Cindy's Wedding @ Fullerton

Today is my cousin, Cindy's wedding. Our whole family was suppose to attend the function, but due to unforeseen circumstances only Dad, Mum and I made it. My sister's school mate, "Ah Fatt" passed away early this week due to some complication of his diabetes. My brother-in-law and sister had to help out with his funeral so they skip the wedding in fear that it clash with the joyous occasion. Irene had to fly to meet some customer so another one down. Thought we might have a chance to have the whole table to ourself, too bad this round we had to squeeze with others.

Dinner at Fullerton was pretty boring, I had no one to chit-chat with, except my Dad. You can imagine how I wish the time can fly faster. The serving was terribly slow since each dish was slowly portion by the waiters before presenting to us. My goodness, each dish is like 25min apart and we had to finish 8 courses. By the time we finish the food, it was around 11.30pm, and this was one of the longest wedding function I ever attend to.

Anyway well wishes to my cousin, Cindy Tan and her husband, Elvis Tan, may their marriage last forever. Hmmm, a Tan marrying another Tan.......

Paramount Dinner

Our boss treat us to this ala carte buffet at The Paramount, under the group of Tung Luk. I helped to organize the event since the invitation is only to those leaders in our community. This place was pretty well recommended by many people for its good food and affordable pricing, best part is unlimited dishes. However the only limitation is the 'Buddha jump over the wall', 'fresh prawns' and 'peking duck' where each customer can only consume once.

Personally I do not fancy the food but I must give some credits to the ambiance. Perhaps it was due to presence of our bosses that makes the food pretty difficulty to swallow.

JI Terror Leader - Mas Selamat escaped

From AsiaOne:

THE leader of the Singapore terrorist Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) network, Mas Selamat Kastari, escaped from the Whitley Road detention centre at about 4.05 pm on Wednesday, said the Ministry of Home Affairs in a statement.

A massive manhunt involving the police, Gurkhas and Special Operations Command forces, is underway to track down the escaped detainee, who walks with a limp.

'He is not known to be armed. Extensive police resources have been deployed to track him down,' said the ministry statement.

The forces have fanned out to areas in Beauty World in Upper Bukit Timah, Goldhill Avenue near Barker Road, and the men are knocking on homes asking residents if they have seen the escapee. Undercover police officers are also questioning staff of petrol stations, convenience stores and checking their CCTV footage in case the terrorist leader had entered their premises earlier.

At Malcolm Park, near the Singapore Chinese Girls School, scores of forces have formed a formidable blockade around the park. The public is asked to contact the police at 999 if they know of his whereabouts.

Background
Mas Selamat, 45, and four other members of the terrorist organisation which has regional links and ties to Al-Qaeda, were served detention orders under the Internal Security Act between March and May 2006.

Tagged as Singapore's most wanted militant and linked to a sensational plot to crash a hijacked plane into Changi Airport, the JI leader of the Singapore network, was arrested on the Riau island of Bintan while on the run after fleeing the Republic in December 2001.

He was eventually deported to Singapore in February 2006 after serving time in two Indonesian jails for immigration offences.

Mas Selamat, a father of four, was involved in JI's plans to mount attacks against foreign and local establishments here, which included the US Embassy and American Club, the Defence Ministry headquarters at Bukit Gombak and the Education Ministry building at North Buona Vista Drive.

His role included directing Singapore JI members to undertake reconnaissance of these establishments and handing over reconnaissance material to JI operational leaders based in Malaysia. After he fled Singapore, he continued to target the country - specifically plotting to hijack an aircraft to crash into Changi Airport.

The Government said that when his initial attempt was thwarted, he continued to believe in the feasibility of the plan and intended to pursue it in the future when the opportunity presented itself.

When he was finally captured in Malang, some 40 km south of Pasuruan on Jan 20 2006, after about five months on the run, Mas Selamat was found to be carrying false identification - an offence similar to previous charges that arose from his first arrest in February 2003.

That earlier arrest ended his 14-month run from the law, which began when he fled Singapore in December 2001 after the Republic's crackdown on terrorists had netted about a dozen of his JI comrades.

What he did, or whom he met, during his five-month freedom is still a mystery. His involvement in JI began in 1990. According to a 2003 report by the International Crisis Group (ICG) on the JI, he joined Darul Islam (DI), a movement considered to be the parent of JI, that year.

Founded in 1948, DI fought for an Islamic state in Indonesia in the 1950s and spawned several key JI leaders, including its founders, the late Abdullah Sungkar and jailed militant cleric Abu Bakar Bashir.

Mas Selamat joined DI after he heard Indonesian cleric Abu Jibril preach in Johor.

Abu Jibril, who was detained in Malaysia in 2001 for militant work, had also apparently held religious talks in Singapore at the homes of JI members. He was deported to Indonesia in 2004, and now heads the Majlis Mujahidin Indonesia, an outfit founded by Abu Bakar.

By 1992, Mas Selamat had joined the religious council of the Singapore JI cell. In 1993, he went a step further, undergoing military training in Afghanistan.

At that time, the Afghan training was supervised by another Indonesian cleric, Zulkarnaen - said to be a member of JI's central command as well as the leader of its military wing. Zulkarnaen is still at large.

In 1998, JI paid for Mas Selamat and another Singaporean, Jaafar Mistooki, to visit Afghanistan again for a month to look at the Taleban system of government.

Jaafar, who has been detained since December 2001, was one of several JI detainees in Singapore and Malaysia who testified against Abu Bakar during the cleric's 2003 trial in Indonesia.

By 1999, Mas Selamat had been chosen by alleged JI operations chief Hambali to take over as Singapore JI leader from Ibrahim Maidin - the Singapore cell founder who has been detained since December 2001.

ICG's report said he met Hambali, who has been in US custody since 2003, at around the same time in Bangkok to discuss a plane hijack, and was in the Thai capital and Pattaya to select personnel.

In 2002, Singapore's then-premier Goh Chok Tong said that Mas Selamat had planned to crash a hijacked plane into Changi Airport to avenge the arrests of JI members.

Our JP - Mr Chan KY

One more item strike off from our 'Things-to-do for Wedding' list. I managed to contact Justice of Peace (JP), Mr. Chan Kai Yau, whom is one of most popular JP in Singapore. Don't ask me why, but that's the review from most forum. It's a surprise that he was once a Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education. Perhaps our offspring will be genius in their studies. I always wanted someone in our family to receive government scholarships or at least graduate from those posh branded schools like Raffles Institute, Hwa Chong JC or National JC.

Below photo are the side-view of how Mr. Chan looks like. I had to protect the innocent so their eyes were sprayed to protect their identity. I have yet to find any photo of Mr. Chan full face looks.

Mr Chan told me that he can help to solemnize my wedding but he needs someone to pick him up since he is not familiar with Sengkang. I told him I will arrange for someone to pick him up and the ceremony will start at 1pm. He told me to call him again on 14 June to finalize the arrangement. When I broke the news to Irene, she was very delighted. Cannot understand why she felt the excitement over this elderly man.

Polish using Duraglos product

After sending Irene to the airport in the morning, I went straight home to start my polishing project. Because I just bought some polishing stuff from a guy called Benny, whom is pretty popular in the detailing forum and much credits were given to his product that he carries.

I spent $90 to purchase a shampoo, a detailer, a quick detailer, two buffing cloths, one waffle cloth and one applicator. Really can't wait to start the project since yesterday.

Reading the shampoo instruction indicated on the bottle, pour 3 caps into 1 gallon of water, I decided to reduce that to 2 caps. As a results I celebrated post-Christmas with my new car. This was like foam party at Sentosa, can't imagine what happens if I use 3 caps. The shampoo smells like strawberry and sure feels soapy.

I love the waffle cleaning cloth, big and super sucky. Unlike my chamois cloth that is smaller than A4 size and the amount of water it drew was limited. After an hpur of wasing and drying the car, the next step is the polishing. Goodbye to those antique way of circulating motion polishing, this round I merely use up and down motion. This really saves much energy. The buffing cloth sure makes the polishing much easier, wipe and done deal. To prove the effectiveness, please see the following photos:

Step to unlock Fuel computer

This is cool! I managed to trip the ECU to display the fuel consumption information on the audio display screen. It provides the view of the followings from my car:

1) Avg Fuel Consumption - 11.3litres/100km (from day 1)
2) Real time Fuel Consumption - (only when car is moving)
3) Average speed - 27km/hr (from day 1)
4) Estimated mileage with remaining fuel in tank - 23km (better go and pump later)

This is terrible, my FC is only 8.85km/litre and this is not very accurate as what I had calculated. Better go and reset it so that I can start afresh.

To unlock the display, I did what was mentioned in the forum:
1) Hold 'FM1/2' and 'CD' button with key inserted at OFF position
2) Turn key to ACC and you will see 'Hello' and 'DISC ON' display
3) Turn off the key and start the engine
4) Press 'SET' toggle between the functions
5) Press 'CLOCK' to switch back to the clock display

For thos people whom changed their HU (head unit) may not be able to use this function.

Irene's Mum's Birthday

Today Irene nearly forgotten her Mum's birthday. Luckily her brother reminded her when we were at Xiao Wnag's place for our meet-up with our university friends in the afternoon. We went home to pick up her Mum to this restaurant beside Yio Chu Kang MRT, Atlantis. We were then joined by her Dad and her Brother whom came later. Irene's Mum was nearly in tears when she received the bouquet of flowers that was prepared by her brother's girlfriend. Woman....

This round, we over ordered, and the amount of food choked all of us to death. The bill followed with another death note. The bill came to $260 plus for 7 adults. That is super pricey, I will never step into this restaurant again.

My New Pedal

Just got my new foot pedal, my first mod for the year. This is the OEM foot pedal with rubber studs on the surface that helps to promote contacts. The parts were actually screwed on top of the existing pedals. It comes with a foot rest plate, for the drive to rest his idling left foot. I paid $76 for this cool stuff. What am I going to do next?

Breakfast at Redstar

We made a point to wake up early so that we can enjoy our breakfast at the famous Redstar restaurant that is known to serve good Tim Sum. Surprisingly, the crowd size was not something that we were expecting. Only less than 1/3 of the tables were occupied despite we were later than the expected time.

Anyway we quickly start ordering the food as Mum need to work at 11am and my sister's family was going to another friend's place for Chinese new year greetings, while I need to pick Irene at the airport around 12pm. One recommended dish to order is their steam carrot cake that was served in a bowl with sauce poured on top. Taste great.

For 7 adults and 2 kids, the bill came about $95, super cheap man.

Dinner at Serangoon Road

Happy CNY 2008

This year is Rat's year.

Mazda Fuel Consumption

My first tank lasted for 360km (fuel warning light) using SPC 95 with no top-ups after auto stop. Surprisingly my second tank was much better, giving me about 400km with the same petrol. That is equivalent to 9.2km/l which is much better than my Subaru that range between 8-8.5km/l.

Eve of CNY 2008

This year we booked our reunion dinner at Serangoon, Jumbo seafood restaurant. Good choice since most of us are sicked of Yan Palace, which we had it for at least three times. Last year we chose the neighborhood's coffee-shop and it was definitely a bad choice. No aircon, poor service, lousy food quality and cigarette smell.

Dinner was set at 1730hrs which was the first session, followed by 1930hrs for the second session. Due to Mum was late as she was stuck at work at Sake Sushi, our family arrived at 1815hrs. The place was very packed, they have squeezed more tables within their floor plan and that makes the walkway pretty narrow.

First dish was none other than "Salmon Yu Sheng", the traditional dish where one toss for good health, good fortune and prosperity. The higher you toss the greater will be the effect as said. The dishes we had were the steam prawns, scallop with leek, shark's fin soup, steam fish, braised chicken (the herb-smell chicken taste yucks), fish maw cum sea cucumber cum veggies, rice wrapped in lotus leaf and lastly was the sea coconut dessert. All at a cost of $490, this is steep.

First trial of Wedding Gowns

We have booked our first appointment with J&M for the trial of the wedding gowns. There was no other customer, my guess would be CNY was round the corner or that the sky was dark. Anyway good for us, as I do not wish to stand with other groom-to-be outside the changing rooms where everyone helps to stare at each other's wives. The ladies in the shop were pretty friendly to bring us the dresses and even offered to tied up Irene's hair. Perhaps they couldn't stand her messy hair.

Of course I made myself useful by walking over to Maxwell market to buy some refreshments for all of us. Take it as bribery to the helpers so that they may be more helpful to Irene. It was pretty boring to hang in the shop and taking those shots, I wonder how many more times am I suppose to go though this. Hopefully she finds that right dress soon so that I can save myself from this misery.