Critical Inquiry

Finally dropped by Miss Clarity Cafe at Purvis Street after reading about it in forums and blogs. It is a cheery place with many colours and offer value for money mains. We had set dinner, Cabbage Soup and Salad, Chicken Ballotine and Chicken Condon Bleu for mains, Bread and Butter Pudding and Choc Ooze for dessert. The main courses were definitely good but the rest of the items were only average. However, considering the price which is being charged, I still must reiterated that it is value for money and worth a visit. Only complaint about the place was the table that we were at is a little shaky and it is a little annoying when trying to get through the main courses. For those who will like to give it a try, the address is: 5, Purvis Street #01-04 Singapore 188584 Be there slightly earlier though...I was there silghtly after 6 and it was not crowded but the crowd trickled in gradually and by the time I left, the place was fully packed. ;-)

I like the Abdullah Badawi administration much more than the old Mahathir one. At least the present one makes sense in their decisions and focuses on the people instead of mega projects that does not necessarily benefit the people. I believe that with such proper orientation of policies, Malaysia will potentially go much further than it had over the past decades under Mahathir.

Frustration venting time... It is terrible to have colleagues who are not as competent in their work and become a liability in a project. Yet there is nothing you can really do about it except to constantly prod them along. This sort of headache is all the more compounded when the colleague is unable to get priorities right and instead spends time on unimportant matters. Important documents are not gone through prior to meetings and superficial questions are asked over and over again. Peoples' names are constantly being mixed up. Emails bounced because the mailbox is not cleared. When emails do not bounce, they are overlooked when there are so many unread ones jostling for attention. Phone calls do not get answer because it is not picked up...leaving voicemails, if it is not already full, gets no response. There is no notification when pre-arranged meetings cannot proceed. Life sucks when you have to work with such colleagues and it will be worse if such a person is your boss. I am

I must be ashame to say that I am Singapore for today is the first time I set foot in Changi Airport's Terminal 2. While Changi Airport is so famous internationally, I had only been to Terminal 1 previously. Was quite free today so decided to pop by Changi Airport to see the latest developments and what a day of many firsts! A list of the first times is Ate at Terminal 1 Canteen Took the SkyTrain Stepped foot into Terminal 2 Stepped foot into Budget Terminal Made use of the Changi MRT station The place is so huge and nice. While there are so many passengers passing through the place, it does not have the overly crowded and rowdy feel to it. I do suspect that getting a good book and enjoying a good read in one of the chairs there is no issue!

Burn the Floor is a spectacular dance performance that recently came to Singapore. I caught it as this very nice girl gave me a very nice surprise getting the tickets to the performance after hearing me mentioned it a few times. It was the first time I attended such a performance and it was showing at Suntec. The hall was quite packed and people of all ages could be seen going to the show. We had the $90 tickets and had quite a good position to watch the show. It was truly spectacular with the dancers putting up a wonderful effort. From rock and roll to Latin dances to the waltz, all who were present could not help but be captivated by the solid performance, rendering thunderous applause after each segment. Now I am quite impressed with the grace of the waltz... maybe I should try to pick it up someday ;-)

It is interesting to read news about Malaysia's ex-Prime Minister Mahathir being criticised for speaking up against the present Abdullah administration. Mahathir was once a well revered leader of Malaysia who evoked strong emotions of sadness when he announced his decision to step down after years of being in politics. However, in recent years, the new administration has scrapped quite a few of his pet mega projects which did not yield true economic benefits for the country and increasingly incur the displeasure of Mahathir. This incident shows me a very important lesson. After holding important appointments and stepping down, we have to remember that we have stepped down and give due consideration and respect to those who have taken over. Only then will we be able to preserve our dignity and maintain the respect people had for us. Too many good lessons we learn too late in life and when we are finally offered those lessons, our minds are too set in their way to appreciate the valu

I wanna publicly declare that I am one happy man this weekend as I have found this very nice girl to share my life with.

Today's article in The Straits Times, "Gamers upset about StarHub's sluggish broadband speeds" is a superbly well written article. Bravo Chua Hian Hou for coming up with such a stinging piece. Getting StarHub customers to switch to a more costly plan will unlikely solve the issues being faced. This sort of suggestions are obviously made by non-technical trained support staff who will not know the difference between kbps and kBps. As it stands today, StarHub has one of the most expensive broadband plans around after Singnet dropped the prices of its plans. Throw in these issues which make customers feel shortchanged, StarHub will unlikely be able to convince hardcore gamers, the main takers of broadband services, to sign up or stay on with it. The article will definitely benefit SingNet and Pacific Internet which are offering better prices and performance on their services. I love the closing paragraphs of the article, "...a solution is for StarHub to buy more har

I must be really bored to be taking this What's Your True Color? test... Brown You're brown, a credible, stable color that's reminiscent of fine wood, rich leather, and wistful melancholy. Most likely, you're a logical, practical person ruled more by your head than your heart. With your inquisitive mind and insatiable curiosity, you're probably a great problem solver. And you always gather all of the facts before coming to a timely, informed decision. Easily intrigued, you're constantly finding new ways to challenge your mind, whether it's by reading the newspaper, playing a trivia game, or composing a piece of music. Brown is an impartial, neutral color, which means you tend to see the difference between fact and opinion easily and are open to many points of view. Trustworthy and steady, you really are a brown at heart.

Today's programme features the following the stalls from the now defunct Jalan Besar Longhouse Upper Thomson Road Long House Boon Pisang Goreng Bugis St Chuen Chicken Rice (Roughly) Soon Kee Duck Rice Longhouse (Ah Hui) Prawn Noodles (Student of the original) Blk 7 Beach Road Longhouse Big Prawn Noodles (Original) Lavender Food Square, 380 Jalan Besar Longhouse Miow Sin Popiah and Carrot Cake Golden Mile Food Centre Bugis (Longhouse) Lim Kee Beef Noodles The prawn noodles, popiah and beef noodles look especially mouth watering! Must make time to pop by and try it out...yum yum...

Have been spending too much recently going to restaurants and am overrunning by allocated budget for the month. Only left with a little amount to get me through till pay day. Really tightening up everything, buying less coffee, choosing the cheaper items for meals, deferring non-essential expenditure till my budget is topped up... Am I just torturing myself unnecessarily? It is not as if I cannot afford to spend a little more each month. The frugal streak in me borders on miserly sometimes but luckily I am miserly to myself only and still relatively generous to my friends. Having tight finances (simulated or not) once in a while is perhaps a good thing. It forces us to rethink our expenses and identify the luxuries that we take for granted. Gotta be creative and see how I can get through the weekends having fun on limited budget :-)

I popped by Timbre with some friends for a little get together. I have heard of the place but have not dropped in till now. Near Stamford House, we met up at City Hall MRT station and walked over. With the construction work on the demolishing of the old National Library, Timbre is very much a hidden spot where the uninitiated will have problems finding. We had to turn in via a small one way lane from the main road to get to the place and actually took a little while to realise that exact spot where it was when we reached the carpark right beside it. What exactly is Timbre? They have their own website over here but in my own words...It is a restaurant/live band sort of place. Tucked in a secluded corner behind some old shophouses, it is largely open air and lined by trees when provides some cover from the open sky. The food they serve is quite nice and there are nice promotions on both during and after happy hours. There are different bands that will perform there each day of the week