In Osaka

Taking some time off during my work trip in Japan now to blog. It's been a while and since I have some time in between flights, I'm back at the hotel using the internet.

Japan is an amazing place. It is my 2nd time here and based on the behaviour of the people here, you will know that this is indeed a very different land. People are very or shuld I say extremely polite and humble. Courtesy is a must. What amazes me is the taxi fares. It is extremely expensive. fares running up to hundreds of Sing Dollars is not unheard of. What I cannot understand is why in some countries in Asia, we have taxi drivers loitering at the airports and once you are out, they swarm you and try to get you to board their cab. However, I also noticed that most advance or civilised countries, do not have the above symptom. I was in Phuket recently and the same occurred. In Cambodia, the same. Especially when you are fair in skin colour and with blond hair, they will swarm around you as if honey to bees. Thinking you will give them a big tip i suppose. Such actions disgust me and I prefer the likes of Japan, Singapore, Hongkong etc where by there is some form of a system to allow fair competition.

This trip to Osaka, I was very involved in the operations and from it I learnt a few valuable lessons too. Was introduced to someone who spoke English very well and was really impressed. A good help especially in a land whereby I do not speak the native language and can hardly communicate with the others. I trusted him with the instructions and deligated a lot of work to him. When the rubber meets the road, I realised that he is someone who cannot deliver. All talk, no action. At the end, it is the quiet Japanese who actually put in the thoughts and process in place to get the job done. It is really great to se them so passionate about their job.

So the lesson learnt is that very often, the person who speaks the least is the hardworking one. The one who talks the most, produces the most smoke. Always check their work...

Gone Flying

It's been a while since I've last blogged and probably that is because I've been busy lately. Busy with work that is and have been flying about.

Just did a calculation. From the start of the year to date, I've covered more than 60,000kms. I've got a few more trips coming up this month, including to Vietnam, Manila, Japan, etc. By the end of July, I would have flown around the globe aprroximately 2 and a quarter times along the equator. The world is indeed an awesome place and that is because we've got an awesome God who created all that. From the various natural sceneries to those man-made ones to the diverse culture. Beautiful...

Phyysically, it is tiring and there are times when you do not even need to unpack as the next trip is just a couple of days away. Having mentioned all the trips I've been on this year, I noticed all but 1 flight was on an Airbus airplane.

Since this is a blog about the passion on aviation, I'll mention a bit about the difference between Airbus and Boeing, the 2 largest makers of commercial airplanes. For Airbus, generally, the maintenance cost is more expensive. Why? Cos their manuals require them to have a complete change of equipment when there is any damage or faults. However, for Boeing, one can just change by small parts. The layman way of saying it that for Boeing, one can just change a faulty screw and have it replaced. however, for Airbus, one needs to swop the entire part around. That is the general case, not too sure how the B-787 will be like. Therefore, if you are taking an old aircraft, an Airbus one will probably be more reliable. I'm sure they are all safe, but just an Airbus one will probably not give as much issues as a Boeing one....

2 cities

Was traveling lately and before I went to China, I had the opportunity to watch a documentary entitled "Secret Service" at home. It was on Discovery Channel or NGC and they were talking about the assassination of US President Ronald Reagan. That programme was done by US and it was saying how the training of the Secret Service ultimately led to the prevention of this assassination. How that agent in the grey suit made himself looked huge and took a bullet for the President. There was another agent who pushed the President into the car and brought him to safety. The documentary was about how great the Secret Service was and how wonderful their training was and so on. Then a few days later, in a hotel in China, I saw a similar programme and again, it was about the same assassination. This time, it was done from a Chinese perspective. There were apparently 3 reporters at the scene and thus, there were 3 videos of the incident all from different angles. They reviewed the tape and here is what they concluded. After the shooting, there was chaos especially when it comes to sending the assissin to the lock up. The first patrol car that came in cannot be used and they had to go to another patrol car. There was a women from across the street who ran to the scene and looked at the injured man and thought he was her husband and screamed and was talk to leave alone without any one supporting her. How did she manage to get so close to the crime scene in the first place? There was no crowd control. There was also a live gun just at the head of the injured lying on the floor. That was many minutes after the shooting. If there was an accomplice, that was the end of everyone. Another point they raised was the presence of the Uzi. What was the Uzi there for? and the guy who jumped around with the Uzi in hand really looked commical. There were other points raised such as the fact that they had to ask around for a hanky as first aid dressing. Basically, poor planning and poor training. So very clearly, two different cities had 2 different versions of the story. It amazes me how often the same situation can generate different versions of it. More often than not, I see Western people being very confident. Or should I say, the lack of humility. Look at the reality shows. How when they lose, they will put the blame on others and say that it is this, it is that, and it will never be because they were not good enough. For a Eastern person, they will always be humble. Like the Taiwanese who will always say "Wo hui jia you!" Meaning I will put in the effort. Or Japanese contestants who will say I will train harder the next time etc. In my opinion, the best is still a good balance between the two.

The under-aged prostitute saga

In Singapore, what is snatching the headlines recently is this on-going legal battle. Apparently an under-aged prostitute has caused close to 50 men to be summoned to be investigated. She is now 19 and was 17 when the acts were committed. Not a problem to have sex with someone under 18, as long as she is above 16. However, if it is paid sex (i.e. prositution), it is against the law. Prostitutes have got to be above 18. I'm no lawyer and the above information is what I gathered from the papers and other sources of media. Should they be incorrect, I regret that my level of intepretation is not up to mark.

So I've decided to blog a little about this issue as usual, I have my opinions on current affairs. Many people have followed the news closely and importantly, they want to know who the girl is. Some have identified her as ________. I will not mention her identity here due to a gag order. However, if you google hard enough, it is not hard to find. Is it her real identity? It is anyone's guess.

So what is really so sensational about this piece of news is really the people or rather, men, that got involed. Many of them are people with reputable status. The who's who of today's society. High ranking civil servents. One of them was also related to River Valley High School and therefore it caught my interest. Many people are laughing at these men who appear as lepers leaving the courtroom - all wrapped up.

However, I was just thinking of the family menbers of these men. In fact, what kind of stress will these men be going through now. How their business associates / colleagues / close relatives / cousins / school mates etc will be viewing them. It definately is not a glamourous thing. One of the men even appeared recently on a magazine stating how loving his marriage life is and now, he and his wife are in the courtroom.

What the main concern here is consistency and integrity. These people holding high office positions are expected to behave in a certain manner and what this case did was to expose their other side. Their private side. Their dark side. Sadly, it has been made public. However, before we flip open the papers and laugh at all the names of the men (yes they do print out all the names), we touch our hearts and ask ourselves are we that great ourselves. Have we led a truly consistent life that is 100% integrated? Did we not lead a double life at a certain point in time. at least once?

See, it can range from something seemingly innocent like "I am a prefect and is suppose to be a model student. However, I didn't do my homework and am punished for it" and on the other extreme end, "I am a CEO of a company but was found to have embazzled company funds" or maybe "I am a political leader but was caught having an affair".

The fact remains that if such a case can happen to these 50 men, it can happen to anyone of us. Most of these men are Singaporeans (It has been a long time since Singapore's papers publish crimes that invole Singaporeans as the victims and accused) They are the average people we see along orchard road, in the heartlands, etc. the crime this time may be women. it may be money next. Anyone can fall into these. The bible says guard your heart with all diligence. easier said than done. But what I always remember and am thankful for is that I learn some time back that God will deal with our sins privately. If we learnt and repent, it will save us from being dealt with publicly. You, my reader, may be leading a very good and clean life. So this message is not for you. It is simply a note to myself that I need to correct myself constantly. We are not competing to be the perfect saint but we need to do what we possibly can to improve and correct outselves. Going onto perfection, some people call it.

I was reminded of a song by Delirious? entitled "King or Cripple" A pert of the verse in the lyrics said "What made me a King can sometimes cripple" So true indeed. The higher you go, maybe a CEO or minister or a pulic figure like an international pastor will come under greater scrutiny. The public demands you to be perfect. I have entered the working world for about 4 years now and I have seen at least 4 top office holders being told to go. How sad when you cannot meet the expectations of others. I cannot please men. Let me try to please God.

God help me to be a better person each day. In my actions, thoughts, and everything within me....

Salmon Teriyaki

Just made this extremely simply and yummy dish. So decided to post it here. It's Teriyaki Salmon and it should be done in under 10mins.

First, you'll need a piece of fresh salmon. NTUC, Giant or any other supermarkets should have them. This piece that I got cost around $7. So it's quite a big piece.



Place it in a nice microwaveable dish and into the microwave oven for 2-3 mins (depending on size and esp thickness of fish.)

It should appear like this when it's done.



Then, it's the teriyaki sauce. Bought it from Giant the last time and just pour it over the semi-cooked fish.





When it's done, put some black pepper on it and back into the microwave it goes for another 3 mins.


And this is the finished product.



Some tips: Teriyaki sauce might by quite salty, use as you deem fit. Might be a good idea to cover the dish when it's placed in the microwave oven. The oil from salmon is the good Omega 3.

Bus Service 48

Some time back, I wrote to LTA stating that I find it amusing to see buses bringing residents to the bus terminus after snaking through neighbourhoods instead of a direct route taking them to the nearest mrt station. The examples I gave were service 229 for Bedok South Ave 3 and service 334 for Jurong West St 42. The post can be viewed in my Jan 2011 listing. (not sure how to do a shortcut link here)

Despite the reply, I was still hopeful that the authorities will do something about it and not just send out templated response to genuine, good, intellectual feedback.

I'm happy to note that somewhere in December 2011, they decided to ammend the route to service 48. 48 will now cut through Bedok South ave 3 directly to Tanah Merah Mrt station. This means that I now have a direct bus service to Tanah Merah Mrt station from the busstop right at the foot of my block. Previously, I had to walk 6-7mins to take 12 or 38.

A Lonely Buffet

This happened towards the end of 2011. I always thought it is wierd to eat alone let alone a buffet. It was until recent that I knew how to dine alone. Especially so when I travel alone overseas and often had to have the breakfast buffet at the hotel... alone. Not too long ago, NUS also had a campaign to dare people to eat alone. Since I am NUS trained, I should be able to eat pretty much, without anyone else sitting with me. So, I went for a buffet at M hotel last year thanks to a voucher I got from my dad. So here are the photos and it should pretty much what I had at the reetaurant. Probably I left a plate of sashimi out that's all. Everything that was taken in the photos here all ended up in my belly.

Is it a lot?

This is the entrance where I was told to wait. Apparently, there were many people who were here for the buffet. It cost like close to SGD 50 I think per head.


The place I was seated


Some meat and it was pretty much sashimi from here on...









Ended with some desserts.

The conclusion I drew from this is that eating alone is very sad. It makes the food taste bad actually. It is often not about the food but the company that really matters. I can say out loud that a bowl of instant noodles eaten at home with my wife tastes so so so good. However, when I have the most expensive seafood in front of me with some officials in China for some duty trip, the food often is not appetising and I can hardly swallow them....