Tonight is the Big Night for Lunar Eclipse!

I hope the sky is clear for tonight's lunar eclipse and blue moon.  It is a rare event to get a full lunar eclipse in Singapore.  Many times whenever we have solar or lunar eclipse, our heavy clouds spoils the rare event.  Since I was a kid reading science news in Straits Times, I have no chance of seeing the eclipses properly.  Recently, there was a solar eclipse which was not bad as the eclipse can be seen through the cloud.

Moonlight is weak and therefore once there is cloud cover, it will not be seen well.  I am hopeful as the eclipse will last for 3 hours tonight!

Working Late

B1 has been working late last week and yesterday.  So it is a surprise that he comes home at 8pm tonight.  He has been returning home close to midnight every night.  It is nice surprise for us that he is back in time to eat dinner with us. 

Life as a lawyer is tough.  The hours are long.  Most of his classmates work late as well.  The compensation is quite low.  So hopefully, they all get to earn more, much more in future.  Otherwise it is not a good profession to be in.

Enjoying the Front Yard

The temperature cools down in the evening at about 6pm.  So I make myself a cup of iced tea and sat at my front porch.  We have an outdoor table with 6 chairs.  It is nice to read and relax listening to the water sounds of the fountain.  The trees and plants are lush and green.  It is like living with nature.  My wife joins me but she started to talk about the shellac peeling off and started to clean it up.  She is such a perfectionist.  I just want to relax and do basically nothing or read.  So it became stressful.

I am like Dagwood Bumstead in the Blondie comic strip.  Plain lazy when it come to housekeeping and maintenance.  I just like my peace and relaxation rather than endless cleaning and keep the things in the house in tip top condition.

Anyway, we have to go for dinner and I am happy to have space to enjoy drinking iced tea alfresco.

Lucky Day!!

High tide is at about 5 pm.  I starts to cycle to Punggol seaside at 4.  The water is high and murky at the regular spot.  I throw my net and did not do a good job as the net did not spread out.  I was kicking myself mentally as the net lands on the water.  Then I saw a big fish jumps out.  I pull the net in and felt a little struggle.  I do not know yet but feels hopeful that I have caught fishes.  As I pull in the net, there it is a big Asian Seabass.  Another smaller Asian Seabass was also caught in the net.  I felt so lucky to catch a big fish in my first throw.  I put the big seabass in a plastic bag.  The small seabass goes into the bottle.

I feel very lucky!  After that I cycled to Punggol Point.  Again, my kakis are not there whenever I caught a big fish.  No matter, I showed my fish to 2 foreign cleaners whom I says hello to them everytime I met them.  The large seabass weighs more than 800 grams.  My wife put the fish into the freezer when I reached home.

The smaller seabass goes into the tank and it is still alive and swimming.  I also caught some mullets. It is feels good to be lucky!!

Tiny Houses

I have been watching Tiny House series on Youtube.  Tiny houses are usually shipping containers turned into a house.  There are also custom built house on wheels as well as just houses that is less than 300 sq ft.  The tiny houses are practical for small budgets or those "starter" homes.  The house will have to collect rainwater or put water in a container for use.  Toilet is compost toilet.  So have running water toilet if they are connected to the "grid".  Grid meaning water and electricity. Although grid is originally for electricity.

I love the concept of tiny house on wheels.  It mean I can travel around and live without paying for hotel.  I think it is also hard life as there is no running water for shower.  Some of the houses are self sufficient which mean it collects rainwater and use solar and battery for electric appliances.  It seems romantic idea although it will be quite hard as most of the video emphasize the views and outdoor space.  It will be easier in USA, Canada or Japan as the weather is friendlier to outdoor living.

Buying Plenty of Fruits

In Jalan Membina and in Jalan Bukit Ho Swee, the fruit shops with the same name attracts buyers who buy big quantities of fruits.  We were in Chinatown for char kway teow.  The price has gone up to $4 per plate instead of $3.  The queue is still as long. 

After lunch, we drop by the fruits shops.  We bought plenty!  We have young coconuts at $1.30 each, organic longan at $5/kg($6 elsewhere) and soursop at $10/kg instead of $15/kg.  The watermelon is at $3 each and D24 Durian is $8/kg.  Large Australian white peaches are at $2.50 each.  Unfortunately, there is no cut jackfruits which is at $5/kg instead of $6/kg in Yishun.  I have stopped buying fruits in Yishun.

I love my fruits!  They are health snacks.  Only problem is they do not keep weight down.  Only vegetable snacks can help in keeping weight at bay.

Cool Morning

The temperature is wonderfully cool the previous few days.  It is very enjoyable and comfortable temperature.  B1 commented our floor is cold at the level 1 when he open the glass door to let the air in.  I googled and found that the lowest temperature was in 14 Feb 1989 in Paya Lebar.  It must be really cool at that time!

It is nice to wake up in an aircond level type of environment in the open.  So I feel glad to open the door to let the coolness enter our home.  Then I boil water to make tea or coffee and do my other routines.  Many times, I just switch on the TV, this morning I try to write before B1 request I send him to the train station.  I find it relaxing to stay with the cool weather.

RI and Hwa Chong Open House

This morning, we went to the open house in RI.  The school now has astronomy club, runway(for aspiring model), modern dance and other CCA which were not available during our time.  I notice there is no drama or Raffles Players.  Maybe there is but I was moving too quickly to notice.

I left to send mummy to Toa Payoh for her class.  Then I just go home to fish.  Mummy went to Hwa Chong by train.  The station is Tan Kah Kee.  She has to climb up the hill.  Every visitor need to scan their IC.  So it is less welcoming than RI.  Also Hwa Chong is like fun fair.  There is no overall program.  RI is much better organised.  There is an orchestra, dancing on the circular stage, runway show.  So it is quite impressive or rather mum is more impressed by RI.  She noticed the girls from Nanyang i.e. Hwa Chong dance group are prettier and dance far better than those in RI.

"O" Level Results Today!

The "O" level results are released this afternoon.  We went to school and waits for the results.  The school did better than the last 4 years.  More students have 6 distinctions or better. There are 57 with 8 distinctions or more and 93 with 6 distinctions or more.  

B3 has 9 distinctions and was called to receive his results from the Principal.  It is a proud day for us. He has outperform his elder brothers and also the best performer on both sides of the family i.e. daddy's and mummy's.  We are quite relief after so many days of anxieties, worrying and preparing for the worst.

He has a raw score of 7 for L1R5.  He also pass his Higher Chinese which he received B4 and merit for his oral.  So with 4 points deduction, he has 3 points and therefore has a good chance with the 2 most popular school, Hwa Chong or Raffles Institution.

He has a classmate who scored only 6 points and the rest of his good friends scored the same as him.  One did not do as well with B3 for his English and D7 for Higher Chinese.  We feels sorry for him and his mother.  His parents have strong hope for his to go to Hwa Chong.  Now the chance is slim as he has 8 points minus 2 which mean 6 and the points for Hwa Chong is 4.  With the merger, the points may increased but it is still a big worry.  Sigh!  We feel sad for the parents and his classmate but have no idea how to console them.

My Japanese Ex-colleague

This morning, my ex-colleague wrote to me to say hello and ask about me.  I am happy to hear from him and ask about his family as well.  He is doing well but living in a different city from his wife and daughter.  Hopefully, he will get transferred back to Tokyo or Yokohama.  Then he can re-unite with his family as his girl like to stay in the same school when she goes to middle school or secondary school in Singapore terminology.

We worked together for 11 years and he got married while we were working together.  He also had his baby girl during our time together as a team.  So he became a married man, a father and family man while we were colleagues.

We had team building events, so had the chance to meet his wife and his two step children.  However, I did not get a chance to meet his daughter as we stop the team building events before she was born.

Food Poisoning in Bangkok

B1, B3, my wife and I went to Bangkok last Tuesday for holiday.  The first stop after landing and before checking in is Nara.  The lunch in Nara was very good.  It is far better than the one in Ion and great value.  It comes to about Baht 1,500 or approx. S$60.

We check into Holiday Inn where we redeemed our points for 4 nights.  It is wonderful to have free hotel stay coming to a total of 8 room nights.  It is B1 first trip to Thailand.  He missed a couple of times when we came previously.  So he is prepared to explore.  He went to the Dogs Cafe with B3 while mummy goes shopping in Jim Thompson.  Then they join mummy to shop in Patunum.  I on the other hand just wander about Central World and Siam Paragon.

We ate lunch in MK and B3 came down with food poisioning.  He was vomiting and has diahorrea.  So he stopped eating and drinking from Thursday afternoon onwards.  He was in the hotel since then.  I kept him company as I am not a big fan of being a tourist.  My poor boy was totally dehydrated and in bed until Saturday afternoon when we have to check out and go to airport. B1 had fever on Saturday evening and diahorrea when we reach home.

So B3 and I have only 2 days of the holiday out of the 5 days we were in Bangkok.  I had dinner with a friend in Bangkok and we have much laughter talking about a 62 years old man interested in her.  She is single and available.  She does not understand Japanese culture and wonder why this man send her pictures of him drinking with his buddies in Japan and treat to dinner in Oriental Hotel Bangkok.
Maybe she pretends to be oblivious.  But we had much fun to speculate his intention.  I told her he is interested in going to bed with her as Japanese do not have the concept of love.  Getting married and being married is social responsibility, family ties and responsibilities.  Not romance or love.  So visiting geishas, prostitutes is normal and the wife can accept as long as he discharge his obligations and responsibilities as a husband and a father.

She was flabbergasted when she hear this.  I told her she is using her Singapore mindset to deal with him and it is totally out of sync.  It was funny and joyful for her to have men interested in her.  It is a great boost to her ego especially since this man is quite well off and in senior position.