It's Getting Boring Again...

Singapore is getting very boring again.

It's a tiny city-state, where going from one end of the island to the other end on the MRT takes only one and a half hours. And that metro line isn't even straight!

There really isn't much to do in this tiny island nation. There's only so much it can offer, and 30% of its land are nature parks or untouched greenery (like Lim Chu Kang and central water catchment, where you won't often return there though sometimes you go there for some nature touch), the remaining 45% are HDB housing estates, and the remaining 25% are where tourists throng but 25% of this already claustrophobic island is really little to go by.

I've gone to almost every corner of this island deemed worth visiting, except Sentosa which I don't find anything fanciful as I'm not man-made entertainment type of guy, and Coney Island which takes a lot of time on foot and I haven't found a suitable date with nice weather.

This explains a lot. It shows that despite the strength of its currency and the robust economy, the people really have not much entertainment left and therefore they resort to spending money. Buying stuffs, on a weekly basis, become the norm and what keeps the economy going, and that's why people here care so much about branded stuffs.

Too bad I'm not one of them. To me, all these superficial items buy you momentary happiness, but after a while it fades. I find the purchasing power here overwhelmingly tempting, but the fleeting satisfaction it provides me fail to propel me to continue this momentum.

Well, my days in Singapore are numbered.

Two more years. Max. Could be less. Unlikely to be more, unless I'm given very, very good reasons to stay.

The Captain, 中国机长

Based on and modified from a true event, The Captain is a rather simple movie that regales us about how a pilot successfully lands an aeroplane that suffered from a massive loss of cabin pressure due to window breakage at few thousand metres above ground.

I didn't know much about Sichuan Airlines 8633 incident that happened in May 2018, where the window unexpectedly broke and the co-pilot was nearly sucked out from the cockpit. There wasn't much coverage about the incident and I couldn't find any news that explained the aftermath and any investigation report as to why a seemingly robust glass could miraculously gave away on flight. I'm not doubting that everything is made up, in fact I believed everything about it is real, but the lack of coverage and transparency seem odd, though probably typical of Chinese bureaucracy.

Anyway I knew about this movie because it was given much hype from the media and apparently a lot of enthusiasm was running because of it. It was released as a celebratory movie on the 70th anniversary of PRC independence, or founding. Not exactly know which is it, sorry.

The movie was good. It wasted no time talking about stuffs that aren't relevant or would doze you off. It began with the airline crews prepping, going through the procedures, and within 20 minutes of the movie, the plane has departed and the action was about to begin.

The adrenaline started pumping hard after the glass broke. With sudden loss of cabin pressure only within the cockpit, and with not much time to despair but to gain control of the aeroplane despite the chillingly low temperature and wind pressure that silence out all other noises, cutting off all radio contact and the subsequent loss of oxygen, the pilot has to find a way to land the aeroplane at the nearest airport without any radio contact and assistance from the ground.

The actors of the movie, together with some
of the real survivors of the accident.

What really made this movie amazing is the skill of the pilot in maneouvring the aeroplane into safety. The climax of the movie has to be the part where the pilot made a judgment call and deems it absolutely necessary to penetrate into the dense turbulent horrific weather, despite the loss of windshield and subjecting themselves to the horror of the nature, and therefore loss contact with the outside world and every authority thought the plane must have crashed to suffer from such cut off. It became a huge relief where the plane emerges from the clouds and reappears on the radar.

The movie lasts about 1 hour and 40 minutes, and none of your time would be wasted. Your adrenaline would be pumped at its maximum rate and you'll feel at times that you marvel at the skills of the pilot while at the same time deeply touched to know, a single action from a single person could really change the lives of many people.

I would highly recommend you to watch this movie. It's so far the best Chinese movie I've watched and one of the best ever, surpassing some of Hollywood's top.

It would also be great that we understand that airline crews, not only the pilots, but also the co-pilots, stewardess, ground crews, those who work in the aviation authority and the control tower, all play an important role in guiding all flights safely. Their role in the flow of air traffic shouldn't be overlooked and forgotten, even though most of the time we don't appreciate what they do because we don't interact with them.

Joo Young - Nothing`s Gonna Change My Love For You

Now, true talent like this is extremely rare, probably on the brink of seemingly extinction, due to the influx of large untalented singers rode on the popularity wave because of electronic aids or deceptive images. But talent like this often goes unnoticed, yet is what attracts me the most.

This is not a new song. It's an oldie which I occasionally enjoy. The old songs often have heavy tunes - not those electronically modified, natural, but still heavily tuned - and I often don't enjoy them unless they're covered by another singers or sang during live performance.

I heard this song again recently when I was shopping at Chinatown. The version I heard was acoustic and I loved it so I immediately jot it down to google it when I go home.

And so I did. I couldn't find the version I heard, but I stumbled upon this. This blew my mind away. It's an authentic sentimental performance, real voice, real performance, authentic emotions, and it's a true talent.

This singer is not famous, but I guess he should be. Because this is really good.

And good videos ought to be shared.