Worms disappeared now that Weather is normal

No more earthworms show up on the PCN once the haze cleared.  It is quite interesting phenomenon.  No dead or live earthworms on the track.  So I have no idea why they come up to "commit suicide" as many died on the tracks unless they were collected by me before drying out or run over by cyclists.  I checked on the internet.  Earthworms do come up during rain.  Nothing on why earthworms come up during haze.  This must be a phenomenon not observed before.

Like Eating in China

More and more Mainland Chinese are setting up food stalls here.  They are in People's Park and Geyland.  Tonight, we decided to eat in Bishan as we need to pick up B3 from tuition there.  There is a new hole in the wall Szechuan style eatery.  I ordered the sliced fish in spicy soup.  The spices are similar and still very spicy even though we request for less spice.  The problem is the fish are not freshly sliced and have been coated with a layer of flour.  The grilled pot chicken is not bad and we have eggplant that is braised sweet sour in flavor.  The cold cucumber salad is good and like how it is in China.  Overall the food is not bad but we are not likely to go back as the rest of my family are not a big fan.  They prefer Cantonese style.

I have not gone to China for some time now.  I must plan a trip to start up the business there.  China is the potentially the biggest market.

All over the TV!

Many a time I questioned myself and wonder if I am bringing up my boys right.  Right now, B3 just simply refused to give up the TV program he is watching to mummy.  He is very stubborn even though he watched lots of TV program all day long.  His reasoning?  The Disney channel preview will be ending in two days.  Channel 8 has xinmsn to catch up.  Mio TV is causing my family more trouble with "free preview".  I am not big on TV programs except for news and financial reports.


What goes up must come down.  The gold price has dropped to US$1,200 per ounce.  The price was $1700 not too long ago and peak price was $1900.  Serious drop and I remember reading some analyst predicting price going to more than $2,100 when the price was at $1,700 saying that price based on value of dollar has not reach historical high.  I do not like gold as it is not a income generator like stocks.  I am hoping to buy more stocks when the stock price drop.  Right now, it is going up and down.  So it is not a good time to buy.

Nature Outing with B3

Late afternoon, B3 decided to go to PCN to catch fishes.  We went to our usual spot and he caught some frog tadpoles and water nymph which he suspect is a dragonfly's nymph.  We also caught some small fishes with our net.  The fishes are extremely fast and jumpy.  Seems they are very tough as one jump out of the water and is still alive when B3 found it and put it back to the water.  We continue to several spots along the reservoir but unable to catch any more water-borne creatures.

We also caught what B3 called a "mayfly".  He says it is like a miniature dragonfly.  He release it after taking some pictures.  We put the fishes into our pond.  Somehow our arowana does not seem to like the fishes from PCN.  Maybe they are too fast or do not taste good.

B1 Returning Soon

B1 will be returning home next week.  He is in his last week with Grandma. He travelled extensively around Toronto and even go to Algonquine for a 3 days camp.  He probably went to more places in 2 months he is there than the 7 years he grew up there.   I am glad he spent sufficient time with his grandma and help pack and clean up the house.  The oldies friends of grandma is quite happy with him as he greet them and eat dim sum with them.

I am glad he will be home soon although I also like him to study oversea to gain independence.

Hail

Incredible that hail happens in sunny Singapore.  With all the cameras, now there are pictures to proof.  Yahoo! has some interesting pictures.  Click here:  http://sg.news.yahoo.com/photos/hail-in-western-singapore-slideshow/hail-in-western-singapore-photo-2052875377.html.

I have seen hail in Germany.  I think I have post the video in this blog.  The last time hail was reported in 2009 at the CTE.  It must be very thrilling for those who experience hail live!

Wise Men

A library is like having a group of wise men.  I can consult any one of them any time.  Many CEOs have extensive library in their home.  I love to invite wise men to my home especially when there is a discount!  Many of wise men living with me are Professors in business schools.  I am a fan of Peter Drucker and Henry Mintzberg. 

Wise does not make money.  So working hard is still a basic requirement.  Selling is now the job of most people according to Daniel Pink in To Sell is Human.  So I am learning new tips on how to improve my selling skills.

How to Reduce Worry

I am a constant worrier.  I worry about everything.  From global issues like the world coming to an end, global warming and man damaging our Mother Earth to mundane things like getting infected by infectious diseases from toilets (full of E coli) to what is the future for my boys and especially work.  What can I do to reduce worry?

1.  Read books on Happiness and Positive Psychology.  Learn different ways to be happy like 3 gratitudes daily.

2.  Write a to do list.  Once the list is written, it put mind to rest that you will not forget.

3.  Plan for Uncertain Future.  We know the certain part of future i.e. tomorrow we still need to eat and live.  So have a cushion sum of money for a few months of expenses.  This way, we know that we at least will not have to worry about money to tackle any unexpected and unpleasant things that happens.

4.  Prepare Early.  There are many demanding tasks and deadlines.  So take the time to prepare important and the key word is important tasks early.  When sufficient time is spent mulling over the tasks, usually they will be done to a satisfactory conclusion.

5.  Laugh.  Watch comedies like Just for Laugh Gags, read funny comics and jokes, have fun with family.  Laughter will generate endorphins and give a sense of well-being.  Worry will stop temporarily for constant worriers.

6.  Gratitude.  Be grateful all the time.  Grateful for being alive, grateful for the food we are eating, grateful for friends and family.  Count our blessings shift our mindset to positive aspects of our life.

These are pointers I used to reduce my worries.  I hope they work for you as well.

A Good Evening

The haze clear up this evening.  Although not as crowded when the sky is clear, there are still a number of people jogging and cycling.    Three hour  PSI is 75, healthy level.  It is nice to clear sky.  But this is just a brief respite according NEA, Singapore's National Environment Agency.  Anyway, it was good while it last. 

I am happy to report I have put all my books back to the shelves.  A book lover, I spend lot of time in bookshops, libraries and organising and reading my books.  It is getting more difficult to read books as the internet gives information in digested form.  

On the news, the government is distributing facemasks to the poor.  I saw 3M and Kimberly Clark facemask being unloaded from the army trucks.  So 3M and Kimberly Clark will be getting a huge boost in sales since the government is distributing $1 million worth of masks.  Not bad since the government will need to replenish the stocks.  It is a nice upside for the sales person.

The wife is cleaning up the home and does a fabulous job.  She is always so neat and clean.  I have higher tolerance for mess and dirt. 

Bookshelf Fixed!

My bookshelf has been fixed for a couple of days.  The heat and haze is making lazy to organize and shelf up my collection.  I need to organize them by author and/or by subject. I am a consummate reader.  So my collection is fairly big.  I am continuing to buy books whenever Kino has 20% discount.  However, there are still many books that I possessed that I have not read yet.  So I need to giddy up on my reading.  Many are also books I keep for reference.  So I should not be too hard on myself for not reading all my books.

My neighbour was sitting beside me and noticed my strong reactions while I was reading.  She was a little surprised and then starts telling me she has never read a single book in so far.   She is simply someone who does not like reading.

I will spend the weekend just me and my books and get them back to their rightful place.

The Haze is Really Bad

Visibility is low.  The HDB blocks of flats nearby are enveloped by the haze.  Smells of burning.  Indonesia seems to shrug off their responsibility.  It is tough to have neighbours like this. They first blame on companies and investors from Singapore.  Then when Singapore asked for the names to take action, they say it is domestic affairs.  Seems like there is nothing Singapore can do but accept that they have no choice and cannot do anything other than complain and offer to help.

Hazy Day

It is so hot and hazy.  If not for the water I drank, I would have shrivelled like a grape turning into a raisin.  It is also hard to breathe.  B2 keep coughing as it is aggravating his sore throat.  I also find it interesting that the earthworms are crawling out in the heat.  They are very active and wriggle about when I touch them.  I wonder why.  The earthworms that come out after rain are in the different part of PCN from those who come out in the heat.  It is kind of interesting.  Earthworms did not come out on the PCN during the hot day before.  So there is a change in behaviour and I wonder if it is caused by the haze.

The water in my fish pond has turned milky white as the ash settles onto the water.  I wonder how our lungs will look like inside.

Pleasure Reading

I am glad I am reducing my carbon footprint when I borrow from the library to read.  I enjoys the spy stories so much.  I realised one thing.  It is always a love story behind all the cloak and dagger stuff.  Also like fairy, the evil doer has supreme advantage and at the end, good prevails.  I love good ending.  This is why it is fun.  Bad ending mean I will abandon the author.

I also have my bookshelf fixed.  The carpenter came in and dismantle the perforated metal strips and put them back aligned although it is not perfect.  This time, he put in the screws to add strength and will not slip again.  He also put in a number of screws to spread the load.  I am confident my shelf should not slide again.  However I wonder if the bookcase can take the weight.  I have lots and lots of books.

Relaxed in a Hot Afternoon

Temperature is soaring.  So it is poolside reading David Baldacci.  Yes, reading using my eyes instead of ear and holding a well thumbed book from the library.  It has been a long time and I am rediscovering the joy of fiction.  No need to buy to keep and refer to from time to time.  Read and move on to the next story. 

My bookshelves are so weigh down by my books that the metal strips with holes for adjusting the height of the shelf slide down.  So I have to get my bookshelf repaired.  The reason the strip slide is because I ran out of space for my books that I have to put them in double layers i.e. two rows of books on one shelf.  I need to get more bookshelves to house my books or donate some away.  It is hard to give away my precious books.

Reading Voraciously

The Wife went to Metro Sales.  So I was at the poolside the whole afternoon reading Deliver Us from EVIL.  Almost finish the book.  I skim through some parts as the descriptions are quite guesome and graphic.  It is still an interesting read.  This time the protagonist, Shaw has two beautiful women who many men lust but hope Shaw is interested in them.  It is nice to be a hero in any fiction.  Somehow beautiful and goregous beautiful women are attracted to you.

My peace and enjoyment was disturbed by my neighbour's grandchildren who came out to swim.  So I took a break from reading.  I was so engrossed that they keep calling me and I looked so distracted. 

We had a wonderful dinner in Fish and Company in AMK hub.  The seafood pasta is good there.

Split Second

I am officially a David Baldacci Fan!  I borrowed this book from library on Saturday and finished reading it by today.  During my younger days, I probably finish by Sunday.  I thought it is pretty good time considering I have other responsibilities.

It is interesting reading full of suspense.  There are twists and turns.  Overall, I thought the plot is weak as it is about lost love.  Why would one kill so many people over lost love.  The plot is incredulous.  Suspending my rational self, I enjoys the read.  Maybe it is because the protagonist is a middle age male with two hot, atheletic females who have love interest in him and one even propose.  I am sucker for male hero.  Guess I need the ego trip.

No Mood for News on Channel 5

Recently, I am not so interested in the news.  I was religious before.  9:30pm sharp!  I will watch the news.  Nowadays, I do not feel like watching the news.  The Straits Times has the same effects on me.  I feel "sian" to be fed with only what I should know.  I get my currently affairs news from the net.  At least it is not controlled and what I can know.  I like to get my information freely and not let the big brother control my information diet. 

BBC has a program a couple days ago about newspapers and the dying print media.  The Guardian newspaper in Britain is changing to engage the world instead of just Britain.  In India, the newspaper will continue to grow.  Elsewhere, print media has to change or die of a horrible death.  Mass media control was and still is our government forte.  Now, the internet is coming into the radar.  While there are unsubstantiated reports, I prefer not to have someone controlling what I know and move my opinion and perception to what they think is right.

Brand Goodwill Lost

A journalist wrote DBS is now the most valuable brand.  SIA has lost it brand goodwill.  He put out his bad personal experience with SQ.  In the forum another letter writer in on his bad experience as well.  Straits Times trys to be balance and publish another that defended SQ.  Competition in the airline industry is tough with the low cost flyers.  SIA has also lost it way.  The website is hard to use.  Customer service is not like it was before.  The cabin crews no longer as cheerful or happy.  The gut wrenching cuts all the time to trim costs and reduce service "not valued".  Unfortunately, the schedules of the competition are better.  The booking is easier and simpler.  All these improvements come with a better price. 

SIA is still good with inflight service.  The Raffles lounges are back.  I like Raffles lounge than the current Singapore Airline Lounge.  Sound so generic and plain.  No differentiation with other airlines.  I also think it is important to get a leader who is attuned to the customer.  Current CEO is an excellent operations guy.  He cuts costs well.  Too well!

Spilling the Beans on the Cat's Pyjamas

This is a low cost book just under $14.  It is easy reading and very thin and small.  However it is very informative and explains the popular expressions.  Expressions like Clear the deck, A skeleton in the Closet, Spill the Beans, Stiff Upper Lips, etc.  Many a time I kind of grasp the meaning through the context of dialogue.  However, it is very interesting and good to know for sure the meanings of these expressions.  They are like proverbs and 4 words phrases in Chinese. 

The author is Judy Parkinson.  I recommend this book. It is cheap and easy to read.

Vegetarian Dinner - Not Bad!

I am a meat lover.  So vegetarian is not really my thing.  I have vegetarian meal occasionally with my in-laws.  Once we ate at Kebun Bahru for my father-in-law's birthday.  I like the food from this stall.  It is actually at the hawker centre and cook zhi char style dishes.  Tonight we had our dinner there and I like it!  It is also quite popular.  I love the sweet sour deep fried mushroom and the stewed beancurd skins with beancurd.  The omelette is so-so and sweet sour "pork" is average as I do not like the vegetarian ham.  I enjoyed the dinner.  So I shall be going back there again.  This is my favorite vegetarian stall.

How to Raise Earthworms

Nowadays, it is so easy.  Just google and a ton of information comes out.  I have been collecting worms after rain at the PCN.  However, I do not know how to raise them.  So I decide to google and now know I should have shredded papers and banana peel.  I have been giving cucumber peels and need to try out cornmeal.  Corn meal makes the worms big and fat.  It is biology experiment and it is fun.

Jared Diamond

It seems like Jared Diamond has written a number of books.  They are under Natural History in Kino.  He even has one on Sex.  However, it is quite a different take and academic angle.  I am thinking I should look for the audiobook to borrow.  Several of his books are bestsellers including The Collapse of Society and Guns, Germs and Steel. 

There are so many interesting authors and books to read.  I realised I have many books on my shelves that I have not read yet.  There are so many interesting things to learn and so little time.

Wee Shu Min Affair

It is more than 5 years since the Wee Shu Min Affair happened.  I was idly doing a google search.  Shu Min was a JC2 student in Raffles.  She was also in the gifted education.  Academically, she is a shining star and is a pedigree offspring.  Her daddy was a scholar and MP.  Her infamous concluding statement is "Get out of my elite uncaring face". 

Shu Min wrote a response to Derek Wee's article on his fears for the over 40's in Singapore.  You can read his original articles at http://derekwee.blogspot.sg/ .  At the height of the furore, her father said "some people just cannot face the brutal truth"  A couple days later, he appeared on the newspaper to apologise for offending some people with his statement.

This whole episode came back to me after watching Jared Diamond's TED presentation here:

Diamond is a professor of anthropology and studied why societies collapse.  The causes are complex but Diamond brought out several key points.  One of the key points is the elites in the society ignore the issues as they are not affected or they have short term gains.

Singapore Gini's Coefficient is one of the highest in the world.  Gini's Coefficient measures the equality of incomes.  The higher the coefficient, the greater the inequality.  So the average income for Singaporean is one of the highest in the world.  The reality is there are a few super income bring the average of the low income up.    Many tourists from the developed world are always amazed by the number of elderly in Singapore working as cleaners in the food courts and hawker centers.  B1 is in Canada now.  He is observing live the seniors are in the malls drinking coffee and socialising among themselves.  We have the largest SWF in the world and many of our elderly are living in abject conditions scavenging or working low skill jobs to make ends meet.

What will become of Singapore as a society?

Parent-Teacher Meeting

Today, we have the PTM for B3.  We met with the Chinese teacher first and he suggest that B3 should get a school teacher to coach him in his oral.  So, mummy jumps right to action and send messages to other mums.  One recommended an agency and we engage him right away.  His rate is $50 an hour minimum one and half hours each time i.e. $75 per session.  We have to pay the agency fee of $180.  It will cost us a pretty penny by the time the oral exams is due which is 4 months.  What to do with such competitive school system. 

His maths teacher is happy with his performance and is willing to write a testimonial for his application to NUS High if B3 is interested.  But B3 is more interested in the School of Science and Technology which has 3D printers as part of the curriculum.  His English teacher says he is diligent and articulate in class and command of English is good as he can understand the lesson well.  He is active in class participation.  So he is in good stead.

Swordsmen Tales

I was at Junction 8 for lunch and go over to Bishan library to borrow audio books.  This time I borrowed The White Eyebrow Swordman.  I listened to FM 95.8 and the Wu Xia story that is broadcast is quite interesting.  The problem is it is quite erratic as I only listen to the radio when I driving.  So if I have the story on my iPhone, I can listen to the story and pause as and when needed.  This way I can get the complete story.  I also borrow the Red Mansion Dreams.  I am not sure if I will like it but it is good to have a change since there are no more new David Baldacci books left for me to borrow.

B1 is also going to the library in Scarborough.  He won a ticket to the musemum last week.  Now he plans to go there every Sat to try his luck.  There are music scores he can borrow and the place he is staying has a piano for him to try out the notes.

A Nice Sunday!

This morning, while waiting for The Wife to wash up and get ready, I decided to call my father-in-law for breakfast.  My mother-in-law pick up the call and I asked her where she is.  She answered my question with a question!  Where are you?  I told her I am at home and "where are you?" I asked again. She answered again with another question "what do you want?"  So I got tired and told her I asked her where she is first and I also answer her question.  Then she laughed and said they are going for breakfast at the coffeeshop opposite the Serangoon Community Club.  I told her I will join them.  When I told my wife I am going to have breakfast with her parents, her first question was am I going alone?  My response was you are going to take a long time to get ready... she gave me "The Look!" and I hurriedly continues I will wait for you.  It was my survival instinct kicking in.

Anyway, while having breakfast, I talk about mother-in-law being bored in the office.  Father-in-law plays computer games while she just wander about cleaning and finding things to do.  I told her I bought a TV antenna for her which is taking up space at home.  She say it is very troublesome as she will need to get a TV.   I was intrigue by the Chrome book and say I will buy her a computer for her to watch her shows instead.  So after breakfast, we adjourn to the Courts in AMK Central.  We ended up buying a Sony computer for $669 instead of the Chrome book which costs only $450.

B3 was interested in the terrapin at the Pet Walk.  I told him if he can set up the tank so that the terrapin has a chance to rest, I will get him a terrain.  While we were shopping for computer, he went to Popular to get the plastic sheet for make the platform for the terrain. Once we are home, he goes right to work making the platform in the hot sun.  He got it done, once again, we go to Pet Walk to buy the terrapin.  Terrapin cost $3.50 instead of regular price of $2.50 as there are no stock.  So we just brought one terrapin home.  B3 is happy fussing over his terrapin.

I am very happy to make MIL and B3 happy.

Lucky Me!

After sending B3 to tuition, we went to wash our car.  My wife was a break from washing the car.  Including vaccuuming, the total cost is $15.  After washing, the car was sparkling clean!  Only the way back however, thunderstorm came.  We were caught in the rain.  So much for spending the time and money cleaning up.

Then why the title Lucky Me.  Well, when thunderstorm mellow down, I cycle to the PCN  to look for eels and earthworms.  Eels no longer come to the PCN as the area they used to be has a contruction site.  However, I got lucky with the earthworms.  I caught lots of them and feed them to my fishes.  I saved half of what I caught and put them in my compost bin.  Hopefully, they can thrive and grow.