:: my left foot update::

tonight is (i hope) the last of the treatments, medications and consultations for the swollen left foot.

the 'chinese sinseh' (are there any non-chinese ones??) did a marvelous job the last visit, which was a day after the western medical practitioner has confirmed that there were no fractures whatsover.

it was just couple of ruptured veins and twisted ligaments and the western medical remedies were a jab shot to my ass to relief the pain and more pain-killers tablets to swallow and 3 days of home rest. basically, western medication objective is to alleviate pain.

but eastern medication is different, the sinseh said that my blood flow is not flowing well enough, evident from the massive 'hickey' or 'blue-black' marks around my foot. so the best way to encourage this flow is to massage those areas and to recover the traffic congestion of the blood as well as to try to do some exercise to enable the muscles to move as before. failing which, it could develop in more complications such as rheumatism and other join-related problems.

and what a great job he did, it was painful no doubt, but it was not "KNNCCB pain" as i was able to see that the swelling has reduced significantly after 30 minutes of kneading, pulling and rubbing. he has also dabbed some very hot 'herb-bag' on my foot before putting a layer of more herbs for a 'foot wrap' which is to be left overnight for 2 days.

and the next day, i was almost able to return to 90% of my left foot mobility, with just some minor swelling.

so let's hope that today's treatment will be in time for my weekend partying as i need this left foot to do some serious footworks at the clubs ;)

not only that, the sinseh is a nice man, an import from Shanghai, China some more. we talked about his kids, wife, impression of singapore, etc...you know, common man talk.

but the best education that i have given to him today was that, not all malay man is married to more than 1 wife, as he had asked me this questions, "how many wives do you have? 2? 3? 4?" in all earnestness...to which i replied, "zero, but more than 4 girlfriends around..." hahaha.

"Xie xie, Zong xiansheng..."


:: ahh...all the kneading, rubbing and pampering, NOT, it was darn painful ok...::

:: blog pitch : kennysia.com ::

kennysia.com is, shall i say, one of my favourite blog...ever!

he doesn't need a pitch from anybody, i'm sure his blog hits are hitting the roof! but again, since he is one of my favourite, what the heck... :)

he is humourous, honest and direct, but he has the uncanny ability to write about sobby tales which are rather personal too. he does not mind poking fun at himself, and one can sense his sincerity and street-smartness somehow...

many malaysian bloggers are entertaining lot, maybe because they are more diverse lot, because, isn't malaysia, simply asia? hehehe....

but today, kenny has outdone himself...what do i mean? read about it, and i'm sure this picture tells a thousand words.

:: sight for sore eyes::

i guess today, being the 3rd day of inactivity is a good time to post some more pics from the last weekend's bali.

actually, i have not been totally inactive, as i am still working remotely from home and finishing up work stuff from irritating colleagues who have no sense of basic etiquette to ask how my foot was, but instead, more work queries and clarification....buggers!

the topic of etiquette was also, coincidentally, on today's Oprah show on Star TV. i shall dwell on etiquette is my incoming post, there are so many things to talk about it by then.

but for now, i know there are many good photographers, like one of my favourite, kissui.net

compared to my last trip (where i was being lazy and spend most of my time at kuta and its surrounding places, such as seminya, legian and double six) this time, i did some sight-seeing, but again, only isolated to the southern most part at Nusa Dua.

the place which provided some relief in terms of amazing view, is Uluwatu Temple, if you are interested to see more of this place, you can check out this site as well...

anyhow, you can check out the full pics at my flickr here...but here are my favourite sights:

1. sunset from uluwatu temple


the best place to watch the sunset in Bali is at Uluwatu, simply because it is located on the southern-most part of the island...

2. the harsh shores of the pura uluwatu cliffs


i love cliff and rocky shores like this, reminded me of some far flung places of Scotland, eh?

3.local family enjoying the view after praying at uluwatu temple


it was the full-moon when i was there, so many local hindus made special prayers to the temple to offer their offerings. but seeing a family enjoying its private moment like this, has warmed my heart....ideal family size that is...a son, a daughter, a father and mother, life is a bliss....


4. art pieces for tourist dollars


this kinda reminded me of the art pieces that were available in phuket...



5. the sea that i've missed @ nusa 2 resort and spa


unlike my last resort trip to phuket, this time, i did not even get wet at all...

6. the call for world peace at sari club destructed by the bombing site


this was the only pic (other than those with the babes) that i took at the watering holes of kuta...my last nite was spent at a club called M'bargo, right across this once Sari Club of Bali...

but i guess, the most important question was....did i find my smile from this trip?

let's just say, for now, i did....but then, i grimaced, due to my leg injury....

anyhow, i will complete the book which i am reading now, before i can find that answer.

"let's smile more often", that's what i'm telling myself nowadays, cheers!

:: bali 101 : part 1 - hotel::

the hotel that i stayed in my short trip in bali was excellent.

located within the cluster of good hotels at Nusa 2, which coincidentally, no entry to the roads for the locals who had no business there (snobbish! like soon-to-be-our-IRs).

but too bad, as i've stayed there for only 2 nights, the service was impeccable but the food was nothing to rave about...it was catered to the western and japanese palate mostly.

the beach front was superb, without much touts and hagglers, but this time, no more suntan and be a surfer-dude wannabe for me this time.


:: nusa dua beach hotel & spa, bali ::

:: i'm back...::

despite the ultra-short 'holiday', i have to say that i'm rather satisfied as it was a different kind of holiday than my last trip there. well, except for the partying, of course....

but perhaps, the only consolation was instead of taking photo with balinese drag queens the last visit, this time, i got to know real international chicks :)


:: totally wasted aGentX having a good time and being the only fugly one ::

also, i will need some time to post those pictures and stories as i have in fact, just returned from the hospital.

you see, i had a really bad sprain on my left ankle when i was there....and i didn't realise how bad it was until when i took the cab home from the airport.

guess i will spend next few days nursing the ugly foot and compiling those pics...


:: honestly, i can't really recall how i have twisted my ankle...::

:: finding my smiles::

the animals at the singapore zoo were cranky lately:

• last sunday, a jaguar had escaped from its cage;
• on monday, a civet cat bit attacked a chinese tourist during a show; and
• today, it is reported that 2 sundays ago, a 1.70m long gavial, a kind of crocodile, attacked a zoo-keeper.

my animals insticts are the same too, for i have been very moody the whole of this week. i didn't realized it until a colleague remarked that i looked very 'sian' or bored and grouchy, nabeh!

i guess that i have not been smiling at all for the past few days - and i didn't like to feel this way.

so, i tried to find the old aGentX and i went to east coast park to rollerblade last tuesday and to the library yesterday, as those are among the activities which i have indulged pretty regularly in the past.

skating and reading have made me happy on many occassions before....


:: just me and shadows at ECP::

however, those activities did not make me happy, for some strange reasons...

while roller-blading, i realised how quiet and dreadful the east coast park, its many chalets and food outlets have become (or maybe, it was a weekeday)...

when i was young and so much younger than today...hehehe, i remembered how exciting it was to be whenever i make that special trip to ECP -- for barbeques, parties at the chalets, cycling, swimming...you name it...i would always be anxiously looking forward to them...

it striked me how uninteresting and dull ECP has become to me! (i am not going to correlate that with the tourism industry here anymore....i don't care). and the only thing that is still full of activities between carpark A to G of the ECP was the hawker center, and many patrons are non-tourists, 'nuff said.

it was altogether a completely different experience at the library, it was relatively quiet (which is good), but my real intention yesterday was to return my long overdue book and to settle all these outstanding fines and reservation charges. just then, i glanced to a shelf and this book caught my attention "repacking your bags" by Richard Leider and David Shapiro.

what interest me to this book is the fact that it tries to answer to the question "does all this make you happy?"

in Forbes magazine 75th anniversary issue, it has devoted the entire magazine to the question "why do we feel so bad...when we have it so good?" i hope to find the answers for that question too.

living day in and out has resulted in a preconfigured packaged which is formatted for easy consumption to the idea of lifestyle. lifestyle now relates to the things that we buy -- someone else's idea of what we need to be happy. but is anyone really satisfied with these mass-marketed idea of happiness? is anyone realy nourished by a McLifestyle? i am certainly not.

sounds deep? in short, people have always judged one's happiness by the the outer appearance or measure of success....ie: material needs. but look around. most of us are no longer consumed with consumption, hardly anyone still believes that the 'most toys' win.

for me, accumulation is no longer the name of the game -- myfriends and colleagues are now asking, "what really matters?" "how much is enough?" and "what is the good life and how can i live it?"


like my singapore, i need to reinvent myself, simply because, i think i am getting dull and uninteresting anymore, i reckon.. many of us have worked hard our entire careers, until when it reaches a point, usually about middle age, when we examine our lives and say, "Hey! is this all there is? when does the fun start?"

i do not wish to wait until then...and i hope this book and some attitude adjustments will help me to re-find my smiles again.

i'm getting rather philosophical lately, but with all said and done, i am leaving to bali tomorrow, just a short weekend runaway. i need to getaway, and its a timely and appropriate break.

yeah, i know..just when i thought i would never visit to any resort or beach holidays anymore this year...

why bali? since being a tourist is always much appreciated than a local, perhaps....
coincidentally, remember the sari club which was bombed by the terrorist? when it was hip, it had 'no locals policy', and that was why it was an easy target for those lunatics...

recent events have perhaps made me to frown more than to smile and i hope that when i return, i will be able to smile again, just like i did back there at kuta beach, bali, during christmas 2001...



wish me luck. y'all... and its getting late and i have still have yet to pack my bag....cheers and see you when i return..

:: singapura-ku : no more fine city, but we deter sins with money::

at lunch time today, i felt like i was in some strange land.

for once, i ordered nasi padang (after few week's of abstinence) when a malay auntie served me and spoke to me in english. i smiled and spoke to her in malay instead (as i really have not been speaking much of it at all while working and just felt like conversing it in good and polite standard malay). after which, she smiled and apologised -- because she thought that i might be a Filipino or a Thai instead. i replied its ok and informed her that i am a Singaporean and spoke in malay because i wanted to ask her about the name of a dish which i wanted to know what is it called in malay...anyhow, that was not the point....

that incident has bothered me even more, ever since when i later realised that i am a minority in my office too. no, not a minority because of my race, but as a minority because I am a Singaporean, working in a Singapore office.

you see, in my office today, there were only 2 singaporeans, 4 malaysians, 3 indians, 1 filipino, 1 indonesian, 1 canadian and 1 french. we are not the majority in total headcount too, although we are a regional office based in Singapore.

i have never really been bothered about the issue of being a minority (ie: malay) all my life.

i am comfortable with my race and have wonderful and everlasting friends from many chinese, indians, caucasians, japanese, asians and in other words, people from all walks of life and background.

i respect diverse people for who they are, and them, the same. if not, too bad, you ain't gonna be my friend, y'know!

i am not going to get deeper into the issue of nationality here, as i might be considered 'offensive' to some people, so i will stop it right now.

however, today, for once, i am feeling like a strange man in my own country which has left a rather heavy baggage on my shoulder right now...no wonder, the grass is always greener on the other side.

and it even got worse when i realised the truth about this post : regarding the decision to impose the high entrance and annual fees for Singaporeans before they can even enter the casinos when it is finally built in 2009.

""The first thought that comes to mind is what and how am I going to tell my foreign friends in explanation when they ask me why I as a Singaporean am not allowed into a casino on Singapore soil unless I pay while they as foreigners have free entry.

Do I reply that it is because the majority of Singaporeans are such imbeciles who lack the maturity, self-control and better judgment to refrain from becoming gambling addicts hence the need for the government to restrict the entry rights of Singaporeans? Which at least in my mind does not make sense because as rightfully pointed out, 30 years ago it may be right to not allow a casino in Singapore but 30 years later today where Singaporeans make some 4 million trips overseas annually and are well exposed to casinos and gambling worldwide, we are not a country of uneducated illiterate mountain turtle pheasants who will self-destruct once stepping into the casino""

more...

we still need our government to tell us how to behave and control ourselves, isn't it just pathetic?

Tripleperiod also has a similar sense to this issue, so is mr miyagi and mrbrown


Guess i will have to spend my money and my vices elsewhere too...


photo credits : abbyladybug

:: the HOT acroynm now::

the verdict is OUT!

and the latest and hip letters now are..... IRs (pronounced aiye-are-ss)

no, not infra-red but INTEGRATED RESORT.

PM and the Ministers were all using that 'nickname' in the we-already-will-know-the-outcome of the casino decision today, at the parliament.

and also today, my supposed posting to Bangkok is cancelled, i guess the customer rather will invest in the casino project since it will make more money than having me there.

i will look for other options, pronto!

if you are interested, the official definition of IRs, as quoted by our PM is as follows :

Not a Casino, but an IR

20. This leads to my third point, which is that we are not considering a casino, but an IR – an integrated resort.

21. Some of media coverage of this debate has focussed on whether or not the government will approve “casinos”. This has given the wrong impression that the IR project is only about building casinos here. We think of a gaming room with slot machines and game tables, perhaps with a hotel and some basic facilities. We think of Macao as it used to be, with a sleazy reputation and triad gangs ruling the streets, or Las Vegas in the movies, with organised crime and money laundering. But that is not what we are looking for. IRs are quite different. In fact, they should be called leisure, entertainment and business zones.

22. The IRs will have all kinds of amenities – hotels, restaurants, shopping, convention space, even theatres, museums and theme parks. They attract hundreds of thousands of visitors per year. The great majority will not be there to gamble. They may be tourists, executives or businessmen, who go to enjoy the resort, or attend conventions or conferences. But within this large development and slew of activities, there is one small but essential part which offers gaming and which helps make the entire project financially viable. As a result, there is no need for government grants or subsidies for the IR. The investors will put in the money, and take the commercial risk.

23. Genting gives us some idea what the IR may look like. Genting started off as a casino with an attached hotel, but now it has many other amenities: good hotels, numerous food outlets, theatres, a huge amusement park, etc. Many Singaporeans go there for short holidays with the whole family, and not to gamble. The IRs we have in mind are much more than Genting.

24. On a smaller scale, we can think of NTUC Downtown East or the SAFRA Clubhouses. These are wholesome family destinations. People go there to swim, eat, golf and enjoy the facilities. But somewhere within the premises there is a small jackpot room that generates the revenue that helps to keep the place going. NTUC Club generates millions of dollars a year from the jackpot machines, which helps to pay to build the rides and other facilities in the Clubhouses. Without this revenue, NTUC Club would close shop.

:: welcome to the hotel of california, such a lovely place, such a homely place...::

Photo credit : Uncleboatshoes'