The Corridor

The Retro Bus Ride

Ever wanted to give the finger in anger? The bus stop outside my camp is right next to the construction site of a new condo... it's along Upper Bukit Timah Road. The place is called 'The Linear' The bloody construction site takes up all the space until it reaches the pavement.

Sometimes, the trucks, cement mixers and other heavy vehicles spill out onto the road and occupy the left most lane. (See the picture below) The bus stop doesn't have a bus bay and whoever wants to flag down a bus has to crane his next into the oncoming traffic.. fucking dangerous.


Uncle, be careful!...

Ever had the bus speed by you even after trying to flag it down? It's times like this I wanna stick out my finger and wave it in the wind (yes that finger). No offence to bus drivers huh.. some are really good... good customer service, very courteous. Then there are the F1 drivers.
All too suddenly, the bus I've been waiting for sped down the road, just appearing from behind truck parked infront of the uncle.

My brain reacts to bus service number,
triggers left arm to rise up. I wave it to stop.
Right hand on standby to give the finger
He didn't slow down...
I raised my right elbow and unfolded my middle finger.... (all this in slow-mo)
As it was 30% unfolded... the bus ground to a halt 10 meters infront of me.

I quickly retract my middle finger and keep it for another day.

That story aside, I boarded bus number 178 to get to Boon Lay last week and I was pleasantly surprised when I took a step into the past. It was one of those old buses from at least 10-12 years ago. They still ply the roads?

Cream coloured interior

Retrofitted with new seats and aircon, this rickety old faithful, just like my Dad's car was still running fine. However, I found the air-con trying to cope with the afternoon heat, perhaps they didn't patch up the leaks properly as this type of bus wasn't supposed to be air-con in the first place.


Who can forget the sliding doors?!

Taking a ride in it took me back to my secondary school days when I took the bus home. It used to be transit link cards and we would get printed tickets... for some reason I kept these tickers and until now, I have a stack of bus tickets. Now EZ-link cannot pay less.. ta-ma-de..

I guess most of the buses have been upgraded over the last ten years cos we have been paying more and more, Superbuses, Bendy buses etc. However there are a dying few, still going strong and refusing to retire (like Hulk Hogan), some w/o air-con... Hello service 74.. WTF are you guys doing?.. Maybe they are keeping a few bone shakers around so that there will be an excuse to raise the fare once again to totally phase out these steel beasts.... forever.


Still good enough to sleep in

Animal Abuse

Picture and excerpts (in italics) from article by Chong Chee Kin taken from
The Straits Times, 26 August 2005

"An Alaskan Malamute is an Artic sled dog which has two coats of fur and needs plenty of water to stay cool.... events manager Lim Bee Leong, 30, left his dog without water and shelter in the backyard of his terrace house... The three-year-old died of heatstroke."

For the full story go (beg, borrow or steal) and read The Straits Times, don't expect me to type out the whole article. However, I will summarise it and add some of my thoughts for you.

Reading stories like these make me sad.

This Alaskan sled dog died in a small backyard littered with faeces and dangerous utensils like skewers and shovels lying around. There were empty dish bowls in the yard and the dog was found with blood foaming at it's mouth.

Firstly, (I have to get this off my chest...) Of all the places!! The dog had to be in sunny Singapore!!! This is no place for an Artic sled dog complete with 2 coats of fur. I cannot understand how dogs of such breed can end up living this close to the equator. Dogs like these are meant to run free in the snow in the coldest places on Earth. Imagine wearing winter wear in a soccer field at high noon. Knowing that the dog has special needs, extra care had to be given, yet this poor dog was locked up in a yard without enough water or shade.

In 2003, the owner was advised by the SPCA to set up blinds to shield the dog from the sun, but the advise was not taken. I feel that, although the owner did not actively kill his dog, the amount of neglect or lack of care is inconceivable.

In the end, the dog had to pay for it. What did it do to deserve this? For being a loyal friend? For running to greet you at the end of the day? For guarding your property, only to have the very walls seal it's fate?

Mr Lim was fined a lousy $3000 for causing his pet "unnecessary suffering", a small price to pay for such a painful end. Perhaps the accused should be subject to "unnecessary suffering" too. I propose taking him to the home of the Alaskan Malamute to be stripped naked and left in the snow to suffer unnecessarily.

Herbie Fully Loaded Gala Premiere

If you were in town last Sunday, you would have been drenched but treated to a sight of 120 Volkswagen Beetles parading down Orchard Road. Some of them ferried children for the Gala Premiere of the movie; Herbie Fully Reloaded at Cathay Cineleisure in the rain.

Number 53

The first car that arrived drove right up to the tent with Jamie Yeo, who hosted part of the show. She came out of the car and I couldn't see her eyes cos of these huge sunglasses. She said 'hello' to me and walked on to the stage at the same time making some small talk with her ang moh escort. I think he must be the boss or some big shot at Volkswagen.


Red carpet treatment

The ever bright Jamie. I wonder how much she was paid for her 15-20min appearance.


Ushered to shelter

Jamie's beetle was followed off by scores of kids alighting at the driveway who were whisked away by ushers providing some cover from the rain.

The weather really dampened the mood, at least for me, as my movement was restricted to sheltered areas because I didn't want to damage my friend's camera which I borrowed specially for this event. "Thanks Ryan"


happy kid

Ronald Mac Donald took over the show and wooed the kids with some magic tricks and his funny antics. During the events, I noticed that the kids were all so energetic and rowdy, I respect the teachers who keep them under control and who themselves have to maintain their cool. No way I wouldn't have held out so long with the constant attention and care they need.


Mc B.S.

Of all the clowns in the world, Ronald must be the most sought after and most well recognized. I would have personally preferred Krusty the Clown from The Simpsons. Anyway I think he looked a bit too Chinese (duh) even with all the face paint on. Being my age, I was hardly amused by Ronald pulling eggs out of bags and producing flowers at the snap of fingers. The kids however were so entertained as they were made to say some bullshitty magic word "Mc Presto!" each time he was going to execute a trick.

Makes me want to be young again, to be amused by the little things. :o)

Herbie Fully Loaded officially opens on the 1st of September 2005.

Fascist Pigs

I've often wondered what fascist meant, often used to describe Hitler's regime or the people heading the regime during WWII, it left my friends tongue tied when I asked them what it really meant... so I looked it up...

Fascist as defined in www.urbandictionary.com

1. Someone who believes in a totalitarian state rule by a supreme leader (dictator) who controls everything possible and treats people harshly -- to gain the leader's own success,* to foment an aggressive military nationalism, and to promote a Social Darwinist belief that hard life strengthens the state by weeding out the weak.

2. A lesser authority (corporation, mayor, cop, boss, parent) who legally issues harsh, burdensome, micro-managing, insensitive, or uncaring orders -- especially when they know, or should know, that their goals can be accomplished with more autonomy and much less hardship or distress.

3. A harsh and probably murderous kind of dictator; a "fascist dictator" as opposed to a "benign dictator".

4. If applied unfairly, a parent authority who is doing their job within reason, but their teen either doesn't agree with their agenda (10 PM curfew to help perform well in morning school), or is insincerely asserting their parent to be a harsh disciplinarian, in order to bond socially with friends.

5. If capitalized, is the name of the historic Italian Fascist political party. Benito Mussolini (Il Duce - "The Leader") was the Fascist founder and Prime Minister from 1922 to 1943, who built a cult of personality around himself using false media propaganda that he was always right, killed those relatively few unbrainwashed who opposed him, and unified Italy for an incompetent war to retake much of the old Roman empire. Apologists encapsulated their approval of his social control-freakery in the saying, "Il Duce made the trains run on time".

now you know!

Night

Night time is hardly a time to be sleeping,

Not when you're in Singapore,

Anticipation

Not when the beer is cold,

Stella

Not when you have friends around,

Slide

Not when you have places to go to,

Goodbyes

And not before the sun comes up

4a.m.

On second thought,
Better hurry, or you're gonna be late for work!

Herbie Fully Loaded Premiere Preparations

Last Sunday I had the privilege of helping my friend shoot some pictures at the preparation for the premiere of the new movie; Herbie, Fully Loaded!!! It was held at the Kallang Mc-Donald's and KFC carpark.

The Premiere will be held in town on 21st August (Sunday) and you can expect a convoy of 120 Volkswagen Beetles to Roll down Orchard Road in the Afternoon... More details as I get them...

Here are the photos from last week's preparations in which participants of the convoy dressed up their Volkswagens with colourful decals...


Frog in the Beetle : Participants being shown how to stick the Herbie decals


Beetle on FIRE!!! : I've never seen Soooo many VW Beetles all gathered together before. It was a spectacle, all the colours of the rainbow.


A proud couple with their gleaming blue Beetle


Hold still!


Retro Van: Expect to see some of these vans too...


Sticking it properly : Utmost care taken


All set to go!

Be sure to get yourself downtown this Sunday!!!
Seeya there!

The Lazy Fuck

One lazy afternoon...


This cat always, ALWAYS chooses this blue Mercedes to sleep on.
Clearly a symbol of prestige even among the creatures in the Animal Kingdom.


Who doesn't want to be a cat in the next life?

My Place on the map

First things first;
Happy Birthday Singapore! You've come a long way and even though most Singaporeans are so fond of complaining away... about anything and everything, I sure deep down inside, they are appreciative and grateful.

I'm quite uninspired recently.. I don't know why,

Anyway here are some pictures taken at the new National Library a couple of weeks ago.

Did you know, there is a place in China that has the same name as me? It's spelt "Siyang"

It's in Jiangsu.. sometime ago those guys on MTV visited a place in the USA called Mianus, I couldn't find it on the Atlas (I forgot the spelling and went looking for Myanus instead - because it's pronounced that way). Damn, I would have taken a picture of Mianus if I could. It sure is hard to find Mianus.


I was browsing when I noticed someone stalking me through the book shelves...wtf


Chey!!... It's only Charlotte :p

Gifts From Australia

My Friend Jhuning got this pair of boxers for me all the way from Australia, it's fucking funny...


Who Dosen't?

I'm not used to wearing boxers out,

But I'm still considering if I should wear them around the house or not..

Thanks dude ;p

WHY OH WHY

I've been having a sore throat for the past 2 days. This morning it felt pretty bad.

Doc said it was due to the lack of sleep. "when you are tired, you breathe harder...."

So i got an MC from the clinic downstairs,

but just before I left, THE Horror of Horrors... My walls started to roar to life... vibrating and cranking away, NOoooooo... of All the days!.. My upstairs neighbour is hacking away the floor and/or the walls.. The cacophony of Drills, I count possibly 3-4 drills.. BrrrrbrrrrBRRRRR... FUCK YOU!!!!!...but unable to shout... it comes out as a whisper

Like dat how to rest?... It's 4pm, I hope they are ending for the day soon...

Tomorrow is the first day of the Chinese 7th month, Hungry Ghost festival. Perhaps he's trying to do his renovation before tomorrow... :p

In Transit

Need a Ride? : Midnight, Two children catching some shuteye
on the padded playgroud flooring outside Swensons.
Viewing Mall,Changi Airport Terminal 1

Morning Sickness

I felt sick yesterday morning.

Monday is such a wrong time to be waking up at 5am to go to work.. I call it the Ungodly hour, but when I have to be in by 7am I lan-lan(have no choice but to) drag myself out of bed.

I usually make a cup of milo and add a dash of fresh milk for my morning drink. But last Saturday my Mum bought some chocolate powder from Marks and Spencer, never tried it before... It says, add milk to three heaped teaspoons of powder. Great

One... two... three.. put in another scoup for good measure... Four... Add milk... Turned out very thick, nice, and cold.. Note: I usually just add a dash of milk to my milo, Now I have a whole cup full of Milk first thing in the morning... mistake

On the way to the bus stop I was super awake! And I mean super... like Midday awake.. like someone just shouted in your face awake. But when I sat on bus 74.. I knocked out on the seat, when I opened my eyes, the bus was turning left, past King Albert Park.. Alamak, overshot! So I got off the bus quickly and walked back...

As I reached the bus stop to transfer to the next bus, the MILK started to take effect, my tummy felt uneasy and I needed to crap... badly.. NINABEH.. not now! not when I am half an hour away from my office in the middle of NO-where.. I told myself I could tahan, I've had worse as I played out contingency plans in my head and scanned for possible shitting locations along the way. So I held it in, and the feeling went away as fast as it came. I also didnt give in to use the toilets at King Albert Park cos I didnt want to be late

So came the next bus that would complete my journey... the feeling was on and off. I dosed off, maybe the feeling will be gone. I almost overshot my stop again, if not for my friend who happened to see me sleeping... still okay now.

Went to the guardroom to draw my office key, hitched a ride on the mini bus which would take me to my office, which is a ten minute walk away. Once I got off the mini bus... THE CRAP FEELING all came rushing back to me!!! This was it man, the point of no return.. the bomb has been dropped, I made a beeline to the nearest toilet.. hastily undid my trousers and UNLOADED THE WHOLE STINKING PILE OF CRAP into the toilet bowl... AHHHhhhhhh... I was overcome with relief and a strong sense of satisfaction... I made it

The rest of the morning I was feeling a little nauseous and burping away, it was not just the sudden consumption of milk but I think it was also made worse by the lack of sleep (just 4 hours I had last night). I contemplated reporting sick to get the rest of the day off, but what was I going to tell the doctor? "Doc, I am too tired this morning, too tired to hold in my shit."

Thankfully, I felt better by late morning. Less milk next time