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  • Singapore To Start Utilizing Underground Space For Future Development

    THE Government is studying how to use underground space for future development.

    Senior Minister of State for National Development Grace Fu said on Monday the Government should invest in the creation of new land and space.

    ‘Just as Singapore has reclaimed land in advance to support economic growth in the past, our subcommittee recommends that the government acts early to catalyse the development of underground space,’ she said at a press conference at which the Economic Strategies Committee released its report.

    via The Straits Times

    Somehow, this really brings out the dork in me. It reminds me of so many post-apocalyptic novels I’ve read where people have resorted to living in tunnels under the earth.  Dorkiness aside, I can see this proving to be a very worthwhile step for Singapore in terms of development since the country has such a limited amount of horizontal space to work with.

    Singapore could, in fact, use Montreal’s Underground City as an inspiration:

    With over 32 km (20 mi) of tunnels spread over more than 12 km2 (4.6 sq mi), connected areas include shopping malls, apartment buildings, hotels, condominiums, banks, offices, museums, universities, seven metro stations, two commuter train stations, a regional bus terminal and the Bell Centre amphitheatre and arena. There are more than 120 exterior access points to the underground city. Each access point is an entry point to one of 60 residential or commercial complexes comprising 3.6 km2 (1.4 sq mi) of floor space, including 80% of all office space and 35% of all commercial space in downtown Montreal. In winter, some 500,000 people use the underground city every day. Because of its Underground City, Montreal is often referred to as the “Double-Decker City” or “Two Cities in One”.

    via Wikipedia

    Singapore already has quite a few underground tunnels that connect shopping centers together in the Orchard area as well as malls that descend for multiple stories below ground. These are both heavily used and readily accepted by the public. Having more structures underground that are used publicly like businesses, retail outlets and perhaps eating establishments, would integrate easily into Singapore’s landscape, especially since it offers a ‘cool’ factor. It could be called the Singapore Underground, and it could really be an extensive underground business and retail area.  It could really play out well with the right architect at the wheel and could even prove to be a tourist attraction.

    So, what will Singapore actually use these underground areas for?  The government is just now starting talks about how to properly use the underground space but I think there are at least a few obvious answers, like storage and further transit links. Placing that sort of thing underground could free up Singapore’s limited surface area for more businesses or residences.

    Hopefully Singapore sticks to just putting businesses underground. While I have a feeling that sometime in the future people might not mind living below ground, possibly with fake windows that project an image of sunny skies and green meadows (like in the offices at the beginning of the original Resident Evil movie), now is not that time. I think people still cherish the idea of living above ground, with cool breezes coming through their windows.

  • Photos From The Kitchen

    It’s amazing what you can manage with a simple, handheld camera sometimes.  My wife was in the kitchen preparing a Filipino dish called sinigang and I happened to have my camera out, taking photos of the Chinese New Year decorations around the house, so I snapped some photos of some of the ingredients:

    A leafy green.  I’m not sure what it’s called, but it’s not bad tasting.  It seems like there are a lot of leafy green vegetables in the supermarkets here with a lot of different names that all taste more or less the same.  I like them, so my wife usually adds plenty.

    This is radish.  In the US I always associated the word radish with the small veggie that has a red tinted skin and a powerful bite, that go on salad.  Here, radishes also come in large, root looking form and have a blander taste.  I love it when it’s cooked in sinigang so my wife adds extra.

    An onion.  I’m not sure where the blue tint on the wood came from, but it looks nice right?

    The same onion along with fresh garlic.

    After taking those photos I filled a cup with ice.  We’ve had an ice tray that we bought at Ikea for about two years.  It makes ice in the shape of hearts.  I realized I’d never taken a photo of it, so here’s an icy heart:

    And here’s an icy heart melting in Grass Power, a local wheat grass drink:

  • McCafe Drinks

    McCafe Drinks

    Last year in June I purchased a drink at McCafe for the first time.  It was the outlet in Pasir Ris’s White Sands mall.  I ordered a double chocolate frappe and it was the most horrible drink I’d ever had.  It was watery and bland.  It didn’t taste of coffee or chocolate.  It mostly just tasted of ice.  The best part of the drink was the whipped cream on top.

    Well, maybe it was the outlet or maybe things have improved with the quality of their drinks.  Lately, while waiting to catch a movie at Downtown East, my wife have been getting drinks and sitting in the McCafe there to chat, read and kill time.  When I go there I get an iced latte.  It’s my favorite ‘fancy’ drink.  Out of the three times I’ve bought that drink there I’ve had two hits and a miss.  The one time the drink wasn’t good was because the girl gave me a glass of iced milk instead of a latte.  Seriously.  You couldn’t tell there was coffee in it at all.  Thankfully, though, when I brought it to their attention they fixed the drink.

    Anyhow, the quality of the drinks has gone up.  I guess my original assessment isn’t valid anymore, because I’m loving the fact that I can get reasonably priced coffee there that’s good now.

    The presentation is nice too:

    Mobile Photo 26-Jan-2010 AM 12 30 32
    My wife’s cappuccino.

     

    Mobile Photo 26-Jan-2010 AM 12 31 01
    My iced latte.

  • The Problem With The 72 Virgins Theory

    I was thinking about this theory of Islamic martyrs receiving 72 virgins and it doesn’t seem to add up.  This doesn’t really have anything to do with Singapore, but I’m an American who previously served in the Army and spent time in the Middle East, so it’s an issue that I have some interest in.  Extremists are constantly attacking Americans both in the US and abroad using suicide bombing tactics, presumably with this concept of martyrdom and rewards in mind.

    So, I did some research and this is what I found:

    The theory itself  has no basis in the Koran.  It is instead based on a supposed saying of Muhammad, but Muslim scholars have agreed that the chain of referrers for the supposed saying is fairly weak and that one of the people in the chain is known to have produced unauthentic ‘sayings’ before.  That’s from Wikipedia, so it may not be 100% spot on, but the information is usually pretty reliable.

    What Muhammad supposedly said was:

    ‘The smallest reward for the people of Heaven is an abode where there are eighty thousand servants and seventy-two houri, over which stands a dome decorated with pearls, aquamarine and ruby, as wide as the distance from al-Jabiyyah to San’a.’

    http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=talovecof-20&o=1&p=8&l=bpl&asins=1931930252&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifrThere is also some debate that if this were in fact said, the current translation is a misinterpretation and that what was meant was white raisins, rather than 72 virgin maidens.  White raisins were considered a delicacy at the time.  Also, Margaret Nydell, who wrote Understanding Arabs: A Guide for Modern Times, stated that many mainstream Muslims view the 72 virgin theory the way many Christians view the idea of getting wings and a harp and walking on clouds in Heaven.  It’s just a bit of myth and fluff, not really what you experience.  Unfortunately, the idea is being twisted and used by extremists to turn young men to a path of violence.

    From the perspective of people who are far more knowledgeable in the subject, the idea of getting 72 virgins after martyrdom is a fantasy, rather than a reality.  I have to agree.  I tried to rationalize the whole thing, if it were true, but I couldn’t see how it would work.

    Let’s just say that there are indeed 72 virgins waiting for martyrs in Heaven.  Where do they come from? That’s the question that I couldn’t get past.

    At first, I thought that perhaps these 72 virgins are unbelievers or sinners who are serving in this position for eternity as some sort of punishment for their Earthly deeds.  However, that doesn’t stand to reason.  How many virgins do you know who’ve committed sins grave enough to be sentenced to an eternity of bodily servitude?  Besides that, how could they be serving their sentence in Heaven?  If these 72 virgins are waiting in Heaven, then they too have to be believers, or how else could they be admitted to Heaven in the first place?  And if they were believers and they were admitted to Heaven then wouldn’t they be in a position of reward?  How many women out there believe a reward in Heaven to be spending an eternity servicing a man you’ve never met along with 71 other women?  And of you who say this might be appealing to you, how many are virgins?  It could be possible that these women would be created out of thin air for this very purpose, but what just creator would construct sentient life and then sentence it to an eternity of servitude?

    Perhaps I’m mixing my beliefs into this but I just don’t see it as feasible.  If these 72 virgins are live souls then there’s no way they could find themselves in that position.  If they’re created for the purpose of slavery then it’s unjust, and that doesn’t fit the description of anyone’s higher power that I’m aware of.

    Keep in mind that this post isn’t meant to tear down Islam as a religion.  How could it?  I don’t understand Islam well enough to launch that kind of argument against it.  This is just my attempt to tackle a theory with common sense, and the series of thoughts I had regarding it.  Perhaps there’s a way to rationalize the existence of these virgins, but I don’t see it.

    Having reached the conclusion I did, I wonder how it is that people allow themselves to be tricked into throwing their lives away?

  • 2010 Chinese New Year Home Decorations

    Another big holiday in Singapore (other than Christmas, where they go berserk with decorations) is Chinese New Year, also known as Lunar New Year.  Last year we missed it, but this year we’re planning on being front and center at whatever celebratory event Singapore has to offer.

    With the holiday upcoming people are already starting to decorate.  I’ve seen some decorations up at malls, but nothing too serious, yet anyway.  The family we live with has also pulled out their decorations, which are pretty cool looking.  I took some photos to share.

  • My Cat Ripped A Lizard’s Tail Off

    This is the first time I’ve ever seen this actually happen in person so it was pretty neat for me.

    I was sitting on my bed, playing with my cat when she leapt off and ran towards the door.  I looked to see what she was doing and she was chasing a small lizard around the room.  Next thing I know, she’s swatting at a flopping, pale looking thing on the floor.  I took it away from her and it turns out it was the lizard’s tail.

    The tail kept flopping around on its own for about five minutes.  It was kinda creepy.

    The lizard itself hid in a corner.  I grabbed it with some tissue and put it outside.  It’s probably too traumatized to come back in the house so I’m sure that’s where it wanted to be anyway.

  • Mini Marble Is Getting Spayed

    This is a much later image of (not so) Mini Marble, from March 2012. The original file was lost when Posterous shut down its service.
    This is a much later image of (not so) Mini Marble, from March 2012. The original file was lost when Posterous shut down its service.

    I’m not sure if I’ve ever posted photos of Mini Marble here but she was picked up tonight to be taken for spaying.

    You see, Mini Marble is a stray cat, a community cat, here in Pasir Ris. She’s a small kitten of about 7 months and we see her every day as we walk from the MRT station back to our place.

    We first noticed her a few weeks ago and she won us over with her playful attitude. She also helped us to make some new friends. So, we carry a small amount of kibble with us to give to her to make sure she stays fed.

    Mini Marble’s sterilization will be paid for through donations. It’s dangerous for unsterilized cats to wander around housing estates in Singapore. When they go into heat they may become noisy which often provoked uncompassionate residents into filing complaints. I say uncompassionate because the resulting ‘solution’ is that the cat or cats are often rounded up and sent of to be killed.

    So, this is a good thig for her. It’ll help keep her out of the crosshairs of idiots and overzealous estate managers.

    She’ll be laid up at the vet for a week and she’ll then be taken back to her usual territory. Hopefully everything goes well for her.

  • Aoba Ramen

    Manpuku at Tampines 1 has a stall called Aoba Ramen (I think) that sells some really kick-ass dishes.  I hadn’t noticed it before, probably because I always associate ramen with that cheap, instant stuff I’m used to seeing in grocery stores.  After reading some blogs about Japan though, I stopped to give it serious consideration and decided to try it out.

    My wife and I both fixated on the shoyu ramen that had pieces of pork set on top of it.  It was a great choice!  I didn’t have my camera on me so I snapped some photos with my iPhone.

    Aoba Ramen

    We also got a side order of gyoza with our ramen.  I think there was a discounted price that day so we decided to give them a try.  They were also very good.

    Aoba Ramen 2

    We finished the meal off by trying the green tea ice cream, which was listed as ‘macha’ ice cream.  It has a unique taste and is pretty good.  I think the taste would get old if I ate it too often.  It can also play games with your stomach, so be careful of that.

    Aoba Ramen 3

    Looking at the picture of the ramen, blurry as it is, makes me hungry.  I think I’ll try to convince my wife that we should go back there soon.

  • Almost Time For Chinese New Year’s

    If you don’t know, Chinese New Year’s is going to fall on February 14th this year.  That’s right!  Right on Valentine’s Day!  So, now you can spend the day on a date with your significant other and then spend the night celebrating at the parade.

    Also, if you don’t keep up with the Chinese year’s and what animals represent them, this lunar year will be the Year of the Tiger.  If you’re in the US and there’s no Chinatown close by, just eat some cornflakes and share a smile with Tony the Tiger to celebrate.

    Chinese New Year’s Decorations are already on sale:

    Chinese New Year Decorations

  • Avatar Used To Justify The Belief That 9/11 Attacks in NYC Were Staged

    Avatar Used To Justify The Belief That 9/11 Attacks in NYC Were Staged

    “In September 2001, the World Trade Centre was attacked allegedly by terrorists. I am not sure now that Muslim terrorists carried out these attacks. There is strong evidence that the attacks were staged. If they can make Avatar, they can make anything,” said Dr Mahathir during his speech at the General Conference for the Support of Al-Quds here. Al-Quds is the Arabic name for Jerusalem.

    For those of you that don’t know, Dr Mahathir was the Prime Minister of Malaysia from 16 July 1981 to 31 October 2003. He gave this statement, and others that will be in this entry, on January 20th, 2010.

    Now that you have some background on this guy, let’s dive right into the heart of the matter. This guy is either senile, crazy, or both, but he’s most obviously a racist and should no longer be allowed to get near a reporter or microphone. How the hell can you say that because the US can make a 3D movie, we were capable of staging the September 11th attacks that killed around 3000 people? It’s absurd. Guess what, Dr Mahathir? Those holes in the ground in NYC aren’t special effects. They’re real. The people that died weren’t extras that shared a beer and laughed about the film later. They were real too. And they’re dead. Al’Qaeda claimed responsibility for the attack. The last time I checked, Osama Bin Laden wasn’t the Commander in Chief.

    And, as if this weren’t enough, he went on to make plenty of off-color comments about the Jewish people and Israel.

    “The Jews had always been a problem in European countries. They had to be confined to ghettoes and periodically massacred. But still they remained, they thrived and they held whole governments to ransom.

    “Even after their massacre by the Nazis of Germany, they survived to continue to be a source of even greater problems for the world. The Holocaust failed as a final solution,” said the outspoken Malaysian leader who was noted for his anti-Western and anti-Zionist stand while in power for 22 years, until October 2003.

    Nice job projecting your racist views about Jews onto the entire European population. He seems to imply here that all Europeans wanted to get rid of the Jews all along and that, given the opportunity, would have sanctioned their mass extermination. I must have missed that page in my history book, and I certainly don’t recall World War II playing out quite that way.

    The only sensible thing to come out of his mouth was what he had to say about Obama:

    “Well, I am a bit disappointed because so far none of his promises have been kept. He promised to get out from Afghanistan but he ended up sending more troops there instead. He promised to close down Guantanamo but he has not closed down Guantanamo. Even other things he has not been able to do.

    “It is quite easy to promise during election time but you know there are forces in the United States which prevents the president from doing some things. One of the forces is the Jewish lobby, IPAC,” he said.

    I wonder why he went easy on him? It might be because he feels like Obama is a fellow Muslim being oppressed by supposed Jewish powers in Washington.  This guy’s paranoia runs deep.

    There should come a point in all of our lives, famous politician, rock star, or whatever, where we realize that we’re no longer competent to speak to the public. If we can’t see it in ourselves, someone should tell us, because obviously Dr Mahathir’s time has long since come and gone.