This was my dinner. Didn't eat lunch as I had the Toast Box  Mee Siam set for brunch. My dinner was quite nutritious. It was made up of (clockwise from top left) niku jaga, fried bitter gourd, miso soup, Japanese rice and fried sardines (fish).

Ba-Chor Mee and Toast Box Mee Goreng Set

Today, I had ba-chor mee for breakfast, niku jaga for lunch and mee goreng for dinner. Admittedly, except for the niku jaga, my meals were unhealthy. But then I craved for hawker food so badly.
Hopefully tomorrow's meals will be healthier.

Lunching with my schoolmates and teacher

Was at Shaw House Food Republic this afternoon with my ex-teacher and schoolmates. I had the beef soup and rice ($9.80). After lunch, a few of us adjourned to Toast Box for our usual kopi and toasts.
The gentleman in the blue shirt (next to me) was an engineer and the one in the white shirt next to Mr Koh is a medical specialist (still practising) Mr Koh will be flying back to Canada next week.

Hotel buffet breakfast in Japan

We stayed at a hotel near Kurosaki Station, Kitakyushu Japan (last week). It was a large room for two and came with a eat-all-you-can breakfast. The room was super clean and had comfortable Simmons mattresses.
The rate was around S$ 250 for two. It was quite expensive as it is situated near the train station.

Mee Rebus Set and a chat at Toast Box

I was at Toast Box and ordered the Mee Rebus set. It was quite pricey at $7.30c. The Mee was not as soft as I expected but the gravy and coffee O was as good as before.
I knew the cleaner Ah San who at one time was working at a coffee shop nearby. We chatted for a while. San is 65 years old but his movement was quite slow. He told me he would be quitting end of the year. He is a cancer survivor.
As San and I was chatting ( the place was quite deserted), another fellow, a customer, joined in our conversation. He told us he was 75 years old and he looked fit and trimmed. When asked what was he working in his younger days, he replied he was a fisherman. His fitness was due to the hard he had to endure as a fisherman, he told us.
The food, atmosphere and people at Toast Box was nice. I enjoyed every bit of my time there this afternoon.

Our Sunday lunch@ home

A nice quiet lunch at our place. Basically it is Washoku or Japanese. The fish was selar which we bought from Chong Pang this morning. We got 4 fishes at $1.50c each. We did not deep fried the fish but just fried in light oil. We had a bowl of miso soup (not in the picture). We bought the organic miso from the local supermarket at  $5.50 (400gm).

Japanese Noodles and Octopus Balls

Above was the Ramen we had at Hakata Station before leaving Japan. This is Kyushu Char Siew Ramen with thicker soup than the Tokyo Ramen. The bottom picture was that of Takoyaki or octopus balls. Both items were tasty except that I prefer the Tokyo Shoyu Ramen. You won't believe that the 6 Takoyaki balls cost only 100 Yen or $1.25c. The Ramen was Y1,000 or $12.50 per bowl.

Mee Goreng Set from Toast Box

I went shopping and came across this menu at Toast Box. I am not sure if it is a new item but I've never seen it before. Dying for my regular cup of coffee, I decided to try this "Mee Goreng Set" or Fried Noodle Set. It comes with a drink of your choice and I chose black coffee.
Fortunately, although a little spicy, the mee goreng and the coffee turned out to be good. So that's my dinner for today ($5.30).

Soup,salad and bread----eat all you can

This was the soup,bread and salad buffet I had on my recent trip to Japan. Yes it was at the Volks Family Restaurant. The menu is still the same as the one on my last trip except that the price has gone up a bit. Nevertheless, the meal was substantial and worthwhile having (about $12).

Sashimi and Chirashi Don

We bought the Sashimi and Chirashi Don from a supermarket in Fukuoka and had them for lunch. The seafood was super fresh and yummy. I can't remember how much my wife paid for them but rest assured they are relatively inexpensive.

Kopi shop talk,welcome back Mr Lim!

Ah Lim came back to the coffee shop to work again as a coffee barista (coffee maker). During his
break, he joined us for lunch. He left the coffee shop for about 2 years and is greatly missed by his customers. He has great skill in making coffee. When asked why he left, he told us his boss did not like him as he has a tendency to speak too loudly (that's what he told us).
We found from him a lady staff whom we knew as C has died of cancer . We also found out that the former coffee shop supervisor was sacked because she stole money. Since Lim is back, we are getting a lot of information from him regarding coffee shop matters.
Lim told us he is currently doing partime. He asked for $2,500 salary if the boss wants him back as a permanent staff. Naturally, Lim's boss declined as the standard salary for a coffee maker is around $1,500 per month.
We will see a lot more of Ah Lim at the coffee shop starting from today.

Angus Classic Bacon and Cheese

This McDonald's 100% Angus beef patty on a delicious bakery style sesame bun with two slices of savoury bacon and processed cheddar cheese and top it off with crisp red onions and crinkle-cut pickles.
I don't usually eat burgers  but this time I had it for dinner (meal) which included fries and a cup of black coffee. Good and a filling meal that cost $10.95 w/o upsizing.

Chicken Porridge lunch

We used the Emperor's chicken leftover to make the porridge. Tasted superb,credit to my wife. Quite a free day and the only time we stepped out of the house is to have dinner at a coffee shop nearby. Didn't take any photo of the dinner.

Emperor's Chicken and Broccoli for dinner

Molestation of stewardesses aren't something new

I was just told of a case that happened 2 months ago. It was a leading steward who was charged for "touching" 2 stewardesses on his flight. He was let off with a written warning.
Sometimes, we wonder why would a male crew want to "touch" his female colleagues? Perhaps it was accidental. But the female crew could differentiate between an accidental touch or one that was filled with sexual lust.
Not too long ago, an ifs nearing his retirement lost his $50,000 in gratuity because he was found guilty of fondling 2 of his stewardesses.
Molestation or outraging the modesty of female colleagues has been going on since the time I joined the airline.
In 1968 when I first joined the airline, there was a case of a steward groping a stewardess. He was sacked after he was found guilty of outraging the stewardess.
So molestation or outraging the modesty of stewardesses by the male crew is not something new.

UAE airlines likely to see falling profits this year: IATA

ReutersMarch 14, 2017

By Alexander Cornwell

ABU DHABI (Reuters) - The profitability of airlines based in the United Arab Emirates, the Middle East's main aviation hub, is likely to fall this year amid limited growth in demand, the head of IATA said on Tuesday.

The UAE is home to Emirates, which flies more passengers long haul than any other airline, as well as rapidly expanding Etihad Airways and low cost carriers flydubai and Air Arabia (AIRA.DU).

"The UAE carriers will have a year that is probably below 2016," Alexandre de Juniac, director general and chief executive of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), told reporters in Abu Dhabi. Low-cost carriers that offer long-haul services, as seen in Europe, could also soon start to take hold in the region, he said.

IATA said in December that Middle East airlines are likely to see profits fall to $300 million in 2017 from $900 million last year in part due to high capacity and limited demand growth, but did not give specifics on UAE carriers at that time.

Half-year profit fell 75 percent at Emirates and the airline's President Tim Clark said last week that while yield declines had halted it was still a tough year.

Air Arabia and flydubai reported lower full-year profit for 2016, while Etihad has not yet reported its results but has said it is reviewing its business.

Airlines in the Gulf benefited for years from high oil prices that spurred government spending and regional growth. But demand has softened and travel budgets have tightened after more than two years of depressed oil prices, exposure to weaker markets and currency fluctuations.

Emirates and Etihad are both reviewing their workforces, while Emirates has agreed with Airbus (AIR.PA) to delay the delivery of 12 A380 jets over the next two years.

Both airlines have hundreds of aircraft on order from Airbus and Boeing (BA.N) and neither has signalled further delays to deliveries.

De Juniac told Reuters that airlines across the world need to "manage their assets cleverly."

"There is a lot of capacity so it explains why the yield is declining and many companies are suffering," he said, but added that he "would not advise" airlines on how to define their capacity.

The growth of low-cost airlines that fly long haul, like Norwegian Air Shuttle (NWC.OL), is expected to continue to pressure established trans-Atlantic carriers as these newcomers expand using longer-range single-aisle aircraft to fly between smaller, cheaper local airports.

Growth of low-cost, long haul is "starting to accelerate" in Europe and Asia and is likely to eventually develop in other markets such as the Middle East, de Juniac said.

(Editing by Jason Neely and Susan Fenton)

Fish ball noodles and Okonomiyaki

I can't believe it when the hawker told me my fish ball noodles is only $2. This stall is at the food center along Ang Mo Kio Ave 10 (block 409). The usual price is $3 to $4 although the portion is a little bit bigger. Frankly, I do not mind having a small bowl especially since it was my first meal of the day. Taste wise, it's not bad.
The other 2 dishes are the home made Japanese "pancakes" known as Okonomiyaki. They are made up of flour, eggs, shredded cabbage, bits of bacon, bonito flakes, Worcestershire sauce and mayonnaise. They tasted quite good.

"Talks" for SIA cabin crew wannabes

Today, I had the pleasure of conducting "Talks" for cabin crew hopefuls who are going for the interview in Singapore on 25 March. All together, there were 6 participants at the 2 hour "Talks".
After the 2 hour period, we had to vacate the room. All but 1 participants wanted to have a Q & A session and so we proceeded to a food center nearby. In between our meals and drinks, we had the Q & A. The session went on for the next 2 hours. After satisfying the participants with the Q & A, we left for home.
I usually conduct this kind of "Talks" a week or two before the SIA cabin crew interview in Singapore. One may visit my blog at www.ourcabincrew.com  for more information.

Grieve not but believe .......

Our super sports man " Iron Man Daniel" has gone but we will grieve not but believe that he has now step into another body as the Bible stated that "Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is dismantled, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands."

Our grief will be temporary and that's a big consolation. R I P Daniel the "Iron Man"!

Sushiro, no more visit from me unless....

This is really crazy. My wife and I went to Thomson Plaza to eat the above bara chirashi. The place open for business at 11:45am and when we arrived at 11:40am, the queue was very long. I wasn't interested to wait but my wife insisted that we queue for the food. So while she queued I went to have a haircut nearby. By the time I had my haircut, Sushiro's queue hardly moved.
To cut the long story short, by the time we were served it was 1pm. The bara chirashi was good and it was reasonably priced at $12.80 w/o ++.
I told my wife, I would not want to visit this place again unless the restaurant changes it size to accommodate more people and the queue is shorter.

RIP Iron Man Daniel

Macadamia nuts from Hawaii

A friend who was in Hawaii bought us a small but precious gift. They are the famous Hawaiian macadamia nuts from The Kahala Hotel & Resorts. The nuts are coated with chocolate in 4 different colors and they are a delectable delight. I think this particular 1 pound box cost US$50.

My favourite curry yong tau foo

Home cooked lunch

This was my lunch. It's made up of fried rice, miso soup and broccoli salad. The last picture was the yam cake from Toast Box which I had for dinner plus Old Chang Kee curry puff and fish balls (no pic). 

Aleem Ibrahim, oldest serving employee

Aleem Ibrahim, the almost indispensable Assistant Manager, will be appointed "Head of Project" in the cabin crew dept from 1 April 2017. His retirement is being extended another year (from 67 to 68), making him the oldest serving employee of SIA .
Congrats brother!

Had lunch with ex-school teacher

I spent my Saturday afternoon with my ex-school teacher Mr Koh Beng Thiam and a classmate at the City Square Mall near Farrer Park MRT Station. We had our lunch at Food Republic on the 4th floor. We had the above for lunch followed by a kopi session at Toast Box. Initially, Mr Koh invited us to his place which is just a 7 minute walk from City Sq. Mall to have coffee. However, due to the rain, we decided to proceed to Toast Box instead. We stayed at the Mall and Toast Box for about 3 hours. We chatted about our school days among many other things.
Incidentally, Mr Koh was also the first principal of Jurong Junior College from 1981 to 1986.
He was Mr Lim Ching Beng's (SIA first CEO or MD) classmate in Raffles Institution. He told us he was in charge of the RI swimming team whose captain was Mr Goh Chok Tong, the former prime minister of Singapore.

81% said yes, 19% said no

This was the poll I conducted on my blog (www.bohtong.org) for the last 2 months. I asked the readers whether I should continue blogging about airline matters and stories since some had asked me to stop blogging. Now the results are out and 81% asked me to continue whereas only 19% asked me to stop. Since I have the mandate to continue blogging, I will do my best to entertain and keep you informed of airline issues.
Thank you for your feedback!

Ex Madame Tussauds SIA Girl Suet

Former Madame Tussauds SIA Girl Lim Suet Kwee will be promoted to Head of Crew Performance Department in Cabin Crew w.e.f 1 April 2017. She will be the assistant to Manager of Crew Performance. Congrats Suet!