Lotus Mall In Da Hu

I was on the bus when I passed by this building. It's a shopping centre called The Lotus Mall.

I guess they were trying to be artsy fancy by having a mosaic of repeated "LOTUS".

All I saw was "SLUT US SLUT US SLUT US SLUT US SLUT US SLUT US SLUT US".

Oh dear me. My eyes are failing.

- Voxeros

Moon Cake Vouchers In Da Hu

Mid Autumn Festival is just round the corner and that would marked the end of the hot summer.

Summer this year in Da Hu is especially bad with temperatures soaring above 40 degrees Celsius. The worst in 140 years.

So anyway, also known as the Moon Cake Festival, the gifting of moon cakes is an age-old Chinese tradition.

I remember receiving so many moon cakes back in the day that I just need to order half my required order and I would have enough to give a moon cake each to my 400-odd staff.

This is my first year in Da Hu and I noticed something different from other parts of QQland.

Over here there is a practice of gifting moon cake vouchers instead of the actual boxes of them.

The original idea is that you are supposed to go to the stipulated hotel/restaurant/shop to redeem the moon cakes with the voucher.

Hence, a efficient way, logistics-wise, to distribute moon cakes. More so when you have a lot of deliveries to make.

The twist here however, is that you take this voucher and go to your nearest moon cake voucher tout (located at all major subway stations) and redeem it for cash (at a discounted price, of course).

I was rather taken aback. It is like people here don't eat moon cakes any more. They just change it back to cash.

I felt sickened in the stomach when I first learned this.

Welcome to Da Hu where everything is all about the money.

- Voxeros

Toys Of The Wrist - Part 3 of 2

I didn't plan this third entry when I did the earlier two "Toys Of The Wrist" entries but my watch (above) died a couple of days ago.

I bought this watch back in 2000 when I started dealing with clients in the US. I needed a watch to keep track of my west coast clients. My job required me to be in constant communication with them and as such I need to know when they are awake and when they are not.

Signs of trouble started a month ago when the batteries died. It got me by surprise considering I just changed them back in November last year, when I was in the Capital. The batteries didn't even last a year? That can't be right!?

Initially, I thought I got fitted with bad batteries from the unscrupulous watch shop as it is pretty common for a foreigner to get cheated by the locals (well, not ALL of them, but quite a few). I remembered paying a lot of money to change the batteries back then (didn't have a choice).

So a month later, my watch stopped again.

Then it dawned on me that it is the watch going wonky and not the batteries after all.

As it was a cheap watch which I bought at Great World City for a mere SGD 110.00, it wasn't worth the time, money nor effort to repair the 13-year old watch.

So thank you for the 13 years of faithful service, my dear Citizen watch.

*chucks into rubbish bin*

I look forward to my Hot Watch, due to arrive around Christmas this year, if it shows up at all.

• JayWalk Online (19 Aug 2013) - Toys Of The Wrist - Part 1 of 2
  
• JayWalk Online (20 Aug 2013) - Toys Of The Wrist - Part 2 of 2

- Voxeros

The Bitter Stickgirl II

After the earlier post, I decided to pester her again for a photo of her in the Awesome tank top.

She finally relented and got off her ass to take this grainy (no fish prawn also good lah!) picture.

Yeah. Even at XS size, it was a tad too big for her as the shoulder strap kept falling to the side.

If it was any consolation, she combed her hair this time.

And yes. A beautiful smile. As always.

Again to plug Bitter Stickgirl's webshop. --> Click Here.

- Voxeros

The Bitter Stickgirl

I have been following The Bitter Stickgirl since day 1 when she was still at Blogspot. 

I loved the simplicity of her drawings and yet despite that, they still tell you the full story.

It was a sad day when Stickgal (or Stickgirl) decided to fall off the grid back in 2009 but I am really glad that she has decided to make a comeback a few years later and the subsequent move to Facebook.

Now newer and better, she has also published a book and launched a series of tank tops which I thought were awesome! (No pun intended)

I love it so much that I ordered one for my daughter and throw in the book for good measure.

It was a surprise mail package for Faith.

When I was a kid, I love receiving mail. Even when it was from Reader's Digest saying that I have the golden key and a final step away from winning that one million dollar sweepstake.

I love mail and I cannot lie. When I was a kid, that is.

So naturally, she was delighted to receive the package (she gets that from my side of the genes) and was absolutely in love with the book as there was a personalised autograph from Stickgirl herself.

Thank you Stickgirl! That was a real nice gesture! Appreciate it!

So anyway, I kinda promised that I will get a photo of Faith wearing the tank top, which by the way, was a tad too big for the 11-year old despite getting the XS size for her. Fret not, knowing how fast kids grow up these days (something in the water?), she'd probably fit in nicely by next year.

But I digress.

The package arrived two weeks ago and I only posted this entry only because I was waiting for the photo of her wearing the tank top to complete this entry.

I am still waiting.

This girl sibeh gao too....... (she gets that from wife side of the genes).

So anyway, for those who are interested to check out the awesome tank tops and book --> Click Here.

- Voxeros

Scarlett Angel

Scarlett came up to Da Hu to visit last week. We met up and took her out and about.

We were taking the subway where she stood directly under the overhead railings in the picture above.

I told her to pose under the "halo" while I snap an angelic portrait of her.

She was initially paiseh for about THREE seconds before she happily obliged.

*Click*

Here's one for the fun photo archives.

Heh.

- Voxeros

Toys Of The Wrist - Part 2 of 2

Yesterday, I was talking about the bracelet on my right wrist. It gave me some kind of a weight balance against the weight of the watch on my left wrist.

Now that the bracelet was gone, I contemplated giving up the watch on my left wrist as well.

For starters, I don't have a large wrist to put on fancy watches like Franck Muller, Rolex or Panerai. It is just not my thing to be sporting one of these luxuries.

Besides, I find them kinda gaudy to be so big. It's almost like wearing a clock on your arm but that's just my personal distaste.

So anyway, the telling of time is a redundant function since we carry our mobile phones everywhere we go. We can always fish it out of the pocket, like a pocket watch of the old days.

Wearing electronics devices on my wrist in lieu of a watch wasn't really appealing to me when it first started. The iPod Nano with a Lunatik strap was a good idea but it's sucky battery life was a deal breaker for me.

Then there was the Pebble which was a significant improvement over the Nano-Lunatik but it still wasn't enough to convince me.

It was only just two weeks ago where I chanced upon HotWatch at KickStarter that I was sold on the spot.

The use of e-ink (they call it e-paper display ala Kindle) saves a shitload of battery juice which means you don't have to charge the watch every other day. Still, even with the use of low consumption Bluetooth 4.0 (or BTLE), the battery longevity is not going to be anywhere close to that of a regular watch.. Worse, if you are comparing it to a perpetual movement watch.

In any case, I like the part where you can just make a phone call using your palm. I am not so hot (no pun intended) on the other features like messaging on the tiny watch screen. I will probably frustrate myself to death with my clumsy fat fingers.

The watch is due to ship at the end of the year and it's my Christmas pressie to myself.

Merry Christmas to me.

- Voxeros

Toys Of The Wrist - Part 1 of 2

It's time to retire my Q-Ray bracelet that I have had since the 90s.

It was the secret bracelet of the silent fraternity.

The golf fraternity.

Admittedly, I got caught up with the trend back then where it was acknowledged that any golfer would be spotting one of these.

The trend may have faded in to oblivion as the years go by but this little thing has been with me all the way until yesterday.

As you can see, the knobs have corroded to the extent that it is starting to scratch me. Actually come to think of it, the scratching has been going on for a couple of years but I ignored it coz it wasn't painful.

Just annoyingly scratchy.

Given the hot summer heat right now in the Da Hu, I was, throughout the day, constantly laminated by a film of perspiration.

Must have been something in the sweat reacting with the metals in the knob that it was leaving streaks of green oxide (Fe₂? Ni? Cu?) on my arm as it slides up and down throughout the day.

Well, I guess it's time to call curtains on the bracelet that has accompanied me all these days.

Thank you and good bye.

*chucks into trash bin*

- Voxeros

Jay And The Bean Sprout

I have a double-bowl sink in my kitchen and most of the time, I use only the right side.

Just today as I was washing up, I spotted something from the corner of my eye.

Something was sticking out of the waste outlet of the left bowl.

A closer look and it was a bean sprout!

The last I prepared bean sprout was two weeks ago when I was making laksa. A little sprout must have flown over into the waste outlet of that side.

Two weeks later, it manages to make its way out of the sink towards the sunlight.

Awesome little wonder of nature.

- Voxeros

Happy National Day 2013

Happy National Day, Singapore!

In case anyone has already forgotten, the above clip was taken on 16 Feb 2013 at Hong Lim Park where a protest against Gahmen initiative to populate the island further to 6.9 million by 2030 (worst case scenario, they say).

• Bloomberg (18 Feb 2013) - Singapore Protest Exposes Voter Worries About Immigration

The. next election is 2016. Nairmind. We wait.

- Voxeros