Mona Lisa and Effel Tower

Louvre Museum is a formerly a palace and is enormous. Entry is 9 euros for adults and free for 18 years and below. It is spacious and had lots of paintings and sculpture. The paintings are very good. Mona Lisa, the most famous and also the most popular is actually quite a small are at same size as in the painting. Some paintings were even bigger. Looking at the paintingpainting size of a family protrait or A3. There are many life-size painting i.e. the human subjects s, it must have taken the artist a long time to complete the job. Many of the them are life-like. I am not a arty-craftsy type and so I was tired out by the walk. In total, I spent less than an hour. Walking to find Mona Lisa from the entrance take more than 15 mins. After seeing meeting Mona Lisa, I would not say this is a life changing experience.
Going up to the top of Effel Tower in the bitter cold is interesting experience. The weather was gloomy and a little foggy. So the visibility is a little compromised. However the view is spectacular. It is also scary for those afraid of heights. It is quite fun just to go up to be on top of the world, I mean Paris. Paris is a interesting city. There is only one tall modern building. There must be a height limitation as the buildings are not more than 10 storeys high. Another interesting feature is there are many huge doors on the arches along the buildings. Some are entrance for cars. There are more than 12 metro lines. The pedestrian path is quite narrow and Parisens are always in rush.
Taking the metro(MRT) and buses is a cinch and convenient. It is also cost effective. Living in an apartment with a kitchen also save money. You got it! We are touring on economy class.

More Pics in Paris

View outside the kitchen. Living on the top floor mean we get to see the sky.


Louvre Museum where famous Mona Lisa of the Da Vinci Code is just steps away.

A standing room only shower. This shower is even smaller than any of those in the hotels I stayed in Japan!

My bedroom with the skylights!

A picture is worth a thousand words...

Bathtub right in front of our bed. It is like a no bedroom apartment.

Outliers, continue...

Time magazine reviewed this book as well as New York Times. Malcolm Gladwell is a highly accomplished writer to command such interest.
Outliers is a frontal assault on the great American myth of the self-made man says Lev Grossman of Time magazine. It examines the circumstances and environment that make a man successful. Yes, man only! There are no woman example. It makes interesting reading and a lot of the reasonings are sound and plausible. I like it as it mirror a lot of my thinking as well.
Well, best way to get to know about kthinking is to read Outliers.

Paris, Finally

We are in Paris finally. It takes 14 hours from Singapore to Zurich. Then a 3 hours stopover and an hour and 10 mins to Charles De Gaul Airport, Paris. Our flight took off at 1am in the morning. My butt hurts sleeping in the plane.
I had fell from bicycle a week or two ago. I landed right on my butt. I was immobilised by the pain for a few minutes. B3(my youngest boy) was on the bike with me and fell too. He get up with no problem and keep asking why I am not moving. Now I know I have not recovered from my hard landing.
Anyway, we landed in Terminal 2F. We had ordered a pickup and told them the we are in Terminal 2. We were told to find out exactly where we were and call back. There were 10 "separate" terminal in Terminal 2. Fifteen minutes later, we were pick up at Gate 8 by a yellow airport minivan. As we ride the van out, we know why it take so long for the van to arrive. There were 3 terminals! Just to get out of terminal two takes about 3 mins.
The ride to our hotel took 45 mins. We are in a very old building more than 200 years. The room is on the 6 floor and the lift is "Batman-style". The ceiling is low and slanted just like in the attic. There is an open bath right in the bedroom. It is really quaint.
Weather is freezing.

Outlier!

This is a latest book by author of bestsellers, The Tipping Point and Blink, Malcolm Gladwell. I like the chapter on air crashes of Korean Airlines. Korean Airlines has the worst record for air crashes in the world! The reason? Korean respects for authority. It is culture. If the captain does something wrong or did not notice something important, the first officer will politely point it out. If it is ignored or the captain does not do anything, out of deference, the first officer will remind again to reinforce his point but will not be direct. Hence, the aircraft crashed and killing everyone on board. The first officer can't even save himself.
Korean Airlines subsequently hired a Consultant to improve her safety record. This Consultant insist on all pilots and first officers to communicate only in English. They have to learn English with their own money....
I am running out time as I have to get ready for my vacation. Will continue next time....

Forward

I am looking forward to a well deserved holiday. It has been busy and work is just non-stop. I enjoyed working and working hard. It is a good time for a break to bring the family together. In New York Times today, there is an article based on research, the way to be happy is watch less TV. Happy people spend more time socializing and doing other stuff. Cutting down TV bring more happiness. I wonder about internet? Would cutting internet make one happier too?

Interesting Times

Prices are going up and people are losing their jobs. Financial markets around the world are gyrating like crazy. Many people lost their fortunes and some are making their fortunes. What can we do?
Bad news are on the papers everyday. Retrenchments by Global Finance companies are announced daily. Actually is the economy so bad? Shopping malls are still busy and lots of people are still buying. Maybe people are cutting down their purchases. Real Estate prices are dropping except for HDB flats.
As Charles Dickens puts it "It is the worst of times, it is the best of times".

Discount and More Discounts

All the book stores are getting more aggressive on price. Kinokuniya has 20% storewide this weekend. MPH has 20% for 500 titles - not so good deal. I do not know about Times but last weekend, Borders has 25% for 3, 30% for 4 and 35% for 5 books. On top of the 35%, there is an additional 10% for members. Borders has great deals!

Holiday Mood

The weather is cool and we go to NTUC Fairprice to buy snacks for our upcoming trip. Just allowing the boys to buy candies, buying instant noodles, biscuits and preserved fruits(kiam sng tee) makes me get into holiday mood. I felt like we are on holiday already. Our 3 boys are in a very good mood and my spirits are high. Yes, we are all looking forward to our Europe trip.

BT is out for Holiday in Malaysia

I just read that Boh Tong my fellow blogger is off to Malaysia for holiday. I wished him safe travel. I will be going to Switzerland and Paris myself next week. It is holiday season. Merry Christmas everyone!

Hua Ting - Delicious Dinner

We had dinner in Hua Ting. The food was fabulous. The cost is $1,400+ for 17 persons including the drinks. It is a little expensive. However, we had a good time. I enjoyed the meal very much.

Sentosa

It's been a long time since I was last in Sentosa. Today, we had a tour in Fort Siloso. It is hot and humid. There are some hot bodies at the beach. Lot of walking and sweat. Many F&B in Sentosa nowadays. After more than 15 years, Sentosa is quite different now. Cars are normal whereas it was banned before. Plenty of contructions. I can understand why it is no longer popular. The attractions are not so attractive any more.

Red Wine Headache

I did not sleep well last night. I felt my head aches the whole night. It must be the red wine I have to drink as punishment for wrong "signal" in drinking game. I am really a bad drinker. By lunch time, I had to take two tyernols as the headache refused to go away. It was only evening before I feel normal again.
I have no idea why people like to drink. It has the most terrible aftermath. Headaches that is stubborn and it hurts.

Annual Party at Cafe Del Mar

We had annual party in Sentosa. It is my first time since I joined the company seven years ago. Human Resource Manager has changed, so I was invited. Usually, I get invited by the Malaysian side as my office is there. Kind of complicated to explain. Never mind! I had a good time. Just that there were not enough food and I have to order my own food.

Do Not Believe in What is in the News

I read about the DBS layoff and the Chairman says that it was a very difficult decision and all the staff laid off will be given counselling, help to look for another job and other services to ease the pain.
The sad fact is you will not be told that you are laid off. Reporting to work as usual, you will find something unusual. Your entry pass do not work. You wonder why initially. Then another colleague come by and hey presto! no problem. Sorry, you are no longer allow into the office. Man! Don't you get it??!! You are laid off!

Sinking Sands!

Will our IR, integrated resort or Casino be completed? Sands is having problems raising funds since the financial crisis in US. Will Singapore has two Casinos or one? Only time can tell.
I hope we get both our casinos. They will create jobs, bring in tax revenue and make Singapore more vibrant!

Poor Thaksin

I don't mean Thaksin is poor. I feel sorry for him. He is an extremely wealthy man. Now he has no home. He cannot go back to Thailand, UK now do not welcome him. It is not fun. He is a rich guy who went into politics. While he did get richer during his term as Prime Minister, look at all the trouble he is in now.
Money cannot buy everything!

Bagels

Tanglin Mall's supermarket sells freshly baked bagels. Bagels are not commonly available in Singapore. The dough is quite dense and chewy. Bagel is a popularly breakfast item in Canada. I bought 2 at $1.50 each, plain and whole wheat.
Bagels look like doughnuts. It is a ring. To eat, split the bagel into 2 rings and toast it in a toaster or oven. Then butter it when hot so that the butter melts into the hot dough. After that add cream cheese or peanut butter. Eat while still hot or warm.

DBS Retrenching 900

DBS draw first blood. The new CEO was a "people" person according to news when he was hired. DBS made history in the first retrenchment since it existence. When you have an outsider for CEO, this is not unusual. Outsiders do not have the history nor the intimate understanding of the organisation. They are therefore disinterested and can bring forth the sharp knife in order to deliver results. Results that are short term as outsiders are usually hired guns who know their tenure will be short term. This may be the shot in the arm for our government linked bank. It may also send shocks and cause unfold damages for years to come. Damages that DBS will take long time to heal or even not recover.
We can only wait and see.

Great Deals in Borders

This weekend, Borders has a Sale going. The discount is 25% for 3 books, 30% for 4 books and 35% for 5 books or more. Members get an additional 10%. What a great deal! Borders is finally get more competitive in price and will put pressure on Kinokuniya. However Kinokuniya is quite firm on pricing. So far the best deal in Kino is 20% and usually during school holiday. Borders is very busy today. It is also good that Borders did not require a coupon. It is usually a hassle to cut coupons and only one coupon per book which mean you have to buy more copies of Straits Times just to get the discount. It is not environmentally-friendly sales tactic. I like this "Buy more Save more" promotion.

Food That Cause Bad Reactions

I just returned from Malacca and KL. Malacca was a food tasting trip. Our first order after checking into Holiday Inn is to go for dinner. We went to the Portuguese Settlement for seafood. We had crabs, bbq fish, deep fried sotong, otah and rojak. The table is set at the edge of sea. The sea was so dark. There were no ship out. Unfortunately, it was cloudy and the stars cannot be seen. With no artificial lights and clear view of the sky, I am quite sure if there is UFO, it will be seen clearly.
Then day 2, we had satay celup. Satay celup a big pot of peanut sauce in the center of the table just like Korean bbq. You go to the fridge to select the food that come in a long sticks. The sticks are colour coded on based on price. Red-end is RM0.60 per stick and regular is RM0.50. After collecting your choice, just dipped into the satay sauce until it is cooked and sup them up. There were bean curd skin, fishballs, prawns, kangkong... basically anything that can be skewered. After satay celup, we had Bikik Neo nonya food. The nonya food was excellent in taste. Unfortunately, it is also nonya food that cause bad reactions. I could not sleep that night and thought I overeat. I wake up with a migraine. However, after easy breakfast of fruits, juices and cappuccino, I felt OK. However, by lunch time, I was nursing a headache and took tyernol before going for the Malacca famous Chicken Rice Balls. I had a bad reactions and basically returned my lunch into the hotel toilet. Luckily after an hour of rest, I felt much better. So I return to KL with no problem.
Before flying home, I had chicken again as it looks appetitizing. My memory was short! When I reach home, I could not do anything but sleep. I had two tyernol again after a couple hours of nap and return straight back to sleep. I must have slept 14 hours straight. It is terrible.

Eating should not be a dangerous pastime. Seems like my body disagree with hawker foods in Malaysia. I had so many bad experience now with hawker food in Malaysia. They are tasty but cause nasty reactions. So in Malaysia, eat at your own risks!

Obama, President-elect

Yes, I am still amazed. While I do hope that Obama will become the President, there were many doubts especially "The Bradley Effect" where a black man running for Mayor in Los Angeles who was way ahead in polls lost out in the actual election.
Black or white, I hope the new President will be able to improve US standing in the world.

Calm after a Storm

First heavy dark ominious clouds form up in the sky. The rains. After that lightning flashed. Huge and frequently lightning accomplished by deafening thunder. Explosive sounds indeed. Now the sky is clear and everything looks fine.

It is Terrible!

If you want to commit murder and get away with it, come to Malaysia. Prime Minister of Malaysia, once said this in one of his speeches. Today's headlines "Political Analyst acquitted of Murder of Mongolian Model". He is speaking the truth although the audience was having a good laugh as it seems like he was jesting when he said it.
I am not saying this guy did it or didn't. However, the father of the victim felt that his daughter will not get justice right from the start.