RKS Literature: No Sense in Losing Sleep Over a Murder (George Orwell)

“One night in the small hours, there was a murder just beneath my window. I was woken by a fearful uproar, and, going to the window, saw a man lying flat on the stones below; I could see the murderers, three of them, flitting away at the end of the street. Some of us went down and found the man was quite dead, his skull cracked open with a piece of lead piping. I remember the colour of his blood, curiously purple, like wine; it was still on the cobbles when I came home that evening, and they said that schoolchildren had come from miles to see it. But the thing that strikes me in looking back it was that I was in bed and asleep within three minutes of the murder. So were most of the people in the street; we just made sure the man was done for and went straight back to bed. We were working people and where was the sense of wasting sleep over a murder.”

George Orwell, “Down and Out in Paris and London”, 1933.

“Lost in Puppydom: Rory Dylan Stephen’s Puppydom”: THE ABDUCTION OF RORY DYLAN STEPHEN: BUSTED FOR POOPING ALL OVER SINGAPORE

The Singapore Times Exclusive: BUSTED FOR POOPING ALL OVER SINGAPORE

On the last evening of ratting training at Punggol Waterway Park as we strolled to Bobby Jr.’s car nature called and it was poop time. That Singapore Chicken and greens I am being fed is lubricating my intestines quite well. I completed my bodily function and a man in a uniform sprung from the bushes and shouted at me, “You’re busted you filthy mutt!”

Come to think of it I have been crapping all over Singapore and Bobby Jr. hasn’t been picking it up and washing off poop stains as required by Singapore Animal Control.

I can’t blame Bobby Jr. as he was a newbie to dog ownership. Money to pay a maximum fine of $1,000 is not an issue for Bobby Jr. but if this went public my reputation may be soiled, an event we must avoid before participating in the upcoming “Singapore Westie of the Year”. Poopers may be required wear a bight yellow vest in public “I am a dirty pooper.”

Bobby Jr. peeled out $5000 and paid the by law officer who responded he could up the charge under the Singapore Vandalism Act leading to a maximum 8 stroke caning of Bobby Jr. Another $5000 ensured complete discretion!

RKS Japanese Literature: Hiroshima Aftermath: Face Puffed up Like a Loaf of Bread (Yoko Ōta)

“This was the first good look we had had of each other’s angry faces, but smiling was an impossibility. We couldn’t see our own faces, but looking at each other gave us an idea. My sister’s face was puffed up like a loaf of bread, and her eyes, normally large, black and uncannily clear, had become mere slits, their edges dark and blue as blue-black ink. A cross-shaped cut extended from the right edge of her lip into her cheek, twisting her whole mouth into a sideways inverted letter L, a sight so ugly I could not look at it for long. Her hair was caked with blood and the red clay of our house’s walls, as if she had been on the streets begging for years.”

Yoko Ōta, “Hiroshima, City of Doom”

“Lost in Puppydom: Rory Dylan Stephen’s Puppydom”: THE ABDUCTION OF RORY DYLAN STEPHEN: ON THE PATH TO MEDIA FAME

The Singapore Times Exclusive: ON THE PATH TO MEDIA FAME

Bobby Jr. had suggested I could become Southeast Asia’s most famous West Highland Terrier For what purpose I did not know nor did Bobby Jr. reveal such.

After a most delectable room service breakfast in Bobby Jr.’s Singapore Shangri-La suite including chicken congee which I adore we were on the road to meet with the chair of the organizing committee for “Singapore Westie of the Year” a day of competition for Singapore’s Westies. The winner received a small cash prize but lucrative social media deals were sure to follow.

We met with a ruddy faced Brit Sir Reginald Nicomshire a Singaporean shipping magnate who Bobby explained had a passion for West Highland Terriers. One problem, being nine months of age I did not qualify under the minimum age requirement of one year. Nicomshire was nonplussed as after all Madame Fong and Bobby Jr. were akin to family according to Nicomshire.

The criteria for the competition were;

  • Good looks
  • Intelligence
  • Cuddleability
  • Begging skills
  • Compatibility with other dogs
  • Vermin and rat hunting
  • Speed

I was in for the competition to be held the following weekend.

I had all the criteria nailed solid except for ratting. Like the movie “Rocky” Bobby Jr. was to be my ratting trainer. For the next four nights we headed to pathways near the Elias Mall in Pasir Ris to hone my skills. Lots of those filthy Norway rats there! Yes even Singapore is rat infested!

Westies do not catch rats on the run but dig through rat burrows. Easy peasy! Bobby Jr. said I only had to make the hunt “look good” as the panel of 6 judges had been “renumerated” to guarantee a certain result.

The day of the competition arrived and in high spirits we drove to Punggol Waterway Park, the site of the competition.

RKS Japanese Literature: Hiroshima Aftermath: Crushed by Sheer Force (Yoko Ōta)

“We could not conceive of the day’s events as being related in any way to the war. We were being crushed by a sheer force-an intense and one-sided force-that had nothing to do with the war. Neither did we as fellow Japanese encourage one another or console one another. We behaved submissively and said nothing. No one came to tend the injured, no one came to tell us where or how to pass the night. We were simply on our own.”

Yoko Ōta, “Hiroshima, City of Doom”

“Lost in Puppydom: Rory Dylan Stephen’s Puppydom”: THE ABDUCTION OF RORY DYLAN STEPHEN: BOBBY JR.’S PROMISE TO ME ON THE 15 ACRE GARDEN OF THE SINGAPORE SHANGRI-LA

The Singapore Times Exclusive: BOBBY JR.’S PROMISE TO ME ON THE 15 ACRE GARDEN OF THE SINGAPORE SHANGRI-LA

After our late refreshments at The Raffles we drove to the Singapore Shangri-La nestled in a quiet residential area. Bobby Jr. lived in a suite there and was well known to all the hotel’s staff.

What a huge lobby with orchids everywhere and an impressive garden off the lobby with small waterfalls, tropical foliage and pools with fish. There is a 15-acre exterior garden home to 110 varieties of flora and fauna including Bobby’s favourite the durian fruit tree. We had our dinner in a private air-conditioned tent in this garden.

Bobby Jr. had a Durian Martini to start and some Evian water for me. Bobby Jr. dined on a beef noodle type of dish while I had a few strips of grilled beef, two small rice balls and boiled carrots. Bobby spent all dinner on his phone replete with talk about the “movement of money”.

After my dessert of a dozen blueberries Bobby Jr. placed his mobile phone on the table and me too. “Rory you are no white poof ball. I sense a very intelligent dog. A tough dog despite your puppydom. My mother Madame Fong is a ruthless businesswoman. None of this nonsense about you being sent to Cambodia to sniff out landmines with rats or to be eaten in China as a hot dog pot. You are to be the bait for a very big fish who has something coming to him. I promise that you will not be hurt.” He looked at me right between the eyes and said clearly, “Did you hear me. I give you the word of Bobby Fong Jr. you will not be harmed. In the next few days we are going to make you the most famous West Highland Terrier in Southeast Asia and after that you will be travelling with me and my mother on the Eastern Oriental Express. Enough business for the day. Let’s go to my suite and watch “Coronation Street”.

RKS Literature: Easily Swindled Americans at Hotel X in Paris (George Orwell)

“According to Boris the same kind of thing went on in all Paris hotels, or at least in all the big, expensive ones. But I imagine that the customers in Hôtel X were especially easy to swindle for they were mostly Americans, with a sprinkling of English-no French- and seemed to know nothing whatever about good food. They would stuff themselves with disgusting American ‘cereals’ and eat marmalade at tea, and drink vermouth after dinner, and order a poulet à la reine at a hundred francs then souse it in Worcester sauce. One customer, from Pittsburgh, dined every night in his bedroom on grape-nuts, scrambled eggs and cocoa. Perhaps it hardly matters whether such people are swindled or not.”

George Orwell, “Down and Out in Paris and London”, 1933.

RKS Literature: The Outlook of a Waiter (George Orwell)

“The waiter’s outlook is quite different. He too is proud in a way of his skill, but his skill is chiefly in being servile. His work gives him the mentality, not of a workman, but of a snob. He lives perpetually in sight of rich people, stands at their tables, listens to their conversation, sucks up to them with smiles and discreet little jokes. He has the pleasure of spending money by proxy. Moreover, there is always the chance that he may become rich himself, for, though most waiters die poor they have long runs of luck occasionally. At some cafés on the Grand Boulevard there is so much money to be made that the waiters actually pay the patron for their employment. The result is that between constantly seeing money, and hoping to get it, the waiter comes to identify himself to some extent with his employers. He will take great pains to serve a meal in style, because he feels he is participating in the meal himself.”

George Orwell, “Down and Out in Paris and London”, 1933.

RKS ONTARIO WINE: NO FOG WITH FOGOLAR’S 2022 CABERNET FRANC FROM NIAGARA’S PICONE VINEYARD

Fogolar produces some superb Ontario wines. I was off the Ontario Riesling rails for quite some time until Fogolar Riesling set me back on track.

Warm fermented for 28 days in stainless steel and aged in French oak for two years.

The Fogolar Cabernet Francs must not be ignored including the Fogolar Picone Vineyards 2022 Cabernet Franc.

Aroma: Powerful black cherry with secondary notes of blackberry and some faint dark chocolate and cigar.

Palate: Deep black cherry streak with rhubarb and pepper with an ultra long at times a delightful indescribable finish. Acidity yes but a quick fade thank goodness.

Personality:  I am an exceptional Niagara Cabernet Franc with high purity and somewhat of a delightful but bizarro finish similar to some of my Fogolar Riesling brothers. That slight touch of bizarre puts me ahead of the pack.

Food Match: Best suited to food over sipping. Pasta a la Norma.

Cellarbility: Consume before 2027-year end.

Price: $23.80 (Manager clearance price).

RKS ONTARIO WINE RATING: 94/100.Natalie MacLean 92.

(Fogolar Wines 2022 Picone Vineyard Cabernet Franc, VQA Vinemount Ridge, Fogolar Wines, 750 mL, 12.5%).

Tasted 11May2026.

“Lost in Puppydom: Rory Dylan Stephen’s Puppydom”: THE ABDUCTION OF RORY DYLAN STEPHEN: YANKEE GRINGOS AT RAFFLES SINGAPORE WILLING TO PAY $44USD FOR A SINGAPORE SLING

The Singapore Times Exclusive: THE ABDUCTION OF RORY DYLAN STEPHEN: YANKEE GRINGOS AT RAFFLES SINGAPORE WILLING TO PAY $44USD FOR A SINGAPORE SLING

We drove to Raffles Singapore for a “pre-dinner cocktail”. The parking valet had that look of fear in his eye like the one Bobby Jr. received from the maître D at The Crooked Crab where we had our lunch.

Bobby took me to witness a “sorry sight” as he described it. We wended our way to a bar that served Singapore Slings a cocktail supposedly created at the Raffles Singapore by bartender Ngiam Tong Boon in 1915. There were at least 50 people waiting outside The Long Bar for a seat of shame. Almost all Americans speaking loudly with “extreme confidence” Bobby Jr. remarked adding, “Give those folks a couple of Slings and one of our Viet pickpockets has a field day. No self-respecting Singaporean would ever have a drink there.” We go to the Courtyard Bar, Bobby enjoying a Durian Sling for a third the price of a Singapore Sling upstairs. To my surprise I had a cube of frozen yogurt, strawberries, mango and dragon fruit he had preordered a couple of hours ago. Boy in this steaming heat what a delight! Why is Bobby Jr. treating Rory his prisoner so well? Puzzling!

The Raffles waiter said no charge to Bobby Jr. saying  to me our last stop for the day was Shangri-la Singapore where he had “big news for me”.

We did have a cruise around Raffles Singapore lobby. Beautiful colonial! Bobby noted he could never stay here as so many Brits were here and the stink of beans and toast each morning in the breakfast room made him gag.