Earth Day on 28 Mar 09

On 28 Mar09, Earth Day.. everyone around the world switch off the light for 1 hrs to let our Mother Earth rest... Well Mother Earth deserves a good rest.. But 1 hour is not enough.. Mother Earth has been suffering 360 days a year.. and only manage to get an hour rest.. The advance of technology and industrial had made our Mother Earth suffer a lot.. Her Ozone layer has already got a hole.. and now facing a global warming..

Look at what we have done... Since human roam the earth.. They never gave earth a chance to rest, but further stress it and slowly destroying it..

In Singapore here.. many people participate Earth Day by also switching off the light s for 1 hour.. at 8.30pm.. then at the Esplanade. many people light up candle during that 1 hour of darkness.. but they forget that the carbon soot from the burning candle is bad for the earth... Haha.. Well done Singaporean for the wrong cause.. The power station around the world still working hard burning coal or oil during this 1 hour.. Looking at the big picture.. darkness fall during night time.. are we able to survive at night just like animals..? I don't think so.. after all humans are already getting used to lighting up in the night.. No matter how much we do ... We humans can only help reduce the damage..

Brawn did a 1-2 wins in Melbourne

Brawn Formula 1 Team had a brilliant start if the 2009 Formula 1 season with a 1-2 wins at Melbourne.. Jenson Button won the Melbourne Grand Prix whereas teammate Rubens Barrichello finish second... And Jarno Trulli took the third place with Toyota.. (finally a good result from the Japanese team..)

Well this year Formula 1 season will be very different.. There is a new force to strike the nerve of McLaren and Ferrari team.. The underdogs are giving a good fight for the Championship.. This will be an exciting season..

Hiring "Phantom Worker" .. Director gets jail..

SINGAPORE: A restaurant director, who admitted to employing 'phantom workers' to increase his foreign worker entitlement, has been sentenced to six months' jail. Sulaiman Abdullah, also known as Tommy Goh Beng Hock, of Restu Muslim Seafood Restaurant, had earlier pleaded guilty to misleading the Manpower Ministry.

He had made CPF contributions for five Singaporeans who were not in his employment. Four were ex-workers, while another had never worked for his company. This enabled him to apply for ten foreign worker work permits.

In mitigation, Sulaiman said he tried hard to recruit Singaporeans and also hired former drug offenders. He even provided accommodation and food for some of his workers. However, District Judge Shaifuddin Saruwan said a deterrent sentence was handed down to reflect the serious nature of the offence. He also took into consideration that Sulaiman was a first-time offender and had pleaded guilty.
- CNA/so

I read the above new from Straits Times.. and i really feel sorry for this employer.. Me in the service industry and i could understand employing a Singaporean permanent staffs for thus service industry is not easy.. As most of the Singaporean are getting higher education qualification, they do not want to work long hours and during weekends.. Not to mention the low pay...

If employer were to pay $2,000 a month fix salary to a Singaporean permanent staff just to be a waiter/waitress.. The running cost will be high and finally will charge the consumer more... Thus will be less competitive.. In order to stay competitive, employers rather employ foreigners and send them for training.. (By the way employing Singaporean doesn't mean their service are better).. There are foreigners who are very passion in service and more customer orientated...

Currently Singaporean government is playing the ball as more and more Singaporean are being retrench.. and need to compete for jobs with foreigners.. Thus these Singaporean says they are ready to do any job, even customer service, where they have to work shift, burn their weekends and getting a low pay... Just to keep themselves alive during this economic downturn period...

But i can assure you that, once the economy pick up, these Singaporean will eventually leave this service industry, whip out their certificate and go for a higher pay job...

Singaporean are very practical about surviving, because they are very so call "Kiasu"...

Singapore Formula 1 GP Ticket release in April..

Yeah.. the moment all the F1 fans are waiting for.. the release of the Singapore SingTel Formula 1 Grand Prix..

The sales of the tickets will be phrase in to two.. And there will be early bird rates...

PART 1

Tickets for Turn 1 Grandstand, Turn 2 Grandstand, Pit Grandstand, Padang Grandstand, Connaught Grandstand, Stamford Grandstand and Esplanade Waterfront Grandstand will be on sale from 9 to 19 Apr 2009 at the http://www.singaporegp.sg/ticket/general_ticket.php or SISTIC Box Office (Singapore Indoor Stadium)

From 20 April 2009 tickets will be avaliable at SISTIC and SingPost Outlets...

PART 2

Tickets for Bay Grandstand, 3Days Walk-About-Pass, 1Day Walk-About-Pass (Fri, Sat or Sun) will be on sale from 20 April 2009 at the http://www.singaporegp.sg/ticket/general_ticket.php, SISTIC and SingPost Outlets...

Limited 1Day Walk-About-Pass for early bird rates are avaliable via SingTel Roadshow from 10 Apr 09 till 19 Apr 09...

Me and Albert (my best friend, who joined my last year at the Grand Prix) are confirm getting the 3 days walk-about-pass... And we are current trying to get more friends to join in.. The more kakis the more fun it will be..

F1 Driver Championship back to point system...

"If, for any reason, the Formula One teams do not now agree with the new system, its implementation will be deferred until 2010," FIA said in a statement.

FOTA had proposed changing the scoring structure to a 12-9-7-5-4-3-2-1 points format from the existing 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 but the FIA's world motor sport council rejected that.

So the Championship is back to the current point system.. Regardless of which system they use.. As i have mention before in my previous blog.. Fans are hungry for more actions.. more overtaking and more thrill.....

VRRROOOOOOMMM.....

NE MRT Breakdown or was it an Exercise?

On sat morning at 8.45am.. i left my home to take the LRT to Sengkang Station then transfer to the NorthEast line MRT to Chinatown MRT.. When i arrive at the Sengkang MRT station, a train just left.. Well since it is the so call one of the world’s first fully automatic underground heavy rail systems. So better don't take the risk of rushing into the train while the door is closing.. So i wait for the next train, while i play with my PSP.. Then the train arrive... I board.. then came the announcement that this train will halt for a few mins.. Well these are quite common during peak hour... So everyone sit patiently, after 10 mins later then train start to moved toward Buangkok Station.. Once arrive at Buangkok station, same announcement was mad.. and was halt for about 15 mins.. Then it continue it's journey to Hougang Station,. and again the same announcement.. after 10 mins of halting at Hougang Station.. another announcement was made for all passengers to alight and wait for the next train... By then it was already 9.40pm.. i don;t have time to wait for the next train as i'm working at 10am.. So i got out of the station and try to get cab.. and to my surprise the taxi stand was full of stranded passengers and everyone was calling for cab.. so no choice.. I called my colleague to inform that i'm stranded due to MRT failure and took bus 147 to work..

On the way, at one of the bus stop at Serangoon MRT, i could see huge crowd.. waiting for bus and cab.. and many people try to squeeze into the bus.. Then another stop at the bus stop at Potong Pasir Station, i saw ambulance and fire engine from SCDF.. Many SCDF personals were rushing in and out of the station.. and the bus stop was crowded with stranded passengers.. OOh my this time i was really late for work... I reach my work place at 11am... Ooooh my, i was suspecting sometime is happening at Potong Pasir MRT, either the train breakdown or what...

Then in the evening, the news report that SCDF is holding an emergency exercise at MRT stations along the to be open circle line.. Till now i don't know is it because the train breakdown or fire at Potong Pasir station or because of the Emergency Exercise by the SCDF... But the SCDF Emergency Exercise is at the to be open Circle line.. Not NorthEast Line...

SBS Transit should make it very very clear to the public.. Is it a breakdown or a real exercise...??

F1 Driver not in favour of the new ruling..

Many of the Formula 1 drivers are not in favour of the new driver championship ruling..

"It should happen that a team and their drivers are rewarded for their performance over the whole year, not who won the most races." said Hamilton..

"I cannot see how it makes sense to eventually have a world champion who has less points than the driver coming in second, even though I think it is a good move to try to strengthen the winner's position." said former 7 World Champion Driver, Schumacher...

Webber was more positive: "If a driver was second, he'll be even more keen to pass the guy in front because the rewards for winning are so much greater than before. I can see why they're trying to do it like that, so there could be some guys who might not sit in so much and start going for wins, especially when it's down to two or three guys."

Well some might think this ruling is good and some might think it is not.. Let me tell all the F1 drivers out there.. Paying fans wants more action.. If a driver could only win a championship by maybe a point different.. there will be great competition.. if a driver was in a 12 points lead.. or 9 points lead.. he will just sit back a relax, knowing he will eventually win..... But what if the driver got already 12 wins out of 20 races.. Do you think he will relax and drive with leisure, enjoying the beautiful night scene of Singapore skyline? I would say he would..

Fans don't pay to see drivers and teams idling.. Fans wants race, fierce race and more more action.. We want to see overtaking, circuit drama and excitement..... Driver pushing their cars to the limit.. and showing their driving skill... Team manager out wit each other tactic...

New F1 Team... Brawn Mercedes

This year Formula 1 season will start without Honda... but will have a new team.. "BRAWN"... Ross Brawn (former Ferrari Engineer) has brought over Team Honda and retain both experience driver (Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello).....

Brawn using the Mercedes engine.. has surprise McLaren Mercedes.. by recording the quickest time among all F1 rival teams... And with the new driver championship ruling, Brawn Mercedes team will be a force to recon with... I can't wait to see how they perform...

Wins to decide F1 Championship...

This year 2009 Formula 1 season drivers' championship title will be awarded to the driver who wins the most races, and not based on points.... If two or more drivers finish the season with the same number of winning races.. then the driver with the most points will win.. The points being based on the current 10, 8, 6 etc. system.

Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone has welcomed the new rules. He said: "If I need a gold medal to win the championship, I will overtake. It's just not on that someone can win the championship without winning a race." "If you're in the lead and I'm second, I wouldn't want to risk falling off the circuit or doing something stupid to get two points."

I think this system is fair.. especially for the 2008 season case where Messa won more race then Hamilton but lost the championship because of points... A good driver should be winning races instead of depending other drivers to drop points or relying on teammate to win... Now Messa and Hamilton have to overtake each other to win.. instead of lying low to grab a point or two and hope of the other driver to retire...

This year will be a more exciting year for Formula 1 Grand Prix... And i'm looking forward to the Singapore Night race again.....

Chalet BBQ Menu...

My Chalet BBQ at Downtown East Resort was a great success.. Everyone loves it.. and gave me the thumbs up at the end of BBQ...

Here are the Menu:

Grill Rosemary Baby Potatoes

Grill Asparagus and Shitake Mushroom in Italian Dress

Grill Sweet Potatoes

Grill Butter Corn
BBQ Rosemary Chicken Wings

BBQ Pork Chop (Compliment from my Wife)

BBQ Shrimp Marinate in Oregano and Lemon Juice

Grill Calamari in Oregano and Lemon Juice or Samba Balachan

Grill Sting Ray in Lime and Samba Balachan

BBQ Prawn and Pineapple Kebab

BBQ Chicken Kebab, Shitake Mushroom with Green Pepper

Satay & Otah (Compliment from my brother)

Pizzas (Compliment from my Aunty)

Wow look at my list of menu.. I didn't know so much on the menu till i list them down... The challenging part was to make Vegetarian BBQ for my mom..

The BBQ Chicken Wings, Satay, Grill Prawn...

My colourful Kebab, This is the first time i make this chicken Kebab.. add in so much herbs.. like cumin seed, lime juice, Paprika powder, Chili Powder, Yogurt....

The calamari and stingray with samba balachan wrap in foil, chicken wings, otah and satay...

Nice char kebab, look delicious...

My mom's vegetarian platters of Grill Asparagus, Grill Mushroom and rosemary baby Potatoes.. I had to cook these before i cook the rest of the meaty items.. I love the asparagus.. It was so simple to marinate.. Just add Italian salad dressing together with the asparagus into a zip lock bag, salt and pepper to taste and let it marinate for 1 hour..

Ceased Travel Agency still in operation... Beware..

I have come across the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) website on the list of Singapore Travel Agencies that their license has been ceased.. But then to my surprise i saw this travel agency "Shan Flower Holidays Pte Ltd" at 101,UPPER CROSS STREET#B1-17F,PEOPLE'S PARK CENTRE SINGAPORE 058357.. on the list of ceased.. But then this travel agency still operating.. and their staffs are still working as usual... Please beware, travel agency without license are not allow to operate.. Why the STb never check on them?... See the link below...

https://trust.visitsingapore.com/trust/TaDir?USER=PUB&HANDLER=list&tanumber=01731&status=4

Here are some of the travel agencies that license has been ceased in 2009 (as of STB website).. Check out the list before you book your tour....

https://trust.visitsingapore.com/trust/TaDir?USER=PUB&HANDLER=list&status=4

If these travel agencies are to allow to operate after their license are ceased.. this will get nasty if customers where to book their tour with them and did not get the services.. It is like waiting to happen... This will further tarnish the travel trade image..

Getting Fit...

Ever since my exercise regime starts.. i can feel I'm getting fitter... When i started it out by cycling, then gym then swim.. After cycling and gym.. i could only swim a lap at a time.. after every lap, i will take a few seconds rest before i swim another lap... then slowly last week, i could swim 2 laps before i take a few seconds rest.... Then to my surprise.. yesterday i could swim 4 laps non-stop... then follows by 2 laps non-stop... my stamina have progress a bit... Then i saw one of the China guy being order out of the pool by the life guard because he is wearing a pair of boxer brief underwear instead of Swim trunk.. OOh my... How could he swim with underwear.. Yuck... so unhygienic....

My cardio training still depending on cycling.. Usually i will cycle around Sengkang area, before i head for the gym.. It was like a 3-in-1.. Cycling could work on my lower body, eg thighs, buttocks.. etc.. and also a good warm up for my body before i hit the weights at the gym... and a good cardio training for me...

My bicycle condition is getting worst.. especially i have been pushing it too hard.. sooner i will need to change a new bicycle.. but for the time being i still need to save up for the new bicycle.. and that will have to take a few months... With a better bicycle, i could cycle for longer distance... My current bicycle i coudl not cycle too far, worried that it might breakdown anytime..

Nutella or Carrefour Hazelnut Choco Spread

My wife brought a bottle of Nutella and i wanted to see what is the different between Nutella and Carrefour house brand Hazelnut Chocolate Spread.

The Carrefour house brand taste very rich and very choco.. Where as Nutella is more nutty, you can taste the hazelnut favour but not very choco... Once you open up the Nutella, you can already smell the aroma of hazelnut...

The Carrefour house brand spread will defrost in room temperature within 5 mins and ready to serve.. after i took out from the fridge.. But the Nutella still frozen and require more time to defrost.

Carrefore house brand is more easy to spread and very smooth. Nutella is a bit difficult to spread as it will rub off the texture of the bread..

My favourite is Carrefour house brand. cos i like it more rich and choco.. and my wife favourite is Nutella cos she loves the hazelnut taste..

Top 100 Best Travel Acency in Singapore

Here is the site for the top 100 voted best travel agency in Singapore..
Leading the list is Shengyang Tours & Travel... But hor actually i never heard of this travel agency before.. and also don't know why they come up top.. Most probably their staff self click de..

http://www.travelagents.com.sg/

I read one of the reviews of Hong Thai Travel.. and this traveller was complaining about her terrible Chinese meal in Europe and she even said it is not as good as Chinese meal in China.. She must be out of her mind.. How can Europe Chinese Meal as good as China? She is really very ignorance.. i always told my customer that if you are in Korea, try the uniqueness of the Korean Cuisine and don't compare with our local delicacies...
See the link:
http://www.travelagents.com.sg/travel_agent/Hong_Thai_Travel_Singapore_hongthaitravelservicess.html

Top 100 Worst Travel Agency in Singapore

One of my friend accidentally found out this site.. where you can vote for the worst travel agencies in Singapore.. You may also leave some comment of your bad experience on these travel agencies...
Here is the link:
http://www.travelagents.com.sg/bad_travel_agencies.html

It is rather interesting to read about the comments from the customer's bad experience with these travel agencies.. Topping the list of votes is Travel Star and Topping the list with the most bad review is Jun-Air.

Improvement during recess....

I'm glad to hear from my daughter that she is buying food during recess time.. and manage to finish her food in time.. That was a big leap for her.. and a great achievement for her form teacher who has been accompanying her in the classroom during recess time.. now slowly her form teacher is bringing her down to the canteen for her recess time.. and on Monday my daughter so proudly told me that she buy fish ball noodle soup for recess on her own...

I really appreciate the patience and guidance of her form teacher.. She unconditionally helps and guide my daughter.. patiently.. She does more then what we expected.. she is not only her teacher but also her guidance in school during our parents absent.. Her form teacher never complaint but at times update my wife on my child progress... Singapore school need more of such delegated teachers... 3 CHEERS....

Hope someday my daughter could go down to the canteen and buy food on her own without her form teacher help..

Post NATAS TRAVEL FAIR 2009

The first day of NATAS Travel Fair was over whelming... The queue was long and the crowd was huge.. Most of the customers were merely doing enquiry and comparing prices.. Some were there for the freebies.. (i was wondering why these people bother to pay $3 per person per entry just to collect freebies?)... Everyone was waiting to catch the bigger fish the next day..

But then on the 2nd and 3rd day.. the was crowd was not as expected.. less people due to a heavy downpour.. The car park is open space and no sheltered link from the car park to the exhibition halls... not much bookings also...

I have read the news this morning about NATAS Travel Fair.. Those big travel agency did not reveal their sales figure for the fair.. i'm sure they are bellow their target, so nothing to boost about.. A recession is still a recession, most people are hopping for a super great discount.. and yet they still have to consider the many financial woes.. But to me, this NATAS Travel Fair has the best bargain every.. for those who travel a lot, they will know the great difference.. But unfortunately, most people are still watching their pocket..