Topless in Europe - Life in the Fast Lane

This photo was taken in June 1997, the year the first signs of the Asian Financial Crisis was starting to hit. The COE (Certificate of Entitlement) in Singapore that year was hovering around S$ 50,000 after having hit a record high of in excess of S$ 100,000 (!). I was in Germany for the agents' Worldwide Sales Conference for a week and my then business partner booked the Mercedes Benz SLK 420 convertible to rent for 3 days for a (then) reasonable sum of S$ 1,200 (about S$ 400 per day after converting from Deutchmarks). Petrol costs on the other hand, were another matter altogether ! Price per litre of petrol was hovering around DM 2 (S$ 2.00) per litre in France and DM 1.70 (S$ 1.70) for Germany.

To drive a luxury car in Europe is frankly one of us guys' pleasures and to drive a convertible at 240 km/hr on the Autobahn - there are no speed limits except for a few stretches near the big cities like Frankfurt, Cologne or Munich, is really something to be experienced. The Germans really DO appreciate and understand the mechanics and decades of technology advancement of the car (this is the country which produced the first petrol fired vehicle - Daimler) and the weather during spring / summer is perfect for this land tourer with the top down. Showy, YES but then LIFE is to be savoured within ones means isn't it ?

There is nothing quite like it over in this part of the world, firstly because of the humidity in S.E.Asia,and secondly there is NO WAY one can get by driving in Singapore or Malaysian highways at 240 km/hr without worrying when the 'Uncle Sam' (traffic police) is going to pounce on you.

Escape from Bangkok 26 - 27 November

This is the 'Escape from Bangkok' my own version which happened just 2 days ago. I was on a business trip from 24th to 26th November visiting our customer Ford Mazda in Chonburi (South East of Bangkok). On the 25th Wednesday, while we were returning to Bangkok, I noticed scores of cars, buses.MPVs and Carry Pickups with hundreds if not thousands of yellow clad PAD (People's Alliance for Democracy) supporters heading to Suvhanabhum on the opposite direction of the highway to 'welcome' the Prime Minister Somchai back from the APEC meeting held in Peru.They had had their hazard lights on and had received word to assemble and ultimately take over the main International airport at Suvhanabhum. Their objective was to raise worldwide awareness about the 'puppet' Government of Mr. Somchai which was a front for the ousted Thaksin Shinawatra.



Tawatchai,my Sales Manager for Thailand had confirmed that this action was the final act for the PAD people who want to bring down the Thai Government by demonstrations and using force if necessary to achieve their aims. By now, the world's news agencies and press corp had taken notice and street fights and gun battles plus home made bombs were being thrown in the vicinity of the Main International Airport at Suvhanabhum. According to reports there were gun battles with DAAD or the pro-Government groups who were wearing red T-shirts and by 8.20pm the PAD had occupied the airport departure terminal and terrified tourists and working airport staff were all caught in the crossfire literally.

We returned to downtown Bangkok where it seeemed to be a different world, everything was peaceful and my Malaysian Project Manager Kannan and I met with Ricky, my friend with AEI and we went out for dinner in downtown Rachadaphisek Road. Soon we heard news that the airport was overrun wth PAD protestors and all incoming flights after 9pm were
diverted to other airports such as Chiangmai and Phuket. Not long after,Tawatchai informed me that International airport
was closed. Our initial reaction was 'so what' and we were quite nonplussed and it did not sink in that there would be many thousands of people,business people,tourists, students who would be stuck in Bangkok. We continued having drinks near our hotel and went to bed thinking of the day ahead.

On Wednesday morning 26th, we saw on the news the worst had happened and that the entire airport had been shut and that there were rumours that the 2nd airport, Don Muang would also be shut due to protestors 'disrupting the operations'. During breakfast, we sat down and considered our options

a) wait and see
b) drive down to Had Yai and cross the border and head for Penang. Drive time : 15 - 20 hours at least.
c) drive to Chiang Mai which was 780 km away where there was a SilkAir flight out of Chiang Mai every day.

After some checking, I decided for option c) and smsed my travel agent Joanne, to check seat status. Amazingly there were still seats availabe ! So I got her to reserve a total of 4 seats in a metter of 15 minutes out from Chiang Mai on Thursday 27th morning - my birthday.

We left at 11.00am on Wednesday morning in 2 cars, Tawatchai's car and Ricky rented a driver (for Baht 9,000 or S$ 380) and stopped for lunch at a shopping center mid-way and drove non-stop all the way to Chiang Mai. Along the way, I had concerned friends (THANKS ! Looi,Betty and James) smsing me about the situation and even updates about some fighting and someone had been killed near Chiang Mai. The total distance travelled was almost 800 km in 1 day and time of travel was 9 hours approximately.


On the way to Chiang Mai

Finally at 8pm, we arrived at Chiang Mai and we headed for the airport. Security was tight, there was an army post at the entrance and several soldiers around. We spoke to the airport manager who assured us that things were "OK" and flights were going in and out BUT all flights to and from Bangkok and Don Muang were cancelled. I wanted to check-in our luggage and get a boarding pass but the check-in counters were all closed. Tawatchai, who was familiar with Chiang Mai booked us all in at the new Dome Serviced Apartments for 700 Baht (S$ 30 only!). This is a very good quality service apartment, brand new, with a clean bed, TV and aircon.


Dinner at Chiang Mai Night Bazaar

We headed out for dinner at the ChiangMai night bazaar and did a bit of last minute shopping.Amazingly Chiang Mai seems like a different country and everything there seemed so peaceful and plenty of tourists and locals appeared unaffected by all that had happened in the capital. I was reminded that the North part of Thailand was 'Thaksin country' so the protestors would be very foolish to attempt to close the last airport open. There was news that one protestor was shot dead near Chiang Mai and I sensed that there was heightened tension as I saw police even coming to our Apartments. By 11p, we all were exhausted and headed back to the Apartment.

27th November morning, I had a short 30 minute run along the main canal of Chiang Mai to take in the sights. I normally bring my running shoes so I put them to good use this time. We headed for the airport and thankfully, our last minute premium tickets were accepted and boarding passes issued. There was the first signs of other travellers (maybe 20) who had also made the trip up north but I think quite a number were turned away because they could not confirm new flight bookings out of Thailand because the airport in Chiang Mai could not be contacted. I guess I did the right thing by confirming the flight via my travel agent and that she was a trusted friend of mine. THANKS Joanne of Comet Travel.


At the Departure Lounge in Chiang Mai

The final 2 hours passed quickly, and I was greeted by birthday smses and calls from my family and friends.The SilkAir flight left at 11.30 am and I had a quick look at our passengers beside us, almost all, were holiday makers except for us 4 and perhaps 10 more passengers who looked like they had come to Chiang Mai from Bangkok.


Freedom Flight MI 701 Silk Air at 11.25 am

We arrived back in Singapore at 3.30pm and celebrated our 'Escape'. My thoughts are with the many thousands of stranded tourists and businesspeople still stuck in Thailand.

SKI - Sure Kena Injured

The title is just to grab attention. One of the most exhilarating sport one can participate in while he or she is still fit and active is to be able to ski. My family and I have gone for ski holidays for 2 straight years and I am frankly hooked. There are many affordable ski packages to places like Korea and China and they have excellent resort facilities as well as top end ski instructors and equipment for rental. I can't afford the Swiss Alps experience yet but would LOVE to try the Jungfrau mountains (Swiss - German) at least ONCE IN MY LIFE.

One of the downsides, is that one has to be a) fit and have some stamina and have b) strong bones. It is not recommended for people above 55 years old unless they happen to be sportsmen who have been very active all their lives. The strong bones and coordination part is ESSENTIAL because there will be times when you will fall (how do you learn then ?) or when you have the misfortune of bumping or someone bumping into you and then it is a mad rush to a) stay on your feet and stay balanced and b) avoid hitting ski-lift poles or even out of bound barriers. Every year, hundreds of skiers do get injured or even killed, due to many reasons, so its not a sport for the desk-bound person.

Personally, it is a great sport with its fair share of thrills and spills as part of it. I can't wait to hit the slopes soon !

A Night on the Town - Heritage

Wednesday night, I had visitors from Germany and Malaysia, so after dinner, we headed for Duxton Road to sample some of Singapore's nightlife. Tucked away somewhere at the centre of Duxton Road, is this little nightspot, JJ Atlante which features, Heritage, Singapore's PREMIER rock and blues band. I was taken aback that this band has been around for 37 years and the original band members are still around and doing great gigs.The average age is in the mid 50s for at least 3 of the members.

Heritage Band is fronted by leader Atwell Jansen (with the skull cap) and is typically a 4 piece band. Showtime starts at 10.45pm (quite late for early risers like me) and there are 'guests officers' with foreign accents for those so inclined. They played hits from the 60s and 70s from Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, Led Zepplin and Bad Company. (Roland Take Note !!)

For my money, 3 draft mugs at S$ 26 dollars and to watch one of the BEST bands in Singapore is a GREAT Singapore DEAL.

Karate for All

I am a member of KSK Karate Club located in Tanglin Community Centre since 2002. Headed by Sensei Chia Kwek Fah, it currently has about 100 members of which 30 are currently active. We meet every Sunday at 5pm (for seniors) and 6 to 7.30pm for the rest of the members. Any body with some basic fitness can join the club. Fees are $60 for a term of 12 weeks.

Mr. Chia holds a 7th Dan Black Belt - Shitoryu Style and has approximately 45 years (!) experience as a karateka and easily 30 years as a coach. He was the coach for Karate in Team Singapore in the 2005 SEA and in the past held many titles,including Asia champion - kumite category.He has several Chinese poetry books to his name, and is currently managing his business offering consultancy in photography,martial arts, sports science and Chinese calligraphy.

My opinion after having taken up the art for 7 years now is that it is a tough sport,which requires endurance and a high degree of flexibility and agression. Many junior members, ranging from 5 years to 16 years old have 'graduated' to senior belt status (brown and black) and the art teaches discipline, respect for seniority,agressiveness and humility. Basic techniques are the leraning of many blocks (uke or barai), punches (tsuke),kicks (geri) and stances (dach). Also threre is the aspect of kata or form,which is the application of the above into a structured pattern or 'war' dance.

For the seniors such as myself, we can pick up additional skills like disarming agressive attackers, free sparring (kumite),
and learning of Sai (three pronged pincer), nanchaku and even the dong fa (baton used by police).

Most of all, it showed me that the human body is capable of withstanding attacks by effective blocking techniques and then applying trained strikes at the opponents vulnerable parts rendering them harmless.

Picture shows, Esther, Ricky Ng, Me and Looi Teck Kheong.

School Hols are Here, Time to Party !

Cycling



Watering the Garden



X Box 360 Time for Noel and Andrew


This is the time the Boys so richly deserve,at the year end when all the exams are over, its time for some FUN, so this is IT.

42km,150m Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon 2005 - Real Drama

The date was 5 December 2005 morning, I can still remember the incident as clear as yesterday. This was the 3rd full marathon I was attempting and it was HOT and humid.I had my arranged supporter, Kannan, from Malaysia who had come all the way from Malacca to help supply me the Gatorade drinks and Powergels. We had arranged that he meet me at specially designated locations to hand me the "life savers" as I estimated there would be a thousand runners in front of me, and probably many thousands behind me. This was the MOST dramatic ending to my marathon runs which I am not going to forget soon.

The race started at 6.00 am, it was smooth sailing for me for the first 10km or so, I was near the faster runners - not the elites, nor the chasing bunch, but somewhere in the first 25% or so. I had been pacing myself and had trained religiously for this run which I thought would be a managable distance,as I had run it 2 times previously, once in Penang (2003) and once in Singapore 2004.
I WAS SO WRONG.

The first 10 to 14km was the stretch from the Esplanade Bridge right down Shenton Way to all around Marina Bay area and back before looping back to Robinson Road and head towards the Padang and the Esplanade Drive and down to Raffles Avenue.

The race was carried out on a hot morning, and by the 23km mark, I had a cramp on my right calf. This occured somewhere around the 6 km mark at East Coast Park. "Oh Oh", I thought, "Not Good and so early into the run." By this time, at 8.20am or so, the first Kenyan runner finshed the race. I was only half-way through !!

I managed to squeeze some Counter Pain Gel on my leg and carried on. At around the 30km mark, I had a another muscle strain, this time on my left calf. Again I stopped and applied some stretching and some muscle cream. The time was about 9.30 am and I had met Kannan once but had missed seeing him on the 20 km segment, as there were just too many runners passing by for him to spot me and I was probably bunched up with my eye on my leg rather than people or supporters.

By the 32km, I was pouring water down my head to douse myself and try to ignore the ache. BAD MOVE. The water trickled down to my legs and seeped into my running shoes. As I was hot, I intitally felt relieved with the water energising me.So I started drinking a bit more and pouring plain water down my head. My shoes by this time were squishing in water and I was literally running in SQUISHY SHOES.

Finally, the end point could be seen, 40km, just 2km more to go. I was preparing myself for the photo opportunity and with the thousands of spectators cheering us on, it was a massive boost to my very tired limbs. With 100m left to go, I thought to myself "Go for it buddy, break the 5 hour mark !". So I started to accelerate with about 80m left to go.

The exhilaration was with me, I was taking the cheering and shouting and started to move faster.60m, 50m,40m, ..... then WHAM !

My left hamstring tightened so very tightly that I pulled up and stopped totally. I was in extreme pain and lost my balance, and fell flat in front of thousands of cheering spectators !! The announcer who was announcing the numbers started shouting my Bib number and by sheer willpower, I tried to get up. I was blocking the other runners who were making their way to the 'chute'.

Another runner stopped by to help me back to my feet,but he let go of me after 10 seconds and I was practically 'legless', my legs were all rubbery and I could not even stand let alone run.

I fell back again on the road, and the announcer and the people were going crazy. I was doing a crazy stand up and fall down routine and runners were passing me and I almost knocked one down. Finally, a quick thinking medic ran to me and together we ran across the finish line which was probably 20m away.

I had slaps on my back and strangers coming up to shake my hand, all I wanted to do was sit down and I sat down with my aching body for 45 minutes and drank about 2 bottles of 100+. I had never felt so awful and relieved after a run in my whole life !

Finally when my body recovered, I was able to pull myself up,get my medal and find a taxi home. REAL DRAMA. RESPECT THE DISTANCE.