some people cannot stop complaining about everything and anything. i found singaporeans such a particular breed. complain about government (gahmen), weather, school, neighbors, tax, trains, and everything in between. well, one thing is the rising cost of healthcare. its supposedly gone past the roof, the coconut tree, and now reaching the ionosphere (go google it). but i have found it particularly pleasant and cheap. i went for a endoscopic surgery to cure sweaty palms aka Hyperhidrosis. what they do is put you to sleep by anesthetic, then cut holes at your armpits, deflate your lung, burn an inch off some nerves then reinflate your lungs and sew up the small hole. repeat for other side.
stay overnight at the hospital, eat their food, shower in their toilet, disturb their nurses, and hallucinate over the anesthetic. all in all it cost me just above $1000. and how much would it cost in a private hospital a few kilometers away? almost 10K. thats 10 times the cost, and its all because you get government subsidy for everything paid for.
i think people should take a step (or a few if needed) back and count their blessings. being in this country, there is peace. here the law is carried out, here you can walk alone on a lonely street at night and not fear. here you can earn a decent living and enjoy world class education, the best public transport system in SEA and for the greater part of Asia ex-Japan.
i've just listened to some locals complain about their life in general and it just hit me that they are so ungrateful for what they have. you should ask 'foreign talents' why they come over to work here. why not stay home with their families. you should go take a plane to your nearby neighbours and listen to their complaints. complaints like racial tension, the lack of food or the inflation of it, the doubling cost of living, the corrupt civil service, the open daylight crimes that the police dont even want to solve. ask them about it, and maybe you'll learn to be contended, learn to be happy when there is no want.
EFS 18-55mm
EF 75-300mm 1:4-5.6 II
: S$180
Lexar compact flash card 4Gb 300x speed
:S$135
so i'm set to do some shutterbugging!!!
come back soon to see a quantum leap in the quality of images.
have been dreaming of this day since the time i bought over my friend's Minolta DiMage xt camera (that was used to take the above pic) almost 3 years ago. used it so much till the CCD spoilt and had to send back to the company to repair (but the repair cost was free, can you believe it? they said it was a manufacturing defect). And the camera's so old till Minolta already sold their camera arm to Sony (I'm not a Sony fan BTW). The camera's so used that the 4 digit picture code on the files went from 9999 to 0000 back again.
but still its going strong. and so will my 40D 10 years from today. mark my words.
oh and i think i caught the BBB virus. its a local thing here they call the 'buy buy buy virus' that alot of photographers have. whatever they see and like, they got to get hold of. well, my infection period is coming to a close as my pockets somehow suddenly feel awfully light.
i just bought my first DSLR, a second hand Canon 40D for S$1600
http://www.dpreview.com/news/0708/07082010canoneos40d.asp
super excited about it.
it was owned by a freelance photographer, 4 months old, with still 11 months of warranty, less than 1000 pictures taken on it. perfect!
thats a good $200 off the market rate.
with that savings, gonna get some second hand lenses from a friend for dirt cheap, two lenses for $180
and gonna get a new memory card for it. but that one have not decided yet which to buy.
then there's the camera bag, and a hundred and one other things to think about
... if only DSLRs took SD cards, would have made my life so much cheaper to sustain...
my new BABY!!!
)oops. dearest, please dont get the wrong message... (
met up with some long time buddies from secondary school who are in red dot now. went to Seah Street to eat chicken rice.
fried fritters with meat paste inside
one chicken worth of meat
gizzards and bean sprouts
steamed egg with century egg inside
steamed tofu with minced meat topping
all gone. must be time for hungry souls festival again...
then went over to raffles place and had a Singapore Sling.
the gang. it was great catching up and reminiscing of the yesteryears. you got to be quite old in order to have something to think back upon and sigh, wishing it was
.... yesterday once more.... duu bee duu bah...
all the best guys!!
interesting popular science book. but not as easy to read as the Secret House.
ok, this is the last post in this series. getting sick of posting already.
lastly, we went to the more touristy region of melaka.
this is some fountain dedicated to the queen. i think victoria
tricycles aka beca. a ride for an hour costs RM40. i rather take a taxi
christ church aka once known as the dutch reformed church.
next to it is some art gallery. they were displaying some abstract art, which i refused to pay to enter to view even though they had air cond.
no idea what type of architecture this is. my dad just warned that those jutting out things better had good support. well, considering they stood there since more than 400 years ago...
inside christ church. the floor is full of graves. and they engraved the top stone with crests, words and other decorations. even the walls had plaques in memory of certain people. another had a skull and crossbone on it. probably a pirate was burried there.
the plaques had very sad stories. one mentioned a mother died followed by her three daughters in the next 15 days because of typhoid. the father was left with an 'irrecoverable loss'. i had to take some time to gather my thoughts after i read that. dont think i could take such a loss. its quite hard to fanthom why these crazy white people will come all the way to this disease infested place to build a church and try to preach to the natives and traders.
but to the lost souls who came, sacrificed and died, all i can say from my heart is thank you.
oh yeah, please remember to give a generous monetary gift so they can keep the building in good running order.
clock tower
not much wind around here.
thats it, a 24 hour trip to Melaka, the historical city, the sights and the food. was pretty fun. should do this more often.
okok
yes i know, where's the food you say
ok, first stop, the famous laksa and chendol place on Jonker street
this guy uses gula melaka like no need money like that
the noodle section
heaven, very creamy and refreshing
asam laksa. actually not the best i've eaten. my mum banned me from visiting my fav asam laksa stall in KL because she says its too spicy and too sour for my stomach. sigh...
curry laksa. dad says its very good. i have no comment, i dont really like this dish.
after that appetizer, we went to the chicken rice ball shop
thats chicken, rice ball shop
i thought initially it was rice balls with chicken inside
alas, its just rice balls
i just hope the guy that did it wore gloves.
chicken balls
erm, chicken rice
kick-ass chili
1030am (business starting up)
1430pm (sold all the chicken and its time to pack up)
as a little dessert i got some sweet stuff to munch. traditional chinese cookies thats chockfull of caramel, sesame seeds, and peanuts.
wonder whats for dinner....
