Happy Evening

Yesterday, we had a very happy evening.  B2 found out he was on the Director's list meaning he was on the top 15% in school.  He did not even know about this when he get his results.  He says he did not pay attention.  He found out he is on the Director's list when his teacher wrote a testimonial for him.  B1 found out he managed to get into the exchange program and he got his first choice - U of T.  I called his grandma right away to let her know the good news!  She can expect her grandson to visit for 6 months.

Then B3 is going for competition and his jumps has improved.  We all do skipping because mummy feels her skipping improved.  She skips for on 30 times and think it is fabulous.  Her standard is quite novice.  All of us skips to show her we can skip as well.  B1 skipped the fastest and B3 is very fast too.  B2 and I are obvious novices and poor in fitness.  Still we had fun family evening together.

Freezing

The weather turned cold today.  Tomorrow will be colder.  It is still ok to walk but I cannot last long and have to have a hot frothy drink before returning to my room.  My head is not good as the wind is strong and now causing a headache. 

My window shopping habit has gone out of the window(pun intended).  Nowaday, I am willing to spend when I am on trip.  First I started with Sketchers shoes in KL a few years ago.  This trip, I bought toys for B3, books on leather making for B2 and voice recorder for B1.  I feel like spending what I earned is something I deserve to enjoy.  At least I am not spending too much.  It is fun to make my 3 boys happy.

BIC Camera

On the way to Tokyo, the passenger beside me recommend I go to Bic Camera.  It is a big toy shop for all ages.  I took pictures of some toys for B3 and he says quadcopter, helicopter and submarine looked cute.  So I went back to buy them.  I can buy them tax free.  I saved 845 yen.  Not much but still good. 

On the way to Bic Camera, I have to pass the resturant belt and the smells are wonderful. 

Good Weather in Tokyo

The temperature is spring like, very comfortable.  The passenger beside me works for Oracle.  He is familiar with the Hotel I stayed and recommend I try the curry.  He likes it very much.  Also tells me to check our Bic Camera.  Bic Camera is our Sim Lim Square.  After checking into the hotel and finishing my work, I walk to Bic Camera and see that it is similar to the shop we visited in Fukoka.  The gadgets are very interesting and many very advanced.  The telescopes are very good price.  I regret buying toy stuff.  Even my binoculars from Lucky Plaza is more expensive than the telescopes here.  There are telescopic lenses for cameras as well.  Pretty cool stuff.

After walking and passing time in Bic Camera, I walked back along the resturants alley.  Very delicious smells waft into my nose making me feel hungry.  I walked back to the hotel to try the curry.  It is not bad but I will not go back again as the Japanese curry is too sweet for my liking.

After dinner, I walked to Rongponggi to digest my dinner.  Pretty nice evening.

A Good Day

I was up early and catch up on yesterday's papers before reading Sunday Times.  It is a nice relax morning.  I made tea with oatmeal and psyllium husks.  I drink fibres to increase roughage and reduce weight but my hi-cal milky drinks prevent me from actually reducing weight. 

In the afternoon, I was at the poolside listening to Baldacci thriller The Target.  I finished the book.  It is interesting reading.  I enjoys action when it is movies or fiction.  It is a nice escape where good guys win over bad except the good guys are always American and the American values.  It is fantasy but does tell a lot about how they view the world. 

Late afternoon, a nice walk in the park(aka PCN) and ended up cooling down in Seletar Mall.  The French loaf from Proofer is pretty good, so I got one for dinner.

Knowing my boys will not eat up the fruits and I will be travel tomorrow, I cut them up and put them in boxes in the fridge so that they can eat it.  I also juice up the two promegranates I bought a week ago.  The most of fruits that my mother-in-law brought yesterday were bad.  So I have to discard them.

I feel like I am a homemaker getting ready to leave the family for a week.  It is nice to take care of the boys but also do not feel good to see them playing computer games while I make their living easy.

Vegetarian Dinner!

The lo fatt ye invited her parents for dinner.  So we have to eat vegetarian tonight.  We went to the hawker center near AMK Secondary School.  I like the sweet and sour crispy mushroom.  Unfortunately, this is no longer on the menu.  So we have to chose the pre-cook dishes.  It is not bad.  My 3 boys did not complained.  After dinner, I sliced up the mangoes for dessert.  We also finished up the BreadTalk Cheese cake.  A filial daughter, she cooked basmati rice for her parents.  Basmati rice is low GI and very tasty.

My father-in-law just want to watch tv and did not want to interact with his grandsons.  So we just left him to do what he like.

Goodies = Heatiness and Toothache

Many times during Chinese New Year, my teeth will give me problem.  I think it is the sweet crunchy goodies and all bake, deep fried or cooked at high temperature.  Chinese believed this will cause heatiness and with it come sore throat.  For me, I had toothache.  This happened before at least a couple of times that I now associated toothache with Chinese New Year.  Don't laugh.  My mum says "yeat hae" or actually "zhuah" or hot in Hokkien.  So I must drink cooling tea or liang cha.  I just bought honeycomb cookies.  I loved loveletters and kueh bangkit.  Both are extremely heaty.  I also like bak kwa or bbq sweetmeat.

I am a glutton when it comes to food.  I need to reduce my food intake but I don't.  Everything in moderation.  Life will be peaceful.

Indian Workers

The main contractor of my developer finally decided to fix my leaky roof using Max Bond.  Only one Indian worker does everything.  There is a full-time supervisor who does not do anything but watch him.  This Indian supervisor actually makes things difficult and refuses to do anything to help.  What a waste of manpower.  This is an indicator of "foreign talent" Singapore Govt is bringing.  This one simple example of two foreign workers with one watching the other guy doing the work is what the open immigration policy is doing then it is really really pathetic and horrible for Singaporeans.  The Indian supervisor is bringing his Indian attitude into Singapore.  I really cannot see how this will increase the employment of native Singaporean.

Why have two workers doing the job of one?

Good Catch!

It is extreme low tide again.   B3 was keen to go and look for sea creatures.  This time we skipped most of the crabs as they are plentiful.  He caught little shrimps and fishes.  I brought back lots of ragworms to feed my arowana.  Even my goldfishes loved them!  We also brought back a starfish and sponges.  There were two different kinds of seaweeds we bring home as well.  So now it looked like a proper aquarium with quite a number of sea creatures.

The water in the pond is clouded by green algae.  I must find ways to get rid of them.  I just cleaned my filters, so I am not sure why this happen.

Low Tide

Plenty of people catching baby crabs, shrimps and even grouper.  I went to the Punggol beach at low tide today and so many people catching all the "live seafood".  I had fun too.  I caught worms as well.  So many baby crabs.  I hope to be able to keep them alive longer this time.  Now that I know the crabs can live long, I will try to have my own saltwater aquarium.  I am very happy to get some of the creatures and the next few days, I may be able to go with B3 to get some more exotic sea creatures.

Fun Saturday for Me!

My wife's classmate from secondary school married a dentist.  It is convenient we need emergency dentist services as his appointments can stretched to two months or more if we call the reception.  So if it is too long, my wife will have to call her friend and then when there is a special slot, she will get an sms and we will rush down.

Enough intro!  Coming back to why it is fun, well, B3 had his tooth extracted for his braces.  So I am obligated to return the favor by preparing a meal.  In the morning, I went to Foodie Market in Tiong Bahru to buy striploin, tenderloin and ribeye.  We had two frozen ribs.  I spent the day preparing for the meal.  First is cutting up lettuce, washing it and spin the chopped lettuce dry before keeping it in the fridge.  Then I cut out the Australian mangoes and placed them nicely on a serving plate before using a plastic wrap and storing it in the fridge to make it cold.

Then I seasoned the beef.  The Wife brine the baby back ribs.  Then it is off to Fairprice for bbq sauce as we had run out.  Since ribs take a long time to cook, I had to bbq them two hours in low heat after searing them with high heat for 10 mins. 

Since it is Western bbq, I decided french fries against the wishes of my lo fa ye(Empress Dowager).  While bbqing the tenderloin, I deep fry the french fries.  French fries take a long time to cook using gas stove.  No enough heat transfer.  B3 was not impressed as the fries were not "Golden" in colour.  So he help out by re-heating the fries in the toaster and arranging them nicely in our serving plate.  B1 and B2 help by getting the table ready and entertaining the daughter who is very sweet!  Mummy thinks she is interested in our B1.  Anyway, I am happy my B1 is popular with girls and he is open to talk to them unlike before.

We finished at closed to midnight.  I had a wonderful day:))

Weekend is Here!

I am glad the weekend is here.  I have to confirm my flights to Tokyo this weekend.  It will be cold but I am going to meet and say goodbye to my colleague who is leaving.  I am happy to see him before he leave.  So in the 6 or 7 months I am in this new company, two nice colleagues are leaving - one voluntary. 

Today is a good day.  I did not exercise too much.  I am thinking of trying out the Ion Detox to see if it works long term.  It is hard to believe that soaking feet in bubbling water will make you better.  But the cost is quite low.  So it is fine to try.

The weather is quite hot today and so I wonder if the rainy season has stopped early.  The wind is quite cool when I go to PCN. 

Today, the Swiss Shock rock our stock market.  Swiss Francs was peg to Euros.  Now the Swiss Central Bank has lift the peg and the value of Swiss Francs rise immediately by more than 40%.  So the local stock with exposure to Switzerland like Noble who has a hub in Switzerland has plummeted.  Maybe it is a good time to buy...

Laid Off!

The company I worked for was bought by a bigger company January last year.  I was officially switched over in August/September last year.  The new company took a long time to integrate me in.  The HR Director was a very good HK lady.  She has the right philosophy in managing employees and making sure employees are treated right.  Yesterday, I got a call from her that she will be leaving in 4 weeks.  She has been laid off!!  It is the first time in her life.  I did not feel good about this.  How can a company lay off a Senior Director of HR when our HR department is severely understaff.

A Japanese colleague just resigned Monday.  So this week alone, I hear two departures.  The pressure in the company is intense.  The global economy is not helping and the leaders are under pressure to produce better numbers.  I am very sorry to get these notices.  So now I am feeling very good about the company.

IKEA

I have received a bunch of samples.  They are in regular carton box and The Wife complains it is too messy and smelly.  So I have to go to Ikea with her to buy plastic containers to make my office neat.  Can you believed the lids are out of stock!  So we try to pinck from their display models.  Many people must have done it before.  So all the display has cable ties to prevent the lid from disappearing.  Luckily I found one lid and bought it even though there is a deep scratch - beggar can't be chooser and settle for a black lid for my other box.

Ikea also has lot of new LED lights.  It is specs at 20,000 hours or 20 years.  The price is pretty good compared to Philips or Panasonic.

Weight Up!

I managed to reduce by 1 kg 5 days in Hanoi.  Back home for two days and the kilo I worked hard on is back.  Too much calories intake.  I ate only meat and vegetables and hardly any carbo.  Home I drink my coffee with condensed and evaporated milk.  Creamy and rich!  Although I cycled back home, it is not enough.  I walked a lot in Hanoi which probably used more calories than cycling.  Two days to gain what I lost in 5 days.  Life isn't fair!

Samsung Note 4 S Health

I had Note 4 since the launch and recently started to use the S Health or Samsung Health App.  It is pretty cool.  I can measure my heart rate and SpO2 level.  SpO2 is oxygen saturation level in the blood.  So far I have hovered between 95% and 98%.  It is easy to change the readings by controlling the breathing.  To get 98%, all I have to do is to hyperventilate while measuring.  However, I also suffered dizziness due to hyperoxia.  I always try to reduce my heart rate by breathing out slowly.  However, it is still quite high.  I always have elevated heart rate due to diet.  I love meats.  Although I exercise regularly, they are not vigorous enough to reduce my heart rate to normal.

I have set the pedometer on.  So now I know how many steps I take each day.  I also measure my cycling.  It is pretty interesting, with the measurement, I start to compete with myself and improve over previous records.  I used to cycle leisurely and enjoy my rides.  Now I am looking at the numbers.  I may switch back to enjoying my rides after getting tired of S Health.  But I am thinking of getting the gadget to measure my heart rate so that I have a continuous measurement while I am exercising.  This will give me my fitness profile.

It is also scary how accurate the location of the phone is.  Now all our movements can be pin down to the exact location.

Limited Choice in Hanoi

The food choice in Hanoi is quite limited.  Mostly hawker food and the fresh market has only local produce.  I do not see any imported fruits or vegetables.  Pho is the most readily available.  I do not see any other type of food except hotpot, bbq and tofu with boiled innards.  There are no fashion brands or McDonald's or Starbucks. Only local brands.  The ability to buy is limited.  But with factory expanding, the general income will rise and consumption will grow.  I did not see any high end resturants in Old Hanoi.  Next time, I should stay in an international hotel.  Maybe the landscape will be different. 

So Happy to be Home

I am glad to be home.  Hanoi is nice but the air is not good.  The food is also very homogenous.  Pho everywhere and French loaf.  It is quite third world with all the shops selling basic necessities.  The roads are quite chaotic where the lanes interconnect but not in a straight line.  So it is easy to get lost.  The coffee and food is good and cheap. The meats are fine but the organ meats are very tough.  I think they do not know how to cook or did not cook it for very long to save on fuel.  Most cooking are done on charcoal.

Last Night

The air is bad but the food is good and at very reasonable price.  We had bbq skewers for dinner and followed by ice cream.  The ice cream cost the same as the dinner.  Ice cream is in a ice parlour by the lake.  We are paying for the views.  After dinner, I walked back with my colleague to the hotel.  I loved walking after meals as it help me digest and also make me feels less guilty for eating so much.  I am glad to be going home tomorrow.

Chicken Hot Pot

I love the hotpot in Hanoi.  The habits of the people is still not up to par yet.  So I do not eat too much and observed what is contaminated so that I do not touch it anymore.  Hotpot will kill the germs of the saliva.  So I feel safer. 

Also hotpot has lots of vegetables and I love to reduce my calories since I drink lots of rich coffee and tea.  My host tells me we were at the best hotpot but it is not so busy.  So I am not sure how to tell.  Once thing for sure, the meats here are quite tough.

Different Driving Behaviours

It is busy on the road most of the time.  We went to a 3 factory sites and the drive is so different.  Most of the time we are at about 40 to 50 kmph even though we are on the highway.  It is impossible to go fast even on a three lanes highway.  The driving habit is you must watch out and avoid vehicles getting into your way.  It is incredible and the road habits make it impossible to be effective or efficient.  The behavior of road users is he who dares win.   Slowly and easy does it and then you have to avoid electric bicycles, motorcycles and cars in front of you.

Food Street, Light Street

I am waiting for my host to arrive and took a walk outside the hotel.  Food street is much better than eating along the main thoroughfare which is very noisy and polluted with fumes.  Then there is a light street which is very colourful like Orchard Road now.  The young girls eating ice cream is interesting.  They leave by electric bicycles and very used to the chaotic traffic.  It is a matter of getting used to the environment.  There is a system in the chaos and once you know it, it is easy to navigate and cross the road.  I feel like I am in a time machine going back to the good old days in China and Vietnam.  But China has completely changed from bicycles to cars and traffic jams.  Vietnam has more cars but still dominated by motorcycles and now electric bicycles.

This place has character and I like it!

Old Hanoi

Old Hanoi reminds me of Ho Chi Minh 15 years ago but more cars.  There are plenty of shops selling daily necessities.  Sports shoes shops reminds me of Itaewon in Korea 30 years ago.  The streets have one speciality on each street i.e. shoes street, plastic wares street, jewellery street and the like.  I enjoy walking the streets.  There are plenty of foreigners - whites and Koreans. 

My first meal is Pho or beef kuay teow soup.  The soup is fabulous but the beef is a tad tough.  I had coffee which is extremely rich and delicious.   I am really to try other Vietnamese food.  I loved the Vietnamese food in Toronto.  So I may gain weight this trip as I am going to enjoy the food.

Colleague from Canada

My ex-colleague from Canada comes to Singapore for cruise.  She is here with her husband and her husband's sister and her husband.  We had a wonderful meal together.  We had satay, chicken rice and hokkien mee as they wanted to try local favorites.  We made it happen with the hawker centers in AMK centre.  We are so happy to talk and drink Chinese tea together.  It is good to catch up and meet.  Her two boys are doing well.  One is a lawyer and has a Scottish girlfriend, the other is working in a pharmacy.  We are very happy for them.

Food Factories at Woodland Terrace

B1 read in the blogs there are food factories in Woodland selling food at lower price.  He like sashimi and seafood.  So he suggested we go there to check it out.  We went this morning and there are people walking and carrying heavy bags.  Many do illegal parking.  We got lucky and waited for someone to leave before getting a proper carpark.  The Indian car park attendant was taking pictures and issuing summons.  Many cars left.  So as the Indian mama walk up the street, cars started leaving.  So more carpark lots are freed up.

We bought frozen black pepper duck breast.  It is sold in NTUC for $4.80 each.  It is on special for two packs of 4 eaches at $25.  One pack of 4 is $15.  We also bought frozen cheese cake for $35.  B1 bought frozen ebi eggs and salmon sashimi.  Mummy had frozen xiao long bao and prawn roll.  The xiao long bao was not good but prawn roll is fine.  It is a good trip to get frozen stuff.  I think the fresh prawns in the market is at the competitive price compared to frozen ones.  However, fresh prawns type depends on the catch of the day. 

We lunch on the food we bought in Woodland Terrace.  It is pretty good fun and good food other than the xiao long bao.

Family Gathering

We had family dinner.  We cooked up a storm.  Giant pot of sayur lodeh, steamed yam cake, 3 kgs of bbq chicken mid-joint wings, bbq filet pork and pork belly.  Unfortunately, the pot belly was too tough.  I enjoyed the time we have together. 

I helped my sister to update her software so that she can watch more Korean drama.  She had a great time watching the drama on my large screen tv.  My nieces are doing well and nephew-in-law working in seafood trade.  Overall, it is good everyone is healthy and fine.

Only my mother is in the hospital for vomiting blood.  She may have nasal bleeding.  It is good that she has a cellphone.  Everyone talked to her even though she is hospitalised in Canada.

Day 1 of 2015

I went to Mustapha for grocery shopping as tomorrow I will have my extended family over for dinner.  I am very lucky and has a carpark right in front of Mustapha.  We bought frozen prata, samosas, spring rolls to test for tomorrow party.  It is a good start to be so lucky to get nice carpark and for free!  I like the corner coffee shop that sells Pakistanis food.  I do not know why it is Pakistanis as the food is very similar to other Indian resturants.  We had tandoori chicken, keema with naan and roti.

The Punggol PCN is very crowded.  Lots of holiday makers and many rented bicycles, two-in-one tandem bikes and 4 wheelers.  It must be tiring to ride the 4 wheelers.  The weather is cool, so it is very nice to walk.  I had a good day.