Nothing Important Happened Today – An obituary to Lee Kuan Yew

An ironic title for the sad passing of a giant. This title was not chosen as an insult but to reflect a few things in my mind upon reading the news of his death.

“Nothing important happened today” is a phrase familiar to history buffs and X-Files buffs for this is a phrase supposedly written into the diary of George III, reigning English monarch on the day when the USA ratified their Declaration of Independence (Jul 4, 1776), signifying the irony. It was recently debunked with the revelation that the king did not keep a diary, and it was the French monarch, Louis XVI, who wrote something similar (he was referring to his empty-handed return from a hunting trip) that on the day Bastille was stormed (Jul 14, 1789). X-Files employed this ironic title for one of their milestone episodes as well and I believe my point of choosing this title should be obvious by now.

Banner tribute to Lee Kuan Yew by Channel News Asia.

2014 Germany Trip - German Turn and Tilt Window

Location: Germany

Itinerary and full experience of my visit to Germany can be accessed through the link below:

2014 - Germany trip

I would have to say that my most surprising and eye-opening encounter during my German stay remained the way they could open their windows. The window has a handle, which is nothing out of ordinary, except that it can rotated into 3 different positions - downward, sideward and upward.

The window is in a locked position when it is pointing down, and rotating it to point to the side will enable the window to swing open. So far so good, nothing wrong. However rotating the handle to point up (when the window is closed), yielded no obvious effect except that the window remained locked. I thought to myself, it must have been designed to suit the preference of the user on whether he wanted the handle pointing up or down when locking it.

That would be until I tried pulling on the upward pointing handle, and the top of the window disengaged from the frame. I must have broken it somehow...

Looks like someone broke the window... or not... If the handle is rotated to point upward, the window could be open in a tilted position, allowing air circulation without letting in a strong draft.

Five words to describe Singapore

Location: Singapore

My wife and I were on the MRT, chatting away to kill time while the train transport us to our destination. I was looking for a way to describe Singapore, the island nation where I had spent the last two years toiling away.

And so she asked, "What are the five words you would use to describe Singapore?"

Challenge accepted.

Image taken from Straits Times.

Philately and Numismatics

With a renewed interest in philately and numismatic, I found that I can be writing about such stuff in a blog dedicated to my traveling adventures. I am used to studying the cultural and religious differences of the people, be it a foreign or familiar land, while marveling at the wonders Mother Nature gave breath to as well as that which Man built in defiance of nature, sometimes even destroying it in the process. 

And philately and numismatics are undeniably an inseparable part of the development of a human civilization. Being the branch of study of stamps and postal history, as well as the collection of such items, philately tells the story of how mankind despises loneliness and thirsts for communication. 

Penny Black, the world's first postage stamp (taken from Wikipedia).

2012 HK Trip - The Week in Hong Kong

Location: S.A.R. Hong Kong, China

When I laid out my plans for this trip, I didn't know that I will land in a politically defining moment for that foreign piece of land. Hong Kong was set to vote for its new Chief Executive and I was there on the first day to witness through news report the selection of Leung Chun-Ying as the new Chief.

Chief Executive of Hong Kong

The coveted position is both important and unusual to the people of Hong Kong. When Hong Kong reverted from British to Chinese rule, the position of governor was replaced by Chief Executive as the head of the government. Although an election is performed to obtain a new Chief Executive, what differs the system from the usual democratic election is that the candidate is elected by an electoral college (currently stands at 1,200 strong) consisting of private citizens and bodies instead of by the population of Hong Kong. In other words, as was reported in some medium, this is a "small-circle election".

Increment of Food Price... again!?

This is purely my observation as a Chinese ethnic, on stalls operated by Chinese ethnic. Chinese New Year had came and gone, and to the Chinese ethnic, this is a second new year. And as expected, the price of food and drinks had went up, again. That was somehow the question which your parents will usually ask the first thing they visited their local haunt: drinks price got increase ah?

My time in Singapore may not be long, but I was surprised by the fact that the price of hawker food remain low in general, in comparison to Malaysia, even though the former had to import their raw material. From what I heard, an increase in Singapore's hawker food price had not been major for a long time (of course, I could be hearing from the wrong source). 

Mysterious Photo - July 2011

So here's another photo taken in Penang isle, a restaurant themed for a certain western food. This restaurant is a franchise but not a fast food restaurant. Guess where it is... ^^

As usual, answer to be revealed at the end of the month...

Mysterious Photo - June 2011

I had this idea when I started aiming my camera everywhere, capturing moments for me to experience later. There were times when I saw a particular photo later and forgot where it was from. So I thought of posting some photos of usual dining spots in Malaysia and see whether everyone could guess where it was from.

This first photo is taken in Penang isle. Make a guess on the place's name... ^^

Answer to be revealed at the end of the month...

Contaminated Food Products from Taiwan

With the recent news on the ban of Taiwanese food due to the involvement of an illegal element, I have tried to look for more information on this. I find it surprising that the coverage was quite limited in local news. Some online search shows more scattered coverage around the world, with most concentrated around Taiwan itself.

Taipei Times:
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2011/05/29/2003504450
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2011/06/05/2003504998

Focus Taiwan News Channel:
http://focustaiwan.tw/ShowNews/WebNews_Detail.aspx?ID=201106040009&Type=aTOD

News Straits Times:
http://www.nst.com.my/nst/articles/Taiwanfoodcheck/Mobile/article_html

Self-made Flavored Coffee

My personal cup of Hazelnut coffee,
with strawberry UHT milk added to
grant a strawberry flavor.

Ever went to your neighborhood café to fancy yourself a sip of smooth flavored latte, took one look at the price, and wished that you could whip one back home without leaving the comfort of your room and spending RMs just to satisfy your desire for flavored caffeine? Well, why don't you do so?

Flavored coffee usually get its flavor either from the roasted beans treated with chemical flavorings or from syrup added into the cup; find out more from About.com. Die-hard coffee drinkers may not find this notion acceptable, with the additional flavor "contaminating" the smell and taste of a bitter cup. Well, I am not really a faithful drinker and I find that strong taste a little unpleasant, so I prefer my cup to be blessed with some sweetness and flavor. I have tried some flavored coffee from different cafés, and sad to say that not all are up to my expectation, including those from the famous ones (your favorite neighborhood 'S' and 'C', pick one).

Cheesy Bites Dip-licious from Pizza Hut

This picture was taken when I went to visit Pizza Hut to celebrate the year 2010. Cheesy Bites Dip-licipious was the rush then, and I tried this under pressure from my girlfriend... I did not regret it though, and as a cheese lover, this is the perfect dish for me!

Cheesy Bites Dip-licious, with a bowl of mouth-watering melted cheese

There were enough cheese to go around, as the bulbous crusts surrounding the pizza were actually filled with melted cheese, and if you did not have enough, there was a separate bowl of melted cheese for you to dip into before gobbling it down.

An advertisement from Youtube may serve to refresh your memory if you do not remember how the cheesy it can be.