Musings

I was very sad when I’d to sell my SUV nearly 4 years ago. I like driving the car. It sat very high on the road, letting me see the road ahead. When it rained, water splashed from the other side of the road only reached the bonnet, not the wind screen. This is good because I could see the road.

But I decided to sell it because the high petrol prices was just getting too crazy. When I first bought the car, a full tank – 72 litres – cost about $80. By the time I sold it, a full tank was nearly $150. Plus every time I paid the road tax for the 3 litre car, my heart bled.

So for practical reasons, I switched to a 2 litre saloon car. It was smooth, quick pick-up, easy to part, drive etc. But I never fell in love with it. I still hankered after the SUV.

Three months ago, I decided to plunge in again. I put a downpayment for a SUV. This time it’s a 2 litre one. Hopefully, the petrol consumption would not be too bad.

Since my first car, over 20 years ago, I had bought Japanese. This time, I went for a continental car. Years ago, friends would tell me that continental cars would be just plain janes. It’s Japanese cars that would have nice trimmings. This has changed. Beemers, mercs and volkswagon have taken on new designs and looks. They are quite attractive on the road. When I was in Munich in February, I drooled over a BMX series 6 Tourer. Today, it’s called the X6 series and it’s really nice.

So I was sure that the Audi SUV would not disappoint. What I saw the showroom proved be right. Externally, the Q7 had always been attractive. But it was a monster of a SUV. Too big and too large a carbon footprint at 3.6litres. The Q5 on the other hand, was a good alternative. At 2 litre, it was smaller – and more affordable.

Audi sales was so good that I waited 3 months to get my car. Finally, last Friday I got my hands on the Q5. This time, it was a silver coloured car instead of my usual black. The most attractive about the car, the grill at the front of the car.

Of course, I love driving the car. But what features I like best …. read the next blog.

On every birthday, I do something out of the ordinary. One year, I hopped on to the hippo duck tour. That boat-truck like thing that can go into water and road. That was fun. It took me around the Padang area, before heading to the road next to Suntec City. It then curved into a dirt track in between the trees.

The dirt track ended in the water where the vehicle became a boat. It chugged along the water front towards the Fullerton area before turning back to the Suntec City where it started.

This year, I decided on the forest adventure located in Bedok Reservoir. It is an obstacle course up in the trees – not really very high, about a storey or two – with 4 stretches of flying fox thrown in. Unfortunately, on my birthday it was overcast with rain and lightning forecasted. The organisers said I could start but if the lightning siren went off, then I’d to stop and continue on another day.

I wanted an uninterrupted experience so I postponed it. Last Saturday, I went with 3 friends and boy, did we have a ball of a time.

It’s about $35 per head. I found the 30-minute safety course simple but thorough. We’re in a group with 5 “aunties” – very game of them to do this – and a couple. The course teaches you how to wear the harness and the safety process, how one has to be hooked on to a safety belt at all times.

Then off we went on the four-stage course. Each obstacle course has a difficulty level. Most were in-between easy and difficult. What did I have to do? I climbed up rope ladders and tree trunks, work like a trapeze artist on a high wire – only a story high and we’re secured to a safety line – scramble through a tunnel made of wooden slabs – this wasn’t comfy for my knees, so I’d to drag myself across it on my bump.

There were no tree top walks but there were small bridges across the trees at mid-level. There were of various types. One was made of rope netting in a V-shape. You walk on the sharp point of the V. Another was a bridge made up of wooden slabs. Some had wire or rope railings to guide you, others had overhead rope to do so.

The best was the flying fox. I thought I would be afraid especially those that went across a stretch of water. But the harness let you “sit” comfortably and you enjoy the rush of speed. Thing is I landed on my bump all the time. Thank goodness, I landed on a sand pit so it wasn’t painful. But one friend did well enough to land running on her feet 3 out of 4 times.

The organisers were good, I believe it’s a French firm behind this. The equipment is secure, the guides professional and encouraging. It’s very rustic, nothing very urban about it. For women the course is exciting but I’m sure for the men, they wouldn’t pay to do what they had gone through during NS.

The entire experience took about 2.5 hours and we really enjoyed it. There’s even a kids’ course. So if you’re looking to do something different, this would be a good physical challenge.

The last time I was in Helsinki in 2008, it’s autumn. It’s sunny with temperatures hovering between 14 and 16 degrees C.

I was there for the The Way We Live two-day event organised by Nokia and which focused on the things that could be done on cellphones. On the last afternoon when the seminar finished after lunch, I’d a couple of hours to kill before I headed to the airport.

I made my way to the city centre and looked for my caffeine fix. At Café Java which is next to one of the bigger shopping mall, called Forum, I had a café latte, sitting al fresco, enjoying the sunny day. That’s the beautiful thing about temperate countries. The sun is out but the cool temperature keeps the perspiration away.

On Monday, I was at Café Jave again. But this time, I was indoor. My thick overcoat and woollen scarf are draped over a chair as I enjoy my café lattte. Winter has arrived in Helsinki and with temperature at 2 degrees C, everyone is indoors.

I’m now in Helsinki again for the same Nokia event which was held between Nov 9 and 11.

On Tuesday, it was snowing. It’s like heavy drizzle except that instead of water, small specks of snow floated down in steady streams to blanket car tops, roads and pavements.

On the 20-minute drive to Nokia House, the trees, bushes and fields were covered with snow. Temperature had hit about -1 degree centigrade. Brrr, it’s cold even for me who enjoy cooler climes.

Sunlight is hardly seen. It’s a pity because the Espoo district where Nokia House, headquarters of the world’s largest cellphone maker, is located by a lake. The company occupies two buildings at this site. Neighbouring it are other buildings that house other multinational companies.

When I was here last year, I saw motorboats with powerful engines tied up on a small quay adjacent these buidlings. Apparently some workers use the motorboats to go to work instead of driving along the highways.

It was pleasant in autumn to do this but the weather in the last few days would have been too cold to do this. The scenary has also changed. Instead of green trees and bushes, all the leaves have fallen and the sheen of white has spread over the ground because of the snow.

The good news is that the day looked brighter because the white snow refracts light, making it look more cheerful than it really is.

It’s been a while since I blogged. Two trips got in the way. One was to Germany where I had the opportunity to see what Nokia was doing. The Finnish company is trying really hard to be a services company. I give them full marks but their journey is a long one.

The other trip was my annual holiday. This time I was in Melbourne where I’d originally gone to see Beyonce perform. It’s a great performance, 2 solid hours, very good production. She’s a great performer, her songs are good, the dancers good. And the atmosphere was electric at the Rod Laver Arena where it was held. For 90 minutes before, Flo Rida performed the opening act. It’s a rapper group and from the environment at the arena, it looks like it’s a popular group.

Sorry, rap is out for me. I don’t like the sensation of having my heart in my ears! Anyway, Beyonce came on at 9.10pm (ticket says performance starts at 7.30pm) and the whole stadium of 60,000 people came to their feet. And they stayed on their feet for most of the time. She sang for 2 hours, with several changes in costume. Her songs came from her current and previous albums – Halo, Single Lady etc – all the hot songs people dance to. She even paid tribute to Michael Jackson during her encore, when she sang Halo. Quite appropriate I thought.

Melbourne was cool, such a nice change from hot Singapore. Went to Morningnton Peninsula and Nippean Point which is the narrowest point of Australian between the two great oceans  - I think it’s the Pacific and Atlantic. Anyway, visited the military barracks on the Nippean Summit. Why is is that the artillery guns were also pointed south?

What’s in the south? Apart from icy Antarctica, there’s only New Zealand. What other enemies were Australia expecting?

Anyway, I had to write a couple of stories. Not that I was hard working but the stories were for a project that I was doing and there’s no time to be lost. So I’d arranged for a mobile broadband from the subsidiary of the red camp in Singapore. Unfortunately, after the dongle turned out to be a lemon! No one’s fault but did it really have to happen?

Anyway, good old Internet service in a hotel was reliable and I managed to write and send off my story for A$5 an hour Internet connection.

Now I’m ready for another holiday…. without any mobile broadband.

I make lots of typos typing text messages. My finger can’t seem to hit the right letters. I tend to use the side of the finger to hit the letters. I think I’m touching the right one but it always happen to be the next letter. Pretty frustrating until I discovered that using the landscape mode and typing with my thumbs solved the problem.

For some reason, I type on on the side of the thumbs too. But I hit the right keys… Oh well. I wouldn’t say no more typos, but let’s say I’m less frustrated now.

All eyes are pointing at Apple as Sept 9 draws near. Apple has sent press invitations in the US but what new gizmos will there be? Methinks, there’ll be new iPods and maybe a new version of iPod Touch with camera. But  will there be a netbook? Most importantly, will Jobs show up?

My guess is that the netbook is destined for January 2010 and Jobs himself will launch it. The Apple media isn’t in high gear which doesn’t mean that there won’t be any major announcements. It’s just that Jobs isn’t likely to grace the stage.

We’ll find out on Sept 9.

It’s about a month since I bought the Kindle. Reading on it is like reading a book. Okay, buying content or anything remotely related to the Kindle is a pain cos Amazon doesn’t sell it or accessories outside the US. The workaround solutions are good but they do require a few extra steps.

That said, reading on the Kindle is easy on the eye. I’ve now read about 3 books on it. It’s the size and weight of a paperback. Easy to carry around.  Best of all, I don’t have to hurry to add book shelves. I know I would read fiction on it. But if I do want to read non-fiction where I would like to write notes on the sideline or attach stickies to it, it would be much easier for reference. A small keyboard on the Kindle allows you to make notes, but I still prefer to visually scan because it’s easier to find what I want.

What irritates me is the battery. In the one month, it “crashed” on me – that is the screen was stuck. I’d to go to the forums to find out how to re-boot it. It’s happened three times. And the battery tends to grow weaker each time I re-boot. I checked the forums and found that the battery is a common problem. Good thing is I can change the battery except that Amazon won’t send it directly to me and I need to work around this. Sigh!

Why can’t the vendors just sell devices worldwide? Are they so blinkered that the US is the only world market? Surely the global market is a larger one – especially one for books … and music (hint: iTunes!)

Oh, I’ve been lazy. Not blogged for 2 weeks!

Anyway, today I was desperately calling PS Cafe for a dinner reservation. For those who’re familiar with PS Cafe, it first started in Paragon. The parent is Project Shop that sells those grungy, edgy kinda clothes. The cafe is famous for its salads. For those with sweet tooth, its desserts like double chocolate cake, cheesecake etc are worth dying for.

Anyway, it has opened a new branch at Palais Renaissance. So I called for a reservation but the phone went unanswered. I tried from before lunch to after lunch. Finally I reached an answering service: plse leave a message if you want a reservation or call xxx, a cellphone number.

I’ve not heard of restaurant reservation by SMS, and was sceptical. I tried it and within 2 minutes, the response came in. Would I like indoor or outdoor, and what’s my name? I was impressed. Such quick service. I gave the information and at 7.30pm turned up at the restaurant and my table was reserved!

You learn something new every day!

I think that all iPhone owners would have upgraded to the new 3.0 software by now. I’ve 2 iPhones at home. Naturally, I upgraded both of them. One is fully functional, ie, I get all the functions. The other is missing some features. For example, the tethering feature is missing.

So I checked with my friend Graham in Bangkok and he said that he also had the same feature missing. Tethering it seems is not offered in Thailand. So maybe my one iPhone could have come from US where AT&T is not offering tethering until later in the year. So iTunes recognised the phone as from US and accordingly left out the feature. I haven’t checked what other features are missing.

Wonder if anyone else is experiencing the same thing?

I’m glad that I caught Li Yundi’s concert with the SSO tonight. He’s a really good pianist, robust yet lyrical. In his late 20s, boyish looking, but can he play. Tchaikovsky’s piano concerto No 1 was like putty in his hands. His hands blurred in those  presto parts and yet at the same time stroked the keys for the melody.

I knew about the concert about a couple of weeks ago but I didn’t buy the tix. By the time I came home from Bangkok, it was fully booked. Tickets were all sold out. I did buy a $30 tix to watch the rehearsal on Friday morning. But I made a last attempt and went to the box office at the Esplanade on Thursday. And it was my lucky day. I got one ticket which someone gave u.!

Hope the good look continues my way.

Funny how annual leave ends so quickly. It’s a 2-week leave, long time in my books. The first week passed not so quickly although 4 days in Bangkok did whisper past. I finally found Thai food that “hit the spot” in the hotel. Yes Siplathai – that’s the name of the restaurant – in the ShangriLa hotel was more expensive than what you can get in the air-con food courts, the food was good. So was the service. Yes, it was expensive for 3 dishes, 1 dessert and a beer – 1400 baht about S$60. But I enjoyed myself, ultimately that’s the most important, especially when I’m on holiday.

My friend Graham who has lived in Bangkok for 20 years didn’t know of any Thai restaurant. He usually buys his meals – when he’s not making potato salad at home or a sandwich at home – from the hawkers. You do get a good spread – different curries, vegetables, grilled fish etc. But I don’t think my tummy is iron-clad. So I declined to eat at the hawkers. It’s cheap, about 50-60 baht for 2-3 dishes.

We went to an Apple shop in Central World which is a mega mall. Plenty of students around and again lots of sushi, sashimi and ramen places. So are cafes serving cakes and coffee. Smattering of Thai food in menus here and there. The Apple shop was like all the other shops I’ve visited in San Francisco and London. The accessories are slightly different. I found cute plastic cup-like things that hold wires together. Haven’t seen them here but Graham and I agreed that tape would hold wires just as well. Saved a few bahts there.

I took Tiger Airways, cheap but the fuel surcharge made it rather pricey and same price as Silkair and SQ. In Singapore, the queues were orderly. In Bangkok, it was less than orderly. Although our e-tickets said passengers had to turn up 2 hours before flight, the counters didn’t open until 90 minutes before flight. Which made a few passengers annoyed. More so because they saw the staff lounging behind the counter, sipping coffee and taking naps!

I’ve a few more days of leave left. Funny, how time flies when I take it easy. Don’t try to rush to gym in the mornings, or rush to an appointment. Yet, the day just passes so quickly. And I still have all those books and magazines I bought which I haven’t read yet. Time for speed reading now.