Patience lah.......

I really don't understand why Singaporeans are so intolerant. Maybe it is the highly stressed environment we live in but still....

Take Sunday morning at the Tampines Park Connector. A group of us had been up all night just below one of the HDB flat cheering the runners participating in the Sundown Marathon. This lady came down about 7am to complain that we had disturbed her sleep with our clapping and cheering. I admit we were a bit noisy at times with our cheering and clapping but then how do you give support to the runners if we don't cheer them? I admit I was a bit pissed off by her accusing tone and did not apologise but instead 'suaned' her and told her that I was surprised she only heard us from around 5am when we were in fact doing it since 10pm.

Similarly I remembered at my late father's funeral some years ago, almost on a daily basis, we had the police turning up nightly at the wake to investigate complaint of noise from the ceremony. Of course the ceremony at times overshot the so called 'legal cut-off' time but such things are unavoidable and it's not like this type of things happen on a daily basis. So why can't we live and bear it.

Just last week, someone wrote to the papers to complain about joggers and runners disturbing his/her walk in Macritchie Reservoir and suggesting that joggers and runners should be confined to certain part of the Reservoir. Err seriously is it really a big problem to give way to runners or is the path there really so narrow that the space cannot be shared?

For me, without fail, every weekend afternoon, I am subject to the incessant drumming by a lion dance clan practicising from the factory across the road, the nightly karoake session also from the factory across the road and finally a dog from upstair barking somehow almost always in the middle of the night. I thought of complaining to some authority sometimes when the noise get so irritating that I can't sleep but in the end what the heck, I just live and let live.

I think it all boils down to someone has a preconceived idea of his/her own personal space and God forbids if you accidentally intrude into this personal space, be it sleeping time, home and presumably rest time or most commonly, driving time. In Singapore where we live cheek to jowl, I really think it is nigh impossible to have a 100% personal space without somebody intruding into it be it accidental or intentional. So let us be nice to each other and more tolerant especially during special occasions when you may be disturbed by the clash of the cymbals, or inconvenienced by road closure because one day you will be the one causing the inconviences or benefiting from it.

Thunder Tea Rice

Just exactly what is so nice about thunder tea rice?

I first took this when it came to the Singapore market a few years ago. At that time, I didn’t really have a good impression of it. All I can remember was the yucky looking green soup. The next time I took it was like sometime last year when a colleague ‘tahpau’ for me. But it must have been so forgettable that I totally cannot remember how it taste like.

Recently, while on a eat healthy crave one day, decided to eat it when out for lunch with a colleague. And my on my, surprisingly it tasted good. Not the soup (or tea) as they called it. That one still looks yucky and taste horrible but the rice. It was delicious with bits of ikan bilis, nuts, some weird looking vegetables, toufu. It was full of fragrance. Even the brown rice version was good. Since then, I have resolved to eat it at least once a week.

Picture from the bakerwhocooks.blogspot.com/

Here are some information about Thunder Tea Rice.

sbestfood

ieatishootipost
Now back to the question? Is it really that good? One colleague who initially condemned it and later somehow was persuaded to try it recently on 14 May this year has went on a thunder tea rice eating spree and been eating it for lunch for the past 7 days! Go figure if it is really that good!

How to avoid getting H1N!

H1N1 To avoid it... Eat right!

Make sure you get your daily dose of fruit and veggies.
Take your vitamins and bump up your vitamin C.
Get plenty of exercise because it builds your immune system.
Walk for at least an hour a day, go for a swim,
Take the stairs instead of the lift, etc.
Wash your hands often. If you can't, keep a bottle of antibacterial stuff around.
Get lots of fresh air. Open doors & windows whenever possible.
Try to eliminate as much stress from your life as you can.
Get plenty of rest.

OR
Take the doctor's approach.
Think about it...
When you go for a flu jab, what do they do first?
They clean your arm with alcohol...
Why?
Because Alcohol KILLS GERMS.

So...

I walk to the pub(exercise)
I put lime in my vodka...(fruit)
Celery in my Bloody Mary (veggies)
Drink outdoors on the patio..(fresh air)
Tell rude jokes and laugh....(eliminate stress)
Then I pass out. (rest)

The way I see it...
If you keep your alcohol levels up,flu germs can't get you!
As my grandmother always said,
'A shot in the glass is better than one in the ass!'

PS: This came from an email I receive don't flame me:)

My Chow Chow

There was this article in the Sunday Times about "chow chow". Basically, it is an item which a person grow up with and love dearly and most of all, do not wash hence it Hokkien name Chow Chow meaning smelly smelly. In the article, most of the people interviewed had soft toys, bolster or pillow which are the 3 most commonly kept chow chow. There is even a locally set up blog mychowchows where people post the pics and history of their chow chows.

Well, allow me to join the club. Ha ha at 47 I still have my chow chow. Like Linus in Peanuts, I have a blanket. Or rather this is the 3rd incarnation. What is so special about my blanket which I had for the past 10+ years is that it is a patchwork blanket sewn from old clothes by Mom. As far as I can remember, she has been sewing one whenever the current one becomes torn and tattered and this current one is the 3rd she has produced, if I am not wrong.

Actually this 3rd piece was not meant for me but for one of the kids but they didn't "see it up" so I confiscated it and have been using it since. It is slightly too small for me but with our weather being what it is, it is just nice as a light cover. And it get washed every so often so it doesn't smell.
And no, I don't carry it around like Linus and I don't bring it overseas.