Rubénerd!

In keeping with the level of discourse from tonight's Q&A, included here for your consideration is the music video for a song I first overheard playing loudly from a mad man's laptop at UTS, and later at a friend's house.

It has to be seen to be believed. Absolute psychedelic earworm madness.

Personally, I find the act of clothes shopping to be in the same league as furniture shopping, doctor's appointments and certain university classes: they're unbearable but necessary. IKEA is the one exception for furniture in my book, and now Uniqlo is the exception for clothes!

Uniqlo is a Japanese chain of casual clothing stores that just started opening around Singapore that has made one sharp founder a very rich guy. According to their site they also have stores in Japan, China, Hong Kong, South Korea, the United Kingdom, France and the United States.

Despite what some may say about The Gap, Uniqlo is the Apple store of clothing. The stores are light, airy and there's plenty of space to move around; well that is when it's not full with Singaporeans who gravitate to anything Japanese like a bee to honey! They have a ton of stuff, but it's all dead easy to find. Like Apple stores, Uniqlo stores seems simple but it's clear a lot of thought went into it to make them that way, unlike certain Microsoft shops which are just unabashed knockoffs ;).

I know nothing about fashion but I know what I like and their range is interesting and affordable without being intimidating, if that makes sense. By that I mean I usually feel awkward clothes shopping, but I felt right at home there. Must be a nerd thing.

Lunch is one letter off Launch

Japan's Number One casual wear brand sets yet another milestone by launching their 3rd Store in Singapore at 313@somerset, the largest in Southeast Asia on Thursday, 3 December 2009. The new store will cover up to 17,000 square feet of floor space across a single level. With an interior design reflecting an edgy, cosmopolitan feel, the new Somerset store is set to make waves in our local fashion scene by bringing you exclusive designer collaborations, such as the "+J" Collection and limited edition range of products that will not be available at their other stores.

Daddy long legs spiders

My biggest problem when I shop for clothes back in Australia is my legs are too long in proportion to my weight, by the time I get a pair of jeans that are long enough the waist is so wide I need to wear a huge belt to keep them in place! As a result, they tend to ride down and get caught in my shoes which gradually shreds them. You've see the look.

Perhaps it's more normal for Japanese people to be tall and skinny, because I was able to buy a pair of 34 size jeans and they fitted like a glove! Yes, I found pants that are long enough, and they fit on my waist! Can I get a hallelujah? :D

And because it was on special, I picked up a white New York City bagel shirt with cute smiling confectionery. Only in a Japanese clothing store ;).

The first, the last, the everything

That's probably the first time you've read me talking about fashion, and it's probably the last time you'll read me talking about fashion. I hope it was eye opening for you.

We Aussies call them shallots, others call them green onions, or scallions, or spring onions, or onion shoots, or breath destroyers... a shallot by any other name would taste as sharp!

Yes, I've been too busy this week studying and dropping 40kg computer cases on my big toe to post here. Don't ever do the latter, it's not as fun as they advertise it to be. Considerably less fun. Actually it's really not fun at all.

So to break this break as it were without taking too much time, here are some pictures of Hatsune Miku from the Vocaloid series holding a shallot. Or a green onion. Or a scallion. Or a... damn it!

Come to think of it, they all look more like leeks than shallots. DAMN it!

Nestle here in Singapore has launched yet another new flavour of Kit Kat, this time targeting overworked students and reminding us to chill during our exams.

Nothing like concern for people's well being laced with trendy Japanese themes and... unabashed consumerism ;).

If you listened to Rubenerd Show 221 you would know that while I think the Anything but Monday radio programme is good Mad Mike's comments on Kuala Lumpur were no good lah! Anyway since then on Anything but Monday number 5 Mad Mike explained his position, we had a good laugh and everything is just peachy :).

Now I must take aim at my good buddy Frank Edward Nora, the other host of the Anything but Monday show. On the same aforementioned episode he commented that New York is the greatest city in the world. Only one problem with Frank's logic: New York isn't the greatest city in the world! It's actually a tie between Singapore and Tokyo! Remember, you read it here first!

Think about it, Singapore is the fourth biggest centre for currency trading in the world, and it has only 4.5 million people... per capita it would be the biggest! It's also been rated number one place in the world to do business according to The Economist according to Wikipedia. Plus it's one of the few places in the world that will allow the import of locally-untested medicines at the recommendation of qualified doctors, meaning my mum is getting some of the best cancer treatments in the world! YEAH!

And Tokyo of course rocks because... well, because the Japanese girls I met in KL thought I was cute and Tokyo would be full of them... ahem. No further explanation necessary ;).

An added bonus as well, people in Tokyo and Singapore also drive on the correct side of the road like us Aussies and like the Brits: on the left, they both use the SI/decimal/metric system along with their decimal currencies and they're both much cheaper to access from Australia too. Plus the Japanese send more tourists (and tourism dollars!) to Australia than anyone else, and the Singaporeans are amongst the biggest investors in Australian real estate and financial services, so they must be on to something! :D

So Frank, I agree that New York is awesome, I'd love to go there one day, and it's certainly one of the greatest cities in the world, but it's not the greatest city in the world! :D

Now who wants to go get some prata or bento?

With all the pessimism around the world in regards to the United States' mess in Iraq, terrorism, unstable commodity prices and other lighthearted topics it's good to know we're still soldiering on.

According to a news report from Bloomberg (I love the design of their website), Asian markets with the exception of China posted their biggest weekly gains since November last year fueled largely by corporate profit results and forecasts that beat analyst's expectations.

Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 0.7 percent to 17,547.11, South Korea's Kospi had its best week since June, the Australian All Ordinaries posed a new record number and Singapore's Straits Times Index really impressed by posting its biggest gain in three years.

The Morgan Stanley Capital International Asia-Pacific Index added 1.4 percent this week to 142.71, extending a two-week, 1.4 percent rally.

Statistics coursety of Bloomberg Asia-Pacific and CNBC.

According to Bloomberg, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rose above 19,000 for the first time, and Singapore's Straits Times index posted a new record!

The article states that despite a cooler than expected Chinese economy Hong Kong was able to post strong gains which pushed it into record territory.

Elsewhere in Asia-Pacific though, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Malaysia and Indonesia fell, led by resource stocks such as BHP Billiton in Australia and JR East, Japan's largest railway operator.

As you may have seen on earlier posts about Kuala Lumpur and Singapore, I'm currently suffering from a Flickr photo addiciton. I've been spending hours looking through photos!

It seems though every second Singapore picture I find has something to do with sushi! Mmm... :D

Sushi Don is one of my favourite chains of Sushi bars in Singapore
By ez2axs

I like the Sushi Don typeface.
By ez2axs

Mmm... Singapore Changi Airport Sushi...
By toyohara

Singapore is full of Sushi bars... mmm... Sushi.
By victoriachan