Sore!

Learning new tricks is a harrowing experience with body falls and slams against hard and unyielding concrete. Not only my back hurts, my muscles are sore all over from the stress and strains of trying to balance myself in different awkward positions. Muscles that were inactive in the last few decades (ya! I am getting there!) is called to action. Many times I have to waves my arms wildly in a bid to regain balance. It must be funny to an observer. Whereas for me, it was a struggle for survival.

My Aching Back!

My back hurts after I fall a few times today while roller blading. I read the inline skating book and try out the braking options and skating backward. Boy! This is a huge challenge. Falling down several times and several near falls. Maybe I should just stick to blading forward and turning gently.
With a weak back, I am not sure how much abuse my spine can take....

Bright Star

There is a huge bright star in the sky tonight. The sky is quite clear and many stars are blinking through our dark sky. Most of us are watching tv. Star grazing is no longer a pastime. The city lights make it difficult to see stars well. I remember in a Malaysia resort it is starlight, starbright, and I wish I may and I wish I might, I wish my wish will come true tonight.

California Pizza Kitchen

I want to try pizza other than Pizza Hut. I know Modestos in Orchard Hotel was quite good. California Pizza is a lot more patronized. As usual, the crowd mean the food must be good or it is good value. So when I reached Modestos and it is empty, I decide California is good for lunch. This resturant is in Wisma Atria and is very popular with foreign families. Kids must have just dismissed from their enrichment class.
We, my wife and I ordered a salami pizza, salad, chocolate cake and one ice lemon tea. The total cost is $55. Cost of meal for two is going up! Inflation making eating out expensive and out of reach for the average wage earner. However, I must say the pizza and salad was excellent. Overall it is good value for an "Italian" meal.

What do I REALLY want?

Come to think of this question, it is a laundry list of wants!
Freedom - freedom to do what I enjoy, freedom from worry, financially free, freedom of choice basically.
Love - mother, brother, sisters, wife, sons and in-laws
Teach - to teach and to learn
Health - good health
Money - no worry living
Earth - enjoy a standard of living with minimal impact to our Mother Earth
Spiritual - make spiritual progress, acquire good karma and make the world better for being here

What do I really, really, really want?

I have my empty create screen open and wondering what to write... Then I switch on the TV and Oprah was on and interviewing a woman about her journey in life. How she travelled all the way to Bali and found Life! This woman was smiling radiantly. Yes, she looks like she found it. However, she says you need not travel the same journey as her to achieve what she did. She went all the way to Bali and learned from a master. This master never move out of his front porch. He told her he does not understand why the Indian master makes meditation so complicated. "I will teach you the way to meditate. All you have to do is to sit here and Smile." Yes, just smile. Make sure your liver is smiling too. The author was smiling from her heart and actually her whole body is oozing with smiles. Yes, it is obvious she has learn, practice and mast the art of smiling. The book she wrote is the journey of love, a love story that has a happy ending. On page 287, here is my favorite part, Oprah read "This is enough. Come, come to my bed now. Come, come to my bed now". The book is
Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gibert.
To embark on the same journey as Elizabeth, all you have to do is to ask the question What do I really, really, really want? every morning when you wake up and answer the question in a journal. The really, really must be repeated 3 times.

Wonderful Party

I had a wonderful party with my distributor in Singapore. A party of 10 eating my bbq heartily. It is great to have great company. I had a fantastic time and enjoys all the small talk and loving the fact that my guests tucking in my cooking with gusto. We had sauages, pork tenderloin, ribeye and sirloin, boneless chicken thighs and satay. My guests like my home very much and loves the views. I noticed I am getting less blue sky now as more high HDB are surrounding my estate. I hope we do not keep building and crowd our the sky view.
Grocery is more expensive much more expensive than before. Our purchasing power has been reduced by the high inflation. I have no idea how the 7.7% inflation come about. I think the cost of raw food has gone up by more than 50%!!

Mid Valley Mall

Jusco has sales for members only today and starts early in the morning. The crowd was tremendous. Judging by the response, the economy is doing well. Everyone is buying loads and carrying large bags when they leave Jusco. I look at the people buying all the stuff which basically is manufactured goods where raw material are dug from the ground. This mean Jusco and the consumers are directly contributing to global warming and the destruction of our planet.
I wonder what we could do to live with less and in total put less demand on Spaceship Earth.

Plasma or LCD?

I am always partial to LCD TV as the power consumption is low and there are plenty of good writeup on the virtues of LCDs. Recently, Hitachi put up a vertical banner that caught my attention! More than 80% of people preferred plasma TV. I was surprised by the high percentage. Hitachi cited interviews done with side by side testing on colors, brillant, picture quality, etc, etc. Now I am sold on plasma tv especially since it is a lot more economical (ok lah! cheaper) than LCD. I understand Panasonic is the market leader in Plasma TV and have the most experience. Right now, I am shopping for the best price. I hope the price will continue to drop...

Rain in Bangkok

When it rain in Bangkok, big puddles form everywhere. Water is two to three inches deep. So water proof shoes does not work! Boots are recommended. It was pouring while we were having dinner in Vietnamese resturant and we saw a couple sharing a tiny umbrella and picking their way to the shops. I have no idea why drainage is not built when roads and car parks are tarred. It will take heavy continuous rain to flood in Singapore. However, in Bangkok water rise rapidly as the roads are not build to drain water away.
Back to the couple with the umbrella. This remind me of the Hokkien song - One Small Umbrella...
Two of us
Together we carry a small umbrella
Rain is heavy
Soaking Wet All Over
The Feeling is uplifting.
(This is my literal translation of the song)

Borders Vs MPH in Mid Valley Mall

I have some time to crawl the mall and as usual my haunt is the bookstore. I first go to Borders in Gardens. The store is bright and the books are well organized. I had a great time in there! I was reluctant to go but I want to check out MPH as well. I find MPH is a let down. Most books are on plastic wraps. Although MPH carry a lot of the latest books, somehow I find the store jaded and merchandising boring. Next time, I will spend all my time in Borders instead.
What surprises me is MPH is better patronised. So location is important. MPH is at the ground floor of the Mid Valley Mall which has much higher traffic. Borders is on the fourth floor of the Gardens. Gardens is quite posh and expensive. So the traffic is low.
I had a great time in the company of books. Hence, me the BookLOVER.

Bum Fall

I had a bum fall yesterday. My butt still hurts and it is sore!! My spine is not strong in the first place is getting more trauma from my new interest. I will have to keep at it to conquer my worst fears and practice until I reach competent level.

Wendy Drops In for BBQ Dinner

Wendy came over to visit my family and we had my usual favorite entertaining option, BBQ. Wendy was my colleague when we both were in Canada. Today, she is still working for the same company but based in Hong Kong. She is here for business but takes time to visit another friend who married to a Singaporean and us. She now has twin baby girls. They are fraternal twins. One is bigger size than the other. Both are extremely cute and adorable. We catch up news on ex-colleagues. It is excellent to be working here in Asia. The economies are growing and in far better shape than US. Canada is doing not too badly too.

Blading Again

I have not lost my touch! Errr... I mean my balance. I have not forgotten how to roller blades! I was a little worried. Even though I know once you learn how to bike, you will never forget. Roller blade is different! Falling is highly painful and exceptional easy. Even with all the protective wear, the butt is unprotected.
I have attained the next level. Now I no longer need the mantra fall forward, bend your knees. Still there are many near misses and I do not like them. The good thing is I can skate forward. Onward I will roll...

Wondering

Sometimes, I still wonder. I wonder what would happen when I die. I go to the hall of memories and review my life. It is like a report card. What would I do? How would I do? Have I progress? Do I have any regrets? Is there anything I could have done better?
How would it be like to know that I will be reborn again?
Life's questions! Any answers from anyone?

Severe Diarrhoea!!

I woke up in the middle of the night with severe diarrhoea and intense abdominal pain. It must be something I ate in Bangkok. Luckily I have lactiford and painkillers. Maybe the fruits are not clean. Or it may be the Vietnamese food. My last suspect is the ice blended coffee. So the ice may not be clean. I have a weak stomach and it hurts!
I am glad the episode happened once and it stopped. I prayed to angels and Goddess of Mercy and my prayers were answered.

B2S

B2S is a books and stationery store in Central World, Bangkok. It has an interesting range of Art books. There are a lot of books different from Kinokuniya. Kino is in Siam Paragon. I must say the shopping malls in Bangkok are a lot bigger than those in Singapore. The traffic is quite good today as it is Buddha's Birthday or something. On the way to the airport, the taxi driver explains to me that all the big bars are closed and the "girls" are not working. The contrast in Thailand is interesting as it is very religious and yet has a lot of sins (if prostitution is consider a sin). I find the women in Thailand are very attractive. I think they are most attractive in Asia!
Anyway, back home I weighs myself and to my horror it read 88.2kg when I am totally naked!!
Sigh! The dinner last night was excellent and I ate too much. It was Vietnamese food. I had pho, prawn in sugar cane, fried popiah, fresh popiah and two drinks. The company was good and the conversation's interesting and engaging. I enjoyed myself too much and now it is payback time. Diet for the next few days until my next trip.

My Ex-colleague Tracy

Tracy used to work for us in KL and is now working in Bangkok. I am glad to get a chance to meet up with her to catch up. She suffered culture shock and homesickness. It was tough adjustment for the past few months. Now she is getting used to the life here and adapting well. She is making tremendous progress. She is doing good work and she has an office bigger than mine!! I am very happy to see that she has grown in her capabilities and is settling in her new career.

Day 2 in Bangkok

Wake up on my own this morning and spend some time on the email. Then I change to my work clothes and then realise I was looking at the time in my computer. Bangkok is one hour behind. So I was too early rather than late. I change to swimwear and swim in the hotel pool. The pool is about the same size at the one I have at home....small! I swam for a total of 10 mins. It is great to do some exercise even though it is not too much.
I had a good meeting presenting my busyness!

Bangkok

It is hot in Bangkok. And I am cooped up in a hotel all day long. The good food and sitting all day. I am losing in my fight against weight gain. The positive is I will have another day of meeting and then off to do my real work. Meeting Customers!
I hope I have some time to explore the Kinokuniya in Siam Square.

Kosong Prata at S$1

Last year, this time a roti prata or Indian bread without egg is 80cts per piece. I had one for morning breakfast and it cost a dollar. The Indian coffeeshop is at the end of Jalan Kayu. This shop is more reasonably priced than the "Famous Jalan Kayu Roti Prata". It is never-ending stream of crowd coming in for their morning breakfast on a Sunday morning. I sat there to enjoy my teh halia (ginger tea) and just observed the comings and goings. It is interesting just to absorb the atmosphere. It is very rustic where free parking is available and greenery is abundant. Kind of messy and different from the orderly, sterile environment elsewhere in Singapore. It has the "kampong" or small village feel.
I saw a traffic police making a report through his mobile radio. I hope the government do not do any development to "improve" the traffic flow. Otherwise Jalan Kayu will lose its character.

881

This is a locally directed movie on Getai singers - The Papaya Sister. Yeo Yann Yann, from Johore who acted in the Singapore Dreaming. The show is in Hokkien dialect with all the Hokkien songs. It is nostalgic. I have not been to getai for years now. I think getai has gone the way of dinosaur. Today, it is karaoke contest.
I tried to teach my B1 and B2 one hokkien song when we were living in Canada. Now, all my three boys has no clue on their "mother tongue". Roots are weakening. My boys grew up in English or Singlish. This is their mother tongue now.

Another Tip

It is important to read after skating. I found another tip that is very useful for inline skating. Nose inline with your toes, always keep your hands in front of you. This is so basic and makes sense that I have no idea why I did not even think of it. Falling forward is like learning baby steps. Keeping your nose in line with your toes and hands in front mean CG or centre of gravity is in the middle of 4 wheels. This offer the most stable position.
YES! I am skating now at a reasonable speed. The key is still stopping. It is a challenge. I can swizel and turn. Will be out on the road for the whole week. Will I remember how to skate when I return?

Incredible Week of Work

I have not written about work for long time as I had feedback that it is booorrinnnggg. Busy would be an understatement for this week. We cap off the week with an incredible order. Order equal to one month worth of sales. Indeed we are starting to break record after records.
I am dancing like nobody is watching...hehehe.

Progress!

More progress at roller blading. Basketball court is a good place to practice. It is flat and the wide area allows beginner's turns(wide and wild), learning swizel and shuffling. No slope to make roller blading treacherous. The instructions from the book are good. I followed and it works. Until now, I am stilling repeating this mantra "fall forward, bend your knees". It is really good advice!

My Lucky Day

Today I blade without falling. It is a good feeling. I did about 600 metres worth. I thought I quit while I am still ahead. Felt like a lottery winner. The trick is to keep leaning forward and knees bend. I am still extremely slow and my foot muscles were cramping up. Overall, it is great feeling.

Slope is a dangerous

Slope is dangerous for beginner. The speed picks up and not knowing how to brake or slow down, it is downright risky and dangerous. I keep slipping and nearly falling over. The problem is my lack of skills to control my speed or making turns. So I just accelerate very quickly toward a concrete wall. This is like seeking suicide. As I pick up speed, I begin to panick and worse since I do not know how to stop, I became an 88kgs missile. I could not think of a better way to abuse myself. Yet, I know I must conquer my fears. I think I will have to go for lessons before I seriously damaged myself.

Slow Road to Roller Blading

I practise roller blading again. I am a slow learner. Sigh! Is age? Or am I just a slow learner? It is lots of sweat for 40 mins and still very slow and unsteady. Looking at other roller bladers makes me feel ashamed of myself. I have to grit my teeth and carry on. It will take time to get over the hump and be competent on wheels. I know the feeling of being competent. I enjoyed being watched and envied by others when I swim. One day, I will be roller blading well. This is my resolution!

Thinking...

I am thinking about Nikola Tesla. The day after he died his huge laboratory was burnt down and then bulldozer went into to destroy whatever equipment the fire cannot burn. With universal free power, the masters of war and business couldn't control, they couldn't have that. It is sad that people with power want to retain power by all means even if it meant preventing the growth of humanity.

The Tesla Papers

Nikola Tesla is a genius. He is not as well known as Thomas Edison or Marconi. Edison is known to be the father of electric light. Tesla invented the electrical system that we use in our homes and factories today - the AC or alternating current electricity. Tesla also invented the radio. He designed and build extremely high voltage machine that shoots out lightnings and generate man-made ball lightning. Ball lightning is extremely rare. It is a ball of plasma floating around and will destroy whatever it touches.
In the Tesla Papers, there is an anecdote that Nikola tap energy from atmosphere. In a small box with several vaccuum tube, he can power an electric car up to 90 miles an hour without any need to recharge. Whoever can recreate this will be the richest guy or gal on earth with oil at US$140 per barrel!

An observation on human behaviour

It is difficult to talk to people and expect them to understand and follow. This is why we have laws which will spell out what and who is right and the punishment for violators. Case in point: we live in a small community of 20. Several of my neighbours has more cars than what can be park in their own carpark lots. So their cars are parked on the common area causing inconvenience to others. For the longest time we discussed and try to work things out to no avail. For the owners who are parking and impeding the flow of traffic, the situation is ok. "Nobody complains" was the typical response. When another neighbour asked the owner to move their vehicle, they will take their time and the remark is "Don't know how to drive, ah!"

We setup a carpark committee and pass a by-laws for car park in the common area. The committee also work out a solution of T-parking in front of your own lot. Some owners are not happy with this arrangement as it is inconvenient for them. If they decided to use the car that is inside, they will have to move the car outside first. It is INCONVENIENT!

Recently, one owner has an extra sports car and use the common carpark overnight without informing and getting permission. Another decided inside of T-parking, he parked on the opposite side of the road. He has been informed verbally several times and his response was T-parking is causing a smaller radius and his solution is better. He also assures the messengers(more than one) that he will move his car right away. However, he refused to comply and instead continue to flout the rule. It is interesting that people would make empty promises and pretend or even lie through their teeth. Finally a written warning was posted on the car. The owner go back to T-parking after the written warning.
It is clear that without the by-laws with spelling out the penalty and empowering to act, people will do things to their own advantage even if it causes problem to other people. Appealing to civic conciousness is futile. As a senior manager of our managing agent well puts it - until there is a by-law, you have no teeth.

This incident illustrate that human will not listen to requests and appeals and respond only to punishment.

AMK Hub At 10pm

The two older boys want to go out late as it is Friday night. We go to AMK Central and have food before wandering about. There retail shops closed at 10pm. Outside AMK Hub is the 24 hours McCafe and McDonald. Together with the coffee shop next door it is extremely busy and well patronised. Weird characters are about late at night. There is a huge man wearing only his pants sitting on the sidewalk. His stomach is overflowing down covering his hip. I have no idea why he is displaying his thick layers of fat. He does not seem to be begging as I do not see a collection cup for money.
This is sleepless in Ang Mo Kio...

Inline!

There is only one book in Kinokuniya that is on rollerblades skating. The title is Inline! A manual for Beginning to Intermediate Inline Skating by William Nealy. With 20% discount, the book is S$20 nett. It is like a handwritten homemade book with comic-style drawings. I like the blurp on the back cover..."So whether you're an armchair skater or a guerrilla blader, this is the book you've been waiting for. Learning how to inline skate has just been revolutionized." This is an extremely readable book. I do not know if I will become an armchair skater as I am a reader and booklover. Many a time, reading a book replaces my need to actually experience.

Recovering

I am on the mend. Although I tires easily, I have more energy and slowly regaining my strengths. Come to think of it, I was very comfortable to go into the surgery alone. My classmates were working on me. I was anesthesized by my primary school classmate and the surgeon was my secondary 1 classmate. They are husband and wife team. I am quite lucky in a sense because I know both of them and I have seen Lay Tin at work before. She used to do cardiac anesthesia when I was selling to cardiothoracic equipment and disposables.

Aching Bones

My bones are aching all over. Shoulder blades hurts! Abdomen is sore where the stone was. I saw the video. Man! The stone was like a crystal with sharp edges. As the surgeon tries to pull it out, it refuses to come out and cut my uretheter. Hence my surgeon break it up and then pull the smaller pieces out to the bladder. No wonder my abdomen is sore. Internally I have cuts and it will take time to heal as urine keep coming down to irritate the open wounds. I am not so technically sound and cannot upload the video as blogger does not recognise the video format. I have to do some conversion and if I can get someone's else to convert the video, I will post it on this blog for you.

Nursing Care

This two nurses look after my post operative care. The fringe benefit is the nurse is quite pretty. You will not believe she is a mother of 4. She will give SQ cabin crews a run for their money.

Kidney Stone Strike Again

It started with a discomfort on the right lower abdomen at 7am. Felt like stomachache. Go to the toilet a couple of times to try to expel the pain. The pain become more and more intense. I look into the mirror. I began to sweat and then sweat profusely. My body is reacting to the pain. Finally at about 10am, I decided to go to the hospital. By then, the pain was excruciating and almost killing me i.e. dying would be a relief.
Good thing is hospital is only 15mins away and also good to have doctor as my classmate. He attended to me almost immediately. He prescribe an injection of a super painkiller which contains morphine. Time expanded. Man! Every second is like a minute. There were some procedure. I have to go to A&E and he has to come over to sign some papers as this is classified under poison act. After what seems like eternity, Elisabeth the A&E nurse gave me two jabs. One for the pain and the other to take care of the side effect which is prevent nausea and vomitting. After that I have to go for a CT scan. The offending stone is still there. It is now 6 mm.
I decided to take it out. At 2:30pm, I was wheeled into the Operating Theatre. The anesthesiologist is my primary school classmate. Breathe in deeply, she instructed me. After four breaths, I slipped into unconciousness. By the time I wake up, I am in recovery. It is one hour and five minutes and the "blackout" is quite disorienting. Seems like it is only one min that I was "sleeping".
Then back to the ward. The after effects of the anesthesia continues. I was feeling great that I am concious. Then I get dizzy spells. The urge and need to lie down is strong. It is hard to stay up. The car ride on the way home makes me car sick. I threw out immediately after reaching home. Good thing I did not eat much. I fell asleep right away.
I wake up at half past two in the morning and get some work done and record this chapter of my journey in life.