Bum Fall

I had a bum fall yesterday. My butt still hurts and it is sore!! My spine is not strong in the first place is getting more trauma from my new interest. I will have to keep at it to conquer my worst fears and practice until I reach competent level.

Wendy Drops In for BBQ Dinner

Wendy came over to visit my family and we had my usual favorite entertaining option, BBQ. Wendy was my colleague when we both were in Canada. Today, she is still working for the same company but based in Hong Kong. She is here for business but takes time to visit another friend who married to a Singaporean and us. She now has twin baby girls. They are fraternal twins. One is bigger size than the other. Both are extremely cute and adorable. We catch up news on ex-colleagues. It is excellent to be working here in Asia. The economies are growing and in far better shape than US. Canada is doing not too badly too.

Blading Again

I have not lost my touch! Errr... I mean my balance. I have not forgotten how to roller blades! I was a little worried. Even though I know once you learn how to bike, you will never forget. Roller blade is different! Falling is highly painful and exceptional easy. Even with all the protective wear, the butt is unprotected.
I have attained the next level. Now I no longer need the mantra fall forward, bend your knees. Still there are many near misses and I do not like them. The good thing is I can skate forward. Onward I will roll...

Wondering

Sometimes, I still wonder. I wonder what would happen when I die. I go to the hall of memories and review my life. It is like a report card. What would I do? How would I do? Have I progress? Do I have any regrets? Is there anything I could have done better?
How would it be like to know that I will be reborn again?
Life's questions! Any answers from anyone?

Severe Diarrhoea!!

I woke up in the middle of the night with severe diarrhoea and intense abdominal pain. It must be something I ate in Bangkok. Luckily I have lactiford and painkillers. Maybe the fruits are not clean. Or it may be the Vietnamese food. My last suspect is the ice blended coffee. So the ice may not be clean. I have a weak stomach and it hurts!
I am glad the episode happened once and it stopped. I prayed to angels and Goddess of Mercy and my prayers were answered.

B2S

B2S is a books and stationery store in Central World, Bangkok. It has an interesting range of Art books. There are a lot of books different from Kinokuniya. Kino is in Siam Paragon. I must say the shopping malls in Bangkok are a lot bigger than those in Singapore. The traffic is quite good today as it is Buddha's Birthday or something. On the way to the airport, the taxi driver explains to me that all the big bars are closed and the "girls" are not working. The contrast in Thailand is interesting as it is very religious and yet has a lot of sins (if prostitution is consider a sin). I find the women in Thailand are very attractive. I think they are most attractive in Asia!
Anyway, back home I weighs myself and to my horror it read 88.2kg when I am totally naked!!
Sigh! The dinner last night was excellent and I ate too much. It was Vietnamese food. I had pho, prawn in sugar cane, fried popiah, fresh popiah and two drinks. The company was good and the conversation's interesting and engaging. I enjoyed myself too much and now it is payback time. Diet for the next few days until my next trip.

My Ex-colleague Tracy

Tracy used to work for us in KL and is now working in Bangkok. I am glad to get a chance to meet up with her to catch up. She suffered culture shock and homesickness. It was tough adjustment for the past few months. Now she is getting used to the life here and adapting well. She is making tremendous progress. She is doing good work and she has an office bigger than mine!! I am very happy to see that she has grown in her capabilities and is settling in her new career.

Day 2 in Bangkok

Wake up on my own this morning and spend some time on the email. Then I change to my work clothes and then realise I was looking at the time in my computer. Bangkok is one hour behind. So I was too early rather than late. I change to swimwear and swim in the hotel pool. The pool is about the same size at the one I have at home....small! I swam for a total of 10 mins. It is great to do some exercise even though it is not too much.
I had a good meeting presenting my busyness!

Bangkok

It is hot in Bangkok. And I am cooped up in a hotel all day long. The good food and sitting all day. I am losing in my fight against weight gain. The positive is I will have another day of meeting and then off to do my real work. Meeting Customers!
I hope I have some time to explore the Kinokuniya in Siam Square.

Kosong Prata at S$1

Last year, this time a roti prata or Indian bread without egg is 80cts per piece. I had one for morning breakfast and it cost a dollar. The Indian coffeeshop is at the end of Jalan Kayu. This shop is more reasonably priced than the "Famous Jalan Kayu Roti Prata". It is never-ending stream of crowd coming in for their morning breakfast on a Sunday morning. I sat there to enjoy my teh halia (ginger tea) and just observed the comings and goings. It is interesting just to absorb the atmosphere. It is very rustic where free parking is available and greenery is abundant. Kind of messy and different from the orderly, sterile environment elsewhere in Singapore. It has the "kampong" or small village feel.
I saw a traffic police making a report through his mobile radio. I hope the government do not do any development to "improve" the traffic flow. Otherwise Jalan Kayu will lose its character.

881

This is a locally directed movie on Getai singers - The Papaya Sister. Yeo Yann Yann, from Johore who acted in the Singapore Dreaming. The show is in Hokkien dialect with all the Hokkien songs. It is nostalgic. I have not been to getai for years now. I think getai has gone the way of dinosaur. Today, it is karaoke contest.
I tried to teach my B1 and B2 one hokkien song when we were living in Canada. Now, all my three boys has no clue on their "mother tongue". Roots are weakening. My boys grew up in English or Singlish. This is their mother tongue now.

Another Tip

It is important to read after skating. I found another tip that is very useful for inline skating. Nose inline with your toes, always keep your hands in front of you. This is so basic and makes sense that I have no idea why I did not even think of it. Falling forward is like learning baby steps. Keeping your nose in line with your toes and hands in front mean CG or centre of gravity is in the middle of 4 wheels. This offer the most stable position.
YES! I am skating now at a reasonable speed. The key is still stopping. It is a challenge. I can swizel and turn. Will be out on the road for the whole week. Will I remember how to skate when I return?

Incredible Week of Work

I have not written about work for long time as I had feedback that it is booorrinnnggg. Busy would be an understatement for this week. We cap off the week with an incredible order. Order equal to one month worth of sales. Indeed we are starting to break record after records.
I am dancing like nobody is watching...hehehe.

Progress!

More progress at roller blading. Basketball court is a good place to practice. It is flat and the wide area allows beginner's turns(wide and wild), learning swizel and shuffling. No slope to make roller blading treacherous. The instructions from the book are good. I followed and it works. Until now, I am stilling repeating this mantra "fall forward, bend your knees". It is really good advice!

My Lucky Day

Today I blade without falling. It is a good feeling. I did about 600 metres worth. I thought I quit while I am still ahead. Felt like a lottery winner. The trick is to keep leaning forward and knees bend. I am still extremely slow and my foot muscles were cramping up. Overall, it is great feeling.

Slope is a dangerous

Slope is dangerous for beginner. The speed picks up and not knowing how to brake or slow down, it is downright risky and dangerous. I keep slipping and nearly falling over. The problem is my lack of skills to control my speed or making turns. So I just accelerate very quickly toward a concrete wall. This is like seeking suicide. As I pick up speed, I begin to panick and worse since I do not know how to stop, I became an 88kgs missile. I could not think of a better way to abuse myself. Yet, I know I must conquer my fears. I think I will have to go for lessons before I seriously damaged myself.

Slow Road to Roller Blading

I practise roller blading again. I am a slow learner. Sigh! Is age? Or am I just a slow learner? It is lots of sweat for 40 mins and still very slow and unsteady. Looking at other roller bladers makes me feel ashamed of myself. I have to grit my teeth and carry on. It will take time to get over the hump and be competent on wheels. I know the feeling of being competent. I enjoyed being watched and envied by others when I swim. One day, I will be roller blading well. This is my resolution!

Thinking...

I am thinking about Nikola Tesla. The day after he died his huge laboratory was burnt down and then bulldozer went into to destroy whatever equipment the fire cannot burn. With universal free power, the masters of war and business couldn't control, they couldn't have that. It is sad that people with power want to retain power by all means even if it meant preventing the growth of humanity.

The Tesla Papers

Nikola Tesla is a genius. He is not as well known as Thomas Edison or Marconi. Edison is known to be the father of electric light. Tesla invented the electrical system that we use in our homes and factories today - the AC or alternating current electricity. Tesla also invented the radio. He designed and build extremely high voltage machine that shoots out lightnings and generate man-made ball lightning. Ball lightning is extremely rare. It is a ball of plasma floating around and will destroy whatever it touches.
In the Tesla Papers, there is an anecdote that Nikola tap energy from atmosphere. In a small box with several vaccuum tube, he can power an electric car up to 90 miles an hour without any need to recharge. Whoever can recreate this will be the richest guy or gal on earth with oil at US$140 per barrel!

An observation on human behaviour

It is difficult to talk to people and expect them to understand and follow. This is why we have laws which will spell out what and who is right and the punishment for violators. Case in point: we live in a small community of 20. Several of my neighbours has more cars than what can be park in their own carpark lots. So their cars are parked on the common area causing inconvenience to others. For the longest time we discussed and try to work things out to no avail. For the owners who are parking and impeding the flow of traffic, the situation is ok. "Nobody complains" was the typical response. When another neighbour asked the owner to move their vehicle, they will take their time and the remark is "Don't know how to drive, ah!"

We setup a carpark committee and pass a by-laws for car park in the common area. The committee also work out a solution of T-parking in front of your own lot. Some owners are not happy with this arrangement as it is inconvenient for them. If they decided to use the car that is inside, they will have to move the car outside first. It is INCONVENIENT!

Recently, one owner has an extra sports car and use the common carpark overnight without informing and getting permission. Another decided inside of T-parking, he parked on the opposite side of the road. He has been informed verbally several times and his response was T-parking is causing a smaller radius and his solution is better. He also assures the messengers(more than one) that he will move his car right away. However, he refused to comply and instead continue to flout the rule. It is interesting that people would make empty promises and pretend or even lie through their teeth. Finally a written warning was posted on the car. The owner go back to T-parking after the written warning.
It is clear that without the by-laws with spelling out the penalty and empowering to act, people will do things to their own advantage even if it causes problem to other people. Appealing to civic conciousness is futile. As a senior manager of our managing agent well puts it - until there is a by-law, you have no teeth.

This incident illustrate that human will not listen to requests and appeals and respond only to punishment.

AMK Hub At 10pm

The two older boys want to go out late as it is Friday night. We go to AMK Central and have food before wandering about. There retail shops closed at 10pm. Outside AMK Hub is the 24 hours McCafe and McDonald. Together with the coffee shop next door it is extremely busy and well patronised. Weird characters are about late at night. There is a huge man wearing only his pants sitting on the sidewalk. His stomach is overflowing down covering his hip. I have no idea why he is displaying his thick layers of fat. He does not seem to be begging as I do not see a collection cup for money.
This is sleepless in Ang Mo Kio...

Inline!

There is only one book in Kinokuniya that is on rollerblades skating. The title is Inline! A manual for Beginning to Intermediate Inline Skating by William Nealy. With 20% discount, the book is S$20 nett. It is like a handwritten homemade book with comic-style drawings. I like the blurp on the back cover..."So whether you're an armchair skater or a guerrilla blader, this is the book you've been waiting for. Learning how to inline skate has just been revolutionized." This is an extremely readable book. I do not know if I will become an armchair skater as I am a reader and booklover. Many a time, reading a book replaces my need to actually experience.

Recovering

I am on the mend. Although I tires easily, I have more energy and slowly regaining my strengths. Come to think of it, I was very comfortable to go into the surgery alone. My classmates were working on me. I was anesthesized by my primary school classmate and the surgeon was my secondary 1 classmate. They are husband and wife team. I am quite lucky in a sense because I know both of them and I have seen Lay Tin at work before. She used to do cardiac anesthesia when I was selling to cardiothoracic equipment and disposables.

Aching Bones

My bones are aching all over. Shoulder blades hurts! Abdomen is sore where the stone was. I saw the video. Man! The stone was like a crystal with sharp edges. As the surgeon tries to pull it out, it refuses to come out and cut my uretheter. Hence my surgeon break it up and then pull the smaller pieces out to the bladder. No wonder my abdomen is sore. Internally I have cuts and it will take time to heal as urine keep coming down to irritate the open wounds. I am not so technically sound and cannot upload the video as blogger does not recognise the video format. I have to do some conversion and if I can get someone's else to convert the video, I will post it on this blog for you.

Nursing Care

This two nurses look after my post operative care. The fringe benefit is the nurse is quite pretty. You will not believe she is a mother of 4. She will give SQ cabin crews a run for their money.

Kidney Stone Strike Again

It started with a discomfort on the right lower abdomen at 7am. Felt like stomachache. Go to the toilet a couple of times to try to expel the pain. The pain become more and more intense. I look into the mirror. I began to sweat and then sweat profusely. My body is reacting to the pain. Finally at about 10am, I decided to go to the hospital. By then, the pain was excruciating and almost killing me i.e. dying would be a relief.
Good thing is hospital is only 15mins away and also good to have doctor as my classmate. He attended to me almost immediately. He prescribe an injection of a super painkiller which contains morphine. Time expanded. Man! Every second is like a minute. There were some procedure. I have to go to A&E and he has to come over to sign some papers as this is classified under poison act. After what seems like eternity, Elisabeth the A&E nurse gave me two jabs. One for the pain and the other to take care of the side effect which is prevent nausea and vomitting. After that I have to go for a CT scan. The offending stone is still there. It is now 6 mm.
I decided to take it out. At 2:30pm, I was wheeled into the Operating Theatre. The anesthesiologist is my primary school classmate. Breathe in deeply, she instructed me. After four breaths, I slipped into unconciousness. By the time I wake up, I am in recovery. It is one hour and five minutes and the "blackout" is quite disorienting. Seems like it is only one min that I was "sleeping".
Then back to the ward. The after effects of the anesthesia continues. I was feeling great that I am concious. Then I get dizzy spells. The urge and need to lie down is strong. It is hard to stay up. The car ride on the way home makes me car sick. I threw out immediately after reaching home. Good thing I did not eat much. I fell asleep right away.
I wake up at half past two in the morning and get some work done and record this chapter of my journey in life.

Want to Sweat 600 cc?

Learn to roller blades! I weigh myself before and after on a digital scale and yes, I weigh 600gm less after roller blading for half an hour. The almost never used muscles are activated. In order to roller blade beside falling forward, you have to be in a "horse stance" to lower your CG or center of gravity. I am slowly gaining traction in roller blading. I can roll forward slowly. There is a long road and I have begin with the first step. I will sustain my effort to make sure I am a competent "roller blader". This is my resolution.

Falling Forward

I read a new book. It is on Alexander technique. This is quite popular in England as the titles are all authored by Brits. Alexander is an actor who lost his voice and he seen many doctors and the doctors' prescription is rest. If he rest, he has no income. So he decide to observe himself. He can speak normally and only when he is acting that he lost his voice. He notices the tension in his neck muscles and trained himself to relax those muscles. He successfully cure his voice problem. He went on to look at posture and movement. Kids learn to walk by falling forward. So I remind myself to fall forward when I rollerblade. It works! Albeit, I did not dare to go fast. I can move from point to point. Slowly and without falling. I just need more practise. The challenge with learning this sport is alot of the muscles are weak with disuse. I am sore and my feet cramped after less than half an hour on wheels.
Anyone learning to skate or ski, please remember to fall forward.

Old Airport Hawker Center

This hawker center has long of famous stalls. There are many award winners. At night, the place is very very crowded pack full of diners. Beside the local hawker fares, there are Japanese food, Taiwanese, muffins, Belgian Chocolate and other non-traditional hawker fares. I brought my boys to try out the Belgian waffles with chocolate dip. They tried it and it is just so-so. It is interesting and exotic but at $2.50 per piece or $4.20 for two, it is kind of expensive. Taste is actually not bad. Somehow, if they serve cappuccino then the menu is right. I tried with teh-C and the result is not bad but not the usual experience. It is meant to be unusual anyway.

Republic Polytechnic

This is a spanking new Polytechnic in town. It is so far away that no one heard of it. The school start probably 5 or 6 years ago. It occupy an area close to the size of Singapore Poly maybe bigger. The Sport Complex has olympic size pool and a smaller pool, a basketball court, indoor stadium for floor ball, gymnasium well equipped with weights and other paraphernalia, a football field with artificial turf and two lanes track, tennis court and the best of all, a resturant that sell Lobster Porridge. It is kind of a statement for Singapore as well. It is very modern and stylish, kind of show visitors what money can buy. There is an Adventure Learning Center with all the ropes, shaky boardwalks and rope bridges set up high above ground to give student a slice of how life can be outside the city of Singapore.
B1 had school concert in the Cultural Theatre where art clubs in school can show off their talents. The younger generation has all the hardware. I hope they will be equip with right software when they graduate and going into the society.

Plenty of Good and Cheap Food

Yeah! For foodie and lover of hawker food, Kallang Airport Hawker Centre is back after renovation. I had the FHM aka fried hokkien mee and wanton mee. Both at $3 a serving. Both are award winning and highly recommended by U-Channel. It is kind of hard to reduce weight when I keep going for food tasting adventures. I am thinking of bringing the boys to experience the food. Hawker food is cheap and good. Menu is quite similar everywhere i.e. fishball noodles, duck rice, fried kway teow, wanton mee and so on. However, the preparation and taste is different. This is how popular stalls become "famous" and a must try. I understand hawkers who do well lived in bungalows and drive Mercedes. Like most professions only the top makes all the money. Most hawkers just get by.
I am exercising to compensation for my calories intake. Still I am gaining a kg a year. Not a good thing.

An Old Friend Called!

I had a wonderful hour talking to an old friend. She is young and pretty mum, mind you but an old friend for me. It was good conversation. We share and updated each other on our latest development. We had fun discussing about our work (I know Janette will find this boring). Friendship is something I treasure. It is the engine for human interactions and bonding. Have friends and life is wonderful.

Bicycle Broken

I broke my bicycle today. So it is good excuse to get a new bike:)) I went to Carrefour to look for one and about to purchase when a customer who came by and told my wife he bought the bike I was considering for half price at the sale last weekend. I was disgusted and decided to hold my purchase for now. So my bike adventure lasted only two days:(

Cycling

I dusted off the bicycle for my boys and sprayed WD40 on the bearings, pumped up the tyres and now I have a new way of keeping fit. Cycling! The only problem is I am still learning how to ride a bicycle properly. Yeah! you read correctly. I am learning to ride. Just a couple of weeks ago, I hurt my left wrist trying to learn roller blade (note: trying to learn). Now that my wrist is improving (it still hurts when I put pressure on it like when I am balancing myself on the bike), I am on to my next learning adventure. For Malaysian readers, I know it will befuddle your minds and reinforce your impressions of incompetent and incapable of fun of the city bred boys from Singapore.
Hate to admit this, girls and ladies from Malaysia! Boys and men from Singapore are good at mugging and taking exams and short on basic life skills like canoeing, mountain climbing, cycling, roller blading, etc. However, in Bill Gates' 10 rules of life one of the rule is do not laugh or bully nerds, you are likely to work for one when you leave school.

Travelling Back into the Past...

I could not believe it. Just half an hour from KL and I travel back to my childhood days. Days of attap and zinc roofs, stalls using wooden planks, open air meat store, provision shop that my grandma's style and dogs lazing in the middle of the road. The ceiling in the coffee shop is made of cardboard and where rain leaks, there will be watermarks and holes. It was a nostalgic trip. I visited a factory and it amazes me that this kind of lifestyle is still available less than half from KL. I wished Singapore have kept more of our kampung. Where I live is a last surviving kampung and lucky for Singaporeans, the owner refused to sell to developers who have offerred her hundreds of million dollars to buy over her land. She is still renting out the houses she own for twenty to thirty dollars per month.

Live History

Zinc roof that is red in colour due to rust and will leak when it rains causing water marks and holes on the ceiling below...

An open air pork seller...

This is the coffee shop where tea is still at economical RM1 per cup.

Two Latest Books

Today, I bought two books both from the Innovation shelf. Weird Ideas that Work - How to build a Creative Company by Robert Sutton and Solving Tough Problems by Adam Kahane. Will do a quick summary when I finished reading these two books.

Headache!

Home is sweet. However, boys can cause headache. B3's demand is ceaseless. Daddy! DARE Deeee! He keep calling non-stop. No rest, no break from my adorable and very demanding baby. Now, he is quietly watching a movie. Phew! Peace for the moment.

Home Sweet Home

Glad to be back home. Was out and did not sign in as internet cost RM58 in the hotel per day. I was not going to be rip off even though the company paid for the bill. No internet no updates. Sorry for not writing.
I have a long three days trip in KL. Had meetings, interviews and conference call. Man! It was work at high intensity. I am pooped now. Home is the sweetest thing!

Brains!

I decided to skip and go right to the end. It is exciting with interesting twists. The protagonist is Dr. Martin Philips who is a radiologist researching on using a computer to read skull x-rays. He discover he has been used by the FBI and CIA as what he thought was his friend a computer genius, Micheal. Basically, young women about 20 to 21 years old who go to gyneacology for routine pap smears are "volunteered" without their consent for brain research. Their brains are then harvested and keep alive in cerebral fluids and connected to a computer. Scary thoughts! Horrible scenarios. Dr. Martin has no choice but to cooperate in the end or otherwise he and his wife, Denise will be terminated. Epilogue: Dr. Martin seek political asylum in Sweden. He and his wife disappeared. So I guess it is a good ending:)

Brain - Robin Cook

I borrow a novel from the library. It is yellowing and the cover is all creased and torn. It is rare that I read novel. Coma by the same author was quite interesting and was made into a movie. So when this title caught my eyes, I decided to read it. So far it is quite interesting. It is about siezures due to brain problems. I am half way through. Seems like doctors have interesting life. Many scary things happened in the hospitals. Reading this kind of story make me worry every time I step into a hospital.

PC Show - Suntec City

Yes, the FM93.8 was right! Only brave souls will try to drive to the PC shows. Today is the last day and on the last hour i.e. at 8pm I became the brave soul trying to find a parking space in Suntec City. Me and my smart idea. I thought since the show is closing and it is late Sunday night, who would be crazy enough to go. Indeed, another 10,000 people with similar idea. It is like a busy pasar malam, auction house, flea market and exhibition all roll into one messy, noisy, crowd jostling sea of humanity.
High tech is still going strong. Color Laser printer for $298, incredible bargain. Deals and price slashing all the time. Everyone is buying like there is no tomorrow. Hmm! Economy is still not that bad with all the purchasing power. It is nice to see business booming.

Day Dreams

Just day dreaming today on doing my own business. How much money do I need? Will I be able to get customers? Will anyone buy from me? What to sell? Can I make a living being an entreprenuer?
Maybe a year back, I was reading Daniel Pink's "A Whole New Mind" and "Free Agent Nation". Microbusiness he called it. Doing contract work and having multi-clients or multiple employers. With all the changes in the economy, it is happening everywhere.
The question now is "When will I be an entreprenuer?" and not "IF I will be an entreprenuer?"

Sunshine after Rain

Chinese Wisdom:
After Rains, there will be Sunshine
After Disaster, the Survivors will enjoy Prosperity.
When the inflations stop, when oil price stablise, when food prices drop and when income exceeds expenses, Happy Times will be back.
Crisis is Dangerous Opportunity.
I am toying around an idea. It is good to daydream... I would be an entreprenuer. I will run the company so that I take care of my customers and company's employees. The ways recommended by the leadership and management books I read. I think it will be an awesome company where people enjoys working and customers loved us.

Lucky Me!

I am still nursing a painful and bruised left wrist. My Wife insisted on going to the hospital for X-ray. The diagnosis is no crack or broken bones. There are 5 different x-rays that need to be taken. There is a particular bone that the doctor want to be sure of. It is the one that articulate and joins to the thumb. He says if this bone is injured, care is needed to make sure it mend properly. Otherwise, it will be a problem. Rather a huge problem.
Lucky me. Everything is alright. I just need to rest and let my wrist mend before trying to rollerblade again, phew:))

Sprained!

Typing on the computer is tedious with one operational hand. I sprained my left wrist trying to rollerblades. I need instructions. Learning on my own is stupid and a huge risk. And it hurts!

What the Heck is Happening???

Prices are going Up UP and AWAY. Why are prices going up? Is there any rhyme or reason? Oil prices just shoot up last year. There was no major event so to speak like the Iraq Invasion or major oil fields suddenly depleted.
There are 3 types of people:
1. Those who make things happen
2. Those who watch what happened
3. Those who wonder what happened
When it come to this price increase, I belong to category 3. We all know increased incomes in China have generated huge demand. Drought in Australia diminished production. Have demand for oil or energy been so dramatic? Is there a decrease in production capacity? US dollars weakening is due to mismanagement of the Bush Administration - Iraq war is an example. What else is happening. It is hard to fathom all the changes that is causing huge hardships around the world.
Is there an invisible hand? Is God punishing us? How can God effect prices? Is Man the root cause by destroying the Earth and causing Global Warming? I remember the oil crisis in the 1980s. There were huge interest in alternative energy such as wind, solar, waves and geothermal. Then oil fields were discover in North Sea and Russia. OPEC is no longer controlling all the production. Oil prices dropped over time to a low of US$20 per barrel. Now it is at US$139 per barrel. US dollar was stronger in the 80s. Still it is a 7 fold increase from the historic low and more than 100% increase from last year.
Buckle up, it will be a wild ride in our immediate future ahead.

Earth's Core

I was watching this documentary I bought in Shanghai. Earth's core is rotating liquid metal. Rotating liquidified metal generate magnet field. It is this magnetic field that shield us from the harmful cosmic rays. The earth's poles have shift many times in history. Scientists mapping the magnetic field found in an area in Altantic the magnetic field is going in a different direction. This is an indication the pole shift may be imminent. Also we are about 60,000 years behind for the next magnetic pole shift.
When will the pole shift happen? Will 2012 as the Mayan calendar predict to be the end of the world?

Family Gathering

My sisters are over for bbq dinner. They brought the highlight of the dinner - chocolate fountain. The kids were excited and had fun. B3 had more than 10 giant marshmallow dipped in melted chocolate. It is messy and enjoyable treat for everyone including the adults. My nephews were enjoying themselves too. I was slow in cooking the chicken wings and have plenty leftovers. So will be having bbq chicken wings for the next few meals:)

Up and Up

Prices keep going up. Everything from fuel to rice. Electricity and water prices has gone up. The only thing that is not going up is pay. Pay is not catching up with inflation. Life as we know it is changing. Our purchasing power is decreasing day by day. Life must be getting hard for everyone except for the rich.
This is a serious social issue. I wonder how many are getting hungry. Price is going up non-stop. I also wonder why the increase is so sudden and so huge. In the 1980s, it was due to the oil crisis when OPEC decides to restrict oil production to increase price. Now, who know what is happen?

Life's Ponderings

I stumbled into someone blogging about life. Why coming to earth empty handed and will return with nothing, that she must burn midnight oil for exams and worry about making a good living?
Here is my perspective. While we are born with nothing and cannot carry anything to afterlife, we are here to learn. Living requires effort. We have now organised ourselves such that basic survival is no longer enough. The trouble is more and more of us are born in the civilised world. We are unable to live off the land. So we all have to find some thing that someone will pay us for to order to buy basic necessities such as food and shelter. After basic necessities are met, we look to fulfil our "higher needs" remember Maslow? After a while, we think the rat race is tiring and endless. We questioned again about life.
The rich get anxiety over money. Here is an excerpt from New York Times:
NANCY CHEMTOB, a divorce lawyer in Manhattan, has found that her days have become crammed seeing clients, all worried about how an economic downturn will affect their marriages.
CUTTING CORNERS Sometimes, sacrifices have to be made.
They seem to have nothing to fret about: their net worths range from $5 million to $1 billion. A blip in the markets shouldn’t send their chateau-size Park Avenue co-ops to foreclosure or exile them to Payless Shoes.
But Ms. Chemtob’s clients are concerned all the same, she said, because their incomes have shrunk, say, to $2 million a year from $8 million, and they know that their 2008 bonus checks are likely to be much less impressive.
One of her clients recently confessed that his net worth had decreased to $8 million from more than $20 million, and he thinks that his wife will leave him. He has hidden their fall in fortune by taking on debt to pay for her extravagant clothes and vacations.
“I literally had to sit there and tell him that he had to tell his wife that she had to stop spending,” she said. “He was actually scared she would leave him because their financial situation changed so drastically.”
The wealthy don’t generally speak publicly about their finances, in good times or bad. It’s in poor taste, for one, and their employers could fire them for talking even a little. But people who provide services to the wealthy — lawyers, art advisers, personal trainers and hairstylists — say they are getting an earful about their clients’ financial anxieties.
For the full length article, click here: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/01/fashion/01rich.html?scp=1&sq=rich+anxiety&st=nyt#

The Bermuda Triangle

Heard of Bermuda Triangle? It is off the coast of Florida. There were many missing ships and aircrafts in that area. Shipwrecks and planes crashing is not out of the ordinary. In Bermuda Triangle, they disappeared without a trace and in good weather conditions.
According to Lobsang Rampa, a Tibetan Lama, he says that the "Power Crystal" of the Atlantis is there. This Crystal has tremendous powers and used to power the entire city. The scientists were working on the destructive power of this Crystal to cause earthquakes to destroy their enemies. The Crystal exploded and cause a huge thermonuclear explosion that is more powerful than our current hydrogen nuclear bomb. Hydrogen nuclear bomb is about 1,000 time stronger than the bombs that destroy Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
To read more about Lobsang Rampa go to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lobsang_Rampa

Documentaries

I bought about 20 documentaries dvd in Shanghai. These documentaries are by National Geographic and Discovery. The dvds are at a very reasonable price of RMB15 each. Since I am such a tightwad, I feel I am saving money buying more! The quality of the picture is ok. The shows are in English with only Chinese subtitles. They are for sales only in China.
Some of the titles are as follows:
Great Books: The Art of War
Naked Science: Alien Contact
Extreme Machines: Super Trains
Animals of the Chinese Zodiac
Many think documentaries are boring. I find them interesting and informative some time. I agree there are many boring documentaries.

It never felt so good to feel hungry

After no food for the morning and most of the afternoon, it is great to feel hungry for food in the late afternoon. I know I am on the road to recovery. Dull headache is a small bother after the stomach cramps. I went to the Kuan Yin temple to pray and thanks Kuan Yin for the recovery. Durians are in season. Bugis street is full of durians, mangoes and mangosteens. I love fruits and bought some R2E2 mangoes.
The rice dumplings season is on and there are many makeshift stalls selling Bak Chang. The price is now an incredible $2.50 each. Inflation and seasonal price is making Bak Chang now a delicacy!
Borders is having a 3 for 2 sales for children books. We brought B3, our youngest boy to buy the books he likes. It is good to encourages our kids to read. Borders is really getting their act together and is giving Kino a run for their money. I am frequently Borders more and more importantly buying more books from Borders instead of Kino.

Never Eat A Few Days Old Cut Fruits

I wake up with severe stomach pains. It is horrible. I could not figure out what happened or why. I know it must be something I ate yesterday. My Wife immediately remind me that I ate the water melon which was lying in the fridge before I left for China. This is not my first time. I had problems with cut pineapple as well.
Bad bacteria must have developed over time in the fruits even though they are kept in a airtight container. I am the kind who have been taught and trained never to waste food. I must now unlearn what I was taught to make sure this pain episodes do not repeat again. This is umpteened time I was hit. Many times, it was painful but not as severe. A few episodes before I felt I am dying just like this morning.
Friends and readers, beware! Never eat cut/exposed fruits that have been lying in the refrigerator after one day.

Great to Be Home

After travelling for the last three weeks, it is great to be home. As at right now, I do not have any scheduled travel. So it is going to be a real break. Travelling is fun with good food and meeting up with people. It is also can be lonesome.
Saturday night! I took B1(my eldest son) suggestion to go out. Instead of going to a shopping mall, we decided to try Little India and Mustapha. The place was packed and parking was impossible. So we go to Centrepoint instead. We were returning home at about 10:30 pm. All cars were stopped because there is a function in Istana. We sat in the traffic for 10 mins. The funny thing is no one honk at all. Singaporeans drivers are very patient and understanding!

Sorry for No Updates

I apologise for not updating this blog in the last few days. I was in China and blogging is banned there and I have no access to my blog in China.
Anyway, I am back now.
I have a couple of pictures in downtown Shanghai below. They were taken at night and is not very clear. I am very happy to be back home again. It was a tiring trip packed with plenty of meetings.
Will write more tomorrow....

Shanghai

Hakka Food at New Bridge Road

There is a Hakka food in one of the shops in New Bridge Road. This coffee shop style resturant serve Hakka yong tau food which is quite good and reasonable price at $3 per bowl. The drunken chicken is not so good and cost $8. Mui chye belly pork is good except it is quite salty. The meal cost slightly over $30 for our family of 5. It is a little costly as B3 was sharing food with mummy.

A Busy Day and A Busy Week Ahead

It is a busy day ahead with conference call and preparations for a trip out. Today will end with a wedding dinner in Swissotel. This month our business is good. We will see if we break record in sales.
My neighbours who have business locally felt the slowdown of business. Singapore may be going into a recession. Business in North Asia is doing well. So the region as a whole is still going strong economically.

Neighbour Son's Wedding

The second son of my neighbour has his wedding today. The wedding procession is impressive. The entourage was a big group of men and women. There must be more than 20 of them dressed in their finery. The cars were honking away in the morning to annouce the arrival of the newly wed. It is a happy occasion for my neighbour.
We are invited for the wedding dinner tomorrow. I will be celebrating and congratulating my neighbour tomorrow night.

I saw Sumiko Tan

Sumiko is the editor of Sunday Times. I always enjoy her columns. She writes well and put emotions into words. I saw Sumiko in Popular, Thomson yesterday. She was with her sister and her two kids who were visiting from US. I was looking at her. Rather staring at her wondering to introduce myself. I was rude! Finally, I did not.
Sumiko is quite tall for a woman, slim and actually quite attractive. It is a pity that she is still single. I think she is likely to stay single the rest of her life as she choose career over family (I mean a man). It is good to meet er... I mean see my idol.

A Peek into my trip in Seoul

My fellow diners in TGIF or Fridays. This is inside Brennigans Market O.
My favorite haunt....

Very tasty tonkatsu dinner by myself. Food is good but travelling can be lonesome....

Sun is Up Seoul Early

The sun is already up at 5 am. It is May now. Therefore in the middle of summer i.e. in the month of August the sun will be up by 4 am or even earlier. This also mean winter must be long and cold bbbrrrrr!

Seoul Con't

I have pictures now. I just forgot to bring the cables to connect to my computer and cannot published the pictures of my food and the bookstore now. I will do so when I return on Friday. Like you say a picture is worth a thousand words, Janette.
Wandering back to the bookstore, Bandi Luni, I find interesting that while the English books section was small compared to those in other countries, there are lots of book I do not usually see. For example, Pearl S Buck has two other books to complete the Pulitzer prize award winner, The Good Earth. The second volume is Sons and final story The House Divided. It is only bookstore with all the books written by Alvin Toffler, The Future Shock, The Third Wave and Powershift as well as Revolutionary Wealth and one more title I cannot recall now. B L also carry a book authored by Jimmy Carter.
Lunch was late at 3pm. I did not feel hungry even though I skipped breakfast. The meeting was intense but ends well. Dinner was simple mixed tonkatsu platter (picture to come).
Walking about, I notice Korean women seems a little short. The tall, slim with small waist and small hip is few and far in-between. Short and pear shape may be genetic...

Sun Rise Early in Seoul

Day break at 5:30am in Seoul. Sky is bright. It is spring now. If Korea shift the time by one hour, there will be plenty of daylight after work. Summer hours it seems are enacted in US, Canada and Australia. These 3 countries are developed countries and have several common threads. The country is big and sparsely populated. Most people live in suburb in houses rather than high rise apartments. People who lived in the city have 2nd house or cottage in the countryside. There are plenty of places to drive to for recreation.
I love summer hours where we can do outdoor cooking and enjoy the nice weather outside. Yeah, with the seasons, summer is always treasure for the freedom to go outdoor and enjoy simply pleasures of just being outside temperature controlled building.
In Asia, summer is just another workday.

So Seoul

Have an uneventful flight to Seoul and you do want an staid and unexciting flight every time. Temp is comfortable during the day at 18 celcius. Darned! I forgot to bring my windbreaker. So I will freeze tomorrow morning when I have to go out. Good thing is time outside will be short i.e. from hotel to the car.
The underground COEX mall is still the same. It is nicely sheltered from the weather. Lundi Bundi is still there and the English books is limited but interesting as there are a lot of different books that Kino or Borders carry. There are lots of Classics. I believe the range is the widest I have seen. Classics are cheap and good read. For English as 2nd language readers, it is an excellent way to learn English.
Wandering about, I notices there are lots of courting couples and females shopping together. Korean men are not mall crawlers. They stride with a clear purpose. I also notice many Korean women are pear shaped. Their short height accentuate the feature of short and stocky. There are many attractive women to feast your eyes on.
Handbags on displays are high quality and designs look unique and interesting. Many useless trinkets which seems to attract female shoppers.

Look at all these books...

I am very emotional and touched. William Forrestor is dead and he just gave his house and everything inside to Jamal Wallace, his student and protege. The scene opens with Jamal opening the door and entering the apartment with his Mum and brother. The bookshelves are full and books are stack high everywhere. Sly, Jamal's brother look at all the books and say "Look at all these books..." It was simply said and I can identify with this statement as if Sly walk into my workspace. Books are stacked everywhere. Finding Forrestor is a Classic Movie for me. I can watch over and over getting the emotional rides. It is a good movie.

Prayers for Victims in China and Burma

Please just pray to Buddha or Kuan Yin or God after reading. Pray for the safety and recovery of as many victims as humanly possible. Please pray for the souls to rest in peace.
Thank you.

The Story of a Mushroom Chicken

I was thinking of a story I have heard in a few days ago. There is was a mother hen, Lek who has a matronly figure and a calm demeanour. If you approach Lek with a problem, she will help you by doing the work for you. She is very calm in the midst of pressure and stress. She is always there for you. Lek is a very quiet hen, she would never speak ill of any hens or cocks. She is like a mother hen taking care of the all the wounds little chicks will have. She is so wise because she calm all the chicks down with her coo, coo. No worries, have no fear when Lek is here. As the little chicks start to grow and chicks grow fast, very fast. They feel a sense of confusion and emptiness. There are many questions they have. Wise mother hen, Lek always have the same answer - why waste your time wondering and asking questions, why waste your time getting frustrated. If you spend the time fruitfully on the tasks that you are asked to do, you will find that they will be done. Then the time you spent will get the job done and not wasted on fruitless frustration. This is a brilliant brainwave. Lek is an experienced mother hen. This is not her first brood of chicks. All her chicks loved her very much. Her chicks have grown to adults chicken now. Like all adult kids, they want the best for their mother hen. So when Lek was very stressed recently, they noticed. Like all wise mothers, she never reveal what is up in her mind or why she is stressed. One of the chicken notices and went to report to the head chicken of the coop. This chick told the head chicken you must appreciate Mother Hen, Lek. She has her strengths. I know you are the stressing her. Head Chicken told chick, you don't understand. I am trying to make sure Lek not only take care of you but allow you to grow. You are the one who told me you are an adult and therefore can take responsibility. However, Lek is still treating like small kids and not letting you know anything. How can you become an adult if you are kept in the dark? Did you realise you are not a chicken under mother hen Lek? You are more of a mushroom, always kept in the dark.
This comment has lighted a candle into the chicken world. Maybe the world is not so messy or confusing....

Kylie Wong - The Australian Chef

I usually have the TV on while surfing the net. Right now, it is Kylie's cooking show. Kylie is Australian and speaks with a complete Australian accent. For the longest time since I started working, I have been exposed to many Chinese with different English accent. The first is Hong Kongers with their Cantonese laced accent. After that mostly I meet mostly Chinese who speaks with American accent. When I lived in Canada, all the kids speaks with Canadian accent. It is really interesting to see kids who speak Hong Kong cantonese and Canadian English fluently as my first impressions were my colleagues in Hong Kong speaking English like Cantonese. Then I work for a British company. Going to England for meeting, I was once served by a Chinese stewardess who speaks with British accent in British Airways. Now, I have talk to a Chinese customer who is totally Australian. Kylie Wong speaks Australian and her outlook and thinking is ozooing with Australian culture.
So what?! You may think. Chinese has emigrated to every corner of the globe. I agree. I noticed the change. Before the Chinese who lived in the country for years and years do not speak good English and if they do, they do not acquired the host country accent. They lived in Chinatowns and keep to themselves. A whole new generation Chinese have evolved where they are educated in the local schools acquiring the values, behaviours and outlook in their host country. They are bananas or potatoes, yellow outside and white inside.

Feedback is a double edge sword

I asked for feedback, frank open and honest feedback. Ouch! what I heard about myself hurts! It is painful to look into the mirror. Hearing perspectives of me from others is very enlightening. I am very glad to learn the views from other lens. I have plenty to learn and to do. Introspection is something we must do on a regular basis. My direct and forceful approach can be stressful for the receiver. I will need to soften up myself. I will need to exercise patience. Humans are naturally resistant to change.
On reflection, I had a good feedback. Pain is a healthy sign. Pain is a sign something is wrong and therefore need to be attended to. A stimulus like fire on any part of our body will inflict pain and ensure we move away from the fire. When feedback is made respectfully and constructively, it is a gift. And on Thursday, I received several gifts. I am happy to receive these gifts. They help made me a better man.
Thank you so much...

Long Queues, Super Long Queues

There are many queues, many long queues today. It is crazy. Everyone is queuing up to buy books in Kinokuniya. I overheard an interesting conversation, 2 men and a woman standing together looking at the queue and books with a different eye. "Revolutionary Wealth, the books do not run out. They have stacks in different places. They also keep it in their warehouse nearby and replenish very quickly...." Then the group decided to walk to observe another section. It is interesting. The 3 must be working in the book retail. Maybe MPH or Borders. Whoever they are, they are absolutely right to come to Kinokuniya and observe the successful promotion and merchandizing. I hope they learn and counter well. I would love the book scene to get even more competitive. Borders start it, then lose out to Kinokuniya. MPH and Times are now a distant third.

The Power of Flow

Did you ever thought of calling someone and the phone rings and it is the person you were thinking to call?
Have ever been in a rush and an empty carpark lot magically appeared in a totally full carpark and you manage to get your errand done on time?
Did you ever tried so hard and the moment you give up, everything flow as you wished?
The power of flow researches on the events that people experience that seems to connect together effortlessly and that every thing falls in place just a jigsaw puzzle.

Young and Articulate Jenny

Jenny slim figure attracts many men's attraction. She has long silky hair and her clothes always enhances her asset. A little of her top and waist will peep out exciting many men out of their pants! Just looking at her walking will set imagination free and wild. Even women say she is gorgeous. This young girl is fiesty and articulate. She is very open and does not hesitate to voice her opinion. She is very honest and articulate her opinion well. It is refreshing to see young generation like her who are the leaders of tomorrow.
Who says beauty and brains do not go together?

Wondering

I am wonder how Tracie and Suzy (not their real names) are doing? It is several weeks since they left us. Tracie joined the company 4 years ago. She started out as a temp and work extremely hard to learn her job in the beginning. She is a little petite with nice long hair. She has a good figure and has the girl-next-door look. A vivacious girl with a pleasant personality, she is very engaging. Every time I travel out, I hear good things mentioned about her. She is very positive about the company, she is extremely helpful, she delivers and make things happen. Our customers loved her and are sad to hear she has left. The good thing is she has left for better opportunities and more responsibilities. She has grown from a young, greenhorn fresh out from to school to a competent worker with skills and capabilities valued by other employers. It is like watching your kids grown up and flew the coop. It is a mixed feeling. Glad that they have grown and independent and sad to lose their presence and company.
I hope she drops by to visit whenever she come for her home leave.
Next time, I will talk about Suzy...

Jom Bali

Dinner at the Jom Bali coffee shop which is the equivalent of Killiney Road Kopitiam. I had nasi lemak with beef rendang and it was excellent. The tea however was not so good this time. I wish I get a chance to taste the chicken hor fun. It looks so yummy. The chilli is very spicy in Malaysia food. My tongue was burned by the time I finished eating. My weight may have gone up this time as I ate loads during the day.
It is good to get a chance to interact and understand the new team members better. Our new girls are quite a babe. It is sad that one decided to leave us as she did not like the job and is stressed by the workload and lack of proper orientation and induction into her responsibilities.
Even though she has made up her mind to leave, I am still retaining the hope she change her mind. I wish her all the best for her future career. I know she will do well and we learn from our experience with her. Her departure clearly identify where our weakness and confirm our need to change and improve.
Thanks to her, we are on the road to improving our teamwork.

Solid Meeting

We have a day of solid and productive meeting. We review our business and talk about teamwork. Many new members and they are a little lost at times. The meeting is quite long for someone new to sit through all day. It is quite a challenge for girls who feel I am long-winded and get lost in what I was trying to tell them.
Their feedback is valuable. I gain a better understanding on how they feel and their perspective. The reception yesterday was I was one of the best speakers they ever had. Today the feedback was I was not to the point and long winded.
To the business owners and CEOs, I was giving them practical advice. However my girls are lost and confused. Man, do I have a long road ahead...

Talk on How to Increase Your Profits

This morning, I conducted a talk on How to Increase Your Profits to a group of CEOs from Small Medium Industries or SMI in short. In Singapore, we call SME or Small Medium Enterprise. I talk on the basic of increasing your profits. Everyone knows to increase profit is the simple relationship of increasing sales and decreasing cost. Buy low sell high. The difference is profit. If everyone is buying low, how can anyone sell high? The secret lies in value-added. The simple example is you buy in volume and sell in small volume. Your cost will be much lower when you buy in volume as well as the cost of transportation. Selling in smaller volumes allow you to sell at higher price. This process adds value to the product. In the higher price, after netting out all the costs, there should be a profit.
Increasing profits requires your to educated your team on the financial statements so that they can understand how their work impact on the profitability of the company. Sales team need to learn how to sell and have good product knowledge. Operations team must be trained on problem solving skills, process skills, telephone skills, product knowledge, and other specific job related skills. Sales are like hunters, they bring in the big game(orders) and Operations are like farmers, they tend the ground and nurture the crops(Customers). With two well trained team, the company's profits grow and grow and grow.
Good luck!

The Curve at Damansara

It has been quite some time since I was here. I stayed at Mid Valley Mall in my last few trips to KL. Coming back to the Curve is like coming home to a familar place. The MPH and Borders (bookshops as usual) are much smaller than Mid Valley stores. However, I loved the Jom Bali Coffee chain. Jom Bali, Old Town and Uncle Lim are like Killiney Road Kopitiam franchised stores. They serve traditional tea, coffee, toast, softboil eggs and self contained meals like nasi lemak, mee siam, mee rebus and Ipoh hor fun. The food quality do varies and the price are positioned below resturants and above hawker centers. I would not call them cheap and good however, these coffeeshop style chain offers greater value than Starbucks or Coffee Beans.

Book Review

Sorry for not writing about the books I am reading for some time. I am still reading and working through several books now. The library is a treasure trove of book for reading pleasure. I just finish a local book "The boy who talk to ghosts". It is a quick read with a smattering of research on psychic phenomena. The story is about the boy who can see and talk to the ghost of his aunt who was his mother's sister. He also saw his dead sister who died at 10 years of age. There are a couple of stories on how the ghost help his mother from getting cheated when she was out buy silk cloth and locating $5,000 kept in a box that the aunt kept in secret when she was alive. The local context using HDB flat, gambling and drugs theme make it very easy to identify. It is a good Singaporean story.

So Sinful, Sooo Good!

Boh Tong recommended the fried kuay teow in Marine Parade hawker center. Yesterday, I finally tried it. The kuay teow is more like hor fun. It is hot and soft. The fragrant flavor of the "wok heh" (i.e. superheated wok) blends well with the sweet black sauce. There is a generous helping of sliced fishcake and lap cheong (chinese sausage). I asked for "mai hum" or no cockles. The kuay teow is fried with lard with a generous helping of crispy deep fried pork skin. Mmm, it is so delicious that I am salivating as I write. It is good meal once a while as it is pack full of artery clogging fats!
It is sinful but soooo good. The queue is long. So go when it is not regular meal time. At $3 a plate it is cheap and good.

Rising Early

Early to bed, early to rise. Wake up feeling fresh and wise. This is the rhyme I remembered in school. Go to bed by 9pm and up by 6am. I have been doing this naturally in the last few days. Workload is causing me to feel tired and sleepy and I am sleeping early and getting up early. Early to bed is 10 pm for me and waking up on me own at 6am instead of an alarm. It is nice to listen to the birds singing in the morning.
It is drizzling this morning, most of the birds are taking shelter. I can hear them but they must be taking shelter far from my home. The caged birds my neighbours kept are champion singers are they are very loud. The rackety voices of mynahs are muted this time as they must be waiting for the rain to stop.
I can see the sky turning for dark to light blue. Day is breaking and soon everything will come alive everywhere.

Sakae Sushi

There are two sushi resturants in Thomson Plaza. We ate at Sushi Tei a couple times as Sushi Tei is bigger and just outside the waiting area of our boys tuition school. Last night, I notice there is a Sakae Sushi at the ground level beside Subway and Popular bookstore. The food was good and price is a lot more reasonable than Sushi Tei. The menu is different from Sushi Tei. The food quality is about the same level. Sakae Sushi give more value for your bucks.
B3 smells like a sushi. He did not shower or brush his teeth. I have to shower him early in the morning. He now smells fresh. However he has not brush his teeth yet.

Delicious Lunch at Crystal Jade in Toa Payoh

Crystal Jade in Toa Payoh has excellent dim sum. I was treat to sumptious meal by my customer. It is so nice to the stomach. However, the discussion was serious. I have to deal with conflicts and it is challenging. Anyway, the message for both parties is clear and we have a good understanding of the issue and have a good way to move forward.
A "free" meal especially expensive and delicious mean the price is high for the one who is not paying!

Rugby for Girls

At about 8:30pm, a group of 10 girls in sports outfit sat on a table right beside me and my boys in the foodcourt in AMK Hub. On the back of the t-shirt was the word rugby. I was not sure if this is correct. I know only boys play rugby. I am totally out of touch with today's world. On our way out of the foodcourt, we saw another group of girls from Hwa Chong. They were carrying the rugby balls openly. I asked if they had a competition and the answer was yes! So the next question was Who won? She smiles happily and says "we did!" So Hwa Chong girls beats CHIJ St. Theresa. It seems to me the Hwa Chong girls are older and bigger. I may be wrong as B1, my eldest boy told me Hwa Chong is six years now and not just a JC. So there will be "B" division or Sec 3 and 4s grouping for inter-school sport competition.
Rugby is a contact sport. The girls in the team must be tough.

Teh Halia

This morning I go to the market for Teh Halia. I stopped going for teh halia since the discovery of kidney stones. My weight is also creeping up. It is two kgs every year. Time to reduce. My classmate who is the doctor says I have to reduce my food intake by 25% and exercise. He run twice a week for 8 to 9 km. Exercise mean 45 mins to 1 hours of sustained elevated heart rate. Then I can really burn calories. My kind of swimming he says is recreational and has no effect on weight reduction.
So I resolved to exercise seriously to keep my weight down.

Stars shines in dark skies

Early to bed, early to rise. I am up early this morning. Good morning, everyone! The stars are still shining! Stars shines all the time. It is not visible when the sun is out as the strong light crowded out the faint lights of the stars.
Star light, Star bright,
I wish I may,
I wish I might,
I wish my wish will come true tonight.

Good News!

I am happy to report that my kidney stone is no longer showing up in the x-ray. This is wonderful news for me. I celebrated by bringing the whole family to eat out in a Italian makeshift resturant in Takashimaya. The ordeal is not over yet as there are still blood in the urine indicating the stone is still in the uretheter.
I feel so much better today not having to undergo the ESWL or electroshock wave lithrotripsy. Thank you so much for your support. Thanks to angels. Thanks to Buddha and Thanks to Goddess of Mercy.

Hunger Pangs

I am feeling very hungry now. I did not eat much today in preparation for my treatment tomorrow. Man! It is tough without food. Also my weight after one day of no food did not drop by much. Look like for me to lose weight will require more hungry times ahead. It is not easy. Mental discipline!

Heatwave

Temperature is soaring. Heat and humidity is reaching record high. The weather pattern is worrying. The inflation is high. Can our civilisation survive all the changes that is happening? The world is getting turbulent and unstable. Prices of food and rent has gone up but salary remains the same or with small increase. How to survive? The future is looking uncertain. What can we do as an individual? Less carbon footprint, less consumption, more environmentally friendly, it is a little challenging in the city. If we are living in an area with lots of land, we can grow our own food and live off the land.

Pictures and Words

I am posting more pictures as suggested by my readers. I am really a slow poke when it come to something new. I am a bookworm and reader. So words are my vehicle of communication. Pictures is the new medium I am experimenting with. My new phone, the Motorola V9 has a 2 megapixels camera. It is an idiot-proof camera. Snap and Save. No zoom or any other options. You have seen the pictures below and I think the quality is acceptable.
With camera phone, life is so much simpler. A camera is always available. Hopefully, I can fulfil my dream of "capturing" an UFO in my camera in future.

Paranormic View

A picture speaks a thousand words....

Borders Club

I am now a fan of Borders Club. For the same price as Kinokuniya, Borders Club gave the same 10% all year round discount. However, Borders Club discount is permanent. Kino will give 20% during school holidays. Borders advertised with 30% discount and then gave further 10% on production of the card. This make Borders Club much superior value compared to Kino. Also the 3 for 2 deal is good for bulk purchase to buy books for group projects.

Juvenile Mynahs

Juvenile mynah birds are out of their nests. Their baby chirps are loud waiting for their parents to feed them. There must be a nesting season for city birds in our year round same climate environment. I do not hear or notice them before. It is also the pattern recognition syndrome. For example, you are a proud owner of a unique and rare car like a yellow volkwagon beetle, rare because it is hardly seen on the roads or highway. Once you start driving it, you will notice a lot of yellow beetle on the road. Now that we have chirpy, I notice all the juvenile mynah birds in my neighbourhood. By the way, chipy has flew the coop as well. He (I assume he is a male bird) is quite independent now and can fly well. He still need to be fed and will return to the security guard when he is hungry.

New Links

I read this book 52 Projects by Jeffrey Yamaguchi. There are lots of creative ideas. One is just help me wrote the article below on Why I chose Toronto to live in. JY has a website on the projects. In fact he has many and you will be linked to all his other sites. Please do explore. It will help you get your creative juices flowing...

Why did I chose to live in Toronto?

Project 10 - Write a Story of Why you moved to a city... as suggested in the book 52 Projects.
I have never gone out of our tiny island Singapore growing up. My family is not poor i.e. we still have enough to eat every day. My mum was born in Swatow, China and immigrate to Singapore when she was 9 years old. My dad was born in Singapore. Although bus tours to Malaysia was affordable, we have never venture out. So I do not have a passport until I am working for a company for Gould HB. In fact, my passport was paid for by Gould as they have to send me to Malaysia to service medical equipment. I can vividly remember my first trip out of the country was on a rented Mercedes Benz by my boss. A few months later, I have to go to India and on business class as the trip is more than 4 hours! 24 months after my first trip out of Singapore, I have travelled to several major cities in US, Europe and Asia. I was proud that I have gone "around the world" twice. In one three weeks trips, I fly to US via the Pacific and continue to Europe via the Altantic before coming home. The President of Asia told my boss he should not be sending me globetrotting!
Within a short time, I have become a "seasoned" traveller. I visited a lot of interesting and exotic places. It is wonderful to experience different cultures. I begin to feel somewhat hollow. Living in place for a week in a hotel is not experiencing life or culture. It is a light touch like a dragonfly touching on the water. I have this strong desire to experience a different life from Singapore. In order to achieve, I tried to apply for a job oversea in my company. I talk to everyone I met when I am on my trip expressing my desire to work with them there. It dawn to me that no one from Asia is transferred to US. Only Americans come over to Singapore to work.
In order to achieve my dream of living overseas, I realise I have to immigrate like my mum has done when she was nine years old. I applied for Canada's Landed Immigrant status and was successful. I got married and together with my young wife flew to Toronto on a one-way ticket and a couple of phone numbers of people who are already in Toronto. Why Toronto? Everyone I talked to told me Toronto is the city of commerce in Canada and easiest to find a job there. Back in the eighties, there was no internet. The way to do research is through libraries and newspapers. I visit Province of Ontario office in Singapore to get their advice as well. I was surprised that the head of the office talk to me for a couple of hours encouraging me to go and live in Ontario. Why was I surprised? Because I was very young and junior and this guy who is high up on the hierarchy is giving me his time generously.
Toronto is a melting pot with whites, yellows and blacks all mixed in. The population of Chinese is huge probably the largest outside China. The Chinese foods are mainly Hong Kong and Vietnamese. There are only two resturants offering Singapore food - one in downtown and the other in Mississauga. Over time, my wife and I learn to cook Singapore food from recipes. We do miss fishballs noodles, braised duck, char kuay teow, etc. Hong Kong food is good but cannot replace our Singapore flavors. Now, I can have my home flavors anytime. It is nice to be back home to Singapore! Sweet!!

Busy as a Bee

It is non-stop work and work. Monday blues? Of course not! Work is joy - Sometimes. Aand Work gives meaning to Life -Always!
It is school holidays time for France. So our local French school is on holiday as well. My neighbours are back for their home leave. It is nice to be an expatriate.

Alfresco BBQ Dinner

We have an alfresco bbq dinner on our roof garden. It is like going to a resort because after dinner, we enjoys looking at the stars and listening to the crickets. It is a good way to be in touch with nature. B3 loves to eat at the roof garden. This time he is distracted by his friends who were playing outside and keep begging to leave the dinner. Finally, I relented. B1 and B2 had good conversations with mummy. I did all the cooking and it is very fun.

SQ Positive Response to my Feedback

Below is the reply from SQ Customer Service Manager
Dear Sir,
SQ12 / 21 April 2008, Singapore to Tokyo
Warm greetings from Singapore Airlines and I trust this email finds you well.

Thank you for taking the time to communicate with us, providing us with valuable feedback on your experience when you traveled with us onboard SQ12 on21 April 2008. I am sorry to learn of your disappointment with our inflight reading materials.

Nevertheless, we review the types of magazines we uplift and I will bring this to the attention of our Inflight Services Manager. It is such a pleasure to acknowledge your compliments for the level of service displayed by our cabin crew member, Ms Iris Ho. I have informed our Cabin Crew Performance Manager of your praise and she will certainly convey your words to Ms Ho.

From your email, Ms Ho's performance is exemplary and deserving of merit and I am sure she will be delighted to learn that you have recognized her efforts and your kind words will certainly inspire and motivate her, to continue giving her best.

It is always a pleasure to hear from our customers and we greatly value your support for our airline.

Sir, thank you for flying with Singapore Airlines and we look forward to welcoming you on board our flights again soon.

Yours sincerely,
Pearline Lee
Manager Customer Services