Batman

I have been watching all the Batman movies in the last two days. Batman Begins, Batman, Batman and Robin and Batman Forever. It is interesting just to watch the whole series in one go. Micheal Keaton acted in a couple of the shows and Val Kilmer and Christoper Bale in the other two.

Apparently, Batman's father keeps a journal in which he writes everyday. A blog is like a journal except it is public. Many English teachers recommend keeping a journal or diary to improve writing and articulating thoughts in written form. I keeping my blog updated daily as far as I can. I do slip once in a while or unable to do so when I am in China. Otherwise, it is a habit I keep up with. It can be boring but when I review my old entries, it does bring back lots of memories.

Old-Style Kopitiam

Sometimes we run out of ideas of where to go for meals. Luckily, every week Sunday Times will come up with a list of recommendation. I would tear out those that looked interesting to explore. One was on the old-style kopitiam. For lunch we try out the Warong at 738 North Bridge Road. I thought it will be ok since we are going to be there early. This is a place I know! I came here several times in the past. Long long past. I guess the good old kopitiam is a classic. The place was busy. There are still seats and we ordered mutton rendang, curry chicken, fried eggs, fried hard boiled eggs, deep fried fish fillet, fried potato cutlet and pickles.

The food was good and excellent value at $28.40 with 4 drinks. My wife loved the curry chicken which is their signature dish. B3 like the rendang and B1, B2, and I just finished up everything. Mmmm, yummy, yummy yum yum!

After lunch, we took a walk around Kampung Glam. We have missed a huge selection of resturants which we should try by coming here more often. Before we go, we bought swiss rolls from the cake shop. This rolls cost $6 to $7, rather expensive and taste not bad. It just bad for weight and heart.

B1 is Happy

B1 has finished his first stage of NCO training. He is in Part 2 of the training and he is happy when he heard those who stayed behind in the Infantry is doing lots of exercise and will be going for road marches, long long road marches of 32 km. Road march takes incredible toll on the boys. They have to carry haversack weighed down by all the equipment and supplies plus their rifle and helmet. Marching all night to next morning. They will return home full of abrasions and blisters, muscles crying out for rest and sore from overuse.

B1 is in a mobile unit and his training is different. Not so physical. Hence he is happy. I am glad my boy is happy too. There are risks in his unit as well. He has already heard stories of several deaths during training. I pray that he will be safe for his NS duty.

Collectable Erasers and others

B3, the baby of the family is onto the latest fad - erasers! The erasers are little replicas of everyday objects like shoes, violin, cosmetic box, hair brush, model cars and others. He is quite intrigued and was keen on collecting all the "rare" models. The toy makers are really good at creating collection and making some rare so that the kids are hooked and keeps buying the packages. They also price it at $3 to $4 each which is very affordable to young kids who get daily allowance for school.

There is also another collectable series which is figurines formed out of "bones" It is cheap plastic and have different series with "rare" metal models. Kids seem to love them.

Technosaur

I am using the tablet and find that it is not so interesting. It is easy to read maps and browse the news. There are plenty of interesting software. Free books but I still have no idea how to download them. Actually, I am not comfortable to let them access my account. Plenty of freewares to choose. It is quite interesting to explore so many programs outside Apple's control.

While it is fun to explore, I really am not so excited as the number of programs available is overwhelming. The tablet can do video conferencing. It is like going into th future. It is also neat to travel with a tablet that even the hawkers can recognised. It is a conversation piece indeed. Only issue is I am really a technosaur and need my boys to figure out how to use the tablet effectively.

Samsung Galaxy

Finally, finally, we decided to get a tablet. My boys are excited and playing with it. We have a "free" mobile internet plan, so it is our latest toy. So now it is no longer free as we have to spend capital cost to acquire a gadget that could work with the mobile internet.

I am not a gadgeteer. However, I am looking forward to use the tablet whenever I am out for tea or teh halia to entertain myself. This tablet is the latest Galaxy 10.1 It is supposed to be superior to iPad 2.

I am an Apple fan actually but decided to try Android to open up a different window(pun intended) to the latest technology. Also there are more freeware in Android whereas Apple charges for most App although there are many free but they have limited functionality.

Fighting Weight Gain

My weight is creeping up relentlessly. Every year I gain a kg. My objective to reduce weight is like New Year's Resolution - make to be broken. I have only one diet plan - enjoy food and hi-cal drinks. I started a oat breakfast two weeks ago and stick to the plan religiously. So far, the outcome is my weight still stayed high and worse of all still rising.

I may need new strategy. An easy way out is liposuction since all the exercising I have done did not do the trick. At the end of the day, I must just simply eat less. Easy to say but impossible to do. I have a bad lifestyle! High stress job and eat to relieve stress. I am a prime candidate for high blood pressure and heart attack.

Quality Family Time

B1 is home for the weekend. We are a full family again. We went to Marina Square for lunch and decided on Lerk Thai. The food was good and desserts were fabulous. We ordered a sampling of all the desserts i.e. all 6 on menu. The only complaint we have is there are too much MSG and we felt very thirsty after the meal.

We adjorned to Comex to renew our broadband service. The place was just crazy. There are hot sales going on and everyone is buying. It is as though the gadgets are free!!!

After Comex, we broke up. B2 is sent home to study and B1 go to his girlfriend's house and B3 stayed with us for grocery shopping in NTUC.

Dinner was simple homecooked dishes of stir-fried greens, deep fried chicken wings and steamed fish. We had a leisurely dinner with sliced mango and orange for dessert. After fruits, B3 opened a bag of potato chips and we munch and enjoy the unhealthy snack. Then B1 wanted to try the Goodwood Park Hotel's mooncake and we cut one out and continue eating. And we actually cut another up as well. We have plenty of chat and conversation. It is a wonderful time together. We are very happy to have a warm finish to our Sunday.

YOU, The Owner's Manual

Dr. Oz, the TV Doctor series is the co-author. It is very easy to read and full of information on the human body, how it works and how to take care. In the book, nitrous oxide was mentioned, CoQ10 is also discussed and aspirin to help prevent heart attacks...many valuable information. I like it because there are plenty of illustrations and also discussions on the nutritional supplements. It make it easy to know if the ever popular supplements in the health store are effective or not.

I am keeping this as a reference manual. It is available in Prologue in ION at $24 for hardcover. Regular price for this book is $40.

Upheaval

Stock market is going up and down. Sometimes up and sometimes down. It call for fast action. Quite a challenge for retail investor. Our moods is going up and down. Today it is down:(

Comex, the IT fair opens today at noon in Suntec City. The pull-out section introduces the top bargains in page 2 and I was intrigue by the possible $130 for HP tablet. I arrived HP booth at 12:05pm and the tablets were sold out. Rather it was a "free" gift with purchase of other HP products. Darn it!

Design for Future

Look like designing is the way to have a future. Apple is the most visible and best example of design at work. With great design come great profit. Design is the blue ocean of tomorrow. We have to start thinking about better design to win the heart of consumers.

Red Star Resturant

This resturant is at the top of multi-storey carpark in Blk 54 Chin Swee Road. Hong Kong traditional style of dim sum where trolleys are pushed around all the tables to serve fresh and piping hot. The food is not comparable to Hua Ting but it is a lot more affordable and very authentic. The atmosphere is just like a resturant in Hong Kong. This also bring back memories of Cantonese Resturants in Toronto. Yum Cha is an excellent way to spend the weekends and public holidays especially in winter.

The variety of dim sums is huge, many not available in other resturants. Food is a little salty to my liking. However, overall it is a fantastic experience with the crowd and noise of a typical resturant in Hong Kong. Yes, I do miss Hong Kong. I do not go there anymore except to transit once in a while.

New Rules

I am reading Glimmer, which is about design. Bruce Mau is a top designer and 1998 crisis, he had calls from business leaders seeking his help as the old rules of business are no longer working. It is very interesting.

The rules in today's business world has changed. Rise of the two giants - China and India is disrupting the world economy. Cost is dropping dramatically for products made-in-China and IT and medical services outsource to India. Large companies are in danger of becoming outdated and obsolete as the systems and process and more importantly the culture stiffened like arteriosclerosis. Working harder and harder using the same tactics hoping for different results.

It is interesting my boss keep harping over and over again that doing the same things and expecting different results is insanity and yet he keep insisting we do things that has been tried and did not work. This reminds me of Kishore Mahbuni who says that US is declining in power and the Americans are vehmently denying and cursing Kishore and continue to claim and feel they are the only Superpower and Master of the Universe. How sad for the rest of the world.

Monday Morning

It is a quiet Monday. No school as all the school teachers were up all night on Saturday to count votes. Tomorrow is Hari Raya Puasa. No Muslim food stalls will be open.

The pressure to build flats and HDB accelerated plans to build more flats has taken away a lot of the flat lands that citizens used to enjoys pastimes like flying kites and model airplanes. It is very sad. We are all work and no play in the near future as all our playgrounds have become blocks of flats.

My French neighbour just returned from his summer holidays in France. He says Frenchs are not big into shopping like Singaporeans. They like history and historical buildings. They enjoys the atmosphere of different country. They do not travel to do shopping.

A Regular Sunday

Excitement over and we have a new President-elect. I slept through the "twist and turn" and "cliff-hanging moments" through the night when vote counting and re-count was done.

The PCN was filled with exercise fanatic as usual and malls were just as busy. We have our usual routine of tuitions, meals and malls. Really, Singapore is a yawn. This is why it is so attractive to investors and immigrants from all over the world.

Light Rain

Rain lightly sprinkle all day today. This has a magical effect of cooling the atmosphere making it feel like fall in Canada. Yes, I missed the seasons. It is nice to enjoy the cool weather. The day is filled with tuitions, shopping malls and exercise. The malls is very busy. Everyone is buying even including my favorite haunt Kinokuniya. I am a little surprised by the long queue as there isn't a 20% discount sales on.

I am feeling tired and sleepy as I was up 5am in the morning. I could not sleep and I forsee this is going to be a few nights before I can recover.

My Favorite Activities

I missed my reading. I am distracted at work to read. Luckily, the audiobooks are helping me to continue to read although I may not be paying too much attention at times. My motto is Reading maketh a Man. I also need to write to achieve a dream of being published one day. Today is a blog with a tiny readership. However, I know I have to write every day. My writings are quite dull at time and mostly a diary of my activities and books I read. Sometimes I missed a day or two due to work worries. The other reason is blogging is blocked in China. China has a tight control over the internet.

I am also wondering if I have less thinking time as I listen to audiobooks. Thinking is an important activity that gets push aside when reading audiobooks. So now my thinking space is while driving alone which is quite infrequent. I also think while swimming.

My favorite activities in order of priority: Reading, Thinking and Writing. TRW instead of 3R:)

D-Day Tomorrow

Tomorrow, we will find out who the next President of Singapore will be. I hope our new President will have a heart for Singapore. Anyway, the President is just a figure head and we may have lots of hulala for nothing. The campaigning is over. The 4 candidates must be holding their breath. I wish them luck.

Who To Vote?

The columnists and journalists are writing on the ideal President they like to see elected. No one state or articulate their preference. It is against the law to publicly state your preference as voting is secret. 4 candidates and 4 boxes and crossed only one. It is quite tough to figure out who. There are so many pros and cons on each candidates. I think they are all good men. Unfortunately, only one Tan can be elected. So I hope our President Tan will be a great one. If not, we will elect a new President when his term expires.

The new President has a few years to show his performance and bring Singaporeans together.

Open Letter from a GM of Borders in US

Our social commentator, Mr. Brown has an excellent blog at Mrbrown.com. I remember a letter he publishes from a General Manager of Borders Store who worked in Borders Singapore before. I reproduces the letter below which I hope in not in violation of copyright laws. It was posted on April 21, 2011.

Today is my last day with the company. After 23 years I thought I would be sad but am in fact relieved. The Borders most of us loved closed down years ago and it was a slow death by a thousand cuts each time another great GM, DM or RD was forced out.
I am the last GM from Dion country in Florida. We were a tight group and were consistently the highest performing district in the company, developing many processes and procedures that were rolled out to the entire company. Sure we did question the status quo with questions like (7 years ago) "whats our plan to deal with digital music?" and were seriously told not to worry about it, it would never effect us. Some of us were let go for not being better lemmings… some of us stuck around in the hope that it would get better, some of us left with their actual dignity.

As each of our stores closed down this month we kept our staffs motivated with our own limited money. We bought pizza, had parties, bought fresh sharpies to follow your ridiculous procedure. Even though we would all soon be unemployed with no severance and living in a state with the highest unemployment rate and worst benefits. Our staff trusted us and did their best and deserved better than what the company was giving so yeah, we took up the slack that's what proper leaders do.

Every new regional VP insisted the economy was no excuse. We in the store were obviously failures in the company's eyes. In our eyes our leaders were failures. A cacophony of yes men that woudn't take a stand and fight for the things that could have saved us and were too proud to listen to anyone in the field.

You had great success with your plans this year: outsource customer care, pull bargain from the vestibules during the holiday season, not purchase school reading titles, cut hours and increase workload, roll out more functionality in atlas that barely functioned to begin with, discount excessively to buy loyalty, create an environment that managed to an audit at the expense of all else, and under-develop a web presence that demotivated the staff and frustrated the customers.

Yes, you and your team should be proud of all you have accomplished. Only a few more stores to go and you will reach your goal of total annihilation. For that and all you have done to degrade, torment, abuse and demoralize us please by all means keep my 23 years of severance and add it to your bonus. You deserve it. Be sure to keep two gold pieces for your ferry ride to hell.

Renee
Tampa, Florida

The End of a Great Bookstore

All good things must come to an end. Borders main store is closed after 13 years in operation. Borders is the first superstore in books and usher in a new era in book scene. The neighbourhood bookstores all went belly up. MPH and Times have to revamp and until today is still struggling. In the end, poor management and leadership in Borders parent company in US causes the inevitable decline and now demise of a great bookstore. While leadership keeps blaming Amazon.com, e-books and everything else and never looking at themselves. Kinokuniya is thriving in the same environment. We know the real reason for Borders closing shop.

Now, we are left with only Kinokuniya. MPH and Times are a distant second.

Kishore Mahbubani

After reading his article in International Herald Tribune - A Rudderless World(http://mahbubani.net/), I did some search in the internet and find Kishore is a prolific writer and also have his interview with HardTalk BBC in Youtube.

I read his views and find I had formed opinions similar to his. West is on the decline was his mantra. The interview in BBC HardTalk is very telling. The BBC host has no desire to listen to Kishore's views and response. It is so obvious that the West is so full of themselves. They are the eyes that see but see not itself.

US and Europe will continue to decline if they refuse to see the current realities. This may be good for the East. Although East and West are interdependent, West had be strong in the past 200 years. The arrogance of money and power of economic superiority is hard for the West to give up. It is a matter of time that East will be equal and then surpass the West.

Jim Rogers, the billionaire has the foresight that the East is the future. He engaged a fulltime Mandarin tutor from Beijing for his daughters. Knowing Chinese Language he says is the best gift for he has for his kids.

Peaceful Sunday

Routine tasks for today. For Christians, today is a day of rest for God and I feel like God today. No God's power but enjoy's God's rest day:)

Chomp Chomp's roti prata for breakfast. Porridge for lunch and freshly baked bread for dinner. In between, B3 and I cycled to CompassPoint so that he can buy his latest fad, Crazy Bones. I swam and B3 had a great time in the pool playing with the gym ball.

After dinner, we will be sending B1 back to camp. He was home this morning. Well, this is life serving the country.

Terrible Upheaval

The stock market is down and with it many people financial wellbeing including mine:(. Warren Buffett is reputed to be buying as he see this as buying opportunities. He know the right shares to buy. I do not have his prescient capability on stock pick.

With this downturn, the global economy looks shaky in the immediate future. This time the crisis is different. QE or quantitative easing i.e. printing of money and pumping them into the economy gave the global economy impetus to recover. However, this time America is more or less bankrupt. A small group of tea party members force the stalemate in the debt negotiation with Obama. They insisted and won on no tax increase. So the rich pays much lower tax than middle class Americans.

The Dean of LKY School of Public Policy, Kishore Mahbubani lament the lack of political leadership in the West and China and India is too busy with internal affairs to deal with global issues. I pray for the world to get healthy again.

No Blogging Allowed!

China still prevent blogging. I have no access. So even communication on internet can be controlled. It is a society where many aspects of social order are managed very strictly. I am not sure if freedom of speech or rather lack of freedom of speech is bad. However, it is not a good feeling that I cannot blog about my travel or daily experience.

It has been a tiring 4 days trip in Shanghai with some last min changes. I do not like surprises but we get surprises very often nowadays. Surprises are quite disruptive. However, I must be say we did accomplished a lot in this trip and this is a good reminder that face-to-face meetings is mandatory for business. Video conference or other electronic communication I doubt will ever replace business travel.

Vignettes of Presidential Candidates

On the news are vignettes of Presidential Candidates doing their campaigning. It is the first time we see Mrs. Tony Tan on the TV so frequently. Everyone is working hard to win votes. Tony Tan seems a little old and reminds me of Former MM Lee in his movements. I am a little worried as I am also aging. True I still have many good years to go before reaching their age. However, it may be better to go earlier before one become unfirm and saddled with chronic problems that plagues the oldies.

I have not seen Tan Cheng Bock on TV and how he walks. Maybe he is fitter.

National Day's Rally Speech

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong national rally speech this evening introduced a lot of policy changes. Very positive changes indeed. A lot of the issues raised during the General Election in May was addressed. HDB's income ceiling raised by $2,000 to $10,000. Healthcare benefits expanded to start at 40 years old instead of 55 for subsidised chronic care but he also caution that US is in trouble because of the healthcare benefits. The social safety net for Autistic kids, the school for autistic kids - Pathlight will be expanded in capacity to accomodate more kids with learning disability.

So as he move to a more populist policy as our government can afford, he also cited the country currently in difficulties due to unaffordable policy.

It is so easy for him to get historical clips for presentation from all the stories. I like the Malaysia's cup where Fandi Ahmad scored the 4th and final goal and Singapore won the 1994 Malaysia's Cup. I think this is the great highlight of PM Lee's speech.

Chicken Soup for the Soul

I borrow a couple more audiobooks. Chicken Soup for the Soul is a lot more interesting that Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway. Some of the American sayings is hard to understand. It is a double twist like "Can become Could only if you try". I have no idea what this mean except it meant a lot to the author.

Exam fever and B2 has to study for his "O" level but he is still spending time watching soap operas in the evening.

Meanwhile on the news, the World Bank's Chief says the fundamentals in global economy is not good and it will be a rocky road ahead.

Ernest Hemingway Short Stories

I started to listen to the short stories by Ernest Hemingway. The dialogue was natural and description interesting. However, I do not understand the stories. It ended just hanging there. I am not so ready for literature yet. I need more training on culture.

Embarking on New Grounds

I went to National Library to borrow audiobooks. I chose fiction this time. Since reading fiction helps the mind and improves thinking ;) I also think it is time to enjoy fiction. It can be engaging and hard to put down like Stephen King's stories. I chose short stories so that it is not so tedious. I listened to Ken Follet's story and it is very interesting but too long. Takes more than two weeks to listen.

I have been reading only non-fiction for many years. Reviewing my reading habits, I have been reading non-fiction for many years. I think I stopped reading fiction when I have to do literature for "O" level. I did not enjoy analysing stories, what did the authors have in mind when they write certain passages, what messages readers are supposed to receive, blah, blah, blah. It takes the pleasure of reading! I focus on non-fiction to improve my performance at work and climb the corporate ladder. Nowadays, I read just to keep up with the management and leadership research published by management thinkers and professors

After such a long break from fiction, I feel I am embarking on new grounds again. The Short Stories - Ernest Hemingway and The Cassandra Compact - Robert Ludlum...here I come!

Nephews

My sister-in-law and her husband is in US. So we host the two boys over yesterday and today. We are so used to our own life that it is so disruptive to our usual flow. They enjoyed the company of their cousin. However, the younger one keeps breaking B3's toys. Their nanny is rather stout compare to my current domestic help.

Originally, they were scheduled to leave tomorrow morning. However, the older boy keeping crying and wanting to go home. Finally, his aunt relented and we sent them back home. The last two days seems like a long time.

Future Mind

This book is light reading. Plenty of examples and stats about brainstorming. Best thinking is usually done when alone - up in the air, 30,000 ft above the ground in an airplane, jogging or swimming, driving or in the shower.

In-depth and slow reading is the way to increase thinking capabilities. Digital browsing cause shadow thinking. So the old way is required for innovation.

Meaningful Day for Singaporeans

It is 46th birthday for our country. Spectacular fireworks and live performance that take a year to prepare and rehearse. It is a grand finale. I am quite emotionally detached although I loved Singapore I am not the kind celebrate this kind of event even Chinese New Year. It is food that I celebrate. Have a good meal is my preferred way. Treat others well. Be kind and the world will be a better place.

On TV, it seems many Singaporeans waited for many hours just to get a good place to view the fireworks. I wonder what they do to while time and how to answer the call of nature;) It is so much easier to watch from the comfort of my living room.

Happy Returns, Singapore! My hometown.

Unwell

I am down with sore throat and cough. Nose is congested, so breathing is laboured. Congestion also cause sinus headache. I should have seen a doctor to get medicine to relief my symptons. I thought I will get better but instead I am feeling weak and exhausted.

The book Future Minds by Richard Watson says reading fiction has direct correlation with IQ scores. Today, with all the electronics media like TV, internet, emails caused attention span to shorten and hyperactivity. Reading a book slows down our minds and allow us more time to think. Thinking helps us solve deep problems.

National Day's Eve

School is only half day. So all the school kids are out have a party. They love to it. I was cycling past B2's school during lunch time and one of his classmate recognised me. "Uncle have you heard..." and started to giggle. Other classmates were giggling too. So I stopped my bike and asked. However, he changed his mind and says it is nothing. He did not have anything to say. The rest of the students were in the joke as well but since I only know this guy, I can only asked him. I decided to let him go and continue my ride.

The good thing about living near the school is I am easily recognised as B2 does cycling with me. It is fun just to talk to the kids.

Future and Forecast

Since Kinokuniya has 20% discount, I acquired a couple of titles on future. I noticed British authors are getting more exposure in the book scene. It used to be mainly American, now more British and Australian authors are featured. I like American authors more as I prefers their straightforward style. British titles are harder to complete from cover to cover at least for me. Even Ken Follet's Pillars of the Earth is not crack open yet although I enjoyed the TV serial so much. I must get the audio version as it is easier to read when I am riding.

I wonder many times I read and learn so much but not translating into wealth. Knowledge alone cannot make me rich. I am reading and learning about so many business topics and issues and have opinion. However, I am not successful. Now the stock market is down. My net worth strunk as a result. I should be looking at opportunity to buy.... yet the possibility of the market dropping further. I wish I have foresight instead of hindsight! All my learning did not help me to do well in the stock market.

Busy as Usual

B1 returned home late last night. I picked him up from Yio Chu Kang Station. By the time we reached home it is midnight. We start early in the morning with tuition and piano lesson. After tuition, B2 has to go back to school. We pick him up and send him off. Then we have our nasi lemak brunch again. It is so nice to eat at home. Bedok Hawker is full of houseflies and exudes poor hygiene.

We adjourned to Takashimaya to take refuge from the afternoon heat. Kinokuniya has 20% for its 12th anniversary. The crowd was enthusiastic and queues were long. Queues for the cashiers, queue for member cards, queue for gift wraps. Kino conducts roaring business. It is very successful indeed.

At night, we had D24 durians. 3 for $10. Small size but good taste.

It is good we are together as a family with all three boys at home for weekends.

The Geography of Time

A social psychologist looking at concept of time. The first part is quite dry and I was unable to continue to read. Today, I decided to skip and head straight to the second part which is on the three unwritten rules of time which we are all familiar with. Time is limited, time means money and waiting time equals status. Treating time like a resource or money is stressing us. Especially when you are waiting for someone. The longer you wait, the less important you are.

The unwritten rules make a lot of sense to me. This is all I could recall for now:)

TCM or Traditional Chinese Medicine

My wife and I attended a dinner talk this evening on traditional Chinese Medicine. It is all about balance or yin and yang. There are different herbs that is cooling or heaty in nature. Different herbs has medicinal effects on human. Some contains active drugs like phyto-estrogen (tang kwei) or ginsenosides (ginseng). The drugs do acts like western medicine.

It is good to learn more about Chinese herbs. My big concern is all the chemicals that may come with the herbs as they are likely to be treated with pesticides or growth hormones.

Eating can be Dangerous

We try a new resturant in KL. Traditional zhi char with salted chicken, roast chicken, roast duck and other Cantonese fare. I ordered a bunch of dishes and all of them taste rather good. Most of the food were eaten up. Only the roast duck was not popular.

There is only one or two of us in the table of 9 that did not feel anything. A colleague and I had diahorrea. Two had stomach upset as they have high tolerance for local food. I did not have a chance to check with a couple of other colleagues. This resturant is now on my banned list.


On the positive note, we tried a resturant that serves pork. It was fantastic. The barbeque pork ribs and pork belly were awesome. We also tried their apple crisp and bread pudding ala mode. I polished of the leftovers of both desserts. No wonder my weight keeps going up. Weak resistance to hi-cal sweets!

I need to control my food passion. We had durians on Monday evening and I felt sick after dinner. It took two hours of walking to clear my discomfort. Luckily, my body managed to fight and recover. Eating in KL can be dangerous....

No Mall

Today is a rare Sunday that we did not visit the malls. In the morning, we bought food from Malay food Bedok and had brunch. Nasi lemak, beef rendang, lontong and ayam penyet. The food is really good. Nasi lemak at $3 each, beef rendang is $5, ayam penyet is $4.50 plus two packs of crackers. Total cost of the meal for 6 is $23.50. Not bad. Does not include drinks or dishwashing or other overheads.

For lunch, I steamed up Bao (meat buns) and heat up frozen French Fries. Dinner was pizza for B2, pancakes for B1 and msg noodles for B3 and mummy. I had a slice of pizza, biscuits and a hot drink.

We had a good day at home. I cycled at noon and in the evening. B3 played with is scientific toys and B2 did his school work in preparation for GCE. B1 was killing time with his girlfriend. Yes, it is just a lazy Sunday. Rest and re-creation!!

Good Sunday Morning

The birds are chirping and raucous calls in a distant sound like the flock of green noisy parrots that usually come to our neighbourhood for fruits. I am just waiting for my boys to get up and get ready for their tuition and piano lesson.

There is a series on Superparent in Channel News Asia. I did not follow the program conscientously although I do get snatches of the dialogue here and there. There is such a thing as too much for activities for kids. Some parents interviewed put their kids through tuition, piano, swimming, dancing and other classes. The experts in the panel will give their views on what the parents should do to optimise the kids performance.

I am thinking in the city, the close up nature of living together cause all of us to compare with each other and try to outdo each other to be the best we can be. As parents, we want to be better than other parents and want our kids to perform better than other kids or least realise the best performance from his or her capability.

Experiments on laboratory rats showed living in confined spaces and crowded conditions does cause stress and induced a lot of stress related behaviours. As the cities grow into megacities, pace and stress will increase. I hope we find ways of coping and dealing with city living.

I Wonder

Many a times I wonder. I wonder what have I done for the less fortunate. I wonder why I am just an average guy who do average things. I wonder why there are so many opportunities to do good in this world and all I do is work for basic survival and feeding my family. I wonder what will happen if I stop working. Will I work on socially responsible project and help the less fortunate? Will I look for another job and continue life like the past or will I be able to do good to help someone?

I wonder when can I stop working for the sake of working and start to work for fun. I wonder what will happen to work in future. What will the future is like for my boys who will be in the workforce in a few years. I wonder how to bring my boys up so that they can deal with the changes effectively. I wonder if my capability and capacity is limited. I wonder and I wonder.

End of Another Week

It is the end the week and month. I reflected on the activities and business, I think Singapore Government is right. The global economy is slowing down on second of the year. We are experiencing a slowdown and the impact is quite significant. Worrying is a full time job! Thinking, working out a solution is my top priority! I know I write too much about work. However, work is a very important part of my life and I enjoys blogging about it.

The weekend is here and it is family time for the next two days. Hurrah!! I have an early start tomorrow morning. B3 has to go to school at 7am for some extracurricular activity. So B2 has to go to his Maths tuition by himself. B1 is still in camp and only book out tomorrow.

Blazing Heat

The sun is merciless. It is the work and damage mankind did to the earth that cause the mercury to rise. The glare from the strong sunlight cause me to have a headache. I wonder if this trend continues how long will it be before the weaker of our kind get knock off and fall by the wayside. It is a scenario that many science fiction shows have - the sun is so strong that any exposure will cause instant blindess.

Let's hope the dooms day will never arrive.

Mosquitoes

My place is full of mosquitoes. We have a weekly fogging and checks by Pest Control contractor but it is not killing the mosquitoes. I wonder if the heat is causing more mosquitoes to breed. I also wonder if there are breeding grounds in our estates. I cannot sit outside to read as the mosquitoes attacked all the time causing unpleasant itch and angry blotches. The mosquitoes are quite smart too. They seems to know I am ready to whack them and stop biting once they noticed I am watching and waiting for them to enjoy their feast before I slapped them into oblivion. It is the satisfaction of making sure they do not repeat their acts of spreading itch and potential disease such as west nile or dengue. However, I will suffer itch for a few days as it is important to make sure they are drinking blood which will slow down their reaction. Otherwise, they usually escape.

Diary

I have a notebook which I use to write randomly to pass time when I am out in drinking tea. I noticed I have not update this book for almost a year now. When I review my past entries, it is really interesting as many of the incidents are completely forgotten. Small details like what my boys say or did. This is a really good memory tickler. I must be more conscientous in keeping this diary alive. It is help me recall all my fond memories in future.

Dental Treatment So Expensive

My regular dentist had a tiff with the head of dentistry in NUH. So he left and he is now working part-time two days a week in Paragon. He now charges $1200 for a crown instead of $500 in NUH. Root canal cost more than $1000 now that I recall as I have paid three times. It used to cost $500 in NUH as well.

His fees have gone up by two and half to three times just practising in a private dental clinic. I am with him for so long. I am most comfortable with him as he is very detailed and have very good troubleshooting skills.

Taking care of teeth is very important. I need to look for an alternate dentist for simple work.

Finished!

I finished the book Surely, You're Joking! Mr. Feynman! It is really fun reading this book. Full of humour and anecdotes. Feynman has lots of lectures notes and audio books on his lectures. I will go to our wonderful library and borrow the Feynman's Lectures. It contains at least 12 disks.

I read the book in 3 or 4 days which is great. It is onwards and forward. I will go on to my next book.

Real Italian Wood Fired Oven

B1 saw military sunglassess at a good price during games day on Friday. He told me that the same sunglasses would sell for more than $500 would be at $143. I thought it is a good deal and asked him to find the shop. We went to Selegie Road to look for the shop that sells military sunglasses. The sunglasses does not fit B1 as it is not designed for Asian faces. So we pass. Along the way to the carpark was old shops. I saw this pizza place that looked interesting and venture to try. My boys were shocked by the price. $25 a pizza. I thought we should try and find out why it is so expensive. We tried the lassagne which is the current special(not in price!). For $25, the serving was very small and a pizza. The pizza was excellent and I ordered another pizza. I thought the pizza is quite high standard like The Chalk. Taste is different.

So we tried their dessert Tiramisu and Cheesecake. Tiramisu was very good but cheese cake is not worth the $9.90 price. For a coffeeshop style resturant, two pizzas, one lasagna and two dessert with no drinks come with a price tag of $120. Fairly pricey but good food.

Building at Frantic Pace

HDB is building like crazy around my estate. I moved here to get out of city life and enjoy suburban and less crowded condition. The neighbourhood has grown and is still growing. There are a lot more cars, people and flats. Every empty fields that were used previous for soccer on the weekends, flying kites or model airplanes now has blocks of flats or is undergoing construction. All the open fields are gone and the quality of life in SengKang is going down. It is only man-made sport or activities like gym, swimming, badminton or other indoor sports. What a pity. No more kite flying, no more frisbee competition, or soccer. It is really sad. Now, we will not get kites with flashing LEDs that looks like UFOs flying at night.

Singapore is getting too crowded and buildup. We are worshipping the almighty dollar. Economic growth over everything else.

Surely, You're Joking Mr. Freynman!

It is an interesting collections of short stories of a Nobel laureate physicist. I was browsing the bookstore and found myself sitting on the floor delving deeply into the book. It is full of humour and talk a lot about something I identify extremely well - experiments! Mr. Freynman did plenty of scientific experiment since he was young.

The big difference is his IQ is off the scale mine is just at above average. I have to struggle with calculus and he works them out in his mind. Both of us enjoying learning many different subjects.

The books by Freynman was recommended by OCBC CEO, Mr. Connor in an interview by Straits Times.

Insufficient Sleep cause Headaches!

I was suffering from headache since I woke up this morning. I took a total of 4 painkillers and it did not get rid of the headaches. When I landed and going through the immigration, I took one candy as sugar did help in relieving headaches and told the officer that I am taking it for headache. She says it is lack of sleep.

B1 has been complaining of pressure behind his eyeballs and it hurts if he jumps. I thought it may be something serious and asked him to report sick - military term for seeing the medical officer. Now I realise he may be just suffering from lack of sleep. Because beside having headaches, my right eyeball has a lot of pressure and was very uncomfortable during the flight.

I learn something from the immigration girl today.

Long Day

It is long and tiring two days. I am so tired that I almost fell asleep during dinner. I am glad to be back in the room and now packing up to get ready to leave early morning tomorrow. Good thing is summer time. So the sun will be up by the time I check out at 6 in the morning. Usually it is dark and cold.

I am happy to accomplish my objectives. At the end of the day, a lot of business still have to be conducted in the old fashion way - face-to-face meetings.

Worrying Feeling

I was browsing books as usual when I feel funny in my chest. I have this kind of feeling before and it is something that I know something is wrong. The last time this feeling happens, I had a pnemothorax. I refused to admit or go for checkup and live with one lung for more than a year. Then I have to go for x-ray for as part of the admission procedure to Singapore Poly. Before going for the x-ray, I know I may have to go to hospital for the bad feeling I had in my chest. After waiting for a few days to get my x-rays, this is in the good old days where x-rays takes a few days to develop rather than today instanteous on the computer or 10 mins on film, I was required to see the radiologist. My heart sank knowing whatever I had, it has shown up. True enough, the radiologist told me I had a severe case of pnemothorax and need to go to hospital immediately. I told him I had no symptoms and life is normal for me, so I was reluctant to go. He told me if I do not treat it, my lung may get infected and then there is no choice but to remove which is a worse procedure than punching a hole and sucking out the air. He wrote a letter and I took leave from school to have my lung reinflated or rather the air in my pleural cavity removed.

Now, the bad feeling is the heart. I think something may be wrong. I have bad diet - love all the oily cholesterol clogging food that will plug my coronary arteries. I have been exercising regularly but it does not prevent my arteries from narrowing or hardening.

Hold it! Whoa! I just blurb so it may be just air trapped in my stomach. Oh, darn it!! Am I just too paranoid? Maybe it is just a case off too much gas from the Vietnamese noodles I ate for dinner. What will be will, sigh....

Seoul Hot and Humid

This is the first time I come to Seoul in summer. It is incredibly hot and humid. It is nice to come in warm weather. Aclimatized to Singapore's weather, going to a cold place on a plane on short notice is stressful to the body. So I do not mind the heat and humidity as it is like home. Summer also mean lots of green on the ride from Incheon to hotel. I like the bright and sunny ride. Traffic is still bad in the city.

The first place I visit after I checking in is the Kuan Yin temple opposite the hotel to pray. It is good to pray.

Slime Laboratory

New hot product from Toy R Us that attracted B3's attention. It is a box of chemical with instructions on how to make various types of slime products. It costs $29.95. After we returned home, B3 spends more than 2 hours happily mixing and dyeing the chemicals and adding the hot water to turn powder into slimy gel-like tadpoles, leeches, fake fish eggs, worms, bouncing poo and other disgusting stuff. He also made jelly amber. He had a wonderful time.

A Time for Rest and Exercise

Weekend is a time for rest and recreation. For school kids, it is a time for tuition. So after my boys' tuitions, we had a long lunch at Hua Ting. After lunch, we head home for nap while B1 continues to watch the latest Harry Potter movie with his girlfriend's family.

After nap, it is time for B2 to go for tuition and then B3 and I cycle in the PCN. We bought satay and bbq chicken for dinner. We also eat the leftover from yesterday. After dinner, it is another ride to the PCN with B2 and B3.

So it is tuition, meal, sleep, tuition, exercise, meal, exercise. Writing is also a form for relaxation for me with Channel News Asia keeping me company.

Life in Singapore is a little boring. No upcountry to explore or farms to visit. No season such that we can look forward to skating and skiing or summer bbq. Everything including services are bought rather than doing-it-yourself.

Weekend is good time to recreate after all the work stress.

Traffic Jam in CTE to SLE

We have to go to Jurong to pick B1 up as he is allowed to book out. The traffic on CTE is horrendous. My wife is right. Malaysians are all going home on Friday night. I will need to use the PIE in future. For non-Singaporeans, the highways in Singapore are given 3 letters short-form. CTE is Central Expressway, PIE is Pan-Island Expressway. BKE is Bukit Timah Expressway, KJE is Kanji Expressway, TPE is Tampines Expressway and ECP is East Coast Parkway. A couple more but it is getting late and I am tired.

We divert through Yishun and used Mandai Road instead. Once we get onto Mandai Road, the going is much better. We managed to reach Jurong and B1 did not have to wait for too long. The journey takes more than an hour and half. B1 had a fellow trainee who lives in Sengkang to take a ride with us.

Effective NParks Staff

I was cycling on the Punggol PCN or park connector network as usual when I saw a fellow cyclist trying to fix a support pole for a tree. I can see that she is struggling as it is impossible to drive the pole in. So I stopped to help out. She says it is ok she will get the contractor to fix it. She says she works for NParks. I was a little surprised. She is in full cycling gear - helmet, cycling pants, even sleeves to protect her arms from the sun. Whoa! What a great job she has. Cycling for work and with it a host of benefits - keeping healthily fit, enjoying great outdoor, breathing fresh air and encountering wildlife.

She was on her way to a meeting in Punggol Marina and I am in the same direction. So we cycle together and I showed her where I sighted a metre and half black cobra and other juvenile snakes and also let her know where the lights are not turned on. Before we part company, she asked for my email to send me the newsletter. I was surprised the email arrived in the evening. She has kept her words! (I still have a healthy skepticism towards government employees). She also informed me that the lights will be fixed by the next day i.e. yesterday. I cycle on the PCN tonight and all the lights are back on.

NParks is committed to excellence and making things happen. Kudos to Trina.

Gluttony!

My Japanese colleague once remark that I am very decisive when it come to business but when it come to meals, I have to walk around all the resturants and survey and survey and still can't decide.

This morning I have a meeting with a customer. In the lift on the way up to the office on top floor, one man was asking his colleague, where should we go for lunch? It is just the start of the day and he has not even step in the office and he is already thinking of lunch! This behaviour I can identify. Lunch is always heavy duty decision for me. I have to work through several options and different scenarios before I decide what and where to eat.

I decided to go to Kallang Food Center for lunch today. I used to lunch there when I was working in Kallang Pudding Road. The braised duck is excellent. The stall is plastered with all the food reviews and Channel U Highly Recommended signs. After polishing off the duck, we bought "soon kueh" and "ang ku kueh" takeaway. The kueh kueh is good. So I bought 4 different sets. Even though I am full, I must try all the kueh kueh the moment we reached home. Guess what, my weight is up my more than a kg. I am a consummate eater and enjoying sampling all the great tasting food.

Although I exercise a lot, the amount of calories into my body is more than my output. Hence weight creep. I am a glutton. Living to eat.

Watching the TV Series Again

I just watch the Pillars of the Earth just to run through those I have skipped and also scenes that I like to watch again. It is good story telling. It is engaging and interesting story of building a cathedral. The trouble is not conversant in the British Church and aristocracy, I am not sure the different ranking of Earl, Prior, Bishop, Confessor and other titles that is in the story.

Scenario Planning

I am reading The Art of the Long View I bought 4 years ago. I read a couple of chapters and stop. Now I am continuing with the book and I find lots to learn from Peter Schwartz.

I like this part that I will reproduce vebatim.

"Articulating the decision should also focus on events where you have no control. "What if I choose to quit my job?" is not an appropriate question for a scenario. You can change the scenario simply by changing your decision. You cold ask, instead, "What events would plausibly happen that might influence me to quit?" Or, "Under what circumstances might I lose my job?""

It is important to ask the right questions. I realised I have not been asking the right questions on future of my business and my work. I will be spending time to reflect, think and mull over how to achieve the impossible goal now my company expects.

Pillars of the Earth

The best seller by Ken Follet is now a TV series available in DVD set. I first know this book when I believe Chua Mui Hoong, a columnist in Straits Times did an article on the books she enjoyed reading. I remembers her saying she enjoys curling up her toes as she read this book. I bought the book sometimes back during a Times 20% discount but have not crack open the spine. I thought I read the audio version of this book. I made a mistake. As I think through and recall the characters in the book, I realised the book I heard is the sequel World Without End which is set in the same town, Kingbridge and the characters were the decendents of characters from Pillars of the Earth. The two story has a lot of similarity. So it was easy to be mistaken.

I research in the internet to make sure I have the facts when I write. Now I know World Without End has a mini-series. I am looking forward to watch in video.

Family Lunch

11:45am, Wee Nam Kee Chicken Rice Resturant, the hungry crowd was gathering strength. We booked a table for 11 last Monday. So we are assured of a table. My eldest niece called and asked where Chek Chek is and I told her we are already in the resturant. My eldest sister and my youngest sister together with her husband were there as well. We have plenty of good food and conversation. Dynamic is a little different with my sisters in. My baby sister has lots of questions for B1 and plenty of things to share. She does dominate the table. Only N1 and N2 or niece 1 and niece 2 came. Both are fairly quiet.

The food is good and we had good time. We also learn from my baby sister a fizzy vitamin C tablet called Berocca which is good for defending again sickness. We went to the pharmacy to get it right away. It actually tasted quite good. So I am impressed. Only issue is it is a little costly.
Like my baby sister's argument, seeing a doctor will cost $45 at least.

Will

I spoke to my mother now living in Canada to ask her to convince my brother to do a Will. His condition is not good and it is best he made his wishes known in case anything happen. Discussing death and dying is a sensitive topic. My sisters and mother are very conservative and superstitious. They are avoid this topic and it is hard work for me. I have no idea why people are afraid of facing their mortality and do not make plans so that their wishes can be carried out rather than have the survivors fighting or criticising the way things are handled or feeling the outcome is unfair.

My mother also feel she need to do her own will as well. So this is a good start. I do not know if my brother will draw up his will. Although he does not have much to his name, I feel it is important he make it clear what are his wishes.

Block Leave Coming to an End

Thursday! Tomorrow will be the last day of B1's block leave. It was good to have dinner together as a complete family for the last few nights. Once he go back to camp, then we will be missing one again. He should be back for the weekends unless he has duties.

It take getting used to because after army it will be university and if it is oversea, he will be out for 3 to 4 years. If he decides to work in another country, we will really missed him. By then B2 will be going to University and we have only B3. Luckily, we have a big gap between B2 and B3. So we will have at least a boy for 8 more years.

Empty nest, that is the next stage of our life.

Body Found in Forest

We do not really have forest in Singapore. We do have patches of green and they have thick undergrowth that allows dead body to be disposed and not to be found. Skeletal remains found near Tanah Merah MRT station. It is in the news about bad smell was detected but no one suspect it to be decomposing human corpse.

Reading this news, I have concerns about the bad smells along the PCN near to the end toward Punggol Marina. I decide to call the emergency line, 999 to report my concerns. AMK Central Police Station called me right away to verify. Then SengKang Police Station and tell me they will informed PUB even though I informed the officer that it did not come from the water. PUB called me in the late afternoon and ask me about the location. I cycled to Anchorvale Sport Complex to meet the officer who arrived by boat. I took the ride with them and brought them to the location. After cycling along the way, I managed to detect the exact spot which is Lamp 167 and Lamp 168. I brought the officers there and they could smell but they think it is a rat. I told them it is not possible to be a rat. I know the smell of dead rats. Then they tell me it is a small mammal common in the nature reserve. They will fill out their report and send it to NParks for the investigation as the area is outside their jurisdiction.

Dinner Conversation

We had a wonderful dinner. The food is fried flat wheat noodle. It was not cooked properly and therefore a stuck together in clumps. So if the food is not good why it is wonderful. It is the conversation we have with our B1 and B2. They are comparing our lives in Canada vs here in Singapore. My boys and I have fond memories of living in Canada. We thought life there is not bad as we are in the middle class like many other Canadian.

However, my wife did not enjoy the life in Canada as she is not the one who decide to immigrate to live there. The high income tax and consumption tax is what she keep focusing on. She keep insisting life in Singapore is much better. However, my boys felt that they have more toys than their friends and therefore life in Canada was not bad either. Actually, we are living similar lifestyle relatively speaking in Singapore as in Canada if we compare within each country. However, if we look at spending power that is disposable income, Singapore is superior with far lower taxes and a lot more variety in food and choices.

We had a healthy debate and my boys had lots of questions and sharing their perpectives as well. I am in agreement with them. Mummy was upset that her version was not received well even though we are in violent agreement. She is right but insisted only her version prevails. However, we feel we are not doing too badly when we are living in Canada.

I love the conversation with B1 and B2. They are growing up and we have intellectual and philosophical discussion on life. This is why tonight's dinner is wonderful.

Passing Out Parade

It is the first time I go into the Floating Platform of the Marina Bay. I have not gone to any National Day Parade. This morning is different. My boy is passing out from his Basic Miltary Training. All the trainees have to do a 20 km road march the night before with FBO or Full Battle Order. This mean rifle and the back pack with all the essential gears. It is heavy, very heavy. All our poor sons have to do this arduous walk just before they pass out. So much about 3G army and thinking soldiers. The march is more than 20 kms exhausting all the boys so that they cannot think anymore except to obey orders.

After the BMT roars which is funny and impressive, it is the National Anthem and they are dismissed. The whole place is smells of sweat and strong body odours. The boys are sweating like a pig and no chance to clean up or shower.

B2 was there to support his brother. He had a hard time waking up. After we returned home for lunch, he slept through the afternoon until dinner time. B3 changed his mind about going when he has difficulty waking up.

After a nice Japanese lunch at Itacho Sushi Resturant, B1 meet up with his bunk mates just to bond together outside the camp. The food in Itacho Sushi is quite high standard. It is more pricey than Sakae or Sushi Tei. All three boys enjoyed the meal. B1 was worried that it is too expensive and I told him not to worry. I explained to my boys as my siblings are diagnosed with medical problems, I want to enjoy my life before I "go". It is shocking to have two sisters with cancer, thankfully both are still alive and well. And now my brother with serious heart condition.

I am exercising regularly but still do not control my diet. I ate unhealthy food like deep fried fritters, pork lard in noodles, bak kut teh, braised internal organs, bacon, roasted pork belly and all kinds of artery clogging food including plenty of rich desserts.

So I may be the next candidate to go to hospital. Sigh! I need to face up and change my diet. Otherwise, I will be staring into death.

My Brother and His Daughters

It is gratifying to see my three nieces visiting their father in NUH CCU. The girls are grown and are mature and understanding. My brother requested for discharge from the hospital as he has to wait for a week for MRI to check if his heart muscles are damaged. If they are "sleeping" and can be revive, the prognosis will be better and he may be recommended to go for open heart to replace his valve and have double or triple bypass. Otherwise, he will just go on medication to keep him alive for as long as possible.

We had lunch with the three girls in Nonya resturant in Keppel Club. The meal is leisurely and we have a chance to have good conversation with them. I am very happy just to build relationship with my nieces.

Good End to the Month

We made another sales record in Jun. Thanks to the team and our business partners we have good customers who trust and buy from us. We are lucky indeed. The sad news is we lost a large unprofitable account but gain a smaller share of business with another more profitable product. I am keeping my fingers crossed for the next few months.

Still it is important to celebrate and enjoy our success for now and stopped worrying for the weekend.

On family front, my brother is in NUH for heart problem. His valves are leaky and there are two coronary arteries blocked and one narrowed. So he will need medical intervention and I hope he make the right decision.

Coming Lunch with my Nieces

We have a lunch date with our nieces this Saturday. My boys cannot make it. B1 has 24km road march, B2 has school activities and B3 may be going to school with B2. So it will be just chek chek and sim sim with the girls. We have not seen them for some time now. The challenge is we are going to a chicken rice shop that is famous and popular. We will not have much time with them we may feel pressured to leave if there is a large crowd waiting for tables.

I am looking forward to bonding time.

Kino is more expensive than KL Borders!

I noticed the title I am currently reading is on the display for books on the future. I checked on the price and it is $29.90. This is RM74.75 at the current exchange rate of RM2.5 to S$1. In KL Borders, the same title is priced at RM54.90. Kino price is 36% higher than in KL!!!

So even at the highest discount Kino ever offer of 20% the price is still higher. Whoa, the high value of Singapore dollar makes everything in Singapore more expensive. Also I did not pay RM54.90 for the book, I had 10% discount using a credit promotion.

In the office in PJ, another book fan, Michelle tells me the price of books in Singapore is lower. Now I have an example that prove otherwise.

Brain Rules for Babies

Audiobooks are godsend when it come to exercising. I can read and exercise at the same time. Multi-tasking!! I have been listening to Brain Rules for the few weeks. The book is very interesting and have a lot of research on how to parent for the baby development. TV and internet is very detrimental to the kids attention span. So I implemented the rule for B2 and B3. B2 has no computer access anymore until his "O" level is over. B3 has 10 mins computer and 30 mins TV instead of watching TV passively. So far, both have complied and doing well.

It is good to learn ways to manage my boys better.

First 4 Chapters

I just finished reading the first 4 chapters of The future of Work is already here. It is pretty depressing. The internet and avatars(electronic you) will mean very little human interactions and loneliness. There will be a new underclass who will be perpetually poor. Americans will get a shock that the good life of going middle class for the average American with blue collar jobs is gone forever.

After the depressing scenarios, the news is supposed to get better. We will be moving from voracious consumption to creative production.

Forecasting Future Gains Respectability

Fortune telling is a dubious art. Then there are psychics who foretell the future and is mostly wrong all the time. The respond is always future is a probability and can be change by humans actions.

Scenario Planning is the commercial version of forecasting future for corporate success. Shell is the company who started and used scenario planning with great success. Today, there is a proliferation of titles on Future. Kinokuniya is displaying more than 20 titles ranging from Future of Physics to Future of Work and Corporation. Today, there are many institutions researching on possibilities and probabilities and companies who specific function is to forecast the future for a fee.

Who says the Future is not for us to see?

A Lazy Sunday

We had a lazy Sunday. After tuition in the morning for B2, mum makes congee for all of us. I went to the hawker center to buy fritters or youtiao which go well with congee. I also had half a Hainese chicken. Lunch was really good. The thing with congee is we get hungry very quickly again.

After lunch, mummy and daddy had a nap. I have no idea what my boys were up to. B2 is probably studying and B3 playing with his toys and B1 talking to his girlfriend. After waking my nap, B3 wanted go to the pool for a bit of fun and invited B1 a couple of times. B1 relented and played with him.

We decided to eat out at Chomp Chomp's Old Hong Kong. The food is quite good. We send B1 to camp after dinner.

Fabulous Food at Hua Ting

We have buffet lunch at Hua Ting whose Master Chef won two awards. The food is the best of the few resturants I have tried. I had eaten dinner in Hua Ting a few times before with colleagues. I liked the food but have to focus on the conversation. With my boys, we just focused on the food. Yes, this is why I have a weight issue. The buffet is not mass produced food lined up in warming trays. We have to order the food and they all come fresh from the kitchen. The bbq duck, roast pork, beef prepared in different ways were so good. Much better than the resturants in KL which I loved.

The service is a little slow but very polite and attentive. Our plates are changed regularly. The meal is not rushed unlike Imperial Treasure. Yes, we are definitely going back to Hua Ting.

Warm Friday

The heat is on, the heat is onnnn! Mercury rising. It is hard to do exercise. I cycled early in the morning and then late at night. Cycling in the dark is nice because it is cool but also a little scary in the PCN. "Wild animals", dark spots and fear of the unknown can caused panic. I am lucky this time with B1 cycling beside me. So with somebody to talk to, it help prevent imagination going wild.

Overwork and underpaid is always the view of an employee. Now it is really eating into the morale as many are stressed out. As the company seek to get out of mediocrity and put for expectation of growth of 500% in 5 years, the heat is on. Just work like hell. By the way, when you delivers please do not expect any difference in what you are paid. The rewards go to the top for squeezing blood from people lower down in the totem pole.

So don't worry, be happy.

Reinvent Your Career!

It is a catchy headline. Actually, it is Success Stories of 5 individual Americans who succeeded after their careers have to switch direction. One is a blockbuster franchisor who was living large and very well with mansion for his home and a super duper gas guzzler hummer for his wheels. Blockbuster is a video rental franchise and business model has change with the video streaming or as Fortune puts it - The DVD has cracked. This gentleman has to sell his house, his cars and other status symbols. He bought 6 Subway franchise and it did not work but he managed to sell them for a small profit. Finally, he went to L.A. and noticed the success of a Yoghurt chain. He filled up an application form to be a franchisee and did not get a reply. So he start up his own Yoghurt chain and right now the number of stores keep increasing. Success!

Another story is on a lawyer who turned to writing and become an author. He was making good income selling 200,000 copies. Then e-book happens(sound familiar?). Once again, the internet forces the change. Now he writes and sell his books through the internet for $2 per copy. He is making progress in his new career.

As I read this, change in our world is happening all the time. We have to adapt.

Possible Punishment

It is the army's way. Army like to make the soldiers feel unsettled and on the edge all the time. B1 is supposed to be booking out today at 8 pm. Until now, we have no news...hold on! SMS just came in. He is on the ferry now. Hurray. He has freedom for a couple of days. I have to go now to pick him up.

Woke Up by Lightning

It is pouring at 5am. The frequent lightning flashes woke me up. So I brush my teeth and dressed up and head off to my regular hawker center for a cup of tea. A consummate reader, I brought along Tuesday's newspaper to read. There are many stalls opened for business. So breakfast at 5am is a cinch if I wanted it. I abstained as my stomach is still asleep and I have to watch my calories intake.

The rained stopped by the time I am finished and I headed back home to write. Writing is a relaxing activity. I get confirmation of my worst fear late afternoon yesterday. Maybe this is why I am up.

Reinvent Your Career! Big, bold and black! on the cover of latest issue of Fortune. I shall flip open the magazine and discover the secrets. Have a good day ahead, my readers.

Glad to be Home!

I am glad to be home. Although it is a short trip, it is quite hectic and energy draining especially dealing with difficult issues. I did not go for my regular teh halia this time. I have to work late tonight and drinking Chinese tea will be better with less cafeine.

Sleeping with my regular tempur pillow tonight hopefully will ease my neck pain and give me restful sleep. Amazingly, this trip I lost weight. My weight was creeping upward anyway. Now I have to discipline myself not to gorge on my usual comfort food.

At the airport, I bought a new book, The Shift. It is on the future of work. I enjoys the forecast on the way we will work in future. I shall write about it as I read this book. Author Lynda Gratton is a Business Professor in London Business School.

So Full

I have been eating non-stop since the last two days. It is a glorious eating and making myself fat. Yes, this is a wonderful stress relief. However, getting fat is not good. High blood pressure, diabetes, a host of many rich man's diseases. Not that I am a rich man, I am just having too much rich food.

The good thing is I am reducing my carbo intake. However, it terrible guilt feeling. Worse of all, I ate more snacks in the room.

There is very little time for window shopping. I am a little sad as window shopping is my favorite pastime. I have very little battery left. So I have to sign off now.

Goodnite...

Art is a piece of Cake

B2 and B3 convinced mum to buy a cake for them to customise for Father's Day. The Icing Room has this novel idea where they sell blank cakes with a set of coloured icing. You can do your own artwork on the cake. There are many stands with rotating platform to help with the icing.

Many other kids are doing the same thing - making cakes for their daddy. George Quek hit the right recipe for Breadtalk. No wonder he is so rich and I am so...soo average. Sigh!

Father's Day Celebration

B1 has confinement and need to return to his camp tonight. His weekend has been cut short and we have a father's day lunch instead. We went to Ah Yat's Seafood resturant. The food is not bad but not fantastic either. Maybe because the set menu is all seafood. I had to order chicken wings and Peking duck to supplement the father's day menu.

After lunch, we adjourned to IKEA to get a stainless steel shelf for our kitchen. Then we returned home to cycle at the PCN. B3 ride on my back on the hybrid bicycle and B1 cycled beside me. B2 was having tuition at that time.

For dinner, we made duck porridge using the leftover of the Peking duck. I debone all the meat and the bones were used to make the porride. After dinner, we pick up Daniel who needed a ride from us to go back to camp. Daniel is sleeping in the same bunk as B1. We drop both of them off in White Sand and return to fix up a shelf for our kitchen.

We had a wonderful family day.

Our New Fridge

The ice tasted horrible. The fridge is also a lot darker as it uses LED lights instead of regular light bulb. I have no idea if our frozen food have turned bad. Right now, we are eating up as much as we can the stuff from the old fridge. Although the size of the Mitsubushi Folia fridge is supposed to be the same size in cubic feet, it seem to have a lot less space than the Maytag. Maybe it is because it is divided into 6 compartments. Our old fridge is just freezer and refrigerator. So with less compartment it has more airspace and easy to put in big items like pots. All the new features need to be tested out. Maybe the old is still better than the new for refrigerators.

Singapore Discovery Center

The Singapore Discovery Center is a place designed to promote the SAF or Singapore Armed Forces. We visited this place or rather we went there to pick up B1. The place is not well frequented and not many visitors. All those who were there had a purpose. To pick up their sons or boyfriends. So it is a white elephant. There is a souvenir shop, a shooter range(same as the arcade) and a museum. It is the most boring tourist attraction.

Final Lap for the Kitchen

The kitchen is getting done up nicely. It is lot of work. The new fridge was delivered this afternoon. Our old fridge is Maytag that we brought back from Canada. It is using 110VAC. We think it is no longer energy efficient and we may be right. The delivery guy says something is wrong with so much water pouring out of the fridge. I am hoping my electricity bills will drop with this new fridge. Space is more limited with the new fridge.

I hook up the induction cooker. Also fix or at least try to fix the leaking plumbing. It was a huge challenge. I think I did better than the plumber who fix up our water filters. Tomorrow, is Friday!

Thank God It's Friday. Weekend is here. Hurray. Oh! by the way, it is Father's Day this Sunday.

Old HongKong

The food in Old Hong Kong resturant is very good. I enjoyed the food but the price is a little on the high side. We had only two dishes with one dessert and just water for drinks and a bowl of rice come to a grand total of 47 bucks! The dessert was crispy sesame paste pancake and it is really crispy and crackles in the mouth burst with flavour. Yummy. I must go back there again.

Eating Out all the Time

I am getting tired of eating out. I am looking forward to the "official" opening of our kitchen. We can have our home-cooked meals. It is also expensive to eat out. Average about $30 for each meal for family of 4. Luckily, B1 is being fed by the government.

The World in 2050 on Investments

Right now, all my stocks are going down in value with the global indices dropping. The author of 2050 bought stocks of pharma companies. Demographic indicators pointing to aging population and therefore demand for drugs will go up. The other investment opportunity is water. Demand for water will continue to go up. However, demand are in the poor countries and the poor. What is needed is small projects to get access to water. What private companies are interested is making money from water in Large projects which mean the poor will continue to have no access to water and the rich continues to waste water.


So water and oil may be the next investments of choice. However, Hyflux and BP is not doing to well either. Sigh!

The World in 2050

I acquired this book from Borders in The Curve. This book is interesting as it is the first time I get the view from a Geographer I always though geography was just for general knowledge. Then an interview on a Geographer who start a successful business based on geography changed my perspective in this subject. The CEO has a unique management style and his company offers geography services to companies. He became wealthy using the knowledge of geography.

The World in 2050 forecast based on the four forces - demography, growing resources needs, globalisation and climate change. There are plenty of scenarios, mostly water level rising and milder winters. Higher temperature means our atmosphere can hold more water. Hence, heavy rainstorms and floods will be a common occurence in future.

Human will have to adapt.

Hippopotamus

Interesting name of a new resturant in Marina Square. Our plan was to go to Changing Appetites right beside Carl's Jr. Burgers. Changing Appetites went OB aka out-of-business and replaced by Hippopotamus. B3 had kid's meal which is a hamburger with fries, a drink and creme brulee for dessert. B2 had a bacon burger which was excellent. I had French onion soup and Mum had just camomile tea. The melted chocolate cake looked very appealing and we tried it. It was very good except the ice cream is too hard. B3 wanted to try the churros. It comes warm with warm chocolate sauce. It was very tasty. I think it is a Spanish theme.

I will go to this resturant again with B1. Actually, I was thinking of my three nieces as well but they do not eat beef. So we will see...

Gratitude

The path to happiness is gratitude according to The Happiness Hypothesis. Everyday, we need to spend a few minutes to feel grateful for all we have and be thankful for the positives events that happens to us. I shall practise this now by logging my thoughts.

I am up in my office and as I write I feel thankful I have a wonderful family, a nice and warm home, I am healthy albeit a little overweight. I enjoys exercise and keeping fit. Have wonderful colleagues in my small cozy team and a job I loved. Our planet is still going on despite Man exploiting it relentlessly.

Life is good on a Sunday morning.

Weight Matters

My weight was okay on Thursday night after returning from KL. This morning, I weighs a kg more. I am eating my heart out. I need to stop eating like a hungry ghost whenever I return home. Missing food at home and stress cause me to eat and eat. I must find my emotional trigger for gluttony.

Maybe I just die happy instead of worrying about my weight all the time. Yet, if I don't, I would have ballooned to a huge tummy like my brother.

Early to Rise

Saturday morning. I woke up early. It is dark, so cycling is not a good idea. So I decided to go to the market and see beside the grocery stalls what else have started to operate their business. Armed with newspapers for the past three days, I go to the market in AMK Ave 10. The coffee stall is opened. I was surprised. So I asked what time do they start. They actually open at 4am. Now I found another place to go if I am sleepless.

A lot of the food stalls are ready and serving food. Business in this market has improved over the years. It must be due to the renewal of the surrounding. New flats which are much higher mean denser living and more people. Construction and factories nearby have increase the number of workers. Everywhere is Singapore is getting more and more crowded.

Reading the past few days papers, the most important issue is still flooding. Orchard Road is flooded again. A picture of the Minister for Water and Resource surveying the damage in Market Place. Cabinet Ministers are visible nowadays whenever there is a photo opportunity. The message is clear. Vote for Opposition and the government will show they are working. This is politics. It may be just dog and pony show. It may be real. Next General Elections I hope more opposition get voted in. This only way the Singapore Government will improve. Otherwise, it is just reading a report in the Parliament rather than MBWA or management by walking about.

Normal Again

It feels so good to be normal again. One week of resturant meals is can be a little too much. I had fishball noodle for breakfast, wanton noodle for lunch, Taiwanese XXXL crispy chicken for snacks, fried kuay teow for tea and finishing up B3's dinner. B3 had sirloin steak in a local western resturant own by a Hainanese chef.

I did not get a chance to eat local food in Malaysia in this trip as I am hosting Americans colleagues. Sunday night - Halal Tony Romas i.e. no ribs:( Monday night - Banana leaf, not bad actually. Tuesday night - Dave's Deli, Italian-style cafe in 1 Utama. Wednesday night - TGIF. Western food is good but servings are large, unhealthy but great taste. It is a love-hate relationship.

I do not get tired of my hawker so far. Only problem is it is high in carbohydrates and sodium. Variety is the spice of living to eat.

Dried Pineapple and Banana

I reached home and head straight to the fridge to try out my latest dried fruits. I have dried them before I leave for KL on Sunday afternoon. Pineapple tasted good. It is nicer when it is cold and juicy, however it is sweeter and the flavor stronger and stimulate a strong flow of saliva. Best of all, this is healthy snacking. So I can snack feeling less guilty as the calories content for the dried fruits are high as well. At least I am getting the fibers and it is fructose rather than corn syrup or sucrose.

It has been a long week. I am looking forward to exercising after eating and sitting on my butt for so many days.