Lunar eclipse on 28 Aug 07

Dear SG,

You missed the Lunar eclipse last evening because of cloudy skies, I read it on http://www.channelnewsasia.com/

I'm so sorry you've missed it, it was an interesting phenomenon. The moon was really bright and high in the NZ sky last night (9pm NZ time). As it moved into the Earth's shadow, more stars were visible and the stars shines brighter. By the time it was completely in the shadow, it was reddish in colour because of the reflection of light from the Earth's atmosphere.

This is the first time I make plans to watch a Lunar eclipse, we bought Pizza so that we can fill our stomach and enjoy the phenomenon at the same time. However, our Pizza was delayed because the staffs had forgotten to add Bacon to half of our BBQ Chicken and Bacon Pizza. To compensate us, they gave the "damage" goods to us for free and bake us another pizza. We had to watch the start of the Lunar eclipse in front of the Pizza store.

By the time we got home and was enjoying our pizza in the yard, the moon was nearly gone. The sky had turn cloudy and the wind was picking up. I was so cold from the wind I had to put on ski wear! hee.... (not that I've ever went skiing before but you get the idea)

It then started to rain a little when the moon had been completely in the shadow for a while. It was too cold and windy for me to stay out in the yard, thus we gave up the idea of watching the rest of the eclipse and went back to our bedroom.

Dearest SG, no matter where we are, I'm glad we are sharing the same sky, the only difference is that we are watching it from a different angle.

with love from NZ,

J

Slower tempo in NZ?

Dear SG,



Everyone is saying that Singapore moves at a really fast pace. We walk faster, talk faster, and eat faster. Life just pass by in a flash. But if Singaporean are fast, why couldn't we catch a housefly?



My 5 year old kiwi nephew here could hit a fly since the age of 3. The only problem is his height, he can only go as high as he can reach. So why is the houseflies in NZ slower? Or are they really slower?

Joseph told me that it's probably because of the scent they used in the house just for summer time. The scent makes insects like bees and flies disorientated and dizzy (I didn't know insects will have fainting spells too). This cause their reflex to be slow down. Interesting...







Oh well, try to relax a bit more in SG, life is too short. Cherish each moment so that we may look back with no regrets.

with love from NZ,
J

Need MC or not?

Dear SG,

I'm not feeling well today and so I'm staying home to rest. The good thing about NZ is that there is a certain degree of trust in the system. So long as we don't abuse it, we are allow to take sick leave without a Medical Certificate (MC). Since I should be resting instead of blogging, I will end my post for now.

May everyone be bless with good health and hearty laugh.

with love from NZ,
J

Car trouble...

Dear SG,

When we got back from Singapore, our first major problem was the cars. Both our cars won't start. They've been left out in the cold winter for too long without any loving touch from us. We've only been away for 2 weeks or so... I guess we should have hire a car-sitter to watch after our cars for us. A professional car-sitter to start the cars each day, "walk" them, "feed" them nutritional fuel, "groom" them, and "play" with them. Sigh... how will we know our cars will give us the silent treatment when we are back?

Just a few minutes ago, Andrew was replying an email to reserve a car lot for a meeting with a financial consultant. The email request was for Andrew to give the details of his car so that they can identify it and won't tow it away for packing in the reserved lot for their customers. Andrew type down the make and the model, then suddenly turn around and asked me, "What's the car plate of our Nissan???!!!" In SG, cars are a luxury item. We would have never forget any tiny details related to our expensive and precious car. Yet in NZ, our attitude to our cars did a 180 degree changed because they are so affordable here.

Just in case we don't remember the details again, our cars are
19 something year, Dark Green Honda with a round and long backside - BTT803
2000 something year, Silver Nissan with no backside - DYS627

Just don't ask me about the year and the model, I don't remember... *embarrassed*

with love from NZ,
J

Happy Birthday Singapore

Dear SG,

It’s been a while since my last blog. We’ve actually went back to Singapore to celebrate the Singapore’s National Day and came back again soon after. When we got back home, almost everyone asked us this question, “Now that you have some experiences living in Auckland, which do you prefer? Singapore or New Zealand?”

We always replied, “Having lived in Singapore for most of our life, New Zealand is certainly a refreshing change. But we still love Singapore. Singapore is like our “parent” and New Zealand is like our “parent-in-laws”. You can’t help but have strong feeling for both places.

David helped us recorded the National Day Parade on a disk. We brought it back so that the 2 nephews here will be able to see the grand celebration held in Singapore every year. Happy national day Singapore.

With love from NZ,
j