Categories
Diary

Super Import Nights – Worth The S$10 For The Cars And Babes? You Decide!

Click to enlarge

Super Import Nights at the Singapore Expo is nowhere near to the quality – both in terms of cars and babes – of the Singapore Motor Show. And I realized that the highlights of the events to me are actually free, right outside Hall 5. However, if you are interested in ways to modify and personalize your cars (which I thought the hardcore ones would have known anyway) Super Import Nights may be for you.

As you can see in the pictures above, there is no concept car or unique super car, just cars that you normally see on the street of Singapore. Some modifications are quite funky though, including a paint job on the car that you can display the image of your current lover, your ex-lover, or your favorite celebrity on the bonnet and the sides of the car. I bet you can paint something on top of your car so that people on the bus can see it or it may thrill you in some weird ways when you wash your car.

Click to enlarge

How about the babes? Men visit a motor show for the cars of course, the same way as we visit an IT show for the cool gadgets. But having beautiful girls to present those jaw dropping cars is like pouring XO onto your fish head noodle – the beauty within is somewhat enhanced. In Super Import Nights, there are three types of babes: the imported babes that cost the event organizer USD 1,500 per model per day whom you hardly get to see at all, the local babes that hang around the premise that you need to pay S$10 to get in, and the FHM babes outside Hall 5. The pictures above are the local babes inside the hall. Skimpily dressed they certainly are. But I thought some of the girls in the crowd who have dressed up for the occasion may look better.

Click to enlarge

Now, what was it that so excited me outside Hall 5? Not the FHM girls of course *cough* Cynthia was with me (and my buddy ditched me because of work on a public holiday). The parking area outside Hall 5 is cleared and has turned into a “drift racing area”. For those of you who have watched the latest installment of “The Fast And The Furious” will know what drift racing is. Basically, it is a technique whereby a car is maneuvered round the corners with the front wheels pointing in the opposite direction of the motion. It is pretty cool to look at in the movie and basically, you see cars “sliding” round the bends in the most surreal manner. And that was exactly what I saw outside Hall 5. The car used was Evolution 9 (I think). The sound of the engine was so loud and I swear I could smell the rubber. The first picture above was taken in front of the area.

And near to the drift racing area is the display of the brand new Evolution 10 selling at S$128,000 (second picture above). It looks too much like EX and that is a major disappointment to me. Evolution is meant to be exclusive. Right in front of the Evolution 10 was a bunch of FHM girls (pictures above). Hooray?

Click to enlarge

So, how about the “other” main attraction of the event (see promotional pictures above)? There were people standing in front of the stage area for more than half an hour waiting for the appearance of the imported babes. We stood there for a while and then we gave up waiting. When they actually came out into the stage, it was hardly a 5 minutes job and then they once again disappeared into the backstage. So, be informed.

Super Import Nights is opened till Sunday.

Categories
Travel Blog

4D3N Jakarta – Of Prada Bedcover, Kain Tapis, and Sari Pan Pacific

Click to enlarge

I opened the window of the living room after I returned from Jakarta and saw grey and white. I really should have participated in the voting of the condo’s new external wall color. But that is another story.

“Why do you visit Jakarta?” asked Cynthia. “I want to see you,” I answered almost immediately. “Do you want to do shopping? What do you want to buy? Some Polo shirts perhaps?” she cocked her head on one side and asked. “Nah, I just want to see you,” I replied.

Cynthia was surprised that I have agreed to visit her over the weekend in Jakarta because I have always prefered to stay in Singapore even when she is on business trip overseas. I have even shocked a good friend of mine and he thought that I have acted too impromptu and out of character. Occasional displacement of the routine is a good thing – somehow reinforced by one of the two books I have finished reading during my stay in Jakarta. Books by Paulo Coelho are my life stories. Look out for the book reviews coming your way.

Sari Pan Pacific is a nice hotel especially the suit we were staying. The unique batik bedcover, “Prada Cloth”, is completely handmade and decorated with gold thread for the nobles of Indonesia (1st two pictures from left). The room is full of decorations such as the “Kain Tapis”, yet another handmade item decorated with gold thread from Sumatra for the commemoration of the Royal traditions (last picture). The lounge area located on 18th floor where part of it reminded me of a small greenhouse is my favorite (3rd from left). Breakfast is served at the lounge and from 6pm to 8pm, there is free flow of drinks and food. I thought I came to Jakarta to detox. I ended up drinking lots of free beer.

Click to enlarge

Traffic in Jakarta is a wonder. Nowhere on Earth have I seen cars move with such a close proximity. But yet, drivers do know when to fill in the gaps and when to give way. The pedestrians flow across the traffic direction with motorcyclists zigzag in all directions. Yet, on the highway when the road is wet, cars maintain a safe distance from one another. Passengers get in and out of public buses while the vehicles are in motion. Bus lanes are created with raised kerb as a solution to a subway system as there is none in Jakarta. What a contrast to Singapore.

On our way to the hotel, in front of us was a Toyota. The made was “Alphard”. At first, it read “Alpha-Hard” to me and I turned to Cynthia and commented, “What a cool model name!”. Then I realized that it pronounced as “I’ll Fart” instead. Oh well. I took back my words. I’m sure that won’t sell in Singapore.

Ancol, a resort area that Cynthia and I both have not visited before (see pictures above). It is a waterfront resort and I suppose we have not visited all that Ancol has to offer. Especially the Sea World that is supposed to be larger than Singapore’s Underwater World. However, without a driver, we strolled along the waterfront instead. There is a little bridge that takes us out to a cafe in the middle of the sea. Kind of reminded us of the St. Kilda beach in Melbourne, Australia. Of course there is no comparison but still, the resemblance is there.

Click to enlarge

There are new malls in Jakarta and when I visited some, the similarity of the Singaporean brands – retail shops and restaurants – is just amazing. More so than 10 years ago. There was an art gallery display in one of the mall and I could not help but to admire some of the photographs taken in Indonesia (picture on the left).

Click to enlarge

I think the Indonesian food in Singapore is nowhere, I mean not even near, to what Indonesia offers. It is to do with the spices, the ingredients, the chickens that are bred in Indonesia, the skill, and everything else.

A short and enjoyable trip. Time for reflection and time to read. Even a moment away from the routine is worth the hassle.

Categories
Diary

The Singapore Sun Festival + 4D3N @ Jakarta!

At the zebra crossing right in front of me, I saw a brand new red Ferrari. At that moment, I wish I was holding an envelope of S$2,000,000 instead of IDR 2,000,000. 6,240 times off the mark.

Fortunately, there are moments in life that can’t be bought: like standing in front of a piece of fine art admiring the beauty within. I chanced upon a pamphlet of Singapore’s arts events guide and inside this guide, I highlighted all the free events and determined to check out at least an event or two. Yesterday I visited the Arts House and I was mesmerised by the works of the photographer J. Henry Fair – the Industrial Scars series (first two pictures on the left as sample). The photographs are beautiful but the underlying content is not. Toxic waste and foul environmental abominations, it was certainly an eye opener for me.

Today, I visited the NAFA Galleries for the Art Space Germany series (last two pictures from the right as sample). The oil paintings are intense! And there is one weird tilted white-ish multi-disc sculpture in the middle of the room that caught my attention. If only I can comprehend what the artist is trying to say.

The highlight of the festival for me is the Conservatory Lunchtime Concert at the Asian Civilisations Museum. 23 talented NUS first year music students performed the first movement of 6 of Haydn’s quartets (I did observe that one of the students has played two sets). What is most amazing was the presence of the director to explain the music through introductory speech and narration while the quartets were played. I certainly did not know that Haydn was once a teacher of Beethoven and has played (and learned) with Mozart. I miss those days when I played the school band and the Hong Kong Youth Orchestra. It is a surreal feeling to perform in public with your band-mates.

Speaking of the IDR 2,000,000 in my envelope, just less than 24 hours ago, I have decided to visit Cynthia at Jakarta – especially after hearing all the wonderful praises of the hotel she is staying. Besides, since she has enough mileage to get me a free return Singapore Airline ticket, why not?! I do miss visiting Jakarta as a tourist. 1997 was the year I had a 9 months project in Jakarta. I was dating Cynthia’s roommate back then. And I remember tossing hamsters in the air and to one another- Cynthia and I. Does that make her my … ex-mistress?

Anyway, stay tuned for more blog entries from the land of … almost everyone is a millionaire (okay, that is an exaggeration as there are many who live below the poverty level in Indonesia).

Categories
Diary

How SingTel Solved My Problem Was Beyond My Comprehension, But …

Or rather, how SingTel solved their own problem was beyond my comprehension. But before I reveal the heavily-hypothesized-probably-a-waste-of-your time theory of how the situation was resolved, here is something new I learned about the SingTel helpdesk.

Recap and some new information …

Tuesday 8am – Internet connection was down. Perhaps they were doing some voodoo magic in upgrading my connection speed?
Tuesday 11pm – Phone line was dead too! Called the broadband technical support – the only number I have.
Tuesday 11.30pm – An incident was logged at Internet Services department and routed to Telephone Services department.

Wednesday 11.15am – No one from SingTel called. This time I have decided to call the Telephone Services (TS) directly to report my faulty phone line.

I listened to the voice from the machine, “Press 1 for telephone related problem. Press 2 for broadband related problem …” I stared at the keypad for a moment pondering which number I shall press when my phone and my broadband were both not working. I randomly chose one. Knowing how SingTel works from yesterday’s experience …

Me: Good morning. My name is Wilfrid. My home number is 6xxx-xxxx, my Internet ID is xxxxxxxx, and my mobile number is 9xxx-xxxx. I would like to follow up an incident I have reported yesterday.
TS: Sorry sir, there is no record of such incident here.
Me: Oh, I contacted the Internet Services department yesterday and they said they would get someone from your side to call me this morning. Can you send someone over to help?
TS: I am afraid I can’t do this within a week.
Me: ONE WEEK?! What do you mean? (Okay, I think I must have terrified the poor lady – unintentionally I swear.)
TS: I can escalate for you back to the broadband side but I cannot log a report for you unless it is open for a week.
Me: Oh, that’s what you meant. So, currently the broadband side owns my issue and your side has to wait for the instruction from them.
TS: That’s correct.
Me: If my problem is not fixed within a week, you can then log the report for me and take action from there.
TS: That’s right.
Me: And meanwhile, you route my request back to the broadband side and I will have to wait for one of you to call?
TS: Correct!

I surely hoped that my phone line would not be dead for a week.

Wednesday 11.30am – I was not going to play the waiting game. I was going to call the Internet Service (IS) department directly.

Me: Good morning. My name is … (same old introduction yada yada yada)
IS: Sorry sir, there is no such report being raised.
Me: But I called this exact number yesterday!
IS: I can log down your problem now and get someone to call you for your faulty phone line.
Me: (Oh my God!) …
IS: I can log this as an urgent matter for you.

I swear I heard the exact same response the day before.

Me: How long will I need to wait for someone to call me?
IS: We will get back to you as soon as possible.
Me: Like how long? One hour? One day? I really need to know.
IS: As soon as possible sir. And I will call you for an update.
Me: OK. When shall I expect your call for an update?
IS: As soon as I have an update for you sir.
Me: When will that be? Shall I call you instead?
IS: I will call you sir … as soon as possible.

It turns out that he didn’t call me at all. Anyway …

Wednesday 12:15pm – A rather fearsome lady called my mobile number.

SingTel: Hello, is this Wilfrid on the line?
Me: (I could not hide my excitement) Yes! Are you from SingTel?
SingTel: Yes. Has anyone called you yet?

Huh? Don’t you have something like a call report?

Me: No. You are the first.
SingTel: Okay, what’s your problem? It says urgent.

I gave her a high level recount of the recent flow of events.

Me: When can you send someone to help me? This afternoon?
SingTel: It’s already noon and it is not possible.
Me: But I reported this problem yesterday (sulking).
SingTel: My log says 12:05pm and I call you as soon as I can. I can give you a morning slot on Thursday, tomorrow.
Me: Can it be sooner? It is really urgent!
SingTel: It is already very tight tomorrow. The next available slot is on Friday.

Seriously, shall I be grateful that I am not given a Friday slot instead? Perhaps I shall be grateful that they call.

Thursday 11am – A technician arrived at my doorstep. I felt like giving him a hug. Half of what he said I don’t understand. Somehow SingTel has outsourced the technical support (perhaps that explains the less than friendly call yesterday?) and the technician told me that what I have is a common problem. Someone from SingTel has done some configuration at their end (in my case, upgrade of broadband speed) and forgot to do something at my end. He went outside my apartment, opened one of the doors (I now know that I have 3 little locked doors outside for water, electricity, and telephone line respectively), and showed me the circuit. I did not know that my apartment can accommodate up to 6 telephone lines (labeled as A to F)! What he did was to move my phone line from A slot to B slot and then he headed to the main circuit that is in another tower to verify. Somehow, the entire condo’s phone lines converge to one single tower. Interesting.

Well, I am glad that my problem is fixed. When I left home this afternoon, I listened to the dial tone over the speaker phone as though it was the best music I have heard this week. Now, I must think of how to write a complain letter and seek for compensation … if I bother to that is.

Categories
Diary

Boo To SingTel!

It all started with an upgrade of an Internet broadband plan (from a long overdue re-contract) that renders my residential phone dead and my Internet connection down for more than a day and counting. But that is not all. I am surprised that such a mammoth national organization with a turnover of S$13.15 billion (US$8.41 billion) and net profit after tax of S$3.78 billion (US$2.42 billion) does not even have a decent customer relationship management tool in place. 10 years ago, in order to inform them that they have misspelled my name as “Wilfrio”, I have to call the telephone services department for my residential line, the mobile services department for my two wireless phone numbers, and International calling services department for my two International Calling Cards. And today, there is little difference. You will see why.

Last evening, I tried plugging into the Internet and … panic! I still could not do so. Granted, the sales person told me that during the upgrade of Internet speed (I was inspired to do so after testing my Internet connection at Tigerfish’s webbie), my connection may be down for a couple of hours. But that was close to 24 hours! Times like this when you really need some emergency numbers to call but without being able to visit the SingTel website, how am I to call them for help? I did a search in my neighborhood to see if there are some kind souls out there leaving their Internet connections unencrypted and there were none! Couple of years ago, most people didn’t care about encrypting their wireless connections. What happens to the good old days when people leave their main doors unlocked?! What happens when someone like me who just want to … borrow some sugar while you are not at home?!

Fortunately, I still have the text message from the sales person and inside, there is a number to call for broadband technical assistance. Did you know that there are more than 20 numbers customers can call for various SingTel services? Some observe normal office hours, some are free, and some are with per minute charge. The technical assistance number, as I recall, is open till midnight. So I placed a call to SingTel at 11.30pm.

As usual, even with a diversity of 20 different numbers to call, the machine asked me to make several menu selections as well as to punch in my residential home number.

Finally, a friendly operator …

SingTel: Good evening, this is ABC speaking. How may I help you?
Me: Good evening, I have a problem.
SingTel: (eagerly waiting)
Me: My Internet connection is dead.
SingTel: May I have your residential number, please?

Didn’t I just punch in?! Not time for a quarrel so I told her my number.

Me: And my residential line is dead too. I have upgraded my plan recently and was told that the connection will be down for a couple of hours. Nothing seems to work for many hours. Can you help me with this?
SingTel: I can certainly help! Did you upgrade your plan today?
Me: No, I did it last week.
SingTel: Can I have your Internet ID please?

Duh … it’s not in their systems somewhere?

SingTel: Please hold for a moment.

I was falling asleep.

SingTel: Have you relocated to a new address?
Me: Like moving house?
SingTel: Yes.
Me: It’s a re-contract of broadband plan. My address is the same; my numbers are the same …
SingTel: Hold on please.

Duh! Relocation? Where did she get that from?

SingTel: Sorry to keep you waiting. I will need to ask one of the residential line managers to call you tomorrow.
Me: Oh no! That means I will have no phone line or Internet connection for until don’t know when? (In retrospect, men say the dumbest things in situations like this by merely stating the obvious not unlike You are leaving me? You don’t love me anymore?)
SingTel: I am afraid not.
Me: (sulking)
SingTel: Can I have your mobile number please?

Huh, didn’t my number show on the call ID panel? And it was not as though she did not have my complete profile in front of her computer screens.

Or did she?

Back to my comment on SingTel that may not even have a decent customer relationship management tool. I bet the technical assistant did not know that I have been a loyal SingTel customer for 12 years since the days of the pagers.

Duh!

As of now, nothing is working, still.

Categories
Diary

I Swear I Did Dream About Something Like This … Colleen Exposed

I swear couple of years ago I did dream about living where Miss Singapore World 2006 lives right now – a glass hut in the middle of Raffle Place. It may sound too far fetched but there are enough real life friends visiting my site who can vouch for my … sanity – I mean integrity. I have had dreams that became a reality, somewhat. I am still having dreams about what the future looks like (the buildings and the trains) repeatedly. In that particular dream, I was living in this glass hut and as far as I can remember, there was some sort of riots in the end. I really should continue my Fragments of My Dreams blog category. Who knows one day I may make reference to it and say … see, I did dream about the exact same thing, somewhat.

When I first saw the hut being setup, I was wondering what it was. Then the words spread. It is actually a marketing effort by the new classified site ST701.com. And the campaign is called “Colleen Exposed”. I personally admire this wonderful idea given the fact that its direct competitor MediaCorp’s online classified site Mocca.com has gained much ground. The idea is for Colleen, winner of Miss Singapore World 2006, to live inside a glass hut that “exposes” her living room and bedroom (not bathroom of course!). And she stays inside the hut for 7 days relying on ST701.com for her day-to-day needs. When I took the photo at 6-ish in the evening, she was having a pole dancing lesson from one of the instructors advertised in ST701.com. The instructor was great. Colleen was … so so.

Colleen does have a rather plain blog in that online site. However I must say, the marketing campaign has much impact. I wonder what the marketing budget is like.

Categories
Diary

So This Is LASALLE College Of The Arts (Singapore)

When I was young, I often spent hours looking out of the windows of my apartment in Hong Kong observing how old structures were being torn down and new structures were being built. Back then, buildings were not that high. From where we lived – at the seventh floor – I remember as a small kid, I could see how people lived their lives in the building opposite. There were lots of illegal structures constructed on the roof top and I was used to see – through the eyes of a small boy (with lots of imagination) – how people prepared and cooked their food in the kitchens, people going in and out of the toilets, and family members arguing with each other. An unsightly scene I know but not without the charm of curiosity.

Years later, from the same set of windows through the eyes of a young boy, I have seen how pedestrian bridge was built. And I have seen how an office was built, then a hotel. It has always been a fascination to observe the different kind of machinery works together in such a slow manner. But yet, as we all know how time flies, a beautiful structure is built from ground up and suddenly we ask ourselves: wait a minute, it wasn’t there a while back.

And a while back, in the year of 2006 dated September 1st, I walked pass a construction site diagonally opposite Sim Lim Square. I was in awe when I had a peep at the site inside (picture on the left) and it was drawing me into it. The feeling is as such: life outside the fence operates as per normal while what lies inside is a big pot of mystery. Something is growing rapidly. I had no idea what it was but I took a picture anyway.

September 26, 2007, I visited Sim Lim Square and this time, I saw a beautiful building that is close to completion (picture on the right). I admired the building in great length so much so that I missed the taxi that I was supposed to flag down. I did a research at home and this building is the LASALLE College of the Arts.

You must be thinking, since from young I have this fascination of construction, why didn’t I become a civil engineer instead? Even my mother thought that I would be an engineer of some sort. This got me thinking that in life, there are three types of career – career that you fascinate (no proven track record if you can or cannot do that job), career that you have passion with (something to do with any of your hobbies that you have shown talent), and career that earns a living. In my case and in the above said order, that would be an engineer, playing in a rock band, and being stuck inside an office cubicle. If you have found a career that you fascinate since young, have passion with, and earn you a good living, I sincerely congratulate you. Please share your story with me.

In the same month when I discovered LASALLE College of the Arts, at my Godmother’s birthday party, I met someone who works in the construction business. His company does project management work – conceptually not too different from the kind of things I have done – primarily working on the “design and implementation” of condominiums in Singapore. He explained to me that this team takes in the architect’s design and contracts teams of specialists in making the blueprint a reality.

One question came into my mind. How much does it cost to build a condominium?

A 30-ish tall condominium in 3 to 4 blocks with a total unit size of 400-ish at a non-prime location costs S$70 to S$80 million to build. That works out to be an average of S$200,000 per unit. I enquired further on the cost allocation and learned that in general, 30% goes to the raw building in concrete form, 30% goes to the internal piping and wiring and utilities, and finally 30% goes to the “surfacing” (i.e. tiles and standard furniture). For prime location, expect up to 40% of allocation to the “surfacing” work. I didn’t ask him where does the rest of 10% goes to. It must be the cost of project management and the paper work I suppose. The timeline of each project? 18 to 24 months.

Back to LASALLE, I wonder if there are relevant courses that will enhance some of my art hobbies. If there is, I will let you know for sure.

Categories
Diary

At Botanic Gardens Part 2 of 2 – Nomine Si Nescis, Perit & Cognitia Rerum

Click to enlarge

It all started with a milestone that our team has completed. Monday morning was declared as a half day holiday that was off the record. Nice! And since I needed to send Cynthia off to work anyway, I have decided to head to the Botanic Gardens (commonly misspelled by many including myself as “Botanical Garden” in Singapore) and read the new book by Paulo Coelho.

So I freed a beetle. It is always refreshing to keep in touch with nature. Back in the good old days when I was still schooling, I often head to the Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens (right next to where I studied) before school started and during lunch time – to study and to relax. At times, I visited the habitat of the monkeys and the gorillas and the birds and the plant after school. I sought after the solace nature provides, always.

And on that Monday morning, I took a stroll within the garden and pondered upon many things in life. I passed by the spot whereby across the grassland lay the trees that took 30-80 years to grow and blossom – an activity that involved the production of 20 million fragrant flowers and the plant died after such an enormous effort of flowering and fruiting. The name of the plant is Talipot Palms (Corypha Umbraculifera). When my mother and sister visited me in year 2005, that was the exact time when Talipot Palms blossomed. Today, the plant looks almost dead.

Nomine Si Nescis, Perit & Cognitia Rerum literally means “If you do not know the name of things, the knowledge of them is lost too”. This is inspiring as I seldom put in effort to remember names.

First thing I saw when I got out of the car park was … the building specially made for “Orchid Breeding and Micropropagation”. I have been to the Botanic Gardens numerous times and it was the first time when I witnessed how Orchid was being bred. Did you know how Orchid is being cloned in Singapore? There are altogether four stages that took place in four different rooms: growth media preparation room, transfer room, shaker room, and culture room. What fascinated me the most was the shaker room where tons of plantlets in clear crystal jars are being shaken 24×7 by machines. According to the literature, shaking the tissue in the nutrient solution helps to improve the supply of air and nutrients to the tissue. Since the tissue has no sense of gravity, the planetlets do not differentiate into shoots and roots but rather grow into more tissue. The stronger and bigger plantlets are then planted out at the garden. Quite an eye opener.

As I approached the Visitor’s center, the sound of nature slowly overtaken by the sound of school kids. Botanic Gardens surely is a popular place for kids to spend a morning at. I read my book inside a cafe and all of a sudden, a dog barked. Apparently, the dog was disturbed by the noise generated by the school kids. At that very moment, as I concentrated on the sound of the school kids – without fully understand the language they talked about – it sounded like the chirping of birds. Lots of sound and lack of ability to comprehend what they are trying to say.

Techers fed the kids McDonald’s meal. No wonder there are obese in Singapore.

I walked along one of the lakes and witnessed something shocking. A dead fish floating on the water surface was deemed fit for the rest of the turtles to eat. It was quite a gruesome scene when the body of the fish slowly diminished as time went by starting from its tail up. There was a horde of hungry turtles, for sure. And I had just cooked a live fish yesterday for dinner. I could not stand looking at that fish any more.

Trees in the garden are a big thing. There are different kinds of trees planted within the Botanic Gardens and some are adopted by well known organisations or individuals. Back in the city, trees are just for decoration’s sake. I was in my tie and shirt and I didn’t feel quite belong to this one big happy family at the Botanic Gardens. At the city center later in the afternoon, it was a whole different story. I felt being blended in. How strange. What we wear dictates how we feel and the need to conform dictates what we wear.

Nomine Si Nescis, Perit & Cognitia Rerum and learn the names. Each plant and animal was given a surname and a given name, did you know?

Categories
Diary

At Botanic Gardens Part 1 of 2 – Finding Mr. B a New Home

One morning, right before I started the car engine and began a rather unusual morning of enjoying myself at the Botanic Gardens on a working day, Cynthia pointed at the passenger seat window and said rather calmly, “Look, there is an animal outside”. The French calls it an animal. Apparently the Indonesian refers that as an animal too. But in Chinese and in English, I would rather call it an insect. Linguistically, any living being that is not a human being nor a plant is an animal. But that blob of protein with somewhat hard shell, hairy legs, and has a size of one and a half inches in length? I would call it an insect, a beetle to be exact. (Note: Cynthia countered and asked if I would call a frog an amphibian or an animal. I was tongue-tied.)

I thought that once the car left the parking lot, the beetle would fly away. But it didn’t. It just hang onto the window as our car sped onto the highway. From the feeling of indifference came a feeling of concern. If this beetle was to fly off in the middle of highway, chances were, it would smash itself onto the windscreen of an incoming vehicle and suffer a horrible death. I did not have the heart for that to happen. In as much as possible, I accelerated gently and braked gently. It is hard to describe but I felt as thought it was no longer just Cynthia and I who were inside the car, but this beetle too – as one of our passengers. How extraordinary in such an ordinary day! Since I was heading to the Botanic Gardens, Cynthia suggested that I should free this passenger of ours into the wild.

That made sense. After all, I did not think a beetle can make its home on a highway, nor in the city. A beetle living in a concrete jungle is a dead beetle in no time. All of a sudden, I related to our new friend. A friend whom I wanted to give him a name.

Me: Let’s give this guy a name.
Cynthia: Okay. What would you suggest?
Me: Anything. You pick.
Cynthia: How about Mr. Bee.
Me: But he is not a bee!
Cynthia: Bee stands for beetle.
Me: Fine. Mr. B it is then.

Throughout the journey to Cynthia’s office, Mr. B hardly moved. Hence I inquired, “Is he dead?”

“I don’t think so. I saw him moving his legs,” replied Cynthia. “Are you sure it was not the wind,” I countered. Cynthia did not reply.

And when we finally reach Cynthia’s office, Mr. B started to move around. I was actually worried that he might lose his grip and fall off the window. But he didn’t. As I was driving to the Botanic Gardens – alone – Mr. B made a turn when our car stopped at the traffic light and he faced me. As though he was trying to tell me something.

Of course I did not hear a thing! Was I hallucinating or what?! In my mind I said to him, “Hang in there buddy. We will reach your new home soon.”

As I reached the Botanic Gardens, I got out of the car with a piece of paper, walked to the other side of the car and observed. The heat wave from the engine and the tyre was unbearable. How did Mr. B manage to put up with that? Amazing. I scooped him off and gently released him onto a vast bush area. I hope that he will find solace in this new home of his.

In life, we come across different kinds of people. Most of the time, we are indifference to their existence. We may not be able to communicate because of certain barriers, but we may be in the same journey one way or another. Our destinations may not coincide, but however brief the interaction is, it can be life changing to some due to the things we do. It is how one treats the insignificance that speak ones character.

Categories
Diary

Finding Erbasol … Travel Through The Time Gate of Singapore In The 70’s

From the story of Living With Cynthia Chapter Mission Impossible comes the next installment as a follow-up to What The PUK?!. One morning, Cynthia had an outbreak of desperation: Do you know how frustrated it is?! And she repeated that three times.

PART ONE – FINDING ERBASOL

I certainly know how frustrated she is. Cynthia has sensitive skin and it is her lifelong mission to find the right set of products for her head, her face, and her body. I am used to taking over products that do not suit her. Like the Dove Firming Body Wash a while back. Do I need firming body wash? Seriously?

Taking over the shampoo or body wash that Cynthia cannot use is one thing. Taking over the cosmetic of hers is another. I cannot see myself applying that S$100+ moisturizer on my face on a daily basis. No way.

Having anticipated what is to come my way, I tried to understand why it is so frustrating for Cynthia to get the right moisturizer. Recently she has switched to Kiehl’s. The sample worked well but prolonged usage showed otherwise. It is frustrating of course because prior to Kiehl’s, she used Erbasol range of product and that worked well for her. Sadly, the beauty center she frequented has closed down. Hence, she has not been able to purchase Erbasol products since then.

Understanding the problem is the first step in solving any problem. That morning as though I saw the bat sign on the evening sky or Lois Lane’s scream at the ears of Superman, I was determined to step up, give it a try, to save another innocent’s life.

Figuratively.

Finding out where to buy the Erbasol product here in Singapore turns out to be quite a difficult task. At least to me. I did an extensive search in the Internet, got a lousy phone number that did not work. I tried eBay and sites alike and could not find that particular product. Really, what do I know about lady’s skin care products?

But I ain’t got to give in. No way. I sent an email to Erbasol headquarter asking for the contact information for the distributor in Singapore. Meanwhile, I was ready to call up each and every beauty center and even Erbasol headquarter in Italy if it is what it takes to find the product.

Gosh, I was determined.

We have a happy ending. The headquarter replied and they gave me an address (no phone number though). The rest is easy. Now … part two of the story.

PART TWO – TIME TRAVEL

The distributor Hairizon is located somewhere at Commonwealth drive. As I got out of the car park, I felt as though I was teleported back in time to Singapore in the 70’s. Slabs of stones underneath where my car rested were coming off. The buildings looked old and I even saw an old “bridge” unlike anything I have seen in Singapore (see picture above). Usually I see this sort of scenery in the neighborhood(s) of the oppositions. But no, I did see the sign of PAP (ruling party of Singapore) here and there.

Took me a while to find block 77 and when I found it, gosh, I looked at the shop and that looked old. Turns out that I was looking at the storeroom. The shop was at another outlet down the road.

I stepped in and this old lady looked at me, asked me in Chinese what I was looking for. We’ve talked on the phone, I replied. In this shop that was full of goods (mainly for hair salons), I saw wigs, different kinds of scissors that barbers use, and different kind of shampoo and gels and all sort of funky brands that I have not seen before. Besides the old lady, there was another middle age man shopping for some hair products for his hair salon.

I told the old lady what I needed (3 different kinds of Erbasol products in total) and she stepped out of her shop, left the office and shop opened, and headed to the store room for what seemed like ages. Meanwhile, this middle age man and I chatted on and on and I got to know the background of the shop, of the shop owners, of the shop owners’ children, and the various equipments that a hair salon uses. Not long afterwards, a middle age lady stepped in looking for a pair of scissors in order to give her son a haircut. She in turn chatted with the middle age man asking if he knew what sort of scissors are value for money.

After eternity, the old lady returned. I did some negotiations, have the GST waived, and the old lady chatted with me for God knows how long. You know, I really respect the patience of the rest of the customers. It is as though waiting is a norm in this small town. It must have taken me more than half an hour to get what I needed.

I felt as though I was in another world. But at least, mission accomplished … once again.