15 February: Iron Maiden Final Frontier Concert in Singapore

I have to admit it, I burst into uncontrolled tears when they played 2 Minutes to Midnight and Fear of the Dark. I have only been waiting for this for 20 years, and I know some within the crowd have waited for 30.

Singing Fear of the Dark with the Maidens isn’t about listening to a cool song or being at a good concert. Its being connected to everyone who has ever been to an Iron Maiden concert or have heard the song. I know exactly what you felt in that time and place. That sense of belonging is a powerful force, no wonder the religious groups have been exploiting it for thousands of years.

Iron Maiden opened with their new songs from their Final Frontier album, but they soon got into their stride playing the oldies that everyone knew and loved. Here is the set list. When Bruce Dickinson came on stage in his red English infantry jacket waving the flag, Singapore had not been more excited to see the Union Jack since 1945.

Steve Harris was running around on stage like a teenager, and Janick Gers was every bit the rock star guitarist, acrobatics included. Adrian Smith seemed to have a more subdued night, and Dave Murray was ever the solid anchor. While we saw little of Nicko McBrain, we never stopped hearing his handiwork. Bruce Dickinson was so full of life and energy that he lifted the crowd up a few notches. There were no slouches or lightweights on stage last night. They sound as good as they did in their 18 year old Real Live One and Read Dead One recordings. When the opening band Rise to Remain started to play, I was really glad, the sound would be great tonight, I thought. The Indoor Stadium’s sound is quite inconsistent, but the sound guys got it right this time. The clarity and balance was just awesome. The band did not miss a note or a beat. Perfectly executed as only guys who have been doing this day in day out for the last 30 years can.

Everyone knew the songs, there were as many over 40s as there were under 20s. I doubt anything has united Singaporeans quite like that. Everyone else who commands such wide appear that transcends the decades are mostly dead. So this was an experience that I would not likely get anytime soon. I had not known that there were so many black t-shirts in Singapore. There would be more after last night.

New words: Aplomb and Jaunty

Boys and girls, the new words for this week are: aplomb and jaunty. With the death of Madam Kwa Geok Choo (Mrs. Lee Kuan Yew), Mediacorp had made the documentary clip below describing the life of the lady. In it is included one of the rare clips of an interview with Madam Kwa from some years back, where she was describing Mr. Lee Kuan Yew in his younger days. Madam Kwa not being known to give speeches often. In the clip, the English educated Madam Kwa was using the two terms: aplomb and jaunty. Pay attention at 1 minute 17 seconds into the clip.

In a time like this, where there is an opportunity for Singapore to look back at this lady and consider her the grandmother of our nation, I am not sure the choice of that particular clip was the most appropriate. There are social murmurings that certain segments of society exhibit a detachment from the average Singaporean, and showcasing the use of words that most Singaporeans do not know, may not be the best idea. Perhaps the propaganda intention is to show Madam Kwa as someone special and worldly, and they have succeeded in that. Her life and works are enough of a proof of that. I feel that there was a missed opportunity to give the general public a sense that she was one of us.

a·plomb

/əˈplɒm, əˈplʌm/
–noun
1. imperturbable self-possession, poise, or assurance.
2. the perpendicular, or vertical, position.

jaun·ty

/ˈdʒɔn ti, ˈdʒɑn-/
–adjective, -ti·er, -ti·est.
1. easy and sprightly in manner or bearing: to walk with a jaunty step.
2. smartly trim, as clothing: a jaunty hat.

From Dictionary.com

NETS FlashPay blocks EZ Link

This is not about the relative merits of NETS FlashPay compared to the EZ Link cards. That is widely discussed in the various popular forums locally already.

I am just sharing an experience I had. I was using a regular bank service over the counter and handed over my well-worn old ATM card. The Bank Teller was nice enough to ask if I would like to have a new card, and some NETS FlashPay gobbledigook which I did not pay attention to. I said sure, and spent a couple of minutes waiting for it to be made.

It all went well till I got on a bus, tapped my wallet on the card reader and had no response. Thankfully I was quick enough to realize that NETS FlashPay was a wireless payment system and that might be interferring with my EZ Link card. Apparently it did. I did some tests, and sure enough, the NETS FlashPay always overruled the EZ Link card when it was in the same wallet. I wonder if there are any cases where both NETS FlashPay and EZ Link cards were debited when they are in the same bag/wallet, etc.

I had recently gone back to the bank to get a new card without NETS FlashPay. I do not expect the bank to be forthcoming with information that NETS FlashPay will overrule the EZ Link card. The banks are shareholders of NETS and as a result need to protect their own interest.

While the idea of integrating the services of an ATM card and a public transport contact-less payment card together is a sound one, it is my person preference to keep them seperate, despite the relative merits of the two cards. For one, I do not mind lending a friend my EZ Link card for a few days to take the public transport, I would not do so with my ATM/Credit card integrated with NETS FlashPay.

Orchard Road Flood: Act of God?

The Orchard Road Flood has come and gone with not even a hint of human drama. We lost an opportunity to demonstrate the stoicism of Singaporeans, able to bounce back from disaster and get back to our regular lives the day after. We did not have a chance for all residents of Singaporeans, regardless of nationality, race or creed, to come together to support our brothers and sisters of Orchard Road. Our celebrities did not get the chance to perform in a charity concert: OrchardAid, and weep on television for the innocent Hermes bags caught in vicious result of Global Warming (now called Climate Change). The valiant SCDF personnel were pictured rescuing a particularly distraught mannequin.

NTUC Income fired off the first salvo yesterday in a “Stop The Press” moment of inspired genius. Perhaps they were intending to “spoil the market”, who knows, they might have taken a quick look at their client list and realized that none of the businesses affected insured with them. Whatever the case, I have to applaud the big cojones that decided to run that ad, rushed out just in time. If NTUC Income now starts rejecting insurance claims because of one clause or the other, this PR stunt might just backfire.

The term “Acts of God” had been mentioned twice in two days of this story being in the headlines of the Straits Times, of how some insurance policies do not cover it, but how does one define this so-called “Acts of God”. Depending on what you believe in, sure enough, rain can be an “Act of God”.

PUB has issued a statement that, as far as a common reader such as myself is concerned, tantamount to an admission of negligence on their part in their sewage checking regime. They check once every three months. We have weather forecasts, which presumably did report heavy rains. Does anyone at PUB actually check the weather reports? Do they check sewers for clogs when heavy rains are expected, or after the floods have done the damage? The rain may be brought upon by an “Act of God”, but it does appear that the flood was caused by “Human Negligence”. The proof is printed on the Straits Times. Perhaps the legally educated types would care to comment on this lay interpretation.

No Throught Rd

I know through and thought, and even though and thorough, but what the heck is throught? If you cannot spell, stick with Thru. It might even give you enough space not to have to abbreviate Rd. At least readers will know where to call to complain about this.

OCBC cardholders only Jay Chou concert

I am not a fan of Jay Chou, nor do I intend to go to the concert. However, after reading Straits Times Life’s article about the sales tactics for Jay Chou’s concert, I felt the need to ask some fundamental questions.

The situation is that for the first three days of ticket sales, fans can only buy the tickets if they own an OCBC credit card. To me, this tantamount to not accepting payment from any other sources as legal tender, and as such, if not illegal, is definitely unethical. OCBC has worked hard to build its brand over the years, and have successfully won over quite a lot of customers, however, this particular decision strikes me as a downright cynical and manipulative. The concert organizers were either very well compensated for their collusion, or bought into some flowery marketing jargon like exclusivity.

I have posed the question of whether this is legal to Monetary Authorities of Singapore (MAS) and to stlife@sph.com.sg. And whether this is the sort of competition between banks that MAS approves of.

Budget accomodations in Osaka, Japan: Dobutsuen-mae

During a recent trip around Osaka over Christmas 2009, I had a couple of days to myself and decided to find afforable lodgings (so that I can have more money for shopping). I found Hotel Toyo from the web and booked myself into a single tatami mat room for four days. I think it costs me 1800 yen (US$20) a day. It looked like a great bargain but I kept my reservations (no puns intended) till I experienced the room first hand. And I was not disappointed in the least.

The room was clean and spacious for a single person, and I had no trouble sleeping on the mattress on the tatami matted floor. It was not the newest room in the world, but it did not stink of cigarette smoke. The toilets smelled a little of urine (but the seat was heated), and the shared shower room on the ground floor can be a freezing obstacle during winter. But I have no complaints for the room itself, to find something at this price range in the notoriously expensive Japanese cities is a real bargain. Free WiFi seems to be a standard. It was in the neighbourhood of Dobutsuen-mae 動物園前駅.

The major benefit of Dobutsuen-mae is its convenient subway connections. It is on the Midosuji line, which any traveler of Osaka will tell you is the most important subway line in the city. It runs north-south and cuts through Umeda in the north: the major rail connection point to the rest of Japan, as well as having many shopping malls, Namba in the south: the rail link to the Kansai Airport among southerly destinations. Namba is also the hub of large shopping malls and many unique shopping streets. And it runs between Umeda and Namba through Shinsaibashi, THE shopping street of Osaka, and its sidestreets filled with food and unique shopping experiences. Midosuji line also connects to the Chuo line which leads to the Osaka Palace on the east and the aquarium in the west.

Dobutsuen-mae is an interesting neighbourhood. It is the border of commerical Osaka and residential Osaka. A real blast from the past with its 70s style building materials and styles. Across the street from the famed Shinsekai neighbourhood of Osaka, built in the 1912 to model cities in the West such as New York and Paris. It was largely undeveloped post-World War II and gained a bit of a nasty reputation. However, it remains a tourist attraction. Dobutsuen-mae literally means Gate of the Zoo. The Tennoji Zoo lies just to the east of Shinsekai and Spa World, and traditionally, the subway station was located to serve the zoo.

We read a lot about the problems of an aging population in Japan, but if you only hang out in the bustling town area of Osaka, the skyscrapers in Umeda, the high end malls of Namba and the hectic Shinsaibashi, you would think “what aging population? everyone here is young and beautiful.” Dobutsuen-mae reveals the other side of Japan, perhaps even the real unglossed side of Japan. While sitting at a little cafe having 350 yen (US$3.90) breakfast (tea, buttered toast and a hard boiled egg) I saw nothing but the elderly in and around the neighbourhood, it was a stark contrast with what you see down town. I thoroughly appreciated having a glimpse of this unseen side of Japanese life, a normal life like the rest of us leads.

Around the single block by the Dobutsuen-mae subway station there is quite a number of budget hotels. They offer single rooms from as little as 1800 yen (US$20) to 2300 yen (US$26). All of which are affordable. I have only stayed at Hotel Toyo and can only vouch for its quality, but I suspect that the rest are also of similar standards. Check out and read online reviews of the hotels below. Around the block there is a 24hr convenience store and a few eateries (like my 350 yen breakfast place). There is a food street across the road and more eats if you enter Shinsekai.

Below are photos of some of the entrances and price lists, and links to the various hotels in that area. Check out the website prices and read any online reviews you can get your hands on. Have fun in Osaka.

Hotel Toyo

Hotel Sunplaza II

Hotel Chuo

Hotel Raizan

Hotel Taiyo

Hotel Shinbashi (Tripadvisor)

Get rid of the Beatles in my head!

Now I kinda get what the fuss is about The Beatles.

I was shopping at the Comme Ça Store (Yodobashi-Umeda mall) in Osaka on the 31st December and 1st January (it was the only mall open on New Year’s Day), getting some last minute shopping done. They were playing some form of The Beatles greatest hits, or somesuch throughout all that time. Of course, them being The Beatles, the discography was long enough that through the hours that I was there, I only heard one repeat of some of the songs.

I have heard the songs all before, though never actually owning any records from The Beatles. You do not actually need to with bands like that, eh? For some strange reason, with the music being driven into my head whilst shopping has left a bit of an impact. I now have The Beatles songs in my head, and have been for the last 2 days. Not the later 60s drug-adled songs, but the earlier preppy ones. The Beatles songs have had a lifetime to infecting my brain and leaving little chunks of it behind. So when I hear the songs again, those little chunks get activated and take over my brain.

So I would like to wish you a Happy New Year, and I truly wonder how my 2010 is going to be like since it started with “She loves you, yeah yeah yeah” rolling around in my head. (There. My job is done, I have passed the infection along. “with a love like that, you know you should be glad.”)

What happened to the EP?

I had this thought the other day when  I browsed through and played the Broken EP from Nine Inch Nails. What happened to the awesome EP that would appear once every few years?

Three that immediately came to my mind were GNR Lies from Guns and Roses, Jar of Flies from Alice in Chains and Broken by Nine Inch Nails. I think these mini-albums gave the bands a credibility and scope beyond what their released albums did. I think these EPs contributed as much to the bands’ success than their full albums, Appetite for Destruction, Dirt and Pretty Hate Machine did. But that is just me sprouting my sacrileges nonsense.

Okay, I am probably asking this question a couple of decades too late. Incidentally, my Broken “EP” now resides on my computer’s hard disk drive and I was playing it with Windows Media Player. I do actually own the CD, which is the closest resemblence to the 7″ vinyl that the EP got its roots from.

For anyone young enough to be a product of my decadent youth, the term EP refers to Extended Play, a sort of record somewhere between a Single and an Album. It originated as the 45 rpm 7″ vinyl record that could contain up to 10 mins of music and was discontinued in that form in the 1950s.

It really struck me that as we approach the year 2010, that we are still working along the lines of technological restrictions of the early parts of the 20th century.

For the most part, albums are still around 60min long, and songs are still around 4min long. Of course, there are many exceptions, fromdouble albums to 20 min long songs. Despite the advancement in technology, we are still making, playing, broadcasting and selling music in much the same way as it was established decades ago. The coming of the iTunes shop and digital music did not lead to extremely long albums despite the unlimited nature of our hard disk drives.

Perhaps the market, especially the American market is still very much driven by the radio broadcast of songs, which pretty much forces everyone into the 4-5min limit. It would be a bargain to pay 99cts to Apple for a song that lasted 70mins.

Or maybe it is something in us as human beings. Our attention span when listening and perhaps when creating music. One of the reasons The Ramones gave for their curt 3min songs was that back in the day, you could blast the song at full volume and the song would end before the police arrived.

Hidden messages in ads?

I saw this turn-page ad by Martell in the Today newspaper. It made me wonder if the art director hac cunningly crafted another message into the ad. Maybe I think too much about these things.

“It’s time to think outside your cubicle…”

Here is the original pay-off page. It is about a contest to win a shop space in Clarke Quay.
(Top and bottom of the ad got chopped off because I only has a cheap arse A4 sized scanner.)

My alternative pay-off page. “Stick it to the Man”.