Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Accident...







Copy this from a forum


I saw this on advrider.com and was blown away by the whole story. A guy was riding his plated XR 650 at about 55mph when a drunk cop (off duty) rear ended him on the highway doing about 61mph (in an uninsured Mustang). The force of the accident shot the guy off his XR and into the freeway where he was run over by a semi. He survived and spent a month in a drug induced coma. He ended up losing his right leg and had a mangled left leg. Well, when it was time for criminal charges to come, a couple of days after he was indicted, the ex-cop fled to Mexico. What a scumbag.

My Kids, up close shot


this 2 shot are taken sometime last week.
Reached home pretty late last night, due to extended meeting... when i reached home about 9pm+, close to 10pm, both the kids are sound asleep. So have a quick bath and had a light dinner.
after am done with the dinner, went to the bed side of the kids, looking at the boy, his thumb are still stuck in his mouth, a bad habit which is hard to kick. look at the girl, the pacificer also stuck in her mouth, still sucking away, but eyes are close.
looking at them sleeping so soundly, i feel sorry for them, as i have not had any quality time with the kids. I do hope i can have more time for them, but however, due to the hectic lifestyle in Singapore, how many of us here actually can balance work and life??

Apologies...

For the regular viewers of my blog, due to recently heavy work load, I have slower update of the blog, but rest assure will be back to regular updating of this blog whenever i can.

At the meantime, pls stay tune!!

Saturday, October 27, 2007

Night race and 2008 calendar confirmed

Wednesday, October 24th 2007, 15:04 GMT


The FIA has confirmed the 2008 Formula One calendar, including the world championship's first night race at the new Singapore track.
The schedule issued following today's World Motor Sport Council matched the provisional calendar released earlier this year, but with Canada, Singapore and Valencia all confirmed, and Singapore specified as the first floodlit evening Grand Prix.

The Montreal race had remained provisional on the previous schedule, while the new tracks in Singapore and Valencia (which will hold the European Grand Prix) were both subject to circuit approval.

Although it had always been anticipated that the Singapore GP would be run at night, the FIA wanted to be certain that it could be achieved safely before providing official confirmation.2008 FIA Formula One World Championship


16/3 AUS Australia
23/3 MAL Malaysia
6/4 BRN Bahrain
27/4 E Spain
11/5 TR Turkey
25/5 MC Monaco
8/6 CDN Canada
22/6 F France
6/7 GB Great Britain
20/7 D Germany
3/8 H Hungary
24/8 E Europe
7/9 B Belgium
14/9 I Italy
28/9 SGP Singapore*
12/10 J Japan
19/10 CN China
02/11 BR Brazil
* Night race

more detail -> http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/63631

Chinese Tea



Recevied this nice Chinese Tea Set from a good friend of mine, during the mooncake festival. Personally, i'm not someone so particular about drinking "kung fu cha", for this type of tea, there is a procedure to follow for brewing the tea, eg the water temperature, amount of tea leave, the first brew of the tea leave are meant to "clean up" the the content etc..
So finally, only last weekend, i found some times to take out this teat set and commissioned it to start brewing tea. So i place the tea set into a pot and boil it with hot water and not by cleaning it with soap (as told by the tea expert)
the tea leaves "Pu' er", is packaged in a compressed round shape, heard this is convenient for transportation back in China. Good quality teat leaves like this can fetch up to few hundreds or even thousands!
To really know in depth of this traditional tea culture, is not easy. it take tons of knowledges to really know all this history and background of it, so it is not just plain drinking of the tea so simple. Perhap i should start to join more tea drinking session with my good friends in order to learn more about the chinese tea culture.

Thursday, October 25, 2007

a black monday...

It is a rainy day on monday early morning, thus had no choice but to put on raincoat before riding out to work on the bike. Seem like the whole Singapore is under the rain clouds, ground is wet everywhere, so had to be more alert, especially in bends.

Just on this particular day, i need to go to far east plaza to settle some adminstrative work, if you fellow Singaporean should be aware, there is this floor tiled entrance and exit on both side of the building.

After settling my stuff, i'm back on the bike, reporting back to work. Was riding slowly toward the main road (on this straight stretch), and just before the small hump, i tap on the rear brake lightly, and the rear and step up so fast that i'm unable to react and down i goes, sliding toward the yellow barricade, with my helmet knocking on it.

I have landed on my left hip and shoulder, the nerve system immediately send the pain signal right up to my brain within split second. and with the next few seconds, i manage to push myself up sitting on the ground. Several passerby came over to me, asking if i'm ok. At this moment, my left leg was termbling, because of the sever pain.

one ang moh even came over, and ask if i need a Doc, i replied no worry, i will be fine. So i ask one of the public to help me lift up my bike and push it to 1 side, while 1 of them helping me slowly to stand up on my own. i thanks to those helpful public and ask them to be on their way, i will be fine.

So i take the chance to sit by the kerb, to have abit more rest before i ride again. and then a security came over, he told me here always see motorbike "buang", especially during rainy day. just after he finish his sentence, a lorry brake just before the hump, skidded a little, so i suspect, there maybe some oil residue at that area, however, i didn't go and verify. Perhap it is just another unlucky day.

During this whole day a work, i have also been coughing non-stop and start to have some flu. By afternoon, i'm starting to feel unwell, even walking awhile longer, i will feel breathless, i guess i'm sick...

just before knock off for work, i sms my wife that i'll be going to Doc before going home. Before i left my office, it has started to rain heavily again. By the time i reach the clinic, i was the lucky no.22 guy in the queue, when the Doc has just started with patient no.5....

i estimated it will be a long and agony wait, so went to a nearby kopi shop and have a hot tea. and true enough, i was feeling very sick, with my left hip and shoulder swollen due to the fall, the coughing and flu + the rainy night really torture me.

Finally, after the agony 1hr wait, it is my turn to see the Doc. And when i reach home, i have to pretend to walk "normally" as it is really painful on my hip.

it is really an unfortunate day for me...

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

A380 have touch down in Singapore









Airbus have finally deliver the first A380 to SIA (Singapore International Airline) after a delay of about 18months. the huge A380 is a double decked, four engines airline.

with many unforseen technical issues crops up, especially on the electrical/ electronic/ software uncompatibility, this is the main reason why the delivery date has been delaying, and also, with the last 1 years, there is already a few changes of the CEO, the current CEO is infact, the forth chief of the organisation.
i'm someone that who fear to take a ride on any plane, but i'm very curious to find out, how this gigantic aircraft fare under the treacherous bad weather, or in a storm environment.
the rest of the A380 will be deliver to SIA progressively over the next 1 year. with this giant aircraft in the Singapore stable, we hope SIA can still maintain and still be in the lead for this competitive air transport trade.

Sunday, October 21, 2007

Vivian's Birthday





21st Oct 2007, is our daughter's 1 year old birthday. on the same day last year, i still can remember, it is a sunday,and it is a public holiday, Deepavali.

the delivery process of Vivian is a rather smooth one. within 30mins of pushing, she see the world, with body stained with blood and some fluids.

times really flies, she is already ONE today!!



Friday, October 19, 2007

Fishing and recce trip today



This trip was a last minute plan, my mate pick me up in AMK and we went TPY for breakfast, after a quick meal, we went to fishing buddy for get some live prawn. We have no idea totally where we will be fishing at all! however, we still decided to get 200gm of live prawn to standby.
so we decided to go west, base from my friend verbal direction, we are on our way. it was a pretty smooth journey as i went to that spot somewhere nearby before, so roughly i know the area, just need to confirm again when we are there.
once reach the entrance, i spotted that track that what my friend described, and we are on our way in, in less than 5mins, we are in here. Terrain is sand beaches, rocky mass, and time now is about 9am+ and water is clean and clear. Rig up and line is in, with the deadly live prawns.
In less than 5mins, my mate rod shaking, pick up the rod and strike, he got a fish! a palm size "kee he" (the yellow stripe fish above). after i re-cast again, i got a bite immediately! , strike, but miss!
alright, guess i need to hold onto my rod rather than to poke into the hole between the rock, so with another live prawn reloaded, line goes into the water. in less than 5mins, i got a bite and this time, i strike it hard and can see my rod bend into U shape. up came this palm size gouper (or we call it johnson), pic above.
for the next 1-2hrs, we keep getting hits within minutes the live prawn is in the water, and very soon, our live prawn was exhausted. all in all, we got total of 3 groupers and 1 kee he, plus lotsa fishes. it wasn't a bad result for such a recce and fishing trip. For the next round, we will be ready with more ammo and preparation!!

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Lorong Halus Enduro Race





























The race was on 30th September, venue was the Lorong Halus, situated somewhere in the northwest region on Singapore. i was thinking to participate
in the race, however did not able to make it on the day itself... nevertheless, enjoy the photo!

also the video right at the bottom of the page!!

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Interesting catch!

while reading through some fishing forum catch report, happen to see this rare arowana being caught in fresh water, the man call it "humpback" arowana, interesting!!

Monday, October 15, 2007

Branden and me

both my in-law went genting on sunday morning, so they will not be bringing my boy to childcare for this 2 days. my wife will be rushing off to work as she got some work committment on this 2 days as well, so gonna left me and my boy at home in the morning.

we have sent our baby daughter to my parent to help look after her for this 2 days as we can't possibly look after 2 kids with both of us alone. (can't imagine how those family with more than 2 childrens manage all this?)

just this morning, my wife left for work at about 6.30am, left myself and the boy still sleeping like a pig. at about 7am, my boy cry for milk, so make a bottle of milk for him, and he went back sleeping after finishing it.

my alarm went off at 7.50am, so get up and wash up myself. after i'm done, i woke up my boy and give him some medicine as he is having flu and cough over the weekend. so after changing, i bring him to the childcare centre.

when we reach the childcare, my boy was like mumbling and asking me not to leave and look at me so pitifully. myself also feel abit of heartpain to just leave him just like that as he is still a 3 year old boy, but no choice, i need to leave for work, also, good for him to go through this process, to learn to be independent as well.

so after his teacher bring him into the classroom, i take my leave. tomorrow gonna be another same old thing again. so i hope tomorrow will be a better day to come. and not forgetting, later i gotta rush home and fetch my boy from the childcare. as my wife wouldn't be home until 8pm+.

Saturday, October 13, 2007

Why is it like that one ???

A interesting read up


Does the statement, "We've always done it like that" ring any bells? The US standard railroad gauge (distance between the rails) is 4 feet, 8.5 inches. That's an exceedingly odd number. Why was that gauge used? Because that's the way they built them in England, and English expatriates built the US Railroads.


Why did the English build them like that? Because the first rail lines were built by the same people who built the pre-railroad tramways, and that's the gauge they used. Why did "they" use that gauge then? Because the people who built the tramways used the same jigs and tools that they used for building wagons, which used that wheel spacing.


Okay! Why did the wagons have that particular odd wheel spacing? Well, if they tried to use any other spacing, the wagon wheels would break on some of the old, long distance roads in England, because that's the spacing of the wheel ruts. So who built those old rutted roads? Imperial Rome built the first long distance roads in Europe (and England) for their legions.


The roads have been used ever since. And the ruts in the roads? Roman war chariots formed the initial ruts, which everyone else had to match for fear of destroying their wagon wheels . Since the chariots were made for Imperial Rome, they were all alike in the matter of wheel spacing.


The United States standard railroad gauge of 4 feet, 8.5 inches is derived from the original specifications for an Imperial Roman war chariot. And bureaucracies live forever. So the next time you are handed a specification and wonder what horse's ass came up with it, you may be exactly right, because the Imperial Roman army chariots were made just wide enough to accommodate the back ends of two war horses!


Now, the twist to the story . . . When you see a Space Shuttle sitting on its launch pad, there are two big booster rockets attached to the sides of the main fuel tank. These aresolid rocket boosters, or SRBs. The SRBs are made by Thiokol at their factory at Utah. The engineers who designed the SRBs would have preferred to make them a bit fatter, but the SRBs had to be shipped by train from the factory to the launch site.


The railroad line from the factory happens to run through a tunnel in the mountains. The SRBs had to fit through that tunnel. The tunnel is slightly wider than the railroad track, and the railroad track, as you now know, is about as wide as two horses' behinds. So, a major Space Shuttle design feature of what is arguably the world's most advanced transportation system was determined over two thousand years ago by the width of a horse's ass.


- And - You thought being a HORSE'S ASS wasn't important!

Friday, October 12, 2007

Petrol saving tips



______________1. Fill up your car or truck in the morning when the temperature is still cool Remember that all service stations have their storage tanks buried below ground; and the colder the ground, the denser the gasoline.
_____________When it gets warmer gasoline expands, so if you're filling up in the afternoon or in the evening, what should be a gallon is not exactly a gallon. In the petroleum business, the specific gravity and temperature of the fuel (gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, ethanol and other petroleum products) are significant.
_____________Every truckload that we load is temperature-compensated so that the indicated gallonage is actually the amount pumped. A one-degree rise in temperature is a big deal for businesses, but service stations don't have temperature compensation at their pumps.
____________2. If a tanker truck is filling the station's tank at the time you want to buy gas, do not fill up; most likely dirt and sludge in the tank is being stirred up when gas is being delivered, and you might be transferring that dirt from the bottom of their tank into your car's tank.
__________3. Fill up when your gas tank is half-full (or half-empty), because the more gas you have in your tank the less air there is and gasoline evaporates rapidly, especially when it's warm. (Gasoline storage tanks have an internal floating 'roof' membrane to act as a barrier between the gas and the atmosphere, thereby minimizing evaporation.)
_________4. If you look at the trigger you'll see that it has three delivery settings: slow, medium and high. When you're filling up do not squeeze the trigger of the nozzle to the high setting. You should be pumping at the slow setting, thereby minimizing vapors created while you are pumping. Hoses at the pump are corrugated; the corrugations act as a return path for vapor recovery from gas that already has been metered.
__________If you are pumping at the high setting, the agitated gasoline contains more vapor, which is being sucked back into the underground tank, so you're getting less gas for your money. Hope this will help ease your 'pain at the pump'!

Thursday, October 11, 2007

Legendary rider Norick Abe dies in motorbike, truck collision


Norifumi “Norick” Abe, one of Japan’s most successful motorcycle road racers, collided with a truck while riding a motorbike in Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture, and died from the resulting injuries after having been taken to hospital Sunday afternoon, the Asahi Shimbun reports.
Abe was 32 years old.Local police say the collision occurred on a four-lane municipal road, when the driver of the truck made an illegal U-turn, colliding with Abe who was closing in on the truck from behind on its righ-hand side.The truck driver told police he realized he had mistakenly taken the wrong way, and tried to get back on track.
Norifumi Abe was born to the auto racer Mitsuo Abe, and sat on a bike for the first time when he was 5. After finishing elementary school, he spent two years in the United States, perfecting his skills. He won his first Grand Prix title 1996, and went on to conquer the title twice more.Abe, who was also known as Norrick Abe in the English-speaking world and as “the legendary rider” in Japan, had many fans in Japan as well as worldwide.
---More Abe Death Details Emerge by dean adams Sunday, October 07, 2007 More details on Norick 'Norifumi' Abe's apparent death are becoming known now that the news of his death has reached Europe and America. News reports from Tokyo and Yamaha insiders say he was killed in a street accident when a truck pulled a U-turn directly in front of him, and Abe collided with the truck--the same type of accident that killed Mike Hailwood in 1981.
It has been reported that Abe was riding either a motorcycle or a scooter in the incident.Abe was most well known for his raace with Kevin Schwantz and Mick Doohan at Suzuka in the mid-1990s when Abe's aggressive riding and to say-the-least unconventional riding style won him many Japanese fans. After racing in WSBK last season, Abe raced this season in Japan, where was a fairly well known racing celebrity.

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

F1 PROMO RACES NEXT MONTH WILL BE IN... PUNGGOL

The Electric New Paper :

IT'S time to rev the engines and floor the pedal. Come 25 Nov, up to 100 race-car drivers may demonstrate their power in Punggol.
By Faith Teo

08 October 2007
IT'S time to rev the engines and floor the pedal.

Come 25 Nov, up to 100 race-car drivers may demonstrate their power in Punggol.

The cars are likely be involved in racing demonstrations, showing off what they can do in segments like drifting and straight-line sprints.

Sources revealed that souped-up road cars and unmodified sports cars would be taking part.

The New Paper on Sunday reported lastmonth that Punggol might be the first location for series of professional go-kart racing events.

The heartland races will serve as curtain-raisers for next September's Formula One event.

Sources familiar with the event say that the location and date have been confirmed.

And as a bonus to the main attraction of go-kart racing, there are plans for the day-long event to have race demonstrations featuring some 100 cars.

Punggol residents need not worry though.

The site is believed to be some distance away from heavily-populated areas.

NOT WORRIED

A resident and car lover who wanted to be known only as James said the event would inject some life into the estate.

'It's so quiet here. A racing carnival with some noise and activity would be welcome. Maybe it will earn Punggol a reputation for being 'happening',' hesaid.

Mrs Endora Alexander, 32, felt that as long as residents are not too inconvenienced, the races would be a welcome activity 'as long as it's not disruptive of everyday life, is not too noisy and doesn't pollute the area'.

She said: 'Residents should still be able to get in and out of their living areas.

'If the organisers find an area close to the heartlands, but far enough not to disrupt traffic, then I think it's a good idea because it gives people something to do and see.'

The New Paper on Sunday learnt that among those who are taking part in the event is Mr Winson Ow, who is well-known in the racing fraternity.

He has more than 200medals to his name after 15 years ofracing and is still involved in the sport despite having bowed out of the circuit three years ago. He runs car workshop CS Racing and also trains racedrivers.

He is believed to be entering several drivers trained under him for the demos, but would not confirm it.

He did, however, show us a car that might be used for such events.

The black Subaru WRX, one of the fastest in the region, was custom-modified at his workshop and boasts 800bhp (brake horsepower, a unit measuring the power of a car's engine). It can go from zero to 100kmh in about fourseconds. (See report below.)

The fastest version of WRX sold by Motor Image here is the STI, which has just under 280 bhp.

Mr Ow, 40, said: 'We can change the engine's performance by using the computer unit to play with ignition and fuel settings, for example.'

Also in his workshop were twogo-karts.

One, with a single engine, has a top speed of 25kmh, but the twin-engine version can run at about 100kmh. A lighter version of the twin-engine is used for racing.

Both versions are expected to make an appearance at the racing events.

One race driver, who declined to be named, said: 'I'm glad that F1 has paved the way for more support for local race-related activities.

'It's good to know that racing is finally being seen as a serious sport now. The reckless wannabes on the road have given racing a bad name here, but hopefully, awareness and education will change that lopsided opinion in time.

'There is a professional side to this sport that should be highlighted.'



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Want to race it? You'll have to strip it

Reinforcement bars. They keep cabin from crumpling on impact
No licence plate as car not allowed on public roads
No radio or air-con
Plastic windows (they're lighter)
Lever activates parachute at back of car if extra braking power needed
Room for only one: The driver


detail from here: http://tnp.sg/printfriendly/0,4139,144170,00.html

Tuesday, October 9, 2007

What the ????


2006 KTM450SX for sale


























2006 model KTMSX450, reliable motocross bike for sale. Good for Trail, motocross, and supermoto. Easy to start.Come with spare original radiator scoops and decals, front number plate, air filter.
Tuned for competition and easy starting. JD jetting, Boyesen QuickShot, Honda delpherm, Hard equipment Fuel / air mixture screw. Come along with radiator braces, skip plate, frame guards, front disc guard and fork seal savers. And Billet aluminium hydralic clutch guard (near front sproket).
Engine hour meter for easy maintenance. For SuperMoto, this bike come along with Acerbis hand guards, wheels axles glide and footpegs glide too. Gripper seat that keep you on this powerful bike.

interested party kindly call: 93888-993

Are you a right or left brain person?


pls click on the link below to take the test! it is kinda interesting.


Monday, October 8, 2007

Branden's Birthday












8th Oct 2004, was the birth date of my boy Branden, time really flies, i still can remember the day when he was born, while attempting to change a diaper for him, he shoot his pee onto me, and today, he is 3 years old.
so today, myself and wife purposely took leave, order a cake in advance, bought along some goodies for his classmates in the childcare centre. at about 3pm, we have informed the teacher in advance that we will be reaching the centre at about 3pm, so the teacher can standby.
after we got everything with us, we walk to the childcare centre. when we reach there, Branden was so happy to see us. he run over and grab my legs, and i carry him up, asking him what is the date today, he say it is his birthday.
all the children in his class are so hype up and crowd around the table with the cake as if it's their birthday, lol. it is about total of 13 kids in this class, and it is really not easy to control them. when everyone finally manage to clam down, the teacher lead them to sing birthday song for Branden and he is also glad and sing along too.
after the birthday song, a teacher help to cut and distribute to all the kids. while we let Branden to give out a little goodies bag to his classmates, everyone was happy to have it. before the end of everything, the teacher then ask Branden to sing a song for the class, which i can't figure out what he was trying to sing, lol!
so ok lah, we still got another party coming up in this month.



Friday, October 5, 2007

Beware, when ya going to Msia for petrol

took this off from a forum, i can only say these guys are clever, always have new trick!


Just a short story to remind you guys to collect your receipt whenfilling petrol in malaysia.while queueing at the customs for our turn to stamp our passports to goback S'pore,2 malay guys wearing esso polo tees, probably from thestation where i filled my tank,approached us and told us that we did notpay for our petrol(pls note i've already handed our passports to thecustom officer).


Of cos we told him we paid but the malay guy asked mefor receipt which i cant produce since i don't normally ask from thecounter.Hearing that, the officer, while holding the passports, refused to letus go unless we settle the payment.even after telling them so many times that we paid, they don't let us go,and asked 1 of us to follow hem back to check the cctv.of cos we didn't agree and told the officerto let all of us go back together to check,he said yes, but have to leave the passports with him as he claimed that he had already stampedone of our passports,


Rubbish! cos we didn't see him stamp anything.In the end, my fren, who was rushing back to Singapore decided to just paythem 'again'and end the problem.the two guys looked happy as if the trip to lookfor us at the custom paid off.in the end, i paid them 62RM when i onlypumped 56.50RM worth of synergy F1 petrol.


After that, the 2 guys walkedto the officer's booth and shake hands w the officer and the senior,happily. in front of us man.....it appears that the staffs at the petrol stations will informed those peoplewaiting at the customs ifthey noticed anyone leaving the station without the receipt.So bros and sis, pls rem to collect your receipt when paying foranything, yes anything there.Who knows what story they may have nexttime. Don't give these ppl a chance to earn bonus.

very the cool man

This is SERIOUS, pls read

found this from a mate in another forum, pls read


this happened to me the other night... i rolled over in my sleep and onto my back and i felt something land on my stomach i grabbed at it, still in my sleepyness and threw it off, now i'm starting to wake up and then it jumps right back on top of me again almost exactly in the same spot now i'm pretty much awake and i throw it off again - it feels like a large rat, warm but with no hair, i'm panicking now...



i grab it again and throw it off and it's back on me just as quick, i'm now kicking with my legs and writhing around hysterically trying to throw the beast off me i finally let out a cry - like aaaaarrrrggghhhh (but it was a bit of a shrill) try to throw the beast off me and jump out of bed and run into the kitchen - hip and shouldering the wall on the way outta there, "jesus f*cking crap, shit!" i yell the missus by this time is out of bed and out in the kitchen as well - she asks me what happened - i tell her "theres a rat or something in the bed"..."what?" she replies




"theres a f*cking rat in the bloody bed - jesus are you f*cking deaf woman?" by this time i feel a tingling sensation in my left hand...pins and needles slowly i begin to understand i had been asleep on my arm, which naturally went to sleep as well and as i turned over my dead left arm and hand landed on my torso now you can see that my efforts to remove this varmint were in vain as every time i threw it away with my right hand it just came straight back onto my front it took me a while to get over that... its happened once before but i grabbed my wrist and in my sleepyness thought it was a snake -



i remember yelling out to my old man "dad, theres a bloody snake in my bed!" until the pins and needles became apparent and i slowly put it all together watch how you sleep tonight...



LOL!!!!

Thursday, October 4, 2007







first photo, 2 rascals were sitting tigther in the mickeymouse car, told them to share and play together, the mama dunno go where already, left me alone with them. 2 rascals are happy to play togther and have a happy face, and turning the steering wheel happily.



2nd photo, the brother decide to be the sole driver and pull out his little sis hand and steer on his own. the little sis immediately cry. while the bro cheekily show that he won the car over.



last photo, i told the boy to share with his little baby sis, so after putting her little hand on the steering wheel, she immediately can change her mood, now the baby sis look like POPEYE.







Wednesday, October 3, 2007

Transformation of Lion City








it's has been many years since i step onto place along the famous Singapore River. the view is awesome and i'm abit surprise to see so much big changes along this river. Gone are the old warehouse along the river side which once store all the goods and merchandise from around south sea asia, or maybe somewhere further out.
water here are very much cleaner as compare to those days, and on the second and thrid pic, you can see those colorful houses, those are once those warehouses, and along the warehouses, park alot of bum boats which carry those goods.
Singapore river have a rich heritage and is our life and blood for the growth of Singapore economy after so many years. and to be frank, this river bring back alot of my memory as i use to walk from my home last time from Bukit Merah to here, it is quite a walk as my grandma is a very thrifty old lady.
my uncle used to have a dessert stall in this hawker centre many years ago, and my grandma always bring me to visit him whenever she is free. my grandma would buy mee rebus for me and i still remembered it is still the best mee rebus i have ate, and normally, i would play along the river or watch those uncle who are fishing on the river bank.
in today Singapore, there stand 3 big retail industry players, just along this river, on the second pic, you will see Liang court, which belong to Asiamall, those colorful refurbish warehouse with huge unbrella in the middle, belongs to Capitaland, and the place where i stood and take the pic, was Central mall, belongs to Far East organisation. It goes to show that along this river, still command some kinda attraction, perhap for the tourists?



Tuesday, October 2, 2007

Night fishing at Sembawang


29th Sept 2007, me and my colleague decided to do some surfcasting at night, as the high tides comes in at 1am+. So around 10pm, he came around hougang to pick me up and we went straight to a tackle shop in yishun to grab some bait.
along the way to Sembawang, we stop by Jalan Kayu to grab 2 packet of nice hot teh halia, to help keep cold away (that night was kinda windy and cold), the 2 packet of teh halia will help to warm the body.
once reach our spot, start to setup the gear, with my colleague wet the line first, he caught a catfish within 5mins, oppss... he start to curse, as that spot seem like is infested with lotsa catfish.
next, with my line into the water, i got a nibble as well, and up came another catfish! D@mn!! as both of use using bottom fishing setup, we discuss and decided to use float instead, to further prevent our bait been eaten up by all this cat.
however, with the strong current coming in, our float keep washing away to some un-desired location and we need to keep re-casting out. out on this jetty, there is this family fishing there and at about 12am, they left the place, so we decided to shift over as we can further reach out to the sea.
just when the tide reaches it's highest point, i got a nod on my rod, but the it does not ring the bell which is slip on the tip of the rod. so after removing the bell, i did a strike and reel in the line. it feels heavy and no "fight" at all, and i told my colleague it couls be another rubbish (i have reel back a few rubbish bag already) but when the line come right infront of me, i could hear flapping sound, so quickly, i bring my line over, it is a small ray. so after taking the pic, back to water it goes, come find me when ya are big enough to challange me.
time pass by very slowly, wind start to blow in and i start to feel abit cold and i forgot to bring my jacket and i wore just t-shirt and bermudas. my friend's rod can always see nibbling action, but when he strike, he would miss the fish and the bait is gone, he feel damn pissed.
luckily i got a longer rod which can cast further to prevent all the small fish to come and take away my bait. so sometimes about an hour later, i see my rod nodding again, but still, bell don't sound out. strike it hard and feel some tension at the other end. up came this bigger catfish of the night.
as my objective to to fish tonight, so this cat was release back into the water safely. and the story of my colleague continues, all his bait would be taken away and he can't have any fish on the other end of his line. time now is about 3am and tides seem to goes down quite abit, and water surface is so calm and peaceful that i told my colleague, it's time to go.
with a total of 4 fishes tonight, we ended our fishing trip, though it is my first time fishing here, it seems like i got a better luck than my colleague.


Headshot of my kids




this 3 close up headshot was taken while we are in macdonald, baby sister was totally engross in meddling with her toy while her brother was looking around.
the baby sis can't be bother with his daddy (which is me snapping away) so close her little chubby face.
the brother then realise i was taking picture, immediately, he turn and look at the handphone, started smiling away (so ugly face)
at least the last photo of him was much normal i would say. baby sis chubby face is still the centre of attraction while we are in the fast food outlet.



Monday, October 1, 2007

A accident along Sembawang Rd toward Yishun

On the way toward Yishun, on sunday early morning, around 3.30am, while travelling in my friend's car, we saw this motorbike lying on the road, with the rider next to it, and a car.

As i don't see any police or ambulance, i told my friend to stop and render assistance to the injured guy. after parking the car infront with hazard light on, i walk toward the injured guy, he was accompanied by a middle-age man, i reckon he is the owner of the car which involved in the accident.

the man told me he have called the police and ambulance, is on the way. can't be bother with who is right or wrong, i talked to the injured guy, asking his condition. he feel pain on his left leg, ask him if he can wiggle his toes, no problem. he is pretty much concious, and i asked if he need to call his family to inform them, but he say he called his friend instead as he don't wanna worry his family.

peep down under the motorbike, gas was leaking on the road, immediately shut off the fuel tap, i also afraid it may catch fire. i tried talking to him to keep him occupied and not to think too much of other stuff.

ok, before the ambulance arrived, got this young guy, he walked toward us and push me aside, i wondering what he was trying to do. then he try to lift up the motorcycle and was stop by the uncle, telling him not to touch anything. i guess he was just trying to be helpful but didn't know the procedure.

soon, the ambulance reached, after the SCDF officer came over to access the injured guy, i left with my friend. then i saw that young guy left in a P-plate toyota vios, perhap he is too young to know the procedure. that injured guy should be fine.

The most horrific attack in recent years in Sg

it has been years since such cases happen in Singapore...



THE vicious attack was carefully planned.

And when it was over, blood flowed as Mr Zainal Zainal, 46, lay dead from 78 wounds, mostly slashes and stabs, in what was described as 'the most horrific gang killing in recent years'.
Six men, part of a gang that carried out the attack at Central Square on 17 Sep last year, were brought to justice yesterday.


They pleaded guilty to a reduced manslaughter charge and were sentenced seven to 10 years in jail and six to 18 strokes of the cane.
All the men were members or had links with a motorcycle gang called Onyx, while Mr Zainal is believed to have been a senior member of the Blackjack motorcycle gang.
SHOWDOWN


Deputy Public Prosecutor Shawn Ho, co-counsel with DPP Francis Ng, told the court that the six accused had got together with 10 other male gang members in Kelantan Lane soon after midnight.
They were there for a 'showdown' with the Alif motorcycle gang, which had beaten up one of their members.


But when no rival members turned up, one member from the Onyx gang suggested looking for them at their usual haunt, a nightspot at Central Square.
The gang agreed and left Kelantan Lane in two vans.
Three of the gang members were stopped and arrested after the police were alerted by a caller who saw them carrying weapons in their jackets.


All three were sentenced to four months' jail in February.
When the remaining 13 reached Magazine Road near Central Square, they were told by another member, who didn't join in the attack, that MrZainal was in the area.
DPP Ho said Mr Zainal, a technician, is believed to have been the deputy leader of the Blackjack gang, which has ties with the Alif gang.


The Onyx gang - apart from Mohamed Hishamadi, 34, who was already carrying a knife - then armed themselves with knives that were in one of the vans.
Nur Rizal Mohamed Zainul, 27, who was believed to be the mastermind, instructed the six accused and three others to stage the attack.


Nur Rizal and one accomplice remained at Magazine Road while two others stayed in the vans.
The nine attackers spotted Mr Zainal seated with his girlfriend outside a convenience store at Central Square.
Mr Zainal stood up when he saw Mohamed Hishamadi approaching him and was slashed twice in the chest by the latter.



The victim then tried to escape towards Havelock Road, pursued by the attackers.
He fell along the road and was surrounded by the gang, who attacked him repeatedly with their weapons, and with kicks and punches.
The attackers then fled the scene in the vans and returned to the flat of Mohamad Rizal, 23, in Woodlands.



Mr Zainal died at Singapore General Hospital at 2.20am.
Nur Rizal and four others are still at large. The two who drove the vans are in custody, awaiting sentencing.
The six, except for Khairul Iskandar who surrendered on 25 Sep, were arrested on 20 and 21 Sep.



ANGER AND TEARS
Yesterday, anger and tears mixed freely at the High Court when the six were convicted and sentenced.
The anger was apparent in one woman who identified herself as Mr Zainal's niece. She said: 'Ten years is too short for a life.'
With reddened eyes, she added that it has been a difficult period for the family since Mr Zainal's death.



Mohamad Rizal's family told The New Paper that they were relieved that he had avoided the gallows and also life imprisonment.
His mother, 53, a housewife, said she would like to apologise to Mr Zainal's family for what her son, the second last of six children, had done.
She said in Malay, through her second son: 'I'm really hurt and disappointed. I never imagined he would do such a thing. I want to seek forgiveness from the victim's family.'



Defence lawyers described the six accused as pawns and foot soldiers used and exploited by Nur Rizal.
They also said Mr Zainal wasn't an innocent bystander but a senior member of a motorcycle gang.
But DPP Ng said regardless of Mr Zainal's background, he wasn't involved in any gang activities that night.



Calling the attack the 'most horrific gang killing in recent years', DPP Ng said: 'Whatever his background, he didn't deserve to die the way he did.'
He asked the court for a deterrent sentence to send a clear message that lawlessness and violence will not be tolerated.


news taken from: http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/news/story/0,4136,143171,00.html

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