Studying What One Likes & Prefers

My nephew has arrived from the land of Kiwis – not the fruit but the bird, though both are from New Zealand.

A handsome lad (and I am not being bias just because he is my blood relation) I teased him for looking like Beiber, the singer who has done everything possible to have run ins with the law. It seems that his peers have little respect for this singer and I am glad that as a young adult, he has his values right. He disliked being remotely linked to Bieber!

Drug dealing or doing drugs are not options for my nephew and his cohort. I am silently pleased. Neither is he into breaking any laws. Hurray!

He is also not supportive of drink driving and I am even happier as he was given a nice car to drive and my worries were racing whilst intoxicated. Though I see him posing with a drink in his hand at parties (photo uploads on his Facebook) he always has his parents picking him up or sending him to parties. Smart kid being responsible.

NZ is a big country unlike my little red dot that is a hop skip and a jump away on a bus, mass rapid train or taxi. Their government has not invested in an infrastructure for metro rails etc at your door step and I could possibly understand why….huge expanse of land and not economically viable to sustain. It is about economics and finance.

Which brings me to his course of study at university. His mum wants him to do law and be an attorney. I had hoped for him to be a surgeon. He took one course in law and he told me, ‘why do I have to study Waitangi law treaty! Law does not seem like a course I like’ 😁

He is motivated by money and investments. The first conversation I had with him on arrival was if I wanted to buy a beach front property in NZ! He thinks I print money or have a bottomless fund flow😉

The course he was interested in was Economics and Finance. Here’s hoping he finds his true calling and end up a savvy businessman.

Some are born scholars, others businessmen, and more others probably employees like me LOL!

 

This Does Not Feel Like Changi Airport

I am at the airport waiting for a flight from Auckland. Yup, it would seem I am the resident chauffeur.

Thankfully Neptune’s Ocean decided to stop leaking from the skies above and I quickly shot off in my car to drive to the airport!

Made it in good time and as I walked through B1 it felt as if I was in a foodcourt and children’s playground…hey even a performance ground!

Silly parents let their children loose, as if like monkeys they jump on their scooters and pedal furiously as if training for a derby.

Pedestrians within the airport were like skittles as they weaved in and out between humans!

I shuddered if any blithering child would knock into someone. Oddly their parents were not bothered. Inclines to an upper deck was used as their launch pads, free wheeling down.

I half expected skate boarders to appear.

At least the break dancers were disciplined, using an alcove away from the crowd to practice their rolls, hand stands and neck gyrating movements.

The floor tiles were shiny smooth and I wondered if they had any clue of what if they slipped? I am pretty sure they would break their necks as it was solid floor tiles they were break dancing on.

As I moved onto arrival wall, there was yet another set of young teens practising dance moves!

It does not feel like an airport but more like a huge playground complete with air conditioned comfort, clean toilets and eateries to feed them if hungry.

I was told there are literally daily people who would sit at the airport and going home to sleep or they sleep on the benches there.

Our world class airport, so homey that you won’t want to leave it 😀

2 Nutty Germans Extradited To My Little Red Dot – Vandalism!

Some days back our Mass Rapid Train (MRT) parked in a depot was found spray painted with graffiti and coarse language!

Whoever did it was either ignorant or oblivious to our strict caning rules, jail and or fine or both laws!

In my heart, I knew whoever if caught will be a goner in terms of being caned!

Any local would be stark crazy to think of this.:oops:

I thought it would be a foreign worker but then, given the recent Little India riot, I also hazarded a guess that these foreign nationals who come to our shores as marine or construction workers would not dare do something like this.

Last evening, it was reported that the police within days caught the suspects and they were extradited to Singapore from Thailand to Malaysia and finally to Singapore.

My thoughts?

Blithering idiots…at ages 21 these German lads were either too free or trying to prove selves that they were smarter than our police.

Best part is, these two dumbo lads were caught with paint nozzles on them when detained, and paint on nozzles matched spray cans they left behind. Plus the rubber gloves they wore!

As if they did not know how Michael Fay paid for his vandalism act.

We do not tolerate graffiti much less chewing gum as the latter was disposed off by chewers on bus seats, walls etc that caused public nuisance to humans.

I guess they did the crime, they will pay the crime once investigations are over.

I sincerely hope that these lads are not wandering vandals as it seems, they were headed to Australia when detained.

Perhaps they will learn and turn over a new leaf!

Remember if you have friends visiting Singapore, do share with them of our no drug policy (hangman’s noose), no littering ($500-$1,000 fine), no jay walking ($50), no spitting, no chewing gum, no vandalism……just be good citizens of your home country please.

We are a ‘fine’ city as our tourist t shirts are printed with the list of fines 😁

We live in a clean, green and graffiti free land 😁

 

Clean & Green But Little Flowering Plants To Show Off

My little red dot is famous for its clean and green image.

Wherever you go within our tiny island state, you will see trees, shrubs grown methodically, just like our government, in nice intervals!

Someone once joked with me that if you will notice, between every 3 lamp posts, you will see a tree! 😁 LOL! It took a foreigner to show me this and by Jove, he is right too!

But if you look really hard, you will see tiny flowers that sprout on the creepers or shrubs that adorn the overhead bridges for pedestrians to use for crossing roads.

Colored leaves like Coleus is often used to give the greenery some color.

However, this is vastly different than the gorgeous flowers I would see in Australia or am now seeing through Scifihammy’s Madcap Dog blog!

She has the most gorgeous pictorial shots of her garden and the local flora to share. You ought to check out her blog!

Of course to be fair to my little island city, we do have gorgeous orchids grown in the confines of glass houses within the botanical gardens. These days with the weather changing and harsher sunlight, these orchids have to be climatically controlled too, else they wither and die.

My dad used to be an avid hobbist in orchid growing. He would spend time getting new orchid plants and stood in awe of his precious orchids and admire them.

He and my mum are ardent gardeners, though more like my mum ending what my dad starts.

Dad brought home the proverbial bacon whilst Mum kept house and us urchins alive and out of trouble – my mum’s official job description:)

Today with an empty nest, my parents have moved to a high rise unit. No space for anything but corridor plants. Still, mum keeps busy with potted plants.

I decided to go check out my apartment block’s horticultural design LOL! I wanted to see what flowering shrubs there were, if any! I do not observe much as I zip in and out from basement to the road or trot to the pool.

I Guess This Is Jasmine Flower But I Caught No Hints Of Jasmine Fragrance

I saw this bush with some white flowers and hazard a guess it was likely Jasmine.

 

A Specie Of Morning Glory

We used to have loads of Morning Glory creepers running on fences but these days the original breed has gonI have e on permanent extinction from the roads as these were deemed fussy to maintain I guess. Morning Glory seems to blossom in the morning and literally drop off past noon. Maybe it was a housekeeping version.

At least I now know that in my little boudoir, I seem to have 2 flowering plants….:D

Guess I have to look really really hard to see flowers….or it is the case of looking but not seeing or hearing but not listening! 🙂

I Feel Much Like Karate Kid Except……

After watching 3 hours of my Korean Soap opera, ‘Smile Dong Hae’ and a scrumptious meal of my steamed pomfret garnished with ginger, chillis in salted black bean paste and loads of Wong Bok (Chinese Napa Cabbage – those used to make kimchi), I decided to do the car wash!

The Car Wash is not the dance of the disco era but literally, buckets or pails of water, car wash wax and shampoo, complete with sponge and scrubbers with chamois cloth for wiping down 😁

Of course I cannot lug pails of water and so, I moved car to the nearest stand pipe in my basement car park.

I have to do this precisely as my back is fragile and so, I armored self in a lumbar back support and a stool to sit for cleaning the bottom half height of my car. Brainy right 😝

I then remembered what my physiotherapist Barracuda Ally had advised me. Stomach in, use inward circular movements, in and out. Suddenly, it hit me! I heard this before and it sounded exactly like Mr Miyagi of Karate Kid telling his student who was badly bullied by thugs.

Of course the student did not think much of the wash and waxing but in doing it, I realized the usefulness of it as it built my upper torso muscles and shoulder muscles. I did have surgery on my shoulder before and I do have another upcoming surgery next year on my right again. Sigh!😥

I do have my part time help to do my car wash weekly but today, actually tonight, I felt the need to have some mobility – careful mobility else my back would seize up.

I spent an hour washing my car and it was therapeutic in a way as it allowed me to do some chores on my ‘not to do list’ – I wanted to be positive and do it as in, my mind wills it and my body does it!

Ah well tomorrow I shall know if I survived this mega feat 😁

I am karate kid…..heeeeeyaaak!! LOL!

Favourite Foods

It is tough by my standards to find or decipher what constitutes my fave foods.

Hmm….could it be that if I repeatedly eat the same foods it must mean that I like it and it is my fave food? 😉

Erm, I think in my case there is no truth in this.

You see, I have a habit of buying in bulk, cooking in bulk and end up eating the same food. What makes it worst is! I ain’t no Michelin star Chef.

I will not know what raw foods or spices or things to buy and throw together to create a dish or any dish! LOL!

Most times, it is a case of hit or miss! If it is a hit! Hurray! I would enjoy eating it but I forget how it was put together as I don’t follow recipes at all.

My food computations in terms of how much this or that is based on estimation. I also have great imagination on how my finished dish would look like! 😉

LOL! I remember how my Home Economics Teacher Ms Leong gave me an ‘A’ star for presentation but a ‘C’ grade for taste. .

I dislike salt, as in added salt to foods as I find that there is usually natural salt or sodium in foods. Eg, tomatoes, ketchup, sausages, soy bean paste, etc.

I do not have need to buy refined or rock salt…and no, I don’t own a salt pan  ha ha!

So, now I am intrigued as to what are my favorite foods?

Definitely cheesy melt is one as it is a quick fixer of hunger. So is bread! Tuna sandwiches, salads, fish and pork. Pork buns, dumplings and sushi especially California maki or hand rolls! Yum!

I love fungi – Loads of mushrooms as in button, straw, oyster, monkey head mushroom, portobello mushroom, golden needles etc. I can wolf down punnets and punnets of mushrooms!

As to how I cook pork or fish, it is usually steamed or stir fried or in soups, anything without need to cook over a wok stove and using oil.

Meals must be ready in 10 minutes top for me!

I do envy people who love Italian, French or some exquisite food….their refined palates pairing with the right wines for that epicurean feast.

For me, the one with a rubber mouth…my motto is eat to live! 

Bon apetite….tonight I shall have steamed pomfret with tomatoes, drizzled over with salted soy bean paste with ginger and cut red chillis!

Life Is A Series Of Rockets Launched From Secure Bases

I was watching Blue Bloods series when lead role player, Tom Selleck, said the words of the title of my blog post.

I was stunned for a bit as it made perfect sense. Eureka if you will! Why didn’t I think of that?! 😊

My life has indeed a series of rocket launches. It revolved around my medical challenges, love life or ultimate lack of it at the end and work life! Sheesh….but we’re they launched from secure bases? I mused to myself…..here are my think thoughts 😁

Medical Challenges

For each rocket launched, it was done with calculated risks from the secure base of a thought out approach. Being financially competent – this big word means, I understood what it was like to be “in debts” and feared the consequence of being unable to pay if I made a wrong rocket launch and ended up heavily paying the consequences for life!

Aah….this was the secure base I sat and launched my rocket, assessing risks, medical professionals and choice of Ward class.

Question that arose in the Hamster who runs my brain department concluded that the cheaper option was not that cheap, I fact it was equivalent in cost yet without the benefit of my trusty doctor to care for me.

My rocket torpedoed to the right bases and thankfully I lived after raking up close to $600,000 in cash for two major surgeries over 3 hospitalizations.

Sorry Ass Of A Love Life

This was an easy rocket launch.

The man of my dreams was not what I perceived him to be. My financial status and extensions to business links faired importantly to him. The downside to his plans was that I did not croak…as in bid farewell to the heavenly realm or purgatory 😁

As I sat at my secure base, I fired my rocket and cried bucket of tears. It was painful but it had to be done. We have an old Chinese adage that goes along these lines, “short pain is better than long term pain” and severed ties with him.

I know the Christian mindset was, “love and forgive thy enemies” – My dichotomy with Chiristianity and my constant stuck zone of being in spiritual limbo 😁

In truth….I may be able to forgive over time, but I cannot forget…unless I suffer from total amnesia! 😝

Work Life

I have not been able to find a secure base to launch my rocket just yet. I have been scouting for a secure base and have put out a tender to procure heat seeking or guiding rockets! But you see, the arachnid Scorpion King is a tiny little thing and such missiles are hard to obtain.

This is tricky intricate work and will need a bespoke missile to tackle. Meanwhile there are others seeking to launch their missiles and perhaps, they will beat me to it…😁

 

When Hunger Pang Strikes, Cheesy Melt It Is!

Sometimes when I don’t have enough time to makes a decent meal, I would always pop two slices of double wholemeal soft grain bread into the pop up toaster and turn it to level 6 for darkness.

My toast turns out nice and crispy brown…the way I like it! 🙂

I would then peel off two slices of cheddar cheese from its plastic wrappers and plonk it when the toast is nice and hot to melt the two pieces sandwiched between the brown toast.

As I sink my teeth into this delectable treat, it gives me that nice satiating hunger feel. Yummy!

I don’t know if your breads are sold with multiple flavors like ours?

We have white breads (enriched or otherwise – but to me these are tasty but not wholesome in that their sugar content is high), brown breads like wholemeal, muesli, fruit loaf, coffee loaf, chocolate loaf, focaccia, sour dough, charcoal baguettes, walnut loafs, cranberries, soft cheesy breads, loads more….

Whilst we are Asian in my little red dot, I do believe we eat loads of bread. I eat breads more than rice as it is fast and easy to toast. Time matters to me as I have to whip up a meal in a jiffy as I multi task my laundry and other chores inorder to catch my  nightly soap opera LOL!

We are also spoilt for choice in terms of spreads….Marmite, Bovril, Vegemite, Kaya, large varieties of soft cheese wedges flavored with ham, strawberry, brown peppercorns, etc.

My choice is usually cheesy melt and it hits the spot making me happy 😀

As I must have two of everything in stock, my freezer will most times have 2 walnut loaves and 2 low GI loaves of bread chokeful of sunflower seeds and nuts.

I am nutty about bread and can eat it on its own with canola oil spread or margarine! 😀

 

Drinking Coffee These Days Is Such An Art!

These days, coffee drinking has become such an art form.

In my neck of the woods (American Slang 101), coffee is served by putting ground coffee grinds into a “long white sock” and hot water poured into it to produce that hot cuppa Kopi O – this means black local coffee.

For takeaways, the coffee shop server will pour it into an empty condensed milk tin and its lid will be laced through with a raffia string for the person ordering take away to literally carry the tin away. This to me, was recycling at its best!

Coffee was simply black with sugar or without sugar, with milk or without milk and that was it.

Today, coffee is not only prettily served in a cappuccino cup, demitasse cup or tall glass depending if you want expresso, latte, or cappuccino and other great creations like Frappuccino, iced coffee blends and so on.

The person doing the coffee is now called a barista (not barrister – as barrister is actually a lawyer or an advocate and solicitor) and uniformed in a black outfit, with neat cap or beret and with a black apron.

To finish your coffee served, the foam forms into a beautiful design of a leaf, heart or smiley face!

Coffee drinking has become complicated and an artistic event. There are so many types to order…Arabica beans, Moroccan beans, loads of different blends and not forgetting the infamous Kopi Luwak ( the most exotic of coffees where the civet cat feeds of a coffee seed specie and poops. The poop is what makes Kopi Luwak  exotic and exorbitant. Of course the poop has to be processed and then it is packaged an sold.

I guess it is all about marketing!

Marketing makes coffee unique. Out of marketing came successful coffee chains like Starbucks, Dom & Deluca. The pricey cuppa we pay for caffeine shot is for that “experience” – sipping coffee in style!

 

 

Apparel That Fits & Yet Not Fit My “Kids”

3 Out Of 475 Garfields Having A Field Day On The Sofa

I have absolutely no space to put out all my Garfields in living space. if I did, I will have no place to walk, much less for anything else. If I had a choice, I would love them everywhere in my pigeon hole.

Yup, guests can jolly well sit on the floor somewhere…LOL! But that would be rude it seems to humans LOL!

So, every now and then, I will unwrap some of these felines of mine and take them out for some fun – like a kid I will enjoy them as they sit comfortably on their favourite corner, not doing much – just sitting 😉

I cannot stand them when they appear naked or without pants…so I am still trying to get them the right tees to wear. That darn tail is a pain as it is hard to let them wear pants as the tail is in the way!

Nephew brilliantly says, “cut a hole through the pants and pull the tail through” – unfortunately, I am not one who is as deft and nifty as Edward Scissorhands who trims bushes into animals or anything artistically woven by nature!

Besides, I will definitely ruin a good set of clothes for Garfield as I cannot even handle any form of needlework. I am a klutz at needlework.

I am always evoking much laughter and excitement from sales assistants at the department stores as they happily help me find clothes to dress this inanimate fur ball – aah well, I do bring them cheer as they pander to me and my weirdness 😀

Thankfully, they know I am not a loon and will almost always play with the Garfield I bring along for fitting of clothes.

Garfield is oddly depicted as a cat in human form ie, he walks on two legs and not four paws. Or at least this is how Paws Inc makes these stuff toys that end up in my home as gifts from friends. I tried the pet shop and these do not fit as pet shops dress woofies who walk on four paws.

So, the best place to shop for Garfield is at the baby clothes department. Mostly new born, 0-3 months and for the gigantic Garfields I have, these are hard to fit as his head is too big for the neck opening of any T shirt!

So, there you have it….like any “mum”, it is indeed hard to buy clothes for my Garfields! LOL!