Fabulous Roast Duck

The roast duck in Penang is delectable and one whole duck cost only RM26. It is an excellent meal with incredible value. Other dishes available on this road side shop includes gizzard, stewed vegetable, boiled romaine lettuce and braise tofu and eggs. I enjoyed the meal so much that I brought a duck home and my family were very impressed as well.

I must really thank Alicia and her brother who were my host. I love good food especially low cost kind.

My muscles are all sore as I climbed Penang Hill past 700 metres yesterday morning. The hill is quite steep and there is not many rest stops. The way down is not so easy as I have to keep "braking" and keep my balance. After climbing the hill, we walk around Botanic Garden. Monkeys are abound and we saw a baby snake as well. It is good just walking together as a team.

Upset Stomach

I have an upset stomach after lunch on hawker food. The rojak is prime suspect. I had curry mee, satay, fried oysters and chendol. It could be anything actually. However, my Japanese ate exactly the same food as me did not have any problem. The only food he did not touch is the rojak. So it is my weakness for rojak that cause me issues.

So my plans for hawker food for dinner went out the window. We had Bak Kut Teh in Queensbay Mall. There are two types - dry and soup. Both are quite good. The meat is a little fibrous. The soup is warm and delicious. My two Chinese colleagues, a Japanese colleague and a Malaysian colleague felt it was a good decision to try Bak Kut Teh. They all loved the food. Yes, they differ the choice of food to me. How nice are my colleagues.

Laid Back Penang

It is quite a different feel the moment I land on Penang airport. It is small and easy to pass the immigration as the queue is quite short. Taking the taxi to Queensbay mall is only 20 mins. The traffic is smooth and relax. I just feel the pace of life slows down as the laid back atmosphere soaks in during the ride. The hill and the sea, it has good fengshui. This seems like a fabulous place to retire.

The shopping mall is quite deserted as it is a Monday. Borders here is quite small but is good enough for me to past time. Food is good and good value. I like Penang.

Food Obsessions

I am looking forward to Penang food tomorrow. We have team meeting and afterward Customer meeting. It is usual for me to look forward to a trip when I like the food. Like most Singaporeans, my passion is food. Glenn Sosney, my ex-colleague in Canada told me he met another Singaporean. I asked him what was his impression. He says like me, this guy misses his food, typical Singaporean!

Where food is good, it eases the travails of travel. When they are not what I enjoys, then anticipation is a lot lower. Beside books,I am a food lover.

Best Place for Dinner

It is Saturday evening. Long queues in every resturant. Food courts are crowded and tables are dirty. Car parks in all shopping malls are full. The economy is chugging along just fine.

We had lunch in the Kopitiam Foodcourt in Plaza Singapura. There were seats! Maybe it is timing, maybe it is luck. We were there at 12:45pm. So it should be peak hour. I do not understand.

I was not ready to take any chance for dinner. The previous few weekends, eating out was a challenge even to get the attention of the waitress. So we eat in tonight. We had leftover fried chicken from yesterday, fried brinjal in vinegar, canned stewed peanut with vegetarian duck and deep fried dough stick or youtiao. It is simple meal but very satisfying meal for the family. We have good conversation on Universities due to the briefing by AJC. I seen several familiar faces maybe ex-army mates or schoolmates. I also saw an ex-colleague, KH Teo. Obviously we are all in the same boat i.e. kids in JC2 in AJC.

Life progresses at the same pace.

Weekend is Here

Today is just work and meeting. My day just ended. I am happy to start my weekend as at right now. So the TV is on, Alien Resurrection. Man! the advertisements are so many and taking a long time.

Tomorrow is a series of tuitions for my boys. We may have pizza at The Chalk, my memories of living in Canada.

I am wondering what else we can do in a city beside shopping, eating. In Canada, we can go to pick strawberry, cherry or apples when they are in season. We can go fishing and just simply drive around from city to city. We can go to Hamilton, Buffalo, Kingston, Hull by driving for a few hours. We could drive to Malaysia but it is not the same. The country is different and not as safe as in Canada.

I really appreciate the wide spaces, farms, long drive and the safe environment. Canada is a good country to live except for the taxes.

Mycoplasma

Based on my symptons, my doctor suspects I may be down with mycoplasma. This is really new to me. It is flu or cold symptons but phlegm or mucus do not have colour.

The medicine is really expensive. Antibiotic of 10tabs cost $39 or $3.90 per tab and $7.80 per day. Nose spray is $19 and last for 20 dose.

Anyway, I am glad that I have medical care and on my way to recovery.

Why Chinese Work So Hard?

Rice Paddy!

Americans and Europeans farms are worked on in spring and then fall. Land owners hire labours and they work the farms and the owners are winners who get it all. Farmers and labourers are losers who had to fall.

In China, the crop is paddy. Growing rice requires sophistication. Plenty of parameters to consider. The amount of fertilizer, the timing of the fertilizer, the clay bottom to hold the right amount of water, too much or too little will kill the paddy, weeding is done by hand and insects have to be get rid of by combing by hand. So it is impossible to be a landowner and have farmers working for you as it is too complicated. Rice farming is an individual business. Usually there are two crops per year sometimes three.

"If a man works hard, the land will not be lazy".

Chapter 8, OUTLIERS, Malcolm Gladwell.

Feeling Down and Out

After returning from Shanghai, I come home to be down with sore throat and congested nose. Headaches bugged me. It is not restful sleep at night. I am not able to do my regular exercise and have funny aches all over.

Exhaustion sets in easily and I have to get ready for another trip next week. Work and work for a giant company to keep it prosperous. I am like a serf of big landowners of yore.

Palm Beach Seafood

I brought two Korean friend and customers to Palm Beach in Fullerton for lunch. My Korean friend was not too impressed by the black pepper crab. It is messy and hard to eat. I find the crab, the most expensive dish, poorly done. The black pepper is not fragrant and the meat is tough. My wife cooked better black pepper crab. For $45 a crab, I think it is not value for money. The Almond Prawn was excellent as my guest seems to enjoy it. The crispy squid is fine but the balachan kangkong is not what I expected. Overall, the experience is not as good as before. The service is slow although the staff are quite attentive.

I remembered my Aussie colleagues loved this place. I will have to look for another seafood resturant for my visitors.

Wonder

I wonder how the flight stewards and stewardess cope with the stress of flying. I feel tired after every trip. It is the change in weather, the low air pressure in the cabin, change in culture, food and simply working long hours outside the office environment. Good thing is recovery is usually a couple of days. It is fun to travel. I wonder how much faster we age due to stress. The flight crews must have high exposure to cosmic rays that may be harmful to human.

Maybe this is why many of them suffer cancer. Seems like a lot of bohtong's colleagues died of cancer.

Record Cold Weather in Suzhou and Shanghai

We had our butts frozen in Suzhou and Shanghai. Even my colleague from the frozen north aka Canada felt cold. Hailstones fell yesterday afternoon when we were on the road to visit our Customer. Seems like weather forecast from yahoo is not as reliable as before. I was caught under dressed two weeks ago in Japan. This time quite clearly I did not learn my lesson trusting the forecast again. My colleague was smart to take a warmer set of clothing as she had similar experience two weeks ago in Guangzhou.

This morning, Shanghai warms up and it is quite comfortable. According to the locals, this is record cold temperature in history.

At the airport, there were passengers trying to return to Europe and were stranded as all flights were cancelled due to the volcanic ash spewing high up in the atmosphere grounding all aircrafts. It will be terrible to be stuck. I recalled I was stranded in US during 9/11. And it was difficult. I feel sorry for the people who were stranded.

I am sooo happy to be back home. Yes, home sweet home!

Lunch at Suntec City

Getting a carpark in Suntec City is a real challenge. After circling around fruitlessly in B1, I got lucky in B2 and managed to park near the ramp of Carrefour. The food court was extremely busy and the Chinese resturants are all full. We were attracted by a 1 for 1 deal with UOB card in Cafeteria ilLo?? We had 4 cheese pizzas, all meat pizza, chicken parmesan and seafood patter. It was value for money! $40 for lunch in a resturant. The thin crust pizza were good but not as good as Chalk in the Old School. Chicken was crusty but tasteless. The Taiwanese XXXL chicken tasted far better. My boys did not think highly of the seafood patter. They felt Fish Manhattan's tastes better.

Still we enjoyed the lunch especially the price!

No Updates on Week of April 12

I want to let my friends and loyal readers that I will not be able updates my blog next week as I will be in the "No Blog" Zone. Yes, free information is not freely distributed in China. Even though my blog is apolitical and harmless, the firewall does not discriminate. As long as it is a blog, it will be blackout. Google has pull out of China causing double whammy as blogspot is owned by Google.

I will continue updating as soon as I have access to my blog. I hope I do not get sick from my favorite pastime - food. Taste is fantastic but hygiene and quality are usually of suspect in China.

Big Shoes

B2, the boy in the middle need a pair of leather shoes for his Master of Ceremony gig in school on Monday. For the one time and day use, I decided to send my old pair of leather shoes for repair. My wife objected spending $50 just to repair the shoes as new shoes probably cost less.

B1 had wore this pair before and did not mind the hole on the sole. However, I like this pair of shoes even though replacing it may be cheaper. After the repair, B2 tried wearing it and found it is too small. So I have to look for another pair for him. Mind you I have pretty big feet myself.

We went Bata first. The shoes are pretty reasonable in price, between $35 to $129. However, Bata shoes was a little tight at UK size 10. So we tried a Mom and Pop store. The female boss was an excellent sales person. She praise the look of the shoes when B2 tried it on. "How good he looks in this pair of shoes!" She also noticed that B2 had a little trouble putting the shoes on. We have size 44, she added quickly. We managed to negotiate for a 10% discount, so we decided to try out the size 44 which they have trouble locating. Finally, the sales staff managed to get a pair of size 44 and we bought it for $10 discount which is another $2 less after the 10%.

When I compare the new shoes with my old pair, the difference was huge. I am glad I bought another pair as he would have damaged my shoes after one wear. So now I have a standby dress shoes for B1 and myself.

No Hands

It is not the famous No-Hands resturant in Bangkok. There are many myths and stories about the No-Hand resturant. You need not use your hands to eat. Or you are not to use your hands to touch the nude waitresses serving you...

No, no, no! I am talking about cycling. Yes, the unexciting and boring subject. I have learn to cycle with no hands. I know I fell off the bicycle before. I was trying to do the hop i.e. lifting the front wheel to hop over an obstacle or jump up a ledge.

I needed more challenge on cycling after recovering from my accident. Now I can cycle with no hands. I was always impressed by cyclists who cycled with no hands. I tried to learn by myself and nearly fell down many times.

The trick I realise is to sit with back straight on the saddle. Once the back is straight and head held high and look far, it is much easier to balance. Leaning back and shifting the CG or center of gravity as close to the rear axle not only stablise the bicycle, it also allows higher speed.

Money Buys Happiness

Paying forward using money to help others buys happiness. The reverse is true as well. Lack of money buys unhappiness.

Today, I received disappointing news. I know I will get over this feelings. I start to see why so many are get even rather than getting upset. I now understand their actions.

So life is a roller coaster ride. It was up yesterday and down today. Some may use the stock market analogy. It also like an elevator going up and down.

Paying Forward

Lee Wei Ling wrote about paying forward. She attended postgraduate Pediatrics course in Sick Kids Hospital in Toronto. She learns Adult ECG interpretations from a Dr. Blair who taught her without asking or knowing her background. He did not hesitate at his own personal time and when she asked if another two students can join in as well, he welcomed them.

Today, she is teaching others like what Dr. Blair unselfishly did for her and her classmates. It is one good deed begetting lots of good deeds as she had taught many students and continuing to teach more.

This is call paying forward. I have my own little good deed recently. I was taking the Light Rail Transit or LRT in Fernvale Point with my "baby" aka B3. A young girl tried to buy train ticket but her shiny and crisp plastic $10 note was not accepted by the machine. I inserted a two dollar note and it worked. She insisted on paying me with her $10 note. However, I do not have any change anyway. So I asked her to keep her $10 and help another one in need in future. It felt really good to do a good deed. Who say money cannot buy happiness!

A Good Day

Today is just a relaxing day. The morning was wet and I had teh halia and Sunday Times in the market. Then the family had brunch in Swensen where the boys did their homework and while my wife and I read.

We did some grocery shopping in NTUC and bought hamburgers and oxtail for dinner. In the afternoon, I cycled for an hour and then read by the poolside. My wife cooked dinner and we ate early. After dinner, we go to NTUC again to get supplies i.e. soap, detergent and of course I get some snacks like ice-cream, vitagen and potato chips.

B1 did his school work and B2 msn his friends and B3 played with computer games. Meanwhile Next, staring Nicholas Cage and Jessica Biel was on TV. I watch the show and browse the internet at the same time.

It is just a simple regular day and I am happy my boys are well behaved.

Brunch

We went out to Swensen's as it is opened for breakfast and had brunch. My boys brought along their homework and did them there. I read a book on all the interesting questions such as why once in a blue moon, why we toast before drinking, why do men tip their hats to women, why do you mount horses on the left side of the horses, and many other everyday questions.

The book is titled Ever Wonder Why? B1 read it right away when I first left it on the table. B3 brought to his Chinese tuition and his tuition borrow it to read as well. I must say we all wants to know why!

Chicken Rice

Chicken rice is easy to miss and hard to forget. I met a Japanese customer this week who told me he misses chicken rice from Maxwell hawker. I suspect he must be referring to Tian Tian Lai. I ate Tian Tian Lai's chicken rice before. It was a long wait as the queue is long and progress slowly. The food is tasty but is full of msg as we all felt very thirsty after the meal.

For dinner tonight, we had chicken rice in Centrepoint basement 1, Chef Han's Chicken Rice. The boss chef Han gave us extra bowl of chicken rice and some chicken floss. He is a very nice and a wonderful seller. I am very impressed by his hospitality and extra service. I also realise he has three boys like me and this may be the reason why he treat us better than other customers.

Whatever the reason may be, we will be his regular customer.

Home Sweet Home

I am very happy to be back home. It is tiring to do non-stop travel from city to city. This is the first time I get the chance to see sakura flowers after going to Japan for 10 years. I also ate my favorite tonkatsu, tempura and ramen. The weather warms up yesterday and this morning it is not too bad except for the drizzle.

My weight was up at 88kgs again before dinner. It means too much snacks and drinks. I need to cut down my calories intake. I cycled for 30 mins and swam for 5mins. So I can eat some dinner. I also drink my favorite milk tea for Coffee Kaki in Basement1 in Ang Mo Kio Hub.

The economy must be improving as there are long queues for all the resturants in AMK Hub. The food court was busy but not terrible so. It mean people are spending instead of going for lower cost alternative. We had our dinner in the food court as we managed to get a table.

It is nice to be back home indeed.

LUCKY!!!

My Japanese friend says I was very lucky to save an owl. In Japanese, owl is fukurou or literally mean No Hard Work or Life. He wrote in Chinese character but my Mandarin is rusty. It is not that great in the first place. I hope he will visit my blog and put in his comment to correct my interpretation.

We had a delicious Chinese dinner where the menu is very healthy. We were served several courses of vegetables and they tastes yummy. Peking is just one serving each. It has Japanese influence but distinctly Chinese. I will have to do more exercise when I reach home as I ate too much.

I am very lucky to have such good Japanese friends/partners. To their good health. Kanpai!

Osaka

It is cool but warmer than Tokyo as the warm air from the south has moved north. There are contructions right at Osaka Station, the Central Train Station which all trains intersect. I noticed that a second building at built right beside an existing building. The windows of the first building at now covered by the new building. The real estate is so valuable that another building can be built to enlarge the first and engulfing it as well.

I wonder if it is similar to what happen to Mandarin hotel where the facade has changed and the interior enlarged or it is a total separate building with it own power supplies and airconditioning. I should take pictures which explains what I am trying to describe.