Pages of INK

The property sector in Singapore has really been booming with sales prices in both private and public housing markets on the upsurge in recent months. Examples of the trend include luxury condominium projects such as Scotts Square and The Orchard Residences selling for record prices of over $4K psf and a few HDB flats in select areas (Tiong Bahru, Bukit Merah, Marine Parade) going for $100K to $200K above valuation. Hardly a week goes by without news of a new condominium launch or an en bloc sale happening somewhere on this small island.

Even the construction industry, which had been badly battered during the 1997 Asian financial crisis, is enjoying a revival, fueled by major projects such as the Marina Bay Financial & Business Centre, integrated resorts, Orchard Road revamp and Downtown MRT Line.

Just a few weeks ago, three flats in my neighbourhood sold for $720K, $606K (both at Kim Tian Rd) and $690K (Jln Membina). Some of the selling points were that the area is just a few minutes drive from the city and units on higher floors enjoy quite an exceptional view. This got me thinking - I never really bothered to venture beyond the 7th storey of my block to see how the view on the upper floors around my neighbourhood is like!

So, without further ado, some boring photos of scenery and amenities around the block plus my utterly unscientific take on how much they are worth.

Distance to Amenities

Great World City: 5-10 minutes by bus
We seldom go here except for the occasional movie and lunch.
$10,000

Henderson Park: 5 minutes on foot
Regardless of how close any park is, I just can’t summon the willpower to exercise.
$20,000

Orchard Road: 10-20 minutes by bus
This is how I go to work every day. Hardly much traffic although tons of traffic lights!
$30,000

Tiong Bahru Plaza and Tiong Bahru MRT: 3-5 minutes on foot
Perfect for midnight shows (GV), groceries (NTUC), books (Popular), food (Kopi Tiam, KFC, HK, McD, Mos, LJS, Bread Talk, Coffee Bean, Thai Express, Sakae Sushi, etc) and many more!
$50,000

Zhang De Primary School: Right below our block!
This is going to be a lifesaver when Ashley starts school.
$70,000

The View

Beautiful sunset
Pity that this one can only be seen from a neighbouring flat.
$5,000

Pleasant greenery
The sea of buildings encroaching on what little forest we have left.
$5,000

Fireworks on National Day
Folks from all floors gathered at this corner on the 30th floor just to enjoy fireworks. Have flats been known to tip over?
$10,000

Seeing the world from atop daddy’s shoulders
PRICELESS!!!

After all that informal valuation, I’m now absolutely certain of this - House Not For Sale!

Popularity: 17% [?]

No, it’s not TIGER TIME! If you look closely at your digital clock right now, you just might see it.

Answer:
01:02:03 04/05/06

or

1:02:03am, 4th May 2006

Neat eh! However, before telling the whole world, note that the Americans beat us to it by a month since they put their month digit before the day digit (theirs happened on the 5th of April 2006). I’m sure it was all planned…

Popularity: 19% [?]

Was taking the elevator at my workplace today when this message flashed across the floor number screen display.

This elevator will shut off.

Imagine the thought of being in an elevator 36 floors up with no lights and no ventilation for a few hours when nobody outside can hear your cries! Haha… anyway, thank God we got out before the elevator did what it had to do.

Popularity: 51% [?]

I stumbled upon this tree at East Coast Park a few months ago and thought it looked a bit like a sakura tree. However, sakura trees can’t grow in our warm and humid climate so I didn’t think too much about it after that. A few days ago, I read in the papers about how Singapore really does have its own version of the sakura tree, known as the Pink Mempat (cratoxylum formusum). Not only that, other purple flowering trees grow in this climate as well such as the Trumpet Tree and Bougainvillea. Want suggestions on how to beautify Singapore? Plant pink mempats every 10 metres throughout the whole stretch of Orchard Road. Hehe…

Pretty in pink

Another interesting thing that happened last week was Alvin returning from Tokyo and passing me a “toy” that he had helped me buy. Basically, this “toy” is plastic shaped branch that plays real life sound samples of a running river and birds chirping. Although I can’t read Japanese, I can tell from some illustrations on the box that these sound effects are supposed to be very calming. Let’s see if it works!

Not only does it make sounds, but it makes a pretty good art deco piece too!

Yup, I think it does work. *yawn*

Popularity: 17% [?]

Anyone ever noticed that the design of the Conrad Hotel features a huge “13″ its side wall facing Marina? Why is that so?

Popularity: 16% [?]

While walking back to the office from lunch one day, an observant colleague noticed this strange box next to the pavement. Can anyone guess what the button on this box does? Some clues:

• The box is hidden beneath some bushes.
• The bushes are right outside a huge government building facing the main road.
• There are 3 flag poles next to the box.
• There is a pedestrian crossing a few metres away.

For lack of a better name… “Magic” Button!

ANSWER: It’s an automatic gate opener! Who would’ve guessed.

Popularity: 14% [?]

Went shopping for lightbulbs today at IMM and noticed something amusing on one of the boxes I bought.

The guy probably wasn’t working in a very well illuminated room to have made so many typos. Please use the “supper powerfull & bood for eyeside” lights next time!

Ashley: Eyes open big-big wondering what all the fuss is about!

Popularity: 47% [?]

In my country (this intro makes me sound like I’m from a very faraway land, e.g. the capital of Kazakhstan), there are many roads wide and narrow, smooth and rocky, straight and windy. Nonetheless, they all share one thing in common - long and impossible to remember road names. Check out Kenny’s blurb on it! Needless to say, I’ve since stopped sending snail-mail back. I don’t want to be the first person to suffer from carpal tunnel syndrome writing overly long postal addresses.

Singapore is such a great country. For a name that is ranked #923 in the US in 2004 - Irving is waaaaaaay behind Gabriel (#32) and just two notches above Stone (#925) - it’s quite amazing to find a road named after me in good ol Singapore! Ok, delusions of grandeur aside, it is more of a possibility that the road could’ve existed before I was born, and by conjecture imply that I was named after a road. Oh well…

Irving Road along Playfair Road somewhere in the remote area of Upper Payar Lebar.

Other interesting observations from the survey with regards to male names:

• Biblical names are hot! See the names in the Top 10.
• Jesus is the #70 popular name. It’ll be so cool if there were someone named Jesus in church. Oh wait, there is (INK narrowly avoiding being struck by lightning).
• Noe (#437) seems to be the byproduct of an SMS generation. “Do u noe my name?” “Noe?” “Yes, noe.” “Dunnoe.”
• Milo (#770) is the name of a popular drink and one of my cats. Apparently, it is neither of these in the US.
• Cash (#793) - Parents must be hoping to stike it rich here. Almost as funny as my buddy Toto’s name.
• I wonder if Junior (#649) and Baby (#870) will ever “outgrow” their names.

On a seperate note, Ashley is the #8 most popular female name!

Popularity: 17% [?]

Sarawak is famous for a couple of things:

• Crocodiles
• Headhunters
• Laksa

Back in the Malaysia Cup days, we had a football team named after a famous local albino crocodile that struck a kind of fear into enemies like the feeling one gets when standing in front of a bloodthirsty headhunter with a recently sharpened parang (aka big long fat knife) who hasn’t had his laksa fix for over a year. You get the idea…

Which brings me to the point of not many people having heard of another famous Sarawak delicacy - Kolo Mee. Kolo Mee is a dish consisting of dry oily springy noodles mixed with a salty and slightly spicy sauce, sprinkled with fried onions and topped with leafy vegtables and slices of BBQ pork. It is a dish you absolutely must try if you ever visit my hometown Kuching, the capital of Sarawak.

You can imagine my surprise to find out that someone had actually opened a Kolo Mee shop in Singapore near Outram Park MRT.

Drat, there goes my business plan!!!

After sampling the Kolo Mee there, I give it 2.5 out of 5 stars. The texture of the noodles was good, but it failed to capture the unique flavour of the original dish. Better luck next time, Mr Jia Xiang.

Chinatown - a fusion of modern and classic architecture - the place you want to go to for good food!

Waiters in funny brown uniforms; something you don’t see even in Kuching.

Looking at this picture makes me hungry… very hungry…

For dessert, Ah Balling peanut soup or tang yuan. The peanut filling actually oozes out of the gooey skin due to the heat!

INK’s “Eh Sai Chiak Bo?” (can eat or not) rating for Jia Xiang Sarawak Kolo Mee: 2.5 out of 5.0 stars.

Popularity: 39% [?]

Good Friday is here again and what a wonderful day it is to be celebrating this special Christian holiday with friends from church! True to tradition, we made it a point to fellowship with one another and this year was no different - our Night Hiking event at MacRitchie Reservoir. The highlight of this event was meeting the lovely folks from the other 2 care groups in our unit.

On the way there, God reminded me of what makes me unique:

Upon arriving, we were greeted to this beautiful view of MacRitchie Reservoir just after sundown (photos courtesy of Merv):

This is us hiking along a stretch of road. Reservoir to the left, golf course to the right. And lest you think we were pampered with nice tar roads to hike on, this shot was actually taken after we had hiked a few kilometres through some pretty dense forests and treacherous slopes (by Singapore standards).

I’m eagerly awaiting the latest field report from our resident CG journalist, Tigerming. Stay tuned for more photos and write-up on his blog!

Popularity: 16% [?]