Back to Basics

Just last week, my taiji teacher was saying, as you go through life, you realise what's more important or essential and shed the unimportant stuff, like unnecssary layers. An analogy he gave was he used to like to pick the finer fish to eat, like 'ang kau' (I actually don't now what kind of fish this is). But now, he realised that as long as the fish is fresh, the flesh will be sweet. Woah...a touch of zen!

Uncannily, I had a taste of this today.

My expensive Omega watch had let me down. Meant to be a diver's watch, but after a few weeks of swimming at the neighbourhood pool, yesterday morning I realised that moisture has seeped into the watch and mist could be seen under the glass face.


I sent in the watch for servicing and was told that the wait could be 12 weeks.

So, the lesson learnt for me is for a watch, as long as it can tell time accurately, it is a good watch. So I went to get this $28 Casio watch which tells the time perfectly and can be worn to the local pool and water resistant up to 50 metres.

Early morning, public bus rides, memories of school days

Reading Bro Jinbo's post has insipred me to bog on my experiences :p

Getting up super early was never an issue when we were younger... now getting up at 6:30 proves a challenge every working day :)

Bus ride were tiring but fun, esp if you got fellow classmates taking the same ride. My sec school, Swiss Cottage was along Bt Timah road. Also a hour to 1.5 hours of bus ride or longer, depending on weather and traffic conditions... neber encountered any floods though, would have love the experience :p

I enjoyed most my rides on bus service 170, where they used to have bus conductor... watching them working their way thru the crowded bus, collecting fares and issuing bus tickets (punching holes along the way).

On Sat where I would wake up super super early to catch the first bus to school to prepare for my ECA. Never once feel tired or regreted having to wake up early... wonder why???

On the issue of education... my results were never any good compared to both my elder brothers... Chinese High & River Valley were out of my league... been able to enroll for Swiss Cottage was like striking lottery :)

My parents hopes for me were simple then... maybe too good to me... just pass can liao... and I met their target :) It was only in my final year of Polytechnic did I "jump" out of this mental box to try to improve my scores. Did pretty well, even manage to complete my Final Year Project which was good enough for the Poly Open House exhibition.

And only when I started working, did I truly realise the importance of a good paper qualification. Having "fought" the corporate war for 10 years, I got my fair share of experiences which I would blog abt soon.

For now... the Zzzz babe is luring me to catch up with her (no more Zzzz monster, Zzzz babe is better for a good nite rest)

Long daily bus trips

Not now of course, although in present modern Singapore there still are long journeys one can make on a bus, with some services taking impossibly inefficient routes to pass along more streets.

I spent four years of my life a happy student in River Valley High School. In those four years, I probably spent the most hours on the road.

As I qualify for a SAP school based on my PSLE results, my first choice was the Chinese High School along Bukit Timah Road (it still is there at the same address today). My elder brother studied there and most of my chinese friends aspired to be admitted there as well. My malay classmates who were all very bright ended up mostly at Raffles Institution.

I was not accepted in Chinese High. A side story was that my classmate who got the same PSLE results did, and the reason was that he was a gymnast; he later represented Singapore.

Anyway, I decided against an appeal and resigned myself to RVHS. It didn't help that my mum liked the uniform! My parents' place then was at Marsiling (just beside the old customs building) and RVHS then was along West Coast Road, beside the Pandan Reservoir.

For morning sessions, I woke up everyday at 5am, showered, got dressed and took the first bus, service 178, to school. In the morning, and on the first bus, traffic was smooth and there always were seats. I kind of liked the morning rides, with the cool dawn wind blowing in my face and the surroundings were still dark. I can recall all the landmarks. The oil refinery (?) just after the depot which emits pungent and strange odours. Metal Box along Woodlands Road. The two dirt tracks along Yew Tee, and one of them leads to a temple. The Fire Station at the junction before Bukit Timah Road where the bus will take a right turn.

The journey back home was dreadful. Service 178's destination from Woodlands was Jurong, which was the manufacturing hub. Everyday, by the time 178 reached Jurong East, where I boarded the bus for the way home, it will almost always be crowded. To add to the agony of having to stand for the almost 1.5 hour trip, the bus stopped almost at every stop either to allow passengers to alight or pick up more people.

That's not all the pain we passengers had to endure. Before the bus can turn into the depot at Woodlands, it has to pass through Woodlands Road which also happens to be the mother of all roads into the customs and Johor Bahru. Traffic sometimes got so bad that most passengers will elect to alight some 5km away from the station (when the bus got stuck in traffic and stuttered on) and take a brisk walk. My school mate Chongfu and I were among those weary commuters.

I can still recall those days vividly. But now with a smile.

Health tips from Taiji teacher

I am very fortunate to be able to learn taiji from my present teacher; my parents and wife are also in the same class. Besides being very knowledgeble and competent in taiji, he also dishes out health tips on and off during lessons.

These are a few I have gleaned:

1) To prevent catching cold, make sure your shoulders are not exposed, i.e. cover them. Should prevent your feet from being exposed to the cold also, by using slippers even at home or wearing socks when sleeping, especially if in an air-conditioned room.

2) Hang on a monkey bar to stretch the spine like primates do.

3) Exercise the brain by softly clenching your fist finger by finger. This will train the different parts of the brain responsible for the movement of each finger. Particularly useful for the aged.

话剧

Parallel Parking tip

Source: Esquire Magazine

For detailed instructions Step 1 to 4, pl visit Esquire.

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The first time I read this tip, I went to look for a parallel parking lot to try it. Works pretty well!

Sleeping Habit

Seems like the dogs have developed similar sleeping habits... Zzzzz

Merlion in your house

Merlion

Chinese Orchestra

Since I am on the topic of Chinese Orchestra (my previous post on the drums performance), I thought I might search my memory on my dabbling with the art.

I think I joined my primary school CO in primary 2. I was following in the footsteps of my elder brother; my mum also encouraged me to learn to play a musical instrument. My brother learned the di zi (Chinese flute), I had absolutely no affinity with the flute (you need to be able to form your lips in a certain way to emit sound from the bamboo) so I settled, or rather the teacher settled for me, for the er hu.

I had some talent in the erhu. In fact, in my whole life, in many things I have a bit more talent than the average guy but not enough to be considered brilliant. So it was the same with the erhu. I stayed with the primary school CO until primary six. The valuable takeaway from the five years was the opportunity to learn music, to read music and to appreciate music, tempo and melody. I also had a good grounding in being on stage and because of this experience (and also my training as a student councillor doing PA duties), till today I never get stage fright.

Also because my elder brother did, I joined the CO at Woodlands CC. I received additional coaching and more performing opportunities. The two instructors I had then encouraged me a lot to pursue the art but as I reached seconday school age, the lure of a more physical ECA attracted me and after a few months into secondary school, I quit CO entirely.

I had found the weekly training quite a chore and realised that whatever talent I had had reached its limit. It was to be the same when I picked up the piano when I was 25 years old. But that is another story.

The Legends of Drums

Mum very astutely bought these under-valued $2 tickets for a splendid 'drums' performance by The Percussion Assembly. Although the venue was a neighbourhood community club, the air conditioning was adequate and the quality of the performance was splendid. As the host himself declared, the standard of the amateur performers was near professional.

Furthermore, in additional to the performance, with the ticket, one gets a free buffet dinner. Thats why mum and dad looked so pleased! The only drawback was some of the aunties were still engrossed in their food when the performance began.

Parents with their friends.

Mum correctly answering a question and was rewarded with an NAC (National Arts Council) umbrella. The man on the right was the host of the concert Mr Quek Ling Kiong, Assistant Conductor of the Singapore Chinese Orchestra. Mr Quek interspersed the concert with nuggets of information of the various percussion instruments that were used, e.g. flat drum, vase drum and different techniques that can be employed to create vivid effects. For example, cymbals when clanged mutedly sound like ducks clacking. Cymbals can be struck and then thrown into the air to sound like firing of rocket-crackers.

Taking a shot with Ronald at his restaurant and also with mum's new umbrella. Times have improved. The CC in my childhood had one vending machine that dispensed Yeo's packet drinks for 40 cents.