Chewing gum

Chewing gum was banned in Singapore for a good reason. Somehow, people here love to leave gum all over the place... can't they just dispose of chewed gum properly? Like wrap it back in its wrapper and drop it into the nearest trash bin (we have lots of those in Singapore along the streets)? Why spit it out onto the floor for some unsuspecting guy (like me) to step on?

Echo, light, hope

What is this?

An easy way to remember which train is faster than which for the Shinkansen (Japan's bullet train) is this:
Light (Hikari) is faster than an echo (Kodama). But what is faster than light (Hikari)? Hope (Nozomi).

International straits and transit passage

This article on Japantoday.com.

"Japan set narrow territorial waters along straits for U.S. nukes"

This was actually something that I learnt quite some years ago (maybe 8 years?) when I was studying the law of the sea (known as the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, or UNCLOS).

Some straits, because of geographical location and history, have been traditionally used by ships (merchant or naval) for getting from one place to another. These straits are recognised as international straits under UNCLOS, and all ships have the right of transit passage through international straits. This right allows naval ships to transit through international straits in their normal mode of operation (compared to innocent passage, which limits the activities that can be carried out while en route), which means that they can continue to fly aircraft, operate sonars, operate fire control and weapon systems, submarines can remain submerged while on transit, etc.

If Japan were to exercise her territorial rights and claim up to 12nm of territorial waters from her coast, some of these international straits will be totally Japanese territorial waters (because they are less than 24nm wide). In such as case, for warships transitting through these straits, they can actually go as close to the Japanese coast as they want to fly aircraft, operate weapons, submarines can remain submerged while on transit, etc. as long as it is their normal mode of operation.

By not claiming the full 12nm, but only up to 3nm from the coast, the middle portion of these international straits are no longer Japanese territorial waters. Ships are free to transit through this portion of the straits claiming right of passage. There is thus no reason for them to enter Japanese territorial waters. This means that all ships entering within 3nm of the Japanese coast will now become restricted by the right of innocent passage (which means that submarines will have to surface for transit, aircraft will need permission to fly, ships are not allowed to operate their weapon systems, etc.)

So while it may sound foolish to claim 3nm when you can have 12nm, sometimes more doesn't mean better.

The Sims

While this is under the "Old Games" category, it isn't really that old, having been released in 2000. The Sims is a very addictive game, because there is no end to it. Unlike most games which comes with endings, you can continue to play The Sims for as long as you want. And it is addictive because you kind of bond with the characters you create, as you develop them along the way, you make decisions for them... it is as if they are the virtual representation of you in a virtual world, allowing you to live out life in a different manner from your real life.

And you can create your own custom content... just visit a resource site for The Sims to see the amount of custom content others have made available for download.

So it is little wonder than this game has been expanded on with 7 expansion packs... and 2 sequels (The Sims 2 comes with 8 expansion packs, while The Sims 3 is recently released). For the most complete collection of The Sims, you should get The Sims: Complete Collection.

Recent baby photos

Recent shots of the baby. Here's one up close.
This one with the baby laughing away.
Here's the baby in his Bumbo seat.
Can you believe he is less than 3 months old?

Continuing tradition

Most, if not all of you, will recognise this flag. It is the naval ensign of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF). It was also the naval ensign of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN). An interesting thing to note is that while the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF) was not a continuation of the Imperial Japanese Army, the JMSDF was built upon the foundations left behind by the IJN. When World War 2 ended, the IJN was not fully disbanded, since the occupation forces needed the IJN's minesweepers to continue to help clear the mined waters in and around Japan. When the Korean War broke out, these minesweepers were sent to help clear the mined waters around the landing beaches of Korea. The remnants of the IJN became the base upon which the JMSDF was built when Japan was allowed to form up a policing force to augment her ability to defend her, as US forces were drawn into the Korean War.

As with all naval and government ships, JMSDF ships are allowed to fly an ensign to identify themselves as being ships in the service of the JMSDF and thus represent Japanese sovereignty. When choosing the design for the JMSDF naval ensign, the designer drew up an exact replica of the IJN's naval ensign, the Rising Sun flag. It was eventually accepted by then-Prime Minister Yoshida Shigeru as the JMSDF naval ensign. He said, "There is no place in the world in which this flag is not recognised. No matter where it may be, you will recognise this as a Japanese ship at one look. I hope that the JMSDF will continue to uphold the fine naval traditions and do its very best to protect the maritime nation of Japan."(「世界中でこの旗を知らぬ国はない。どこの海に在っても日本の艦であることが一目瞭然で誠に結構だ。旧海軍の良い伝統を受け継いで、海国日本の護りをしっかりやってもらいたい。」Quote taken from here.)

This is just an example of one IJN tradition that is continued on by the JMSDF.

And if you had recognised the flag even without reading the whole blog post, you would have proven PM Yoshida correct.

听海by張惠妹

Another song that I like very much.

听海
by張惠妹



写信告诉我今天 海是什么颜色
夜夜陪著你的海 心情又如何
灰色是不想说 蓝色是忧郁
而漂泊的你 狂浪的心 停在哪里

写信告诉我今夜 你想要梦什么
梦里外的我是否 都让你无从选择
我揪著一颗心 整夜都闭不了眼睛
为何你明明动了情 却又不靠近

听 海哭的声音 叹惜著谁又被伤了心
却还不清醒
一定不是我 至少我很冷静
可是泪水 就连泪水也都不相信

听 海哭的声音 这片海未免也太多情
悲泣到天明
写封信给我 就当最後约定
写信告诉我今夜 你想要梦什么
梦里外的我是否 都让你无从选择
我揪著一颗心 整夜都闭不了眼睛
为何你明明动了情 却又不靠近
听 海哭的声音 叹惜著谁又被伤了心
却还不清醒
一定不是我 至少我很冷静
可是泪水 就连泪水也都不相信
听 海哭的声音 这片海未免也太多情
悲泣到天明
写封信给我 就当最後约定

In memory of my father

It has been 10 years since my father passed away. But memories of him still live on in us... A person may more on, but how he lived his life will ensure that his presence is still felt even after he is gone.

Nursing rooms

With a baby, getting out of the house is now an operation in itself. And I discovered something yesterday while at Vivocity. While some of the nursing rooms are separate from the washrooms, at least one of them is actually within the ladies' washroom... which may make it a bit awkward for fathers to bring their babies there for changing of diapers.

In my opinion, nursing rooms should be separate from washrooms. After all, it is not the mother's job to take care of the baby. Both parents should do what they can. I can't breastfeed the baby, but at least I can help to change diapers.

Calligraphy piece - 精湛

I am giving this piece to Supreme. Got it all framed up ready for display. The phrase was thought up some time ago, and a draft was also written. I will be practising more on the long version (as per the draft) for the exhibition at the end of the year.