Saturday, September 27, 2008 by Allan in General Blog Posts

Today we went to Singapore Motor Show 2008 and because of the F1 Singapore Night Race, some of the roads were blocked and we took a longer route to Suntec.

We arrived pretty early and found ourselves to be in a queue for the tickets. It was an ok fair I guess, but the best local car fair that I have ever seen in Singapore is still the one many years back, whereby they showcased Maclaren F1 Road Car and Porsche 911 GT1.

However this time round the main attraction would probably be the Subaru….. sponsored car stunts show by UK Russ Swift. Watch this video below and View More Photos

Wednesday, September 24, 2008 by Daisy in Daisy's Thoughts, General Blog Posts

There’s something SO IRRITATING about Singapore, no matter how many people praise the country…. Although the mosquitoes do my head in when they nip at my skin - but this other major irritation is like the icing on the cake!!! It beats any irritation by far!!!

When I’m travelling on the roads and I see people hogging the roads or not giving way to vehicles in general… that’s fine, if….. I mean, generally Singaporeans know themselves that they have a competitive streak and it’s a dog eat dog world here… But what is not fine when they won’t blinking give way to emergency vehicles… Oh boy, every time I see this - it’s SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO irritating…. I just want to knock the driver’s head on the dash board and shout, “Get out of the way!”

I just don’t understand why they are so unwilling to give way to emergency vehicles?! Where I come from - the UK, no matter if there is a jam or not - once there is an emergency vehicle and either its siren or flashing lights are on, motorists will pull over to the side and generate a clear path….

Some of you will say “Aiyah, I was in rush lah…”, “I didn’t hear nor see the emergency vehicle lah…”, “I was late for…”, “If I give way or swtich lanes, who will give way to me when the emergency vehicle has passed?” “It’s the culture.” To be honest, I don’t care!!! What’s 1 minute or even 5 minutes of your time, when every second counts for that dying person?

If you happen to be in a traffic jam, or bumper to bumper, or at a red light or just simply on a clear road - if you see an emergency vehicle with either its flashing lights or siren on - please have the courtesy to pull over, move into a slower lane or simply miss your turning…. If you happen to be in the middle lane of an already busy expressway and the emergency vehicle is heading in your lane direction, try to pull over safely… Horn to other vehicles on your left or right to give way so that you can squeeze in… We should all give way GLADLY!

I can assure you that if you had a family member or a friend in that ambulance - you would want people to give way… so pls don’t be selfish and give way!

I did a bit of research and did you know that the Singapore Civil Defence Force set up a campaign in 2006 with the message “Drive with a heart. Give way to emergency vehicles.” Ummmm, I wonder if it made an impact?!?!?! Maybe, fines should be in place! C’mon, there’s fines for practically most things here - so, why not add this VERY impt one?!??!

Here is the response I found on the net from the Traffic Police Department: (info was taken from nlb.gov.sg)

“Under the Road Traffic Rules, any emergency vehicle shall have the right of way over all other traffic when on urgent duty call, and all traffic should give way to such vehicles.

We would like to clarify that emergency vehicles have to observe traffic rules as far as possible. Where time is of the essence and only when it is absolutely safe to do would emergency drivers consider travelling above the speed limit, going through a red light junction, crossing double-white lines, etc. Safety of all road users is of paramount importance, even during an emergency call.”

Saturday, September 20, 2008 by Daisy in Daisy's Thoughts, General Blog Posts, Holiday

Summary: I am now back in hot and humid, sunny, mosquito biting Singapore!! But on a good note, I m next to my Hupps, in the comfort of my luxuries!!!

I spent about 3 weeks with my mum - with my time with her split between 2 places - Singa and HK…

I’d like to think Mum had a good time in Singa!?!??! Took her to as many places as possible and ate local foods… She partic loved durian eating and managed to enjoy sugar-free mooncake!! Here are just some snap shots cos I’m far too lazy to blog about everything!!!

And here’s more pics from HK:

Saturday, September 13, 2008 by Allan in Allan's Thoughts, General Blog Posts

We were to play paintball today at OCC Paintball place. The weather was great, not sunny no rain. The grounds were a bit wet and slippery because of the early morning rain, but it added more realism into the game.

We were 1st greeted by the host and were told to fill up a wavier form (to sign and say if in case you are seriously injured or died due to the paintball session, it is not their responsibilities), and will go for a safety brief before we can start shooting one another.

As this for some of us were the 1st time playing paintball, we did give full attention to what the host got to say. He did make it very short and swift, informative and instructions were very clear. I guess he could sense our eagerness and impatience to battle one another (probably from our full army uniform otufits), hence he quickly went thru the safety instructions. To show us the intensity of what paintball can do to harm us on unprotected area, he fired a few shoots at some metal targets, barrels and a banner at 50 metres. WOOwwww.. It was when I heard the “tuck, tuck, tuck” when the rounds exit speedily from the barrel and the “pop, pop, pop” when the round hit the target that I realised what we have got ourselves into!! OH NO!!!!

We then divided ourselves into 2 teams, 4 vs 3. Scott, Yewsun, Sloth and myself versus Ling, Jason and Mae. All geared up, we went in to test fire a few rounds at the range and in seconds we were ready to go for the real battle!

“Barrel plugs out! Safety off!” *Siren screeched… Battle on! Basically you see all of us running towards the….. cover at this point. Firing from behind covers and at one point i remember seeing my opponents shooting with only the gun in view (above their head whilst still in cover). First round, i got shot twice but in the end I took the ammo box back to our base and won game 1. It lasted under 5 minutes but it felt like 15 mins. Now I guess this is how you would feel in real ops with live rounds shooting in your direction - feels like you want to hide for eternity.

Subsequently, we played about 10 games, and by then most of us had already run out of ammo, hence the umpire stopped the game. Not wanting to waste the spare rounds left, the guys volunteered Yewsun and myself to a duel. So not wanting to disappoint the guys, Yewsun and I went back into the arena for a 1-on-1 shootout. The outcome, Yewsun took 6 shots from me and i took one from him, but that one shot that hit me on my thumb and index finger, and my left hand was trembling for awhile. Nothing big though. All for a good sport!

All in all, a great activity, definitely will be organising another… when? maybe in November.. We will see.

Scars of today’s session
Myself - one on index finger and one on right arm.
Ling - 8 love bites all over. (He got shot 4 more times as he was declaring himself dead at one point)
Scott - one in the midriff.
Jason - Escaped with hits but no scars.
Mae - one big one on his right shin calf.
Yewsun- a few around but one on a very important part of his body. (Sorry Yewsun, not deliberately, but next time dun squat ok?)

PS: click on images to enlarge view of images. or go to here.

Friday, September 12, 2008 by Daisy in General Blog Posts, Holiday

Utter shocked today! This afternoon Mum and I went to Jade market to visit Kobe’s mum (my sister’s MIL)….

On the way there, some of the pavements were narrow, whilst others were wide. The sun was beating down on us and the streets relatively quiet. Mum and I were just walking when this old guy walked towards us, to the right hand side of me. Suddenly his elbow raised and tried to elbow my chest!!!! Luckily I had a quick response and my instinct was to raise my right arm to deflect the action and sway to the left!!! So, instead of elbowing my chest, it was my right arm!!! I was in utter shock and didn’t manage to say anything except give this man a horrible glance! He continued to walk really quickly!

Mum asked what happened and I explained that I wasn’t too sure if it was done on purpose because at the point when it happened, the path was super duper wide! Mum freaked and was about to run after this old guy and give him a good shout!!! But, I stopped her in time.

Little did I know, mum freaked cos in her younger days, a guy did the exact same thing to her. But unfortunately for her, her response was far too slow - and she got elbowed right in her boob!!! But luckily a woman passer-by, saw the event and came to her rescue. She says that there are some slimey men, who will do anything to get some sort of fun! Gross, sick old man!

So to the girlies out there - protect that chest!!! Cos you may be targeted!!!

Friday, September 12, 2008 by Daisy in General Blog Posts, Holiday

Before I left for HK, a relative of mine requested whether I could try and buy him an item from A Bathing Ape (aka BAPE)… Apparently, it’s really famous?!??! and the items are in demand?!?!? Certain items are all sold out in Singa and Japan…

Well, I’ve never heard of this brand at all… Maybe I’m just not “in” anymore with the trends… But nevertheless, cos I need to buy it, I thought I’d research it a bit. To my surprise, it’s a Japanese clothing company and there’s a BAPE store in London too!

Went to the Hk store and the store was really trendy!!! Forgot to take a pic though! It’s generally for the younger generation due to the brand’s unusual, unique, trendy Japanese style… Some of the Bape products include shoes, hoodies, t-shirts, jeans, and jackets.

Now I know, I’ve noticed that there’s alot of youngsters here wearing their range… To me, it’s for a young hip-hop, rapper kind of person - a more expensive and trendier range for the local UK hoodie rude boy! Not my style really, but I did see this guy who looked REALLY pwoar with its range on!

Sunday, September 7, 2008 by Daisy in Baby, Daisy's Thoughts, General Blog Posts, Holiday, Really Nice Food

After lounging around at home until midday, mum and I ventured out in the heat with our umbrellas and bottles of water… We were off to get glasses done for other family members, as they gave us their prescription…. They trust our judgement of styles of frames…. Ummm!!!

Everyone around us, walked really fast. Whereas us, we walked REAL slow… I can’t walk too quickly these days - correction, I like to walk really slow and not rush these days!!! Got to our destination at Prince Edward and to do the glasses with transition lenses were super-duper cheap!!!

We passed my mum’s local “Cha chaan teng” - (basically a local chinese tea restaurant serving up local affordable foods. Nice… esp the “chee cheung-fun” and congee… So far canes Uk and singa!!!

Then it was off to visit Gran and have dinner with her and the aunts… I was glad to see that Gran’s health had improved after a visit to the doctors - becos before Mum came to visit me, Gran had not felt well and Mum had to take her to see Doc. When our little baby will be born, she will be a Great-Gran!!! Happy Days!