. “Well, if you have more warm days in the Central Valley, you are going to have a stronger sea breeze so you will cool off the coastal areas. That certainly does not contradict any of the models about global warming. This is what is to be expected.”

They always say that: Whenever evidence of cooling is found in the data, it somehow
magically becomes confirming proof of global warming, because cooling is “expected” in the forecasts. Of course, whenever localized warming trends are found, those too are cited as evidence of global warming.

Which leads me to my Global Warming Spin Axiom:

Hot we win, cold you lose!
<
>
What’s most astounding is that Null, who claims to be a world-class expert on California meteorology, uncorked the whopper “if you have more warm days in the Central Valley, you are going to have a stronger sea breeze so you will cool off the coastal areas,” which as anyone who lives in Northern California knows is complete balderdash. Hot days in the Central Valley are generally caused by high-pressure systems settling over the area, which also cause off-shore (i.e. reverse of normal) winds and higher temperature at the coasts. Incoming low-pressure fronts cause cold temperatures at the coasts and cooling inland. To say that warm temperatures inland somehow induce cold and rain on the coast is wrong in more ways than I can count. And Jan Null knows that, so he must be purposely obfuscating to undermine the
conclusions of his own unfortunate study.

One thing I will say in Null’s favor, though: At least he released the stats he uncovered, rather than burying them once he realized that they undermined his favored thesis (as other researchers have done, we now know). But he would have been wiser to just release them and make no further comment, because every time a climatologist cites cooler temperatures as proof of global warming, another angel dies in heaven and another thousand Americans lose faith in the global warming mania.

There is no real consensus or scientific proof that human caused global warming exists. Humans causing climate change is only a THEORY! In other words these global alarmist cannot say with any degree of absolute confidence that humans are the cause of climate change.

Volcanoes are great examples of why attempts to control the climate are futile at best and mostly are folly.

Here's some news to consider.

That volcanic eruption in Iceland last year, since its first spewing of volcanic ash has, in just FOUR DAYS, NEGATED EVERY SINGLE EFFORT you have made in the past five years to control CO2 emissions on our planet - everyones!!

Earlier this summer volcano Puyehue in Chile, started erupting on June 6, 2011. Ash clouds were as high as 5,000 meters and blanketed places 100 km away with volcanic ash.

When Mount Pinatubo erupted in the Philippines in 1991, it spewed out more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere than the entire human race had emitted in its entire time on earth.

For the slow readers I will make the point of the above paragraph easier to understand' Mount Pinatubo, spewed out more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere than the entire human race had emitted in its entire time on earth.

Read more on clmite change at, Humans dwarf volcanoes for CO2 emissions, and here Scientists grow cool to global warming theory.

The Earth changes, every day. Without regard to our presence. We can make life unpleasant for ourselves or our neighbours.

No one wants to drink dirty water, breath polluted air or eat contaminated food.

Does anyone beside me find it interesting how they don’t mention “Global Warming” any more, but just “Climate Change” - you know why? It’s because the planet has COOLED by 0.7 degrees in the past century and these global warming bull artists got caught with their pants down.

Global Climate Alarmist just may have found a human-caused element slowing global warming.

Several recent studies point to China's growth or coal fueled power stations emitting enough dust to slow global warming. Or is that promoting global cooling, more at: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/07/05/uk-climate-sulphur-idUSLNE76401W20110705idUSLNE76401W20110705

The climate change extremist do want one thing for sure.

Money!

Cap and Tax schemes are being launched by the EU and the Obama administration is salivating at the revenue that would come in to pay for all types of social programs, at the expense of crippling an already struggling economy.

Does anyone think that the tax one pays is to low? How much more can you afford to pay for a threat that cannot be proven to exist?

SCAM, is the term that describes the massinve social engineering climate alarmist are attempting to force upon the world.

Share your thoughts on climate change. I look forward to your pellucid responses.

Corrective rape??

2011-07-07T20:11:00.000+08:00

Although homosexual marriage is legal in South Africa, lesbians have been victims of "corrective rape". [Read more]

This doesn't happen only in South Africa. Have you seen the movie Boys Don't Cry? Apparently, "corrective rape" also occured in the US back then.

Do those men rape because they truly believe that the rape would "correct" lesbians' sexual inclination? Of course not! They are just opportunists looking for reasons to rape someone.

If rape can put a heterosexual woman off sex for a long time, then surely raping a lesbian will make her even more disgusted with men.

The rapists are the ones who need corrective rape!

Confused by email language

2011-07-06T07:30:00.000+08:00

I received an email in which I was asked to "kindly revert to the undersigned". I scrolled down and up, then checked whether there was any attachment to the email but couldn't find any signature. Under where? It took me a while to realise that the person in the email was asking me to revert back to him - he is "the undersigned".

WTH? Why must he refer to himself as "the undersigned"??

I only know "the undertaker" from WWF :D

I can't stand long-winded, confusing emails!

Do you use confusing and old-fashioned words in your emails? [Read more here]

Women Victorious in Thailand

2011-07-05T18:30:00.011+08:00

Contributed by David

Yu-Kym's recent post on the success of women on the world scene with French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde becoming the new chief of the International Monetary Fund.

Ms. Loh gave notice of the next prime minister of Thailand in Yingluck Shinawatra, the leader of the Pheu Thai party in Thailand’s Sunday elections.

Yingluck Shinawatra says she is ready to form a five-party coalition government. Her announcement came a day after her party dominated national elections with strong support from the north and northeast of Thailand. Unofficial results indicate her party is set to capture 264 seats in the 500-member parliament.Yingluck, who is poised to be Thailand’s first female prime minister, told a Bangkok news conference Monday the new government's goal would be to solve the problems faced by the people.

Thailand’s recent violent clashes between opposition parties and government forces left the capital bloodied. The violence forced to departing government to call elections and Ms. Shinwatra will soon be in a position to aid healing the divisions in her nation.

Margaret Thatcher, for those younger than 35, Mrs. Thatcher was selected in a 1979 election to become Britain’s first women PM. Mrs. Thatcher remains a towering figure in British political history, well deserving of admiration.

PM apparent Ms. Shinawatra needs to grow into such a towering figure. Commanding respect from all sides including her countries military. High unemployment, deep political divisions, border problems with Cambodia, Ms. Shinawatra must distance herself from exiled PM Thaksin Shinawatra, who is Yingluck’s brother.

Yingluck Shinawatra does not, become a clone of her brother and it appears she can as demonstrating by her perceptive campaigning prior to this election, then this first women PM for Thailand has a great chance of being successful.

Barring another military coup in Thailand, Yingluck Shinawatra has the opportunity to take the Thai nation into a new era of success.

Let all hope and support her to be a great success!

Double victory for women

2011-07-05T07:36:00.002+08:00

French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde is the new chief of the International Monetary Fund.

Yingluck Shinawatra is set to become Thailand's first female prime minister.

I'm happy to hear that - at least that's news. I'm tired of hearing about men winning elections only to be caught with their pants down later. It is such a waste of time to read about their indiscretions on the news. Surely, there are better things to do.

I'm not saying women of power don't indulge in sex when they shouldn't; I'm just saying at least they're usually smart enough not to get caught.

I wonder whether Singapore will ever have a female prime minister. Not in my lifetime I think.

Recycling made me lunatic

2011-07-04T20:11:00.001+08:00

I brought my bag of unwanted paper, in my re-useable bag, to sell to a recycling company. As the guy weighed the bag with the paper inside, I told him that I still wanted my bag. He said Ok but proceeded to take my bag and the paper to his lorry. I followed him and said very loudly (almost yelling like a mad woman), "I STILL WANT MY BAG." He turned around said, "Yes, I know," emptied the bag into the pile of paper in the lorry, then returned my bag to me. I was slightly embarassed about my mad behaviour but, hey, I really like my re-usable bag. For my small pile of paper, the guy gave me a generous 50 cent coin - which I think was my reward for being the craziest customer of the day.

Independence Day 2011: Happy 235th birthday, America

2011-07-04T11:34:00.002+08:00

Contributed by David

The Declaration of Independence
IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.–Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

The 56 signatures on the Declaration appear in the positions indicated:

Column 1
Georgia:
Button Gwinnett
Lyman Hall
George Walton

Column 2
North Carolina:
William Hooper
Joseph Hewes
John Penn
South Carolina:
Edward Rutledge
Thomas Heyward, Jr.
Thomas Lynch, Jr.
Arthur Middleton

Column 3
Massachusetts:
John Hancock
Maryland:
Samuel Chase
William Paca
Thomas Stone
Charles Carroll of Carrollton
Virginia:
George Wythe
Richard Henry Lee
Thomas Jefferson
Benjamin Harrison
Thomas Nelson, Jr.
Francis Lightfoot Lee
Carter Braxton

Column 4
Pennsylvania:
Robert Morris
Benjamin Rush
Benjamin Franklin
John Morton
George Clymer
James Smith
George Taylor
James Wilson
George Ross
Delaware:
Caesar Rodney
George Read
Thomas McKean

Column 5
New York:
William Floyd
Philip Livingston
Francis Lewis
Lewis Morris
New Jersey:
Richard Stockton
John Witherspoon
Francis Hopkinson
John Hart
Abraham Clark

Column 6
New Hampshire:
Josiah Bartlett
William Whipple
Massachusetts:
Samuel Adams
John Adams
Robert Treat Paine
Elbridge Gerry
Rhode Island:
Stephen Hopkins
William Ellery
Connecticut:
Roger Sherman
Samuel Huntington
William Williams
Oliver Wolcott
New Hampshire:
Matthew Thornton

President Ronald Reagan stated:

“Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction.”