Getting the brain into shape

I think I've found a way to re-boot some of my synapses, neurons, etc, which have fallen into disuse since I stopped working full-time.

While channel-surfing one day, I discovered that funnyman Richard Quest was covering the World Economic Forum for CNN. That man can talk so much and so fast and his reports of the WEF were rather rivetting.

Of course the WEF is important, important issues were discussed, our PM was there, etc. However, I must confess it's not the kind of thing that I'd watch or read that much about, so it was a good thing that CNN sent him to Davos.

I caught some of the short interviews he did with CEOs, big shots of big-time organisations such as the World Bank, etc, when he got them to 'vote' in this 'recession-o-meter' (picture and story source) for whether they thought the economy was going into a recession or just a slow-down. No laughing matter, of course, but he made it sound so entertaining, and these CEOs and big shots were smiling and all. Cute.

Also caught his interview of Michael Dell, Bill Gates and Bono, talking about the Red Campaign to fight AIDS in Africa and the RED Dell computers launched to support this effort.

Anyhow, I learnt that Richard Quest actually has his own blog and programme on CNN.

So, it's time for me to once again pay more attention to some important world matters instead of spending too much time on mysoju, hee hee...

Incidentally, the results of the recession-o-meter show that more big shots think it's a slow-down that's coming and not a recession. Then again, it doesn't mean that if they think it's just a slow-down, it will just be a slow-down...

There can be only one...

Well, well, the AO is turning out to be the tournament of the unexpected. Sharapova prevailing today was probably the most (only?) expected thing in the past few days.

And I'm not just talking about this year. After 2004, when Justine and Federer rather expectedly won their respective titles, there were Justine and her stomach conceding the final to Mauresmo in 06, and Serena crushing Sharapova last year. Then there was Safin defeating Federer in the semi-final and winning the thing in 05, Baghdatis reaching the 06 final and Gonzalez last year's final.

No need to go into all of this year's surprises but I think it is significant that Justine, Federer and Nadal were gone before the final. I wonder if this bodes well for the rest of the year, in that there may be more colour in the tapestry. We'll see...

Anyway, there can be only one (man and one woman), of course, and much as I do like to see fresh faces and strokes, I have to say that one of the last two men left endears himself to me more than the other. No prizes for guessing which and which.

My non-expert opinion: if Djokovic wants too much to win, he might just lose. Ha ha, is that profound or what. Now that he's a top player, he seems to be losing his 'free spirit-ness', what with the expectations that come with being the world #3 -- his own and everyone else's. So, although he says that both he and Tsonga have nothing to lose, he's got more to lose than Tsonga and he will be less able than Tsonga to play with wild abandon, etc.

So, anyway, we shall see, too... Cute picture from the AO site.

Last eight standing

So the young Serb trio has made it to the Grand Slam semi-finals once again. Well done. It would have been a right old party if Tipsarevic had done what he nearly did - boot Federer out of the picture. Aiyoh... wasted... so near and yet so far... Well, I think they should all throw him a party anyway, lah. After all, when did Federer last have to play for more than four hours and five sets before winning a match? Never?

Ok, anyway, very impressive, indeed, how the three of them, Sharapova and Tsonga made it to the semis. Sharapova should win her match (being played right now), and whoever wins the other semi, it will be a battle of beauties and their pretty outfits in the final.

I was disappointed, though, at how the Spanish-speaking armada went out in the way they did, with only Nadal left standing. Ferrer was a shadow of his best in his losing match, not to mention he was one of the better looking men in the tournament, ha ha (or maybe the best??). And Nalbandian was even more of a shadow of his best when he lost to Ferrero.

Bye, guys...

So, I guess Federer is on course for his 13th or 15th or whatever Grand Slam. To think he nearly, nearly fell the other day... Anyway, there's a cute Federer beanie you can buy to support UNICEF, for which he is Goodwill Ambassador.

AO pictures and news links from here.

Great, more gantries

Like many others, my mother and I were astounded to see the new Toa Payoh ERP gantry the other day. I remember that sometime ago, some official guy said that they take great care in working out the location of gantries and they wouldn't want to make people pay ERP charges just driving to the market or something like that. Well, looks like some people may have to start paying while driving to the market now. And going to school. Or to work. Apparently, this and the other latest gantries will only be used if necessary. I.e. if the traffic flow goes below a certain speed. Ya, sure, like they will put a gantry there and not use it at all.

Earlier this week, there was also this report of some official statements about the ERP and a telephone survey the ST did about the ERP. Here are a couple of astounding findings:

1. 'Fewer than half of all motorists pass through ERP gantries on their way to work' (based on 295 people interviewed). Duh. We don't all stay or work in the same places, what.

2. '... higher prices (ERP rates) are not enough to scare most motorists away'. Duh again.

And some astounding statements:

1. The LTA said there were 'general improvements in traffic speeds' after the increase in ERP rates (last November). Traffic was going within the 'optimal speed range' of 45-65kmh. Traffic on 'secondary' roads was also within the optimal range of 20-30kmh. I've forgotten how they arrived at the 'optimal' speed for peak hour traffic but if I had to drive at 20-30kmh to work on a daily basis, boy, will I be grumpy by the time I get there. By the way, three-quarters of the 295 people did not agree that peak hour traffic had improved.

2. The head of the GPC for Transport said that 'Singapore should improve its public transport network to help those who cannot afford to drive'. Tell us about it. Haven't people been saying that we need improvement for years? Anyway, isn't the idea to make public transport such a viable option that even those who can afford to drive wouldn't mind switching to the bus or MRT sometimes or all the time?

Also on road issues, I really think people shouldn't be driven around in lorries, even if there are fewer than 20 people on them or whatever. So what if no one was killed in yesterday's accidents? 53 were injured, which means that 53 people could have died... I also notice that many of the people driving these lorries are rather reckless. Even when driving during peak hours and on expressways...

Picture from here.

Counting the cost of your hand soap

On the economic front, things aren't looking too good either, what with lower economic growth in the last quarter, rising transport costs, oil prices at a high, the promise of inflation, etc...

However, the price of my favourite moisturising hand soap from Guardian has come down!

Sometime after last year's GST increase, the $1.95 hand soap became $2.50 or something, which, by my calculations, is more than a 3% hike. Maybe they have some special calculators there which calculate differently? Anyhow, like any other calculating tai-tai or non-tai-tai, I turned to rival hand soaps. After paying $1.95 for years, it was kind of hard thinking '$2.50', ha ha. Now, perhaps there were large enough numbers of people like myself who could not stomach anything more than $1.95 (hence contributing to a severe decrease in sales of the hand soap). Just last week, I saw that the hand soap is now 'on sale' at $1.95 (original price). Yipee... time to stock up on hand soap...

Much has been said about the middle class crunch. As I consider myself a crunched middle classer, who happened also to decide to stay at home at a time like this, I agree with most of what has been said. However, I still think that the worst off are still, well, the worst off, i.e. those at the bottom of the rung.

There are silver linings for me, such as as when hand soap goes on sale. However, some people can't even afford to think about hand soap...

Lousy start

I checked in on the 2 new night serials on KBS World this new year and they are both unwatchable. No doubt, they will have huge numbers of fans but I won't be among them.

Cruel Love

starring Lee Yo-won (LYW), Kim Seung-soo (KSS) and Kwon Sang-woo (KSW)
Get this story:

LYW and KSS (front and back in the pic) fall in love but KSS is married to a rich girl with an impossibly big hair-do. He gives LYW up. LYW is actually pregnant. KSS doesn't know it but his wife with the big hair does and stomps into LYW's house to tell her off, threaten her, etc. Thereafter, LYW has a miscarriage, following which her parents get into an accident and her mother dies.

Meanwhile, KSS and wife have a kid themselves and though he does well in her rich dad's company and all, he has never forgotten LYW. (His wife gets a normal hair-do.)

And, meanwhile also, KSW (middle in the pic) returns to Korea after having left in a huff with his girlfriend, who was disapproved of by his rich dad, but by then the girlfriend has killed herself. And, you guessed it, his rich dad is the same rich dad as the girl with the big hair's but KSW is the illegitimate child.

Aiyoh... convoluted, tragic love melodrama...

Thought LYW did reasonably as Surgeon BDH and has the potential for shows with a comedy slant. Don't know why she did this melodrama instead. KSS was the guy who didn't get the girl in Full House and I think this role is much meatier for him. However, I'm not about to watch it just for that. As for KSW, an old-timer whose shows I never bothered to watch, I really have no interest in him.

(picture from here)

Pretty Insun

Starring Kim Hyun-joo and Kim Min-jun

Not very engaging plot. Insun (Kim Hyun-joo) was in jail for accidentally killing someone in her younger days and is trying to live her life again. I'm not really sure why this is such a big deal because she accidentally killed the person, what. And, her mother is going to lengths trying to hide her past. How can you hide the fact that you went to jail?

Kim Min-jun was the boring Dr Lee in Surgeon BDH and is equally boring here, with the same hair and unshaven look. Yawn...

Never saw Kim Hyun-joo before and one interesting thing about the show is that she looks like Zoe Tay, ha ha.

(picture from here)

So, not the best of starts on the K drama front, I must say.

But never mind, Australian Open will be here soon and should be a better reason to be glued to the telly.

However, the local tennis front is not doing so well. Letter in TODAY: 'Dismal officiating at Sharapova match'. Ha. If I'm not mistaken, the line judges and ball boys/girls were tennis players. Now, players are not the same as officials, even after 2-3 training sessions...

And, as I told Bear Hugs, HK is right now hosting the JB Group Classic, at which both Sharapova and Chakvetadze are playing, along with Ana Ivaonvic, Venus Williams, Daniela Hantuchova and Elena Dementieva. And... tickets are cheaper than the ones for the Sharapova-Chakvetadze match...

Holidays over...

I can't believe that it's not just our holiday, but the whole of the holidays, and the whole of 2007, that have flown past. Sigh... wish we were still on holiday...



Anyhow, since we were in Sapporo, might as well have some Sapporo beer, right? Which we did, along with some all-time favourites - kasugai peas, daikon (white radish), Mosburger and lovely, yummy strawberries (I believe they were from Fukuoka).

Cheers.