Beautiful Morning

White clouds and cerulean blue sky.  Beautiful morning.  Work is in progress to put in the tiles.  The workers are quite nice and asked us where to cut the tiles.  We asked to cut it on the inside.  This way, the tiles looked complete when we walk out.  We have nice black tiles.  It will be hot but good contrast from our neighbours.

Wonderful Homecooked Dinner

We bought Russet Potatoes on sales last week in Cold Storage.  So the potatoes are growing buds and soon will be bad.  So my wife bought pork chops to cook for dinner.  She also buy sakura tomatoes as it has claims of no pesticides.  She made both french fries and mashed potatoes.  The pork chop is fried and I also cooked up bacon bits for the mashed potatoes.  She made me scooped the mashed potatoes using ice-cream scoop and then decorate the bacon bits on the plate.  The Western pork chop set was done professionally with french fries, mashed potatoes and roasted tomatoes.

B2 and B3 enjoy the dinner very much.  B1 is out in East Europe for tour.  My wife is so happy we are delighted by her cooking.

Double Loans during School Holidays

It was raining heavily this morning, so there is no work done on my balcony.  So after sending B3 to school, I went to hawker center in Marymount for breakfast.  But many of the stalls are not open.  It seems the hawkers are taking a break during school holidays.

Now I am trying to download more audiobooks as my computer was wiped clean when my office IT reset it for home use.  I was pleasantly surprised that library has double the quantity I can borrow.  This is really good to encourage more reading.

Readership in the library according to the statistics has dropped.  Nowadays, I also watched Youtube before I sleep rather than read a book.  The technology change has made us lazy to read.  It is so much easier to have short video and when you watch, there is a tracker that tracks your interests and keep suggesting videos of similar genres.

Tough Job!

The 2 men are working under hot sun.  There is no shade, so they wear big straw hat to get some relief from the blazing sun.  The cement they poured this morning is dry now.  Right now they are hammering out the concrete to prepare for laying the tiles tomorrow.  I admire the workmen.  It is tough work and requires skills.

Putting in the Tiles

It is a group of Chinese workers this time.  They are the tiles layers.  They are mixing the cement and paving the floor.  Now there is electric mixing machine making the work easier.  The sky is cloudy.  Hopefully, they can finished the job before the rain comes.

Water Ponding Test

My balcony is flooded with water.  The waterproofing is done and the place is filled with water to make sure there is no leakage into our bedroom and toilet.  The heavy rain in the afternoon also make us worried as we were out to the chiropractor and lunch.  Luckily, the water overflow into the drain hole.  So far, everything is holding up.  I hope everything turns out well.

Lucky Me!

This morning, I went out early to cast net and fish.  I caught one and let the rest go.  A young Malay man was casting his net too.  He caught some fair size Toman and gave me one.  I cycled home and it poured after I reached home.  I am so lucky and the rain was very heavy.  I gave the one I caught to my arowana.  The Toman, I left in the bottle to acclimatise with fresh water but it jumped out.  Luckily, I saw it before it died and I decided to put it right away in the tank.  It has been in the tank for a few hours now and seem to be doing fine.

Hard Work

It is hard work to remove the debris from my balcony.  The heat is very intense.  Now that they clear up all the broken tiles and concrete, they are ready to do the waterproofing.  I can hear them arguing over the job.  The project manager want them to waterproof up to the wall.  So he is telling them even if their boss says no need, they have to do.

It is no an easy task.  Hopefully the work gets done in time.

Popped Up Tiles

The tiles in my balcony popped up.  Today, the contractor starts work on it.  It is so noisy with the electric chisel.  I am glad I had a couple hours of peace during lunch.  The drilling does cause headaches!  Seems like the chiselling is done now.  I will glad when the job is over as we have plenty of cleaning up to do during this week.

Visiting Father-in-Law

My father-in-law has undergone radiation or gamma knife treatment.  His youngest girl gave him a tiny piece of phiten tape to use.  He says it helps reduce the pain.  So my wife went to buy the tape for him.  When we delivers, he complains that she is so stingy, just give a tiny piece.  So he pays my wife for the tape.  I do not know if he is joking or he meant it.  I asked whether they told that to their daughter.  As usual, they do not answer on this kind of questions.

I find it funny that they like to pass words to their kids indirectly.

Freshwater Prawns

Yesterday, my 3 boys went to Punggol Point to catch prawns.  It is quite costly in my opinion.  For 3 hours, they paid $108 plus $2 for bait.  They brought back quite a lot of freshwater prawns as some oldies gave my boys the prawns they caught.

They put 12 of the prawns in the freshwater tank.  This morning most died due to lack of oxygen.  I have to clear them to keep the water clean.  I transferred some to the pond.  My boys like to try to keep them alive but they do not take care.  I am the one to feed the prawns.  I do not know how long the prawns can last as I am only feeding them with bread which they have to compete with the big appetite goldfishes.

Seems like they are doing well for now.

Family down with Cough!

My wife and B3 just caught my bug.  B1 had it first and still coughing.  I had it since last Friday.  The bug is spreading to the rest of my family.  B2 is still clear.  Hopefully, he stay clear.

Congestion of the nasal passage is uncomfortable and after taking the medications, I always feel sleepy and lethargic.  The doctor says I will get well.  So she prescribe the medicine to reduce the symptons and refused to give me Tamiflu which I requested.

Tamiflu was quite effective the previous time I took it.  The recovery is in two to three days.  I am convinced after taking it.

Sumo Prawn Mee

My RI chat group posted a Youtube video by Miss Tam Chiak on Sumo Prawn Mee.  And one classmate whose clinic is there recommended it as well.  He says the $8 is best value.  So lunch time, we went there to try it out.  It is not bad.  3 bowls for family of 4 as B3 is in school.  I like the soup.  Each bowl comes with 4 big prawns and a generous helping of clams.  The soup is quite good too.  The queue is not as bad as before.  I read on the internet that it was 45 mins wait.  Today, we waited for maybe 10 mins.

Sumo Prawn noodle is at 628 Ang Mo Kio Ave 4.  It is on the wet market side.  The Teochew Porridge stall also looked interesting.  So I may come back to this hawker center to try the porridge.

Prawn Mee

Prawn Mee history was featured this week.  I am now hungry to try different prawn mee stall.  This morning, I tried the stall in Ci Yuan.  Since it is the soup that is most important, I took the cheapest option - $2.80.  The broth is not bad.  Like other hawker's stalls, it is full of msg.  My wife says the broth in Tang's is very good.  I will have to try it when I go there next time.

Vesak Day

Buddha's Enlightenment day.  The 8 precepts of Right Living and Compassion to fellow living beings.  I am happy to be a buddhist.  We do not try to convert others.  Simply go our own ways and help those less fortunate.  We also practice doing good.  Yes, for me is a selfish desire to acquire good merits.  Buddhism is a good practice for me.  I like the rule Buddha has.  "Don't believe in what I say.  Practise what is true for you."

I am a strong believer in following my own conscience.

Happy Vesak Day!

A Sunny Day

The sun is out in its full glory.  My plants need more watering to stay hydrated.  The heat is making me feel drowsy.  So I will go to a mall to enjoy the aircon.  Our humid heat makes shopping a good pastime.  We need airconditioning all the time and the way to get "free" aircon is shopping malls or library.

I am trying to read more but it is so much easier to listen to audiobooks while cycling.  The trouble with audiobooks is it is impossible to bookmark.  Maybe I need to come up with an app to make audiobook reading easier to handle.

I look out and it is white clouds and blue sky.  Indeed a beautiful day!

Outing with My In-Laws

My father-in-law is keen to go to the Flyer.  It is benefit that B2 has in SCDF.  He is going to ORD.  He managed to procure the pass and we went today.  My father-in-law is happy.  He had undergone radiotherapy aka gamma knife for cancerous lump.  And suffers skin burns and pain.  So he is keen to go tour and enjoy himself.

So we went to pick my father-in-law, mother-in-law and sister-in-law at half past 10 and headed to flyer.  Unfortunately, when we reached there, the flyer is not in operation due to bad weather.  So we went to the hawker center but the price was so high.  A plate of chicken rice starts at $6.  Teh O or Kopi O is $2.20.  So we went to the Chinese Resturant as there are vegetarian dishes.  We did not order much, just 4 dim sum, lohan pot and Penang hor fun.  Total bill comes to $95.  I have Passion Card and did not use the towel.  After discount and taking out towel bill, the total price become $85.  So it is quite dear.  A lot more dear than Imperial Treasure.

My father-in-law is quite happy with the outing.  It is nice to be a tourist in Singapore.

AMK Ave 5 Teochew Porridge

Teochew Porridge is getting more and more expensive.  I was in Northpoint and surprised to see Ban Heng there.  The food looks quite good and so I tried.  I order braised bean curd skin, braised pork belly, salted veg and fish cake with one porridge.  The bill come to $8.10.  The quantity is tiny as I ordered for 1 person.  It is ridiculously expensive.

This evening, we went to AMK Ave 5 and Ave 10 Hawker Center for the Teochew porridge.  We had 4 persons and I ordered salted veg, steamed garouper, 2 portions of chai pow eggs, braised beancurd skin and fishcake.  With 2 rice and 1 porridge, the total bill is $19.50 approximately $5 per head.  The taste is comparable and the value is fabulous.  Granted, it does not have aircond but it is the right way to go.

B1 Mountain Climbing Tour

B1 went to Lombok, Indonesia to climb a mountain.  He is so thrilled with his experience.  The climb is quite steep in some areas with volcanic sand.  So it is quite challenging.  There are some women in the tour.  So he is quite impressed everyone reached the summit.  His thighs were very tight and sore.  The night sky was clear and he can see all the stars.  The porters will carry their bags and set up tents for them to sleep.  They also carry the water and cook up hot meals.  It is like having maid service.  He is so impressed by the tour.  I feel like going after what he said.  However, some parts are dangerous.  He slipped and the phone broke.

I am thinking it may be dangerous for me as I am not as fit and also my back is weak.  Maybe I should not be taking such risks.

No 1 Nasi Lemak

This morning, I meet my ex-colleague at Adam Road Hawker Center.  We had teh halia.  After our meeting, I queue up at No. 1 Nasi Lemak for Adam Road Special.  I love the tender mutton with thick gravy.  B2 is at home, so I bought 2 sets for $10.  I shared one set with my wife.  It is a very satisfying meal.  The chicken wing is crispy and meat juicy.  The crunchy peanuts and ikan bilis is favorful.  There is a small section of hot dog and two slices of fishcakes.  Missing is achar, my favorite dish.  The chilli is spicy and sweet.  The flavor is slightly different from Adam's Road Nasi Lemak.  I stopped going there as my wife felt No. 1 is better.

Sore Butt!

This morning, I cycled all the way to Pasir Ris PCN.  It is a long way and my butt is quite sore now.  I also explore the Elias Market and Food Court.  It is just Sheng Siong and hawker food.  The run of the mill without any famous stall.  Pasir Ris Park is different from Punggol.  So it is interesting to cycle to new place to break the montony of riding the same route all the time.  Riding for two hours solid is good for the weight but bad for muscle.  I need to recover from the fatigue.