Batam Island

Been quite some time since we went 'oversea' to Batam island. The last time we were there, we went straight to the resort and nuay there the whole time. Before that, was when there was only one Matahari dept stall, 1 big wet market and 1 main street and the only tourist spot that the local guide brought us to was the tree planted by our LKY.


So when the Company organised a free day trip there, we went. Dunno how tall is the tree that LKY planted has grown but there are now many more malls and hotels there. We didn't get to any tourisy spot - heard there is a Chinese temple; a mini kingdom or something but instead of those places, all we got to go to was one local product shop after another.

Will I go there again? I don't think so unless it is to one of the beach resort to nuay again otherwise spare me the agony!

Gems down

Continuing the story of the URA reply.

So after some persuasions from friends, I shot another reply on 9 September 2009 to URA:

Dear Ms Wan,

I referred to your 4 similar email replies requesting for my personal particulars.

I reiterate I am not asking for a wavier for the notice. In fact, I have already made the payment.

I am asking for an explanation why the Certis Cisco officer did not book those vehicles that are parked illegally along Changi South that day.

If you are not in the dept responsible for this, please redirect accordingly.

And I got this reply. Finally a real reply. There are humans in URA after all!

We refer to your email.

As all feedback sent to the authorities from members of the public are viewed as official correspondences, we require members of the public to furnish their personal particulars like NRIC/Passport no., full name and address for us to authenticate and process their feedback.

We would appreciate your co-operation in furnishing your full particulars so that we can assess your case officially.


Yours sincerely
Lum Fong Teng (Ms)
For Deputy Superintendent
Car Parks Division
This reply is sent via email which requires no signature.

Exasperated that they keep harping over the personal details, I sent another email on 15 September:

Dear Ms Lum,
I have sent feedbacks to Npark, LTA, NEA and other government agencies and in all cases I have only provided my contact and none has asked for so much personal information which I feel is irrelevant. In any case, I have given my contact number which you can easily call to authenticate' the feedback.

Be that as it may, I do not think the URA is sincere in responding to this simple query of mine so I shall use other feedback channel to get a proper response.

And I reiterate again - I am not asking for a waiver of fine.

And geez, what do I get in return? Another automated reply:

Dear Sir/Madam,

Thank you for your email.

We will reply to your enquiries within 3 working days and appeals against parking offences within 10 working days. For further enquiries or clarifications, you may call our hotline number at 63293434.

Please do not reply to this message as it is a system-generated acknowledgment.

Yours Faithfully,

Car Parks Division
Urban Redevelopment Authority
45, Maxwell Road, The URA Centre
Singapore 069118

And of course there is no further reply.

On a related issue, I sent a feedback (a complaint) to M1 via their online feedback form more than 2 weeks ago. To date I have got no acknowledgment or reply.

Whilst the service level among sales and front line has improved, there is still a lot of room for improvement in the backend processes where the people can hide behind a cloak of IT maze. Maybe the people doing the GEMS Up thingy should look into this area?

Smallest Kong Bak Pau

Paus have been getter bigger like the Gozilla bao or smaller like this one but kong bak pau (stewed pork bun)?

Was at Toa Payoh and went and got the miniscule pau and saw that they have this whole tray of what looks like the yong tau foo roll. It turned out to be the smallest kong bak pau I ever see.

Just how small is it? Look at the picture. It is about the length of the cashcard and about 3/4 of it. That's how small it is. 1 pop and its gone. At $0.50 a pop, it is a bit costly but hell, it taste good despite the not so flattering picture here.

But anyway, all the paus there are good. Just look at the queue. Or maybe it is just that the small size made it seem more palatable?

My Loot

The Princess made this lovely Cinnamon roll for this old man.

Okay shape wise don't really look too good but taste wise they are pretty good. The gesture is so very much appreciated considering that she doesn't like cinnamon and can't stand the smell of it.

Meanwhile, the young man got his old man this small little piece of gadget. I am blown away by the sound that came out from it. I never knew such small speaker can produce such a rich sound - and this from a Singapore company. Hopefully, they will be another Creative!

The X-mini capsule

Sound beyond size

Hmm I have 1 more item due to me. Shall I ask for a pair of Nike Lunar or a flash for the camera?