Final Destination

Today was....
OB Presentation Day!
I had been rather shagged the whole week but I tried to tell myself to keep my spirits up as Chinese New Year was nearing. A well-deserved break awaits.... So is my exams.... But screw exams for now, as the Tiger Beer slogan goes,

It's TIME

time for play that is.

Anyway presentation today was surprisingly cool. Surprisingly smooth and special thanks to the great actresses Cath and Jols! But as a group, I felt we all gave it our best and a very good shot it was. I was quite proud of my team, rather Eileen's team. Like the previous group (Zul's group) before us, we incorporated humour into the roleplay and it went great! I particularly like Jol's wink at the audience! Bravo! ;)

Sadly, it would be our swan song as a team after doing a dozen projects and presentations together. An a electrifying swan song it was (think techno or eurodance). It was definately a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and an awesome experience to work with them. Though I am the sole guy in the group, outnumbered 4 to 1, it didn't make things less uncomfortable as they are a great friendly bunch, yeah. Special thanks to Ling too! yeah.. who had to put up with my impatience and hot temper.

After the presentations, we all celebrated, by having breakfast at the canteen. haha.. It was a simple meal but very enjoyable as a heavy burden is finally lifted. After which we went to take some photos, to remember the final presentation together and how weirdly comfortable we are in our formal wear.

That's my "Operation Pass-All-Projects" Specialist Unit:

hmmm.. that would be a Medusa Me. 1 golden-hair monkey head with 4 chio heads. aww look at Cath! haha

And behold, my harem of Gorgeous Babes!!!(yeah I wish) Anyone wants their number?

Ooh! And not forgetting my good friends (pf, wy, mich, ron, jy and zul) who are warming the benches for us!

Man... did they waited long for us to finish out photoshoot. Shit, they look rather pissed.

And shit! They are gonna pommel us! Beware their United 1B16 ass-kicking move!
Below: Martians vs Venusians (<>..<>)










haiz~ How time flies when you are having fun. A year ago, they would probably be some strangers you pass by, now u n i t e d as one. Only to be broken apart again next semester when we are all streamed into our different diplomas. I definately will miss my group members, Cath, Ling, Cherry, Jol.... You XiaoMeiMeis been great. Let not time take away our friendship!

Projectmates we were, Friends forever we shall.

And this last pic I really like. Look at everyone so happy!

"Though we transverse continually into the freewheeling motion of life, this is a sacred moment frozen in time and eternally locked in my heart..."

All these kinda remind me of a SMS message which I received about 3 years ago.

"So Many of Us Either

Fear Tomorrow or Regret Yesturday

But I Won't Fear Tomorrow

If I Get to Be Your Friend Forever

And I Don't Regret Yesturday

Because

One Yesturday

I Met You"

So Final Destination?

Eternity.

Jetstar Pornstar

I had a deep sleep the previous night which resulted in me having nightmares. Scary being chased around by a female demon (or something just as bad) in my home. LoL... silly yet frightening dream.
Anyway I woke up way before sunlight hit our island at 4am. I was supposed to study for my Japanese test but ended up sorting my photos before logging onto the internet and surfing the airport website.
Again, I was hurrying out to catch another flight.
This time, Japan Airlines JL712 was my flight number. I reached the airport (sort of like my second home) early and had my breakfast at BK before heading to the viewing mall. The sky was quite obsured today, like a gloom blanketed over the sky but a calm, peaceful one.
Whilst waiting at the viewing gallery, two Jetstar Asia pilots (both rather big-sized Caucasian men) as they walked pass. I overheard one saying in a distinctively Australian accent, "I didn't know she was a porn star". His "porn" sounded kinda like "pond" but I was sure what I heard.
So much for pilots' intelligent conversations on the passenger loads/take off estimates or weather/fuel mathematics. More enlightening is gossipping about some anonymous dirty video artiste.
Anyway, I was lucky to catch my plane, registration number JA709J, with the Yokoso! Japan (welcome to Japan!) sticker. After the photoshoot, I rushed to school for my Japanese tutorial where I practiced my Japanese roleplay skit. When it was over, and a boring Economics lecture later, I had to practice for another skit, this time for Organisational Behaviour, which is on friday. So much for being a business student. I would say I am gonna be more proffessional in the acting field than that mystery "pond" star soon. blah

EVA Air

Waking up still feeling really shagged after my hairy week. However, after logging onto the internet and surfing through Changi Airport's website, I was tossing on my shirt and jeans and scrambling out the house to board the bus to the airport.
Why?
EVA Air flight 225 from Taipei was landing at 11.47am and I didn't want to miss the opportunity to take a photo of her. So in a rather frenzied state, I, psychologically ignorant of the weariness of my physical self, hastedly stuffed my camera into a bag and off I rushed.
It was a race between my bus and the plane. Who would reach the airport first?
I was glad the bus uncle was speedier than the EVA Air pilot.
The plane landed as scheduled and I was glad to be present to witness the green giant as she lumbered rather quickly to the boarding gate. EVA Air or ChangRong HangKong operates daily flights to Singapore but I am still happy to catch her all the same. Here's some shots of her:

A ivory-emerald jewel which would grace Changi International for about 1 hour 10mins before departing for her home again.
So I stayed on until she left. In the meantime, I talked to other aviation lovers there, two of them my buddies and shot pictures of other planes which were present there at that time.

Yup, Biman Bangladesh Airlines and Pakistan International Airlines.

The airport has always have held a special place in my heart as it's a magical mix of emotions that fills the air; sadness of a departing farewell, happiness in the warmth of the breath of a missed loved one, and much more. The airport is the start of a journey, be it holiday or business or a life-changing event. It is also the end, the return to home, where the heart truely is.

Vietnam Airlines

"Love Market in the Clouds" was the documentary I watched on National Geographic channel whilst eating my dinner just minutes earlier. It's 8.34pm btw on the last weekday of the third week into the year.
It was an eye-opener into the culture of the Hmong village people of Vietnam. Once a year, on 27 March, 3 days after my birthday, Hmong lovers, who may be from different villages in northern Vietnam will meet once a year to rekindle their love for each other. And by lovers, I mean they may be married to other people but still have a flame going on for another person. So on this day, Nguyen Romeos and Nguyen Juliets, seperated by nuptial or physical distance, can meet to rediscover their longing for each other,but only to return to their spouses the next morning (Not just a physical One-night-stand but a true bonding of star-crossed lovers). But bare in mind, their spouses may not be The One as many women were forced into marriages and their souls are said to be bound to their husband's family for eternity. Hence, on a single day every year, they are liberated to visit the Love Market, where men and women, from different villages, high on wine made from maize, dance and sing together before finding some quiet time to fall back in love again.
Falling in love.
The bottomless ocean of love.
Yet the bountiful fish in the sea, ever so tempting.
Ever so near, yet so far.
So difficult to hook up, yet easy to lose.
And you can only yearn for The One That Got Away.
<:((((((><

*sighzZzZzZzZz*
And just a stone's throw away (about 2 hours flight from Ho Chi Minh City) from Vietnam, from where the Hmong people resides, and 1/2 hour bus journey from Changi Airport, is where my school is. And where another "love market" was brewing. Well.. It was actually a Open-house day today a.k.a a wholesale market showcasing all the different courses TP offers to make secondary school xiao-meis and xiao-dis fall in love with.
The hustle and bustle of the event was only fueled further by the different events held at the Jam N Hop session. The bike stunts were truely amazing. The design school had also organised a rather interesting fashion event, a catwalk show. And TP was painted with a fiesta of colours as visiting secondary school students donning a hundred and one different school uniforms were welcomed into the campus. Vietnam Airlines' slogan "Bringing Vietnamese Culture to the World" can be modified to "Bringing TP's culture to Secondary Schools" as my school tries to lure students with the funky "Take Me 2 TP" Open-house programme.
And as a volunteer to be a Business school guide, I took charge of a big class of students from Macpherson Secondary on a 3-stop trip around the Business wing. It was a terrible situation as there is poor communication between the volunteers (who were way too many), presentations are delayed, lecturehalls are full, students go missing, and general chaos. I was disappointed to have let those students down as I was unable to give them a better tour around the school. As I looked at those students, I knew that life post-uniform years is not that much better than those years wearing them. I hope they enjoy their time in secondary school now. Once its gone, its not going to come back. Mine's over. Unfortunately I did not enjoyed mine whilst it lasted.
After my first unsuccessful attempt at guiding, I wanted to make up for it but alas, there was not much traffic. I guess due to the fact there's at least 3 different polytechnics having Open-house on the same days. In the end, I had to make do with sitting in a lecturehall and count heads. Apparently, valuable manpower was needed to tally up how many cheated secondary school students visited the pathetic, and definately underachieving Biz Openhouse event. I felt sorry for them, sorry for myself and sorry that TP did not shine as much as it could. It was disappointing.
For the first time, I realised, having a sprawling swanky clean and wonderfully designed campus is just some concrete mess of rocks, it needs the precious stones (the students and their spirit) to sparkle. Hopefully the next year would be a better one. Rock on.

Air New Zealand

Guess who was at the Air New Zealand fair at Suntec City today?

Who else! After donning an old pair of blue jeans, slapping on a casual blue shirt (yep, wearing blue from head to toe to counter the Monday blues), with my faithful camera in tow, thus effectively transforming myself to a geeky aviation freak. Feeling empowered by my new nerdy image, off I went to explore the world of the Air NZ fair at Suntec City.
It was located at the entrance to Suntec City, and quite a small event though still quite a good one. It was for the promotion of their new aircraft, Boeing B777-200 ER (Extended Range) between the Auckland-Singapore route. There were Air New Zealand personnel (very friendly), some dressed in their airline uniforms, and even real seats ripped from the plane. I had a fun time shooting pictures and talking to the roadshow promoters (being in the airplane geek identity that I was in).

Economy Class features:

Geeky me trying out the Economy class seats:

Business Class features:

Some more colourful boards:

Nice array of airline ammenities. Can I have that porcelain cup for souvenir? Would love to add it to my bounty of stolen airline cutlery. haha!

And that's me with my wife. LoL.. Nah... she's an Air New Zealand stewardess! What a gorgeous girl... *drools*

Some stuff I got from the fair:

I enjoyed myself alot. It did help to clear my mind on some stuff. New Zealand seems to be a very beautiful place, (not to mention great airline). And as this promoter (she's from Hong Kong but had migrated to New Zealand when she was young) told me, New Zealand is different from bustling Singapore with all the shopping. I guess it might definately be a good getaway for the hectic lifestyle of a rotting Business Student. Perhaps I want to visit the Land-of-the-Middle-Earth someday.
Anyway, after terrorising the exhibition with my camera, I had to go back to school to collect my script for my Japanese roleplay from my Sensei. Enroute, I was outside the CityLink Mall entrance, before the overhead bridge to Suntec City, where the artificial koi pond was. Whenever I am there, I will always look out for this big pink fish, I believe is a Giant Gourami, who always look so lonely. Whilst the other koi and luohan are swimming around happily, this big pinky fish, which I have decided to nickname him BubbleGum for his colour, always seem so lonely, most of the time hiding in between the flower pots that are submerged in the pond. Bubblegum is a tough guy though, as I observed, chasing other fish that ventures into his private space. Anyway, stay cool Bubblegum, and be happy always.

Anyway, I went back to school and I was quite happy that Sensei complimented my script as original and good. I definately felt the sense of achievement, not to mention the sense of victory! I typed out my script at the computer lab. (since I don't have MS word at home. too bad so sad) Then I was glad Ronny was still in school and it was a good bus ride to Tampines with a friend. What a Monday. If only everyday was like this. (No school that is).

"feel inspired to take a journey to an extraordinary place"?

Hell yeah.

Flyer Criticizer

What a freaking tiring day! This is what you look like: when you are up at 4am mugging for a test you have no idea about, scrambling your brains out trying to decipher the intricate codes on the paper 5 hours later, then after surviving (barely) the torturous lecture after the test, you can make deepfried brains tempura whilst slaving through a challenging (think man vs machine) computer project.

What is at the end of the day? Eyebags the same size as those garbage ones, in a much darker colour though.

It had been a very busy week. Didn't had the opportunity to update this little baby or rather blogby. Anyway, I was scanning through Thursday's Today newspaper and instead of finding news articles, I found an airline catalogue instead.
A total of 9 different airlines fought for my attention through a variety of advertisements, thus efficiently embracing Singapore's only free daily with attractive deals and promotions. At the same time, making seductive advances on the newsreader, teasing them with temptating deals, whilst enticing their deep pockets (Fine, they would rather queue up for a free newspaper but they gotta have deep pockets to stuff that tabloid handout in).

Anyway, flipping through those pages got me interested. Not in the deals and promotions of the adverts but the adverts themselves; on how airlines try to outdo each other in the advertising battles. Well, I will take on the role of Skymon Cruiwell (not to be implicated with an ageing, foul-mouthed British fruit tart) and give my take on the advertisements from the Thursday gazette.

Flyer Factor:
(o_o) (o_o) (o_o) (o_o) (o_o) - 5 Heads! Flights all sold out till after Christmas (2007's, that is)
(o_o) (o_o) (o_o) (o_o) - 4 Heads! Good job! Now do a better one with your hordes of passengers
(o_o) (o_o) (o_o) - 3 Heads! Nice Ad! Not as pretty as your stewardesses though
(o_o) (o_o) - 2 Heads! Like your effort! But gotta try harder for that fat lady's purse
(o_o) - 1 Head! Huh? What ad?
( )( ) - 1 Butt! To be wiped with with your news ad! Then flushed down the toilet bowl!

Now, bring it on!

Ad No. 1 Airline: Tiger Airways
Ad type: Special Deals
Comments: The same ad I had been seeing for months. SGD$9.98 one-way ticket for 11 destinations is really eye-grabbing but readers have grown immune to the 100 and 1 terms and conditions dragging with it. As the caption goes, "What's new pussycat?" Yeah.. What's new?

Flyer Factor: (o_o)

_________________________________________________

Ad No. 2

Airline: Singapore Airlines
Ad type: Promotion of new destination
Comments: Full-page advert for the promotion of new flights to Pakistan. Good detailed ad which includes specific flight details. However, no price was mentioned. Picture seems to symbolise a man (Singapore Airlines) tossing a ball (a plane) to 3 cricket players (the 3 days that SIA's Pakistan-bound flights will be operating on) wearing green wristbands and caps (symbolises Pakistan's flag?) leaping to grab it. Hmmm... is Pakistan so desperate for the pretty Singapore Girl as pictured below the picture?

Flyer Factor: (o_o) (o_o) (o_o)

_________________________________________________

Ad No. 3

Airline: Air New Zealand
Ad type: Promotion of new aircraft/services
Comments: I like their slogan "Discover our love for wide open spaces when you fly our nw Pacific Premium Economy" and using a beautiful Lord-of-the-Rings style picture to symbolise it. Ad also gives details on upcoming road show (I will definately be there), special deals and a small picture of Sleeping Beauty. Ok Ok... its a napping Blonde lady who looks really comfortable. Way to go, New Zealanders!

Flyer Factor: (o_o) (o_o) (o_o) (o_o)

_________________________________________________

Ad No.4

Airline: Royal Brunei Airlines
Ad type: Special Deal
Comments: Black-and-white advert (not to mention tiny) doing a free advertisement for the Burj Al Arab, which I believe is the world's only 7* hotel, probably a holiday retreat for Brunei's royalty. The deal is only convincing with the really low price offered by RBA. As I flip to the next page, the caption in white, "Fly Royal Brunei" catches my glance, still I continued my action, as it's way too weak to convince me to do otherwise. Next Ad!

Flyer Factor: (o_o)

_________________________________________________

Ad No.5

Airline: QANTAS Airways
Ad type: Special Deals
Comments: Typical QANTAS red kangaroo ad. This time, taking advantage of Australia Day (in 2 more weeks) to slug it off with archrival SIA on SIA's hometurf with dirt cheap deals. Dirty strategy to use the national day of Australia to pillage SIA's local market but with such budget airfare with great service, who won't be swayed by the "Spirit of Australia".

Flyer Factor: (o_o) (o_o) (o_o)

_________________________________________________

Ad No.6

Airline: Northwest Airlines
Ad type: Special Deals
Comments: USA from $889? Tokyo/Nagoya at $489? I guess if you wanna save on print ink, print the prices as big (and as cheaply as possible). Full page advertisement in drab grey and red colours, with just the prices dominating the entire page. They do use their new A330 aircraft to ply the Singapore-Tokyo route (one must catch a connecting flight to USA from Tokyo, their hub) but gives little information. Bad idea. Most Singaporeans have a vague or negative opinion of US airlines, generally as a ricketty old jet-oil-guzzler with loose screws and on the minds of Osama's terrorist crew. Gotta do better than that! Show Singapore what the USA got! Keep the prices in cheapo standards though. Love you.

Flyer Factor: (o_o) (o_o)

_________________________________________________

Ad No.7

Airline: British Airways
Ad type: Special Deals
Comments: Numerous special airfares to Europe and Australia, with a witty slogan, "Travel more. Spend less. Keep two New Year's resolutions at once." Quite amusing yet very true. However, I have seen more creative ads by British Airways, rather than a boring overstretched rectangular brown bag (a fish tank carrier?) with little blue tags sticking out like used iodine-stained bus tickets. Still a good ad all the same.

Flyer Factor: (o_o) (o_o) (o_o)

_________________________________________________

Ad No.8

Airline: THAI Airways International
Ad type: Promotion on destinations
Comments: Colourful full-page ad whose purple background and striking orchids flowing down from the Statue of Liberty and Hollywood symbol. Gives information on the state-of-the-art A340-500 aircraft utilised and the departure/arrival times, even including the connecting flights from Singapore - Bangkok and vice versa. A classy ad to target business travellors to USA I guess. As the THAI's slogan goes, "Smooth as Silk". Yeah, real smooth. Good work!
p.s. nice salmon fillet in that small right pic at the bottom. Yum. Yum.

Flyer Factor: (o_o) (o_o) (o_o) (o_o)

_________________________________________________

Ad No.9

Airline: Austrian Airlines
Ad Type: Promotion of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart?
Comments: This is quite an unusual ad, promotion of what Austrian claims to be the most famous Austrian of all times. I wasn;t even aware that Mozart was Austrian. Thought he was German. Anyway, a flat-chested sleepy looking air hostess doing a fellow Austrian, Arnold Schwarzenegger's muscle-flexing pose, whilst stuffing a guitar which I think can barely fit into the baggage compartment is a real no no. "Sounds of Austria"? From the air hostess' rather hostile, asskicking pose, I plead to differ so. Come on Austrian, you gotta be more contemporary to pull the wonderful rich heritage of Viennese music off.

Flyer Factor: (o_o) (o_o)

_________________________________________________

And there you have it. The most unforgetable (and most forgetable advertisements of last Thursday's TODAY's newspaper {Jan 12 2006}) As they say, the pen is mightier than the sword. Can't rough it at the airport? Slug it out on the news, big boys. Some ads were convincing enough to almost send me packing my suitcases. However, money (or the lack of it) is definately more mightier than the pen. Again, as they say, no money, no honey!
Hence I shall contemplate with being stuck in sunny Singapore doing nothing but complaining about airline ads.

Tata~

All Nippon Airways

Kyoo gakko de nihongo to microeconomics o benkyooshimasu. Eto de tomodachi no Wai Yiu-san to hirugohan o tabemasu. Momo cha o nomimasu. Yokatta desu.
Ok Ok... translated, today I went to school and studied Japanese language and Microeconomics. Later, I had lunch with my friend Wai Yiu. I had peach tea. It was good.
Ok Ok... I know my japanese ain't that good. But it's good practice anyway. Today we learnt how to say different activities in Japanese, in present tense and question form.
I learnt present tense is _activity_masu, for example I eat: Tabemasu.
In question form it's _activity_masu ka; Have you eaten?: Tabemasu ka.
If you say: Let's do something, it would be _activity_masho; eg. Let's eat: Tabemasho.
So we were practicing with picture cards, which featured drawings of people doing activities such as meeting (aimasu), shopping (kaimasu), drinking (nomimasu). My Sensei skipped the one on sleeping though. She laughed then told us,"it's not nice to...*voice trails off*"
Sensei, you mean nemasho? LoL... what's wrong with let's sleep? lolz...
Speaking of sleeping, I better be off to bed now. Kyoo wa tanoshikatta desu. Today was enjoyable. Watashi wa uchi de nemasu. I sleep at home. Where else?
Oyasumi nasai!

Market Sexmentation

"Market segmentation you mean, you sick little pervert", you might retort at my face. Well, give me a chance to explain my perverse and twisted ideology. Read on.

Like all companies, the aviation sector is a big fan of the market segmentation strategy; which is to segregate different customer groups (eg. by age or gender) and offer products to cater to their needs. So in aviation, certain airlines target certain passenger groups on certain routes. For example, flights between Japan/South Korea and Bangkok demands more tourist-friendly services as there are hordes of Japanese/South Korean tourists flocking to the Land of Smiles (why? more will be covered later).
Other more quirky passenger groups would have to be those on flight OZ573/574 of Asiana Airlines from Tashkent,Uzbekistan to Seoul, Korea, which would constitute of lonely Korean men seeking fair, beautiful Uzbek "Mrs Kim-to-be"s. Flights from Korea to Vietnam, the Philippines and Mongolia have also become "love-ships" for lovelorn Korean men on an odyssey in search of matrimonial enlightment.

Speaking of foreign brides, recently, in the news, there's this old (64+ years old) cobbler who went to Vietnam brides agency and wrote a worthless cheque (he delibrately put a dot behind the $10 000 so it became $1.0000) as $10 000 deposit for a bride, giving to the unsuspecting matchmaker, then bring the 19year old girl home, and what happened next was the following scenario:

"Lecherous Singapore Ah Pek vs Vietnamese Girl"

K.O.!

Then when the agency notified him on the error, he returned the "good", after more or less used, and the fragile packaging had been tampered with. He did the same trick with about 3 different matchmaking agencies! Now he's behind bars. BASTARD! BAKAYARO! #$%^

Ok, back to aviation, so you know airlines target different groups, such as business passengers vs tourists. And the tourists group can be further divided to different market segments;
- holidaymakers (eg. to resort destinations. Think pre-tsunami-washed-up Phuket),
- health tourism (Did you know Singapore is a popular destination for Middle-Easterners going for medical checkups? Some hospitals even have Arabic TV programmes to pamper their oil-rich patients),
- birth tourism (very popular with gestating Korean women who fly to the USA {most popularly Los Angeles which has a large Korean speaking population} and want a US citizenship to be her first gift to her newborn *aww so sweet*) and more sinisterly,
- sex tourism.

Many of us would think sex tourism as paedophiles seeking criminal acts with innocent cherubs or lecherous perverts wanting a one-night-stand-at-every-one-place. I remember when I was in Bangkok, the notorious Patpong area, Thai harlots were parading en masse in elegant gowns outside brothels and calling out in Japanese to passing Nipponese-of-the-opposite-sex, "Irrasshaimase! Irrasshaimase!" Hence, that might explain the revenue Japan Airlines reaps on the lucrative Narita-Bangkok route. In addition to the air tickets bought by thousands of Thai women flying to Japan for "work".

Women trafficking is also part of this lucrative trade, as with bogus tourists who stay on as illegal immigrants. (Think China women travelling in tour groups to Singapore who do a David Copperfield and magically vanished!) However, disappearing tourists are nothing compared to trafficking in women. I remember reading an article about the problem of the rising number of Uzbek (remember the kimchi brides?) prostitutes in our neighbour, Malaysia. This is in line with Uzbekistan Airways flying direct flights to the country. Were the women trafficked by criminal gangs who force them into prostitution? Could Uzbekistan Airways be profitting on the invisible trade and the streetwalkers' hardearned wages? I could only wonder. In China and Hong Kong, Korean call girls are also making their presence with the growing popularity of K-culture and liberisation of the Korea-China air links.

In a similar situation in Singapore, ever since Transaero Airlines of Russia begun non-stop Moscow-Singapore flights, my friends have told me of the growing presence of Russian prostitutes competing with the current cosmopolitan community of Chinese, Vietnamese, Thai and Indonesian hookers in infamous Geylang for the Libidinous Singapore Male. The growth in number of flights between Singapore and Vietnam has also seen an increase in Vietnamese mail-order brides (legal) and unmentionables (illegal). Could the opening up of our skies be fueling the sex trade? With more Chinese carriers flying to Singapore from a variety of Chinese cities, there has also been a parallel increase in the number of Chinese "wandering swallows" who was described in a reader's comment in the local Straits Times as coming en masse "to walk the gold-laden streets of Singapore". These sweet-talking birds have even flocked to tourist areas and shopping districts, driving worried parents to write letters to the local daily, asking authorities to stem the vice activities for the protection of their school-going sons (or rather, their sons' chastity).

Routes deemed profitable by airlines could be grounds for the proliferation of the vice trade. With more and more airlines entering the already saturated aviation industry, could the practice of market segmentation help bring in cash flows from the sex industry? When there's demand, there's supply. Are airlines willing to close an eye to the growth in demand for cross-nation sex trade to reap profits and survive in the cutthroat industry?

Could our vision to be the leading aviation hub backfire to turn Singapore to a fantasy playground for lustful desires? As prostitution is legal in sterilised Singapore, with more air links to other states, especially with the rise of budget airlines, could our society be under threat from this market sexmentation strategy of airlines?

Saudi Arabian Airlines

I started the day rather early today, waking up at 6.15am to catch a flight to Jakarta. Well... I won't be on it that is....
ha!

And as you might have guessed from my title, it was Saudi Arabian Airlines Flight SV826 from Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. I gotta say that Saudi Arabian Airlines has one of the most spectacular liveries (design on the plane's body). Flight SV826 was scheduled to stop over in Singapore for about 1h 15mins before departing for Jakarta, landing in Singapore at 9.45am and departing at 11.00am.
And guess what, it was to send my favourite aircraft on this route, B747-400 according to it's website, hence I was pretty excited, despite my camera being on "leave" with my parents on their Nanjing/Shanghai/Hangzhou holiday. So I borrowed my sis' cam and made the long pilgrimage (about 1 n 1/2 slow hours) to Changi International Airport.

There I had a quick breakfast at Burger King before proceeding to the viewing mall, where I witnessed the descent of the legendary Arabian horse. Handsome and strong, he strided flawlessly onto the runway (at 9.23am) and cantered proudly to the boarding gate. A magnificient beast, I'll tell you.
And me, out shot my camera (or rather my sis' camera) and click! click! click! as I snapped away happily at the resting beast of burden, as the aunty brigade boarded to clean him up before his next mission.

As he arrived earlier than usual, I was thrilled that he would be departing earlier than scheduled too. As I was having a tight schedule (I have a lecture at 11am), I wanted to get as much pictures of the fine stallion as I possibly could.

I did get some. And ladies and gentlemen, I present, my prized cow (erm.. mare?) and the mighty workhorse of Saudi Arabian Airlines!

Well, the great steed was racing speedily ahead of schedule for its next flight, I, on the other hand, was running late for my lecture, literally. It was 10.45am when I left the airport. After scrambling up a bus to Tampines, getting down and rushing to the opposite bus stop to catch another to my school, then with much haste, speeding down the corridor until I reached my lecture hall. I was...

...not on time of course. But not that I missed anything much. The lecturer was still on the first slide. I was relieved. Relieved that I need no magic flying carpet.

The sun was soon obsured by dark clouds again and rains threatened. But the day went along fine. 2 lectures, a 2 hour lunch break, and doing alittle project with classmates Zul and Wai Yiu later, I was on my way home, to my Haji break! It's gonna be a good rest for me.

My sister and I ordered pizza which was delivered (surprisingly) very quickly. It tasted good, and I relished the pizza with delight, feasting like a sheik on the oil-rich norishment (Yeah, I had to drink alot of liquids later, pizzas dehydrate me way faster than the Sahara Desert).

Anyway, I caught 13 going on 30 on HBO at 9pm. It was a good, warm movie I felt. I guess it's like sending a message that, even if you have everything you wanted, can you be truely happy inside. And more importantly, we can't change our past, but we definately can change our future by changing our present. The past, how hurtful or scarring, should not handicap us in our pursuit to change our life or live our dreams. And I really loved Jennifer Garner's character as Jenna Rink. She's got spirit yeah! hmmm.. and like all fairytale movies, those magic sands (or maybe an efreeti/jinniyah) granted her the wish to go back to when she was 13 again. Most of us don't have that privilege, so I guess the movie communicates to us that we should not take what we have for granted, you don't know you got it till you lose it. (Well, for Jenna, it was Matt, her best "arrivederci" "au revoir" razzles-loving childhood friend, and her Mom and Dad) Do you take your friends and family for granted? I know I do. :(

I also notice the movie also protrays some rather unfortunate sides of the venusian kind.

1. Once a biatch, always a biatch. (in the case of 13 yr old i-got-a-nose-job-10-years-later-and-they-stopped-calling-me-Tom-Tom Lucy Wyman)

2. Hell hath no fury as a scorned woman (biatch). (Never mess up a blonde magazine editor (again Lucy)'s promotion strategies)

3. The ability to spit poison on a rival. ("You are making so little money that you have to come to our party for a free meal, don't forget to put the crab in your bag" *or something to that extent* by of course, our good evil friend Miss Lucy)

and lastly

4. Unfortunately for us guys, girls' dreams do come true. (I am still talking about the movie, so beat it)

And the soundtrack's fantastic if you ask me. Great music goes with great movies. I would give it a thumb's up for this fun, romantic comedy. The light-hearted sweet flick with a deeper "what-if-i-could-change-back-time" post-movie reflection sure leaves you in a smile at the thought how could you, as your own personal wish-granter, change your life, if not for the better; for your dreams. I would recommend it. =)

And now, I will be off to bed now. It has been one good day, and I am sure going to enjoy my quiet sacred Arabian Night.

"I feel like I've been locked up tight

For a century of lonely nights

Waiting for someone

To release me..." - Christina Aguilera's "Genie in a Bottle"

Laila Tiaba

The day the sun went away...

T'is the day the sun went away,

and I am stuck at home all day,

doing nothing but homework,

feeling sorry that the day has, but no perk,

And how this day was, as my friend was saying;

because there's someone out there weeping,

that would be me, you must believe,

for, out of my house, I cannot leave

I am trapped, forsakened, you must know,

free me, from this prison, oh, do let me go.

What a cold, boring, melancholy, lonely, pathetic, fruitless, gloomy, dark, slow and sorrowful day...

This day, 8 January 2006 when the sun betrayed our sunny island and casted a shadow over our heads. Well.. this day is also one when my parents went on their holiday to Nanjing on Singapore Airlines SQ838, reaching Nanjing about 5 hours earlier. Hopefully they have better weather there than we do in Singapore, where it has been raining cats and dogs, pussies and bitches all day and previous night too.

And I am trapped at home, only a ton of tutorial homework for company. Sounds depressing? You betcha.

Fly me away.

If not, shoot me then.

No? Well... I guess I better go do my homework. The boredom will kill me first, believe me.

Flight of the Keloids

6 January 2005
Less than a week into the new year and I was in for surgery, to remove two keloids that was clinging to my earlobes.
Keloids, if you don't know, are excessive healing due to scarring or wounding of the skin which results in a round, hard "ball"-like flesh. The doctor said it may be due to genetics, though none of my kin had any similar occurance. For me, I had pierced my ears during my rebellious mid-teen years and unfortunately, my skin had took it rather badly and all I got was the two meat-balls on my as battle trophy.
Anyway, so I didn't eat or drink anything in preparation for my surgical procedure, a move which left me easily irritated and numb the whole morning. And after school, I "MRTed" to Singapore General Hospital Ampulatory Surgery Centre where my delicate excision was going to be carried out.
There, I was given a plastic name tag on my wrist, and was made to lose my clothes, including my boxers and made to wear a blue robe and another kimono, also a paper umm... showering cap! Not to mention a paper underwear, which was packed in this plastic bag like a tampon or something. I accepted it as standard medical procedure for surgery, however I was pondering if the nurses and doctors in the operating rooms have to wear that too, especially if for the whole day. rofl...
Anyway, I was quickly escorted to the operating room and soon, I saw a teenager coming out. Later I learnt that he had a tattoo laser-surgically removed from his shoulderblade. Ouch! I think that must have hurt. Little did I realise my situation isn't gonna be any much easier. A rather chatty and friendly nurse wearing mask ushered me to the operating table, which looks rather like a large ironing board. The operating surgeon was Dr Leo, a friendly, young doctor had seen me 3weeks earlier for the keloid problem.
The operation started just before 3pm, and They shaded my eyes with a wet piece of cloth and applied some alcohol all over my ear and face. Then, came the injections, two of them. They were definately the most painful part of the operation. I am usually okay with injections, but am not too sure why this time, they were so painful I had to dig my nails into my fingers to distract myself from the pain.
The rest of the operation was quite smooth as I can't feel a thing. The nurse chatted with me and the doctor as the operation went on. She talked about her two sons, one of them taking his "o"-level exams this year, the other awaiting his results, as well as her sister's sons, who have both graduated as doctors. Her sister had migrated to Australia for a long time (to Adelaide), and her children had grew up there. Now, her sons, all grownup, had both got hitched. The eldest to a Scottish "ang moh" woman and the younger one to a Japanese. The nurse told me that her sister was upset that she's like not getting any heirs. hmmm... In my point of view, I guess growing up in cosmopolitan Australia, one can't blame the sons for choosing to wed someone outside their race. The environment brought them up that way.
Anyway, my operation ended rather quickly and I was soon guided out by another friendly nurse who informed me that things are rather busy today as they are short of one staff. I then changed out of the kimono and paper underwear and changed into my clothes, thereafter, I waited for further instructions.
When the instructions were given, by a senior nurse who's a China national who spoke rather good but heavily accented English, I went to get my medication and left. Feeling very much like myself, sans the keloids and the weird paper undergarment.
Here's a rather sick pic of my dressing, after the good riddance of the keloids. Byebye Keloids!

LX182

[my adventures in BKK, Part III)
When I felt it was time to check-in, I went to the Swiss check-in counter and sat on a luggage trolley, because all the seats (remember those blue chairs?) were taken by a huge group of Chinese muslims. Their features are of mainland Chinese features but they wear white headscarves and caps. One of them I spotted also wore a jet-black niqab and abaya. Though it was traditional and pious, she still looked quite stylish though. The weirdest thing was that they bought about 50 sacks of rice, which I presumed was the fragrant Thai Mali Rice. Other taped up boxes seems to be of agricultural produce. I guess their cargo was definately more outrageous than the 29inch Sony Wega TV I saw an Indian man carrying. In fact I saw two of those idiot boxes being packed. Hopefully, there won't be turbulance on his flight. Don't want those boob tubes (apparently that's slang for tv) bouncing up and down.

Anyway, when they opened the Swiss check-in counter, I went in, only to find that the customer officers won't be there till 1.45pm, which was like an hour later. So I just sat on my trolley and waited. I didn't mind the wait as I wanted to choose a particular seat number, 34A, which would offer me a good view of the plane's wing from the window. As I waited, the queue slowly grew as more kiasu Singaporeans joined the snaking line. I even overheard two aunties commenting that I looked Japanese, but I must be Singapore 'coz I was carrying a red passport. What a compliment haha. I After what seemed like eternity and a horribly full bladder later, I got my seat and jumped straight for the little boys' room.

I then paid 500baht for the airport tax (around SGD25) and marched into the portal of departure. Inside, there were the hustle and bustle of tourists and the situation was a little messy, with "final calls" announcements being continuously made. I saw two Aeroflot Russian International Airlines planes, which is really cool! But beside them, was an El Al Israel B777-200 (registration number 4X-ECB, plane name, {yeah, some airlines name their planes} "Negev")~! (o_0) woah.... One word, Spectacular!

Below are some other pictures I took.

When I finally had enough, I decided to go to my boarding gate. From there, I could see my plane was going to be parked next to the El Al Israel Airlines plane which was under heavy security.

I managed to take some pictures of my plane which had just arrived from Zurich, Switzerland. The plane registration is HB-JMI, the youngest A340-313X in Swiss International Airline's fleet.

On this new year's day flight LX182, it was quite packed with aunties who were doing new year's eve shopping. The announcements onboard were made in German, French, English and again, recordings in Thai and Mandarin. I was sitted next to a young Ang Moh guy, who looked rather crammed in that tiny seat. He was sleeping when the plane took off at about 4.14pm local time.

Later, when the stewardess was passing immigration cards for foreigners, I was surprised he declined it, explaining that he was a resident of Singapore. It was much later when I had a conversation with him that I found out he was previously of Canadian nationality and had been working in Singapore for sometime.

Soon, the meals were served and I was hungry. Yum yum. The meal was Pan-fried tilapia in black bean sauce accompanied by pak choy and egg-fried rice, served with a selection of fresh fruits. And guess what? I found out the meal the Business class passengers had is identical to Economy passengers', except they had another choice and perhaps better looking cutlery. I had also taken pics out of the window which I thought was a really beautiful sight to behold.

There seems to be more flight stewards than stewardesses on this flight. They were not as friendly as the ones I had on my outbound flight though. Quite amusing was when the stewardess walked by selling inflight stuff, calling out "Sales and watches, duty free... Sales and watches, duty free..." I thought it was quite unique to use the term, "sales and watches".

Anyway, the flight was quite uneventful, I was quite shagged by this ending chapter of my journey and all I wanted to do was get home and rest (actually to view the photos I had taken). Though I was worn out by my experience, I was satisfied and happy. It was worth it afterall. =]

We landed at 7.18pm local time and it was a breeze through the check-out counter. You can't imagine my excitement when I saw my dad's car coming to pick me up. It was a marvellous journey. Couldn't have been better.