Singapore is hit by haze again this year.
The PM2.5 index hovered above 100 (i.e. unhealthy range) in recent days.
The romantic may feel that it is akin to 烟雨江南 (misty rain over Southern China); but such unhealthy haze does cause unfathomed damage to one's health.
最近，雾霾开始笼罩新加坡。颗粒指数过去几天都维持在不健康水平上。
唯美派者会美其名为烟雨江南，雾锁南洋。
前天在住家附近遛狗时，不期然的看到隔壁家即将竣工的住屋工地围墙凹口处，有一个“机械人”在偷窥。其实，它时吊架机的一部分；但那模型，让我想起了旧时卡通片的机械人。
再看一次， 又觉得它像一位蓄有白发白须，头顶戴着红帽的老者。
I was walking our dog recently, and chanced upon part of crane peeping through the opening in the enclosure at a HDB construction site nearby.
It reminded me of the robot depicted in old cartoons (of my era). I thought it was rather interesting! Then, on 2nd glance, it resembled that of old bearded gentleman!
高耸坚立，即将竣工的钢筋水泥建筑物，如雨后春笋般，出现在我住家附近。
在夕阳的笼罩下，也另有一番姿色。
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| public housing |
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| private property |
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| private property |
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| public housing |
Next to where I stay, concrete buildings are sprouting out - they are due for completion soon.
One belongs to public housing (prices ranging from SGD 200k - 600K), another one is a private residential property (1 million SGD onwards).
Private residential property comes with facilities (eg. swimming pool, gym facilities), with 24 hours security surveillance; which means a monthly service charge is incurred.
Not that public housing is free of service charge - one also needs to pay for town council fees (that serves to spruce up /clean up the neighbourhood, maintain lift services etc). If parking is needed, additional monthly parking fee is needed as well.
In Singapore, 80% of Singaporeans stay in public housing facility. Some eventually will "upgrade" from public housing to private residential property as financial status improves.
我并非故意捕捉鸟的踪迹，只是在提着长焦相机随意抓拍时，不远处就有鸟儿孤身寡人屹立在眼前。
Not that I am into bird photography. I chanced upon birds that perched themselves on some beams while walking randomly along the exercise path near my residence.
I like the bright colors on display in the 2nd photo. I was about 100 m away from it. It just sat there and relaxed... watching the world went by...
Colors and lights abound throughout the day; the latter being more conspicuous at night for obvious reason.
Took the following photos while stopping for traffic lights (from my car).
白天，在阳光的照耀下，颜色显得较夺目。
夜里，五彩缤纷的霓虹灯，在阴影的衬托下，又是另一种味道。
It is one of those weekends where I don't have any inpatient to visit in the morning (i.e no morning rounds).
Woke up early in the morning, went for a walk along Geylang River, walking pass Decathlon (there is some event there, many people are jogging along the exercise path) and then Tanjung Rhu Bridge, making a loop back to Tanjung Rhu Hawker Centre (to buy breakfast).
It was hazy that morning. Air quality wasn't the best for the day.
Managed to take some photos nevertheless.
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| Hawker centre.. many people were queueing for food |
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| colourful decors |
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| Morning walk |
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| Walking the dog |
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| Tanjung Rhu Lookout Tower |
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| Tanjung Rhu Bridge |
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| making way from my condominium |
周末，没有住院病人，不用去巡房。
早上六点半左右，便起身沿着住家外的河道走走拍拍；这河道能直通不远处的体育场。
天不作美，当天的空气指数不佳，雾霾蛮严重。尽管如此，还是有一群人在跑步（好像是某个竞跑节目正在进行当中）。
沿途拍了几张照片（划龙舟，晨运，遛狗），然后绕去小贩中心买早餐。
中午时分，便来了一场倾盆大雨。。。
新闻报道，因为这两天连续下雨之故，曼谷泛滥，而临近的柔佛居然又再发生地震。。。看来天要反啦！
My family likes self driving when travelling overseas (holidays). Since I have set the precedence, my sons also prefer to self drive when they are travelling overseas.
I have done self driving tours in various countries (starting initially in Australia, then New Zealand, California, followed by Canada, Alaska, South Korea, Greece, Iceland, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, Taiwan and Japan.
For peace of mind, I will always purchase comprehensive insurance coverage when renting cars oversea.
Common problems that I have encountered so far when driving a rental car overseas are -
1. flat tire
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| In Vienna |
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| In Switzerland |
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| Waiting for mechanic to replace the tire |
2. chips on windscreen (from flying pebbles when driving along a highway)
3. scratches on bumper
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| Managed to get refund from auto-insurance for rental excess |
While driving in Iceland during winter, my car was stuck on the roadside ice/snow - need to engaged the service of a tow truck to pull the car out - it cost me EUR 300. (but as the saying goes - any problem that can be solved by money is not a problem!?)
Without comprehensive cover, I will probably have to foot the rental excess of ~SGD $500-750 before basic coverage kicks in.
BUT please note that not all comprehensive cover pays for flat tire.
One thing I learnt when renting a car in Japan is that even for minor scratches on car (not caused by road traffic accidents), a police report may be needed for insurance reimbursement.
We had such an encounter in our recent trip to Wakayama, Osaka - the right front bumper was grazed without any apparent reason ( We only noticed it the next morning when driving our car) - after numerous to-and-fro whatsapp communications with my rental company - it was finally agreed that no police report was necessary because 1. there was no accident involved, and 2. our comprehensive insurance cover is an international company (i.e. not local Japanese company). I have submitted the necessary documents for reimbursement yesterday -- lets see how it goes.
外国旅游，如果环境允许的话， 我比较喜欢自驾游。
自驾游须要事先安排行程，住宿，机票，然后预定车。
一般上，外国租车， 我会选全保， 以防万一/也买一个心安， 不用为有可能发生的意外事项，以及所导致的高额消费发愁。
我已经自驾好多趟，前几年都相安没事；但最近几年却碰到了车辆爆胎，挡风镜被迎面飞来的碎石撞开了一个芝麻小裂口，及右前方的汽车保险杆被剐蹭 (也不知是何时/如何发生的）。
需要注意的是不是所有全保都包含车轮爆胎事项 - 在瑞士那回，爆胎索赔成功；但奥地利那次就不行。刚刚才呈上汽车保险杠被剐蹭（在日本熊野县自驾时发生）的索赔，希望能成功。
自驾游的好处是可以根据自己的喜好停停走走。当然，有时也得因为突发状况而临时改变行程应急。 |
| Switzerland |
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| Nara, Japan |
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| Canada |
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| Wakayama, Japan |
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| North-east Japan |
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| Austria |
