ぼくの日記

Thursday, August 30, 2007

宝贝父女兵

30th August 2007, Thursday

Love it or Loathe it, the local Mandarin drama dished out daily by the non-cable television station which monopolized the local market, Mediacorp had been part of our lives for a good 25 years now as they are in the midst of celebrating the quarter century achievement...

Over the years I had outgrown from that infant who would wept when the 9pm drama ended by the stroke of 10 which effectively signaled the end of the day back in the early 1980s for me..into the adult which often scorned the quality of our local drama and constantly scrutinized the production quality and acting skills of our local breed of actors...

Regardless of how nonchalant we are with respect to our local dramas, the context and story usually has a close association with the local flavor... so I do give some series a try and hope to be entertained...
The previous series which occupied the 9 o'clock primetime slot was "Honour & Passion (
宝家卫国)" which sort of featured a stellar cast and in commemoration of 40 years of National Service, many quickly slapped it with the tag of a show with the political propaganda to sell our mandatory service to the army... However the most gut-churning aspect of the show has to be the bewildering amount of affection shown to the Caldecott Hill gay-boy, Bryan Wong by various co-actors in the show, shun a male one of course... Fortunately Felicia Chin in that body-hugging No. 3 uniform which was perhaps never will be seen in the history of SAF did made the show a bit watchable...

The series which succeeded the military-selling show was perhaps a dark horse as the most enjoyable local drama for the year or perhaps the last few years...
"Like Father Like Daughter (
宝贝父女兵)" a heartland (always the winning formula in Singapore context) mad-cap comedy with some heart-warming moments narrates a tale of how an ex-convict after a good 15 years in the prison for a crime he did not commit reconciles with his hooligan-like daughter...Both are lowly-educated but with a strong sense of compassion and justice in their blood which is a shout out to our society that focus too much on a person's academic achievements rather than his/her good nature...

The series is almost half way to go (assuming it is a 20 episodes one which is a norm for these kind of heartland treats) and had enthralled me with their quirky storyline and script...
The overall cast is young and the exuberance is strongly felt though not trying to hard to be a "idol-making" affair which our local drama sucks as ...

Like Father Like Daughter
Reason to be home by 9 every weekday nights



Joanna Peh took center stage as the lead character, Chun Chun a vivacious ruffian girl of the neighborhood... Touted as one of the "7 princesses" of Mediacorp, this NTU Mass Communication degree holder surely together with Jesseca Liu and Felicia Chin will be hogging the limelight while the likes of Rui En, Fiona Xie & Jeanette Aw just had to fade to black with their unability to improve in terms of acting...
Showing her versatility by shaking off that usual white collar OL type and did a splendid job in her reprise of a tomboy character and exudes a sense of wackiness suitable for the storyline which we usually wouldn't associate with her...

Zheng Ge Ping portrays her gangster father and I think it was well-cast as he surely has the built for it and the acting skills we are grown accustomed to... We all love him as the Mr Nice Guy/ Uncle and once again he did not failed to reproduce that.. I think the chemistry with Joanna will be for all to see soon

The remainder of the cast had an impressive showcase thus far and almost everyone was likeable, maybe even that Ah Lian character (which I think the actress would be typecast as one for long time to come 'cos she fits it to the "T")
Michelle Chong whom I had high regards for and felt that her crossing over to the Chinese channel was a wise choice, did a credible job as the poor daughter of a wealthy family who was forced to bankruptcy by a tyrant and on a vendetta quest to avenge his father's passing and her mother's eventual insanity, yet she is in such precarious position after living such sheltered and well-off life all the while...
Even the much detest Vincent Ng was suitably cast as the Ah Beng of the show and his minions which include the rotund MC King reminds me of those weird looking motley crew you'll perhaps see in Dick Tracy (minus the 1930s mobster style of course)

However my favorite character has to be the totally incompetent brother of the Michelle Chong's character, Akirah, portrayed by an relative unknown, Nelson Chia...
First he was seen as a wuss with a bit of sissy aspect with fear of cockroaches and supernatural entities (which turn out to be a beggar residing under his bed for days, how nobody found out is another classic element of absurdity of local drama)...
He was nicknamed "Croaky Voice" by Chun Chun for he has a passion for song composition which just quite awful to listen but provide the biggest comedy element thus far...
Then he was mesmerized by the Ah Lian character in the made-up capture of ghost by Chun & her gang...to a state that he would spend his family remaining fortune (a measly $38) on a lavish breakfast for the gluttony love interest...
Akirah sure is the number one reason for me to anticipate the series every weekday evening....

Call me Kiki!
~Why My Father Has to be Bankrupt??~~



Lastly my sister who has also being following the series felt that almost all (except the undergrad guy) are cooped up in poverty, at a point the shared wealth of perhaps 6-7 characters in the show might be a mere 1K plus and a stack of bank notes...
The backdrop of the series was very familiar the 1st moment I took notice..It was the Ghim Moh Hawker Center where we had lunches often on Fridays...
In fact we caught Joanna and that Ah Lian taking a stroll past a biscuit store for like umpteen times for a mere shot...Too bad the over-zealous hawker from Johnson Duck Rice did not get a chance to featured in the lens...

The quirky set-up, Joanne, that Akirah and Ghim Moh...what more can I ask for? Go watch it!

Japanese word of the day:貧乏~bin-bou~(Poverty) Well life in Singapore will become more financially arid, perhaps everyone should just raid supermarkets for canned food...


Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Job Engagement

29th August 2007, Wednesday

Last December on voluntary option, we took a survey about our job satisfaction and thoughts about our company as well as the parent company...
It was a perfect opportunity to rant and vent our disgruntle about our treatment and await the repercussions of our comments and ratings...

Fast forward 8 months, and the stats have been compiled by the survey company and laid on the platter for the HQ office and ultimately revealed to us...

The economic restructure in May was a great improvement in our renumeration system and our market rate was adjusted after sorely being owed for years...
But more good things to come? We got a glimpse this afternoon as first the survey company came with all the pie charts and address our concerns about our workplace as compared to the entire board in general...

It seems like the chronic lack of career advancement especially for those of us in the ground level as well as how the company gauge our annual performance at work are the major concerns...
The former had been looked upon by the HQ HR department as they enforced a year of training for staff upgrade though whether we had the time to attend would be another issue altogether...

The latter was been put under the microscope by our director who makes his appearance transiently now and then but felt essential to speak with the staff from various levels to address such concerns...

One of our compadre, HB started the ball rolling as he had vowed to do as he inquired about the appraisal system which had baffled us time and again..
Well they are supposed to tweaked the appraisal once again but ultimately our immediate supervisor plays the crucial role to determine the bulk of the performance bonus...
I had a say about roping a fellow co-worker to do a more unbiased appraisal as in the case of His Beautiness his apparent oblivion to his own incompetence and petulant about labeling himself a "role model" is always an issue of our irk and we had been waiting for the chance to get back at him...

A PRC colleague had been fuming about how unfair she was awarded her performance bonus and adamant that a benchmark for the average bonus awarded that year should be highlighted for us to measure our own performance because the appraisal could be a false dawn...
Our pragmatic director felt it may be feasible but maybe detrimental as staff might start to make unnecessary comparisons on their own (which is exactly we had been doing thus far)
Mr Beauty took one step further to ask for ranking of staff which can bring about kingdom come... Then again which ranking would he attain maybe another matter...

Our French supervisor felt the post of principal investigator should not be restricted to PhD holders but our director who has a good impression of our studious and disciplined superior insisted that there is no 2-way about it in this matter which is true..
In the world of science, to progress only attainment of the penultimate academical kitty will reward you with the prestige and opportunity...Master degree and below just had to bear with getting by the day with certain restriction to progress...
However we deciphered her concern as a desire to escape the ominous clutch of Shitty Green and his unreasonable and unpredictable pique and shortage of respect for his staff as BY has a taste of...

Someone mentioned about the presence of a salary cap imposed for the different level and qualification status which the director written off as rubbish though we all know to believe the former..
One of the stem cell guy felt the high turnover rate at his department was an area to look upon and had been sapping morale at work...
The director rebuked that though the company always seek to retain the quality manpower but everyone's yearn to further their educational level or seeking greener pastures at a time when the job market is glowing like an emerald now...
The dude was pretty emotional on how the company should curb this uncontrollable osmosis of valued staff; which I felt the root of the problem may lie with his department or boss which makes staying unappealing...
Ultimately it's down to individual on whether you can tolerate a routine job with little room of excitement or in sought of some employment opportunity which offer a better job title...
In fact the idea of altering the obscure job title to something more attractive may boost the chance of holding back dismay staff though bleak....

Overall we were pretty impressed by our eloquent director who always seem to sugar-coated his words to soothe situations and show a capacity to lead and be a professional figurehead...How true the words he and the HR associate director had uttered today would actually materialize, we all have to wait and see...
However there was a stark difference between this professional scientific institute and the draconian communist-style hell hole ruled with iron arms of a matriarch which I previously hailed...
Over there the director couldn't care less of our welfare and concerns as we are afterall quote ~dispensable consumable~ unquote...
Then again the old hag was rumored to be ousted from her pedestal recently, perhaps a new era may arrive to improve the climate there...though still very much overdue...
BY and I unanimously agreed it is still much enjoyable to work here especially after the director took the effort to organize this session...would be better if some loathsome personnel decided to move on as well....

Then again our wish may come true when His Beautiness who recently lost out in a lab manager post from a neighboring institute sneaked out during office hours for a 2nd interview session for a product specialist post in a respectable scientific company...
I believe almost everyone from the department would hope that he and his eczema-laced buttcrack he always flaunt would disappear soon to make our workplace a much better place as the year draws into a blissful end...
That would surely inject a job engagement for me for sure....

Japanese word of the day: ディレクター (Director) He could follow the footsteps of inspirational speaker Anthony Robin soon from his consistent ability to deliver motivational messages

Monday, August 27, 2007

Working 4 Days a Week?

27th August 2007, Monday

On Saturday, my sister who stumbled upon SPH's freely distributed Chinese newspaper,
我报 (My Paper) which had the notion of working 4 days a week which we had been grumbling about a 5 days work week being a wee bit too long over breakfast everyday...

In the news article it stated that certain staff of DHL Express who has been on shift work (12 hours per day) and thus granted a flexible 4-days work week for like a decade or so and he mentioned that the extra day of rest enable him & his colleagues to be well recharged for a brand new work week, less MC taken and the dread of coming to work is eliminated...
However it was argued that this kind of 4 days work format is dependent on the work nature such as investing a wholesome sum in high throughput machinery which runs 24-7 and required manpower every single second....thus the manufacturing sector I supposed.. much like my missus' hell-hole of a company...
I doubt my company will adopt that...even though I wouldn't mind slogging for 12 hours for 4 consecutive days for an extra day of rest...
Then with that greedy nature etched within us, if we were ever granted 4 days, I think next on the agenda would be 3 days work week...heehee

Then again I should take solace when looking at my good friend, Chan who had been on a permanent night shift for 3 weeks (that's 7 days a week) though he had a breather yesterday when he went for badminton with us...
The likes of EK, Yu-kun and Karen were busy sweating out at the Army Half marathon for the badminton session which claim an unfortunate soul after he he nailed that wretched 21km full run....
It's pretty scary how sudden heart arrest can claim lives like that, fortunately Sevilla's MF Antonio Puerta (like this utility man in my FM game) survived a scare when collapse during the Primera Liga opener during the weekend and not follow that tragic fate of Marc Vivien Foe...
They had planned to got to some Chinese tea joint to enjoy authentic Chinese Kung-fu tea (aka the traditional way of appreciating Chinese tea) in the afternoon but I was more into going for Hong Kong style yumcha which will totally alienate our vegetarian friend...
So we spent a good Sunday afternoon just rotting at La Tendo which Chan mentioned as the very last resort with no where appealing to go... but our hardworking lad and the fickle-minded Ferris did made mooncake order with the missus...

On Saturday evening, we went to her friend's place, a luxurious maisonette at Tanah Merah to attend her baby's son first birthday...
This was the same friend whose wedding she was helping out as a sister and had the audacity to ask her foot a bill of $100+ on an awful-looking blue dress which was meant to match the occasion at the expense of others; thus I do not have a good impression of this friend...imagining her as a pompous rich taitai due to her financial background...
But the party was okay with a room of friends and relatives I do not give a hoot of but at least the birthday boy was adorable..
Then we met this guy who was a common friend of Sel and Kevin whom had attended their solemnization a few months back...
When he heard that I am from my parent company, immediately it struck to him that I may possess a Master degree..what misconception but can't fault him cos my company does pay a lot of attention to an applicant's educational qualification which was why the recent new additions to the department has at least a 1st class honours...
But little do the top guy know that regardless it is diploma or Master degree as long as a person can work conscientiously and responsibly, he/she is a good worker...
And by evidence, the highly educated colleagues do not show that they any much more capable than those of us with much inferior qualifications...
What misconception our society possess these days...

Well back to the topic of working 4 days a week... If an agreement could be made and with no reduction to my current leave status, an extra day of rest each week would be very much recommended and appreciated...
But if like my missus' wretched company which call her back on off days or call in the middle of the night when people are in the middle of their sweet dream or something else...I think forget it then...

Japanese word of the day: 仕事週 ~shi-go-to-shuu~ (Work week) The best would be a 3 day week, beginning on Tuesday with break on Wednesday and a pretty short Friday...Cheers to the Aubry Law


Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Feeling Out of Place...

22nd August 2007. Wednesday

I must admit that I had a ball of a time in my 3 varsity years..
I had reaped rewards far better than my degree which warrants me my good life now, such as some interpersonal skills, friendship made and ultimately a life-long companion...

However overtime I also realized the acquaintances I befriended over the cause of time there aren't your one-dimensional nakamatachi (仲間たち) kind who simply just wanna be a good friend and purely enjoyed one's company... there has always been an invisible motive behind it all, be it for competitive (academic sense) reason or something else...

My wife and myself were part of the management committee back in 2000 for our faculty club and it was a pretty tight unit than our predecessors but still internal squabbling and politics persist espeically there were so many other members been added into the pictures...
The difference in personality also created some friction over time and I don't see eyes to eyes with a couple of personnel who have no hope of receiving X'mas cards from me any festive season...

Last evening we were beckoned by Bernard, always the businessman in our unit back then but a great man with great aspirations for a dinner...
His gracious appearance in my wedding banquet and giving the cheer on the stage will not be forgotten by yours truly...
Due to his reputation fo being cordial and well-receptive by all, the turn-out by the committee was pretty good for a simple dinner on a weekday...although the few usual suspects failed to make the appearance while those I had differences with also didn't show up...Then again time has alleviated much of those animosity...

We had dinner at Crystal Jade at Bishan Junction 8 and it took us quite a while to make the order as it would be for a Chinese cuisine restaurant...
Then the usual characteristic of the girls to shy off making decisions while some of the lads shy off from seafood which would give them allergic reactions...

Ed and Jing are perhaps the closest aides among the group and like Bernard, they played crucial role in my matrimonial ceremony, so we would find measures to repay that kindness when it's their turn to tie the knot come March 2008...
However last evening we had pretty restricted conversation but didn't deter Lao Chek (which we affectionately known Ed for) oulled his usual antics with the suggestive jokes in his typical cycnical manner...
Leonard, the junior which formed such a bond with us was a great lad but his tendency to bemoan can be quite suffocating, as seen through out the night...

After dinner, we went for coffee at Olio Dome... Took a hiatus from them with the missus, we unanimously agreed that being with them seems pretty queasy; we couldn't relax and chat heartily like real friends, or just fool around like with the La Tendo clique...we surely have drifted away from this group of people over the past 3-4 years or so...

Majority of them had muddled themselves in the educational scene and kept sharing some of their "interesting" encounters at work amidst the usual ranting...
Bernard and Andy are still in the force, and much of the conversation was on that topic...
So very civil servant crap was dished out and we tried our best not to look bored though it's blatant we were out of place...

We did touched on the recent Rag Day which was held at Padang after years of plotting and scheming to hold it there...and some reminiscencing of the good old days though we stop short of covering some grey areas of the past which involves seedy characters in even seedier situations...

Some were asking me if I am happy to stay as I am or doing further studies for progress...the usual topic from them, but I always leave an open-end answer, even though I am very much contended to remain status quo, as long as I am leading a healthy and happy life with my missus without facing any major financial predicament...

I doubt we might show face to another of this gathering though Ed & Jing s' wedding banquet would be the next probable meet-up between us... Let's hope we don't feel out of place by then...

Japanese word of the day: 場違い (Out of Place) I think I would mingle more comfortably with a bunch of Kazakhstanis....


Monday, August 20, 2007

4th Long stay in Boring Singapore? Not the Best Choice

20th August 2007, Monday

Yu-kun, our law-studying Kagoshima-born, Tokyo-based Japanese friend made his 4th long stay to our sunny (not so recently) island since last Thursday with EK's place providing him the necessary lodging needs...

The La Tendo gang surely made our presence felt during his stay, none more than EK and Karen of course...

But the amazing part is that unless on business or diplomatic or cultural-exchange motives, I doubt any visitors would wanna visit our sleepy, boredom-ladened city for more than twice, the number of endaring tourist attractions can be counted with both hands...I really wish I could be a ambassador to Singapore to sell it constantly to our overseas friends, but most of us had ran out of ideas of which precise corner of the island we can confidently bring our friend to and hope it is a brand new experience for him...which we haven't done before....

Fortunately Yu-kun, being so cordial and obliging didn't mind most of the events we had planned for him as ultimately it is the blatant mingling with the entire lot of us which he enjoys and triggers his frequent returns over the past couple of years...

This time round with the unprecedented heat wave due to global warming which had claimed like 13 lives now, heading southwards seems like a pretty good choice especially we had a surprisingly cool August perhaps some typhoons bypassing towards Philippines and to Taiwan and China perhaps... In short our planet is on the brink of a meteorological breakdown and it will worsen as years go by....

So Yu-kun spent the 1st of 3 weekends here in the midst of some local flavor...

On Friday it was the fireworks celebration at Marina Bay as part of the National Day celebration... well they have a abundance of those during their summer festivals (夏祭り), so I supposed he wasn't too awe-struck by the grandeur display...

On Saturday, the gang introduced the magic of getai (歌台), no not the actual stage performances in the heartlands omnipresent this time of the year but the new Roystan Tan movie, "881" which narrates the lives of some getai singers... it very good insight to something uniquely SIngapore with some sob tales entwined within as Tian Tian could verified by wasting a whole packet of tissue paper...
Though I didn't slammed it with the blunt "I don't support local production" comment by the Chong brothers, I felt the movie was not worth my good $9.50, so I gave it a miss as well

Finally Sunday, it's badminton to Clementi, that after a sweat-inducing jog by Chinese Garden for our Japanese friend, somehow he seems to enlisted to our version of "The Biggest Loser"...
A pretty impressive roll call for once with Chan making the effort to appear despite working overnight and Tian Tian after such a sabbatical reappeared in out badminton scene and sprained her ankle along the way...
After brunch, we headed to East Coast Park for the roller-blading session which was overdue for some of them...I stick with cycling which becomes pretty economical these days...and it can be quite an experience trying to balance my hefty mass on the mountain bike after such a long time (the last might be that faithful sprawl at NUS down that slope)...
The likes of Bryan and Karen had difficulties covering some distance on rollerblades while Yu vamoose around without breaking a sweat...
There was a downpour while we left Clementi by noon and the rain soon caught at the East side and disrupted our biking-blading session and I noticed some silly Malay lads trying to catch that little wave crests there was to offer for some surfboarding... maybe after the boards, they couldn't afford a trip to a nearby surfboarding haven for the real deal...
So we had to call it a day at the beach and headed to EK's place for some wash-up before I departed for home with the missus who had done with her product fair....

In the coming fornight, we had the blueprints laid out for a potluck party at Vincent's place where we can have the first taste of Nintendo Wii which got EK all buzzed up...

It is sure a torrid time at Old Trafford as my beloved Red Devils still find winning elusive this season after 2 meek draws with Reading & the Pompey respectively...
To add salt to the wound, they had to lose to bitter derby rivals Man City as Sven Goran Eriksson surely worth some managerial magic that brought him titles everywhere he had coached....
It's been ages had we seen the Devils lingering just above the relegation zone, and Fergie better work his hair dryer tactics to rejuvenate the ailing reigning champions of EPL...

Japanese word of the day: 考え (Ideas) We surely had none left to sell an equally ailing Singapore...

Monday, August 13, 2007

Starting to Gather the Pieces for the Autumn Trip

13th August 2007, Monday

After such a super duper long weekend, coming back to work is a drag especially the premature end to the last work week isn't such a pleasant one with my newly-acquired students producing quite horrendous results on my platform...I will be required to figure out what had actually went wrong before my French supervisor return from her Gallic home-coming up the French Alps...

My autumn trip is slowly molding into a proper shape after some discussion with the missus...

The journey will begin at Kansai International Airport (despite my umpteen visit, this would actually be the very first time I am gracing Japan's 2nd most famous airport)
A train journey to Tennoji Eki which is the nearest train station to Namba where I am hoping to return to the comfy Riva Nankai Hotel we stayed back in 2005... (though now the hotel embedded strategically within the heart of Namba by Shinsaibashi has revamped to a more modern outlook known as Cross Hotel)
So we shall initiate the start of the trip with endless shopping at Namba and Umeda and of course the tempting local cuisine...
I am hoping for the same package we had 2 years ago which incorporated air tickets with 3D2N hotel stay for a pretty good price and once again the forthcoming NATAS travel exhibition should be the perfect channel to grab the deal, however I am jittery whether the tickets would be snapped up by then...

One aspect we were not taking chances with is the ryokan stay in Kyoto...
After gracing a couple of hi-end ones with spectacular views of maple trees to emphasize the entire autumn feel as well as some simple ones with close proximity to the Kyoto train station, all shared the same characteristic...fully booked...
Therefore when we dropped by the JTB saloon in Takashimaya to make a series of inquiry but was made known of a couple of ryokan with rooms to spare during the dates...
So we returned the following day to snapped up the deal before the rooms were taken up eventually...
So we will be having a ball of a time at Kyoto in the room seen below with complimentary breakfast and dinner (which are part of the hefty price of course):


Welcome to Hiiragiya Bekkan



So it would be wandering around Gion where geishas put their names in the world, paying a visit to Kinkakuji last heard to be walking distance from Hiiragiya Bekkan, the ryokan we would be staying in and of course try to head towards Arashiyama (loosely translated of the Stormy Mountain) where autumn is at its crimson best...

After 2 days in Kyoto, it would be transiting from the ancient Japanese capital to the modern one, Tokyo...
I have a soft spot for Washington Hotel in Akihabara (not solely because of the attraction of the locality within the otaku paradise) since we last visited in February...
So Disneyland for sis, Odaiba probably for us and then Mt. Fuji-Hakone tour by Sunrise and a final day free & easy thingie and I can confidently say my sister and her beau who are looking forward to their very first Japan visitation will be duly rewarded with the experience... maybe not as "sparkling" as of Korea as Rain might have put it...

Still plenty of issues like air tickets, lodging, JR pass and mini tour to settle, but at least we have a rough sketch of the itinerary to work with from now... time to get all hype up for it!

The new season of the English Premier League has began to quench the thirst of parched soccer fans worldwide and my beloved Red Devils who had assembled with such luxury in the summer began with a meek stalemate against Reading coached by a former Devil greats, Steve Coppell... If that is the trend of not able to grab the full points from teams coached by former players then they will have problem winning against the likes of Blackburn, Birmingham and Sunderland...

Japanese word of day: 旅館~ryo-kan~(Inn) We should have more tatami area than those poor fraternity lads in the pathetically small dorms in some Tokyo university...

Friday, August 10, 2007

It's All Fated...

10th August 2007, Friday

... to head down to Central, Clarke Quay for dinner before the fireworks display which the missus had been bugging me for ages to watch with her within the vicinity of the floating stage....

We were prancing around the shopping mall which is famous for its myriad of high quality Japanese cuisine more than anything else when I spotted a dashing father feeding his son ramen at an adjacent joint, with a high suspicion that he resembles uncannily to our Primary School chum, Eric whom me & TW had been hoping to hook up for 10 years now but somehow lost contact with all the on-goings in our lives...

After much pondering whether to approach a supposedly perfect stranger if he/she might be someone you know and the possibility of been snub as being delirious, it was surely not my forte..
Fortunately I had my wife with me as she had prospered into able to just pick conversation with anyone on the streets...therefore she was able to make this reunion with me and Eric just before he made an exit with his family after dinner....

It seems like the decade we hadn't met up, his previous rollercoaster lifestyle managed to go into a more smooth-sailing gear and found the love of his life and settled down, even sow his seed with little Breen who seems as chatty as his old man in his childhood...
We had so much to catch up with especially he still had such amazing memories of how I had owed him something which totally excavated from my brain lobes...
So we exchanged number and I dialed up my buddy to inform him this pleasantly surprise encounter and surely the three of us will find time to catch up the rollin' good times soon...

For the 2nd time this month, I had a lavish yet delectable dinner at Waraku and once again had to fervently endorsed this affordable eatery which offered such affordable yet wide range of nihon ryouri....We had chu-hi (Japanese style soda cocktail) this time and got really high with such low percentage of alcohol and overall a gastronomical good time even it clocked yet another 60 bucks on my already-lengthy credit card bill...

It was near 8 and the hanabi was round the corner, so armed with some Hokkaido style ice-cream, we strolled down Boat Quay and reaching the Shenton region when we were taken aback by the initial blast of fireworks that illuminated the pinnacle of the UOB building which together with other skyscrapers across the horizon were used as part of the whole fireworks display..
Realizing our view of the most of the display was hindered by another building we followed the crowd who were in the process of scurrying towards Fullerton Hotel for a better spot..
It reminds me a bit of an air raid when you see so many people running for their lives with deafening explosions hanging over our heads...

We did get to to watch the last bit of the display and seriously it was like any other fireworks in the past but like the thousands of suckers around us, my wife was enchanted by the illuminative extravaganza...

The journey home was like we will a cast of the millions of Unruk Hai from the battle fo middle earth as we all agglutinate in the limited space inside Raffles Place MRT station but in the end we got home safe and sound as the 42nd birthday of our nation comes to an end....

Japanese word of the day: 小学校 ~sho-ga-k-kou~(Elementary School) So how many Primary school friends you get to meet on the street everyday?

Monday, August 06, 2007

Let's Cheong!

6th August 2007, Monday

The highlight of the weekend has to be the clubbing session with my motley crew of colleagues on Saturday evening which was buzzing at work the entire day that excitement was escalating for the probable follow-up in next month...

After a long sabbatical on the nocturnal-alcohol-ladened-loud music hey days, I think suddenly the allure of the jostling of my fats and twitching of whatever hip I possess seems overwhelming...

It all began with a proposed clubbing session a couple of months back which led to HB and Jason to brainstorm for such an event for the chilling out of the immediate ranks of colleagues...
Regardless of the lukewarm response, there was still a good 10 of us still keen to go though the usual antics of BY was pulled to keep proclaiming she would give it a miss the entire last week before we had to use the "ostracizing" tactic to coerce her for it...

She was the one I first met on Saturday evening at the Harbourfront station on a characteristically crowded period with patrons flooding Vivocity...
The venue was St. James Powerstation, a revamped 80 years old coal-fired power station which now is the largest entertainment complex (aka club) in Singapore...

We were there early to beat the requirement to remit cover charge so we had more dough for drinks and the happy hours allowed us to drink at 1/2 price...
We had some German beers at Movida (which I had problem remembering the name and kept insist it was Norvatis, the name of a life science company) while the DJ started to hit some Latin grooves which set some couples who know a bit of cha-cha or salsa to hit the dance floor...Meanwhile we mingled with our newest colleague, XY's young beau who was gracious to join his girlfriend to meet her hideous crew of co-workers...
KM who left for the education sector was of few words as always but did delved abit of his recent developments...
The recent bill imposed on no smoking in such entertainment complex was the best thing that could happen to us non-smokers...so no more passive smoking to ruin our clubbing indulgences

We left for the neighboring Boiler Room for some live music and HB delivered the toxic duo of Long Island Tea and Bourbon Coke to increase the alcoholic level in our blood and starting to escape from reality...even when the DJ came and unleashed some awful sounding Hip Hop tracks but I was floating by then and was swaying in the groove... Amazingly KM was unscathed from all the drinks even with a skimpy lass robbed our precious dollars with Vodka shot with fruits so weak, a baby will be more drunk with Jolly Shandy...
Sigeeta made an appearance by this juncture and we decided to club-hop to another joint... The whole concept of a few clubs under one roof was great and we need not pay another cover charge to enter Dragonfly (which I kept mixing with Firefly) for some Mandarin pop and it was delivered to us on a platter in the form of the evergreen & seasoned club entertainer by the name of William Scorpion (must be in his 50s now with badly stretched skin but still the same entertaining moves) and an inspiring all ladies band...for a moment even KM was headbanging..The place was littered with Ah-Lians who somehow found this clandestine after mysteriously vanished from the streets these days and the sight of some uncles and aunties frolicking was quite gut-wrenching
However by this point I was really sober and there was a thirst for alcohol and so we scurried back to Movida and a much diluted jug of Long Island Tea later, we were back to the dancefloor and evidently you can see a distinct proportion of our expat population and perhaps local girls quite eager to join the group we more affectionately known as "SPG"...
BY was getting quite uncomfy with the music selection but XY was the bored one and suggested to leave.. By then it was already 2 in the morning, so I left as well, not wanting the missus to wait too long at home...
Shulin came when we were in Dragonfly with her chums but we didn't seen her since though she claimed she was chilling out at the Boiler meanwhile Goddess was spotted by us dropping in the moment we were leaving, talk about making a celestial entrance when the time ripen...

Jason and the rest stayed behind till the club called it a night and had more stories to fill us in as 2 am onwards seem like the happening hours...

So the writings are on the wall... September might be a wee bit too soon for the next one but forthcoming birthdays for BY seems like the best excuse to recharge ourselves at the power station again!


Japanese word of the day: アルコール~a-ru-coo-ru~(Alcohol) One wise quote after the experience alcohol will numb your mind from awful dance musice

Thursday, August 02, 2007

OKA~N~~~!! ( ; ___ ; )

2nd August 2007, Thursday

"Shinsengumi(新撰組)"...."Ichi Litoru no Namida(一リトルの涙)"... and perhaps "101 Kaime no Puropozu (
101回目のプロポーズ)" and "Summer Snow"...some of the Japanese doramas that worked their magic to trigger the insuppressible emotions in me and proficiently stimulating my tear glands at the climax of each tale...
I am a human being with emotions afterall although like all ego-driven male species, crying is quite a taboo especially in front of other people...

Of course I had cried, with the excuse of it is the ideal way to cleanse the eyes... But in recent time it was usually triggered from watching Japanese doramas more than any other media avenues...Don't even start off with the Korean or Taiwanese drama crap which I had rejected vociferously over the years...sorry to all the fans out there...

Last evening, a new member has joined the above-mentioned elite group, and perhaps the one that inflicted a profuse weeping session with mucus choking me for a moment or two going into the finale... the title of the dorama is none other than "Tokyo Tower ~Okan to Boku, Tokidoki, Oton (Mom & me and sometime Dad)~"

This Fuji terebi-produced dorama set for Monday prime time hour for Spring 2007 tells the tale of multi-talented illustrator Lily Franky (creator of Oden-kun), whose real name was Nakakawa Masaya. He had narrated his life story of growing up in Kokura, Kyuushu and coming to the main capital, Tokyo to acquire his arts degree and ply his trades and how the bond between him and his sole close family, his mother...

Spanning the early 80s with Ma-kun (the name affectionately given by his Okan) adapting to life in the rural, laid-back Kyuushu where people are speaking in a dialect band which I believe maybe make sense to true natives, the story transcended to the early 1990s when Ma-kun traveled alone to Tokyo to pursue an art degree, developed friendship with his neighbors who became his best friends in Tokyo, being cheated in some pyramid business scheme and eventually became penniless, even resorting to eat grass...
Only after the death of his grandmother made him determined to shrug off that slum-like state he was in and getting back to his feet...eventually getting his first illustration stint and fell in love with Manami, a college mate and the very first person he encountered en route to Tokyo...
Throughout the story, the majestic structure of the Tokyo Tower could be seen and it seems to be the spiritual support to Ma-kun which sees his fall and rise, and thus the title...

Meanwhile back in the hometown in Komura, Okan (the way the people affectionately called their mothers) developed throat cancer which was managed to subdue with early detection and surgery through she had vehemently refused to remove her vocal chords which led the cancer cells to resurface later on...
This made Ma-kun realized how important his mother was to him and led him to bring her to Tokyo to live with him...
Okan became a sudden hit with his peers and in no time, a lot of attention was given to her instead of Ma-kun among the friends and the pair suffered many obstacles like financial issues and thr recurring cancer...

After surviving another surgery on the throat, Ma-kun had thought the worst was over till during a check-up, Okan was informed that tumor was formed in her colon and threatened her life...
Ma-kun, who had relied on his mother for support and every single detail of his everyday living, immediately urged her to undergo treatment as surgery seems impossible for the malignant carcinoma...
Enduring the pain of the various therapy, Ma-kun lost all hope that his mother would be well again and couldn't accept the reality...
Okan eventually left him in solitude after the cancer finally caught up with the frail mother...

Mother & Son
Ma-kun and Okan...Can you feel the motherly love in the air?



All this while, his yakuza father who was never the fatherly-figure would make occasional appearances though in the end he shared the same pain of losing the woman he once loved...

Although I can't really think the cast did a fantastic job reprising their roles including a Taiwanese chap as Leo, special commendation must be given to Hayami Mochimichi (
速水もこみち) who shown stark improvement in his acting skills taking on the main role of Ma-kun.. No more is he the tall, dark lad that the girls fancy in "Gokusen 2" or "Densha Otoko" nor the cheeky brother in "Brother Beat", I felt Hayami should be a leading man for J-dorama for years to come with his looks, a smile that resembles Fukuyama Masaharu (which is a good thing) and now his acting skills...
His pain of losing someone so dear surely won me over and resulting in those warm tears that trickled down my cheeks and soak my upholstery...
Baisho Mitsuko (
倍賞 美津子) was Okan, the loving mother from Kyushuu which everyone grows to love and her affection and care for his son was well-reflected to that of all mothers in the world... It makes me appreciate my own Okan even more after the show...

The show did well to look into details of the everyday accessories and pop cultures crossing the various era spanning the story, like in the mid 1990s, Ma-kun was heard humming to a Mr Children's number which was a hit back then...

Then of course the continuous selling of Tokyo Tower as an icon of the city which everyone should pay a visit throughout the show is evident...

So if you are looking for yet another tears-jerking story with occasional warmth of humanity scattered in it, you should give this dorama series a try...
I don't know whether I would catch the movie adaptation especially it stars one of my favorite haiyu in recent times, Odagiri Joe and splendid choice of Matsu Takako as his love interest...
Then again I don't want to weep like a girl anytime soon especially in front of anyone else...

Japanese word of the day: 俳優 ~hai-yu~(Actor) Who's your fave haiyu of all time?

Wednesday, August 01, 2007

今敏 最高!

1st August 2007, Wednesday

Can't believe it's August already, better start planning the Japan trip although a tiff with the missus last evening, nearly jeopardies the trip, but my sister and his beau will loath me over that decision...
Zero's recent trip to the Pacific also resuscitates the undeniable yearn to go back to the country I would like to call my 2nd home...(even though I might have indirectly caused PM Shinzo Abe and his party to lose profusely in the recent poll with my persistent entrance to the country)

Well as you might know over the weekend, we had caught a true anime theatrical classic in the form of the Sony Pictures-MadHouse Animation's "Paprika" by the anime director guru, Kon Satoshi.

Among the 4 of us watching the movie, only TW has caught one of Satoshi's previous works in "Millenium Actress" & "Perfect Blue" while I had glimpses of "Tokyo Godfather", but at the end of the show, I believe at least 3 of us (CS still remain a myth on whether he actually enjoyed the film) had the intention to catch the rest of his masterful repertoire...

You can read the full synopsis of this futuristic comedy-thriller in Wikipedia, so I shall cover my afterthoughts....

The movie incorporates a lot of popular media/literature genre like fairy tales, anime and movies but the elements seamless bind the story instead of seemingly forced into the script...
Since it is a story about a dream-snatcher, the sequence of events can be really absurd but not distasteful though I got a phobia now over authentic Japanese dolls...
The movie was rated M18 but basically there were only 2 nude scenes in our local screening..1stly when the sinister Osanai removing the cast of Paprika off Dr. Chiba with suggestion of a invasion of her body against her will (aka rape) and it is ingenious of director Kon to relate that scene in a gallery full of dead butterfly album, thus the casting off resembles a butterfly emerging from its pupae cocoon.
The 2nd nude scene occurs in the finale against the malevolent chairman of the research institute who looks very much like Professor X in X-men with a face of Mandarin from Ironman, a reincarnation of Paprika slowly grew up from a toddler to a full grown by sucking the soul of the chairman who is all darkened due to the dreamy effects now...

You can spot that there's no dashing male hero/protagonist in this movie (seemingly a trend in all his movies) but an ageing police inspector (who looks like Jameson from Spiderman cross Light's father from "Death Note), a stocky, balding professor, a chronically-obese genius and a couple of virtual old fud bartenders (who one of them was voiced by Kon himself)...
However all attention was drawn towards Dr Chiba Atsuko, a grim, no-nonsense researcher of the DC Mini and her dreamy alter ego, Paprika who was saving the day most of the time...


Yuuwaku...
Paprika didn't have to try hard to seduce the baldy chief



Voiced by Hayashibara Megumi (famous for Rei Ayanami from "Neon Genesis Evangelion"), Chiba and Paprika brought a lot of dimensions into the show, while winning affections to almost every male characters in it...I would if I was around her presence as well...

The movie made use of a lot of visual tricks and treats especially the opening sequences though at times the constant jumping of scenes can be rather confusing at times especially when everyone's dream starting to merge with each other...
The soundtrack provided by Suzumu Hirasawa was a nice electropop mixed with some traditional Japanese musical touches which totally suits the mood of the movie...

Upon reaching the full 90 minutes or so of it, you will not resist to wax lyricals of this great anime feature as well...


Japanese word of the day: ふくよか ~fu-ku-yo-ka~(Plump) Well they should have pair Chiba with someone with a more reasonable BMI...