Musings

Yup, I’m in Bangkok for a system-shut down holiday. Been here for 48 hours, slept 14 hours at a stretch but didn’t taste or smell any thai food. Don’t get me wrong, I like thai food except that I prefer to eat at the local places and where I’m staying at the Shangri-la, there aren’t any Thai food places for miles … at least as far as I can see. The shops in front of the hotel offer tailoring, t-shirts, luggage and jewellery. I don’t need any of them.

There’s an Indian restaurant with one page of Thai food like pad thai – fried kway teow – green curry and fried vegetables. Somehow I don’t think it’s quite authentic. So today, I set off for Siam Paragon, that huge shopping place that I thought would have at least some Thai food. Well, I discovered Thais – and perhaps Japanese – like Japanese food for there’re several sushi, sashimi and ramen eateries. Then there’re rows after rows of Thai sweets like mango with rice. I bought some tiny coconut-based pancakes which were scrumptious but sure as hell it’s full of sugar! (means extra hours at the gym).

I saw a Thai restaurant and ordered chinese soup – my tummy can’t take the spicey tom yum – and fried flat noodles with pork. I got the soup, no surprises there. But the noodles – some horfun with english pork stew with carrot on top. Quite yucky! Swallowed a couple of mouthfuls, walked up and paid. There weren’t any other Thai restaurants around. Guess I’ve to rely on my friends who’re taking me out tomorrow night. Yippeee!

Shangri-la hotel is by the chao praya river. Like all the shang properties, the grounds are large and there’re many places one can go to, curl up and read a book. Either the economy is really bad or it’s not the peak holiday season cos there aren’t many people around. So sitting by the river for breakfast and later by the poolside to read a book – was peaceful. I burrowed into the deepest cushioned seat in the lounge, had a cuppa of tea and read my book, without any interuption. So peaceful. (Alright, my phone was on silent.) I lurrrvvveee me doggies – uno, latte, sandy and zach. They are, oh, so cute and really know what you want and dominate you in the only way pets know (you’ve to be a dog owner to understand this), but hey, no sound of barking, no need having to say “go to your corner” is just great.

At Siam Paragon, the supermarket and the eating places were busy, not crowded, just busy. The brand names boutiques were empty except for one-two people walking in and out. Economy must be bad or is it because it’s a weekday? Kinokuniya on the 4th floor was crowded, to my surprise. For visitors who need an English book badly, Kinokuniya is good.  The english section is quite large and it carries the latest titles. I’d brought 2 books and 2 magazines with me, I’ve finished one book already and getting through one magazine. I’m afraid the remaining reading material won’t last, so I bought Free, the latest book by Chris Anderson. Okay, I was on the lookout for the book, so it was part temptation and part fear that I would run out of books to read.

While most of my friends would be astonished that I haven’t tasted my first tom yum, I’m not so worried. I’m hear for the whole system shutdown. I slept all the way on Tiger Airways, got to the hotel, had lunch, ready my book and slept from 4pm to 6am the next day. It’s been great.

I recommend this kind of getaway. It’s like a cruise to nowhere. Now I understand about the holiday/summer cottages that the Jane Austen and her ilk write about – it boils down to getting away from the humdrum of everyday work, it’s about recharging. For me, it’s cutting out the handphone, curling up to read the book and enjoying my gym workouts without worrying about the time!

Just got back from watching Transformers. Great movie, fast spaced, action-packed. Excitement starts right from the start. Special effects is great. Watch the machines transform into metal warriors – it’s jaw dropping awesome.

It’s so fast that you won’t realise that it’s almost a 3-hour movie.

Thanks to Digital Boomerang who invited me.

I’m sure many have read about Hort Park. It’s supposed to be part of the South Ridges park which starts from somewhere in Mt Faber to Kent Ridge and West Coast Park. I’ve never been there until last Saturday when my friend celebrated her 40th birthday there.

Not at the park of course. It’s really hot day to be out there. But Kha Thai restaurant has a wonderful ambience. Sit alfresco and you look out over a shallow pond to greenery. So peaceful. You see trees and flowers. And it’s not crowded, so it’s rather quiet.

In fact the next table was a Caucasian couple enjoying a bottle of white wine. Very Jane Austen like kind of setting if you like. But take away the PSA Tower that intrudes the view on one side and you can be somewhere else. It’s really not like Singapore at all.

Pity we’d to move inside with the first few drops of rain. Still the ambience was worth it.

As for the restaurant, the food is good. Prices are above average but the service and food is good. The crab cakes are good, so is the duck salad appetiser. The steamed sea bass is done just right and the duck curry is not too spicy. I had a bit of the mango sticky rice dessert – very nice. Not too sweet.

Service out in the open is a bit slow because fewer staff outside. So have to exercise patience. Otherwise, if you’re looking for a quiet evening and good food, try Kha. Worth every cent.

The last time I took part in a car rally I didn’t finish it because my 2 friends and I gave up trying to decipher the clues. The rally was part of SPH’s 150th celebration and we thought it would be fun.

So when I saw the Singapore Cricket Club car rally, I thought it would be fun too and signed up with 3 other friends to form one team. It’s a good team, all could read maps, and were good at deciphering clues. It was based on F1, so we were sent to look for the info given at 5 locations which were car showrooms and service centres.

So on an overcast Saturday June 13, we sat out at 3pm to drive  all over Singapore. We’re expected to finish in 2 hours and we did it in 2.20. We’d to look for the information at the Toyota, Mercedes Benz and Ferrari, drive down Singapore’s old grand prix road  - the winding road that led to Pierce reservoir – and then to Ritz Carlton opposite where the F1 car pits were located. Nearly 100km but was quite fun.

In the end, we’re came 3rd and got a bottle of wine for our efforts.

Lesson I learnt was that in car rallies, you need people who can read maps and navigate, know who to call to get info so that you can decipher clues faster. Because we’re also racing against time and trying to solve the clues, the ride is often bumpy as the driver (I was driving) must speed, stop suddenly and turn. So your friends mustn’t be the car sick type. No fun to have someone barf in the car, not that anyone did in this rally.

So I was in San Francisco earlier this week. Landed on Sunday and what a change the city was from Singapore, I mean in terms of temperature. In Singapore,  where 33 degrees Celsius is sweltering and made me run into the air-con all the time, a cool 15-18 degrees Celsius and windy at that, was so, so welcome. It was like walking in the air-con room. 

But San Francisco isn’t the same in some ways. As in January when I was last there, the younger beggars I’d seen then, were still around. Workers made redundant perhaps? 

Also the popular stores like Virgin Superstore and Disney have disappeared. So sad because Virgin was the place I bought my DVDs. It’s a store I simply had to go everytime I was there. Disney store right in the middle of Union Square is also gone. 

These two places were landmarks in Frisco. Don’t know where Borders in Frisco is? Look for Disney and it’s next to it. If you don’t know where the Apple store is, look for Virgin, it’s across the road.

Some things don’t change, however. Victoria’ Secret in the same building as the Westin Francis Drake hotel is still there. But the B&O audio shop two doors from it is gone. Not that I’ve entered the 2 shops but they’ve been there for as long as I’ve remembered. 

One thing different in Frisco is the shoppers. The taxi driver I spoke to said business has fallen by half. Macy’s and Nike superstore are not as brisk as they used to be. 

What was brisk was business at the Apple store. When I went there on Tuesday, the day after Apple announced the new 13″ Macbook Pro, there were tons of people there. Everyone was buying Macbooks and iPods and accessories. It’s the same when I went to the store in January. 

Some things don’t change, thank goodness.

Finally, Zach the white russell terrier, is now … somewhat …. become … more or less …. part of the family. Nearly 12 months ago when he joined the family, he was one angry dog. He didn’t like to be touched on his backside, any side where he can’t see you coming. He sat by the front door hoping to go out. If I wanted to go out he would become aggressive, showing his teeth and growling quite loudly. If I approach him, then he would attack, ie bite. And I’ve been bitten by him 4 times already.

He looks really cute but in reality he’s Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. He would be lovey-dovey one moment and the next, he would be growly, showing teeth. Trainer Alfred came and saw his behaviour. He said Zach is showing insecure dominance. He’s unsure so he’ll try to dominate first, be bigger than the bigger dog.

So to teach him to be submissive, his possessions – his bed in his basket, his toys – were taken away from him. He had to sleep on the floor and he wasn’t allowed to spend the night in the bedroom.

Zach and I were to go to Alfred to get training so that Zach would be more controllable. Turned out our busy schedules didn’t allow us to do that. So both of us learnt to live with each other. I learnt that he doesn’t like to be surprised, neither does he want to be threatened with the cane. So I’d to use voice ie tone of voice to tell him I’m angry or happy with him.

So I raise my voice if I’m angry that he’s barking too much. I let him know when I was going to touch him, and I would stroke him firmly and I wouldn’t pull his ears or his tail. So now he’s much better and I can actually play with him. He would give me his toy and we would play fetch and retrieve. He would turn turtle and let me scratch his belly.

On Sunday came a tipping point. He’s in the kitchen when I was preparing dinner. I told him to go out of the kitchen and he did. Backed up and sat outside the kitchen and acted as the door guard.  I’m quite happy that of the progress we’ve made but still the lessons with Alfred will start next Sunday.

After 3 nights of thunderstorms and a heavy morning shower yesterday, the electrical network in my home called it quits last night. Came home late after watching Star Trek – excellent movie – I switched on the air con and there’s nothing. Oh, I thought, it was the same trip that had occurred several times before. I went to the electrical switchboard and switched it on again. 

2 minutes passed and as I was talking to Zach, my jack russell terrier, the lights went off and there’s a burning smell. S***. Groped my way to a side table to look for my torchlight – I keep one in each room – switched it on and went to check the switchboard. Had to muscle up a lot of courage to do this, cos don’t want to find sparks flying around cos it would mean a fire in my store room – which had lots of dog food and towels – very combustible items. 

All the main switches were done and turning them up didn’t turn the lights on. So had to call the electrician at midnight. He needed 30 minutes so in the meantime, I sat with a beam of light from the torchlight and my 4 dogs. So quiet, a little breeze coming in from the front door. Can’t turn on the TV, hi-fi, or surf. 

A-ha, I brought out my iPod and the stereo X-mini Max capsule speakers and played Marvin Hayes and Sarah McLahan. They kept me company until well after the electrician came and went – he took 45 minutes to put things right. Lucky for me, iPod is always charged, it’s the only consumer electronic device that worked in the house, apart from my handphone. And of course, the sound from the X-mini Max speakers, made by local company, Xm-i, was fabulous. Light and small, and affordable at $68.

What a movie! It’s really good, full of action and bravado. The two main actors Chris Pine as Captain James T Kirk and Zachary Quinto as Spock are excellent in their roles. They reprise the original versions played by William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy (who has a cameo role as a much older Spock!).

I’m a Star Trek fan having watched the series on TV since I was in school. Pine’s Captain Kirk is a younger version of William Shatner’s role. The way he looks, tilts his head and his language, all match that of the original Kirk. Spock is as anal as all Vulcans are. But he’s good too. 

Much better than Wolverine. I only admired Hugh Jackman’s body, muscular and lean. Other than that, it’s a so-so. 

You’re going to be spoilt for choice this weekend since Angels and Demons is opening tomorrow. Straits Times gave this movie 3 stars. So if you’ve to choose which movie to see this weekend, I would say Star Trek. You won’t regret it.

I’ve noticed in the past few months many people using netbooks. I define them as the ones that Nicholas Negroponte first came out with as UMPC – ultra mobile PCs – with a 6 inch screen. The size has in the last 18 months changed from 6- to 10- to 12-inch screens.

Made popular by Asus and Acer, these netbooks were touted to be good for surfing, emailing and maybe skyping and little else. It’s just too small to work on it for a long time. I just find the shoulders would be too pinched from having to hold your hands close together to type on the small keyboard.

Increasingly, I’ve seen a lot of kids using them, not for school work but for viewing YouTube video clips and movies. Mothers would leave the kids with the netbook in McDonalds or a cafe and go off and do their errands or supermarketing. The kids would access Youtube or watch the movie that’s been downloaded into the netbook. Not a bad idea.

There’re quite a few nice ones on the market. I’m attracted to the Sony Vaio which are really nice and cool. But I’ve no reason to buy one. In today’s tough times, better to have cash in pocket.

There’s nothing really much to see in Macau. Well, at least i didn’t get to see much except for the ruins of St Paul’s church and then walking along the alleys that led out of the ruins. That’s quite fun. 

All that’s left of the ruins is a wall which had some intricate carvings. The authorities have built a couple of rooms to showcase some of the paintings and ornaments used by the priests and church people of that time. All quite nicely done. 

It’s raining when we arrived there, a slight drizzle that seemed to go on forever. I’m told it’s like that at the start of spring. The cobble stones are firm, not slippery but do watch out if you’re wearing old shoes. The steps and lane that led out of the church grounds into the small alleyways full of shops are kinda steep. One woman fell and landed on her bump. Her beau next to her wasn’t fast enough to prevent her fall! 

The shops lining the alleys sell clothes, traditional chinese medicine, gifts etc. Many were shops selling almond cookies and other savoury stuff. What my attention was the huge bbq pork – ba kua – they were twice the size of what’s selling in Singapore. Different types, spicy and sweet, peppery or garlic. Apart from pork, there’s venison, chicken and veal. I did have a taste but I didn’t buy cos they sure tasted of ajinomoto. 

My friends snorted when I told them I was going to Macau for the “history and culture”. Well, they’re quite right or I didn’t make the effort to see more of the place. Apart from the ruins which seemed to attract hordes of Filipinos and mainland Chinese, there’s the casinos. I do suppose they’re an attraction. Macau has the largest concentration of casinos and they’re the Las Vegas type – OTT – over the top. There’s the venetion, four seasons, crowne, mgm and wynds. 

Personally, venetian is just too crowded. I like Wynds, so did my friends. It’d a bit more class, not so OTT and quieter. I didn’t drop any money at the casino but if you’ve made big bundles of $$$ at the tables, then you surely can afford the Chanel bags, Tiffany rings and Rolex watches. Most of these brands could only be found in Wynds. 

There;re 3 things I like about Macau. Food, food and food. The Portugese-Macau food is really good and affordable. For the four of us, each meal costs us about HK$250 -HK$300, that’s about S$50 to S$60. Plus alcohol is really cheap. 

We bought wine at duty free (hey we’re on holiday) and picked up a couple bottles of Portugese wine 2006  which were about $20 each. Dry but allow it to breathe and it tasted good. Best restaurants to go to are the popular Pinnochio and Fernando, I prefer the latter. Located at the beach, about 20 minutes from the venetian, it’s got ambience and good food. Try the clams and crabs, finger licking good. If you’re in for chinese food, then the Lei Garden in Venetian is simply yummy. Very good service, I was impressed. And the quality of the food, superb. The steamed fish was done just nice, so was the garlic green veg. 

Ok, so where did we stay? I didn’t like the casinos, it would be too crowded and noisy. So since I was booking the hotels, I chose the Westin Resorts which was on the beach. An older hotel, but bigger rooms, more spacious, good service. 20minutes from airport and town centre ie the venetian. 

Also if you’re a gym fan like me, it’s free. In the casinos, you’ll have to pay at least HK$200 – S$40 – for use of the gym. Don’t bother with the spa. Too expensive. We found one in town called Nirvana. Doesn’t put you in nirvana, but not bad and the prices were reasonable. 

Would I go back? Macau was a one-time experience. I rather wing over to Hongkong, anytime.  Yes it’ll be noisier but the food is really out of this world.