Back from BKK

I took SQ to BKK and back.  It is short trip and the cabin crews are pretty alright.  The Penang girl, Neoh is tall and slim.  Lookwise is above average.  Return trip is Irene who is shorter, fair and busty.
I stayed in hotel Centara Grand or Sofitel before whichI used to go before finding out about staying downtown in Intercontinental where Central World and Siam Paragon is.

This trip is busy having to talk to all my colleagues and preparing for the meetings.  I enjoys talking to the distributor who is about 10 years older than me.  He is a lot richer and very sharp.  I like his style and keen business acumen.

Looking Forward

Lunchtime.  Hot mid-day sun, I cycle as I needed to de-stress.  The tide is really high.  First time for me to see the water level so high.  It is at the highest point on the jetty, mark by the barnacles on the concrete stilts.  I just check the tide table by NEA.  High tide is 3.0 meters at 1311.  Highest was yesterday at 1233 rising to 3.1m.

I just looked at the tide table for October and November.  Highest tide level is 3.2 m and lowest is 0.4 m.  Low tide is good time to catch baby crabs and shrimps.  Tomorrow, I have to leave after lunch.  The low tide is at 8:09am in the morning.  I will be out, so it is not wise to catch any live creatures.

I just read my title and I realise it is Thai food that I am looking forward to rather than the long term future of our Mother Earth.  Yes, I am going to enjoy then regret having to go on diet.

Bangkok

I have to go to Bangkok.  It is short notice.  I do not enjoy trips with short notice as there are no way to prepare for it.  Anyway, I am looking forward to eating good food and hopefully can buy something home.  This time I am staying in a new place, so I will not have Kinokuniya or Big C to browse or buy groceries.  I love Thai snacks.

Work is killing me!!  I have more and more adhoc meetings.  It is tiring especially when my new colleagues do not respond.  I wish to have a small company to run.

Busy Day

It is a busy Sunday.  We have early start for exercise day.  I was up at 5am and so had tea in the market.  I bought breakfast for the family - dim sum and fried carrot cake (black).  B1 had to go to library to study.  So it is good he has some food so that he can last longer. 

Then it is off to Takashimaya Jewel Fest.  I want to buy a pearl necklace as it is at a fairly reasonable price.   The dealer is from Kobe, Japan,  He is 66 years old and nice old gentleman.  I enjoyed negotiating with him.  We had a good fun and lots of laughter as we negotiate.  So finally, he agreed to the deal even though I have up my price.  He is worried that my wife went to the opposite stall.  So he drop to our original offer.  He is very smart!

After that, we had late lunch in Bishan and check with B1 is ready to come home but he is studying with his classmate.  So we returned home without him.  I seasoned chicken thigh and ribeye steak for bbq.  B3 cook twice baked potatoes.  He baked them first and then carve out the middle to make mash potato.  After that he fill the mashed potato back to the potato shell and bake them again.  When he is done with round one of his potato baking, I barbequed the meats and satay.  It is a good dinner.

After dinner, we went to the supermarket to replenish our fruits and snacks.  It is a good day!

What a Mess!

The specialist contractor to waterproof our wall is here to fix the leaky wall.  Our house is in a mess.  They drill and cut the plaster.  After that, they are plastering concrete with sealant.  Right now, we are experiencing lot of concrete dust in the house and there is a strong smell of adhesive.  I hope we do not get high on the chemicals.  My office is surrounded by a couple plastic sheets.  It is hard to do work and access to level 3 is hampered by all the covering to reduce the dust.

We have to endure this for another week.  I will be glad when the repair work is done.

Sweltering Day

It is 6pm when I go cycling but the weather is so hot.  Not so many people on the PCN.  Maybe it is Friday and it is night out for most city folks.  I enjoys sweating but now I need a refreshing shower and airconditioned room.  This only add to the global warming.

Tonight my wife cooks spagetti.  It is really simple, just boiled the dried spagetti, heat up the sauce, add minced beef and wolah!  It is a simple and yummy meal.  We had Italian meatballs from Foodie market and it is pretty good.  We have plenty of leftover and so we can have it for lunch tomorrow.

Breaking the Rules

Breaking the rules is a good way to get into trouble in big companies.  What do you do when the CEO says break the rule as long as it is for the customer?  I enjoyed the breakfast meeting with the CEO of the company.  It is amazing now that I have never met the CEO of my previous company even though I worked there for 11 years.  Come to think of it, my previous company is the most distant CEO I worked for.  I met the CEO when I was working in Canada.  Although it is just during the National Sales meeting. 

My current CEO is good.  He take the time to meet the employees whenever he is in the different cities.  Although, he told us we can break the rules, my colleague and I know it will be impossible without antagonize other colleagues.  So it is better to play by the unwritten rules.

Watching Korean Drama

Our family spend the holiday morning watching Korean drama.  It is a comedy, so we had a lot of laughter.  It is good fun with all the boys together in the living room.  B3 is watching his youtube but he is with the family.  It is nice to enjoy simple activity like watching tv.  In the afternoon, both older boys went out to meet friends.  Then they are back for dinner.

We have a new maid and she is not a bad cook.  So now, we are eating home cooked food again.  In the evening, I do some work to catch up meet deadline. 

Korean drama is a good pastime and the script writer can protray real life well.  We are watching I Do, I Do.  The workaholic shoes designer abuse her man.  Her man think logically how badly he is treated and wonders why he still like her.  There are many times we have to suspend our disbelief but with the comic relief, it is enjoyable relaxation.

Grateful

I am grateful to have a good day.  I will be lying if everything is going well.  However, let's count my blessings.  I had good solid meals.  Two boys are at home.  One is playing piano.  The other, I have no idea.  The middle boy is out with his friends.  Some work stress but it is the usual stuff.  The power of gratitude is happiness.  I like to pursue happiness rather than money.  This mean my ability to pursuit may not be as good, thus better to pursue happiness.  Happiness is free, well almost.  We have to work at it through daily gratitude exercise.  I feel a sense of satisfaction when I recount how good a day it is.  Lifestyle is more important than money.  Money can afford nice lifestyle but if I am satisfied with what I have, then money is enough.  It is good to have overflowing money.  It is easier to say when you leave, you can take nothing.  But when one has nothing, it is impossible to live in Singapore.  So there is a need for base level of money to survive.

So as long as I am grateful for all that Buddha, angels and all the wonderful gods blessings, I will stay happy.

Home-cooked meal

Finally, after a month of hiatus, we had our home-cooked meal last night.  Tonight, is home-cooked Part II, i.e. leftovers from last night's dinner.  It is fine, we had curry chicken and leftover stir-fried kangkong.  Steamed promfret is frozen fish in the freezer for a couple of months.  It is good to have brown rice.  I like to eat healthy rice to cleanse my circulatory system.

It is end of the weekend and I am feeling drowsy.  It is early to bed and early to rise for me.  I was up early before 6am and headed to the AMK market for my morning tea. 

We had a good lunch in the Soba resturant in basement of Paragon.  It is quite popular with a queue.  Waiting time is about 15mins.  There are plenty of Japanese there, so I think the food must be authentic.  I like the taste.  It is just a little pricey.

Mainland Chinese Food

B3 want to buy macaroon powder which is actually powdered egg white.  There is a shop opposite Raffles hotel that sells baking stuff.  However, it cost $17 which is too expensive.  So he wanted to go the Phoon Huat in Toa Payoh.  B3 is good at baking.  I agree but have no interest.  There is a China style food in the shop right beside Phoon Huat in Lorong 1.  The food looked interesting the last time we went Phoon Huat.  So I decided to try it.  I ordered  large intestines in miniwok and deep fried long beans.  The intestines is quite spicy with chilli oil and Szechuan spices.  Taste quite good.  The deep fried long beans or 4 seasons beans is very good as well.  B3 liked the food.  So I ordered cold beef in cucumber.  I like to eat like I am in China.  Mummy saw the next table order Wall Tie or fried dumpling.  So she ordered Jiao Zi and when the dish arrived she realised she ordered wrong and Jiao Zi is steamed.  Together with a bowl of rice and two drinks, the bill come to $34.

Note 4 or Z3

I have been thinking of getting a Sony Z3 so as to try a different phone.  I google the reviews and it is really difficult to decide.  Finally, when I go to renew my contract, I asked the customer service which of the two would he recommend.  He suggested Sony as it has better design.  According to him, the walkman is no different with the MP3 player of Android.  Then we check the specs of the display.  Note 4 has more dots than Sony.  That cuts the deal.  So now I have a new phone.  Unfortunately, the cable is different.  So now I have to wait for the new cables to arrive before I can really use my new phone.  I worry about travelling and forgetting to bring my cable and the phone will not last more than a day.

For now, I am using the trusty Note 3.  It is good to have a phone to be able to write on.  It is quick and simple when taking notes.

Organising the Home

My wife is finicky about keeping our home neat.  I loved snacks and we have a snack corner well stocked with snacks on special or when I brought some home on oversea trips.  The snacks will be all put into the open corner.  Drives her crazy and she keeps complaining how unkempt our house looked.  I counter if the snacks are kept in a cupboard, they will not be eaten and go bad.  Finally, she found a compromise!  Muji has a open shelf that is right size.  So now all my snacks are stocked neatly in a Singaporean style "high-rise flat" instead of Canadian "suburban sprawl".  My larder looked so much neater.  I like mess.  It give me the ability enjoy my snacks at any time as one look sees all.  Now I have to more than 3 secs and focus on each level before deciding on which snack to munch on.

Hua Ting Chinese Resturant

Last night, I had impromtu dinner with my boss.  He is here to get ready for his boss.  I was not involved as I am newly acquired.  Since he is staying in Shangrila, I suggested Hua Ting.  My boss is from Shanghai and he think the food is good.  I enjoyed the food too.  Another colleague of mine knows the place well as his father like to eat there as well.  The captain Kelly Tee makes good recommendations.  Unfortunately, roast pork is sold out.  But we had duck, braised beef, tofu, soup and mee pok.  Good Cantonese food is my conclusion.

Italian Salesman

The sales person who came to check out my roof garden is an Italian guy.  It is interesting.  His boss is from China.  I think I spoke to his boss many years ago with regards to solar water heater.  He also propose a much larger system.  I am thinking I may need a smaller system to have lower capital cost plus I like some open space for my roof garden.  I will wait and see how much he quotes and then write to the relevant authorities to make sure I am in compliance with the law.  I like the fact now I can really be green.

Zichar in AMK Park 2

Instead of going to AMK Central for meals which carpark is an issue and all food centres crowded and long queues in resturants in the Hub, we go to zichar stall in Industrial Park.  Plenty of carparks for free.  No need to fight for seats and wait in queues for long time. Best of all, freshly cooked homestyle food at a reasonable price.  Yep, the last few meals has been in the canteen in the industrial park.  I "re-discover" it after I send my coat for dry cleaning.  I have to use my coat for meeting in Turkey.  The food is typical zichar.  So it is not fantastic but give us a proper family dinner rather than carbo laden hawker dishes.  I can even request for no MSG.  Still feel thirsty but not as bad as if I did not request.  MSG also increase blood pressure.

B3 Cooked Dinner

Our baby is in Sec 1 and tonight is the first time he cooked dinner for the whole family.  B1 is out for bbq with his friend.  We bought Ramen with soup base, the char siew and hard boiled eggs.  Ramen costs $15, two packs of char siew costs $8 and $4 for 3 eggs.  So the price is quite high unlike instant noodle.  We are very happy that B3 cooked up the noodles and he set up the table as well.  After dinner, we asked B2 to wash up the dishes.  Pretty happy with the outcome.  My boys can survived on their own.  At least B3 can cook up a good meal.

PapaRich Westgate Mall

Tuition was cancelled this morning.  So instead of Bugis Junction, we are free to go anywhere we want.  The Wife needed an aircond place.  This of course mean it has to be a mall or Changi Airport.  B1 went to Kent Ridge for seminar.  B2 and B3 suggested Westgate Mall.  Usually, I vetoed this suggestion as it is too far.  However, this morning we have time and it is still early before 10am.  So off we go. 

The best way to go to Westgate for us is via PIE.  I noticed PIE now has many stretches with speed limit of 80km/h.  PIE is alot wider now.  There are 4 lanes in most places.  The expressway is no longer straight like before.  It is very curvy due to the expansion.

Westgate Mall is like a Japanese Mall.  B2 and B3 wanted to see Tokyu Hand.  They enjoyed Tokyu Hand in Fukoka.  Here the Tokyu Hand is tiny compared to 7 levels in Fukoka.

I need a place to kill time and the choice is quite substantial.  However, I missed Malaysia and PappaRich offers me the Malaysian experience.  So I go there for tea and read the papers.  The family joined me after they are done with their shopping. 

I asked the waitress what is their most popular hot drink and my waitress, Siti(making this truly Malay experience) suggest hot tea which I accept right away.  B3 ordered chicken rice and mummy order yellow rice nasi lemak, the works.  The works contains beef rendang, sotong, deep fried crispy chicken quarter and sambal.  I order steamed bread with butter kaya. 

The hot tea tasted exactly the same as in Mid-Valley.  I ordered a hot coffee at the end of the meal to try and it also taste authentic.  I spend my time leisurely to soak up the experience as long as possible.  It is good to have Malaysian experience in Singapore.  Only complain is it is at Singapore price!

Solar Energy

I called a different supplier in the Green Living advertisement for solar energy.  So I will check out the price of the system and compare them.  I really like a solar system to reduce my carbon footprint.  However, the cost seem a little steep.  The estimated price right now is about $25K.  The sales engineer tells me the return is about 7 years.  I shall see when the proposal come in.

Women Control the World

All men listened to their wives for everything.  Even if their wives are incapable and decide to do the work, the men have no choice.  Many a time, the incompetent get involved with the business and refuses to admit they do not know and insist on screwing things up.  The men are usually obedient and just let it be in order to stay married.

Men are suckers when it come to marriage and there is nothing they can do about.  The reason divorce is going up is the wives are getting more intolerant and cutting lose their men.

Deciding on New Phone

I have been looking at replacing my Note 3.  Note 4 is will be out soon.  I like the ability to write on the scratchpad.  It is very easy to keep reminders by writing rather than typing.  However, I am also toying around Sony.  Walkman is supposed to be superior in sound technology.  I tried the demo set, the whole phone is vibrating.  Is this good or is this bad?  Obviously the speaker is strong enough or maybe the chassis is part of the speaker system.  Hard to tell the quality of the sound.

The screen of the Sony Z3 is a lot thinner and wider, the movie looked like miniature wide screen.  I prefer the Note 3 screen as it looked more balanced to me.  It is hard to decide as I made up my mind to switch brand.  I do not want iPhone so now I am in a dilemma.  At least I have narrow down to 2 brands.

Passing Time in a Cafe

We had a late lunch at almost 3pm.  Since it is so late, I thought it will be easy to get seats in a hawker center.  It is actually busy and there is a long queue for my favorite braised duck stall.  I was amazed.  I thought it will be easy since it is late.  So we ordered other food instead.  Then we wanted to relax at a cafe just to while time away.  Guess what, everyone else has the same idea.  No seats in Ah Kun or Toastbox.  The ice cream place, Marble Slab was full too.  It is incredile that everywhere is full at non-meal time.

I think best way to spend time during a public holiday is at home far from the madding crowd!

Family Exercise Day

Every Sunday is designated as our exercise day.  We wake up early or rather the rest of the family wakes up earlier than before.  About 9 am, we will set out to the PCN.  B3 did not join but he is not going to NS plus he has exercise for his CCA.  So we do not put up a fuss when he pretended to be busy with baking.  B1 and B2 will jog to the exercise area. B2 needs to run farther.  They only run for 2 km and it will not be enough during NS.

I walked with mummy and she spend the time talking and I have to lend a willing ear.  After the exercise, it is chores time.  Then we break for Indonesian lunch in Tambuah Mas at Paragon.  After a satisfying meal, we go to do shopping in Takashimaya.  I bought the carbon filter for my water purifier.  Soon it will be time to change the filter and carbon absorber.

At B2, we bought balsamic vinegar from the Italian bread shop beside Four Leaves.  The Ciabatta looked interesting.  So we bought a ham and cheese as well as olive oil and onion to try.  It is nice to warm the bread and dipping in olive oil and balsamic vinegar.  Together with salad and bbq pepper chicken from Cold Storage, this become our dinner.  Very nice dinner indeed!

Handyman

I fixed up the Dyson portable vaccuum on the living room.  I have to use the electric drill to drill a hole and then put in the screws to attach the holder to the wall.  It is quite a simple job.  With a hammer drill, the work is fast and easy.  I also replace a tap which is leaking.  I had two way valves to fix up.  Unfortunately, it had wrong screw thread and I have to bring the two I bought back to exchange.

It is good to be a do-it-yourself handyman.

Dyson Portable Vaccuum

Harvey Norman has an expo sales.  So we go to Expo for lunch.  We ate at Lerk Thai.  Just for a platter of appetizers and a seafood pad thai together with two drinks comes to a total of $30.  We were serve by Phippinas.  No local service staff it seems except for one guy.  The food is not bad and seems quite popular as there is a big group of office staff eating their lunch.

We scout around looking at UHD tv and washing machine and clothes dryer.  But no deal.  We just bought a Dyson Portable requested by my niece for her house warming.  Look like it is light and easy to use.  I wanted to buy the demo set at 30% discount but the problem is I have to come back on Monday evening to get it.  It is inconvenient.  Delivery cost $30 and defeats the purpose.  If we had a large item like TV or washer, I can get them delivered.  Unfortunately, we did not.  So we decided to buy at full price. 

We just use the vaccuum on our carpet and it worked very well indeed.  I am glad we got the vaccuum cleaner.  It is light and handy.  More importantly, it worked like a charm.

Teeth Implant

Finally, I have two new and shiny teeth capped on my implanted roots.  I have not used the right side of my mouth for so long.  Now it actually hurts when I chew on this side.  My upper molars is stressed by the pressure and it is painful.  I guess over time my teeth will get used to the grinding and it will be normal again.

My dentist also wants to get his two of his teeth implant.  He is just waiting for the right time as two of his teeth had cracked and is supported by a steel band.  Implant seem to be the way to go but it is very expensive and the price keeps going up every year.  Now an implant will cost about $5000.  It is expensive compared to other cities. 

Taking care of implant is not easy as well.  There is a need to floss thoroughly to clear the bacteria.  I hope not to need a dentist anymore but I know it is a matter of time.  Even my dentist need work done on his teeth.

Buddhist Lodge in River Valley Road

I went to this temple today.  I thought it is the first time I went there.  But when I was there, the canteen where free food was provided looked familiar.  I went there as a kid with my mum.  I still remember the volunteer cutting vegetables and the scene looked the same.  Now my perspective is different.  I prayed to the different statues of Buddha.  There are 9 levels.  Level 2 is the admin office.  Level 3 is for praying to the dead.  I did not venture higher.  Level 1 is where devotees chant.  Now I know why my friend from Thailand will go to this temple with her mum.  It is a popular temple and has much more to offer than Kwan Yin Hood Cho temple.  Kwan Yin Hood Cho is my regular place of worship as my boy goes tuition there.

There is also a menu system for donation.  It is interesting to see the different categories.  It is Chinese beliefs to donate to a specific cause for desired effect.