tell-tale signs of a fake rolex

it is a fake when the hologram, if there is one, looks the same when viewed from different angles. if there is no hologram, there is no need to look; straight away, you know it is a fake. a genuine rolex comes with a hologram-coded (3 dimensional) sticker on the caseback.

in a genuine rolex, the date magnification is 2.5 times. in most fakes, it is usually about 1.5 times. in some cases, the fakes use a bigger font for the numbers.

the sweeping action of the second hand. the movement of the second hand should be smooth, a sweeping kind of action. a ticking or less than smooth movement means it is a fake.

in some fakes, the hour hand is a bit on the short side. in a genuine rolex, the minute hand reaches up to the 'hash' marks.

when you adjust the date manually by moving the hands, the date change should take place at exactly 0000hr (12). in most fakes, the date jumps even before the minute hand reaches 12.

one with a skeleton case where you can see the inside parts of the watch is definitely a fake.

nowadays, the replicas are so well-made, most of us can be fooled into thinking they are the real stuff, so it is best to take it to a professional/the dealer to check. a grade 1 swiss-made replicas come with 100% correct date fonts, real 2.5x date magnification and the green rolex hologram stick, among other things.

the swiss and italian claim that their replicas are superior to the japan-made replicas. the japanese replicas are definitely better than the china-made replicas. the market for replicas must be quite lucrative because they even advise you to buy your replicas from a reputable source.

where is this building?

where is this neighbourhood police post? hong lim park

what is the name of this police post? kreta ayer neighbourhood police post

what was this building used for before it was converted to a police post? post office

a betting game using a length of sugar-cane?

a few days ago, i was at a supermarket when i saw cut sugar-cane pieces on sale at 80 cents a piece. these days, when the sugar-cane juice seller buys the sugar-cane, it comes neatly cut and packed in a cardboard box. in the past, he would get the whole length of sugar-canes with the leaves lopped off. he would then have to cut the canes into suitable length to pass through the crushing machine.

however, complete sugar-cane plants are still sold during the few days after the chinese new year, just before the 8th day when the chinese, especially the hokkiens, pray to the sky god (tii kong). the worshippers would buy a pair of sugar cane plants and tie them to the sides of the offering table. at the end of the prayer session, which was usually after midnight, they would break off the leaves and burn them together with the incense papers.

when we lived in the kampong, quite a number of families would have a patch somewhere around the house, either in front, at the back or at the side, growing sugar-cane. sugar-cane plants are not very fussy and so do not require very fertile soil to grow well. i think it was quite easy to propogate the plants - we grew them from the stems taken from the uppermost part of a young cane. the plants grew quite fast and we would usually harvest them before the flowers appeared.

i remember as a young boy, when i still had a full set of teeth and strong ones, i used to buy short pieces of cut sugar-cane at 5 cents a piece to eat. sometimes, we would get the sugar-cane from our home patch. first, you needed those strong teeth to peel off the hard exterior. when the exterior had been stripped clean, you took bite-sizes of the pulpy flesh, again by breaking them with with your teeth. you chewed the pulpy flesh until you have savoured all the juice, then you spit out the pulp.

sometimes we would share to buy the cut sugar-cane and played a game to see who, between the two of us, would get the longer length of the cane or pay for the cane. this was how we played the game. we would buy a cut cane, strip it off its hard exterior and then we would each hold one end of the cane. at the count of three, we would both use our combined strength to break the pulpy fresh.

when the cane broke into two parts, with each of us holding one part, we would compare the length of the fibre at the break point. the one holding to the piece with a longer fibre won. he would either take the longer length or get to keep the whole cane (two pieces) depending on the prior agreement.

the ornate trishaws of melaka

i do not remember the trishaws being so elaborately and colourfully decorated in my previous trips to melaka. it is certainly eye-catching; you cannot miss them as you walk into the dutch square.

keeping silkworm as a pet











































have always been intrigued by this sign along neo tiew lane 3 - the road leading to the kranji golf course. the sign says: singapore zoo. but, how is this possible? the zoo is at mandai and kranji is a long way from mandai. is it possible that this road leads all the way to the zoo?

decided to check it out today. parked my car at the barrier and took a walk along the stretch of road. it was actually a short stretch. it led to a nursery and some of the trees that are planted there reminded me of those days when we used to keep caterpillars as pets. after checking, i can only conclude that the plot of land has been leased to the singapore zoological gardens.

among other plants, there are at least two plots devoted to the growing of mulberry trees. wonder why they grow mulberry trees in singapore. is it food for silkworms?

back in the late 50s or early 60s, i remember there was this craze of keeping silkworms as pets. i kept a few and many of my classmates and schoolmates were also into it. we would take the pets to school and compare their development. fortunately for me, my neighbour, the one who had a jambu mawar tree, also had some mulberry plants. silkworms will eat mulberry leaves only.

could only remember keeping them up to the pupa stage and after that, no idea what became of the cocoons. cannot remember much about silkworm except for the fact that it is white and it has a short anal horn. the adult worm is about 5cm long and it does not need to be fed every day.