Walk at Bt Timah Nature Reserve & Choc-a-Bloc

We spend the morning at Bukit Timah Nature Reserve as we 'stroll' up the hill within 15mins. It was a hard 15 mins as we tried to catch our breath at the top. The height is 163m above sea level and as compared to Mount Kinabalu which is about 4095m. I will always remember the nightmare when we climbed that mountain in Sabah back in 2002 (i think).

After the walk, we went to the nearby Bukit Timah market to have our branch. Then we went to Chinatown to shop for a while before we left for Bedok North. We collected the chocolate fudge cake that I ordered yesterday from 'Choc-a-bloc'.

It cost me $29 for the cake and we also bought a jar of 'Rum & Raisin Cornflakes Cookies' for $14. That's pretty expensive!

Excellent taste! The cake is layered with chocolate fudge and sponge cake. The biting feeling is cold and soft and the swallowing is smooth through the throat. There is no cream so it is not messy and gives no fatty feeling. Best of all, it makes you feel like having another piece right away.

Pots and Plants

This morning we visited Hougang's central where Irene wanted to renew her car insurance and road tax at NTUC Income. After lunch we went to shop the row of florists where she got herself a money plant and a "Rong Shu" for her office.

IKEA shopping

We went to IKEA Tampines for our dinner plus do some quick shopping. I ordered our all time favourite, Spaghetti with Swedish meatballs and Chicken wings. Fabulous. I never get tired of enjoying the food in IKEA.

Luckily we were able to get seats as it was close to closing time. It is usually very hard to get seats during meal times and you will find plenty of people standing around the tables eyeing for any availability.

Can you image I can actually snap some shots of IKEA's shopping area, without a single soul? Isn't that strange?

Well to be honest, the photos were taken at 9.50pm where the shop is closing at 10pm. Else, no way I can get a clear shot of the area with no walkers blocking my photo taking view.

Next we went to the Giants across the road. The gigantic grocery mart is opened till 12pm and you can find huge crowds doing their late night shopping there. Strange people to do their shopping on Friday night. Anyway we met Eugene Lim and his family when we were queuing to pay for our purchase. What a small world.

Accident on my TS

Just my luck, met with an accident today morning. I am writing this with great pain and disappointment. Here goes the story:

This morning, I drove Irene to work from my place. The weather was bad with light rain, and that leads to traffic jam. I decided to take the route of SLE, then BKE, then PIE, then exit into Bukit Timah, where I can travel towards Clementi then West Coast. The route was pretty jam due to the morning traffic and plus the rain.

As I was on SLE (BKE) on the most right hand lane, I came to a stop from slow speed as the front car slow to stationary. Suddenly I hear a screeching sound and then my rear was bang into. "Shit", I quickly dismount my ride to check the situation. I saw this white Honda Civic (hatchback) kissed my rear left bumper. The driver came down and quickly apologies to me claiming that he is at fault and willing to pay for the damage. Out of nowhere, I see 2 strangers pop out to advise us to steer our vehicles to the side road in order not to jam the traffic. But both the driver and I replied that we are moving off as we just need to exchange particulars. I got his number plate and IC details and his insurance policy number. This guy is older than me by 2 years old and he does look a bit 'beng'.

The two strangers are those 'car workshop' guys that show up when there is some incidents on the road and will persuade you to allow them to tow your car to their workshop for repair while you will have a spare car to drive in the mean time. Enough of their crap, took their name card and told them that I will contact them later. So we left the accident scene immediate as we do not wish to hog the traffic.

I was so demoralized that we decided to skip work today and to locate a workshop for this repair. We went to Irene's place to pick up her stuff and I snapped some of the damage using my handphone. The dent was pretty bad and my exhaust is giving some funny sound, despite I do not see any damage to my exhaust.

We went to IDAC to report the case as I am insured under the NTUC income insurance. Then I drove to AMK autopoint where there is this workshop introduced by Pro-subaru specialist BMS's Ah Boon. The guy told me that the repair for bumper is not cheap especially it is from Subaru. The guy called up the Honda driver to ask him if he is willing to allow them to claim the damages from his insurance as the repair cost was pretty high. The driver said ok and the workshop started to fill up the forms. The clerk gave call to the driver's insurance company but apparently he does not have any insurance coverage. He has been driving without insurance for at least few months and this is a case of criminal offense.

For such case, it is one of a thousand as the workshop guy told me. "What luck!" I am stuck with a claim that has no insurance company to claim from. They then advised me to claim on my insurance first and I have to pay the excess of $500 while the rest shall be foot by the insurance company. Action shall be taken against the driver accordingly by the insurance company. I am very much reluctant to pay the damages as this is outright not my fault. I drove back to IDAC and they told me the same thing. We called the NTUC income and was assured that my NCD will not be affected if this is a clear-cut case but I still need to foot the excess sum.

Conclusion, I have two alternatives: 1) I get the driver to foot the bill from the workshop and I can forget about the claim. 2) I pay the excess and the damages shall be claim through my insurance and the driver gets from my Insurance company (not sure what). Else he does not have any insurance to cover for his loss and even if he wants to covers now, no idiot will accept his application. What to do?

I called up the driver and he was pretty friendly and supportive. He told me that he wants to pay but he was also surprised that he has no insurance coverage as he has paid to his agent. He was puzzled that why he is allowed to pay for his road-tax even without insurance. He assured me that he will get to the bottom with his insurance agent and he will give me a reply by today. He also thanked me for uncovering this problem that was hiding for many months. After this call I was much relieved and I went home to await for the good news.

At evening, the workshop clerk called me instead of the driver. She told me that he was quite pitiful and it was a misunderstanding between his agent and him. But they will sort things out and they shall provide a letter or report to certify that he has insurance coverage then once the workshop received this, they will proceed the claim accordingly. Although I felt more relaxed after hearing this piece of news, but I am still quite worried about the validity of this so-called report or letter. Hope to hear good news tomorrow. Huh..............

Lazy Sunday

Irene is out on Business Trip for the whole week and will only be back tonight. Sunday, I am alone at home wasting my time lazing around. Washed my car in the morning since it was left unwashed for at least 3 weeks. Nowadays I am getting lazier.

After a hard wash, I did the leather seats and my tyres. Then I have no more strength to handle the polishing so I gave up and went for a swim to relax. What a great day to relax from the work stress but anyway got to face the music tomorrow, LPPL...........

Goodbye My Motorola V3

I have sold away my Motorola V3 (Black) to those hand phone stalls. It has been with me for the past one and half year, and I still love the size of the phone. It was difficult to let go of this phone as I have grown to custom to it. However some of the bad points are lousy camera, no auto save for unfinished sms, lousy speaker phone and poor VGA screen. Anyway, I got back $80 back for selling away the phone.

With that money, I bought myself a spare battery and a car charger, all for $30. Next is to get myself a car kit to hold my hand phone. I want to fully utilize my GPS phone to assist navigation. I had tried a couple of of times and it was interesting to drive with the navigation system. But this drain the battery pretty fast so I need a car charger and spare battery to sustain it. I understand that using car battery to charge the phone battery is not favorable to its lifespan so I got a pirated one. So, its spoil and throw concept.

Hong JY and Shi XH - Wu Ding

My Favourite Duet Singers.

Playing with JR & YQ

Playing with JR and YQ

Tonight, we spend some time with JR and YQ as it has been a while since we last played with them. Tomorrow, JR is going on cruise with my brother-in-law's Mum and brother. It shall be a 4 day cruise and we will get to see him only on next Thursday.

PES C9L2

Attended the medical review at Dieppes Barrack with my letter from SGH's specialist. The doc suggested that I be given that PES status without looking at my inured ankle. He mentioned that the board review shall be in May and once the status is approved, I will be notified by post. He added that I will be excused from IPPT but not from the field. Well, at least no more RT for me!

Friday 13th, Bishan's Chicken Rice

We went to Bishan's coffee shop to have our dinner. This "Ming Kee Chicken Rice" stall was a popular among the residents. Even at 8.30pm, there was still a short queue to the stall. I ordered a plate of 'white' chicken for two plus a plate of chicken leg skin, all for $7 plus.

The skin was luscious, the flesh tender and juicy and there's that nice layer of gelatin and fat in between the skin and the flesh. The rice was nice, but the soup was a complete let down. Overall, the food was still considered a good deal, but not the environment. Poor ventilation and that makes people feel stuffy and uncomfortable.

NEA launches campaign to encourage shoppers to use reusable bags

Channel News Asia
You can do your bit to help cut down global warming - all you have to do is buy a reusable shopping bag, and use it in place of plastic bags which are harmful to the environment. This is part of a new campaign by Singapore's National Environment Agency (NEA) which starts next week. It is aimed at reducing the amount of waste created. This latest campaign by the NEA is about changing mindsets of shoppers. That is why it's working with seven food retailers to sell reusable bags. From next week, shoppers who still want a plastic bag will be asked to make a 10 cent donation. And starting in May, the first Wednesday of each month will be dedicated for shoppers to bring their own bag. The NEA hopes to increase the low 2% of shoppers using reusable bags. But bringing your own bag clearly needs some getting used to. "Well I guess you would have to remember to bring it all the time. That's one. And I wonder how big it is as it may be a bit inconvenient if you bring it along with you all the time, especially if you're on a bus or on a MRT," says one member of the public. "It is good but habits are hard to change. Moreover, they are still giving us free plastic bags," says another. Singapore consumes 2.5 billion plastic bags each year. "We noticed that over the years, more and more plastic bags are being used. So we felt it is important that we start educating our people on how they should use the plastic bags," says Lee Yuen Hee, CEO of NEA. Singapore incinerates its waste plastic bags and burning a tonne of them produces almost 2,900 kilograms of carbon dioxide - the gas that causes global warming. Global warming is the reason why glaciers melt, causing sea levels to rise. And that is a serious issue for islands like Singapore. And some plastic bags end up as rubbish, polluting beaches and clogging up waterways & drains. "Each year, we do waste studies in incineration plants, and found a large amount of plastic bags unused and thrown away by people as trash items. This indicates that there is huge room for us to cut down the wastage," says Yang Hong, Senior Environment Health Executive, Resource Conservation Department, NEA. And that's why, instead of promoting retailers to switch to biodegradable bags, NEA's strategy is to focus on public education, as everyone has a part to play.

We must support the move for GREEN.

Photo Shoots using N95

Upload some random shots taken by my N95.

My Nokia 95 - Best phone 2007

My Nokia N95

My Nokia N95 has finally arrived through doorstep delivery by M1 Shop. I placed the order yesterday through on-line for this newly released handphone in March 07. This phone is the current in-thing in the market and it is not cheap. I used Irene's Mum account to upgrade for this handset and paid $998 for a 2 years contract.

Opening the box is always an exciting experience for anyone. I used my Motorola Razor V3 to take some of the shots for this grand opening ceremony, Muhahaha.....

Everything look so new and mysterious. I spent some time going through the handset, pouch, accessories and the operating manuals. The leather looks pretty cool but using it looks stupid as the flap gets in the way when answering calls. Guess, I may consider using the plastic casing that I got at Sim Lim for $8.

To demonstrate this electronic giant, I took some shots using my Motorola V3, Irene's 6233 and my NEW N95 to compare the photo quality. And this is how it looks like:


Look at the intricate details from the N95 shot, you can even read the numbers on my Emporio Armani watch. I told Irene to put her 6233 to sleep, the photo quality was relatively comparable with my Motorola V3. Nokia's Carl Zeiss Optic Camera is usually well known for only day shoot, but for the above photo, that is is good enough for me.

The camera is not the only WOW thing, there is built-in WiFi and GPS for this phone. That means I can carry the phone to surf the web and plus it can be used as my Navigation instrument. I can't wait to try it out in my car!

Tomorrow morning I am going to take some candid shots to demonstrate the quality of the camera. But first I need to charge this phone for the whole night, at least 8 hours, I guess.

Fire Outbreak in AMK Neighbourhood

We left Irene's place with her Mum for dinner. While waiting for the lift at 11th, we saw heavy smoke gushing from the ground floor upwards. We quickly rushed down to check out what was happening, where the smoke comes from.

There was this fire next to the rubbish dump burning freely freely and fiercely. One policeman tried to use his small fire extinguisher but it was of no use. A fireman came out from nowhere and sprayed high pressure from his back-carrying cylinder onto the fire. The fire was almost dosed off when suddenly there was some small explosion within the fire. That gave the small crowds and the policemen a shock.

When the fire died off, we have a clearer view of the building and the lower levels were covered with black soot. The resident on the lower levels were going to get a hard time as the smoke had invaded into their space during the burning.

300 - Movie Trailer

We went to catch a show called "300" around midnight at Vivocity. I love this show, especially the fighting scenes with spears, swords and shields. Not to mention the hunky men with a piece of under-wear and cloak, dazzling all the female audience. This theme of the show is much related to "Gladiator" and "Braveheart" where much emphasis is on the bravery, courage, betrayal and most importantly, Freedom.

Synopsis
Based on the epic graphic novel by Frank Miller, '300' is a ferocious retelling of the ancient Battle of Thermopylae in which King Leonidas and 300 Spartans fought to the death against Xerxes and his massive Persian army. Facing insurmountable odds, their valor and sacrifice inspire all of Greece to unite against their Persian enemy, drawing a line in the sand for democracy. The film brings Miller's (Sin City) acclaimed graphic novel to life by combining live action with virtual backgrounds that capture his distinct vision of this ancient historic tale.

Command and Conquer 3 (Tiberium Wars)

Finally I got my copy of the Command & Conquer 3! It had been a much talk about game in the PC gaming industry. Yeah, as if I come from that industry. I bought this at Challenger, Viviocity for $54+ and that should be quite a good deal. Same places charge at $79.90 for this game. I had been pestered by Mark to get one so that I can join the guys for an on-line challenge to relief the heavy work stress. Finally, I can have a duel with him very soon after some practice.