Blowing Chunks, Part 2
Naturally it was too late when we walked over.
Otterman and I had just finished our lunch and we were heading round the bend to grab our drinks.
It's about time.
True enough, the area where the huge extractor fan was blowing down on, smelled of fried chicken. After a month of construction and furtive glances by enthusiastic foodies, the staff at Megabites were dishing out plates to the hungry lunch crowd.
Watching people crowd inside the new establishment, we stepped in to check the place out ourselves.
In between the choking, I interviewed some of the early birds and received fairly feedback along with a recommendation to a return visit. It was an off the cuff interview as we walked through the cafe.
Perhaps that was beginners' delusion and people here were full of want for something new. But Otterman had taken a quick glance of the menu before wandered outside to inspect a new display that had been put up by our organization.
On the way back, I offered a first tea-time crack. However that was postponed when a box of tasty muffins landed on my table. Otterman was waylaid by a meeting.
As long as there is an extractor fan blowing chunks, there will always be another empty stomach waiting in line.
Honey Trap
So this is dengue season. People are dropping like flies all around you. Posters line the streets reminding you constantly of the potential breeding zones. You ransack your home for any pools of stagnant water. From pots and pans, to flower pots and toilet brush holders. You've looked everywhere and found none. Hey, you should be credited for being a fastidious and meticulous house keeper.
Convinced that your home isn't a mosquito factory, what do you do about those multiplying outside your house? Giving themselves at bath by that stagnant pond or drain a few meters out? Or bed and breakfast in your neighbors' homes? Yes, you could close your windows, live in an air-conditioned cocoon and poison yourself with insecticide. Or you could buy yourself one of these.
The take-up rate for these insect lamps in Lion City are not as high as they should be. For a country at war with a deadly pest, this is a laughable oversight. Any flying insect attracted to that milky white
fluorescence is immediately incinerated by a static coil. This is one silent and deadly honey trap.
Another Soggy Trek
While breakfast at Al-Azhar was appetizing, the state of our footwear was the missing ingredient for gravy.
Going around in circles.
The spill-over in the weather made fools of us all as we stood like lame ducks in the rain with umbrellas. However the cowardly act of passing over an assault on Bukit Timah summit was too much a waste of effort after dragging ourselves out of bed.
Acroamatic, Ann,
Rambling Librarian and
Walter fell victim to too much common sense.
This was also Kevin's one and only attempt before returning to North America. So what turned out to be a near non-starter, finished on a high with a soggy trek up the summit, but not before we had detoured up Jelotong Tower and cheesed photo opportunities with nature.
Breakfast with Rambling Librarian and Walter, who were twiddling their thumbs while waiting for us, made way for a lively discussion on library delinquents and missing books. What followed was a delightful surprise as Kevin disappeared briefly before returning with the morning edition of
Lianhe Zhaobao. Featured with all the colors of a celebrity, there was no mistaking the man and his gear. Prolific blogging and the extensive use of technology has iconized this son of Lion City in his quest to push the boundaries of online publishing.
Farewell, dear friend! May the
GPS never fail to record your travels!
Passport to clearing immigration?
Brisk Xiamen
"Hurry, your transit flight is waiting!" urged an airport officer in Mandarin and Hokkien as I stepped off the plane.
My flight out of Beijing was no good. It didn't have the same satisfying feel as when I arrived seven days ago.
I really enjoyed Old Beijing, going everywhere and eating everything. However I could have been placed in the middle of Baghdad and still find some way to enjoy myself. The reason is simple - I don't get out much.
Checking into
Beijing International was simple. However it required a little re-adjustment of what I had expected of a world-class international airport. I had to ask which
Air China counter to check in for my flight. Of course, Beijing International lumps all Air China flights together and you can line up at any one of those counters as your flight number differentiated you from the other Air China passengers.
Then I had mistakenly lined up at the Immigration counter, thinking that I needed to clear customs for my flight. But
Xiamen was my stop-over and the Immigration officer educated me that I could only clear customs in
Xiamen International. So my flight from Beijing to Xiamen was a domestic one.
We were delayed for forty minutes but that wasn't the surprise at all. The sight of the small Boeing 737 made me wonder if I was scheduled for the right flight. I was expecting the same Boeing 747 that brought me here.
So on to Xiamen. The forty minute delay had pushed back our schedule and my fellow transit passengers were rushed through immigration and back onto the same Boeing 737 like
Peking Ducks. There was no time to look around as I had hoped.
Out from the arrival gate...
Back into the departure gate.
With that went my week. There was nothing for me to do but sleep the rest of the way. It was a pity that I couldn't spend more time here, one of the bastions of the Hokkien. My stop-over was supposed to have lasted a whole hour! Brisk Xiamen indeed.
So Much Paper!
The tickets I had accumulated during the week, which is only natural being a tourist.
Interestingly, the airport bus and highway toll tickets have user IDs and pin numbers printed on them. I have no idea what they are used for.
So much paper!
Qianmen Gate
We headed back out to
Tian'anmen Square again at daylight. This time, we had smog in our faces.
Zhengyangmen, or Qianmen, at the southern end of Tian'anmen Square.
Self explanatory.
Old Beijing is actually huge, encompassing both an Outer City and Inner City. And Zhengyangmen, or Qianmen as it is popularly known, is the main gate to the Inner City. Both cities had high walls surrounding them for defense.
Briskwalking, anyone?
In addition to these walls, both the Inner and Outer Cities had a combined total of sixteen gates, each serving a specific purpose of allowing the entry and exit of items such as food and livestock, water, building materials, coal for fire and cooking, condemned criminals for execution, commoners, city administrators to court dignitaries and pub-crawlers. Interesting too was the dedication of two gates at the top of the Inner City, Deshengmen and Andingmen respectively, for the exit and entry of troops from battle.
Qianmen, or Zhengyangmen, was the only gate used by the Emperors of old to enter and exit the Imperial Palace. Forbidden for use by commoners and even the city administrators, a colorful procession comprising the Emperor and his entourage of officials and eunuchs, would make their way out of the Imperial City, down Tian'anmen Square, to the Outer City twice a year.
A new definition of insignificance.
After Chairman Mao took power, the walls of both cities were demolished in the 1950s to make way for urban development and roads.
The portion of Tian'anmen Square before Mao's Mausoleum to the extreme right.
It took me about five minutes to brisk Tian'anmen Square right up the the gates of The Forbidden City.
Mao's Mausoleum under restoration.
Viewed from the tower at Qianmen, we could see that Mao's Mausoleum was undergoing restoration ahead of the Beijing Olympics. I didn't get to see the man himself that day, in all his preserved glory.
Raffles Founded Beijing
Just past The Forbidden City, along
Wangfujing District, stands a hotel with that familiar, household name.
It ain't what the history books say.
Built in the 1900s, the Raffles Beijing isn't some luxurious knock-off but it is an official establishment of the Raffles Hotels and Resorts Group. The same boys own and operate the Raffles Hotel Singapore.
Tian'anmen Square at Night
So what if it is only our first day? Out for walk we went.
Judging from the street map we had, Tian'anmen Square is shown to be a few streets down from where we are staying. However China is vast, so the layout and distance of Old Beijing City should not be anything less.
The weather was comfortable and not very humid. After Brisking Macritchie so many times in the past months, I was looking forward to walking the streets of Beijing.Zhengyangmen, or Qianmen, at the southern end of Tian'anmen Square.
The Great Hall of the People to the West of the Square.
Museum of the Revolution and Museum of Chinese History on the East of the Square.
Towards the Gate of Heavenly Peace, entrance to the Forbidden City.
At the Gate of Heavenly Peace. Notice Chairman Mao?
Fresh off the Plane
Stepping on Chinese soil at 6.00 AM in the morning was an impact lost to me. I've stepped off at so many airports and ridden on so many airport buses that, changing the faces of people around would not make any difference what so ever.
But it is my first trip to China, the first of many I've determined, and to see the country for myself is a realization of a plan hatched two months ago with my partner. Her flight arrived three hours later as I snoozed at
Starbucks in the Arrival Hall.
After settling our accommodation at the
Beijing New World Apartments, it was off to an early lunch and a raid on the supermarket for yogurt and fruits.
More importantly, the tap water isn't to be drunk and using our international roaming SIM cards isn't economical. What were we to do?
Two sets of SIM and phone cards for local calls.
By week's end, we had consumed twelve four-litre bottles.
Blowing Chunks
Foodies at my organization will be treated to the addition of another
culinary outlet very soon.
A portion of the floor space which used to serve as seating for diners had been chewed out for the new outlet, aptly named Mega-Bites. This is certainly news to anyone who has been clamoring for more variety and choice.
And to signal that they are here to serve a big fry-up, the outlet has made their presence known with the huge exhaust extractor installed along a strategic walkway linking the food court to an adjacent building. This walkway is used by anyone who wants a quick getaway to food paradise.
Making their presence smelt.
This will turn out to be a fragrant issue. By virtue of the roof of the food court being lower than the edifice of the building, wind is forced downwards to the floor of the walkway, thereby creating an artificial wind tunnel that serves up a strong breeze all year round.
Now with the extractor fan blowing chunks, the place will start smelling like fried chicken.
Rubber to Burn!
Now this looks interesting.
Came my way from fellow watchnut, Kelvin. He reckons that the popular
Casio G-Shock "Mudman" is going mainstream by fielding these chunks of rubberized watchcases in alternative colors such as red, tan, green and green-camo. And in case you were wondering, the Mudman series is made from stain-proof resin that will wash off anything from mud, dust, sand to what else.
The model you see here is the
G9000-V1 Toyota Auto body Model. Why they've named it such, I have no idea. Maybe the marketing executives know something I don't.
Toyota Land Cruiser sold separately.
Anyway, Kelvin "may buy one." And off to
The Bencoolen he goes, in search of the Mudman with his name on it.
Have you got your rubber to burn?
...And the Devil Cried
Lion City will brace the second coming of
Ronnie James Dio and
Black Sabbath. Reunited for
Heaven and Hell, their new 2007 world tour see the island state on their stop over through
North America, Europe and Australia.
Geezer Butler, Ronnie James Dio, Tony Iommi, Vinny Appice
Though this will be the second concert on the island since 1995, the band will feature the four original members, except for
Ozzy Osborne, the lead singer who quit in 1979 to pursue a solo career.
Formed in Birmingham, England in 1966, Black Sabbath had gained a considerable audience through their gothic sound and cryptic lyrics. With lead singer Osborne, the band pioneered the sound as a flap-in-the-face to the light-weight pop-laden songs of the 60s. A technical improvisation following an accident led guitarist
Tonny Iommi to develop a weightier and heavier sound, which complimented the band's lyrical style. The sum of these developments by Black Sabbath led to the rise of a sub-genre of gothic rock and metal.
At the same time on the other side of the Atlantic, Ronnie James Dio had quickly established himself as a powerful singer with the band
Rainbow. Dio, meaning God in Italian, also wrote and performed songs with dark and ominous lyrics. Joining Black Sabbath after the departure of Osborne seemed a match made in heaven. Like a shot in the arm, the revitalized Black Sabbath scaled greater heights with the release of
Heaven and Hell in 1980 and
The Mob Rules in 1990.
Due to creative and professional differences, adding a healthy clash of egos, Dio left to form his own band,
Dio with drummer
Vinny Appice. Two years later, they regrouped in 1992 to release the highly acclaimed
Dehumanizer. Dio returned to his band to continue his solo career. Since then, Dio had represented the best that Black Sabbath would ever be and fans demanded that the group be reconstituted.
This did not materialize until 2006, when the band came back to record three new songs for their compilation,
Black Sabbath: The Dio Years, which was released in 2007. The positive response from fans to the single
The Devil Cried, prompted Black Sabbath and Dio to embark on what has turned out to be sell-out concerts throughout North America and Europe.
So pity the lush and green surroundings of
Fort Canning Park when heaven and hell collide on October 27th!
Nokia Walks the Talk
You know something ain't quite right when the world's largest
cellphone maker releases
software to sync its phones with hardware produced by a
computer company powered by the world's largest
chip-maker.
This is definitely a tactical response to the
iPhone, which is projected by industry analysts to shoot the lids off sales charts and market share. Nokia is the only company with enough clout to walk the talk by offering Macintosh users the long overdue bridge between their phones and computers.
Nokia, keeping an eye on the ball.
The result is better than decent. Simply entitled
Nokia Media Transfer v1.0 beta, the software was released in June 2007 and is currently limited to the
N-Series phones. Probably due to the expandable storage capacity offered by higher capacity flash media that come standard with the phones.
Loading the Playboy Playmate photoshoot for the family.
Connecting via Bluetooth or the supplied USB cable, Mac users can
iSync their
Address Book and
iCal schedules. They can also transfer music and photos with
iTunes and
iPhoto. Not to mention using the available flash memory as
storage for files. All that is needed is the initial
pairing of phone and computer.
Drag 'n Drop that sucker!
The instructions on how to set up an N-Series phone for use is comprehensive and informative. Nokia has also included video presentations that are well-made, detailed and easy to follow.
The next question you could ask is what are Sony Ericsson and Motorola doing to bring this level of integration to their Mac using customers? That answer can be found on the fifty-ton bull-dozer bearing down on them.
However, that is not my problem anymore. After a four year hiatus, the
Nokia N-73 marks my return after trading-in my
Motorola StarTAC six years ago. Since then, I've gone through the
Nokia 6100,
T630,
K700 and
K750 offerings from Sony Ericsson in quick succession. The Sony Ericsson's lack of Mac compatibility is the main factor in my choosing the N73 this time around. As with all consumer electronics, they are inevitable landfills. So all the better to have comprehensive Macintosh integration for the life of the product.
It's about time.
Watching people crowd inside the new establishment, we stepped in to check the place out ourselves.
