Shop name: Sinamex
Address: Parklane Shopping Mall

Recently my wife and I have experienced some electric shock with our bass and electric guitar and after some first level troubleshooting, I suspected that it was the mixer that gave me the problem. Called Sinamex and the technical support asked me to bring the set back for diagnosis. Fine. I was so happy that the support was so helpful.

Bad luck for me, the support guy was not in. The boss was so totally cocky. After a very simplistic diagnosis and could not replicate the problem, here was some of the dialogues.

Poor Customer: (long explanation why I think it could due to a faulty mixer)
Cocky Boss: This is X-file.
Poor Customer: (felt like punching him on his face) X-file doesn’t exist man …
Cocky Boss: You bring it back and most likely it will be fine
Poor Customer: (tried once more to reason with him)
Cocky Boss: Do you play in church?
Poor Customer: (huh? does it matter?) No.

Poor Customer: Don’t you have some more sophisticated tools to diagnose the circuitary?
Cocky Boss: We have a set of diagnostic steps but I don’t see the problem.
Poor Customer: (ah, he is referring to the troubleshooting section in the manul … so much for their help) But I am really feeling the shock man …
Cocky Boss: It is impossible (giving me another X-file look)

And I walked away.

I lived by inspiration and when it strikes, there is no stopping me from doing it. Just like that, I have braved the super traffic jam of Orchard to my destination at Taka. Well, before I go on, I must say the road planning in Singapore sucks. God knows how many cars travel from CBD to Taka and the number of vehicles changing lanes on that route is phenomenon. And you need to pay ERP somemore. Great brains we have in Singapore.

Anyway, Taka carpark was full so we, again, braved the traffic jam and parked at Wheelock Place. What did I want from Taka? No idea. My inspiration didn’t say. So we spent 75 mins on the road and had no idea what we were supposed to do.

We ended up in the same Japanese restaurant that TK has took us to a while back. Atmosphere was great with dim lighting and Japan-ish images projected onto white walls. The waitresses are efficient and … pretty. And the food quality is good. It is a fusion type. Worth a try. Price-wise, the menu has something relatively cheep (like S$11 for a bowl of chicken rice – Japanese style of course) to something I can’t afford. The Sake is pretty bad though by the way.

Restaurant Name: Sun with Moon
Tel: 6733-6636

Rushed home for the HBO original series ROME. Now, that is a great show. Half way through the show (each episode is 50 mins and we are onto the 6th-ish one), I said to my wife: hey, this show is less about Caesar and his war. And my wife – an avid reader of Life!, OK!, People! – told me that what so original about this movie is that it is presented from the commoners’ perspective.

The dialogue is very funny. Like a guy said to his fellow solder: my wife doesn’t couple with me anymore. Or … this one is the best … the mother asked her son: Son, have you penetrated anyone yet? Her son hesitated and replied: No. And the mother sent a solder to take the son to a whore house. How I wish I had a mother like that …

Kidding.