寂节

（根据 陶喆的《寂寞的季节》音乐 而填词）

任凭那海角或天边

是两极或地平线

纵然寻觅那一片噢

沧海和那桑田

梦醒来却是看你不见

黑暗孤单总相连

若让潮汐和你遇见

可否带我心缱绻......

我想要用心去感觉

你呼吸的每一瞬间

但总少了一点时间

在这寂寞的季节……

Apa Sri Lanka, Namo Namo Namo Namo Matha (Oh Mother Lanka! We salute, salute, salute, salute Thee!)

It has being a long time that I have not write a single post in my blog. I just got a new job and will be send to Sri Lanka for a few months tour of duty.

Yes, as a Singaporean, my friends around me have asked me, "Why? It's such a backward place!". I guess I have no answers for this. Singaporeans have been in their high class mindset all these while, triumphing in our clean environment, that going to a developing country is a no go to them, or rather, us.

Statue at Independence Square, Colombo

If you were to ask me, what is Sri Lanka like, all I can tell you is this.

1. The people here are extremely nice.
2. Colombo is like Malaysia to me, as in a Singaporean, going in Malaysia.
3. Food is is no different from Singaporean Indian food, except most are spicy.
4. The national anthem talks about Grace and Love, Knowledge and Truth, Wisdom and Strength. Instead of Singapore national anthem, whicch is all progress progress progress and prosperity. (Wiki Page of Sri Lanka National Anthem)

As I am working here for quiet some time (at least 1.5 months at a go) I am staying in apartment which I can cook. I could get most of the ingredients in Singapore except condiments which may not be available here unless importe which are pricy and taste rather weird at times. But spice is available everywhere!

Local market, that gives me the feeling of 80s in Singapore where I will follow my mum and grandma to the market!

Local supermarket, items are cheap for me, but pricy for the local

Home cooked food for me and my colleagues. Pan-seared luncheon meat from Singapore, Steam minced chicken with egg, and stir-fry okra with black fungus and carrots.

Of cause, woking in Sri Lanka, I will get bored at times, especially when I am a homely person who stay at home tending my garden, baking and cookng. Hence good thing I brought some videos to watch in my Mac. I was watching the series of Anime by Hayao Miyazaki (宫崎骏). I was watching this particular anime where the girl in it is singing a Japanese version of Country Road. Bored and thinking of home in Singapore, I wrote this Country Road, Singlish Bedok version (Probably only Singaporeans will know what is Singlish and Bedok). Bedok is a town on the east side of Singapore, where I stay.

Kampung Bedok (Sing to the tune of Country Road)

Almost heaven, East Singapore,

There's no mountain, but Sungei Bedok,

Life is cool here, cooler than the fridge,

big big tall trees, growing in the breeze

Concrete roads, take me home

To the place I belong,

Kampung Bedok,

Nasi Lemak, Char Kway Teow

Concrete roads

All my memories, gather round her

Rocket Playground, at Bedok Interchange

Dark and dusty, never on the sky

Misty taste of curry, teardrops in my eye

Concrete roads, take me home

To the place I belong,

Kampung Bedok,

Laksa Lemak, Bak Kut Teh

Concrete roads

I hear drum calls in the morning hour she calls me

Prayers at Masjid Al-Ansar reminds me of my home

Driving down Reservoir road I get a feeling

That I should have been home yesterday, yesterday

Concrete roads, take me home

To the place I belong,

Kampung Bedok,

Mee Soto, Mee Goreng

Concrete roads

Take me home, concrete roads

Take me home, concrete roads

********************************* End

Hell yeah, I miss home. And the food. And my TV programs. And my plants. And my oven.

长相思 长相守

长相思

望着明月愁断丝

新人不知故人怅

寸寸缠绵忆断肠

长相守

把酒泪别竹马霜

朝日不惜夜幕冷

滴滴轮回历风霜 

Dawn

Heart of the Hibiscus

好久不见

就在今天早上，想要尝试换个巴士到公司时候，在拥挤不堪的23号上，看见一个当兵时候的一个朋友。

他身边似乎有一个小朋友，但因为巴士上拥挤的淡马锡理工学院学生个个高头大马的，看不清那个小朋友是男生还是女生。也由于距离，也不能上前打招呼。现在的我变化如此的大，大概也面生了。

尝试记起他的名字，不到几秒就想到了。Ang Tuan Leong。

记得当时我是军需部门(Quartermaster, QM) 的书记。他是一个货仓管理员。我也只知道他的英文名字。记得他是一个瘦削，脚踏实地，老实腼腆的男生，却也是一个胆大心细的人。

不知道他过得好不好？现在有了家庭，看起来一点中年发福了，身体还健康吗？还有没有跟当兵时的朋友联络呢？

辗转红尘二十春

问君记否年少戏

敢叙仕途可满润

躯念安康甚喜兮

Red Door

It's the Minions !!!

I know I know, the little yellow creatures is having their own movies now, and everywhere I go I can hear kids and adults saying about how cute they are. Yes they are cute.

And right after I saw a Facebook post on Minions toys available at Mcdonald's in Malaysia, today I happen to passby and I saw this.

Starting today for 5 weeks with 2 toy each week with any Happy Meals. So I end up with this today. Hehehe, they are cute alright.

Wait a minute, ain't them suppose to be evil?

And now I have 2 set of Nuggets Happy Meal with Ribena and corn. Probably make something and I will post in my food blog.

$31 Million Coffee Shop

Bukit Batok Coffee Shop, image by [The New Paper] via 

[The Online Citizen article : New company buys HDB coffee shop for record $31 million]

Another record high for coffee shop business. Are they going to charge $10 chicken rice? Some stall increase 10% rent while some say 50% according to newspaper report.

Thank Buddha I do not stay in Bukit Batok. All the more reason for home cook food!

Sky

I like to take photos of sky and cloud. It always amaze me that the cloud can form anything and every time it is always different.

Early Bird

While waiting for bus number 66 to office this morning, found a bird beside the bus stop calling out to its companion. Flash out my iPhone and quickly snap, not having much time to change any settings. Hence I use an app to touch up, called VSCOcam, maybe I can introduce the next time.

听 - 电视剧《武媚娘传奇》，插曲《敢为天下先》，起义改性改词

原歌词
---------------------------------------------
谁的眉心被画出江山的模样
谁的指尖被梦涂上娇羞浓妆
月如水花似火映出一片晴朗
谁的青春不曾有潦草迷茫

你在梦中时常回忆最初的模样
那个不问世事曾经倔强的姑娘
天堂路难前往 爱与恨两相忘
收起心伤让时光留在手掌

敢为天下先 为爱恨缱绻千年
江边青峰云烟 恋着娇羞容颜
敢为天下先 为旧梦流连万卷
尘世红颜看遍 等花好月圆

改编
---------------------------------------------
谁的肩膀被披上江湖的风霜
谁的笔尖被痴染红血泪沧桑
烈焰如烽似水冲淡热血直肠
谁的丹心不曾有怀疑模样

你在醉中时常畅谈最初的厚憨
那个不知天高地厚耿直少年郎
缘易聚份难忘 嗔与痴剪不断
藏起无奈让年华继续流放

敢为爱恨缱 为梦想奔波忘年
窗台雀鸟青桑 吱叫年少荡肠
敢为爱恨缱 为前程片舟汪洋
宦海贪婪看遍 待饭菜鱼汤

Olloclip

I bought a new toy for my iPhone 6 plus 2 weeks ago and did some very nice photos. It has a 10x and 15x Fisheye or wide angle lens which can be used as a macro lens too. I love macro :)

This little device cost me about 90 SGD !

Notice the small little bolt? This is the window at my kitchen. This photo is taken by the iPhone without Olloclip.

This is taken with the Olloclip clip on macro lens. Look at the details!

I am gonna love it!!!

Sunset 夕阳 2

Sunset 夕阳 1

Sunny

Model...

No I am not talking about fashion model if that is what you are thinking.

Waking up early in the morning, I would make my way to Bedok Interchange to take a bus to my work place near Changi Prison. As I strife my way thru the bustling of busy street with full of people queuing for food at the interchange hawker centre, what caught my eyes are the stall of different cuisines that stall owner offers.

I am wondering, how long would this hawker centre last, one by one, they have been closed down, turning into air-conditioned food court serving food that is cooked by machine or FTs who does not know the origins or culture of the mixed we have in Singapore, yet they call the black colour noodle "Char Kway Teow" or soft white buns with Roast pork "Char Siew Bao".

It seems to me that that is the model of our society. Whenever you walk into a shopping centre, you will not fail to see the same stores offering the same merchandise everywhere. Going to town can be avoided, but its getting pretty boring here. Except maybe the challange of trying to understand the poor English that the FTs are trying to purge from their mouth.

How long does each model last? The food court are serving countless amount of food thats very expensive and not true to the original taste.

What can I do?