Tremor

For the first time in Singapore, I felt a tremor. I was sitting in my office in Punggol when I sensed a bit of left-right shift. A bit of giddiness was also felt. I started looking at the time on my computer, it was 6:19 pm. While many reports were filed on tremors, this is the first time I can feel it. I suppose it must be a hugh earthquake in Indonesia.

Shahzan Inn Room

A view of the standard room ......

and the toilet (without long bath).

and the yellow pillow.

Shahzan Inn Kuantan

Shahzhan Inn was probably a 2-3 star hotel. It was probably built in 70s or 80s as the furnishing was quite old. When I stepped into the room at the Inn, it was a separate experience althogether. The room had a paint smell within it. Good thing is that the window is fully openable and once in a while, I have to flush out the stale air. Likewise the pillow case was yellow probably due to many times of washing.

It is important to ask from the reception for a high floor. I was staying at 11th storey and was able to enjoy the spectacular scenery from the windows. This was the only consolation out of a hotel that was priced closed to RM160 per night. It was raining on the night of stay and due to festival, there was nothing for entertainment, other than the constant fire cracker noise from local residents beyond midnight.

Swiss Garden Resort & Spa Kuantan

A picture of what a standard room looks like.....



and how it looks from the balcony . (The sea can be seen from the far right corner beyond the trees)

Kuantan 18 - 20 Sep 09

It costed me RM247 a night at the resort. It is in a class on its own. When entering the room, I noticed a sweet scene. The room was spacious although it was not a sea view one. It was not a problem because the beach is just in front of the resort. The trip from Kuantan airport to Swiss Gardnen should cost between RM45 to RM50 and would take about 20 minutes.

Swiss Garden Resort & Spa, at the point of my visit, had complimentary shuttle bus service that bring guest from the resort to Kuantan town (Berjaya Megamall) at 11am and 2pm, and returning by 4pm. In my opinion, the 5 hours trip to town was defintely sufficient, if the aim was to see what the town could offer. I had asked the receptionist the charge for booking a taxi from the Resort to Kuantan Town and was informed that it would be RM60. I suppose that amount would include the resort commission.

The water at Balok Beach was murky and not exactly clean. This was because further down the beach, there was small river that was presumably taking discharge from villages in the vincinity. It was as murky as the one in Vung Tau, Vietnam. The sand from the sea was also dark coloured. Nonetheless, there was a swimming pool for guest in the hotel.

Breakfast was reasonable and of the same standard as any other Swiss Garden Hotel. As I did not venture to road side restaurants, I went to the chinese restaurant within the hotel for dinner. A plate of fried rice and duck meat with satay sauce cost RM42 (including tax and service charge). The strength of Wi-Fi in the restaurant was stronger than in the room.

Overall, the experience at Swiss Garden Resort & Spa at Kuantan was pleasant.

Kuantan ~ 18 to 20 Sep 09

The flight took off from Changi Budget Terminal at 12:25pm and reach there Kuantan Sultan Ahmad Shah Airport in 1 hour. It costs about S$202 for to and fro flight. The plane from Firefly, ATR72-500 had a twin propeller. The cruising height was 17,000 feet at speed of 480 km/hr. The trip from Singapore to Kuantan was quite bumpy due to cloudy sky, but the trip back was fine due to good weather. A good thing about Firefly is that it serves passengers a small cup of juice and a small piece of cake even for a hour flight, somthing you don't find Tiger Airlines. This was not the first time I travelled in a propeller airplane.

Impression on Vietnam V

It was raining while I was travelling on a boat in Mekong River. On the bank of Mekong River were simple houses which had been there from 1 generation to another. It is a tradition in Vietnam for generations to live under one roof.

The boat was travelling at a modest speed. For a brief moment when the boat passed by a house, I could see a mother with her children seating at the balcony on the ground floor. The sound of the boat might have attracted their attention and the mother quickly encouraged her children to start waving at us, knowing very well that we were tourists. The wave from these children were sincere and 1 of the girl, about 4 to 5 years was so enthusiatic that she waved and sent french kisses at us. I waved back to reciprocrate our friendliness. It was a memorable sight and I could never forget it.

A few thoughts went through my mind. Firstly, of course that Vietnamese from villages were friendly. They had shown their warmth to passing visitors. This was not the only time that Vietnamese had shown their simple hospitality. While travelling in Saigon river back from Vung Tau, I had the opportunity to go above the cabin and to the open deck of the hydrofoil. Again, a family of boat people were waving at me/hydrofoil while we speed passed. (Note: This doesn't mean that criminals do not romp the street of Ho Chi Minh City or for that matter any other urban cities)

Secondly, I was thinking that people were borned with different fate. The girl would have a life very different from children borned in Singapore. The life would not be filled with computer games, stress from school works and attending supplementary classes .... Life in a village was simple, seating on the balcony waving at passing boats and probably listening to stories from her mother. Her life would be different from a child growing up in an urban city with constant emphasis on competition. It also makes me think I have my own destiny to fulfil. There is role that I must play in the society and contribute. I was thinking what if I was borned in that house along the bank of Mekong river, I would have a different path of life.

Finally, if she was borned 40 years early in the same village, her life and fate would again be different. The war would have changed the course of her life. Perhaps, there was destiny and fate among each and everyone living in this planet.

Impression of Vietnam IV

Vietnamese Food ~ The fact that the country is surounded by sea and has a rich hinerland has given rise to a range of food variety.

We had tried eating place frequent by locals to those flavoured by foreigners.

We had chance to go to a Vietnamese wedding and tasted local shark fin, roasted pig, local prawn salad, porridge in chicken stock and chicken. The chicken was impressive because it was not rear in commercial farm where chemical was injected to improve productivity. It was a "kampung" chicken. The meat was tender and sweet. It was a simple dish but I like it. The bride's brother was a local cook and we have the honour to taste some of the best local dishes.

We went to Quan An Ngon restaurant in District 1 base on recommendation. It was recommended by a friend before I set off. There were many tourists, some even had guide books. The resturant was filled with tourists and we had to wait for 5 minutes. The environment was good and have a feel of french colonial building. We had no guide book and ordered 3 dishes and rice. The 3 dishes were vegetable(I think it was stalk of water chestnut with garlic), grilled beef and noodle with pork. The vegetable was nice, but grilled beef was overcooked and stiff. We did not appriciate the noodle with pork because I did not like dishes that were cold with no soup. I did like the banana shake that I ordered, it tasted good. Overall, I think probably did not know what was best in the restaurant and it could have been better if there was a guide book. We spent about 160,000 VND (total for 2 persons). 1 more advice, fish maw sauce is an acquired taste, do try it for a feel, but it was something I would not try in large quantity.

We also had the opportunity to taste pork noodle soup (Vietnamese Pho) from a local food outlet. The pork noodle had other internal organs which I did not like. Overall, the soup was tasty and there was a good serving of vegetables. The vegetables were served raw, we always make sure that we soaked them in the soup to kill the bacteria before consumption. As we did not speak vietnamese, we have to use finger to indicate what we want. It costs us 48,000 VND (total for 2 persons). 1 more local practice, the seats were low, so it was almost close to squatting while eating.

At Ben Thanh market, we also ordered a beef noodle soup. It cost 40,000 VND (total for 2 persons). The beef was nice as it was not thick slice and the meat was tender. I could remember the stall owner gave up some raw green vegetable, it tasted good but I could not figure out what it was.

On our night at Vung Tau, we went to a seafood restaurant because the sea side town was famous for sea food. The nice and pretty receptionist at Cap St Jacques Hotel recommended Lan Rang Restaurant for close proximity to the hotel. The ambience was romantic but the wind was too strong (as it was just next to the sea). The decoration of the restaurant also fantastic and we thought it was expensive, surprisingly it was reasonable priced. We ordered a red snapper that was steamed and also egg plant cooked in garlic. Both dishes were good and highly recommended. The fish also came with rice paper, vegetable and noodle, so we tried to fold it into vietnamese styled roll and eat it. But I still prefer eating the fish plain, as it bring out the taste better. We spent close to 250,000 VND in the restaurant.

For those who love spicy food, do remember to try the Vietnamese Green Chilli, it was hot and good. For the record, we could not decide/find what to eat on the first day and we ended up trying KFC chicken. It was totally bad and costed us more than 80,000VND. Do not try it, unless you have no other food.

Vietnam was influenced by the french. Look at the french loaves. It is more commonly found than the flat piece of bread.

Impression Vietnam III

A statue of Lord Jesus at Vung Tau facing the sea



A local Catholic Church along Mekong River


A famous landmark of HCM City, the Notre Dame of Vietnam. The building survived the Vietnam war.

According to Wikipedia, About 6-7% of the population in Vietnam is Catholics. I was surprised to see the number of Catholic Churches in the area around HCM City. Vietnam is still a socialist country and I suppose Vietnam Government is tolerant on the religion beliefs of its people. Sound of the church bells was heard at 12 noon. I could see locals praying the church when bus passed by. When I read the history of Vietnam, I realise that the ex-South Vietnam President Mr Ngoh Dinh Diem played an important role in encouraging the rise of Catholicism in Vietnam. He was a devoted Catholic.

The majority of Vietnamese was still Buddhist due to tradditional roots. Many local businesses and hotels have buddhist alters displayed clearly.

An indian temple near the hotel where I stayed

Impression Vietnam II

The traffic in the heart of HCM City was a nightmare for the novice. Vehicles continued to move in both the left and right direction (to the pedestrain) even though the lights have turned red. On the first day, we were stressed trying to cross the road. However, we learned and became smarter at the end of first day. After that, I moved through the traffic with confidence. The trick is called anticipation. You must alow the cyclist and driver to anticipate your move. Move slowly and stop when necessary. If you can see the cyclist, he/she can see you. Just move cautiously so that the driver can anticipate your path and enable him/her to steer clear of your path. Also, do look the other direction to anticipate any motorcyclist going against the traffic (yes it happens).

Look at this lady trying to cross the road holding a sleeping toddler. She managed to cross the road. We crossed immediately after her with ongoing traffic.

Impression Vietnam I

In HCM, Buildings were built with narrow width (front) and a long back. The division of land seems to minimise frontal exposure. I wonder why.

Except for windows at the top, many lower floors have windows sealed up. I guess it is to prevent transmission of noise from the street. The constant honning sound from motorbikes and cars is a real threat to a peaceful sleep. We did not hear street noise from our hotel in HCM, which was totally sealed with no windows.

This building was trying to add another level after completion. I saw a few owners doing just that probably due to extension of business or family size. Hopefully the owner has considered additional loads due to the extension.

Look at the pink building. It has really a small front. But the back is sufficiently long. I wonder whether anyone will feel clustrophobic. It has nice balconies and a beautiful roof.

Hotels I Stayed in Vietnam

Nhat Ha Hotel

252 Le Thanh Tong Street Ben Thanh Ward District 1

Ho Chi Minh City

(Very Near Ben Thanh Market, 2 nights)

Cap Saint Jacques Hotel

169 Thuy Van Street

Vun Tau City

(Beach is just across the hotel, 1 night)

Both hotels were booked through tnktravelvietnam.com. A good and reliable travel agent base in Vietnam. It proves that asiarooms.com is wrong when they informed me that Cap Saint Jacques Hotel was fully booked. Note: For tnktravelvietnam.com, I have to pay 3% service charge which was still cheaper than asiarooms.com.

tnktravelvietnam.com is highly recommended for Vietnam hotels.
Both hotels I stayed in were able to suit my needs and they were hassle free hotels.

Vietnam Trip 22 Nov - 25 Nov 08

Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) - 22 Nov 08 to 24 Nov 08

Vung Tau - 24 Nov to 25 Nov 08

Tall Tree at Singapore Botanic Garden

Went back to Botanic Garden again on Sunday morning with my EF-S 10-22mm lens to take the photo of this huge tree. With the wide angle lens, the tree looks compressed and smaller. In actual fact, it is tall.

007 - Quantum of Solace

Watched the movie Quantum of Solace (QOS) this afternoon. The second Bond movie for Daniel Craig.

Firstly, for all of James Bond movie, I have always wanted to be like him after watching the movie. The only exception is Casino Royale. QOS has brought back the initial feeling again.

QOS is an all action packed movie right from the first second. If you are an action packed movie lover, this film is for you. The impression that Craig gave was an all out action hero. He will trail his enermy at whatever cost and whatever actions needed, even to the extend of disobeying orders. I like that attitude.

However, I feel that the actions are too fast pace. It is difficult to catch who is being hit. For example, the car chase between the Alfa Romeo and Aston Martin (driven by Bond). Both cars are black in colour. When one of the car falls off the cliff, I really do not know which one is it. The fighting scene is also fast pace. I guess this is the style when Craig is Bond.

But I do like the plot, the simple distinction between good and evil, the fighting scene is one of the best and prove that it is not easy to be a spy. People close to him continue to be victim of evil. But this time round, he manages to rescue at least the closest Bond girl. Something which I think the director is emphasizing.

Bond hands on approach also means that there is little room for gadgets. The only gadget that Bond has is a tracking mobile phone which I think is pretty outdated, as I have seen other movie with the same gadget. The other disappointment is the car, which is a Aston Martin and it only appears for less than 5 minutes in the beginning.

Overall, I think there is improvement in the overall package of 007 QOS. At least, the movie was shot in various locations. I hope the producer will continue to present a more gentleman Bond, who is able to leap from roof to roof.

Lasik Operation

Before a lasik surgery, the nurse would carry out various checks on your eyes to determine its suitability. These include thickness of the cornea, the pressure on the eye ball, the severness of myopia and astigmatism etc. The checks would require the pupils to dialate and make the vision unclear. But it will be back to normal in about an hour time. Of course, you have to sign the letter of indemnity just like any other surgery.

My surgery on both eyes was carried out consecutively on the same day, there was a need to arrange for a relative/friend to guide and support you after the surgery. Just before the surgery, you have put on surgery cloth, cap and shoe (just a paper like cover). While you are advised not to bring along valuable, any personal belongings could be placed in a locker. The nurse would place droplets of anaesthesia on both eyes and let you rest for a few minutes. During that time, your psychological mind would start to creep up. You would start to think about what would happen during the surgery and whether it would be painful. And the worse question that pops up is "What if the surgery is not successful?" ...... You would have to think positive and imagine the wonders of not wearing glasses again.

When the nurse called me, I was wondering why my turn was so fast. When I walked into the lab, I could not see far because the pair of glasses was left in the locker. The surgeon would confrim my identify and requested that I lied on the bed facing a huge metallic surgical tool. This was when my heart went into hyperdrive. The huge surgical tool looked very intimating. I felt that my courage was at its peak then, because I was telling myself "mind over body" and repeating it. The nurse would secure a tape surrounding the first eye to be operated on and cover the second eye. The vision was still fuzzy because of the bad eye sight. More drops of anaethesia was dropped onto the eyes. I remember the first eye to be operated was the right eye, because of the lower astigmatism, there was no need to go for wavefront analysis. For my left eye where wavefront analysis wasrequired, it costs S$500 more because it maps the contour of the eye and will, according to the optician, gave a better effect. The surgeon would place a metallic piece on my eye and that was when the surgery would commence. He would cut open the cornea using a blade, which was pretty fast and create a flap. Once the cornea flap was lifted, the vision was completely gone with the exception of a red laser beam which I could see and was requested to focus at. Then the laser would start to operate. There was a "tick tick" sound generated from the laser equipment and I could smell a burning smell which was familiar, perhaps similar to the one done on a tooth extraction/surgery. The pain was minimal when no wavefront analysis was required. It was operated faster and was completed in perhaps 3 minutes (base on my estimation). When the flap was covered, the vision was resumed, but still not clear because of the fluid surrounding the eye. The surgeon would inform me that the first eye was done and was reliefed. Then they would remove the cover of my second eye (left eye). The steps would repear itself, except that with wavefront, the computer will generate a laser to map the contour of the cornea. In my personal experience, this takes time and had a greater pain. I could feel the pain and was crasping my hand. The duration was close to 5 minutes. After the surgery, both eyes were protected by a plastic cover with operning for vision

My conclusion was that the wavefront was much painful and the effect was not that satisfactory. After so many months, my myopia was reduced to zero degree, but it was not sharp because of astigmatism. Occasionally, especially when driving at night, I have to wear a pair of glasses to improve the sharpness. Overall, I think that Lasik had improve my life as there was no need to wear glassess for photography.

Photos of Botanic Gardens

Welcome to Singapore Botanic Gardens

Swan Lake - Only 2 swans

I was amazed by this tall and huge Kapok Tree


Another huge tree. Size in relation to human.

Bandstand

Squirrel

Sound of Falling Water

A bird in the middle of heliconia flowers. The bird went on to extract the nectar of the flower.
More photos will be loaded in Flickr.

Singapore Botanical Gardens

Singapore Botanical Gardens is a man-made wonder. The first greeting that a visitor will find is the sound of water fall. While artificially created, the sound of water falling is surprising peaceful right in the middle of the city. The lush greenery compliments the sound of falling water. I walked via the southern route, passing by symphony lake, national orchid garden, ginger garden, bandstand, and swan lake.

Comments:-
(1) Public carpark was free for the first hour and S$0.02 per minutes thereafter. This is a reasonable charge. Entrance to the gardne is free.
(2) National Orchid Garden charges a S$5 fee per person. As there are plentiful other opportunities to capture other scenery. I didn't pay to visit.
(3) I was impressed by the large karpok tree classified as a heritage tree which was planted back in 1933.
(4) The garden was first established in 1859. Wow.
(5) Many FT were in the garden, not many Singaporeans.
(6) Frangrance flows in the garden. This is because of the abundance flowers.
(7) Many birds as they find solace in the concrete jungle.
(8) Saw squirrels.
(9) Garden has a bonsai section which is interesting.
(10) Direction and information are useful and commonly found. Unlike Pulau Ubin. This garden is meant for tourist as well.
(11) Npark has done a good job preserving and spicing up the area. This is afterall a showcase for Singapore.
(12) I spent about 1 hour 45 minutes walking around the gardens.

Warren Buffett

"I have been buying American stocks. This is my personal account I am talking about, in which previously I owned nothing but US government bonds. If prices keep looking attractive, my non-Berkshire net worth will soon be 100 per cent in US equities."

Warren Buffett, 16 Oct 08 (Op Ed The New York Times)

Intermediate Egret

I like this photograph of a flying intermediate egret. It was taken with my 200mm lens at high ISO of 800. The original photograph was cropped to enlarge the image. There are noise presence but the overall composition is good.

Hotel Reservation

I am planning to visit Vietnam, HCM City at the end of Nov. To make the trip exciting, I have planned to go to Vung Tau, a seaside town near HCM City. There are many internet hotel booking webpages around. A prominent webpage is asiarooms.com. Unfortunately, when I tried to book a hotel in Vung Tau, it keeps saying the preferred hotel was not available. While I tried other hotel in the same city, it also negates my application. Instead it recommends a Rex Hotel in Deluxe room. I was quite unhappy about the situation and turn to search for another webpage for Vietnam travel, it was www.tnktravelvietnam.com. They manage to secure a room for me in the prefered hotel without problem. The only concern is whether this travel agent is reliable. I will find out and report. They will issue hotel voucher and I will use the hotel voucher to check in. The other thing is that payment is in US$.

The other concern not relating to hotel reservation is airline. I have booked Tiger Airways to HCM City. It was reported recently that Tiger Airways is facing problem of trip cancellation and delay. Hopefully, my flight will not be affected.

Intermediate Egret

I went to look for birds in my estate. Found a few intermediate egrets on an open field.

The 200mm lens on a APS-C camera was insufficient even though the distance between the birds and me was approx 10m. Perhaps, a 2X extender is required. I have pumped up the ISO to 800 for a faster shutter speed. f-stop is f9. Tripod was used.

The rest of the photographs will be posted in Flickr shortly.

Goodyear Eagle F1 205/55/16

I had changed my car tyres to Goodyear Eagle F1 from the previous Maxxis Victra on 25 Oct 08. The cost of each piece of tyre was S$120 as compared to S$150 for the Maxxis. Price was the initial reason for the change in brand.

For the Maxxis, I had driven it on 37000 km. The braking power was still good considering the distance travelled.

For Eagle F1, I have it for a week. The initial assessment is that it is more comfortable than Maxxis and less noise. There is also less resistance on the steering wheel during turns. The braking power when new is as good as the Maxxis.

For the record, both are made in Thailand.

Goldman Sach

I bought a small number of Goldman Sach equity today at US$87.76. Reasons of purchase:-

(i) Book value of about US$107. So I am buying at US$20 below book value.
(ii) Warren Buffett stock
(iii) Last of the few US investment banks around
(iv) PE value of 5.3

Dividend is miserable at 1.4%. Data is accurate as of today.
Caveat Emptor

Deepavali

Photos of Pulau Ubin

Pulau Ubin ~ 26 Oct 08

Chinese temple on island ~ where there are chinese, there will be chinese temple

Kampung on the island

Rubber trees grown on island

Balai Quarry - I wonder what the Government will do with this piece of abandoned quarry. There was talk last year on reopening the quarry for mining when the granite chips from Indonesia was disrupted. I supposed that they have resolved the issue.

My bicycle which I rent on Pulau Ubin for S$8/day.

Another view of my bicycle at the Balai Quarry

Chek Jawa Visitor House. Built in the 1930s. It used to be a holiday resort for Dangdon Willams

Pulau Sekudu - A small island off Pulau Ubin

Timber planks placed above the muddy swamp for visitors to enjoy

Mudskipper on the wet land

Chek Jawa Wet Land

While cycling, I saw a wild boar in front crossing my path. By the time I stopped, took out the camera and snapped, the wild boar was already running for cover. The shot was not clear due to hand movement trying to capture the animal in a hurry.

Someone injured being carried on a stretcher onto a medical boat. The injured has blood on her hand and her head was restricted. Probably had a fall and injured the neck. Many city dwellers are not aware of the danger of outdoor activity.

Changi Point Ferry Terminal