Mind Whispers

Autumn 2015

Autumn in 2015. Feel so good seeing the colorful scene.

金光闪闪

蓝天，白云，红叶

I always enjoy my father's fruit trees in my kampung: guava, papaya, longan, durian, dragon fruit, starfruit, banana, etc. I even made a wish that i will have lot of fruit trees near my house. This year, i have good harvest. Will gambatter for next year.

Google translate:
"我喜欢在我家乡的果树：番石榴，木瓜，龙眼，榴莲，火龙果，杨桃，香蕉等，我甚至许了一个愿望，我将有很多果树在我家附近。这一年，我有一个好收成。"

Nectarine

Apple

Pears

前人种树，后人收成.

Moving out from 146 Yishun Street 11, Singapore Rental

I was asked to leave by the landlady. I have been renting the master room for 3 years++, and without proper notification, the landlady advertised my room and invited prospect tenant for viewing. :<

Description of the room:
"Master room Yishun Blk 146 for rent. chinese house 4room flat. Room with attach bathroom and heater. No aircon. got bed wardrobe fan. Can rent to single tenant male or lady stay. Available on end april 2014. Only $700 include pub bill. corner room. Near to mrt station, bus interchange, shopping mall. Tenant call / whatsapp vincent 9101**** +show full number for viewing "

The advertisement was posted on 20 March and available 20 Apr 2014. I guess the property agent has advised my landlady that i can move out with one month notice. It is very unethical for them to do this without informing me first. I tried searching for other rental option, one thing bad about property rental in Singapore is that, there is no user review. So, maybe i can write my own review here.

The location is very good as it is close to Yishun MRT, Northpoint shopping mall, and Chong Pang market. My rental fee is $550 in 2010 (water, electric bill, bed, wardrobe, ceiling fan and light cooking), which i think is quite attractive for the location. All good things but the dark side is the room and house is badly maintained.

The block is near to car park and main road, noisy
Window curtain is thin
Water pressure in the shower room is low
Water leaks, leaks, leaks..

Toilet bowl is old
Window frame is rusty
Mattress is thin and bed frame is soft
3 Wardrobe partitions are not usable
Table and chair is IKEA standard, fragile
Fridge is always stuffed with food (last year moon cake, 2 months grape in big container, i suspect the landlady put the container there to stop me from adding milks, HL milks are mine)

Trash area always look dirty, cockroach (life or dead) is common

Whole house is cluttered with things, a lot of things

OK, i do feel unhappy because i was asked to leave. But the bad reviews are all true. I moved out on 1 May. So, 88 to BLK 146 room.

Power Bank - New Trent Icarrier and GP GL343

I bought New Trent ICarrier 12000mAh in May 2013 and the unit aged by Dec 2013. I cannot fully charge the power bank now. I am thinking to retire it. It is quite disappointing as i read many good reviews on it before i buy. It used to charge 100% Note, 100% Iphone 5 and 50% iPad in one cycle. Now, iPad can hardly reach 50%. My 98SGD is a waste and i start to think buying electronic gadget is like gambling, you do not know when the device fail (and some one told me power bank has no warranty...geram!).

12000mAH and SGD98 fails, so i get another cheaper and smaller capacity power bank. I think more capacity is not necessary better, fast speed can also fail. This round, i am picking a Singapore brand GP. I do not find many reviews on it as most reviews are based on Western brand. Hope this one will last longer. It costs me SGD28.80 from FairPrice March Promotion 2014.

GP Portable PowerBank GL343 4000mAh, the specification seems attractive: lithium-polymer battery and 4 level battery protection....wow. I am greedy, i bought 2 units.

Technical features

Charging time: 6 hours
Input current: 800 mA
Output current: 1000 mA
Number of outputs: 1
Suitable for smartphone: yes
Suitable for tablet: yes
Size: 109x66x11mm
Weight: 108 grams

i Light Marina Bay Singapore on 29 March 2014

Weather: Humid and unpleasant.

I was at Marina Bay on Earth Day. This year, we had Spider (+ men).

There were 28 innovation light arts on display and some that caught my eyes:

Beat (i see Egg)

Cloud (i see eruption)

Digital Wattle (i see meat stick)

Floating Hearts (i see many luvs)

Happy Croco

Joujou-Ours (i cant tell the difference between bear and dog)

Mimosa (it senses motion and i senses air-con, COOL)

Welcoming 2014 in Bali 在巴厘岛迎接2014

Normally i will avoid traveling at the end of December, but not for Dec 2013. We hired a driver with a car (his name is Putu from Abadi Company) for 2.5 days around the island. Total fee for this arrangement = 450k + 450k + 300k = 120 000 IDR. He can speak simple English and contactable at abadi_guide@yahoo.com. The fee includes driver + car + petrol and all parking fee. Since tipping was common in Bali, we tipped the driver and bought him lunch as well.

Day 1 (transportation and driver costs 300k IDR) - Uluwatu

My spec was grabbed by a monkey. End up i had to tip (20k IDR) a staff for him to get my spec back. I wonder if the monkey is trained to do this trick. We missed the dance performance as the tickets were sold out (not free anymore).

Day 2 (transportation and driver costs 450k IDR) - Taman Ayun --> Lake Beratan --> Paddy field --> Tanah Lot

Taman Ayun

Lake Beratan

Paddy field

Tanah Lot

Day 3 (450k IDR) - Besakih --> Kintamani --> Tirtha Empul --> Elephant Cave

Besakih – we are stopped from entering the inner part of the temple. This might be the reason that not many local tourists are visiting this place. Some staffs were (some with camera) asking us to pay tips in order to accompany us into the temple, we rejected the offer. The staffs at the ticket checking point also urged us into donating money. We had a bad experience visiting this temple as we felt the people was not honest and wanted to make money from us. However, the view of the temple with Mount Agung at the background is great.

Mount Kintamani

Tirtha Empul

Elephant Cave

Money record:

Airport taxi to Seminyak hotel - 120k per car (fixed fare for airport taxi)

Taxi from Jimbaran hotel to airport (fixed price)- 150k per car

Minimarket: cheapest is Indomarket, followed by Circle K and M Mini Market.

Mineral water 1.5liter – 3600-4000

Can Coffee – 5k

Nescafe can coffee – 10k

Instant cup noodle - 6000

Public toilet - 2k to 5k

McDonald meal (pancake breakfast set) - 26k

Entrance Fee per person

Uluwatu - 20k

Taman Ayun - 15k

Lake Beratan - 30k

Tanah Lot - 30k

Goa Gajah (Elephant Cave) - 15k

Tirtha Empul - 15k

Kintamani - 15k

Besakih Sarung rental - 10k

Besakih - 15k

Food

Jimbaran seafood Lia Café – package C price increases from 350k (mid 2013) to 380K (dec 2013) + 10% tax. One of the staff was from Kelantan (Malaysia). This place has many good review for reasonable price (compared to other expensive Jimbaran seafood) and they helped us to call a taxi at the end of our meal.

The view is the expensive part

Bali seafood - grilled seafood is the specialty (i think it was overdone - burnt and not cooked)

Ibu Okla Babi Guling (suckling pig) 40k-50k++. Famous in Bali but i prefer Chinese version.

Normal Babi Guling at roadside: 35k per set, 4k for drink

Warung Totemo (get discount voucher from POP!Hotel) - a restaurant near Kuta hotel.

Cost 112k for 2 person.
Satay Ayam (chicken)

Beef

Ayam Soto

Luwak Coffee at some plantation, 50K for a small cup. Too bad I am not a coffee drinker.

Warung Malang - near Kuta hotel. I like this place and i see some locals patron this place. Cost 107k for 2 person.

Hotel

Private pool villa at Bali Ayu Hotel and Villas - i like the private pool, room service, open shower room, etc. The only bad side is the location. Nothing special nearby and walking to beach is 15 min. 86 USD per night and i get the whole villa (good privacy).

POP! Hotel. Situated near busy Kuta beach. Budget stay (41USD per night), complimentary wifi and breakfast. I like the breakfast (nasi campur, nasi kuning, nasi ...)

Abi Bali Luxury Resort and Villa - this hotel is quite far from everything (beach, shop, mini market, food). However, it is quiet and well maintained. 120USD per night.