my ajumma notes

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 smilin...

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 endear...

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 ...

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...

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 h...

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 ...

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.

Ha, I've found someone who is more of a Christmas Eve party pooper than myself. From today's Straits Times: 'I think I've fallen out of love with shopping' Is mindless consumerism all there is to being a Singaporean? I hope not By Tessa Wong 'TIS not the season to be thrifty, and these past few weekends, I have been joining my fellow Singaporeans in the annual ritual of Christmas shopping on Orchard Road. But while most are savouring the headlong plunge into this festive orgy of consumerism, I have been feeling repulsed by its excesses. Worse, I think I have fallen out of love with our national hobby. I am not sure how it happened. After all, I have always been a steadfast sucker for Orchard Road at Christmas, and not just because of the traditional season for great bargains. Something about its bright lights, rain-slicked streets, and tinselled glamour had always entranced me. I had always found the bustle of the crowd romantic and convivial, even while getting...

Back around Christmas. In the meantime, don't forget to support Team Singapore ! Ain't he cute?

So... I've finished watching Surgeon Bong Dal-hee and I'm glad I decided to watch it. Maybe I shouldn't write off 'serious' shows in future. Warning: Spoilers ahead! One strength of some (and I stress: some ) K drama serials is the characterisation. Even the secondary characters in Surgeon have distinct personalities and aren't just wallpaper or stereotypical sidekicks. Of course, good characterisation must come with good acting and on the whole the actors did bring their characters to life well. There were these two 'Chief Doctors' (seniors of the 1st-year residents) for example. This guy Dr Jang (left) looked like he walked straight out of a Taiwanese serial, ha ha. Most of the time, he doesn't really get all that much to do besides acting grovelly with his Director and asking, 'What?!' whenever something shocking happens. Nevertheless, he is quite distinctly different from the others. This other Chief Doctor (right) is Dr Kim Hyun Bin,...

For all my bemoaning of local entertainment standards, I have to admit that there are talented individuals. Maybe the problem is that our market is too small and so cannot give enough impetus to the blossoming of talents here. I watched an episode of S-Pop Hurray on Channel U in which Lee Wei Song and Lee Si Song were guests. I didn't realise that their prolific songwriting has won them so many awards abroad and that their impressive clientele includes even Jacky Cheung. Well done!! On that particular episode, some songs from old drama serials were also featured and now I'm wondering if I should watch that 25th anniversary thing after all...

Speaking of local drama serials, I happened to watch a bit of this one about doctors (seems like every other time I turn to Channel 8 there's a re-run of some old serial!) and I suddenly remembered that when I watched Rude Women , I thought the lead actress resembled Xiang Yun (who was in the doctor serial). Mi Joo, played by Yoo Ho-jeong

Fancy that, 25 years of local Chinese drama. I sent this article to A, who lives in SF, and she commented that she hadn't heard or thought about names like Friday Background or Chen Hanwei for a long time, ha ha. I believe we can still vote for our favourite local dramas. I won't be voting or watching the 25th anniversary show but I must name my favourite shows here. I didn't watch all the shows that are nominated so I'll just choose my top 3: Coffee Shop Tofu Street Good Morning, Sir ( The Awakening is iconic but not top on my list) Bottom 2: Golden Pillow As You Like It (Goodness, how did they get nominated??) Anyway, X-tongfang and I were recently discussing the slow progress in local drama standards. 25 years already, leh, and still like that... Also read that Prince Yul will be one of the presenters at the Star Awards . Does he speak Mandarin? Or English? (picture from here )

Watching Surgeon Bong Dal-he e inadvertently made me reminisce about work. Warning: spoilers ahead! Mentors (the head surgeons) 2 contrasting mentoring styles. Dr Lee (in background) is friendly, kind and understanding, though he did tell the Chief Doctor and Dal-Hee off after the incident when the Chief Doc fell asleep and Dal-Hee carried out the surgery on her own. Dr Ahn (in spectacles ) is the 'suffers no fools' mentor who won't hesitate to call the first years 'moron' or 'stonehead' (that's what it says in the subtitles!) because in his brilliant mind, they are morons and stoneheads for all the mistakes they make. Hence he is both respected and feared. I have known both types of mentors. I never thought about this before but it's actually the latter type who have made more of an impression on me. I have worked under/with a couple of extremely sharp and quick brains (not mine, obviously, ha ha). They were not meanies but they did not hesitate ...

May they rest in peace, and may their families, team-mates and friends find closure and healing. (picture from CNA )

Ha! Have you all read this article (ST today)? ' Jump in locals enrolling in international schools here' Here are excerpts: There has been a nearly fivefold increase in the number of Singaporean students in international schools here since 2002. The Ministry of Education (MOE) said 975 Singaporeans are currently enrolled in some of the 40 international schools here, a big jump from the reported figure of 200 five years ago. Their parents pay as much as $2,000 a month. This growing number does not include Singaporeans attending the international arm of three local schools - Anglo-Chinese School (International), Hwa Chong International and St Joseph's Institution (SJI) International. The attraction of the international schools, which cater mainly to children of expatriates, includes smaller class sizes, the broad-based International Baccalaureate (IB) curriculum, less emphasis on examinations and wider choice of second-language subjects. Some parents whose children have speci...

A letter in today's TODAY: 'A person who is unfamiliar with Singapore's education system and who reads the Weekend Xtra feature by Noelle De Jesus would think that the system is a total failure. The reader might think it is a rigid and autocratic system, and that it is capable of producing only mediocre students. The fact is that the system is held in high regard even by countries such as the United States, which is adopting some of the Singapore syllabuses. The writer should have done her research. She complained about the high 40-to-1 student-teacher ratio — but this is because she has sent her children to popular schools for which places were filled through balloting. My son enjoys a healthy 30-to-1 ratio in his neighbourhood school. The fact that her children cannot cope with the system implies neither that the system is a failure nor that her children are incompetent. She has experienced the system for only two years, while many generations of Singaporeans have gone th...

Parents' minds, naturally, are full of memories of the many milestones our children pass through. I remember a friend telling me that when both her sons were toilet trained, she felt she could finally move on with life. They were already in primary school at the time, but she still remembered. Perhaps some of us more sentimental sorts will even remember the first glimpse of our babies on the ultrasound screen, the first time the kid slept through the night, the first PSLE paper, etc. We have just come to another milestone. Over the weekend, the boy had his First Holy Communion , which, for Catholics, is a major, mega rite of passage. Sometimes, I find it hard to believe that he is already so 'old'. It seems like it wasn't so long ago when he was still drinking from his milk bottle in church. But now, he can share in partaking the Bread of Life. It's kind of hard to explain the full significance of this to 9-year-olds, but they do look rather pleased about the whole ...

Warning: spoilers ahead!! I'm no medical drama or 'human drama' fan as my taste is far more frivolous. Hence, I was never into ER , I've never watched Grey's Anatomy and I don't really like Healing Hands (all 3 installments). So, I've surprised myself by getting hooked on Surgeon Bong Dal-Hee , currently about halfway through on Channel 55. Now, that very... err... 'creative' title provided no attraction whatsoever but it just happened that there was nothing to watch at a particular time and I turned to Channel 55... The serial is far superior to Healing Hands because there are many more hospital scenes and lots more about patients, and the doctors at work. Of course, if you just have the hospital stuff, you might as well produce a 'medical staff training video' or something, so there are the doctors' personal lives as well. I like how this aspect is integrated into the whole hospital theme, unlike how the personal lives take centr...

He did it again! David Nalbandian's performance in the last couple of weeks has really been phenomenal and so he deserves another post. Am I glad I happened to catch most of his recent matches. I've been waiting to see something new in tennis for so long. I'll bet he still can't believe he scalped Nadal 6-0 in the second set of the Paris final . I mean, who can get 6-0 off Nadal? With that, he became the first guy to beat both Federer and Nadal in back to back tournaments ever since the two became world #1 and #2. So, at year end, Nalbandian finishes as world #9, with the top 8 going on to Shanghai for the Masters Cup. His current head-to-head with those 8 guys: Federer (8-8) Nadal (2-0) Djokovic (1-1) Davydenko (6-3) Ferrer (3-6, interestingly...) Roddick (2-3) Gonzalez (5-3) Gasquet (5-0) (Stats from this site ) Very impressive results, indeed...