Chingay Parade

Ok. I'm super duper dead bored although I should be studying for my ground school! But I did and I think a break would be good. So here goes a recap of the dark and lonely time during last CNY... (this is where I rub my chin and the screen starts to ripple and fade away - try watching David Letterman's flashbacks and you'll know what I mean)

Kitty on the prowl

The gals started posing as soon as I aimed my camera....

Well, after coming back from Maroochydore on the 4th day of CNY, I stayed in Singapore instead of going back to Sarikei due to some constrains. To get into the mood of CNY, I joined the crowd to watch the Chingay parade! I was pleasantly surprised that for the first time in ages, Singapore actually had fireworks! That's more like it 'gahmen!'. The irony is this: the Chingay is originally celebrated in Penang at different time of the year and Singapore introduced the parade to distract people after banning fireworks. Interesting facts right? I hope that Malaysia would not get so serious about fireworks although there's already regulations on fireworks. Its like banning cars from the road when some people got knocked down by irresponsible drivers if you ask me....

There were real fire action by China's dragon dance troup and multicultural extravaganza. Plenty of colourful floats, bands, people dressed up as bees, spaceman and cultural themes consisting of Korean, Japanese, Philiphines, Indians, Brazilians and many more. Its a nice parade to watch with all the musics. I enjoyed especially the drums and beats that resounds 'Stomp!'. Perhaps just one comment on the local scene though.. it would be nice to see more cultural stuffs which represents the composition of Singapore instead of the usual futuristic (ie NUS team which is about Dream in the City, or some metalic robot float bellowing steam into the air) or developements (ie HDB floats are just squarish buildings!). Kudos to NTU which had a nice floating palace and supercharged Chinese theme. Gotta get the balance in development and maintaining Singapore's culture! Ok, now that I got the cultural part out of the way.. its back to work!

Nice big grub....

1st Photograph

Hullo world! My name is XXYY. I'm 3 months old. I'm 66mm tall. I am very tall for my age. I've been nice to my mummy because she always eats well for me. Today we took my 1st photograph. Its not very clear because it uses ultrasound instead of the normal photography technique. But Dr Jocelyn is very clever and manages to make out how I look like. She took a front, rear and side ultrasound of me.

I look just like a bean from the rear

At the moment, you can see the skeletal outline of my face and body. I even saw my own heartbeat! Wait for my photos next month and you might just see my features even more clearly!

Peek-a-boo!

House in Singapore

I was just thinking about the house price in Singapore. HDBs are meant to enable every Singaporean to own a house when it was first initated. I guess it has achieved its aim. But nowadays the price of the houses are artifically escalated by the very locals staying here!

If you read on local newspapers you'll hear about the balloting system where people will put their name in for a chance to buy a new HDB flats. Its a no obligation system where non serious buyers can just put their name in for fun. Then if they get the option to purchase the flat, they can just reject it! Its an abuse of the system and this is just one part of the problem.

With this, locals who already own a house (and have nothing else but making profit in their mind), would try to ballot and if they get a good location and view etc, they'd purchase it for the sake of selling it out later for a quick buck!

Thus the saying the richer becomes richer and the poorer can just eat dust. The richer have extra cash so they'd just keep doing this to earn more. I could use the word 'investment' but I guess this is plain abuse of the system. So, did the HDB's policy changed now that they think everybody had owned their own house?

The other thing I heard is that locals move every 5 years if possible. They'd buy a new HDB, then when the price picks up for that house, they'd sell it off and move to another place. Perhaps another new HDB and then they keep repeating the same process over and over again until one day the price of HDBs will become unreasonably high and then what?

Just a gripe when you have too much time alone having just moved into a resale HDB....

Home sweet home

Home... I guess must be lucky to have few homes. It can be confusing at times as well I guess. Haven't been writing since I was back last 2 months cause back then I don't have a place called 'home' just yet. But now I do!

To have a place called home is a happy and liberating time. You know.. its like when you first move out to study in university (freedom!) or when you get your wheels for the first time (to get out of home.. how ironic since it contradicts whatever I am trying to say here.). You get what I mean.

Anyway, its really lucky to have good friends around to help you during the needy times (moving, painting, drinking!? etc) . I guess they can always count on me for help anytime (not drinking except during 'chee mui' sessions!)

I guess I'll try to unwrap the happenings last 2 months in days to come. For now.. I just got the internet and cable TV working at home... so.. just sit back and relax.. for now...

Sarikei and Brisbane

If Sarikei is located next to the sea.. it'll look like Brisbane! (minus the population of course). Some part of the rivers that I see is murky, there's plenty of mangrove growing near the rivers. The weather is tropical and hot, with plenty of vegetation around. You get what I mean for Brisbanites or Sarikeian readers.

Other similarities? Sarikei has couple of interesting bridges as well the lastest two being one over Nyelong river that's just completed and opened for public use and on the other end is the 'Red Bridge'. This Red Bridge is nearer to Bintangor but its like smaller version of Storey Bridge here. Everytime I drive under these bridges I can't help but feel amazed and start looking up instead of keeping focus on the road.

Brisbane is also home to the crocodile hunter... whereas Sarikei is home to the crocodile which is caged in Murudu temple next to the Sarikei River.

Actually what I'm trying to imply here is that I miss Sarikei for once during this time of the year when everyone is going back for Chinese New Year. This will be the 2nd year I'm missing CNY. In fact, this year will be a near miss. I'm scheduled to finish flying here on 26th January itself which is the 1st day of CNY. There's another similarity here. That very same day... its Australia Day which means its public holiday here! Due to that.. even myself can't conclude what's gonna be the plan later...

What does CNY mean for most of us? It used to be visiting open houses and enjoying the foods there. Foods range from chicken curry, rendang to red dried cuttlefish, bakua, kuachi (dried sunflower seed) and pistachios. But more recent years, as all the friends start to work out of town, it becomes a social reunion with family and friends. Its an excellent idea and time cause everyone will be back at that time unless situation does not permit that (like me!!)

Oh well, I guess CNY and life still goes on.. Happy Chinese New Year to everyone especially the 5Sc1 guys Class '96 (you guys know who you are!). Hope to see you guys soon, will try to edge my way back soon..

December Smile

Few days right after I arrive at Maroochydore.. I saw a shooting star. I made a wish which I can't reveal right now. Even before I arrive, I tried to read up on what's interesting here. Surprisingly, one of the tours that this particular Brisbane website recommended is the UFO sightings. I guess this is few of the more unconventional tourist attraction to the home state of the Great Barrier Reef.

Two weeks later, I gazed into the sky again.. and guess what I see this time? See for yourself!

The sky is smiling down on me! How wonderful.. why worry about tomorrow? Live in the moment.

Some extract from Fox News:

Australians are getting a big hello from the heavens as Venus, Jupiter and a waxing crescent moon combine to create a celestial smiley face.

Local astronomers said that Venus and Jupiter had appeared side by side in the evening sky over the past week or so, but Monday night would be the best night to see the "face" appear.

Viewers in Western Australia have the best view, with the moon appearing closer to the "eyes" formed by the planets.
While the planets and moon appear to be close together, in reality they're not. The moon is 250,000 miles away, while Venus is 93 million miles away and Jupiter 540 million miles away.

"Home is where your heart is... God doesn't promise to protect us from problems on His earth. Instead He promises to give us the courage to face our problems with His strength. Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass.... It's about learning to dance in the rain"

Happy Advent to everyone. It'll be Christmas soon!!

Sunshine Coast-Brisbane-Gold Coast

Some background about Brisbane. Its the state capital of Queensland which covers the north east of Australia. Described as the fastest growing city in Australia, evident by the number of construction and road works in and around the city. Its the gateway to great barrier reef to the north of the city. The city is flanked by two tourist destinations namely Gold Coast to the south and Sunshine Coast to the north. We're staying in Maroochydore which is an hours drive from the city in Sunshine Coast. Weatherwise, its similar to tropical countries minus the humidity, plus all the beaches you can get and some kangaroos along the way. Brisbane in general is quite low lying and you can see marshlands not unlike those in Sarikei where I grow up. Queensland is also home for the Australia Zoo which hosted "Crikey!" Steve Irwin.

For 1st time since we reach Queensland, its time to chill out. My initial impression is that everybody here will be friendly and good natured as in Perth. I'm half correct. The other half is monster when it comes to driving in the city. Everybody was driving into the city on Friday night to see the Christmas Tree light up and that caused massive jam. I guess that's how it is in big cities around the world.

Sandeep missed our Swan Valley road trip when he was with us in Perth so he made sure that there was a road trip organized when he's around this time! So down south we drove to Brisbane in our huge 8 seater Terago.

The plan is to have no plan! We'll its all well until we found out that we're having difficulty finding accommodation there at the very last minute. All the happening places are near the backpackers and there's plenty of chicks all over the world walking around. After having dinner and sending cadet off to the airport, we went to check out the city by foot and then settled down for a beer or two. The view of the Brisbane Bridge is quite nice and the city is still bustling with people looking for night life.

Next day we drove down to Gold Coast only to manage Surfer's Paradise. Along the way we passed by all the theme parks such as Dream World, Movie World and Water World. That's for another trip due to time constrain (and not to mention gloomy sky). Gold Coast's skyscrappers are as impressive as Brisbane itself if not better. We walked around for a bit before driving back to the City's Direct Factory Outlet and then straight back to Maroochydore. I guess we'll be organizing more trips after Deep is back in Singapore again.. muahaha....

The drive into Gold Coast

Surfers Paradise