Library

I have not gone to the library for some time now.  I am tired of listening my music over and over again.  So I am glad to borrow a couple of audio books - The Innocent by David Baldacci and False Impression by Jeffrey Archer for fiction and Built to Last and Innovator's Dilemma for business books.  I am glad to have new books to listen to while I exercise. 

The weather is very hot today but Bangkok is hotter than here.  My next door neighbour is at the pool and we had a good chat.  His business is slowing down and I told him mine too.

Quiet

I am reading this book as it was recommended by a fellow reader whom I lend my discount card in Kino.  She is a late teen and quite vivacious.  Atypical Singaporean, but that is because she lived in US and Eastern Europe, Ukaine if I am not wrong.

Quiet is a book for me.  Help me feel more at home with my introvertness.  It explains about why extrovert is valued and how Dale Carnegie and advertisement portrays introvert to be unsuccessful and show how good speakers sell well and make a lot more money.  The examples by Jim Collins Good to Great were led by humble and introvert CEOs.  Although it is like vindication, it does not help me make more money.  Only let me know being introvert can be successful.

Incredible Street Food

Haaiiii!  It is so tempting!  I keep wishing I am hungry.  The street food in the morning is really incredible.  All freshly cooked in front of you.  I took a walk along the street to Patunam.  Tiny fried fritters, coconut custard tartlets, deep fried bananas, barbarqued pork, chicken, innards, pork balls on a stick, freshly fried fishballs and pig skins.  You can get a full meal with freshly fried omelette with rice or minced meat with rice.  The spiciness level is incredible.  Almost everything is cooked with chilli padi.  I enjoyed my morning walk.  It is really nice to see all the different variety of food to satisfy the glutton in me.

Productive Day

Yes, I am not supposed to blog about work as it is boring.  Anyway, I had a long day until my low back aches excruciatingly.  Yes, muscles tightens and no position is comfortable.  Although painful and tiring, I enjoys meeting potential customers and talking to other suppliers.  I am a people person.  So I feel it is a good day.

I do not have time except late at night to take a walk along the street to get a feel of the night market.  Bangkok is really alive and full of tourists.  I like the hustle and bustle!  It is a good way to end my day.  I am tired and worn out.  It feels good!

Standing Till the Back Hurts

I am standing all day long today.  My back start aching at about 4pm.  It really hurts as I do not usually stand for so long.  Good thing is we have been invited by our host to his house for dinner.  The house was huge. 2400 sq meters.  A separate entertainment hall.  Car park for maybe 20 cars.  My host is doing very well in material achievement.  He is a very good businessman and very successful indeed.

It is good to come to exhibition.  It is a good place to meet customers and potential customers.  

Hot and Humid Bangkok

It is really hot in Bangkok.  Much hotter than home.  Maybe it is the buildup and no greenery.  I bought a couple of books from Kinokuniya.  Even without discount, I think the price is lower here than in Singapore.  The air is also quite bad with all the vehicles idling on the road as there are traffic jams all over.

I worry I will gain weight as the food here is very tempting and I have a couple of meetings with meals.  My weakness is my "see food" diet.  I eat what I see!

No Longer in the Nest

We went to the PCN by car this afternoon after the ST Run.  The little birdie is no longer in the nest.  It must have gone off with its parents learning to survive on its own.  Interestingly, the other baby bird is not in the nest anymore.  We saw the adult bird flying around.  Maybe the owner of the nest and may be not.  I am a little sorry the rest of the family did not get the chance to see the bird.

It is such a hot afternoon.  PCN becomes very crowded after 5:30pm.  So many people jogging and enjoying other activities with their kids.  Many parents stroll their babies in a pram or stroller.  The PCN is a wonderful asset build by our government.

Visiting my Little Baby Bird

Yesterday, I stopped by the nest and take a look.  The little bird flew out and I have to put it back.  It cannot fly well yet.  I think it will be flying off in one or two day.  I did not have a chance to visit it today and tomorrow is the ST Run until noon.  So it may fly the coop by tomorrow.  I will have not chance to see it again.  I love little baby birds.  I am glad to be able to pet it twice.  My concern was that the parents will not feed it after it had "human" smell.  But I thought of all the documentaries I watched and many times the scientists will take out the animals, fuss over them like measuring and weighing, after that put them back.  So I decided to try and it works!

Hopefully, my little birdie will recognise me when I cycle in the PCN....

How Fast Baby Bird Grows

This video is the baby a week ago

And today....

Redhill Estate

I went to Redhill Estate for lunch.  It is a place that I rarely go.  I do remember going to the place to wait for my aunt while she perm her hair.  I was probably 5 years old.  I remember it was a long wait.  Redhill has a good Teochew stall.  Unfortunately, it is not open today as it is 15th day of 7th month in the lunar calendar.  So the stall is just catering to pre-ordered items.  The food is good and economical.  Since it is not open, we have wanton noodles instead.  After lunch, my wife says she need garlic and the price of garlic was very good.  So she start to buy onions, then dried chilli, dried vegetable (mui choy) and Szechuan vegetable.  She love to get good deals.  The price is much lower than Fairprice or wet market in AMK.

Looking for Specific Book

I have too many books.  Everytime I look for a specific book, I have to search high and low - yes I do have a tall bookshelf that reach to the ceiling.  As I have more books that shelf space and my shelves are deep, I am putting my books double layers.   This makes it even more difficult to look for a specific as it can be hidden inside one of the shelves.  As I search, I saw many good books that I have not read yet.  It is really difficult to find time to read all the books I like.  I have almost all the books Peter Drucker wrote.  Also Henry Mintzberg.  Daniel Pink and Malcolm Gladwell are fairly young, so I have all the books they wrote and published.

I wonder how to read and learn from all the wise men in my library!

Romantic Old Fool?

I am watching Korean drama this weekend.  1% of Anything.  The story line is a little weak but it is romantic and also there are a lot of truths in life that are protrayed.  So the Korean scriptwriters and drama directors are quite good in this aspect.  The story line is always a fairy tale.  A rich man falls in love with a poor teacher.  Despite the difference in character and background, they overcome the obstacles and got married.  Live happily everafter.

Disappointed

It is lots of Motherhood and Apple Pie.  I do know if there are any real safety nets.  It is all individual responsibility.  As a friend told me during lunch, if you have a baby with birth defects, you will become bankrupt in two years even though government has assistance schemes and give you a sum of money so that you are responsible for deciding on the medicare for your child.

All the schemes are when you are working.  What will happen if you get retrenched?  What about schemes to help Singaporeans stayed employed?  He touches on global trends of technology and income gaps.  But no schemes to help Singaporeans stay gainfully employed.  It is always helping the poor which I totally agree.  How about the burden of middle class?  Nothing is said or mentioned.  I guess if you are in the middle class, you do not need or deserves any "help".

Overall, I am quite disappointed with the NDR aka National Day Rally.

Mermaids

My boys are telling me Mermaids are real.  It is on YouTube news!  I am skeptical.  I told them that is not news.  News is BBC, CNN or CNA.  Anyone can come up with all kinds of videos.  Apparently, Obama has seen the mermaids.  So what if the President seen the mermaids.  This does not mean they are real and also the newscaster is trying to gain credibility using Obama.  Obama has not come up on prime time news to say he has personally seen the mermaids.  It is interesting and I may check it out.

Interesting Videos in YouTube

YouTube is a wonderful invention.  Now there are so many interesting things we can see.  May not be real at time but it is intriguing.  I went to look for water messages and then start surfing other interesting videos that pops up.  One show a submarine popping out of ice.  I also like the Tesla machines.  Florescent tubes lights up when put near the Tesla coil.  Also move a vehicle using human hand as conductor of the electromagnetic energy. 

There is one on Chi master in Indonesia.  He can light up newspapers with chi!  The parkour videos are also interesting.  Luckily, most videos are short.  It is difficult to watch videos on the computer.s

Lunch with an Old Acquaintance

I had lunch at ABC Brickworks, char siew.  He paid for the meal.  I feel bad but I do not like to fight to pay. I am not old style.  Anyway, we had a long lunch and talk about old times.  He has a daughter in U of New South Wales in medicine.  Son in fashion merchanising.  His daughter is in the same school as another ex-colleague of mine.  I am lucky that my boy is in law.  So in a way, I did not lose face.  It is terrible to compare kid's achievements but such is life in a rat race society. 

I have invited him so that I can return his treat next time in a couple of months.  It is nice to just catch up with old times and learn about all the old colleagues.  Coffee shop talk with MD of a big company.

Keeping A Diary

I am glad to write every day.  It is a good habit.  Sometimes, I missed due to lack of computer access or simply forgets.  I do feel guilty when I forgot.  So the writing is now a habit.  B1 has start school and is buying a lot of new books.  The textbooks for law is quite expensive.  However, text books are important tools and we do encourage him to buy new so that he can highlight or make his own notes. 

I was reviewing some old documents and found that a paper I thought was well written.  Then I realise the author was yours truly.  I remembered that a Korean colleague requested for my opinion and I spent time and send it to him.  I also remembers that he did not acknowledge or bother to reply.  When I first read the paper I was quite impressed.  I thought the author got it right.  Then it dawn to me that I am the author.  Since my opinion has not changed, I am just a biased reader.

Having a diary is good.  As the Chinese saying goes "Strongest memory cannot match with the faintest ink!"  Reading what I have written brought back lots of sweet memories.

Humming Bird?

I understand from my niece there are no hummingbirds in Singapore.  This beetle like bird looks to me like a hummingbird.  What do you think?

Quiet

It is a quiet Sunday evening.  Mum and the boys go out to do grocery shopping.  B3 who was supposed to stay at home change his mind at the last min leaving me all alone at home.  I am blogging with Teresa Teng for company.  I do enjoy the peace and quiet and writing all alone.  The weather today is quite cool.  Because it rained in the morning, most of the weekend joggers are out at 4pm in the cloudy but bright afternoon.  I had a leisurely ride to Punggol Point.  Punggol town will be huge.  So many flats and condos are being built at breakneck speed.  The PCN will suffer from overcrowding in future.

Music helps me relax and reflect.  Sunday Times is not good today.  Not much to read and the articles are not interesting.  I missed my favorite columnists like Janadas Devan, Sumiko Tan, Lee Wei Ling and Chua Mui Hoong.  TR Emeritus has taken over my interesting read diet.  Kinokuniya has 20% but the price is still high with the discount.  So I may have to wait till I go to India or Bangkok to buy my books.

I threw away my Canon Printer as I tried to save money by using cheaper Secom ink cartridge.  I should have print until the excess ink has been cleared.  I thought it will be okay once it dries up.  Instead the error B200 come up and I go to the internet to check and there is no way to fix it.  Canon make it such that once B200 shows up, you have to replace the printer.  Anyway, the ink for the printer is too expensive and it is already giving problems before.

The favorite question for National Day is "What is it to be a Singaporean?"  I am not so sure now.  Before the flood of foreigners, I have clear idea of my Singaporean identity - non-stop working ethics, Singlish, focus on or pursuit of material well being(5Cs), fear of getting fines for any minor misdemeanours, total and complete control by our ubiquitous government and its agencies, apolitical capitalist (okay to make money but no politics).  Today, Singapore Girls marry China men, Ang Moh men, even South African man and Singapore men marry overseas brides from Vietnam.  Our rojak culture is no longer rojak but more toward India Indian, China Chinese.  I wonder if the new immigrants will be able to absorb the Singaporean kiasu identity as they are newly arrived and they now represent 40% of the population.

I am beginning to identify more and more of the insecurity of my fellow citzens. This wet morning at the AMK Ave 10 and Ave 5 hawker center, I saw this old bent woman rolling a dirty trolley filled with empty carton boxes.  She is a scavenger trying to survive.  Singapore, a first world country with third world mentality.  The poor have to survive by collecting and recycling waste.  The picture is like Indonesia or Philippines or India.  So let's see what PM has in store for our underclass as we achieve happiness, prosperity and progress for our nation. 

Back to Routine

Hari Raya and National Day is over and we are back to routine stuff of tuition, grocery shopping and housekeeping.  My neighbour who is now working in Penang is back for Hari Raya to visit relatives.  He sold off his house and bought a nice 3 storey house in Penang for RM1.2 million.  Now the price is more than RM2 million because of new state laws that foreigners are eligible to purchase landed homes that is RM 2million or higher.  So he is very happy.  He also made money selling his house here.  He is going to send his daughter to England to study law.  She is only in Secondary 2.  I am very happy for him and his family.  They are doing well indeed!

Meanwhile, my new helper is cooking up a storm.  She loves cooking but not so great in housework.  I think we will gain weight as her cooking is quite good and my boys have additional bowl of rice in the last few dinners.

Bright Sky in the Middle of the Night

I had too much tea last night.  I was also very tired and slept early before 10 pm.  The combination makes a recipe for waking up in the middle of night at 4am.  I was surprised by the bright sky.  It was something that we missed usually since we are in dreamland at this time normally.  Then it drizzles and the sky turned dark again.  This phenomenon brought back memories of living in Canada.  I had the same observation before except the sky is a lot brighter there.  I thought the earth rotation has changed with I first noticed bright sky in the middle of night.  Now I know it is just electrical discharge.

Plenty of Finely Dressed Muslims Visiting

It is Hari Raya and the Muslims celebrating their new year with fine clothing and visiting friends and relatives.  Big groups are travelling around my neighbourhood.  They do travel in style.  Make me feel like it is Chinese New Year where many go a visiting.  Many wear gold embroidered clothing.  Looked really new and hard to wash kind of clothing. 

Our multi racial society bring out all the different colours and celebrations.  This is so different from monoculture society like Japan or Korea.  We also get the chance to eat a variety of ethnic food.  So it is Uniquely Singapore!

Finding Your Elements

Ken Robinson is a very good speaker and he has several sessions in TED.  I bought the book Finding Your Elements as it is on sale and a lot cheaper in Bangkok than at home.  I also want to read what he write.  TED video is very good and entertaining.  However, it is a short synopsis and does not cover in details.  Reading the book is far better as there are exercises and plenty of examples.  The subject is cover in depth.  It is quite a nice read although I am only half way through.

Super Long Weekend!!

I did not realised it is a super long weekend until this morning my B3 come home early.  It is usually half day for National Day's Eve for schools as many student participate in the National Day Parade.  Tomorrow is Hari Raya Puasa.  Friday is National Day.  4 days in total and I heard from my wife during dinner that many Singaporeans have gone overseas for holidays.  As for me, being at home is the best thing for holiday.  PCN will be full of people exercising.  Singaporeans is a healthy lot.  We worked hard and exercise hard.  I am not sure about playing hard.

Last year, we have mango cake from Prima Delia and this evening we bought another on.  Mango cake from Prima is the best.  Real mango and fresh cream.  Tastes heavenly to me.  Last year,we had it because my nieces were coming for dinner.  This time, my wife just have craving for cake.  Actually chocolate cake but she is willing to make do with mango cake

Changing World of Work

We all know the world is changing and changing rapidly.  Many old jobs are obsolete and new one created.  Some are stable like doctors, lawyers and accountants.  Hence all mummy wants their kids to grow up to be one.  However, there is a controlled supply.  So only the cream la cream are admitted.  The rest of us have to contend with new jobs.  The internet spawn a whole new category of jobs like help desk, web designer, hacker and many others.  Even retail has display artists and becoming an actor if your academic results are not good.

The government is now saying a degree is not necessary.  However, the alternative without a degree is swarmed by foreign worker.  According to the survey, the middle age workers ages between 35 and 45 years old are most worried about their kids future work.  The population continues to grow and automation is reducing the number of workers needed.  So maybe in future it will be like one futurist forecasted that work will be for the privilege few.

Terrapin Escaped!

B3's terrapin was put out at the pond outside.  After a few days, it escapes and is nowhere to be found.  B3 was upset and so I promised him to get another.  He has been looking after the terrapin well and it grew quite big.  So I know he will be able to look after the new terrapin.  We bought one from Nanyang Sea View.  I also bought him a floating platform for the terrapin to come out of the water to bask.  He is more careful and place a netting to cover the tank in case the terrapin decides to escape.

I wonder where the terrapin go to as it is a concrete jungle outside our house.  Maybe it has the right instinct to find its way to the reservoir.  Our neighbour lost a terrapin before too.  It was quite large.  It was never found.  We wonder where it can go since it is so big.  I thought it may die somewhere in our estate but no dead terrapin ever showed up.

The good news is there are lots of baby fishes in our pond.  It is now a proper ecosytem.  I am happy that the fishes are breeding.

Interesting Coincident

Today is Saturday.  In the hot afternoon, it is time to cycle to the PCN.  I did not cycle too far and decide to take a drink at the comic depicting the love poem.  A group of 3 women asked for directions to get to the Punggol MRT.  They were hoping for the shortest way.  Unfortunately, the way up the field has been closed as it become a contruction site.   They have a choice to go to Sengkang CC which is a long way forward or back track the way they come to go to the MRT station.  They are not really sporty type as all three women keep wiping their sweat with tissue paper.  I decide to turn around and do some simple exercise at the exercise station right outside the sport complex. 

A boy topple my bicycle.  I heard his mum called out asking him to put it back upright.  The boy has the same name as B2!!  The boy is also middle child.  So I thought it is quite a coincidence.  The mummy is Grace or Mrs. Yap.  She is so young and expects me to call her Mrs. Yap?  Her husband has a bicycle shop selling lifestyle bikes.  Must be expensive and funky bicycles.

Borders Returns

I am glad to get the news that Borders is returning to Singapore franchise by Popular.  I loved Borders and Barnes and Noble.  I hope price is competitive.  Kinokuniya price in Singapore is so high compared to Bangkok.  Borders is a great bookshop.  However I am not sure if Popular can run it after Harris and Prologue closed shop.  It is the atmosphere and the comprehensive selection.  Borders before closing started to sell not book related merchandise.  It was terrible.  I stopped going as it is no longer a bookshop.

Kino is fun to browse and spend time in.  The price is high but it is the shopping experinece and I still support on 20% discount sale.  Books is the medium to hold our knowledge and wisdom.  It is the greatest invention!

Great to be Home!

Bangkok is a fabulous place with incredibly good food.  Somehow I keep having diahorrea after meals.  Obvious my stomach is not handling the spices used well.  I had good time and bad time with the food.  It is very vibrant with everything under the sun available and contrast between the rich and the poor.  Still the middle class is quite big.  So the prosperity has percolated down.

I am glad to come back home.  It is nice to sleep on my hard bed.  Soft hotel beds cause backache.  Someone recognised me when I first arrived.  I am very impressed as I could not recognised him until he told me his name.  Anyway, he is a big cheese running his own company.  I tried to have a meal with him but he is not available.  So let's see if serendipity hits again.

Sleepless in Bangkok

It is the Thai Iced Tea - milky, sweet, orange in colour and nice flavor.  I drank it during dinner and now I am wide awake.  I loved the Thai Iced Tea for it rich flavor.  Today I had two - once during lunch and another during dinner.  Now I am paying for my sin!

I had a good time walking the street.  It is so full of life and clogged with tourists from Hong Kong, China and Taiwan.  A Taiwanese group of 3 sat beside my table and watch what I ordered and then ordered the same papaya salad with salted eggs.  When my fried minced prawn in popiah skin came, I offered for them to try.  I am glad to share as I have the same habit of watching what other tables have and orders what I think looks good.

Bangkok is a nice city to visit.  Great food and polite people.  Only complain is visit is always short.  In Siam Paragon, many shops sell expensive toys like BMW, B&W sound systems and other high end audio equipment.  Obviously, many Thai have expensive tastes.  The economy must be doing well.