Friday, December 23, 2011

I brake for log cake

With M-i-L's arm in a sling, her annual fruitcake baking schedule has been temporarily disrupted. So instead of getting the usual this year, we got my mom a log cake from Wheat Baumkuchen in Toa Payoh which I collected today. The cake was really pretty, though it got boxed before I could snap a shot; but this entry isn't about that.

To get into Toa Payoh, there's a new exit into Braddell Road from the CTE (northbound) that's just recently been opened. That and the other new egresses into the PIE have really eased congestion along this main traffic artery. Our tax dollars well spent, I was thinking at the time. This Braddell exit turned out to be very dangerous when merging into Braddell Road. The merge lane splits into two and I was on the leftmost lane. The road in front looked clear and I was about to slip into Braddell proper when I noticed the car on my right had come to a stop. Logic took over from instinct -- I stopped too. If I hadn't, I would have caught a bus -- right in the face. The scary thing was that in order to have seen the bus coming, I would have had to swivel my head almost 180°, far beyond what we normally extend to check our blind spot. New exit with a potentially deadly design flaw. Be freakin' careful when you're driving out that way.

Thursday, December 22, 2011

It's the thought

What to get for someone who 1) knows the price of everything in the market, and 2) doesn't have time to enjoy  a gift that is supposed to be leisurely indulged in?

My initial thought was to get something to make the office environment more comfortable and relaxing, knowing how much time gets devoted to the office cubicle, but I don't want to create the impression that I'm encouraging long hours at work. Pretty baubles are hardly worn since we don't engage in such circles, decorative objects gather dust and become one more knick-knack to clean -- and besides, we have cats so we can't possibly have nice things. Electronics are more my thing, so devices with push-button operations aren't likely to warm the cockles of the heart.

There's a lot of mall pounding these days to see what inspiration strikes... but so far, the malls have been a let down.

Sunday, December 18, 2011

Wet market -- literally

Among the other things to do in Phuket is to go look at the weekend night market in Phuket Town. The ride by taxi is up and down a really steep gradient that separates Patong Beach from the rest of the island. It's 500B from the Jungceylon where we're staying to Phuket Town, but 400B back. How does that work out? Anyway, if you've already seen Chatuchak in BKK, this night market is similar, though the merchandise is more generic, tourist pleasing stuff. And, of course, while we were there, the skies opened up and blessed us with a brief but tempestuous shower. Thank goodness for Crocs (TM).