Of fishball noodles, kopi etc on a Saturday

Woke up early and long to have my breakfast of fishball noodles and kopi O. Was in a dilemma because the noodles stall is at a coffee shop and the kopi is at Toast Box. They are about  10 minutes apart from each other. I do not like the kopi O at the coffee shop. The kopi O is not worth drinking at all. So I rather walk another 10 minutes to Toast Box to have my kopi O. After that it's a 7 minute walk home.
An elderly lady at Toast Box told me that in the early days, most of the kopi sold at the heartland coffee shops were as good as the ones at Toast Box. I agreed with her because the standard of the kopi in the coffee shops have deteriorated over the years.
A few nights ago, I was invited by an elderly couple friends to dinner. Although they are wealthy people, they are unassuming and humble. Besides, they are very generous too. As usual, I always enjoy their company.
As of yesterday, Zika has infected 16 pregnant women in Singapore. However, according to the health authorities none of their unborn babies have microcephaly (babies born with smaller heads).
In total, there are currently 387 confirmed cases of people with Zika.
This year we are fortunate not to have the haze blown over from Indonesia. It usually occur around this time of the year. We are grateful to the Indonesian government for giving us the "opportunity" to breathe some fresh air.
It looks like we are going to have a warm humid Saturday. Hope we'll get some rain to cool down the temperature.

Formula 1 and Zika in Singapore

The Formula 1 starts today. I am not a fan and have no interest in the event which is being organized almost every year around this time. What I dislike about this event is that many areas in the city will be closed to traffic. The event is only for a few days over the weekend but the preparation takes another couple of days including post-event (the putting up and dismantling of barriers etc).
I would like to drive to the Marina Bay area but it is closed at the moment due to the F-1 and will remained closed until after Tuesday. Taking train there is another option but why should I when I have a car? Anyway, the train service in Singapore isn't that efficient anymore. There are frequent breakdowns and the trains are overcrowded.
According to the news this morning, the Zika mosquitoes have found another home in the northern eastern part of Singapore. They have found the clusters near block 272C of Sengkang Central, bring up the number of Zika infected victims to 369 including 8 pregnant women! 

Increase in the number of Zika cases in Singapore

There is an increase of 24 new cases of Zika, bringing the total to 115 as at 12 noon yesterday. A pregnant woman was the latest victim.
As for Dengue this year according to experts, the total number may exceed 30,000. The highest was in 2013 when the number was 22,700+.
As for Zika, it is a new thing to Singapore. The virus first started in Brazil and now spread to other countries like Singapore, Thailand etc.
Many years ago, I used to live in a kampong and there were lots of mosquitoes. We used mosquito nets and burned mosquito coil to keep them away. The mosquitoes were considered a nuisance but they did not give us Dengue fever nor Zika. I can't understand why the mosquitoes of today are threatening our lives as well as those of the unborn babies?
Besides Sim Drive and the Aljunied areas, there are now people infected with the Zika in Punggol and Bedok North.

According to an economist, Zika could plunge Singapore into a deep recession. Less tourists may visit us and in turn will affect our economy just like what SARS did to us and our neighbours.

People in Singapore infected by the Zika virus has risen to 82 by yesterday. The areas most affected are Sims Drive/Aljunied, Kallang Way and Paya Lebar Way.
USA has joined a growing list of countries like Australia, UK, Taiwan etc warning their citizens especially the pregnant women or those wanting to get pregnant to avoid travelling to Singapore.
Zika can cause women to give birth to babies with smaller than usual heads.
So far there is no panic among Singaporean regarding the Zika thing. However, one infectious disease specialist warned that the virus could spread to half of the nation.
Zika, like dengue is spread by the Aedes mosquitoes.

My breakfast at the coffee shop

Got up very early this morning and waited till the coffee shop nearby opened its door for business. Had the fish ball noodles and my cup of kopi O. It has been a while since I last visited this place. Noodles remain at $3.50 and kopi at $1. The place is air-conditioned but one may dine outside which is non air-conditioned. There is a section outside for smoking.

Lunch was Chicken Chop set@ Toast Box

Yesterday when I was at Toast Box (Greenwich area) they didn't have the chicken chop set. Today, I tried the one at Seletar Mall and it's available ($7.80). The donut ($1.70)was an extra treat from Bread Talk. The food was average and the coffee, a disappointment.

Had pineapple and banana for dinner. Wish I had some Hokkaido melon from Japan or sweet and juicy watermelon from Taiwan.

Zika the mosquito borne disease has reached SG

The Zika virus has arrived! It's nothing to cheer about because it can make people sick and babies born with small heads. The disease originated from Brazil. It has infected 41 people in Singapore and may even spread to many others. Read more