A Day at the Zoo!

I was at the Singapore Zoo. :) The zoo has changed quite a fair bit since I was last there many years ago. The animals have more rooms to move about, and some of the animals are actually 'sort of' free roaming. This monkey is the first to greet the visitors and there are no barriers separating the monkeys from visitors.

Of course, in a place where we can appreciate animals, we must also remember to do our part for the mother Earth. So there was this booth located quite near to the monkey. Sorry, can't recall the name of this species :p

Different people have their own types of favourite animals, and for me it would be the feline family! There is the white tiger as well as the cheetah! The white tiger is somewhat lazy, and a bit unfriendly, lolz.

There is only a glass panel separating the cheetah from the visitors, and the cheetah actually moved quite close to the glass. I watched a video at the cheetah enclosure, and it seemed a wild cheetah actually walked up to a photographer, licked his hands, before moving away from the humans. Lolz. Friendly cat. It is a pity there are not many wild cheetahs left. Here's a pic of the cheetah, and guess what was it doing?

Watched the Splash Safari show, and was pretty entertained by the sea lion. Hmm there was also this nosy pelican near the sea lion (behind the sea lion).

On the way out, we visited the giraffe, and were on time to see them feeding. They are tall!

The zoo is definitely worth a visit, with sufficient attractions to make it a full day affair! Here's the pic of the map.

Stop & Smell the Flower

Life is strange sometimes, we often hurried too much and missed what beautiful moments life has to offer. In the midst of 'accomplishing things' and keeping up to the somewhat crazy n competitive pace of modern living, we simply missed those 'moments of life'.

That struck me one day when I was walking home. Walked past the beautiful LASALLE building and thought I'm somewhat odd compared to the crowd there. Then I realised that I'm simply walking too fast, compared to the leisure pace of the students and the foreign workers resting there. I slowed down the pace somewhat, and that's when it struck me that heh, slow down, enjoy the evening sunset, smell the flowers, and simply 'live'!

That is when I realised that heh, we have beautiful sunsets here!

And the flowers are nice. Reminded me of those poems that ask you to smell the flowers and 'live' when you have the chance.

Didn't realise that we have so many shades of the flowers along our roadside.

Ironically, sometimes our foreign friends seem to know how to enjoy these moments better than us the locals. Watching them sitting by the pavements and catching up with each other, eating simple dinners and sharing news and jokes, made me realised how much of an 'ant' have I become...hurrying here and there daily. Lolz.

Apophis asteroid hitting Earth (fake?)

First I read the news today on slashdot that the asteroid Apophis has a 1 in 450 chance of hitting Earth, which is a revelation from the calculation of a 13 years old boy in Berlin. Seems like his calculation refuted an earlier claim from NASA that predicted a 1 in 45,000 chance. The boy's assumption took into account that the asteroid may hit one of those 40,000 orbiting satellites, which may then change the course of the asteroid. If the boy is right, our planet may be doomed by 2036, i.e. 28 years from now.

My immediate reaction was... shit... it is more likely I'll be killed by an outer-space asteroid than for me to win the group 1 Toto (i.e. lottery) prize... so I'm more likely to be greeted by a flying object from space than the million dollars Toto prize ... zzz... zzz... zz. z... stupidly amazing wor.

Then I started surfing Yahoo Answers... and found out that the story on slashdot is not true...!!!
The person pointed out that wiki has some entry about it. Wiki got its source from The Register, which has some NASA quotes.

That was the second amazing part for me today...that a false rumour could spread so fast from a German article to the German tabloid to slashdot, back to Europe, and I'm merely an observer from Asia, picking up various pieces of facts (and fictions) from other Internet users around the world... all that in less than 8 hours....wah! The world is smaller... zzz....

Cows Re-spotted Roaming in Singapore!

Wonder if anyone remembers seeing life-size cartoon cows postcards right in the middle of empty fields in Singapore? It was an advertising gimmick by a company... and I can't remember the name though. Was it M media?

Anyone...they are back! This time round the cows are flying, and under surveillance too! Beats me why cows which can fly need to be under surveillance... maybe the owners are scare that they will fly away... muaa haa haa.

Anyway they have more than just cows for this round. There are also big postcards of women... lolz.

I must say that the efforts are quite commendable and effective. People will notice these ads, and possibly contact the company to place similar ads. Lolz, wonder what will they do next? Cows in superman or batman attires? kekeke.

More insects in my room...zzz

Hate it when the weather changes from sunny to rainy to sunny in such short period of time. When the weather changes like that, there will somehow be many insects in my room.

Firstly I got invaded by the termites (with their wings on)... and followed by the spiders who are hunting for them. See the pic below? That's one very obscure corner between the computer table and the bed, i.e. hard to clean area. You can see both the spider and the termite in the pic. The yellow and blue 'strings' are the computer cables.

After the termites and spiders... come ants... and last night mosquitoes... zzz...mosquitoes can fly over 20 plus levels to reach my room...wah long distance flyers... zzz ... sianz.

Oasis shifting to near Toa Payoh Swimming Complex!

Many of the supper and food lovers will remember the Oasis at Kallang. The Oasis located near the stadium is a great Taiwanese porridge place, with free flow of sweet potato porridge and great dishes. Well, it has shifted to make way for a Sports Hub. A pity actually, cos' the place has good parking and great view. Went to the Kallang venue during the last few days of the operations and took some pics.

Here's the empty table after the 'last supper' at Kallang Oasis.

Guess many will miss the Kallang Oasis. Well it has shifted to near Toa Payoh Swimming Complex, and the new address is No. 303 Toa Payoh Lor 6 Toa Payoh Town Park Tel: 6346 4418. The good news is that Oasis opens 24 hours at the new place! Yeah... more great supper!

Related Posts:
- The New Oasis @ Toa Payoh

Coffee protects you against many many things!

Muaa haa haa *very evil grin*

Just read this article on BBC News that

Coffee may cut the risk of dementia by blocking the damage cholesterol can inflict on the body, research suggests. The drink has already been linked to a lower risk of Alzheimer's Disease, ... UK experts said it was the "best evidence yet" of coffee's benefits.

Heh now I know why my cholesterol level is at such a healthy level.... it's the 3 cups of coffee that I drink per day! Woo hoo! Coffee stops dementia, block cholesterol's damage on the body, and stops Alzheimer. Such a Wonder Drink isn't it?

Hmm and now that I tried TCC's Cocoa Sunrise, maybe I can make my own, i.e. coffee with fresh orange juice. It taste quite good actually (the TCC version). Caffeine, Vit C, fruits, wonder drugs...all in one. :p

"Silverfish" Fried Rice

Heh we are all familiar with 銀魚炒饭 which is quite yummy, and easily found at local Chinese stalls. I found a pic of the fried rice on flickr. However, the English translation of it is quite funny... it is 'Silverfish fried rice'. I captured a pic of the menu at the Budget terminal from Hans...

The funny part is that Silverfish (not the actual 銀魚) is actually the name of a kind of pest that eats papers. So it's sort of weird for international travellers who just reached the Budget Terminal, and see that item on the menu... they must be thinking "weird cheap food at Singapore Budget terminal, they serve rice with pests?!". lolz.

During my search for the chinese wiki on silverfish, I came across this forum thread where obviously they got the mix up between the fish and the pest. Quite a funny read.

heh heh... next time when I'm overseas... maybe I shld just order silverfish with rice at the western restaurant... and see what they serve me :p