IF IT'S NOT A HULA HOOP, MAYBE IT'S "HULA BALLS"? After having a great lunch on Saturday with friends at the Marmalade Pantry in ION Orchard, Sandy and I walked down Orchard Road to go see (finally) The King's Speech. (It was excellent, except for the man snoring loudly in the row behind us. He did awaken and laugh during the king's swear-word rants.) Anyway, back to Orchard Road. Along the way, we encountered numerous street performers. The most remarkable was Oh Ow Kee (right), a widely-known swinger of wooden balls, which he calls Woodball Woola Chains. He pitches this as a exercise regimen. The balls come in three lengths: 1.5 meters, with 50 balls for beginners to 3.7 meters, with 108 balls. That last one weighs 5 kilograms. These certainly might work. He looks quite fit. He is older than 60. (According to a Bangkok Post article, he's 67.) One downside: You definitely don't want to exercise next to someone whipping these things around.
HOW MUCH STIMULATION DO YOU REALLY NEED? While waiting for the movie to begin at the Cathay Cineplex Cineleisure complex at 8 Grange Road, I ducked into the men's room. There I encountered a new thing. These might be in place in many places around the USA and the globe. I haven't seen one. It's an electronic hand dryer. That's nothing special. The amazing thing is that the hand dryer included a screen that played MOVIE PREVIEWS on it. Me, I used a urinal. I didn't dare check what might be playing in the bathroom stalls.
YA GOTTA LOVE 'EM: My source of information in this matter is limited (not surprising), but I have come to the conclusion that the shells of the eggs I've been using in the kitchen are MUCH THICKER than the eggs I was using in Massachusetts. They're stronger. They break in a more crispy manner. They can handle a mechanical ink stamping. Simply put, I love the egg shells here in Singapore. (Sandy does, too, I will say.) I have done some hands-on research on egg shells here. Preliminary "tests" indicate that the strength of the shell is NOT sufficient to allow them to bounce off a tile floor in a kitchen. I'm not saying they taste better. I'm just saying they are easier to handle with confidence. I like that. The eggs in the picture (above) are Seng Choon brand eggs. For now, I am calling this piece Still Life of Singapore Eggs Their Original Plastic Housing No. 5.
The high quality of the egg shells raises one question: Is it easier to WALK ON EGG SHELLS in Singapore than elsewhere? (It's a phrase that is used in these parts.)
TODAY'S CRANE REPORT: Here's the readings of the Singapore Crane Index Limited Economic Indicator. The numbers must be taken with some reservations. It's a late reading because Sandy and I took a walk around Marina Bay when the tally should have been taken. No staff member stepped up. So, the reading is about 90 minutes late. (It did allow time for a massive ship to move into the dock and for the cranes to come down, skewing the numbrs in a positive direction.)
Date: Feb. 27
Time: 9:50 a.m. (Singapore time)
Cranes Up (bad): 10
Cranes Down (good): 15
CRANES MISSING (unknown degree of goodness/badness): 3
I have been looking to purchase a woola chain, but can't find it here in the states!
ReplyDeleteEnjoy!
Heather