I'm Scooting (Away)

My wife and I were lucky enough to win a pair of tickets on a budget airline to the Gold Coast, or so we thought. I have never been a big fan of budget airlines but decided to give them a try anyway. Being  a true blue Singaporean, the prospect of free tickets was quite appealing :)
When we received the letter awarding the prize ticket, there were a list of terms and conditions. I have always believed that if you wanted to give anything away (especially a prize), please be gracious and not attach conditions which make the award seem like a half hearted gesture. I guess the folks at the airline are on a different page here.
Anyway, our adventure began when we went online to make the bookings. I realised that there were several "options". As this was a budget airline, we decided to pamper ourselves a little bit. We were not allowed to upgrade the economy class tickets to business class.....sigh. Anyway, we purchased meals, blankets, pillows, extra legroom and even checked in luggage! After adding up the extras, my wife and I paid more than S$800 for the trip. Oh, there is also an option to reserve iPads for entertainment but none were available at the time of booking. After looking st these extras, I was almost fearful that if I pressed the call bell during the flight, I would be charged extra for the cabin crew to attend to me :p.
For the uninitiated, I hope to share my experience so that you can benefit from it and save a few dollars in the process. To put it bluntly, I hope it will save you from disappointment too :)
As it was a red-eye (night) flight, we ordered breakfast. Immediately after the flight was airborne, the cabin crew came round dishing out our meal, which was a sandwich. I told the cabin crew that we ordered it for breakfast but she checked her list and said told me that we ordered the sandwich.....duh? Maybe it was her way to telling me,"Look pal, just take the sandwich now and you can eat it whenever you want." It was a weird tasting cold chicken sandwich - almost like eating cold chicken otah sandwich which had been sitting in the fridge for a day.
We also ordered blankets and pillows for both legs of the flight. Thinking that the blankets and pillows were hired items (like the iPads), we ordered a set each for both legs of the journey. I found out that we actually bought the items, like you would buy meals, checked luggage, etc. I only realised this when I saw the passenger next to me pack the blanket into his cabin bag when we landed at the Gold Coast. The blanket was small (smaller than the one provided by its full-serviced elder sibling airline) and the pillow was not even a regular pillow but an inflatable travel pillow. The eye shades were nice though. The blanket and pillow set was not cheap. On hindsight, I expected at least a regular pillow for the price we paid.
We bought 20 kg of luggage each for each way. Way overkill. Both of us could have done away with a total of 25kg on the outbound trip and possibly 40 kg on the return to buy the wonderful Australian chocolates, nougats and other shopping :) Chocolates are very heavy, but their weight is worth every calorie.
The extra legroom was really handy. It made the trip more bearable. Oh, by the way, don't expect lots of legroom. When you buy the extra legroom, you get a that of regular economy class seats, like on Etihad (not SIA). The seat was unfortunately not that good. The cushion was tired and had collapsed. I could almost feel the bottom of the seat frame. Dear Airline, if you charge passengers for the extra legroom, please ensure the seat cushions are of decent standard. Otherwise, I suggest that you sell an option for fresh seat cushions, but do tell your customer if they are allowed to take it with them at the end of the flight :p
The cabin crew were nothing to shout about. Frankly, I find SIA crew more warm and friendly despite having to do alot more during the flight. Do we have to pay extra for them to be warm and hospitable?
Overall, the flight was uneventful, thankfully.
Personally, I think budget airlines have carried this option thing too far. On medium to long haul flights, they ought to provide some basic creature comfort rather than take the approach of passengers having to buy extras, including water!
I'm scooting off ....... to another airline :p

The Sky is our Canvas

As I get older, I have begun to appreciate the wonders of this world, and my life. I first took up photography in my late teens. As I got into the army, studies, career, family, etc, I put it aside. Sometime around Christmas 2003, as I was rushing around with my son to buy Christmas presents, we were sitting at a traffic light waiting for the light to change. My son remarked that the sky was beautiful. I acknowledged with a "Uh huh" without even glancing at the sky. He made another comment about the cloud formation and when I glanced at it, I was in awe. It was a awesome looking evening sky. It then dawned on me that nature provides - We sometimes look but not see :)

That was when I decided to pick up my old hobby. Over the years, I allowwd the various priorities to overcome this  hobby and I had become a "rat" in the rat race of life. I got myself a DSLR and reignited my passion for photography once again. I dabble in all types of photography - scenery, macros and the odd social event. I am usually the unofficial photorapher at family and company events :) "Unofficial" so there is no pressure and I can enjoy what I do.

I decided to dedicated this blog to the scene that rekindled the joy of photography - the beautiful sky. As I said, I am no expert and all feedback is welcomed. Some of the photographs may have appeared in some of my earlier blogs.

One afternoon in London - Love the looming clouds

Ominous looking clouds over Trafalgar Square

Arc du Triomphe seem to be the centre of cloud activity

Ray of Hope

Early morning at Seletar

Something's brewing

Crack of Dawn

Like a splash of water colours

Not a Fisherman



This scene remind me of the childhood story - A Fly Went By

Another Day in Paradise

A Church

At the junction of Coleman Street and Hill Street sits an understated white church called the Armenian Church. It has been around for as long as I can remember. I have passed this church ever since I was a boy, but never entered the compound.
Last weekend, I armed myself with my trusty camera and decided to pay this church a visit. As I approached the church, I expected to see an elaborate worhip hall with stained glass, paintings and European architecture.
Instead, what greeted me was a plain hall with simple wooden pews. I was in awe of its understated elegance. As I entered the church, there was a visitors' logbook and was prompted to pen a few lines in the book. I wrote something like "Beautiful church. May God bless everyone."

God Bless Everyone

As I wandered around the compound, there were some memorial stones and statues. Some of the statues took my breath away.

He loves children

This angel looks like it is about to spring into action

He sacrificed for us

A Better Life

We have a domestic help who has been with us for more than 14 years. When she came to work for us, my son was about 10 years old. How time flies. One of the reasons she came to Singapore was to send money home to rebuild her family home.

From what I gather, her family owns a farm and her mother runs a provision shop in their village. Her father passed away quite some time ago. She returns on home leave every two years and I understand that there is a big party where all her neighbours are invited for a feast. The preparation for the feast begins 2 years in advance. I am told that her mother would buy a piglet during her home leave so that it would be fattened sufficiently for the feast on her next return! Talk about planning. I don't envy the pig :p

Over the years, she has become an indespensible part of our lives. The household chores are taken care of and we are blessed that she is a wonderful worker - conscientious and caring. Each time she goes on home leave, we scramble with the housework - sweeping and mopping the floor, washing the bathrooms, washing the clothes, cooking, ironing, etc. I have tremendous respect for housewives who do this day in day out, year in year out without complain. I find some chores therapeutic, but the routine and daily grind is a challenge for me.

I am not complaining, but I wonder what kept her working here all this time. After she rebuilt the family home, she supported her younger brother through college. I found out later that her younger brother is the same age as my son. I did not know it earlier but later found out that her brother studied to be a Civil Engineer, like my son. Her brother got married about 2 years ago.

Some time in 2011, her brother made a trip to Singapore to visit her. At the same time, he came to look for a job in Singapore. He found one and I understand that he is an engineer with a Civil Engineering firm. What a brave move.
I am reminded of our forefathers who came to Singapore to seek a better life. Many of them left families in China to make a living here. They suceeded and we are the product of their adventure :) Are we better than our forefathers? Perhaps in education but not in worldly experience. It takes alot to decide to leave one's homeland to seek a better life. I am a little ashamed that I have become so comfortable and have lost the spirit to venture out. I am reminded of a documentary I watched on television about rehabilating Orang Utans. In a certain asian country, the wild life trade is quite rampant and poachers shoot adult Orang Utans with babies so that they can sell the babies in the black market as pets. Often, these pets are kept in cages and before long, they lose their ability to climb trees or pick up the life skills from their mother. A baby Orang Utan spends about 7 to 8 years with the mother before he/she is independent. These rescued Orang Utans need to be rehabilated before they can be released back into the wild. I cannot help but wonder if we are in a state of constant rehabilitation :P There is sometimes a tendency to depend on the establishment to solve our problems - high COEs, high cost of housing, high cost of medical care, etc...hmm....didn't they create these in the first place :P

Coming back to the point, it is about a better life. I just found out that our domestic help's sister in law is also seeking a job here as an Accountant. As I reflect on this, I am amazed that a humble foreign domestic help who has toiled in Singapore for 14 years has enabled her siblings and relatives a better life - in Singapore and in her home land. I salute her sacrifice and dedication to the cause. I am sure her story is not unique. Each foreign worker in Singapore probably strives to do the same, and as a result, we are richer because we have gotten to know them as a person and not a mere statistic.

Look and See - Is There a Difference?

A learned friend once asked me if I understood the difference between "look" and "see". My response was , "It is the same difference." Yes, I decided to counter one oxymoron with another....or so I thought.
As I approach mid-life, I ponder over such subtlties and it dawned on me that there is indeed a difference. People look at things day in and day out but they do not necessarily see the things around them. In our haste to get on with our own lives, we sometimes miss the beauty at our doorstep.
You see, my neighbout has a chiku tree in the front yard and I have been telling everyone at home that the fruits must be awful. There are many fruits, but I have never seen any birds eating the fruits. My son told me that he had seen many birds at the tree. I wondered why I had not observed this while he had. One day, I sat in the garden and decided to wait for the birds. After about 10 minutes (it seemed an eternity when you are out there waiting for soemthing to happen....now I kinow what a scarecrow feels like :p. Anyway, I spotted several birds. It then realised that the reason I had not seen the birds was because I was always in a rush and simply glanced at the tree and decided that there was nothing to see.
I grabbed my camera and in a matter of 30 minutes, took the followng photographs. Enjoy :)

Starling

Starling

Green Pigeon

Bulbul

Flamebacks

Starlings

Oodles of Noodles - I'm Back

Oodles of Noodles

After about 2 months of doing our weekly marketing at Ang Mo Kio Avenue 4 and having breakfast at Jalan Leban Hawkers' Centre, we decided to give the Avenue 4 hawkers' centre another shot. Surely among the more than 50 stalls, there must be one which is edible.
Two weekends ago, we surveyed the stalls carefully, row by row and stall by stall. To the uninitiated, we probably look like undercover NEA health inspectors.
Lo and behold, the noodle stall where the curtains fell was awash with a familiar glow. I raced to the stall hoping to see the familiar aunty but she was not there. In her place were two young ladies. My heart sank for a moment. Then I noticed that the layout of the cooking utensils, bowls, ingredients were exactly the same! ....There is hope ! I insisted on trying the noodles. When it arrived in the familiar red melamine bowl, I took a whiff and it smelt the same. I tasted the soup and it had the same familiar taste. Yes! As I tucked into the bowl of noodles, it was almost the same......on a  scale of 1 to 10, it was close to a 9. Happiness !
We later found out that aunty had taught these 2 young ladies how to prepare the ingredients including her chilli....shiok!
It was a reunion of sorts. Not face-to-face, but the taste of aunty's cooking technique. Henceforth, I will continue to have this kway teow dry on Saturdays and the Jalan Leban one on Sundays !
What a great start to a perfect weekend. Alas, equilibrium has been restored. Someone heard my prayers :)

I Wonder Wonder Wonder

I thought I would dedicate a post to some of the things I see happen around me and for which I have no explanation, hence the title of this blog.
If anyone has an explanation, please enlighten me.

1) Double Vision

Am I seeing double?

There seems to be an initiative to give estates names. I guess this is equivalent to upgrading for private estates. They are welcomed to install a lift at my house but I guess that will never happen.
Work around this area, at the entrance to our estate, took many months. It seemed almost a year. Nobody knew what was going on and when it was unveiled, it turned out to be 2 signs with the same name - Thomson Hills.....duh? Why 2 signs? I guess it is their way of saying they care :) What a waste of .... money. My son thought one of them could be a banner post. What banner? The only time we see banners is once in 5 years.
Note : On 13 March, I was pleasantly surprised when I saw that a banner had been put up. Yes ! We now we have our own banner :) Thank you for remembering us.

2) Slow Lift

They actually installed a slow lift :)

I spotted this at a car park lift at a major building in Singapore. Interesting that they took the trouble to explain so politely that this is a hydraulic lift and it will be slow. You have been warned. BTW, I rode the lift and indeed, it is extremely slow....faster to walk. Hmmm....maybe that was the idea.

3) Bangkok
If I had to use an adjective to describe Bangkok, it would be eclectic. This Lamborghini and motorised tricycle were spotted on the same street :) Love the creativity of this buzzing city.

Baby blue?

Love the creativity

4) Food for Thought
I spotted this signage along the driveway of an office building. No prizes for guessing where this building is located.

I checked and I am sure there is no car .....

5) Ronald in Thailand
So refreshing to see the adaptation of western culture for the Asian market. That's respect :)

Sawadeekap