Amalfi (Amarufi) – Japanese Diplomacy Is A Long Process When I was young, I often read Japanese novels of the detective and thriller genre.  In Chinese of course.  There is this Oriental exoticism that is different from the similar stories of the West.  The twists and turns, the ambiance, the backdrops, and the attention to details like an art - all in a pace that is [...] Latest Nokia Application Review – Part 1 of 2 For the second time this year, Nokia has passed me some credits to try out applications of my choice at their OVI Store.  This is exciting of course.   Although some I would have bought anyway, it is good to test out others that I would have missed.   The size of the store has [...] Darah – Made In Indonesia Last Monday was significant in a few ways.  I have decided to be a vegetarian if the circumstances allow.  Something like a social meat eater.  Let’s see how long it will last.  F1 has one more race to go but the driver and constructor’s champion titles have already been concluded.  Cynthia was out-of-town and with [...] Working Title: The Beautiful Alice I don’t have balls like our Sunday Times columnist Sumiko Tan who once publicly declared that she will never use Facebook for social networking, on a Sunday paper.  I am on the verge of saying the same to Twitter but ‘never’ is a strong commitment.  In fact, Facebook and I have gone through the stages [...] My Little Sister Is Pregnant – And Photos From The Botanic Gardens In fact, as you can see in the photo above, she is very pregnant.  So, why am I keeping mum about this significant news for so long?  I don’t know, can’t really pinpoint.  I mean, she is my little sister and the thought that she is carrying a baby seems so out of my wildest [...] What Not To Love About (500) Days Of Summer? 8 hours before the show started, on a slow and lovely Friday, our movie-partner-in-crime sent me a text message saying that he could not make it, for he remembered there was a birthday party to attend.  Panic!  On the 11th floor!  Who was going to take over that one single movie ticket?  Cynthia and I [...] $50 No Show Fine Avid readers may recall my morning ritual of desk booking at work.  3 months have passed and the ritual stays more or less the same.  Except more and more of our colleagues are moving into our building.  Seats become a scarce resource.  Good seats in especially.  And scarce resource always drive bizarre human behaviors, much [...] Pollo A La Crema De Maíz Con El Arroz Al Vapor – Now, How About That?! Thank you for not hating my doodles.  Drawing can be very therapeutic at times.  Truth been told, though we often complain in the Spanish class that we dislike homework or deberes, I reckon we all secretly love it.  This week’s homework was to write a recipe or receta.  In fact, I looked forward to writing it as [...] Norton Internet Security 2010 Is Here! I genuinely buy into the idea that there are people out there who are going all out to make our lives miserable for profit, and for pride.  I run a website having to deal with hundreds of spam comments each day that come with thousands of dubious links.  And I wonder: Why are there people [...] Tokyo Sonata – On Starting Over Whether or not you would like “Tokyo Sonata” depends on (a) how much you like the picture house type of movie, (b) how curious are you on the modern Japanese culture, and (c) how much you can relate to the story.  Ironically, I could not persuade my Japanese friend whom we met for a dinner [...] Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol – A Page Turner With Puzzles After Puzzles I can’t say that I am a fan of the thriller genre but I do enjoy Dan Brown’s style of puzzles mixing facts and fictions with a healthy or unhealthy – depends on how you see it – dose of spiritual reflection.  Besides, once in a while, it is good to read a page-turner for [...] What Do The Stick People Think Of Funny People? Of the few Judd Apatow films I have watched, I like “The 40-Year-Old Virgin” the most.  Simply because I can relate to it, not!  OK, there are certain aspects I can relate and that film is really funny.  I have “Knocked Up” recorded and it is stuck at my to-watch queue.  I think “Funny People” [...] Uff! Massive Jam! I remember vividly the first time I saw the words “Massive Jam” lit up on the highway signboard.  I was driving on the northbound CTE (in Singapore), on a rainy evening, quite a number of years ago.  One tree fell onto the highway that forced all the vehicles to exit at Ang Mo Kio.  Imagine four [...] When Size Falls Grossly Under Expectation … Out of the blue, I wanted to shop for a  TV.  We drove to Katong Mall, paid Mega Discount Store a visit.  We have always wanted to try out the “Hong Kong Tea House” restaurant next to the mall.  The food is indeed ‘pretty’ authentic, as what we’ve been told.  But my plate of cheese baked spaghetti [...] A “Romantic” Diner at Pasir Ris Park Sunday.  After Mass.  We drove from Ang Mo Kio to Pasir Ris Park.  For dinner.  We chose a bar.  By the sea.  Flashes of lightning from afar.  Watch out, it’s going to rain, said I.  God is taking picture of us, Cynthia smiled.  Food arrived, so was the rain.  Dashed to a partial shelter, we [...] A Recollection – How Years Have Vanished! Yep.  That little kid you see in the photo is me.  I have got the confirmation this morning and I will get to that in just a moment.  Like many entries I write, this one started with a concept, a consolidation of ideas for the past few days.  I have got my thoughts linked and [...] Your Next Move by Michael Watkins – A Good Resource For Your Major Career Transitions I have read Michael Watkins’s “The First 90 Days” quite a number of years ago.  Arguably one of the must-have books for the corporate executives.  In fact, the initial reception was so successful that the author has released a similar book targeting at the public sector. 6 years have passed since the author talked about critical success [...] A Spiritual Reflection – What Karen Armstrong’s Case For God Really Means To Me? This post is irregular in two ways.  One, I am often – if not always – happy with what I publish here.  Technically speaking, there is nothing wrong with the book summary I wrote on a Sunday morning, 7am to be exact.  But the more I read that post, the more disconnected I feel.  I [...] The Case For God By Karen Armstrong – What Religion Really Means? Karen Armstrong is right.  Any book about God is not going to be an easy read.  At least she put it upfront via one of her readers’ feedback.  Compare “The Case For God” to her shorter books I have read “Islam” and “The Bible”, this book is an intense read for two reasons.  One, the variety [...] Watching F1 – A Survival Guide (That Gets You Thinking) Formula One is coming to Singapore.  Are you someone who thinks that it is boring to watch cars going around in circle?  Excitement comes only when some cars crash?  You are not alone.  Many of my friends think that way too. As an avid viewer of the sport, I have put together a small survivor guide [...] Creating Your Own Digital Jukebox From You CD Collection I have promised some of my friends to write a little guide on my journey of digitizing my CD collection and here you are.  Some tips on which format to use and how to go about performing the task.  Now, why should you care? The condition of your CD deteriorates over time.  You know that, don’t [...] 9, Is No Corpse Bride For Sure I had high expectation for the animation film “9″ that bears the logo of Tim Burton.  Later on, I read that Tim Burton only produces the film while the director and writer is Shane Acker.  “9″ is a decent animation.  Just that I love “Corpse Bride” so much better.  The quality of the image animation [...] Inglourious Basterds – Can A Film End The War? The script of “Inglourious Basterds” took Quentin Tarantino more than a decade to complete.  It shows.  Of his films I have watched, I am much intrigued by the quality of the story development of “Inglourious Besterds”.  It watched like reading a masterpiece story.  Divided into 5 chapters, the Nazi hunts the Jews, the American ‘commandos’ [...] This Is The End Of The Spain Holiday Series I wish I could save the best for the last.  But my favorite photo album is still the journal of the previous day.  Followed by the “Jelly Fish” post that some of my friends refer to. The writing of this set of journal have been one helluva journey.  A total of more then 22,000 words not [...] GCA 2009 – “Hacking” Our Way Into Games Convention Asia, Lol I didn’t wake up on a Thursday morning thinking that I would attend an exhibition.  “GCA” sounded familiar.  As though I have been to such an event before.  I did some checking on my website and guess what?  One year ago, on this day, I was wearing the media pass for this event, invited by Nokia!  [...] Condo Bulletin: The Animal Edition I begin to think that our estate manager writes our condo bulletin with a monthly theme in mind.  Last month was the sex edition.  We have maids caught offering sex services to the workers and guards.  And we have couples caught making out inside the swimming pools.  This month is the animal edition.  I have begun [...] ¡Uff…! Our Spanish Exam Certificates From Las Lilas It felt like yesterday when we returned home with two certificates.  A moderately hard earned albeit minor achievement in our routine life.  Now that I am reading that entry I wrote back in January, have you noticed how much the certificate’s template has changed?  From that entry, I notice that Cynthia and my scores don’t [...] So Many Boats, In The Beautiful Island of Mallorca (Majorca) If you are one of the handful of readers who follow this Sunday series, you probably wonder, where am I in the photos?  I am often not that keen to go in front of the camera.  Happy to stay behind the viewfinder instead.  And all of a sudden, in day 11, I put my tripod [...] It’s 09/09/09 09:09:09, Pee Em Though, But Still … Rarely do I have to blog.  I mean, I often blog.  But I blog as per planned, or as and when I like to blog.  Thanks to my friend Supriya – the same lady who reminded me of that strange moment 12:34:56 7/8/9 while I was choosing my lunch dishes near the National Library one [...] So, Honestly, What Is It Like With The Nokia N97? In a world today whereby every other touchscreen phone is a Blackberry or an Apple, I certainly feel somewhat special by having the new Nokia N97.  Strangers would come up to me and ask what is it like with the N97 (as I use my phone often in public).  Like in NTUC, while I was [...]