May 19, 2012 Saw this the other day in the garden and had to wonder how atheists can believe there is no God. It is so obvious that there is a designer in this world and we did not come from random chaotic combustion.
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April 21, 2012 What are the odds of walking away richer than poorer when you enter the doors of a casino? Even though the odds are overwhelmingly not in our favor, we go and go and go again thinking that this time we will win.
I have no love for the one arm bandits nor the famous strip of lights and fake monuments- but I have to say that it is amazing nevertheless to see the Bellagio all lit up with water and lights dancing to the rhythm of beautiful musical scores.
The insides of the hotels in las vegas are also mesmerizing. The illusion is so well done you completely lose track of time and a sense of space as you enter not rooms, but streets flooded with pretend daylight and covered in blue skies and a smattering of clouds.
There are too many stories though – far too many sad stories – for any of these types of places to muster any sense of gratitude within me as say a simple but well appointed bed and breakfast would.
For every smiling group of tourists and families in tow to experience Paris and Venice in the deserts fo Vegas, there are thousands of struggling addicts who have lost not only their own money, but those of their friends and relatives and still they borrow and beg at the doors of fake hope.
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March 7, 2012 I started looking at AirBnB when they first launched thinking it was a really cool way to make a bit of change: subletting your space when you’re off and away travelling (and therefore spending while not earning money). And given how expensive staying in Singapore can be for a tourist with lousy places charging as much as S$100 per night, I really thought I could have a go at this.
But first I thought I’d be the the one who rents the sublets to see how the process goes. How do they ensure that strangers don’t come and destroy my home? Fortunately (in light of what happened with one of the subletters having her place trashed and identity stolen), each transaction I tried on a planned visit to Ho Chi Minh yielded no results. I had several brief exchanges with a few people where I repeated myself and he asked the same questions over and over again. Each one ended with there is no room available for the dates requested.
Curious, I checked out the “background” of these subletters and they all had US qualifications -or- experience of some sort but then could not communicate in simple, functional English.
I decided to just use Agoda and got my booking at a reputable hotel, for get this, the same price I would have paid at AirBnB.
Now, there seems to be quite a number of people who have had good experiences so I am not discounting this system altogether. And after the earlier incident they have beefed up their insurance and protocols, so, I may just use them yet.
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February 22, 2012 The annual walking around leering in strangers’ houses is here again … and this time it comes with a map!
Examples this year include Marc Loh’s “freak and peep show” installation which recalls Tiong Bahru’s days as a rich man’s playground and second home for mistresses.
Open House: Tiong Bahru Feb 25 and 26, 4pm to 9pm, MEET/START at the Tiong Bahru Community Ctr, 67A Eu Chin Street. Tickets at S$15 at the door.
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January 27, 2012 We are following the dragon into Singapore’s chinatown which now looks a lot more like Chinatown than ever. Although the buildings have been spruced up in quite contemporary colors and decor, practically every other restaurant or establishment is now Chinese (mainland) run, harking back to Singapore’s first Chinese immigrants as far back as the late 1800′s.
With the growing number of tourists from the mainland as well, many of the area’s former retail outlets or offices have become backpacker’s inns or proper hotels. Here is one that is looking quite good, at least from the outside.
Wishing everyone a blessed and healthy 2012!
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