SINGAPORE SHORT STORIES

These few nights, I keep having one dream after another. I reckon I must have dreamt 10 to 20 dreams every night since Monday! I dreamt of places I had been to in my life, like the Army Camp, my secondary school, etc. What I discovered is that if one has too many dreams in a night, he will wake up the next morning feeling rather tired.

It feels like Christmas these days. Why is that so? First of all, it has been raining these past few days. Singapore is such a hot tropical country that rain is a welcome relief. With the bulk of rain only coming in every November and December, the plethora of rain these few days makes us feel Christmas. Number 2 reason: Election day holiday and Hari Raya Puasa holiday give Singaporeans an extended holiday break, akin to those long leaves Singaporean workers clear every end of the year.

Singapore Short Stories wish all Muslim Friends a Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfiltri!

The Smurfs movie is showing in Singapore. The Smurfs brought back fond memories to me. Having some free time today, I googled "The Smurfs" and finally learnt the name of the bad man in the cartoon. His name is Gargamel, read more about him here .

Since yesterday, I am at home, nursing an injury following a surgery. I promise to take charge of my health once I am okay. Yesterday was my first visit to an operating theatre for a surgery. That feeling of being dissected. That bed in the middle of the theatre surrounded by flood lights. That feeling of dressing up like a mummy to be sliced by.

The Health Promotion Board, in its effort to get Singaporeans working out and staying fit has launched a campaign recommending Singaporeans to clock in 150 minutes a week on exercises. I noted that the recommended exercises can take the form of informal exercises like stair-climbing.

It is a hot day today. I drink barley after learning that barley is a gem of a medical food from a TV show I watched in the afternoon. Nature has given man plenty of gem of a food to combat all diseases but man makes artifical chemical food which is not good for health.

I watched the 3rd and final instalment of Yellow Stone documentary on Okto tonight after following the first 2 instalments. Yellow Stone is a marvellous work of nature and Mother Earth. I did not know that seasons play such an influential role in the lives of all animals in Yellow Stone till I watched this show.

I am quite disappointed to learn of the plans to redevelop Geylang Serai. I think we should work to preserve places of rich culture and tradition in Singapore rather than redeveloping them. True, after redevelopment, we would be having comfortable air-conditioned history galleries and a neater showcase of cultural and traditional items.

I was in the MRT today when an old man entered the train. It was sad that nobody gave up his seat to the old men. There were many youngsters in the train who pretended not to see the old men.

As a beginner to Yoga, I am quite amazed at the wonders of Yoga I heard from the Yoga gurus. A Yoga guru shared with me that Yoga practitoners view a man's life not in terms of age but in terms of breath. Yoga focuses on the techniques of breathing and correct breathing oxgenates the blood and body and leads to improvements in all aspects of life, be it health or even temperament.

My wife and I went to The Banana Leave Apollo in Little India for a sumptuous Fish Head Curry lunch. What amazed me was how this delightful local dish can unite people of different countries and background.

Finally, Saturday is here! This week is a relatively short week due to the National Day holidays however as I am quite stressed out at work, I relish the feeling of a time out away from work!

Yesterday, I had an interesting dream yet again. I dreamt that I was back in my green fatigues doing National Service. I was in mud and soil, sweaty and dirty, doing miltary exercises. I did not enjoy my National Service at all. Hence it was a relief to wake up from the dream.

Today is a bright sunny day, a day for Singapore's annual parade! I am not too happy not having a chance to attend Singapore's National Day Parade despites balloting for the coveted tickets annually. Anyway, today I am proud of Singapore, the place we call home.

Singapore Short Stories Blog Group wishes Singapore a happy 46th Birthday! Time really flies, another National Day is upon us! Whenever it comes to National Day, I will listen to my old favorite National Day Songs. This year's National Day song is not nice, my all-time National Day Song favorite is "We are Singapore":

I attended the first yoga class of my life today. I have always seen others practising yoga and heard them extolling the benefits of yoga and hence it is interesting to experience yoga first-handedly.

How time passes. It seems just like yesterday when I blogged about National Day. In a twinkling of an eye, almost three-quarters of a year have come. I always feel that National Day will bring in the rest of the festivals for the year fast, culminating in Christmas and then we will welcome year 2012.

I walk fast naturally. I think walking fast helps save time. In countries like Africa, the people do not have many commercial modes of transport, hence they rely on running to get from one point to another.

I had a dream last night. I dreamt of graduating with First-Class Honours degree and emerged top of my graduating cohort. Having graduated long time ago, sometimes it is surprising to have dreams when I am yet again a student, preparing for tests and examinations.

I found this online video convertor useful as it can convert videos on websites into a number of formats users want. The website is found here .

With National Day just 3 days away, who will be conferred the highest award in Singapore this year? Who will be conferred BBM(L), BBM, PBM? To find out more, stay tuned to this page, from Singapore Short Stories at 12am 9 Aug 2011! For more information of the awards, please visit this link . The awardees of this year's National Day Awards is found here .

I went to the Borders Books Sales Fair yesterday and was disappointed. There were boxes and boxes of old books and old titles everywhere. The books were only categorized into "Fiction" and "Non-Fiction" and it is not easy for customers to find books of a category they are interested in.

I feel that I am on a working treadmill. Waking up, going to work, coming back home, then sleep. We spend such a bulk of our time at work, hence it is important we do our best at work everyday.

What is to Singapore Onsens is to Japan? True, Singapore does not have the luxury of onsens (hot springs) found in Japan but I reckon Singapore does have its equivalent of onsens.

Channel NewsAsia has revamped its Prime Time morning news on weekdays, 7 am and replaced it with a more light-heart show called AM Live! Personally I do not quite like the revamp as it is not really fitting for a news station with a regional focus and stature.

I guess for many people, they stop learning upon graduation from school and stepping into the workforce. The only learning opportunities for many employees will be the career development courses developed by their HR departments. Coming back home, often, busy executives are too tired to learn anything outside their work or enrich themselves.

My air-conditioners broke down recently. With these hot nights, it is not too comfortable to sleep without the airconditioner. I have been trying to fix the air-conditioner yesterday but my efforts were in vain.