The Singapore Airlines Concord

Only four airlines in the world used the concord.

They were -

British Airways,

Air France,

Braniff International Airlines, and

Singapore Airlines.



Singapore Airlines flew the Concord from 1978 - 1980.

The route was London - Bahrain - Singapore, and back.



The service was discontinued because Malaysia complained against its sonic boom effects despite flying at sub-sonic speed (ie not its supersonic highest speed).

Yellow stakes and red stakes

Played a round at Ponderosa (in Johor, Malaysia in case you’re interested) few days ago because we were given to understand that Seniors on Tuesdays pay only 90 Ringgit (the RM$ ie Malaysian dollah, lah). But not so. That promotion over, the counter receptionist said. Now how often have we heard that before?

Anyway, since there, we paid the RM120 green fee (shared buggy and RM20 lunch voucher included) which was a good 33% above what I was prepared to pay. We were 4 – Foo, Charlee, his wife Flo, and I. As usual I ended up having to pay some ‘bet’ ringgit.

We always learn something (about the game, rules, playing partners, etc) when playing golf. Actually Charlee said that in Jusco when we were browsing its famasi (or was it in Tesco, we dropped into both); and not about golf but about something else ... . .. was it about tongkat ali pills? can’t remember.

Back to what’s on my mind for this post. We were all pretty blur regarding the finer details of water hazard, lateral water hazard, the options for them, dan lain lain lagi. I was taught in school half a century ago that that means ‘etc, etc’. Is it?

So someone has to get it clarified, the Rule(s) ie. I was tasked since Foo’s very busy working every day and Charlee’s very busy practising golf every other day (yup he took my ringgit that day as he went par, par, par first three holes).

OK, so here goes. I am quite sure about the following statements.

Yellow stakes and red stakes mark water hazards and lateral water hazards respectively. Interestingly, red stakes also mark the jungle at the Desaru Golf and Country Club’s course. A water hazard is usually in front of you as you play to the green and you have to crack one over the air. Sorry, can’t resist that, ha ha, gotcha! ‘air’ in bahasa Melayu, lah, means water. A lateral WH on the other hand is water to your side as you play to the green for example, a canal or huge drain like those at Laguna NG&CC (actually only one canal but a few holes run parallel to it) and you do not have to hit over the LWH to carry on to the green. You may choose to hit over the LWH though, if you elect the 4th option.

What to do after all the @#!??*%$@# following the splash and sniggering water ripples? If they were yellow stakes (ie WH), you may wade in and hit the ball out (and give away the British Open title), or go back to the spot where you last hit the ball and hit your next shot (drop a ball if through the green, or tee one if off the tee box), or imagine a line between the hole and the point where ball crossed water edge and drop a ball anywhere as far back as you like on an extension of this line away from the hole.

If they were red stakes (ie LWH), you may hit the ball in the water, hit it off the point where you last hit the ball, hit it off the line extension (as described in last para), or two club lengths from water edge or two club lengths from water edge on the other side of the LWH. This last option ie the two club lengths option on this or that side of the water edge is only for LWH.

To speed up play, and because many social golfers refuse to play by the Rules, many clubs provide a demarcated Drop Zone before the yellow stakes and near to the buggy track of course for you to hit your next. I couldn’t find anything about drop zone in the Royal & Ancient or the USGA Rules of Golf, so DZ is probably not legal. Come to think of it, I’ve never seen the pros at a DZ on tv golf.

Ah! One more thing about water hazards. As in a bunker (which is the other type of hazard), one may not touch the water with the club, which is equivalent to that rule against grounding the club in a bunker.
I shall continue to play by them as described above until corrected by some kind golfers.

If you wish to check it (or confuse) yourselves further, click here for the Royal & Ancient golf rules website, and here for the USGA golf rules website. They are the two temples of golf which all golfers and hackers must visit to settle their differences.

Or make it easier for yourselves; click here for the rules made simple, and here for about.com’s usga golf rules explained.

Joseph the fridge repairman

Day before yesterday ie 16 Jul 2009 as I popped into the kitchen for a drink, Wife said there’s a burning smell round about here, gesticulating centre of kitchen. Aiyah! kitchen in HDB flat is so small, no need to point here or there. Here is there, what!? Right?

She was telling me about a burning smell; so it must be there, or she wants me to do something about it, or she’s quickly saying it’s not my cooking, the burning smell you’re smelling.

What smell? I don’t smell any smell.

Nowhere in kitchen, or whole house, but just there hanging in the air, she went on.

So I went sniff-sniff here and sniff-sniff there, everywhere, here, there .... oops sorry, back to story. And I soon found the likely crisis source.

Hot here, the side of the fridge, touch it.

Cut long story short. Must call someone. A contractor, a repair man, lah. A fridge repair man. Evertech? I asked. They replaced the compressor almost two years ago. But Not Evertech! They have the worse service in the industry, in Singapore, in the world! Won’t go into that. But will never forget their name. I understand many ministeries, departments and government agencies have them on contract. Mmmm, perhaps I should drop an email to Lim Soo Ping to keep an eye open for those contracts. Nice guy, damned sharp eyed guy. Was in his Commission of Enquiry team in the collapse of Hotel New World.

So who? Ended up calling Rennie Loh. Rennie, ah, can you recommend me a fridge repairman? You recommended a very good aircon repairman last year, so i’m wondering if you know one for fridge? Silence. Aiyah .... cannot remember his number now; mmm, call me ten minutes!

Ten minutes later, called her, hello .... 96681682 (in Cantonese). Wow, fierce fast service, Rennie Loh. I confirmed the number and name in Canto and English, thanked her, and called Joseph.

Called him. Aaargh! That sickening song again. You know the one that comes on when you’re put on hold at ToyotaUbi Service Centre, or SingTel mio.

Joesph sounded hassled. He was on a job, I could hear him concentrating, turning a screw, perspiring and breathing hard, all at the same time and trying to speak to me on his mobile phone. Naturally, within 15 seconds the line was cut. Dropped phone most likely, or pressed a phone button while trying to turn a screw at the back of a fridge, or kenah electrocuted.

But, 2 seconds later, the phone rang. Wow! Great service again. He returned call before I could re-dial his number. Told him about the smell, the hot sides of the fridge, but everything’s still cold inside. He said he has another job later. Will see if he could come after that.

It was then around 4pm.

At about 6pm, Joseph called. He couldn’t make it, everything alright? how’s the fridge? Blah blah .... and he’ll be here 9 or 10 tomorow morning. Not bad, still good service. He called back, he didn’t forget, or leave it to us to call him.

Smack at sometime between 9 and 10, he called. How’s the fridge? Same symptoms and ice cream melted I said. Can I come now he asked.

He came. Nice young man. Didn’t look fishy ie didn’t have that sneaky look. Come in, bring your shoes in, someone may steal them. Then he set upon his job at hand.

Twenty minutes later, he gave progress report. Fan’s burnt out; checked your compressor and it’s still in fine shape so no worries there; the sides heated up ‘cause the fan didn’t dissipate the heat. That caused compressor thermostat to go on and off more frequently. Hence no cooling at all. Have to replace fan. How much Wife asked. About $160. OK? OK. He went down to see if he had a suitable fan in his van. He did.

Fifteen minutes later, he reported job completed. He had also wiped floor clean with the rag we provided earlier, picked up the old newspapers (provided to work on) into the rubbish bin, pushed the fridge back into its cubicle, etc, etc. Everything tidied up. Wow, good service.

All in about an hour (so, call out at $60 and fan cost $100; Wife said she heard him answer a call on his handphone saying it would cost $60 to check the fault). And if we didn’t have cash, he would take a cheque he said. Not a problem.

So that’s how it ended. Great service from a nice repairman. Not cheap, but a pleasant transaction in all.

If you need a nice pleasant good fridge repairman, give him a call. Say you were recommended by the old couple in Block 149 Tampines whose fridge fan he replaced.

But if he can’t repair your fridge, or if he’s not nice to you, don’t hold it against me, k?

Changi Point Coastal Walk - the walk back

Walking back along the Kelong Walk, we spotted this chair chained to a lamp pole.

Guess why the chair was chained to the lamp pole?

It had 4 legs and could run away, that's why!

And these look like plants in dragon jars stored along the Walk.

My guess is that they belong to the nearby Changi Beach Club.

Unauthorised storage most likely.




A nice view of the Kelong Walk with inconsiderate anglers sitting opposite each other forcing others to walk between them.

And another fishing rod and line strapped to a post.




Below : Raphia twine used to tie a fishing rod and line left behind as litter by inconsiderate anglers.


Above left : Looks like a safety buoy is missing here.






Click on photo below for a nice widescreen view.

Retracing our steps back to Changi Village.

This is the Cliff Walk.




Below : Approaching the Changi Sailing Club.


These terrace houses are part of the Changi Sailing Club. For rent to its members.

They seem to be used by staff, and not properly maintained.



Boat sails stored along fence protrude out onto the boardwalk and are a danger to walkers, joggers etc who expect an unobstructed passage.



Above : At one of the pavillions, looking towards the Changi Sailing Club. Another litter bin with missing cover.








Here's another narrow portion of the walkway where as usual inconsiderate anglers hang about to annoy others by restricting the space and cluttering it with their fishing paraphernalia.

Perhaps NParks should install a "no fishing" sign at this narrow spot.










As we leave the boardwalk, we checked to see if the cross pieces were made of wood or concrete.

Concrete, I think.

Changi Point Coastal Walk on 13-7-2009

Weather was fine on 13 July so packed stuff and took off at about 2.00pm.

Where to park? At the Changi Village market cum food centre at 50 cents per half hour till 10pm? or at Changi Beach Park (CBP)(same rate but free only after 5.00pm) ?

Click on the map above to enlarge it to see the details.

Top map from NParks. Useful to me only in respect of the names of the carparks ie carpark #1 is best if you opt to park at the park.

No details of the Changi Point Coastal Walk other than an arrow pointing there. See if you can find it!


As we might be lazy or tired after the walk, we opted to park at the Village. Had lunch there.

Click on the second map (on left) for details on EVERYTHING. It's from the Urban Redevelopment Authority's (URA) website. Click here for map.

The Changi Beach Park carpark #1 is marked by a blue P icon. See it?


I couldn't find anything about the Changi Point Coastal Walk in NParks' website. Strange since we found all the litter bins along the Walk bore the NParks logo.

NParks should get over sulking that the Changi Point Coastal Walk was built by the URA and that it had the other end of the stick which was to look after the facility.

Incorporate the two as Changi Point Coastal Walk & Beach Park; simple as that.

By the way, it's paid parking (coupons) at the Changi Beach Park carparks from morning till 5.00pm to discourage people working nearby parking free and depriving park visitors of the facility.

Here's a link to more on the Coastal Walk.




Penny's at more or less the starting point of the CPC Walk.

On the right of the photo above you can see the pedestrian link bridge from Changi Beach Park.

Photo below shows the walk runs along the ground floor level of the Changi Ferry Terminal (where you take off for Pulau Ubin and other islands).





'Eyes left' view of the river (?) meeting the sea.

The white beach with trees in background is Changi Beach Park.






"Eyes right" view towards the pedestrian link bridge.

The Changi Village market cum food centre is on right side end of the bridge.




Once past the Ferry Terminal, there's this nice little plaza area with shady trees for a quick breather.

Turned around and took the photo below of those two structures that looked like pigsties.









They are "For Escape Only" exits.

For occupants at the lower levels of the Ferry Terminal, of course. What did you expect? For pigs?



What is the name of this shrub?

The fruits are edible when ripe and pink in colour.






Staircase down on the left, ramp down on the right.

They both meet at the concrete path at the bottom of the staircase.

Took stairs down; the ramp is for return trip of course!






You can see the ramp more clearly in the shot above.

A 'look back' view (photo left taken at the foot of the stairs).












Penny's still intrigued with that fruity shrub.


There go two launches racing for Ubin and Tekong etc.

Can you read the message on the litter bin?


What message?


The one that's painted in black on the front of the bin; can't you see it?


Wonder why they used black against dark brown.


They must have a very good reason.



We're eastbound, about halfway through the Creek Walk which ends at the pavillion at the water's edge (above).




Above : two shots, again eastwards and westwards.

There is an aeroplane there in the sky every 5 minutes give or take, heading for Changi Airport.



Rounded the corner and now on the Beach Walk.

On the left are Changi Golf Club, SAF Club and The (Govt) Cottage & Chalets.

You MUST click on the photo to enlarge it to see all the details.



Above : Looking back to the pavillion ie where Creak Walk ends, Beach Walk starts.

Left : See the SAF Club with those glaring staircase walls?

Below : This is a very narrow section along Cottage & Chalets compound. Ministers rest in the Cottage; senior civil servants the Chalets.

Shots of the Chalets.

Click on the tiny photo on the left to enlarge it for a good panorama of the Chalets compound..

Hope they do something quickly about this dangerous swimming jetty.

Wonder how long it's been fenced up.

Did you notice these signs (above) in the last few photos?

We continued eastwards and can see the private jetty of the Changi Sailing Club in the distance.

To our left is the second pavillion on the Walk.


Photos below show the sailing club premises blending well with the Walk.

Sadly, stuff from the sailing club has been allowed to spill out onto the Walk, causing obstruction and an eyesore. See the barbeque set and dinghy trolley? Some dinghies are also obstructing the upramp to the Boardwalk.


A nice Walk spoiled by the unsighliness of unkempt chalets and dilapidated sailing dinghies.


What is going on here? Click to enlarge and see in detail.




Watch out here! This is a heavy construction yard beside the Walk. There are no warning signs of any sort. Not even a keep away or keep out sign.

Construction materials and equipment are kept beside the Walk. Watch your step!




Photo above shows the construction site encroachment onto the Boardwalk.

Left : one of the locations where you step down, walk across sandy beach, and then get up onto boardwalk again.

Below : Not vandalism; just the result of brainless people after their barbeque.











Lovely unspoilt beach with overhanging branches almost touching the water. You can't find many of these spots nowadays.


















Looking back at the photography session of a couple in bridal white on the rocks.










This is along the Cliff Walk.

Here, there are a number of staircases down to the beach.









Shot looked good in portrait and landscape so posted both here.

There are nice little 'balconies' on the boardwalk at intervals. Spot it?












Views back and forward showing the bright yellow edge lining of the steps.











Here's one of the balconies mentioned earlier.






Here the boardwalk (the Kelong Walk) turns out to sea and curls back so that the Changi Beach Club has its little beach intact.

There are two pavillions which unfortunately are occupied most of the time by anglers who use the premises like pigsties and leave lots of rubbish and fishing lines etc strewn about.

Click on the long shots below for widescreen views.





Anglers are lazy people who leave their fishing rods for fish to bite, just like trapping animals. No effort required. That's why they go fishing I suppose. Good expression for doing nothing.


Here's a fishing rod and line tied by rubber strap to a post.





Here's another fishing rod and line, strapped to a post with clear plastic.

Hope this angler won't be too lazy to remove the plastic binder and dispose of it in the proper litter bin marked 'Plastic'.




Here's a red cloth strap version.






We leave Kelong Walk onto Sunset Walk which is the last section of this Changi Point Coastal Walk.


It was a nice boardwalk here, ending in a largish platform over the sea facing a bunch of rocks that screened the views of the Loyang marine industrial area.

Ah! another of those litter bins with damaged lids, something nice and familiar to end the Walk to this point.