Every once in a while, you come across a clever bit of marketing which makes you smile. That's what happened to me today as I took my regular bus 166 back home.At first glance, it looks like any regular branded bus. Anybody can tell that Great Eastern Life is celebrating its 100th birthday.It looks like business as usual inside as you can see above.Heavily brand-oriented …

Would you pay for a half hour comedy on Youtube? Or a nice fancy photograph gleaned from Flickr? How about donating perhaps a couple of bucks to Wikipedia for using information there?If you are like most people, the answer would be "no". In fact, I just heard that Google is still trying to profit from its multi-billion dollar acquisition of Youtube, which is bleeding …

To celebrate my dad's 68th and my niece's 10th birthday, my mum decided to book a restaurant for dinner last night at Tiong Bahru's Seng Poh Lane. Going by the unassuming name of Por Kee Eating House (porky?), the outlet was your typical old-fashioned Chinese restaurant with red plastic chairs and an outdoor al fresco eating area. It was as unpretentious as you can get, …

Recently, my wife and I visited the Swanston Essential Store located at People's Park Complex to pick up some toiletries. Apparently, it has been quite an institution for the denizens of the Chinatown area.Anybody who need to purchase toiletries and cosmetic items will pop over now and then. They stock items like soap, shampoo, toothpaste, eye-liner and anything else which …

Once in a while, you find the need to indulge in a streak of exhibitionism and hedonistic fun. It isn't always that one gets to do something that will turn heads in the public. First, we took Ethan along to East Coast Park, where he had fun cycling...We met with our good friends Clement, Amy and their 5 year old daughter Dyann, who is one of Ethan's best friends. Ethan, …

Henderson Waves Bridge courtesy of chooyutshingAfter viewing the launch of the Southern Ridges by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong last night on Channel News Asia, I felt an inner voice tell me that I need to run up those hills. Stretching across from Alexandra Road (Gillman area) to Telok Blangah Park and Mount Faber, there were three new linkways stretching 1.3 km long which …

Kudos to Daryl Tay of Unique Frequency for addressing an issue which many know but few seem to want to bring to the forefront. And that is how the social media scene is performing in Singapore. He also highlighted an inspiring example on how Sea World uses social media marketing to its advantage. As one of the early purveyors of a corporate/ special interest blogs (namely …

As a botanist by training specialising in tropical ecology, I have always harboured a deep interest in nature. One of my favourite haunts was the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve - a small 410 acre area of lush primary rainforest, and probably the only place in Singapore where you can see tall towering dipterocarps in all their glory. Housing over 840 species of flowering plants …

Courtesy of mercer machineIn the age of social media, one particular trend seem to stand out more so than others. And that is our penchant for perversity.Just look at the leading blog posts and stories in technorati, digg, ping.sg and other blog aggregators. What hits you first and foremost? Most of the leading ones are either about controversy, coitus or corruption. If …

Took this photo sometime in December last year from my regular bus stop. Very atypical of a hot tropical island like Singapore and I remembered how chilly the weather was then. Effects of climate change perhaps? Of course those days are long gone, and the weather has turned blazingly hot nowadays and suffocating even. Time to give up my car?