Sim Lim Square

I haven't been to Sim Lim Square since quite a long time ago. Maybe more than a year even. That is long for someone who use to go there at least twice a week, just to get acquainted with the shops and/or window shop. I decided to pop in today to doll up my new laptop. 

The place have changed a bit since the last time I was there. For one there are a lot more laptop repair shops lining the "backrow". You know you are there when you see junkyard heaps of laptop parts all over the shop spaces and lining the floors. The usual indian proprietors who came in the early 2000s are still there but now with more PRC as sales and tech people. There are also more shops selling used PCs and electronic parts. A sign of prosperity in Singapore. Or more like "I am sick of this 3 month old gadget now. I want that new model."

The usual PRC sales girls selling Chinese gadgets are also still around. And I saw more males hitting on these sales girls. How do I know they are flirting with these girls? Their body language and facial expressions betrayed them. I for one don't believe they will be able to read enough chinese to use the gadgets they are pretending to buy.

I also heard some shouting all the way at the ground floor. From the top (I was at 4th), it looked like a PRC couple, probably tourists shouting at a shop owner. I guess Sim Lim Square has become like the infamous Lucky Plaza. The notices at every lift landing from CASE listing down the shops that received complaints, said it all.

After slightly less than an hour and $54 poorer, I went off with a reasonably protected laptop (cover sticker, keyboard cover and screen protector). What a fun trip!

To Err Is Human

to admit them takes courage. Lots and lots of courage.

Harder Than I Thought

I don't really use it that often since I already have a desktop PC for most of my work and entertainment needs. But it is clean, fast and stable. Good for programming and related development work.

Couple of days ago, got myself a new windows laptop (Samsung NP530) so my old macbook white has to go.

This macbook was bought on a whim. I wanted to develop some apps for iOS and needed a MacOS to do it. I never got down to it (thanks to procrastination). But it did serve us well. It was used as a skype machine for overseas friends, a DVD player before bedtime, a stable PC for web developing and, it was an indoor entertainment machine when we are on vacation and it was raining outside.

And today, it was sold to the highest "bidder" for $300. The room feels empty without it.

But we are going to get some nice dinner with that $300!

Hello!

My much neglected blog! Juggling between eating, sleeping, exercising, reading, working, designing some online system and learning about Responsive Web Design for that system have not been easy.

So many things to write about and no time to do it.

To love at all is to be vulnerable

“To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact you must give it to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements. Lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket, safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. To love is to be vulnerable.”

― C.S. Lewis, The Four Loves

CNY Munchies!

Shiny yellow pineapple paste sitting on cookies baked to browny perfection, stacked on top of each other in a transparent rounded plastic container with a Ferrari red lid.

It is the Chinese New Year season! And like previous years, our dining table is piled with festive goodies. At noon today, I came back home hungry and did not buy any lunch. I thought maybe I will just eat the goodies to save money. Heck my resolution of losing more weight.

With my tummy growling and my salivating mouth hanging like a tired dog on a hot day, I reached for a container of pineapple tarts.

The person who sealed this container must have had rolls of scotch tape and was not afraid to use them. There must have been 3 layers of it. After feeling my way for, I swear like eternity for the tape end, I finally started peeling it with my freshly cut nails.

First peel yielded about 5 cm before it tore in the middle. Subsequent 5-6 peels were the same. "For the love of God and my growling tummy, please use better quality tapes that will come off in a single peel!!", my mind yelled.

Finally after 2-3 mins of wrestling with filmsy tapes, I finally got to the first piece of that deliciously looking tart. After swallowing 2 pieces, I decided to close the container and eat mandarin oranges instead.

They are not as nice as they look, and the price it was tagged.

Gong Xi Fa Cai!

Now Reading: The Relationship Principles of Jesus

By Tom Holladay. Online info from publisher here.

Picked up this book from the bookstore set up at church on Sunday. Hopefully this will inspire me to have better relationships with people around me. Book review in 2 months' time!