Movie: Super Hero of the 21th Century...

In the 21th century, what would be the characteristic of a superhero? Does he needs to be a gentleman or does he needs to be a guy with a strong sense of justice? In fact, I have watched a superhero movie a few days ago. And in the movie itself, it has mentioned that one needs to be a pervert in order to fight for justice. And does it really apply in the 21th century? By the way, the name of the movie would be...

'HK FOrbidden Super Hero'. This is a rip-off of a Japanese Manga in the 90s. Being the child of a Police detective and a SM Queen, High School Student, 'Kyousuke Shikijou', has a hidden Identity and that would be 'HK'. He has unintentionally awaken his special capabilities when he has mistaken a mask with a used ladies panties, which marks the starting point of his perverted superhero life. For the sake of love and justice, a new superhero is born... In fact, most of the superheroes movie out there are mostly movies with a serious plot. As for this movie, it's more of a pretty hilarious superhero movie than a serious movie. The way the hero performs his attack, the conversations that all the characters are making, can be pretty stupid and hilarious too.

Anyway, here's an interesting video that teaches us the various movie theatre etiquette by the unlikely type of superhero, 'HK'.

* Click here to find out more about movie 'HK Forbidden Super Hero'. (In Japanese)
^ Click here to find out more about the movie 'HK Forbidden Super Hero' on
  'Filmgarde Cineplex' website.

The real mask

Just in case anyone is having the thought of getting a mask to protect yourself from the haze, here is my personal view about getting a facial mask.

First of all, you should only be wearing a mask outdoors in order to protect yourself from the haze. It should not be brought inside an air-conditioner room because it might be damaged by the air-conditioning. Pretty much similar to a pair of spectacle. If you have brought a mask from a cold to a warm environment, water can gather around it and eventually spoilt it and defeats the purpose of buying and wearing it. Similarly, if you are thinking of wearing it throughout the whole day, that will work if you are staying in the outdoors for a very long period of time. However, if you are going to step in and out of an air conditioner room, you will eventually spoil it. Therefore logically speaking, in order to protect yourself from the haze, you should be using & changing 2 or more masks per day. And in case you have been speaking behind the mask for a very long period of time, you could also moist the mask and eventually spoil it. That goes for sneezing too. Since you are breathing behind the mask, you are going to inhale all the harmful bacteria. In other words, the moment when you have moist the mask, you should throw it again, as it might deteriorate your health even much more further.

Basically, I'm not against the idea of wearing a mask to protect yourself from the haze. But, if you are going to protect yourself from the haze, I would rather you go all out to protect yourself completely.

Singapore: Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and Museum(新加坡佛牙寺龍華院)

Being a Singaporean Chinese, chances where you will step inside a temple and pray are pretty high. Although I'm not the super religious guy but all the Chinese myth and legend have played a pretty role in my life. And at the same time, through those stories, you can really learn quite a lot too. For example, retribution. :P

Located in the outskirts of 'Chinatown' Singapore, would be the 'Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and Museum'.

As I step into the main hall the X number of times, it's like 'Whaoooo'. The view in here is majestic. All the shinning looking Buddha statues that was situated around the main hall was simply breath taking. And seriously, with the number of statues placed inside this hall, I wonder how much time and effort was needed in maintaining/polishing all of them. By the way the name of this main hall is also known as 'Hundred Dragons Hall'(百龙宝殿). I wonder why did they named it 'Hundred Dragons Hall', when there is actually more than a hundred Buddha statues than dragons.

As you walk pass the main hall, you will come across the 'Universal Wisdom Hall'(圆通殿). There's an interesting point about this hall. Pretty much to the western countries, the Chinese have their own set of Zodiacs too. However rather than mapping the zodiac against the month that you are born in, the Chinese Zodiac is map against the year you are born in. As for myself, I was born in the year of the Rat. So what's so special about that? It is believed that behind every Chinese Zodiac, there will be a Buddha watching over you. The Buddha that is watching over those that are born in the year of the Rat would be 'Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva'(千手千眼观世音菩萨). It was believed that this Buddha has a thousand hands and there's an eye on each palm. Pretty Cool huh. Therefore, if you are interested, you can make a trip down here to find out which Chinese Zodiac belongs to you and which Buddha will be watching over you. :)

By the way, as I was making my way towards the rear entrance of the temple, I saw this cool looking stone statue of 2 dragons. This is one of the moments that I seriously hope that I was much more taller so that I can have a better view of the dragons. (By the way, I think that the Chinese dragons look much more better and cooler than the Western dragons. :P)

As for the other levels in the temple, there's a few storeys that is used for displaying the impressive collection of Buddhist artefacts. There's also a small library and a culture shop. I thought that the main hall was already grand enough. However the 4th level of the structure has proven me wrong. The display on this level were far more spectacular than the main hall. All the striking gold stuff were simply too magnificent. Although you can only take photos on the 1st level and the rooftop, but I think that it's a must for you to visit the 4th level even if you are running out of time.

As for the rooftop, the most interesting over here would be the 'Vairocana Buddha Prayer Wheel'(毗卢遮那大光明经咒转经轮藏). The contents of a scripture will be imprint on the gigantic wheel and you just need to spin the wheel slowly in order to read through the contents of the scripture. An innovative and smart move from our great ancestors. (However, rather than reading the contents of the prayer wheel, it ended up being a humongous toy for the kids. :P)

Notes:

• Opening Hours:
  7am - 7pm Daily

* Click here to find out more about 'Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and Museum'
  (新加坡佛牙寺龍華院).
^ Click here for the location of 'Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and Museum'
  (新加坡佛牙寺龍華院)on Google Maps.

Last post for this year - Greetings

Today is 'Christmas Eve'. Therefore...

Thanks for all your help and support.
And I wish you a Merry Christmas.

and a Happy New Year.

Actually, from tomorrow onwards, I will be travelling overseas.
Therefore, I wouldn't be updating the blog(s) for a very long time.
Sorry for any inconvenience caused. Well then, I would see you next year.

Path to become Ironman

I went to one of the local Blood Bank to donate my blood yesterday. However to my dismay, I think I haven't been taking a lot of food that are rich in Iron, therefore I cannot make a blood donation due to the lack of iron in my blood. Therefore...

Here's a list of Iron Rich Food, that I have taken from the local Blood Bank. I hope that you would find this useful. :D

Foods	Serving	Weight (g)	Iron Content (mg)
Rice and Altematives
Rice, brown	1 bowl	200	1.0
Pasta, wholemeal	1 portion	100	1.8
Bread, wholemeal	1 slice	30	1.0
Wheatgerm	1 teaspoon	15	1.1
Wheatbran	1 tablespoon	15	1.8
Branflakes	3/4 cup	30	5.0
Cornflakes	1 cup	30	3.6
Fruits
Apricot, semi-dried	10 halves	35	1.2
Dates, black, dried	10	90	3.3
Dates, red, dried	10	90	3.0
Raisins	1 packet	42	1.5
Longan, dried	1/2 cup	65	3.5
Fig, dried	10	85	3.6
Prunes, semi-dried	10	85	2.2
Peach, fresh	one	155	1.6
Vegetables
Kale, chinese (Kai Lan)	1 cup	65	1.3
Spinach (Bayam Pasir)	1 cup	30	1.5
Kang Kong	1 cup	30	1.6
Chinese Cabbage (Bok Choy)	1/2 cup	85	0.8
Mustard Leaves, Chye Sim	1 cup	55	0.7
Seaweed, dried (Hai Tai)	1 sheet	15	3.3
Sea Moss (Fa Chai)	1 pinch	10	9.9
Meat and Alternatives
Beef, lean	1 palm sized piece	90	2.8
Pork, lean	1 palm sized piece	90	1.2
Mutton, lean	1 palm sized piece	90	2.1
Chicken, skinless	1 palm sized piece	90	0.8
Fish	1 fillet	90	1.2
Pork Liver	2 slice	30	3.1
Chicken Liver	one	50	5.1
Pig Kidney	one	230	13.8
Egg Yolk, hard boiled	one	17	0.8
Egg, whole, hard boiled	one	50	0.9
Ikan Bilis	2 toblespoon	15	0.6
Prawns, dried	1 teaspoon	5	0.7
Oyster, fresh	12	60	3.7
Sardine, canned in tomato	one fish	40	1.8
Soya beancurd, Tauhu	1 small square	85	1.9
Cashew Nut	1/2 cup	65	5.0
Pistachio	1/2 cup	65	2.5
Walnut	1/2 cup	50	1.5
Lotus Seed	1/2 cup	15	0.6
Almond	2 tablespoon	30	1.2
Sunflower Seed	1/2 cup	70	3.2
Watermelon Seed	1/2 cup	50	3.1
Soya bean, White	1/2 cup	50	3.0
Lentil	1 cup	180	14.4
Gram, Green	1 cup	250	13.8
Gram, Red	1 cup	250	10.5

This is related to the sound of music... I think...

If you have seen the movie 'The Sound of Music' before, you probably have heard of the song 'Do-Re-Mi' before. In the lyrics, there is this liner, 'Ray, a drop of golden sun...' and this got to do with my post today. Introducing...

	Though this isn't really a a drop of golden sun, but it's known as the 'Kinetic Rain' and it's pretty nice too. :D

Here's a video that I have taken myself.


And here's the official video of the 'Kinetic Rain'.


So where can you have a closer look of the 'Kinetic Rain'?
The 'Kinetic Rain' is located in 'Changi Airport' Terminal 1 Departure Check-in Hall. :D

Notes:

• If you are taking the MRT to 'Changi Airport', you can alight at the 'Changi Airport' station and take the exit to Terminal 2 or 3 and transfer to the Skytrain to Terminal 1.

* Click here to find out more about 'Changi Airport'.
^ Click here for the wonders that can be found in 'Changi Airport' Terminal 1.

My interesting neighbourhood?

How long have you been living in your neighbourhood and do you think that you know every single thing about your neighbourhood? Okay, maybe not everything but how bout most of the stuff that is happening in your neighbourhood? I thought that I'm pretty familiar with my neighbourhood until...

'Wonder Wash 24 Hours Coin Laundry'
I saw this... I was like Whao~~~~
I never knew that they have 'Coin Laundry' shops in Singapore...
Reminds me of the days, I was travelling overseas...
and I thought that I would never ever bump into 1 in Singapore...
Or perhaps I'm becoming a mountain tortoise(山龟, Suan Gu)... :P
(Now we know that we don't need to worry about the laundry on
rainy days anymore. :D)

* Click here to find out more about 'Wonder Wash Coin Laundry'.
(Perhaps, there's a brunch located near you?)

Not a Sandy Bay...

I managed to do some catching up with a friend from overseas and since I had free up my the whole afternoon, I decided to accompany her to the 'not so sandy bay' in Singapore.

Probably, just by taking a look at the photo shown in the above,
you should have a pretty good idea where I have been to.
The name of this place would be 'Marina Bay Sands'.

As for the main reason we went there would be...

The exhibitions that are on display inside the "ArtScience Museum". There are currently 2 exhibitions on display right now. And that would be 'Harry Potter' and 'Andy Warhol: 15 Minutes Eternal'. I'm not going to write about the exhibition on 'Harry Potter', since it's already a world known character. As for 'Andy Warhol' you probably wouldn't really know him, but you would probably have seen numerous pop art pieces on topics like famous actress, model and singer 'Marilyn Monroe' and Chinese Communist leader 'Mao Zedong' that was done up by him. (Go ahead, do some Googling and you will get what I mean. ;P)

Since the museum is located pretty near the 'Helix museum', we tried taking a stroll across the bridge too. Too bad, half of the bridge was seal off due to the rehearsal for the upcoming NDP 2012 (National Day Parade). Otherwise, you can grab a pretty good look of the 'Marina Bay Sands' and the Singapore River. But looking on the bright side, since there's NDP rehearsal for the next few weeks, that means you can take a good look at the fireworks for NDP for the next few weeks, which is going to be pretty nice. :D

Before moving indoors, let me show you the biggest wishing well in Singapore...?

Singapore's Biggest Wishing Well
I guess this was suppose to be some architectural design element,
but it just so so happen that the look and feel of it, is pretty
much similar to a wishing well. As we were chatting, it seems
that someone had really treat this as a wishing well, and he/she
had threw some coins into the hole in the middle... =="""

So how does things look like below the well?
It seems that there's a pond below the wishing well, but...
wait isn't that a boat????

It seems as if they have recreated a mini version of the waterways of Venice, Italy within the premises itself. Interesting. :)

Some other photos of 'Marina Bay Sands'.

From a consumer's point of view, I personally fell that this shopping mall is pretty nice. Regardless of the shops that you can find/get over there, the corridors of this shopping mall are pretty board, and you don't need to worry about bumping into an unknown person. (I hope that more friends from overseas can pay me a visit in Singapore, so that I can make more trips to 'Marina Bay Sands' to learn more about the place.)

Note:

• It seems that you can experience a complete different 'Marina Bay Sands' at night. Especially, when there is a daily ongoing light and water show, 'Wonder Full' and you can catch a good view of Singapore from the 'SkyPark Observation Deck' and at the same time not forgetting night scenery of the the 'Helix Bridge'.

* Click here to find out more about 'Marina Bay Sands'.
^ Click here to find out more about light and water show, 'Wonder Full'.
~ Click here to find out more about 'SkyPark Observation Deck'.

Connections between 2 world

I have't being to the extreme west for a very long time and there's a place that I have been looking forward to for a very long time. Therefore, I guess that it's time for me to make a visit to that place...

Here comes....

An art piece with a big spiral. :P

The image in the above was the interior of ...

		The tallest Chinese pagoda in Singapore.

Here are views from the top of the Pagoda

and next to the pagoda we have...

Statues of prestigious figures of Chinese history... Can you identify some of them?

As you walk along the path moving towards the lake, you will come across a smaller pagoda near to the lake.

Continue walking along the path and cross the bridge will leads you to the...

Main entrance to this Chinese 'Park'...

continue walking...

cross the bridge and continue walking...

and more walking...

and you will come across a 'koi' pond. Chilli off a bit by taking a look at the fishes swimming...

Getting through this building will lead you to the...

The turtle museum, which is the Guinness World for
having the largest collection of turtles.

Take a short stroll back to the pagoda and you will come across a pond with...

traditional chinese looking buildings surrounding the pond...

and a big statue of Confucius.

As you walk past the pagoda, you will come across a park with...

Stone status of the 12 chinese zodiacs. So which zodiac are you belong to?

Besides for the stone statue, there's also stone
chairs with the zodiacs sitting beside it.
(Like the one that I had shown here.)

Cross another bridge and that will lead you to a completely different world.
No more chinese looking buildings and structures but now that you will be getting is...

Japanese looking structures.
What I have shown here would be the best representative of a Japanese structure.
A 'Torii Gate'.

Next to the 'Torii Gate' would be a Japanese looking Building...

Japanese Garden.
(Although I think they were trying to build a ZEN harden
but it doesn't really look like it, but it still look Japanese,
especially with the stone lanterns, etc...

Spend some time, walk around the park and you might find something that interest you.
For example:

Japanese looking bridges...

Bushes that looks like Mosses...

Interesting looking Pond... etc.

By the way, you have reached the end of this post and the actual name of the places that I had shown here would be the 'Chinese' garden and the 'Japanese' garden located next to the Singapore MRT station of 'Chinese Garden'. Mark my words, it's always a healthy thing to do strolling through a unexplored park and taking a break from the fast-paced city life.

As for myself, I love the countryside and I don't mind staying in the countryside.
Ever since I was young, my ideal home would be a house situated in the middle of
a bamboo forest. It would also be the ideal place for taking a rest from the fast-paced
busy city life of Singapore.

* Click here to find out more about the 'Turtle Museum'.
^ Click here to find your Chinese zodiac sign.