Fighting Fish

B3, the youngest boy was hoping to get fighting fish to breed.  We bought a male and some females.  We have been keeping them for a week or two.  This morning, he discovered that they have died.  The poor fishes must have suffocated to death because the water was all green with algae.  We should have not used rain water.  It seem like rain water causes algae to proliferate.  Sigh!  I remember we had fighting fishes that lay eggs and hatch their young.  I have lost my touch in keeping fishes healthy and want to breed.

I feels sorry for the fishes that did not survive.

Free Energy

Now I am harvesting free energy from the sun!  I set-up my two 20 watts solar panels and hook them up in parallel.  Then I connect them to the solar controller.  I connect the sealed lead acid battery to solar controller.  The green LED lights up indicating that the battery is charging!  Now I am collecting free energy from the sun.  The two solar panels cost me $50 instead of $130 each normal.  My system costs $122 plus $50 so far and I have no load i.e. no way of using the energy I am collecting.  I will have to spend more money to buy LED lightings or 12VDC fan. 

Since this is a project to test feasibility, I will buy a monitor for my system.  One that will indicate voltage and current that my solar panels are generating.  I bought my supplies from Kamtex.  It may be time to visit Kamtex again soon.

Barnfield Oranges

Barnfield Oranges are back in season.  I bought some today.  After dinner, I peeled a couple and my boys loved them.  It is juicy and sweet.  Barnfield is still my favorite oranges.  I think Sunkist may have bought the brand as now the stickers on the oranges states Sunkist instead of Barnfield.  I wish it has stayed independent.  Now it is just a brand in a gigantic bureaucracy.

Talking about fruits...now R2E2 mangoes are from Vietnam instead of Australia.  They do not taste the same.  So I was told by my Mrs to take a break from mangoes.  In other words, I am not supposed to buy the mangoes!  Her words is law in my household and I simply obeyed.

Better, Much Better

Amazing recovery.  I am feeling much better and eating some solid food in the late afternoon.  Although, still feeling the after-effects of the food poisoning episode, I am glad that I improved and life is back to normal. 

It is interesting about change.  In normal state, I always take it for granted.  Everything is in balance and I don't think about it.  However, every time I recovered from pain or short spell of sickness, the feeling of normal is euphoric.  It is the change from bad to normal that makes me feel good and happy.

Bad Bout of...

Diahorrea and vomitting yesterday!!  I must have ate something that is bad or had stomach flu.  I had my bones aching all over.  So I am not sure which ailment I suffers.  Anyway, I am feeling much better now.  Felt like dying yesterday.  This morning I feel good.  I have not completely recovered but it is great to feel better. 

Everyone is still still sleeping.  I just heard our domestic help is up.  So the day is starting.  I will have a cup of hot sweet tea to calm my git(gastro-intestinal tract)...

Army Open House @ the City

The Army has open house first time in the city.  There are plenty of static displays.  B1 was on duty and we went to his static display.  Mummy is very proud and happy to take his pictures and have pictures with him.  We went early in the morning.  So it was cool and not too crowded.  The army has changed and improved.  Still it is a sacrifice that all Singaporean boys have to do.  Right, it is still tough place to be in.  I did not enjoy my time in the National Service.  However, looking back it is an experience we can always talk about.

After the Army Open House, we had lunch in Marine Square Hotpot.  I like Teochew Porridge.  It is nice liquid food.  Quite unhealthy with with all the salt and preserved food.  It is something I grown up with - mum's cooking!

Remington Steele

Remington Steele is an old TV series.  Pierce Brosnan is the actor before he become the famous James Bond.  The video is not as sharp and color faded.  The story line is fairly interesting.  Laura is an ace detective who come out on her own to start Private Investigation Agency.  However she did not get hired for any case.  So she invented Remington Steel and now she has more cases than she can handle.  Then Remington Steele appeared in flesh.  Pierce was very young and of course good looking.  The actress, Stephanie Zimbalist is terrific too.

I bought this series as I have 25% discount in Prologue.  Prologue is getting competitive with regular sales at 20% and 25% for Popular members.  I also bought two books, Thinking, Fast and Slow and Economyths.

Solar Energy Experiment

I bought more stuff from a solar energy supplier.  I bought the 18AH sealed lead acid battery, PV controller and wires to connect up the system.  My problem is what am I going to do with the energy I collected.    Lights are lowest in energy consumption.  Water pump is good for the water feature.  Otherwise, it is powering laptops or fans.  I wish I can get airconditioning from the solar energy.  However, 20watts is simply too small....

Solar Panels

I bought two solar panels recently.  The shop sells textile actually house a solar company on the side.  It is an totally unrelated mix.  Anyway, I am happy with my purchase and now I am looking for the controller, rechargable batteries and something to do with the energy I am going to collect from the sun.  The project will cost a few hundred dollars and it is just a feasibility study.

I am happy to expand my green interest and do something tangible.  I brought B1 along to check on all the different parts we need to get this project going.

Mum is Here

Mother is over here for a month or two.  She has two granddaughters getting married.  One just did last Friday.  She is spending time with her daughters and staying overnight with my baby sister.  Her energy level is quite good.  She has recover well from her total knee replacement.  I can see that she is a lot stronger than before.  She is very happy as my sister always keep her company.  I do not have the ability to sit and talk with her all day.

This is why I always think it is good to have a daughter.  Daughters will spend quantity time with their parents and a lot more caring.  Sons are too engrossed with their own lives.

Silver Arowana

Silver Arowana is the cheapest of all arowanas.  We bought one for $25 and change.  The first one I bought which I thought was a deal for $35.  It died in less than a week as it jumped out of the pond.  Then I bought a couple more of the smaller silver arowanas and they all suffered the same fate.  My boys thought they commit suicides.  I told them it is natural for arowana to jump out of the pond.  This time I have a wire mesh weighed down by heavy bricks to prevent the fish from forcing its way out of the pond.

So far, the arowana is doing well.  I have also separate it in a smaller section as all the small goldfishes and red fishes disappear at an alarming rate.  Now, I hope it eat dried food.  I also hope I can keep it until it grow to adulthood.

Sizzling Hot

Temperature sizzles today.  Luckily it cools down in the late afternoon and makes it less gruelling to cycle.  I send in my note of appreciation to the crew of SQ for making me feel like I have reached home when I board the aircraft last Friday.

As the temperature rises, we use the airconditioning and in the process increase global warming.  It is not a good cycle to be in.  I do wonder if the 2012 theory will happen.

Lucky Chicken Rice

Lucky Chicken Rice is in what do you know... Lucky Plaza.  A chicken costs $40.  It is more expensive than any chicken rice stall or resturants in Singapore.   Typical steamed or roast chicken is $26 per bird.  We had half a bird for $20 and it is a fairly big portion.  We add beansprouts, gizzards and liver and braised hard boiled eggs. We had a decent meal in the expensive Orchard Road for a family of 5.

However, everything is too salty.  The guy who chopped up the chicken and made the beansprout is too generous with the light soya sauce.  The chicken tastes good but the saltiness spoils everything as all I could remember is I keep saying it is too salty as I eats.

Lucky Plaza is Philippino town today.  It is just jammed packed with all the Philippinas and Philippinos.  They are there to send money, buy food, meet friends or relatives or just relaxation.

Everyone on is in the malls, the queues in the resturants were just incredibly long.  It was impossible.  Guess eating out is still a true blue Singaporean's passion.

Hearts

My father-in-law has congestive heart failure and his heart function is at 25% level.  My younger niece from my eldest sis has a heart issue too.  She has seen a number of cardiologist and had different tests done.  The diagnosis varies from different doctors.  She has hypertension and may have reduced cardiac output due to leaky valves either mitral or tricuspid or both.  She is on medication and it seems to be well controlled.  It is worrying to have heart affairs from close relatives.

My business partner in Korea says it is important to exercise and stay healthy for our family not just for ourself.  I could not agree more.

Niece Married.

After a week of kimchi, it is teh halia time.  I enjoyed the kimchi, it is nice to come to the warm comfort of home and family.

Yesterday, my 2nd sister's eldest daughter got married.  She is so sweet to thank everyone during the wedding dinner.  My mother flew down from Toronto to attend her wedding and welcome the new grandson-in-law.  She is more mobile now.  Her walking gait has improve and she is a lot stronger.  She is quite radiant.  I am pleased that she is here to visit.

I was happy to drink the tea they offered and be addressed "Gu Gu" by niece's newly minted husband. 

Today is just routine.  Bringing B3 to his Chinese tuition, reading newspapers in the market with teh halia, eating Penang hae mee or prawn noodle, grocery shopping and cycling.  It is really warm today.

We had a wonderful dinner with all three boys and good conversation.  Best way to pass our values.

Morning Walk

I woke up early and the sky is bright.  Yes, in spring getting up early makes the saying "bright and early" so literally true!  From my room I noticed a green patch in the middle of the concrete jungle and took a walk there.  It is a garden and smells so good.  I love the smell of the woods.  It reminds me of Canada.  The garden is all fenced up.  I tried looking for the entrance.  But gave up.  I think the city want to limit access to prevent human activities from damaging the plants.  I saw a family walking inside.  The garden has a number of closed circuit cameras.  So security is fairly tight.

After visiting the garden, I went to the Goddess of Mercy Temple opposite the hotel to offer my prayers.  Buddha's birthday is coming soon, end of this week, I believe.  So the temple is decorated and preparations are underway to welcome the flood of devotees this weekend.

COEX

I have moved to COEX as it is more convenient for the customer.  Also I can take the bus early in the morning at 5:45am as it is next to the CAT or city air terminal where airport limosine bus terminal is. 

Today, I had nice Korean noodle with a branch office.  It is a small city.  The meal has very little meat and mostly vegetable.  It is really healthy but I feel hungry so quickly.  The soup is spice up with chilli.  So I am glad to eat a small steak for dinner.  Although it is only 150grams, the other stuff fills me up. 
The weather is warm and it is very relaxing and everyone dress easy which is what I like.  The Korean won has weakened further and now the prices in Seoul is very competitive.  It is a shopping haven for women who loved branded goods.

Australian Colleague

My ex-colleague in Australia wrote to me today through Linkedin.  This is half year since I left.  I am happy he finally reach out.  I am happy to tell him I am happy!!  Searching for happiness is a full-time job.  Gratitude, buying happiness, helping others, doing charity, contributing to saving Mother Earth, exercise to keep fit, all make me happy.  Right now I am happily working on making my work run smoothly and grow my customers' business.

It is good that ex-colleagues still have fond memories.  They miss my "wisdom".

Seongbuk, Seoul

This is the first time I stayed in Seongbuk.  My customer's office is near here and he suggested this place.  It is a residential area with lots of schools.  Plenty of young toddlers going to pre-school early in the morning.  Then in the afternoon, secondary school kids are out in force.  The place is quite hilly.  Walking about is quite interesting.  It is old Korea.  The houses are low and right beside are tall apartment flats.  Interesting contrast of old and new.  There are plenty of resturants and sundry shops.  This place reminds me of Ang Mo Kio neighbourhood where I drink my morning tea.

SQ Website is Bad!

I was trying to do a web check-in using the Singapore Airlines website but was not allowed.  During the check-in process, the weather forecast for Seoul was 5 degree Celcius.  So I packed all the warm clothing.  I usually use Yahoo Weather.  I did not verify the weather forecast in SQ website with Yahoo.  I thought Wow, this is great, getting the weather conditions while checking in.  Guess what!  When I land, the temperature was 15 degrees.  I should have known as it is May and instead a thinking the weather pattern is weird and trusting SQ website, I should trust my instinct. 

Anyway, it is better to have warm clothing that I did not use than to freeze for a week.  Still I am pretty upset that I have a big jacket in my luggage that I don't need.

Happy Mother's Day

B3 did up two pieces of message for Mum.  He spent a lot of time preparing and making sure mummy gets a surprise!  However, mummy was busy with her own hobby, a sewing project this morning and did not read the newspaper as usual.  So I have to tell her that she is supposed to read the newspaper before I can read it.  She is great.  She made a lot of "ooos" and "ahhhss".  B3 gets big hugs and kisses.  He is rewarded for his thoughtfulness.  The two older boys just asked if we are doing anything special for mum meaning are "Where are we eating out?" 

Spotlight is having Sale and my wife is latest hobby is sewing.  So we have to go to Plaza Singapura so that she can get fabric to learn sewing skills.  McDonald's is giving out free Filet-O-Fish for Standard Chartered credit card holders.  So our boys managed to get a couple of free burgers.  We bought a set meal and extra french fries to for lunch.  Then we adjourned to Secret Recipe for cakes.  Unfortunately, our favorite moist chocolate cake is not available.  So we had creme brulee cheese cake, chocolate mud cake, chocolate indulgence and banana chocolate cake.  So it was delicious and rich.  Well, it is mother's day and we decided to enjoy sinful desserts.

It is a happy day for us.

Does Cycling hurts my left shoulder?

B1, my eldest boy thinks it is cycling that cause my left shoulder to be strained.  I thought it was over-exertion due to upper body exercise.  I was suspecting it may be cycling as I have to stay in a crouching position for an hour daily and two hours on the weekends.  I will see if my shoulder heals next when I am in Seoul for a week.

Happiness Research

Looked like Positive Psychology is a hot subject to do research on.  Many literatures are on happiness.  There is even a shelf just for books on Happiness.  I like the videos by TED.  The message is succinct and clear.  I am practising some of the exercises.  One of which is daily gratitude which I did as long as I could, which is maybe 3 weeks.  I am happier to thank for the good things I received or experienced.  Buying Happiness is so easy.  Buying Starbucks for others can give you a happiness kick.

When team members given money buy gifts for each other, the team performance improved and outperformed those who given money to buy gifts for themselves.  The team in my previous workplace was small.  However, we did charity drive, visited home for abandoned kids and also celebrate our success by buying meals for team member's family.  No wonder the team performance is much better then the other teams.  I am proud that intuitively we did the right things to improve performance of our team.

Buying Happiness

In TED, the talk on buying happiness is good.  It is true as I experience it myself i.e. buying happiness.  We all can buy happiness.  We just buy things for others.  We donate the money.  The experiments showed that almost everywhere on Earth, where people use money on someone else instead of themselves, they become happpier.  If they buy things for themselves, their happiness level did not change.

I know why I am happy now.  I do errands for my wife and boys all the time.  B1 always frustrates me by not respecting my time and will always make me wait for him when I am ready to go out.  B2 is very appreciative of me sending him or picking him up from school.  B3 likes to cause trouble to me.  I enjoys buying foods they like. 

It is good to be happy.  For happiness, buy and do things for others.  We sponsored 5 kids on the World Vision and have done this for years.  It is nice to receive cards from the kids once a year.  Yes, happiness can be purchased!!!

Formaldehyde in China Cabbage

Here it go again. Cabbages from China are spray with formaldehyde to keep them fresh longer.  Formaldehyde is a chemical used to preserve dead organisms and animals including human corpses.  It is carcinogenic i.e. causes cancer.  Cabbages are low cost vegetables and is widely used in hawker centres.  All "Economical Rice" stalls will have at least one cabbage dish and usually two - non-spicy cabbage or a major ingredient in curry vegetables.

Eating out can be a dangerous event.  Hawkers will go for lowest cost raw materials and vegetables from China is most competitive in price.  Unfortunately, it is also the high risk factor as Chinese sources tend to have higher incidence of pesticides and other lethal chemical. 

We are living in dangerous time....

Prawn Fishing

Exams are over for B1's girlfriend.  It is a public holiday today and so they decided to go for prawn fishing in Punggol.  There are two ponds.  One in Punggol Marina and the other is @Punggol.  Punggol Marina is unsheltered and cost $25 for two hours.  It also do not have any chairs for you to sit.  @Punggol is sheltered, there are chairs surrounding the ponds and have fixtures for you to put your pole.  Also there is piped-in  music.  For the privilege for fishing for three hours cost $33.  B1 and his girlfriend caught a grand total of 7 freshwater giant pincers prawns.

They brought the prawns home and mum boiled them with alcohol and ginger.    This dish is also known as drunken prawns in seafood resturants.  Prawn fishing seems quite popular.  It seems easy when other people keeps pulling out large prawns.  We stay to observe for a while and then we went off as B3 has to study for his exams.

I also go to the aquarium in Jalan Kayu and bought a silver arowana.  This time I believe it will stay in the pond as there is no way it can get out.  The nursery, halfway house for convicts(helping hands) and all the aquarium near to Jalan Kayu are gone.  The ground is being prepared.  So I suspect more houses will be built soon...

Disappearing Goldfishes

Most of my goldfishes disappeared from my outdoor pond.  I have covered it with plastic fencing.  There are a few gaps but not big enough for kingfishers to go after.  So for some times my fishes were ok.  They are growing big.  I usually buy "food" goldfishes as they are cheap and when they are big, they do look just as good.  However, after my Japan trip, I noticed all the food are floating for a long time.  I took a closer look and they have all disappeared!   I have no idea what else other than kingfishers can eat my goldfishes.  B3 suspected that it may be a black cat who was lurking around our front yard.  One of our neighbours told him the black cat has been eating up her fishes in her pond.

I bought 1 in square metal fencing and cover the pond totally.  This morning, I bought more fishes and put them in the pond.  Let's see if they disappears again.

I am also thinking about keeping a silver arowana.  It is cheaper to buy.  However, I had put in three or four before and they all jumped out of the pond and died.  Now with the metal fence cover, maybe I could try again.  However, it is an expensive hobby as I will have to buy food fishes or frogs regularly. 
Maybe I will rear some fighting fish instead.  I am still mulling over all the different fishes I can keep in my pond.

Seafood Spaghetti

I was up early this morning and at the wet market, I bought 1kg of crayfish for $13.  There are 7 pieces.  It is also known as slipper lobsters.  We just eat the tails.  It is not a lot of meat.  It is a good change.  Mum took out frozen prawns and scallops and we have seafood spaghetti for dinner.  Italian food is a nice change from our regular one meat, one veg and tofu. 

Sore Left Shoulder

My left shoulder has been sore for a few days now.  I think I overstretched myself while exercising.  I thought it was improving and then I exercise yesterday and this morning, I feel the strains.  I may have to rest my upper body longer to recover.

My butt and thighs are tired as I cycled for more than 2 hours in the PCN yesterday.  It was a good ride.  Punggol PCN has been recognised on a Global Award for Green Environment Development.  The ride is boring after a while but it is good to know I have the use of a global winner park at home!

B2 Complimented!

B2 is quite pleased to be complimented for his new haircut.  His classmates say he looked younger. 4 years younger!  He is so much neater and look a lot more proper than with his messy mop of hair before the haircut.  He is happy and we are too!

Cycling with B1 and B3

This evening, B1 and B3 cycled to the PCN with me.  B1 is by his own accord and B3 was by command.  B3 cycled well.  We cycled for a total of an hour with a break at the fitness corner for monkey bar and sit-ups.

It is good to ride with the boys and even better if all the boys plus mummy can cycle together.  B2 is in Poly and return home late.  His hair was long and messy and we go the Compasspoint  for him to get his haircut.

It is a regular day.  Dinner was bbq squid and the squid smells so strong in the house.  So I may skip squids in future. 

When China Rules The World

I am starting on this book by Martin Jacques.  Reading the Acknowledgement, this author who is a Professor met his wife in Malaysia.  Got married and has two kids.  One died as a toddler.  Then his wife also passed away.  He is left with one boy.  It is a sad personal story.

I just started on the book and economically China will be number One by the year 2025.  So the world is changing from Western domination to East.

Beef Steaks!

We rarely cooked beef.  When Carrefour has special or sale, we would buy minced beef for spaghetti or flank steak for stir-fry.  In my most recent trip to US, I stayed in a friend's house.  He cooked beef steaks for me using his smoker bbq stove.  I watched how he season the meat, setup the stove, monitor the temperature and then cooked the beef steaks.  The meat is delicious.  He even gave me the meat thermometer. 

We were at ION on Sunday, I was browsing around Three-Sixty...I saw theTV ads about all the fine foods it carry.  The butcher saw me and asked me to stay.  He cooked some samples of Angus Beef for me to try.  It was very tender.  I told him I will wait for my boys to come and try.  They liked it too.  So we bought a piece of Ribeye steak home to cook.  It is the first time for me to buy an expensive steak home to cook.  Usually, we eat beef at a steakhouse.  The experience of eating delicious home-cooked beef and watching my friend cooking the steaks give me the courage and impetus to cook beef steaks myself.

I must say the Ribeye steak I cooked was very good.  The meat was tender.  I recalled DS who said it is easy to cook when the meat is good.  I agree. DS was the leader of the CRM project which I was a in when I was working in Canada.

Will be cooking more ribeye, sirloin and flank steak in future...