Warmer and Wetter

According to a study quoted in Straits Times, our weather is warmer and wetter and will continue to trend this way.  Our average temperature in the last two months is higher than the long term average during the day as well as at night.  The researcher is reluctant to attribute this warmer temperature to El Nino effect.  So "more studies" is needed.  Is the global warming?  It could be more build up.  All my surrounding greenery when I first moved in 8 years ago are gone.  In it place are HDB blocks and a couple of condominium.  I only enjoyed my "ulu" feel for maybe 3 years.  Today, the PCN is up and I can count more than 10 HDB clusters of blocks have sprung up.  New Primary schools...and now another two plots to be sold as for private condos.  The growth of SengKang is simply too much.  No more land for radio control planes or flying kites.  All the fields are HDB or school or condo.  No wonder our heat indicator is going up.

On another note, my mother-in-law is in the hospital for cataract operation.  After her day surgery, she needed to be warded.  She has to wait for a long long long time to get a bed.  It is all due to "paperwork".  The paperwork in question is guarantee of payment by insurance.  The hospital will not admit a patient until there is a deposit for payment or a guarantor.  We have reach the sad state where if you have no money, you will be denied medical care. 

The government is heartless and ruthless.  We are not citizen but a cost to them when we need medical care.  I feels so sad and discouraged for all my fellow citizens who are unable to afford medical care in a "Government Hospital".  If you are not healthy and have no money, your options are limited very very limited. 

The Straits Times headlined "Government will spend $4 billion on MediLife".  Will it really spend as forecasted?  I doubt so.  It is just like the money they allocated for the many programs to help disadvantaged or seniors.  Only a fraction of the money allocated go to the people in need.  The number of forms and hoops you have to fill and jump make it impossible.  It is sad, really sad.

We need a more compassionate government.

Weekend Crowd

The Punggol PCN is crowded with joggers, cyclists and families out for stroll.  It is very family-oriented and best of all...FREE!!  People are renting the bikes early in the morning at Punggol Point.  It is a lot tougher to ride as I have to pay attention to navigate through all the obstacles.  I enjoys listening to my audio books or music.  So I am slow in recognising my neighbours who were out because I was listening to Finding Your Element by Ken Robinson.  It is an interesting book. Ken Robinson has several videos in TED.  It is both hilarious and yet profoundly true.  I enjoyed it even though I had seen them several times.

PCN are full of health concious men and women.  They are dripping in sweat.  I wonder if they are weekend warriors when it comes to exercise.  It is not healthy to exercise only on the weekends.  But this is the lifestyle in Singapore.

Contrasting Cabin Service

The cabin service on the way back is so bad that my family noticed.  B2 in the taxi says "it is so different when we come back".  My wife noticed the cabin did not know there is a discount for PPS member.  She paid for her purchase with the vouchers and using her Solitaire card.  She also realise the cabin crew did not address her at all.

Worse of all is the Indian Steward who stand along the aisle putting on a plastic smile but refusing to help my wife to put up her cabin bags.  It is lousy experience for poor attitude and service.  When she wanted something from her bag, the cabin crew "volunteered" to take down her bag.  I just said it is heavy to make sure he is careful with it.  Instead he keeping calling me to help him to bring it down.  He saw me putting the bag by myself.  He is a young man and B1 help him to bring down the bag.  He decides to put the bag up by himself after he realised it is not really heavy.  However, he did not do any recovery.  Later when he saw my wife doing drawing for sewing dresses, he tries to suck up to her by saying his wife is also into sewing clothes.

My wife notices that the Chief Stewardess is friendly and talk to her alot after she realise the passenger wants to spend money.  So she asked me on the way home if the crew gets commission for inflight sales.  I need Boh Tong to confirm if cabin crew gets commission for inflight sales.

Last Day in Fukuoka

I had a good time in Tokyo Hands.  Tokyo Hands is hobby store.  I spent lot of time gawking at Aster Live Steam model train.  There are several models ranging from just below $2,000 to more than $17,000.  I remember that the train store in Singapore had a Aster Live Steam Train before.  That was more than 20 years ago. At that time the price was over $4,000.  Sometimes I regret not buying the train.  Yet, I do not really play much with the train set I bought.  I also have a live steam model.  It does work but it is usually in storage.  So maybe it is no point buying a toy that I hardly play.

Tokyo Hands is quite interesting.  There are lots of different creative hobbies.  Leathercraft, sewing, model making and giving me a lot of nostalgia is Tamiya kits.  I feel I travel back in time as the tools and spray paint paraphernials are still the same.  Also the section on science kits is the area I still spend time on.  This bring me memories of growing up. 

My boys love the Pokemon Center.  They keep going there.  I think it bring them memories of their childhood.  B1 is excited.  The child in him is back!!  They bought Pokemon cards and have forgotten mummy making them throw away all their old cards before.

So in some ways, Japan still retains a lot of things past.  We no longer have Pokemon and Tamiya.  Or at least they are not readily available. 

I enjoyed today very much.  I did spend a lot of time working as well.

Fukuoka Holiday

Our boys are full of energy while I am tired of going from place to place.  So they go on their own after lunch to visit a famous temple.  My wife and I just stayed behind to window shop and take leisurely explore the underground mall.  When my back hurts, we stop at a cafe to rest and have latte and read the newspaper.  It is a good way to spend the day.

I was interested in the Seiko GPS watch as it can automatically tuned to local time using satellite signals.  This is the latest technology.  I have a Casio watch that has world time which I wear all time.  Pro Trek has 3 sensors - temperature, pressure and compass.  I love gadgets.  My watch can tell direction, barometric pressure or altitude and let me know the ambient temperature.  The Seiko Astron can only do world time and it is a lot more expensive.

B1 always interested whenever he sees a long queue.  So we try out the resturant with long queue.  I have no idea why it is so popular.  This resturant specialises in ox-tongue.  Appetizer is braised ox-tongue.  We order two different sets.  It is just bbq ox-tongue with different thickness.  I was sick of ox-tongue before lunch is over. 

Our dinner is better.  We had yakitori.  We cannot read Japanese and the waitress has limited English.  Somehow we managed to have a wonderful meal.  The perennial favorite is still yakitori chicken with leeks.  Cost 130 yen each with big pieces of chicken.  Far better tasting and better value than tiny chicken sticks from Tori-Q.  We has an assorted yakitori that has chicken breast bone, chicken liver, chicken gizzard and chicken meat with leeks.

I like easy holiday and experiencing the local food.  No rush and wake up at whatever time.  It is good way to recharge and be with the family.

Super Fresh Super Value Sushi

B1 lead us to the Fish Market.  It is close as we woke up in the late morning.  However, the resturants beside fish market are open.  We went to the first resturant in the building beside the fish market.  My boys enjoyed the sushi very much.  The fishes are very fresh.  Even I ate a few pieces of raw fish.  As Richard Feynman says in his book "Surely you're joking, Mr. Feynman" he likes to eat fish in Japan but back home in America, he does not like to eat fish.  When he went back to Japan the second time, he realised why he like to eat fish in Japan and not anywhere else - the fishes are fresh in Japan.  Actually, I find the raw fishes are tasteless when fresh.  Only the texture is different for different fish.  Maybe I do not eat fish often enough to distinguish the different taste.

We had loads of sushi and two lunch sets.  My boys and mummy enjoys the meal very much.  Best of all is excellent value.  The meal cost about $100 Sing.  The same meal in Liang Court will cost more than $300.  Now I know why my brother-in-law comes to Japan for holiday with his family frequently.  They fly free and eat freshest sushi at a discounted price!!

Fukuoka, Here We Come

It is very lucky that all my boys are on school holiday this week and last week.  So we will go to Fukuoka as a family.  We have not done this the last trip to Rome.  Usually, we do a trip every 3 years as we need to accumulate enough air miles.  But nowadays even with air miles, the "free" tickets still cost a pretty penny with fuel surcharge and airport taxes. 

This year the miles were going to expire.  So we book the tickets in February.  Tonight, we have to do red eye.  Unfortunately, only one flight a day to Fukuoka.  We have not been there, so we thought it is nice to try a new place.  B3 just reminds us that tonight is his first trip to Japan.  I did not realise.  The two older boys used to go to Narita over long weekends when their small Ee Ee is not married.  We can get free air tickets and live in her room when she flies.  That benefit is gone once she is married.

Fukuoka, I understand is a small city.  We can walk to our hotel from the airport!  So we will see how this place is like. 

A Good Sunday

My in-laws visited us this morning.  I made coffee and tea for them.  They enjoys some of our cut fruits.  It is my usual practice to cut fruits and put them in boxes in the fridge for easy access.  They enjoyed talking and catching up with their daughter.  After they left, we went to Lucky Plaza to change to Japanese Yen for our holiday trip.  Lucky Plaza has the best rates around.  Also there are plenty of food places as well.  Only drawback is it is extremely crowded today.  So we went to Paragon to walk in aircond comfort.  fter a while, although I was not hungry, I sit somewhere.  I thought of cafe which is high cal and high price.  So I decided to go to Tambuah Mas.  My boys like sayur lodeh and fried chicken.  I like the beef rendang and tahu telok.  So we had a good time enjoying the meal.  It is simple but good food.

In the afternoon, I cycled and swam.  So I did my exercise.  It is dinner time now.  My Indonesian helper is quite a good cook.  She take long time to cook.  So we will enjoy home cooked dinner now.

Yishun Chong Pang Market

The market has good deals.  Rainbow mangoes going for 50cents.  Lychees for $2/kg and Green Lychee is $4/kg.  Jackfruit is in season and cherries is nice but still pricey.  I like the vegetable stall.  They sell the veggies at a good price.  The spread of fruits is quite wide and I love to shop there.

I am going for holiday next week, so cannot buy too much.  Getting car park at the market is challenging.  I have to park opposite at the HDB blocks.  The minced meat noodle is excellent there.  So I would say this is a good place to come on the weekend. Usually, B3 has his tuition and we have to go downtown.  But he has switch his lessons to Fridays as he may need to go for his jumps training on Saturdays.

I used to live in Yishun when B1 was a toddler.  B2 was born there as well.  So, this place gives me good memories.  I missed the kampong opposite Chong Pang.  Today it is Sembawang Airbase.

8 Beer Girls

Today, we eat out at Ang Mo Kio hawker center beside Popeye's.  It is really busy.  Also interesting to people watch.  I am surprise that the hawker center has about 8 beer girls.  Every girl represent a brand.  Singha, Beck, Carlsberg and Tiger are the only names I can recall.  When we walked pass the coffee shop, another 4 girls.  Beer is big business.  I think every girl cost $50 as reported in the news before.  Each brand has their own girl.  So it is $50 a night for labour cost.  I wonder how many beers you have to sell to break even.  Then transport cost, ice, glasses and ice box.  The market is big enough in one hawker center to support 8 brands and a coffeeshop 4 brands.

I noticed many people are over weight.  So we are getting Americanised!  The percentage of obese is growing.  All the tables beside us seems to have lot of food on the table.  The food looked very appetitizing.  So the temptation is pretty strong to enjoy the food.

Birds Paradise

In the morning, I can hear so many different birds singing.  We are becoming a bird paradise.  Parakeets, cuckoos, white rings, sun birds and a few I could not identify.  It is an amazing feat NParks did.  NParks decided to switch to trees and plants that will attract birds and insects(food for birds) and they did it!  I had seen woodpeckers as well.  Other than the usual mynahs, sparrows and crows, we now have more varieties.  I am seeing different species in the PCNs as well.

I met Trina, the NParks manager doing her rounds at Punggol Point doing her checks for damages and getting them fixed.  She is an awesome girl.

Concorde Hotel Car Park

My Korean friend was here yesterday.  We had lunch in the Kopitiam in CentrePoint and then ice cream in Cold Stone, followed by latte in...I cannot recall the name.  It is something and Dough.  The coffee is not bad but pricey as it is served in very small glasses.

I did not know but the carpark in Concorde Hotel is right in front of the hotel and not at the basement.  I did not have the chance to get free from the hotel.  What a booboo.  Anyway, I know now.  The basement car park is for the shopping mall and not for the hotel.

So if you are driving, do remember to park right in front of the hotel.

Roy, the CPF Champion

One small guy can do so much with his fingers.  All he did was used his fingers to click and gather information and put them together.  He analyses with great details.  Some felt his calculations were wrote.  I think they are either PAP supporters or paid to write those commentaries.  At the end of the day, CPF returns are dismal.  Meanwhile, GIC and Temasek are making wonderful returns. 

The retired teacher during Hri Kumar put out an excellent point.  Stop telling us this percentage and that percentage.  Please return to me my money. 

What Roy has accomplished is incredible.  He managed to force the government media, Straits Times to write about CPF.  The government is also responding and talking about CPF.  Sadly, no answers.  All we hear that the lawsuit and false allegations.  Nothing about our CPF.  Nothing about how we can get back CPF which is "our money according to Tan Chuan Jin, Manpower Minister."  Really?  If it is our money, what so vague and so many rules and obstacles? 

Roy is famous and he should be.  He champion for most Singaporeans who need to understand what happens to "their money".

Heatwave and Eel

It is extremely hot today.  I drank loads!  It is interesting.  With such high temperature, many are still out at the PCN exercising.  So keeping healthy is really important to many Singaporeans.

I used to collect baby eels when it rained to feed the arowana.  Usually, I just leave them in the pond.  The PCN drainage has been improved.  So no more eels or earthworms to collect after heavy rain nowaday.  Yesterday, B3 was trying to catch baby guppies in the pond.  Then he found something moving.  He got a shock to find that it was an eel that is almost 2 feet long.  I was wondering how come 100 goldfishes I put into the pond has disappeared.  I thought it was the kingfisher.  So I put fishing lines across the pond to discourage the birds from fishing, but my fishes continue to disappear.  Now I know the reason.  The little 4 inches long eel has become 2 feet!  We caught one.  I do not know if there is another lurking in the pond.

My pond is full of water plants.  So it is easy for the eels to hide.  I hope no more eels so that the goldfishes I put in can grow to large size.  My pond is now like an eco-system.  The guppies are reproducing and plenty of baby guppies swimming around.  Sometimes, they go to the arowana side and probably get eaten up.

Father's Day

We went to buy Cat's Mountain Durian for my wife's father.  He is a vegetarian and it is hard to get the food suitable.  He has a weakness for durians especially expensive varieties.  So his daughter like to buy the most expensive durian for him.

My boys wishes Happy Father's Day in the morning.  We went to Changi Terminal 2 for lunch.  After lunch, we went to McDonald's for B3 to claims his free coke.  Of course we spend more money.  He has to have an ice-cream and then the cinnamon roll with icing.

I cook up the beef brisket for dinner.  All three boys like it as it is tender.  The meat is seasoned with Prime Rib salt and Turbino sugar.  Good thing is the meat is vaccuum sealed as it has been sitting in the fridge for almost two weeks.  The meat smells ok and tasted fine.

We ate durian for our night snacks.  A good way to end Father's Day.

Back from Blog Blackout

Blogger is banned in China.  So I was unable to update my blog.  It took me a while to remember.  I was wondering why I could not access some of my regular sites which I read like Bertha Harian as well as my own blog at first.  I have not travelled to China for two years now.  So I have forgotten about censorship.

Shanghai is warm and humid.  I am staying in a different part of the city now instead of People's Square.  It is offices rather than shops and no more bookshop for me:(, only luxury brands like Prada and other snob consumer products.  I am glad to be back home.

Shanghai

It's been a long time!  I am going Shanghai tomorrow.  I have not gone there for more than 2 years.  It is like going back home as I will be staying in the People's Square.  It is a place I am familar with.  I like the place as I know the supermarket and the resturants there.  I like the bookstore as it carry DVDs and English section.  Still it is not like Taipei where the Eslite bookstore has more English titles and a section with Scientific toys.

Shangai is easy with the maglev and subway.  I am looking forward to a busy city.

Pierce Reservoir Lobster

B1 and B3 decided to go fishing in Pierce Reservoir for lobsters.  They managed to catch 5 - one huge male and 4 smaller females.  This is the first time we caught such a size.  So instead of putting them in the pond and letting them escape, we are putting them in a fish tank with a filter pump.  Hopefully, they will grow and reproduce.  I am quite happy we can set up the system quickly.  Now we have a chance to see if they can grow with the dry food pellets for terrapins.  My arowana has grown quite big now.  I do not know how long arowana lives and if I should release into the wild.  Maybe I should keep till it dies of old age.

Beautiful Afternoon

The sky is blue and sun is shining.  It is a beautiful Sunday afternoon.  Hot and humid, it is an invitation to the pool for a cool dip.  I have been reading on the internet on the Return Our CPF protest.  It is very interesting and Han Hui Hui is very impressive.  She is a good speaker using English, Mandarin and dialect.  A true blue Singaporean.  I can see Hui Hui's calling.  She is passionate about her cause and strike an emotional cord.  I can see she will go far and be a strong contender for politics.

I think it is time to go to poolside and read my books.

Solar Controller

I think I have damaged my solar controller.  I was stupid and lazy not to fix it back properly after testing a new controller.  Now my original controller which was working is no longer working anymore.  This Phocos controller from Europe cost me $60 or more.  I have to buy a replacement controller from China.

First home cooked meal after a few months!!  Tonight dinner is our first home cooked meal by our new helper.  She speaks Mandarin and Hokkien.  So my wife, a Cantonese girl is quite good at using her Hokkien now.   She never speaks Hokkien other than to scold me or make sacastic remarks.  Like everyone knows, the first words you learn in a new language are all the bad words.

Pandan Loop

I have been in Jurong for the past two days.  It is new office I have to go.  I had a visitor from US.  Bala is an Indian living in US for the past twenty years.  He is a ball of energy.  He talks fast and pushes hard at his agenda.  He is a good guy.  He does listens as well.  I am glad he is quite open to feedback on the meetings.  I am also glad to contribute to the knowledge pool and enjoys sharing and talking about technical stuff.  I am back to my elements again.  Only thing is it is like to my old office -  Bureaucratic!

Drainage Improvements on the PCN

I missed all the creepy crawlies I could catch after thundershower at the PCN nowadays.  I used to be able to pick up earthworms large and small after heavy rain.  Just pass under the TPE, there are eels squirming around as well.  The drainage has been improved, so now the water do not flow out onto the paved track.  So nowadays no earthworms or eels.  I miss having the ability to give free live food for my arowana. 

My arowana has grown large on a diet of live fishes and earthworms.  Today, I gave it only dry food pellets.  It still get live seafood as baby guppies managed to go through the net which I use to isolate the guppies and goldfishes in the pond.

It is much nicer to ride after rain but no more worms or eels to collect.  But there are plenty of lizards in sunny days.  One I saw a fat toad, a couple of times - snakes.

School Holiday

There are plenty of tents at the Punggol Point Campsite.  I wonder how it is like to live out.  But together with all the kids, they are out for mischief when I am asleep.  So it is easy to become victim of tomfoolery.  Along PCN, school kids are out for their field trips.  Maybe their CCA programs.  So the PCN is quite lively.  It is so unlike my time when camping is quite backward.  Now the tents are so easy to set up and light weight.  Field trips are easy on the PCN where the pathways are tar surface and the landscape is manicured.  It is nice our kids have some outdoor activities.  It is good for "survival skills and character building".

Back to ... Pappa Mia

We decided to go back to Pappa Mia for lunch today.  We try out different food.  This time we have curry laksa and nasi lemak with oriental chicken.  I also tried the Kopi-O.  The kopi-o is ok, I noticed it is from a machine.  Curry laksa is average, nasi lemak is above average.  It is B3's first day of holiday and he order the mango ice with transparent pearls.  At the airport, B3 saw his classmates.  After lunch, we go to Four Fingers to buy the Korean Fried Chicken home.  There is a one for one deal.  So it is not bad.  The chicken tastes good but I was thirsty after eating them.  The MSG level must be quite high.

Pappa Mia at Changi Airport

Today, my wife suggested we go to Pappa Mia.  We tried this Malaysian-style resturant who is started by ex-Mandarin chef last week when B1 returned home from his Korean holiday.  The chicken was good and seafood fried rice according my The Wife is now the No. 1 Fried Rice better than the Prawn Fried Rice she loved in Din Tai Feng.  The food is good and bring me memories of being in Malaysia.  I ate by myself a number of times at this kind of upscale kopitiam style resturant.  With the KL team, I usually let them suggest where they like to try.  They know my favorite is the traditional kopitiam food.  But we do enjoy Tony Romas, Sunrise Roast Duck, Chilli's, Penang Resturant, Madam Kwan and many other nice resturants in KL.

Pappa Mia is like PappaRich, OldTown, Uncle Lim or Kluang Kopitiam in KL.  The menu has Fuchook, Curry Hor Fun, Mee Goreng(very authentic as my next table had this dish), satay(my perennial favorite), steamed and toasted kaya bread, chendol and other Malaysian hawker dishes.  I like the food and the ambient.  So this may become one of my regular haunt since I stopped going to KL nowadays.