On a whim, I decided to get a ticket for Proof together with some of the Art Festival events in late May and June.
Proof is an award winning play which won the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and 2001 Tony Award for Best Play, as well as being adapted into a movie in 2005 with Gwyneth Paltrow.
The play centres around Catherine, a depressed college dropout, who has stayed at home and cared for her father Robert, a mathematical genius who suffered from mental illness. She later forms a friendship and relationship with Hal, a former student of her father's. When Hal discovers in one of Robert’s notebooks a proof of a theorem that mathematicians had thought impossible, Catherine stuns Hal by claiming she wrote the proof. But life is not as elegant as a mathematical theorem, when doubt enters into her relationships, the fallback gives the audience a view into the characters' different psyches.
It was my first time watching a Wessex Theater production, they were a new company that I was unfamiliar with. The stage was plain, the actors were okay. I especially liked the rapport between the actors that played Catherine, the daughter and Robert, the father, but honestly, the actors felt like they were just reciting lines and acting out cues instead of feeding off each others' energies. Another thing to note is that the intermission music between acts does affect the audience's reaction to the play, playing the same irritating classical piece over and over again, does not endear one to the play, nor create a sense of anticipation for the next act.
Bought a ticket to Top Girls, another Wessex Theater production, hopefully that would be better. Off tomorrow to see Helios, the opening of the Singapore Arts Festival at the Marina Barrage
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Ireland, A Xenophobic Melting Pot
The Intelligent Life is a lifestyle magazine by the Economist and I had always found it a fascinating read, so to my delight, I found its website online with a ready store of articles.
Coming across this article, it did strike a chord with me after some of my unpleasant experiences in Ireland such as my trip to Galway. Despite being there for only four months, I had a few stories to share. Such as the man who thought that we four Chinese girls couldn't speak English and hurled abuse at us, then realized that we understood him, tried to offer us fish & chips that he spat on. Or my girlfriend who was simply waiting at a traffic light who got approached by old Irish gentlemen who asked her what her rates were to clean his house. Or how I was wandering in Superquinn, a high-end local supermarket there, where strangers yelled abuse at me, even though I was just entering the supermarket.
I think that we are all educated enough to understand that the actions of an ignorant sub-set of society does not represent the society as a whole. In order for a democratic society to progress, extreme and opposite views exist to create a liberal balance in its place. Four days in four months do not represent that Ireland has only uneducated, uncouth, ignorant idiots, just that, no matter how many nice Irish people I met I could not permanently erase those experiences from my mind.
IRELAND, A XENOPHOBIC MELTING POT
"Trade's bad on Moore Street's markets, and many traders blame foreigners", writes a correspondent for Economist.com. Immigration is at the root of all Ireland's ills, say increasingly angry locals ...
From ECONOMIST.COM
Belgium is not the first thing that comes to mind when you mention Brussels on Dublin's streets. "I haven't got any love," Annie, a trader, tells me, thinking I was looking for the edible kind. Trade's bad on Moore Street's markets, and many traders blame foreigners. Recent polls show that over 66% of adults in Ireland favour more restrictive immigration policies, and the recent rejection of the Lisbon Treaty testifies to rising resentment of the European Union.
The Moore Street Market, a national treasure of traditional Irish fare and straight-talking "true Dubs", with its carpet of wet cabbage leaves and even a horse-drawn cart if you're lucky, is the first port of call for the uncensored version of why some are changing their minds about immigration. How's business, I ask Colin, another trader. "Ah sure, look at them, they're all going in there," he sneers as he points an accusatory finger at a shiny white complex. He turns to serve a customer and I totter down to the mall to see what all the fuss is about.
Doli, one of many strapping eastern European security guards manning Dublin's shops, hails from Croatia. "The Irish are the best," he says blithely; "they take everyone." Asked if he thinks that's a force for good, Doli has a surprising reply: migrants should be legally bound to apply for a mortgage once they've been working here for a year.
He gives me a lively tour of the mall, taking in an Indian diner, a Lithuanian food market, a Nigerian boutique called Godfirst, a Polish bookshop, and, he says, "the best Romanian café". This may be a familiar scene in London but not yet in Ireland. Here traders say business is also slow. The most profitable businesses are the café and a vitamin shop run by Poles ("In Poland we are very healthy", an assistant boasts from behind the counter).
Outside the mall Colin calls me back for a chat, his finger now directed at a gang of Romanian gypsies. "See them, they broke into a house in Tallaght [south Dublin] last year and have been living there ever since." He claims the police were told unofficially to steer clear. They are "taking our money, shipping in their own produce, buying their own produce." Western Union and the post offices are doing well but we're not, he says, pointing at his stall laden with sugary treats.
My 92-year-old grandmother, a Moore Street regular who grew up in an altogether poorer and harder Dublin, is afraid to go there anymore. "They'd push you. The blacks", she insists. Playing Devil's advocate, I broach the subject at the fruit stall. Joan, a fruit-seller, harbours similar fears. "The police shut down their shops and got them all out. They were killing each other here in broad daylight, in front of all the children and everything", she says, alluding to a spate of drug-fuelled knife fights between Nigerian men.
But there's another equally ugly side to that coin. Racial discrimination claims rose by 70% in the first three months of 2006, and 36% from 2006 to 2007, according to Melanie Pine, the former director of Ireland's Equality Tribunal, an independent body that adjudicates claims of discrimination. In a poll taken by the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) last year, 35% of all visa-holding immigrants said they had been insulted, threatened or harassed. Among black people that figure rises to 53%. But according to an EU poll this year, 80% of immigrants said they experienced no ethnic discrimination.
In the current downturn, analysts predict a pounding hangover. Welfare assistance expects a stretch this Christmas: around 63,000 more people are claiming unemployment benefits this year than last. The construction industry, the biggest employer of eastern European migrants, has forecasted 20,000 to 30,000 job cuts. Now the papers brim with reports of money "lost" to immigration. According to figures released two weeks ago, the government has spent almost €2m ($2.5m) in the last three years repatriating non-EU nationals.
I cross O'Connell Bridge over the river Liffey, admiring the reds and purples in the evening sky and take in one final gasp of salty sea air. As I'm about to get on the airport shuttle for my flight back to Heathrow, a young blonde woman in a shiny purple tracksuit, weighed down by enormous gold earrings, aggressively stomps after a black man, shouting, "Go back to your own country, stop robbin' our money."
Coming across this article, it did strike a chord with me after some of my unpleasant experiences in Ireland such as my trip to Galway. Despite being there for only four months, I had a few stories to share. Such as the man who thought that we four Chinese girls couldn't speak English and hurled abuse at us, then realized that we understood him, tried to offer us fish & chips that he spat on. Or my girlfriend who was simply waiting at a traffic light who got approached by old Irish gentlemen who asked her what her rates were to clean his house. Or how I was wandering in Superquinn, a high-end local supermarket there, where strangers yelled abuse at me, even though I was just entering the supermarket.
I think that we are all educated enough to understand that the actions of an ignorant sub-set of society does not represent the society as a whole. In order for a democratic society to progress, extreme and opposite views exist to create a liberal balance in its place. Four days in four months do not represent that Ireland has only uneducated, uncouth, ignorant idiots, just that, no matter how many nice Irish people I met I could not permanently erase those experiences from my mind.
IRELAND, A XENOPHOBIC MELTING POT
"Trade's bad on Moore Street's markets, and many traders blame foreigners", writes a correspondent for Economist.com. Immigration is at the root of all Ireland's ills, say increasingly angry locals ...
From ECONOMIST.COM
Belgium is not the first thing that comes to mind when you mention Brussels on Dublin's streets. "I haven't got any love," Annie, a trader, tells me, thinking I was looking for the edible kind. Trade's bad on Moore Street's markets, and many traders blame foreigners. Recent polls show that over 66% of adults in Ireland favour more restrictive immigration policies, and the recent rejection of the Lisbon Treaty testifies to rising resentment of the European Union.
The Moore Street Market, a national treasure of traditional Irish fare and straight-talking "true Dubs", with its carpet of wet cabbage leaves and even a horse-drawn cart if you're lucky, is the first port of call for the uncensored version of why some are changing their minds about immigration. How's business, I ask Colin, another trader. "Ah sure, look at them, they're all going in there," he sneers as he points an accusatory finger at a shiny white complex. He turns to serve a customer and I totter down to the mall to see what all the fuss is about.
Doli, one of many strapping eastern European security guards manning Dublin's shops, hails from Croatia. "The Irish are the best," he says blithely; "they take everyone." Asked if he thinks that's a force for good, Doli has a surprising reply: migrants should be legally bound to apply for a mortgage once they've been working here for a year.
He gives me a lively tour of the mall, taking in an Indian diner, a Lithuanian food market, a Nigerian boutique called Godfirst, a Polish bookshop, and, he says, "the best Romanian café". This may be a familiar scene in London but not yet in Ireland. Here traders say business is also slow. The most profitable businesses are the café and a vitamin shop run by Poles ("In Poland we are very healthy", an assistant boasts from behind the counter).
Outside the mall Colin calls me back for a chat, his finger now directed at a gang of Romanian gypsies. "See them, they broke into a house in Tallaght [south Dublin] last year and have been living there ever since." He claims the police were told unofficially to steer clear. They are "taking our money, shipping in their own produce, buying their own produce." Western Union and the post offices are doing well but we're not, he says, pointing at his stall laden with sugary treats.
My 92-year-old grandmother, a Moore Street regular who grew up in an altogether poorer and harder Dublin, is afraid to go there anymore. "They'd push you. The blacks", she insists. Playing Devil's advocate, I broach the subject at the fruit stall. Joan, a fruit-seller, harbours similar fears. "The police shut down their shops and got them all out. They were killing each other here in broad daylight, in front of all the children and everything", she says, alluding to a spate of drug-fuelled knife fights between Nigerian men.
But there's another equally ugly side to that coin. Racial discrimination claims rose by 70% in the first three months of 2006, and 36% from 2006 to 2007, according to Melanie Pine, the former director of Ireland's Equality Tribunal, an independent body that adjudicates claims of discrimination. In a poll taken by the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) last year, 35% of all visa-holding immigrants said they had been insulted, threatened or harassed. Among black people that figure rises to 53%. But according to an EU poll this year, 80% of immigrants said they experienced no ethnic discrimination.
In the current downturn, analysts predict a pounding hangover. Welfare assistance expects a stretch this Christmas: around 63,000 more people are claiming unemployment benefits this year than last. The construction industry, the biggest employer of eastern European migrants, has forecasted 20,000 to 30,000 job cuts. Now the papers brim with reports of money "lost" to immigration. According to figures released two weeks ago, the government has spent almost €2m ($2.5m) in the last three years repatriating non-EU nationals.
I cross O'Connell Bridge over the river Liffey, admiring the reds and purples in the evening sky and take in one final gasp of salty sea air. As I'm about to get on the airport shuttle for my flight back to Heathrow, a young blonde woman in a shiny purple tracksuit, weighed down by enormous gold earrings, aggressively stomps after a black man, shouting, "Go back to your own country, stop robbin' our money."
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Meeting Up using Meetup.com
When I was in London, I was introduced to a great website called Meetup.com. A place for people with similar interests to just meet up, network and simply have a good time.
Joining the Singapore Wine Meetup Group today, a free wine tasting event was conducted at WineBos just located opposite Clarke Quay. We had 6 glasses of wine, free flow of canapes and a good time meeting up with people.
Personally, I would head back to Winebos with my friends and order 2-3 bottles of the wines that we tasted today. The prices weren't over the top, the whites especially were fruity and easy on the palate.
The wines that were for tasting today:-
Kara Bay - New Zealand
- Kara Bay Sauvignon Blanc - Marlborough
- Kara Bay Pinot Gris - Waipara
- Kara Bay Pinot Noir - Central Otago
Lilly Pilly - Riverina Australia
- Lilly Pilly Sauvingon Blanc
- Lilly Pilly Cabernet Shiraz
- Lilly Pilly Sweet Harvest (dessert wine)
Life is good !
Joining the Singapore Wine Meetup Group today, a free wine tasting event was conducted at WineBos just located opposite Clarke Quay. We had 6 glasses of wine, free flow of canapes and a good time meeting up with people.
Personally, I would head back to Winebos with my friends and order 2-3 bottles of the wines that we tasted today. The prices weren't over the top, the whites especially were fruity and easy on the palate.
The wines that were for tasting today:-
Kara Bay - New Zealand
- Kara Bay Sauvignon Blanc - Marlborough
- Kara Bay Pinot Gris - Waipara
- Kara Bay Pinot Noir - Central Otago
Lilly Pilly - Riverina Australia
- Lilly Pilly Sauvingon Blanc
- Lilly Pilly Cabernet Shiraz
- Lilly Pilly Sweet Harvest (dessert wine)
Life is good !
Sunday, May 10, 2009
I Think I Fed Some Mozzies Today
As part of my "Burn Fats Burn" regime, the gang continues on the list of exhausting wholesome activities. Our latest activity is to check out the Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve at Kranji.
This 87-hectare park is situated in the north-west area of Singapore, between the Kranji and Sarimbun Reservoirs. The park consists of a Visitor Centre, 3 trails of varying lengths, shelters for observing resident and migratory birds, a mangrove walkway area and freshwater ponds. Between September and March, it is home to rare migratory birds transiting through Singapore as they escape from the harsh winters.
We were stranded in the first shelter at the entrance of the park due to a sudden heavy rainfall. Fortunately, good things happen to those who wait. We spotted a family of otters swimming in the water.
After reading a newspaper, exploring through my friend's S$10,000 dollar bag (it is called the S$10,000 bag because he REALLY spent that much on the kit and lenses for his camera.. BTW it is just his hobby..Men, Boys, Toys -l-), the rain finally stopped and we could move on.
The park was gorgeous after the rain, the weather was cool, the waters were clear, the sky was a beautiful shade of blue and it shown in all the photos and everytime I looked up at the sky.
We spotted some birds. (Yes, it is there, in the middle of the photo. My camera could only zoom to this extent.)
Flowers...
Butterflies..
Crabs in the mangrove swamps...
Monitor Lizards ..
Squirrels
We took the longest route of 7km around the park, covering about 4 hours as we took our time taking photos. Towards the end of the walk, I probably didn't realize it because of the rain in the beginning, but i was seriously suffering from heatstroke. The humidity and the heat of the swamp really got to me at the end, not to mention my ensemble of jeans and other anti-mozzie protection were pretty stifling. But if you are thinking of heading there, please wear long pants and track shoes. The walk and tracks are not hard, it is the constant swarm of mozzies that you should be beware of !
Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve
Directions via Public Transport
Free entry except on Saturdays, Sundays, Public Holidays and School Holidays.
$1.00 per adult $0.50 per child / student / senior citizen
This 87-hectare park is situated in the north-west area of Singapore, between the Kranji and Sarimbun Reservoirs. The park consists of a Visitor Centre, 3 trails of varying lengths, shelters for observing resident and migratory birds, a mangrove walkway area and freshwater ponds. Between September and March, it is home to rare migratory birds transiting through Singapore as they escape from the harsh winters.
We were stranded in the first shelter at the entrance of the park due to a sudden heavy rainfall. Fortunately, good things happen to those who wait. We spotted a family of otters swimming in the water.
After reading a newspaper, exploring through my friend's S$10,000 dollar bag (it is called the S$10,000 bag because he REALLY spent that much on the kit and lenses for his camera.. BTW it is just his hobby..Men, Boys, Toys -l-), the rain finally stopped and we could move on.
The park was gorgeous after the rain, the weather was cool, the waters were clear, the sky was a beautiful shade of blue and it shown in all the photos and everytime I looked up at the sky.
We spotted some birds. (Yes, it is there, in the middle of the photo. My camera could only zoom to this extent.)
Flowers...
Butterflies..
Crabs in the mangrove swamps...
Monitor Lizards ..
Squirrels
We took the longest route of 7km around the park, covering about 4 hours as we took our time taking photos. Towards the end of the walk, I probably didn't realize it because of the rain in the beginning, but i was seriously suffering from heatstroke. The humidity and the heat of the swamp really got to me at the end, not to mention my ensemble of jeans and other anti-mozzie protection were pretty stifling. But if you are thinking of heading there, please wear long pants and track shoes. The walk and tracks are not hard, it is the constant swarm of mozzies that you should be beware of !
Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve
Directions via Public Transport
Free entry except on Saturdays, Sundays, Public Holidays and School Holidays.
$1.00 per adult $0.50 per child / student / senior citizen
Prawning in The City
A new fad has started on our little island of Singapore, prawning - the new wholesome family activity. Prawning ponds are now largely available throughout Singapore be it the east, west, north or south and located mostly within parks such as East Coast, Bottle Tree or Pasir Ris.
I used to hate prawning with a vengeance,
1) I didn't see the return on my investment of renting a rod (Zero catches),
2) I associated prawning with smelly, drain water-ish dirty looking ponds (URGH, how do you eat something from a place like that? Out of sight, Out of mind people, I don't want to know how my food is grown),
3) plus I hated crowds and kids running amok (It was like every family in a 5km radius with a under-5 child was there!).
This prawning pond located in Bishan changed my mind SLIGHTLY. It was relaxing, clean, well-lit, with numerous vendors providing food for hungry fishermen. After being defeated by the prawns during our first hour, the men upgraded their bait from the chicken liver given for free to purchasing some earthworms and we really started to see some action from that point onwards.
Plates and BBQ pits were readily available for all, there were people who brought along their own sausages to go with their prawns.
Fifteen prawns died honorably for us, but considering that we spent 3 hours, 2 fishing rods and S$60, it effectively worked out to S$4 a prawn which made them very expensive prawns in a remote part of Singapore.
The math portion of this experience still does not work out well for me, even to kill some 3 hours with a couple of friends, it was still a pretty expensive experience. I leave it you... ...
Hai Bin U Enterprise
Prawn Fishing in Bishan Singapore
603, Sin Ming Avenue
Singapore 575735
Tel/Fax: +65-6554-1986
Email: HaiBinUEnterprise@gmail.com
I used to hate prawning with a vengeance,
1) I didn't see the return on my investment of renting a rod (Zero catches),
2) I associated prawning with smelly, drain water-ish dirty looking ponds (URGH, how do you eat something from a place like that? Out of sight, Out of mind people, I don't want to know how my food is grown),
3) plus I hated crowds and kids running amok (It was like every family in a 5km radius with a under-5 child was there!).
This prawning pond located in Bishan changed my mind SLIGHTLY. It was relaxing, clean, well-lit, with numerous vendors providing food for hungry fishermen. After being defeated by the prawns during our first hour, the men upgraded their bait from the chicken liver given for free to purchasing some earthworms and we really started to see some action from that point onwards.
Plates and BBQ pits were readily available for all, there were people who brought along their own sausages to go with their prawns.
Fifteen prawns died honorably for us, but considering that we spent 3 hours, 2 fishing rods and S$60, it effectively worked out to S$4 a prawn which made them very expensive prawns in a remote part of Singapore.
The math portion of this experience still does not work out well for me, even to kill some 3 hours with a couple of friends, it was still a pretty expensive experience. I leave it you... ...
Hai Bin U Enterprise
Prawn Fishing in Bishan Singapore
603, Sin Ming Avenue
Singapore 575735
Tel/Fax: +65-6554-1986
Email: HaiBinUEnterprise@gmail.com
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