Hot in the City

I'm only getting the minimum amount $200 from the goverment, just because my annual income is more than $10,000 (or something to that effect) and I don't live in a HDB flat. Even my brother gets more than me even though he's technically not working in Singapore (so he's unemployed) but he's earning big bucks in the UK. That's because he's a guy and he had to serve NS. Even my gf who works in the US gets more than me because she is technically 'unemployed' and lives in a HDB flat.

Can you belive this?!?

If you think you would like to go to watch the F1 race at Sepang, Malaysia one of these days, do not read on.

I joined a tour that set off at 6am at Orchard Road. The bus was full of avid F1 fans, mostly non-Singapore males. Strange. The bus trip took about 5.5 hours, with a lunch break at Yong Ping. The food was ok but the bathroom was nasty. It was wet and there was no paper! Can you believe that?

The buses had to stop a distance away from the circuit and the path to the circuit was narrow and it had space barely for 1 person to walk on. Don't the Malaysians plan that they'd be people walking from the buses to the circuit? Grr...

The way the circuit was designed in such a way that I had to take a shuttle bus to get to my seat. Therefore, I couldn't have access to all the shops and the mall area at the circuit. Duh! That's bad design and bad logistics.

But I thought it was alright since I've assumed that there would be stores near where I was sitting. No! Nada! Zippo! There was only 1 pathetic store at their so-called F1 village. The store was selling a magnet for 30RM. Can you believe that price? It's a rip-off!

The entrace to the seating area was also in such bad shape. The staircases leading to the toilets were full of weeds. The toilets were so wet and paperless. I was furious because the tickets cost a lot of money and yet the amenities were in such bad condition.

After the race, there was, as expected, a mad rush for the shuttle buses. I really wonder whether the managment chose not to anticipate the huge crowd or they were really clueless about crowd managment. It was impossible to get onto the shuttle bus so I ended up walking back to my bus, which took nearly an hour of walking in the scorching sun.

I swore never to go back to Sepang again unless it's a free trip. The managment of the circuit didn't do a good job but the race was really exciting. That saved the day.

I went to JB last Saturday. Prior to the trip, everyone was telling me that I should be careful because of all the recent robberies and mishaps that have happened to their friends and relatives whilst they were there. I was kind of apprehensive but I thought it could be exciting.

Going to JB was kind of a breeze. I took the MRT to Kranji and took the yellow Malaysian bus. I paid $1's fare and it took me all the way to the bus terminal at JB. I had to get up and down the bus when going through the customs but it was really easy. The buses are pretty frequent too.

I didn't have much time to shop around. I only visited my friend at the Landmark IT Mall and bought a few DVDs. I'd definitely go back to JB again and check out the huge mall by the customs, City Square.

I recently discovered the wonders of podcasts. In fact, it was only yesterday. They're free so that helps.

There are podcasts on comedy shows, on yoga, on learning Thai and even radio shows.

So far, I've subscribed to podcast on The Sopranoes, podcast on Learning Italian, podcast on jokes about Bush, podcast on Sean Hannity and podcast on Business Week.

It really helps to kill time when I'm on the MRT.

Check it out!

Last Sat, I went out with Engineer K on a date. We met at a group bbq at Sentosa. That is another story to be told. We went to a Indonesian restaurant at Centrepoint. It's the first time I've gone on a date at a restaurant in a mall. I guess it's partly because Engineer K thinks that only Orchard Road has restaurants and he had a 1-for-1 voucher at that restaurant!!!

The date went well and Engineer K commented that most dating in the city takes place around the Orchard Road area. I disagreed and commented that there are other places for dating like Boat Quay and Clark Quay. However, Engineer K rebutted and said that it's better not to frequent such places since there are more ang-mohs there. The risk of terrorist attacks happening at such ang-moh places are higher and it's better to avoid them.

Can you believe it?