The Craftsman’s Forge

I’ve been here in Pakistan for 5 days now, and it has been absolutely wonderful. The people here are very friendly, and the country is alot cleaner than their eastern neighbour. But more importantly, the country doesn’t look like its in a middle of a war zone with terrorists running about. Anyway, more on that on a later post.

I’ve been really busy here, and with the time difference, I find myself working extra hours. Yesterday, I realised that I worked a total of 20 hours with just an hour or 2 in between for meals. Wah… really tired. I think when I get back to Singapore, it will really hit.

During this time, I’ve been constantly thinking of the family back home, of Chris and the kids. This photo of the kids taken on my Nokia 6110 Navigator was taken just before I left for the office on Monday morning, and it really makes me feel home sick.

But never mind. I’m flying back tomorrow. Hooray!!!

Went to the Singapore zoo the other day with Chris and the kids, and just a couple of photos to share. You should click on them for larger versions. Should look alot better enlarged.

This one was of the White Tigers. I like the shade of sunlight on it’s back as it went into the water. Pity not a very sharp photo.

I like this one much better. Sharp, and my…what a beautiful cat.

And then, we went round to the Ethiopia themed baboon enclosure, and I saw this…… !!!

Uh… Guess this is what they call a “DICK HEAD” HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA.

It was a really busy day today.

We didn’t go to church as Ariel was down with fever, and with the recent scare at Sunday school due to HFMD, we thought it wiser and responsible not to bring Ariel to Sunday school in case (touch wood) she is down with HFMD. I also had a splitting headache right from the start of the morning and for the entire day.

Popped two panadols, and we headed out for breakfast before swinging by Mum and Dad’s place to take a look at the TV. Yup. Like Mum said it. The TV has finally broken down. Brought out the one in the bedroom to the living room temporarily, so that dad and mum could still watch TV in the comfort of the living room. Will be buying a TV today for them.

Then, I sent Chris and the kids to my in-law’s place, and I headed to Paragon to get our phones. Yeah….. phones.

M1 had just sent me a handphone upgrade voucher for S$350, rewarding me for being in their Sunrisers Club. yada yada yada….. all because I talk alot on the phone. Anyways, thats S$350 to spend, so why not? I also was tiring of my Nokia E61, and it was cumbersome to carry both the E61 and the company 8800 blackberry in my pockets. Damn heavy. I also decided to get Chris’ phone changed. Dunno the model of her old phone. Too old leow!

So, I traded in our old phones for the new Nokia 5300 Express (For Chris), and the Nokia 6110 Navigator (For me)

Why the 5300 for Chris? Well, it’s packaged as an MP3 player and has an FM radio in it, so t would be really useful for her. Was already thinking of getting her an ipod, so this actually makes it alot easier for her to listen to music while on the bus or train back home in the afternoons.

And, the 6110 Navigator for me lor. Had always wanted to get a GPS, but was too cheapskate to do so. this solved my yearnings.

I’m pretty happy with these two phones. After trade in and with the handset upgrade discount from M1, we ended paying nothing for the phones. I also took the opportunity to sell off my Samsung i600, which yielded another S$230. So, all in all in very nice Sunday.

I think that this post may raise eyebrows, but…ah… what the heck. All for the fun of it.

You know, with this amount of traveling over the last year and a half, theres only so much Krisworld can do for you. I remember a season when I was traveling almost every week, I had exhausted the entire movie cache on Krisworld, and there was still a week to go before the next batch of movies were uploaded.

So, what’s the next best thing to see on an SQ plane? hmmm…just to help you along, in all of my 176.4 flights so far, I’ve had the luck of a camel. I’ve only sat with female passengers twice. One of them was a big boned chinese lady in her forties who reminded me too much of my primary 3 form teacher, and the other was a hippie type who looked like she hasn’t had a bath for 2 weeks. - It’s definitely not the passengers.

You get drawn invariably to the swishing and swashing of the stewardesses going up and down the aisle. (Thats also one of the reasons why I always have an aisle seat). If anyone tells you they get an aisle seat for the ease of getting to the toilet, don’t believe them. Its more likely because of the SQ girls.

Here’s the thing. When you spend hours upon hours (after the boring movie ends, and many times in-between) admiring them, you begin to wonder why all SQ girls DON’T HAVE ANY VISIBLE PANTY LINES!!!!! I’m dead serious. You can’t find them! Every time they bend over or squat down, I find myself trying to pick out any hint of a line. Not because I’m a perv, but because I’m just like any normal hotblooded male. No no no…nonsense. I’m really just trying to understand from a curiosity standpoint thats all.

But really. This has been really bugging me like for the longest time!!!! I’m still observing, but I can’t see anything! Are they wearing any panties underneath the Sarong Kabaya? Or, are they wearing G-Strings? (can’t be because you’d see the hints of a horizontal “string”) Or, are they wearing big mama panties that wrap around like bicycle pants, so the panty line would be on the thigh?

I asked Chris, and she doesn’t have any idea. I wonder if theres anyone out there who could enlighten me?

Will be making a trip to Pakistan in about 10 days. Have never been there, and am a little nervous about the trip, no thanks to the political situation in the country. Good thing Karachi isn’t as unstable as the capital.

As entering Pakistan requires a visa, I began getting all the required documents. Among the documents I need, is to get an invitation letter from my office in Pakistan. A letter stating that I would be visiting from my Singapore office. On top of that, I need to answer several questions, among which is my father or husband’s name.

Now, considering that I don’t have a husband, I wrote down dad’s name. Felt a little strange. The last time I wrote my dad’s name in an application was in my University application form many years back.

I also needed to submit a photostated copy my identity card. While I was looking for it just now, I searched high and low, and simply couldn’t find it in the house. Went to the ICA website, and saw that a replacement IC would cost S$100. But thats not all. It’ll require 1 month of waiting!

Seow leow lah! No need to go to Pakistan already.

Then, I took a step back from looking, and thought about the last time I saw it………Ah hah!!! I passed my IC to Chris for Kyla’s primary school application.

Got my IC back just now. wow….lucky no need to pay fine.

Praise God! Kyla got into Paya Lebar Methodist Girls Primary School! Yeahhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Our prayers answered!

She’ll be school mates or class mates with her cousins Natalie and Denyse, as well as with Danny’s daughter Gracie!

My bro-in-law introduced Russell Peters to me, He is absolutely hilarious!!!!

Just search for “Russell Peters” on youtube.

Sorry for the whimsical changes of the themes in the last 2 days. Wanted to get a 3 column template, but didn’t manage to find a nice one. Finally, after BH’s introduction to the itheme, I think I can put it to rest finally.

Where has this theme been all my life. 3 columns, and yet clean and simple. Just like my Macbook Pro.

Although they have the potential to drive us up the wall, and they do indeed do that to some regularity, both Chris and I are extremely thankful to God for giving us three wonderful, healthy children.

Looking at the photo, you can see that they each have a very unique character. Each took on a little of Chris and myself in different quantities. Kyla, for instance likes to keep her nuggets till the very last, while eating the fries or the other stuff first. She likes to keep the best till last. Just like me. Ariel, is an extremely independent girl. She is emotionally very sensitive, and notices if someone in the family is sad, and immediately goes and comfort the one feeling sad. She’s like Chris. Elkan is a very cheerful boy. He is so smart and he knows exactly how to exploit a person’s emotions. For example….when he knows I am angry and upset with him, and am about to punish him, he launches into the offensive by quickly saying….”I love you Daddy.” accompanied by full blown pouting lips no less!

Of course, there are good and bad stuff as well, but with each characteristic, we give thanks to God for making them that way. They’re really fun to play with and have around. One of the best decisions we made early on in our marriage, was to keep them all close together, so that they grow up as close siblings. I think they are very much inseparable today.

Thank you Lord, for Kyla, Ariel and Elkan.

Hong Kong still hasn’t changed much from the last time I was there in 2006. The place is still super efficient, and very vibrant.

Took a shot of the extremely convenient Airport Express train. You know, if I lived in Hong Kong, I would not buy a car. The public transport system here is 1st class. Way ahead of Singapore.

The night life is extremely exuberant, and people stay awake at night.

There are also very interesting night hawker stalls just next to the main roads. Wish I had more time here in Hong Kong to really soak up the atmosphere.

But….alas, it was time to go back…