Monthly Archive for April, 2008

Darren’s Dinner Dates

Published on April 30, 2008 in This I like and Usual Ramblings. 2 Comments

Following up on my article on the Singapore Slingers’ newly signed player, Darren Ng, the bunch of us bloggers managed to catch up him for dinner at Brewerkz last Thursday while he was in town in a bid to get to know him more. I guess standing at about 1.89m, our soon to be local hero (more pressure on you now Darren), is pretty easy to spot, even in the packed indoor dining area.

The bloggers Daphne, Arzhou, Nic, Precious together with Straits Times Interactive’s newly signed host, ‘Hot’ Sarah with her camera crew and I sat acrossed Darren which may somewhat seemed to give an impression that tough questions are about to be fired his way. But I figured as a ‘well schooled’ basketball player who has been through countless of interviews from the foreign media, Darren found it easy to brush aside such pressure and coupled with that boy’ish smile, answered our questions candidly. Heck, if he can play against the pros with tight defence and a mean offence, blocking out such ‘negativity’ comes easy to him.

From relationships (sorry girls, he is taken) to his life as a medical student and basketball career, I couldn’t help but noticed that amid the ferocious front Darren puts on in the court, he seemed to be a pretty shy person. But in all truthfulness, our up and coming local hero (here’s another batch of more pressure for you) is as down to earth as a guy can be. He shows absolutely no airs, no supercilious attitude nor the slightest sight of superiority, just plain ‘ol Darren looking forward to playing for the Slingers and juggling while pursuing his medical studies.

I won’t go into the details of what went on during the interview. I am hoping ‘Hot’ Sarah will air the feature soon and I am crossing my fingers that it will go online. Meanwhile, you can check out the Singers’ press release on Darren here. After the interview, we did what a great number of bloggers do best…getting into that camwhore mood as we picked up our cameras and fired away.

Left: Me and Darren… | Right: …More people joining in the photo opportunity…

Left: …and now we are getting crowded | Right: ‘Hot’ Sarah and Precious with Darren

Before we knew it, it was close to midnight and we had to end our goofiness and head back home. As for Darren, he caught the weekend flight back to Adelaide to finish up his studies before suiting up for the Slingers. Great seeing you Darren, see you in court .

My last dance…

Published on April 30, 2008 in Things that suck, This I like and Usual Ramblings. 8 Comments

A slightly modified version of my parting email to my lovely colleagues yesterday afternoon:

Dear colleagues,

Well I’m sure ya’ll know that I will be heading to another pasture (tho not as ‘green’ as MEWR…pun intended) beginning next week. I am not very good with farewell speeches or emails, so I will make this very short..~cross fingers~

It has been a fruitful five years in the Ministry and although ups and downs are always inevitable in any organisation, I guess through such series of events have I learnt much. I believe with all my heart that the experiences I have gathered through the years will not be wasted as I begin my journey into yet another government agency. To my bosses, I promise that I will not shame the name of MEWR in my new organisation with efforts to impress and not depress them.

Since my debut in 2003 during SARs leading to this very day, I have always enjoyed the friendship and support you guys/gals have rendered me all these years making me feel..well..for the lack of a better word…LOVED. In all honesty, I think efforts to find such wondeful colleagues like you in any organisation would be near impossible, only leaving me to relish the wonderful memories during my stay.

So with that I bid you farewell with a heavy heart and hey..I am always contactable via email at [email]. If you are a IM junkie, my MSN email is [email]. Thank you for a memorable and wonderful five years. My journey continues…

best regards,
Jason Ho

Left: Before | Right: After

No love from petrol companies…

Published on April 23, 2008 in Things that suck and Usual Ramblings. 2 Comments

Although this is one of those ’so what else is new’ type of news, I can’t help but continue with my gripe about the soaring fuel prices in Singapore. I mean seriously…what the hell…?

Caltex ups pump prices, others set to follow - taken from Straits Times

By Christopher Tan

CALTEX petrol stations raised their pump prices on Tuesday, a move seen as a precursor to hikes at other fuel outlets.

The increase – three cents a litre for petrol and five cents for diesel – was the third since last month and the ninth consecutive climb since July last year.

It brings a litre of petrol to as high as $2.316 and diesel to $1.663 a litre before discounts. Caltex is operated by United States oil giant Chevron. Other oil companies with petrol stations here – namely Shell, ExxonMobil and Singapore Petroleum Company – are expected to follow Chevron’s move in the next few days.

If they do, a three-cent hike in petrol prices will cost Singapore drivers a total of $27.5 million a year.

Petrol prices have risen by more than 55 cents a litre since the beginning of last year. Drivers here have seen their fuel bill inflate by more than $500 million in just over a year – or an average of just under $1,000 per car owner.

The pump adjustment came swiftly on the back of record crude oil prices, which crossed US$117 (S$157) per barrel on Monday, before dipping to around US$115 on Tuesday. It was averaging US$50 a barrel in January last year.

Monday’s rise in crude prices has been blamed on fears of supply disruptions. A Japanese oil tanker was reportedly attacked off Yemen and pipelines in Nigeria have been bombed repeatedly by a rebel group there. Observers foresee oil prices breaching US$120 in the next few weeks.

Singapore residents are not the only ones affected. In the US, the world’s biggest fuel consumer, petrol is now averaging 77 US cents a litre and diesel 92 US cents a litre. Both are record rates.

In Britain, the average price of a litre of petrol now stands at 1.08 euro (S$2.80). Diesel set another record of 1.18 euro a litre.

[Related articles about my complains here and here.]

Five Freaking Years

Published on April 22, 2008 in Usual Ramblings. 6 Comments

My colleague Francis and I celebrated our fifth year anniversary in our organisation with not much fanfare. I guess its fair to say this is one of those milestones in your life that we should cherish and look back at our achievements. In all honesty, I really have learnt alot and did a number of things I feel ’should’ be proud of. Adding to that, our years of service there does garner some level of respect as ‘old timers’ or ‘historians’ as my boss would say.

However, if there is one thing that I have told Eddy earlier and still stand by it, it would be lamenting on a good two or so years that I will never get back…all thanks to how my organisation works. During the course of my five years, much have happened in both career wise and personally. Its the usual good and bad which I must admit did in some ways formed me into the person I am today.

In Francis’ article, he mentioned that “A fren once told me, you join a govt body, you either leave within two years or you stay all your life… guess I’m staying all my life then…”. To him, life is getting depressing but he is doing pretty well there and will survive nicely. I can’t say the same for me and have already made my decision to leave. So as for me, I have four days left…time to pack up…

One heck of a messy cubicle

Baldy’s at Depot

Published on April 17, 2008 in This I like and Usual Ramblings. 10 Comments

After a successful furniture arrangement exercise at Lyn’s (my boo) home yesterday night, we headed to Botak Jones located at Depot road for a late dinner. A large portion Cajun chicken was the order for the night as Lyn and I wanted something less ’steaky’ and something with white meat. We wanted a side order of oyster omelet but was upset to find out that the stall was preparing to close shop for the night.

Not wanting to give up on our side dish search, we scouted around for something that could compliment our chicken and passed by a live seafood stall selling the usual cze char dishes. As good deals go, we couldn’t help but noticed that they are serving three medium-sized crabs for just $15. Well..as they say, the rest is history. Dinner was wonderful

Left: Our huge portion of Cajun chicken | Right: $15 crabs…mmmm…

In the face of adversity…

Published on April 17, 2008 in This I like and Usual Ramblings. 4 Comments

This is one of those feel good entries. A photo story I read yesterday tells of a dog named Faith, who was born with just two hind legs and her ability to pick herself up and walk like a human. Hey, if there is a lesson to be learnt, I guess it would probably be quit whining in the face of adversity and start moving on. Even a dog can do that…

[Sources and photos from Random Good Stuff via Fun Hight.]

#352

Published on April 16, 2008 in This I like and Usual Ramblings. 0 Comments Tags: million blog list.

Was visiting my sister’s blog this morning and noticed an entry on the Million Blog List. To cut the long story short, it is an experiment to see how long bloggers out there can register themselves in the site and hit the one million mark. I guess this could be a piece of cake considering that there are about 70 million blogs out there (most of which I believe are spam sites or something).

But of course I am not putting my money on this since the experiment started about six days ago and only 300+ or so blogs have registered, with the jBlog at #352. I guess only time will tell. Meanwhile, why not head to the Million Blog List and help with the experiment?

We lost Rod

Published on April 16, 2008 in Things that suck and Usual Ramblings. 0 Comments Tags: basketball, melbourne tigers, NBL, rod grizzard, singapore slingers.

Got some bad news relating to the Singapore Slingers from Nic about four days ago. It seems that our star player Rod Grizzard has decided to sign a three-year contract with current champion, the Melbourne Tigers alongside with MVP Chris Antley. As much as we hate to see him leave, Nic was right about a deal too good to resist. I mean who wouldn’t want to play for a champion together with the league’s MVP.

All the best with the Tigers Rod…we are sure going to miss you… . Meanwhile, I am hoping the Slingers can get someone to replace him…and fast.

Left: Rod dunks against the Taipans | Right: Another completed dunk against the South Dragons

Tigers tie down import forward - taken from The Age

Stephen Howell
April 11, 2008

THE Melbourne Tigers have filled one of their import spots for the next National Basketball League season, replacing power forward Sean Lampley with another American, Rod Grizzard.

Grizzard comes via Singapore with a big reputation, but without the big ego Lampley showed on court.

He is playing in Israel in the off-season, and last Sunday had 11 points in only 17 minutes as his team, Bnei Hasharon, joined perennial champion Maccabi Tel Aviv on the top of the ladder with a 79-78 win.

Grizzard, 27, played in Victoria with Singapore’s Slingers last season, and in the NBL’s All-Star game at the Cage, the Tigers’ headquarters.

“Since the All-Star game last year, I’ve kept in contact with Chris Anstey (Melbourne’s best player),” Grizzard said. “We were always joking around about when I was coming to play with the Tigers. It’ll be great to play alongside him.”

Coach Al Westover said 207-centimetre Grizzard, a forward, was an obvious choice for the Tigers’ roster. “He’s young, athletic and tall, can handle the ball, shoot the three, plus he’s a good rebounder and defender.

“Grizzard is similar to a (David) Barlow-type player — very versatile — and those are the type of players we look to get, so I think he can play a variety of positions for us.”

He has signed a three-year contract with the Tigers, without any of the “out” clauses popular with players seeking rich paydays in Europe or a shot at the NBA.

The Tigers are believed to be among several clubs looking at Julius Hodge, who did well with Adelaide 36ers last season, as their second import. He is impressing in the NBA’s development league.

But owner Seamus McPeake said Melbourne had not given up hope of persuading Canadian Dave Thomas, one of the best imports in the league in recent seasons, to return. Thomas, who is married to an American, has said he plans to stay in the US.

For now, it suits the Tigers to leave one place open and work on Thomas or Hodge, the latter keen on his NBA chances for the next American season late in the year.

Speculation grows that Melbourne will net the biggest local name still available, Sam Mackinnon, apparently moving on from the Brisbane Bullets in the wake of franchise owner Eddy Groves selling up because of his ABC Learning Centres losses.

Asked if the Tigers were interested, McPeake said: “You’d be a fool not to be interested in him. We’d be very keen to have him back in Melbourne.”

Greenwood Goodness

Published on April 15, 2008 in Usual Ramblings. 2 Comments

Lyn (my boo), Justin, Junn (his boo) and I popped over to Ian and Eva’s place for some veal goodness last Saturday. Although I have not tasted my fair share of veal worthy to be called an aficionado, I must admit it was one of the best I have ever tasted. So in a bid to prolong the symphony of flavour in my mouth, I had to slice the veal one little bit at a time, chew slowly and think good thoughts…a perfect combination coupled with great wine and salad.

In my honest opinion, the photos below can in no way depict the sheer culinary orgasm I experienced. However, taking a look at the photos again, it just makes me wonder how red meat can taste so wonderful. Kudos to Ian and Eva for selecting the right type of meat and cooking it right. You have no idea how hungry I am feeling right now while posting this…

Left: Before | After: My serving may be small, but heavenly.

After dinner, we popped over to the first floor for some drinks and while selecting a bottle of Glenmorangie and a Macallan 12-year-old, Ian pulled out a 25-year-old from his collection he purchased some time back. Too bad we weren’t able to savour that fine bottle of whisky, that is something the lovely couple will be saving perhaps for a special occassion. But hey, I can’t complain..we all left happy that night .

Left: The not so 25-year-old box… | Right:…and the 25-year-old whisky

Pre-owned Titleist 735.cm

Published on April 14, 2008 in This I like and Usual Ramblings. 0 Comments Tags: 3balls, 735.cm, ebay, golf, titleist.

After asking fellow golfers on the best place to pick up cheap pre-owned golf irons, I quickly found that that eBay seemed to be the most popular choice. With that, I popped over to my new favourite online golf store in eBay under the name of 3balls, a much respected and favourite haunt amongst golfers I know. With a wide range of clubs and equipment from drivers, fairway woods, irons, wedges, putters, bags and a whole lot more, its pretty safe to say that I felt like a kid in a candy store.

Yes, the time has come for me to change my golf irons, truly it has been a while. The current one I own is a Callaway X-Tour which has served me loyally for the past two or more years. Although I might have gotten pretty good results with this set in many occasions, the fact that the equipment is manufactured in China and that the entire set costs about S$400 or so didn’t quite give me the confidence that I can maximise my irons consistently. To cut the story short, my Callaway irons is a China-made fake.

In my honest opinion, I think China-made fakes have come a long way in terms of copying. And with such technology being at the forefront especially in that country (I think), these copycats might have mastered if not perfected the art of forging golf clubs and other equipment so closely, that only the professionals could differentiate real sets from the copy ones. But of course as a supposed ethical person and golfer, copy sets are definitely not the way to go especially if you want to get serious in your game.

So factoring that thought in, I made my way to the 3balls store in eBay. Knowing exactly what I wanted in my irons, I picked up a set of Titleist 735.cm irons which I was pleasantly surprised was available in that store. After the bidding ended two days later, I paid for the irons via Paypal and got my shipment three days later.

I can’t really tell you how they perform since I have only taken it out twice on the driving range and once at the green. All I can say is that it feels great while holding and the offset is angled comfortably, something I could really work with. And hey…with my recent resignation, I guess I will have more time to chill out on the golf course and test out my new toys. So from now till my next career plan..can I say “FORE”?!!