Mad About Mad

Yo, Madaline! I thought you wanted to e-mail me your 'merchandise'? How was the press release? Come visit us soon!

Free Snacks

Yesterday must be our 'lucky' day at work. Why? First, Brenda from SPH bought us mooncakes (although it's not Mid-Autumn Festival yet). Then, Margaret our student gave us a whole box of pandan cake. Envious, already? :-P

Everybody Loves Oprah

Especially women, who watch her weekly syndicated talk show - and some men (like Tom Cruise) who can't get enough of her (stage furniture).

She's an Oscar nominee, multiple Emmy winner, entrepreneur, philanthropist, spiritual icon and the world's most influential woman.

Oh, and she's worth US$1.5 billion.

Can you top that?

Korean B.B.Q.

"Annyong ha shimnikka!" (I believe that's "hello" in Korean.) Would you like to order some bulgogi for your lunch, ma'am?

S.O.S.

Can this 'Strip' blimp rescue Jack and company from that godforsaken LOST island? Unless the pilot is FUI (flying under the influence of alcohol), this S.O.S. distress signal should be pretty darn visible, huh?

Chuck & Tiff

Chucky: They're not watching. Let's sneak up on 'em.
Tiffany: Same plan as last time?
Chucky: I take the sausages, you grab the sauce.
Tiffany: What about the seasoning, Scarface?
Chucky: We could use some for the beef, Blondie.
Tiffany: I love you, Stitch.
Chucky: Ditto, bitch.

Block 7, Tanjong Pagar Plaza

Long gone were the days of bullock carts plying between wharves and warehouses. Late Mr. Khoo Cheng Cheok should be so proud :-)

Urban Legends

"Have you heard about the one that says your stomach will explode when you ingest Pop Rocks with soda?"
"How about the one where the hitchhiker vanishes from the car?"
"My favorite is the one where the babysitter, supposedly alone in the house, receives a phone call from upstairs!"

Endorsement Darling

After wearing Whisper and selling Silky Girl, MediaCorp's girl-next-door Felicia Chin (seen here in a prodigious MRT station poster) now wants you to drink Vitagen for its 'healthier live probiotics'. You'll believe her.

Shophouses

These vernacular terrace homes we call shophouses are native and unique to urban Southeast Asia. Here in Singapore, they are conserved and reconstituted with facade colors and ornamentation. Neat, eh?

search • buy • sell • connect

search yourself: do you buy shit wholesale and sell your soul to the devil? It's time to (re-)connect with your conscience.

SMU

3It may not look the part, but this is, in all actuality, Singapore's third university (after NUS and NTU) - and the first private one to be funded by the gahmen. I think this building, which could easily pass off as a neighborhood community club (SMU people don't hoot me, hor!), houses one of the university's six schools - Economics and Social Sciences. Then again, I could be wrong...

Self-snap 4

Quondam colleague Ms. Audrey Raj commuting in Comfort to her next Singapore's Child editorial assignation? We should meet up sometime.

Flinguccino

Secretary (via intercom): Sir, your 8.30 is here.

Boss: My wife?

Secretary: Your mistress.

Boss: Send her in. And make me two frapuccinos.

Secretary: She doesn't drink coffee.

Boss: It's for me.

Oscar the Cat

"When Oscar the Cat visits residents of the Steere House Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Providence, Rhode Island, the staff jumps into action - Oscar can sense within hours when someone is about to die." - Reuters

Ed: Hmm...will he mingle well with JHM?

Black & White

Many a thing in our present society are undertaken in BLACK and WHITE - IOUs, MOUs, even PPOs. Basically, anything that needs to be documented. But, as Moses Lim's character in JUST FOLLOW LAW cautions, b&w doesn't apply to everything. Working folks should know what I mean, yah?

Old Ride

Flashback to 1980. Riding in dad's car up Mount Faber. Listening to Mandarin oldies by 劉 文 正. Gazing at distant harbor lights. Cruising on the expressway. Taking out supper at the drive-in McDonald's.

The 50s

The 'pub-ization' of the Tanjong Pagar Conservation Area has plausibly altered the face of The 50s (Entertainment Pte Ltd). At one point in time, the above was a xinyao-themed restaurant (if I'm not mistaken?) with homegrown resident singers and stuff. 'Fact, one of my uni classmates Ching Poh frequently lent his voice there.
These days, I understand, the establishment's been converted into a commonplace karaoke lounge. Sigh. The ramifications of commercialism?

7th Lunar Month Special - THE IMP

5That strange feeling: Charlie Chin senses something is amiss ("I don't think they paid me for overtime yet").

Certain horror features seen during our childhood can haunt us for a long time - if not forever. Dennis Yu's THE IMP (凶 榜), a 1981 Hong Kong chiller detailing the spectral encounters of a shopping mall security guard on graveyard shift, is one such example.
I'll never forget the green mist (there's lots of it), the eerie soundtrack and - by god - the shocking parting scene! (*Shudder*)

You can view the trailer here.

(Warning: Not for the faint of heart.)

Don't Eat Us!

Such luscious looking serotonin inducers that're sure to tingle your sweet tooth - provided you've no qualms devouring chocs molded after cocker spaniels (or any other animal, for that matter). I do. Draw a funny face on the shell of an egg and I won't crack it. I know it's silly as a box of bollocks. Call it empathy for Humpty Dumpty!

Drumroll!

can acrobat shaobo qin fit himself into one of these barrels?

Girls on Girls

5Nan Quan Mama (南 拳 妈 妈) vocalist Lara Veronin (far right) takes a departure from her singing duties to hang loose with her (presumptively non-musically inclined?) ABC sorority - and boy, do they look tight (in every sense of the word)!
6Can the former give Taiwan's second most popular girl group (after S.H.E) He Se Hui Mei Mei (黑 涩 会 美 眉), which comprises more members and boasts a younger mean/median age to boot, a run for their makeup money?

Deus ex machina

Mr. President, we have positive visual that the asteroid has now deflected from the Earth's orbit.

R21

I'm pretty sure this adult shop (recently opened on the ground floor of Orchard Towers) also sells health-friendly products like contraceptive pills and pregnancy test kits, but all I can see here in the display window are dildos, dildos and more dildos...

'King' vs King

Booker T (top left), having won the KOTR tournament at Judgment Day 2006 (with some help from Fit Finlay, one might recollect), may proclaim himself as 'king' all he wants, but every WWE fan well knows there's only one REAL king in pro-wrestling today - and he's none other than Raw color commentator Jerry 'The King' Lawler (top right). Long live Cadillac Man!

Dinner with Moondancer

When it comes to describing food, I totally *suck* at it. (It's my shortcoming - nothing I can do 'bout it.) Here's a bowl of Korean culinary delight Moondancer ordered when we met up for dindin. I don't even know the name of the dish, 'cept it took the eater quite a while to finish (for the contents remained scalding long after it left the cooker). And, as always, the egg alone looks temptatious!

Dental Care

Spotted this fully & beautifully plastered SBS dental bus docked behind Tiong Bahru Plaza. I presume it was there to promote the 'toward zero cavity' motto set forth by the SDA. Kids, it's time for your checkup - like it or not - to see if you need extra flouride or even some sealants for those milky pearlies :-B

Lisco Lance!

The post-millennium disco fever is here to stay - don't even question it! What goes around, comes around. The '80s are back with a blast, so bring on Suzanne Palmer and Pepper Mashay now!

7th Lunar Month Special - DARK WATER

5What lies beneath: Rio Kanno stares in disbelief at what's lurking in the bathtub.

Japanese horrormeister Hideo Nakata's follow-up to the sensational RINGU films is another cult classic that brims with suspense and unsettling aura - something the criminally mediocre Hollywood remake failed to capture.

A divorcee and her six-year-old daughter rent an apartment unit in a musty Tokyo building and uncover the deadly mystery behind a missing young girl from years before.

This is the movie that redefines 'spooky elevator'.

LOL

Laughter is the best medicine (besides marijuana).

The Big Sweep

What'd you do if you won the S'pore Big Sweep of S$2.2 mil? Buy a Porsche? Invest in a waterfront property? Kick-start your own pimping biz? It may not be a whole lotta wad, but it sure's enuf to get you outta your woebegone pencil pushing job now.

The Red House

"The 2nd red dot design museum was established in Singapore in November 2005. The museum is the anchor tenant and key attraction at the red dot Traffic, a creative hub located at Maxwell Road, the former Singapore Traffic Police Headquarters." (Source: Internet)

P/S: I think Lesles used to work here?

7th Lunar Month Special - THE EYE

5Don't turn around: A nervous Lee Sinje shares the confines of a creaky elevator with a 'queer old man'.

Pang Brother's THE EYE is a true Asian ghost story - unabashed and uninhibited. The motif is clear from the start, the execution is impeccable.
A blind woman (played by multi-award winning Malaysian actress Angelica Lee) undergoes successful cornea transplant and begins to descry dead (Chinese) people in her midst. Unable to grapple with these frequent supernatural sightings, she sets out on a truth seeking path that leads her to the horrific source of her benefactor.
This is the best Singapore produced horror movie to date.

x No Reservations x

The Amara Shopping Centre was - and still is - one of my favorite spots to eat good chicken chop. First of all, it's not crowded. Secondly, the food's considerably cheap. A chicky chop set meal, for instance, today costs only as much as it did five years ago - that is, five bucks. What inflation are we talking about here, towkay?

Samsui Women

the urban redevelopment authority cutting costs on sanitation services?

After the Sunset

The West Anglican Church goer (right) actually appears winsome here.

More MJ 'Sightings'

If you're thinkin' about my baby it don't matter if you're black or white or brown or any color in between. These days, I'm just as confused as anybody else. I miss Macaulay...

When I Was Sick...

I would skip skool for days and not inform a single soul - until the discipline master himself had to personally drag me back to the assembly podium for public caning. Meanwhile, I would visit my family doctor Thomas Wong Fook Poh (who's really gray now) for some quick, painless medicated relief.

She's OUT - Again!

I'm inconsolable...(but she was cute while she lasted.)

The History of Mandy

Mandy Cat has been with us nomads for nearly six years now. She's moved with our household from Tanjong Pagar to Tiong Bahru (two different dwellings for the latter) and has matured from a feeble tabby to a formidable tyrant. LOL.
In short, the minx has come a long way from that fateful day I found (and 'catnapped') her at Duxton Plain Park (see photo for exact same spot!).

Hot Plate Disaster

Only last evening, mom and I were talking about getting a plug-in hot plate to cook instant noodles. Today, on a spur of the moment, Eager Beaver (i.e. moi) scampered down to Best Denki @ Great World City and immediately purchased a set (from Toyomi) for $39+. Excited to test-run the appliance, Stupid Cupid (i.e. moi again) placed a Crock-Pot over it and overheated until the inferior crockery literally exploded! Wahaha! Thank heaven no hamsters were hurt. Hallelujah!

Soon You Will See Them

Tomorrow marks the first day of the Seventh Lunar Month. Keep your eyes open.

Chinatown Series

Deliberately took time off from work today to embark on a three-hour topographic tour of Tanjong Pagar (my old place of residence) and Chinatown. Boy, was it a fruitful 'pilgrimage'!

5I've always wanted to showcase the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple & Museum along South Bridge Road in its full glory/grandeur/splendor/majesty/magnificence. I guess this is it. Absolutely beautiful and breathtaking!

5Front view of the Temple, which is dedicated to Maitreya Buddha (or Laughing Buddha). Step inside. The rare and sacred Relic Stupa is on exhibit. Plus, there are also tea and (free) vegetarian food in addition to handicrafts and commemorative souvenirs!

4In another part of Chinatown, Kreta Ayer, what used to be a dying trade has now become a rather lucrative business targeted at tourists looking to absorb all the sights and sounds of Singapore's city central on a slow, relaxing trishaw ride.

5Our last stop brings us to Chinatown Point, a locality landmark overlooking, er, Hotel 81. Never mind. Inside this old and obiang shopping complex are shops selling all kinds of stuff from precious stones to Oriental musical instruments - like the ones above (one's a pipa, the other I'm not sure).