2.4 timing in NZ

I just read this article about an ongoing debate in NZ to lower the standards of the police physical fitness test as the 2.4 timing was too hard. Police recruit run

I had to surpress a chuckle as our own gold standard for national servicemen (compulsory for all male Singaporeans) for the 2.4 run is 9.45 mins for category X (the young lads). For the not so young like me, the gold standard is 10.15. I guess in this modern day and age, policemen in NZ (aka Godzone) do not really have to run too fast, 'cos got transportation like car and bike (failing that, the public buses are quite punctual). I understand that when one gets older, cannot run so fast liao, so they should take a leaf out of our book and have different standards for different age groups. For the really really smart ones who die die must be policemen but cannot run one, better go doctor and get an 'excuse running' chit lor! Wah lau eh, so simple also dunno.

the red button

Gave me a chuckle this. =)

busy lately

A friend of mine from New Zealand was visiting the past couple of days, hence the lack of updates. Been meeting him in the morning and staying out til late at night, never realised Singapore could be so interesting to a visitor, not to mention hot and clammy. =)

Went to the zoo on friday and it was quite good, considering that i haven't been to the zoo in ages. We liked the fact that you could get up close and personal to certain animals like the kangaroos, lemurs, monkeys, orangs, bats, etc. The look on his face when he saw the sign "Polar bear enclosure" was priceless, 'cos he's still trying to adapt to our hot and humid climate and there are polar bears here?!? Lol. Saw a not-so-well-placed sign reading "Animal feeding times" and listed the various animals that were fed at a certain time in smaller print. It was placed on a path leading to the cafeteria! (sorry no pictures hor, i forgot to bring my camera that day)

We headed to the nearest mall to kill some time and ended up playing x-box for 3 bucks an hour, which we thought was rather good. Burnout revenge is fun!

Went to my fav joint Baize after and it has now become his fav place for pool as well. =) In fact, we ended up going there on Sat as well, after we visited Zouk. Pretty ok, and not too crowded. It was bordering on 'boring' when we got there are midnight, but it soon perked up after.

One phrase which he didn't get at various places (usually selling food or drinks) was 'One for one', and until he pointed it out, i had never noticed. "What does it mean?" he asked. "One for one dollar? Or one for the price of one? It makes no sense!" I suppose to be pedantic, it should read "two for the price of one" but that's just too much of a mouthful. =)

Had to let him try the wonderful food here and the list of the more memorable ones he had included: Hokkien prawn noodles, prata, KFC (we were hungry), chilli crab (of course), pepper crab (same place, Long beach), drunken prawns, stingray, satay, herbal chicken (homecooked, thanks to Wibblewamble's parents), handmade noodles, fishball noodles, mincemeat noodles...
drinks: grass jelly drink, green tea, soya bean, sugar cane juice, Tiger beer, Erdinger, Singapore sling, and lotsa lotsa mineral water. LOL

lessons in soccer

zeenie has been sick over the weekend, terribly sick, so sick that he did not play soccer on Sat. sigh

On the other hand, he came across this great vid of the Ronaldinho teaching some tricks. Now if only someone would translate the various pointers that are in Japanese!

Line of the Day

Mutterings heard last night as we were leaving the office:

"Oh no, my nuts are gonna get squashed and my yan yan broken..."

(Note: For the uninitiated, yan yan is a particular type of snack sold in pretty much every convenience store and supermarket in Singapore. It comes with stick-shaped biscuits and a chocolate dip for the biscuits. Sort of like the travel packs that Kraft does, with crackers, cheese dip and a little red spatula that you use to spread the cheese on the crackers.)

Back from the sevens

Man, was it a tiring day! Spent the whole afternoon and the better part of the evening at the IRB sevens tournament held at the National Stadium (for the last time). The party atmosphere was quite fun and the comments from various parties around us quite hilarious.

Oh yes, the rugby, the two teams we supported did not do well, with the kiwis getting knocked out in the quarterfinals and the Singaporeans only managing to score two tries (their only in the two days of tournament) in their final match against China, though it wasn't enough to get through. The cheers when Singapore finally scored a try made me feel as though we had won the Rugby and soccer world cups at the same time. LOL I have to say that the kiwis were disappointing and let down quite a few fans with their error-riddled performance. This is a young inexperienced team so they'll have a ways to go yet. A pity that none of the more experienced players made the tournament.

I found it amusing that the DJ (from NZ apparently) would play various songs when teams got knocked out. Example, when Argentina got knocked out, he played "Don't cry for me Argentina" the remixed version; when Scotland was sent packing, he played "500 miles" by the Proclaimers (anyone remember that song? pub favourite sing-a-long).

Fun day all round. =) pictures to follow!

Warning for Toa Payoh

Was on the way to meet a friend at Toa Payoh MRT station before heading off for soccer and i was waiting here (Toa Payoh Lorong 2 blk 175) for him. It is sort of an informal taxi stand as it has a covered walkway from the MRT station (Toa Payoh) to the main road. I found it quite amusing that people would automatically get in a queue for a cab even though there was no "queue here for cabs" sign, but then again, given the pechant for queuing in Singaporeans, i shouldn't have been surprised.

So there i was waiting by the road, away from the people queueing for cabs in the covered walkway so that i wouldn't be mistaken for waiting for a cab, when suddenly white glass fragments were showering all around me. I thought a street lamp had broken or something and didn't think much of it, although people in the queue caught on faster and were looking at me strangely. A caught a glimpse of the source of the white glass fragments when a second shower hit, i happened to be looking to my right when i saw something hit the ground. I ducked for cover (mentally yelling "arty! arty! arty!") and ran for the shelter. That was when i saw it, there was a flourscent light tube lying in the bushes, undamaged as the bushes cushioned its fall. Moments later, i witnessed another flourscent light tube explode in the canal beside the covered walkway. It had been thrown from one of the windows in Blk 175. I was shocked.

An nice Indian man approached me to see if i was alright and said that some nutcase was chucking things out of his/her window and sooner or later was going to hit somebody. It was no random act as each item thrown seemed to descend only when someone was walking by. Thank goodness the bugger's aim was quite bad. As the Indian man was walking away, he walked across the airwell of the block and no more than a second later, a flower pot hit the ground where he stood. Damn lucky man.

Those in Toa Payoh, whether living there or passing through, do beware of this block!! Use the covered walkway and if you have to walk in the open, use the army's 4-second rule, ie pick your next location (with cover) and take no more than 4 seconds to get there.

Btw, soccer was fun. Played at my alma mata alma matta alma metta old school and with some current students who really enjoyed their soccer, which was cool. None of that competitive crap. =)

IRB Sevens

Thanks to a friend, zeenie and wibblewamble will be going to watch the IRB Sevens this Sunday. =))

zeenie will of course be supporting the New Zealand sevens team, even though Fiji and England are so far ahead in the overall standings, it looks like fifth year unlucky for the kiwis. Pretty amazing that the kiwis have won the IRB sevens series every year since its inception in 2000. Even more amazing, considering that the NZ rugby board's main focus is on the 15-a-side version of the game and sevens is viewed more as a development tool, giving Gordon Tietjens (legend!) not much of a choice in choosing his players.

For those who have not watched it, the sevens version of rugby is an exciting game to watch, especially if you're not too keen on forward play as it basically involves only the backs and wingers. LOL

I will also support Singapore this Sunday, but something tells me they might not make it through the group stage (Saturday). Singapore has been drawn in the Group A, same as Japan, Fiji and Australia. Fiji and Australia are both very proficient at this game while Japan has always been a dark horse. The Fijians constantly exhibit raw power and pace while the Australians are tough nuts who are no slouches either. Should be interesting.

Maybe Singapore can get through, if every Singaporean prays for a miracle, like China beating Brazil in soccer or something (anyone remember the odds for that game? I do, it was something like $100 per dollar for China to win and $0.90 for Brazil to win (ie, lose money even if Brazil wins lol)

Update after the first day of play (group): Singapore lost to Australia, Fiji and Japan 33-0, 61-0 and 54-0 respectively. Bugger.

See this link for the official results of the group play

Check out this horny guy!

The French never cease to astound me, particularly this horny guy (video). =)