Longest Queue for Beancurd

Yes, it is right! It is the longest queue I have ever seen for the humble tow huay or soya bean curd jelly. The lunch time crowd has only an hour for lunch and they are willing to queue for half an hour for a bowl of bean curd. It is in Maxwell Hawker Centre right beside URA. I was pretty amazed by the sight. A bowl of bean curd cost $1.50. In the market, it usually cost $0.70. Mr. Bean or Jolly Bean sells them for $1.50 but their location are in the shopping malls which cost more in rent.

I am intrigued and will go back to try out this amazing beancurd.

Mistake!

I made a mistake! The haze is not from forest burning. It is from Shell refinery. The amount of particulate is so high that the rainwater we collect in the morning is grey. I wonder about our reservoir. We are collecting and drinking water polluted by the fire. The report says air quality is not affected on the mainland which is Singapore Island. Visually, the rain water is obviously contaminated. Are the particulate harmful? At least, we know they are not radioactive but can it be carcinogenic? What will be the long term effects?

I guess we will only know in future.

Haze

The acrid smell of the burning was strong when I step out of the bedroom. I quickly look out the sky is hazy. It us unusual to have haze at the start of our rainy season. I have a "heavy" head last night. Although I am sleeping, I feel pain in my head. I work up with a headache. I know I did not have restful sleep with a headache throughout the night.

With more violent storms and extreme weather conditions, the effect on our physical condition will become more pronounced and ailments like asthma and headaches will rise.

Supply and Demand

Economics is about demand and supply. Price is a function of supply and demand. As I listened to the stories in Basic Economics by Thomas Sowell. It is so much commonsense. If the demand go up, price will go up until supply meet demand and then it will stablise. If supply exceeds demand price will go down. Companies are subject to the demand and supply. If changes in the environment are not met, companies will lose business and profits.

I feel I am listening to a business book. The illustrations and examples however is like driving with a rear view mirror. It still take an entreprenuer to come up with a new system, product or service to grow a new business and dominate. Will I ever be an entreprenuer? Only time can tell...

Character Building in School

I really hope the new Minster of Education can shift the obsession on grades and homework to more nebulous and hard to measure character building and values. Even Lee Wei Ling, daughter of our esteemed Former Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew also wrote about it last Sunday.

There is even a new upcoming book that show results of research on excessive homework actually reduces academic performance. This research is done in the Western countries. Singapore with high homework load has consistently rank at the top globally for Maths and Science score. It defies the research results!

Instead of one track or one size fits all, we will have diversity and success defined differently from straight As. Success in life is about family, helping others and living a good life. Material comforts are good and enjoyable but we should also have kind spirit and peaceful disposition.

The Client

It is quite an interesting story. Lawyers in America, mercenary and alturistic. Some are all for money and others all for justice and helping out poor kids. It is the battle between good and evil. The American legal system strengths and flaws.

The boy who try to help a lawyer to prevent him from committing suicide by pulling out the hose from the car exhaust. He was caught by the lawyer and then the lawyer tries to make sure they both dies together. The lawyer reveals the reason why he is committing suicide. The boy managed to escape and the lawyer blow his brains out.

Now the mob, FBI all wants this boy to find out what he knows. An elderly female lawyer helps him out. They go through a series of adventures. In the end, the boy get his family into a witness protection program and FBI got the evidence they need to convict a well known mob head.

It is a good ending. And I like it!

Do Not Believe in Australian Psychic

The Australian psychio who has the gall to post his lecture on Sep 25, 2011 the earth will experience an earthquake of 12 to 15 on the Richter scale. It looks like a calm and peaceful Sunday. A real beautiful day indeed.

Australian psychics have a real credibility issues. The guy make a pronouncement that make a mockery out of the whole profession if you could classify psychic as a profession.

Beautiful Sunday Morning

Sunday, the day of rest for God. It is also family day for us. B1 is home, so we have family meal. Tuition still dominates the day but we can relax and do whatever we want which mean shopping, window shopping...ahhhh...this reminds me...

My French neighbour says Singaporeans are obsessed with shopping. When we go for trips to other countries, we are always checking out the shopping strips, outlet malls and deals. He says shopping is not so important to French when we were discussing him about the country we are planning to go. They enjoyed the place,the history, the culture... Yes! it is a nice place and but no shopping for him when my wife asked "Is it a nice place and how's the shopping over there?".

Anyway, I am enjoying the birds singing as I write. There are so many different types of birds in my estate now. NParks is doing a fantastic job of attracting birds and developing an ecosystem that works and changing Singapore from the garden in the city to the city in a garden.

No Outing

We stop our regular mall crawling pastime as we supporting our B2 for his "O" revision. We are in an exam-mad society and as parents, we are doing everything we can to make sure he can perform to the best of his ability.

We only go out for dinner and grocery shopped while he was having his tuition. I hope he does well. He has been working hard recently and improve his performance in school. It is just a neighbourhood school. The key is he is improving and we are happy he is progressing.

Rewards of Rising Up Early

1. It is very quiet and peaceful
2. The sounds of water fountains is very soothing
3. The sky is dark and the stars can be seen easily
4. There is nice stillness with everyone asleep
5. Best time for contemplation and meditation
6. The air is cool and smells sweet

I am thinking...

The new Minister of Education is going to focus more on character building and development. Homework will be reduce so that the student will not be burdened by too much workload and stress. I hope the Minister of Education can implement and executed the vision he proposed. I believe sole emphasis on academic achievements may not be enough to sustain our progress as a nation. We need to build capable leaders of tomorrow and a society that is kind, caring and tolerant.

Medical Checkup

I have my medical checkup at Tan Tock Seng today. Blood test, urine sample, eye check and x-ray. I also do a exercise stress test. I lasted on 10 and a half mins on the treadmill. I go past my maximum heart rate for maybe 10 secs. It is the longest 10 secs. The speed was fast and at a gradient. It takes me about two mins for my recovery and fully recovers in about 5 min.

Overall, I should be okay unless the lab tests results are not good. I have been exercising and keeping myself fit.

Stressed!

I have shut my computer down and getting ready to go to bed. Playing with my tablet, I realised I have not updated this blog today. I realised a couple of times I did not update this blog when I am stressed. So when I am stressed, I will brood and brood. I will not sleep well. The stress of modern living bring forth heart diseases and cancers. Managing stress is something we all need to learn.

I shall stop here. Sigh....

The Client

John Grimshaw is a young lawyer who gave up a career in law to write. He has written a number of bestsellers including The Firm which was turned into a movie starring Tom Cruise. I am listening to this story and John Grimshaw's style is different from say Robert Ludlum. Nevertheless, the lawyer stories are interesting. I am still at the first disk. It is about a young boy who witness a suicide of a lawyer who has mob connecton. FBI is now looking for him and trying to interview him....

The Clock Runs Out Sep 25, 2011

I was playing with the Samsung tablet and wondering what to do. I thought I will check out Youtube to watch short vignettes. So I type in 2012 and a number of videos pop out. One is titled as above by Australia psychic researcher. He claims he found the connection between the recent earthquakes and astronomical alignment. According to this guy, the earth will have a massive earthquake on Sep 25, 2011 with a magnitude of 12 to 15.

We are getting plenty of doomsday predictions nowadays. One day, it may become true. Until then, I expect to continue to update my blog come Sunday, 25th Sep.

Change is Disruptive

We switch our internet service provider or ISP from M1 to Singnet and not all the computers work with the new internet system. Then the internet seems unstable. It may be the MIO TV. Every time we change internet, it is very disruptive. It takes a while for us to get all our different computer systems tune up to work.

Plug and Play is still a pipe dream...

Dramatic Improvement

My brother is now is a regular ward. The change is quite dramatic from being unconscious in CTSICU on Thursday evening to now able to complain about pain. He made remarkable recovery. His condition is still unstable. His potassium is low and is put on drip when I was there. The Central Venous Cava catheter is still in place. So setting up the drip is easy and fast. His drainage is quite full but does not need suction anymore. So his internal bleeding has slow considerably.

He can also ambulate or walk although there is still risk of falling. He is not so steady but I can see huge improvement in his condition. I hope he will take care of himself on his diet. He does not like the bland food in the hospital not realising all the flavourings are poisoning his cardiovascular system.

I hope he will live well for a long time.

Japanese Resturants

I woke up early this morning. My right eyeball is irritated and the pressure is quite high. I have no idea why. It may be an allergic reaction. I am nursing a nagging headache for the whole day.

I was just search for toy train store and I chance into Orchard Toy Store which used to be in Centrepoint. I thought it was closed permanently. Actually, it is now in Hotel Grand Central two buildings away. The whole back alley of Orchard Road looks a little dingy. The store is now a lot smaller, the proprietor is still there. Unfortunately, he no longer stock steam engines.

B1 and B3 was with me. As we walk back to Centerpoint, B1 was distracted by Kushiyaki resturant in Cuppage Plaza. We have lunch there. The food is authenticd Japanese. Price is very reasonable too. We need to explore other Japanese resturants in abundance there. My wife felt the place there is a little dodgy. Beside the resturants were massage parlor and night clubs.

Kampung Style

This is the place for great nasi lemak - kampung style. Price is higher than regular hawker center but tastes quite good.
The nsmen in Bedok camp are back for their reservist training. The big complaint I have about this place is hygiene factor. Houseflies buzzing away landing on your legs and arms as well as your food and drinks.
The cleaning team and garbage disposal are below par.

Out of ICU!

It is fast nowadays. My brother has only two syringe pumps on instead of six when his out of OT(operating theatre). One is morphine which is a painkiller. The other is labelled GTN which I do not know what it for. The ventilator is out as well. He is conscious but drowsy. He is transferred to high dependency ward for today and will go to regular ward tomorrow. The wonder of technology and technique. Recovery from open heart used to be two weeks in ICU thirty years ago. Then down to one week and today it is only one or two days stay in ICU. The significant reduction is due to the extensive the use of single use disposable product, better drainage and closure of wounds, sutures, new drugs, etc, etc. The cost has also gone up. It used to cost about $10K. Today, the cost is about $20K unsubsidized rate.

I am very glad my brother is recovering well. He still has enhanced oxygen intake through breathing tube. His oxygen saturation has dropped to 98% which is still good. I hope it does not drop further when he is breathing on his own without additional oxygen.

Breeks!

Takashimaya does not have a reasonable priced resturant. Even the food court is pricey. I decided to lunch at Breeks to have quiet time as the resturant is not busy relative to others. It also has wifi. A good place to surf and drink and eat. I took some pictures as well. This blog will be splice up with more pictures wherever my tablet is with me.

Open Heart Operation Over

My brother has a quadruple bypass and valve repair. His operation is over and in CTSICU in Singapore General Hospital. He is sedated as he is still on ventilator. His heart rate is stablising at 99 bpm. His blood pressure is at 120/64 which is excellent. Oxygen saturation is now at 100% which is a huge improvement compared to pre-open-heart surgery of about 90%. Central Venous Pressure is between negative 14 to negative 20mmHg. I would say his surgery is successful. However, he is a high risk patient. He has history of stroke and therefore the next 24 hours is quite crucial for him, the doctor advise us. We will know when he regain conciousness.

I have been praying for him the surgery to go smoothly. He is on the table longer than usual as he two major ops in one session. He is lucky the head of dept, Kenny Sin operated on him.

For now, we can only wait and see and pray for the best outcome.

Samsung Tablet

Recently, we acquired this new gadget. I woke up early this morning and the newspaper has not arrived yet. So I took the tablet along for reading. It is so easy to take a picture and post direct to the blog like below. A typical Indian coffeeshop where I drink my teh halia and read newspapers as well as tablet. Technology is changing my reading habits and also allows me to capture where I am and post it to my diary.

Morning Teh Halia

Dec 21, 2012

This date is well known that even my 10 year boy, aka B3 use it when he does not want to study. "What is the point of studying when the world is coming to an end in 2012?" he would chime as a reason not to study.

I caught myself thinking this way when I have intractable issue. The question that come immediately after is "What happen if the world did not come to an end in 2012?". This escapist thought process like yin and yang has a balancing counter thought. It will be nice if we can really foretell the future. Then we need not work so hard if we know the end is near and enjoy ourselves to the fullest.

Man is exploiting and damaging Mother Earth. The standard of living going up mean we are using up more resources. The economy growth is also dependent on using up more resources. We should shift to a different paradigm where money and creating wealth is the primary objective of living.

Lost Swamp

I missed the swamp and the tides. I am referring to Punggol reservoir. Now that it is a freshwater reservoir, the mangroves trees are dying. The crabs are gone and so are the clams and other brackish water fishes or sea fishes. I like to see the water level sometimes high and sometimes low. When it is low, the muddy banks are fully of life scuttling all over(baby crabs). If it is raining, mud skippers will be all over the muddy bank. Plenty of fish fry all the shallow water. It was easy to catch them to feed my goldfishes. Now there are not so many frys at the bank anymore.

I love the sea life that used to come in. Once there were a lot of jellyfish and another time a sea cucumber was trapped in a small rock pool. Now it is just fresh water and after the rain, it is brown with mud and lots of debris, twigs and dead leaves.

My boys no longer have the chance to get nature at its natural best. It is only man-made floating platform and a large mangosteen rest stop.

The Crystal Skull

I am half way through this novel. The story has a mix of history, myths and ancient legend. The blue crystal skull bring energy, special capabilities and death to the owner. There are supposed to be 13 crystal skulls and all will come together near the end of the world. I wonder if Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull has some of the storyline from this book.

Mio TV

Our new internet comes with Mio TV. We are having a hard time as the settings of our computers has to be changed and also the internet does not seem to be stable and needs to be reset a few times since it is installed at lunch time.

The VOD or video on demand looks interesting. Hopefully, there are documentaries and business video, my favorite subjects.

Not Feeling Well

B1 is not feeling well in camp. He has cold sweat and feeling feverish. We rushed to the camp to send him some medication. Mummy pack up everything and wrote down the instructions. She is a wonderful nurse. He gets the cough syrup, tyernols, flumosil for phlegm and this will allow him to rest and sleep better tonight. He is very appreciative of daddy and mummy rushing over to give him the medications. The ride is 45 mins one way to a place on army boys will go.

We are at least glad he have the medicine to make him feel better. He is very glad his daddy and mummy took the time to go and see him and bring something to help him. Yes, this is love.

Long, Dark and Winding Road

Sending B1 to his camp is a scary experience tonight. I followed the GoogleMap's route recommendation. The road was incredibly long and dark. I can hardly see it. It is two way one lane each and when there is a car coming from the opposite direction, I am not sure if it is coming towards our car on the same lane. It's been a long time since I drove in this kind of road. It is quite common in Canada as all the highways outside the build-up areas are not lit up. After driving well-lit streets and highways, it bring back memories of long trip in Canada in winter. However, the highways in Canada are wide and there is always a separator barrier for the traffic in opposite direction.

So after dropping B1 off, we decided to go by Lim Chu Kang Road leading to Jalan Bahar and then to PIE. This is way better with the road brightly lit. I have forgotten my own army experience. It was not scary after getting used to it. But a sudden change, it is the fear of darkness, accident and the unknown.

Batman

I have been watching all the Batman movies in the last two days. Batman Begins, Batman, Batman and Robin and Batman Forever. It is interesting just to watch the whole series in one go. Micheal Keaton acted in a couple of the shows and Val Kilmer and Christoper Bale in the other two.

Apparently, Batman's father keeps a journal in which he writes everyday. A blog is like a journal except it is public. Many English teachers recommend keeping a journal or diary to improve writing and articulating thoughts in written form. I keeping my blog updated daily as far as I can. I do slip once in a while or unable to do so when I am in China. Otherwise, it is a habit I keep up with. It can be boring but when I review my old entries, it does bring back lots of memories.

Old-Style Kopitiam

Sometimes we run out of ideas of where to go for meals. Luckily, every week Sunday Times will come up with a list of recommendation. I would tear out those that looked interesting to explore. One was on the old-style kopitiam. For lunch we try out the Warong at 738 North Bridge Road. I thought it will be ok since we are going to be there early. This is a place I know! I came here several times in the past. Long long past. I guess the good old kopitiam is a classic. The place was busy. There are still seats and we ordered mutton rendang, curry chicken, fried eggs, fried hard boiled eggs, deep fried fish fillet, fried potato cutlet and pickles.

The food was good and excellent value at $28.40 with 4 drinks. My wife loved the curry chicken which is their signature dish. B3 like the rendang and B1, B2, and I just finished up everything. Mmmm, yummy, yummy yum yum!

After lunch, we took a walk around Kampung Glam. We have missed a huge selection of resturants which we should try by coming here more often. Before we go, we bought swiss rolls from the cake shop. This rolls cost $6 to $7, rather expensive and taste not bad. It just bad for weight and heart.

B1 is Happy

B1 has finished his first stage of NCO training. He is in Part 2 of the training and he is happy when he heard those who stayed behind in the Infantry is doing lots of exercise and will be going for road marches, long long road marches of 32 km. Road march takes incredible toll on the boys. They have to carry haversack weighed down by all the equipment and supplies plus their rifle and helmet. Marching all night to next morning. They will return home full of abrasions and blisters, muscles crying out for rest and sore from overuse.

B1 is in a mobile unit and his training is different. Not so physical. Hence he is happy. I am glad my boy is happy too. There are risks in his unit as well. He has already heard stories of several deaths during training. I pray that he will be safe for his NS duty.

Collectable Erasers and others

B3, the baby of the family is onto the latest fad - erasers! The erasers are little replicas of everyday objects like shoes, violin, cosmetic box, hair brush, model cars and others. He is quite intrigued and was keen on collecting all the "rare" models. The toy makers are really good at creating collection and making some rare so that the kids are hooked and keeps buying the packages. They also price it at $3 to $4 each which is very affordable to young kids who get daily allowance for school.

There is also another collectable series which is figurines formed out of "bones" It is cheap plastic and have different series with "rare" metal models. Kids seem to love them.

Technosaur

I am using the tablet and find that it is not so interesting. It is easy to read maps and browse the news. There are plenty of interesting software. Free books but I still have no idea how to download them. Actually, I am not comfortable to let them access my account. Plenty of freewares to choose. It is quite interesting to explore so many programs outside Apple's control.

While it is fun to explore, I really am not so excited as the number of programs available is overwhelming. The tablet can do video conferencing. It is like going into th future. It is also neat to travel with a tablet that even the hawkers can recognised. It is a conversation piece indeed. Only issue is I am really a technosaur and need my boys to figure out how to use the tablet effectively.

Samsung Galaxy

Finally, finally, we decided to get a tablet. My boys are excited and playing with it. We have a "free" mobile internet plan, so it is our latest toy. So now it is no longer free as we have to spend capital cost to acquire a gadget that could work with the mobile internet.

I am not a gadgeteer. However, I am looking forward to use the tablet whenever I am out for tea or teh halia to entertain myself. This tablet is the latest Galaxy 10.1 It is supposed to be superior to iPad 2.

I am an Apple fan actually but decided to try Android to open up a different window(pun intended) to the latest technology. Also there are more freeware in Android whereas Apple charges for most App although there are many free but they have limited functionality.

Fighting Weight Gain

My weight is creeping up relentlessly. Every year I gain a kg. My objective to reduce weight is like New Year's Resolution - make to be broken. I have only one diet plan - enjoy food and hi-cal drinks. I started a oat breakfast two weeks ago and stick to the plan religiously. So far, the outcome is my weight still stayed high and worse of all still rising.

I may need new strategy. An easy way out is liposuction since all the exercising I have done did not do the trick. At the end of the day, I must just simply eat less. Easy to say but impossible to do. I have a bad lifestyle! High stress job and eat to relieve stress. I am a prime candidate for high blood pressure and heart attack.

Quality Family Time

B1 is home for the weekend. We are a full family again. We went to Marina Square for lunch and decided on Lerk Thai. The food was good and desserts were fabulous. We ordered a sampling of all the desserts i.e. all 6 on menu. The only complaint we have is there are too much MSG and we felt very thirsty after the meal.

We adjorned to Comex to renew our broadband service. The place was just crazy. There are hot sales going on and everyone is buying. It is as though the gadgets are free!!!

After Comex, we broke up. B2 is sent home to study and B1 go to his girlfriend's house and B3 stayed with us for grocery shopping in NTUC.

Dinner was simple homecooked dishes of stir-fried greens, deep fried chicken wings and steamed fish. We had a leisurely dinner with sliced mango and orange for dessert. After fruits, B3 opened a bag of potato chips and we munch and enjoy the unhealthy snack. Then B1 wanted to try the Goodwood Park Hotel's mooncake and we cut one out and continue eating. And we actually cut another up as well. We have plenty of chat and conversation. It is a wonderful time together. We are very happy to have a warm finish to our Sunday.

YOU, The Owner's Manual

Dr. Oz, the TV Doctor series is the co-author. It is very easy to read and full of information on the human body, how it works and how to take care. In the book, nitrous oxide was mentioned, CoQ10 is also discussed and aspirin to help prevent heart attacks...many valuable information. I like it because there are plenty of illustrations and also discussions on the nutritional supplements. It make it easy to know if the ever popular supplements in the health store are effective or not.

I am keeping this as a reference manual. It is available in Prologue in ION at $24 for hardcover. Regular price for this book is $40.

Upheaval

Stock market is going up and down. Sometimes up and sometimes down. It call for fast action. Quite a challenge for retail investor. Our moods is going up and down. Today it is down:(

Comex, the IT fair opens today at noon in Suntec City. The pull-out section introduces the top bargains in page 2 and I was intrigue by the possible $130 for HP tablet. I arrived HP booth at 12:05pm and the tablets were sold out. Rather it was a "free" gift with purchase of other HP products. Darn it!