| 1998 |
Diary for January
|
 |
4th January |
Arrived back in Singapore at 16:45, exactly on time despite leaving London
an hour late due to freight containers blowing onto the runway in the heavy winds!! Stocked
up on duty free at the airport ... so much cheaper than Singapore shops. |
|
| 5th January |
Oh no ... my local cheap Indian food stall has closed down.... don't know
why yet but will endeavour to find out. |
|
| 6th January |
The barman thinks it's closed for the Moslem fasting... but all the signs
have been taken down ... the plot thickens. Next thrilling installment tomorrow. |
|
7th January |
The tailor next door to the ex-Indian cafe says "They just closed down, something
fishy behind"? Was it the tandoori fish ... or the goldfish pond in the back garden
... who knows. |
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8th January |
The guy in the dry cleaners thinks it's the rising rent that has driven
them out. |
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9th January |
Michael Jackson (see 18th September) saw the lorry arrive
and take away all the furniture when the Indian place closed. He introduced me to
"hor-something"(a fishy dish) at the Chinese food place. |
|
10th January |
Still not got over jet lag properly as I'm going into a very deep sleep for a couple
of hours every afternoon. You know how it is when you're walking up the stairs, and you
get to the top, and you think there's one more step? I'm like that all the time! |
|
11th January |
Wow .. another huge cine-complex has just opened near here. Cinemas, Food
Junction, shops and a mega games arcade type place. I've just tried out VR-1 ..... "VR-1.
the world's first motion based fully immerse virtual reality attraction! The players take
a ride in a space ship which is equipped with simulation mechanisms. The player will wear
a head Mounted Display [HMD], which allows a 360 degree view for the participant. The
players compete for a team score by downing the enemies viewed in 360 degrees perspectives"
...bit of an anti climax really :-( |
|
12th January |
A Chinese girl arrived at school late today. She said her alarm clock didn't go
off. She said "Solly sir, don't scold me, scold my crock (clock)". |
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13th January |
Went to school this morning with bits of toilet paper all over my face where I'd cut
myself shaving. One of the boys in my class and pointed it out to me but what did the 75
people on the bus think ? What a plonker !!! A CD re-writer costs S$700 .... will they
come down in price I wonder.
Skipped lunch today so had an extra large (vegetarian) meal this evening ... now I'm
fit to drop.(Who reads this drivvel?) |
|
14th January |
Amazing the number of times pupils hand in homework on faxed sheets. If I give out a
homework question sheet and a pupil forgets to take it home or looses it, they just phone
a friend who'll fax them their copy...... none of that happened when I was at school you
know!! |
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15th January |
Went to a Ceilidh this evening organised by the Singapore
St Andrews society. The band were on route from Scotland to New Zealand to play in a
festival there... they were very good. The atmosphere was more Scottish than anything I've
seen in Scotland!! |
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16th January |
It's a small world but I wouldn't want to paint it! |
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17th January |
Saw an Indian film (no subtitles) called "Chachi 420". It was a hilarious
remake of "Mrs Doubtfire" with the addition of Indian songs and fight scenes.
Very funny. |
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18th January |
Cross country skiing is great if you live in a small country. |
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19th January |
Happy Birthday Nan, 88
today. I hope I get to be 88 when I'm your age !!! |
|
20th January |
Planning my trip to Thailand today. Would you like me to bring you back some jewelry? "Hundreds
of dangerously radioactive gemstones are in circulation in Asian markets and some have
found their way into finished jewelry in Bangkok. Radiological tests conducted in Bangkok
showed levels of radiation in some stones were more than 50 times the US safety limit and
could cause health problems including cancer. The concerns centre on batches of a popular
semi-precious stone called ‘cat’s eye’ which are thought to have been
irradiated to change their colour from yellow, when they are worth a few hundred US
dollars per carat, to an unusual chocolate colour worth thousands of dollars per carat. It
is believed that low quality gems from India are being exported to Indonesia for radiation
enhancement and sold from there. Several hundred carats of the stones are thought to be
circulating in Bangkok." |
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21st January |
Realised I haven't put any new photographs on the web this year yet so I took
photographs of my Grade 7
pupils using Superlogo on the school computers. |
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22nd January |
When I arrived in Singapore last August, the exchange rate was £1 = S$ 2.40. Since
then the Singapore dollar has slowly decreased in value, my salary along with it! Take a
look at the value of the Singapore dollar today:
Click here. |
|
23rd January |
The school year here is divided into two semesters and today is the end of the first.
We are exactly half way through the school year. About twenty of our students graduated
today so this evening I attended my first, American style, graduation ceremony. Very well
done .. bought a tear to a glass eye! Rushed home to pack as my plane leaves at 8:50 in
the morning. |
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24th - 31st January |
Trip to
Thailand |
|
One night in Bangkok makes a hard
man humble
Not much between despair and ecstasy
One night in Bangkok and the tough guys tumble
Can't be too careful with your company
I can feel the devil walking next to me.
[from the musical CHESS] |
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