No Blogging for a Few Days

I will not be able to update this blog for the next few days as I will be in China. China does not allow blogging as the government worries about the social unrest. It will be cold as I am going to a landlock city and like all other cities in China, quite unhealthy air. I am glad to be there for a few days. Going to China is good for my weight as I do not eat much. My big problem is I over-eat when I reached home.

Disaster Preparedness

I am thinking about Japan and all the disasters that is happening around the world. We are all living in a city. We have running water and electricity all the time. I wonder if we can survive without food, water or electricity for prolong period. We are so pampered and used to the modern conveniences of "civilised" living that I am afraid we are vulnerable and unable to fends for ourselves in a disaster. I am thinking about what to I should do to prepare for disaster. First should be mental preparedness. Grace and resilience are the key words for Japanese currently under siege by the three simultaneous disasters. I spoke to my boys and told them they have to survive no matter what happen. Hopefully, they are prepared for the day we all hope will never come.

Celebrating B1's Good Results

B1 suggested Peking Duck to celebrate his good results. He first requested for Peking Duck to celebrate when he get straight A's in his "O" level. It is becoming our family's tradition as during the meal, mummy suggested that she wished to eat the duck again next year i.e. B2 "O" level results. The year after for B3's PSLE results. The best reward for any parent in Singapore is his or her child ace the exams.
The previous few weekends have been busy with Universities' Open House that we did not have to opportunity to gather together as a family for a resturant meal until today's lunch. We have great hopes for the future of our boys.

New TV

Nice, sleek and a black beauty. The 10" extra diagonally make the regular broadcast programs blurry. However, when it is DVD, the videos are sharp and clear. It is nice to get a slim look. I am quite amaze by the in-built sound system. It is loud and clear. The thickness of the TV is mere 2cm and the new technology of a speaker which can reproduce sound of high fidelity in this tight space is amazing for an old school engineer who learned only the conventional way of reproducing sounds is through a cone driven by a magnetic coil.

Always Good to be Home

Downtown KL is nice. Always nice to be back to home to my usual routine of exercise and home-cooked dinner and catch up with my boys. Tonight, we have to finish a toy for B3's submission in school. B2 had tuition. I cut up fruits as usual after our dinner. We also replenish grocery from our regular supermart, Fairprice. Just back to the home routines bring stability as the future is fraught with unknown changes.

Giant Maze and Amazing Coincident!

Sungei Wang is a mall that is rundown and has many levels in a maze configuration. After saying goodbyes to all my colleagues, knowing it will be probably a few years later that I will be back downtown, I decided to buy another two small tea caddies that made of pewter. I want round and round going many different levels searching for the shop which I bought my pewter on Monday. It is extremely confusing. I didn't even realised the traditional anchor tenant like Giant is in the mall. I searched for more than half an hour before finally finding the shop. I thought I am getting old:( The shop is right at the main entrance where Starbucks is. I bought two small caddies at 55% discount. When I walk out of the mall, a man looked at me. I looked back at him and he is familiar. He also showed signs of recognition. Then we said "hi" to each other. He is a Hikota, a customer of mine in Japan. What a amazing coincident! I was delayed in my purchase by more than 45 mins and I walked out to meet a Japanese I know who lived in Tokyo in downtown KL. Maybe I am lost for a reason. I called my Japanese colleague who is already on his way to the airport. He was totally surprised by my call and by the customer who talk to him on my phone.
I like downtown KL. Plenty of foreigners and plenty of beautiful women. Problem is plenty of snatch thefts too. It is good to visit every few years. I am glad to come here for my meeting.

Eating and Sitting

Kid you not. That is all I do today. I have breakfast, then sit in the room until tea break with tasty treats like mee siam, Thai fish cakes and raspberry tartlets. Back to more sitting on my butt until lunch and has Italian food with appetizers, pasta bolognaise and soup. Afternoon tea was my usual favorite chicken satay with tiramisu. We had nasi lemak dinner. I continue to the supermarket to get nuts to munch. No wonder my weight increase in meetings. Also it is the stress of unknown and change coming. Eating is a form of stress relief. I need to do exercise for stress release instead!

Bukit Bintang

It is one of the rare time I stayed in downtown KL. Bukit Bintang is very vibrant and happening. Lots of foreigners and locals enjoying alfresco dining. There are plenty of high class expensive resturants with rundown kopitiam of yesterday. Interesting mix of traditional and modern. Many gorgeous looking girls and guys mixed with transvestites walking along the street. I enjoys the change from my regular mall, the Curve or Sunway Lagoon. There are quite a few angmohs enjoying their meals with local girls.
Downtown KL is a melting pot.

No TV

I have been living without a TV since Thursday. Without the frequent news update, I feel a lot calmer as well. Reading the papers evoke different emotions from watching videos of the Japan's disaster. Sumiko Tan writes excellent prose. I like a couple of the phrases from today's Sunday Times article "A bitter winter wind" which I will reproduce below:
"Because I am half-Japanese, I view Japan with sympathetic eyes. But because I 'm also Singaporean, I regard it from a stranger's distance."
"Their culture emphasises civility and courtesy, which means you get the constant howing and thank yous and sorrys. But there's always a sense of reserve and distance. Japanese people aren't big on hugging, touching or kissing. Yet they don't blink an eye about stripping down in front of each other at hot springs, and erotic magazines are easily available."
The previous paragraph reminds me a saying a friend's mother told him about Japanese "Courtesous but no idea of shame". Chinese women are very modest about their physical body.
As I read and reflected, I find that I am more emotionally stable and not torn by the helplessness of my inability to help a fellow man in their distress.

Best Deal!

I am glad I did not purchase LED TV from Best Denki last night. I did not like the salesman who was reluctant to service. This morning, there are plenty of advertisements for deals! Courts, Harvey Norman and Audio House. I went to Audio House and the price at $1,299 for LG 42" hard panel is $100 cheaper than Best Denki. There were other models that are better in picture quality. Since this TV is not in the family room and mostly for listening to news and sometimes indulge in my DVD collection, I settle for the most cost effective model. I am happy to be frugal.

Shopping for TV

My Philips LCD 32" TV broke down again. I decided to look for a new TV to replace it. This TV cost $4,000 when I bought 5 years ago. Today, a 42" ultrathin LED TV cost $1,500 or less. I wonder what possessed me to buy such an expensive TV when money was worth a lot more. LG seems to provide good value and nice design. Ultra thin, sleek with a small black glossy edge framing the display, I think I will go for it. The price is the most attractive as well. I am a shopper to get the best value. Not the lowest price but LG happens to offer the lowest price. I am really cheap!

Reviewing Nuclear Power Option

BBC news reports Germany has shutdown 7 nuclear power station and France is doing safety reviews of all their nuclear power plants. I hope Singapore will review the nuclear power option and shelf it. The cost of the disaster will be much more than the money saved from using natural gas and petroleum. We should implement solar and wind options right now rather than wait for the cost to come down. We need to do more green energy drive and energy conservation campaign.
The world is in a conundrum with Middle East in turmoil i.e. oil supply is unstable and nuclear power so dangerous. Our energy appetite is too much and our society too complex. We shall see if the world as we know it is really coming to an end...

Nuclear Meltdown

The nuclear power plant is in distress. It is a problem that MM Lee has the foresight to expect - it is extremely difficult and challenging to deal with in case of a disaster. He is not convinced by nuclear power option and now he is proven right. I am in total agreement with MM Lee's perspective but I am just a small fry whose opinion nobody will care or respect. Mankind must develop and use safer alternatives like wind, solar, tides, waves, geothermal or any other sources that do not generate toxic wastes that last for thousands of years. The radioactive wastes is extremely lethal to life and alter our basic life form, DNA. All nuclear power plants and nuclear bombs should be banned. We are playing with too much power and power we cannot control or manage properly. Let's pray for God's help as we will be affected and impacted if the radiation spreads all the way here.

Devastating Destruction

Terrible images and video of the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami. Japan is reeling with disaster of the century. The nuclear station explosions and possible meltdown is a real concern. We have to use more friendly alternative energy source like solar, geothermal, waves, tide or wind. Nuclear power has the density and ability to generate enormous amount of energy in a small space but the radiation risks are so high and lethal to life.
Human is so minute in the force of nature. There are so many humans living in cities and when disaster strikes, it requires humongous relief effort. Life will go on and many will take a long time to recover from the shock of losing their family, friends and relatives.

My Sister-in-law Harrowing Experience in Japan

It is start of school holiday and we bring B3 along for lunch and decide to go to Parkway Parade to meet my sister-in-law, her husband and their two boys. We ate the famous fried kway teow that my friend Boh Tong recommended. The boys are excited to see each other and play iPhone games together. Meanwhile, my brother-in-law described their adventure in Japan. They have to get out of the train and walk for 200 meters to the train station. Everything shuts down and they are lucky to get help from a pair of Japanese men who interpreted the announcements to them. The train was stopped due to the earthquake. They have to sleep over in a Japanese resturant with 20 others seeking refuge. The night temperature was low and the Japanese owner accomodated all the stranded passengers from the train station. My brother-in-law is smart enough to go to Singapore airlines website and book a one-way ticket home for his family as their flights were on standby in Delta and it is likely for them to wait for many days before they can fly. So the hotel bill will be high.

The Tourist

Tourist is a movie starring Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp. A tourist on a train is used as a decoy for a wanted man. A man wanted by the casino kingpin and undercover agency. Well, this bumbling tourist from US is following Angelina everywhere. Angelina fell in love with him and want to forget her boyfriend. Then best part is she has both her boyfriend and her new love. The story has the interesting twist and I enjoy this movie.

NTU and NUS Open House

Big crowd full of young and some old. Lots of questions and meeting of old classmates. It is exciting time for the "A" level graduates who are deciding their course of study and thereby their careers as well. It is quite little time to figure out what kind of work you want to do for the next 40 years. I guess the opportunity to switch career is always there. I was an electronic technician then engineer. After making several more moves, I am now in business management. So studying is just an education of the mind. A training of sort to prepare you for life and for living. Continuous education keeps the mind active and agile.
It is quite competitive and the scores to enter University seem high today. Everyone is getting good grades unlike my time.

Earthquake in Japan

My sister-in-law and her family is vacationing in Japan this week and is scheduled to return home today. Their plans are disrupted. Narita Airport is closed and they have to stay in a different hotel as the train services are disrupted as well. I did not realised that there is an earthquake on the Richter scale of 8.9 causing major tsunami, damage and death. I thought it was the earthquake a couple days ago that is undersea and did not cause any damage.
We are glad they are safe and hope they can return home soon.

Life's Good

LG or Life's is Good. It is the slogan for LG the company formerly known as Lucky Goldstar. LG has high quality LED TV at a competitive price. My 32" LCD Philips bought for $4,000 4 years ago is breaking down. I am thinking of replacing it with 42" LED from LG and the price? $999! Price deflation. Higher quality, lower price and bigger TV! Right now my old google box is still cranking away. So by the time I need to really throw it, the price may go down further. Electronics is the only group of products that price is going down. The price of everything else is skyrocketing.

Fear of Pain

I got a shock when I view my blog just now. I have not updated it for two days and did not even realised it. I must have forgotten my regular habit of writing before going to bed.
Today, I went to NUH Dental Center this morning to fix my toothache. It has been aching for a couple of weeks. Prof Chew does not do root canal. So he checked around for another dentist for me. Unfortunately, everyone is tied up and so I have to wait. He also told me my regular dentist now work one day a week in Paragon with his classmate. I called the clinic and he is working today. So I asked if he is available and the clinic assistant asked me to go over to wait. I rushed there and he was upset that I did not stay at NUH for treatment. Anyway, after a while he is nice again but I was a little sheepish and docile. Incredible pain makes a man weak. He tells me this is a torture technique where teeth are drilled without any anaesthesia to gain information and after getting the pain usually people will give out any information that is required. I am glad he has found a way to fix my teeth. Now that he is in Paragon, the charges are so much more expensive. I do not have a choice. Sigh....

Vegetarian Dinner

Tonight we had vegetarian dinner to celebrate my Father-in-law's birthday. My mother-in-law cooked vegetarian satay, braised mushroom and a bunch of different vegetarian dishes from our favorite hawker in Keban Baru Hawker Center. The meal was good. I am not a big fan of vegetarian food except for this stall in Keban Baru. There are some unique and tasty dishes like crispy abalone mushroom, curry "fish" and a couple other with exotic names that I do not know how to translate. All my wife's siblings and their significant others are there with the boys. Yes, my father-in-law has only grandsons and no granddaughter at all. He has a total of 7 grandsons as at today.

Mass Extinction

Recent scientific study is pointing strongly to mass extinction of species due to human destruction of biosphere and global warming. We, human are killing the earth slowly. There are scientists who are optimistic and brought our plenty of examples and studies that says the earth will recover. I like how one doomsday scientist puts it in a TV interview. The optimists' views are like jump off the Empire State building. As you fall down toward the ground, up to 99 floors you can still say "hey everything looks fine, what is the problem?" The other analogy is a cow going to a trough at meal time and hey presto! the food are always there. Life is just a walk in the park and eat when you are hungry. Life will be just a boring routine until the day you go to the slaughterhouse.
We should take care of our environment as much as we can.

Result is Out for "A" Level

It has been an anxious few days since the announcement that "A" level results will be released this afternoon. During our dinner on Wed, mummy in order to relief the tension for B1 counts how many points he will get for worst case scenario. I went to school today. The Principal was presenting the total AJC results. It was a huge improvement over the previous years result. The Principal is quite happy. However, there are a few with poor results. Everyone was cheering and clapping. I am worried for those whose results were not so good. I know that there are only a few winners that is the top few students who are going to the stage to get their results. The rest in the audience will be like losers. I get this kind of feeling with a lump on my throat cursing or kicking myself for not getting better results by working harder. Worst of all is to know that you are in the small and select group of failure in the school where more than 50% have at least one A in their results.
The top student was announced and it is a girl. I felt a tinged of disappointment. Next top student is another girl...sigh! Then it is the top Malay student and two top Indian students - no emotion there. The Principal displayed the slide of the list of 17 students with full score of 90 points. It was hard the read as the font size is small due to the huge number of students and I am sitting in the middle of the school hall. B1's name was somewhere in the middle. I read again just to be sure. Then I saw him running to the stage. Yes! It is confirmed! He has full score and straight As for all his subjects. He collects his certificate from the Principal and has his picture taken. Yippee, yippee, ya, ya!
We are very happy!

Roller Coaster Ride

We are having roller coaster rides at work now. It is scary and stressful. I can't wait for the excitement to be over. So far, there are more downs than ups.

Back to Toa Payoh

I am frequenting Toa Payoh hawker centers again since the start of this year. We moved B3 to the school his two older brothers went. The prices in Toa Payoh is more reasonable than say Bedok hawker center. Price is definitely dependent on location. The service is way better in Toa Payoh too. The more developed a country, the higher the price of cooked food and it is self-service including clearing your own table after you finished your meal. In Bedok, the price of the food is higher and all self-service(same as developed countries but no need to clear the table). However, in Toa Payoh, not only the price is lower, many hawkers still serve and bring the food to your table. Bedok hawker center's market is upper middle class residents and therefore command higher price and lower service. Toa Payoh hawkers in contrast serves lower income group and therefore give more value for money.