The recent horsemeat scandal in beef burgers has probably made us sit up and take note of processed food. There's really no knowing of what went inside, do we? The only thing we could rely on, would be the labels. In its manufacturing process line, what went wrong? Do they not know they've got the wrong animal mixed up in there? Or have they knowingly shoved it there, just for the sake of profits? Or, did they think it was fun? What were they thinking?!
Now, even donkey meat got into the fray. Read a report that donkey meat is found in burgers in South Africa. Would you like to have beef, donkey or horse?
Would all burger patties producers be checking their processed meat now? How about sausages?
28 February, 2013
24 February, 2013
19 February, 2013
Awakening - 贾宝玉
It was by chance that I was at Sistic website, and got to know that Edward Lam x Denise Ho's Awakening would be staged in Singapore as part of the Huayi, Chinese Festival of Arts 2013 at the Esplanade. So quickly grabbed a ticket a month before its scheduled date and there were just that few tickets left! Woa..it is that popular!
It's been ages since I last saw any theatre play. The last one was sometime during my uni days. Keke.
Awakening is adapted/inspired/re-interpretation from/of the Chinese classic, Dream of the Red Chambers (红楼梦). Dream of Red Chambers is one of China's Four Great Classical Novels. I've only read bits and pieces of translated and if not wrong, a graphical version (not the novel version) of this, so went to see the play with a rather open mind.
Of course having Denise Ho (何韵诗) as the protagonist, 贾宝玉 (Jia Baoyu) made it more interesting. Star attraction! And, cute!
The anyhow bought seat was quite good. Can only afford the second cheapest seat (@$48++), at Level 4 and it was almost smack right in the middle! woOhOoo! The stage can be seen clearly though the actresses looked pretty small from up there.
Stage setup was good, with the pillars and all, liked the way the moveable screen was used for digital multimedia, the snow was effective, the music was good, the actresses were great and they looked like they're having fun and immersed when playing the roles. The stories unfolded in an interesting way, and loved the added local flavour to some of the dialogues. Brilliant! Talented people, witty script and an enjoyable production! Interesting for swear words to be scripted inside as well. Definitely for mature audiences!
There are scenes that makes one ponder on life. The scene where Baoyu loses his jade. In the story, he was born with a piece of jade in his mouth and thus, was propelled to celebrity-like status. Well protected, and pampered by the Grand Matriach. However, when he loses his jade, the entire household was thrown into a frenzy and Baoyu asked, "Why are you looking for the jade? I am here, aren't I?" A question worth asking. Is our self-worth (as perceived by self as well as others), determined by our inner strength or by material possession?
There was also another question on whether it is better to be true to one's self and show emotion as it is, or o mask everything because as Xue Baochai puts it, "Nobody wants to be around someone who is always sad or unhappy." Bitter laugh.
The second half of the play were mostly sad as it dealt with parting and death, so sniffles/nose blowing could be heard in the theatre. *sobs* Also liked how Lin Daiyu's words were replayed at the later part after her death. Impactful and haunting.
Overall, a very good play and thoroughly enjoyable.
There was a Visa Infinite promo, so got a free glass of wine thrown in as well. Muahaha! And Gold Roast was one of the sponsors, so received a sampler pack of coffee too! Double muahaahaha!
Downside, was the super duper long queue to the restroom. Bleh. Plus the super duper narrow space to move to the seats.. especially if have to pass through people who are already seated. Painful for long legged peeps as the setting makes it prone for people to knock onto your legs!
 |
| ticket to Awakening |
It's been ages since I last saw any theatre play. The last one was sometime during my uni days. Keke.
Awakening is adapted/inspired/re-interpretation from/of the Chinese classic, Dream of the Red Chambers (红楼梦). Dream of Red Chambers is one of China's Four Great Classical Novels. I've only read bits and pieces of translated and if not wrong, a graphical version (not the novel version) of this, so went to see the play with a rather open mind.
 |
| Awakening booklet |
Of course having Denise Ho (何韵诗) as the protagonist, 贾宝玉 (Jia Baoyu) made it more interesting. Star attraction! And, cute!
The anyhow bought seat was quite good. Can only afford the second cheapest seat (@$48++), at Level 4 and it was almost smack right in the middle! woOhOoo! The stage can be seen clearly though the actresses looked pretty small from up there.
Stage setup was good, with the pillars and all, liked the way the moveable screen was used for digital multimedia, the snow was effective, the music was good, the actresses were great and they looked like they're having fun and immersed when playing the roles. The stories unfolded in an interesting way, and loved the added local flavour to some of the dialogues. Brilliant! Talented people, witty script and an enjoyable production! Interesting for swear words to be scripted inside as well. Definitely for mature audiences!
There are scenes that makes one ponder on life. The scene where Baoyu loses his jade. In the story, he was born with a piece of jade in his mouth and thus, was propelled to celebrity-like status. Well protected, and pampered by the Grand Matriach. However, when he loses his jade, the entire household was thrown into a frenzy and Baoyu asked, "Why are you looking for the jade? I am here, aren't I?" A question worth asking. Is our self-worth (as perceived by self as well as others), determined by our inner strength or by material possession?
There was also another question on whether it is better to be true to one's self and show emotion as it is, or o mask everything because as Xue Baochai puts it, "Nobody wants to be around someone who is always sad or unhappy." Bitter laugh.
The second half of the play were mostly sad as it dealt with parting and death, so sniffles/nose blowing could be heard in the theatre. *sobs* Also liked how Lin Daiyu's words were replayed at the later part after her death. Impactful and haunting.
Overall, a very good play and thoroughly enjoyable.
There was a Visa Infinite promo, so got a free glass of wine thrown in as well. Muahaha! And Gold Roast was one of the sponsors, so received a sampler pack of coffee too! Double muahaahaha!
Downside, was the super duper long queue to the restroom. Bleh. Plus the super duper narrow space to move to the seats.. especially if have to pass through people who are already seated. Painful for long legged peeps as the setting makes it prone for people to knock onto your legs!
16 February, 2013
meteorite explodes over Russia
On 15th Feb 2013 (Friday), a meteorite entered Earth and exploded over Russia causing injuries to some 1000 people.
Read more from this link.
On the same day, an asteroid 2012 DA14 of about 150 feet wide (about 45 metres), swept past Earth with its closest approach that was 22000 miles away from Earth. It was said that if an asteroid of DA14 size do hit the earth, it will not wipe us out but could've flatten an entire city.
Read more from this link.
Aliens, space, planets, galaxies etc. All very interesting topics. If meteorites, asteroids or comets should come, the hope is that it will land somewhere in our oceans or desserts. If not, well...
Live now and live it well. Treat everyone, like how you would like to be treated yourself.
Read more from this link.
On the same day, an asteroid 2012 DA14 of about 150 feet wide (about 45 metres), swept past Earth with its closest approach that was 22000 miles away from Earth. It was said that if an asteroid of DA14 size do hit the earth, it will not wipe us out but could've flatten an entire city.
Read more from this link.
Aliens, space, planets, galaxies etc. All very interesting topics. If meteorites, asteroids or comets should come, the hope is that it will land somewhere in our oceans or desserts. If not, well...
Live now and live it well. Treat everyone, like how you would like to be treated yourself.
15 February, 2013
14 February, 2013
homecooked meals, a luxury
Yesterday's dinner was steamboat.
Today we had dinner at home too.
Prepared and cooked by my sister. Well done!
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| raw ingredients, to be cooked inside the rice cooker |
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| ingredients all in |
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| green vege, various balls, mushroom and geoduck yums |
Today we had dinner at home too.
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| preserved sausages, steam fish, chop suey and soup |
12 February, 2013
CNY @ Home
How was your CNY celebration? Hope it was fun and filled with love and laughter!
First day of Lunar New Year, started off with vegetarian breakfast.
Then, we had aunties and uncles, cousins, nieces, nephews from the Tang family (mom's) side coming to visit. Many many people in the house!
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| fortune cat and dancing lion |
First day of Lunar New Year, started off with vegetarian breakfast.
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| vegetarian breakfast |
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| lots of gluten yums~ |
Then, we had aunties and uncles, cousins, nieces, nephews from the Tang family (mom's) side coming to visit. Many many people in the house!
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| adorable niece and nephews from SG cousin |
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| yee sang for lunch |
06 February, 2013
public transport, today
Much has been said about the projected figure of Singapore's worse case scenario's population size. But the problem is, with the present. The here and now.
Few days ago, I was at Buona Vista MRT around 11.20pm. Didn't manage to catch the train, too packed. So waited. After 5 minutes, no train in sight. Nvm, can wait. Then announcement came. Track fault, so trains will be moving slower than usual. Next train, 6 minutes. Ok, not an issue. thought I'd take a cab to save some time.
At the taxi stand, no cab in sight but a queue had formed. Some like-minded people who didn't want to wait for a packed train, decided to take cab but none came. Taxis that arrived, were 'on-call'. Great, ended up taking the bus to Jurong East, and barely made it to the last train, and finally reached CCK at 12.10am. Not an issue, because last bus is 12.55am. Waited, and waited and waited. The bus came after 1240am.
Back-track to the morning, was at Jurong East interchange waiting for bus #197. The next bus only came after half hour of waiting time. Hmm. Lack of drivers? Scheduling issues? Bad traffic? Guess, it's all of those.
Two days ago, was at AMK after dinner, about 9pm. Waited for MRT. One came, packed. Never mind, waited for the next one, 6 minutes later. Still sardine packed. Gave up, took cab. Abundance of cab at AMK taxi stand.
Just yesterday, was at Jurong East MRT platform A, at about 730pm. So crowded that it was impossible to board so waited for the next one. Nothing came. Info board showed nothing. Meanwhile, the train to Pasir Ris kept coming at 3 minutes interval. More passengers alight and now waiting at Platform A. The same direction at Platform D, 6 minutes interval. Crowd had built up at that side too. Waited till 8.10pm, still no sign of any train for Platform A. No announcement, no nothing.
No doubt infra can be improved, but it takes the entire ecology of the system to be able to support the expansion. We can have more tracks, but it needs to be complemented by sufficient trains. But sufficient trains, in turn, need to be complemented by good scheduling, and pretty good recovery if something like track fault or train fault occurs. When all fails, then need the ground people to disseminate information in a timely manner too.
Much improvement is needed. Meanwhile, passengers and users of public transportation need to cultivate patience......ohm......
Few days ago, I was at Buona Vista MRT around 11.20pm. Didn't manage to catch the train, too packed. So waited. After 5 minutes, no train in sight. Nvm, can wait. Then announcement came. Track fault, so trains will be moving slower than usual. Next train, 6 minutes. Ok, not an issue. thought I'd take a cab to save some time.
At the taxi stand, no cab in sight but a queue had formed. Some like-minded people who didn't want to wait for a packed train, decided to take cab but none came. Taxis that arrived, were 'on-call'. Great, ended up taking the bus to Jurong East, and barely made it to the last train, and finally reached CCK at 12.10am. Not an issue, because last bus is 12.55am. Waited, and waited and waited. The bus came after 1240am.
Back-track to the morning, was at Jurong East interchange waiting for bus #197. The next bus only came after half hour of waiting time. Hmm. Lack of drivers? Scheduling issues? Bad traffic? Guess, it's all of those.
Two days ago, was at AMK after dinner, about 9pm. Waited for MRT. One came, packed. Never mind, waited for the next one, 6 minutes later. Still sardine packed. Gave up, took cab. Abundance of cab at AMK taxi stand.
Just yesterday, was at Jurong East MRT platform A, at about 730pm. So crowded that it was impossible to board so waited for the next one. Nothing came. Info board showed nothing. Meanwhile, the train to Pasir Ris kept coming at 3 minutes interval. More passengers alight and now waiting at Platform A. The same direction at Platform D, 6 minutes interval. Crowd had built up at that side too. Waited till 8.10pm, still no sign of any train for Platform A. No announcement, no nothing.
No doubt infra can be improved, but it takes the entire ecology of the system to be able to support the expansion. We can have more tracks, but it needs to be complemented by sufficient trains. But sufficient trains, in turn, need to be complemented by good scheduling, and pretty good recovery if something like track fault or train fault occurs. When all fails, then need the ground people to disseminate information in a timely manner too.
Much improvement is needed. Meanwhile, passengers and users of public transportation need to cultivate patience......ohm......
singpost
Just the other day, there was a note in the mailbox from the postman, stating that there was a delivery for a bulk item but no one was at home. Thus, it was written on that notice tha the parcel has been routed to Bukit Panjang Post Office, which is at Choa Chu Kang Road, near Phoenix LRT station.
Ok, so I went there this morning to collect. Went to CCK, took a bus and queued at the Post Office for half hour before my turn arrived. The lady took a look at the address and verified my block number. Then she shook her head and said, "You shouldn't be coming to this post office." Why? I pointed out that the notification to collect stated that the parcel is to be collected at Bukit Panjang Post Office. Then, she took her pen and cancelled off the collection point and reiterated, "Well, I can check for you, but I don't think it's here."
Waited for a few more minutes before she reappeared and simply said, "Not here. You know the Lot 1 Post Office? Go there." Gee. Thank you SingPost, for the wild goose chase.
Ok, so I went there this morning to collect. Went to CCK, took a bus and queued at the Post Office for half hour before my turn arrived. The lady took a look at the address and verified my block number. Then she shook her head and said, "You shouldn't be coming to this post office." Why? I pointed out that the notification to collect stated that the parcel is to be collected at Bukit Panjang Post Office. Then, she took her pen and cancelled off the collection point and reiterated, "Well, I can check for you, but I don't think it's here."
Waited for a few more minutes before she reappeared and simply said, "Not here. You know the Lot 1 Post Office? Go there." Gee. Thank you SingPost, for the wild goose chase.
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