Acer W3

The battery charging for this tablet is extremely slow.  I did not measure the time, even when I used it plugged in, it cannot be charge up.  I think it will take more than 8 hours to get it fully charged.  I hope later model will have shorter battery charge up time.  So far, I am still happy with the performance of the tablet.  I am waiting for the compatible keyboard and a stand.  It is a neat gadget.

8" is the Right Size

The tablet size is just correct.  I use the tablet today to watch tv drama from Hong Kong.  It is a good size to hold.  The convenience and weight is just right.  7" is a little too small and 10" is too big and unwieldy to hold.

I am happy with the Acer Iconia W3.  The battery last for a few hours.  The only complain I have is one area of the tablet is warm due to the heat from the chips.  Other than that, it is perfect.  The windows Operating Systems make it easy to read Excel and Powerpoint.  The memory at 32G may seems small but it is expandable to 64G.  The speaker system is ok, but I used headset and the sound is awesome.

8" Acer Iconia W3

The Acer Iconia W3 is a nifty 8" tablet.  I like 8" as it is like a paper back book.  The operating software is Windows 8, so office software can be used.  This will make tablet suitable for use with Microsoft documents like word, Excel or powerpoint. The screen is not as bright as iPad or Samsung.  With ambient light outside, it is quite difficult to read.  It is fine inside and at night.  So I think it is important to get the "retina" or "superamole" screen.  Anyway, it is a nice gadget and I will see how useless it is as I get to know it better.

King Soup!

King Soup is from Taiwan and is sold frozen to high end resturants.  We had tried the soup during Chinese New Year.  My mother, my brother-in-laws and other relatives were impressed by the soup.  It was flavourful and everyone talks about it.

We had the soup tonight with chicken thighs and abalone.  My boys enjoys the soup especially B3.  He loves eating rice with soup.  It is simple and easy to eat.  I loved the soup too.  My wife is Cantonese, so when it comes to soups, she is very particular.  She has attained the art form when it come to making soup.  So King Soup with a can of small abalones and boiled chicken makes a complete meal for us.

Dessert was sliced cakes as we were trying different flavors from Pine Garden, our neighbourhood cake shop.  We have a good family togetherness.

Commodities

It has been a long time since I look at my commodities investment.  I had a shock!!!  I suffered a loss of 37%.  It is so difficult to earn and save money to invest and I lost money on commodity funds.  I am a fan of investment guru Jim Rogers.  Unfortunately, commodities need to be watched carefully and I do not monitor my portfolio and actively get out when commodities prices crash.  I should stick to Warren Buffett and be a value investor.  I bought a few of the cheap Class B shares and the value has gone up.  The Class A share is super duper expensive, more than $100K US dollars! 

It is better I keep my money to eat and spend for my retirement rather than trying to invest.  Anyway, I also remember I did make some money to buy my car.  So overall, it is not too bad.   I will just sit tight.  Not doing anything is some time good.

What is Life about?

Today, I feel like I am a lost soul.  I watched the TV drama Ghetto Justice and feels my life is quite empty.  I do not go to the poor section to help out.  I am not a lawyer who can do pro bono work.  I just feel lousy not doing good work for the society.  TV show can have such effect on me!  It is terrible to feel that I have not contributed to the well being of the poor trodden souls of our society. 

Watching HK soap opera is for entertainment.  I am not a big fan of serials as they take up much time.  Once in a while a serial will pique my interest.  I like the Korean Iron Daughters-in-law.  Ghetto Justice is about this wonder lawyer who is so formidable and yet he is humble and only help the poor.  It is good to have strong ideals and deep inside I am idealistic.  I wish I do more good deeds.  The story inspires me but working for day-to-day living still dominates.  I doubt I will ever lead a monk's lifestyle.

Selling and Sales Work

My middle niece quit her backend bank job to join an insurance broker to sell insurance.  I am a little worried for her as selling insurance in my opinion is a very tough job.  The attrition rate is very high.  A few are very successful but most do not earn enough to make a decent living.  Her boyfriend is going to work for a bank selling insurance as well.  So both have jump in but my niece is in the deep end.  The boyfriend is in a big 3 local bank, so is quite secured.

Selling is extreme challenge especially doing cold calls.  The rejection rate is extremely high.  The movie The Pursuit of Happyness protray the selling profession well.  It is a numbers game.  The more calls you made, the higher the chance of getting a yes.  Finally, protagonist won the job and then start his own brokerage firm, become a millionaire several times over and met Nelson Mandela.  It is sheer grit and stamina couple with the strong desire to get rich. 

As an uncle, I can only watch from a distance.  After dinner with the 3 nieces, my wife had a comment "their mother brought them up well".  I am in total agreement.  My nieces are responsible and mature.  They value education and thrift.  They are well adjusted and we enjoyed their company.  I am happy to meet them regularly for meals.  It is good bonding time for all of us.

Pow Sing Chicken Rice

B3, the youngest boy like chicken rice.  Apparently, his best friend eats chicken rice everyday.  So he also like to eat chicken rice everyday.  For dinner, we brought our own plate for the chicken and a pot for the chicken rice.  The food is good but too much msg.  I am so thirsty that I drink more than 4 cups of 100 Plus adding more sodium and fluids into my body.  The biggest issue with eating out is unhealthy level of sodium and other bad stuff like transfat.  Food is tasty but makes me thirsty with all the seasoning.  I will be glad to start cooking again.  We are holding our breath for our domestic help.  We hope to get one that can make us more productive.

Meanwhile, we have to limit our chicken rice intake....

Two Chefs

My brother celebrates his belated birthday today.  He invited my family to come along and we did.  He is quite happy with his girls taking lots of pictures.  Luckily, he booked the table earlier.  The place was packed at 6pm and there is a long queue.  He even has soya sauce chicken from Chinatown and Suckling Pig from Paya Lebar.  The suckling pig is quite tough as it is no longer fresh.  The chicken is still very good. 

The food from Two Chefs is quite good.  I find them a little salty.  I did not eat their signature milk powder pork ribs even though pork ribs is my favorite as I do not like the milk powder.  The beansprout with salted fish and sambal kangkong are quite good.  The deep fried yam sticks with honey and spice is also very good.  B3 like the sauce in the claypot sea cucumber.  The fish is quite fresh.  The zichar stall is very warm and humid.  So after dinner, we went for hot desserts.  Our favorite stall in Commonwealth Cresent.  The auntie has been making and selling hot desserts for more than 40 years.

We have good conversation with the girls and this time no. 2's boyfriend came.  So it was good to talk shop with him.

Chili's

This morning on  the way to Chinatown, we saw Chili's on the ground floor of Central, Clarke Quay.  So after his tuition, B3 requested for Chili's for lunch.  He remembers the meal we had in Tanglin Mall.   The meal is good.  We had corn chips with salsa, wings over buffalo, fahijtas with beef and chicken and a Southern Burger.  There are plenty of groups university students in green T-shirts doing the Amazing Race.

All three boys are with us and it is great bonding time.  We made chicken wrap for dinner.  It is nice to have all the boys during meal time.  B1 went out to meet his ex-girlfriend.  It is really complicated.  They are supposed to cool off and not committed to each other anymore.  Yet, they are meeting regularly.  The ex met a new guy and find faults with my precious boy.  Hmm!  This is really causing angst to his brother and mummy.  I am having trouble trying to understand the situation.

Blue Ocean

I had listened to the audio version some time ago.  Today, I decide to read the print version.  It is very interesting and insightful perspective.  Hindsight is 20/20.  It is easy to for the Professor to explain why some companies are successful and how they become successful.  However, it is impossible to create a blue ocean.  Conceptually, it made a ton of sense.  Execution is another matter.  It is easier to set ambitious goal like GE and make all the employees sweat bullets.  Creating a new market?  that will be a different ball game.  What do you think?

Try to fix before buying replacement

The toilet seat cover was loose in the maid's toilet.  I always assumed the screw was broken and went shopping for a new cover.  While shopping, I found replacement screws were available.  So I bought the screws and was trying to replace the "broken" screw when I found it was just loose and needs to be tighten.  I wished I try to fix before I went to buy the replacement.  I was too hasty and made an assumption without checking.  Luckily, the screws cost only $2.  So it is a small mistake.  New covers cost $18 to $35.  NTUC has the cheapest at $6.90 but the cover is very thin and flimsy.

This is just a small example.  In life, it is very common to make assumption that could lead to costly mistakes. 

Teresa Teng

On the flight recently, the Kris World has a new category, Stage Performance.  Teresa Teng 15th anniversary concert in Taiwan and broadcast to mainland China live.  I like to the evergreen love songs and watch the performance several times.  Her singing is so good and a joy to listen.  I like classics.  I do not appreciate the Xin Yao or modern songs.  So my other favorite singers are Yu Tian and Fei Yu Qing. 

Considering I am a kentang (potato), I like Chinese orchestra, Erhu, Flute and the Chinese pop songs.  Many of my friends think I am a confused person.  Saddling on two cultures, poor in written Chinese but listening to traditional Chinese orchestra.  My neighbour was surprised one afternoon at the poolside to learn that I enjoyed listening to Hokkien songs by Yu Tian.  She is in the management committee which I chaired and feel my English is so good that I would be inferior in other languages.  What a surprise for her!

Back to Teresa, I bought a 8 CD sets in Popular and found the songs are not as good as the songs in the concert.  So I must look for the dvd.  Teresa Teng died at the age of 42 after asthma attack while on holiday in Chiangmai with her French boyfriend.  Her songs are with us forever.

Boneless Beef Short Ribs

We barbeque bonelss beef ribs, a new product from Foodie market.  Actually, the ribs with bones are no longer available.  The short ribs were over cooked and burnt.  Luckily, it is still juicy inside.  We ate only meat for dinner as I was the one to cook.  I also heat up frozen chicken wings.  After dinner, I cut out the hami melon for dessert.  It's been a long time since we ate at home.  We had good conversations. 

National Carrier

I flew back from Haneda, Tokyo on Saturday.  I have a pleasant trip back thanks to warm welcome of the cabin crew. It is nice to be pampered as a frequent flyer.  The flight time was at ungodly 6:30am.  The reason is limosine bus is not operating at 4am.  Luckily, the monorail starts at 4:58am and therefore reduce the cost of going to airport to 25% of taxi fare.

I wrote to SQ feedback to compliment the Flight Stewardess, a Japanese girl(pun intended).  I believe it is important for staff to get positive feedback when they did a good job.  I hope she gets her promotion after 10 years on the job.

Platypus with our Nieces

All three nieces came and we have a wonderful Italian dinner and plenty of appetizers.  I love the potatoes.  They are very tasty.  Crispy and crunchy outside and soft and juicy inside.  Best french fries so far.  My nieces are all doing well.  All three have boyfriends and two are working.  One is going into insurance next month.  The baby is in final year Nanyang Poly in Audio Engineering.  I am very happy to see them well adjusted.

We end dinner early about 8pm as B3 has homework to finish and school tomorrow morning.  It is a very good evening for us. 

Lousy Flight Time For SQ in Haneda

I have wake up at 4am to catch my flight home.  The timing is ridiculous.  No limosine bus is running at that time.  Taxi fare is about 8,000 yen to Haneda airport.  Luckily I found a cheaper alternative of monorail.  The cab fare is 1,200 yen plus 470 yen for monorail ride total savings is 6,000 yen.  I understand the poor timing is given by Haneda airport and Japanese Government as they are afraid of competition for JAL.

This information change my perspective and I am now sympathetic instead of sour mood.  I understand in the beginning of flights to Haneda, SQ is usually at 50% load.  Then the monorail schedules were adjusted and today the flight is full for both business and economy class.  I was lucky that the flight stewardess is warm and nice.  She spend time to explain to me and also make sure I am comfortable.

I could not sleep on the plane and the lack of sleep cause my stomach to be queasy.  Home is nice and cool compared to Tokyo.  I understand from my neighbour that the news reported some Japanese died due to the heat.  I also thought I had good control as I did not eat breakfast.  But my weight did not go down.  I have to work hard to reduce.  I am looking forward to have dinner with my nieces, so dieting will have to wait...

Resonance - French Cuisine

Rare time I eat genuine French food.   It is nice experience.  The portions are really tiny.  Food is esquisite.  Taste-wise quite good.  Flavors are complex and subtle.  Many courses as well.  Everything is served in huge plate with very little inside.  The sauces have designs, so it is like eating art.  Price is at 8,000 yen or 80/head excluding drinks.  So I think the meal is easily 40,000 yen for 4.  Tokyo is such an expensive place but has the most variety of authentic ethnic cuisines.

Younger Crowd in Tokyo

I noticed at the exhibition, there are lot of young men and women.  So the economy is humming.  Usually, I see mostly senior looking men and women on the trains.  I am probably travelling from point to point to meet my customers.  This time, I see the younger generation out to visit the trade show.  The economy in Japan is also getting better, the young becomes more visible? 

I used to think salesmen in Japan are only gray-haired men.  They are always carrying a briefcase and on the trains looking serious.   So all the news about aging Japan was quite real to me everytime I visit.  This time my impression is change slightly. 

A Productive Day

I asked my host who had stand all day long if he has backache like me.  He says he is tired but no backache.  I am having backache due to soft bed and standing all day long except for lunch.  I had met customers and go for my rounds in the exhibition.  Plenty of equipment for Pharmaceutical companies.  The robotics are quite amazing in Japan.  Robots to do dangerous experiments.  Never mind the price.  The robot cost $8 million American dollars!

Dinner was yakitori beside my hotel.  I like the barbarque food on the sticks.  My host after a couple of beers told me it is difficult that he is always known as the founder's son.  He has big shadow to grow into.  At least it is not as bad as another distributor who is the founder's son-in-law, I told him.  It is at casual setting that this kind of talk happen.  Hence the need for business travel is not going to go away.  I also relate our father to son business story.  Everyone has their own stress when working for others or for themselve or for their family.

At the end of day, we are all learning to live with others and each other.  After a long and tiring day, I feel it is productive and will help the business.

Wonderful Dinner

Good company and Good food make a fabulous combination for wonderful dinner.  We had otomoyaki and teppanyaki.  The vegetable salad is fresh and dressing is tangy and gently flavored.  Starter is fresh abalone.  Beef is tender.  So I must say it is a wonderful meal.  The meal cost 35,000 yen for 4.  It was excellent.  I bought madeleine and peanut candy and have them for desserts when I am in the room.

I have no desire to walk as it is tiring just to stand all day.  My back is sore especially since the bed is soft.  Soft bed makes bad back.

Warm and Very Green

I do not come to Tokyo in summer usually.  So it is very nice to see thick greenery on the side of the road and the fields are all green.  The crops have all grown.  It is nice to have 4 seasons.  The change in weather is nice, very nice.  This is what I missed living in Singapore.  It is a long trip up and I am feeling a little tired. 

I had tonkatsu dinner.  It is simple and filling. 

Despicable Me 2

We had two free movie pass from Kit Kat promotion.  Finally, we manage to use it as they can be used only on Mondays to Wednesday.  Today is Youth day and B3 has no school.  B1's school has not started.  So he organised to buy the tickets and we watch the movie as a family.  This is our first movie as a family.  I am not a big fan of movies as it is torturous for me to sit for so long and unable to stretch my legs.  I just realised as I write, I actually will be cooped up for 7 hours.  The aircraft seats are different as they can be reposition to be more comfortable.  I was freezing in the movie as we bought popcorns and coke.  The coke is cold and sipping cold drink under aircon makes a freezing combination.

The kids in the audience loved the movie.  They laugh at the jokes and antics.  The adults like me are not so tickled.  It is a good family outing for us.  B2 ate in school meeting us.  B1 and I ate at the food court on the fourth floor of Junction 8.  The price is steep for food court, $6.50 for a chunk of beef, sayur lodeh and yellow rice.

Tomorrow is a regular day and early start. 

Good Catch in Lower Pierce Reservoir

B3 wanted to catch "lobster" at Pierce Reservoir.  So I go bring him there.  We were not so successful.  B1 called and said he was there but is now at home.  He is interested to join us.  So we asked him to bring coke along as it was hot and we are thirsty.  B1 caught 4 lobsters and B3 caught 1.  So we did have a good catch.  When we reach home, B3 put all the lobsters in the pail which he kept for the dragonfly nymph.  Hopefully, they survive.  We met a group of Hong Kong families there.  Their kids speak English well.  They must be studying in the International school.

Dinner was at Pow Sing.  I was horrified to see my weight crossed 91 at 91.5.  It is hard to keep weight down as we eat out more often.  The MSG cause me to eat and drink more.  The sodium content is also high.  It is unhealthy living.  I have to discipline and encourage myself to live more healthily.

Next Sunday I have Italian dinner with my nieces.  I will need to control myself as the french fries are delicious.  I loved good food.  I wish I have healthy hobbies like camping or running.  Here I am doing computer work after dinner.  Not much physical activities at all.

I am travelling next week.  Hopefully my weight will go down.  It may be difficult as I have a few meals appointments.

Platypus Resturant

We pick up B3 from his Chinese tuition as usual and wondering where to go for lunch.  Then he suggested to go Platypus an Italian Resturant as it was not open when we want to try it one morning during the school holiday.  We were too early at that time.

There were meal deals meaning if you order the main course, you can get soup or salad and a drink. 
The main courses are pasta.  There is no pizza.  The appetizers are quite excellent  We had french fries and baked mashed potatoes with truffles.  The fries were crispy outside and soft inside.  The flavor was complex and appealing.  After our meals, we try out their dessert and were disappointed.  The desserts were not so good. Even with the deals, the cost per head is $35. 

No Jetlag?

B1 is just amazing.  He does not seem to have jetlag.  Today is day 3 that he returned home from Toronto which is 12 hours difference in time.  He is out all day with his friends and not back yet.  He is probably tired.  The army training is working it is just like a night of guard duty and continuing daily activities after that.  I am glad he is going out with his friends and socializing.  It is important he develop a bigger social circle than just sticking with his girlfriend.

Interesting Nightmare

I am up in the middle of the night with the nightmare of trying to get access to the ledge of the balcony of apartment which two kids managed to squeeze out and were sitting on the ledge looking out.  It was dangerous and I have to get them to safety.  So there I am trying hard using 4 different keys to unlock the window grills and then I wake up and go to the washroom.  What a nightmae.  I could not go back to sleep in case the nightmare come back...

B1 Back Home

After two months living with grandma in Toronto, B1 is home.  Soon he will start Law school.  He seems to take jetlag really well.  He went out all day and is home for dinner.  We are busy with work and maintaining the house.  He is all sunburned as he went to Alqonquine park for camping.  B3 is very happy with all the candy his eldest brother brought back.  He gave some to his friends.  B2 has a new backpack and jacket and wear it to school right away.

We are now a complete family again.

Dinner with my Nieces

It has been quite some time we have a family gathering.  It is hard to get the whole family together.  So I have appointment with my nieces.  I am looking forward to have dinner with them in two weeks.  I am glad to just meet them and have a meal with them.  They are young adults now and getting on with their life and career.  My nieces took after their mum so are good looking.  Good looks however is not enough for success in work or career.  They are doing very well inspite of their circumstances.  The two older girls studied all the way to University.  The baby is in Ngee Ann Poly just like B2.  The eldest is in govt service and no. 2 work for a bank.  I am happy they are strong contributor to society and hope they get a good life partner.

Worry King

I am a incessant worrier.  I worry over everything.  Maybe it is genetic.  B1 is back home and start telling us his experience living with grandma.  Grandma, he felt worries over everything and nothing.  She worries about him returning home late.  She worries over he did not eat rice during meals.  She worries over trivials.  When B1 tells me this, I realise I may have her genes and cannot help but worry.

When I worry, I have sleepless nights or sleep poorly.  I worry over work, business and the future.   I worry about human race killing our Mother Earth.  While I am doing my bit to reduce my footprint, there is nothing I can do about doomsday if doomsday really exists.  So far many so-called doomsdays have come and gone. 

I do not worry so much about my boys but I worry about their future.  The world of work has changed and is still changing.  There are many things for me to worry about.  The bright side of things is I do not worry about being worried:)

Difference Between Reading Fiction and Non-Fiction

First, it was audio booksand then the physical books.  I have not read fiction for many years.  Recently, I caught the thriller bug.  David Baldacci writes thrillers.  It is hard to put down the books when the story becomes addictive.  It is nice to have a fiction on hand to read when queuing for purchases like hawker centers or at the supermarket.  Usually, I have trouble finishing non fiction books especially heavy duty subjects like Leadership, Psychology or English. 

Fiction is very exciting and it is important to know the ending.  Whereas non-fiction usually do not have a thrilling finish.  Just a summary of what the book is about.  I like "digest" version or summary of business books.  The idea is expounded in a few pages rather than a few hundred pages.

Reading fiction is pleasurable.  There is no thinking required, just let the story flow with every turn of the page.  I have to absorb the ideas and reflect on what I learn reading non-fiction.  It is enjoyable because I also loved to teach.  So knowledge acquisition for its own sake is actually fun to me.

Now that I compared the two types of reading, I like both for different reasons.