My Bicycle Commuting - a walkway across the Green Corridor

A new walk path was built joining Biomedical Clove to 79 Commonwealth Dr car park allowing those working in Biopolis to walk over to Tanglin Halt market for food. It also allows me easier passage across the Green Corridor. Less bumpy for the bike, and avoid the narrow curvy Portsdown road with speeding cars. (20 Dec 2013)

My Bicycle Commuting - a new way to come down from Mt Faber

Being lazy to ride down towards west when I am heading somewhere on the East, so I explored another way to come down from Mt Faber.

Quite a number of flights of stairs to walk. (15 Dec 2013)

My Bicycle Commuting - What's the rush?

The driver saw me, and just because my bicycle can't cause harm to him, he just ignore me, the stop sign, and continue turning his car out. Sigh... a big eat small world. (11122013)

My Bicycle Commuting - A short quiet tracked unused but maintained

This few blocks in Dover have been under SERS but now some of them rented out to students and others. There is this small park besides AYE opposite NUH/NUS-SOM. At the moment, I think no body is using them. Nevertheless, I find them being well maintained.

My Bicycle Commuting - ride with the horses

This is one of my favourite routes because can see the beauty of horses and at times like this case, more beauties. (18 Oct 2013)

Edit: oops, forgot to share the location. This is along Jalan Mashhor.

My Bicycle Commuting - a short forest-like route

This was an interesting find when I explored going from Camp road to Dempsey side a few months ago. I rode this route again last Friday.

My cycling in Singapore experiences - barking dogs

This is in reference to the article "Cyclist chased by pack of dogs at Bukit Brown" on June 2, 2013 home section of the Sunday Times.

 I am not a dog lover, and am quite against keeping pets. I just find the article too bias against dogs, and will very likely lead to the deaths of these innocent dogs. The road mentioned is a dead end road which most will not ride into. I rode that route accidentally one Sunday evening last Oct, and was also barked at by the dogs, who came crowded around me, but that's all. Nothing much to worry about.

I am also not an expert in dealing with stray dogs, but from my experiences with dogs while cycling, including those huge ones in industrial areas, and such "stray" or I prefer natural dogs in the wild, I would like to share what I understand.

Basically, I think dogs will bark at intruders, especially those that they detected only at close distance, and their intention is to make a stand telling the intruders that the place is their territory. Thus, this is what I do, and would advise others:
a) Don't ride silently in dogs areas. Have some music on speakers so that dogs will not be shocked by you, are more prepared to expect something approaching them, and have more time to access what is approaching.
b) When barked at, don't assume they are going to attack. Just continue at same or slower speed.
c) If approached, I think their intention is just to sniff your smell.
d) Soon, you will be further away from them and they will go back to their life.

The above is my amateur understandings and methods which have worked for me couple of times.. Please do check with dogs or wild life experts on dealing with them.

I hope the peaceful life of these dogs and the residents there will not be terminated by the above news article.

But too late.. heard that the AVA people had already been to Bukit Brown :(

The neglected R of the 4 Rs

I learned about the 4 Rs on being more earth friendly a few years back. Recycle is the most well known. Reuse could be the second most well known. I think the last two should need more publicity.

I think the third is reduce. I find it contradictory to conduct reuse competition and projects when participants, even though may be told to collect used item, just buy the materials they need. Sometime even though the main item is truly used item, but the auxiliary items aren't. If, by reusing something you increase, instead of reduce, the consumption of another item, may be it is not worthwhile reusing. Thus, it is more important to stress on the concept of reduce than reuse. It is better to have nothing spare for reuse than to have spare things for reuse.

The neglected one is refuse or reject. In a way, recycle is the most effective way, but that is not on the part of consumer, but the manufacturer, starting from the designer. The design and materials used for a product should be as recyclable as possible. However, if they don't have pressure from the consumer to do so, they are not likely to do so. Thus, as consumers we should learn to refuse and reject products where the recyclable level is low.

One practice I think that can combine the last two is by buying custom made products. Take for example printed T shirts. I think most people don't like to see many others on the street wearing the same T-shirt. Wouldn't it be nice if you can print your own T shirt? For example, if you are a fan of Navy, you may consider printing some navy t shirts, or if you want to spread stories about pirates, you can wear Pirate T shirts. In so doing, T shirt companies may end up reduce their productions for the mass market when more people refuse/reject mass produced products.

Natural "disasters"

There is a saying in Chinese, "天灾人祸" combining two types of disasters, natural and man made.

It seems the formal type is much more emphasized when earthquakes occurs, but I wonder if the latter is the main culprit for casualties. The recent earthquake in New Zealand where there isn't a single death, may suggest it is.

Earthquakes don't really kill directly. Most mammals just felt the shake. Most trees don't fall. Most fishes and birds might not even be affected.

Then, how did human beings get killed or injured in earthquakes? I think the recent earthquake in New Zealand quite clearly suggests that earthquakes don't really kill human beings, but many times it was the unsafe/unnatural structures that were designed and built by human beings that killed and injured the victims.

Vehicles in the eyes of toddlers

A friend's son favorite toys are heavy plants such as bulldozer, huge trucks, and etc. I was wondering why these things attract the boy attention. My own son is also very interested to know about these and different vehicles. At 1+ year, he could identify taxi, bus, van, lorry, concrete mixer, bicycle, etc. I has been wondering why too.

Another related question I have is why characters in children stories are usually animals, and wrongly suggest that they talk like human?

This morning, I thought of a possible reason

A bit late when we see symptoms on skin

Ironically, the 7 Cream with Manuka Honey description starts with:

The develpoment of 7 Cream may seem like something of a contradiction because I have stressed many times on this site that the healing of skin conditions has to come from within.

I agree. What we see on the skin is similar to ... the iceberg we see on the surface of the ocean. However, as the site name is Natural-Skin-Health.com, it is worthwhile to make a visit there.

Post Sponsored by Natural-Skin-Health.com

Some kind of colonies?

What's this?

Energy saving and portable energy improves living standards

Although I don't call myself an environmentalist, I do want to use less energy. Energy saving is my top priority in selecting my refrigerator three years ago. This, and also water saving will be my main criteria for my yet to get washing machine. Thus, I am curious to find out more about these Dirt Devil Accucharge^TM vacuums that are Energy Star approved.

On further research, I am surprised to find only ... two brands have their hand held vacuum cleaning products Energy Star approved! Dirt Devil claims theirs is the first approved products in this category, while the other brand didn't mention so. However, I find it interesting that both technology starts with the same 4 letters "Accu".

By the way, if any blogger who is reading this and resides in the US is interested to blog abou this product, you may participate in their contest by creating the most clever or outrageous story and post it before 4:00 p.m. EDT on July 9, 2008, to win a Dirt Devil AccuCharge prize pack valued at $109.98. For complete contest details please visit read this e-document.

With better battery and charging technology, my dream of staying in the nature and still able to work using Internet is getting more real each day. I think this should be a very marketable product: a multipurpose and easily portable battery that can provide power for different electronic equipment.

Footsteps of Paul

One way to empower ourselves is to follow the footsteps of those who are great. Usually, this means following the internal thoughts and wisdoms. Nevertheless, it is also good to follow the external path physically as it should enhance our appreciation of those great people.

According to the Holy Bible, a great man who worked very hard to establish what is now known as the Christian faith, but was still a sect then, is Apostle Paul. I came across Christian Cruises, where one of its itineraries is planned according to Acts 27-28 on Apostle Paul's journey from Italy to Rome ... , from 16 to 26 July 2008, from USA, or optionally post-trip extension to Paul's Malta until 30 July 2008.

I did a search and extracted from the NIV Bible the places Apostle Paul had passed by:

• Acts 27:1 When it was decided that we would sail for Italy...
  
• Acts 27:2 We boarded a ship from Adramyttium...
  
• Acts 27:3 The next day we landed at Sidon...
  
• Acts 27:4 ... passed to the lee of Cyprus...
  
• Acts 27:5 ... across the open sea off the coast of Cilicia and Pamphylia, we landed at Myra in Lycia.
  
• Acts 27:7 ... we sailed to the lee of Crete, opposite Salmone.
  
• Acts 27:8 ... came to a place called Fair Havens, near the town of Lasea.
  
• Acts 27:13 ... sailed along the shore of Crete.
  
• Acts 27:16 As we passed to the lee of a small island called Cauda...
  
• Acts 27:27 ... we were still being driven across the Adriatic¹ Sea...
  
• Acts 28:1 Once safely on shore, we found out that the island was called Malta.
  
• Acts 28:13 ... arrived at Rhegium... we reached Puteoli.
  
• Acts 28:16 When we got to Rome...
  

This Christian Cruise is on an authentic sailing vessel with all the activities and amenities found on a private yacht. The group will enjoy the privacy of a Christ-centered family itinerary and teachings. Some interesting places being visited are Pergamum which is an important 7 churches site, Ephesus where Paul delivered one of his most moving sermons, the actual cave in Patmos where John had been banished and received the Book of Revelation, and much, much more! I guess most importantly is that there are also Bible teachings on board and on shore by top Bible speakers.

They also have other Christian Cruises itinerary such as The Exodus: Retracing the footsteps of Moses.

¹ An area extending well south of Italy.

Try sneezing with your mouth tightly covered

The article, Taming volcanoes, in world-science.net, a researcher pro­poses dump­ing lime­stone blocks in the way of stream­ing la­va as a way to slow it down, lim­it its reach and save lives.

Good idea? I don't think so. Imagine someone is going to ... sneeze, and in order to save the people around from exposing to what he is going to expelled out into the air, lets stuff cloth into his mouth! What would happen? He probably will still sneeze. However, since the mouth is blocked, whatever needed to be expelled from his body has got to go through other channels, such as the nose, ears, and even the eyes! This guy won't be happy with this!

I bet the Earth and Mother Nature would not like to be treated this way too!

It is not volcanoe eruptions that kill lives, but the lack of freedom, be it political or otherwise, for people to choose to live away from volcanoes.

Just as the recent earthquake in China. Which kills more people: the earthquake, or the badly built schools? I am curious to know how many animals are killed?

I think from science, we understand more about nature so that we can live with it, but not to distort it for our selfish conveniences.

My cycling in Singapore experiences - time rebates

This is expanded from a comment on MrBrown's blog entry Oh you ride bicycle ah? No money buy car, issit?.

For more than a decade, I have been hearing and getting looks that say, "Oh you ride bicycle ah? No money issit?" and sad to say, I can't deny it 100% :(

However, it is ... what led me to cycling? time that led me to cycling.

And absolutely, yes, it is FUN because it is terribly not fun to wait for bus, wait for train, and walk another few more minutes to and from busstops and train stations. Indeed, after few months, once my tyre, or more correctly, tube punctured, I flagged a taxi when I had gotten impatient because the bus hadn't arrived after I waited for 5 minutes!

Once, I drove my brother's car for a few days to NUS while he was overseas. Although it took me only about 20 minutes from my door to reach campus, but another few very slow minutes circling around carpark looking/waiting for parking slots. I think I can get to NUS in roughly 35-40 minutes.

I am no environmentalist, or health nut, or bicycle athlete. Nevertheless, I was touched by a Professor in Hong Kong rides instead of drives because of his concerns for the environment.

Coming back to the topic of time, it is precious. Thus, many people are doing something while they are traveling, be it listening to MP3 while walking or driving, or playing games or SMSing on a bus or train. However, most of these activities are not that necessary, and can be done if given the time and not necessarily during commuting. In short, these activities are mainly to kill time :)

Whereas for cycling, it is an exercise by itself, and we are being encouraged to exercise regularly. However, many people find it difficult and taxing to squeeze time out to exercise. That's why during the few years when I rode 80 minutes weekly to and from NTU (my route), I classify the time as part of my weekly exercise time. So, I didn't spend a single minute in traveling to NTU = it took me 0 mintue to reach there = this is as fast as a teleportal machine :)

Nevermind if people want to call it Ah-Q spirit, or creative accounting.

How's your Diabetes IQ?

How much do you know about Diabetes? I don't know much. I got only 5 out of 10 correct in the Diabetes Quiz at found at RD.com - Managing Diabetes. One particular thing I learned is that none of these are off limits to Diabetes patients ... : coffee, alcohol and fruit juice. Nevertheless, these are still not advisable to be consumed abundantly.

Indeed, another thing I learned is that obesity is the main reason for developing Type II Diabetes. At least, I am correct that downing sugary snacks, desserts, and candies do not cause Type II Diabetes directly. Thus, the definition of the disease, and the Chinese name of the disease seem misleading, and over emphasizes on sugar, while the reason that causes this abnormally high level of sugar should receive more concern.

Nevertheless, diet for Diabetes is becoming an industry as I can find shelves of food items suitable for Diabetes. Here, RD.com also have a Diabetes-Friendly Foods section that has a regularly updated list of latest Diabetes recipes.

Just like to add a final note about sugar. This seemingly natural ingredient that is extracted from plants such as Saccharum officinarum or Sugar Cane, as it is commonly known probably after the discovery of extracting sugar from it, about just a few centuries ago, isn't that natural for people lived before its discovery.

Cruelty or Teamwork

Many times we see beauties in nature. Some times we see disturbing happenings in nature. For example, the parasite practice described in the article Parasite turns host into bodyguard.

At the end of the article, it highlighted there were some sacrifices by some par­a­sitoid larvae for their brothers and sisters. How are these few being chosen? Whatever the way is, is it fair? ... Nevertheless, because they benefit those who we perceive as their "brothers and sisters", so we use the word "sacrifice".

In the case of the caterpillar, as the par­a­sitoid larvae were not perceived as their "brothers and sisters", its death is a sad and cruel one. What if we see them as a team, can we then sense some beauty in how the caterpillar had "lived for the sake of others".

From a smaller unit, we see unfairness. From a bigger unit, we may see teamwork. E.g. in a family, the husband or the wife can see unfaireness as they are tied down in different ways, one to work and one to house and kids. Alternatively, from the family perspective, there can be beauty of a harmonious family.

A plaster on a face means...

A scene from a cartoon show a little kid with a plaster on his face. The character is some kind of heroic type. Thus, by drawing that plaster on his face should mean to suggest that he is rugged.

However, to me, I think otherwise ... . Drawing a cut on his face should suggest rugged, while a plaster suggests he requires care for little wounds.

Knowing the ideal and trying to do achieve it are good. However, ensuring the ideal at all instances may be unwise. After we, humans, learned about germs and bacteria, we know that what seems clean is actually not. Now, we know the ideal of clean is when even these invisible to naked eyes germs and bacteria aren't around.

Then, we behave in more hygienic ways. Keeping clean has quite a different meaning since then. So, we have been trying to achieve the state of clean.

Then, we invented ways to kill all these. By pasting plaster over little cuts so that any germs there can be killed by the chemicals, we achieve the ideal at the wound. That, I think is somehow over doing it.

I think that behind all the sciences is the acknowledgment that all existences are results from design. I trust our designer much more than human inventors and inventions.

GOING... GOING... GOING... and still GOING S T R O N G!

The more I think of it, the more I feel that human is stupid trying to out smart Nature, which is truly a master piece. Just by simply living away from city, the article, Living past 100: on Pulau Ubin, Singapore, describes some old but healthy people on an island just 5 minutes boat ride from mainland Singapore.

Madam Asiah prefers to grow old on the island. 'All I did on the mainland was eat and sleep ... guess what happened?

Madam Asiah prefers to grow old on the island. 'All I did on the mainland was eat and sleep,' she recalled. 'I fell sick. My joints ached from lack of use.'

In a cycling blog, I read someone from the Netherlands (or has been working there), where riding is a common form of transportation, felt the need to cycle because he found he is virtually in sitting position whole of the day everyday.

I myself has gained weight when my riding was significantly reduced from average of 1.5 hour daily (2 x 0.45hr trips), to 3-4 hour weekly (2 x 1.5 hour + misc.), and my IPPT result deterioriate from being able to be awarded $200 without training to merely passing or getting only the $100 award even with training!

I just watched the documentary, Life after People on the History Channel, which suggests that if one day human being just disappeared from earth, life goes on, while most of the human built stuffs will be gone in 1000 years, and almost all will be gone in 10000 years. 10000 years may be longer than our recorded history, but it is much much shorter than the earth's age.

In another documentary, I realized that [manufacturing of] sugar was "discovered" only a few centuries back. Imagine dining without sugar had been the norm for thousands of years!