Rain

I'm settling in into the scheme of things. Had my second plastic model session this evening, out in the open, enjoying the company of lightning and thunder. The monsoon season is definitely in full swing. Even as I sit by the window, logging this entry, I can hear the sounds of truck tyres rolling against the wet tar roads. It's a familiar sound here.

Tropical

The Monsoon season is in, and that is actually very good. Having been pampered (well, it's rather subjective, cos' most of the people I know there now did mention that it was getting a tad bit chilly...but yeah...there you have it) by Central European weather, returning to the thick, humid climate of the tropics can take a bit of getting used to, again.
Had a weekend gathering at the new residence of The Jackrabbit, and his Red Timberwolf. Discussing the finer points of their big day, planning and all. It should be a load of fun.

Lazy Days

Some weekends speak for themselves through pictures better than any other medium. Nothing like a good sleep in (before service starts) and some simple dining and music. Lights help too.

Gluco-loading

It's tough keeping the the gravity pull on one down (well...it DOES keep on down...but not DOWN in the other sense) when late night Eis binges abound. Yesterday's was Strawberry. I reckon today's will be some Blackcurrant, Blueberry or some-berry scurrying towards me in a hurry flurry. This is, another random post.

Across the Causeway

One sure sign of being back home, is the relentless pursuit of good food, and that means crossing the border into somewhere Truly Asia. The food is fab, and also quite affordable, and there's always a generous serving of seafood to whet one's appetite for more, especially me just having returned from a place where the nearest major port is hundreds of kilometers up north. The shellfish runs the gamut...

Served in various stages of raw-ness...

It's really no exaggeration ...

All being said and done...

... you can't help feeling that the world's your oyster.

Lumps of Maschinen Krieger

This just in today...

There is something iconic about Kow Yokoyama's designs.

Considering the fact that the idea was conceived via the juxtaposition of an egg, and a Yakult bottle...this is really impressive.

His designs have gone through a couple of iterations, this being one of the more recent offerings in ivory coloured polyurethane resin...packaged in an "Old Skool" box carton type austere looking brown card with military-like schematics as instructions, I am really raring to get started on this, amongst the hundreds of others that I have waiting in line...

Wipers

Ignorance is sometimes....bliss. Until it rains. Turns out that my (well, technically not mine, but it's on a long enough T-loan) local trusty steed, a 93 Toyota Corolla (yes, the Nichts ist Unmoglich one) had a little problem. Being in the thick of the monsoon season, it isn't uncommon to run into torrential rain during mornings when I have to get to work.
Problem is, when I switched on the wipers...what I got was nothing less than total vision obliteration---total grease out. When I queried if the wipers had been changed, the answer I got was "Yeah, not too long ago". Turns out that the wiper blades were turning powdery, yes, powdery. If you think about it, all that diurnal temperature fluctuations, heat-cool cycles and punishing scorching sun under which the car is parked...little wonder that poor slither of rubber gets hysterisis streesed till it falls apart. The moment of truth came when one evening, just as I was about to head out, I turned on the wipers and heard the most hideous screech (think chalk against black board, or nails against blackboard, exceipt more shrill) almost ejected me from my seat. A leaf spring that tensioned the wiper blades had come loose and was now grinding the glass.
I sped right off to get replacements...for BOTH wipers, which I then found out...were not of equal length...

Harbour Front

Met up with BN today, after a good 5 months since my last trip back. Still the same ol dude.

Was a good time of catch up, both on tech and photography. It's definitely fun conversation, especially when you surf to the tune of free wireless networks available at the Golden Arches. Sweet.

Long Weekend

Just back from a movie with BT...Tiong Bahru GV...opening day....so we could only get tickets at the close of the day...some movie about a boy wizard and some giant cup with blue flames... The week was thick with action in the office...but having said that....it was also some measured mayhem with the crew doing what we normally do best...having fun.

Sitting right here, by the window, and the smell of burnt rubber and sooty emissions from the street nearby can get quite sickening. The fact that I am supposed to be living near one of the hills around this island should have been some sort of consolation (if the trees up yonder do their job in purifying the air) but somehow...every time a vehicle passes...that strange smell pops up. 'Nuff of gripes I guess. Friday is leave day...I'm hitting town.

The scheme of things

There is something about riding in the back of a pick up truck. Your behaviour just shifts into wild-west mentality (not that I have exprienced the Wild West at any rate...but just how I'd imagine it to be short of toting a Winchester pump action). It was another one of those trips that had to be made, moving house. The stuff that I'd spend so much time packing finally arrived and was stashed away somewhere in a decrepit corner of the warehouse. Customs had, as usual, done their cursory inspection...wrecking whatever efforts I had made in all that meticulous packing and wrapping of my personal effects (and whilst I applaud their efforts in slitting open taped boxes...ripping edges of boxes wide open leaving horrendous fold marks definitely doesn't go down well with me). Anyway, somethings never change. Might as well deal with it instead of griping about it. Evening was good (typically, after work) and I managed to get some solo time down town...grabbed myself a vintage Soft Vinyl model kit from way back in 1989...

a mandatory parts check...

Robot Anatomy...

but perhaps the most remarkable was the presence of water slide decals...bootleg ones normally don't carry these...not with a B Club ID on it...


...and the brilliant finishing stroke....everything points towards that April of 89'.

Impressions

Shower Power

Wet weather programs are important...so we realised today. Whilst it wasn't torrential rain this morning, it was enough to wreak a fair deal of mayhem on the Company Day.

Nothing's ever quite complete without the necessary "Water Parade". You could think of it as a parade of bottles, those 500 ml mineral water bottles (yes, the type that leaves a funny taste in your mouth when you drink it) all lined up in drill master precision, or better still,

...that ubiquitous packed lunch. The sounds of foam against foam, translucent red rubber bands slapping against foam in a symphony of smacks and shuffles. But at the end of the day, I just decided I'd meet with +K (who just returned from Taiwan) for a simple meal at the Ramen place at the Railway Mall.

This little island's really about food. ALL sorts of food...

Pulse, Beat, City Heat

The weekend went by in a blur...but mid week approaches and I have a little time in my hands to put up some of the snaps of this Island south of the Malayan Peninsula, somewhere along the Equator. A view from the Jurong East area. The cloud formations aren't exactly Thunderheads, but at this time of the year where the monsoon season is supposed to be sweeping through, seeing blue skies is worthy of some small measure of celebration.

Sometimes, you wonder if over "detailed" weather forecasts really make sense in an island as small as this..."showers over a few areas"...I mean...whenthe rain clouds come, they practically blanket the entire island East-West. But I reckon it's part of the news broadcast staple list of essentials. That being said, blue skies are blue skies, and they have that uplifting effect in a place where keeping pace means staying ahead in the race.

Hot

It's simply hot here. And things get worse when you go around town lugging a laptop that weighs a ton, and a rucksack that is as unwieldy as can be. I'm bent on getting one of those combi types where you stuff in that computer and have enough real estate left in there for a chock load of other kit that comes with being an engineer. Form and function, price and affordability...I could have sworn I saw a really wicked looking Karrimor (oh remember those???) that looked like an armadillo....all it needed was some real scales to make it look the part...excellent for those crowded MRT train rides.

Gripes aside, coming back here has its fair share of pluses. I am just wondering how long it takes before the local clamour gets the better of me. For a start, things in the office are already warming up and boss called for a meeting today to have us think of "future plans". Else, I caught myself dozing off on the bus again on my way home, bonking my greasy head against the crystal clear glass panes as the driver did his version of a local Daytona slalom.

Monday

Was visiting S2 and it was good to catch up again. Some things never change, which is good. Had a good chat about life at large, and the future direction of how things might be for me. As it is, an air of uncertainty looms overhead (not unlike what it was during the days I was back in Deutschland) but I reckon for now, it's a matter of readjusting to the local routine. Suffice to say, the first day back in the office was decked with a mish mash of task lists (which included some employee satisfaction survey...how apt) and identifying what needs to be fixed and re-set up after me being away for so long. I am just thankful I now have a desk of my own, which fortunately isn't too cluttered, save for a broken badminton racket (where it materialised from, I do not know) some old scraps of paper with some traces of an intense discussion on it...and horror of horrors....an "Abfallplaner" (German declaration of "We'll collect your organised trash on this day, and this day only...else you go incinerate it yourselves"). I have absolutely NO IDEA where that came from...and from the brochure header...it definitely wasn't from the town I lived in. Ok. Time for some decent, correctly-timed sleep.

In Concert

The last day before the work week begins. The four of us (Jackrabbit, Red Timb', Tap, myself) decided that we'd pull the stops and go for a Bossa Nova treat somewhere in the far flung corners of a place called the Expo.

It worked out pretty well. There was enough music to go around and all...and it's still hard to place that voice to the face. Save for the fact that the jet lag still lingers...





Work week starts in earnest. I'd better get some sleep. Real sleep. Still have to figure out how to pack that laptop into the cantankerous bag that I am almost sure is built like a tank...and weighs like one too.

Taking It In

One of the things I miss about this City is the easy access to some really excessive (and decent) dining.

Couple that to some really fine company, and you've got it made. I made it a point to dig into some copious amounts of sashimi. It was an exquisite textural treat.

Then comes the battered prawns. Light soy sauce dips...and then top it all off with some green tea.

But I was having a little trouble trying to shake off some artifacts of having spent a little time in Deutschland, so I figured a tribute to "ein Pils" would be of the order, Japanese styled that is.

Gain The Lead

Just back from the residence of +K. It was an evening of absolute XBOX mayhem - four player mayhem on HALO 2. JY, TC (and wife), J&F all assembled in short order for an unprecendented descent into bedlam. The sheer madness was compounded by the fact that TC had brought his recent KRUPS espresso maker that practically sent all of us ballistic, trying our hands at all sorts of different coffee beans from Illy to Suzuki. The coffee grinds proved their worth, and at close to 5 am...we were still raring to go for another round of Slayer (essentially knocking the senses out of each other onscreen with single armed or dual wielded death dealers). JY had none of it...so he was properly sedated at the end of it all (plus the fact that he was a proper cannon fodder at the end of it all). Just like school days, except that it's really not.

Evening Out

I guess it was a matter of time before I headed out to that part of town. But it was fab meeting up with BT for some Sashimi and a generous dollop of liquid carbos at Max Brenner's. It's a matter of spending some time to take it all in after all these years really. Life in the tropics...hot as a cauldron and humid as a thousand snails on your skin. Now I'd better get some sleep...the jet lag still lingers.

Getting Started

Just in. Setting up shop and getting back into the scheme of things. The temperature's mad and the humidity is definitely taking it's toll on me. But I reckon it's just a matter of time before I'm back in the flow again. More updates as they come along.