Genting -- Day 2

16 Dec ‘08
The first available coach to Skyway Genting from Sentral Station is 2pm, so we tried our luck at Pasar Raya. We managed to get tickets for the 1030 coach. The journey of 51km took about an hour and then another 8-minute shuttle service to reach Awana Genting Highlands Hotel. Our rooms were not ready as they had full bookings the day before and their room service was not able to cope. They let us in at 1pm even though the rooms were still not cleaned. I was grateful anyway; at least we have a place to wash up. I was knocked out cold while my children expend their energy playing squash.

The evening was spent at Genting City of Entertainment where the casino is. We took the Skytrain which was reputed to be the fastest in the world and longest in S-E Asia. I am very thankful to SH's cousin who showed us around and accorded us hospitality worthy of VIPs. I learnt from her that Mr Lim Goh Tong started Genting at the ripe old age of 57. He succeeded in building an empire despite all the odds.

We watched Dreamz, a magic show with wafer thin story line of fighting for the affection of a princess. Laser and fireworks made up for the lack of depth. This is the first time I saw a white lion and big animal show without cage. BTW, the white lion is not an albino. White lions are very rare in wild for they are highly visible both to the prey and the hunters.

#10 Online Image generator

Week 5 Thing #10. Play around with an online image generator.

My daughter’s creation making front page news and she was named "Woman of the Year". Dream on ...

This spoof is created at fototrix.

In this time and age, all pictures that we see are only as reliable as the source. Just like fake flowers can look so real, fake pictures are even more difficult to identify.

Genting -- Day 1

15 Dec ‘08
Night train: Tanjong Pagar to KL Sentral Station
Time: 10pm to 6:30am (that is eight and the half hours compared with 6 hours by car but you get to lie horizontal)
Type: Superior Night Class (sleeping)
Cost: Upper deck – S$38
Lower deck – S$43
Children – S$30

When choosing your seat, always request for one near the central of the carriage. The toilets are situated in-between carriages; their usage is a constant source of irritation for people sleeping near them. When taking the train, the white card is your only proof that you entered Malaysia legally for they do not stamp your passport.
Normally, one clears Singapore immigration before one can go to another country. The process is reversed when one takes the train. When one checks into the train, one ‘enters’ Malaysia. The train then takes you to Woodlands Immigration which then records that you are leaving Singapore.
As the train is air-con, it can be quite cold at night, no blanket is provided so wear warmly, e.g., socks and sweater. If you are sensitive to light, bring your blinker along because stray light do get in as the train moves even with the curtain pulled down.
In my drowsiness, I heard a young man shouting repeatedly, ”koropo, koropo.” I thought he was selling snacks and ignored him. Only much later, did I realized that he was saying kelompur for Kuala Lumpur.

Internet Time Budget

Flickr picture by TomLA
Song Sing asked me how long I took to write the Kelong article. I am not a natural writer and it took me three hours just to write the draft and another hour to tidy and put it up on the blog. I started writing the draft after my children went to bed at about nine plus and I did not stop until past midnight.
This is way beyond my Internet time budget of 1 hr/day but it is worth it because it consolidated my learning and brought joy to many people. I was on the phone with my father and was pleasantly surprised to hear from him that he enjoyed the kelong photos on the Internet. My parents are computer illiterate and they stayed with my brother. I had informed my brother about my blog earlier and he shared it with my parents.

Genting Holiday

I am going to Awana Genting from 15 to 19th Dec '08 for holiday. Yippee!!! My family will take a night train to KL and then by coach for another 51 km to our destination.

Times have changed

Some time ago, I was conducting a Bible Study lesson for a group of P2 students. I told them that I was going to tell them an adult story. You could see the excitement in their faces. I began, “The story came from a book called “Among Equals”. It was about three young men vying to be the country Prime Minister. One is poor, another middle class and the third came from a very wealthy family. How many Prime Minister are there in a country?”
They replied, almost in unison,”One!”
“To cut the story short, I will drop one of them and focus on just two young men.”
Before I could continue, they interrupted incessantly, “Which one? Which one?”
Now, that was where I exercised my discretion and creativity. I enjoyed such moment of control. Which one …? In the back of my mind, I said to myself, “Most of us would root for the underdog.” So, I said, “The middle class one.”
The reaction was totally unexpected – many protested and some even showed signs that they were not keen to follow the story anymore. When I reflected over it, I realized times have changed. The profiles of my students have also changed. Many of my students are from the middle class and they knew it. Their fathers are doctors, managers or accountants. They identified with a different hero then this son of a taxi driver.

Flow of Qi

I was at the Science Café on 11th Dec ’08, attending a talk entitled “Flow of Qi”. After a short introduction, they tried to show us two video presentations. The first video completed its run after much difficulty. However, they could not get the second video going.
I felt that the presenter from xxx country was being ungracious when he commented that the Science Centre needed some technical backup. After all, they are the ones who brought in the DVD. The presentation was not a one-man show, out of the entire team; they must have a laptop that can run their stuff. It was also the presenter’s responsibility to test out the equipment before the actual event.
This is a sober reminder to myself not to make the same mistake.
A take away from the talk is Taiwan's new vision -- moving away from "Made in Taiwan" to "Created in Taiwan". The battlefield has always been in the minds but now more intense than ever.