Second home

At a talk the other night I learnt to my astonishment that Chinese headed the list of second homers followed by Bangladeshis There some 19,000 here cf to Singapore's 100,000

Attraction

I marvel at the way some people are blessed with an attraction for children. Lay beckoned to the little boy the other day and he came rightaway and talked to her for a long time sucking the ice cubes she got for him (it was past midnight and there no more ice cream to be got) He is ill treated by his hawker father but never comes when we call to him to give him chocolate. I wonder whether it's her long black hair that attracts him. All my other friends have tried but he never comes to them.

Frogs

Frogs used to sing me to sleep every night - mostly the high notes ones. Now with this drought in its 3rd month accompanied by killing heat they have disappeared. I often wonder where they are now

Help

Thanks to Hooi Lin I ve got this blog going again!
More later!

Swindles

Swindles never end. You often get "off duty" Blacklabel whisky adulterated. Now when you buy cigars loose and not sealed in a box you find one or two empty casings among those that you bought

Tukukor

I was pleasantly surprised when I went to have my glasses fixed - one lens had dropped out when the specs slid off to the floor She fixed it and said nothing I only tied it up she said when I offeed to pay

The tukukor has also come to the rambutan tree to sing his sad song. He sings while I weed the garden

Did you know that crabs are kept covered because mosquitoes have a habit of stinging them in the eye which kills them and so makes them uneatable. I was the only one at table who didn’t know this.

Enjoyed Thai laksa at One Stop plus a helping of delightful coconut ice cream Inevitably there was pulot rice right at the bottom fo the pile. This place is sadly neglected and I llearn that at some floors allyou have to do to use a space is s to promisee that you will keep it clean no rent paid

I am now reading Wolf Hall, a Booker prize winner. The wealth of detail simply takes one’s breath away, you can actually smell the period and feel the pulse of those times. .

Bandoeng

The other day I saw someone drinking iced milk with red syrup. A rare sight indeed! Later at a Mar Vista stall we learnt that the drink is known as Bandoeng

You must have read about the politician’s car skidding in heavy rain. It’s amazing that drivers to day still do not know about the aquaplane effect, which is that at above 50 mph in heavy rain your wheels float as on water like a motor boat and you are in danger of being swept aside by a gust of wind.

A son meets a student from China studying in the UK. The chance meeting is in Boston where a mutual friend is doing IT. Her aunt is a doctor in Beijing. Yes, her aunt will arrange for a liver transplant. It is done. And the father is back, happy and recovered in Penang. A story boook come true!

Albert has returned Xinran’s marvellous interviews with people in China and told me John lliked it so much he has ordered this and her first book for himself.

We were eating the flower crab - ch’i - when I discovered I was the only one who did’nt know that mosquitoes would sting them in the eye and kill them instantly.

It’s good to learn that the famous pomelo growers of Tambun have at last received grants to their land of 99 years.

Of all the well known bloggers I find the MP Teresa Kok the most honest with her figures. While others boast of millions of readers she publishes a modest honest count of only 775. Such honesty is rare indeed