Home

A house is not a home. It is only a place. It has no life of its own. It needs human voices, activity and laughter to come alive.

A home should be a haven, a refuge from tension and worry, a sanctuary from the cold, cruel world of humankind. Home is where you drop your cares, where you find peace, and the freedom to be yourself, where you can laugh and cry, where you will be loved, and not be judged. It is the sanctuary for you to heal.

Home is where you find love and understanding from your love ones. Home is where you find happiness, where you have fun, play games and make the house ring with laughter. From the comfort of your home, you read your books you’ve long intended to read, setting your mind free to discover the adventures in the book.

In the safe refuge of your home you can plan for tomorrow, that you may go forth with a new spirit, a new person to meet triumphantly the challenges of the outside world.

Every home is the first university that determines the destiny of children. - Unknown

He is happiest, be he king or peasant, who finds peace in his home. - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

The ache for home lives in all of us, the safe place where we can go as we are and not be questioned. - Maya Angelou

The house of everyone is to him as his castle and fortress, as well for his defence against injury and violence, as for his repose. - Sir Edward Coke

This, should be the true nature of home. Unfortunately, life can be cruel, and not all homes are like that. Some homes are the cause of much pain, sadness and miseries, causing young occupants to flee them at the first opportunity, and never to return to, what they described as a hell hole. This is very sad indeed. The deprivation of the security of home is the worst of the mass tragedies.

Makansutra Gluttons Bay - Esplanade

The Makansutra Gluttons Bay is at the Marina Bay area. It is a very convenient spot for visitors to the Marina Bay. Visitors can have a walk along the bay and then go for something to eat, or they can have something to eat and then have a walk along the bay. Of course, they can also have a walk along the bay, go for dinner and have another walk along the bay after dinner. The bay area during sunset, and in the evening are both charming to see.

At the Makansutra Gluttons Bay, you can get a taste of all the popular street food of Singapore. Here, you can indulge in a variety of the local street food such as satay, oyster omelette, fried carrot cake, friend prawn noodles, fried broad noodles, and popular 'Zi Char' (wok fried) dishes, seafood dishes etc, not to mention the sweets... With so many choices, one is liable to be at a lost as to what to order - especially when everything looks so delicious.

I was there recently with some friends. As you can see, the place was very busy. And turnover was high. No sooner had a table been vacated, another lot of visitors would occupy the table.

We decided to go for the light dishes, and to share them amongst ourselves, instead of going for a full meal. In this way, we can taste several dishes. In Chinese dining, it is normal to share dishes. I think the phrase for it is 'communal dining'. Anyway, these were what we had.

Crispy Squid

Ideal for snacks, crispy squid can be served on its own, or as one of the dishes for a meal. It is fast and easy to cook - an instant favourite at hawker stalls and seafood restaurants in Singapore. However, it has to be done right, otherwise, it becomes chewy. Then it is no good.

Stingray

The Sambal Stingray is a local favourite available at any hawker stall specialising in fresh seafood alongside the squid, prawns and crabs. The 'wings' of the stingray are the best part with stringy but tender meat.

The meat is slathered with a chilli paste called sambal, wrapped in banana leaves to seal in the moisture, and grilled until the skin is crispy. The sambal is an essential part of the barbecue stingray experiences, but if you can't take spicy food, you can always ask for it on the side.

The stingray is served on the banana leaf with a sour-ish sauce and fresh calamansi to squeeze over it. The best part of eating stingray is that there are no tiny bones to avoid. The smoky, spicy meat is on top and the cartilage that holds the wing together is at the bottom. Simply use your fork to scrape it off. Some people will also eat the cartilage.

Fried Chicken Wings

We locals like chicken wings - especially, fried chicken wings. It is a popular snack dish here. Every hawker center, or food street will have a stall selling friend chicken wings.

Satay

Satay are chunks of meat on skewers. It can be chicken, beef, pork or mutton. They are served with peanut sauce, slices of onions and slices of cucumber. You can order side orders of rice cake, - also known as compressed rice to go with the satay.

The meal was very nice indeed. All the items we had were delicious. A highly recommended place for cheap and good local street food.

Jewel Complex

Jewel complex, a ten storey building whose exterior is made of glass and metal opened on the 17th of April 2019. It is a tourist attraction at Changi airport, as well as a lifestyle destination hub for Singapore residents.

Since it opened, friends who had visited it have been saying that I should go and take a look. They were full of praise for the place. Naturally, I had to go and have a look to see what the hooha was about. That was ten days ago.

On the way to the Jewel Complex - seeing the airport tower and the roof of the Jewel complex.

The Rain Vortex, was the centerpiece, the main attraction of Jewel. It is the world’s largest indoor waterfall at 40 meters (130) in height, and surrounded by a four storey terraced forest. By funneling rain from the roof through a central oculus, the architects sculpted a constantly flowing centerpiece.
“Water falls over 40 meters down, from the oculus, and is then funneled down thick aquarium glass to Basement 2, where it is recycled back to the roof. This recreation of the precipitation cycle is seamlessly integrated into Jewel, framing natural rainwater as the centerpiece. - Wikipedia.”

It absolutely has a ‘wow’ factor. It is awesome to see. Unfortunately, on the day of my visit, the Rain Vortex was under maintenance. So, it was a big disappointment not to see the Rain Vertox in operation in person. Here's a couple of pictures from their website.

Source

There are light shows in the evening.

Source

Apart from the Rain Vortex, the other attractions of Jewel are:-

Discovery Slides
Foggy Bowls
Petal Garden
Topiary Walk
Canopy Bridge
Hedge Maze
Mirror Maze
Sky Nets - Bouncing
Sky Nets – Walking

These attractions requires admission tickets. If you have the time, it is cheaper to get the Bundle package ticket. Some of the attractions looked very interesting and looked like they are worth a visit.

Besides these interesting attractions, there are also restaurants, and eateries offering international cuisines... shops carrying branded goods from all over... and other amenities that are common in most international airports.

I must confess I didn’t visit any of the attractions. When friends told me about the Jewel, they mentioned the Rain Vortex, but was vague about the other attractions. They just said there were other attractions. I guess they didn’t visit them either. I only learned of what the attractions were when I was ‘researching’ for this post.

I should have done my homework before visiting. Lesson learned. Always read up on the place I am visiting first before going there. Perhaps that’s a reason to visit the Jewel again, and hopefully, I will get to see the Rain Vortex in operation.

Anyway, here are some pictures from my visit. Water should be falling down from the ceiling, but all was quiet.

The ceiling of Jewel

An image captured later in the evening. Unfortunately, there is insufficient lighting to show the lovely garden in the evening with the strategically placed lighting.

I leave you with a couple of videos from Youtube about the Jewel Complex and the Rain Vertox

Earth

Life's Little Lessons

Don’t underestimate the power of a kind word, or a few simple words of encouragement. Quite often, it is all that we need to get us through the bad patch, or the bad spot we were in. A timely word can open up a new perspective, and help change our attitude, mood, and maybe turn our world around.

Quotes – these words of wisdom, help to reinforce our thoughts, ideas, beliefs and opinions. They are a source of strength, motivating and inspiring us along life’s journey.

The following words of wisdom are short and easy to remember. Do take a few moments to have a look. Maybe there is something that is useful to you. Or, maybe you know of someone who needs some encouragement. If nothing else, they will add to your treasure of knowledge.

Everything that happens happens as it should, and if you observe carefully, you will find this to be so. - Marcus Aurelius

A man carries his success or his failure with him. It does not depend on outside conditions. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

We probably wouldn’t worry about what people think of us if we could know how seldom they do. - Olin Miller

When house and land are gone and spent, then learning is most excellent. - Samuel Foote

That which is not good for the beehive cannot be good for the bees. - Marcus Aurelius

The weariest night, the longest day, the longest journey, sooner or later must, perforce, come to an end. - Unknown

He that will not be merciful to his beast is a beast himself. - Thomas Fuller

A little of what you fancy does you good. - Marie Lloyd

Talent grows in peace, character in the current of affairs. - Johann Wolfgang von Geothe

You have not converted a man because you have silenced him. - John Morley

Behold the turtle. He makes progress only when he sticks his neck out. - James Bryant Conant

A good traveller has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving. - Lao Tzu

The secrets to Success

Success do not come easy. If you want to succeed, you have to believe in yourself. Believing in yourself is the first secret to success. And the key is to love what you do.

Find something you are passionate about, and go at it. Your chances of success will be greater. You can never be successful if you do not like what you are doing, if you are not committed to your work.

Perseverance and hard work are the backbone of your succeeding in whatever you undertake to do. Never give up. Have the discipline to do what you know you should do, even when you don’t feel like doing it. Success comes when you simply refuse to give up, with goals so strong that obstacles, failure, and loss only act as motivation.

The two most important requirements for major success are: first, being in the right place at the right time, and second, doing something about it. - Ray Kroc

One secret of success in life is for a man to be ready for his opportunity when it comes. - Benjamin Disraeli

The secret of success is to know something nobody else knows. - Aristotle Onassis

Self-trust is the first secret of success. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

The secret of success is constancy of purpose. - Benjamin Disraeli

Willpower is the key to success. Successful people strive no matter what they feel by applying their will to overcome apathy, doubt or fear. - Dan Millman 

The secret of success is making your vocation your vacation. - Mark Twain

In everything the ends well-defined are the secret of durable success. - Victor Cousins

Put your heart, mind, intellect and soul even to your smallest acts. This is the secret of success. - Sivananda

The most important single ingredient in the formula of success is knowing how to get along with people. - Theodore Roosevelt

Sembawang Hot Spring Park

There is a hot spring nestled in a quiet corner of Singapore. The Sembawang Hot Spring Park, was officially opened on the fourth of January this year. It is the only natural hot spring in Singapore.

Although I have heard of it often enough, I didn’t realized that it has been around since 1909. However, it was only known as the Sembawang Hot Spring then. Last year, the authorities decided to develop the place into a 1.1 hectre park. Subsequently, they named it the Sembawang Hot Spring Park.

What is a hot spring and how does a hot spring comes about? A hot spring is a spring produced by the emergence of geothermally heated groundwater that rises from the Earth’s crust. The resulting high pressure causes the water to seep upwards through cracks, forcing itself out of the ground as a spring.

Some people believe that Natural spring waters have health benefits, especially for skin conditions, as well as aliments like rheumatism and arthritis. Local rheumatologists conceded that hydrotherapy is an accepted treatment that can be helpful for mild forms of rheumatism or muscle strain, but they, along with dermatologists, remain skeptical of claims about the alternative healing of the natural spring water.

I only learned of the history of the spring when I visited the park, and saw the sign board. Click on the picture for the full history.

The hot spring should gain more popularity after the development. Visitors can now enjoy the park as well as the hot spring. The rustic charm of the park will attract the rural and suburban families to discover and explore.

Apparently, during its peak, up to 300 people visited the hot spring daily. I suspect the reason the figure is not higher was because the spring was not easily accessible. There was no direct public transport to take visitors there – still isn’t. Visitors had to walk about ten minutes from the nearest bus stop. There is also no car park for cars, due, most likely, to the lack of space.

The well can be seen locked inside a red-brick enclosure with a steel gate.

This is the main water collection area. There are wooden tubs provided at the spring. Visitors can use them to collect water and proceed to any of the shelters, or anywhere in the park for that matter, to dip their feet in the water for some hydrotherapy. Some visitors brought their own containers, and wash cloth.

Some visitors brought eggs and containers and proceed to cook the eggs with the spring water. Apparently, it takes about thirty minutes to cook hard boiled eggs – that is, leaving the eggs in the container under the running tap for thirty minutes. For soft boiled eggs, it takes about fifteen to twenty minutes.

This is the foot bath area. Visitors can scoop the hot water from here, or sit comfortably on the benches and dip their feet in the water.

Besides the hot spring, the other attractions of the Sembawang Hot Spring Park are :- it’s rustic charm, the fruit orchard, the flowers and plants. Since the park is very new, most of the plants are recently planted. Some of them looked like they have not settled into the new environment.

The flowering plants of yesteryear.

The edible kampung plants

The fruit orchards

Before the development, visitors brought their own chairs, pails and tubs. Some of them donated them to the park after using them. There was a makeshift shed, and a caretaker was employed to take care of the place to maintain its overall cleanliness, but there was no toilet on location.

With the redevelopment, there is now a small cafeteria, and also toilet facilities. The park is open between 7 am and 7 pm daily, free-of-charge. According to the caretaker, the best time to go there, if you want to avoid the crowd, is midday on a weekday.

Try A Little Kindness

Life is not easy. It is a constant struggle. We struggle to land that job, to put food on the table, we struggle with relationship problems, personal problems, health issues... The list goes on. We struggle to stay alive, dealing with difficulties life heaps upon us moment after moment – the decisions we have to make, the chances we have to take.

No wonder some people go crazy, and there are some who took the easy way out, by ending it all. They got overwhelmed, and in a moment of despair decided to give up on life and end it all.

The rest of us put on a brave front and do the best we can, while battling our sorrow and pain, our demons, and our insecurities. All we hope for is that maybe someone will understand what we are going through and empathise with us. A kind word, a smiling face, a few words of encouragement, even from a complete stranger, is very much appreciated.

Unfortunately, we are so wrapped up in our problems, we failed to see that the people around us are also dealing with their own problems in any way they can. Sometimes, their loud, obnoxious behaviour is a scream for attention, and help.

Kindness is a rare commodity – so rare that people are surprised, or become suspicious when they are showed kindness. The world at large needs kindness. So, be kind, always – especially if you are the lucky ones who get some respite from life. Whenever possible, wherever possible, be kind. It’s always possible. It could be as simple as a smile, a kind word of encouragement or a word of empathy.

Imagine what a wonderful world/life this will be, if everyone is kind to another, helping one another.

Do not underestimate a moment of kindness. It has the power to change lives in ways you may never know. - Unknown

It is not genius, nor glory, nor love that reflects the greatness of the human soul; it is kindness. - Unknown

Kindness always happens at the beginning of a smile. - Robert Clancy

Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see. - Mark Twain

Never regret the right things you’ve done, even for the wrong persons. Kindness should be universal, not selective. - Unknown

One of the most difficult things to give away is kindness – it is usually returned. - Cort R. Flint

That best portion of a good man’s life, – his little, nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and of love. - William Wordsworth

The smallest act of kindness is worth more than the grandest intention. - Oscar Wilde

Do not consider any act of kindness insignificant, even meeting your brother with a cheerful face. - Unknown

A little spark of kindness can put a colossal burst of sunshine into someone’s life. - Unknown

So, always have a kind word, or a smile ready. There will always be a demand for them. And always show more kindness than seems necessary, because the person receiving it needs it more than you will ever know.

Like the song says, when we try a little kindness, we will overlook the blindness of narrow mind people on their narrow minded streets.

Glen Campbell performing Try A Little Kindness live

And if you want to learn to sing the song, here’s one with lyrics.

Of Life...

We all live once. That is to say, we have only one life – a number of years. What we make of it is up to us. But whatever we do, we should be careful not to screw it up. Otherwise, our days will be very miserable.

Life is already difficult at the best of times. For some, it is a constant struggle, day in day out, trying to make ends meet. They are grateful if they can make it to the end of the day, let alone have time to enjoy the finer things in life.

So, if you are living a good life, be grateful. At the same time, show a bit of understanding and forbearance for those who are struggling. And if you are going through a bad patch in life at the moment, just hang on for a bit more. You will see that life goes round in cycles. Better days are ahead. Nothing is permanent in life, nothing lasts forever. Every situation in life is temporary. Happy days are on the way.

The clock of life is wound but once, and no man has the power to tell just when the hands will stop, at late or early hour. The present only is our own; live, love, toil with a will. Place no faith in tomorrow for the clock may then be still. - Etta Johnson 

The beauty of life is, while we cannot undo what is done, we can see it, understand it, learn from it and change. So that every new moment is spent not in regret, guilt, fear or anger, but in wisdom, understanding and love. - Unknown

The currents of life are always streaming in one direction. They will never change the course of their flow, just as the sun never changes its direction. Man must adapt himself to this flow of life, and as a reward he can find complete harmony. All of man’s ills come from his crossing life’s currents. No man can cross the ocean in a sailing-boat by defying the winds; he must adjust his sails to use them. - K. Sri Dhammananda

The days of life are consumed, one by one, without an object beyond the present moment; ever flying from the ennui of that, yet carrying it with us; eternally in pursuit of happiness, which keeps eternally before us. If death or bankruptcy happen to trip us out of the circle, it is matter for the buzz of the evening, and is completely forgotten by the next morning. - Thomas Jefferson

The law of life is ever urging us to grow every way. Life demands that we adjust to the circumstances of our daily existence; if we do nothing, if we are content, with no desire for advancement and improvement, we regress, for we cannot really stand still. - Unknown

Patchworks

Recently, I noticed that the ceiling in my kitchen was coming apart. A check with the housing authorities revealed that it is a common occurrence in old homes. Mine is indeed an old home - almost 38 years. Spalling concrete, as it is called, is caused by carbonation, a natural deterioration process. The process caused the steel bars embedded in the ceiling slab to corrode, which in turn caused the concrete cover to crack and bulge, and to, later, come apart.

The spalling was in two locations.

As I am not a handyman, and I know nothing about such repair methods, I had to call in professional help.

These guys were contractors with the housing authorities. Their job is to go around repairing concrete spalling, among other things in the estate. I guess mine was a simple job - if you know what to do, and how to do it, plus you have all the tools and materials.

The job took about an hour. Hacking and removing the loose bits, then filling the holes with white cement, waited for them to dry and then adding the finishing touches.

Now all is good as new.

And lets hope it will be a while before there is any more spalling. At some point, I will have to give the ceiling a new coat of paint, but that’s job for another day. The thought of it now makes me tired.