Flea market part 2

Today I went to the flea market at the same location for the same reason with the same ending, did not buy anything. Had mutton soup for lunch but my dad poured too much vinegar into the soup as he thought it was rice wine. In the end it tastes like tom yum mutton soup minus the spiciness. Of course it doesn't taste good because the relatively high acid level in it

Anyway when we were about to go after a fruitless walkabout the area, there was this Indian man, I reckon he is not local, who came and asked my dad if he was interested in looking at one of his bicycles. For your information, he is not one of those sellers there, his bicycle is parked near the roadside at the edge of the flea market. So he has been observing us looking at bikes for quite some time before approaching us I guess. What a clever foreign talent he is. His asking price was forty-five bucks but we were only willing to pay twenty-five. My dad tried cycling it and came after only five seconds because according to him, the handle was hard to control

Then just as we were with the Indian guy, there came this China guy who looked interested in it. Then the three of them were like standing at the side of the road discussing with one another about this two-wheeled transport in a mix of Indian English, local Singlish and premium China Mandarin. And the conversation goes on and ends with all three parties seperating and heading in different directions

While we were walking to another side of the flea market, there was another "stall" there at the end. It has two bicycles on display for passers-by to take a look. Naturally, we were went over to kaypoh a while about the price and everything else associated to the bicycles. One was those typical skinny mountain bike while the other is made of aluminium and of good quality bicycle. The so called boss there asked us "ke yi mah?" which means are we ok with it then he sais there were more at the other side

His finger was pointing towards the big longkang of filthy green water. Our first reaction was of course to look there and wonder where the hell were they? We can't see another bicycles at all. Then he brought us to cross the road to the other side where the secret hideout was. There were four in total and they were hidden behind the parked vehicles at the carpark next to the big longkang

See? You get to experience some many interesting at these type of places. It was a commendable hideout I must say, nobody would really walk past there unless you enjoy the scorching sun and that dirty longkang about five metres away from you. In the end, we bought nothing because a variety of reasons like price, missing parts, rustiness, quality etc

But it was a good experience and eye opener for me after all so the trip was quite worth it

Earth hour

Today is the Earth Day or what do we call it?

Anyway, so don't forget to do your part in saving the earth tonight at 8.30pm local time. Buy more candles and plan for some activities which do not require lighting.

Come on, it is one hour, sixty minutes only. At most your eyesight will get worse for reading in the dark or watching TV or using the computer or other things

Congratulations

Well nothing much interesting today



Just want to congratulate Khairy Jamaluddin, PM Abdullah's son-in-law, for winning United Malays National Organization's youth wing. He did a great job in defeating Mahatir's son, Mukhriz Mahathir, to the post and managed to win some face back for Abdullah

Comical conversation

I was talking with this guy on the line in the afternoon today and here's roughly how the comical conversation went about...

He is known as Yong for your information

Yong: hello
Me: erhem?
Yong: eh, ask you ah
Me: ok?
Yong: I want to buy some DVDs from Japan and bring in here to Singapore hor, will the checkpoint officer open up the plastics wrapper and check?
Me: alright, this one right..
Yong: because hor, I want them to be in good condition so that's why don't want to open
Me: ok this one you will have to ask customs their side there
Yong: huh? oh ok
Me: just to check, are you a tradenet user?
Yong: what is tradenet? is it if I subscribe to tradenet, then they won't open up my dvd?
Me:...

and the conversation goes on with me continuing to explain

Later when I asked Linda who spoke to him about this issue, we both laughed like there was no ending because this Yong guy is really funny

Only one word(words)can be used to describe this. Although I dislike using it and look down on people who use it frequently when blogging or on MSN, I have to say it here

It's LOL. The universal word which many of your boring/dull friends use as a reaction/reply if they don't know how to express themselves when socializing/communicating with others

Is anybody gamed to lol with me here? lols...

Breaking news

Today is definitely a busy day to keep me fresh from decomposing. Type, type, type. Click, click, click. Talk, talk, talk. Write, write, write. Think, think, think. Walk,walk, walk.

Anyway, the Suez Canal revenue has plunged twenty-five percent last month while UBS has de-employed(laid off) some of its private bankers here all because of the current good economy according to the latest news. Don't worry if you missed all these first hand, there will be more of such news on the papers or on TV waiting for you to discover them. Talking about this recession, I can't help but think about the tiger prawns saga

One for thirty dollars. Get one dollar off for ordering eight of them in a single receipt only at Newton hawker centre. No doubt, tiger prawns were the star of last week in our country instead of a human celebrity. It seems that everyone is talking about it and the news of it were all splashed out on the newspapers

It is quite interesting so far for the past weeks. We have costly tiger prawns, suffocating IT exhibitions, a mutilated Merlion. Just as the lyrics go in the song We Live in Singapura, "it's not perfect living but at least it's interesting" Let's see what interesting news we will have this week. It normally happens on a typical Tuesday which is tomorrow

Football analysis

See lah? It's always like that. And it always happens to me. I was predicting that Fulham will win Manchester United yesterday while the rest of the world(except Fulham fans)would think otherwise. So I did not blog about my predictions yesterday and true enough, my wish came true. Who's cracking up now? I don't know but we have eyes to see it for ourselves. This season's Premier League is a classic example of the term "feng shui lun liu zhuan" in Mandarin

First, it was Arsenal who self-destructed themselves with their cannons by losing to weaker teams. Hull City were a surprise at the beginning. Then Aston Villa broke into the top four with commendable performances. Liverpool were first at some part but gradually fell down all the way to third while Chelsea had their fortunes changed under their new manager. Manchester United climbed back on top, the place they usually belong to

Anyway, all these are history already. Arsenal are back into the top four with some good games but it seems a little too late. Aston Villa have dropped to fifth and Hull is nowhere near where they were months back. Manchester United's lead has been cut which makes the title race more exiciting

Sometimes I really wonder if this premier league thing is a hoax? Just like wrestling where everything in it is fake but millions of people still watch it because of its entertainment value. Football and wrestling have many similarities. Both are sports games, both include violence week in week out and both normally attract males to watch only

I guess I better not predict the Liverpool-Aston Villa match result for tonight

3 day update

I am here to update. I can see the smile in your heart while you finally get to see this after like four daysor so? So where should I start first? On Monday and Tuesday, I was on course. I attended my two day Customs permit declaration training from morning all the way till the late afternoon. So it is basically all about the import and export of goods to and from Singapore whether it is by land, sea or air

Then back on Monday, the class was discussing about country codes. For example Singapore is sg, Malaysia is my etc. Then out of nowhere came the Great Britian question and we were all discussing what does Great Britian actually consists of England, Scotland and Wales. I told Clifford that Wales is a country itself since there is a Wales national team in football(that has Craig Bellamy, Aaron Ramsey etc). He did not believe me so the internet was there for us to check it out and I am right of course

But that was not the end of the story because next was United Kingdom. It made us quite confused at the end anyway and we went back to reality by continuing the class. By the way, I just discovered on Monday something which I have always wanted to know for so many years. The smallest country in the world is Vatican City with a miserable population of only 900? Anyone knows the second smallest? I think Singapore is far bigger than it in terms of population and size

Geography aside, I can say I learnt pretty much new things for the past two days. The second day was similar to the first but I had a better understanding overall by then. Then on the bus to Ghim Moh. I took a photo of my Fillipino kaibigan, Wyndell catching a wink but I have problems uploading it

Seth told me he regretted not betting but I told him helped him this time because I did and as expected, we spent the rest of the journey analysing that big match on Saturday. Well, so what does 1:4 mean? It means 14 March, the day of conquering, it's that simple

Let's move on to today. It is quite a stupid day in a nutshell with like everyone and everything "against" me. I was at nus for lunch and the midday topic was on Singapore male celebrities courtesy of Alvin who said lots of ba gua things which I just listened from one ear and out it goes from the other. So if you thought I was going to share some juicy news, I guess you will have to be dissappointed and I also better not write it here on the world wide web as I do not want to get sued

That's all for today

Manchester Untied vs Liverpool

So the day has arrived. The day when Manchester Untied and Liverpool face off. I shall keep it short. Liverpool win 1:0, to be a bit more greedy, it shall be 2:0. You'll never walk alone

Anyway, what would your team be if you can have a Manchester-Pool Football Club? That means your players all come from Manchester Untied and Liverpool only?

This is my version assuming all players are fit and the formation is the traditional 4-4-2

Let's start from the goalkeeper. Edwin van der Sar might have kept more clean sheets for the Red Devils than the number of homework you have completed this year but Jose Reina has saved more shots in statistics so the Spanish custodian deserves this role

Liverpool are better known as a defensive team compared to the attacking Manchester United. Although this is a known fact to fans of both sides, the back four should consists of mostly United players because they defend better in a whole. Left-back is definitely not the place a Liverpool player will occupy since they do not possess a left footed wing-back that is really threatening on the flank. Patrice Evra wins this role for Manchester United easily

The two centre-backs will be Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand. Both are rock solid and have formed a good partnership playng together for as many games. Martin Skrtel lacks pace, Daniel Agger lacks experience, Sami Hyppia is ageing. Even John O'Shea looks a better choice than the three of them. Manchester United sweeps two places cleanly

As for right-back, Gary Neville is losing his agility while Alvaro Arbeloa still looks wobbly at times. Jamie Carragher looks like the missing piece of jigsaw to this position since he is versatile but he is slow when the opposition counter-attacks. A narrow win for Liverpool in this role

The Reds have a variety of players to choose from for the left wing position but neither Albert Riera, Ryan Babel nor Yossi Benayoun can match with the evergreen Ryan Giggs. He might not be as speedy as before but with a vast amount of experience, he certainly beats other players including his own teammates like Park Ji SUng

On the other side on the right, Cristiano Ronaldo is the easiest choice among the eleven positions. Liverpool do not even have a natural right winger. The Portuguese can open the game from the right with a dribble, feint or a sprint whenever he wants

While Manchester United have a clear winner for one position, Liverpool have their own too. Who else but Steven Gerrard for the one of the two central midfield positions. With his commanding presence in the middle of the park, there should be nothing impossible for the team. His partner should be a more defensive player. Teammates Xabi Alonso and Javier Mascherano are both equally good, so is Micheal Carrick of United. Therefore, it is a three way tie here for the position but if I had to really pick one, it will be Alonso

Fernando Torres is another sure-in for the forward position while his partner would be either Wayne Ronney or Carlos Tevez hanging behind him. Another tie for this role but I think Rooney should just edge out his Argentinian colleague since he his greater strength and power

This formation can be easily altered into the 4-3-3 formation with Ronaldo as the third striker and Giggs moving into the middle to support Alonso

So final score, Manchester United 6:5 Liverpool

But that doesn't mean Man U will sure win tonight

Pay raise

With this bad economy haunting amost everyone everyday, politicians will be getting a raise soon somewhere in this year. RealBlurPolitics® speak to Chin Buay Tzai, senior secertary of finance in PMO to understand better on our closed doors show

Chin Buay Tzai:CBT
RealBlurPolitics:RBP

CBT: firstly, to answer your question, all the money used for this pay raise is of the government's funds and not from taxes from citizens or of any form of corruption

RBP: ermmm, we haven't really asked a question so why are you so eager to answer it?

CBT: oh ummm, I was just trying to ermm you know, assure the people that the government has not mismanaged public funds

RBP: alright, so what is the reason behind this pay raise?

CBT: our nation is of corruption free, this is because our leaders are paid top dollar. With money, comes motivation, with motivation, comes results

RBP: but why pay even more? they are already earning fifty times more than the average guy out there on the streets monthly

CBT: if we pay even more, they will do even better, better and better, we will soon be the best in the world. Our ministers need more motivation in this gloomy economy to inspire them to better serve the people

RBP: erhem, so how much more will there be in their pay cheques every month?

CBT: a considerable amount has been decided and it will not be part of the public funds

RBP: so what is the amount which is decided?

CBT: public funds are safe, the amount is of a certain percentage of their current pay

RBP: ooookkkk, but how muucchh mooorrre will they earn?

CBT: the government has not mismangaed public funds and the new slary will be more than their previous one by some amount

RBP: maybe we can go on to understand when will it take place?

CBT: my apologies but we are not allowed to disclose this top secret confidential government secret

RBP: we have member of the public, Mr Wong, who has a burning question to ask you here on the line. MR wong, you there

Wong: yeah yeah, I here. I want to know hor. The pay raise beri impootant meh? other country also bo this kind of thing what, why you all must have? only eat people money only, then keep quiet and come up with many many lies to cover

CBT: to clarify your doubts, the government is clean and of anti-corruption, you can be sued for defaming us ok? I will consult my legal counsel on this case. According to code number....of the law under penal....

Wong: Anything lah...

Hanged up

RBP: oh we have another member of the public here called Mr Bupesh. Are you there?

Bupesh: yeah, I want to know why the governmennt can get pay raise to motivate themseleves but we don't get it to motivate ourseleves too?

CBT: to answer your question, I might need to list out various factors which will take up a lot of time. for more enquiries please call the hotline at...

interrupts

Bupesh: who you want to bluff, call all these damn government hotlines take you forever to get through

CBT: you can also email us at..

interrupts again

Bupesh: for what? you people never reply our email, and when we call back, you all just say got no such email received at all

Hanged up

RBP: ok I guess we shall end our show here

CBT: thank you very much for inviting me

THE END

PS: Regarding how much was added to our ministers' salaries, Mr Chin Buay Tzai said that how would one feel if his salary was made known to the whole of the country. This left us speechless although we do not understand why it was first made known to the nation in the first place so many years ago

IT show

Recently, more than five people have asked me a dumb question. I think it is quite a dumb question from my perspective. So what was the question which turned me off? It goes "hey Raymond, are you going for the IT show?". Maybe you can guess what is my reply, it is the same for everyone who asked me

Yes, I said no. I think it's a pretty useless question to me because all these IT shows and Comex shows are just a waste of time. You squeeze with the thousand odd other kiasu-minded people like you at the entrance, you torture your legs by walking for hours just to find a really good deal you can grab, you indirectly mutilate your eyes from all the viewing and browsing of items there, you rack your brains to compare prices for the whole day, you end going home without buying anything

We, humans, all live in this cycle which we are not aware of. You always hear this/that friend saying he/she wants to go to all these IT/COmex/whatever shows to get this digital camera/laptop/printer/headset/whatever else things and in the end they will tell you they did not mange to buy anything because of the crowd/price/quality/no more stock etc etc etc after the weekend

Then these people will complain about their experience there like the bargains are fake, the products are outdated, the stocks are little and go on and on like they are so proud about it

Anyway, if you would really want to snatch something cheap at this year's IT show, I would say it is LCD TVs. Their prices keep on plunge just like how stock prices are in the market currently. Just ensure that you do not overwork your eyes from all those viewing

And if you don't mind, please do not ask me if I will be going for this thing as I will definitely not go

My first album

What would your own album look like if you were in a band? Follow the directions below and find out...

Here are the rules:

1 - Go to Wikipedia. Hit "Random Articles"
or click http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
The first random Wikipedia article you get is the name of your band.

2 - Go to Quotations Page and select "random quotations"
or click http://www.quotationspage.com/random.php3
The last four or five or few words of the very last quote on the page is the title of your first album.

3 - Go to Flickr and click on "explore the last seven days"
or click http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days
Third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.

4 - Use Photoshop or any other image editor to put it all together.

Basically, these are the three things which I got but I did not "photoshop" them together. Maybe I do it another day when I have time to spare

Band Name: Countless of Lennox

Album Title: A return to the idealised past

Album Cover:



Don't you think it'll look cool if they are placed together?

Flea market

Today went to the flea market near Rochor Road in the morning to check out the bicycles there. I don't know how you call it in English but the place is known as jie shuang qiao in Mandarin. The place is full of Chinese and Malay ah bengs with outstanding hairstyles and tatoos all over their bodies, foreign Indian workers, old uncles and of course second hand goods. The bicycles are all cmi. If I had to really pick one, I think only one out of the twenty odd I saw can be considered. Then went to a coffee shop at Jalan Beseh to try the famous laksa there. The taste was normal only I think. That's all for today

Football Analysis: FA Cup

More football analysis coming your way

This week is FA Cup week. Fulham host Manchester United at Craven Cottage, Chelsea travel to Ricoh Arena to play Coventry City while Everton and Middlesbrough face off at Goodison Park in the quarter finals. Elsewhere, Arsenal take on Burnley in the fifth round. Let's start of with the Red Devils first

Edwin Van der Sar conceded a goal at last against Newcastle in their previous game. I think Fulham can put one behind their former player again in today's game. Although Cristiano Ronaldo and Co. look invincible currently, all it takes is just one setback for critics to start lashing out again. The Cottagers have my trust in halting Man U's bid for five trophies this season. The score would be a draw I predict. A Fulham victory sounds near impossible while Man U has won too many matches recently(so according to the law of average, they might not do so this time)and considering big matches with Inter Milan and Liverpool coming soon in the next eight days, Alex Ferguson might field a less powerful side to keep his star players fresh

Over at the "blue" side where the Sky Blues and the Blues meet, it should be pretty much a one-sided affair. Didier Drogba is starting to find back his long lost indestructible form. The Conventry defence will be in for a busy and blazing afternoon under the hot noon sun. Chelsea to beat Conventry City by at least two goals. The away-away payout of the Half/Full Time Double at $2.15 looks tempting. But do take note that Nicolas Anelka might not be available for this match, with him around, the probability of Chelsea scoring would be even higher

Everton vs Middlesbrough looks like the most bland match of the four fixtures as if it was Balestier Khalsa against the Young Lions in an S League encounter. A match that most people, except the fans, would rather not invest their time watching on television. David Moyes' team are the favourites but do not rule out Boro completely. After all, my dear(and for that time only, lousy)Liverpool were gifted two eggs by them when they humbled the Reds 2:0 in the Premier league last week. A wise better would not put his grocery money on the 1X2 so the total goals type should be the more desirable option. It is up to you to decide but I will say less than 3 goals for this

Finally, the match which I believe is the most mouth watering of the week. Small little Burnley take on fallen giants Arsenal. Let me see, Arsenal? You mean the Gunners? Yes it is them but why did I stop to ponder for a moment? The main reason is because I do not have confidence that they can defeat Burnley within ninety minutes of normal time tomorrow. Goalless stalemates have been the trend recently for them but they changed their incorrect fashion sense in mid-week after an easy win over bottom placed West Brom. Ade Akinbiyi who knocked Chelsea out of the Carling Cup is the player I think Arsene Wenger should look out for. In a whole, I anticipate a draw after ninety minutes. I think the match will go all the way to the fearsome penalty kicks to decide the winner

PS: Do take note that everytime when I blog about my predictions on football, they tend to be incorrect but when I keep it in my heart and tell nobody but myself about my predictions, they are usually right. It's up to you to believe me but I am not lying

What if you never pay up?

RealBlurPolitics®: Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin gave notice of possible occurrence yesterday that they might cut off gas supplies to Ukraine again and maybe to Europe as well if the republic does not pay its latest money owed to them by the weekend

This is not the first time Russia has cut off its supplies to ukraine. It had already done so on January 1 this year. This has prompted us to wonder what will happen if other nations or people follow Russia's tough stance in politics(or should it be bussiness?)

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If Singapore did not pay Malaysia for its water bills which is extremely unlikely...

Dr. M would tell our old Lee-der, "Come on Harry, aren't you guys filthy rich? That amount of money is just peanuts man" and he would continue with an arrogant tone "that's it, we shall end our partnership here, no more water for you and your people, let's see how you survive with your new water, muahahaha"

If the ministers did not receive their monthly fat salaries one fine day...

The PM office would have to pay out in cash to this bunch of grumpy politicians who need the money to keep up with their good lives. This means tonnes of dollar notes have to be secretly delivered in whatever way possible


If Obama broke his promise and failed to revive the economy...

What else but disaster will occur? Enough said. McCain would be saying that he should have been president instead

If footballers are not paid their weekly wages by their clubs, they will just try to score an own goal in a match to show their displeasure

And to continue on the water saga, this is old Lee-der's reply to Dr. M

"Come on Mamhmah, our country has lots of money, we had long not want to do business with you stingy guys, there are still many potential customers waiting to earn our bucks"

If this post is not as interesting the previous ones, please understand us for our busy schedule

Release of A levels

Tomorrow is the day ex JC students who just graduated last year are waiting for. The results of their dreaded A-Level examinations will be released. The day when laughter, sadness, disappointment and all other emotions fill up the school hall. The day when almost everyone could not have a good night's rest the night before. The day when when old classmates reunite with happy faces but are actually nervous deep down in their hearts

The horrifying experience of getting back their results of a big examination haunt these students again(after their O level one). The release of the A levels! OMG!

*screaming hysterically*

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Wait a minute. What has it got to do with me in the first place? I'm not from JC let alone the A levels. But I would still like to wish all students good luck although I know I be putting more stress on you all. Good luck to my friends, Kah Kian, Wei Ying, Gerlyn, Kai Lin and did I miss out anyone?

*screaming hysterically* again

3 day update

Hi all, I'm back to update

Monday can only be described with six words. Morning super boring, afternoon super busy. Which all equals to at night super tired. One more thing, my legs are all numb because the seating area was so small that I could not even stretch my legs straight

Tuesday was a rather cold day because I spent more than half of the day in air con places. Just to elaborate, the temperature was super low like the electricity for the air con was free. I felt I was like some frozen chicken imported from overseas in the aeroplane

Today is considered more "normal" because my timetable is balanced quite evenly. Went to Clementi hawker centre for lunch with my usual clique, all of them older than me by quite a number of years, and did not know what to eat as I am bored with the stalls there after more than a decade of living there

Now that I have updated my blog, it's time I go update my pet in Pet Society. She is starving, again

1 March

What did I do today? Nothing interesting really. I saw 陈建彬 at Chinatown hawker centre during lunchtime. he was with a lady and a man sitting together at a table eating. I think not many people noticed him and I only recognized him after sitting at my table for more than five minutes. He was a few metres away from me wearing the typical white colour uncle T-shirt. That is why he blended in so well among the crowd of mostly fifty years old and above people. The noodles I had for lunch is CMI, don't understand why so many people queue for more than 20 minutes just to savour it

The end