Alvin and the Chipmunks

This is a good movie. I thought it was a cartoon but actually is a regular movie with chipmunks that talks and sings. It is funny and have a strong family values. It is also touching and the song and dance concert was fun. The movie theatre in the Gardens is posh and the seats are big and comfortable. Sound system was incredible. All for a low price of RM20 per seat. Excellent value!

Long Productive Day

We spend the day discussing about work and man! do we have plenty do.

Chilli's

Wholesome American food. Wings on Buffalo is crispy, tangy and spicy. Chicken and Beef faujitas was tasty, a tad dry. The dessert is chocolate moist cake with a warm centre and a scoop of vanilla cover with chocolate sauce. This is finger licking good dinner.

WRONG Again

I was wrong. No rain tonight. Weather like woman is fickle. I think it is better than Shakespeare's "Frailty thy name is woman." Don't call me a sexist. I am just quoting others:)

Magnificent Lightning

The thunderstorm late afternoon has numerous magnificent lightnings. It is awesome powers. It is also scary to be outside. So we hurry home. In less than 10 mins, the road was flooded. Thanks to our government, we have good road and excellent drainage. Ominous dark clouds are hanging around. Rain will pour again....

Held Hostage

By the Brother Grimm show in Channel 5. It is keeping me awake and on the edge of my seat. It is scary and exciting to watch this kind of show in the middle of the night. It is better to watch on DVD during the day. However, night view enhances and heighten the experience.

Fantastic Food at Hong Lim

Hong Lim has so many famous food stalls. The curry mee makes my saliva keep coming out of my mouth. My handkerchief was soaking wet in 10 mins! Hokkiens really know how to make prawn mee. The soup version was yummy because I can see how my wife was savouring every mouthful. MMmmm! It was the Lor Mee that won the day, errr I mean my stomach. I hunger for good Lor Mee and try this stall. It is delicious. The flavours are different from Tiong Bahru market. For $3 a bowl, it is value for money.

Good food at low low prices, Hong Lim! Hong Lim! Hong Lim!

Imagination

Writing stories requires imagination and writing skills. Something sons are better. So I created another blog which links to my sons' blogs. Reading what I have written, I totally agree. It is boring, uninteresting and would put readers to sleep. So I should label my blog as Cure for Insominacs. I just keep my reader who gave me the gift of feedback in suspense by not telling the name of my new blog or my sons' blogs.

Thanks A Million!

I have feedback from a reader and he is giving valuable feedback. He like me to tell stories. I told a story once and the reception was fantastic especially when I pause to take a break. Finally, my good friend Boh Tong asks me to tell the ending. It was good. Let me mull over this and figure out what to do next. I feel a little Warren Buffet (the famed investor). It is the same old same old boring bore in my family or work life.

Anonymous said...
Yawnnnnnn Zzzzzzzz
11:27 AM
BookLover said...
Hey, thanks for the feedback! What can I do to stop your yawnnnn zzzZZZZ!
12:02 PM
Anonymous said...
tell interesting stories other than about your work,family and self.

Still Alive!

The lobsters we caught I mean. This time the survival of the lobsters are much better. One died after jumping about on the ground. According to B3, the lobster ran up the lily leaf and then to the ground. It jump about a few times and ants start eating it up. I think this is a tall story. This afternoon I caught him catching a lobster from the pond and putting it on the ground. I know the truth about the lobster jumping up the leaf and out of the pond.

I also think the pond filter I installed allow the lobsters to survive. Previously, the water in the pond were circulated but the waste from the fishes were not filtered. The lobsters turned red after being in the pond for a few hours and all died in a day or two. The smaller lobsters numbers were reduced as they were probably eaten up by the bigger fishes. I notices the lobsters come out of their hiding place to eat at night. During the day, they hid in the crevices between the rocks. At night, with a torch light, I can see them out in the open.

I am very happy to see the lobsters we caught in the reservoir surviving. This mean my pond has become a micro-ecology.

Work Mania

I have a series of fires at work. Fighting fires take up time. It is both exhausting and exhilarating. I need to figure how to stablise the situation so that I can spent time on thinking and strategize on growing the business. It is start of the year and activities are hot, hot, hot! I have two meetings tomorrow and a big meeting to prepare. Man! Working for money is not easy.

Craving for a Kit Kat

I am not really a chocolate person although I have a sweet tooth. I have been down with flu for more than a week now. I just had a craving for Kit Kat. It is funny as I normally do not feel favours chocolate. My sweet craving of choice is Ah Kun kaya.

Off to Fairprice I go. There are many choice of kit kat nowadays. I still go for the traditional 4-sticks bar type. It tastes so much better than the "international" versions. The 4-sticks bar is made in UK. It is a little more expensive $8 for 5 bars but give so much more value in terms of taste. If you like Kit Kat, don't compromise. 4 is better than 2.

Lobster Fest at Pierce Reservoir

This afternoon we brought the two younger boys to Pierce Reservoir to catch lobsters after dropping the eldest for his tuition. There were plenty of people catching lobsters. Fishing is popular too. Two fishing enthusiasts caught one fairly large fish each. One also caught a turtle which he realise immediately. Between 3 of us, Daddy and the two boys, we caught 4 or 5 large lobsters and plenty of tiny ones. It is a good way to spend the day. We finished with Kentucky Fried Chicken dinner.

Gymnastics

B3 has been pestering us to go for gymnastics class. He had gone for gym classes two or three years ago. We stopped going to Baz gym because the timing sucks. It is at 6:30pm right smack dinner time. After a few months we gave up because we were either late or have to have our dinner late. Our French neighbours' kids can do cartwheel and other stunts which B3 is keen to do too. Finally, we have a trial lesson today in Raffles Institution. I am impressed by the training class for girls. The girls are arching their backs and can do the bridge from standing position to bridge back to standing without any help. They are also flipping and cartwheeling with ease.

B3 is very happy and will register for the class. His gym teacher was a coach for the national gymnastic team already hope B3 can do well and win competition in future so that he can also teach in his primary school.

Judgement

My neighbour, I shall her Joy(not her real name) recommend this book to me. She told her a Perm Sec recommend to her and she finds it good. The author Noel M. Tichy and Warren Bennis are well-known. Tichy work in GE before and lay claim to Teachable Point of View. Bennis is a professor in U of Southern California specialising in leadership.

"How winning leaders make great calls" is the subtitle. The book studies the "great" American CEOs such as Jack Welch, Jeff Immelt, A. G. Lafley(P&G) and Jim McNerney.

Good judgement is a process and not an event. It is NOT just a decision. The "decision" has to be frame and decided on. After that it need execution and adjustment to the changes.

The 3 Critical Domains or Dimension for judgement calls are People, Strategy and Crisis. People is considered the most difficult and also most critical. Sounds a little like motherhood and apple pie to me.

They continue to say exercising good judgement requires Self-Knowledge. Support teams are vital and engaging others leads to success. Similar to Sun Tze's "Know yourself, Know your enemy, A hundred Battles, A hundred Victories."

I must say the book is quite easy to read and the personalities are well-known and published in many books and articles.

Team building in School

I am impressed by the secondary school orientation program. Pei Hwa is a new school and the school engages professional team building organisation to run the program. The facilitators are JC students and they run the programs. They have break the ice sessions, building trust and different games to build teamwork. This is so much better than my time.

The programs in Secondary schools are getting more and more sophisticated. Xinmin use student leaders and the newbies learn the school war cries, cheers and learn to do sketch and have a campfire all in a week.

This is good orientation and induction into the school. I am also glad ragging is no longer allowed in University and Polytechnics under the guise of freshman orientation. The school environment is now friendlier with better ice-breaking to welcome all freshman.

I am glad to see this kind of progress in our school system.

First Day at Work

It is nice to get back to work. I was kind of on half gear during the Christmas holidays. It is good to take vacation and work when I like rather than when I have to. This is not to say I do not enjoy working when I am not on vacation. I do, I do! Enjoy working that is.

First Day in School

B3 is in Primary 1 and B2 in Secondary One. Both schools are close by. Not sure if neighbourhood school is a good idea. My neighbour has a strong opinion that primary school is very important for the child development. Her view is that if you go to the right primary school, then you will be set for life. She went to Ai Tong and she is one of the two in her peer groups of friends and neighbours who finished University. She thinks for a moment and then tell me that the highest level of qualifications her peers who goes to neighbourhood school is "O" level or Secondary 4. Ai Tong today is a popular primary school and is extremely difficult to enter.

It is funny feeling to see my baby now going to proper school. He is growing up. B1 will be sitting for his "O" level this year. Yes, my boys are growing up and up. Hard to describe the mix of joy and anticipation plus worry for their future. Are they going to be ready to face the global changes that is taking place now? Will there be jobs or must they become entreprenuers? I was thinking of my father who drove pirated taxi, trade in groceries and basically doing anything that earn him money for day-to-day living. Jobs are becoming polarised. It is either high paying or minimum wage. There are less and less jobs supporting middle class lifestyle like managers, engineers, foremen or technicians. High paying jobs or professions are doctors, dentists, architects, CEOs, stockbrokers or lawyers are for select few. Millions will be stuck at factory jobs or waiting at the tables or cleaning or general labour.

What will the future be for my boys? Only time will tell...

New Year Resolutions

I never understand the much talked about and publicized new year's resolutions. Why would people make resolutions to break them? How come resolutions are done on the eve of the new year?

I recalled in 1989, my colleagues and I went to Royal Holiday Inn for new year eve's get together. Mei started to talk about her resolutions and how she planned to make easy resolutions so that she will not break them. This dinner was my first exposure to new year's resolutions. Also bring out my ignorance and innocence. I have never make any resolutions before. I read about the great Ben Franklin who is a well respected and rich merchant, scientist and philosopher. Ben will study his own behaviours and pick one he did not like one at a time and work on it until it change. Using this method, he remake himself into a likeable, diplomatic person and achieve greatness.

I have tried to reduce my weight and is unsuccessful. This actually will fall into my "broken resolution" list. I wonder how it is like to resolve to be rich or successful. I prefer to keep my desires simple and few - Buddha's Way. Maybe because I am not as capable as my classmates who because VPs and MDs earning millions in annual remuneration. I am happy with my lot.

For the new year, I resolve not to make any resolutions. Let life be and flow naturally. This will be TAO.

Happy New Year

Happy mean lucky deriving from Old Danish happe, "to chance" according to Janadas Devan on Sunday Times. He goes on the tell on the history of how Jan 1 became a new year(the day Jesus Christ was circumcised!) Christ was born in 25 Dec BC and circumcision is traditionally done on the 8th day after birth.

The thing that come to my mind is the western world is similar to the Chinese rather they may be following the Chinese custom in the sense that Chinese celebrate with Kong Hee Huat Chye (I prefer the Hokkien rather than the Cantonese Kong Hey Fatt Choy). Which translates to Congratulations on becoming Wealthy! Chinese has strong beliefs in luck and wealth and Feng Shui is the art of bending in with nature to enhance wealth.

Today, I wish all my readers be blessed with joy and luck. May health and wealth follow you every step of the way.

Happy New Year!