Kakigori in Japan

Today is a warm spring day with the top temperature of around 30c. The cafe has started selling kakigori which is the equivalent of our ice kachang since last week. Kakigori is available only during the hot season.

Japanese convenience stores or konbini and sushi dinner

Mini Stop is a konbini or convenient store in Japan. Besides MS, Japan has other
konbini like 7-11, Lawson and Family Mart. They sell hot and cold beverages, sandwiches, onigiri (rice balls), instant noodles including ramen etc.
Konbinis also offer services like banking services through their ATMs, fax machines, copiers, postal services, ticket reservations for concerts, theme parks, baseball game, tickets for highway bus services etc etc.
This morning, my wife and I took a 10 minute walk to the above konbini and had our coffee (100 Yen or S$1.25c) and sandwiches. The sandwiches ( 250 Yen or S$3.10) were one of the best we ever had. The bread for the sandwiches were soft and the fillings were absolutely tasty.
Konbini offers free wi-fi but we particularly like Mini Stop because it provides seats besides free wi-fi. Most Lawson and 7-11 do not provide seats for their customers. Most konbini operate 24/7. As usual,car parking is free of charge.

                                                                                Dinner@ home

We had the bamboo rice which was prepared by my mother-in-law, sushi and potato salad which we bought from the supermarket. They are scrumptious and fresh as well as reasonably priced !

Lunch and Dinner

Dinner @ Sushi Express

We had our lunch at home. It was spaghetti with minced beef and green mussels. Accompanying the pasta was a plate of broccoli and okra (ladies' fingers).
As for dinner, we went for sushi at Sushi Express. Both were good and satisfying meals.

Breakfast@ home, dinner@ Go Sushi

Dinner was Sushi

5 October 2015 Monday

Jermaine Leong the winner of last night Final 1 Channel 5

Image credit:MediaCorp Channel 5
I am not a fan of Final 1 but I came across this program when I switched on the TV to watch channel 5 news last night.

STI up 39 points by 0930
SIA is up 15 cents to 10.86, Noble + 10 cents to .405, Genting + 1 cent to 73 cents, Tiger unchanged at 0.305, Wilmar + 13 cents to 2.69 etc. etc....

Haze report
The haze PSI as at 10 am is 149 which is in the mid unhealthy range. I wonder how long more we could go on with our normal daily lives. The haze is hardzous and menacing and we hope Indonesia could do something about it. Every year during the dry season it is the same story since 1997. People are getting sicker and the economy is suffering.

Jack of all trades, master of none

I am a jack of all trade so to speak but master of none. When I retired from the airlines, I went into the house moving industry. Bought myself a van and created a few blogs. In no time my partner and I was having so much business that we couldn't cope. Due to the size of the van, we could only do "room" moving. We moved items from a room to another room. We don't have space for big items.The fees was cheap,charging $40 to $60 for a trip. Our clients were mostly students from overseas,foreign workers and others.
I remember one Sunday we were able to complete 5 assignments. At the end of the day, we almost collapsed. Both of us weren't young. We were both 63 years old and you can imagine how tough it was for us to carry heavy and sometimes bulky items and moved them from one place to another.
A lady client of ours was shocked to see us appearing at her place to help her move. " Oh my god, I expect to see 2 young men but instead 2 old men. Can you both do the job?" she asked. Of course after the job was done she was so pleased that she gave us a small tip.
We took the moving job as a challenge and not so much for the money. After 2 years in the business, we closed shop.
My partner ventured into the real estate business and I started my pet business. Recently due to the poor housing market my partner closed shop. I am still at my pet business, importing and exporting pets like dogs,cats,rabbits etc for people. We call it pet relocation business.

Oh no sushi dinner again?

We do not seem to be tired of eating sushi. Tonight's dinner was sushi again. We did not snap any photos and so used the ones we took yesterday or day before. However, from the 3 receipts (over 3 times we were at Sushi Express)you may think we are sushi junkies. In fact, we are and had eaten few times before we took photos of the receipts. I've developed some rashes and skin itchiness on my legs and body. I think it may be due to the oily and deep fried food like fries,buggers, char kway teows, laksa, curries etc that I've consumed over the years. So it's pay-back time and I am trying to quit eating those unhealthy food and concentrate on food like sushi and sashimi which aren't oily.

2 October 2015 Friday

Flying with a minus crew situation is a serious matter.

I can't help but blog about this important cabin crew issue. This is a serious matter as more than 20 recent flights left without the sufficient number of cabin crew. What this means is that the operating crew has to work extra hard for nothing because the absentees were either on medical leave or some other reasons. There is no replacement of the absent crew. The service on board and safety of passengers (in the case of emergency) will inevitably be affected. This message was circulated to the crew by the union.

Section 18 of the industrial act means the cabin crew management has to sit down and discuss with the union as well as take remedial action to solve this problem. If the management does not want to discuss or do something positive, the matter will be referred to the Ministry of Manpower which will then decide on the next form of action.

Why adopt a pet only to abandon or put it down?

Continuing from yesterday's topic on the adoption of a dog,the above toy poodle was also adopted by us. This pet belonged to an expat family and they did not want to take her back to their original country and so let us adopt her. She is a loving pet, highly intelligent and playful.
Sometimes, we wonder why would some people want to have pets only later to abandon them (not in the case of the above toy poodle). It is cruel to abandon pets and there is a law in Singapore against it. In the case of the ex-stewardess's adopted dog, the owner wanted to put her down due to a "sickness". The sickness was actually a mild case of "heart murmur". The ex-stewardess sent the dog to the vet and fixed the problem. So really it may just be an excuse to kill the dog.

Do not disturb me while I'm eating or else....

Another boring day as far as the S'pore share market is concerned

The STI closed down 8 pts. My portfolio of shares have not been affected except for Noble which is down 0.015 cents. It's no big deal really because it will go up soon. Tiger was up again at 0.005 cents to 0.305 and SIA down 1 cent to 10.71. There will be no trading over the next 2 days because of the weekends.
The haze is as bad as yesterday in the unhealthy range. Most of the time we have to stay indoor with the air-conditioning and air purifier switched on.
Yesterday I forgot to mention that I was out for about 3 hours doing my job. There is a saying that "if you do not work,you do not eat". So, on matter what, I have to earn some income to support myself and my wife.

Our sushi late lunch@ Sushi Express

In terms of freshness and pricing ($1.50 per plate) Sushi Express is by far one of the best conveyor belt sushi in Singapore. The sushi and sashimi are even better than some selling in the upmarket restaurants along Orchard Road.

An instant noodle junkie I am

Guess what? I am now an instant noodle junkie. I know it isn't healthy eating these stuff but I can't help it. I am addicted to it and the addiction started because of the dreadful haze which prevented me from going out for my meals. The noodles comes in handy in this haze situation. It is super delicious and easy to cook. It's a good thing the addiction comes to me at a late age. Don't think it is nutritious at all, so it is not good for the kids.
Well, I had one of the above (Korean potato ramen) and it was chewy and yummy. 5 pkts in 1 box cost $6.90. The other 2 are cheaper (think it's $4 each box of 5).