Notes from Maleka.

Typing this from Equatorial lounge and thinking what is good for dinner.

Well, lunch was Aunty Lee's home cooked perenankan cuisine and I managed to catch a glimpse of the chef- aunty Lee herself.

We had quite a feast for four of us and 3 plates of rice wasn't enough for me. The food was yummy. Loved it!

So much other food to chomp on but too little time. Haven't had chicken rice ball, satay celup and ikan bakar. Hope to find them tonight.





.... hideKraM on the go ....

An alarm.

Yesterday morning When the alarm clock went off, guess who woke up first? It was Luca.

Sandy told me when the alarm clock rang, Luca immediately moved inside her womb. Time for breakfast I suppose.

I could imagine him stretching like how we often do after a good night's sleep and perhaps reluctant to move but annoyed by the sound of the ringing, he too had no choice.

Come on. Picture Luca stretching in mummy's tummy. Cite isn't it? Tiny little movements and an adorable yawn.




.... hideKraM on the go ....

C-strings any one?

Last week while walking at Isetan departmental store, I came across this funny looking hair band lookalike at the lingerie section.

Being an inquisitive fella, I walked closer to find out what that was. To my astonishment, underwear for ladies. It is called the C-string.

Hard and made from plastic, it is meant to work like any normal panty except that it is rigid and surely not soft. I doubt it is comfortable but who knows.

Might buy this as a gift for friends next time and I won't be surprised they'll wear it on their heads. Ha ha.


.... hideKraM on the go ....

Drums.

Last night I tried my hands on drumming. Frankly it hurt the palms.

Well, a little embarrassing but I needed an ang mo to show me Little Arab and of course the ropes to drumming. : p

.... hideKraM on the go ....

Phone booths

When was the last time you used a public phone?

I remember the days of pagers and phone booths. Lines would form with people returning calls from the pagers.

Frankly the invention of mobile phones was a damn good thing that happened to our generation. Well, my generation does not necessarily mean yours too but the invention brought us lots of convenience but sometimes pain too.

Bosses are just a few numbers away from you and when the phone rings, no choice but to answer.

Anyway, just writing some crap here while waiting for the ang mo to come down for a drink.







.... hideKraM on the go ....

Location:Choon Guan St,,Singapore

Left hand.

Many know me as left handed. Clever. Creative. Love arts. So is this true?

You decide.

Just couple of days back, a colleague told me how the world is made for right handers.

It set me thinking what has the world not given me because I am a left handed. Couldn't really think of any except for two insignificant 'issues'.

Want to guess what that is?

Well, if you are left handed like me you will surely agree with me.

Writing. Left handed freaks like myself often find that we are very careful when using a pen. We choose our pens carefully as we distant ourselves with ink that smudges easily. Reason? As we write, the pinkie (or is it spelt pinky?) rubs against the paper thus destroying the beauty words we pen seconds ago.

That was one reason. What was the other? Shucks. Am thinking hard as it slipped my mind.

Yes. I remember now. Left handed chaps often find themselves in trouble when seated next to right handed weirdos.

Can you remember the last time you sat next to me at a Chinese sit-in meal using chopsticks? Was it uncomfortable when I sat on your right?

Left handed fellas like me tend to rub elbows with right handed weirdos when eating. Friction you call it? No way!

So what has the world created for right handed people? I cannot think of any thing special.

Any clue right handed people? Share if you have any to contribute.

I wonder if Luca will be left handed like me.




.... hideKraM on the go ....

Location:Simei Street 1,,Singapore

17 weeks - counting down ...

Just having the thought of holding Luca in my arms brings me smiles. A wonderful thought and very sweet too.

 

I can imagine myself trying to wrap things up at the office and leaving for home daily on the dot just to cradle Luca boy. Is that how a father is?

 

For a fact, every hour of the day I just miss touching Sandy's tummy and talking to Luca. I always wonder if he is listening to our conversations and figuring out what on earth are we talking about.

 

The past few nights, Luca has been actively 'punching' and 'kicking' inside. I always get excited when I feel movements in the womb as I try to imagine his hands reaching out to mine and giving me a high 5.

 

Nice isn't it?

 

 

 

 

Tried to be nice.

Being the good guy sometimes just don't pay off.

Just two days back while having dessert with my in-laws, I realised how soft a person I am.

Well, we went to this ice cream place and occupied two tables when we only needed one. There were four of us and only two single scoops ordered.

A couple came along looking for seats thus I stood up and moved the table and placed it a side for them gesturing that they could take the table as we weren't using it.

So the man smiled and thanked me. He conveniently took two chairs away from our table without asking if the seats were occupied.

Well, there were only five chairs and they took two away leaving us with three chairs for four of us.

I was stunned because they should realise we didn't have enough chairs as I was obviously standing around them.

They couldn't care-less and started their own conversation and gazing into one another's eyes.

Seeing that they were enjoying their date, I could only watch them while standing another 10 minutes before leaving the place feeling a little stupid for being nice.




.... hideKraM on the go ....

Fun by the pool

It has been a long time since I used the swimming pool at home but it looks

pretty much like I need to do it more often because Sandy needs the exercise. Aqua therapy.

Bright Sunday afternoon and wonderful company. Mum joined in too to help babysit nephew Ian.

I wonder who will bathe him after this. Surely not me. ;)


.... hideKraM on the go ....

Location:Simei Rise,,Singapore

A dream I dreamt.

Last night I dreamt the life of a father.

I was in my late 30s and was preparing my boy for school. I can vaguely remember how the dream went but I enjoyed every bit of it.

It is something to look forward to. Children growing up and turning to adults but when they are all grown up you'll just want the clock to slow down so that you can spend more hours of your life with them.

Ironic isn't it? I bet my parents and godparents think it that way. If only time didn't fly so fast.

Frankly I do think that way. If only I didn't grow up that quickly but it is a journey we cannot avoid. It just has to happen for everyone on this planet. We grow old. Our children grow old and so will our family and parents.

It brings makes me tear to see how my grandparents age and soon we'll see our parents, godparents, favourite aunts and uncles age with wrinkles showing on their faces, greying hair between the little black ones left.

Growing old can be painful but it is important that as you grow older in age, your family partake the journey. To enjoy the happy times and treasure the meals together.

Am I also growing old in thinking that I need to mention such thoughts? Very much so because I want Luca to someday read what I have been thinking when he still hides in mummy's womb.

I now know how difficult is it to be a parent. The responsibility to provide the best for them and to make sure when they grow up they'll be able to fend themselves.

I now see the painstaking journey my dad and mum had to go through to see the three of us grow up. Never easy even as they are going to be grandparents soon. The worries and responsibilities remain the same because in their eyes we will always be children to them. Same goes for Luca next time thus there will be lots to worry about in time to come but let me take this journey with a great smile because Luca is a gift for me and gifts are always treasured forever.






.... hideKraM on the go ..

Location:Simei Rise,,Singapore

An angmo's gesture.

Basically I have never befriended an angmo that is as local as Daniel.

This Swiss chap speaks like a Singaporean with the 'las' and the 'lohs' and surely proficient with his Singlish sentence structure which allows him to order hawker food with no communication breakdown like many other expat friends face.



Interestingly he even offered to order my fish soup noodle.

I find it to be quite a feat because for me to order a meal at the hawker centre, I often need to mentally rehearse what I need to order.

It usually goes like this.

＂我想要一碗三块钱的虾面汤和一碗面线汤不要菜。＂

It may seem simple to many but difficult for me thus if ever I get you a wrong order, please don't shoot me.

On the contrary, put me in front of a top management executive and I wouldn't even be worried.

Weird isn't it?

Location:Simei Rise,Tampines,Singapore

iPhone Apps.

I never thought I would end up addicted to the Apps available for the iPhone. I kind of spent quite an amount

to get purchases from the store. Not much. Say about SG$15 but frankly I never thought it would be this addictive.

The developers sure know how to make a pile out of creating Apps. Maybe I am wrong with the figures but assuming there are about 25 million users of the iPhone, wouldn't the developers be receiving 25 million bucks if each App costs a buck. Simple arithmetic without factoring costs, overheads and licenses. Still quite a big profit margin.

Anyway, just thought I blogged some crap because I am only trying out my new App I purchased for $2.99.

Location:Pasir Ris Street 52,,Singapore

Delighted

It was sensational seeing Luca develop and taking shape. Fingers, legs and obviously the movement he was making inside mummy's womb.

It looked like he was dancing and playing on his own as the gynae did the ultrasound this morning. I again shed tears of joy as I saw my little precious gesturing what seemed like a greeting with hands held together. An early Gong Xi Fa Cai.

Sandy is also taking shape very well and is weighing about 64 kg now. The only trouble she has is itching at the tummy and maybe lots of gas that needs to be let out. Fart not. Burping more like it.

She is now on additional supplement. Iron and fiber pills for the lack of blood and constant constipation. She needs to intake more red meat as well as chomp more leafy veggies and fruit. Maybe a little more exercise.

We find ourselves sleeping more often and lazy to roam the streets. Lifestyle is changing and surely more changes will take place in months to come.

I am glad all this is happening and we are enjoying every step we are taking to become great friends to our son, Luca.

Mails ...

I believe most of us grew up during the penpal days where each week, we write to a penfriend with lots of hopes that they'll reply.

Things are different nowadays and I wonder if children do know that stamps exists. I am sure they do.

At the click of buttons, we get what we need in this technology crazy era and it irks me at times when people do respond so quickly. Don't get the wrong idea. I was referring more to work emails and not personal mails. It irks me even more when the email hits my inbox minutes before I knock off work but then again, we have some technology called Blackberry. Who came up with this name? Why name a machine some berry? We don't put berries in our pockets but this sure fits in well without it getting squashed.

I used to have penpals and wrote pretty often without getting responses on time. Sometimes a month or two later. I remember always having to check with my parents if I received any mails on a daily basis but usually nothing in my name but these days when I open up my mailbox, I dread opening the letters because they are nothing but bills after bills. Payments for credit cards, utilities etc.

Gone were the days where greeting cards filled the post and again, thanks to the easily availability of e-cards but then again, I received none. I wonder why. Could it be me being unpopular or friends are just too lazy to even drop me a mail but instead send me forwarded short messages via the mobile phone because it is free.

Just look at how things change. Maybe many years later when Luca reach his school days, a new technology comes about. Greetings will be made using holography. ; )

Choices ..

In our daily lives, we have to make choices. Like it or not we need choices and have to make them. The only thing is whether or not we make the right ones most of the time.

Some choices can be important and some insignificant but we still have to make the choice anyway.

What are the usual factors that contribute to a decision being made? On what basis do we make them?

Could it be for personal gain, convenience or peer pressure?

We don't know when a decision is correctly made until the consequence or result of the decision surfaces.

For now, I have made most of the decisions right but some other times wrong. We celebrate when choices are made well and can only live on hoping things change for the better when we realised a decision made seems wrong.

Back from India

India is a very interesting place with catchy advertisements all over.

" Grave problems resurrected here ". A funeral parlour.

" Honk. OK ". No idea who started this tradition because from my hotel room, I hear the honks non-stop.

I was equipped with a camera all day and there are just so many things I would like to capture but I
just didn't dare to. I just didn't think it was right to do so as some of the things I wanted to capture
were not pretty things but the sad sight of India.

Many people learnt a lot about the poverty and plight of India through newspapers and most recently from
Slumdog Millionaire but it is just so different when you see it with your own eyes. Children sleeping on
the streets and family of seven make homes out of canvas sheets.

Children run around barefooted and young adults play cricket across the roads. Yes. They bowl and bat
across roads. This is where their passion is. Cricket.

This country has lots of potential to build its economy and possibly can be a super power if resources were
used in the right way. They have human capital, natural resources and frankly geographically well positioned
between the Eastern and Western world. I guess there are many internal and external factors which slows down the
growth of the country.

The traffic condition here is pretty much congested and with the addition of the world's cheapest car on
the roads here will likely cause more honks to sound out. Don't get me wrong. I am very supportive of the
gift for India - the Nano. It is true there are many families who ride a motorbike with three or even four
children doing balancing acts in the midst of heavy traffic. Utterly dangerous.

Had my share of taking the auto-rickshaw and it sure was hell lots of excitement for us all. We swerved in and out of traffic and squeezing between cars. Again I stress that should F1 not have rules, Force India will surely win the F1 title because no one can be as skilful as the Indians in terms of driving. Give me a car and I will have it knocked numerous times before reaching the destination and if lucky, losing only the side mirrors. : )

 

 

The resurrected Taj.

I can't believe I have to rewrite this blog all over because I failed to save it but instead clicked on the delete button. Shit!

Seated at the Sea Lounge of the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower just across the Gateway of India, I come across a sense of familariy but some things have changed. Afterall it has been five years since I stepped foot into Mumbai.

As I stepped in front of the lobby, the brainwaves brought me back to scenes I saw about a year back. The Taj undersieged.

Television footages showed the Indian icon that played host to international politicians and celebrities alike was seen burning in flames from the roof of the old wing. It was very close to the room where I stayed.

The hotel was built by Jamsetji Tata, a gift he wanted so much to give local Indians as during British rules, Indians were not allowed into hotels built by British thus in anger, Jamsetji decided to build one himself.

The hotel's fascade remains somewhat unchanged in structure but what stunned me were the amount of guards and metal detectors in the area. It seemed like a fort on it's own.

I stepped into the lobby to find it filled with lots of guests and lots of chatter. Chatter from happy guests and not chatter from the walkie talkies of policemen like one year ago.

The hotel was attacked by a group of terrorists that made their way through the city firing at people and landing themselves in a few locations and The Taj was one of the unfortunate ones to be chosen as a target.

Before the police realised it was not a gang war but terrorism working at its hardest, many guests, staff and police were hurt and even killed. It was grim in the air.

It took many hours before the last terrorist was eliminated by the Indian SWAT team which took a long time to appear. Reason being that these guys are based in the capital Delhi.

At press conferences, Ratan condemned not only the attackers but the government for taking such a long time to react to the emergency situation. It was also sad to learn that the police weren't properly armed to fight the terrorists who had explosives and AK47s. The police only had WWII hand guns and batons.

Ratan found it hard to accept that India wasn't prepared for emergencies that were of this magnitude. Who would have thought that it was possible to ride a boat illegal into the country and launch a cowboy style attack. From footages, even the police feared the AK47s.

As I walked through the corridors of the hotel, I couldn't find evidence that a shootout took place. The entire place seemed to be refurbished. Even the painting that stood behind the reception hasn't changed or maybe it was restored or maybe the color scheme remained the same as before. I couldn't tell.

Enough of history. Am meeting the man shortly and let's see if I can get him to pose for the camera. He may appear in papers all the time but he is shy and reserved by nature.

Will head to his home shortly and hope his dogs will be friendly.

Mumbai Day 1.

Landed in Mumbai safely without turbulence. Thankfully.

 

From here I can hear the honks of cars of this vibrant city.

 

Upon arrival, Amit arranged for his security manager to meet me at the aerobridge and walked me through immigration and customs which enabled me to 'cut' queue. Thank you very much to Amit for his help on this and the many others that he has lined up for me in the next few days including providing me a sim card and a vehicle. Appreciate his hospitality much.

 

It is a pity that both Amit and Ashok aren't here if not things would have been lots of fun but I am sure I'll be coming back here again in the near future as it has been five years since I stepped foot on Indian soil. I didn't get to see the place last night as I arrived at around 10pm but might do some sightseeing this afternoon as per Amit's long list of 'things to do'.

 

You must be wondering what I had for dinner last night. Well, I managed to grab Mutton Bryani in the room. Yummy. I wonder whereelse can I find nice exotic Indian food. I just love spices but I always end up perspiring when I take things spicy.

 

Later this afternoon / evening, I will be visiting the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower, the hotel that was hit by terrorists about a year ago. I miss the sze chuan restaurant which serves very nice strawberry dessert. I'll be meeting with another friend of mine there, Ratan Tata. The last time I met him was at the St Regis in Singapore about 3 months back where we spent a day out in the pool chatting and shopping at Ion. I guess he is now rather busy thus I appreciate him taking time off on a Sunday to meet up with me.

 

Off to breakfast now and let's see of they have the traditional Indian omelette.

 

 

--
http://hidekram.blogspot.com/

It's 2010!

Happy New Year!



This year's countdown was a little different as we clinked our glasses welcoming the year 2010 at midnight without alcohol. Well, times are different now. In our group there are two new mothers-to-be thus alcohol was not a good idea.

No wild drinking or weird games too. Only a round of blackjack that lasted about an hour. Lucky me managed to win a fifty dollar note. Yahoo.

Are we getting old? Very much so because by 11pm I was yawning away and feeling sleepy. Just last year Sandy and I were partying at Zouk. Times have changed.

I just wonder what countdown is with Baby Mark. Maybe just stay home and count sheep before midnight. Likely not because with the little one, all energy will be drained and falling asleep will be much easier and very much treasured.




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