Milk's Favorite Cookie

Santa's rigorous, Dr. Phil-prescribed weight-loss diet and regime was instantly hurled out the chimney when he got his gloved hands on bars and bars of Nabisco Oreos. tsk, tsk.

The Monger

If you happen to pass by Far East Square, chances are you'll meet Barefoot Kim who barters his delish dumplings for your footwear. No deal? No wonder the poor old man's still shoeless after all this time...

Oh, MAMA!

More than curtains fell on the 2010 Mnet Asian Music Awards (MAMA) - Channel U beamed the proceedings 'live' last night (in Korean, no less) - with its unforeseen share of dampening no-shows from SM Entertainment artists like BoA and Super Junior. In any case, I'm not acquainted with pop acts like 2AM, 2PM, 2NE1 and BEAST, so 'Hallyu' means only so much to me.

ConiCal

100 ribbons won't make a difference if you're a grinch, so lighten up!

Nu'er Hong

Doesn't this pot of 'daughter red' wine hark you back to King Hu's 1966 wuxia classic DRAGON GATE INN? Xiao Er!

Xunlei

Make no bones about it, Xunlei's a real PITA. As much as it's a leading bittorrent client, I must say the web traffic there sucks! For days/nights and longer, I've been trying to download 'Swift Thunder' (how ironic), but the process takes forever - and I'm now majorly pissed with the constant disruptions and disconnections. Bah!

Do Pray Pray

While searching in vain for Fu Tak Chi Temple along Telok Ayer Street, ended up at Thian Hock Keng , "the most important Fukien (or Hoklo) temple in Singapore".
Well, in that case, better 拜 拜 and imbed some incense sticks before leaving.

Rouge!

BreadTalk's answer to Helena Bonham Carter's Red Queen.

Sim Jaan Yeu

There's much truth in the saying "the more things change, the more they stay the same". Take my Rifle Range Road campmate CPL Sim, for instance. Some 16 years ago, he was a straight-out Street Fighter fanatic who would hog the arcade machines in our mess and holler "shoryuken"! Today, the engineer-by-profession still engages in long conversations with his better half about Ken, Ryu and their fireballs - or am I just making the last sentence up?

My 'Birthday Suit'

I'm no nudist, aiight? This is my new purple (appears more like blue here) wrinkle-free Renoma shirt that I got for my birthday, which I plan to wear to work tomorrow :-D Also love zee cat-themed paper bag that came wizzit. Meow!

SupaDog

Don't anticipate to see your doggy putting on a cape and flying around to save the world anyday soon. Hmm...chicken and garlic? Garlic?? Ain't that gonna make their already-stinky breaths even stinkier? :-X

Have My Cake and Eat It

Why can't I? It's my burstday. And there's no caramel on the cake :-D

The Age of Awesome

In case you haven't heard it from the top rope, Raw superstar The Miz (pictured) has cashed in on his Money in the Bank briefcase against 'The Viper' Randy Orton and is now, for the first time in his career, WWE Champion! Timing counts for everything!

So Says Met

And...just who might this 'Met' be? Well, it's the Meteorological Services. You know, the 'Weather Guys'? According to them, rain water isn't potable. Like, of course it isn't. Liquid precipitation, after all, contains sulfuric and nitric acids. If you don't mind the pH levels, then don't heed Met's advice ;-)

Can See, Cannot Shoot

Despite an ALT security guard's unjustifiable protest ("no photo-taking in the store"), Happie Duckie still managed to 'materialize' itself here ^_^.

Morgan Freeman

Here's one of my favorite character actors of all time. Academy Award winner. 60 film credits (including as narrator). Composed demeanor. Authoritative speaking voice. Man, Morgan Freeman can make any dingy dialogue sound like Shakespeare and any crappy movie look like CASABLANCA. He's that damn good.

A Day at the Races

Happily headed up to the Singapore Turf Club in Kranji expecting to be thrilled with nail-biting moments from SEABISCUIT and SECRETARIAT. Alas, no such luck. As it turned out, it was a foreign race day with only 'live' coverage of equestrian competitions on giant TV screens. What a letdown; didn't even get to see any real horses or jockeys in action :-(

Good for Soup

Supplementary ingredients for home-brewed 肉 骨 西 洋 菜 汤: dried squid, preserved kohlrabi (German turnip), dried scallops and red dates. Of course, there are also the 'main stars' - pork ribs and watercress. Time needed: 3-4 hours, from high to low heat. (Add salt if necessary.) How do I know? I don't. Hehe. Won't take undue credit ;-)

E-mail Killer?

On the same day when Facebook co-founder and CEO/President Mark Zuckerberg announced the launch of his social networking leviathan's new all-in-one messaging service, both Gmail and Hotmail suffered outages. Hmm...we can smell a cyberwar coming.

Sweetie on a Sleigh

The ho ho holiday season may be a lil' over a month away (have you checked your shopping list yet?), but this coquettish M&M has decided to take a pre-Yule 'test ride' on Saint Nicholas' loco. We're all greening with envy.

Pending Work

Just a little belated update for the un(der-)informed: I'm now back in my 'old line' of educational book publishing. It sure's a complete turnabout/turnaround from my last job dealing with sales and marketing. Here, I don't talk on the phone or meet people much; it's mostly desk-bound with lots of reading and editing. Suits me fine - except I need to step up the game (look at my pending work). Ganbatte oh!

Harry Potter and the Half-Heart(ed) Kiss

I say, if Hairy Potter's gonna remain so wishy-washy about who to snog (Ginny or Hermoine?), then let me do it! Seriously, I wouldn't mind either :-P

A Toast to the Sultanate

Royal Selangor pewter. Boozing in style for the rich and powerful.

Mouse Trapper

We understand Caesar the Exterminator is under orders from the King of Gnawnia to catch and kill any mouse that lives and breathes, but Remy?? How could he bear to hurt this cute, harmless culinary rat??

Eid al-Adha

Today is Hari Raya Haji (also called the Festival of Sacri-fice). As a matter-of-fact, the prover-bial 'sacrificial lamb' has a literal and significant meaning here.

Premature Celebration II

Anytime's a good time for steamboat. So even though my barfday won't be arrivin' 'til Nov 24 (note it down, peeps!), it's already been prematurely celebrated.
The joint we patronized was this newly opened Chongqing No. 1 (or sumfin' like that) along New Bridge Road. 2nd-rate food & service at best, but - hey - mom's treat :-D

Prone (to) Reading

We're somewhat confused here: Is Harris' goal "igniting your passion for reading" or "encouraging you to treat our bookstore as your own house"?

Deep Imprints

Based on the sizes of these recovered-/remoulded-in-clay bipedal prints, how tall do you suppose Bigfoot is? A good 8, 9 feet?

Go Primitive

If this statement on the front door of a CityCab is, indeed, scientifically proven/ supported, then does it mean we humans all look like orang utans in the eyes of Satria (the son of Ah Meng)?

Bunnay

Bunnies are, in my opinion, among the cutest of all domestic pets (although I keep cats) - let alone snoozing ones. They're always, like, so fluffy and huggable. Having said that, is it also true that bunnies are less affectionate than, say, kitties and puppies?

See You in Venice

In this case, when someone says the above, he's not referring to a rendezvous with you in the Queen of the Adriatic. On the contrary, it's a call for toilet break in one of the fully muraled lavatories on Level 2 of Great World City. Still keen? :-P

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Prickly Heat Powder

Didn't know they still sell these. Snake brand? Classic! God knows we used them talc admixture during BMT outfields for 'shower'. Yes, you read correctly. Not after shower, since we were in the goddamn 'forests' and there were no bathrooms. We used Prickly Heat for 'dry bath' by applying it all over our sticky, sweaty, smelly bodies - private parts unspared (eww) - and here's the surprising thing: it worked like a charm!

Enough Already

I can't get all these made-in-Singapore TV characters/ personas who seem to annoy more than endear. (Wake up, Lucas Chow!) First, there was Liang Po Po. Then, there was Phua Chu Kang. (Actually I dunno which one came first, but who cares?) Now, there's Auntie Lucy. Gimme a break! I know Dennis Chew doesn't mean any harm, but his cross-dressing antics are beginning to put me off big time. They say too much of a good thing's no good. What about too much of a bad thing? Time to stop this nonsense before it really gets "so embarrassing"! Okay, rant over.

Loving Luge

Not forgetting the Skyride. Should revisit soon.

My Calculator

Brand: Casio / Model: fx-350MS / Price: $18.00 / Features: Multi-replay function, 2-line display, Fraction calculations, Combination and Permutation, Statistics, 9 variable memories / Purpose: Work. (Oh, by the way, this is my first ever 'Work'-labeled post!)

Call It Fate

WHEEL OF FORTUNE contestant Caitlin Burke had such a good feeling about it that she amazingly went on to solve a 7-word, 27-letter puzzle ("I'VE GOT A GOOD FEELING ABOUT THIS") with only a 1-letter clue - L. She won an instant trip to the Caribbean - along with US$53,000 in prize money - and the attention of a worldwide viewing audience. Fate or feat?

Carl's Jr.®

I know I can't speak for Eulisa, but these so-called 'char-broiled' (read: broiled over charcoal) burgers are not for me. On any given day, I'd go for the good ol' Mickie D's burgers. Or even those from BK.

Hundred+

time to rehydrate and balance those electrolytes

iPod Touch

Having serious thoughts about getting this gadget. Heard it's good for games, music and videos. At the same time, am afraid of not knowing where to download dramas or how to convert clips to iTunes-compatible formats -_-

Twin Bears

Bear 1: I can't bear this anymore...
Bear 2: Can't bear what?
Bear 1: Being stuck to you forever.
Bear 2: What're you talking about? We're IVF twins.
Bear 1: IVF, not conjoined.
Bear 2: So?
Bear 1: I'm starting to lose my bearings...
Bear 2: Barely. Just grin and bear it.

Daiso

Everyone's heard of Daiso. Everything here goes for $2. From leftover Halloween props to upcoming Christmas paraphernalia, everything costs only $2. Even the cashiers, store manager and entire store itself can be yours for only $2. Their pride, however, is not for sale.

The Black Hole

Mysterious sinkholes like the (negative-)30-storey chasm in Guatamala (pictured above) have been appearing all over the world, including China. What caused them? Is something from deep beneath the Earth, closer to the core, trying to burrow its way out? Perhaps not. Sinkholes are, geologically speaking, natural depressions attributed to the chemical dissolution of carbonate rocks.

The gaping cavity in Guatamala City, additionally, is - as reported by National Geographic News - more of a "piping feature" (read: ruptured underground drainage system) created by humans instead of nature.

Bottle Tree Park Series

Nestled in Yishun, at 81 Lorong Chencharu (which is 15 minutes walk from Khatib MRT Station), is the pastoral Bottle Tree Park. If you like fishing, paintballing, RC car racing or simply spending a weekend afternoon without fuss, then this is one of the cool places to check out.

5Couple swan paddling at a rather steep rental charge of $9 per 15 minute block (or an hourly rate of $500 for 12 swans). Any tryers? No? In that case, moving on...

5Water hyacinth resembling free-floating colonies of green. Science students, can you list three basic characteristics of these tropical plants? [3 marks]

5Bull cart ride for those too tired to tread on foot. Doesn't cost a cent, but doesn't move an inch, either.

5Stand to drive away a brand new Zotye Trex if you can name Mr. Alex Neo's favorite exotic flora species. Otherwise, wait for next year's Subaru Challenge.

5Tony Roma's for dinner?

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