These are the two thick volumes of stories of the detective Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Dolye. Just to remind you, Sherlock Holmes solved crimes without the help of technology and science that we now have. It was his investigation and deduction skills, his sharp observations and his understanding of human nature that helped him solve crimes. I have read his four long stories and I think all the short ones as well.
One important thread in these stories - Human beings are creatures of habits and routines. I think I've said this before. Criminals are no exception.
Do you observe something about my posts? Unlike my blogger friends Victor and Chun See, there are no long posts which require a lot of research or looking for facts and details. Because I am lazy to do that.
And most of them are posted after midnight. Oftentimes I do this after watching the 11pm Mandarin news.
There again, it is routine and habits.
By the way, there are about 8 newscasters reading the evening and night news at the 2 Chinese TV channels. Of these only one is male. After years of listening to them, now I can recognize their voices without seeing their faces.
I usually fill up the petrol tank when the indicator is still above the one quarter mark. So I normally buy $30 or $40 of petrol. A few days ago, it was below one-quarter, so I bought $50. There was the usual 5% discount which would mean I had to pay $47.50. But I paid only $44.50. The cashier said there was extra $3 off for every $50 purchase.
Haha, that means I have been paying extra money. Suppose in the past two months I bought $400 ($40 x 10). If I had bought $50 x 8 instead I would have saved $24, right?
I just read the post about The Kacang Puteh Man. Then I remember I also took a picture of him. A few months ago I sent the Casio camera for repair at Middle Road. After that I walked to Selegie Road to take a bus and saw this KPM just behind the bus-stop.
Yesterday I ate this chwee kueh (according to the name on the signboard). I've not eaten this for quite some time already. Nice to eat. I think the cantonese call it 'put chye ko'. Just like chee cheong fun, this is very simple stuff - just a piece of rice-cake with some salty chinese vegetable on top.
I read a post in which the writer said he froze some bananas and then ate them. I found that I still I had two bananas. So I ate one and put one (with skin removed) in the freezer. This is the banana after spending one night in the freezer. Cold and hard. I cut it into pieces with a knife and ate them. Not bad, but I won't purposely eat bananas that way. Here is the post:http://eatandtrain.blogspot.com/2009/02/frozen-bananas.html
A few days ago I was walking along Kreta Ayer Road. Quite surprised that more shops along this road have closed down. Perhaps this is also happening at other parts of Singapore. Sights like this reflect the gravity of the recession. Here are two of them ...
This is the carpark at Block 333 which is opposite the closed shops and also just below the Kreta Ayer CC and the Kreta Ayer People's Theatre . Several months ago it was free parking after 5pm and free parking on Sundays and public holidays. I used to park there when I watched shows at the Theatre. I also park there when I went to Chinatown on Sundays. But now it is pay parking every hour of day, every day of the year.
The handphone generation.Old age must be far from their mind, but just a few metres behind them...
Old age, an inevitability of life. Nowadays I seem to see these old folks more often, the old folks reminiscing while their maids chatter among themselves.
I also see this van often. It looks like it has gone through a lot a battles, with dents and scars all over the front and sides. A careless driver? I think someone with a brand new car would think twice whether to park beside it.
The 3 girls are from Siong Leng Musical Association (湘灵音乐社). If you are interested you can buy one from SLMA at 4B, Bukit Pasoh Road, Singapore 089816. Hee hee, I mean the DVD, not the girls.
It was the first night. The performance lasted for about 3 hours with group singings, two sing-and-perform items and several solo pieces.
This is the youngest singer.
The troupe reminds me of the Thai demonstrators because the troupe also got two sides - red and yellow. A few of the performers are very tall.
A cosy moment ...
Besides red and yellow, there is one white. The white lady is very hardworking. Not only she sings and plays instruments but she also helps to arrange chairs and adjust the microphones. What's more, she is the compere too. Nice to have someone like that in your team, whether team-mate or leader. Here she is ...
Here is a short clip of a group singing, it sounds like a Buddhist song:
I was about to pull the handle of the door when I saw the notice stuck on the door - Please do not enter after 7 pm. I looked at the time; it was about 7.20 pm. The performers must be busy preparing for their show, I thought. So I did not enter.
I read a post which says people don't follow instructions.
I realized that I usually follow instructions.
If it says Don't click this button, 8 out of 10 instances I won't. If it says Put mee (cooking instant mee) in boiling water and simmer for 4 minutes, I will look at the clock and time it for about 4 minutes.
Does it means I am conservative and don't like to take risks? Well, if people think like that, it is ok with me.
People have both positive as well as negative characteristics, but I think even negative ones can have their positive side too. Stingy, for example, is negative but it has its positive side too. I'm sure you agree with me.
I was looking at the FEEDJIT feed. It seemed someone came upon my blog while searching for 'youku nurse injection'. So I tried it out with Yahoo. Sure enough, one of my posts was among the first few in the list. But this post does not have those 3 words and there is nothing about them either. However, the words nurse and injection appear in the comments.
Another thing, I find that the blogs I visited appear better using Internet Explorer. With one version of Firefox, the blogs look a little different and some pictures don't appear.
There is a couple, retired teachers and without children. There were quite well-off and lived in a private house. Not too long ago, they lent their savings to a trusted relative to do or to start a business. They even mortgaged their house to raise the money.
I do not know if the relative promised them good returns or any other thing. The business failed and the bank took over the house. The couple now live in a rented HDB flat.
One fortunate thing for the couple though - they are pensioners. They did not convert from the Pension scheme to the CPF scheme when they were given the opportunity to do so. So now they are getting monthly pensions from the Government. Not much I think but at least they don't have to worry about three meals unless the Government goes bankrupt.
But it is quite a big change for them - from a big house to a small one, from spending freely to counting every dollar, from taking taxis to taking buses ..... And it happened when they thought they could take things easy in their golden years. Sad, right?
I think you must keep some money yourself. Unless there are exceptional circumstances, do not lent all your money away.
