Life Sucks

Some people might think we are kinda weird to go all the way to Cameron Highlands and see snakes in captivity especially as the Singapore Zoo has a wider range but the snakes were at the butterfly farms that we visited so why not? And with 2013 being the year of the Snake, I think its good and auspicious to end 2012 and start off 2013 with what else but snakes!                     Have a  blessed healthy sizzling Snake year! 

As there is basically nothing to do in Cameron Highlands at night, we decided to go jungle trekking. We signed up with this tour company who brought us to this place near a Malay kampung. It was raining as usual when we arrived which was a bit disappointing as most of the forest creatures would have gone into hiding.   Still we managed through the knowledge of our guide to spot several insects including some weird creatures such as this stick insect   We also spotted several of ths forest frogs.   Spiders of course      And this long legged centipede which the guide claimed is also a first for him.   Then he showed us this little critter which he had originally mistook for a fire fly. But on closer look, it is in fact a caterpillar.   And the thing about this caterpillar? It glows in the dark!   All in, it was an interesting 3 hours walking through the forest. Except for the rain which dampened the spirit, it wa...

Cameron Highlands. Everywhere we go, strawberries are everywhere. From the strawberry farms to the strawberries theme souvenirs for tourists. Strawberries growing on pots in the farm. Year end is not really a good time to visit as it is too cold and most of the bigger strawberries would have been harvested. Dried preserved strawberries for sale. Nice but too much salt and sugar added though.   Strawberry fondue Of course, Cameron Highlands is also famous for its tea and the most famous is the Boh Tea plantations which dot the mountains making for a very postcard picture. One of the must do when in Cameron Highlands is to trek through one of the numerous mountains. Weather is great most of the year so it makes for a great trek unlike hot humid Singapore. There are lot of trails to trek, lots of things to see like stick insects and exotic plant. We even spotted a lingzhi growing one of the trees. More on trekking here on Unfortunately like everywhere else, Cameron Highlands ...

Saw this poster promoting a fish pond. But what exactly is Coil Fish?  

I love bak kut teh. And I make it my mission to go to all the "famous" one in Singapore. So far I have tried all those that have featured in newspapers, blogs and tv programes. My favourite so far is still the humble little stall at Ang Mo Kio. Worst so far was the Johore Bahru Bah Kut Teh at Tampines. Recently, I went to this outlet at far flung Midview. Okay it isn't that far but it was located right in the middle of an industrial park. Like all bak kut teh that are located in their own premises, prices here are not cheap cheap. Each serving of the ribs comes with only 1 big rib and 2 smaller pieces. I am also crazy over pork trotters and so we also ordered one to go along.  Overall, we didn't find the bak kut teh to be that spectacular to warrant coming all the way here. But one man meat is another man's poison and obviously judging by the good tutnout, some must have consider it good enough.

I am amazed at the way parents nowadays mollycoddly their kids. Teacher cut the kids hair. Run to MOE or worse report to the police! And it is so common to hear parents yelling at their kids not to run, not to jump and not to climb at the playground! For heaven sake, its the playground. What else are the children expected to do? And after all that, they wonder why their kids only want to watch tv and play games on their phone, computer and game console! Just the other day, I read this post where this guy was whinning about MOE and the police refusing to take actions after his Primary 6 son was bullied in school. Frankly, I have no pity for the parent. I think MOE and the police have better things to do than go after school bullies. Sure, I feel sad for the kid being bullied but isn't that what school is about? To teach us not only about serious stuff like history, maths and languages but also about growing up and getting along with others and building characters? As ...

I read with disbelief the headline in the papers today what Minister Lui said. I am perturbed why an increase in salary for staff in a public listed company is the concern of the government.   As if pumping $1.1b tax payer money into these companies is not enough – now they expect the public to pay for the increase in the salary through higher fares! They might as well put a donation box on each bus and train and ask the commuters to donate money for the staff! For goodness sake, if the transport sector is so unprofitable, then the transport company should exit the business and let somebody else take over. Minister Lui asked and as quoted in the papers “where is that money coming from?” Let me tell you where: SBS and SMRT are the 2 main public transport operators together with Comfort Delgro which operates mainly taxis and private hired buses. In their latest financial announcements, SBS and SMRT reported net profit for the current year up to the current quarter a...

Managed to go up to the roof top of Swissotel Hotel at Stamford Rd while covering the Vertical Marathon. Although view was great, it was cloudy but for what's its worth, these are the view right from the top. The financial district The Bugis area and beyond Orchard area Marina Bay area

Next on my Meat and Greed hunt was this place in Ang Mo Kio. Not being very familiar with the neighbourhood, we walked around in the rain before we finally stumbled upon it only to discover that it was just next door to the famous Pine Garden's Cake Shop. Which makes me wonder why they name themselves Next Door Deli. Are they related? I am quite sure they are caused The dessert which we had at the end of the meal came from there. Anyway back to the food. The tv program highly recommended the chicken wing. They had 2 versions  - fried and grilled. Naturally we ordered both. Unfortunately, I didn't think it live up to its fame though. We also had the grilled chicken chop. It came with 2 sides and a piece of garlic bread  We also had one of their house specialities the fried laksa. It comes with prawn, fish cake but no chicken. The one in the picture was extra. It tasted a bit weird and need some getting use to but it kinda grew on me. This is t...

I stayed in an estate where just by walking short distance, I can see lot and lot of birds. From the common mynahs and sparrow to the more exotic birds like the heron, egret, parakeets and many others whom I cannot identify. Every morning I wake up to the chirping of birds from the birds on the trees just behind my place. This is the tree. This tree is flowering now and attracts many birds including this beauty Now that the tree is flowering, it is attracting more birds including bats and this bird Photo from The Hindu newspaper I like birds. I enjoyed listening to them and waking up to them. On my runs in Pasir Ris Park, I always try to look out for the heron screeching away. So I was quite disturbed to read in the papers about some complaints by people about the Koels and asking for them to be culled! What the hell. It's just some bird calls so why kick such a big fuss. After all we should be thankful that we have such a wide variety of birds. And then a koel...

Most of the recent posts are all about food. Not that I have nothing to write but since I have been going to  new food place, I think I need to capture a bit of the memory before I forget which place I have been to. Recently, I discovered this wonderful thing called ala-carte Japanese buffet. I have always thought buffet is those available in the hotels restaurants or in Chinese restaurant but didn't know that it also exists for Japanese food. Quite surprising since Japanese food is pretty expensive. And another interesting thing I discovered was that there are actually a few outlets offering them and almost all of them price the buffet at S$35.00 which is pretty affordable. The first place we went to was Momoya in Bedok. The next place was Shin Minori at UE Square and next month will be going to Ikoi at Miramar Hotel. The first thing that strikes me when I walked into Shin Minori is that it is quite dimly lit. It was worse at Momoya which is why there is no photo of t...