Coming Lunch with my Nieces

We have a lunch date with our nieces this Saturday. My boys cannot make it. B1 has 24km road march, B2 has school activities and B3 may be going to school with B2. So it will be just chek chek and sim sim with the girls. We have not seen them for some time now. The challenge is we are going to a chicken rice shop that is famous and popular. We will not have much time with them we may feel pressured to leave if there is a large crowd waiting for tables.

I am looking forward to bonding time.

Kino is more expensive than KL Borders!

I noticed the title I am currently reading is on the display for books on the future. I checked on the price and it is $29.90. This is RM74.75 at the current exchange rate of RM2.5 to S$1. In KL Borders, the same title is priced at RM54.90. Kino price is 36% higher than in KL!!!

So even at the highest discount Kino ever offer of 20% the price is still higher. Whoa, the high value of Singapore dollar makes everything in Singapore more expensive. Also I did not pay RM54.90 for the book, I had 10% discount using a credit promotion.

In the office in PJ, another book fan, Michelle tells me the price of books in Singapore is lower. Now I have an example that prove otherwise.

Brain Rules for Babies

Audiobooks are godsend when it come to exercising. I can read and exercise at the same time. Multi-tasking!! I have been listening to Brain Rules for the few weeks. The book is very interesting and have a lot of research on how to parent for the baby development. TV and internet is very detrimental to the kids attention span. So I implemented the rule for B2 and B3. B2 has no computer access anymore until his "O" level is over. B3 has 10 mins computer and 30 mins TV instead of watching TV passively. So far, both have complied and doing well.

It is good to learn ways to manage my boys better.

First 4 Chapters

I just finished reading the first 4 chapters of The future of Work is already here. It is pretty depressing. The internet and avatars(electronic you) will mean very little human interactions and loneliness. There will be a new underclass who will be perpetually poor. Americans will get a shock that the good life of going middle class for the average American with blue collar jobs is gone forever.

After the depressing scenarios, the news is supposed to get better. We will be moving from voracious consumption to creative production.

Forecasting Future Gains Respectability

Fortune telling is a dubious art. Then there are psychics who foretell the future and is mostly wrong all the time. The respond is always future is a probability and can be change by humans actions.

Scenario Planning is the commercial version of forecasting future for corporate success. Shell is the company who started and used scenario planning with great success. Today, there is a proliferation of titles on Future. Kinokuniya is displaying more than 20 titles ranging from Future of Physics to Future of Work and Corporation. Today, there are many institutions researching on possibilities and probabilities and companies who specific function is to forecast the future for a fee.

Who says the Future is not for us to see?

A Lazy Sunday

We had a lazy Sunday. After tuition in the morning for B2, mum makes congee for all of us. I went to the hawker center to buy fritters or youtiao which go well with congee. I also had half a Hainese chicken. Lunch was really good. The thing with congee is we get hungry very quickly again.

After lunch, mummy and daddy had a nap. I have no idea what my boys were up to. B2 is probably studying and B3 playing with his toys and B1 talking to his girlfriend. After waking my nap, B3 wanted go to the pool for a bit of fun and invited B1 a couple of times. B1 relented and played with him.

We decided to eat out at Chomp Chomp's Old Hong Kong. The food is quite good. We send B1 to camp after dinner.

Fabulous Food at Hua Ting

We have buffet lunch at Hua Ting whose Master Chef won two awards. The food is the best of the few resturants I have tried. I had eaten dinner in Hua Ting a few times before with colleagues. I liked the food but have to focus on the conversation. With my boys, we just focused on the food. Yes, this is why I have a weight issue. The buffet is not mass produced food lined up in warming trays. We have to order the food and they all come fresh from the kitchen. The bbq duck, roast pork, beef prepared in different ways were so good. Much better than the resturants in KL which I loved.

The service is a little slow but very polite and attentive. Our plates are changed regularly. The meal is not rushed unlike Imperial Treasure. Yes, we are definitely going back to Hua Ting.

Warm Friday

The heat is on, the heat is onnnn! Mercury rising. It is hard to do exercise. I cycled early in the morning and then late at night. Cycling in the dark is nice because it is cool but also a little scary in the PCN. "Wild animals", dark spots and fear of the unknown can caused panic. I am lucky this time with B1 cycling beside me. So with somebody to talk to, it help prevent imagination going wild.

Overwork and underpaid is always the view of an employee. Now it is really eating into the morale as many are stressed out. As the company seek to get out of mediocrity and put for expectation of growth of 500% in 5 years, the heat is on. Just work like hell. By the way, when you delivers please do not expect any difference in what you are paid. The rewards go to the top for squeezing blood from people lower down in the totem pole.

So don't worry, be happy.

Reinvent Your Career!

It is a catchy headline. Actually, it is Success Stories of 5 individual Americans who succeeded after their careers have to switch direction. One is a blockbuster franchisor who was living large and very well with mansion for his home and a super duper gas guzzler hummer for his wheels. Blockbuster is a video rental franchise and business model has change with the video streaming or as Fortune puts it - The DVD has cracked. This gentleman has to sell his house, his cars and other status symbols. He bought 6 Subway franchise and it did not work but he managed to sell them for a small profit. Finally, he went to L.A. and noticed the success of a Yoghurt chain. He filled up an application form to be a franchisee and did not get a reply. So he start up his own Yoghurt chain and right now the number of stores keep increasing. Success!

Another story is on a lawyer who turned to writing and become an author. He was making good income selling 200,000 copies. Then e-book happens(sound familiar?). Once again, the internet forces the change. Now he writes and sell his books through the internet for $2 per copy. He is making progress in his new career.

As I read this, change in our world is happening all the time. We have to adapt.

Possible Punishment

It is the army's way. Army like to make the soldiers feel unsettled and on the edge all the time. B1 is supposed to be booking out today at 8 pm. Until now, we have no news...hold on! SMS just came in. He is on the ferry now. Hurray. He has freedom for a couple of days. I have to go now to pick him up.

Woke Up by Lightning

It is pouring at 5am. The frequent lightning flashes woke me up. So I brush my teeth and dressed up and head off to my regular hawker center for a cup of tea. A consummate reader, I brought along Tuesday's newspaper to read. There are many stalls opened for business. So breakfast at 5am is a cinch if I wanted it. I abstained as my stomach is still asleep and I have to watch my calories intake.

The rained stopped by the time I am finished and I headed back home to write. Writing is a relaxing activity. I get confirmation of my worst fear late afternoon yesterday. Maybe this is why I am up.

Reinvent Your Career! Big, bold and black! on the cover of latest issue of Fortune. I shall flip open the magazine and discover the secrets. Have a good day ahead, my readers.

Glad to be Home!

I am glad to be home. Although it is a short trip, it is quite hectic and energy draining especially dealing with difficult issues. I did not go for my regular teh halia this time. I have to work late tonight and drinking Chinese tea will be better with less cafeine.

Sleeping with my regular tempur pillow tonight hopefully will ease my neck pain and give me restful sleep. Amazingly, this trip I lost weight. My weight was creeping upward anyway. Now I have to discipline myself not to gorge on my usual comfort food.

At the airport, I bought a new book, The Shift. It is on the future of work. I enjoys the forecast on the way we will work in future. I shall write about it as I read this book. Author Lynda Gratton is a Business Professor in London Business School.

So Full

I have been eating non-stop since the last two days. It is a glorious eating and making myself fat. Yes, this is a wonderful stress relief. However, getting fat is not good. High blood pressure, diabetes, a host of many rich man's diseases. Not that I am a rich man, I am just having too much rich food.

The good thing is I am reducing my carbo intake. However, it terrible guilt feeling. Worse of all, I ate more snacks in the room.

There is very little time for window shopping. I am a little sad as window shopping is my favorite pastime. I have very little battery left. So I have to sign off now.

Goodnite...

Art is a piece of Cake

B2 and B3 convinced mum to buy a cake for them to customise for Father's Day. The Icing Room has this novel idea where they sell blank cakes with a set of coloured icing. You can do your own artwork on the cake. There are many stands with rotating platform to help with the icing.

Many other kids are doing the same thing - making cakes for their daddy. George Quek hit the right recipe for Breadtalk. No wonder he is so rich and I am so...soo average. Sigh!

Father's Day Celebration

B1 has confinement and need to return to his camp tonight. His weekend has been cut short and we have a father's day lunch instead. We went to Ah Yat's Seafood resturant. The food is not bad but not fantastic either. Maybe because the set menu is all seafood. I had to order chicken wings and Peking duck to supplement the father's day menu.

After lunch, we adjourned to IKEA to get a stainless steel shelf for our kitchen. Then we returned home to cycle at the PCN. B3 ride on my back on the hybrid bicycle and B1 cycled beside me. B2 was having tuition at that time.

For dinner, we made duck porridge using the leftover of the Peking duck. I debone all the meat and the bones were used to make the porride. After dinner, we pick up Daniel who needed a ride from us to go back to camp. Daniel is sleeping in the same bunk as B1. We drop both of them off in White Sand and return to fix up a shelf for our kitchen.

We had a wonderful family day.

Our New Fridge

The ice tasted horrible. The fridge is also a lot darker as it uses LED lights instead of regular light bulb. I have no idea if our frozen food have turned bad. Right now, we are eating up as much as we can the stuff from the old fridge. Although the size of the Mitsubushi Folia fridge is supposed to be the same size in cubic feet, it seem to have a lot less space than the Maytag. Maybe it is because it is divided into 6 compartments. Our old fridge is just freezer and refrigerator. So with less compartment it has more airspace and easy to put in big items like pots. All the new features need to be tested out. Maybe the old is still better than the new for refrigerators.

Singapore Discovery Center

The Singapore Discovery Center is a place designed to promote the SAF or Singapore Armed Forces. We visited this place or rather we went there to pick up B1. The place is not well frequented and not many visitors. All those who were there had a purpose. To pick up their sons or boyfriends. So it is a white elephant. There is a souvenir shop, a shooter range(same as the arcade) and a museum. It is the most boring tourist attraction.

Final Lap for the Kitchen

The kitchen is getting done up nicely. It is lot of work. The new fridge was delivered this afternoon. Our old fridge is Maytag that we brought back from Canada. It is using 110VAC. We think it is no longer energy efficient and we may be right. The delivery guy says something is wrong with so much water pouring out of the fridge. I am hoping my electricity bills will drop with this new fridge. Space is more limited with the new fridge.

I hook up the induction cooker. Also fix or at least try to fix the leaking plumbing. It was a huge challenge. I think I did better than the plumber who fix up our water filters. Tomorrow, is Friday!

Thank God It's Friday. Weekend is here. Hurray. Oh! by the way, it is Father's Day this Sunday.

Old HongKong

The food in Old Hong Kong resturant is very good. I enjoyed the food but the price is a little on the high side. We had only two dishes with one dessert and just water for drinks and a bowl of rice come to a grand total of 47 bucks! The dessert was crispy sesame paste pancake and it is really crispy and crackles in the mouth burst with flavour. Yummy. I must go back there again.

Eating Out all the Time

I am getting tired of eating out. I am looking forward to the "official" opening of our kitchen. We can have our home-cooked meals. It is also expensive to eat out. Average about $30 for each meal for family of 4. Luckily, B1 is being fed by the government.

The World in 2050 on Investments

Right now, all my stocks are going down in value with the global indices dropping. The author of 2050 bought stocks of pharma companies. Demographic indicators pointing to aging population and therefore demand for drugs will go up. The other investment opportunity is water. Demand for water will continue to go up. However, demand are in the poor countries and the poor. What is needed is small projects to get access to water. What private companies are interested is making money from water in Large projects which mean the poor will continue to have no access to water and the rich continues to waste water.


So water and oil may be the next investments of choice. However, Hyflux and BP is not doing to well either. Sigh!

The World in 2050

I acquired this book from Borders in The Curve. This book is interesting as it is the first time I get the view from a Geographer I always though geography was just for general knowledge. Then an interview on a Geographer who start a successful business based on geography changed my perspective in this subject. The CEO has a unique management style and his company offers geography services to companies. He became wealthy using the knowledge of geography.

The World in 2050 forecast based on the four forces - demography, growing resources needs, globalisation and climate change. There are plenty of scenarios, mostly water level rising and milder winters. Higher temperature means our atmosphere can hold more water. Hence, heavy rainstorms and floods will be a common occurence in future.

Human will have to adapt.

Hippopotamus

Interesting name of a new resturant in Marina Square. Our plan was to go to Changing Appetites right beside Carl's Jr. Burgers. Changing Appetites went OB aka out-of-business and replaced by Hippopotamus. B3 had kid's meal which is a hamburger with fries, a drink and creme brulee for dessert. B2 had a bacon burger which was excellent. I had French onion soup and Mum had just camomile tea. The melted chocolate cake looked very appealing and we tried it. It was very good except the ice cream is too hard. B3 wanted to try the churros. It comes warm with warm chocolate sauce. It was very tasty. I think it is a Spanish theme.

I will go to this resturant again with B1. Actually, I was thinking of my three nieces as well but they do not eat beef. So we will see...

Gratitude

The path to happiness is gratitude according to The Happiness Hypothesis. Everyday, we need to spend a few minutes to feel grateful for all we have and be thankful for the positives events that happens to us. I shall practise this now by logging my thoughts.

I am up in my office and as I write I feel thankful I have a wonderful family, a nice and warm home, I am healthy albeit a little overweight. I enjoys exercise and keeping fit. Have wonderful colleagues in my small cozy team and a job I loved. Our planet is still going on despite Man exploiting it relentlessly.

Life is good on a Sunday morning.

Weight Matters

My weight was okay on Thursday night after returning from KL. This morning, I weighs a kg more. I am eating my heart out. I need to stop eating like a hungry ghost whenever I return home. Missing food at home and stress cause me to eat and eat. I must find my emotional trigger for gluttony.

Maybe I just die happy instead of worrying about my weight all the time. Yet, if I don't, I would have ballooned to a huge tummy like my brother.

Early to Rise

Saturday morning. I woke up early. It is dark, so cycling is not a good idea. So I decided to go to the market and see beside the grocery stalls what else have started to operate their business. Armed with newspapers for the past three days, I go to the market in AMK Ave 10. The coffee stall is opened. I was surprised. So I asked what time do they start. They actually open at 4am. Now I found another place to go if I am sleepless.

A lot of the food stalls are ready and serving food. Business in this market has improved over the years. It must be due to the renewal of the surrounding. New flats which are much higher mean denser living and more people. Construction and factories nearby have increase the number of workers. Everywhere is Singapore is getting more and more crowded.

Reading the past few days papers, the most important issue is still flooding. Orchard Road is flooded again. A picture of the Minister for Water and Resource surveying the damage in Market Place. Cabinet Ministers are visible nowadays whenever there is a photo opportunity. The message is clear. Vote for Opposition and the government will show they are working. This is politics. It may be just dog and pony show. It may be real. Next General Elections I hope more opposition get voted in. This only way the Singapore Government will improve. Otherwise, it is just reading a report in the Parliament rather than MBWA or management by walking about.

Normal Again

It feels so good to be normal again. One week of resturant meals is can be a little too much. I had fishball noodle for breakfast, wanton noodle for lunch, Taiwanese XXXL crispy chicken for snacks, fried kuay teow for tea and finishing up B3's dinner. B3 had sirloin steak in a local western resturant own by a Hainanese chef.

I did not get a chance to eat local food in Malaysia in this trip as I am hosting Americans colleagues. Sunday night - Halal Tony Romas i.e. no ribs:( Monday night - Banana leaf, not bad actually. Tuesday night - Dave's Deli, Italian-style cafe in 1 Utama. Wednesday night - TGIF. Western food is good but servings are large, unhealthy but great taste. It is a love-hate relationship.

I do not get tired of my hawker so far. Only problem is it is high in carbohydrates and sodium. Variety is the spice of living to eat.

Dried Pineapple and Banana

I reached home and head straight to the fridge to try out my latest dried fruits. I have dried them before I leave for KL on Sunday afternoon. Pineapple tasted good. It is nicer when it is cold and juicy, however it is sweeter and the flavor stronger and stimulate a strong flow of saliva. Best of all, this is healthy snacking. So I can snack feeling less guilty as the calories content for the dried fruits are high as well. At least I am getting the fibers and it is fructose rather than corn syrup or sucrose.

It has been a long week. I am looking forward to exercising after eating and sitting on my butt for so many days.

Meeting New Friend and Old Friend

It is just food and more food. I just took a little food from everyone when I ate dinner tonight. It is good to go easy on my food intake. I do not feel guilty and I had a lot of snacks anyway i.e. white coffee gurang manis, rojak and kaya toast plus plenty of nuts!

I managed to meet some old friends in KL this time and met a new friend from Thailand as well. So I had fun and enjoys chatting on family, books and office gossips.

Good Meeting

We had a good meeting today. Everyone in the team did well. Not sure if it is just typical American way who loved to give positive feedback. Sincerity is always hard to gauge. My personal assessment is the everyone did great and help in the positive outcome of our recent performance.

The heat is on with our new target. We are going to perform miracles moving forward.

Office Stories

I am a believer in MBWA or Management by Walking About. I talk to my colleagues whenever I am in town. I learn two of my colleagues had to be hospitalised for stress-related issues. One of them twice. After hearing the stories, my stress issue is relatively minor. Or the other possibility is my ability to cope is better. One of my colleagues suggested it may be my mode of working. It may be possible but I think exercise and plenty of snacks help me cope with stress.

The office team and I had good meals as usual. Lunch was Penang food. I had fried mee sua, chicken lobak, mango salad, fruit rojak and a drink that come with a sng buay. HK suggested Indian food for dinner. We had curry mutton steaks, dry curry mutton, curry chicken, fried chicken, fried pigeon, fried fish, fried cuttlefish with rice and vegetables on a banana leaf. All of us enjoys the food very much. I had mango lassie for drink and also tried their chappati and paper thosai.

Sitting on my butt, eating delicious food with ravenous appetite is recipe for weight gain. I managed to buy my snacks - nuts and preserved guava for the stimulating saliva glands, I have plenty of exercise to do once I returned home. This is a rare time I am out on such a long trip to KL. I have to control my calorie intake before I balloon out of control.

It's a Happening Place

The Curve is incredibly busy place on a Sunday evening. This is the first time I am here on Sunday. My flight was late, so I arrived late for dinner.
I was in a rush after dinner and did not go to the supermarket to get drinks and snacks. It is important to keep me going as I work. Now I am hungry for something. Guess I will need to get some stuff tomorrow. My bad habit which helps increase my weight. It is getting late. I should go to bed for an early breakfast meeting.

The Kate and Will Story

I feel so much better after a good night's sleep. It is pouring. So my newspaper will be late today. Meanwhile on TV's Channel 5, the love story of Kate and William. Their growing up years, what schools Kate go to, their common interests - love of countryside, same charities they go to, same course in University...

Kate's parents started a business in mail order party and was very successful and earned a lot of money. With the money, they put Kate into a private school and start her into a different path in the country where one's social standing is determined by birth.

Kate has a boyfriend in University and so did Will. It was during a charity show that is the watershed for their relationship. Kate wore a see-through dress and was very sexy on the catwalk. Will was like...hmmm! this is my future queen!!

Great Singapore Sales

GSS is on and prices are marked down. We have to buy a baby full month gift and it is great. 20% off in OG. Resturants joined in the sales as well and many deals are for the taking. Of course it make all of us spend more money. It is good for the economy. May not be good for Mother Earth with more consumption.

I am not feeling well. It may be the yam dessert. I suspect the coconut milk that come with it. I have cold sweats and dizzyness. I shall go to bed now. Goodnite....

Life - BBC Earth

This documentary is screened on Octo at 9 tonight. B3 enjoys the show a great deal. He is talking and commenting to me all the time while I work. I have to tell him that daddy is working and needed to concentrate. Tonight programme is on reptiles and amphibians. It is very interesting to see survival techniques of frogs, lizards and the hunters like snakes. The show ends with komodo dragon biting a water buffalo and waiting for three weeks for the buffalo to die. They then stripped the buffalo to the bones in 4 hours. It is horrible sight. "You do not need to see Jurassic Park to know how dinosaurs rule the earth. It is all here." Yucks!

For Bad Service and Miserable Times - Nandos!

Joanne Peh and her boyfriend stormed out of Nandos resturant. Last August, I had similar experience in Nandos, Bugis Junction. I am not a celebrity. So no one bothered. I am surprised Nandos is still around. I hope people get tired of the horrid service Nandos gave to its customers. I do not know why so many people are desperate and put up being treated badly for a piece of chicken.

Yes, I swear never to step into Nandos again. It is the place to go if you want to feel like sh*t and be treated like sh*t. This is the first time I used swear word in my blog. It is so bad that I feel so emotionally charged recalling my experience over the meal.

It will be good riddance when the resturant chain go OB (out-of-business).

The Happiness Hypothesis

I am listening to the audiobook but it seems like I am not registering the content well. Maybe it was the fighter planes making a lot of noise. Maybe my mind is just preoccupied. I only hear the "elephant and the rider". I have no idea what or who is the elephant or who is the rider. I remember cognitive therapy is a successful and went against the prevailing treatment that follows Freudian school of psychotherapy.
So to write more about this book I check out the book in the website. I realised why it did not register with me. It has a list of 10 ancient wisdom on life. I read all about them. So it did not offer me anything new or different. Just selecting what the author felt are the best ways to achieve happiness.
This book is highly recommended. So it is worth having a copy in your personal library.