Sanity… is for the Weak

Finally back from our holiday. And I must say that it has been a wonderful trip. The thrid leg of our journey involved a drive up to Stockholm in Hans and Angie’s car, much like the trip we made from Munich to Dresden earlier this year. And there we met with the third of wifey’s friend in Europe, Michelle and her husband Jurgen. Besides being such wonderful hosts (and totally not minding us squeezing into your apartment!) Jurgen, like JE turned out to be a wonderful cook as well. The secret was revealed when he showed us *THE* Book, that contained the mother of all Swedish recipies… apparently handed from father to son so that each succeeding generation shall not starve. Dang. If I could read Swedish, I’d have swiped the book back to home!

Stockholm is truly a beautiful place, spread out over several islands, all connected by bridges, the capital has been called the Venice of the North, and I’m inclined to agree. Quaint narrow alleys, old buildings, beautiful sculptures, the whole works, blending seamlessly together with modern homes with sleek Scandinavian designs. Of course, the highlight of the trip for me would have to be the Vasa Museum. The only well preserved 17th century ship of her kind, the Vasa sank on her maiden voyage in the early 1600’s and was only salvaged from the sea over a period of 30 years after laying almost forgotten 333 years underwater. The sheer size of the ship has to be seen up close to be belived… my pictures do her no justice. Every part that could be salvages was brought up and preserved, and the ship was put back together like a giant jig-saw puzzle… with about 35,000 parts. The imagery carved on the ship and her size spoke power - power meant to control the Baltic, if she had been designed correctly; for she had not enough ballast to counter weigh the power of wind on her sails and caused her to flounder and sink, sails set, guns ready, on her maiden voyage. Despite this, she still contains many historic finds of interest and gives an insight into the days of the time.

I’m severely jet-lagged right about now, for we had no rest and went straight to the Dog Show held at the Expo after landing, two furry babies in tow (who were very, very happy to see us!).

Will post more stuff later, but now, to bed. ‘Night!

Am3thyst: Hey dude! How did you stumble across this blog?!? Anyway, nice to hear from you again!

As the days go by, I believe that I shall remember this as probably one of the perfect ones. After a late night last night, watching Euro Trip (oddly appropriate, for this trip of ours), we woke up at 11am and sat down to a hearty and lazy breakfast, before going out to explore the island home of JE & Cheryl. This is truly island living, and Sentosa at home has nothing even remotely close to offer in comparison: quaint quiet village feeling, an ancient church built in 1752, and friendly, beautiful people living there.

Thereafter, it being a perfect day (it was gloriously sunny! At last we were seeing the “summer”) we went to the beach and went swimming. No big deal, you say, everyone’s gone swimming in the sea… *BUT* remember this is Scandinavia… even in high summer, the air temperatures usually hit a high of 20° C and the water temp much lower than that. We went in anyway… or rather, I went and wifey took a little coaxing. Her screams of “COLD!!!!” probably woke the neighborhoodd, but what the hey? It’s not every day a tropical kumpung boy goes swimming in Europe, even in summer! :p

This being our last night’s stay with JE & Cheryl, they cooked us a wonderful dinner (as usual) and dessert, and we had it outside, BBQ style as it was still a wonderfully sunny day (sunset’s about 10pm, this time of the year), result being we were greedy and over-ate (again, as usual) to the point of bloated-ness *sigh* There’s still wifey’s birthday cake to be had later… but we’re taking a bit of a breather before “stressing” our tummies again.

Tomorrow, we’ll be taking Hans and Angies’ car for the trip to Stockholm to visit Jorgen & Michelle for the last leg of our trip. It’s been wonderful so far, and here’s to more great memories, and hopefully more trips next year!

Here we are, in JE and Cheryl’s home, and joined by our friends from Germany, Hans & Angie. So nice! I think wifey is having a good time, catching up with the girls… and us guys also having a good time drinking the beer…

This picture is of JE & Cheryl’s house, a building of about 200 years old. It used to be a resort/inn for travellers and sailors calling in this part of Sweden, it being a place to take on fresh water before sailing on to China in the previous century; so we had a lot of room, and the place was full of history. Not surprising, as JE is probably *the* biggest dealer in antique procelain in the world.

We were fed very well by our hosts, and to top it off, JE baked Cinnamon rolls for us! Excellent food ~ this is seriously not doing our diet and waistlines much good, but how we enjoyed it!

Today, I believe that we will be exploring Goteborg City. Hans was remarking that luckily that it’s Sunday, so not much shopping to be had for the girls….

Anyway, we’ll be heading out now. More to come later!

And that’s how they say “Hello” in Sweden.

Hi all! Been trying to find a way to get this posted while abroad, and finally got a connection, courtesy of JE and Cheryl, our friends in Sweden. Copenhagen has been fun, with sights to see, and things to do. First off, of course, would be a trip to the Little Mermaid, of H.C. Andersen’s fairy tales. First thing that crossed our minds was that she’s a lot smaller than we expected. Statue’s been there for about 90 years now, and looks to be in remarkably good condition, despite repeated vandalism over the years (her latest misfortune involved decapitation, just a few years ago!). It’s been quite tiring, as we’ve been walking just about everywhere, seeing the famed “Walking street” (Strøget) and it’s shopping. It’s a lively place, with street performers, fashionable people, branded goods (LV, Royal Copenhagen, Georg Jensen et al).

Also, there are several museums and exhibitions on, and we went to the Ripley’s Believe it or Not, and the H.C. Anderson exhibition put up for his 200th birthday! Plus a side trip to the Rosenborg Castle, built by the King Christian IV as a summer palace, and subsequently turned into a sort of a “Royal Storeroom” containing the heirlooms and other odd and ends.

Of course, no trip to Copenhagen would be complete without a trip to Nyhavn, the very famous “Boat Quay” that our very own Boat Quay was modelled after. Hip, trendy, and oh-so-cool hangout with bars, restaurants and cafes, as well as the odd art gallery and antique shop. Difference with here and back in Singapore, is that even in the “heat” of high summer, it only hits a high of a cool 20-odd degrees celsius, making dining out al fresco a practical experience, instead of a sweaty-but-wanna-look-cool one…

Finally, of course for a stop-over in Copenhagen, who would pass up a chance to see the famous Tivoli Gardens, probably the oldest operating Fair in the world. Set up 200 years ago, it still has two of the original rides (a roller coaster and a ferris wheel) still in operation today. In addition to it’s claim of fame as the oldest operating theme-park, this place was also *THE* inspiration for Walt Disney to set up Disneyland. Kudos to the Danes.

Well, we’re now in Sweden, spending some time with JE & Cheryl in their home on the island of Styrsö. Hope to post more soon, as well as some of Stockholm when we get there next week.

Pictures up as usual at at the Flickr site ~ see ya!

Just doing a little A/V update before we fly ~ added the Basement Jaxx Singles; their stuff is actually pretty good, right now listening to “Good Luck”.

We finally managed to catch Sin City on Sat. And we came out of the theater… impressed. Done more-or-less the same way as Sky Captain and the Wold of Tomorrow, in that it was shot mainly on a false screen and background added in later. However, the actors didn’t seem to have the disjointed-ness that was evident in Sky Captain. Acting was pretty much top notch, especially from Mickey Rourke as Marv. The action follows the books pretty much scene for scene, and in typical Frank Miller over-the-top testerone man-talk. It’s pretty cool to read it in the comics, but it seems rather… funny on the big screen. However, there seems to be several clues for a possible sequel: Becky, who was supposed to be killed in “The Big Fat Kill” survives at the end ~ and get this, she has blue eyes… does that mean that she’ll turn up again in Sin City 2, as the killer “Blue Eyes”? That’ll be cool - because of all the books in the series, “The Hard Goodbye” and “Hell and Back” appealed to me the most.

Seems like Jessica Alba’s star is shining bright. First in Fantastic 4, and now in Sin City (although her’s was pretty much the only character that did not -quite- stick to the books… no topless bar-top-lasso-dancing routine… *sigh*). In any case, still still looks HWAT!

We caught a trailer for a russian (of all places) movie that looked rather interesting - Night Watch. It seems like this Moscow production can actually give Hollywood a run for their money, just judging from the F/X in the trailer. Something about the war from acient times between the armies of Light and Darkness, and how a truce was made… an now broken. I hope that it’s not some subbed version that’s gonna be shown ~ foreign films just feel wierd when dubbed; don’t believe me? Try watching the original Godzillas or any 70’s Hong Kong Chopsocky Martial Arts films… in English!

Anyway, I’m off to the showers. See ya!

Audio:Slave

In the B&O
+Black Eyed Peas: Monkey Business
+Basement Jaxx: The Singles

In the PSP
+Gorillaz: Feel Good Inc.
+Rx: My Name is Rx
+Teddybears STHLM: Cobrastyle

Visual:Slave

In the DVD

+Appleseed 2004
+Initial D: 4th Stage

Movies to Catch

+Initial D: The Movie
+Fantastic 4
+Sin City
+Night Watch
+Herbie: Fully Loaded
+The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

Flying tomorrow! *whee! whee! whee!*

Unfortunately, I’m on duty today. Luckily, there’s an internet connection here, so I can past the time quickly. Here’s something that caught my eye on cnet:

July 6, 2005 5:05 PM PDT
The science of zombie dogs
U.S. scientists have apparently discovered a way to reanimate dogs that have been clinically dead for three hours, a process intended for future human trials.

A new scientific approach tested at the Safar Centre for Resuscitation Research, based in Pittsburgh, drains some of the animal’s blood and replaces it with an ice-cold salt solution. The dog–considered technically dead without a heartbeat or brain waves–is then revived with a blood transfusion and electric shock up to three hours later. The process, called “suspended animation with delayed resuscitation,” is ultimately designed to help suspend and revive emergency victims, such as casualties of war or car accidents, who have experienced an otherwise lethal hemorrhage.

But the animal rights community must have had a hemorrhage over the Safar Centre’s tests. Last week, it issued a statement clarifying its research tactics and outlining its compliance with standards for the ethical treatment of animals.

*Gasp!* Zombie dogs!?! So… Resident Evil.

In case you’re wondering about the title, the explaination is actually really simple:

1. The travel plans are finally done. We’ll be leaving for Copenhagen, Denmark on monday and won’t be back till the end of the month.
2. We went for a Wine Tasting organised by the SPCA in support of their fund-raising activities (No, it’s not a case of “I’d rather give to animals than give to NKF” ~ enough of that already).

Anyhoo, looks like the public outcry has pretty much died down, now that TT Durai has stepped down, along with the board and the withdrawal of Mrs Goh’s patronage. Let’s hope that the Health Ministry can help the new management to regain public confidence.

Some wines that caught our attention while at the Wine-tasting last night:

1. Batasiolo Moscato d’Asti 2004, Italy, S$32.00 - a sparkling white, fruity and light. Brought in by Star Cellars Pte Ltd
2. Durbanville Hills Merlot 2002, South Africa, S$25.00 - well rounded and not too heavy on the palate, reminded us of black currants. As well as:
3. Durbanville Hills Cabernet Sauvignon 2001, South Africa, S$30.00 - slightly heavier, but not overpoweringly so. Both brought in by BAYS Connections Pte Ltd.

We bought a bottle of the Italian… and they gave us a Monët & Chandon bag to hold it in. Is that cool or what?!?

The picture? That’s Tess, getting worried in the morning. We kinda woke up late to take them for a walk and there she was, checking on us while we were still shuffling around in the kitchen, not-quite-awake :p

Been reading this web comic called Ctrl-Alt-Del actually, and by golly, it’s funny shit. No time to post more ~ working out the trip schedule for next week.

Denmark! Sweden! w00t!

We drove by the NKF HQ this morning while on the way to work, and the walls were vandalised with the words “Liar” spray painted in red everywhere. Granted, the truth about the inner workings of NKF were rather disconcerting after the reading about the reports, but was it cause enough to cause such distress that vandalism is the response?

I believe that the public confidence in the Foundation would be badly shaken, and how this will affect tomorrow’s charity show is yet to be seen, but I think this is some grounds for a wake-up call.

Transparency for one thing ~ no doubt the money that the public has contributed may be used as the Foundation sees fit, but shouldn’t the public have a right to know HOW it’s being used?

Oh my. I’ve been browned. That was… unexpected

Thanks man! My 5 minutes of fame! Woohoo!

Anyway, back to the NKF. There’s been quite a bit of backlash on the foundation. Heard on the news that more than 2,000 people have alread called up to cancel their monthly donations to the organisation, and some are even speculating on how much will the charity show on tomorrow be able to net. Somehow, Singaporeans, nosey bunch as we are, will probably be tuning in just to watch how little the final amont will be (with the odd bookie making bets on the final figure) ~ kinda like how every vehicle will slow down to stare at an accident on the highway (and take down the licence plate number, can “tio” 4D, you know?).

But seriously, are we missing the forest for the trees? I can accept his salary of $1.8 mil over 3 years, even if it does seem rather excessive at first glance. But isn’t that typical of a company that handles amounts of money that massive on a daily basis? Take a look at Forbes’ list of salaries for CEOs’ of charitable organisations, and you’ll understand why Mrs Goh said that it was peanuts.

What I do question though, is the lack of transparency. The amount if patients that received help from NKF was inaccurate, but they did nothing to correct this impression. Why? The amount of funds in reserve was more than enough for several years, but why was it stated as barely enough for 3 years ~ unless our population of kidney patients will suddenly double or even triple, that’s still enough. So why?

Enough about the NKF. I think the best is to stay rational and remember the mission: Aid for kidney patients. Don’t stop the aid to those who suffer, or if you insist, donate to other agencies like the Kidney Dialysis Foundation. Better yet, put your money (hand/body/self/whatever) where your mouth is and go Volunteer.

passerby: No, it’s called “Evil Overlor…err Lovely wife needs holiday, so we go”

walter: Yes, possibly, but lets’ see how this pans out before being hasty, like some vandals eh?

jason: Umm… no? *points finger* she started it!

Charlotte: Thanks! From 40 guests on my stat counter to 600+ in one day!

Three things I discovered today:

1. Do not, under any circumstances, play any driving games on the PSP prior to driving practice - I just get this strange feeling to a) floor the gas, b) attempt and insane stunt. As it was, this was my first day out on the road, and I was cruisin’ at 65kph. (Yes, I’ve finally decided to get a driving licence)
2. One musli bar and one mug of milk, does not a breakfast make.
3. Always, *ALWAYS* check my schedule book. Almost missed practice today. Damn. Memory really goes when you get older

DSC03223
Originally uploaded by delta_green.

The pictures may be downloaded from the flickr website. Hope to see you all again soon!

We just got a rather sad SMS from Jakarta.

Robert’s wife (both friends of wifey & family) just passed away from cancer.

She was 29.

Hugged wifey while she cried from the shock. Apparently, a collegue of hers was recently diagnosed with cancer as well.

Robert, our thoughts and condolences go out to you this day.

For those who actually do come by this page every so often (yeah, right), you’d probably notice that I’ve removed the Currently playing/listening/whatever from the sidebar. I figured that it’s not gonna get updated very often, except for maybe the Movies listing, so I’ll just put it in the main posts and update as necessary.

Anyway, we’ve finally settled down to watch Appleseed 2004. Excellent update to an old 80’s classic, animation was very fluid, and Duenan was gorgeous! Some changes to the story (as I remember it, but it’s been almost 20 years…). I recommend it, so look out for it; we bought our copy from Poh Kim video, of all places.

Audio:Slave

In the B&O
+Black Eyed Peas: Monkey Business

In the PSP
+Gorillaz: Feel Good Inc.
+Rx: My Name is Rx
+Teddybears STHLM: Cobrastyle

Visual:Slave

In the DVD
+Appleseed 2004
+Initial D: 4th Stage

Movies to Catch
+Initial D: The Movie
+Fantastic 4
+Sin City (Hopefully we can catch this later!)
+Night Watch
+Herbie: Fully Loaded
+The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

Hopefully, we can head out to catch Sin City for sneak preview later on.

In other news, we’re finalising plans to visit friends over in Sweden, with a stopover in Copenhagen from 19~30 Jun. Pictures when we get back

Carole: A stuffed Chihuahua?!? Are you out of your freaking mind, woman?! Niosy brainless little things. One of my neighbours have 3, and the noise they make when we walk by is headache-inducing.

I read with horror and disgust about the half a dozen explosions that rocked the London subway and tore open a packed double-decker bus during the morning rush hour some hours ago.

And to think these blasts came just a day after London was awarded the 2012 Olympics. Extremsts and terrorists… animals, the lot of them.

On the other hand, good news on the Eco-front: NEA may be introducing the concept of charging money for plastic bags when we go grocery shopping in the future. Strangely though, the instant knee-jerk response were cries of “Foul!” and “The Government’s out to scalp us!” on the forums. I mean, what the hell? Isn’t this a good thing? Can’t people see past their wallets (come on! how much more is one measly plastic bag gonna cost?!?) and look to the future? I want a future that is pollution free - where it’ not all landfills and grabage heaps, where our children can grow up with nature - is this little thing too much to ask for?

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. It’s not that hard.

Just back from the sneaks for Fan4 (I refuse to call it F4 *bleah*). And I must say, I was pleasantly surprised. For something that was supposedly shot on a budget, it was an entertaining 2 hours.

Michael Chiklis stood out as Ben Grimm/The Thing. I haven’t caught many episodes of “The Shield”, but Micheal came across as a surprisingly good actor, being able to emote even through the thick makeup.

Funny thing was, the one scene that stuck in our minds was the Dalmation in the Firetruck that flinched with a whine…

Lawless World: America and the Making and Breaking of Global Rules. Hmm…

Ordinarily, a subject such as Internationa Law would not have interested me, unless it had to do with the United Nations Convention on Law of the Sea (UNCLOS - but that’s a professional interest). But I did attend the lecture hosted by AG’s Chambers featuring the author of the book and it piqued my curiosity not too long ago, and some of the topics discussed shook my perception of the world we lived in.

The question of was the US and UK right in going to war in Iraq was not so important, as what were the impact of their war? As the author asks:

After the Second World War America and Britain led the creation of a new law-based international order, outlawing war and its excesses, protecting human rights and promoting free trade. Why is the US now undermining so many of those very laws?

In Lawless World he draws on disturbing material to show how America has reneged on agreements governing war, torture and the environment with Britain often turning a blind eye or colluding in some of the worst violations. In recent years America has abandoned the Kyoto Protocol and the Statute of the International Criminal Court, ignored human rights standards at Abu Ghraib and disregarded the UN’s prohibition of pre-emptive force. Are we on the verge of a new world order where the most powerful nations can put aside the rules that no longer suit them?

Lawless World explains why we need global rules, examines why recent American and British actions endanger international justice, and asks, what does the future hold?

Heady stuff.

Carole: Pirate! What Mascot did you have in mind?

Dog food got delivered today. Luckily, it’s still on promotion, so we got an additional 20% on the 15Kg bag ~ that’s a whopping total of 18Kgs of kibble! Not bad for $67 and home delivered for free.

The 2 furkids seemed to know it was food. From the moment Glen (the delivery guy) came till I put it in the doggie corner, the both of them refused to let it out of their sight.

In other news, the Forum Outing is back on the 10th of July. Hope all can turn up and we all can have some fun.

Speaking of home improvement, we finally got our act together and put up the picture gallery on the wall along the staircase.

I admit to stealing the idea from “Le Fabuleux Destin d’Amelie Poulain”. We have a little teddybear, which we bring on all our trips abroad, using him as our proxy, we’d take photographs of him against famous landmark.

It’s kinda fun in a way; but I hate to imagine the confusion we’ll cause when baby comes along…

All of the pictures may be seen on the Flickr Group “Brandy“

Our current batch of Sunflowers have finally died.

R.I.P. Sunflowers.

On a more serious note, I think it because of the blasted tree that’s in front of the house, blocking out the amount of sun available. One of these days, I’m gonna find a saw, and cut a few strategically placed branches off.

In the meantime, We’ll just plant (yet) another batch.

~sigh~