The lovable Chi

The reason why he gets all our love




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Enjoying Seoul

We love Seoul and it's definitely on our "must-go-back-again" list! Love the place, the food, the people and how everything was a breeze even with the language barrier. Despite the bitter cold weather (averaging -5 degrees celsius in the few days we were in the city), it had been an enjoyable trip. So much have been said about the boredom from visiting filming location of various Korean dramas, but that is only because you have left your travel joys in the hands of your guide!

Secret Garden (Biwon) in Changdeokgung, the only palace designated as a UNESCO heritage site

P doing his arty farty thingy in Secret Garden (Biwon)

First Korean spread. P said the bulgogi is heavenly

At -7 degrees celsius, I could barely feel my face

Watching the change of guards at Gyeongbokgung Palace

Queue at N Seoul Tower

Cable car to the tower

P with the view of Soeul

We cannot believe the incredible number of locks we saw at Seoul Tower

SOJU

On the way to the National Folk Museum

P is a happy man to have met his high school pals. I haven't seen him this happy/ excited for a long time and this came at the right moment in his life, when he's feeling the down from his dad's plight.  With a whole lot of soju and beer mixed and drank in local Korean-style, the now 30-something group of men was brought back to the days they spent in Moss Vale, recalling the fond memories they shared growing up with an international community of hormone raging teens. I was lucky that he survived the walk back to our BB and the puking only started after that. 

In preparation for our next trip to Seoul, I have invested in my first pair of ugg boots!

I love my UGG!

I hope I won't freeze to death

Freezing our ass off in 3 more days


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Singapore in EIU Democracy Index 2011

Ranking 81 out of 167 countries, just 2 ranks above Bangladesh, the score would be really ugly if not for a rather high rating received for "Functioning of Government". We are placed on par with Iraq when it comes to "Electoral Process and Pluralism" while "Political Partcipation" is the lowest among countries in the same category (Hybrid Regime, which is one category above the worst - Authoritarian Regime), receiving the same score as Cambodia and Haiti. Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and Phillipines all out performed the city state.

The right to political participation refers to citizens’ right to seek influence of public affairs. Political participation can take many forms, the most notable of which is voting in elections, but also including joining a political party, standing as a candidate in an election, joining a non-governmental advocacy group, or participating in a demonstration.

Singapore in EIU Democracy Index 2011
Rank 81
Overall score 5.89
Electoral process and pluralism 4.33
Functioning of government 7.50
Political participation 2.78
Political culture 7.5
Civil liberties 7.35

Scoring 2.78 for political participation is not surprising and it certainly provides a good basis for pressure groups to perform advocacy work with the Government to increase transparency and freedom of expression for true political  participation. I quote "If one is merely consulted by a powerful person who wants one's views for information, or if one is mobilized or re-educated within the control of another, one has not participated in politics in any significant sense." And if you have been brain washed to see nothing good of public expression of views and consider demonstrations as causes of chaotic social upheavals, look at Arab Spring.

Healthy again

Recovering from a multi virus attack that came to me the day I returned from Dhaka. Today is the first day I stop feeling that staying awake is a pain. And miraculously my appetite returned and I am now feeling hungry for KFC, Mac, Fish and Chips, and all other you can name it junk food.

Short trip to Dhaka was worthwhile considering the inputs received for the proposal. Off to Seoul on Friday (and please let the mourning last longer and anything else not come. God bless South Korea).

Looking forward to getting home for another dear sis's wedding, to celebrating Chinese New Year with P for the first time back in Sg, to my first trip to Burma and of course our planned trip to the beach in July (which is in 7 months' time!!!)

2012, bring it on!

Cheesecake verdict

P's right, we have already found the best cheesecake at Dhara Devi and this, although looking good, is nothing compared to the one at Mandarin Oriental. Time aside, I spent close to the same amount for buying one at the hotel's pastry shop.

Trying something else next time!




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Oreo cheesecake and homemade green tea ice cream

With P taking the night shift from his sister at the hospital to look after his dad, my weekend was spent pretty much alone.This lonesomeness is creating a mixed kind of feeling. On one hand I am appreciating the abundance of stay-at-home time to catch up on the variety shows that I have missed the last couple of weeks and on the other, it's always nice to have your hubby with you. Besides, I am leaving next Tuesday for 3 days, and it would have been really nice to be able to spend some time together before my short trip.

Anyhoodle, to treat P to some nice dessert for his overnights on the hospital bed and to make up for my impending absence, Sunday evening was spent baking.

This is my first time Oreo Cheesecake, New York style.

Looking good in the last 15 minutes, though with a slight crack

It's still cooling in the oven, hopefully it tastes alright! The recipe from allrecipes

Ingredients

• 15 graham crackers, crushed
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
•  
• 4 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 3/4 cup milk
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9 inch springform pan.
2. In a medium bowl, mix graham cracker crumbs with melted butter. Press onto bottom of springform pan.
3. In a large bowl, mix cream cheese with sugar until smooth. Blend in milk, and then mix in the eggs one at a time, mixing just enough to incorporate. Mix in sour cream, vanilla and flour until smooth. Pour filling into prepared crust.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour. Turn the oven off, and let cake cool in oven with the door closed for 5 to 6 hours; this prevents cracking. Chill in refrigerator until serving.

Something else to satisfy P's sweet tooth,

Freshly made green tea ice cream!

Dhara Devi is Chiang Mai's paradise

This Sunday we decided to treat ourselves to some dim sum at Dhara Devi

 

For all the meetings last few weeks, I stayed on longer for some pampering. This is me on my way to therapy, on a horse drawn cart!




The gorgeous reception area



Even the toilet paper speaks Mandarin Oriental



Whoever's here to visit, Dhara Devi is a must. Besides being the best place to experience some royal service, it also serves yummy cheesecake and has the best Sunday international buffet brunch in town.

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Attacked by dog

Attacked by neighbour's dog while protecting buddy (who was shivering with fear)




Dog walking is getting dangerous

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When your dog doesn't get along so well with your other half

Sometimes he just prefers to be left alone




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Roadmap for an ASEAN community

This roadmap (2009-2015) has no indicator.

Rights to emit greenhouse gases and taking historical accountability

Poor nations say wealthy countries became rich using coal, oil and gas and that they must be allowed to burn fossil fuels to escape poverty. Rich nations say major developing economies, such as China, India and Brazil, must submit to emissions cuts if the world has any chance of halting dangerous climate change. -- Last chance to save Kyoto deal at climate talks

More reading:
‘Vulnerable countries consider “occupying” COP17 talks’

Some additional information:
The objective of the Kyoto climate change conference was to establish a legally binding international agreement, whereby all the participating nations commit themselves to tackling the issue of global warming and greenhouse gas emissions, USA is not a signatory of the protocol  

U.S. History with the Protocol, from Wikipedia  

Clinton Administration 
Vice President Al Gore was a main participant in putting the Kyoto Protocol together in 1997. President Bill Clinton signed the agreement in 1997, but the US Senate refused to ratify it, citing potential damage to the US economy required by compliance. The Senate also balked at the agreement because it excluded certain developing countries, including India and China, from having to comply with new emissions standards. 

Bush administration 
Similar objections to the Kyoto Protocol were why the Bush administration refused to sign. They argued the division between Annex 1 and developing countries was unfair, and that both countries needed to reduce their emissions unilaterally. President George W. Bush claimed that the cost of following the Protocols requirements will stress the economy. “George Bush made campaign promises in 2000 to regulate carbon dioxide as a pollutant. However, in 2001, George Bush pulled the US out of the Kyoto accords as one of the first acts of his presidency. Bush dismissed Kyoto Protocol as too costly, describing it as "an unrealistic and ever-tightening straitjacket." The Bush administration questioned the validity of the science behind global warming, and claims that millions of jobs will be lost if the US joins in this world pact.

Al Gore accused Bush of showing the world "a stunning display of moral cowardice." "Kyoto's ability to survive the near-fatal attacks of the Bush administration is testimony to the urgency of the climate problem." Worldwatch Institute Laurie David, Natural Resources Defense Council said, "As the world celebrates the global warming pact's debut, Bush continues to pander to the energy industry."

Obama Administration 
President Obama was elected under widespread belief that shortly after arriving in office he would take swift and decisive action to join the world in reducing GHG emissions and therefore helping battle global climate change. According to The American, “Obama was widely expected to quickly pass a Kyoto-style domestic cap-and-trade program for greenhouse gases, positioning America to take the moral high ground in Copenhagen, thus luring (or compelling) China and India to accept emissions targets.". Signing the Kyoto protocol seemed like the logical first step so it came as a surprise when he rejected the Kyoto protocol for reasons similar to those of former president Bush. According to The American, “the treaty’s fundamental flaws were well understood: It set very ambitious—and costly—targets for the United States while allowing emissions from the developing world to continue to rise unchecked. (And indeed today, despite Kyoto’s ratification, China has become the world’s leading emitter of greenhouse gases. Americans don’t mind contributing to a solution, but Kyoto asked a lot of sacrifice for little reward.”. President Obama was also expected to represent the U.S in Copenhagen and negotiate terms for the extension of the Kyoto Protocol past 2012. Yet instead of the U.S. contributing to the development and signing of a Kyoto-like treaty, the U.S. is suggesting extreme modifications of the Kyoto emission management system and precipitating intense debates and clashes over the treaty which will follow Kyoto.  

Objections to the Kyoto Protocol and U.S refusal to sign
The Kyoto Protocol was a huge leap forward towards an intergovernmental united strategy to reduce GHG’s emissions globally. But it wasn’t without its objections. Some of the main criticisms were against categorizing different countries into annexes, with each annex having its own responsibility for emission reductions based on historic GHG emissions and, therefore, historic contribution to global climate change. “Some of the criticism of the Protocol has been based on the idea of climate justice." This has particularly centered on the balance between the low emissions and high vulnerability of the developing world to climate change, compared to high emissions in the developed world.” Other objections were the use of carbon off-sets as a method for a country to reduce its carbon emissions. Although it can be beneficial to balance out one GHG emission by implementing an equal carbon offset, it still doesn’t completely eliminate the original carbon emission and therefore ultimately reduce the amount of GHG’s in the atmosphere.

Many countries fear these new treaty additions will paralyze negotiations and stop many of the countries currently under the Kyoto Protocol from resigning as well as stop new countries, like China and India, from signing. “the Obama administration’s proposals could undermine a new global treaty and weaken the world’s ability to stave off the worst effects of climate change.” Many people feel that the combination of the U.S not signing the Kyoto Protocol (ensuring it will run out in 2012) and the U.S. attempt to change almost the entire architecture of the Kyoto Protocol in Copenhagen means the end of the Kyoto Protocol as we know it and perhaps a new global climate treaty. “If Kyoto is scrapped, it could take several years to negotiate a replacement framework, a delay that could strike a terminal blow at efforts to prevent dangerous climate change. In Europe we want to build on Kyoto, but the US proposal would in effect kill it off. If we have to start from scratch then it all takes time. It could be 2015 or 2016 before something is in place, who knows."

-----

My take on this is very simple: China has become the world’s leading emitter of greenhouse gases but based on carbon emissions per capita, U.S. is ranked 12 while China 78, Brazil 124 and India 145, all behind U.S. and even Singapore. In the 2011 report on HDI, U.S. was ranked 4 while China was 101, i.e. China still has a lot to do in terms of Human Development. Although the major disagreement with the Protocol seems to lie in the fact that countries such as India and China and smaller developing countries were not restricted, I wonder if it is fair for less developed and developing countries (particularly China, India, Brazil) to be subjected to restriction at this point when their economies are rapidly expanding and they have been in a way being brought to this point and made to bear the climate effects of the developments that failed to equitably benefit their economies in the past centuries. Why then shouldn't the Protocol also take into account the retrospective accountability of today's climate change?

I found this excellent paper that exactly echoes my thoughts and I love this quote:

‘‘The idea that developing countries like India and China must share the blame for heating up the earth and destabilising its climate (…) is an excellent example of environmental colonialism.’’ (Agarwal and Narain, 1991, p. 1).

I hope when the day comes that polar bears go into extinction, Bush and Obama and everyone who voted against the ratification of the Protocol is able to sleep at night

One more month to Kimchi Land

Despite being busy at work (which probably is going to last till the end of the year), the upcoming trip is keeping us high spirited. This is my new acquisition for our trip to kimchi land!



I am looking forward to a white Christmas and a ski trip. So please, make sure it is snowing!

On a separate note, it is highly likely that I am wrapping my year at work with a trip to Bangladesh early next month. Bangladesh is the first country I visited in the region when I started my work a year ago and wrapping the first year with a working trip back to Bangladesh will provide a good opportunity to evaluate my year at work in the field that still continue to excite me each and everyday.

Korea bound

We are spending Christmas in Seoul!

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The thought of money behind every smile

Town planning law to be amended

P and I had constant talks about how badly imposed the restrictions are by the City Planning Authority (not just in Bangkok, but the rest of Thailand). City development in Thailand is characterised by commercial developments mushrooming in zones obviously meant only for residential purposes and massive road congestions at peak hours (and despite the bad traffic situation Prime Minister Yingluck insisted the government's tax privilege policies for first-car and first-home buyers should go ahead). Over a casual dinner, my friend convinced me that the problem is not with the lack of law, but the lack of enforcement which is very much link to corrupted officials.

In the recent budget debate, PM said the policies would stimulate the economy and do not cost much money. The policies were promised by her Pheu Thai Party to the people so they could establish themselves with a car and home more easily.

I am not talking about home ownership here because given the current political situation and lack of effective town planning, it is a pandora box. But establishing themselves with a car? I mean seriously, WTF is she talking about? And there is no mention of investing in support infrastructure. If you think that getting into a sardine-packed train is bad, think of getting stuck in traffic jams and then looking effortlessly for parking spaces and then getting stuck in traffic jams again. As least you are given a choice to opt for public transport. Here in Thailand, public transport does not exist.

Homer the Chi

With MM and Ho around, the dog is having alot of fun with his new friends, but also alot of stay at home time since we are away alot.

He's still the usual: playful, and enjoying his solitary time working on the chew toys.

This, he has been doing for the last 15 mins.


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忙里愉闲

我跟老爸说，工作了六年，从来没有这么忙过，也没忙得这么开心过。

我不知道这会不会是最理想的工作，但起码我相信它。如果一个星期七天里，有五天是做著自己相信的事，那人生中的百分之七十，你起码是活在信念中。

短暂忙完。停下、呼吸，蓄势待发。

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Scandinavian countries as learning lessons for Singapore

We have heard from MP Khaw in his untactical attempt to show his point about the worldwide misconception of Bhutan as one of the happiest country in the world (despite being ranked so by Business Week). According to UN's HDI study that is "much more empirical than the GNH Index you will find in Bhutan, which is quite subjective", Singapore is ranked 26th. Still, we are ranked 4th in Asia behind Japan, Korea and Hong Kong despite being the country with the highest PPP in Asia according to IMF.

Norway, ranked top in HDI also has the top 5 largest GDP per capita (thanks to its offshore reserves). Joining Norway in the top 20 countries in the HDI ranking are its Scandinavian sisters Sweden and Denmark (Finland coming in at 22). None of these countries are blessed with great hoards of oil and gas. They are all borderline socialist states, with generous welfare benefits and lots of redistribution of wealth. Yet they don't let that socialism cross the line into autocracy (see The World's Happiest Countries). According to the Failed State Index, they have one of the most sustainable governance model in the world (uses 12 factors to determine the rating for each nation including security threats, economic implosion, human rights violations and refugee flows).

Coming down to key areas of the incumbent concern, which led to great displeasures in the last few years (i.e. the immigration policy adopted by the government as a strategy to prevent the extinction of the population), Norway has one of the highest fertility rates in Europe (1.96 in 2010). Other Scandinavian countries also have higher fertility rates as compared to the rest of Europe. Sweden is one of the very few developed countries experiencing an upward movement in fertility rate in the last couple of years. Studies have been made about Sweden's generous parental leave, (see Parental Leave): all working parents are entitled to 16 months paid leave per child, the cost being shared between employer and the state. To encourage greater paternal involvement in child-rearing, a minimum of 2 months out of the 16 is required to be used by the "minority" parent, in practice usually the father, and some Swedish political parties on the political left argue for legislation to oblige families to divide the 16 months equally between both parents. In Norway a total of 46 weeks is provided: the mother must take at least 3 weeks immediately before birth and 6 weeks immediately after birth, father must take at least 12 weeks (the so-called "daddy quota") - the rest can be shared between mother and father. The introduction of paternal leave, besides the most apparent, also ensure gender equality and equal opportunity for femals and males in the workplace. To provide a fair picutre, I am also providing statistics about migrant population in the Scandinavia: According to Eurostat, in 2010, there were 1.33 million foreign-born residents in Sweden, corresponding to 14.3% of the total population (12.2% in 2011 for Norway and less than 10% in Denmark).

The Scandinavian countries are in many comparative studies ranked on top when it comes to social capital (Rothstein, 2002), organizational participation (Dekker & van den Broek, 1998), and civil society’s vitality (Salamon et al., 2004). Scandinavian democracy is much talked about around the world, warning against the social engineering of people’s lives and pusking for the occasional close cooperation between state and civil society.

The Scandinavians say it all: A country with happy people (that is measured empirically), a thriving economy, good social and welfare benefits and a democractic and participative civil society with freedom of speech and expression is possible. I am not sure if I have missed out anything that is glaringly failing in the Scandinavian system because I hardly (never) hear any political parties making the comparison. Maybe we are too busy being good examples.

Side note: It is not exactly unpredictable for the incumbent to dwell on the poverty and the state of development of Bhutan to highlight the implausibility of the GNH. So I say better chance next time, WP.

How much do we know about you- Singapore?

In a society that is is characterised by widening income gap and increasingly polarised political views, the focus of political parties on "target group" is not an ingenious strategy (think Thailand, read ‘Winning Chinese-speaking heartland key for WP’). As much as we are asking for better representation in the Parliament and Government, and democratic desion-making being practised, I guess we are also trying to avoid  parties/groups taking complete different directions, causing segregation and further splitting the society into halves (think Thailand again).

 

The gist of the debate for an effective two-party system has always been the introduction of checks and balances into the current system and increased in cluster (race, age, income groups etc.) representation that would ensure all voices are heard, taken into account and integration is ensured. The debate on the effectiveness of a two-party system has always been cut short by the incumbent, inducing fear by making references to chaotic political systems around us (Thailand, Taiwan, etc.) and doubts by emphasizing on the lack of sufficient talent. What they do not highlight is that some of the systems are encumbered by corrupted officials and an inefficient public service sector, both we are presently free of; that the current ruling party did manage to attract talents who, due to disagreement in direction and vision left and would have contributed better to national development by forming a coalition of their own that is not hampered in its operation.

 

What really perturbed me is not the foul play in politics (which is natural for a party that has been in power for 5 decades and the incumbent is not shy about), but the usage of national resources (including human resources) for party development (think scholars); the use of brain washing methods (through education, mainstream media, government initiatives) to increase the incompetency to make rational political decisions and decrease the population's sensitivity to political issues; and to deprive us of our right to information, freedom of thought and freedom of opinion and expression.

 

How much of pre-PAP politics do we know? What exactly is the objective of our national education if the principles of good governance is introduced through the 'legacy of the PAP government'? How are we to foster sense of identity, pride and self-respect without knowing our civic rights, the Constitution of Singapore etc.? How are we to make informed choices when 20 years on after the amendment to our Constitution that people are still questioning the role of the President?

The eulogy that makes me smile

For a man who left a legacy, the most admirable is probably his immense passion for life and the affection for the people he loved.

 

Read A Sister’s Eulogy for Steve Jobs

Broke fast in less than a day

The fast lasted for almost three quarters of a day. At 2pm, I was at the meeting room feeling incredibly drained (physically, mentally) and decided to turn to some caffeine. Got home at 5.30pm with a splitting headache and work left half undone. I thought to myself I have to give myself a pat on the shoulder for the number of brain cells killed in the last few working hours of my Friday. And so, off we went to the Brazilian Buffet in town, paired with a glass each of Sauvignon Blanc.

I love good food. I am spoiled. This is what makes fasting difficult, not the hunger.

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Master cleansing day 1

The Lemonade Diet

Tthe recommended amount is 6 to 12 glasses a day of this lemonade recipe which provides 100 calories per serving due to the organic grade B maple syrup. You'll do this for 10 days. No other food is needed.

Recipe

2 tablespoons of Organic Grade B Maple Syrup
2 tables spoons of Organic lemon juice (Freshly Squeezed - About 1/2 a lemon)
One tenth ( 1/10 ) of a tea spoon of Cayenne pepper - Organic
a 10oz glass or clean filtered drinking water

You will drink it 6 to 12 times a day. Whenenver you feel hungry, make a glass.

Today is day 1!




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Situation in Bangkok - Holding on, holding on

We got back to Chiang Mai safe and sound before the flood moves into inner city. Bangkokians are getting prepared piling  sandbags along the front of buildings. Many shops are now closed and supplies in the remaining are running out. We heard from our contacts that bottled water is now very low on supply.

The tide is expected to rise over the weekend. This is a difficult time for folks in the affected areas, and of course the rest of Thailand (considering the loss of jobs, impact on tourism, inadequacy of supplied). I seriously think the situation has been made worse by the contradicting statements issued by the officials. To think that the flood in Chiang Mai was a month ago, it doesn't take much to expected the water up north to flow down to the central provinces.


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Civil society space in Singapore

I am partially convinced by PM Lee's call for an open approach for government and governance. The government has developed a reactive mechanism towards the call for transparency, but, what about civil society space and press freedom?

Dear Tourists, please get out of Bangkok

The flood situation is getting worse in Bangkok as the sluice gates are now opened to regulate the flow of water at the fully capacitated dams. Despite so, tourists are not putting off their travel plans. Seriously, what is wrong with those people? From what I know, some embassies are closing in preparation for the rise in water level. This is far more serious than the occupation of public areas by the red shirt/ yellow shirt, that deterred the arrival of Singaporean tourists, calling the country unsafe for travel. Ironically the protests were contained geographically with little impact on travel.
FYI some products are flying off the shelf even here in Chiang Mai. I was in the theater this afternoon and was informed that Pepsi and Sprite are now unavailable due to the flood. Supply of many products are low as it is logistically impossible to get them delivered across the nation. A country preparing to counter the flood situation definitely do not need additions to the population to be evacuated.

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Democractic Singapore?

On the other hand, Sembawang GRC MP Ellen Lee rejected Chen’s analogy, arguing that it was inappropriate to compare the PAP to Emperor Tai Zong as he was an autocratic ruler in a feudal era. She said, “We live in a modern, democratic society and the PAP believes in being responsible to the people. In a democracy, anyone has the right to speak.”
- http://sg.news.yahoo.com/chen%E2%80%99s-chinese-analogy-sparks-pap-debate.html

When did Singapore become a democractic society? (see World Audit Democracy)

About Media's social responsibility in Singapore and the disconnection with Overseas Singaporeans

I read with enthusiasm about a MP's recent comments on the quality of Mandarin dramas in Singapore.

Singapore is a small country with a very incompetitive media market and it should be time for the monopolistic players to see themselves as trend setters and channels for educating the public rather than mirroring and portraying the society in an often exaggerated fashion. There is a huge need to look beyond securing viewership and reducing the role of media to that of a profit driven enterprise. Media has its social responsibility.

I have been living away from home 4 years now and although I live in a part of the whole that doesn't use Mandarin at all, my command of the language did not deteriorate all thanks to my daily dosage of Taiwanese programmes that are made available conveniently by online websites. I am not sure if the day would come when I decide to switch to local programmes/dramas but I certainly would not like to if I am greeted by the ugliness of the Singaporean qualities, the very shallow usage of language and the uneducational and non-nutritious content. Programmes need to be stimulating and mind provoking, letting us learn something new, be it an idiom, a vocabulary, teach us terms that we are familiar of only in English and tell us what they translate to in Mandarin, etc. Singaporean programmes are guilty of not doing that.

And for your information, local TV programmes are not available on xinmsn to overseas viewers anyway. And this is so much for the government's call to connect overseas Singaporeans. Given the number of Singaporean overseas, it is time for the OS portal to rethink their role. I do not need to receive mails that consolidate information that I can get as long as I am IT literate and read the Singapore news everyday. Connecting Singaporeans require infrastructure that we currently do not have and need to build. Having one event per year and hoping that the patriotism stays is a joke. The OS portal is a mean that would probably of higher interest to students abroad who need contacts for socialising. For adults who care about things happening in their country (e.g. voting rights for Overseas Singaporeans) and would like to contribute a wee bit, may I ask where the channel is? What are the policies that support Singaporeans abroad (housing? citizenship?)? Is the policy on single citizenship still relevant today?

Do more, speak less.

Need a recharge

This week is a rare week that I am looking forward to Friday with extreme impatience, probably attributed by the lack of well-rested time off over the last weekend: missed my weekly massage, spent hours of my precious weekend in the salon, etc. This was made worse by the lost of sleep last night.

I need my weekend badly!

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About hair and mum

Sitting on the salon chair, what'sapp-ing MM on a very feminine subject of discussion and I recall how much time I have spent with the two ladies in my family at the salon.

My mum used to lug me and my Sis along while she spent hours at the salon. Unlike my Sis, I was the unlucky one, plagued with bad hair and a mum who was a control freak over how my hair should look, i.e. Short paired with a ridiculous looking fringe. I cannot remember how many times I went running into the toilet crying, spending a long time in it with my hands giving my fringe tight pulls. Seriously, visits to the salon with my mum had been a nightmare.

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Chiang Mai underwater

This was what happened in my life last week.

The railway track under water

Our office ended the week early on Wednesday, leaving those unaffected by flood with extended time off. Now as everything goes back into normalcy, the Thais while on guard are still wearing their "mai pen rai" attitude. It is as though the flood was a natural catastrophe that we can blame no one for but the bad weather. The scattered rain could not be the cause, the Government agencies' slow response was. As the water level in the river falls below the crisis alert level, everything seems to be restored. No one's asking what happened to the broken dam and no one's questioning the lack of reinforcement at the river. As usual, the Thais goes amnesic as they to the tune of Beatles' "Let it be" in chorus

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Banana cheesecake ice cream

Starting off the week with Banana Cheesecake ice cream (self improvised recipe).






Update about the product soon!

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Our buddy

It used to take lots of coaxing to get him into his personal room when we are getting ready to get out of the house. These days, buddy rest in there even while we are in the house. He's enjoying his personal space!



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TGIF

Even though I love my job, that doesn't mean I am not looking forward to a weekend of rest.

TGIF!

Here's a visual treat:

Our homemade cookie and cream ice cream, loaded with lots of Oreo biscuit:



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Thanks to Air Asia (or no thanks)!

After getting rejected by the system umpteen times, we finally bought our tickets. At 35SGD per person, we are flying off to Phuket for our 5th wedding anniversary, i.e. NEXT JULY!!!

ROARRRRRRRRRR

Falling leaves by Adeline Mah Yen

Read it like you are watching a drama and you wouldn't be able to leave it on the table, i.e. ignore the inconsistencies and lack of flow. This is probably a good entertainment on a Thai airway flight and it's a pity that I discovered it before my next travel.

Of new household addition and baking

For the royal couple:

And my Sunday morning activity

Arh, looks like a mess. But they sure taste good!

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Home made ice cream

Green tea ice cream turned out great! This ice cream maker is crazy good.

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An hour before the big 3

We are doing it before schedule



It's an ice cream maker!!!!!


P wrote "Happy Birthday Chong Hwai Yuet" on the present. Maybe he's being too polite (or rude). How incredible.

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Project Macaron

First batch: Down the bin!



Second batch: The top cracked like it's crumbling into pieces any minute

Third batch: Top is still having cracks but better than the second

Verdict: More macarons this weekend. Looks aside, they actually tasted great. P gobbled up the 2nd and 3rd batches without any qualms.

On a totally separate note, MM and CH finally bought their tickets here to Chiang Mai!!! Yahoo!

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