We, I or me Got

Charities are not so well endowed that they can afford someone to check their grammar for them. So I'll do them a favour here. Clean it up if you have the time. Otherwise, the sentence makes sense to me. The meaning is not lost just because someone was careless with his English.

Fidgety Google

I can't understand why Google removed the picture in this post. It isn't pornographic at all. It is just the picture of the cover of E.L. James' runaway best seller, Fifty Shades of Grey, which I took with my phone camera in a local bookstore, displayed in broad daylight. This bookstore is frequented by parents and children as it specialises in school text and assessment books. The book cover had an added label on it warning that it was strictly not for browsing. That was what I was trying to highlight. That's all. I am puzzled that they think it was pornographic. Or was it a case of violation of copyright? Or did Google just relied on their spiders to remove ANY picture in a post which had words like pornography, sex, and such like?

I am keeping my fingers crossed that they will not censor this post. To think that they stood up to the Chinese government by closing their business in China because they did not agree to China's attempts to restrict certain content on Google.

Hmmm...just so that it is all above board, I have taken a screenshot of this post. So if it disappears, it can resurface, perhaps in a freer platform?

Military might

I didn't know that the Singapore military drives around  in high end luxury cars like the Audi A4. I thought only the Chinese government did so. 

Mainstream Sex

Fifty Shades of Grey has been scorching Bookshelves and eBookshelves, all over the English reading whole. Singapore is no exception, despite the fact that it has very stringent laws regarding the circulation, sales and possession of pornographic materials. And 50 Shades is as pornographic as it comes. Hey we are not talking straight sex here. It is the kinky variety. In fact, its bondage and SM stuff. But mainstream bookstores in Singapore are stocking and selling them. This picture was taken in Popular Bookstore, a place that many parents shop for school assessment books for their children. You can't argue with money, can you? Morals be damned. And yes, its in the top 10 list, or at least where this photo was taken in a heartland bookstore. Only, unlike other 'straight books', you are not allowed to take off the shrink-wrap to browse. There's that "No Browsing" label. This will work in Singapore. No browsing means no browsing. We are generally a docile lot, though with this increasing  liberal and, dare I say, daring, atmosphere, you'd wonder how long this will last, the docility, i.e. The law be damned too.

Soda Pop

Is this a new brand of soda, I mean the carbonated type for drinking? It is packaged like a 1.5L drink you would commonly see on supermarket shelves.

But it isn't. It is washing or cleaning soda. I am concerned. What if a child drank it, not realising that it isn't what he thinks it is.

Sufferer

Why not just write "Suffered from" instead of "Ex-sufferer of". It goes well with the next sentence. Maybe the people at this hair restoration place (or the copywriter whom they engaged) could also do with some language restoration?

Distasteful Shots

I don't mean to be mean. But I just couldn't help commenting to my partner while waiting in line for a seat to a popular local Japanese eatery. We thumbed through menu deciding what to eat, and came across these 2 items. The pictures were a isntant put-off. In the first picture, you have what looks like a bowl of, ermm, mud taking center-stage. The second picture is no better. The dishes looked like uncooked sea slugs or something. Both are really turn-offs. Who would choose to eat these? The person who took the photos, and the person who approved it for print in the menu must both be "shot" for such distasteful shots.

The iPad or Not

The word around town is the new iPad. So I was amused when I noticed a gentleman using both an iPad (must be version 2) and a notebook - the paper type. In fact, it looked like a filofax. Don't know what a filofax is? Ask your grandpa.

He was writing away on the notebook - the paper one, while his iPad was resting underneath. Hey, if you don't want your iPad, or obviously can do without one, pass it over.

Ware to wear

The person who designed and named this shoe must have been in the software business previously.

What's so special

We instinctively associate 'special price' with lower price. But if you think about it further, 'special' doesn't necessarily mean 'lower', just special. So let the buyer beware!

Take that tray off

So that's how you keep track of how long the sushi is on the belt. A magnetic detector under the plate!

To cork or not?

Look at the bottom of this menu. You mean there is corkage charge for everything, even non-alcoholic ones? Well fortunately I didn't have to pay the S$5 corkage for my lime juice drink, but it got me worried for a moment there.