Shanghai - Expo ABC

As with all things China in recent times, we shall go loud, direct and extravagant on our first post of Shanghai.

The EXPO!

With millions cluttering around China's pavilion, Yakki decided it could not grace his camera

Monday blues usually temper with people's willingness to do anything strenuous like queuing and jostling to enter a pavilion. So, we chose a Monday, 20 Sep, to explore the grounds.

We knew the Expo was going to be crowded, but a brilliant stroke of coincidence in our decision making meant we avoided visiting the Expo a day after Mid-Autumn Festival (23 Sep: highest attendance of 631,100+ visitors).

Still, there were thousands of eager Chinese competing to have their Expo passports chopped at the more illustrious (i.e. expensive) pavilions such as the U.K., Italy, Saudi Arabia, South Korea.

We were never gonna be crowd followers. Instead, we focused on short queues. And short queues alone.

First up was Brazil.

Brasil

The obvious thing for Brazil to do is to showcase their fanaticism of the beautiful game, displaying their fans, their footballers and many balls in one room.

Beside the apparent, they had four huge screens up in the ceiling, depicting the other things the Brazilians were good at. They had footages of a worker in an industrial plant, some agriculture process, kids playing in the neighbourhood to the beat of samba music.

Overall, a decent setup with its exhibits as well as adverts on PetroBras and Vale reflecting the fast-growing Brazilian economy.

Next we arrived in Canada.

Hypnotised

I don't really know how to describe the Canadian pavilion because from the outside it looked so simple, but the inside awed us with inexplicable exhibits.

Somehow, we just knew the Canadians were conveying sustainability, something-eco, something green. Enjoyable and funky, but we don't really know why. Made us wanna migrate to Canada, no?

A is for Angola.

The African nation's pavilion had a very simple layout. Simple exhibits of its people, produce and diamonds. We spent little time in there because we were looking for something extraordinary, something artsy to confound us.

And so we headed to our homeland, the Singapore Pavilion.

Gone Shanghai Returned

Vacations tend to flash by.

Bustling Shanghai didn't beg to differ.

Pudong International Airport - Arriving / Departing

We were there and back almost as if we weren't really there.

The pace of the city and its events gave us no chance to settle, to slow.

Yakki and I were largely separate on our trip to discover. But piecing his photos and my thoughts together, we hope to tell you more about Shanghai than just the Bund and the Expo.

Let the ride begin..

Shanghai Hiatus

To all our fans, googlers and the accidentally spammed, we apologise for the lack of action in The Tuck Shop.

This is mainly due to Yakki's eventful life off the web and Wally's workload in his 'real job'.

And, we'll be going up to Shanghai for a week.

Probably no us for another 10 days or so, since Google's not very welcomed in China.

But we'll be back with smashing posts/pictures on/from Shanghai.

Hope to see more Gongs than Johns in 上海
Source: Slashfilm.com

Disgrace at Jalan Besar Stadium: Young Lions v Beijing Guoan

As the sparkle of YOG began to disappear from our lives, the mediocrity of the S-League returned with a whimper.

Poor attendances continued pre-YOG, but the latest episode in our local league would leave football administrators scratching their heads in their quest towards a league with filled stadiums and entertaining football.

The Young Lions in an attempt to upstage their younger counterparts, the Cubs, decided to get involved in a huge brawl last night at the Jalan Besar Stadium. But frankly speaking, in all honesty without bias, the Beijing Guoan team played dirty and provoked the Young Lions into the fight.

The disgusting nature of their football, time-wasting accompanied by horrendous tackles (X-rated tackle at 1:52), led to the fight between the two sides towards the end of the game.

What's more sickening was the way the Beijing substitutes rushing onto the field to assault the Young Lions (Watch 2:22). The Young Lions should not have reacted and retaliated, but watching the video, you will realise that even a religious goody-two-shoe would find it impossible to suppress the animal in him. And there was some cowardly fighting (2:32) when a Beijing Guoan player kicks out at a Young Lion while he's down.

I certainly hope the authorities punish those who were involved in the brawl, team officials included.

Peugeot 3008 v Kia Sportage

Everything's returning to normalcy after two weeks of sports fever. As Singaporeans return to gripes of housing and foreign workers, the two of us decided to review our cars' future.

There's no perfect moment to buy a car in recent times. But it hurts no pocket to test drive a couple. A odd couple that is.

Usual comparisons involve two automobile heavyweights. Read Bimmers v Benz.

Or cars from two mega economies. German power v Japanese efficency.

We have decided to buck the trend.

French Flair v Killer Korean.

Coffee first

Bonjour

First up was the Peugeot 3008.

As with all Pugs, the 3008 had a distinctively French touch to it. Stylish, chrome-ish, a soothing interior.

Le Stylo Milo

This particular Pug comes with so many storage compartments, you could play hide-and-seek with the customs officer by daring him to sniff out that one contraband cigarette you borrowed from a Johorian. Or pirated DVD.

More storage behind the Lion

The 3008 is a crossover (half-hatch back, half-SUV) that seems big, but not too huge. Enough legroom for four, but a little small for five. Enough boot space for stuff, but insufficient for more stuff.

Yakki took it to the roads and was okay with the car's power. He had a tiny issue with the driver's seat, saying that it felt a little claustrophobic down there.

The backseats were comfortable, but the slightly hard suspension made the ride a bit too rough for a family car.

Still, it felt like a sexy crossover to have. Somewhere between a hatchback and an SUV as it was designed to be.

안녕하십니까

Next up was the Kia Sportage.

As with all the Kias now, it sports a Audi touch. Sexier than the old Kias, muscular like typical Germans.

This Sportage definitely beats its predecessor in terms of design and styling. The interior looks one up on all Korean cars. Even the sound-system's impressive.

Sound control has air-con vents as wings

Yakki floored the Sportage just he did with the 3008, but despite its louder roar, the 2L engine responded with lackluster acceleration.

Korea launches second space ship

I certainly didn't care as I spent most of the time admiring the lovely sky through its sunroof. The seats were softer and more comfortable than the 3008, cushioning my rear the entire drive.

Nutshell

After one afternoon of test driving both cars and attempting to sound professional and knowledgeable in our assessment, we thought it would be easier to describe them this way:

3008 - Natalie Portman in some artsy film

Likely seen zipping around the streets of Paris.
1.6L turbocharge engine, better fuel economy, sexier interior.
S$116,900 for the Adventure model (incl. heads up display, panoramic sunroof).

Sportage - Ali Larter in Resident Evil: Extinction

Muscling its way through the Las Vegas desert.
2L engine, spacier, softer interior.
S$110,999 for the Sports version (incl. 18" rims, silver rails on its roofline, panoramic sunroof).

Which are we getting?
We're very faithful men. So we're staying with our current ladies for now.

School Holidays = No Traffic Congestion

Today's Teacher's Day and traffic on the roads was significantly smoother.

Why?

We list down a few possibilities.

School Days since 1965

1. Teachers are well-paid and own cars
Teachers' Day means all the cher-drivers, numbering 50,000 or so, are off the roads.

2. Parents take leave, MC or chao geng to stay home with their kids
Someone in office mentioned, "Just look at the car park, half empty".

3. A lot of ah sia students these days
In the new economy, students skip trains and 'O' levels and drive to university.