Community Gardens

Gardening are now encouraged in small patches in the HDB estates. The oldies are enthused and have less aches and stiffness. It is good for community development and bonding for the old and young. There are fruits like starfruits and passionfruit that were harvested. So growing your own fruits and vegetables has many benefits other than the fruit of our labours.

Obama, For President

Obama looks like will be a good President. He is wise in choosing Warren Buffet to be his financial advisor. Tax the high income and relief the low income. It may seem like wealth redistribution but it is the high income earners who benefits most from the government expenditure and infrastructure building...

Weekend is coming

Yeah, tomorrow is Thank God It's Friday. I wonder the bar TGIF is still around. 1985, my boss, Grant Smith brought to this bar and explains to me what TGIF means. I could not believe people live for the weekends. It was fun to work in Asia. It was until I live in Canada that I appreciate the culture of weekends.
Weekend is the time for family and relaxation. Do your own stuff and determine your own destiny - fishing, shopping or going to the cabin. I learrn to love long weekend where we can do a road trip to a nearby town or city like Upstate New York or Buffalo. In Singapore, weekend mean a trip to the shopping mall...boring.

The Oil Factor

This book was published a few years ago and the scenario it painted have come true. Now it is a bestseller. It is really prescient in predicting the current financial crisis. What good about this book is it recommended what to invest in and when. So if you want to get ahead of the curve for the current financial state, get this book. You can also subscribe to their newsletter. However, it is US focus and may not work for us in Asia well. The calculations commodities are interesting. Overall, it provide a clear explanation of the events unfolding today.

Stock Market is like a Yo-Yo

Prices are going up and down. It is a fantastic time for day traders. However bad time for investors. The stocks I bought recently had come down dramatically even though I bought them at what I thought was a bargain price. Right now it is best to sit tight and hold on and wait till the market stablized.

A Proliferation of....

Snakes! It seems like we see a dead one every day. There were two babies about 1 foot long on the pathway to the playground. There were two on the new road from Jalan Kayu to Compass Point. Urrrrggghh!!!!

Buffet and Gates Go Back to School

This is a video where Warren Buffett and Bill Gates field questions from students of University of Nesbraska. It is very interesting and insightful. The answers are very down-to-earth from Warren. He is just a regular guy. I like his views of the world.

Urine as Fertilizer!

While feasting on the crabs, I asked my fellow diners around my table how to grow vegetables since they should know farmers. The key tip is using urine diluted 50/50! I know that in Cameron Highlands the farmers use urine. It is so simple. I was asking for the type of fertilizer to use and how to make sure they grow big and green. The best part is urine is free!! Googling I found plenty of information on urine as fertilizer. It is amazing that I did not check on the net.
I know talking on bodily excretions may not be the best subject. I learn a lot while having dinner. I am so happy to be a backyard gardener.

Candid Shot of TCS Actor and Actress

This is at a food court in SengKang. They were there with two kids and a granny.

Hairy Feast Pictures

The resturants at the lakeside.










The crabs neatly stacked. Everyone gets a pair i.e. male and female.




My fellow diner smiling away enjoying the delicacy. You can see she is in Seventh Heaven!










The pretty waitress that serves us.

Hairy Times

It was hairy time in a fun way. Hairy crabs are in season and we had hairy crabs dinner. The crabs are quite small and very tasty. It is just lots of work and therefore dinner takes lots of time which is also good relationship building time!
We had a cruise in the lake. The town is only open for 3 months a year during the crab season. It is a rustic place and very touristy. I will post pictures when I reach home.

Day Two in Shanghai

Temperature is high and humidity is at the level where I am sweating profusely. It is all day preparation for tomorrow's conference. Work is quite slow pace. I am not use this kind of pace. However, we do have a good team putting together a program to improve our business. Lunch is at Coffee Bean. I had the pasta with tomato sauce and herbs. It is terrible and poor value for money. Do not order this if you ever feel hungry. The cookie is passable. I would say cookie in Starbucks taste a lot better.
The best cookie is from a hotel chain in California, US. It is crusty outside and soft inside. You get a pair when you check in and I usually request for more. The trip to hairy crabs help me recall the name of the hotel. It is called Doubletree. Out-of-this world cookies!

Shanghai

Weather in Shanghai is quite warm at 20 celcius. It is nicely cool and dry. It must have been more than a year when I was last in Shanghai. On the way to the hotel, the radio in the cab report Shanghai ren tor (lots of people) and cher tor (many cars) give the city a unique problem. This set me thinking about the complexity of a megacity. Who determine how many taxi drivers? How do you licence them? How would anyone know all the streets? This is just the cab services. How about the train and bus services? Who plans? How will it work? If God forbids, disaster strikes how would the people react? There are so many tall gigantic buildings containing many people. What would have if services stop?
In Shanghai, the hustle and bustle is palpable. It is ren san ren hai (literaly people mountain people sea or a sea of humanity). I like Shanghai, the most comopolitan city in People's Republic of China.

Scientific Toys

I love Scientific toys. I just returned from Japan with two. A "pop pop" boat and a Stirling Engine. The Stirling Engine is a little more complex and requires some skills. Japanese are very good at their craft. Although the instructions were in Japanese, they are very well illustrated with drawings. I must say the instructions are very clear and I managed to get the engine working. The "pop pop" boat is very simple and easy to assemble. I am very glad to have two working models. Will show you pictures next time.

Full Moon in Osaka

It is a beautiful evening and the sky is clear. My cellphone camera does not do justice to the view. Anyway, a pictures is worth a thousand words. So here it is...

Rural Japan

I went to rural Japan to meet Customer. It is fall and the weather is wet and cool. I had a little time. Actually, I have to kill time because in Japan, we have to arrive early and wait for the exact appointment time before going to the reception. Below is two persimmon trees heavy with fruits. Unfortunately, the fruits are not ripe. Otherwise it will really be tempting to pluck it off the tree and eat.

I like "green". There is a windmill generator and a small solar panel (left picture) and a complete solar roof for the bus stop picture below. Rural Japan has plenty of land. The farms are all very small unlike US or Canada.

Wet in Tokyo

It is cool and wet in Tokyo. After landing in Narita, it is another 3 hours trip to check into the hotel. This is a long day. Will have to get up early tomorrow morning for first meeting. Well, such is life when working on a trip.

Jim Rogers Live!

Jim Rogers is an excellent, excellent speaker. He is very simple and clear with his folky wisdom. It was a privilege to hear him live at the NUS Cultural Centre. I am glad to attend his seminar. He is very basic and down-to-earth. However, there are a lot of intricacies in the investment he suggest, Commodities. There are many commodities and he says farmers will be the one getting rich in future. Gold, oil, water is the future for the next 10 years. We should invest in commodities rather than stocks.

Aeromodel Site

Right across Anchorvale Community Club is an enormous square field. Aeromodel enthusiasts are flying their planes on weekends early in the morning and in the evening. Many joggers are doing their exercise for the week. The planes are all electric and therefore quiet. It is nice to see so many R/C flyers. There are many types of planes as well. The advances in technology now mean flying radio control aircraft is now affordable.
I must re-ignite my interest to fly again.

Madness at Takashimaya

Traffic jammed all the way to the car park. Then add insult to injury, car park is full and the entrance is blocked. In the mall, huge crowd buying like there is no tomorrow. By looking at the shopping mania, who would believe there is a financial crisis. Retail is still going strong. Of course marketing helps! Taka department store has 20% discount and Taka cardholders get additional 15%. It is an excellent deal.
At night, Compass Point has food festival in the main concourse. As my boys put it, it is like Pasar Malam in Aircon environment instead of out in the street. We sample many varieties of food available. It can get expensive to feed three boys. All in all, we all had a good time. Yummy and excellent for father-son bonding.

Opportunities

Conversations with neighbours and friends on the financial crisis have one common thread. Everyone is waiting for the opportunity to buy up stocks. Obviously there are many people sitting on a pile of cash. I wish I have the kind of money all these people are talking about. I wonder how many are speculators and how many are genuine investors.
There are many cash rich people in Singapore!

Stock Market Meltdown

Today, the Singapore Stock market lost more than 6%. It is a terrible day. My stock portfolio suffers a bruising. I probably lost a fair bit as I am still holding a few shares. Both my shares in Singapore and Canada lost a lot of value. Luckily I am still young. But my "retirement funds" is not looking pretty at all.
Looks like the whole world is in turmoil. Markets around the world drops. I review a book I read earlier by a stock analyst. This book was published in 2004. The author Simon Sim forecast 2008 was the peak and after that our stock market will go into decline for the next 7 years. Look like he is right. The book is titled The Joseph Cycle.

Financial Markets in Upheaval

The past week market upheaval reaches Richter scale of 9.0 in earthquake language. Lots of opportunities and financial stress. Stock market now is low. Will it get lower? Is this the start of bear market? Now Europe has financial crisis. Raffles Education stock was $2.56 is now trading below 60 cents. The boss of Raffles Education was featured in a two part series on Sunday Times in two separate Sundays. He was third or fourth richest man in Singapore. Now, he must be a lot poorer but still very wealthy by any standard.
Warren Buffett, the world 2nd richest man famous saying "Be fearful when everyone is greedy and be greedy when everyone is fearful." He just invested 8 billion dollars in Goldman Sachs and GE. I am not sure about US market anymore. A little gun shy after getting burnt.
I think the Singapore stock market offers good value now. However, it will take several years before the stock will climb back up in value. So if you have spare cash, this is the golden moment to invest.

Another Good Day

I am happy to write a report that results are good. Today is the day. This is why it is a good day.

Wonderful Day

Sunday! The most beautiful day of the week. Wake up late! Ahhh! No problem at all. We ride our bikes to Jalan Kayu for breakfast. Many bikes at the roti prata shop right beside the carpark(there is only one "official" carpark where coupons are required). There were road works. It was going to be noisy and smelly from the fumes of the heavy vehicles.
So we go further down and had dim sum instead. The taste and quality is just so-so (average). It is good value. Price is quite reasonable. However my boys were not impressed by the siao long bao. After breakfast, we cycle back home. A good start to our Sunday morning, breakfast and exercise at the same time.
Lunch was famous mee rebus. Then I spend some time at the poolside and off to the playground with B2 and B3. B3(the baby of the family) plays with his friends who were there. We finished the day with barberque hamburgers. It is a wonderful day of rest and recreation.

Dead Tired!

I have been cycling for exercise and my body is protesting. I am aching all over especially my butts! Sorry for not writing the past few days. Work, family and other committments are keeping me away from blogging.
The good news is I am exercising and working like a dog. The bad news is my weight is still at 88kgs. I have no idea why burning up calories with bone-tired body is not bringing my weight down.

Loud Bang that Echoes

There are two loud gunshots. One at about 8:35pm in Fernvale. It is very loud that it echo. Someone must have loud gun or using a gun for construction. I heard the same bang in downtown Shenton Way as well. It is quite unusual as it is a sound blast and then nothing. I wonder if any of my readers living in SengKang or Fernvale heard this extraordinary gunshot bang.

Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri

Our newspaper has change the name to Aidilfitri instead of Puasa. I just check up to see if I was wrong and found out that I am just outdated. More information can be found in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hari_Raya. It is an important Muslim festival to celebrate "Day of Fasting". The mosque at the junction Yio Chu Kang Road and Ang Mo Kio Ave 3 is full of Muslims from all walks of life including foreign workers. They are all there! It is incredibly crowded with everyone in their finery.