BBQ Ribs in Harbourside Mall

The only mall that is open at weeknights in Sydney. Sydney still has an archaic laws that now shops are allow to open past 6pm on the weekdays. Thursday is the only day for "late" night shopping. Only resturants and bars are allowed to be open. No wonder Australian holds the world record for drinking beer per capita. You have no other things do pass time on except drinking and talking.

We had dinner in Hurricane's Grill in Harbourside Shopping Centre in Darling Harbour. We had a full slab of pork ribs and beef ribs, bbq chicken together with soups and salads. It was a feast. I had a good time. The food is good, company is good but the table is right at the door way and cold drafts is terrible.

Still the overall dining experience is fine and we took a walk back to the hotel. It is a wonderful end to the evening.

Record Cold!

Sydney experienced it coldest day in 26 years! The extreme weather pattern is happening here too. My boss is a green skeptic. He does not believe in global warming. However I am a believer and will do my part to contribute.

As part of team building approach, we had to do abstract painting, individually and then as a team. I did a painting to love the earth.

Long Day

I am up at 6:30am this morning or 4:30am Singapore time. I have plenty of food which is not good for my waistline. Then we had a long dinner in an South Indian resturant. We had a good meeting and tomorrow we will have another day in the office.

Meeting is really sitting and eating. It is not healthy lifestyle.

Freezing Sydney

Winter in Australia. I just arrived and head straight to dinner with the group. The dinner is Turkish food and is very good. It is typical mediterranean food with focacia bread with olive oil. There is a vegetarian starter and then rack of lamb and finished with desserts.

It is good to catch up with my colleagues. I have not seen them in a while now. Also good to be in Sydney again after 3 years. Only complaint I have is it is very cold. This is the first time I come in winter. It is not as cold as Toronto but my body did not have a chance to adjust slowly to the lower temperature.

It will be a busy week for me.

Birds of Different Feathers

I have lived here for 6 years now. In the last two years, I am seeing more varieties of birds coming to our estate. I am wondering if the new Sengkang Gardens have something to do with this welcoming trend. Before, we get only mynahs and sparrows. Occasionally, there may be a kingfisher or black-naped oriole. This morning, I have a pair of olive-backed sunbirds sipping nectars from our heliconias and what I think is a thrush. We have plenty of doves along the road. I also think getting rid of crows help other species to survive and show up as crows are quite aggressive.

A Family Day

Weekend is for the family. Today is not too bad as two tuitions were cancelled. So we have only one tuition. Our boys had their own activities at home and in the mall. B1 is studying for his preliminary A level exams. B2 went for tuition and then buy a headphone. B3 played with his neighbour friends.

The fan in the living room broke and we have to get a replacement. After dinner, we went to Best Denki in Compass Point. We bought laser ink for our laser printer and a new fan. It is just a regular day and our family spend quantity time together.

EOGM

I chaired the Extra-Ordinary Meeting for our estate today. The meeting is held to pass a resolution to collect funds to paint the facade of our estate. We passed the resolution and continue to have further discussions on the history of our estate.

We have a couple of new owners and also one owner who always attend extraordinary meeting. It was good to catch up and update fellow owners.

Most Expensive Durian

Yesterday, I ate the most expensive durian I ever bought. It is a gift to my father-in-law for Father's Day. My father-in-law is a vegetarian. So food gift choices are quite limited. All confectionery must be certified. No sweetmeat or seafood. Mushrooms are for mother-in-law. So our choice narrows down to fruits. The "Cat Mountain" durian at $16 per kg. The durian the vendor selected weighs 2.6kg. He round down the price to $40. It is the first time for me to pay this kind of price for a premium durian. The most expensive durians I bought for myself and family is 3fruits for $20.

The durian is creamy and seed is small. However, I can't taste the reason why this durian command such premium. Obviously, my tastebuds are not refined enough to tell the difference. Yes, I will wait for the price to drop before enjoying my durian treat. I prefer value for money.

The Importance of Living

Finally, I acquired this book by Lin Yutang. Hopefully, I will discover the joys of leaving things undone as promised in he cover of the book.

Talking about things undone, I have not been writing for a few days. I am up at 2am as the coffee after dinner is taking effect. Usually caffeine in tea or coffee do not affect me. Sometimes it does. Usually, something bothering me causing insomnia.

My middle son had a party in Science Centre as part of the RoboCan competition. His friends took a ride from us and they are all excited and charged up. He enjoys the party and feels that all the hardwork and stress of the competition is now worth it with this reward. On the way home, he and his friends were very animated and had a great time reviewing all the videos of the fun activities they had. I am very happy that he is joyful and had plenty of friends.

It is all quiet with sounds of raindrops falling onto our heliconia now and then. I enjoys the peace and tranquility of the night.

Happy Father's Day

B2 left me a note for me on my desk in the morning. B1 wished me a Happy Father's Day when his mum reminded him at the poolside. B3 left me a gift with a note. It is card with a specially shaped paper clip.

We went to the RoboCup Competition to support B2. It is a global competition with many countries sending in their team to competition in the various Robot contests. There are a couple of different soccer competition. One with humanoid robots and another with short cone shape robots that can play soccer in a team. There is a dancing competition and B2 is in the Junior section picking up a drink can.

The competition starts tomorrow. Looks like it will be a challenge to compete an event where many countries send in their teams.

Sold Out:(

Fan Yang Gazillion Bubbles Show is sold out. Only single seats left. We are a little disappointed as it is once a lifetime opportunity.

B3 will make do with Toy Story 3 instead.

In other news, my weight has been creeping up again. I need to reduce my food intake and exercise more.

I glad to get The Complete Plain Words for my colleagues. I will be meeting them in a week's time in Sydney. I have not gone to Australia for 3 years now. It is time to refresh my memories there. It is winter now so it is nice to get a change in weather. Going out will not be fun.

Fan Yang Gazillion Bubbles Show

B3 is all excited about this show. It is only 3 days. Tomorrow I shall go to Sistic and check if we can get tickets for the show.

Sunday is Father's Day. So we have a Father and Son Day this weekend, provided tickets are still available.

Sixth Sense?

We were in the car on the way home yesterday when B3 asked "Can cars float on water?" "Did Singapore flood before?" It was afternoon and we just finished our lunch in Suntec City. Everything was normal from Suntec city to our home.

I told him Singapore used to flood but not anymore as there are monsoon canals to drain out the rain water. It is a surprised to see the news on the internet that Orchard Road flooded to knee height. The pictures also showed one car floating on the water. This is the first flood in years. It is also the first flood B3 ever seen in Singapore. He must be having sixth sense to ask all the questions about flood during a rainy day.

Food Memory Refreshed

KL has plenty of new malls. We have dinner in Empire which is a new mall right beside Subang Parade. Quite a few interesting resturants there and we decided to try Lebanese food. Lebanese food consist of shish kebab, tandoori chicken, lamb cube which reminds me of Indian food. I realise they must be Middle East or Arabian food.

I also have a good memory refresh lunching at Jom Bali. The drink and food is quite good. I like the fried kway teow.

Work was busy. So I did not get a chance to explore the mall, my favorite pastime.

A Simple Satisfying Day

Thank Buddha for the weekend. It is re-creation time. A time to connect with the family. The boys enjoys the mall crawling and eating out. We just wander about with nothing to do in particular.

Dinner was Nasi Briyani takeout from North Point. We had home-baked cheese cake and Taiwan King Mango for desserts. Taiwan King mango is gigantic and quite sweet but not much flavor.

Well, tomorrow is another day. Work beckons...

Dinner with my Eldest Sister

Last night, we had dinner in Jumbo Seafood Resturant in Safra Resort in Tanah Merah. We had black pepper crab, chilli crab, seafood tofu,golden fried chicken and prawn in salted egg yolk.

My younger niece brought along her friend. She has interesting background as she came over to live in Singapore since she was 10. Right now her mother and brother is in Singapore as well. So she has her family here. Her birthday present is a Porche which she now drive to work.


We are happy just being together. The food is ok. The taste is not as good as it was in East Coast. I can see B1 loves seafood. B2 and B3 have taste like me. We are carnivores!

Museum of the Art

Free Admission on Friday Nights and the carpark is free and right in front of the museum. The museum is really tiny compared to Lourve in Paris. However, it is good that we have Arts available.

There is a Art Garden which is targetted for young kids. Singapore is starting to have culture....

Gratifying!

B1 is trying out new scores on the piano with the book we book today. B2 is quite pleased with his NxT books and B3 enjoys the thrills of flipping the pages of his books to figure out what new projects he is going to do.

Yes, the money I spent is worth it when all three boys are motivated and using their books.

Better

I am feeling much better today. Retail therapy. Even though I have not really bought anything yet, I will be buying $200 worth of books for my boys in a couple of days, maybe tomorrow if I have the time as Kino will be starting it 20% discount.

They are excited and want to get the books for their enjoyment. They are books on science, robotics and music scores. I am very happy they are keen to use the books for their enjoyment.

Lousy Day

I feel lousy today. Work is not going smoothly. Business is doing well but it is dealing with slippery and cunning colleagues that gets me down.

I will have to exercise more, read more and find other fulfilling activities to get rid of negative feelings. Life is like a yo-yo on a string. Up and down. I resolve to ignore lack of integrity and apathy in dealing with issues.

Like our famous and rich entreprenur, Olivia Lum, CEO of Hyflux, says...tomorrow is another day. It is good to go to bed and sleep it off.

Happiness

Happiness is want what you have and have what you want. This the American version. Happiness about about having things, using things and consuming Mother Earth in the process.

Happiness can come from simple pleasures. Dinner with the family, reading a good book, closing a deal, getting a promotion or pay increase, and best of all, making others happy. The greatest pleasure is give other pleasure.

I have the link to Happiness Website by BBC. There are many other positive psychology website. Peace of mind through letting go of desires is another way to achieve happiness.

May peace and contentment be with you. You will achieve happiness.

Exercise and Family

It is brunch at Nan Bei Imperial Resturant. Then cycling with B2 for half an hour. After that it is grocery shopping in Cold Storage. We bought fresh romaine lettuce to make salad and a rotisserie chicken, family size. We also have pasta with Swedish meatballs. Dessert is fresh mangoes and peeled orange. I then go cycling again with B1 this time. After 2nd round of cycling, I swam for a few mins.

After dinner, all our three Bs mill around the living. We had a wonderful and then it is back to school work. It was going to be a wonderful report for today when B2 rear up his rude behaviour over suggestion on how to focus on his school work.

Sigh! A wonderful day marred with a bad five minutes at the end. Goodnite...

Knee Pain

I have pain in my right knee since India trip two weeks ago. The pain did not go off after one week,so a visit to my family physician diagnosed my pain is due to gout. I have anti-inflammation and something to reduce uric acid crystal. It improved but did not solve my problem.

This evening, I went to the Chinese physician my father-in-law recommends. The relief was immediate but when I reach home, the pains return.

I hope my ligaments will heal soon...

Happy

I managed to finish meeting and returned to Seoul before office closed. So I bought a pack of Chocolate Chip and Macadamia nuts cookie for my "victim". He is happy to see me and present his business card. Kim, almost everyone Kim in Korea, so I can name him properly without disclosing who he really is is qu:)ite happy to see me. He is surprised by the small gift I have for him. He offers to help me in future if I go to Korea. I am very happy that he is happy and not upset that I borrowed his power supply.

My colleagues were good to give me this suggestion. I finished my work. We got the price increase although not as much as what we wanted but will do for now.

It is a good trip!:)

Can't Live Without My Computer

The computer is such an indispensable tool today. I forgot to bring my power supplies for my laptop. I check with the business center in the hotel. No luck. They have only LG laptop which used a different plug. I go to the mall and there is only small section for HP netbook (actually small is an understatement. puny would describe the display aptly). Then I go to the office and guess what. Today is an election day and office is closed. My poor customer has to work on a holiday because I am here and prepare for the meeting tomorrow.

Finally, I "borrowed" a power supplies from a desk and left a note. I hope the person do not get ticked off.

It is impossible to work without a computer today. I wonder what happened twenty years ago. I remember my first stop after checking into any hotel is to go to the business center to retrieve faxes and then send faxes. I seriously doubt anyone is sending faxes today. Sorry one exception hehehe...finance department!