Winter Indulgence...

Nothing like a lazy, winter Sunday morning, and a mug of Aik Cheong Kopi... plus a shot of milk...low-fat please!

How i miss my kopi-C!

Relief to be back!

Its one week back to Sunnyvale, and it is such a relief to be back! Feels terrific to be home!(err...home?!)

I realized how much i missed this place after the 'hardship' in Shanghai. Don't be mistaken. My hosts treated me extremely well, and brought me out for many lavish meals. Far more hospitable than my US counterparts.

However, the entire environment in the valley juz beats it hands-down. Why?


1) The fresh air! Nowhere beats the air in California!

2) The weather. Not too hot in summer, not too cold in winter.

3) The traffic. No ridiculous amount of horning, no unnecessary cutting into lanes, respect for pedestrians, courteous drivers etc etc.

4) Smoke-free clothes.

5) Able to walk freely without fear of phlegm "bullets"

6) 100Mbps Cable access, VS 512K DSL(the most common in China)

7) Free access to any, and every website

8) No more vulgarities.

9) Open, friendly society. No more alienation just because i can't speak a word of Shanghainese.

10) Finally, PEACE of mind.

"Blur" Camera...or...?

Just an idea of what i had been breathing for the past month......

China blocks Blogspot!

I dunno how they do it. But i am unable to access my own blog! I can only access blogger.com to edit my blog. If any of videos fail to load, pls leave a note, i will see what i can do.

For now, i can only use Mozilla Anonymouser to access my blog. (yay!...long live Mozilla!). But still, i am unable to view the videos. I hope they come up with a solution soon!

Lack of Space in HDB

The most recent update back home is that my room has juz had some new furnishings of a mahjong table and exercise bike.

Now i understand what they mean by getting rid of old things(something that is 26yrs old), to make space for the new(<2months old)....heh~~~

Passenger Vent Window

Do you know that the small triangular window pane by the passenger seat is called the Vent Window?... I never knew that too. For the past 25years of my life, i just called it "the small window".

So why the sudden interest?

Simple...my car got broken into last night. And yep, the robber broke in through the vent window by the passenger seat. Ransacked my car, and he made off with nothing. Thankfully, i do not have the habit of putting valuables in my car... and neither do i have the fetish of installing the swank-iest audio system with ah-beng level bass speakers.

Funnily, i was pretty calm about it upon the discovery. Neither was i pissed. On the contrary, i was quietly happy about it. I was happy that my loss was only a small window, and not the entire car!...

Well, but it disrupted my work day. Was pretty distracted....was busy sourcing for a reliable auto-glass dealer...got a couple of recommendations from colleagues and friends all around. Finally travelled down to a mexican-run auto glass dealer in San Jose.

This place is beautiful, and is a land of opportunities. But it is times like this when i appreciate the life i used to take for granted in Singapore.

Complaining...

Was glad to meet May yesterday for half a day, no pics taken, but plenty of talk and getting lost in SF. Could finally let loose and release all my Singlish...*whew*

Have been pretty busy recently finding myself back, re-aligning my thoughts and perspectives.

The people in the bay area can be models for Singaporeans. They are exposed to plenty of luxuries and 'stuff', they are not exactly rich, but they do not desire. They compare little and complain minimally, or even none.

They pay so much in taxes, that goes to a cause they disagree with, yet they just accept it as it is, and they move on...no whining, no nothing.

My Singaporean character has got so much to learn from them....quit complaining!