The Wonder of Chinatown

In the pursuit to act like a perfect daughter, I brought my extended family to Chinatown simply because they are advanced in years, of Chinese parentage and I thought they may like some foot reflexology. I hardly patronised Chinatown in recent years. I usually link Chinatown to heritage and full of elderly, but never it crossed my mind as a hang-out spot for whores. Is it even legal to operate prostitution in Chinatown? I noticed several whores aggressively offering their services to mostly old men. I believe Singapore has prostitution zone (like red light districts where prostitution within certain areas is legal) but I highly doubt Chinatown is listed. I felt uncomfortable from the leering of men for fear they might mistake me as one of the whores.

Tropical rainforest

Views from Singapore Flyer

View from the ground

Since I am terrible at entertaining people, I empowered Singapore Flyer to perform the difficult task. It was my second visit and I found its staff still (like my first visit) being extremely friendly and cheerful, something that I don't see often and greatly appreciate in Singapore. So I was busy taking photos of my relatives and views from the cubicle, then it struck me . . . . Singapore is really small (in size). Singapore Flyer, despite being 30 metres taller than the famous London Eye, had me spotted my home from the cubicle! I don't have the recollection of spotting my flat even though it is located within walking distance from London Eye.

Fish spa at Kenko

Garra Rufa Obtusa (commonly known as Dr Fish) also played a part in entertaining my relatives. Kenko's fish spa, with its strategic location (Singapore Flyer), is a perfect way to kill time. Basically, I just sat in one of their pools and watched these fishes nibbling my dead skin while ratiocinated which dinner meals preferred by elderly. The pools were quite foul-smelling though I appreciate some hygiene factors (for an example, washing feet before sinking into pools) have been taken into account, but I do love its interior that sparked tranquility. I can't wait to pamper myself with fish spa for whole body; I happened to know the supplier of fish spa during my last trip in Genting and he mentioned about opening it in various places in Malaysia.

I see myself going to these places again in two weeks time when my maternal relatives (coincidentally are elderly too) coming to the town.

Trapped in Expectation

Source: rapbattles.com

I absolutely agree on the adage 'life is not easy' and 'in search of a truly happy person is hard', though some lucky bastards individuals may be skewed towards the other end of spectrum. At least in my case, being myself is not easy; perhaps, there is no being myself to begin with. So it adds on pressure when everyone looks up at me and thinks I lead a wonderful life.

Having a pleasant visage, above average academic credentials and prosperous family background neither bring advantage nor disadvantage to my life, but these certainly convey high expectation. Many times I heard people around me mentioned Mysterieux can attract an opposite sex with a wink or Mysterieux can grab the top-notch job without putting much effort, which are far from the truth, I have no lover or career.

It irks me when people I know tend to boast about me at every opportunity they can find. A good example is daddy, who never fails to brag on how I am the perfect daughter that does those he allows and avoids those he forbids. Frankly, I wasn't given a choice at all for he dictates how my life should be. Yet, I am having a hard time keeping up to his misleading information.

Having lived in such an, albeit high, expectation for twenty years, I don't really know what I actually desire in life, but I do know very well what others demand me to be. Well, life is never meant to be easy, isn't it?

Sandwiched

My extended family - including aunts, grandma, grandma's brother, grandma's brother's wife etc etc- is in Singapore for a transit between a third world country (my country of birth) and the country currently sporting highest economic growth (i.e. China). Since daddy is an extremely hospitable person and insisted everyone to stay in our bantam house, so cramped we look similar to this:

Source: burgesslegacy.org

I am not in the position to whine (let alone complain) because I am living off the parents . . . . . but the noise is intolerable. Having spent half of my life living alone, I guess I am used to quietness. I should really start to find a job in order to finance my own (to be rented) home.

On the news:

• Mommies' eating habits can determine the sex of their fetus. Plan your child's gender by eating less to conceive a daughter or eating breakfast cereals to produce a son.
• Coca-Cola Enterprises Q1 net falls. Weak US economy, increasing awareness on healthy living, poor Coca-Cola.
• Britain is hit by mass strikes . . . again. Having lived in Britain for almost a decade, I must say going on strikes are a common practice nevertheless, poor Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
• CNN is now sued for $1.3 billion. The sum averages out to $1 per person in China, to compensate the dignity and reputation of the Chinese people.

What does Putin and Sarkozy have in common?

Russian President Vladimir Putin and French President Nicolas Sarkozy share many common similarities, just to name a few which, they are both undoubtedly intelligent, are great rulers and have impeccable leadership skill. Interestingly, both presidents share an uncommon similarity: their women have done nude photoshoot before.

There is a rumour that President Putin plans to wed 24-year-old former Olympic gymnast turned politician Alina Kabayeva. So far, Putin denied the rumour having secretly divorced his wife Shkrebneva as well as having affair with Kabayeva (ABC News has the story).

Alina Kabayeva (source: jialat.com)

Carla Bruni (source: huffingtonpost.com)

40-year-old Italian-born former model turned French first lady Carla Bruni's nude photo fetched $91,000 (£45,729) at Christie's auction house (Guardian has the story). The photo was sold to an anonymous (albeit, rich) Chinese collector. I wonder where he/she is placing the above photo, perhaps in his/her study room? I imagine it fits better than any other areas in a house.

Malaysia Boleh

Hello, I am now in Malaysia, having just visited my cousin who gave birth to a baby daughter. Well, I can't comment much on the baby (except that she is small, fragile and her skin is reddish) because all newborn infants look alike, don't they?

There was a shopping mall completely filled with restaurants near the hospital I visited. I spotted Junk food (McDonald's & KFC), Japanese, Korean, American and local food but I made no effort to choose my dinner because I stumbled upon Nando's. I used to devour Nando's grilled chicken frequently when I was in London. Nando's is operating in 21 countries but I wonder why nobody franchises Nando's in Singapore? I once read a case study of Nando's stating a loaded businessman in Singapore initiated on franchising Nando's but was failed (can't remember the reasons).

Chicken Caesar Salad Grilled Chicken with Peri-Peri Chips

Mommy, maid and I then head to Genting Highland for a short break from the overly-sunny land (i.e. Singapore). Since I don't (know how to) gamble and have been to Genting far too frequent, we are just spending lazy days of devouring more food and relaxing in the jacuzzi found in our toilet.

Executive Suite Lounge

The new running event in Genting is 'Dreamz', a musical performance mainly by two illusionists. The performance comprises several animals such as a lion, two tigers and two dogs. What tempted me to watch this piece of show is the advert "featuring for the first time in Southeast Asia is a magnificent beast ... the elusive white lion. Once thought to be a myth, the white lion first existed as whispered rumours in the wilderness of South Africa before finally being discovered in 1975" sounds thrilling. And boy I was disappointed, these animals (per category) showed up less than 10 seconds on stage. The white tiger is pretty docile; it even went down the stage to greet audiences. On the other hand, the white lion doesn't look properly tamed; it was ushered into its cage three seconds it went out and was kept in the cage during the photograph session.

The part I loved most was when four motorists went round and round rapidly in a cylinder cage, my hands were tired from clapping. Other than that, the acrobats' performance is of high quality but dancers need some improvements since they play a large part of this musical. The price was quite steep (can't remember the exact amount) considering I always watch this kind of shows free of charge. But my personal view would be it worth the price I paid.

I will be in Genting again to watch Emil Chau's Mothers Day Concert.

Blogging Poses a Health Hazard

Following the death of two - in fact, almost three bloggers, the third survived a heart attack - US bloggers over the so called 'blog-related stress' (read full in The New York Times), the activity blogging seems to raise awareness as it may pose a health hazard. Dan Fost of The New York Times (link here) expressed that stress raises "when a blogger becomes a name brand".

I think The Straits Times Singapore published an article on this issue today. Apparently, the journalist for the mentioned newspaper asked several well-known bloggers whether they have suffered from 'blog-related stress' and, if I recall correctly, all of these bloggers denied that blogging affects them negatively.

Anyway, what a perfect timing, just when I thought I will resume my blogging activity, not that I think blogging has any hazardous impact on my health. It is ridiculous that blogging has such a damage impact in a person's life.