Hello, I'm back. And the recent weather is perfect for staying at home and learning how to make lotus root soup.

Frustrated and ennuified, along with other things which cannot be said or blogged. So I slowly build a wall around myself, and around it.

I will be back. I just don't know when.

So today, I ran the Singapore Bay Run and watched the National Day Rally -- haven't felt so Singaporean for a long time!

The run turned out to be quite an enjoyable affair. 21km is definitely a lot more fun to do than 42km, and scenic routes are always so invigorating. It was pretty amusing as well, wondering why NS guys think it's kosher to pee openly in public at roadside bushes.

Anyway, 2 hours 18 mins is not a fantastic timing, but it's a huge improvement over my last attempt 3 years ago, so I'm pretty satisfied already. Look forward to doing even better next year!

Possibly Biased

Some of my friends may know that I am quite a fan of Botak Jones. There's one just down the road from where I live, so whenever I felt like rewarding myself with a little treat or that I was needing a perk-me-up after a crappy day in school, that is where I would turn to. In a way, it has become my comfort food, albeit a rather unhealthy one.

And because of this fond attachment I have with Botak Jones, I am finding it a little disturbing how it's competitor Astons has been gaining so much popularity these days. Both sell pretty much the same stuff, are found at heartlands and coffee shops and run on the same concept of cheap American-styled diner food.

And the differences?

1. While Botak Jones continues to operate from the humble corners of the heartlands, Astons has now outlets in the city and malls which always attract inexplicably long queues.
   
   
2. Even though long queues do also happen at Botak Jones sometimes, the staff apologises and may even compensate you with food vouchers. The server at Astons simply tells you, "You have a big group. You have to wait."
   
   
3. Botak Jones serves superbly seasoned fries which are fat and tasty whereas Astons' are pathetic shoestring fries which are very hard and they shatter into pieces when my fork pierces through them.
   
   
4. Botak Jones' Cajun Chicken is one thing I would go back for time and time again. On the other hand, all things I've tried at Astons so far are average at best and simply forgettable.
   
   
5. Botak Jones has well-trained wait staff who are generally eloquent, but those at Astons, many of them can hardly speak intelligible English.

I may be biased I know, but when it comes to diner food preference, it's like the case of Liverpool vs. ManU - you're a fan of either or none, but never both.

So which camp do you belong to?

Someone said...

"You should just close down your blog."

Priceless. Haha.

Bucking the trend

Ion Orchard feels very much like one of those huge Shanghainese malls, with all that space and extravagant decor and multitude of luxury brand stores. It somewhat reminds me of the shopping mall at Taipei 101 as well. Nowhere else in Singapore gives me the same glorious feeling. It is not a Takashimaya or Paragon where you find all the upmarket chi-chi stores on one level, make a wrong turn and you end up at the poorer side of the mall that looks just like another heartland shopping centre. Ion has a much more consistent theme. Even at the basement, the soft lighting puts an atas spin on the mid-market area, and the usual places like Burger King are specially polished to acquire a more pretentious look. Upstairs, there aren't too many shops clamouring for attention, just the important ones, and at a place where less is more, Ion hit the spot again.

So I'm glad we finally have a new mall that has a distinctive character after so many disappointing ones and that it isn't built on that prime piece of land for nothing. Plus, it connects Orchard MRT directly to Wheelock Place - and that becomes another tick in the "Yes, I am definitely coming back" column.

Domestically challenged

Some days, I can be quite a geek. On other days, e.g. today, I need to google for an online manual to teach me how to fix the florescent lamp in my bedroom.

It's a strange sort of day...

This afternoon in the office, I IM-ed a friend to say, "A major storm is brewing outside. How lovely."

When I finally left the office at 6.45pm, the rain hadn't stopped. The bus stop was so crowded I was forced to a rather unwelcome spot where one gets pelted by the rain. And because rainy evenings make for crappy traffic, it took me longer than usual to get home.

But all these didn't really bother me. I was enjoying the wet and actually feeling quite good -- we haven't had cool weather for a little too long, the unseasonal downpour brought me back to December and suddenly, everything smelt of the holidays.

In or out of touch?

You know communication in the internet age has taken on a whole new dimension when:

• I first found out about MJ's decease through Twitter
• News about 卢广仲 and Jay Chou's harvest at 金曲奖 came via a blog
• I instant-message the person sitting 1m away in office more than we talk
• When I was having a bit of breathing space between work, I logged on to Facebook, only to realise I had missed the birthday of a very good friend for yet another year.

When I woke up this morning, last night's beer was still vaguely on my breath. It's not a glorious feeling, and it made me crave for MacD's iced tea.

On another note, my MP3 player is on its last legs. But I'd rather pay a little more buying a new one elsewhere than join the rest of the country at the PC Show. I have no idea how my parents could have survived the madhouse on its opening day and came home with a 32" LCD TV.