Shaolin shoes made in Argentina sold in America

TOMS Shoes are gorgeous.

Simple, light, elegant.

Best part is you buy a pair, they will donate a pair to a needy child on your behalf. It’s a fantastic way to contribute to society and I wish more businesses take up this model. If Starbucks donate some food for every cup of coffee I buy, I think I will end up drinking more coffee and feeling great about myself.

(Of course, I will get even more obese and this will have a negative impact on the local economy since the government has to pay part of my medical fees and I have to stop work, etc. But these are complex thoughts I rather not think about now.)

Just get those shoes.

Frank Kafka

You do not need to leave your room. Remain sitting at your table and listen. Do not even listen, simply wait, be quiet, still and solitary. The world will freely offer itself to you to be unmasked, it has no choice, it will roll in ecstasy at your feet.

Pray for me

if honesty is the best policy, let me quote Neil Gaiman the next time I get into a relationship:

I am selfish, private and easily bored. Will this be a problem?

Pray for me, people. Pray for me.

best time to visit Japan

When’s the best time to visit Japan?

According to Lonely Planet’s The Travel Book, it’s “March or April; or before 1853, when Japan started opening up to foreigners”.

I’m hoping December 2006 isn’t a bad alternative.

You knock my socks off

For a blog that sees between 30 – 80 visits a day, it was quite overwhelming to have 1626 (from a previous high of 131) visits on the 26th of October.

Thanks for popping by and knocking my socks off.

I expect things will go back to normal anytime now and a lot fewer visitors (the usual lonely ones searching for zoe tay’s breasts and singapore prostitutes location).

But allow me to sell you 2 things before you go.

If you like my post about Wee Siew Kim, tell me what you think of my favourite entry so far (I see myself as a fiction writer anytime now).

And read Haruki Murakami.

Last words on the Wees

For my last words on the Wees, I will use the Very Short 6-word Story format as featured in this month’s issue of Wired, to say them.

“Elite face. Nothing wrong. Need heart.”

‘Nuff said.

Forgive the Wees

MP Wee Siew Kim has apologised and it’s time to let it go.

If not, we will become who we accused. Surely, we don’t want to be uncompassionate, high-handed and lacking in good taste.

Some of the comments on this blog’s earlier entry has resorted to name-calling and vile accusations. It’s a little extreme but incredibly funny.

Despite the MP’s expert opinion on “the new media of the Internet” and “the right of rebuttal”, I must say the lesson for everyone is – if you say silly things, the Internet will kick you in the balls.

Some have accused the Wees of being stupid. Looking at their academic record, its quite clear that they are not stupid. But if you believe in Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences, then it’s a case of being lacking in certain intelligences.

In his new book, Gardner talks about the 5 Minds for the Future. The 5 minds are disciplined, synthesizing, creating, respectful, and ethical. It’s reasonable to say that the Wees and many of us in Singapore will need to work on our respectful and ethical minds.

If there is a lesson for all so that “everyone will be the richer for it”, it’s time to look at the Pledge again.

What does a democratic society based on justice and equality mean? Has the leadership of this country given up this high and lofty goal?

I don’t have the answer but it seems like many on the blogsphere has given up. Perhaps its time they stop all these suing (some say blogging) and concentrate on engaging, listening and caring.

A simple request, I think this is.

After all, I can’t ask too much of my leaders that I did not and cannot vote for.

Wee Siew Kim’s defence of his daughter

MP Wee Siew Kim’s defence of his daughter is terribly ironic.

And it offends me more than the contentious comment she made in the first place.

Wee tries to reframe this by saying it’s all a language issue (“The language was stronger than what most people could take”). But it isn’t. “Life will kick you in the balls” and “the world is about winners and losers” isn’t just strong language. These are forceful viewpoints, which of course anyone is entitled to have. But let’s be clear on one thing – it isn’t just the language that offends, it’s the content as well.

Point number 2 in his defence – “But she wrote in a private blog and I feel that her privacy has been violated”. Hmm, I’m just wondering how people from his Party would feel if someone makes defamatory remarks about them in a “private blog” and claims violation of privacy as a defence in a defamation suit.

Wee reminds us that these are the “rantings of an 18-year-old”. Ok, I thought 18 means you become legally an adult and can get into real trouble with the law for doing and saying angry and violent things which incidentally is what rantings mean.

Wee confuses me much later by saying “I will not gag her, since she’s 18 and should be able to stand by what she says”. Ok, it was like he said look she’s only 18 and thats why its understandable that she says angry and violent things but since she’s 18, she’s old enough for me to do nothing at all.

Nice.

Here is the part that offends me most: “her basic point is reasonable, that is, that a well-educated university graduate who works for a multinational company should not be bemoaning about the Government and get on with the challenges in life”. Ok, again I’m confused (it’s probably just me). During the elections, people like Wee tells me vote for me and you’ll get lifts on every floor, good governance, more good years, etc. After the elections, the message seems to be hey it’s not about me, it’s about you so get on with life, be self-reliant.

Where is the engagement? Where is the compassion? How can we be a more caring and compassionate society when leaders like Wee do not allow their compassion to come forth (I’m sorry. My daughter said somethings that hurt people and I’m sorry that people got hurt. The end)?

Will everyone be “the richer for it”, as Wee claims? I doubt it. His defence of his daughter confirms what I already know and experience everyday – there is no compassion in society and there are always excuses where bad things happen to good, defenceless people.

In a world where you are the loser, Life will kick you in the balls.

James Carse

Storytellers do not convert their listeners; they do not move them into the territory of a superior truth. Ignoring the issue of truth and falsehood altogether, they offer only vision. Storytelling is therefore not combative; it does not succeed or fail. A story cannot be obeyed. Instead of placing one body of knowledge against another, storytellers invite us to return from knowledge to thinking, from a bounding way of looking to an horizonal way of seeing.

Set Lunches

1. Au Petit Salut French Restaurant
Block 44, Jalan Merah Saga, 01-54,
Tel: 6475-1976, closed on Sundays

Three-course set lunch for $22+++, three-course executive set lunch for $38+++, with coffee or tea. Dishes: baked Burgundy snails, green lentils stewed with bacon and chestnut mousse cake with rum.

2. Wild Rocket at Mount Emily
10A Upper Wilkie Road, Tel: 6339-9448, closed on Mondays

Three-course set lunch at $26+++, with coffee or tea. Dishes: deep fried soft shell crab, rib-eye burger with sun-dried tomato relish and coconut ice cream with gula melaka.

3. Saint Pierre
3 Magazine Road, 01-01 Central Mall,
Tel: 6438-0887, closed on Saturday afternoons and on Sundays

Two-course set lunch for $28+++, three-course for $38+++ and four-course for $45+++, with coffee or tea. Dishes: terrine of pan-fried foie gras, duck braised in cabernet sauvignon and pastry pockets with banana and praline sauce.

4. The Song Of India
33 Scotts Road, Tel: 6836-0055

Three-course set lunch for $28+++, four-course for $38+++. The dishes change each day, but you get a vegetarian soup, a variety of curries like goan fish curry served with briyani and naans and a dessert like malai kulfi, a traditional Indian ice cream. The four-course set includes a platter of kebabs.

5. Pierside Kitchen & Bar
01-01 One Fullerton, Tel: 6438-0400, closed on Saturday afternoons and on Sundays

Two-course set lunch for $28+++ and three-course for $35+++. Dishes: prawn ravioli with veloute of leek and asparagus, king salmon with coriander anchovy crust and Valrhona rum and raisin chocolate cake.

6. Club Chinois
1 Tanglin Road, 02-18 Orchard Parade
Hotel, Tel: 6834-0660

A dim sum tasting set lunch for $28+++ per person, for at least two people. The set lunch comes with eight dim sum dishes like crisp fried prawn dumplings.

Set dinners are also available for $48+++, $68+++ and $88+++ per person.

7. My Humble House
8 Raffles Avenue, 02-27/29 Esplanade Mall, Tel: 6423-1881

Four-course set lunch for $30+++. Includes a double-boiled soup of the day, three types of dim sum, grilled Pacific king prawn with hand-spun noodles and lemongrass gelato.

Set dinners are available for $50+++, $65+++ and $80+++.

8. Infuzi
10 Biopolis Road, 01-01 Chromos Block,
Tel: 6478-9091, closed on Sundays

Three-course set lunch for $30+++, with coffee or tea. Dishes: sauteed prawns with tarragon, apple and mesclun salad, pan-fried red snapper with lobster dressing and caramelised pineapple on puff pastry.

Set dinners are available for $60+++ and $90+++.

9. Il Lido
Sentosa Golf Club, 27 Bukit Manis Road, Tel: 6866-1977

Three-course set lunch for $32+++. Dishes: Scottish salmon with mangetout and dill sauce, and gelato with fruit salad. Set dinners are also available for $90+++ and $150+++.

10. Restaurant Madame Butterfly
01-02 The Forbidden City, 3A Merchant’s Court, River Valley Road, Tel: 6557-6266, closed on Saturday afternoons and on Sundays

Five-course set lunch for $32+++ for at least two people, with coffee or tea.

Dishes: rice paper prawn rolls, sea perch teriyaki and poached spinach and crispy bean curd.

11. La Strada Ristorante
1 Scotts Road, 02-10 Shaw Centre, Tel: 6737-2622, closed on Sundays

Three-course set lunch for $36+++, four-course for $46+++, with coffee or tea. Dishes: eggplant parmigiana, braised veal cheek in white wine stock and tiramisu. Set dinners available for $80+++ and $135+++.

12. Restaurant Ember
50 Keong Saik Road, Hotel 1929, Tel: 6347-1928, closed on Saturday afternoons and on Sundays

Three-course set lunch for $36+++, with coffee and tea. Dishes like pan-seared scallops wrapped with parma ham, Chilean sea bass with mushrooms and banana tart with homemade lavender ice cream.

13. Les Amis Restaurant
1 Scotts Road, 02-16 Shaw Centre, Tel: 6733-2225, closed on Sundays

Three-course set lunch for $48+++, with coffee or tea. Dishes: grilled paillard of chicken breast with seasonal mushrooms and chocolate fondant with red fruits.

Set dinners are available for $120+++.

14. Jade
1 Fullerton Square, 01-02 The Fullerton Hotel, Tel: 6877-8188

Five-course set lunch for $58+++. Includes double-boiled herbal soup with baby abalone and chicken, and melon cream with sago and vanilla ice cream. Set dinners available for $60+++ and $88+++.

off base

“I don’t like to know what’s going on,” he said, explaining why he does not like to go shopping. “It’s too easy to be influenced. It’s better to be totally off base and have it be something you love.”

The NYT on men’s wear designer Thom Browne

a worthy replacement

i was curious to see what had replaced times the bookstore after it moved out of OUB Centre.

from the look of it, boobs will replace books as the leader in bust enhancement centre (Singapore and Malaysia) is set to move in.

impressive, especially the ads promising “a bigger bust for a more feminine you”.

it’s always sad to see a bookstore go but for the sake of Busty and Feminine women (more! more! more!), i most willingly sacrifice.

the tiniest details

Wall St. Journal interviews president of Japan’s Studio Ghibli Inc., Toshio Suzuki

 WSJ: Why do you think Japanese animation is so popular and successful around the world?

Mr. Suzuki: Let me answer that with a metaphor I borrow from Japanese social critic Shuichi Kato. When building a house, traditional Japanese builders start with the tiniest detail and gradually expand from there. Western builders are the opposite. They start with the picture of a whole and add details to it. When Westerners look at old Japanese buildings, they often wonder how the builders drew the blueprint for such a complex shape. But the secret is that there never was a blueprint. It is this fundamental difference in approach that makes Japanese buildings fascinating to their eyes. The same thing can be said about animation. The way we create large images for movies is similar to that traditional architectural method. I think that explains the appeal Japanese animation can have, particularly in the western world.

Five Minds For the Future

Howard Gardner will have a new book out next year on the Five Minds For the Future.

Given the vast changes in the world, and the shifting responsibility for education across the life span, Howard Gardner proposes in Five Minds For The Future the kinds of minds that will be at the greatest premium in this century and how best to cultivate them.

Link

the superficial rocks

i love the superficial.

apart from the nipple slips and the naked chicks (hey it rhymes!), the writing is fabuloso.

today’s entry:

I’m not sure why Lindsay Lohan is going out in public dressed in burlesque outfits. I’m even less sure why her panties have a huge lump in them. I’ve seen her vagina before so I know it’s there, but what other magical wonders might she be hiding down there? Precious gems? Testicles? Her own feces? These are the questions we as a society should be trying to answer.

funny as hell.

i swear to you

fuck. fuck. fuck.

i’m not a big fan of swearing. i do hate negative profanity, you know swearing when bad things happen. but i think positive profanity is extremely acceptable.

studio 60 on the sunset strip is truly amazing. aaron sorkin is god really.

i watched a 40 minute show and it felt like 20 even when “nothing much” happened except people walking around talking.

his shows are clever, his characters are compelling, dialogue is engaging and things happen.

(ok i contradicted myself but accept “nothing much” as sex, violence and drugs ok)

video

i’ve been working on a video that my boss will use in his coming ra-ra roadshow.

i’m loving the mac and final cut pro. i have used version 1 thru 5, though i’ve never edited a lot in the last few years.

but fcp is great and so is live type and just being able to use the mac is loads of fun. i have no complaints about the macbook pro except it gets really hot.

i feel like i have not lost it. it’s all still there but i can’t say i’ve improved either although i know what works and what doesn’t.

mtv lost half of their staff yesterday but governement propaganda says we picked up several deals in the international market. was i right to leave the industry?

Sakae Sushi in N.Korea

Business Headlines on Oct 12, 2006:

Plans to take Sakae Sushi to N. Korea

Funniest headline I read this year. Those damm communists really deserve what’s coming.

Paula Scher

Look at what you’ve been doing for the past five years–and stop. The thing that’s most to be feared is doing the same thing over and over again.

Link 

Yokomitsu Riichi

He considered the movies the finest of textbooks and detective movies a mirror of life…