Airplane flying low really made me nervous!

It was this morning that I was at the pool with my children when I heard the sound of an airplane flying really low overhead, it made me nervous.

VERY nervous, indeed. I didn't know last week's plane crash (that wasn't so significant actually) had affected me 'this' much.

Knowing that the plane that had crashed was a military plane and that the housing complex that was crashed into was an air base housing, I knew I was pretty much outside the 'accident radius'.

But I guess because it happened only about 5 kilometres away from my home (and that it actually happened at all), becoming a plane crash victim at anytime seems real in Jakarta, hence the nervousness I was feeling when the sound of an airplane flew low overhead was heard this morning.

Anyways, in case you missed the news of the recent plane crash in Jakarta, here's a link to The Jakarta Post's Sky Falls on Air Base Housing Complex.

In Jakarta, Indonesia. Arrow pointing to the spot where a plane crashed into a housing complex the other day killing about 11 people altogether. Photo was taken from the balcony of my home about 12 minutes after plane crashes.

Korea - Lost In Translation.

Don't know why but I have always thought I would never be lost in translation in Korea, at least not as much as I probably would when I travel elsewhere. But the opposite happened. Apparently I thought wrong! Below are a few illustrations of my encounters ‘speaking different languages’ with some of the local people I met in my short stay in Korea. Read on.

1. Given: A Pair of Korean Wedding Dolls

It was on one of those days in my stay in Seoul that I met up with Kenji’s Korean business partners over lunch. At the meet up, among other things, I was presented with a pair of large-sized Korean traditional wedding dolls. *Check out link, the picture and details of the wedding dolls set is similar to the one I got on that day from Kenji’s business partners.*

The gift was really pretty I thought. But I must admit (to my readers, that is) that I have a certain dislike for display dolls like that, I’m not sure why. Even so, I accepted the gift (not because it was pretty but because it was simply natural to accept gifts when given).

In the elevator after lunch however, the CEO of the company, who was Korean, asked me this question:

“So when did you get married?”

I answered him, “In 2006.”

He looked surprised, and then continued, “Oh! So you have been married for about 4 years already?”

Surprised, I wondered immediately about the wedding doll gift and if anyone had told him tales that Kenji and I had just gotten married.

Later, the CEO stated, “So you have been married for about 4 years.” After that he queried, “But your child is only 6 months old??”

His question surprised me a second time - I wondered if years of marriage have anything at all to do with a baby's age, really. Decided not to dwell on it, I shoved aside my surprise and confirmed to the CEO that he had calculated the years correctly and that my child was only about 6 months old at that time.

Out of the elevator however the CEO continued to look surprised. And I wondered what was it that he had expected it to be – a 15 month old or so marriage, or a purely unorthodox baby before marriage/wedding style?

I’m not sure really. But what I do know for sure is that the 'conversation' that I’ve just had with the Korean man was one very odd 'conversation' ever.

2. I don’t know of any K-Pop artists to be honest.

I met a Korean lady whilst on my way to the accommodation in Seoul one day. Her name is Miss Y. She was a middle aged person whose English, I remember very well, was quite fluent. Miss Y and I spoke for a bit, mainly on things Korea, before she proudly asked me, “So which Korean actors/actresses/singers do you know?”

I was stunned by the question for three reasons. One: because we weren’t talking about a Korean celebrity I had personally liked or knew of. Two: Miss Y seemed very sure of the surge in popularity of the contemporary South Korean culture in the country I come from. And three: I don’t know any K-Pop artists or Korean musical groups to start with though I have heard of their names through the news or some other forms of media a couple of times before.

So feeling a bit nervous, I laughed right there and then, my mind simultaneously and desperately searched for an answer. I had wanted to reply Miss Y with a KIM-something (if I wasn’t mistaken the names of some K-Pop artists sounded not too far off from the other Koreans in general) but I ended up saying, “Well...”, and then stopped.

I knew for sure I could admit that there was no one in the industry that I truly recognized. But then again I wasn’t too sure if it’s acceptable to do so over there because if this had happened in Japan (or elsewhere in Asia actually) and Miss Y was Japanese (or some other Asians) I probably would have had to pretend that I knew some artists in order to keep the ‘harmony’ between us – ‘harmony’: the politeness and respect for other persons, which may sometimes require a person to not tell the truth in order to keep it, as according to my understanding of the word.

And so because I was doubtful, I just went, “Um...” Shortly after that however, Kenji interrupted our conversation and said to Miss Y, “we know some (K-Pop artists), but their names have just slipped out of our minds”. Ah, right there and then the ‘harmony’ of the Japanese have saved me. Thank heavens, and good job Kenji! It was certainly a good response from him ever! :-)

3. The next destination.

On the second day of our stay in Seoul, Kenji and I decided to join a city tour. On the bus half way through the tour, Kenji asked the guide who was an English-speaking Korean lady, how long for that we still have before we arrive at the next destination. She answered, “about 15 to 20 minutes”.

A minute later, the bus that we were on pulled over and the bus door opened. The guide left the bus, then she turned around and waved at everyone in the bus to get off it. We hurriedly got off the bus and I approached her right away asking her where we were going.

She told me we were going to check out the amethyst at a nearby shop. Apparently, amethyst, a mineral stone violet in colour often used in jewellery and somehow very popularly included in tours in Seoul, was our next stop. Kenji heard her and immediately looked at me. I looked back at him and we just smiled. We knew right there and then that we were lost in translation!

The airport - to go or not to go.

Echa’s asleep. And so here I am finally having the chance to sit on a chair, face the laptop and feed on my McCafe cheesecake without any disruption. Ah, heavens. Right now that I’m having my afternoon break, I am considering going to the airport tonight to see Aunt Mimi off – she’s returning to Zurich (where she’s been living for over 30 years of her life) after about a week’s stay in Singapore.

But I’m not sure about sending her off yet though because by mid-week I normally start to feel physically drained (and given that today is Thursday, I have started feeling quite exhausted already in fact), hence am a bit hesitant to use the leftover energy for something I consider not very necessary (such as sending a relative off at the airport – sorry Aunt Mimi, you’re important but I still have Friday to survive as you can see). But I know it’d be nice to go and bid her farewell.

I was also thinking I’d probably go check the situation at Changi Airport out, if I were at the airport tonight, and see, despite the resumption of flights, if the airport’s still in a chaotic state as it was a few days back when an Iceland volcanic eruption caused a massive disruption to the aviation industry worldwide. Ha, now that I’ve thought of one more thing to do at the airport I think it makes more sense to go over and send Aunt Mimi off then. *chuckles*

On a different topic however, it’s Earth Day today! Yeah, big deal. Nothing great is going on at home. And I’m doing nothing much about it either. If I were in school and teaching though, I’d probably do the yearly turning off of the lights, fans, computer and projector in the classroom for about 30 minutes or so whilst resuming classroom activities. And then I’d go check the other Earth Day related stuff that the school has going for the rest of the day out. Well, I can still do the same at home actually – I can turn off all the lights, fans, air conditioner, laptop, etc for 30 minutes or even more, but I don’t know, what difference does it make, really?

Now that I’m not working and am staying home pretty much, I truly find it kind of awkward to commemorate days like the Earth Day all by myself. So I haven’t thought of anything ‘earthy’ to do yet much less carry out anything at all to mark the day, so things have been pretty much ordinary here. Speaking of ordinary though, it rained heavily with lightning and thunderstorms again today, but to make things less ordinary, I’ve used the weather condition to do some climate-related discovery at home.

Um, sounds a bit like a freak I know, I measured the distance between the flash of lightning and my location. And so far I found out that the closest I was from where the lightning occurred today was about 0.2 miles (about 300 metres), which was not very far at all actually but certainly it was not the closest of lightning flash I have ever experienced in the entire of my life. Well, I am thinking if it rains with lightning and thunderstorms again tomorrow (and if I’m free around that time that it happens), I’ll probably go measure the distance (between lightning flash and me) again and see if it’ll break today’s record of 0.2 miles!

Anyway, I better go. I’ve written so much in the past few minutes but it’s all crap and so I guess I better stop writing at this point. But if you feel like reading a bit more, well, you might want to read my previous posts “Hey, I Got In!!” and “Korea - The 'great' walk to Myeongdong”, which I’ve just edited and recently republished due to some incorrect facts! So yeah. Adios!

Hey, I got in!!

7. But I don't know if I'll go for it though. Because right now there are quite a number of things to think about. Nevertheless I'm feeling very HAPPY!!

^




6. 4 days ago I received an Offer Letter from a uni. Apparently I got into a Master program they offered. So I'm flattered. And I'm flattered because: -
a) it was a Master program of my first choice.
b) I thought it'd be really difficult to make it into that program.
c) I didn't know what kind of "credit level or better" grades they were looking for. But since they didn't redirect me to a pre-Master degree, for example, requesting me to do a Grad Cert or Grad Dip prior to the program so I assume my grades are all right.
d) They replied only about 3 weeks after I applied, and that was far much faster than expected.
So, Woohoo!

^




5. When I sent in my application, the officials present told me that I'll most probably get a reply from them/the uni itself within the next 6-8 weeks.

^




4. On the day I sent in the application, I came back home feeling very relieved. However after that I realized I had forgotten to apply for a Law Degree (because that's what I was supposed/had wanted to do actually - haha!).

^




3. Kenji told me to go and take up a Law Degree.

^




2. I complain and complain every freaking day.

^




1. Back then and even right now actually, I was and am playing a stupid waiting game.

Asiana: World’s 5-star Airline

I was told by Kenji we were flying to Incheon via ANA. But that was a month before we even leave Singapore. Because four weeks later, I found out we were flying (to Incheon) via something else...Well, it's not like it's a big deal flying via ANA. I've never even flown by ANA in fact. But because the airlines I normally fly with don't fly the Nagoya-Incheon route, and I was asked to choose between ANA and other airlines whose reputation I don't know about, so I picked ANA. During that period of one month (after choosing to go by ANA) however, we changed our flight dates several times because of job, and so by the time we purchased our air tickets, ANA got fully booked thus leaving us with some other airlines to go with...

We were in Japan visiting Kenji's parents when we left for Korea on January 19th to travel. On that day that we flew however, we took Asiana and that was our very first time taking the airline. We didn’t know how good or bad flying with Asiana was, or what even to expect out of it. But it turned out that the airline provided us with the best of service ever – the check-in services was excellent, cabin staff was well groomed and very accommodating (they were genuinely nice and very professional at assisting families with children!), the meal I got was tasty (and unique looking), the onboard amenities were all right, and the cabin was in an excellent condition – very impressive I thought!

Later on, while the plane we were on was about to land (and I was still very much amazed by and impressed with Asiana – probably because I rarely hear about it other than its name), I saw this: Asiana: World’s 5-star Airline for 2010! And THAT explained it all! Asiana was indeed a first-class airline yet I didn’t know it! Well, it wasn’t like I was supposed to know everything. Right? But I thought I should at least know something fundamental about the airline I was flying with. Shame on me for not knowing but good on Asiana for being the world’s 5-star airline! Looking back at it now, I guess I must have missed the brand from the start, or just been too preoccupied travelling with a 6 month old baby hence some things in my travels just have to be missed :-(

Anyways, our flight to Incheon was only a 2-hour journey. So having departed from Nagoya at 12 noon, we arrived at Incheon Airport at about 2pm Korean time. It wasn’t snowing when we got there but the weather was freezing cold, the roads were wet, there was snow on the ground and Yellow Sea was one freaking frozen piece of ice fields! Climate as a whole, I must add, was vastly different from that of in Nagoya! At the Incheon Airport however, we were picked up by some local people Kenji knew from work and it took us about an hour to get to Seoul.

~ to be continued...

Stupid Morning, The Burn Day, Going Out

Normally, I’d get annoyed with Echa (Hazuki) at some points of time in the day. Today however, I got annoyed with her since early morning. Echa woke me up at about 6:00am this morning (not very early actually but about 2 hours earlier than she normally does since she turned 4 months old) and screamed her head off wanting what I couldn’t really tell. So I tried the usual things out – things that’ll help put her back to sleep – but none worked and so she just didn’t get back to sleep after that, annoying me right up till now! Kenji’s the night shift guy at home (he wakes up every night to attend to Echa whenever she cries) but at 6:00am Kenji’s got to get ready for work so I had to take over his duties from that time on, which wasn’t very nice at all for me because I had thought I could wake up much later today since I had slept very late last night all because of my inability to fall asleep despite feeling very tired! And so just like that, my sleep’s shortened. But I’m planning to get even tonight. I’m thinking of sleeping early, or I’ll be a cranky monster to Echa a whole day tomorrow!!

Anyway, on a totally different update, I’ve decided to name today The Burn Day, and that is because I burnt two things back-to-back (kinda creepy I know, I'm even anticipating more burns to take place for the rest of the day somehow). The story goes like this: at noon, I burnt my rice, which I cooked for lunch and later burnt my fingers over the rice cooker whilst re-cooking a new set of rice (actually I was thinking it might be some sort of retribution on me for stealing some time between my household duties to read a few articles online, perhaps??). Well whatever it is, I just hope there wouldn't be any more burning for whatever that's left of the day at least, though like I've said, I am somewhat prepared for more burning in some ways, hence the name The Burn Day.

Right now though, I am thinking of picking Kenji up when he finishes work later. But I don’t know yet. Lately I have been quite reluctant to do so and that was ever since Echa feeds on solid foods and her weight doubled. Going out to pick Kenji up would mean going out during Echa's dinner time, and this would also mean having to bring Echa's dinner along, which isn't so fun anymore because there are so many things to bring now! If it was just powdered milk and bottles last time, now it's food, spoon, at least one bottle of drink and her baby booster seat (apart from diapers, wet tissues, baby bibs, clothes, etc). I know I can always buy Echa her food and even spoon from shops but it’s ‘safer’ to bring them from home I think, just in case Echa gets too hungry or I don’t know of any shops around that sells baby food.

Other than that though, depending on whether I put Echa on a carrier or in a pram, I might have to look for a place to feed her. Also, because Echa is feeding on solid foods now, she has to sit pretty much upright whenever she eats. Echa can now sit but she (kind of) need the baby booster seat or a baby chair at most, when feeding (or I've got to hold her firmly on my lap) and either way, a lot of things and effort are needed just to feed her outside - I don’t even know if I have the energy, in the first place, to carry them all out myself, especially at that time of the day when I'm pretty much drained. On weight however – Echa's getting heavier than before and I've been finding carrying her on the carrier a bit of a challenge. So these days I prefer going out with her on the stroller but the stroller's quite bulky and so making my way to the city where Kenji works wouldn't be very easy given the large crowd and plenty of fast-walking people around (check out the article 'Singaporeans are fastest walkers in the world'). But I'll see how. If I can be bothered, I'd go.

So yeah, that's how my day's been - stupid morning and burnt rice and fingers. Ah, I guess I better end this post here. I need to scrub the burnt marks on the saucepan and do a bit of cleaning before the little female monster wakes up, or I won't have much opportunity to do so later. So bye for now.

Lazing around.

Just came back from my parents’ place actually. Kenji and I had stayed there overnight as I got quite lazy to go home by the time Kenji came back from work.

Last night, Kenji returned at about 10-ish p.m. and I was feeling tired by the time he arrived (at my parents’ place) given a whole day’s effort in helping my parents out with their mini Chinese New Year family reunion.

Mum had some sort of siblings-gathering throughout the day yesterday despite a no-apparent-occasion-to-celebrate, really, and I am saying this because we’re not Chinese people yet we celebrated (kind of) the day.

So I was at my parents’ place the entire day yesterday helping mum out with serving of her guests and preparing endlessly the BBQ food and steamboat buffet, which we had for everyone who was there.

It was exhausting no doubt. But despite the exhaustion though, I still went to bed as a happy person. Because in all, things turned out fine for everyone, and I really had a wonderful time.

So this morning, Kenji and I woke up earlier than usual as we had to get back home in time - Kenji had to get ready soon enough to leave home once again but for work.

So after coffee at 8, Kenji and I headed home, then Kenji got all ready for work and I saw him off very soon after that.

Since that time though, I have been home alone, done nothing much really except reading online articles I had occasionally found interesting. And at times when I got really sick of reading (or resting my ass on the chair rather), I’d get up and mop the flat’s dusty floor.

Like yesterday, Kenji will be working a whole day again today, and I’m guessing I will probably just stay home for the rest of the day, do the things I have been doing earlier and also perhaps, tidy up the flat a bit more.

So hope today’s going to be another good day for me regardless! And to all my Chinese readers, have a happy Chinese New Year.

Tagged by Nana.

Got tagged by Nana today. So read the following for my answers.

My 10 weird things/habits/little known facts

1. I have terrible eyesight and so I wear glasses/contact lenses everyday and every time. Without them, I’m practically blind!

2. I plead Kenji not to go to work without fail each time he has to, which is stupid because it never worked, but I still do it anyway and yeah, don’t know why or even when this will ever end.

3. I love t-shirts and shorts but I guess I love wearing nothing much more than anything else.

4. I read all of my blog posts over and over again, and never stop editing them (which is perhaps the reason why I haven’t been writing new ones if you haven’t had it figured out just yet).

5. I always make sure that my flat is clean - well-mopped, no clothes lying around, etc. right before (ONLY right before) I (a) have visitors (b) travel

6. Speaking of travel, I don’t know why but I always make sure I exercise well, eat and drink well, see ‘my’ hairdresser, visit the dentist (well, I try to) and read up on fashion magazines before I leave the country.

7. I go online for things medical, and afterward foolishly get myself all paranoid for nothing!

8. I tend to fall sick when it’s the school holiday (or whenever I’m not schooling or working, rather). And I always believe it must be because of a lack of Vitamin D.

9. I love tomato juice despite my mom telling me over and over again that tomato juice makes one’s armpit smell sour.

10. I love books. But not so much of reading them though, actually more of arranging them in order according to ‘height’ and category!

OK I’m done. But gee, who can I tag, really? I don’t even know who’s reading my blog now :(

Ramadhan updates, if you care to know.

Ramadhan’s been alright so far. But I guess I can’t say much about it yet especially when fasting’s gone pretty easy in the last five days - no work, just plain resting at home. Whilst fasting’s been easy, Kenji and I, on the other hand, have been having a lot of difficulty waking up for sahur though. Each time the alarm went off (at 4:30 a.m.), we’d turn it off and get back to sleep (and then ended up waking up again only at 5:44 a.m., - by the time sahur was over for all Muslims in Singapore). But we continued fasting nevertheless and so far survived those sahur-less days, which also convinced me time and again that it’s the intention that’s doing the trick. Other than sahur and fasting, the breaking of fast hasn’t been all too fun as compared to previous years’. I have been breaking fast alone at home. Plus, the food that I’ve been breaking my fast with has been kind of boring. Also, I haven’t dropped by any bazaars yet, and, been too lazy to get started on the terawih prayers. So looking forward to do some of these beginning this weekend…

My fuss on the next trip.

In a few day’s time I’ll be in Bangkok. It’ll be my first time there, and I’m worried. I’m worried about my safety and security in my stay in the city, and I’m worried too about my flight. But that’s just typical of me.

I’m usually worried about ‘things like that’ when I don’t know a place, which shouldn’t really be the case, but flight is something that bothers me regardless of destination or the number of times I have taken an airline, so yeah, this is nothing new coming from me.

So anyway, just to let you know, I will be spending only about three days in Bangkok and so this trip will be a very brief visit for me. I haven’t had much thought on how I should be spending my time there though, but I did think of checking out Bangkok’s Khao San road on one of those days that I am there.

I don’t know. Maybe I might do a bit of shopping in Chatuchak but shopping isn’t exactly what I would like to do in the city. So, as I have said, nothing’s planned out yet for sure. And I guess I’ll just leave it to the spur-of-the-moment me and see how things go.

I’m sure I could come up with something in the end. But anyway, my mind’s still filled up with concerns over my safety and stuff now. So just to let you know I’ll be in Bangkok for a very short time soon and that I will try to keep my blog posted when back later. So just hang on there, alright, and wish me luck!

Hope to be back in one piece.

Nothing much. Just some changes.

Haven’t been posting blogs for a while now. It’s not that I don’t want to, or is there nothing to tell. There are many things to write about actually - from datuk’s (grandpa’s) passing to overseas-friend visits to work. But unfortunately I could find no time to sit down and reflect about things that have happened within that period of time. And so for that, no posts have been written on blog. Sorry about it.

Well, in case you have visited this blog in the past few days and discovered that it was opened only to invited readers and are wondering why, well, don’t worry. During that time that you couldn’t get access to this blog, no one could either. I didn’t invite anyone to read my blog. Just decided to “close” it for a short time - simply wanted it to be inaccessible.

But if you have visited this blog in the past few hours and realized that it is no longer closed, well, yeah, you are not dreaming. I’ve opened the blog once again for public viewing beginning last night. And if you have looked through the blog and its sidebar, you would have probably noticed some changes done to it. But just in case you haven’t, go check the sidebar out and I’ll point out which parts have recently been changed…

Here’s just to let you know, there are a couple of things on the sidebar of this blog that have recently been altered. Firstly there is a section called Currently Travelling, which have been moved higher up the bar (for no reason) and its contents, updated (for one reason). And secondly, the section entitled “On Current Travel Place”, which is right at the bottom of the sidebar, has just been created.

So according to the Currently Travelling section, I am now traveling in Bangkok. Well, yeah, this is right if today is Friday. But the truth is, I am not there yet. I am still in Singapore with a bit more of work to get done, and I agree, the update to my current location is made a bit too early. So pardon me for the big lie (I will be in Bangkok only in 4 day’s time actually and that is, if all goes well).

Also, I’ve just changed the picture in Currently Travelling to the one you’re seeing now. Well, in case you’re wondering, the picture in the section is not showing Bangkok at all. It is, as a matter of fact, showing a few people canoeing in Phang Nga, a province in south east of Thailand that I visited about two years ago. Well, I just don’t have a picture of Bangkok to put on view yet, so the picture of Phang Nga was selected to represent the country instead. So apologies for lying the second time.

With regards to the “On Current Travel Place” section though, it’s always been there actually but with no name. So I’ve just given it a title. Also, I’ve added stuff to the section now and it’s currently updated with time, weather and a bit more of written info on my current location (though I think it does seem to turn out a bit overloaded than before unfortunately). But anyhow, do enjoy.

So yeah, that is all with regards to changes I’ve made to this blog. Nothing much I know. Will try keep you all posted whether it’ll be on stories of work (if that’s legal), overseas-friend visits or perhaps even about my mostly missed late datuk sometime later, so don't worry, just stay tuned.

Been a busy week.

The week beginning 23rd June was a rather busy week for me. I was down with many things to do that week but mainly I juggled with my 'new' job, played host to my foreign guests and helped out with Murni's wedding, which took place that same weekend.

Below are some pictures and notes for you to see and read. Feel free to check them out.

Picture on the left shows a part of my flat. Just like other parts of my home, this area has some new furniture added to it too. Almost every week in June in fact, Kenji and I went to Ikea, a furniture mall, to purchase some new furniture to do up the rather empty flat. We decided to furnish our home because we wanted our home to look 'alright' especially because we knew Kenji's mum, Keiko-san, and her friend, Miho-san, would be staying with us in their 1-week visit here in Singapore sometime during the end of the month. Also, we wanted the extra room that we have to turn into a 'proper' guest room. So on 23rd June, I did some last bits of furnishing and cleaning up of my home before Keiko-san and Miho-san arrived the following day.


A bouquet of flowers from Kenji to me on my birthday. That day, my parents, Murni, Kenji, Keiko-san, Miho-san and me went for brekky somewhere close to my place. Soon after brekky though I had to leave for work whilst Keiko-san and Miho-san went to the zoo, and Murni went to play host to her African guests. I knew it was a pity I couldn't stay and hang out with the rest much longer. Nevertheless it was good that I managed to squeeze a bit of my time to be with those few good people on my birthday.


In school: some work for the pupils to do at home. I would love to give them a whole load more (of work) actually. But unfortunately I knew I would have little time and energy to mark them when they're returned to me the following week. So the above's a good amount I think.


Rather tough juggling between work and showing my guests around during the week days. But I managed it almost every other day that week so it was good! Picture above shows late dinner at Lau Pa Sat with Keiko-san and Miho-san who didn't mind traveling all the way to Raffles Place just to meet up and dine with Kenji who finished work at 9-ish that night.


On Saturday morning, Miho-san, Keiko-san, Kenji and me (behind the camera) went to an Open House carried out by the school I am currently teaching in. The Open House was a public event with exhibitions, food and games, which the school had to attract parents who have pre-school children to come and check the school out. According to the school, they hoped that with the Open House, parents would consider putting their children in the school later. Anyways picture above shows Miho-san, Keiko-san and Kenji checking out some things on the cupboards outside a classroom that were put on display during the school's Open House. I hope they all had fun at the school that day.

This is Murni with two of her former Madrasah students at her wedding. Murni is my elder sister who just got married last week. She is married to an African-Filipino (groom not in pic unfortunately) whom she met whilst studying in Perth. On that Sunday Murni appeared prettier than usual I thought. I liked her especially in the wedding dress she wore in the picture above. That same night after the wedding, Kenji and I went to the airport to see Keiko-san and Miho-san off.

This week, however, was a gradual slow down of the previous week. So this week saw me doing far less things than the past week but I was still busy nevertheless. This week I caught up with some of work's accumulated tasks such as marking of students' work and making lesson plans. I also met up with some old friends, relatives and even siblings (as they were scheduled to leave for Perth on Friday night). And I had the suddenly-too-many-airport 'visits' within a few days this week as I struggled between cleaning up of home whilst going through a terrible cold. Well, well, wasn't that just as busy as the previous week? You tell me.

So, America has finally decided.

With the announcement of Obama’s victory last night, I am glad and certainly relieved to know that the 17-month search for President Bush’s successor has finally come to an end.

I hope news reports of Obama or Clinton on Singapore TV would cease following as closely as it did during the Presidential Election, now that Obama's already won and Clinton's ended her historic candidacy.

No sound reason for that though. I just thought it rather odd for a country like Singapore to 'care so much' about United States' Presidential election.

The local media here has been feeding its people with very frequent updates of it as though Singapore is a part of America, and as though Singaporeans couldn't get the updates online.

Doesn't Singapore have its own local news to cover?

Disappointed over Singapore hotel rate.

Guess I probably would stop lodging my visitors in Hotel S anymore.

The other day Tempei told me that Hotel S has increased its room rate. Murni, who was in fact earlier to inform me about it, had said the same thing except that she didn’t mention how much the hotel’s current room rate is; Murni just said that all hotels in Orchard are getting more expensive.

Along with Murni though was the lady at the airport hotel service reception. The lady had told me that no hotels in Orchard are at the rate of S$100 or below for a room per night anymore. And actually it wasn’t only the lady who had confirmed so. Some hotel club websites that I have visited have proven her right. But I found that all these are so hard to believe.

So yesterday I decided to call Hotel S. I really wanted to hear about the room rate from the hotel itself. I thought, we never knew, do we, if the hotel has had some promotions or is actually hiding its original price. So I called the hotel. But to my disappointment, everyone who had told me about the price increase was right.

Hotel S’ room rate has now gone up to about S$150 per standard room per night. It's superior room on the other hand costs about S$180 per night. This is very different to that of the rates of the hotel a few years back when a minimum price of one standard room per night was S$80 or even S$50 if you book it through the airport service counter. So the rates have all now changed and honestly, I am very disappointed with the price increase.

Truthfully speaking, I have been to Hotel S many times over these years - I usually lodge my foreign friends there. And I dare say that S$150 for a room per night in the hotel is a bit too profligate.

Maybe the price increase is after all supposedly about value for money (or money for value, whichever suits better). And yes, I understand that the hotel has superb location - it is located in the heart of the city so perhaps that explains for the high price.

But the hotel rooms are terrible - they are super basic and the building the hotel is in seems quite dilapidated. In addition to that, the hotel lobby looked like it hardly ever exists. Worse, the hotel has neither a restaurant nor a swimming pool, much less other hotel facilities.

Above all though, its service (when my guests were staying in it) was far below the standard of not even the service of a S$130 room rate business hotel here. So for all that, I think the hotel really doesn’t deserve a minimum price of not even S$100 for a room per night. And I’m sure many of my friends who have stayed in the hotel in the past would think so too.

So as of now, and certainly not in the future, I guess I probably would stop suggesting Hotel S as a lodge to my foreign visitors, unless of course something is done to the hotel (like an upgrade or something) or perhaps even a reduction in room rate, which could probably (though fat chance) help change my mind.

But anyway, yeah, for the meantime I certainly won’t be popping in the hotel for inquiry or reservation or anything of that sort at all. Though I guess I am quite curious to know what's in store for the future still.

Them - the unwanted.

I didn’t think it’s so hard for women these days to get married. Recently I met up with a few of my foreign female friends. We met up and chatted over so many things and one of the things we talked about was marriage. Meetups and chats with these friends have coincidentally made me realize one thing; that so many women outside Singapore have boyfriends who are unwilling to marry them. It is sad and I am utterly sorry to those girls. Yet this phenomenon has nevertheless bring about two points that I thought was real; firstly, women anywhere and everywhere actually do have the desire to get married. And this is despite their profession, level of education, modernization as well as the current gender ideology that categorizes women who choose not to get married as smart women (when I thought women who choose not to get married don‘t even have a choice to start with, but this is definitely a separate issue). Secondly, I realized that men are after all the species, with few exceptions of course, that hold the position to make big decisions such as who to get married to and what not. And this is despite some arguments made by some feminists about the lack of difference between the role of men to that of modern women. So anyway, to my unfortunate girl friends whose boyfriends aren’t interested in marrying them, I wish them the very best of luck. As for me, those chats and meetups have certainly brought about something for me to ponder. Honestly though, I am not sure if I am ‘that’ lucky just because my boyfriend married me. Somehow it isn’t a big thing to me as marriage is exactly what I had wanted out of my relationship. Also, the situation isn’t really an issue here with women in this country. Most Singaporean women I know are somehow still wanted as wife by their boyfriend. So I don’t know why such situation happened to girls outside Singapore. But I guess after hearing those news, I do feel somewhat proud of myself for being married. Especially if it means that not only does it show that I can keep my man in the relationship, but also I made him happily marry me.

Thank God for all the good stuff He’s given me.

Short message.

I am back from Japan. Will update you on this trip if I'm not working tomorrow...OR...if I have the 'capability' to do so...or both. Right now though, I am feeling tired and all emotional. Really want to hop on the next plane that goes back to Nagoya tonight. Ahh, what is happening to me?? ... I guess I have stayed in Honshu a bit too long this time.

I better end this post here and get off to bed soon or I will get all crappy and stuff. So see you all later. Good night Singapore.

Disturbed.

Today school called and asked if I was free to teach. I took up the offer and so got ready for school as soon as I could before I did my utmost usual thing, which was to call the cab.

As soon as I was ready and saw from the window of my flat that the cab had arrived, I left home. So I climbed down the flight of stairs as quickly as possible and upon nearing the ground floor, I heard some people, apparently from the ground floor, talking.

The closer I got to the ground floor, the nearer and louder were the voices. I anticipated that I would perhaps bump into some people when I reach the void deck later as the people talking sounded as though they were walking in my direction.

Well, bumping into strangers this way wasn’t uncommon for us living in flats and so I let it be. At least I have prepared myself mentally in bumping into others so I could lessen the amount of shock in me if it truly happened.

Apparently one of the voices of the people talking sounded like that of a girl's, who was then speaking in a language I didn‘t really take notice of, but sounded somewhat cheerful and accompanied by quite a thick Malay-ish accent.

With that, I expected that if I would, I probably would be seeing a Malay girl perhaps with long hair and in school uniform loitering the area. Escapee teenage students from nearby secondary schools here are more commonly seen loitering the area than any other people anyway.

Also, I was anticipating that if I would, I would perhaps see the girl with her boyfriend as she appeared to be the only one enthusiastically speaking and the other person whom she was talking to seemed to be speaking in a lower pitched voice.

On another note however, her ways of speech gave way to her age group as she was speaking in a manner many teenage Malay schoolgirls do.

So when I thought I would perhaps bump into some teenagers, I thought there was nothing to be on guard about as these kids are normally not harmful.

Well, I generally keep myself on guard because my void deck is an end of a corner, placed next to a park and least exposed to the public as compared to the other void decks around. So it is rather good to be cautious and on alert at all times especially when walking around the void deck as it is quite an isolated place.

But when I arrived the end of the staircase, I didn’t bump into anyone and only when I walked off towards the car park, the girl called out, “kakak, kakak” (elder sister in Malay). I ignored and quickened my pace.

Only when she called out in what seemed to me as rather frantically, I stopped walking and turned around but that was only after I quickened my pace to reach to an area of the void deck where I was more exposed to the public, just in case.

But when I turned around, I was quite taken aback to see a very short-haired and dark-skinned person coming after me. I wasn’t too sure if the person was the same person I had heard talking as ‘she’ looked really like a man (or a butch for that matter).

And only when I heard the voice again, I thought it was the same voice that I have heard earlier but half my brain was questioning me if it was in fact a man in a female’s voice.

The person turned out to be shorter than me (or rather because I was in heels) and perhaps similar in age (because her facial skin seemed more matured than a teenager's). And she was accompanied by a body language that gave me the idea that she had a query on her mind.

So as soon as she came up close to me, I held my right hand up and spoke to her in Malay, “saya nak pergi kerja” (I am going to work). I just thought I didn’t have the time to listen to someone whom I have never seen around the area and who looked rather dirty, a bit like that of a crook.

But she came closer to me and demanded that I listen to her before anything else. So I stopped and decided to give her the chance to be heard.

I was right though. She had a query for me. On what seemed to be a put-on emotion, she said, “saya hilang/tak ade IC. Saya tak ade duit. Saya nak pergi tengok mak saya kat hospital. Kakak boleh kasi saya S$3.00, tak?” (I do not have my Identity Card with me. I do not have any money. But I want to visit my mum who is in the hospital. Can you give me S$3.00?)

I didn’t say anything to her. I just thought her plea sounded very much like an overused excuse employed by cheaters. So I thought I had better leave her.

So I waved my hand at her, signaling that I didn’t have any money with me and firmly said to her, “saya kena pergi kerja” (I have to go to work). That was when I turned around and left for the cab that was waiting for me.

I got rather annoyed though at that moment as it seemed to me that my time has been wasted on someone who didn’t quite deserve it. But as I walked towards the cab, I was also bothered by the thought that she might be following me from the back.

So when I got closer to the cab, I checked the reflection on the cab window and felt relieved as I saw no one behind me.

I got into the cab quickly and started looking for the girl afterwards, just to see which direction she had taken. But I didn’t see her, and I didn't see the guy whom she was with earlier either.

And as the cab got closer to the route I assumed she would be taking, I didn’t see anyone. But I kept on a look out for her the whole time after that. Only as the cab changed direction, I thought the person might have just gone by the back way, and perhaps into the park, I don‘t know.

But anyway, I arrived school safely and felt relieved about it all. I was just a bit disturbed by the confrontation during the earlier part of work as I didn't stop to wonder if 'she' would loiter the area again the same time tomorrow.

Anyway, a shout-out to Kun: let's move to a guarded apartment, shall we? I really don't like encountering such people anytime I am outside.

Monsoon's not over yet??

They say northeastern monsoons take place from December to early March. It is now coming to mid-March and the northeastern monsoon is still here. Obviously it has extended for a longer period of time now. On my part however, I have kept myself indoors since the recent occurrence of thunderstorms and heavy downpour. Despite preferring days with good weather, I do kind of enjoy the cooler weather conditions the monsoon brings with it though. Then again, at times I'd wish for drier days. I quite miss going out without getting my feet wet!

Photo: I had to take a cab home after completing groceries at FairPrice yesterday afternoon. It was raining heavily non-stop and I really had to be back home soon.

Muslim meal and the best seat.

It was the first time that I realized I could select my meals and seats as soon as I bought my online tickets. I don’t know if this was new but I never really did see them in the past. So I took the opportunity to browse through those meals and seats pages and see what I could do with them.

I have just purchased my online flight tickets actually. It wasn't the first time I bought flight tickets this way though but it definitely felt like the first for me ever. I wasn't too sure what I was supposed to do or where even was I supposed to go after being thanked for the purchase - sounds like I was dumbfounded by it but no, I wasn't. I was just lost because things didn't seem as usual as before. Nevertheless after seeing the links to meals and seats selection, I do know one thing was for sure. I was certain I would go to the meals page to make some necessary changes to my meals selection as I normally make a request for this each time I fly.

So I went to the ‘select meals’ page first (instead of the seats page) and amended the automatic selection of ‘standard meal’ to MOML (Muslim meal). I chose to do the meals page first because I thought it’d be easier for me to complete it since there is only one type of meal that I normally go for whenever I fly.

But when I got to the page, I saw a list of meals they have in the drop down menu and I was surprised to see SIA catering for quite a number of special diet on one flight. I had a look at the rest and thankfully the list didn’t get me confused but the page certainly made me feel proud of SIA for showing some kind of consideration and thoughtfulness to its passengers’ diet.

Next, I went to the ‘select seats’ page. After staring at the page for a long time, I decided I should read up articles on airplane's best seats. So I searched it up on Google and read up what people have to say about choosing seats on an airplane. I found some really interesting articles and spent quite a while on this one: Safest Seat on a Plane: PM Investigates How to Survive a Crash. And as soon as I finished reading it, I went back to the seats page thinking I was ready to reserve my seats.

But when I got to the page, I realized it was hard for me to decide. There were just too many seats for me to choose from and I just didn’t know which seat is really good for me. I tried waking Kenji up (who was sleeping at the time) just to choose a seat for me. But in the end, I decided I should just leave it to the check-in officer, perhaps it was easier that way. So I left the page there and then, attempted to clear my mind in what I would think of as, as soon as I could, just so that I could get back to the seats page and think of the best seat to choose for a second time (somehow I didn't want to pass this opportunity to the check-in officers).

Now though, I have chosen my seat. So at present I have confirmed my meals and got my seat. But I reserved my seat only after checking out the seat number I sat on my previous flight to the same destination (and I left the seat in my return flight unreserved because at the back of my mind, I still do not know which seat is good for me).

Anyway, seat choice shouldn't be too much of a problem as long as the journey's safe, correct? But one thing about this meals and seats selection is that I am still surprised to know that I could select my meals and seats myself after purchasing tickets online. This is certainly good news for me. But I feel dumb for sure (if the meals and seats selection page wasn't new) for not knowing they existed as I have flown with SIA numerous times and purchased heaps of online air tickets by now.

Picture Above: Picture above shows sunrise from a window seat. Picture was taken onboard a flight about a year ago and if everything goes well, I will be seeing this view again on my journey very soon.

My messages in Sent Inbox all deleted?

Shit. I think Friendster’s deleted my messages in my Sent Messages Inbox. That is sad if it’s really true. I didn’t even received a notification mail from Friendster regarding it. My Sent Messages Inbox contains loads of mails, some of which were mails that were rather significant to me. Sometimes too, I would use Friendster messages to write long, personal update to my friends about the things that have been happening in my life and then I would save those sent messages in the Sent Inbox. But now they’re all gone. And I’m so upset. Why did Friendster have to do that? Argh. I have been clicking on Refresh many times now but the page still shows the same thing - sent messages (1). I am just hoping that this is not really happening. I should have printed old messages and keep them in my diary instead. I’m distressed.