Chengdu is the capital city of Sichuan province, western China (I think).

Most of us are familiar with (or should have at least heard of) Sichuan's spicy foods.

Eg. Sichuan vegetable, Ma2 La4 steamboat.

 

I was in Chengdu, Sichuan for a conference.

Met my Chinese friend Catherine, who hails from Zhejiang in Eastern China.

It was Cat's first trip to Chengdu and she went on a city tour.

I didn't join her as I was stuck in meetings.

 

Anyway, Cat bought a Sichuan specialty dish for me from one of their renowned restaurants.

7 stewed rabbit heads: 5 plain and 2 got hiam.

 

She delivered the heads to my room and unpacked them for me.

She looked expectantly as I took my seat on my room sofa in front of the 7 heads, staring blankly at them.

I started to break into cold sweat.

I was about to eat what used to be harmless, cute and fluffy...

 

Cat: " Meepok, do you dare to eat this?  I had 20 of them this afternoon. They are very, very nice !!"

 

Meepok (diplomatically): "Of course !! Wah ….. they look really nice but I had a really heavy dinner.  Maybe I'll have them later."

 

Cat: "Oh come on! Have a few! They won't fill your tummy and I guarantee that they're good."

 

Meepok (gulping): "Ok lah …."

 

I picked up the rabbit's head, with plastic gloves provided.

You can actually see the full form of the head, teeth, nose and all.

 

I mustered all my courage to sink my teeth into the head.

To be honest, it didn't taste that bad.

To make my friend happy, I actually whacked 3.

 

Cat: "Hey, I notice you didn't suck the eye and brain …."

I almost puked.

Eyes and brain?

Welcome to FEAR FACTOR (SICHUAN).

 

Meepok: "Err … I'm saving them for later.  I'll order beer to have them with.  Will do that after I shower."

 

Cat got the hint that I wanted to shower and left shortly after.

She was obviously pleased that her Singaporean (BRAVE) friend appreciated a rare Sichuan delicacy.

 

Well, this is what happened to the rabbit heads after Cat left the room.

 

 

I felt kinda bad throwing food away but I couldn't bring myself to suck more heads of Bugs Bunny's friends.

After my shower, I settled for something more conventional, Sichuan style.

A big bowl of oily and spicy Dan Dan Mian.

 

 

Wabbit Heads anyone?

 

 

 

Being adventurous (some say foolhardy), when on biz travel, I'll makan anything that my friends, clients, suppliers feed me.

In China, I've eaten standard stuff like char siew, roast duck to more exotic grub like scorpion soup, cow brain and penises of animals.

My modus operandi: If my friends in China find the food a delicacy, it's safe enough for me to eat.

This philosophy also explains why I get food poisoning at least 6 times a year.

To be fair, I kena food poisoning when I'm in S'pore (eg. Latest being eating bakuteh @ YWCA) and when I'm in India..

 

I was in Guangdong recently.

Cantonese are well known for their culinary excellence.

They are extremely picky about food.

Hence most restaurants in Guangdong are world-class and they are also HUGE.

 

I went to one recently.

It had 6 floors

Each floor was at least 30,000 sq ft (25 HDB, 4-room flats)

 

 

This was the place in the restaurant where you'd pick what you want to eat.

It's the size of the cold foods section of GIANT or Careffour (is this how you spell it?).

 

You pick your seafood from the aerated glass tubs (in pic above)

Alternatively, you pick them from an aquarium.

No kidding!!

See for yourself … it's only one section.

 

There were so many types of fish.

Some were disgusting looking.

I assumed all were edible.

 

There was also a roast meat and stewed meat section.

It's a whole row of cooked food maciam food court like that.

Didn't take a pic. 

Too many disgusting animals are being stewed and hung to dry.

 

Then there was a "small dishes" (xiao3 cai4) section.

There were easily 200 of them displayed.

Didn't know where to start, so I anyhow pointed at 5 of them.

 

 

 

My Guangdong friend, Wen, picked a fish (it's a groupa that looked like an iguana) that was steamed and abalone soup.

I ordered fish maw cooked with white cabbage too.

(I had to choose one from 30 ways of cooking the dish .... sigh... troublesome for an ignoramus like me)

 

It was a hearty meal for 2.

Cost us S$400.

Extremely expensive even by Singapore standards but it was damn good.

 

Stay tuned for my gastronomic adventure in Chengdu, Sichuan.

 

p/s Checked and found out that Cantonese don't eat hum.

  

2,973

Does this number ring a bell?
It's the death toll at World Trade Centre (twin towers) on 11th Sept 2001.

 

Was watching documentaries on TV yesterday commemorating the 5^th anniversary.

Memories of the "out of box thinking" act of terror flooded back.

 

6,5XX,XXX,XXX

 

Pick a number to fill in the rest of the X's.

These are the number of people whose lives changed since 11^th Sept 2001.

Sometimes we forget how that single act of terror changed government policies (whether domestic or foreign) that affected all of us, both in big and small ways.

 

Sometimes we wonder if the act would have happened if the American's didn't have a long history of "injecting military presence" into Islamic worn-torn countries "to help ensure democracy".

 

Well, my friends, we have witnessed an event that changed the course of history.  Hope there won't be many more in our lifetimes.

Ever wonder how gambling affects a family?

Do you know why I'm so against the Gahmen approving casinos in S'pore?

 

Below is a situation I've come across.

You decide for yourself whether my fears for having casinos in S'pore are unfounded.

 

Sally, 23, was my admin assistant in my previous company.

She's Malaysian and earns an honest living in Singapore.

The Sally I knew was a cheerful, helpful and loving gal.

However, things have changed.

 

3 years ago, she married John, also a Malaysian, a technician who worked in Tuas.

They bore a son (not shotgun marriage) and were living a reasonably comfortable life.

Both being O level (equivalent) holders, their monthly household income was in the range of $2,500 (including overtime).

 

John was a simple and earnest guy who loves Sally and their child.

That was until he was introduced to the world of soccer betting in early 2006.

Initially, he was a runner for a bookie in S'pore.

Due to lunar madness (or otherwise), he decide to take bets himself.

The returns were good initially.

However, one bad game result landed him in $30,000 of debt in S'pore.

Sally and John exhausted their life savings and were only able to clear $20,000.

As a last resort, Sally approached me and a few of my ex-colleagues in April 2006 to borrow money (about $7,000) to clear the debt.

She promised to return us the $$ in monthly installments.

I was to get my $$ back from Oct 06.

As for John, because of the debt problems, he chose to return to KL to work.

A few months passed and I didn't hear from Sally.

 

I was out with friends last night, my phone rang.

 

Me: "Hello ….(tiang kar pager?)"

Sally: "Meepok !! … I'm Sally !!! ……."

Me: "Sally, what's wrong?...."

Sally sobbed uncontrollably and said: "I don't know what to do !! My hubby still owes pple money!!"

Me: "Stop crying ok?  I thought we helped to clear his debt in April?  What happened?"

Sally: "He still owes pple in Msia money.  His sister has paid the bulk of it and now they are chasing me for 3,000 ringitt.  What am I to do? We don't have the money. They are now knocking on my door !!"

 

I was pissed.

John was an irresponsible hubby who brought misery to his wife because of his gambling habit.

I told Sally that I'd lend the money (S$1,500) on one condition: I needed to speak to her hubby.

She was initially hesitant as she said her hubby is a proud man, blah blah ….

I told her: "Ask him if he wants the money to save your family or not.  If the answer is yes, ask him to call me."

 

John called within the next 30 minutes.

My conversation with him was cordial.

I told him that I'm lending my hard earned money to his wife and child, and not him.

His foolish acts had caused his family a lot of distress.

John assured me that the $1,500 is the last of his debts and he had learnt his lesson, never to gamble again.

I wired the money shortly after.

 

Our Gahmen is planning to open 2 casinos in S'pore.

To address the public's concern about gambling addiction, they are setting up counseling centres for those stuck in the gambling rut.

Hey, Gahmen!  Why you create a problem then set up something to solve it?

Isn't this, what we Hokkiens call, LPPL?

Honestly, the time spent on issues pertaining to casino related industry is better spent enhancing policies in healthcare, transport and education.

I can go on for days re this casino issue and why I'm dead against it

 

Oh, by the way, I don't think I'll ever get back my S$3,000 from Sally and her hubby …..

Why? The answer is simple.

Once you start on the slippery road of gambling, there's no turning back.

 

How many John's and Sally's are there going to be once the casinos are up?

First there was legalized football betting.

Now, there will be 2 casinos.

What next? Legalised doping joints (not Subutex) ?

 

Gahmen ….. are you really listening to your people ?

Sometimes your policies leave a foul taste in your people's mouths.

Yes, like having "hum" in meesiam (a superfluous and often detrimental "enhancement to the current state of affairs")

 

Hence, like our PM, I prefer to have my meesiam mai hum.

When I started running, the road in front of me was clear.

Maciam airport runway.

Straight, flat, dark and relatively kosong (like Grace Jones as Mayday of James Bond fame)

 

 

My number tag was yellow in colour indicating that I'm running in the men's open event.

As I ran past people along the way, I checked their tags and they were all blue !!

I didn't know what blue stood for and I assumed they are 10km runners.

 

"Die already lah.  I'm 30 minutes late for 21km run.  What if they close the roads for the 21km run?", I thought.

 

I picked up my pace and after 20 min, I finally caught up with my first yellow tag runner.

He looked like the spokesperson for Ai Min weight reduction programme (before treatment) and was rolling along the ECP down Sheares Bride, covered in a mixture of sand, sweat melted fats (oil) and blood.

 

Hey, I'm not mocking him.

He had the determination to do the race while many fitter ones were still snoozing.

I was so relieved when I saw him.

As I sped past him, I gave him a pat in the back and said: "Well done brudder! You're looking good !!".

He gave me a weak nod, wry smile and thumbs up, while gasping wildly for air and wiping his sweat soaked brows.

I hope he managed to finish the race safely.

 

As I continued my run past the 10km mark, I confirmed that the blue tags were non-competitive 21km runners.

No wonder there were so many ah sohs and ah peks with blue tags.

Heng ah …. Got a lot of them behind me.

So the roads won't close.

Phew!!

 

From that point, the run became really enjoyable …. No stress.

It was a cool and pleasant morning, save a few NS boys who reeked cos they didn't shower for 3 weeks.

I took my paces down Sheares Bridge, East Coast Parkway, Fort Road, Nicoll Highway.

As I run along Nicoll Highway, I landed my feet lightly.

Who knows what the cheap contractors put in the ground after winning the Gahmen tender.

I don't have enough money to pay for a collapsed highway, you know?

 

I then turned into Beach Road, middle Road then Bencoolen Road.

I didn't know there were so many "love hotels" along Bencoolen Road.

Yep, those hourly booking ones with secret exits.

It's only when you pass by slowly enough that you'd spot these quick get-away gates (ie. not possible in car).

I also kept a lookout for Zhongguo char bor.

Didn't find them ... drats !!

 

Ran past National Museum (it's now restored), up Penang Road, Havelock Road, Outram Road (got new Hawker centre) and to South Bridge Road and back to City Hall.

 

Not to sound to hao lian…. I was feeling pretty fresh when I finished my face.

(Told you I was physically ready for my run right?)

I think I ran my fastest 21km Army Half Marathon to date.

However, I don't think there will be an official time for me as I started 30 min late.

I think I did maybe 2h or so.

Aiyah …. Dunno lah.  Don't care.

 

 

Well, this is the fruit of my labour.

The run was 4 days ago and today, my thighs are still aching a bit.

Extended fruit of my labour.

 

I'm looking forward to my stanchart 42km run on 3rd Dec already...... 

 

Wanna join me ??

 

 

 

 

Please!! Park your perverse thoughts aside for the time being ……..

Hear me out…..

 

27^th August (Sunday) was my army half marathon (21km).

I signed up for it 3 months ago and 7 weeks ago, I started running almost every morning before work and during weekends to prep the run.

I was physically ready … heart rate was down and muscles toned.

 

On 26^th Aug (Sat), I went to celebrate my uncle's birthday.

I was wolfing down bowls of rice as part of my carbohydrate loading routine.

One of my cousins told me that Hungry Ghost festival was over.

But noticing my crazed look, she simply rolled her eyes and walked away.

Before I went to bed at 11pm, I taped my toes to prevent blisters from the run.

(I think I need a pedicure too …)

 

I had problems sleeping.

Was really excited about the run.

The new route will take me from the Durians (Esplandade), to Shenton way, up Sheares bridge, then to East Coast Park, then to Nicoll Highway, Orchard Road, Chinatown and back to City Hall.

Actually, the thought of chasing (and beo-ing) hot bods char bor runners was the main cause of my "insomnia".

 

Alarm went off at 4.20 am.

Dragged my carcass out of bed.

Went about the normal routine of washing up, clearing bowels (pang-sai, in hokkien).

Then came the part I hate most.

Hydration + Sugar and carbo loading.

 

Water + Hazel nut bread  + banana + power bars.

I tell you, power bars are nasty.

Every bite maciam swallow 10 tablespoons of sugar.

It was so bad that I had to use the bread and water to wash it down.

It was so bad that the banana actually became tasteless !!

I force fed myself for 10 min …. Almost puking on several occasions.

 

Changed, hopped into a cab, and reached Durian at 5.10 am.

Started my warm up at 5.15 am.

Didn't see too many army boys around.

I thought to myself: "wah, this year the turnout is quite bad.  Have our ah-ping-ge turned soft (in more ways than one)?"

At around 5.30 am, I heard a distant roar …… and thought: "Seow!! DJ must be nuts. 6 am start run. 5.30 am start warming up the crowd for what?".

 

All this time, I had no clue where the starting point was, except it was near the Durian.

Continued to stretch but I started to draw curious stares from passers-by, supporters of runners.

I boh chaped them, (wishful) thinking to myself that they was ogling at my body.

I also applied a lot of lubricants (to prevent abrasions only ok?) and pain killers.

 

At 5.45 pm, I started walking towards One Fullerton, near the start point.

I bumped into my ex-boss's hubby, Tom.

Tom and I chatted for about 5 min.

Tom told me he dropped his wife 30 min ago at the starting point.

As we parted ways, "wah …. Nowadays pple quite on.  So early go starting point".

 

As a approached the starting banner at 5.55 am, the road along fullerton bridge was empty, save a few pudgy old men, ah sohs and blur cock NS boys.

 

I approached one of the race officials (blur cock NS Boy) and asked why the turn out was so bad.

 

He said: "Errrr…. Sir, the race started a long time ago …..".

 

"Hah? !!! How long ago???!!!!?",  I asked

 

Official: "A long time ago lah ….."

 

I could have strangled him but restrained myself and said: "Long ago is 5.30 am izit?".

 

He replied: "Ya lor" and went to back standing straight, sleeping with his eyes open. (It's true that Army boys leave their brains in a jar while on NS).

 

 

Suddenly, it all came to light.

 

The roar at 5.30am was the start of the run !!!

 

It also dawned upon me that the people who saw me still stretching at 5.40am must be thinking: "This guy is either damn fast that he pang-chance to the other runners or he is so slow that being late doesn't make a difference to his race timing".

 

Last the revelation was the most painful …..

The chio-bus are one-quarter through the race and there I was standing in front of a blur cock NS boy.

 

For the first time in all my long distance runs, I had to come from behind......

 

More to follow …..

 

Remember baby Tory?

I'm pretty sure his medical condition is real.

And so are his hospital bills.

 

Remember I'm in contact with his uncle Ong to arrange for a visit to Batam to visit Tory at home?

Well, more than 1 week has passed and he didn't revert with details.

I chased him like hell for it and all I get is an occasion response via sms.

He said they are staying in a rented house in Batam and don't have their own phone.

Hard to reach, he says.

I told him I needed to assess their current living conditions to ascertain the level of assistance my friends and I can offer financially.

 

It's hard to believe that for a family in desire straits, they'd be tardy to receive someone who is prepared to help (actually in S'pore, a lot of needy families are like that. Waiting for handouts. Hello ..... I work hard to my money, you know? )

I told Uncle Ong to take me to Batam, because if it mattered enough to him, he'll make it happen.

He's been pretty stand-off-ish since.

Maybe he thinks I'm nuts (many people do…)

Whole day chase him for answers.

 

Anyway, I'll give him more time to respond.

Who knows, Tory parents may be looking for a rented house now, in preparation for my visit, ………….. in their new Mercedes 500.

 

Who knows ……….. (I'm quite cynical hor?)