Monday, February 28, 2011

take mrt, can c

c is not the alphabet here. it's hokkien for die. taking the mrt now really can c or die. it's so infuriating and unpleasant and a total contradiction to SMRT's "have a pleasant journey..."

nothing's pleasant taking mrt now. from the control station, the ticket vending machines, through the gates and waiting for mrt to the destination, it's usually quite unpleasant.

if u ve any query, the control station staffs are the grumpiest fuck-faced anyone would love to avoid. cold, unsmiling, unfriendly. they give u a "hey, why don't u F off" kind of feeling. the caveman's version of ticket vending machine pisses u when u r trying to buy a ticket and pisses u again when on reaching your destination u need to recover that $1 coin from the ticket deposit. it's such time waster!

the escalators break down very often and the lift jammed pack. when the trains come, it would be sardine-packed. last time, it occurred only during peak hours. now it seems that that's the standard norm.

does service in smrt improve? no. at least not what i m experiencing but the fares keep going up. there's no where and no other choices for the commuters. we are like herds hurdled into the slaughterhouse.

taking mrt now really can c (die). perhaps some might just drop dead from the stress just by boarding and alighting the mrt or worst develop serious chronic sickness later in life for the daily unpleasant routine.

Saturday, February 12, 2011

pap's CNY angpows, sharkfin, silver coin....

there was a very big event at the INDIAN GLOBAL SCHOOL in mei chin rd today. baey yam keng was giving all the senior citizens in queenstown a cny treat.

anyone above 50 was invited. unlike SDP, it was free.

initially thought it was just a simple yusheng tossing affair, but no! it was a 10 course meals! it began with the yusheng or raw fish tossing - traditional of cny celebration. instead of raw fish, strips of abalone was substituted. no kidding! abalone.

the next dish was sharksfin, again with abalone strips, craps - i mean shredded crabs and etc. then followed by louhan chai or a vegetarian dish. surprise again! it wasn't any cheapskate simple vegetarian dish but one that contained fa cai or the hair-liked black moss which was quite expensive. it wasn't done yet. emperor chicken in herbal soup was next. then seabass in spicy assam gravy. then abalone and spinach. yep! u heard it right!! ABALONE again!

it wasn't really top quality abalone but a very much cheaper version which u could buy fr the market at about $8 for one big piece. looked like abalone. tasted like abalone, closely related to abalone (?)...but definitely NOT the authentic abalone.

didn't stay until the end cos the heat was really killing me! left the place with a door gift good bag which had 1 commenmorative RABBIT silver coin, 2 mandarins and a notice to register for free health screening. needed to be excused cos baey yam keng was going to every table to distribute ang pows and it wasn't a misery angpow. it contained $10.

was ushered to a counter to register for FREE PASSION CARD.

and there u have it. 10 course meal, silver coin, angpow, free PASSION CARD and lots of stage amatuerist entertainment to celebrate CNY.

what was my impression for the entire affair?

hmm.....VOTE BUYING. GE is nearing and lau lee, the mother hen might not be around to back his little chicks.

while munching the food and slurping the yummy sharksfin, i couldn't help thinking about opp parties. how could they outdo the pap? it was a massive event and there seemed to be no lacking in manpower. there were the volunteer entertainers who were mostly PRC-converted sgporeans. they danced, they mcee, sang and even did acrobatic stunts.

though not really stage quality standard but it was still passable. later a bunch of aunties went up to croak their TIAN MI MI. my god!! i nearly choked on my sharksfin! at least mp was usually gracious enough to bear and grimace grotesquely along with those old croakers.

there were many ??? question marks that curiously intrigued me. who were paying for all those? the humongous tent which housed so many senior residents was amazingly spartacus! then there were the food, the door gifts and what about $10 for an estimated 3000 guests. (that was what i overheard from some uncle.) ok. 2999. i skipped the angpow cos i won't be voting for pap.

seriously, how are the opp parties going to counteract such generous public relation activites which the paps are going out all strength to push for votes?