it was another lazy day yesterday. went to changi beach club with jiawei for a swim in the awesome olympic sized swimming pool. the water was clean and clear...and not too highly chlorinated. and there were only 4 people in the pool! it was great just chilling out at the boardwalk later on and watching the world go by.

we then hopped into my car and headed down to changi point where i gorged myself silly on a plate of nasi lemak and another plate of chicken rice. i sat there eating...and watching the hawkers go about their daily routines... there was the chicken rice lady who was struggling inside her small and cramped stall, chopping the chicken meat...and there was the drinks lady....selling drinks for about 60 cents per cup...and i couldn't help but think to myself... life is hard in singapore... if u are at the lower income brackets. i wonder how these hawkers earn enough to pay off their monthly rent if like she sells drinks for 60 cents a cup. of course the cost is really low....but even after breaking even....how much disposable income are u left with?

its alright if u're in ur 70s and lead a simple lifestyle. but if u're in ur 40s with kids to support...its really tough.

the income gap in singapore is just widening...butthe govt constantly repeats the fact that this is a phenomenon in developed countries. of course that's true...but i think more should be done to help the lower income brackets make ends meet. yea...its true that we are not a welfare state..but considering the size of our government coffers...it doesn't help to have a bit of welfare!

yesterday was quite an enjoyable day for me. met up with kin foong for breakfast at our usual roti prata haunt in simpang bedok and chatted there for almost an hour and a half! lucky guy! he is gonna be studying at NYU, which is right in the heart of Manhattan! its amazing how time flies...not too long ago we were just sitting at that very same spot, bitching about how life in the army and exchanging horror stories about each other's experiences bashing through the jungle...and now, we are totally past that and opening a brand new chapter in our lives....uni!

proceeded to chill out at his place...went through each other's photos and basically updated each other on the happening's in our lives.

in the evening, i attended a concert at the nanyang academy of fine arts put up by none other than my old friend, jonathan aow. his concerts are getting grander and grander...from a simple performance in an old theatrette to a large scale one in a 1000 seater concert hall, complete with acoustics and a rotating stage for the pianists. it amazes me how he managed to memorise all these complicated scripts of music. it amuses me how people are so eager to applaud the performance they end up clapping at the wrong time, before the piece is finished. its a sign of lack of cultural appreciation. j aow's a smart chap...he's gonna be going off to stanford in a couple of months time.

we then had bean curd at rochor bean curd....the place that offers the smoothest bean curd in town that kind of just melts in your mouth. part 2 of our supper exploits was at chomp chomp in serangoon gardens, where we had the famous mutton soup and a whole piece of BBQ stingray...zhenjin's treat!

heard from zj that apparently wong shiming has made it onto the harvard debating team within a year of his existence in harvard! and he's going on some exchange programme to beijing university. oh well....that's him...always the epitome of excellence.

i've only been away from sg for about half a year but i feel so out of touch with all the latest happenings amongst the RJ circle. but its only natural i guess...i think its boring to be talking about other people sometimes...i don't understand why some of our old friends can JC can still continue to make that the staple of their conversations. just not my kind of thing. time to move on.

it was a great sunday.....just chilling out at the usual spots and walking around town.

attended service at Shalom BP in the morning. was an hour late!!! nothing much has changed there. chatted briefly with ben and debbie...she seems to have grown prettier!

had lunch with mum and bro at lavender...our favourite beef noodle place. it was awesome! i gulped down another plate of the famous wanton noodle like a glutton. i then realized how much my appetite has shrunk since going to oz. i used to be able to do 2 bowls of beef noodles....its just not possible now! thanks to eurest!

headed down to sim lim to check out some digicams. am highly tempted to get a panasonic lumix fx7 5.0 megapixels + 2x 256 mb SDcards + a carrying case for only SGD$600. It seems reasonable! My canon is perfectly fine though, except its too bulky to carry to functions.

met zhen ning for coffee at bugis junction. he's enjoying he's course and looking fwd to an exchange to the states in his 3rd year.

tried the new roti boy....this new crusted bun with lots of butter inside....it tastes orgasmic and its only $1.20!

walked around suntec and millenia walk with CH later and ended up chilling out at this mini brewery in millenia. one for one german beer. sausages were good too. it was good except for the ah beng businessman behind us smoking and talking loudly in hokkien.

on the bus back, there was a bunch of chinese filipinos who were looking for a chalet in changi. i asked if they needed help and offered them directions and later instructed the bus driver as to where they wished to alight. they were so thankful. but whilst i was chatting with them, the other people on the bus stared at me as if i was some weirdo or as if i had just committed treason and betrayed some state secrets to the filipinos.

i mean.... come on....i'm sure the other people knew that these people needed directions and no one offered any help! what's becoming of our caring society?