Soba for Lunch

My colleagues seems to prefer Japanese lunch even though I suggested Fridays or Outback.  I do not eat raw fish and so is quite specific e.g. tonkatsu, yakitori, tempura or fried soba.  The big guy who loved food suggested we should check out soba resturant first.  I ordered a bunch of appetizers and we get our food late as they served appetizers first.  I realised I should only order appetizers after our mains has arrived.  I had hot soba with some root vegetable called Yamaimo which is supposed to be good for health.  I saw that in a tv program Yamaimo root vegetable tastes sweet and very healthy.

However, I must say I am not impressed by the taste.  Hopefully, it is healthy.  But once a blue moon, I doubt there will be any effect on me.

Big Sight

Tokyo Big Sight is the convention and exhibition center.  I spent the day there visiting exhibiters and looking for opportunity.  There I met ex-colleagues.  One in Japan and another from England.  So it is a good visit for me to catch up on old times.  Interestingly, both are named Nick! 

Lunch was just expensive average tasting food in a resturant in Big Sight.  However, we had "famous" tempura dinner in Shinjuku.  I went to Takashimaya to buy white bean powder for my wife to make wagashi or Japanese dessert.  My wife learned to cook Japanese meals and desserts in ABC Cooking school.  I love to chant A B C, Kiam Chye Cha Roti.  It is an old rhyme I learn as a kid growing up in a Hokkien environment.

Unagi Lunch

I had a meeting with customer and then we had lunch among my colleagues.  We decided on unagi for lunch as they prefer it over my yakitori or tempura.  Unagi is a rare treat as they do not eat it often.  Our unagi lunch cost 4,000 yen each i.e. 16,000 yen for 4 of us.  This is equivalent to US$160.  It is just fish and rice.

When I first brought my Australian colleagues to chicken rice because my Taiwanese and Thai colleagues want to try the famous chicken rice and they were surprised that it is only chicken and rice.  I remember Victor, the Australian guy keeps repeating like a mantra - chicken and rice.  Guess what, they like it so much in the next trip to Singapore, they went there by themselves.  But chicken rice cost no more than S$10 per person.

Hence Japan still have crazy prices.

Tokyo

I arrived in Tokyo delayed by at least half an hour.   Flights leaving Singapore is always late.  Changi Airport is not so efficient anymore.  I had yakitori and ramen for dinner.  The yakitori has no seating.  The food is good but it is tiring to stand to eat.  So after a little window shopping in BIC Camera, I had miso ramen.  So I am so full.  It is so enjoyable to try out different stalls.  It is just like eating in our hawker centers.

Hong Kong Cousin

I did not turn on my computer on the weekend as I has to host my cousin visiting from Hong Kong on Saturday.  Although we set the time at 2pm, she arrived at 3:40pm.  This is so consistent as the first time I went to pick her up, I had to wait for almost two hours for her. 

My eldest sister came as well.  We host our cousin and her daughter's classmate who has relocated to Singapore.  They enjoys swimming in our tiny pool.  After swimming, we host them to dinner in Paradise Inn in Seletar Mall with two of their maids.  It is so expensive to host her.  In future I have her outside, otherwise my whole family will be exhausted just entertaining her in a few hours. 

I am glad I am travelling for work.

Tai Chung, Kaohsiung

We leave at 6:15am to go Tai Chung as we are taking a ride from our local partner.  It is my first time to Tai Chung.  We had local food for lunch.  We had a Bakwang or meatball.  This meatball is more like soon kueh but filled with minced meat.  Then we have orhlauk or fried oyster.  The orhlauk is very different.  There is a lot of kangkong in the base and top with an omelette and a few pieces of oysters.  There is a peanut sauce topping.  So I prefer the orhlauk in Toa Payoh Lorong 5.

After lunch, we went to Kaoshiung.  We met for about an hour and then off to the train station to head back to Taipei. 

Kaoshiung to Taipei is almost 3 hours.  Travelling with a colleague makes time passes easily.  We will surprise when the train is pulling into Taipei station. 

Pu Tien Taipei

I had dinner with my ex-colleague.  We decided on Pu Tien as the food looked good.  We ordered Heng Hwa bee hoon, stir-fried vegetable, assorted cold dishes - pickled cucumber, steamed chicken, pickled fungus with radish(I am not sure) and now even the last cold dish I cannot remember!  My short term memory is going.  The sweet sour pork with Lychee is not bad but not as good as Paradise Inn in Seletar Mall. 

After dinner, we had tea and talk till almost closing time at 10pm.  It is so nice to just chat about everything and nothing.  I enjoys her company.  She has slimmed down and her face is a little thin and haggled.  Even her butt seems smaller.  Yes, I noticed!  She says she is enjoying her work.  She bought Google, Amazon and Apple share.  Her Apple share is down but Google and Amazon is up.  These are the companies that LinkedIn said attracts top clicks and did extremely well in the stock market.  Overall, she still makes about $5000 which is not bad at all.

Lucky Girl!

Yesterday, my wife was invited to a "personal" shopping event for a brand a cosmetic.  There is a 20% discount and for $500 purchase you get $500 value in facial.  Since it is such a "good deal" I strongly encourage her to take it.  It took her some time and finally, she open her wallet.  For the purchase, there is a lucky draw for 2 prizes - bread toaster and multi-fryer.  She won the multi-fryer.  What a lucky girl!!  Spending money and winning a lucky draw!

I Love Taipei

My colleague noticed that Taiwanese women are much better looking than before.  He think it may be more make-up.  I also remind him plastic surgery as well.  I agree with him that the women are better looking.  Taiwanese are more feminine and very polite and warm.  I think they make good wives.  But this is just outside looking in.  I do not have the numbers to support i.e. how many Taiwanese wives divorce their husbands.

Taipei has good food and the price is reasonable.  We went to Din Tai Fung and the crowd was huge and queue long.  It is pretty well organised.  There are separate queues for 1 to 2 persons, 3 to 4 persons and 5 and above.  My colleague first time eating in Din Tai Fung and he likes the fried dumpling (jiao tzu) and the wanton in chilli sauce.   I love them too.  We had a wonderful dinner.

After dinner, I had a burnt caramel latte from Starbucks which was pretty good.

Say Seng Pork and Mixed Soup

B3 has lecture in Bugis.  It is at 2pm.  Say Seng only opens at 2:30pm.  So we lunch at Queen Street Hawker center.  I decided to eat Lor Mee as Say Seng is not open yet.  B1 joins us from Kent Ridge.  He will arrives past 2:30pm.  So after my lunch, I decided to queue at Say Seng for his lunch.  Although the sign says 2:30pm, the stall actually starts selling at 3pm.  So I was standing for more than half hour.  Luckily, B1 joins me to keep me company.  Time passes well.  I was queuing up for his lunch anyway.  B1 like to try popular joints especially those with long queues to understand the popularity. 

Say Seng now no longer sells the jellied pork.  Only braised pork belly and the mix organs soup.  The soup is only so-so.  But the pork is very good.  I felt very thirsty after eating.  So the MSG content is high.  The jellied pork is only available in Jalan Bersih according to the customer behind me. 

After late lunch, we went to Robinson to support mummy's shopping.  I was tired of waiting and went to Kino to browse the books.  It is nice to see all the new books.

Queen Street Hawker Center

I am at Queen Street hawker center drinking teh halia.  The stall next to it is Siraj Famous Waterloo Indian Rojak.  It is the branch of the main stall in the coffeeshop in Waterloo Street.  The main store is quite popular.  This branch is not as popular but still busy.  Tastewise is about the same.  I think it is just so many more choices in the hawker centre.  Also there are many other stalls with long queues.  It is hot and humid due to the crowd and cooking.  Food is good and affordable price.

Long live hawker centers!

Air Fryer

I now swear by my airfryer.  I can heat my youtiao to crispy throughout.  The outcome is far superior to toaster over.  I also use the air fryer for french fries and chicken nuggets.  In fact all the precooked frozen taste much better with air fryer compared to over.  The drawback is size.  Our current air fryer can only heat food for two.  So it is not suitable if the quantity is for more than two persons.  I will buy nuts to try.  I suspect the result will be superior to toasting nuts in the oven.

I was very cynical in the beginning.  Now that I used it, I swear by it.  The only problem is space.  With so many gadgets, our kitchen become cluttered.

4 Wisdom Teeth Out in One Go!

Nowadays, wisdom tooth extraction is pretty wild.  B2 has 4 wisdom teeth extracted in one go.  He has to go under GA and the upper wisdom teeth are straight forward.  Lower wisdom teeth are all broken as they were impacted.  Impacted wisdom tooth is growing in the wrong direction and pushing all his teeth crooked.

He could not talk and his whole face was swollen, lips swollen and drool out blood.  Now he is better on recovering.  He still need painkillers.

B1 has 4 wisdom teeth extracted one by one.  Each time, it takes a week to recover.  B2 get 8 days and that it!  Each extraction done in Khoo Teck Puat was $800.  B2 done his in National Dental Center.  All 4 in one go cost only $1,300.  Two were simple extraction.  Still it is pretty good price compared to regular dentist.

Dinner at Chong Pang

B2 is on day shift.  We are having late dinner.  So I decided to go Chong Pang for dinner and pick B2 up as well.  He is late and at the end of the shift has another call.  But it was ok as we just ordered our food.  So take our time to eat.  Most of the stalls are closed except for Zhichar in coffeeshops.  There is a white beehoon stall but we did not try.  It seems popular.  I ate Teochew noodle as I did not want to eat fried stuff.  The oyster omelette is still open.  The food in the Malay stall look tired.  So fishball noodle is freshly cooked and therefore most appealing.

After dinner, we went to the fruit stalls.  Mangoes are in season and at good price.  We decided on durians instead.  The durians are tiny for $5 each.  The seeds are small.  Tastewise, actually quite good.  We had 4 durians totalling $20.  We had a durian feast for dessert.

Scary!

During dinner, my wife says she will come up to my office area to clean up for me.  It is the scariest thing for me!  She will throw my precious stuff away or pack them until I cannot find them which is as good as lost.  I am a messy guy and she is ultra neat.  She is also the one who calls the shots, the dominant Queen in the household.  So I can kiss my things goodbye.  But my place will be neat and tidy.  My office will lose it homely feel and I will be a stranger to my own sacrum.

I noticed B1 is neat and B2 is totally untidy.  I am in-between the two of them.  I am messy but not as messy as B2.  I need a tidy workspace and a neat library.  I also have samples, brochures and other junk around my office.  It is the junk that my wife targets.

I will be out the next two weeks and fears the worst when I returned home from my trips.

Best Denki Sale in WaterPoint

Best Denki has sales and roadshow in Waterpoint Place.  It is the same electrial white goods and TVs.  There is a fan for $28 which is a good deal but plenty of people queuing for it apparently.  So maybe it is not worth the effort.  The food scene there is interesting but I did not feel there are any resturants or food stalls that stand out.  The mall is fairly busy, so it is not bad business.

The bank cluster is quite good with most major banks represented including POSB, Maybank, BOC, Citi.  So it is convenient if you need banking service or like to compare rates.

Waterway Point

We decided to go to Waterway Point for dinner.  Car park situation is not so bad before 6pm.  Plus there are green lots.  So I am happy to park at the green lots which are usually near to the entrance.  I love this business of malls becoming green.  It is started with the first green mall, City Square.  Since then a few malls have green lots.  313 and Waterway have them and it is great!

Waterway Point is quite busy as CompassPoint is still closed.  The resturants are numerous although as I tried out each, the food is nothing special.  We had dinner at a Causal Japanese resturant that serves expensive dessert/drinks.  I still like Japanese food in Liang Court better.

Flats around Chong Pang

My blogger friend is right about the HDB flats in Chong Pang, "old and expensive".  When I was evaluating living in Yishun, we found the flats around Chong Pang old.  Mind you this was 20 years ago.  They were rundown and in poor condition.  At that time, it was not expensive.  So when we found an unit at Blk 760 which is directly opposite YJC and walking distance to MRT and Swimming Complex, we took it.  The block 100 series are the first flats to be built in Yishun.  So it is the oldest in Yishun probably about 40 years now.

B2 works in the ambulance service in Yishun.  He attends calls there and a few blocks in the  100 series are notorious.  Has plenty of issues as they get many calls there.  So I would say he makes the right decision not to buy in Chong Pang.

Boh Tong Brought Back My Memories

My blogger friend guessed right!  I used to live in Yishun near Chong Pang.  I forgot to tell him also I worked in Yishun Ave 7.  This is the reason why we lived there. 

I was living in Canada and came back to Singapore to sign the paperwork for selling my house.  It was not a good deal as I sold it for $200K less than the market value.  I did not know as I totally out of touch with real estate market.  At that time, there was no internet.  I subscribed to Straits Times weekly which cost a bomb.  While back in Singapore, I met with ex-colleagues and my ex-boss.  My ex-boss told me his boss said to him there are no good Singaporeans and asked me to meet him.  I told him I was not looking for a job.  He says no no, this is not a job interview.  I just want to prove to him.  So during the meeting, I talk alot about my new born(B1) who was 1 year old.  Then I went back to Canada. 

My boss reach out to me when I was in Canada to advise me that he is going to be in Washington DC and like me to meet his HR from England.  He said he has created a Marketing position and like his HR to evaluate me.  This is how I got hired and relocate back to Singapore.  The company was pretty good.  Paid for my family to come back including relocating all my furniture and personal effects.

Living in Yishun was ok.  We lived in a five room flat in mixed five rooms and four rooms block.  I enjoys buying toys for my boys and neighbours are envious.  I did not realised it.  My wife told me as she was a homemaker and hears gossips in the market.

Now that I lived in a different neighbourhood, I know the importance of living in similar socioeconomic level.  However, people with more money seems to think they have more rights.  There is no perfect neighbourhood.

Weather Turns Hot

The gardener waters the plant explaining it is very hot.  I agree it is hot and dry.  So it is good to water the plant to keep them green and beautiful.  My cycling now demands drinking at the least 2 bottles of water to quench my thirst.

The heat is increasing our water consumption and Singapore is now supporting water to Johore.  So the table has turned.  The Malaysian General who wrote using water as a strategic weapon against Singapore is proven wrong.  Much has changed since the article was published.  The water technology has improved dramatically and Singapore invested well.

Easier to Watch Youtube than to Read

I am reading a lot less as it is so much easier to browse on the net and also watch videos on Youtube.  I read mostly on flights and also on bed in the hotels.  I no longer read at my bedside at home.  I noticed this change as I find that a lot of my reading materials which I keep at my bedside goes untouch for long time unlike before I rotated them fairly quickly.  The brightly coloured moving images is so my sexier and less straining on the eyes.  I used to read to fall asleep.  Nowadays, I watch BGT as my bedtime tonic.

Chinatown Morning

This morning is a shopping for groceries in Chinatown.  The Wife wants to buy some dried sea cucumbers.  Sea cucumbers are "delicacies" and very expensive.  She bought the cheapest available after checking out several Chinese Medical Halls.  The price is almost $200 for one kg.  Some runs up to $2,000 per kg.  I did not like sea cucumbers as they tasted weird to me.  My mum now eats sea cucumber regularly and is looking younger and better.

After the sea cucumber purchase, she went to the wet market and purchase a red spotted garouper.  We had steamed garouper for our dinner and it tasted fabulous!  My wife is an excellent cook when it comes to steaming fish.

Cannondale Bike

Glad to finally repair my Cannondale bike.  The inner tube valve was damaged and I have to replace.  I am glad I go to the Sengkang Sport Complex shop although I went there twice with no luck.  This time I make sure they are open before going.  The price is reasonable.  The tube was replaced for
$8.  The inner tape was worn out as well.  That cost $4 and I broke a wire bringing the bike which cost another $4.  Total bill $16.  Not bad considering another bike shop wanted $12 just to replace the inner tube.

The Ghost of Relativity

On the way to Shanghai, I watched this show and found it hilarious.  So, I googled and found the series and complete what I missed on the plane.

The story is about a genius architect and his manager who is in love with him.  This manager takes extreme care of him.  Then a receptionist came and caused the manager to die.  This manager turned into a ghost and forced the receptionist to apply as a manager in order to stay close to her love.  As a result chaos ensue.

I learned a lot of Cantonese watching this drama.

School Holiday

It is nice to wake up "late" these days.  Late for me is before 8am.  I am an early riser.  Usually, I will be up by 7am and will make a nice cup of tea and read the papers.  I am not so hot on Straits Times anymore disappointed and disgusted by the selective reporting.  So instead of reading, I will watch Bloomberg Financial News or documentaries by National Geographic. 

There are still CCAs to attend to i.e. sending my boy to school but at a more earthly hour.  Or giving B1 and B2 a lift to train station or to Civil Defence Center in Yishun.  In between the errands, I worked.  I enjoys my work even though there are some frustrations.  The best is I need not do what I consider mindless work.  I am helping the team members to sell.  So it is a great feeling.