The mandatory vehicle inspection that I had to put M2 through was pretty thorough, and I got to watch the mechs put him through his paces. All the tests are in the open and there are signboards explaining what each station checks for.

The tests include an identity check to make sure the car you say is yours is yours, and no illegal mods. There is the brake test, and what appears to be an anal probe checking that exhaust levels are within tolerable limits. They check for engine noise at max rpm to ensure a happy car and happy neighbours.

Result: flunked the wheel alignment test and the headlight focus test. While I might have thought M2 was the picture of perfect health, guess I didn't realise he was actually myopic and limping around.

Had to make an appointment to have Mazda take fix up M2 before going for a retest. I do so hate the "F" grade.

It's Aunt L's 80th birthday! The clan got together to celebrate at Ah Yat Seafood Restaurant. For some reason we seem to like that place a lot.

Our 3 tables comprised 3 generations of family plus extended family we've not met before from Sabah, but who are now settled here. My table had a lot of engineering talk with notes being compared between the construction, shipbuilding and manufacturing industries. The topic of industrial accidents came up a lot, keeping us well entertained throughout our dinner.

The delectable confection in the pix (i.e., on the table, not behind the table) is a meringue cake from Canelé Pâtisserie Chocolaterie. It's light and sweet, and overgrown with lots of fruity surprises. Even the Shou figurine is made of sugar, though I doubt anyone would want to eat that.

More pix here.

Working breakfast at Cafe Les Amis, Botanic Gardens. Great ambiance for a relaxing brainstorming session 'cos there's good food, big tables and we can do the road warrior thing there as well, HP discovered. Thankfully, the weather was kind. It was cool but no precipitation for the duration of our meeting. And there's the added advantage of taking Q-tip for a stroll on the grounds after.

It was on our stroll that we encountered this guy, by the edge of the big pond where the bandstand is. The pic is a little hard to make out, but it's a squirrel looking like it's doing some exotic foraging. At least, that's what I thought when I snapped this shot. Cute, right?

Idiot! The squirrel was actually in serious trouble, but I only realized it's situation when it lost its toehold and slipped into the pond.

As it splashed around in the water, I lay on my stomach to reach it, but I couldn't get a proper grip on it. Between my flailing fingers it sank like a stone. I could only watch in anguish as fewer and fewer bubbles broke the water's surface. Then they stopped altogether.

I lay there for a long time, hoping for it to resurface by some miracle, but there were no miracles today.

If only I pegged onto what was happening sooner. If only I wasn't such a photojournalist, so anxious to grab a shot of a cute animal. The precious seconds I wasted cost the little guy its life, and this dumb photo can now only serve as its obituary.

I'm going to be beating myself up over this incident for a long time to come. I'm upset, sad, and so very guilty.

Sorry, l'il fella...

There is Project Work that is such a drag for everyone when it is a compulsory subject, then there is the real deal in which 16-17 year old students spend their holidays working on treating diseases like tuberculosis and bone disorders. The prize is a US$100k college scholarship, so there's something of an incentive, but I believe the money is more a bonus to these kids than the prime factor.

Yes, these are especially outstanding kids to be working at such a mature level, but I'm just amazed that there can be such a gap between them and our regular teenager, since they are the exact same age, after all.

What's it going to take to close the gap even just a little? From what I can see, these kids aren't just textbook smart. They are audacious enough to attempt working on things most adults have no grasp of. There's confidence in their own abilities, yet humility as well in learning from every opportunity. They believe in what they're doing, and know that it's worthwhile as people who are suffering may in time benefit from their study.

Now, that's studying with a purpose. Fox News interviews the grand prize winners of the Seimens Science Competition. Click here.

To have friends among the people you work with is a major factor in 1) making the job worthwhile, and 2) though the job isn't always fun, at least it doesn't feel like work. I say I'm not a "people person", but keeping the company of a small group of trusted individuals is nevertheless important to me. The time-outs we share while off-duty make up much of my sense of well-being, and I hope they feel the same way.

The last couple of days had me running around like crazy. Tuesday Amy, HP and I dropped in on Vays at Mount A to see how she and the new addition to her family were doing. We arrived at feeding time so hubby, TW, showed us his digital pix of "Doudou" while we waited. When we got to meet the kid in person, she looked peacefully contented, and Vays herself was upbeat as she recounted her delivery experience to us. After our visit, it was off home again to freshen up for the Prom (previous post).

Today, due to some mis-organization on my part, I spent the morning gift shopping with B-lo. The purchase was relatively painless, although we were getting a little worried when the first few stores we inquired at didn't have what we wanted in stock. But we did eventually find it in time for a nice set lunch at the Greenhouse. For what we usually pay at Friends, the set here includes a generous portion of sides apart from the entree. There was quite a variety of veggie-things, while the sirloin went down easily despite being slightly more done than I prefer. And B-lo had her own hunk of meat to drool over.

After lunch, we ran to meet Mel and Wayne for "Enchanted". What a piece of fluff. It had some gloriously funny moments, in particular the big number in Central Park, but while it tried to splice together elements from different popluar fairy tales, I felt they weren't as skilfully woven in as say, Shrek, or Neil Gaiman's intricate storytelling. Perhaps I'm asking too much. "Enchanted" was sweet but predictable.

Then I ran off again to collect June for dinner. It was the core of our usual breakfast company that reconvened at the Ellenborough Market Cafe to feast on the Peranakan buffet. Specifically, we were there for the durian puree that was cold, smooth and creamy, and without the seeds and spikes to get in the way of durian bliss. The other dishes were nice too.

Back to work in the morning, but I'm ready.

The Prom was a little tamer this year. Possibly because of the sit-down 10-course Chinese dinner and the presence of more senior staff that's why things felt a little more formal.

Not that the kids weren't having fun, they were playing along with the table games and being very competitive about it, but the cheering, clapping and general noisemaking for one another didn't exactly feel like it involved everybody. Perhaps they were saving their energy for the post-prom party later in the evening?

Or maybe I'm a bit jaded, having sat through the same MC's schtik for the third time already. I know his jokes, his routines, and despite minor variations here and there, it's usually funniest just the first time.

I promised to get some pix for NYconneX so I was also busy with my cam. Above with me are Que and Taily in one of the very few personal shots I took last night.

I have never played Hitman, but I went to watch the movie anyway. The Hitman in question is a nattily dressed bald guy with a barcode tattooed on the back of his head. How that makes him inconspicuous in a crowd, I wouldn't know.

His backstory gives him a reason for being as emotional as a hypothermic doorstop. He, and many others like him, have been raised from childhood as smart, efficient killing machines by the nameless Organization. Its clientèle are none less than political heads of state who order clandestine hits for reasons Joe Voter will never understand. The Hitmen are that good, and that expensive. No doubt the Organization itself has an agenda to run in its own interest.

In this movie, Number 47 takes the job of assassinating the Russian president, but realizes very quickly that his client has set him up. His client's agenda is so sensitive that even the Hitman himself has to be eliminated as a potential witness. 47 then has to survive hits from his own colleagues and the Russian secret police, and dodge a persistent Interpol officer hot on the trail of a phantom killer. Meanwhile, out of the goodness of his heart, he protects another witness: a woman who keeps taking her clothes off for him only to be rejected and rebuffed every time. No distractions on the job, or while trying to stay alive, 47 is such a pragmatist.

In whatever situation 47 is in, he firmly remains in control. On the job, his preparations are extensive, every detail thought through, ensuring a clean hit and getaway. His fighting skills get him out of unexpected situations, and at no time do we feel 47 is in any danger. For him, everything that happens is part of his plan, and he does have a lot of foresight.

Perhaps that's why we can't really get into the story much. Our sympathies are more for the bad guys as we wonder what 47 has in store for them, rather than for 47 himself. With the protagonist this strong and invincible, we just coast through the narrative. Though we may revel in the carnage of gunplay and thrill to the swordfighting sequence, the experience is like playing on God-mode. You get to finish the story, but there's little sense of accomplishment at the end.

Terrorism is a pretty sensitive subject for a movie, especially one that tries to reflect our present reality as closely as possible. In "The Kingdom", terrorists create a bloodbath at a family picnic for expatriates in Riyadh. The attack is coordinated with cold, calculated precision to maximize the body count of civillian men, women and children, as well as security personnel and emergency response crew.

In the attack, we the audience see the confusion and feel the panic of the crowd. We watch in horror as a man is gunned down while attempting to reach his stricken child. We are helpless as a security guard lures people to him with promises of safety, then detonates himself in the crowd. When the gunmen's vehicle gets rammed by a genuine police vehicle and they crawl out of the wreckage bleeding, there is a sense of relief that the carnage has been stopped, and when they get shot because they refuse to surrender, justice has been served. But that little prepares us for the next attack that follows, just when we think that everything's over.

"The Kingdom" puts the camera firmly in the perspective of the "good guys". The maverick FBI team that takes an officially unauthorized trip to Riyadh face innumerable political, linguistic, procedural and cultural obstacles as they investigate the attack with one of their own numbering among the dead. The team's liaison (aka babysitter), a dedicated, competent and resourceful Saudi police officer is likewise hampered by his own superior officer who is little more than an idiot and a brute. When they come under attack by the same terrorists, outnumbered and outgunned, we celebrate each time another terrorist gets taken out and the team comes closer to rescuing their kidnapped team member, and uncovering the mastermind of the operation.

The team has our sympathies as well because we get a glimpse of their families and feel their comradeship with one another while they are off duty. As for the terrorists, they are mostly anonymous; just another psycho raghead popping up to be cannon fodder or punching bag who deserves what he gets.

By skewing the view, the movie goes beyond the simple narrative and pushes us into an emotional response and shows us the motivation behind this cycle of violence. It isn't political, religious or poverty-related. It simply is the desire for revenge. One side can never view the situation from the other perspective. On "our" side, we see fathers getting killed, children murdered, innocents blown up. But in the climactic battle scene, a grandfather is killed, a brother shot, and we realize why a little boy's eyes glint with such malice in the aftermath. It never ends as long as the solution appears as a zero-sum game.

The movie wasn't as political as I had initially expected. The pacing is quick and exciting, with lots of gunplay and explosions to pass off as an action movie. At times, it almost feels like Counter-strike. Because of the pacing, the resolution becomes too convenient; they get the guy they're looking for, case-closed. Things are seldom so simple in reality.

Surfing wirelessly at the airport while waiting to collect the Wongs from their BKK trip. Flight had been seriously delayed, hence this post's ungodly hour.

Must thank NBS and B-lo for their company earlier this evening. They called me out and we had dinner at this steam-boat place on Liang Seah Street, then browsed Bugis Village to shop for girl things. Bugis Village has undergone quite a transformation. It's cleaner and has wider walkways along the main thoroughfares, and entirely air-conditioned. It looks more organized than I remember. Doesn't seem like I might find anything I want in there, but it's worth a closer inspection when I have the time.

The steam-boat came with two soups in a split boiler. On one side we had a seafood soup (strong prawn flavour) and on the other a chicken soup (strong herbal flavour). I suggest boiling the kidney and liver a little longer than what appears necessary. After I took the girls home, I was very grateful to go home myself to take care of my stomach that started doing flip-flops while I was driving.

Ah, the Wongs should be making their appearance any time now...

The bear stretches and yawns, dragging his mangy carcass outside his cave to breathe fresh morning air and blink in the sunlight once again. He'd been hibernating along with his "Heroes Season 1" box set, which is a great companion through the long dreary winter.

He's kicking himself a bit 'cos if he had picked it up at Gramophone instead of Blue Max, he'd have got it cheaper by $15! Doh! Oh, well, caveat emptor.

Heroes is the X-men tale of the '00s. All flawed human beings (losers, dark-siders, freaks) gifted with a superhuman ability. There are consequences, of course, in how they fit into 'regular' society, but to be honest, even regular human beings often find it difficult to fit in with each other as it is.

It's the tension in wanting to be part of a larger society versus the desire to stand out from anonymity and homogeneity that makes Heroes so appealing. That, plus the drive to find some meaning in our special circumstances -- but nothing less than "sav[ing] the world" will give us that meaning.

That's a nice ideal, but the danger is that we sometimes feel that we need a superpower before we can save the world. Instead of developing and using what abilities we have, we sit around and wish we we had more while the world goes to heck around us.

So if Ando, the amazing no-power man (his only skill is that he can speak English), can get caught up in the adventure, why not us, whomever we are? All right... slowly... put your hands in the air... step away from that cave... and go up, up, and awaaaaaayyy!!!

Gorgeous women's dates tend to be guys who look like crap, observes Julia Allison. She's right! Take a look at the horrendous monstrosity June ended up marrying:

A pudgy, unglam, balding (hence pathetically attempting to cover up by wearing a fish on his head), drooling troll of a human being whose very visage would scare a vampire if they met face-to-face in a dark alley at midnight.

June has her own pet theory why gorgeous babes hang out with mirror smashers, and she'll say that Allison has got it backwards. The uglier the guy, the less likely other women are likely to come sniffing around him and try to take him away. Pragmatic, and makes sense.

Whoever's right, for the guys, the obvious lesson is this: as soon as you get picked up by a gorgeous woman, get ugly real fast and you can hang on to her for life!

While the Wongs are away in BKK, I'm dogsitting Mimi, the canine Wong. Mimi's not the type that likes to be left alone, in fact, she's a bit of a Screamin' Mimi when everyone leaves the house without her. So because I was thinking of entertaining myself this evening outdoors, I took her and Q-tip to the Botanic Gardens for a long afternoon walk to tire them out. The idea was that while they were asleep at home, I could sneak out and look for a good dinner at some dog-unfriendly establishment.

Phase One of the plan worked. The dogs and I kept exploring path after path in the Gardens, Q-tip huffing and puffing like a steam engine almost immediately we began walking. I rewarded them with a plastic cup of iced-water close to the end of our walk. They drank like I've never seen them drink before. Dogs dog-tired -- check!

Phase Two, unfortunately was an abject failure. We came home and the dogs fell asleep where they stood. But guess who else also fell unconscious alongside them and didn't wake up until past dinner time? Cup noodles for dinner again. :P

Drama Club got a first look at Steph, the new instructor. On Mel's invite, I dropped in to see how things would be getting along between Steph and the kids. I must say, they warmed up to each other pretty well. Steph got them to play with lots of simple improvisations to see what kind of a script they'd like to devise for Drama Night 08.

Drama this year has the most forward, ready-to-go, dare-to-bare kids I've ever encountered in its history. They devise scenarios quickly among themselves, play, rehearse and perform at the drop of a hat. No cajoling, no threats, no freezing on stage like a deer in headlights, they just do whatever their imaginations lead. I thought they'd be best suited for all-out comedy, but given the right combination of cast, I think serious drama won't be beyond them either.

They have the desire to perform, performance discipline, and they can make the rules work for them. And I think Steph is the right person who can get them working. One of the exercises the kids did was to speak a line that someone had hurt them before with. If what the kids delivered was real, there's a lot of pain they carry inside them. I'd sure hate to be the recipient of some of those things they said. Then they had to speak a line that someone made them feel happy with. Oddly enough, it was these lines that made me feel more like crying. Guess I'm a sucker for happy endings.

Looks like Drama Night 08 is going to be very interesting...

"Beowulf", who gave me nightmares in 1st year uni because of its convoluted narration in ye Olde Englyshhe, is now finally a CGI animated action movie, a medium I can understand. Isn't it just typical that one of the oldest stories in the English language would be a hack 'n slash, swords 'n socery epic?

Zemekis' movie was all just a main-points synopsis of the major action in the 3000+ line standard literary text. Scriptwriters Gaiman and Avery bundle the unweildly tale into a neat package -- Gaiman has a knack for writing in smooth scene transitions -- and it all makes sense now!

At the heart of it, there isn't much of a story, despite the liberties the movie takes in the relationships of the main players. Our hero kills a monster, takes on said monster's mom, then goes dragon-slaying in his old age. Maybe it's time to pick up the text again and have another read, if only to experience the richness of the telling from the first time around.

Invigilation duty is officially over. It's a good thing they give us a little extra moolah for this service. I'll need it to pay for that traffic violation of last week. Yup, this criminal genius got slapped with a $120 fine plus 3 demerits for that little misadventure. Guess it could'a been worse.

Nope. Not a good week at all...

The ban on "Mass Effect" is over and cooler heads have prevailed. We're starting to realize, perhaps, that we don't need to have our decisions made for us by some self-appointed central authority; and that we can muster enough will and advocacy to negotiate a more equitable and satisfactory outcome for ourselves.

The grounds for the original ban were interesting, to say the least. Associated Press reports, "Players can engage their avatars in a variety of sexual encounters during the game, though none between men or between men and male aliens, according to reports on several blogs. The human-alien [lesbian] duo are depicted kissing and caressing each other in a sex scene that The Straits Times English-language newspaper in Singapore reported ends with the alien saying, "By the gods, that was incredible, commander."

Considering that most video games involve creative ways in which characters slice, dice, eviscerate and detonate other characters as the main component of gameplay, it's amazing that a short cutscene like the one described above could have been construed as unwholesome enough to ban the game. How often do we have video games promoting positive character interactions with each other? If we disregard their "gender", the two are actually engaged in a cooperative, non-violent, mutually beneficial activity of a social (instead of an anti-social) nature.

Between the characters, there is mutual acceptance -- appreciation, even -- of each other, despite their differences in species(?). The scene concludes with a genuine statement of gratitude, an acknowledgement to religious values, and a marked breaking down of the walls between different social classes. Aren't these refreshing traits to promote in our society of escalating xenophobia? In real world S'pore, we already draw lines between ourselves simply by the accent we speak with.

Rating the game with an M18 is a step in the right direction. Why deny ourselves a learning opportunity simply because at first glance, things don't look like what we think they should look like? We should know by now that life is never so simple.

Not that the X-box game was ever on my Christmas list, but the ban has certainly put the game on my radar now. I'm looking at the official website, and it looks gorgeous with quite some complexity and depth of gameplay. Wonder if it'll ever be released on PC?

At another industry-organized symposium, we had experts in the field of Information and Communications Technology (ITC) studies lecture us on knowledge construction with new technologies. In summary, the speakers couldn't have devised a more balanced view on the topic.

Speaker 1, a science/math/aesthetics guru, told us there was "a lot of crap" out there on the Internet. Not that there wasn't a lot of crap in books either, but there's much more crap on the 'net since everybody can publish any nonsense they wanted, and the authority of a site's content depends on its ranking in search-engines which is determined by popularity rather than reasoned discourse.

Speaker 2, linguistics and research expert, said that we need to develop our students with stronger critical thinking and research skills so they can distinguish knowledge from scholarly knowledge. He showed us some examples that looked like fun discussions to have in tutorial -- can't wait to try them out. Hope the kids are feeling cooperative.

Speaker 3, ICT boffin, had lots of prizes to give away to people who responded to his questions about the interactivity of the 'net, and how we could use what's available (& free) on the 'net to make lesson time more practically useful and relevant to our plugged-in, multitasking, broadband, frivolous info sharing community generation. Idea being, if they can already share frivolous info, then why not make them share and interact and play with important info as well?

So: the 'net is full of crap, people need to be able to think through stuff for themselves, the 'net is great! I think I got it.

1 more thing among a number of others to meditate on for a month. Perhaps my not going away on holiday this year is a blessing in disguise after all?

I can do no wrong. That's because if I ever did anything wrong, no matter how relatively insignificant, I will get caught for it. Like today when I decided to finally ditch my "Invigilator" security pass after faithfully wearing it day after day while on duty, this seriously officious-looking official -- who looked like everything he uttered had to be typewritten in triplicate -- actually stepped into my path, stopping me in my tracks, and inquired as to the whereabouts of my aforementioned security pass. Despite my unsatisfactory response he let me proceed, with a smirk that suggested that I won a bet for him. Hope I didn't get Chief into trouble for that.

But that's not all. First, check this out...

Cool right? It's my new seatbelt cover I got as a promotional gift from my weekend purchase. Hurm...

Drove over to June's office to collect some merchandise she's bringing over to the Philippines tomorrow. But where I usually stop on the side of the street to meet her, there was this TP just standing there looking like he couldn't wait to book the next unsuspecting errant driver to pass by.

In my panic, I STOPPED at the side of the road, blinked my hazard lights, and fumbled for my mobile phone in my jeans pocket. Phone was too tightly jammed in, so I unfastened my seatbelt to reach it. I called June to advise her that I couldn't stop where I had stopped (duh!), and arranged to drive around again, and this time June had to be there already waiting for me. Having come to an understanding, I hastily took to the streets again, but in my haste, I forgot to refasten my seatbelt. Upon realizing this oversight, I took my hands off the wheel and continued to drive while my hands were busy with the *)#$% seatbelt, made all the more uncooperative with the new seatbelt cover (which makes a great character reference as a driver, now I think about it). With no hands on the wheel, I wobbled my way past the TP -- who was staring intently at me and my license plate -- and as I passed him (another officious-looking fellow) he was grimly scribbling in his notebook.

OMG. How many traffic violations did I commit in the last paragraph? Did I mention that where I stopped to call June it was a jagged double-yellow line? If anyone remembers to wonder where I've disappeared to in the next 10-20 years, they could probably find me in Changi Prison, maximum security, probably with a security pass permanently stapled to my chest, and being the favourite bi*ch of Dragon Long, or Long Dragon, or whatever he wants to call his thing.

Y'know, if the TP wasn't there in the first place, I wouldn't have done all that crazy sh*t. Wonder if the police cause as much crime as they are supposed to prevent?

Never had such a sudden onset of the flu before. I was feeling fine all weekend then >bam!< bug hits me with the works last night. Just returned from the clinic with an armful of drugs and a temperature reading of 38.8°. That has got to be an achievement. Bleh... feeling sick... :P

What was going to be a lazy, uneventful Saturday quite unexpectedly became an evening at Mount Vernon's Funeral Parlour 1. June's long-lost uncle whom she's not seen in years (yes, that's what 'long-lost' means...) passed on after a couple of months of health complications. From what I could understand, he finally succumbed to MRSA.

This evening, we attended the wake. It was something of a family reunion for June who hasn't seen many of her relatives for years either. While June was doing her catch-up, I was doing my best to glean whatever I could from several conversations that alternated between Mandarin and Cantonese. Fortunately, no-one tried to speak to me directly or June would have looked like she had married the village idiot with a speech impediment.

One thing I noticed about relatives who haven't seen each other for a while is that their conversations tend to turn towards how much things cost. Property, health-care, elderly care... not that people volunteer the information but because people will ask. People want to know how much things cost. Wonder if that's a typically S'porean concern?