Quoteworthy – John Cheng You Nam (钟耀南) Picture via EDMW Via omy.sg: “在我们新加坡那么开放的社会，男人玩女人是很正常的，只是他们偷吃的比较‘干净’，Irene（梁太太)就像是狮城林凤娇……” “In a liberal society like Singapore, it’s normal for man to have affair. It’s just that others know how to hide their tails better. Irene (Jack Neo’s wife) is like Singapore’s Lin Fen-Jiao…..” - John Cheng You Nam, J Team artiste, after heroically saving his mentor, Jack Neo and his wife from the clutches of evil journalists and cameramen at the Jack Neo Affair Scandal Press Conference yesterday morning. Technorati Tags: 钟耀南, john cheng you nam, ah nam, ah nan, ah nan hero, ah nam hero, ah nan gangster, ah nam gangster, ah nam normal for man to have affiar, jack neo press conference, ah nam violent, ah nam shouting, ah nam at jack neo press conference, ah nam protect jack neo, ah nam protect irene kng, irene kng press conference, jack neo affair scandal Jack Neo Affair Scandal Press Conference – Full Video Recording Jack Neo and wife speak to the press The full video recording of this morning press conference where shamed local movie director, Jack Neo and his wife, Irene Kng spoke to the media is now available on omy.sg. You can watch the full video HERE: I was present at the press conference. Not accusing anyone of anything, but somehow, everything seems so dramatic that the event unfolded like a well-rehearsed B-grade movie script – male lead and female lead cried; male asked for forgiveness; female asked for compassion; female immediately faint upon standing up; male gets agitated protecting female; male’s pet disciple became the hero who rushed on stage to protect the two main leads. It’s sad for the Neo family to have to go through all this, but that’s the price to pay for being a public figure. That’s also the price to pay for one man’s infidelity. Technorati Tags: jack neo press conference, jack neo press con, jack neo to speak on affair, jack neo sex scandal, jack neo scandal, jack neo affair scandal, jack neo tell all, jack neo speak out, jack neo press conference video, jack neo interview video, questions for jack neo, jack neo interview questions, omy.sg, omy jack neo, omy.sg jack neo video interview, jack neo and wendy chong, jack neo and le xuan, jack neo on mistress, ah nam, john cheng, ah nam hero, ah nam protect jack neo, jack neo crying, irene kng crying, jack neo says sorry, jack neo press conference pictures, jack neo press conference photos, jack neo’s wife crying, jack neo’s wife fainted, irene kng fainted, jack neo agitated, jack neo shout at media, ah nam shout at media, john cheng shout at video, omy.sg jack neo press conference, jack neo latest news Jack Neo Affair Scandal Press Conference Pictures taken just a few minutes earlier: Lots of cameras on standby Jack Neo's manager addressing the press before his arrival J Team artistes who came down to support Jack Neo Jack Neo and his wife Irene, enters the hall Jaded look Jack Neo and Irene taking the hot seat Jack Neo speaks Jack Neo on the verge of tears "It's all my fault" "Sorry everyone" Jack Neo sobbing In summary, both shamed movie director, Jack Neo and his wife, Irene Kng broke down and cry while addressing the media. Jack said that everything is all his fault and apologised to everyone. Irene said she love her husband and family very much and she hope that everyone can divert attention away from them. Irene fainted when she stood up to leave. Jack became agitated and shouted at everyone. One of his J Team artiste, John Cheng (Ah Nam) charged up on stage to protect them, shoving away the journalists and photographers as Jack and his wife are lead out through the back door. The end. For more detail updates, interviews, photos and videos on the Jack Neo Affair Scandal, stay tuned to this dedicated Jack Neo microsite on omy.sg. Technorati Tags: jack neo press conference, jack neo press con, jack neo to speak on affair, jack neo sex scandal, jack neo scandal, jack neo affair scandal, jack neo tell all, jack neo speak out, jack neo press conference video, jack neo interview video, questions for jack neo, jack neo interview questions, omy.sg, omy jack neo, omy.sg jack neo video interview, jack neo and wendy chong, jack neo and le xuan, jack neo on mistress, ah nam, john cheng, ah nam hero, ah nam protect jack neo, jack neo crying, irene kng crying, jack neo says sorry, jack neo press conference pictures, jack neo press conference photos, jack neo’s wife crying, jack neo’s wife fainted, irene kng fainted, jack neo agitated, jack neo shout at media, ah nam shout at media, john cheng shout at video, omy.sg jack neo press conference, jack neo latest news Supper Trail with Radio 91.3 DJs Cheryl Miles and Boy Thunder Group photo before embarking on the supper trail As mentioned in my previous post on the Bras Basah Bugis Night Out project, Singapore does has a vibrant night life – you just need to know where to find it. Together with Radio 100.3 and Radio 91.3, omy.sg organised a series of fun-filled activities to promote the night life in the Bras Basah Bugis Precinct. You can find out where all the night owls hang out in the precinct as well as exciting upcoming activities on the official website. During the first event, we got to experience a trishaw ride and some board game fun at Settler’s Cafe. In the second installment, Radio 91.3 DJs Cheryl Miles and Boy Thunder accompanied a group of radio listeners and omy.sg bloggers to go for a marathan supper session. Event banners Radio 91.3 DJs, Cheryl Miles and Boy Thunder Quick briefing I had to attend another event earlier in the evening, and wound up late (with regrets). My colleague, Corrinne was quick to fill me in on all the sumptuous food they savoured during the supper trail, prior to my arrival – just listening to her description makes me want to kick myself in the foot for missing this! Here’s the route the supper kakis went through to sample the signature dishes/drinks at all the venues listed below: 1. Miss Clarity Cafe at Purvis Street 2. Mint Museum Of Toys, Mr Punch Restaurant and Wine Bar at Seah Street 3. CHIJMES - split into two groups: Group A – Bobby’s Taproom Grill & Ribs, Hog’s Breath Cafe and Harry’s Gastro Bar Group B – He Yuan Fang Shanghai’s Kitchen, Sun Japanese Dining and La Viva Here are some of the photos taken by Corrinne to share with everyone (she was in Group B): Miss Clarity Cafe One of Miss Ciarity Cafe's signature dish Sinful desert Warm welcome from the lady boss Two happy radio listeners Another two happy participants Boy Thunder enjoying his food Next stop - MINT museum My colleague, Corrinne and blogger, Miz Glitzy (the taller one) Group photo at the museum Two pretty radio listeners Shop to buy toys Popeye and Olive! Heading upstairs for Mr Punch Mr Punch Restaurant and Wine Bar - interior Quirky signboard at the bar counter Mr Punch's signature drink Finger food Crowd mingling Soaking in the atmosphere, enjoying their drinks Blogger, Yong Wei acting cool Headed to CHIJMES next for more food He Yuan Fang Shanghai Cuisine Inside the restaurant Sesame balls Some buns Some meat dish A soup dish Not sure what this is, but the presentation is nice Chicken Large pot of tofu Desert Next stop - Sun Japanese Dining Waiting for the food The cute manager (says Corrinne) giving an introduction to the menu Signature sushi Cold udon Yummy looking shrimps Wagyu beef steak! Another picture of the steak Delicious looking desert It's not over yet - last stop, La Viva Inside La Viva Look who's finally here, missing all the great food earlier (sob) With the ladies who made the event possible More food, served with lots of alcohol to wrap up the day Yong Wei volunteered to gobble everything up so as not to waste food One last group photo (with me inside!) If you are interested to find out where to head for supper at the Bras Basah Bugis precinct, do check out the official website. Technorati Tags: La Viva, mint museum of toys, chijmes pubbing, chijmes dining, F&B chijmes, bras basah, bras basah bugis, singapore travel, bras basah night life, bugis night life, singapore night life, bras basah bugis night life, singapore night tour, bras basah night tour, bugis night tour, bras basah bugis precinct, radio 91.3 djs, radio 91.3, cheryl miles, boy thunder, cheryl miles and boy thunder, sun japanese dining, mr punch restaurant and wine bar, miss clarity cafe, wagyu beef steak, singapore wagyu beef steak, purvis street, supper at purvis street, chijmes, bobby’s taproom grill and ribs, hog’s breath cafe, harry’s gastro bar, he yuan fang shanghai’s kitchen, Jack Neo Press Conference, 10am tomorrow (11 Mar) – Submit your questions for Jack Neo to omy.sg now! Singapore's most famous movie director, Jack Neo UPDATE (11 Mar): Photos taken at Jack Neo Affair Scandal Press Conference UPDATE (11 Mar): Catch the full video recording of the Jack Neo Affair Scandal Press Conference Shamed local director, Jack Neo will be holding a press conference tomorrow morning at 10am to address the media on his affair scandal which has became the talk of the town for the past week. For all the latest updates in the Jack Neo affair scandal, you can visit and bookmark this specially created omy.sg microsite. If you have any questions you would like omy.sg  to ask Jack Neo, you can submit them HERE. Remember to stay tuned to omy.sg for LIVE updates on the press conference. omy.sg will be your eyes and ears at the event even though you are not at the event physically. Technorati Tags: jack neo press conference, jack neo press con, jack neo to speak on affair, jack neo sex scandal, jack neo scandal, jack neo affair scandal, jack neo tell all, jack neo speak out, jack neo press conference video, jack neo interview video, questions for jack neo, jack neo interview questions, omy.sg, omy jack neo, omy.sg jack neo video interview, jack neo and wendy chong, jack neo and le xuan, jack neo on mistress Bras Basah Bugis Trishaw Night Tour with Radio 100.3 DJs Jianwen & Kemin Hosts for the night - Radio 100.3 DJs, Jianwen and Kemin Singapore does has a vibrant night life – you just need to know where to find it. Together with Radio 100.3 and Radio 91.3, omy.sg organised a series of fun-filled activities to promote the night life in the Bras Basah Bugis Precinct. You can find out where all the night owls hang out in the precinct as well as exciting upcoming activities on the official website. The first event occured on 4 Mar (previous Friday), whereby a group of Radio 100.3 listeners and omy.sg bloggers were invited to experience a night ride on a trishaw in the area, followed by some board games at Settler’s Cafe. You can read the bloggers’ account and media reports HERE. Radio 100.3 DJs, Jianwen and Kemin flagging off the event Bored trishaw uncle waiting for the event to start I shared a trishaw with another blogger, Basket. This is the first time I am riding a trishaw in Singapore. I felt kind of guilty as the rider was an elderly gentlemen and my weight is on the heavy side. Nonetheless, the rider was very professional and fit. He peddled us around the entire precinct for almost 45 minutes. Priority for the elderly Happy old lady Setting off! Flying trishaw! This rider is very fun - he will sing, dance and do funny poses Peforming stunt for the camera Passing Bras Basah Complex Blogger, Walter Lim and his wife Riding pass Sunshine Piaza My colleagues, Yiming and Uncle Teck who did the news report on the event Attempting an interview from the trishaw Colourful Little India Still in Little India Uncle Teck capturing everyone on tape It feels nice to zip through the streets, faster than on feet, but slower than in a motor vehicle such that the timing is just right for you to slowly enjoy the view and soak in the vibrant night atmosphere. After the trishaw ride, we went to the Settler’s Cafe located at the nearby SMU campus to play some board games as well as have some light snacks and refreshment. DJs leading a short walk to the next destination - Settler's Cafe Settler's Cafe in SMU Cafe interior - game counter, cashier Made in Singapore board game, based on the Japanese Invasion in 1942 Sitting area Snacks and refreshment Playing some card game Board game If you are interested to find out more on what’s happening and cool in the Bras Basah Bugis precinct, do check out the official website. Technorati Tags: bras basah, bras basah bugis, singapore travel, bras basah night life, bugis night life, singapore night life, bras basah bugis night life, singapore night tour, bras basah night tour, bugis night tour, radio 100.3, dj jianwen, dj kemin, dj luo ke min, dj kenneth kong, radio 100.3 djs, omy.sg, omy, singapore trishaw, bugis trishaw, bugis trishaw park, brash basah trishaw, bras basah bugis precinct, trishaw ride, settle’s cafe, singapore settler’s cafe, singapore board game cafe, board game cafe, smu, smu settler’s ［梁智强婚外情］Jack Neo’s Affair Scandal – Get all the latest updates If you are interested to keep up with the latest development in the recent Jack Neo affair scandal, here’s a useful microsite from omy.sg to bookmark: Every day, the microsite will be consolidating all related Jack Neo news from the various SPH Chinese newspapers – Lianhe Wanbao, Shin Min Daily, Lianhe Zaobao and my paper. Blog and twitter feeds as well as online polls are also available. Technorati Tags: actress expose Jack Neo, actress tells all on Jack Neo, crowne plaza hotel talk, 钟佳燕, foyce le, foyce le xuan, foyce le xuan jack neo, foyce le xuan video, foyce le xuan video interview, irene kng, jack neo affair, jack neo and foyce, jack neo and model, jack neo and wendy chong, jack neo being human, jack neo blog, jack neo car sex, jack neo confrontation, jack neo crowne plaza hotel, jack neo divorce, jack neo extra-marital affair, jack neo first mistress, jack neo mistress, jack neo publicity, jack neo publicity stunt, jack neo scandal, jack neo second mistress, jack neo sex, jack neo sex scandal, jack neo shamed, jack neo tell all, jack neo wendy, jack neo wife, le xuan, le xuan interview, le xuan speaks about Jack Neo, le xuan video interview, lian zhi qian mistress, lian zhi qian scandal, liang zhi qiang affair, liang zhi qiang and wendy chong, liang zhi qiang extra-marital affair, liang zhi qiang sex scandal, madam kng, omy foyce le xuan, second woman in Jack Neo scandal, singapore movie director affair, Tang Wing Fai, wendy chong, wendy chong car sex, 梁智强婚外情, 梁智强嫩草, 乐轩, 乐轩 video , jack neo lianhe wanbao, jack neo wanbao, jack neo shin min, jack neo shinmin, jack neo zaobao, jack neo my paper, jack neo mypaper, jack neo affair scandal special site, latest update on jack neo affair scandal, jack neo latest news, jack neo twitter Second woman in Jack Neo’s affair scandal, Foyce Le Xuan (乐轩) tells all An update on the recent Jack Neo’s affair scandal – another woman, Foyce Le Xuan (乐轩) spoke to the press about her unusual relationship with Jack. Via an exclusive video interview with omy.sg, Le Xuan spoke of how Jack tried to hook up with her a few years back via cheeky SMSes and other suggestive gestures when she was only 19 years old. She was then an artiste under J Team, Jack’s talent management company. Lost and confused then because of her tender age and unfamiliarity with the entertainment industry, Le Xuan did not tell anyone about Jack’s advances till today. You can read the article HERE or click HERE to watch the full video interview. Technorati Tags: 梁智强婚外情, 梁智强嫩草, 钟佳燕, 乐轩, le xuan, jack neo affair, singapore movie director affair, jack neo extra-marital affair, jack neo divorce, jack neo mistress, jack neo first mistress, jack neo second mistress, jack neo being human, jack neo blog, jack neo tell all, Tang Wing Fai, jack neo wife, jack neo confrontation, jack neo scandal, jack neo sex scandal, wendy chong, jack neo wendy, jack neo and wendy chong, jack neo and model, liang zhi qiang affair, liang zhi qiang extra-marital affair, liang zhi qiang sex scandal, lian zhi qian scandal, lian zhi qian mistress, liang zhi qiang and wendy chong, crowne plaza hotel talk, jack neo crowne plaza hotel, irene kng, jack neo wife, madam kng, jack neo shamed, jack neo publicity, jack neo publicity stunt, jack neo sex, jack neo car sex, wendy chong car sex, le xuan video interview, le xuan interview, 乐轩 video, le xuan speaks about Jack Neo, second woman in Jack Neo scandal, actress expose Jack Neo, actress tells all on Jack Neo Jack Neo (梁智强)’s “Woman No Enough (女人不够)” Coming Soon... I watched with amusement as Singapore’s most famous movie director, Jack Neo (梁智强) falls deeper and deeper into his extra-marital affairs scandal. The first news report came out on Saturday, 6 March, on the front page of Lianhe Wanbao: Wanbao cover page - 6 March 2010 (Sat) A 22-year-old freelance model, Wendy Chong (钟佳燕) had went to confront Jack Neo’s wife, Mdm Irene Kng about her affair with Jack, 50 (btw, he has a 19 year-old daughter, just slightly younger than Wendy). Singaporeans were stunned as Jack always had a wholesome image via his family-oriented heartland movies and old TV shows. Some brushed the scandal off as publicity for his new movie, but I doubt any sane person would go to such an extent to drag his whole family in just for publicity. Today, another 25-year-old actress/singer, Le Xuan (乐轩) came out the box and exposed Jack’s alleged indecent advances made to her when she was still an artiste under J team, Jack’s talent management company. Here’s the Wanbao cover: Wanbao cover page, 8 March 2010 Why am I not surprise? If there’s one, there’s two and there will be three, four, five, six and many more. Just like Tiger Woods. Track the news report for the next few days or even weeks – I am sure more dabian will be coming out of the closet. Stealing one apple is a crime. Stealing ten apples is still the same crime. Once there was Edison Chen. Then there was Tiger Wood. Now, Jack Neo is starring in a reality show of his own - “Woman No Enough (女人不够)”, coming to major newspapers, news websites and television stations near you. What is missing now is the leaked sex tape or photos. I won’t be surprise if such things surface soon. Anyway, here are some of the current news updates on the scandal: 08/03/2010 ［梁智强婚外情］牧师受访：智强没逃避　一直想解决 08/03/2010 ［梁智强婚外情］女模昨天亲戚家住 08/03/2010 ［梁智强婚外情］自爆丑闻有阴谋　网民骂女模贱货 08/03/2010 ［梁智强婚外情］算命师傅曾预言　梁智强50岁面临大危机 08/03/2010 ［梁智强婚外情］《做人》首4天　票房42万元 08/03/2010 ［梁智强婚外情］中峇鲁酒店幽会　地点方便大门隐密 08/03/2010 ［梁智强婚外情］国煌明年1月 自立门户 08/03/2010 ［梁智强婚外情］梁太开腔：我和孩子都很好 08/03/2010 ［梁智强婚外情］梁导偷吃风暴造假 好友6点反驳 08/03/2010 ［梁智强婚外情］婚外情遭质疑做假 记者公开6小时采访过程 08/03/2010 ［梁智强婚外情］梁太时间不够用　梁家班将解散 08/03/2010 ［梁智强婚外情］圈内人：梁智强嫩草熟女　大小通吃 08/03/2010 ［梁智强婚外情］女模：智强送我第一份礼物是心形坠子 08/03/2010 ［梁智强婚外情］爆出第2号嫩草－－乐轩 08/03/2010 ［梁智强婚外情］女模：再回头我也不要他 08/03/2010 [梁智强婚外情] 经理人：安顿太太孩子后梁智强将一次过说清楚 07/03/2010 女模发现：梁智强与女编剧网上聊天露骨 07/03/2010 圈内人列疑点　梁智强爆婚外情为炒电影《做人》 07/03/2010 女模：事发前5天　还与梁智强上床 07/03/2010 梁智强与女模认识仅一个月 车上发生关系 07/03/2010 女模指梁智强想重温恋爱 07/03/2010 曾因绯闻多 梁智强妻子要离婚 07/03/2010 杨荣文部长：梁智强勇于坦白是对的 07/03/2010 梁智强一家漏液　住酒店避风头 07/03/2010 女模:发生关系隔天 我主动提分手 07/03/2010 梁智强求女模：放我一条生路 07/03/2010 李国煌想掴梁智强两巴掌 06/03/2010 梁智强爆婚外情　嫩草老婆3方谈判4小时 You can also visit his blog to give him some encouraging words to tide him through this trying period or simply to give him a piece of your mind. Technorati Tags: 梁智强婚外情, 梁智强嫩草, 钟佳燕, 乐轩, le xuan, jack neo affair, singapore movie director affair, jack neo extra-marital affair, jack neo divorce, jack neo mistress, jack neo first mistress, jack neo second mistress, jack neo being human, jack neo blog, jack neo tell all, Tang Wing Fai, jack neo wife, jack neo confrontation, jack neo scandal, jack neo sex scandal, wendy chong, jack neo wendy, jack neo and wendy chong, jack neo and model, liang zhi qiang affair, liang zhi qiang extra-marital affair, liang zhi qiang sex scandal, lian zhi qian scandal, lian zhi qian mistress, liang zhi qiang and wendy chong, crowne plaza hotel talk, jack neo crowne plaza hotel, irene kng, jack neo wife, madam kng, jack neo shamed, jack neo publicity, jack neo publicity stunt, jack neo sex, jack neo car sex, wendy chong car sex Alvin and Rachel’s Plane Solemnisation – media reports This entry should have been up right after Rachel and I returned to Singapore from Shantou on 7 Feb. However, as we were in Shantou when the plane solemnisation was reported in the local media, we had to spend some effort gathering the media reports in the various newspapers, news website and TV stations after we got back. It didn’t help that Rachel and I underestimated the amount of media coverage this event will receive (we thought it only merited a photo caption in one or two newspapers) and did not ask any of our friends or relatives to help us collect these. How wrong were we. From our best of knowledge, the event received coverage from the following: 1. omy.sg (vodcast and article) Appearing on the web portal which is my job to promote 2. Lianhe Wanbao (3 Feb 2010, pg. 16) Click on image to enlarge 3. Shin Min Daily (2 Feb 2010, pg. 3) Click on image to enlarge 4. RazorTV (vodcast) On RazorTV 5. Lianhe Zaobao (3 Feb 2010, didn’t manage to get a copy) 6. Channel 5 news (2 Feb 2010, video recording courtesy of Samuel Ma) 7. Channel 8 news (2 Feb 2010, video recording courtesy of Jeremy Koh) 8. MSN news (didn’t manage to get screen grab) 9. Yahoo news (didn’t manage to get screen grab) 10. CNA website (screen grab courtesy of Ronnie Tan) On CNA website We were also pleasantly surprised to be contacted by the Singapore Book of Records to have our plane solemnisation registered for their book next year as the “First Wedding On Board An Airplane”. Cool hor? Anyway, if you know of other media reports or have other clippings, recordings or screen grabs which I missed, do email them to me at alvinologist@gmail.com. A big thank you from Rachel and I in advance. We are now busy planning for our traditional dinner ceremony in June which will be a quiet, cosy, private affair, quite different from our proposal and solemnisation. Technorati Tags: singapore plane solemnisation, plane solemnisation, jetstar plane solemnisation, jetstar singapore to shantou, meritus shantou, wotif.com, teochew poit ip huay kuan, singapore teochew association, shantou, shantou travel, plane rom, airplane rom, ellie and carl, up movie, ellie and carl up, jetstar inaugural direct flight from Singapore to Shantou, 新加坡潮州八邑会馆, singapore unconventional wedding, plane wedding, airplane wedding, getting married on a plane, plane marriage Alvinology goes to Shantou – Day 2 of 5 On the second day, we had breakfast at Meritus Club in our hotel and then headed to Chaozhou City (潮州). We visited two attractions in the morning – Xiangziqiao (湘子桥) and Kaiyuanshi (开元寺). Our breakfast area Great city view from the Meritus club room Grabbing our breakfast My breakfast Fish ball soup noodle Char Siew Pau A luxurious condominium beside our hotel The other more regular housing Xiangziqiao is one of the four oldest bridge in China. Many Teochew businessmen contributed funds to its restoration and preservation, including Hong Kong tycoon, Li Ka-Shing (李嘉诚). There were originally two iconic bull statues on the bridge. After one sunk into the sea, the other was replaced with the replica seen at the bridge today. Bridge entrance Rachel with her mom and sis Eunice trying to turn the spoke Nice symmetry Symmetry again The omy.sg team Rachel and I with the replica bull Boats for hire to reach the other pavilion Rachel on the bridge Rachel and I on the bridge A wider view of the bridge Rachel with her mom and sis again Teochew businessmen who have donated to the bridge preservation The old city opposite the bridge which we did not have time to explore Three signboards Entrance to the old city for some shopping Buying fruits to snack on the bus Olive seller Kaiyuanshi refers to a series of ancient temples constructed during the Tangs Dynasty (618-907), commissioned by the superstitious sixth Tang Emperor, 唐玄宗 (712-756). The one we visited is one of the few surviving temples. The area near the temple sells a lot of traditional snacks like preserved plums and “Buddha’s Hand (佛手)” aka fingered citron (a kind of fruit shaped like a giant human hand). Kaiyuanshi Temple entrance One of the two "door god" (门神) Our guide, Weijian, briefing us on the temple history A smaller shrine inside the temple Giant incense urn Some guy making an offering Han Joo found her long lost sister in the temple Group shot with the VIPs in our tour group An altar in the temple Laughing buddha Another altar Street outside the temple Stall selling preserved tidbits like the Buddha's Hand A fat cat in one of the stalls One of the many little stalls outside the temple selling prayer stuff After seeing the attractions, we headed to a bridal gown factory which the local government was very proud of. Apparently, the gowns are exported for sale in Europe and America for more than ten times the production and raw material cost. We saw a lot of XXXXXXL gowns being tailored there. Obviously, there’s a lucrative market for producing non-regular sized gowns. Factory entrance Gowns on display The catalogue The president of the Teochew association, posing for the cameras Super size gown Most of the tailored gowns are jumbo sized Our moms scrutinising a gown together Ready gowns The designers Labouriously working on the trimmings Hard at work It's a large factory Sharing with our, the labour process Getting interviewd by the local television station We then headed for a heavy lunch hosted by the local government. Eating takes up five hours of our time daily – two hours each for lunch and dinner, one hour for breakfast. Scary isn’t it? Our lunch destination Our host giving a speech Whole pieces of abalone Unagi and duck Black fungus with meat and veggies Ugly looking fish that taste surprisingly good Stir-fried pork with cashew Pork rib soup Fried breaded prawn sandwich Kway Tiao Jade green veggies Zhui Kway and some green bean pastry After lunch, we visited Cidu (瓷都), located in Chao’an County (潮安县). We didn’t have much time to shop there, but our parents managed to buy two tea sets for use during our traditional wedding tea ceremony in June. The tea sets have carps painted on them. Rachel and I like them very much. Cidu exhibition hall Giant ceramic plate Colourful ceramic flower The workmanship is so fine the flower looks real Giant porcelain vase The 108 heroes in the Chinese classic, Water Margin (水滸傳) Close-up of some of the heroes World's longest ceramic mural Ceramic painting Another big ceramic vase Rows after rows of award-winning ceramic pieces Women musicians The Eight Immortals (八仙) World class ceramic potties Eunice fooling around Potty for toddlers The tea set our parents bought off to Raoping After Cidu, we headed to Raoping County (饶平县) to visit an old Hakka (客家) commune where over 600 people used to reside in. There are only about 30 people still staying there now. Stepping into the commune was like stepping through time. We took lots of pictures. The children in the commune were very lively and enjoyed having their pictures taken. Unlike in India, they did not ask us for tips or money after that. That felt really nice. Posing with the Rolls Royce for the VIPs in our tour group At the village Little girls Public toilet... the stench was... Community message education the villagers not to discriminate girls Entrance to the Hakka commune Cheery kids greeted us in the commune Conference under the tree Two kids hiding on the trees "Nail flower" (铁钉花) that grows on the roof More of this strange flower Rachel in the commune Me in the commune Another picture of me Kids wondering who are these strangers taking pictures of their house Rachel with the village chicken Rachel and I Old wooden doors A peek inside one of the houses Heading upstairs View from atop Close-up of the roof Me on the second floor Rachel on the second floor The village kids posing for our cameras Dashing to be in the group photo We proceeded for dinner after that at Raoping Hotel, hosted by the Raoping government. After dinner, we did a little shopping at a shop that specialises in Raoping’s famous produces such as their frozen chicken and duck. This ended our official itinerary for the day. We then headed back to our hotel. Our dinner venue The usual official speeches before meals The SPH team Duck meat Lobster noodle Pea pods with meat Some prawn snacks Authentic "Niang Dou Fu" with meat inside Clear soup with fish and turnip Can you guess what's in this tea pot? Real Bak Kut Teh! Sweet pork Black fungus Steamed fish Eel meat Giant chunks of carbo-laden food items to fill you up Some light shopping after dinner Vacuum packed chicken feet However, as Han Joo, Nicholas, Rachel and I were still bursting with energy, we decided to explore the night market near our hotel to check out the local hawker fares and do some light shopping on our own. Nicholas found some dog and cat meat street vendors and wanted to try them out. He was stopped vehemently by the ladies. We settled for the much tamer Beef Ball (牛肉丸) Kway Tiao instead. This was delightful – a marked difference from the lavish spreads we were fed with the past few meals. Sometime, simplicity is the best. Night shopping with Nic and Han Joo Fruits stall Buying some strawberries Nic wanted to eat here Dog meat stall Enjoying a bowl of steaming hot beef kway tiao Close-up of the beef balls Rachel was pleasantly surprised to find this in our hotel room at night A special set of toiletries for the newly wed We went back to our hotel to tuck in for the night, bloated and tired. That concluded our second day. Stay tuned for my next update. Previous Entries: Home and away in Shantou (Rachel’s my paper article) Plane Solemnisation Day 1 – Arrival, Teochew Opera Technorati Tags: airplane rom, airplane wedding, ellie and carl, ellie and carl up, getting married on a plane, jetstar first shantou flight, jetstar inaugural direct flight from Singapore to Shantou, jetstar plane marriage, jetstar plane solemnisation, jetstar singapore to shantou, meritus shantou, plane marriage, plane rom, plane solemnisation, plane wedding, shantou, shantou travel, singapore first plane marriage, singapore plane solemnisation, singapore teochew association, singapore unconventional wedding, teochew poit ip huay kuan, up movie, wotif.com, 新加坡潮州八邑会馆 , shantou travel, shantou flight, singapore to shantou, teochew travel, Shantou’s Waisha International Airport, Waisha International Airport, 汕头外砂机场, guandong travel, chaoshan travel, 潮汕, chaozhou city, chao zhou, 潮州, 湘子桥, 开元寺, xiangziqiao, xiang zi qiao, kaiyuanshi, kaiyuan temple, kaiyuanshi, chaozhou travel, meritus club shantou, 李嘉诚, li ka-shing, 唐玄宗, buddha’s hand, 佛手, fingered citron, tangs dynasty, gown factory, china gown factory, china bridal factory, bridal factory, chaozhou bridal factory, chaozhou gown factory, 水滸傳, water margin, water margin ceramic, 八仙, eight immortals, eight immortals ceramic, ceramic toilet bowls, cidu, ci du, ceramic city, 瓷都, 潮安县, chao’an, chaoan county, 饶平县, raoping county, hakka commune, 客家, 牛肉丸, http://technorati.c Quoteworthy – Prof Koo Tsai Kee, MP, Tanjong Pagar GRC Prof Koo Tsai Kee Via Temasek Review: Speaking in Parliament yesterday, Tanjong Pagar MP Koo Tsai Kee who is also the Minister of State for Defence heaped generous praises on DPM Teo as being the “best man” to lead the National Productivity and Continuing Education Council because of his long years in the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF). Mr Koo claimed that SAF has been “practising productivity all this while” because “there are no foreign workers or foreign talent in the SAF, which is made up entirely of Singapore soldiers.” “The SAF, despite its manpower constraints, has been able to face up to a widening range of security threats in recent years under Defence Minister Teo….And I am not saying this because he’s my boss,” he added. Is Prof Koo trying to insult the intelligent of all Singaporean men who been through NS or reservist? Just ask any of us, I am pretty sure not a single soul will agree with Prof Koo’s sentiment (excluding deluded SAF regulars). Any email queries to MINDEF takes at least 3 weeks for a reply (sometime there’s no reply at all) while other government bodies can reply within 3 working days. Just go check any random ICT  or RT session and see how much time is wasted making Singaporean men sit around for hours at every stages, waiting and waiting and waiting. Let’s not even talk about how the pathetic pittance masqueraded as “allowance” for NSF and rank pay for reservists. The rates are even lower than foreign workers because it’s a CONSCRIPTED armed force – meaning Singaporeans are FORCED to serve. Obviously the law of market demand and supply is not applicable here. You don’t need a doctorate to figure this out. Technorati Tags: saf and productivity, saf productive, saf productivity, saf foreign worker, saf foreign talent, prof koo tsai kee, koo tsai kee, tanjong pagar grc mp, mp tanjong pagar Next time someone ask you a stupid question – give the person a lmgtfy URL Found  this nifty website called “Let me google that for you…(lmgtfy)” Next time someone ask you a really stupid question which answer can be easily found on the Internet,; instead of strangling the person to death, try generating a URL from lmtfy and sending it to the dimwit. Here’s a sample I did from a real-life example of a frequently received question in my line of work: Click on image for answer Technorati Tags: let me google that for you, lmgtfy, lmgtfy url, let me google that for you url, dumb question, how to answer dumb question, google for dummies, search engine for dummies Misha Glenny’s McMafia: Seriously Organised Crime The book cover looks trashy, but it's a well-researched, well written book I just finished reading British journalist, Misha Glenny’s book, McMafia: Seriously Organised Crime. The book documents how organised crime may now account for over 20 percent of the world’s GDP and has its ugly tentacles spread into every aspect of world trade. From pirated DVD to Internet phishing scam to the arms trade, nothing is left uncovered. Organised crime is part of all of our worlds, often without us even knowing. It exists in every countries. Yes,  outwardly squeaky clean Singapore too. In fact, Singapore has two mentions in the book and was given a glossary mention. Here’s one of the mention on page 386: One man well known both to the baccy mafia and the Chinese police was Tung Yan Yuk, aka Tony Tung, who had started life as a fishmonger north of Xiamen in Fujian. In the later 1990s, Chinese police issued a warrant for his arrest and for that of his two younger brothers. They were charged in connection with tax evasion and cigarette smuggling to the tune of RMB 600 million. One of the brothers was caught and imprisoned indefinitely in 2001, but Tony and the second brother got away. According to a confidential intelligence report on Tung, he no longer visits either Hong Kong or mainland China for fear of arrest. But he is happily ensconced now in Singapore from where he controls one of the biggest counterfeiting and container empires in Asia. The book is a good read on how corrupted the world is and how we are responsible for this due to globalisation and capitalist culture. It’s less grisly than vigilante journalist, Roberto Saviano’s Gomorrah on Italy’s other mafia, but is peppered with more astonishing figures and numbers on criminal activities. Technorati Tags: misha glenny, mcmafia, mcmafia seriously organised crime, mcmafia review, misha glenny’s mcmafia, singapore crime, singapore cigarette smuggling, tony tung, tung yan yuk, china tung yan yuk, china tong tung, world crime, singapore criminal empire NATAS Travel Fair 2010 NATAS 2010 Yesterday, I went down to the NATAS Travel Fair at EXPO to see if I can sniff out a good deal for my honeymoon vacation in June. Rachel cannot make it as she was working. There was a long queue of around 100+ people in front of me when I got there. Thankfully, the queue moved quite fast and I got into the exhibition halls after around fifteen minutes. Two aunties tried to sneakily cut my queue, thinking that I did not see them as I was reading a book. I sternly told them off and they smiled sheepishly before walking away. There were many others who saw them, but I wonder why no one said anything. We should not condone such bad behaviour. The admission fee is S$4 – probably to ensure a better shopping experience for those genuinely interested, keeping out the window shoppers who may not find it worthwhile to pay. Once inside the hall, it was relatively spacious to move around, unlike at crowd-crushing IT shows which do not charge admission fees. Inside the exhibition halls This is the first time I have visited the NATAS fair and I must say, it was not a suitable event for me. The airlines booths I approached mostly encouraged me to book my tickets online for promotional deals and to avoid agency surcharges. The agency booths are more interested in serving retirees and older travelers who are less likely to scrutinise the itinerary beyond the price of the package. After doing my maths, it is still cheaper to buy your tickets, book your hotels and plan your own itinerary. (There are exceptions – some tour packages are sold at ridiculously cheap prices, marked down because the itinerary is full of scam-like shopping trips that are compulsory visits which still amount to a huge waste of time even if you do not buy anything) The only plus point is that if you have travel destinations in mind, it will be great for grabbing relevant travel resources like maps, hotel guides and other brochures at the relevant tourism bureau booth. In the end, Rachel and I still haven’t settled on our honeymoon venue yet. We have narrowed our choices to four destinations – Shanghai + Hong Kong (for the World Expo 2010); Turkey + Cyprus; Sydney + Perth or New Zealand. Any suggestions or lobang? Technorati Tags: travel, natas fair 2010, natas travel fair 2010, natas holiday 2010, singapore natas fair, singapore natas 2010, natas expo, natas bargain, natas discount Home and Away in Shantou I am still in the midst of processing the rest of the photos I took during my 5D4N Shantou trip. You can read the Day 1 blog entry which is already up. I promise the rest of the blog entries will be up soon. Meanwhile, here’s a travel story on Shantou (汕头) written by Rachel which was published in my paper on. It’s a good summary: Click on image to ENLARGE Technorati Tags: airplane rom, airplane wedding, ellie and carl, ellie and carl up, getting married on a plane, jetstar first shantou flight, jetstar inaugural direct flight from Singapore to Shantou, jetstar plane marriage, jetstar plane solemnisation, jetstar singapore to shantou, meritus shantou, plane marriage, plane rom, plane solemnisation, plane wedding, shantou, shantou travel, singapore first plane marriage, singapore plane solemnisation, singapore teochew association, singapore unconventional wedding, teochew poit ip huay kuan, up movie, wotif.com, 新加坡潮州八邑会馆 , shantou travel, shantou flight, singapore to shantou, teochew travel, Shantou’s Waisha International Airport, Waisha International Airport, 汕头外砂机场, guandong travel, chaoshan travel, 潮汕, rachel chan, home and away in shantou, shantou trip, shantou itinerary, shantou travel itinerary, traveling to shantou, shantou tour, shantou free and easy Hong Kong Girl Shows Off C Cup Breasts To Ex-Boyfriend Steady bombibi Via Chinasmack. I suspect this may be a viral web video for some breast enlargement centre in Hong Kong. Nonetheless, the clip is quite amusing. The girl in the video claimed to have enlarged her breasts from AA to C to spite her ex-boyfriend and showed off her new assets on screen… Technorati Tags: 谷胸港女數臭男友, 吳家晴, czw0814, chinasmack, china smack, aa to c cup, hong kong c cup girl, hong kong c cup girl video, hong kong girl shows off c cup breast to ex-boyfriend Singapore Budget 2010 – A footnote An important building in Singapore “Salaries for political appointments – ministers, ministers of state and parliamentary secretaries – are estimated to be $58.28 million, or 8.8 per cent higher than last year.” Via TODAYonline (Committed to going green, Teo Xuanwei, 23 Feb 2010) . Technorati Tags: singapore budget 2010, budget 2010, committed to going green, teo xuanwei, today online, 8.8 pe cent raise in salaries for political appointments Cai Mingjie: Singapore Taxi Driver with PhD from Stanford University, releasing his first book, “Diary of A Taxi Driver” Do you remember the inspirational Dr Cai Mingjie – PhD researcher turned taxi driver in uniquely Singapore style? Well, great news for fans of Dr Cai. His first book, “Diary of a Taxi Driver” will be published and available from next month. You can pre-order a copy of Dr Cai’s book from his blog now. If you do so, you will get a special autographed copy, priced at $19.90 (no GST) per copy with free delivery via Singpost mail in Singapore (international readers will have to wait till book is available on Amazon.com). All the best Dr Cai. May your book sales cross a million copies. Technorati Tags: singapore taxi driver, singapore taxi driver with phd from stanford, stanford university, singapore stanford university graduate, institute of molecular and cell biology, astar singapore, a star singapore, imcb astar, imcb singapore, stanford taxi driver, singapore scientist, singapore scientist taxi driver, taxi driver blog, singapore phd taxi driver blog, cai mingjie, cai ming jie, cai mingjie blog, cai mingjie taxi driver blog, diary of a taxi driver, cai mingjie diary of a taxi driver, cai mingjie book, cai mingjie first book, cai mingjie taxi book, phd taxi driver book, order diary of a taxi driver, order cai mingjie book Alvinology goes to Shantou – Day 1 of 5 Right after our plane solemnisation, Rachel and I headed for Shantou (汕头), China, together with my parents and Rachel’s mom and sister. We traveled together with a contingent from the Teochew Poit Ip Huay Kuan (新加坡潮州八邑会馆), a few Jetstar and Meritus staff and some journalists, including my boss Chim Kang, my colleague Han Joo and our friend, Nicholas from Straits Times. It was the maiden flight for Jetstar from Singapore to Shantou, hence there was quite a bit of media and government attention from both Singapore and Shantou. Jetstar will become the first foreign carrier to fly into Shantou’s Waisha International Airport (汕头外砂机场) (a former military airport) and will be the only carrier to fly direct. Waisha International Airport The plane we got married on Security check In the past, Singaporeans going to Shantou will have to take a flight to Xiamen or other parts of China and endure another grueling long long bus ride to get there, clocking around 10 hours in travel time. The direct flight to Shantou cuts down traveling time considerably – the plane took around 4 hours to fly from Singapore to Shantou. It took another 20 minutes to get from the airport to the city central. Shantou, an eastern city in Guangdong province (广东省), is the gateway to Chaozhou, Jieyang and Shanwei. The Chaozhou and Shantou region is called Chaoshan (潮汕) and the main dialect spoken in these ares is Teochew. A large part of the Singapore Chinese population are Teochew, my mother being one of them. For this trip, we followed the itinerary of the Teochew Association folks. Usually, we prefer to go free and easy for our travel, but Rachel and I considered we were traveling with four of our family members this time. Hence a planned itinerary and fixed bus rides will be less hassle for us to take care of everyone. When we touched down at the airport, we were warmly welcomed by the airport staff with nice Tiger-motif cups for all the passengers. Our bus On board our bus with our tour guide After clearing the customs and collecting our luggage, we boarded the bus to New Plum Garden Restaurant (新梅园大酒楼) for lunch. New Plum Garden is a famous restaurant chain in China, something like Crystal Jade in Singapore. Outside New Plum Garden Nice flowers, nice cool temperature I wonder how anyone can use this phone booth Restaurant entrance Inside the restaurant Check out all the food available More varieties Elephant clams (象拔蚌) Assortment of fish Live, moving abalone on display Getting seated Here’s the heavy lunch we had: Braised pork trotters - yummy! Cold platter Bamboo soup Steamed fish Cuttlefish Prawns Corns, basil nuts and other stuff Oyster omelette Crabs, baked with glutinous rice Extremely delightful fried tofu - crispy on the outside, soft on the inside Chiat-ying from Jetstar and Han Joo Jade green veggies Giant chunks of yam, sweet potato and tapioca in case we are still not full After lunch karaoke After lunch, we headed to our hotel, Meritus Shantou, to check-in. The staff were all lined up at the hotel entrance for a warm welcome for our contingent. There were lion dances and the VIPs were presented with large bouquet of flowers. There was also light tea reception for the VIPs to mingle with the Meritus Shantou staff. Lion dance welcome Meritus Shantou Dragon-shaped balloon to welcome us Can you see the custom-made orange Merlion? Hotel reception It was free and easy time from there till dinner. Rachel and I changed into our casual gears and headed out shopping in the nearby area, together with Han Joo, Rachel’s mom and sister. I haven’t been to China for a good five years or so and was quite surprised to see how the costs of things have risen since. Although still cheaper than in Singapore, certain commodities like petrol are at the small level or perhaps cost even more than in Singapore. In our casual wear, ready for shopping The central shopping district where our hotel is located Out shopping with the ladies Giant billboard promoting a newly opened amusement park Only in Shantou - KFC Nian Gao Egg Tarts! Can you see the layer of nian gao? For dinner, we headed to one of the many lavish banquets hosted by the local government which we will grow tired of over the next few days. The spread is really good – don’t get me wrong. However, too much of anything always kills the joy. Waiting for dinner With the two MPs in our contingent, Ms Ellen Lee and Mdm Cynthia Phua Going through the dinner menu A toast to the host Local news report on our contingent Check out the dinner menu: Our dinner menu Chicken and pork Abalone cooked with barley This should be either duck or chicken, can't remember One fish for everyone Scallop Black chicken soup Fried and lightly salted mushroom Mixed nuts and other goodies Some teochew kuey Shantou little oranges Desert After dinner, we went for a special performance put up by students of the over 50-years-old, Shantou Traditional Opera School. It was an eye-opener for us and perhaps a culture shock for our younger friends, Han Joo and Eunice who fell asleep in the middle of the performances. Rachel particularly enjoyed the Teochew opera segment, featuring a scene from the popular classic, The Butterfly Lovers (梁山伯与祝英台), often referred to as Chinese Romeo and Juliet. The police stopped traffic just for us to alight from our buses, causing a jam Signboard at the theatre entrance hall Opening song and dance item Loud and formidable Night's emcee who can also sing very well Indian dance Acrobatic performance Spinning a hanky Emcee belting a number Performance on a sad ghost who got burned to death by her lover Rachel with her mom and sis, enjoying the performances Nicholas, Rachel and me The Butterfly Lovers Another picture Star-crossed lovers Finale item Bubbles! The other lead singer Video recording of the finale performance: Saying goodbye Rachel and I with my boss, Chim Kang and his new Shantou hairstyle The shutters were drawn right after the performance - it was actually the school holidays and special arrangement was made just for us City nightscape God of Fortune and two Tiger lanterns, spotted outside our hotel We went back to the hotel to rest for the night after the performance, concluding our first day in Shantou. Stay tuned for the next update on day 2. Technorati Tags: airplane rom, airplane wedding, ellie and carl, ellie and carl up, getting married on a plane, jetstar first shantou flight, jetstar inaugural direct flight from Singapore to Shantou, jetstar plane marriage, jetstar plane solemnisation, jetstar singapore to shantou, meritus shantou, plane marriage, plane rom, plane solemnisation, plane wedding, shantou, shantou travel, singapore first plane marriage, singapore plane solemnisation, singapore teochew association, singapore unconventional wedding, teochew poit ip huay kuan, up movie, wotif.com, 新加坡潮州八邑会馆 , shantou travel, shantou flight, singapore to shantou, teochew travel, Shantou’s Waisha International Airport, Waisha International Airport, 汕头外砂机场, guandong travel, chaoshan travel, 潮汕, 新梅园大酒楼, new plum garden, shantou new plum garden, new plum garden restaurant, 象拔蚌, elephant clams, 梁山伯与祝英台, teochew the butterfly lovers, shantou traditional opera school, teochew opera, teochew food, shantou food, shantou banquet, teochew banquet Alvinology’s family reunion dinner (团圆饭) 2010 Family picture For our Chinese New Year reunion dinner this year, my family headed down to Pu Tien Restaurant (莆田菜馆) at Kitchener Road again like last year. The restaurant serves Heng Hwa (兴化) cuisine, which btw, is my dialect group. This year, Pu Tien offered on their CNY menu, the Hakka-originated, Cantonese-modified luxurious delight – Poon Choi or Pen Cai. It’s basically a stewed pot filled with vegetable and lots of goodies like abalone, scallops, dried oysters, sea cucumbers and braised pork. Eating a bowl of Pen Cai alone was filling enough for the evening. Yummy. Here are the photos taken this evening: Yu Sheng - I just had my 7th Lo Hei today... more to come The waitress adding in all the ingredients for the Yu Sheng Pen Cai - the highlight of the evening Close-up shot My first bowl (the serving divides to two bowls each) Next up - roast pork with lots of colourful sauces Drunken prawns Steamed fish Heng Hwa noodles Red bean soup for desert Mao Shan Wang Durian Nian Gao from Peony Jade which we brought Technorati Tags: 团圆饭, reunion dinner, singapore chinese new year, pu tien restaurant, heng hwa cuisine, xing hua cuisine, henghwa cuisine, xinghua cuisine, 兴化, 莆田菜馆, 莆田, lo hei, yu sheng, raw salmon, fried yam, heng hwa bee hoon, xinghua mifen, xing hua mi fen, kitchener road, 127 kitchener road, desker road conservation area, peng cai, peng chai, poon choi, hakka peng cai, cantonese peng cai, pu tien peng cai, cny nian gao, singapore nian gao, mao shang wang nian gao, durian nian gao, mao shan wang durian nian gao, peony jade nian gao Heard of Goojjie and YouTubeCN? Via Brand Channel. Goojjie and YouTubeCN are China copycats of Google and YouTube. Check out their homepages – they look almost identical as the real deal. These surfaced to patch the potential market gap if Google really pulls out of China as it has threatened to do so some weeks back. Goojjie vs Google YouTubeCN vs YouTube You really have to hand it to the Chinese for their extreme form of entrepreneurship. Technorati Tags: brand channel, brandchannel, goojjie, youtubecn. fake google, fake youtube, china google, china youtube, china google copycat, china youtube copycat, google china, goojjie china, youtubecn china CNY Dinner @ The Singapore Flyer At the highest point of the Flyer Last Thursday, the omy.sg crew headed down to the Singapore Flyer for a Singapore Flight ride together, followed by dinner at Hibiki restaurant. It’s a great way to usher in the new year with my colleagues, getting a bird’s eye view of the Singapore cityscape from the greatest vantage point. The dinner was a delight too, so was the exciting lucky draw prepared by our bosses, Chim Kang and Kuan Fung. Specially designed Singapore Flyer Auspicious Trail guide for the new year Queuing to get on board the Singapore Flight Our very senior cameraman, Uncle Teik directing everyone for a group photo Our capsule arriving Boarding Everyone is hunting for the best view position Enjoying the view The NTU WKWSCI gang at omy.sg - from youngest to oldest Me with Joleen, the friendly Flyer marketeer who hosted us Me with my my colleague, Hock Chuan Me with omy.sg's latest addition, Yi Ming Hock Chuan is undecided about his fortune for 2010 Boss Chim Kang is very confident of his fortune for 2010 Hock Chuan and Wenjie Crooked heads The Sands under construction An individual shot With colleagues and boss Chim Kang Funny expressions View of the Esplanade Hotels and offices Prime residential estates The Marina Bay Sands The sun is setting At the highest point Another shot of the Sands Getting dark The team behind omy.sg Dinner time! Group photo before we start filling ourselves silly A toast to prosperity for omy.sg Tofu with prawn and some savoury sesame/peanut paste Cutely shaped wasabi cubes Sashimi platter Tempura fish Various barbecued skewered meat Teppanyaki beef Busy eating Cold udon Sweet plum jelly Han Joo likes red wine Uncle Teik going around toasting everyone Boss Kuan Fung, forced to cross wine glasses with our funny Uncle Teik Our web mistress, Auntie Huicheng with her newly won tiger paw The lucky grand prize winner, Han Joo Han Joo drinking for joy The omy.sg team will like to thank the management of Singapore Flyer and Hibiki restaurant for facilitating our dinner gathering. Thank you and may your businesses grow from strength to strength  together with omy.sg as we continue to grow in 2010 to serve our users and advertisers better. The Singapore Flyer has set up a special Auspicious Trail for the Chinese New Year festive period. You can find out more about this trail via their official website, as well as more information on their prosperity “Lo Hei” flight. Alternatively, you can also try your hands at winning a Singapore Flyer Sky Dining Flight for Two, worth $249 in value, as well as a Prosperity “Lo Hei” Flight for Four, worth over $288 in value each, by simply playing the Singapore Flyer Auspicious Trail Giveaway game, in collaboration with omy.sg. For doubly abundance, participants who complete the registration and take part in the interactive Singapore Flyer Auspicious Trail demo will also enjoy 20% OFF online purchase of Singapore Flyer flight tickets. Technorati Tags: Singapore Flyer Auspicious Trail, singapore flyer cny, singapore flyer chinese new year, cny dinner at singapore flyer, hibiki singapore flyer, hibiki singapore, hibiki japanese restaurant, marina bay sands, omy.sg, omy, omy team, omy.sg team, singapore flyer flight, singapore flyer lo hei, singapore flyer auspicious trail giveaway, win singapore flyer flight, win singapore flyer tickets, win singapore flyer lo hei, singapore lo hei, singapore cny lo hei This CNY, Mr Mah Bow Tan is here to spread wealth Spotted this giant billboard of Mr Mah Bow Tan at his Tampines GRC constituency: "Gong Xi Fa Cai!" Note how the billboard has been “strategically” (not sure if it was intentional or purely coincidental) placed such that it seems Mr Mah’s upper body is super imposed onto the lower body of the giant God of Fortune (财神爷) statue behind him. A fitting tribute to Mr Mah indeed – given that his Chinese name, “宝山” can be literally translated as “treasure mountain”. Also, Mr Mah has helped the Singapore government made considerable fortune through his COE policy as Transport Minister and now, his BTO, DBSS housing policies as the National Development Minister. Technorati Tags: mr mah bow tan, mah bow tan, tampines grc, tampines group representative constituency, goddress of fortune, mah bow tan cny, mah bow tan chinese new year, mah bow tan coe, mah bow tan dbss, mah bow tan bto, 马宝山, singapore minister for national development, singapore transport minister, 淡滨尼集选区, 淡滨尼 Lady Gaga’s Poker Face (Chinese New Year Version) BobbyABao Happy Chinese New Year. Here’s a funny music video by a Malaysian boy called BobbyABao to spread the cheers. Enjoy: I wonder what Lady Gaga will say if she sees  this video. Technorati Tags: chinese new year, bobbyabao, bobby a bao, lady gaga chinese new year, lady gaga’s poker face, lady gaga’s poker face chinese new year version, lady gaga’s poker face cny version, lady gaga spoof, malaysian lady gaga Yang Yang CNY Cookies Yang Yang Cookies Thanks Pei Lin from Yang Yang Cookies for sending three boxes of their cookies for my family to sample. Sampling boxes My parents and Rachel enjoyed the cookies very much. So much so that we went to Takashimaya where they have a booth to buy a few more boxes of pineapple tarts. They’re just the right level of sweetness and the pastry melts in your mouth. Here’s an introduction of Yang Yang Cookies from the owner: Yang Yang is our family business. We started out for many years as suppliers of cookies to other companies (other brands). A few years ago, we decided to test the market with our own brand – Yang Yang Cookies. As we sell only once a year, we do not have a permanent stall – (due to high rental). We are thus only available online. But every year, we operate out of Takashimaya for their Takashimaya Chinese New Year fair. That is the only place to find us. The whole family will go down and take turns to man the stall. (Fyi, our factory is based in Malaysia. And our products are Halal.) This year, the Takashimaya Chinese New Year fair is from 28th January to 12th Feb. Our full list of products and pricing are below (prices are inclusive of GST). As a family based business ,we use only the best ingredients for our products. We also do not use any preservatives. Our all-time favourite product is our Pineapple Tarts. People like it that they are bite-sized. With about 70 pieces in each box, it is value for money. Our green pea cookies was a receipe created by the auntie who is the “pastry chef” of Yang Yang. Since we launched the product a few years ago, many other brands have copied our idea to use green pea for their cookies too. We dare say we are the original green pea cookie creator! Sounds good isn’t it? Home-made origin and authentic. What more can one ask for? Plus the price is reasonable too. Note that they did not pay me to put up this post. I do not have a stake in the business or commission to take from the sales. Neither did they request for a positive blog post to be put up in return for the sampling. We sampled the pineapple tarts, green pea cookies and almond cookies. The green pea cookies, something we’ve not tried before, were really fragrant and moreish. Pineapple tarts Green Pea Cookies Almond Cookies A nice personalised card The price list is as below: PRODUCT UNIT PRICE A001 Pineapple Tart $20.80 A002 Green Pea Cookie $11.80 A003 Fragrant Pea Cookie $11.80 A004 Almond Cookie $11.80 A005 Kueh Bangkit $11.80 A006 Coffee Cookie $11.80 A007 Chocolate Almond Cookie $11.80 A008 Peanut Cookie $11.80 A009 Egg Roll (Loveletter) $16.80 A010 Prawn Roll $8.80 A011 Almond Slice Crisp $9.80 A012 Seaweed Slice Crisp $9.80 A013 Oat Raisin Cookie $9.80 A014 Kueh Lapis Original (Whole) $42.00 A015 Kueh Lapis Original (Half) $28.00 A016 Kueh Lapis Prune (Whole) $42.00 A017 Kueh Lapis Prune (Half) $28.00 You can order their cookies online if interested or visit their booth at Takashimaya Chinese New Year Fair, Basement 2. Technorati Tags: yang yang cookies, chinese new year cookies, cny cookies, singapore cny cookies, green pea cookies, almond cookies, pineapple tart, singapore pineapple tart, singapore green pea cookies, singapore almond cookies, yang yang singapore, yang yang takashimaya, online cny cookies, online pineapple tarts Plane Solemnisation – Photos Galore! Mr and Mrs Alvin Lim Rachel and I are the first couple in Singapore to have our solemnisation ceremony on board an airplane – how cool is that? It happened at 5.50am on 2 February, 2010, on board Jetstar’s plane, 3K 823 at Changi Airport, Terminal 1. The two witnesses who signed on the certificate were my mom and Rachel’s mom. The wedding solemniser is Justice of Peace, Mr Lim Huan Chiang. The ceremony was short, it was over in around ten minutes. The plane took off on time after that with no delay. All photos courtesy of Eunice Chan, Rachel’s sister. My colleague, Han Joo, was the first person we saw at the airport Rachel was late... but made it in time for the check-in Our colleagues, Han Joo and Nicholas who flew with us My mom helping me pin my flowers Rachel's mom helping her with her flowers The pin cushion holding our engagement rings Group photo with Rachel's family My aunt, Shirley, sending us off The entourage Heading to the air plane On the travelator On the phone with a Zaobao reporter Our solemniser and the Jetstar PR manager, ironing out the technical details Rachel tying the rings to the cushion Final briefing Quick rehearsal We were to speak into the broadcast phone during the ceremony Tired and a little stressed omy.sg interview RazorTV interview Behind the camera Parting shot with Rachel's family (her dad is not flying with us) Rachel getting interviewed by her ex-colleague, Jin Xiang CNA and Channel 8 interview My turn to be on camera Chatting with Ms Chong Phit Lian, CEO of Jetstar Asia Short moment of quietness Walking to the plane Calm and slow Waiting for the ceremony to begin Anxiously waiting - all the passengers are to board first All ready with our pen, rings and cushion It's time to head into the plane In the plane With our solemniser, Mr Lim Saying "I DO" Mr Lim on the vows Laying out all the items needed Getting the ring out Helping Rachel to put on her ring Rachel helping me to put on my ring Mr Lim announcing we are now binded by our rings Saying our vows together Time to sign the marriage certificate - I am first Rachel's next to sign My mom signing on the certificate Rachel's mom signing on the certificate Our solemniser signing the certificate Husband and wife Another shot - facing the camera Rachel and I are legally binded as a couple now Presented with our complete marriage certificate Time to sleep as the plane takes off Up into the sky Greeted with door gifts at Shantou airport Lion dance welcome at Meritus Shantou A nice bouquet of flowers for Rachel from my boss, Mr Chua Chim Kang Our rooms (separate as we still have our traditional wedding in June) The classy bathroom Rachel and I were overwhelmed by the media interviews and well-wishes from the other passengers, friends and family members, on board the plane. As mentioned in my previous post, it was not easy making this happen due to all the logistics, scheduling and technical details involved. Rachel and I would like to thank all the following people for making this possible – our family members, especially our moms for being our witnesses, my mom again for making Rachel’s beautiful cheong sam which she wore on the day, Rachel’s sister, Eunice for the wonderful photos, my uncle for rushing down the airport with the rings at 5am in the morning, my sister, Xinyi who searched for the ring at 4.40am in the morning; the Jetstar team, especially Ms Chong Phit Lian, for giving the go ahead, Chiat Ying, Simone and Peter for their assistance through the ceremony; our wedding solemniser, Mr Lim Huan Chiang; my omy colleagues, Han Joo and Ming Cai for waking up so early in the morning to cover the event, my bosses, Mr Chua Chim Kang and Ms Lee Kuan Fung for their support; all our media friends present on the day or who covered the ceremony, Nicholas, Jin Xiang, the RazorTV team; the entire Teochew Poit Ip Huay Kuan contingent who were on the plane with us, including the Chairman, Mr  Goh Nam Siang and Member of Parliament for Aljunied GRC, Madam Cynthia Phua; the Meritus team, Elaine and Chitty, as well as Rita from Wotif Group for the hotel arrangement; all our other wonderful friends, family members, strangers at the airport, readers of this blog, everyone else who sent your well-wishes to us in one way or another. A big THANK YOU from both of Rachel and I. Technorati Tags: singapore plane solemnisation, plane solemnisation, jetstar plane solemnisation, jetstar singapore to shantou, meritus shantou, wotif.com, teochew poit ip huay kuan, singapore teochew association, shantou, shantou travel, plane rom, airplane rom, ellie and carl, up movie, ellie and carl up, jetstar inaugural direct flight from Singapore to Shantou, 新加坡潮州八邑会馆, singapore unconventional wedding, plane wedding, airplane wedding, getting married on a plane, plane marriage Getting married in less than 6 hours The exact time of my solemnisation is at 5.50am, 2 Feb, 2010. Venue – on board Jetstar’s plane, 3K 823 at Changi Airport, Terminal 1. I have to leave my home at 3am. I am still wide awake now at almost 1am. Doubt I will get to sleep already. I hope I don’t look like a panda later. Anyway, the focus will be on  the lady, Rachel, not me. She took leave from work to spend the whole day pampering herself at spa, hair salon, etc. She slept early too. Hence she have no excuse to look shabby. :p Rachel and I will be staying in Shantou will our family till 6 Feb (this Sat). I wanted to clear some back log blog entries and schedule them to publish during the few days I am away. Don’t think I have time for that now, sorry. I will update again once I am back in Singapore. If I can get hold of Internet access in Shantou, will definitely post something online. Back to packing. Technorati Tags: singapore plane solemnisation, plane solemnisation, jetstar plane solemnisation, jetstar singapore to shantou, meritus shantou, wotif.com, teochew poit ip huay kuan, singapore teochew association, shantou, shantou travel, plane rom, airplane rom, ellie and carl, up movie, ellie and carl up, jetstar inaugural direct flight from Singapore to Shantou, 新加坡潮州八邑会馆, singapore unconventional wedding, plane wedding, airplane wedding, getting married on a plane, plane marriage Plane Solemnisation!~ Leaving on a jet plane It’s official! Some of our close friends and relatives would have known already – Rachel and I are going to have our  solemnisation done on board an airplane (this will be reflected in our marriage certificate)! We finally managed to tie up all the odds and ends. I managed to defer my pesky 3-weeks reservist; both Rachel and I managed to convince our family to be part of this unconventional event; the gown and suit are ready; the ROM office are duly convinced that the marriage can be recognised by Singapore laws; everyone managed to get their leaves approved; etc, etc… We went all out to make this happen because both of us love to travel and find it most fitting to wed on board an airplane. Moreover, we are very inspired by the old couple, Ellie and Carl, in the Pixar movie, UP and their “spirit of adventure”. To our best of knowledge, we should be the first couple in Singapore doing this. The ceremony will be on board Jetstar’s inaugural service direct from Singapore to Shantou (3K 823), which takes off on 2nd February 2010 (this Tues). We will be flying there together with a few of our family members and a large contingent from Singapore’s Teochew Poit Ip Huay Kuan (新加坡潮州八邑会馆). This explains why I have not up blogging much lately as I was busy preparing for this and a small engagement party (which itself was a little adventure if you read my blog post) at my place last Saturday evening for a few close friends and relatives. I will update more in the next few days. Depending on how hectic the travel itinerary might be and also on the availability of Internet connection, I may also post updates either on my facebook, twitter or this blog when we are on the plane and after we reached Shantou. Stay tuned! Rachel and I would like to sincerely thank the following for making this plane solemnisation possible: A side note – this blog has quietly crept past 2 million hits a few days ago. My mirror blog at omy.sg has also crept past 1 million hits. Not too shabby given that I have cut down on the frequency of my updates lately. Thank you all you loyal readers out there – whether I know you personally or not. Alvinology appreciate your support. Technorati Tags: singapore plane solemnisation, plane solemnisation, jetstar plane solemnisation, jetstar singapore to shantou, meritus shantou, wotif.com, teochew poit ip huay kuan, singapore teochew association, shantou, shantou travel, plane rom, airplane rom, ellie and carl, up movie, ellie and carl up, jetstar inaugural direct flight from Singapore to Shantou, 新加坡潮州八邑会馆, singapore unconventional wedding, plane wedding, airplane wedding, getting married on a plane, plane marriage Angeli Catering Services Pte Ltd: Worst Catering Service EVER Engage their service at your own risk Thinking about this still makes my blood boil. Rachel and I held a small engagement party at my place last night (30 Jan, Sat). The gathering was for around 30+ of our closest friends and relatives. The guests were to arrive from 6.30pm onwards. The service agreed (booked 11 days ago) with the caterer , Angeli Catering, was for them to come set up at 6.30pm and have the food ready for the guests by 7pm latest. They were also to provide tables and chairs as we are moving out of our current residence and have already removed all our furniture. At 6.30pm, we were moderately disturbed that no one from Angeli contacted us. Repeated calls to the office number they provided in their order form and company website went unanswered… I kept trying to call them till 6.50pm – still no answer. We were beginning to panic as our guests started streaming in. We served them with some tidbits, fruits and drinks. Unable to contact the caterer – we didn’t know if they had forgotten our order or were just late. Then, it struck me to try searching for their mobile number online. Finally, I managed to contact one of their manager called Mr Ten via his mobile number listed on the Singapore Bride forum. Mr Ten reassured me that his driver was just slightly late and “will arrive in ten minutes”. With his reassurance, we went about apologising to our guests and waited for the food to arrive. 7.10pm. Still no sight of the catering van. I called up Mr Ten again. This time he said he will call the driver to check – did this mean he did not do anything the first time I called him? After hearing my frustration, Mr Ten told me he will get his driver to call me back with an explanation. The driver, a polite chap called Peter called back and apologised, claiming he was stuck in a traffic jam and that he should arrive in “ten minutes”. With Peter’s assurance that they will only be “slightly late” – 7..20pm at most, we went about apologising profusely to our guests again, assuring them the food will be here soon. 7.30pm. Still no sight of the catering van. I called up both Peter and Mr Ten again to give them a piece of my mind. Again, they said they will arrive in “ten minutes”. This time, Rachel and I decided not to trust them and ordered pizzas as a contingency plan as we felt really bad about starving our friends and relatives. I told Peter I wanted to speak to his boss and he asked me to call his office number again. I did – and again, no one picked up the phone. 7.40pm. Still no sight of the catering van. More than an hour late already. I called up Peter again. This time, he admitted that he was stuck at Serangoon Road because there’s a massive jam. He also told me they had another event in the area before that and were caught up with the Thaipusam traffic. I told him that the excuse cut no ice with me and that the catering service had made Rachel and I look like idiots in front of all our friends and relatives. Peter then told me he will get his manager to call me. 7.50pm. Still no sight of the catering van. Peter’s manager, A Miss Xiu Li called me back. She apologised for the late delivery and kept blaming it on the “unexpected” Thaipusam traffic. I retorted that as a catering business, they should plan their routes better and be aware of major festive occasions. In any case, I don’t care whether it’s Christmas, New Year or whatever festival – the delivery order stated the buffet was to be set up by 6.30pm and the food ready by 7pm. Neither was fulfilled. No attempt was made to contact us at all about being late. Repeated calls to the office went unanswered and we had to go online to “CSI” out the manager’s contact number. Miss Xiu Li kept trying to give me the same crap reason over and over again. She then tried to pacify us by saying she will waive the delivery charges. I told her I don’t care about the money. Even if she billed me twice or thrice the price to have the food delivered on time now, I would have paid up because it was a matter of salvaging what was supposed to be a joyous occasion, and we didn’t want to waste our guests’ time or be unhappy. When I told Miss Xiu Li that I wanted to speak to her boss, she told me that her boss has no mobile number and is uncontactable on weekends. High and mighty. Well done. I told her that I was not going to pay for the food until I got to speak to the boss. I am still willing to pay the full sum (as I said, it’s not about the money), but the principle and how they ruined my engagement party. Miss Xiu Li then insisted that I at least sign the invoice upon delivery – the payment can be settled on Monday after she gets her boss to call me. Oh, and the pizza guy actually arrived at around 7.50pm – faster than the damn caterer! Rachel and I felt awful when we saw her over 70-year-old grandmother eating pizza when we know she do not like western food. Some of our guests were also about to take their leave – with an empty stomach. Rachel and I felt really bad about everything. We had wasted all of our time trying to contact the cursed Angeli staff and getting a truthful answer from them on their exact location, instead of focusing on the party and our guests. 8pm. Still no sight of the catering van. I called Peter and insisted to know where he was exactly. He claim he was at Potong Pasir MRT station – a five minute walk to my house. Sick of their crappy excuses, my dad actually cycled out to the location to check if the van was really there – it was not. My mother contemplates bringing family members to a nearby coffeeshop for dinner instead. The catering van finally arrived at 8.10pm. A full 1 hour and 40 minutes late. They took another ten minutes to set up. Rachel and I as well as some friends and family members helped to unload and unpack to speed things up. Yes, this was how desperate and shameful the whole affair was. The guests finally got to eat at 8.20pm. Rachel and I are lucky to have kind and understanding friends and relatives who were able to bear with all the catering trouble. For this, we are deeply grateful. Some of them have specially came from Johor Bahru, Ipoh and even Australia to spend an evening with us. Rachel and I felt terrible. We promised everyone that we would try to arrange and meet on separate occasions to give them another treat. A lot of our guests brought wine – which we didn’t get to enjoy because the food came so late that we didn’t have time for anything else. Rachel and I only got around to taking a bite after 10pm, shortly before the catering guys returned for their stuff. There were many friends we did not get to catch up with because we were too caught up trying to solve the food problem. There were the flowers, balloons, DVDs and photo albums that we prepared but were hardly used. A evening that should have ended at 10pm latest ended at close to midnight. Well done Angeli Catering. You have been most unreliable caterer. The saving grace was that the food was good (as expressed by the guests who got to eat) but the same cannot be said of the service. A freaking 1 hour and 4o minutes late???!!!!??? Did I mention that there was a CNA camera crew waiting also? They were here to interview Rachel and I about my unconventional proposal for a TV show and wanted to get some shots of the party. If all went smoothly, there might have even been some positive publicity for the caterer. Alas. Rachel and I refused to sign the invoice in the end. Let’s wait and see what the high and mighty boss of Angeli Catering – whatever his or her name is has to say about all this. Actually, there’s nothing that can be done. An engagement party is once-in-a-lifetime event. The magic moment has been ruined, our guests’ time has been wasted. No amount of monetary compensation can do anything. A simple phone call from the boss to explain the situation there and then might have resolved everything. A display of honesty and integrity at managing our expectations would have also gone a long way too – if they had at least fore-warned us that they will be so freaking late, we could have ordered more alternative food for our guests and made other arrangements. For now, Rachel and I just want to say a big SORRY to everyone who came to give us their well-wishes, and to those who stayed, THANK YOU. It was  a memorable evening in so many ways but made meaningful only by your company. We are grateful for all your patience and understanding, and feel blessed by your love. Thank you. Technorati Tags: singapore catering, angeli catering, angeli catering pte ltd, worst catering ever, singapore worst catering, singapore catering to avoid, singapore wedding catering, horrible wedding catering, terrible wedding catering, late catering, unreliable catering, singapore food caterer, singapore angeli catering, angeli catering review