Punggol Water Park

The Punggol Water Park has a water playground that is very similar to the one in Oakville, Canada. The difference is in Singapore this water play ground will be all year round whereas in Oakville the water is flowing only in summer.

The bike path from Punggol Point toward Lorong Halus is now open. It is fantastic to ride all the way without dismounting. The ride from SengKang Community Center through the Punggol Water Park and then along the former seaside, now Punggol Reservoir looking into Serangoon Island take about an hour. It is a circle route to Punggol Point, then Punggol Marina and back toward SengKang.

The sights are scenic and air, fresh! On weekdays, the park is not well patronized. So it is more relaxing to bike. On the weekend, the crowd is huge and plenty of small kids riding their training bike. It is not so fun. Thank to NParks, we have such beautiful natural landscape for exercise.

Popeye's

We have to look for a place where our boys can study and eat. So no Chinese resturants. Swensen's is too dark otherwise it is good as we can sit for a couple of hours. So we settle on Popeye's Louisana Fried Chicken at the Singapore Flyer. The place has plenty of seats and is not crowded even on the weekend. Most importantly, there is no signs discouraging students from studying.

Popeye's fried chicken is quick delicious. The taste is far superior to KFC. The sides are not much different. There is a flea market on today as well. I do not know if it is going to be successful as the place is not busy.

Massive Roots Growing in Drainage Pipe

The drain hole outside my house does not drain well. We found a contractor to improve the drain. When the drain pipe was cut, the hole was almost occluded by tree roots. The root size was huge. Three quarter of the diameter of the drain pipe is occupied by the main roots and there are plenty of rootlets. It is amazing to see the monster root that grow and grow and we did not know until we have drainage problem. The tree has been there for 7 or 8 years now. The power of tree. Simply amazing.

Katong Laksa

It is nostalgic time to eat the Katong Laksa that bring back the memories of my childhood weekend family jaunt in Changi Beach. I was younger than B3 when I ate the Katong Laksa. The favour is not as good as before according to my wife, I still think it is the best in town. Lot of changes happening in Katong. High rise condominiums are popping up left and right. New malls in the final stages of completion. Good thing is Chin Mei Chin coffeeshop is still around and the kaya is the best in town. I like it better than Ah Kun!

Artificial Aquarium

I was browsing through the Gramaphone store in basement 2 of Takashimaya as I love movies especially documentaries. I also see if there is any new age music that I may like. There is this set of Blu-ray DVD that is supposed to be relaxing. It has aquarium, beach, fireplace and ocean. I now know where Best Denki, Harvey Norman and other big electronics store get their nice scenery for display. I bought a set of 4 for $44. The colour is brilliant and turn my display into a saltwater aquarium. It is supposed to be relaxing. I am not sure I do not really look at the display. However it is interesting to see the colourful corals and saltwater fishes.

Now I can have an artificial aquarium anytime!

Jurong West Hawker Center

Apparently, the hawker center at Blk 507 Jurong West has quite good food. Being a foodie, I drove all the way there to try out. Yes, the fried bee hoon and wanton mee is quite good. The fried carrot is also quite good. Unfortunately, my stomach is limited. So I can try only three different dishes.

I understand the chicken porridge and fried hokkien mee are high standard as well. Even yong tau foo has "Top 10" certificate and I saw what some customers eating the yong tau foo and it looked very appetitizing. Maybe, I will bring my boys there to try. Still it is just standard hawker fare but it is the taste of Singapore, our home.

Singapore Flyer

Deepavali, the festival of lights and a public holiday. So we take a "flight" on the flyer. Although we had 5 tickets, B2 is unable to join the ride as he has to prepare for his "O" level exams. The flyer is interesting. We have to board while it is still moving. The views is stunning and exciting especially when we reach the apex. The capsule is airconditioned and is comfortable. After we started the journey down, the rain clouds reach us and everything become blurry. The ride was stopped due to the rain and all onboard alighted.

B3 is afraid of heights. So he sat on the bench for the whole ride. I was a little surprised by his fear and his thighs turned purple as the blood vessels near the skin turned cold. I hope he will be able to overcome his fear in future.

At the apex, it is a little scary and the good thing is the movement of the capsule is continous. So we know we are on our way down. I do not know how those were caught in a 4 hours jam when the motors failed feel. It must be panic as there were no information and finally have to rappel down with the rescuers. It will be a ride they never forget.

The Closed Western Minds

I cracked open the spine of New Asian Hemisphere and started reading. Prof Kishore Mahbubani has an interesting style. His views are back by annecdotes from news and published papers around the world. The examples he brought up are very solid and perspectives from the East is clear. The Western viewed their economic superiority as they owned the world and everything they do and believed in must be right. God is with them as articulated by their leaders publicly. The West has given the world seven pillars that bring economic prosperity. However, as the rest of the world prospers, the West is getting discomfort of the rising of powers of others. They are denying and still insist on their position of superiority.

Let's see how the future unfolds.

Family Time

We have our complete family for dinner tonight. It is nice the boys are talking each during dinner time. We had roti prata with leftover mutton curry from this morning. Then cook some Japanese noodles with the soba sauce. The meal is simple and fulfilling.

B1 does not have a chance to be at home every weekend. So the time he is back for meals with us is very precious. B2 is studying hard for his "O" level. B3 had fun with sea monkeys and waiting for the triops to hatch. It is a day where we relax and do not worry about work or business.

It is rejuvenating day for us.

Triops

B3, our baby boy is always interested science experiments. He found out there is a new toy called triops which claims to be prehistoric creatures. He also found the way to buy it and it is through Amazon for US$5 and shipping is US$10 which is more expensive than the product itself. Unfortunately, Amazon.com cannot ship out of USA for this product.

So we check it out in the internet to see where we can get it in Singapore. Hey presto! Rainbow Aquarium. Unfortunately, there is no address. We check out the aquarium this morning after our breakfast in Kovan Hawker Center. They actually have it but at S$20. I negotiated for a better deal and whisper to B3 that the price on the internet is better. The girl serving us overheard and refused to give a discount telling me that it is the same price as internet. So we walk away.

We check out the big aquarium in Jalan Kayu. We are in luck. They do carry the same product. Better still, it is priced at $18 with 15% discount. So we save $4. Fantastic. I also bought brine shrimp aka sea monkeys and tubex worms for my goldfishes. They needed a treat as I don't they have not been fed for the week I was gone.

Hopefully, the triops hatched and grow to maturity.

Amazing Recovery

No jetlag while returning home. It is simply amazing! I am glad to drink my teh halia and eat my fried kway teow. German food is a tad too salty for me. I had good breakfast in the hotel but it is a little boring. Bacon, sausages and eggs. Fruit and vegetable salad. 6 different types of buns. I like the loose tea leaves where I can make tea in a pot.

Maybe I will feel "off" tomorrow.

Counting down to 23rd October, this Sunday when Punggol Park will be officially open. It looks like a carnival. There are also temporary platform built for the VIPs to walk down to the main Promenade. The opening cost so much money. We must have the fanfare to celebrate as it will be open by Prime Minister.

Chinese Resturants are Everywhere

I am staying at airport hotel. It is a small suburb with neat houses and quiet neighbourhood. Right across the street is a Chinese Resturant. I did not try the food as I am not hungry during meal times. The electric trams still runs and it is very retro for me. The electric trams in Dusseldorf is modernised and run fast and quiet unlike those in Toronto. I have not been to Hong Kong for a long time and do not know if the electric tram is still running there.

Huge Exhibition - A&A

I visited the A&A exhibition in Dusseldorf. The exhibition is enormous. It occupys 10 halls and all filled with exhibitors from all over the world. I am a little overwhelmed by the products. Fire protection, Fall Protection, Gloves in a thousand iteration, Apparels - disposable, reusuable, chemical resistant, wet resistant and so many other purposes. The market is gigantic. There are so many companies from all over the world. Some brought the knitting machines and the moulds for shoes. It is quite an impressive sight.

Cooped

I have been cooped in a room all day long. No exercise and plenty of talking and listening. What a healtny lifestyle! I am glad to get some fresh air before dinner. It is German food. I am looking forward to it. I have been good today as I did not eat much lunch.

Dusseldorf

It is quite cold landing into Frankfurt. I have to wait for 2 and half hours to take my connecting flight to Dusseldorf. Flying over Germany, the landscape show the low density of the country. Plenty of forest and farmlands. There are clusters of houses spread out across the country. Unlike Singapore where tall buildings dominate the landscape. The houses are individual two storeys and a bunch of them would cluster together like a village. Some clusters are bigger, many a hundred or two. Probably many of the clusters are just farmers and they either own or work the land surrounding the houses.

It is Sunday and there are not much activity outside the hotel. I may take a walk just to familiarise myself with the surrounding and for exercise.

Internet make it so much easier to pass time nowadays when travelling into a foreigh country. I remember I was bored to death on a weekend in Holland. No shops, freezing weather, and nothing to do. At least I can blog and surf the net nowadays.

Peter Drucker

The revised book - Management, Tasks and Responsibilities has a section on Individual and Self-reflection. It is interesting reading. Peter Drucker will spend 3 to 4 years focusing on a new subject to learn. It can be statistics, Japanese art, philosophy, or marine life. Peter will go in-depth study and then move on. He found that this help him to look at things differently and have insights that others will not have. He is a prolific writer and is a genius. He invented management.

I do recommend this book as a reference for all practising managers.

Slowdown In Global Economy

The new on the global economy outlook is expected to slowdown. This is why while Singapore avoided a technical recession in this quarter, MITI or Ministry of Trade and Industry has adjusted the full year forecast down to 5%. We are going downhill again and need to fasten our seatbelt.

Feeling Out of Sorts

I have been feeling out of sorts lately. It may be the pressure at work or stock market losses or ... I don't really know. It is just a series of bad news. Stay positive, think positive and I should look at the glass half full instead. So it is a series of opportunities that I received.

It is hard to put a finger into on why this feeling come. Maybe it is a major trip is coming up. I always like to put in a factual or positive post. Public airings of negative moods is not something I like to do. Tonight, I just feel like penning down my thoughts. I am just a mortal with feelings and I am not feeling good:(

Our Amazing PCN

I try out the opposite side of the PCN and ride all the way to Lorong Halus. Then I notice a section that seems short and will lead to the dam. So I decided to check it out. This section of PCN is not paved but fill with red pebbles. As I ride, I was amazed that it keeps going and going. It is almost scary as there were no other riders. The good thing is at certain section, there are workers fixing up the bridge or building a canal. It continues until I saw the street lights powered by windmills and solar panels. Then I realised I have reach Punggol Point! The wall separating the Punggol Point and this section has a sheet removed. So I decided to go through and return via Punggol Marina. It is going to be a wonderful ride in future. Two different routes and both are very scenic and away from vehicular traffic.

I am getting happier with my home.

Progressing Fast

The PCN on the Punggol stretch is making good progress. The workers are putting all the finishing touches like the tiles and the fountains. The granite stretch of water filters along the river is being rework to clear the mud and replenish with fresh granite chips. Some rest stops are still work-in-progress. Overall, I am very happy to cycle where the air is good and there is no need to stop for traffic lights and watch out for cars and lorries.

Singapore Government and NParks are doing a wonderful job.