No Mall

Today is a rare Sunday that we did not visit the malls. In the morning, we bought food from Malay food Bedok and had brunch. Nasi lemak, beef rendang, lontong and ayam penyet. The food is really good. Nasi lemak at $3 each, beef rendang is $5, ayam penyet is $4.50 plus two packs of crackers. Total cost of the meal for 6 is $23.50. Not bad. Does not include drinks or dishwashing or other overheads.

For lunch, I steamed up Bao (meat buns) and heat up frozen French Fries. Dinner was pizza for B2, pancakes for B1 and msg noodles for B3 and mummy. I had a slice of pizza, biscuits and a hot drink.

We had a good day at home. I cycled at noon and in the evening. B3 played with is scientific toys and B2 did his school work in preparation for GCE. B1 was killing time with his girlfriend. Yes, it is just a lazy Sunday. Rest and re-creation!!

Good Sunday Morning

The birds are chirping and raucous calls in a distant sound like the flock of green noisy parrots that usually come to our neighbourhood for fruits. I am just waiting for my boys to get up and get ready for their tuition and piano lesson.

There is a series on Superparent in Channel News Asia. I did not follow the program conscientously although I do get snatches of the dialogue here and there. There is such a thing as too much for activities for kids. Some parents interviewed put their kids through tuition, piano, swimming, dancing and other classes. The experts in the panel will give their views on what the parents should do to optimise the kids performance.

I am thinking in the city, the close up nature of living together cause all of us to compare with each other and try to outdo each other to be the best we can be. As parents, we want to be better than other parents and want our kids to perform better than other kids or least realise the best performance from his or her capability.

Experiments on laboratory rats showed living in confined spaces and crowded conditions does cause stress and induced a lot of stress related behaviours. As the cities grow into megacities, pace and stress will increase. I hope we find ways of coping and dealing with city living.

I Wonder

Many a times I wonder. I wonder what have I done for the less fortunate. I wonder why I am just an average guy who do average things. I wonder why there are so many opportunities to do good in this world and all I do is work for basic survival and feeding my family. I wonder what will happen if I stop working. Will I work on socially responsible project and help the less fortunate? Will I look for another job and continue life like the past or will I be able to do good to help someone?

I wonder when can I stop working for the sake of working and start to work for fun. I wonder what will happen to work in future. What will the future is like for my boys who will be in the workforce in a few years. I wonder how to bring my boys up so that they can deal with the changes effectively. I wonder if my capability and capacity is limited. I wonder and I wonder.

End of Another Week

It is the end the week and month. I reflected on the activities and business, I think Singapore Government is right. The global economy is slowing down on second of the year. We are experiencing a slowdown and the impact is quite significant. Worrying is a full time job! Thinking, working out a solution is my top priority! I know I write too much about work. However, work is a very important part of my life and I enjoys blogging about it.

The weekend is here and it is family time for the next two days. Hurrah!! I have an early start tomorrow morning. B3 has to go to school at 7am for some extracurricular activity. So B2 has to go to his Maths tuition by himself. B1 is still in camp and only book out tomorrow.

Blazing Heat

The sun is merciless. It is the work and damage mankind did to the earth that cause the mercury to rise. The glare from the strong sunlight cause me to have a headache. I wonder if this trend continues how long will it be before the weaker of our kind get knock off and fall by the wayside. It is a scenario that many science fiction shows have - the sun is so strong that any exposure will cause instant blindess.

Let's hope the dooms day will never arrive.

Mosquitoes

My place is full of mosquitoes. We have a weekly fogging and checks by Pest Control contractor but it is not killing the mosquitoes. I wonder if the heat is causing more mosquitoes to breed. I also wonder if there are breeding grounds in our estates. I cannot sit outside to read as the mosquitoes attacked all the time causing unpleasant itch and angry blotches. The mosquitoes are quite smart too. They seems to know I am ready to whack them and stop biting once they noticed I am watching and waiting for them to enjoy their feast before I slapped them into oblivion. It is the satisfaction of making sure they do not repeat their acts of spreading itch and potential disease such as west nile or dengue. However, I will suffer itch for a few days as it is important to make sure they are drinking blood which will slow down their reaction. Otherwise, they usually escape.

Diary

I have a notebook which I use to write randomly to pass time when I am out in drinking tea. I noticed I have not update this book for almost a year now. When I review my past entries, it is really interesting as many of the incidents are completely forgotten. Small details like what my boys say or did. This is a really good memory tickler. I must be more conscientous in keeping this diary alive. It is help me recall all my fond memories in future.

Dental Treatment So Expensive

My regular dentist had a tiff with the head of dentistry in NUH. So he left and he is now working part-time two days a week in Paragon. He now charges $1200 for a crown instead of $500 in NUH. Root canal cost more than $1000 now that I recall as I have paid three times. It used to cost $500 in NUH as well.

His fees have gone up by two and half to three times just practising in a private dental clinic. I am with him for so long. I am most comfortable with him as he is very detailed and have very good troubleshooting skills.

Taking care of teeth is very important. I need to look for an alternate dentist for simple work.

Finished!

I finished the book Surely, You're Joking! Mr. Feynman! It is really fun reading this book. Full of humour and anecdotes. Feynman has lots of lectures notes and audio books on his lectures. I will go to our wonderful library and borrow the Feynman's Lectures. It contains at least 12 disks.

I read the book in 3 or 4 days which is great. It is onwards and forward. I will go on to my next book.

Real Italian Wood Fired Oven

B1 saw military sunglassess at a good price during games day on Friday. He told me that the same sunglasses would sell for more than $500 would be at $143. I thought it is a good deal and asked him to find the shop. We went to Selegie Road to look for the shop that sells military sunglasses. The sunglasses does not fit B1 as it is not designed for Asian faces. So we pass. Along the way to the carpark was old shops. I saw this pizza place that looked interesting and venture to try. My boys were shocked by the price. $25 a pizza. I thought we should try and find out why it is so expensive. We tried the lassagne which is the current special(not in price!). For $25, the serving was very small and a pizza. The pizza was excellent and I ordered another pizza. I thought the pizza is quite high standard like The Chalk. Taste is different.

So we tried their dessert Tiramisu and Cheesecake. Tiramisu was very good but cheese cake is not worth the $9.90 price. For a coffeeshop style resturant, two pizzas, one lasagna and two dessert with no drinks come with a price tag of $120. Fairly pricey but good food.

Building at Frantic Pace

HDB is building like crazy around my estate. I moved here to get out of city life and enjoy suburban and less crowded condition. The neighbourhood has grown and is still growing. There are a lot more cars, people and flats. Every empty fields that were used previous for soccer on the weekends, flying kites or model airplanes now has blocks of flats or is undergoing construction. All the open fields are gone and the quality of life in SengKang is going down. It is only man-made sport or activities like gym, swimming, badminton or other indoor sports. What a pity. No more kite flying, no more frisbee competition, or soccer. It is really sad. Now, we will not get kites with flashing LEDs that looks like UFOs flying at night.

Singapore is getting too crowded and buildup. We are worshipping the almighty dollar. Economic growth over everything else.

Surely, You're Joking Mr. Freynman!

It is an interesting collections of short stories of a Nobel laureate physicist. I was browsing the bookstore and found myself sitting on the floor delving deeply into the book. It is full of humour and talk a lot about something I identify extremely well - experiments! Mr. Freynman did plenty of scientific experiment since he was young.

The big difference is his IQ is off the scale mine is just at above average. I have to struggle with calculus and he works them out in his mind. Both of us enjoying learning many different subjects.

The books by Freynman was recommended by OCBC CEO, Mr. Connor in an interview by Straits Times.

Insufficient Sleep cause Headaches!

I was suffering from headache since I woke up this morning. I took a total of 4 painkillers and it did not get rid of the headaches. When I landed and going through the immigration, I took one candy as sugar did help in relieving headaches and told the officer that I am taking it for headache. She says it is lack of sleep.

B1 has been complaining of pressure behind his eyeballs and it hurts if he jumps. I thought it may be something serious and asked him to report sick - military term for seeing the medical officer. Now I realise he may be just suffering from lack of sleep. Because beside having headaches, my right eyeball has a lot of pressure and was very uncomfortable during the flight.

I learn something from the immigration girl today.

Long Day

It is long and tiring two days. I am so tired that I almost fell asleep during dinner. I am glad to be back in the room and now packing up to get ready to leave early morning tomorrow. Good thing is summer time. So the sun will be up by the time I check out at 6 in the morning. Usually it is dark and cold.

I am happy to accomplish my objectives. At the end of the day, a lot of business still have to be conducted in the old fashion way - face-to-face meetings.

Worrying Feeling

I was browsing books as usual when I feel funny in my chest. I have this kind of feeling before and it is something that I know something is wrong. The last time this feeling happens, I had a pnemothorax. I refused to admit or go for checkup and live with one lung for more than a year. Then I have to go for x-ray for as part of the admission procedure to Singapore Poly. Before going for the x-ray, I know I may have to go to hospital for the bad feeling I had in my chest. After waiting for a few days to get my x-rays, this is in the good old days where x-rays takes a few days to develop rather than today instanteous on the computer or 10 mins on film, I was required to see the radiologist. My heart sank knowing whatever I had, it has shown up. True enough, the radiologist told me I had a severe case of pnemothorax and need to go to hospital immediately. I told him I had no symptoms and life is normal for me, so I was reluctant to go. He told me if I do not treat it, my lung may get infected and then there is no choice but to remove which is a worse procedure than punching a hole and sucking out the air. He wrote a letter and I took leave from school to have my lung reinflated or rather the air in my pleural cavity removed.

Now, the bad feeling is the heart. I think something may be wrong. I have bad diet - love all the oily cholesterol clogging food that will plug my coronary arteries. I have been exercising regularly but it does not prevent my arteries from narrowing or hardening.

Hold it! Whoa! I just blurb so it may be just air trapped in my stomach. Oh, darn it!! Am I just too paranoid? Maybe it is just a case off too much gas from the Vietnamese noodles I ate for dinner. What will be will, sigh....

Seoul Hot and Humid

This is the first time I come to Seoul in summer. It is incredibly hot and humid. It is nice to come in warm weather. Aclimatized to Singapore's weather, going to a cold place on a plane on short notice is stressful to the body. So I do not mind the heat and humidity as it is like home. Summer also mean lots of green on the ride from Incheon to hotel. I like the bright and sunny ride. Traffic is still bad in the city.

The first place I visit after I checking in is the Kuan Yin temple opposite the hotel to pray. It is good to pray.

Slime Laboratory

New hot product from Toy R Us that attracted B3's attention. It is a box of chemical with instructions on how to make various types of slime products. It costs $29.95. After we returned home, B3 spends more than 2 hours happily mixing and dyeing the chemicals and adding the hot water to turn powder into slimy gel-like tadpoles, leeches, fake fish eggs, worms, bouncing poo and other disgusting stuff. He also made jelly amber. He had a wonderful time.

A Time for Rest and Exercise

Weekend is a time for rest and recreation. For school kids, it is a time for tuition. So after my boys' tuitions, we had a long lunch at Hua Ting. After lunch, we head home for nap while B1 continues to watch the latest Harry Potter movie with his girlfriend's family.

After nap, it is time for B2 to go for tuition and then B3 and I cycle in the PCN. We bought satay and bbq chicken for dinner. We also eat the leftover from yesterday. After dinner, it is another ride to the PCN with B2 and B3.

So it is tuition, meal, sleep, tuition, exercise, meal, exercise. Writing is also a form for relaxation for me with Channel News Asia keeping me company.

Life in Singapore is a little boring. No upcountry to explore or farms to visit. No season such that we can look forward to skating and skiing or summer bbq. Everything including services are bought rather than doing-it-yourself.

Weekend is good time to recreate after all the work stress.

Traffic Jam in CTE to SLE

We have to go to Jurong to pick B1 up as he is allowed to book out. The traffic on CTE is horrendous. My wife is right. Malaysians are all going home on Friday night. I will need to use the PIE in future. For non-Singaporeans, the highways in Singapore are given 3 letters short-form. CTE is Central Expressway, PIE is Pan-Island Expressway. BKE is Bukit Timah Expressway, KJE is Kanji Expressway, TPE is Tampines Expressway and ECP is East Coast Parkway. A couple more but it is getting late and I am tired.

We divert through Yishun and used Mandai Road instead. Once we get onto Mandai Road, the going is much better. We managed to reach Jurong and B1 did not have to wait for too long. The journey takes more than an hour and half. B1 had a fellow trainee who lives in Sengkang to take a ride with us.

Effective NParks Staff

I was cycling on the Punggol PCN or park connector network as usual when I saw a fellow cyclist trying to fix a support pole for a tree. I can see that she is struggling as it is impossible to drive the pole in. So I stopped to help out. She says it is ok she will get the contractor to fix it. She says she works for NParks. I was a little surprised. She is in full cycling gear - helmet, cycling pants, even sleeves to protect her arms from the sun. Whoa! What a great job she has. Cycling for work and with it a host of benefits - keeping healthily fit, enjoying great outdoor, breathing fresh air and encountering wildlife.

She was on her way to a meeting in Punggol Marina and I am in the same direction. So we cycle together and I showed her where I sighted a metre and half black cobra and other juvenile snakes and also let her know where the lights are not turned on. Before we part company, she asked for my email to send me the newsletter. I was surprised the email arrived in the evening. She has kept her words! (I still have a healthy skepticism towards government employees). She also informed me that the lights will be fixed by the next day i.e. yesterday. I cycle on the PCN tonight and all the lights are back on.

NParks is committed to excellence and making things happen. Kudos to Trina.

Gluttony!

My Japanese colleague once remark that I am very decisive when it come to business but when it come to meals, I have to walk around all the resturants and survey and survey and still can't decide.

This morning I have a meeting with a customer. In the lift on the way up to the office on top floor, one man was asking his colleague, where should we go for lunch? It is just the start of the day and he has not even step in the office and he is already thinking of lunch! This behaviour I can identify. Lunch is always heavy duty decision for me. I have to work through several options and different scenarios before I decide what and where to eat.

I decided to go to Kallang Food Center for lunch today. I used to lunch there when I was working in Kallang Pudding Road. The braised duck is excellent. The stall is plastered with all the food reviews and Channel U Highly Recommended signs. After polishing off the duck, we bought "soon kueh" and "ang ku kueh" takeaway. The kueh kueh is good. So I bought 4 different sets. Even though I am full, I must try all the kueh kueh the moment we reached home. Guess what, my weight is up my more than a kg. I am a consummate eater and enjoying sampling all the great tasting food.

Although I exercise a lot, the amount of calories into my body is more than my output. Hence weight creep. I am a glutton. Living to eat.

Watching the TV Series Again

I just watch the Pillars of the Earth just to run through those I have skipped and also scenes that I like to watch again. It is good story telling. It is engaging and interesting story of building a cathedral. The trouble is not conversant in the British Church and aristocracy, I am not sure the different ranking of Earl, Prior, Bishop, Confessor and other titles that is in the story.

Scenario Planning

I am reading The Art of the Long View I bought 4 years ago. I read a couple of chapters and stop. Now I am continuing with the book and I find lots to learn from Peter Schwartz.

I like this part that I will reproduce vebatim.

"Articulating the decision should also focus on events where you have no control. "What if I choose to quit my job?" is not an appropriate question for a scenario. You can change the scenario simply by changing your decision. You cold ask, instead, "What events would plausibly happen that might influence me to quit?" Or, "Under what circumstances might I lose my job?""

It is important to ask the right questions. I realised I have not been asking the right questions on future of my business and my work. I will be spending time to reflect, think and mull over how to achieve the impossible goal now my company expects.

Pillars of the Earth

The best seller by Ken Follet is now a TV series available in DVD set. I first know this book when I believe Chua Mui Hoong, a columnist in Straits Times did an article on the books she enjoyed reading. I remembers her saying she enjoys curling up her toes as she read this book. I bought the book sometimes back during a Times 20% discount but have not crack open the spine. I thought I read the audio version of this book. I made a mistake. As I think through and recall the characters in the book, I realised the book I heard is the sequel World Without End which is set in the same town, Kingbridge and the characters were the decendents of characters from Pillars of the Earth. The two story has a lot of similarity. So it was easy to be mistaken.

I research in the internet to make sure I have the facts when I write. Now I know World Without End has a mini-series. I am looking forward to watch in video.

Family Lunch

11:45am, Wee Nam Kee Chicken Rice Resturant, the hungry crowd was gathering strength. We booked a table for 11 last Monday. So we are assured of a table. My eldest niece called and asked where Chek Chek is and I told her we are already in the resturant. My eldest sister and my youngest sister together with her husband were there as well. We have plenty of good food and conversation. Dynamic is a little different with my sisters in. My baby sister has lots of questions for B1 and plenty of things to share. She does dominate the table. Only N1 and N2 or niece 1 and niece 2 came. Both are fairly quiet.

The food is good and we had good time. We also learn from my baby sister a fizzy vitamin C tablet called Berocca which is good for defending again sickness. We went to the pharmacy to get it right away. It actually tasted quite good. So I am impressed. Only issue is it is a little costly.
Like my baby sister's argument, seeing a doctor will cost $45 at least.

Will

I spoke to my mother now living in Canada to ask her to convince my brother to do a Will. His condition is not good and it is best he made his wishes known in case anything happen. Discussing death and dying is a sensitive topic. My sisters and mother are very conservative and superstitious. They are avoid this topic and it is hard work for me. I have no idea why people are afraid of facing their mortality and do not make plans so that their wishes can be carried out rather than have the survivors fighting or criticising the way things are handled or feeling the outcome is unfair.

My mother also feel she need to do her own will as well. So this is a good start. I do not know if my brother will draw up his will. Although he does not have much to his name, I feel it is important he make it clear what are his wishes.

Block Leave Coming to an End

Thursday! Tomorrow will be the last day of B1's block leave. It was good to have dinner together as a complete family for the last few nights. Once he go back to camp, then we will be missing one again. He should be back for the weekends unless he has duties.

It take getting used to because after army it will be university and if it is oversea, he will be out for 3 to 4 years. If he decides to work in another country, we will really missed him. By then B2 will be going to University and we have only B3. Luckily, we have a big gap between B2 and B3. So we will have at least a boy for 8 more years.

Empty nest, that is the next stage of our life.

Body Found in Forest

We do not really have forest in Singapore. We do have patches of green and they have thick undergrowth that allows dead body to be disposed and not to be found. Skeletal remains found near Tanah Merah MRT station. It is in the news about bad smell was detected but no one suspect it to be decomposing human corpse.

Reading this news, I have concerns about the bad smells along the PCN near to the end toward Punggol Marina. I decide to call the emergency line, 999 to report my concerns. AMK Central Police Station called me right away to verify. Then SengKang Police Station and tell me they will informed PUB even though I informed the officer that it did not come from the water. PUB called me in the late afternoon and ask me about the location. I cycled to Anchorvale Sport Complex to meet the officer who arrived by boat. I took the ride with them and brought them to the location. After cycling along the way, I managed to detect the exact spot which is Lamp 167 and Lamp 168. I brought the officers there and they could smell but they think it is a rat. I told them it is not possible to be a rat. I know the smell of dead rats. Then they tell me it is a small mammal common in the nature reserve. They will fill out their report and send it to NParks for the investigation as the area is outside their jurisdiction.

Dinner Conversation

We had a wonderful dinner. The food is fried flat wheat noodle. It was not cooked properly and therefore a stuck together in clumps. So if the food is not good why it is wonderful. It is the conversation we have with our B1 and B2. They are comparing our lives in Canada vs here in Singapore. My boys and I have fond memories of living in Canada. We thought life there is not bad as we are in the middle class like many other Canadian.

However, my wife did not enjoy the life in Canada as she is not the one who decide to immigrate to live there. The high income tax and consumption tax is what she keep focusing on. She keep insisting life in Singapore is much better. However, my boys felt that they have more toys than their friends and therefore life in Canada was not bad either. Actually, we are living similar lifestyle relatively speaking in Singapore as in Canada if we compare within each country. However, if we look at spending power that is disposable income, Singapore is superior with far lower taxes and a lot more variety in food and choices.

We had a healthy debate and my boys had lots of questions and sharing their perpectives as well. I am in agreement with them. Mummy was upset that her version was not received well even though we are in violent agreement. She is right but insisted only her version prevails. However, we feel we are not doing too badly when we are living in Canada.

I love the conversation with B1 and B2. They are growing up and we have intellectual and philosophical discussion on life. This is why tonight's dinner is wonderful.

Passing Out Parade

It is the first time I go into the Floating Platform of the Marina Bay. I have not gone to any National Day Parade. This morning is different. My boy is passing out from his Basic Miltary Training. All the trainees have to do a 20 km road march the night before with FBO or Full Battle Order. This mean rifle and the back pack with all the essential gears. It is heavy, very heavy. All our poor sons have to do this arduous walk just before they pass out. So much about 3G army and thinking soldiers. The march is more than 20 kms exhausting all the boys so that they cannot think anymore except to obey orders.

After the BMT roars which is funny and impressive, it is the National Anthem and they are dismissed. The whole place is smells of sweat and strong body odours. The boys are sweating like a pig and no chance to clean up or shower.

B2 was there to support his brother. He had a hard time waking up. After we returned home for lunch, he slept through the afternoon until dinner time. B3 changed his mind about going when he has difficulty waking up.

After a nice Japanese lunch at Itacho Sushi Resturant, B1 meet up with his bunk mates just to bond together outside the camp. The food in Itacho Sushi is quite high standard. It is more pricey than Sakae or Sushi Tei. All three boys enjoyed the meal. B1 was worried that it is too expensive and I told him not to worry. I explained to my boys as my siblings are diagnosed with medical problems, I want to enjoy my life before I "go". It is shocking to have two sisters with cancer, thankfully both are still alive and well. And now my brother with serious heart condition.

I am exercising regularly but still do not control my diet. I ate unhealthy food like deep fried fritters, pork lard in noodles, bak kut teh, braised internal organs, bacon, roasted pork belly and all kinds of artery clogging food including plenty of rich desserts.

So I may be the next candidate to go to hospital. Sigh! I need to face up and change my diet. Otherwise, I will be staring into death.

My Brother and His Daughters

It is gratifying to see my three nieces visiting their father in NUH CCU. The girls are grown and are mature and understanding. My brother requested for discharge from the hospital as he has to wait for a week for MRI to check if his heart muscles are damaged. If they are "sleeping" and can be revive, the prognosis will be better and he may be recommended to go for open heart to replace his valve and have double or triple bypass. Otherwise, he will just go on medication to keep him alive for as long as possible.

We had lunch with the three girls in Nonya resturant in Keppel Club. The meal is leisurely and we have a chance to have good conversation with them. I am very happy just to build relationship with my nieces.

Good End to the Month

We made another sales record in Jun. Thanks to the team and our business partners we have good customers who trust and buy from us. We are lucky indeed. The sad news is we lost a large unprofitable account but gain a smaller share of business with another more profitable product. I am keeping my fingers crossed for the next few months.

Still it is important to celebrate and enjoy our success for now and stopped worrying for the weekend.

On family front, my brother is in NUH for heart problem. His valves are leaky and there are two coronary arteries blocked and one narrowed. So he will need medical intervention and I hope he make the right decision.