So… Singapore elections are on the 7 May and I finally get to vote! Ok – have to go to London to vote but still, you know what I mean… Because this time, we do have an opposition, and 82 out of 87 seats are being contested. We do have an opposition this time round because we have some really credible candidates running for either GRCs or SMCs. As it has been 46 years since Singapore has gotten its independence… and finally we not just have the “government scholars” or people who “life has been already planned out for them, not need to put in a good word”, to step up..

Anyway, there are two teams which have field excellent opposition candidates – Holland Bukit Timah GRC (SDP) and Aljunied GRC (WP), there are probably others as well. But considering that PAP fielded this:

It would be a sad day if WP is not elected in… Sylvia Lim will fight for you regardless, Chen Show Mao has the credentials of a Prime Minister, and Low Thia Khiang, who is already an MP. If people like this do not get into Parliament, then what sort of hope is there already?

Ugh, as you can see I’ve been busy. I’ve been so busy that the Amsterdam-Kontich-Antwerp-Amsterdam-Eindhoven route has driven me slightly crazy.

Anyway, I almost forgot to say this.. But Happy Chinese New Year! Wished so much I was back in Singapore but why is it that I cannot find the leave?

One marriage and two kids after (At least more from CJ’s side)… CJ & Summer wishes everyone Merry Christmas!

Anyway I’ve been such a good girl this time in Singapore – I didn’t buy up the entire Paul & Joe store, only opting to do my eyebrows. What I did buy though, was the Skin79 BB Cream which I was attempting so hard to get in Netherlands without success. The packaging is so pretty and you get a subtle glow which I love love love.

Other than that, I’m happily spending Christmas with my family, so wishing all a very Merry Christmas!

Hey hey, have a great holiday everyone!

For amusement, google “Stuart Baggs” because despite how ridiculous he sounds, he’s crazy, but yeah, sometimes crazy is good.

I think another thing which crossed my mind is the JooJoo pad when the iPad was released. Since this was made my Fusion Garage, which is a Singapore based company, I thought I would say a few things about it.

- The JooJoo pad has a lawsuit on it via TechCrunch. That’s kind of scary for consumers no?
- The JooJoo pad is only available in the US. No idea why.
- It costs 499USD. The iPad costs 499USD for the cheapest model. With no option for 3G.
- The UI looks like they took alot of notes from Apple.
- It has 4GB of flash memory. Ouch.

Okay, well, all seems bad. I’m half thinking of a few things on this. Had you started off on a clean slate designing the JooJoo pad, it would probably have been to reanalyze the 200USD possible price point and stay there. No need for a 12″ screen, screens usually cost the most, to push down the price point. And don’t use flash as an excuse, the percentage of people not buying an iPhone because it doesn’t support flash is probably a 0.00000000000000000000002458% (You get the idea) or something. I still think the whole general idea of the JooJoo was a good idea, competition is always good, but the price point (and the lawsuit) isn’t too bright as of the moment.

After settling my passport / driving license / and other what-have-yous I finally have time to blog. Anyway, I’m back in Singapore for Chinese New Year, the first time since three years I’m actually back! I’m usually back twice a year, but CNY is a date in the middle of nowhere (February anyone?), so I’m quite happy to be actually catching it this time round.

What’s up here?

Well, firstly, my favorite hair stylist Uncle Sunny (Kimage Funan), decided that I should be a redhead without consulting me. He also assumed that I was 21 years old which made me very happy – so I let him do whatever. I think it was his ploy, but whatever, I haven’t been so red for a while, and it IS Chinese New Year after all. No curls this time round, I couldn’t bear the thought of sitting six hours to digital perm my hair this time round.

Next, I hopped over to Toa Payoh to buy furnishing / decorations for my new house. And I managed to get two Philips LivingColors mini for only 135SGD! Assuming 1EUR = 1.97SGD, that’s an incredibly good deal. My train of thought was this: Oooooh, they are selling LivingColors here for 99SGD a pop, and they are selling it in Holland for 99EUR, I need one. I go to the counter, oh, you can get this for 80SGD, but if you buy two, its 135SGD. That’s like only 30~EUR each! Anyway, the lights are awesome and designer, just the way I like them.

Till then!

Oh yes, in Singapore, we have 4D, you choose four numbers and then if you are on of the twenty three numbers announced three times a week, you win. The probability of that happening is like 0.23%. Last time I bought 4D was eons ago, because I just don’t gamble. So I just bought the number of the house I just bought… and I won! Okay, it wasn’t much, but imagine the probability of actually winning. Or ending up in a plane with the Al-Qaeda’s plan to bring it down.

Now, I don’t believe in statistic probability anymore. If its an outlier, I better start planning for it.

It does seem that, after the Summer I will never forget, it is going to be Autumn. Well, officially Summer ends on the 21st September 2009. And I’m going home to Singapore!

Home. For everything that has happened for the Summer of 2009, it seems weird to feel home once again. Home, its like some sort of normalcy and reality in my life. That of course, and getting time to sit and stare at the sky whilst watching life go by, and brainstorming about the Amsterdam-Antwerp Challenge which is going to be pure awesomeness. (Still lacking a team member though, any takers? Ah who cares, I’m going to every single workshop or clinic to hunt down my last team mate… who needs to be brilliant, imaginative & technical…)

See you in Singapore!

xoxo, Summerrainx

Just couldn’t help it with the title. Since everyone seems to be curious at the kind of food we sell in Singapore. We eat snake, pigeons, cats, dogs and Kangaroos. (As if!)

Sure looks like some really tasty chicken doesn’t it? Well, take a look at what it came from.

I heard sewer rats are kind of easy to find.

You need to wash them clean first, you know. Can’t have sewer scum on them.

Chop them up real nice to make sure they look like some form of chicken. You know, meat is meat, we just pretend not to know where it came from.

Fry it. Because Caucasians do not know what they are eating once things are fried.

Looks absolutely tasty doesn’t it???

Hey! This is an absolute joke… I hope! Apparently they are selling this in a restaurant in China but I cannot be sure of that.

*Disclaimer: In Singapore, we eat normal food like chicken, cow and pork *

T-Mobile is the first carrier I’ve ever used since I have been living in the Netherlands. It was kind of obvious to choose T-Mobile because it was the only carrier here which offered the iPhone, although it is quite anti-expat as the website is entirely in Dutch. I was using prepaid with Lebara Mobile previously.

I’m quite anti-contract, having bad incidences with Singtel in Singapore. Never ever get a plan with them! They do not control their franchise and resellers, resulting in misleading advertisements on the local newspaper, bad customer services where you stay too long on the phone with no result, even if you overspend with their basic plans they give no suggestion to improve… At least Starhub is better IMO… at least if you ever visit or stay in Singapore…

Anyway, the good thing is. I really like T-Mobile! Here’s the breakdown of Lebara Mobile vs. T-Mobile:

Lebara Mobile:
Type: Prepaid
Call Quality: 4/5
Data Plan: None
Costs: Low. 0.07EUR to a Singapore mobile, 0.12EUR to a NL mobile
Offers: Often. From buy 10EUR, get 10EUR. Free sms to overseas af en toe
Extras: English translated website
Worst: Zero customer service. If you needed it, you had to pay for it.
Perfect for: Students on a budget, especially foreigners

T-Mobile:
Type: Contractual (Prepaid available)
Call Quality: 5/5 (Never dropped once)
Data Plan: Inclusive with plan
Costs: Quite high at 29.95EUR/month for 150 minutes, 150 sms, unlimited Data. For overseas calls you pay extra, roaming calls cost the roof
Offers: None for my plan. Except my 16GB iPhone costed me 159.95EUR
Extras: Punte, or points for each EUR you spend with them. Approximately 1 Pt = 0.02EUR. Fantastic Customer Service
Worst: No english, Google Translate or Bablefish is your best friend, thank God for its customer service
Perfect for: Working people, or people attached to a smart phone

Considering that T-Mobile also has its surf and go promotion for about 9EUR, 20EUR for 150 minutes and 150 sms is not exactly the cheapest plan in the house. But since I was no longer a student on a budget, T-Mobile and of course the iPhone (Skype, Vopium, Fring) was attractive for me.

But what really impressed me about T-Mobile was the customer service. When I walked into the T-Mobile store to get my iPhone, I was told about well, almost everything, in English of course. I was told how to activate the phone, the time I had to wait if I was to be using my old simcard, how to switch off Data Roaming, and some extra fanciful details. I was even told details which I need not know, like how using an ABN AMRO Credit Card does not really put extra insurance on the iPhone even though I thought so. He wasn’t pushy at all, even when in a very fickle female fashion I started contemplating on black vs. white, 8GB vs. 16GB, if I were to continue to use my old number…

Then, I noticed that Dennis had a Belstatus iPhone App van T-Mobile on his iPhone which informed him about the remaining minutes and smses which he had. And since I was told about it by the nice sales person, I tried unsuccessfully to include it but had huge problems because of the great amount of Dutch on the website. So I called the Toll-Free number and got on straightaway. I half expected to be put on hold for 10 minutes like some *ahem* *singtel* other carriers I know. The lady was nice and explained everything, including that Gebruikersnaam did not mean my bank account name. She also explained the kind of charges I would expect using my phone roaming and all in London.

Verdict: I am impressed by the customer service. And although the price is not cheap, I highly recommend T-Mobile NL. The overseas rates are exorbitant but do your research well into VOIP and you can probably find something which might save you money in the long run. As for Lebara, well, both are targeted for very different markets, and if you were a visitor, or a foreign student, with little phone usage, I would recommend that instead.