Dinner Together

We have dinner as a family together. This rule has been set by my wife and after many years, it is now paying off. This is the time where we get feedback and updates from our boys. We have plenty of conversation about school and when they will be out for their Co-cirricular Activities or CCAs. They will also report their outings with their friends. I am very glad to spend quantity time with them. We go shopping mall and will stick together as a family.

I am very happy to have the boys growing up in a close family environment.

Happy

I am very happy that it is raining now. Yes, pure and simple joy. While I may be worrying over something that may not happen in my lifetime, I want to savour the joy of rain and water. My garden needs less tap water and the roof garden can turn green again.

Pitter, patter, pitter, patter as the rain drops pelt my heliconia. Wonderful music, soothing and reassuring. Water, the gift of life.

Building a Windmill

B3, the baby of the family is Primary 3 or Grade 4 in Canada. He was pestering me to build the Windmill from a Tamiya kit I bought some time back. I love alternate energy and green lifestyle. The kit are just demonstration toy and is just proof of concept. I have been reluctant to build the windmill or some other kits I have in stock as I hope my boys will build them when the time is right or ripe. Ripe time is when they have science project in school.

To delay B3 request, I ask his mummy and explain to her about my view. However, mummy is supportive of B3 interest. So, I have to allow him to open the kit and help fix the windmill. Amazing, B3 did most of the assemly by himself. Look like he can follow the instructions and do fairly intricate assembly. I have to help in areas where strength or precision is required.

Right now he is in an euphoric mood and singing as he test out the model. I am very pleased to see him so happy.

Break Time

I was suffering from cabin fever. So I decide to take a break and go to Ah Kun in Compass Point to sit and read my books. For me it is a relaxing way to pass time. It is also economical at S$1.30 per cup of tea with milk.

In Canada, the low cost and excellent quality is Tim Horton's coffee. I like the taste Tim Horton's. My colleague and friend, Tony N told me the reason Tim Horton's coffee tastes so good is because they use distill water instead of tap water. Tap water in Canada is hard, really hard. Kettle get scales after boiling water a few times. It is hard to lather soap.

An hour of reading in an aircond place and watching life go by is a good way to rejuvenate.

Falling Sick

Two colleagues in KL office falls sick. One is on MC today and the other will be on MC tomorrow and the day after. I have tummyache on my lower left abdomen which I suspect may be typhoid or related to something I ate in KL. I loved the hawker food but seems to always get into trouble in KL. I suspect the hygiene standards are much lower and not as stringent. Hence my stomach weakened by the very clean and well-prepared food at home has trouble dealing with contaminated food. Malaysian food tends to have fermented seafood or prawn paste for flavoring increasing the risks further.

I may need to start eating in proper resturant in KL. And miss out my favorite foods...sigh!

What I like about my job

Looking for ideas for my blog, I borrowed the book 52 Projects again from the Bishan Library. I like the idea about talking about my job.

So, here it is. There are many things I like about my job. First and foremost, I get a chance to make a difference in business. I also have a small team to manage. I enjoys developing and training the people working with me. I loves to make customers happy with our company, products and service. I also have fun competing for business with strong competitors. Then there is also interactions with colleagues, going to different countries in Asia. Working on tough business and people issues. Getting results through my decisions and actions. Watching my team members develop and grow. I also earn a reasonable income for my sustenance to feed my body and spirit.

In short, I am happy with my job!

Bad Air

The air smell of acrid smoke. The stench of burnt wood and leaves is very strong. The sky looks like there is high level of airborne particles. The El Nino is making it impact felt. I was hopeful that dark heavy clouds formingat about 4pm will turn to rain but it did not.

Rain rain, please come again.

Up in the middle of the Night

I must have ate something bad. My abdomen is very uncomfortable and sore. It feels painful to slight pressure. Up at 3:50am, I am now blogging with Rachael Ray (in the googlebox unfortunately) for company.

The air smells of burned wood. So there must be a bush fire somewhere nearby. There is also another observation that makes me wonder about our weather. Yesterday, while cycling, I first saw a dead mynah bird on the grass strip between the path and the road. Further down, there is a dead sparrow. It is unusual as it is the first time I saw a dead mynah that is not a roadkill. It is also my first time to see a dead sparrow. We have so many sparrows and mynahs. I always wonder where they go when they dies as I do not see any of the dead bird littering our fields, park or street.

Another observation is a lot of small birds are flying high up in the sky. I am not sure what type they are. They may be swallows. Why the change in flying habit?

Italian Resturant in The Old School

It is in an off-beat place up in Sophia Road at the hilltop. I have gone past the place many times when I bring my boys for music lessons. There is just a cluster of old buildings. Really! not much activities, maybe it is on Saturdays that we pass by. I would never thought there is a resturant. Last Saturday, my son's piano teacher told me he bought a pizza for lunch from a French resturant up the road. This resturant has nice food. So we tried it out yesterday when my boy go for lesson. The price was a little high but there is no plus plus or ++ (i.e. +10% service charge +7% GST).

We ordered pizza and beef stew. The pizza reminds me of Alice Fazooli's, an Italian resturant in Toronto. The crust is thin and crispy. The cheese was very very good and salami absolutely delicious. B2 and B3 loved the pizza so much that we order a repeat. Finally, we can have a taste of Toronto in Singapore.

I am very happy to have something to remind me of a place which I have fond memories.

Heatwave

It is so hot today. The sky looks like there is an unhealthy level of smog. As I drive along CTE, everything seems normal. The road is busy with plenty of cars, buses and motorcycles. Birds are flying about. Yet, I wonder. I wonder if my senses are not sensitive enough. I wonder if the El Nino effects have on all living things. The reports on the news where water is running out in many places. The ships are trapped in the ice. Is it because of the increase in our ability to communicate such events due to technology or is it because there is a real increase in extreme weather patterns. Are the news reports slanted because of the editors and journalists increased awareness of the global warming issues? Or the long term trend is the Earth is getting exhausted?

There are many questions. I wonder and wonder. When will human race be wiped our due to our greed and callousness.

Mid-Valley, cont'd

Mid-Valley is my favorite place to stay now as there are two bookshops, both large and have a wide range of books relative to other store. MPH was having a 10% discount and 15% for members.

Mid-Valley has good anchor tenants like Jusco and Carrefour. There are plenty of high quality resturants. It is a pity that I do not get much time to spend on mall crawling as work commitments are heavy.

Since my family came over and stay in Mid-Valley for holiday, it is now a regular destination for my business trips as well.

Mid-Valley

Sorry for not writing on Wednesday and Thursday. I was in KL and did not want to pay for the internet in the hotel. It is too expensive for a couple of hours of usage. I have to go to AMK Central for dinner now. I will continue to write later...

Change

The landscape in Singapore is always changing. The malls are also changing. It is very confusing for me to go the Northpoint and the configuration today is so different from the time I lived there 12 years ago.

I grew up in Blk 46, Strathmore Ave. Today, all the buildings are new and much taller. There are some remanents of the past like a short wall between the road and the field. Other than that, it is hard for me to recall the place I grew up in. The sense of belonging is severely weaken by the lack of signposts and physical structure I can identify. Even the Broadway building in Ang Mo Kio Central has been extensive renovated and changed. So the exterior looked the same but it is very confusing and disorientating to not the find the old footpaths.

In contrast, Canada is quite static. The 401 and 403 highways stayed the same. The physical structure of the malls stayed the same for years and years even though there may be some changes in the tenants. I can refresh my memories every time I go back to Toronto.

Work Like Da Vinci

I have been listening to the audio book by Michael Gelb. Leonardo Da Vinci is the greatest talent alive. Many will dispute this claim. Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison, Chandra Bose, Peter Drucker, Alfred Nobel, and the list goes on.

Gelb did well by coming up with an original idea and leveraging a brand name. He also use Thomas Edison as well. The title is How to Innovate like Thomas Edison. Working like Da Vinci involves 7 principles. Curosity, Develop senses, Keep an open mind, continuous learning are some of the principles. This is no different from other self help books.

Gelb also highly recommend Tony Buzzan's Mind Mapping methods to develop ideas and projects.

Maid is having a Headache

My maid is having headache after her off day yesterday. So we will give her time off for light duties and eat out tonight. I wonder what she did to get the headache. We did not ask. Yet the question remains. Off day is for R&R rest and recreation that is. It can also bounce back and become an issue when R&R cause a person to be sick.

We hope she recovers and get well soon so that we have home-cooked dinner again.

Boys Are Good

B1, B2 and B3 are our babies. Many families in Singapore also call them boy-boy. We like calling them our babies as we enjoyed fond memories of their infancy. We go out as a family all the time - to the malls, doctors, or chiropractor. It is a good practice. Now my boys are growing and we have good conversations and their behaviours in their terrible teens are relatively good. Our boys do give us gray hairs, compared to what other parents has gone through.

After dinner, we adjourn to nearest suburban mall, Compass Point and just enjoy the aircon. The mall is very crowded and my baby sister was there as well with her hubby. I just bought bottled drinks from Cold Storage as price in 7Eleven is way too high. B2 had an ice-cream from McDonald's and B1 bought pens from Popular and B3 had candy from Cold Storage.

It is just simple pleasures for a simple family.

Finished!

I finished the book Read for Your Life. It is an easy read and fun to have bits and pieces and quotations from other authors and famous personalities. Reading fast is recommended by this author and I followed his advice. The challenge is to read 500 books per year.

I will be continuing to read and improve my reading speed and learn as much as I can. Writing this blog is practicing my writing skills. I have a long way to go. However, I will keep working on reading and writing skills as this will keep me healthy and wise. Sometimes I may missed an entry or two. The reasons can be no access to blogs like China, or dead tired to write or even sometime simply forget to write. I have this habit to keep writing now. I am take a break now and then but please keep coming as there will be something new every day.

Book Therapy

It is relaxing just to read. I am now read a book from the library "Read for Your Life". It is an easy read as the information are given in easily digestible bit sizes and many short stories to illustrate how books help many successful people in life.

I enjoys reading this book on reading.

Exercise for Health

I am cycling regularly now. My butts hurts from sitting on the hard narrow saddle for too long. Usually I cycle for about 30mins or more. I will stop to do some sit-ups. I feel fitter but weight remains an issue. It is easy to gain and very hard to lose. I gained a kg after one week in Malacca and this was two or three months ago and until now I have been unable to get rid of this additional kg.

I want to be healthy and stay healthy. So now I am taking the Wellness Guru and author, Andrew Weil's advice - do not worry too much about weight. Stay healthy and be happy. I will try to be happy with my weight.

Heat is On!

The thermometer is rising. The green grass has withered into yellow and brown and crackles as you step on them. There were several bush fires along the stretch of KPE right opposite Sengkang Gardens.

The sweltering heat is making me feel drowsy and lazy. Thank goodness for aircond. I had tea in Ah Kun and read a book during lunch.

We are just into Feb. I shudders to think of July and August when it gets even hotter. Will we be roasted alive?

Foot-rest

Finally, I bought a proper foot-rest with tiltable plane. My complaint is it is not the metal with a non-slip surface that my colleague, Kate had. For now, this will do. I should have take her hand-me-down when she left for US. She did gave me the contact for getting her foot-rest sending a message to me that she is not offering it to me. My lazy usual self mean I did not procure the foot-rest even though I like it very much.

Today, I found an alternative cheap plastic model and I will make do with this new acquisition instead. Now, I will be more productive at my work desk. Maybe I should send this suggestion to Singapore Government in my micro-effort to improve Singapore's productivity.

BBQ

Getting up early on Sunday morning, I turn on the TV to keep me company. At 6am, there is a show on BBQ. The host will go around the different states of American and try out different kind of barbarques. Today's episode is on liquor. So there is beer and bbq, wine and bbq and tequila and bbq. The meats were bbq or smoked bbq and they all look so tantalisingly delicious.

You can get the recipe at www.foodnetwork.com. You click here

It is different!

I found that audio books are usually abridged and listening to the book is quite different from reading them on print. Some of the points seems repetitive. I just check through the book which I just heard and found that they are all in the book. So audio book is a good complement to the hard copy. Listening can be distracting. Also it is hard to stay focus as well. Many a time, I did not pay attention to the words as I concentrate on my environment while riding my bike.

Unabridged book can be very tedious to listen to. The. Omnivore Dilemma has 10 CDs. By the fifth or sixth CDs, I began to feel exhausted. So I skip the balance and jump straight to the last sound track.

While I am still enthusiatic about audio book, it is somewhat dampen now. Maybe, the newness has wear off...

UFOs

Yahoo News reports that Britain just release all the Classified UFO reports. This must be a treasure trove UFO enthusiasts. More unique flying objects in the sky will be release on the internet for all to look at. With the advent of YouTube, many UFOs have been captured in video, so keeping all the reports classified is no longer serving any purpose as it is easily available in the public domain. What is interesting is the results of the investigation and conclusions.

It is a mystery where the UFOs come from and what is their objective. Are we human the "crop" belonging to Gardeners of the Earth as stated by Lobsang Rampa? Are they from outer space or inner space? Inner space is center of the Earth or the ocean. We are always busy with our daily economic activities that we do not have much time to delve on the mysteries of our planet.

24 Hrs Shopping

Looks like it is a clear and definite trend. A couple of years ago, Mustapha launch 24hours shopping. Today, NTUC, Shop N Save, Cold Storage has jumped into the bandwagon on 24 hours shopping. I am actually very happy to see a NTUC outlet in Fernvale Point to complement the tiny wet market. Best of all, it is a 24/7 outlet. It is not even close for Chinese New Year. So now we have two outlets, 7-Eleven and NTUC to shop at anytime, day or night and during holidays.

Mum is Leaving

My mother is leaving tomorrow morning for Hong Kong and then back to her home in Toronto. I am glad she spent Chinese New Year here. She is looking forward to going home in Canada as the weather here is too hot for her.

I hope there is no snow on the day she arrives Toronto. I do missed my second home city although I do not miss the long, dark and cold winters. Toronto is a great city to live. Maybe next time I may try Vancouver as it is been ranked the best city to live in the world.

Trapped! Or Dysfunctional?

It is hard for me to believe but there are really people who are trapped in poverty and are unable to get out. From a third party observer's perspective, I can see the dysfunctional mindset. Earning a reasonable pay and supporting the family can be challenging. It is very simple for me. The rule is to spend less than you earn. The 2nd rule is to find ways to earn more money, legally.

Someone who can ill afford anything can buy a Sony 42" HD TV really do not make any sense to me. However, on Sunday Times, the rich American Korean noticed rich fathers spent their time reading Wall Street Journal after work, poor fathers spent the time watching after work.

It is this dyfunctional thinking and habit that trap the poor to remain poor. Maybe they just have no desire to be rich.

Flying Kites

B1, our eldest baby/boy suggested flying kite. Gu Gu(or mummy's brother) is here to visit. So B1, B2 and B3 pile in the back of their Gu Gu's Honda with their huge black penguin kite and a series of small kites with dragonfly.

The field opposite SengKang sports and community center was too crowded. So we fly at the field outside SengKang Methodist Church. It is so easy to fly a kite with North East Monsoon winds. The wind is so strong that the kite practically fly by itself. My only complaint is I am bitten all over by bugs.

10 Cents More!

I know I should not be complaining but I do not understand why prices has to go up during Chinese New Year especially non-Chinese shops. You-tiao price has gone up by 10 cents or 14% more per piece. What surprises me is that my regular teh halia operated by Indian is also up by 10 cents. The roti prata shop was closed during Hari Raya (Indian Muslim) and now they are charging 10 cents more for every item on the menu. Should the Chinese shops charge 10 cents for during Deepavali or Hari Raya?

You may say it is demand and supply. If the demand go up and supply is limited since all the Chinese kopitiams are closed, then the Indian proprietor can charge more. The problem is there is hardly anyone in the shop. Maybe the choice is now limited and if you need drink or food, it is time to increase price.

Now I know not only all shops are closed during Chinese New Year, prices of roti prata in mamak stalls also go up.

The day business come to a halt

Today is the day 99% of the business in Singapore comes to a halt. The exception are critical services like MRT, bus, hotels, and hospitals. Only the birds are stirring in this first day of the Tiger year. There is very few cars on the road now.

It is a good time for contemplation and reflection. We now close out the year of the Ox. ST Index has grown 89% from the bottom last March. There are risks ahead but economy is recovering well and the concerted governments efforts of the world in stimulating their economy is working.

With improved outlook, I am more confident of the future. Good time to start investing in stocks and properties.

Gong Xi Fa Cai

I wish all my readers - A Safe, Happy and Prosperous Year of Tiger. May the Golden Tiger bring Health and Wealth to you and your loved ones.

Reunion Dinner

My mum, brother and his wife is over for our regular reunion dinner. The crabs from Sheng Siong is soft and wet even though we bought them at a very high price. Fish was undercooked. The duck was not too good either. The food is a disappointment as quality has dropped due to the peak volume production. Overall, I was disappointed.

However, it was great to have my family over. I enjoy the time we have even though it was short.

Expensive Way to Kill Time

Sending boys to tuition and waiting for them to finish can be tedious. This task usually rest with mummys. Yes, mummys with a "s"! All the kids' mummy will be waiting and killing time in the mall.

One of the way to kill time is to get a pedicure or manicure. My wife did one today. Meanwhile I past my time in Popular browsing all the business books and looking for bargains. At finishing time, since my boy was still not out, I check out the salon and found her. With the still drying nail preventing her from taking out her wallet, I have to pay the bill. I have a shock as it cost 85 cups of teh halia. This is a very expensive pastime.

With the financial crisis, I have reduce my capuccino ways and am more frugal by switching to Ah Kun's teh-C, teh halia or teh talek.

Nail salons are full and my wife had to wait to get an appointment. Look like it is good business to serve women's market.

Horrible Service - Prius Recall

Borneo Motors called me up to give my Prius a "free software upgrade". It is really insulting. Does Borneo Motors think that I am living in third country where there is no TV or internet?

I sent my Prius to Sin Ming Service Center. It took 3 hours instead of 30mins to one hour as stated in the media. When the car was ready, the armrest was full of engine oil and the gearbox console was scratched. I have no idea it is so bad. My new car is horribly treated when service. While I do not expect the same level of service as Volvo, I feel that my new car should not be wontonly treated by the service personnels. I do not know if the issue lies with Sin Ming Service Center only or Borneo Motors in general.

Obviously, Toyota does not treat its customers well. Maybe it is time for Toyota to wake up. It is living in the good work and reputation done in the past.

Weight Issue

I have a passion for eating and very particular about my choice of resturant. My Japanese colleague had to walk with me a couple of round on two floors of resturant every time when it is meal time in Japan and still have I have hard time deciding. In Japan, the resturants are all very specialised unlike those in Singapore. In fact the resturants are similar to the hawkers. Every resturant is same as every hawker, specialise in one dish only. Tempura is only tempura and nothing else. Sushi resturant serves only sushi and tonkatsu has only tonkatsu. True, there are many different cuts of the pork, my complain is there is only deep fried pork. Ramen is only ramen and beef bowl has only beef and rice.

So after walking a few rounds, my poor and tired colleague finally says when it come to business you are very decisive. But when it comes to food...his voice trail off.

Why am I giving a discourse on resturants in Japan? Well it is weight issue that I am concern with. Chinese New Year is upon us and I have bought lots of food. I love the cookies and tidbits. Munchie monster like me has a hard time maintaining my weight. My medical checkup says I need to reduce by 10 cm. I have not made any progress. Sigh! So much for my resolution.

My Boys

Watching and reflecting on my three growing sons, I am very happy that we have quality and quantity time with them. We must have dinner together with the TV off. Many a times, I will cut out fruits for them to eat. Mangoes are the favourite. Harum manis, R2E2, Indian mango, Malaysian mangoes, you name it. And I will buy and cut it.

Their tuition fees are a heavy burden. We treat the costs as investment, equipping our boys to earn a respectable income when they are out in society.

We have great hopes for our boys and their future. I am sure they will do well like Dr. Seuss says it in "Oh! Places You Will Go".

Rush is On!

Look like everyone is buying grocery for Chinese New Year in Hougang Point aka Festival Market. At 9pm, when I was leaving the mall, plenty of cars are still queuing to come in as the car park is full. The queues at the cashiers are long like snakes. All cashiers counters are open to boot. So it FairPrice share is publicly traded, it will be a good stock to invest.

Why do we have to buy so much food during Chinese New Year? A lot of food are wasted as we all buy enough to feed everyone else i.e. visiting relatives. Say if I buy enough for all my sisters and their families and they in turn buy the same quantity, then just my immediate family alone will have three times the amount of food. Then my wife siblings does the same things and you can now see the multiplier effect of making sure we all have enough food during CNY.

Dreams

What are my dreams? There are many childhood dreams I have that is unfulfilled. The key dream is to be a scientist working in Bell Laboratories. Science is a subject I always loved. It is interesting to bring robots to explore Mars or find a way to recycle water and make a closed ecological system for space travel. Science is advancing at a more frenetic pace today than when I was growing up.

Today's key focus is Global Warming and making more new products. No more grand plan of going to the moon or exploring our inner space i.e. ocean. My interest in science has wane with growing family and incessant demands of work. Today, being a scientist is my childhood dream unfulfilled.

The Key Question

A columnist wrote about the dreaded question. It is a favorite question when relatives meet once a year. I realised I love the ask the same offending question. It is not that I want to offensive or to put pressure. It is a regular question to ask. The institution is still going strong.

The question in question? When are you getting married? I asked my brother-in-law's girlfriend every time we meet. I asked my single office staff. I asked my nieces. By the way, I can ask my office staff since I go to the office once every few months.

It become a sensitive question. The KFC advertisement make it easy. Just pretend to be busy eating. However, for all the singles out there, there is no way you can eat non-stop. So be prepared with your answers.

Family Gathering

My mum and sisters have lunch in our home today. My wife do up a wonderful menu of Ginseng and Lingzhi Chicken soup, Australian Broccoli with Sea Cucumber, Stir fry Baby Kailan, Nonya Chap Chye, Black Pepper Crabs, Steamed White Rabbit Fish and Drunken Prawn.

My weight has increased. Last night's vegetarian steamboat and lunchtime feast today is not good for my waistline. I try to work off by cycling more and it did not seem to work especially since I snack on after the meals all the new year goodies.

I was disappointed my second sister and her daughters were not here. One of my nephews also stood me up because his friend has a free admission to airshow and aerospace exhibition for him. Otherwise, it is a perfect meal. The black pepper crab was very popular and B1, two and three tucked in with gusto.

We will hold a crab feast next time.

Signs of Weakening Economy?

The stock market performance has been erratic and weak recently. I wonder about the economy in the next few months. Stock market performance usually foretell the economy. So I am worrying about the signs of the things to come. The rule of thumb for property is prices will rise or fall six months after the property stock rise or fall. The last financial crisis precipitate the stock market crisis and then the real economy.

The fall is stock prices is making the blue chips more attractive. If you have spare cash, it may be time to look at buying stocks.

Another Day

Well, it is bright and early err... dark and early actually. I do not know how the phrase bright and early come about. If it is really early, it is actually dark and not bright. Maybe the phrase is for summer. It will be bright now if it is summertime. So bright and early will be correct.

Start of another day. I have a busy day ahead at work. Work is a healthy recreation when fun and rewarding and boring useless drudgery when not.

I am also sad to report the baby mynah bird I caught the day before died yesterday evening while I was out. It only live two days and one night with us. Sigh! I was hoping to save and rear this bird until it is strong enough to defend itself. I have to learn how to take care of birds.

Hamburger for Lunch

I had a hamburger in the latest American resturant in town, Chilli's. Chillis was back recently after many years of absence. The hamburger come with generous quantity of crispy french fries. I like the tangy pickles and large size crispy bacon. For $16, it is a tad on the high side. The food is All-American which mean big serving and calorie and cholestorol laden. Sinfully tasty I must admit.

Ghost Stories

Ghost Stories in Singapore by Russell Lee is very popular. The books are thin and easy to read. The stories are two to three pages long. The best part is it local context. So it is very easy to identify with the stories.

I read a couple of stories about "adventures" of army boys when they are out doing their field exercises. Of course all the scary things they see are female. I wonder if their imagination start after sufficient sleep deprivations. I still shudders to think of the exercises we have to do. Moving from point-to-point every few hours. Setting up and then tearing down very heavy military hardware. Sentry duties, running to nowhere weighs down by your rifle. After a couple of days of sheer torture, a scary story will help any soldier to stay awake.

Unsuccessful Gallstones Removal

This time I was not successful or rather I did not see any green stones floating when I clear my bowels. One thing for sure. My intestines were clear out. My weight is more than 88kgs. This is way past my ideal weight. I need to lose 10cm on my waistline according to the doctors in Tan Tock Seng Hospital. I have plenty of work ahead of me. Eating lots of fruits is not helping me reduce.

I am thinking maybe I am not too religious in following the instructions. I may have to do the procedure again and see how it go the next time. It worked for me the first time I tried.

Yukkk!

It tastes disgusting! I am trying out a natural remedy to remove gallstones. The apple and apple juice is fine. The epsom salt drink tasted so weird and bitter. Putting quarter cup of oil through the throat is yukky! I gulped in a hurry. Tomorrow morning, I will know the results. I should see green stones floating when I pass motion.

I hope my gallstone found during my last checkup will come out naturally. Wish me luck!

Thaipusam

The temple is busy all night with vehicles and people going to pray and show their devotion. The moon is in its glorious round smiley face. I like the landscape of hills and uneven terrains. It is very quiet early in the morning everywhere except for the Hindu temple.

Up at 5am, I am now feeling sleepy. Travelling is lonely. One must learn to make good use of the time i.e. read, sleep and watch TV or learn to meditate while waiting for the scheduled time before departing. It is good to be the CEO. Then flying a corporate jet mean I can go anywhere at any time and leave at any time. Well, since I am not a CEO, this jnst a pipe dream. I understand CEOs are lonely too. I find that hard to believe as they always travel with the entourage and local office leaders fawning over them. Maybe CEOs are just like friendless city folks who are surrounded by people and all are strangers and no real friends.

I am glad I have friends and family. So loneliness is just a temporary inconvenience of my job.

Ipoh Knah Choy Kai

My colleagues, Tom and Sam lives in Ipoh. They brought me to the authentic and famous knah choy kai aka chicken and beansprouts. This is my first time to Ipoh. Heard plenty of good things about Ipoh like many Miss Malaysia are from Ipoh, Michelle Yeoh, the actress, the water gives the best beansprouts, etc, etc. I took a walk to my favourite pastime i.e. window shopping and I was disappointed that the local girls did not live up to their reputation. Maybe my expectation are set too high. The girls are no different from KL.

Back to the chicken! The beansprouts are short and fat, very crunchy, blanched and top with simple soya sauce, cooked oil and ground pepper. The chicken is tender and is quite different from the Hainanese chicken in Singapore. We also have the spare parts aka as liver, gizzards and intestines. There is only hor fun soup and the stock favour is excellent yet not overpowering. The meal come to RM48. I thought it is a little expensive coffeeshop meal for a small town. But hey this is the famous stall and they must price it at a premium.

The mall is sizable and there is Popular bookstore which is not the best. But can do. I had a local white coffee in the mall which cost RM2.30 or S$1 slightly more expensive then the hawker center but cheaper than Ah Kun or food court. Coffee is typical Malaysian Kopitiam-style.

I find Ipoh is a nice small town and very hilly. Ipoh used to be a tin mine. The tin miners did make a lot of money and they have many wives and concubines. Now it is just a small town to raise family and enjoying tourists from KL.

Fabulous Japanese Food

The buffett is really good. Many choices and dessert, my favourite section is excellent! I had the local kuehs, ice kacang with coconut milk,and mango ice cream with sticky rice. I had so stuffed up that I will have plenty of workout to do before I can get my weight down again.

I tried to do some window shopping after dinner but no chance as the shops closed at 9pm. The business do not look good. But the food stalls are thriving. People do not buy but still need to eat. It does not suffer as much due to poor economy. I did not buy any clothings or cheap paraphernalia.

Tomorrow, onwards and forward to Ipoh. The beansprouts and chicken rice place.

Hatyai

I arrived Hatyai yesterday after a long day of travel. I have to fly to KL, then to Alor Star before going by road all the way to Hatyai. The business climate in Hatyai is bad. It is no longer vibrant. Many of the roadside stores are gone. The stores start closing at 9:30pm. I know why now the direct flights are no longer daily. Nobody is coming up here anymore. The economic crisis and unrest have high impact on the local economy.

I am in meeting all day. So I will be gaining weight as I sit and eat all day long. My saving grace? I munch on fruits and nuts instead of potato chips.

Have to go for Japanese buffet dinner. Another wonderful meal lies ahead of me...

Let It Flow

I am facing this blank page for a while wondering what to write. So I decide to let it flow with words just out of my mind. I wonder if I should write about events happened today or about a book I am reading or about my trip tomorrow. So many possibilities and so hard to choose. I realise my writings are not as interesting as say Boh Tong, who has intriguing stories about SIA crews. I only writing boring stuff about books and family or my daily events.

I am also reading books to improve my writing. Most important is I am writing everyday. It is practise and more practise. I hope I got the right "practise" instead of "practice". I believe practise is a verb or the act of doing whereas practice is a noun like doctor's clinic or lawyer's office. I do not mean the physical building either. It is their professional work.

I realise many of my books start to fade or yellow very quickly. The quality of paper is atrocious nowadays. Even hardcover books which cost a premium are printed on low quality newsprint that yellow in one to two years. Maybe it is the sunlight. I put all my books on open shelves so that they can be easily seen and retrieve for reference and reading.

With the launch of e-books, so I will have plenty of books in my hard disks. I am fairly happy with the audio versions now. It is fantastic as technology advance and more tools are available. The accumulation of knowledge is increasing and learning to use the knowledge with all the different tools available will allow us to succeed.

I remember when I first run a local distribution outfit. The sales team do not know how to use a computer. This was in 1998. Today, everyone is required to use computer for all office work. Emails are ubiquitous and mandatory mean of communication. While everyone has to use email, the language skills of many have not change or improve. Hence, we have speed of communication but not clarity. So many things change and many stayed the same.

We are all heading to new and greater future. So let's us all continue forward and live a full life. Life is to be savoured.

New Year Goodies in Queens Street

My wife and I when to the Goddess of Mercy Temple to pray today. After offering our prayers, we walk across the road and have Famous Indian Rojak lunch. Queens Street is also has a Wholesale Centre where all the dried seafood and dried fruits are available. A lot of the Chinese New Year goodies are also available like the fried prawn rolls.

We spent a tidy sum today as we bought mushrooms, dried scallops and dried oysters for the new year.

Soon we will all be saying Kong Hee Huat Chye, hehehe.

Gathering

My eldest sister invited us to have hi-tea in Pu Tien in Tampines Mall with my mother. Actually it is a buffett with maybe 10 items and 3 desserts. The food is quite good. Cost only $12.90 per head. Actually quite good value.

We have a good chat after the meal with my neices and nephew. So it is good to stay connected with my family.

Soul Misalignment?

I was in "twilight zone" for some time before waking up. I have a blocked nose on one side. Twilight zone is half asleep and half awake. It is trying to sleep completely and unable to. Then trying to wake up and unable to. I am nursing a headache on my right side of my head all day. What a lousy day. I feel tired and lethargic and cannot focus on when I was supposed to be for tuition. It is also changing with 3 boys and 4 different tuitions.

Good to be back home and have a rest at the poolside and snatch a few minutes of nap. Maybe it is "soul alignment" as Lobsang Rampa puts it. According to Lobsang Rampa, author of The Third Eye, you will get a terrible headache when you have soul misalignment. No medicine will be able to cure this headache. The only way is to sleep it off. All our souls travel when we sleep and return before we can wake up. Dreams happen when we recall where our souls have travelled to when they were out-of-body. This is also known as Astral Travel.

What kind of Childhood?

Weekend is personal and family time in Canada. In Singapore it is tuition time. It is moving from one place to another.

I wonder why academic achievements are the be all, end all of a student life in Singapore. Pressure to perform and doing well is extremely high. There is only one thing in life for a student and only one thing...i.e. get as many A1 as possible.

Family time for me on the weekend instead of soccer dad or hockey dad is tuition dad. Waiting for tuition to be over and onwards to the next location. Poor kids, poor boys. I always wonder about lost childhood here.

My boys have a different kind of childhood. I wonder what are the good time and bad time they will recall when they are think back of the growing up time. Playing computer games? Holidays and tours to different countries? Or learning and enjoying school? More like pride that they have gone through a tough and competitive childhood where learning and passing exams with high grades is the most important thing in their lives.

What is the childhood I can remember? I remember playing with marbles, home-made kites, home-made windmills, rubber-powered gliders from Guillows, building model planes, doing science experiments and reading books. The Queenstown library was open when I was in Primary 4 and I read about 3 books per week during school holidays. I bought Enid Blyton's books and kept them for a long time. I remember they cost $1.80 each. I did not go overseas until I started to work. My first overseas trip was to Malaysia via road out of Singapore. Then to India. After that in two years, I travelled around world to US, Europe and many countries in Asia. I counted the number of countries I visited and stop after 30 or 40. It does not matter anymore. After that many countries, I am just a frequent traveller and no longer a novice tracking and adding up the number of countries visited as a badge of achievement.

I hope my boys will have fond memories of growing up.

Wonderland Resturant

I met an interesting gentleman in Wonderland Resturant. He has similar logic and is fearless in giving out his opinion and logic of how things should be done in a bureaucracy. I am very happy to meet a like-minded person. He regales his stories of dealing with the bureacrauts and the customer facing officers of passport department.

He was in a long queue and waited for a few hours. When it is his turn, the counter staff just pull down the blind on his counter with a slam and the sign "tutup" or closed in Malay. He was upset would be an understatement. He told the customer service officer that he had queue for a long time. If there is a fixed number of people the department can service, then they should have stop the queue up to the number they will service and let the people queueing beyond the last person know that this is where the queue ends. He does not mind queuing but he cannot be queuing and then be told to go home and come again tomorrow to queue all over again.
I must say he has fine logic.

Facing the Blank Page

It can be difficult to write at time. I always have to spend some time to figure out what to write. Most of what I write is boring. I will need to write, read and edit what I write in order to have a more readable and interesting blog. The Creative Habit is a good book to start on learning how to create from a blank page. The author is a choreographer who had won acclaimed awards for her work. She start with white empty dance hall with a ghetto blaster(portable CD player in Singaporean lingo). It is her job to fill the white emptiness with dance and music. She gave many suggestion to get the creative juices to work. It is hard disciplined work. No different from selling, management or leadership that I am currently involved in.

I am practising to write and face the "empty" page on my keyboard everyday. I made this a diary as it is easy for me to recall my day's activities and the books I read. While it is easy for me to write, it does not make interesting reading. Once in a while I write a winner which my friend Boh Tong will put it in his main blog. My readership will zoom up for many days. It is obvious his blog has plenty of pull and stickiness. Even when my article a few weeks old, visitors from Airlines Stories still come to read.

I may not be able to write much when I travel. So pictures are a short cut to writing. They says a picture is worth a thousand words. So when the day is long and time is lacking, I will let the camera do the writing.

Happy and Lucky

I am very happy with my iPhone. I feel very lucky our libraries have audio books. Now I can "read" more books through the iPhone. Steve Job did a fantastic job with iPhone. Audio files are very easy to download into the computer and synchronise with the iPhone.

Technology advances have improved and increased my abilities to get to more information and enjoy information in different formats. National Library is doing an excellent job of making the new mode of information available.

Living in a world class city like Singapore has its benefits.

Life is good and happy. Therefore, I am lucky.

Success Intelligence

I am listening to the audio version of this book. An example is quite interesting. A survey was done in US on money and happiness. In US, salary is annual unlike in Asia where the convention is monthly. The question is how much more money will make you happy. For people earning $30K/yr, they think if they are making 50K/yr, they will be very happy. For people earning $50K/yr, they think if they $100K/yr it will make them happy. For people earning $100K/yr, they think if they make $250K/yr it will make happy. For people earning $250K/yr, they think if they make $1million/yr, they will be happy.

You see, money is never enough and the more you make the bigger the gap to make yourself happy. It is a never ending chase. We must learn to be happy with what we earn and what we have.

Be Careful when shopping in Borders

I was very happy to go to Borders today for 30% advertised in the Straits Times as well as the email blast. After I paid, I checked on my bill and found that the 30% discount was NOT given at all. Only the regular 10% member discount. I went back to the counter and the cashier told me the advertisement was a mistake, however he will give me the discount anyway. So my transactions were reversed and then reapplied with the discounts i.e.30% and additional 10%.

I thought it is not nice of Borders to do this to their customers. I find it hard to believe that it is a mistake since it is both advertised in today's Straits Times as well as sent by email. Even if it is a mistake, the management should take immediate action to make good the advertised sales rather than let only Customers who saw the discount and ask about it before honoring the advertisement.

It is poor etiquette and not honorable and will destroy Customer's trust. I do not know how many were taken in. I suspect most people do. This is not the company I can trust now and have to check every time I pay.

2.4cm Gallstone

My annual checkup reveals I have a 2.4cm gallstone through ultrasound. The doctor does not seems so concerned. It is my fatty diet. I ate too much cholesterol and transfats. I will need to do more exercise and watch my diet. I had review my life and I think I will die satisfied that I had a good life. I am still young and will not delve on death but life and the future ahead...unless 2012 happens and everyone on Earth dies or become enlightens.

I am extremely lucky and blessed. My classmate told me stones are very common. Most time it does not give problem. So do not worry.

No worry be happy. Exercise and watch my diet. That is the name of the game of life!

Mosquitoes and Millipedes

Mosquitoes are plentiful now. I am eaten alive. It is non-stop feasting by all the female species. There are also many millipedes at the Sengkang Garden. Millipedes are fine but mosquitoes carry diseases and cause scarring on my skin. I wish there is a way to get rid of all the mosquitoes on earth.

I may get the machine that give mosquitoes fatal attraction. Hahaha!

Expensive Education in Singapore

Education is so expensive in Singapore. The tuition fees are astronomical. All 3 boys have to go for tuitions. The tuition fees alone take up sizeable amount of my income. The drive toward A1s is incredible. The recent "O" level results shows that 6, 7, 8 A1s are very common. All the mothers keep telling me the world has changed and that tuition is a must to make sure the school children stay competitive in school.

As a father, I am always pooh-pooh by the mothers whenever this topic is discussed. My pet peeve is if the kids are given a crutch and spoon-fed by all the tuitions, when will they learn to learn independently. How critical is it really to spend so much money on tuition so that their grades can improve? There is no tuition for independently thinking or entreprenuership or how to be effective in business or at work. It is just academic subjects. Granted, academic subjects are important foundation for modern day work and living. Does having A1 make a huge difference to your capability in delivering strong performance at work?

I hired a Manager who scored all A1s in school. She lacks people skills and initiative. She does not speak up during meetings. She was ineffective as a Manager and has to leave. This is just one example I personally experience. I am sure there are probably many people who scored A1s and does exremely well at work. I have not personally seen or met any. Those who do extremely well in school are all working for our Government through many scholarship schemes. It is the old Mandarin system of China. Do well in imperial examinations and get an official post. You are set for life.

Am I grumbling at the enormous cost or expressing the stark realities of life in Singapore? You decide.

The 100 Best Business Books of All Time

This is a book review of all the excellent business books by Jack Covert and Todd Sattersten. I borrowed this book from Bishan Library. I enjoy reading this book as every review is not more than 3 pages long. I have read many of books in this list. I do own many of the "best" business books. The key ideas for every books are highlighted. At the end of the review, there are recommendations for other similar titles.

It is a quick way to find out if the book is appropriate for the issue you are dealing with or learn the key ideas of the book is worth your while to spend time going in depth. It is good to get a summary of the books I have read as well.

White Tea

I read on the internet white tea contains lots of catechin and gallic acid. The benefits of drinking white tea is more abundant than green tea or any other tea. I just bought a box of 25 teabags by Lipton. Will drink white tea and see how it go. Maybe I will brew them and keep them in the fridge to consume more and test the claims.

There are more and more types of new products with health benefits. So the claims are hard to substantiate. I have tried manuka honey, concentrate vegetable juice mixture from 33 different veg, cranberry juice, promengranate juice even tongkat ali the famed Malay herb suppose to help back ache and cheap substitute for viagra. None has really work because I did not keep up continuously. My backache is not bothering me anymore. It is not due to tongkat ali but exercise. Consuming pills is easy but did not do the trick as promise at least for me. Exercise did wonders. Maybe I should stop getting sold on all the miracle cures and live healthily. This will save me a lot of money.

Receding Gums

My gums have receded. My dentist friend says it is part aging!!! He also asked if I used the Oral-B electric toothbrush. My teeth show signs of abrasions. I had brushed my teeth too much!

It is not good to get dull pain all the time. It is distracting and very uncomfortable as something is bothering me all the time. I think it is terrible my body is showing signs of wear and tear. I thought I do everything right by exercising and maintain good personal hygiene. It is inevitable for the body to run down after going for the 100,000km on the odometer. First, it was the kidney stones. Then there is potential gallstones issue. Now my teeth are wearing out. What will be next?

Looking at my mum, I shudder to think of my distance future. Her mobility is limited, she has to eat soft food as her stomach lining now is thin and can get gastric problems easily. I hope medicine will continue to advance and be readily available i.e. not so costly to maintain a reasonable quality of life for the aged.

New Location for S'pore Media Academy

B3 the youngest boy is attending Chinese lessons with Singapore Media Academy or SMA. The location was moved from Media Corp in Andrew Road to Riverside Mall. The place is right downtown and carpark fee is exorbitant. The place is also dead on a Saturday morning. Downtown is also known as the deadtown after office hours.

The rent must be cheap for SMA. However they do not think of their customers who now have to pay higher parking fees while waiting for their kids. There is nothing to do while waiting. At least in Andrew Road, we can past time in the Thomson Road nurseries. At the Riverside Mall, it is like being thirsty in the middle of the sea. You are surround by water but you cannot drink the water. There are malls and resturants but none of them open in the morning when the kids are attending class. The place is happening only at night.

What to do? My boy need to supplementary Chinese class so that he will learn enough to do well in his exams. Guess I will learn to while my time in deadtown on every Saturday mornings.

The Largest Bookstore in Seoul

My favorite haunt is the library or a bookstore. I remember having to spend a day transit in Zurich in a cold spring day. It was freezing and I look for a library and spent the day keeping myself warm and enjoying the free facility.

The Bandi & Luni's English book section in quite small about 14 shelves out of probably 200 shelves. There are a lot of classics. Classics are books where the copyrights have expired e.g. The origin of species by Charles Darwin or Sherlock Holmes series by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Although the shelves are limited, they contain all the different categories i.e. Literature, Business, English Language and University level Textbooks. There are many good books on English rhetoric.

The main focus of the Foreign Language is aiding students to learn English. Bestsellers are stocks and many classic business bestsellers as well. I find the section although small can be interesting and engaging. The selection must have the right combination of classic as well as current. If the combination is right, passing time in this tiny section is a joy and selecting books that can only be bought in this store is fun.

There are plenty of cafes in the mall and it is good to get a pick-me-up latte and enjoy reading after purchase. The combination is mmmm perfect!

The Mind of the Strategist

This classic is written by Kenichi Ohmae, former Managing Director of McKinsey in Japan. I think it is a coincident that the book I was reading on the way to Seoul was right on the summary of this book. It look like it is still popular in Korea in even though it was published in 1982. The Strategy formulation Ohmae propose is 3C, Customer Competition and Corporation. There is no need for perfect or big grand strategy. Once the strategy has a small advantage over competition it should be implemented. As I read on, Ohmae has a practical pragmatic approach on incremental change. It is a Rome is not built in one day philosophy or little acorns will turn to mighty oaks given time and right conditions.

The American Way is hero worship. The richest man, Bill Gates. The quickest company to reach Fortune 500, Google. Fastest to become billionaires, Sergey Brin and Larry Page founders of Google. Largest company on Earth, Walmart. All the superlative. Every American loves Superheroes.

While I enjoy reading American books and work for American company, I am glad to have traditional Asian values of thrift, hardwork and family. I am glad to read Kenichi Ohmae whose thinking is close to my heart and soul. American way is at an intellectual level.

Wrong!

My headline was wrong. My memory did not serve me well last night when I write. This was not my first snow in nine years. It is actually only two. But first snow in Korea in nine years. Two years ago, we holiday in Interlaken, Switzerland in Dec and we tobogganed down the mountain. It was an amazing experience. The mountain was so quiet.

My First Snow After Nine Years!

I have not seen snow since I left Toronto in Dec 2001. The scenery is lovely. The white makes it pure and beautiful. This nice sense of beauty quickly evaporate once I step out to the freezing cold and slippery path. The road is dirty with brown slush.

Any decorations in the open is transformed to magical delights especially when lit up with all hundreds of tiny lights. This bring back memories of living in Toronto. The car need to be cleared of snow before driving, the driveway to the garage need to be shovelled before leaving for work, accidents galore on the highways and driving to work will take horrendous hours. Also there are sweet memories. B1 was a young boy in grade 2 or 3. Any small slope become a place to slide and tobboggan. A simple plastic disk like a giant wok will work. I remember him enjoying so much that he does not realise he is actually freezing. We have to force him home and his hands and feet are so cold.

B1 and B2 look so cute in their winter wear complete with scarfs, gloves and boots. They have fun building snowman at our front porch and backyard. We also have wonderful time visiting friends and inviting them over during our long Christmas break. Our office shutdown from 24th through Jan 2nd or 3rd.

Maybe we have to go for winter holiday somewhere next year.

Here You Go! As Promised Yesterday...

All White

I landed in Seoul in the late afternoon. The airport is covered by snow. I have not seen snow since I left Toronto 9 years ago. It look really nice. After checking into the hotel, the news reported this is the first heavy snowstorm in Seoul in a decade.

I took a walk outside and it was freezing. After a couple of shots with my phone camera, I came back in as I could not take the cold. I have trouble downloading the pictures and will post them when I have more time to figure out how to retrieve my photos.

What the Dog Saw

Malcolm Gladwell is a talented writer. He strings facts from different research and the form startling conclusions. Even mundane stuff like ketchup can be a treatise under Gladwell's pen. There is an article on his latest book What the Dog Saw on over-rated over-paid talent. The risk is high when you pay handsomely for "talent" rather than performance. He cited a study done when a group of children were given challenging test. The group is divided into two regardless of their results. One group was praise for their intelligence and the other their hard work. On subsequent tests, the group praise for their intelligence perform worse and tries to avoid difficult test questions whereas the group praise for their hard work improve their performance.

He cited only one study. I am not sure if this can be applied in general and in what context. I read similar research done as well. Psychology experiments can be tricky if we draw conclusions but I think there may be some truths as hard work seems to be the surer way to success as the old adage The key to riches is through honest and hard work.

iPhone Increase My Reading

iPhone is a great gadget. Apple has the system for iTune tuned(pun intended) to a "T". The V9 Motorola phone had MP3 player but loading the songs takes time and patience. With iPhone, loading audio books is a breeze. So now I can "read" books as I exercise. This has increase the number of books I can read. I also learn about Grammar and increase my vocabulary through audio book.
The wonderful thing is I can also borrow audio book from the library. I have the book Undercover Economist for some time now wait for me to crack open the cover. Now I am listening to the book and it is fantastic.

I love the ability to multi-tasks and learn. This is heavenly - knowledge and health.

Happy New Year

Around the world, everyone celebrate New Year with fireworks and many interviewed on Channel News Asia had similar wishes as me. That 2010 will be a better year than 2009. Let's put our past behind and look forward to better times. I am optimistic as Governments of the World put in their best and concerted effort to avert a depression and it is succeeding. The economies recover like a V.

Many jobs disappeared but more jobs were saved. The commodity prices skyrocketed and then drop like a rock. They have climb back up by more than 50% from their bottom. At work, most retain their jobs. The mood while gloomy is not black like the end of the world. The results were astounding for Q4. So we all can celebrate that while the pay is lower, we still have income and maintain a reasonable lifestyle after tightening our belts.

2010 marks the closing of chapter 2009 and beginning of a new chapter. How this chapter will be written is still unclear. There are much hope and optimism by everyone including yours truly. I will continue to log on my blog my daily thoughts and activities. I will read and reflect more. With this blog, I will leave a legacy for my wife and sons. Memories of our lives together and the love we share.

Thanks!

Thank you, God for blessing all of us. We are safe, have a shelter over our head, food on the table and warm beds. We have good jobs, my boys are getting a good education, we are relax when we walk out in the street as it is very safe, we have good bookshops and libraries, world class transport system, affordable eating out - ubiquitous hawker centres, fine dining and many different ethnic food.

Life is good in Singapore. No bitter cold. We love the snow and does miss White Christmas. Life is in a fast lane and limited space, fishing is hot and sweaty sport and other disadvantages such as traffic jams. Hey who say life is perfect. It is perfectly good!

So my graditude and thanks to God, Angels, Kuan Yin and Buddha.

Hopes for 2010

Today end the year 2009 and usher 2010. The economy is improving and looks like 2010 will be a far better year than 2009. What is better? Better in terms of job prospects, business outlook and better pay for the employed.

Will it be better for the environment? Will there be more natural disasters like earthquakes or typhoons?

Air travel is a challenge with the recent attempted terror attack as security tighten. I pray that there are no more terror attacks as it become a real hassle for travellers. My job includes plenty of travel and tight security will make it more arduous.

I am not a Miss Universe contestant and a lot more realistic. So I will not wish for World Peace. I am hopeful. I hope more people become environmentally concious and start the 3R that is Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. I hope we use less energy and do less damage to Mother Earth. I hope business improve and happiness infect everyone I know. I hope my team members have great family life. I hope my team improve in our business performance and everyone makes more money than in 2009.

I hope my readers all "Fa Chai" i.e. prosper.

Perculiar!

Yahoo was not down but my internet system just prevent Yahoo from working. I reset my computer i.e. shutting down the computer completely and reboot 3 times and finally get it back working again. There may be a bug in our internet system infecting all our computers at home. Or it may be the cable modem from M1. This 100mbs or megabits per sec is not really at 100 mbs. It perform even slower than my previous 10 mbs twin wire system from Singnet.

Anyway, it is good to know Yahoo is working all the time as my friendly neighbourhood blogger tells me he did not have any problem with his Yahoo mail.

Yahoo is Down

I could not believe it when my son, B1 ask me if yahoo mail is working. I had an open browser with my yahoo mail. It is! I replied. Then I try to read my mail and lo behold an error message pop up instead of my mail. I had used Yahoo mail for many years now. This is the first major failure I have experience. I know Yahoo is not doing well financially or at least it is no Google. I do not know if it is a systemic failure or someone in Yahoo did not pay the bill.

I hope it is not some malicious virus or intentional email blast by someone to overload the system.

The Lazy American

First was The Ugly American, now it is The Lazy American. I am quite very impressed by the article in the Boston Globe. The 31 year old writer teaches in Babson College and she finds her American students tend to not to focus in class and distracted by sms or emails, refused to take notes and are tired and sleepy. Whereas foreign students put in plenty of effort and energy, rewriting their papers many times to improve grammar and structure.

She is politically correct by making sure she did not forget to state the fact that there are good American students as well. She writes beautifully and I cannot do justice with my summary so here is the link to The Lazy American for you to read the original article.

Different!

B2 the middle is cranky and does not like his baby brother to play with him. He is so serious and rude and very insistent! It is very traumatic for me, a father. I wonder how did my wonderful adorable boy who was so fun and cheerful growing up because a grouchy, irritable teenager. The hormones must be kicking in. No doubt, my skills and patience are pushed to new limits every day. Little incidents become a royal fight and he become a rude and unreasonable person.

I wonder how long this nightmare will last...

Wrapping Up 2009

2009 is a year to remember. Business went on a roller coaster ride. It is also the first year I did not earn any incentive since I work in sales. On the personal and family side, it is going well. My boys did reasonably well in school. We had a 10 day holiday in Malacca. While our income has dropped dramatically, we also tighten our belts and spend a lot less.

We are thankful that we have a good life. We can still afford little luxuries like eating out, stationery, tuition and books. We have a nice roof over our heads. My mum came from Canada to visit, my neices are gainfully employed, my nephews did well in school, we are all healthy and well. We are indeed blessed.

We are welcoming 2010. The year will definitely be better. After all, the only way is up when you reach the bottom.

Hams and Turkeys at Half Price!

Yes, 50% discount in Cold Storage. Christmas is over and all turkeys and hams were on distressed price. We ordered a cooked turkey which we paid at full price but bought a ham at half price. Not bad. The ham taste good too.

My sisters came with my nieces and nephew. They brought curry chicken and glutinous rice. B1 made his signature garlic bread which was very popular.

Christmas is the time for family. I love it....

Boxing Day

It is the day for boxing up the presents you do not want. For me, I got a present for myself from Toy R Us! It is a micro light helicopter-like contraption. It is basically a rotary flying wings. B3 wanted to play with it after I opened it up. So we recharge our AA batteries, need 6 of them and fire up the gadget. It requires some learning curve. We get the hang of it after a few flights. The poor thing that quite a lot of abuse in the sense that it keep knocking into chairs, cupboards, ceiling and just about anything in the way. Learning to fly is not an easy thing. It is great fun with B1 and B3. We each take our turn to pilot and all of us telling the one with the control what to do. Backseat pilots!

It is fantastic bonding time.

Lee Wei Ling - the Writer

Last Sunday, Wei Ling wrote about the simple holiday she had growing up. She is nostalgic about the days where she spent time at the beach and do simple stuff like collecting seashells and play games. She also talk about playing with CN Lee, son of KC Lee. CN Lee is now the Head of Cardiothoracic in National Heart Center and she is the Head of Pediatric Neurology.

I know CN Lee a long time ago when he was a Cardiothoracic Surgeon when National University Hospital just started. He did not want to be the Head of Department and deal with the politics. So he invited Saw Huat Seong over from University Hospital in KL to be the Head of Dept. After a few years, he left for private practice and recently, that is a few years ago, he was invited back to head up the National Heart Center. I am only speaking this from memory through reading the news. So I may get a few things wrong here. So don't quote from this blog:)

I enjoys reading Wei Ling's writing. She is an accomplished overachiever and is nostalgic about simple things in life. She espouses frugal lifestyle, actually more spartan than I prefer. Her flashbacks on the good o'days are something I can identify. She was in Pre-U when I started my secondary 1 in the same school. So when she talk about her school days, I experienced part of it. She was a runner and broke some records in school athletics as well.

The Best Christmas Gift

Today, I received my best Christmas gift. My maid is back from her home leave. Our floor is no longer dusty. She is busying cleaning up after she arrive home. It is really nice to get good help. I am so happy to have her back.

Christmas Eve

Exciting time for millions of kids on Earth. Santa Claus is coming to Town. Tomorrow morning will be the squeal of delights. Santa will be very busy tonite as he will be going into all the chimneys and distributing gifts.

Orchard Road is closed to cars tonight. It is the only time pedestrians can walk safely on the road. Christmas is special time for my family. We spent 7 winters in Canada and celebrated 6 Christmases. I was alone for the first winter. We were in Canada twice. The 2nd round, our boys were in schools and their classmates will be comparing notes and sharing news on what Santa gave to them.

The cool weather and dark skies bring back the festive spirits of Christmas. Snow would make this atmosphere complete.

Manglish?

I have a Malaysian friend visiting us. They were disappointed with the Famous Jalan Kayu Roti Prate. So we bring them to Thomson Road Roti Prata. Over the crispy pratas, we had an interesting conversation about the English in Malaysia. It is so bad and mixed up. The best part is the Malaysians with horrible English think their English are good. The most basic and simple rules of grammar are violated all the time. They think they are doing it right and reject any feedback on their poor English.

The standard responses is "Noted" which mean I am Not listening or I am Ignoring you. It is amazing that they can mangle up English so badly that it is painful and pathetic to hear them speak. I am no English expert nor am I self-righteous.

While many Malaysians love to mangle up English, many do who speak well and write well. Malaysian are so good with many dialects and speak Malay well. MM Lee is right. There are only so many languages you can learn, but to master of even two language is a daunting challenge for most of us.

It is very interesting that my friend's wife is a Singaporean and is of the opinion it is better for their kids to stay as Malaysians for better future. Then continue to relate how they have experienced two burglaries in their home and many of their tenants do not pay rents for the properties they rented out. It is very interesting. She gave us lots of advice like not to wear expensive clothing or jewelleries, must dress like "aunties" etc. It is obvious she loves Malaysia even though the country has so many warts.

2012 - The Movie

This is a movie on Great Disaster. The Earth come to an end. It massive destruction of every kind imaginable. Of course there is still a lot human stories, the spirit, the leadership - the captain stays with the ship. American family value we all stay together no matter what happens and nobody gets left behind. Many heroes sacrifice so that others can lives. There were some selfish acts too.

There are many exciting close shaves and terrible injustice as well. They complimented the Chinese for building the montrous Arks in the shortest time possible. I think the movie will sell well in China.

Getting To and Back from Malacca

Boh Tong, my favorite blogger asked me to write about getting to Malacca. There are a couple of options. Driving up is one option many Singaporeans chose. It is convenient and very low cost. It has the most flexibility as you can go at any time and leave at any time. Best of all you can drive around for sightseeing.

Another option is taxi. The cost of taxi is S$160 to S$180 and you can only board in Queens Street. The taxi will go via causeway which is perpetually in traffic jam. Last option which my family took is by bus. Even bus there are several options. One leave from Queens Street and I understand there is a regular scheduled hourly departure bus at Lavender Street. Bus 707 cost S$45 for two way and can drop off and pick at the Equatorial Hotel or Holiday Inn.

Regular scheduled bus leave from Melaka Sentral to Singapore 3 times per day and cost RM22 per head.

We took the bus option as we do not want to take the risks as travelling on the highways in Johore has plenty of hazards. It is more relaxing to sit back and let someone else drive. However, it is frustrating as the driver may detour as in our case so that he can have a free lunch at the rest stop. A four hour trip became six hours.

Last Day in Malacca

Finally, our holiday in the historic town is ending. This holiday went by fast. Although the price of food and most things are low, we spent quite a bit of Ringitt and contribute much to the local economy. B1, B2 and B3 all have their allowance to spend and B3 is the most spendthrift and used up all his allowance as well as the monies his grandma gave him. B1 and B2 have learned the saving habits and spent only part of their allowance.

There are a lot of interesting stories we get to heard from the taxi drivers. One driver told us there is a spirit guarding the cementeries. Three Mayors who approved and signed the papers for removal of cementeries so that the land can be developed for other more productive use did not complete their terms. So the cemeteries remained until today. I told him in Singapore, this will not happen. Government of Singapore removed many cementeris and made them in Housing Estates. He laughed and said in Singapore the stamp is very powerful. The moment the stamp is on the papers, all the spirits run away! The best part is we get to ride in an antique Mercedes Benz that is 30 years old. The vehicle has been on the road since 1979.

It is with mixed feeling that we leave. I enjoyed the holiday and my boys get to experience authentic Peranakan food and life in a small town where history is still alive. The roadside stalls, pasar malam, kampong and even making of loveletters. Signs of progress are also abundant. There is a Megamall today, Courts Megastore and a new about to open huge bright and shiny department store, Justco. Hopefully the new do not overwhelm the old charms and we can always return to experience the slow and easy life of a kampong/village.

Pasar Malam at Jonker's Walk

On Friday, Saturday and Sunday, Jonker's Walk held a pasar malam or night market. It was pouring on Friday night. Last night was clear. So we go to the pasar malam and boy! crowded would be an understatement! It is a river of humans walking and browsing on the novelties, souvenirs and eating at the streetside stalls.

I am green and have no desire to buy anything as it will destroy the earth. So window shopping it good enough for me. I did buy food items such as deep fried fishmaw at RM30 a bag which would probably cost $30 back home. I love fish maw with our steamboat during Chinese New Year reunion.

Chi Massage

My first time getting a chi massage. The masseur talks non-stop and makes a lot of outlandish claims. He says he can help people sufferring from stroke to walk, my surgical wound to heal better, facelifts and reduce weight.

He is very enthusiatic and I started to think how he can help my mum who is no longer mobile. Later he tried to help my son to clear his right nostril and no change. I was getting more and more skeptical as he cannot demonstrate his claims. He massage my wife and then say the massaged area is different. He demonstrated by pinching. However, I feel it is unscientific as one side has oil and cream whereas unmassage side is still dry.

Anyway, now I don't think I am going to send my mum for this massage as I am not sure it will work.

Love Letters

There are still villages where houses are made with planks and roofs with zinc sheets. B1 and I wander about. We can see the villagers going about their daily activities. One was putting soil in a pot, another was just sweeping the dead leaves outside their compound, there was a little girl reading, and most interesting for B1 is a lady making love letters for using traditional method. She is making them by hand using the loveletter makers grilled in charcoal. There are six makers and she just keep opening and flipping out the nicely browned one and rolling them. She has amazing patience and will be sitting there all day grilling and churning out love letters. Per bottle is RM19. B1 get to try out the not so good looking love letters for free. It was good to see the good old days leading the Chinese New Year.

I am very happy that B1 followed me to explore life in a village. There is a coffee shop with several mobile carts selling noodles. Fried kuay teow is RM2.50, Mee Rebus is RM1.70 and Wan Tan Mee at RM2.50. Looks like inflation has not reach the local population of Malacca.

Avatar - 3D

We watched the latest movie, The Avatar in 3D. It is a long movie at 2 hours 40 mins. The movie does have excellent special effects. The luminous seeds, plants and flowers. The 3D effects were good. I feel a little disoriented after the movie. However, it is really amazing as I remembered the first 3D movie I watched was disorienting that I felt sick after a few minutes. And the horrible nauseating will remain for the rest of the day. This time, the effects were clear and the polarized glasses were of high quality. Now on reflection, it is incredible to last 2hours 40 mins watching 3D with little or no ill-effects.

The storyline is about a tribe whose village sits on a rich deposit of "Unobtainium". The company represented by humans has all the resources, technology and science. The Avatars embrace nature and give reverence when they hunt and kill the animals for food. The special effects were magical with luminesence trees, flowers and seeds. The storyline is simple. The humans have been unsuccessful so far sending in all the scientists who have a cloned Avatar that they can control and communicate with their minds through a special machine. This hero was send in to replace his twin brother who was killed in an accident. You need identical genes to control the Avatar.

The protagonist Avatar(whom I call the hero moving forward) met with the heroine who save him from attacks by wild animals. Heroine brought him to the village to meet the tribal leader, her father. She was given the unpleasant task to training and teaching him the ways of the tribe. Hero fell in love with Heroine and switch side from humans. However, humans attacked and hero is now ostracised and suspected by the Avatars as well. So the hero has some convincing to do. He took on the biggest and most terrifying pteranodon and won the respect of the tribe. He gain re-entry and organised all the tribes to fight against the human. He also prayed and asked the Mother Tree for help. Mother Tree sends in all the wild animals to help in the fight.

In the end, the Avatars won and the humans were sent back. The hero who is paralysed waist down do a soul transmigration and became a Avatar permanently.

Frustrations!

My computer is extremely slow and performing weirdly after my IT guys did some updates. I also took of some programs whom they say will speed up my system. I should not have done them on my own. I may have taken more than I should have and cause this royal slowdown and major meltdown of my trusty workhorse.

It is horrible to operate at 10% capacity in terms of speed. I have to wait and wait. This is absolutely frustrating to the nth degree. I have to wait for so long yes, it now take minutes for every key action such as launching the internet browser which used to take one or two secs. I am in serious trouble with a misbehaving system.

Hopefully, I can get it fix by my IT guys after my holidays.

Portuguese Dinner

We had dinner at the Seafood place. It is known the Portuguese Lison Place in Malacca. It is regular seafood zichar i.e. freshly cooked dish stalls. No. 1, the most popular stall is not open again. No luck in trying the food of this stall.

There were horseshoe crabs at RM20. You just eat only the eggs. Our friend told us it can be dangerous just like eating puffer fish. The intestines are pull out and if it contaminate the eggs, consuming them may be fatal. We dare not try after hearing this.

The food were ok as there is only one dish of chicken and the rest were seafood, not exactly my favorite kind of food.

Walking Tour of Malacca

My family and I walked all the tourist spots of Melaka. It is actually not too big. I saw the Chicken Rice stall my team and I ate 6 months ago. I have vivid memory of this stall. In fact I was so sick after the meal. Everyone else was ok, so it is not likely to be the chicken rice stall as I was feeling sick before the meal. All I remember was feeling terrible and have to go back to the hotel and rest. Back in my room, I vomited and has a short nap and recovered.

However, this time, I managed to walk from start to finish the complete length of Jonker Street. Chicken rice balls is popular. However, I find the chicken quite tough previously. I have not tried the chicken rice yet. My boys prefer fast food rather than traditional local food. Tomorrow I will be going to KL for work. It will be an early start.

What a Night!

The laid back small town is no more. The night was filled with loud party noises, people are talking and laughing so loud that I can hear it through my airconditioned room. There must be illegal speeding by souped up motorbikes and cars. Maybe it is Saturday night. I hope the night activities do not repeat tonight and on week nights. Otherwise our holiday will be spoilt.

I hardly slept a wink. My wife woke to check and saw people are out and about at 4:30am. By the time I fall asleep, the birds are chirping and it is morning. Look like I have to nap in the afternoon by the pool:)