Nov 22, 2007 Read Submarines WWII

Iron Coffin .. I really enjoyed this book by John Mannock. It adds to my collection of submarine books and movies.

But Iron Coffin brings an interesting twist to the Das Boot-genre of WWII Kriegsmarine lore. The story commences with the discovery of a U-boat wreck in a Louisiana river delta and a chance encounter in a local bar with an old timer who can tell the story for the first and perhaps last time. How the disabled submarine sought refuge in the bayous and sought help from the Cajun river dwellers. And the surprising twist that explains why one of the sailors is left behind.

Gritty, authentic detail and the unconventional story line make this a great read.
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Nov 20, 2007 Database

If you are a serious database specialist in or around Singapore, I recommend you check out the Oracle Database: Real World Scenarios - Troubleshooting and Tuning Seminar that has been put together for Oracle University by Aat van Bart. It is running on 6th & 7th Dec.

Aat is one of my ex-collegues, so I know when he talks "real world" you can be sure this is the real deal;-)

This is one of a series of special events that Oracle University in Singapore have organised. Next is Steven Feuerstein's The Best of PL/SQL.
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Nov 20, 2007 Read

After reading Guy Walters' The Colditz Legacy, I picked up The Leader.

The book plays out a convincing and chilling alternative history of the rise and fall of fascism in pre-WWII era Britain. The fork in the road from actual history is the refusal of King George to adbicate over his marriage to Mrs Simpson and the resulting face-off with Parliament that allows "The (fascist) Leader" to fill the power vacuum. The book presents a thought-provoking study of just how easy it could be for any society to head down the same path as Germany under Hitler. And the further you go, the harder it is to retreat without drastic action.

The Leader kept me engaged to the very last word. Definitely worth a read.


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Nov 18, 2007 Prata Singapore

Mmm .. getting back to the original theme of this blog: prata reports!

On Saturday I stopped off at Suntec Convention Centre. It's had a famous prata stall for years, and it seems to have survived last year's renovation under the "Food Republic" brand (look for the What You Do Prata stall). Pleased to report the plain prata is as light and fluffy as ever with just enough crispyness. Curry is not bad, but more like a thicker masala style. For fun (and your sweet-tooth), try the prata tissue!



NB: many places you'll find the Teh Tarik is bitter and stewed. Not here .. its great!
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