The Lightning Express by The Everly Brothers

The lightning express from the depot so grand
Had started out on its way
All of the passengers that were on board
Seemed to be happy and gay

But one little boy who sat by himself
Was reading a letter he had
You could plainly tell by the look on his face
That the contents of it made him sad

The stern old conductor then started his round
Taking tickets from everyone there
And finally reaching the side of the boy
He gruffly demanded his fare

"I have no ticket" the boy then replied
"But I'll pay you back someday"
"Then I'll put you off at the next stop we make"
But he stopped when he heard the boy say

Please Mr. Conductor
Don't put me off of this train
The best friend I have in this world sir
Is waiting for me in pain

Expecting to die any moment sir
And may not live through the day
I wanna reach home and kiss mother goodbye
Before God takes her away

A girl sitting near was heard to exclaim
If you put him off, it's a shame"
Taking his hand, a collection she made
The boy's way was paid on the train

I'm obliged to you miss for your kindness to me
You're welcome," she said, never fear
Each time the conductor would pass through the car
The boy's words would ring in his ear

 

Breakfast and my philosophical "view"

This morning I had my breakfast of garlic bread and kopi O, sitting next to my window and watch the things go by outside. This is one of the simple things I enjoy coupled with my good health given by God.
The apostle Paul once said you can and should learn the secret of a contented life. When Paul wrote "godliness with contentment is great gain" he wasn't just speaking philosophically (1 Tim. 6:6). He had learned the secret to contentment in every circumstance of life (Phil 4:11-2). 

Lunch, onigiri and fruits

Onigiri are Japanese rice balls. We made them using the leftover grilled salmon and rice. We may have them for afternoon tea.
Were at Chong Pang market a while ago and bought all those fruits from there. The jack fruits are sweet and can't get them elsewhere. The Australian oranges are also sweet and juicy which are better than the ones from FairPrice or Sheng Shiong.

Pizza toasts for breakfast/Japanese dinner

After a nice hot cup of kopi O at home, my wife made these mouth-watering pizza toasts for our breakfast.
We will be heading to "Finest" for our almost daily grocery shopping and get the stuff we will be cooking for dinner.
I prefer eating at home although it's a bit troublesome with all the preparation, cooking etc . Eating out is convenient but not so healthy.
An example is that I will easily put on weight when eating out. If I eat our home prepared food not only will I not put on extra weight but lose some.

Battered fish,bean sprouts and miso soup dinner

The dessert is the Japanese chestnut candy or known as kuri kuri. We take it as a dessert with the Japanese green tea after dinner.

Eating sea cucumber makes you look younger

It is claimed that sea cucumber is good for health. This sea creature is found at the seabed. It is supposed to prevent certain types of cancer, help in healing of wounds, slow down the aging process etc etc.
I found some dried sea cucumber being sold in the Chinese medicinal shops but they are very very expensive. 100 grams of dried sea cucumber cost from $45 to $220! The non dried ones in the wet/supermarkets cost much lesser...about $9 for a packet of 400 grams ( from Sheng Shiong).
This is our first time cooking the sea cucumber (picture above). We mixed it with fish maw, pork, shiitake etc. We had it for lunch yesterday and it turned out to be tasty and nutritious (hopefully).

Japanese rice in Singapore

I loved eating Japanese rice due to its starchiness. Californian rice is fine but still the Japanese one tops my list. These days, it is easy to obtain this type of rice. I bought it online from a company in Singapore called Tawaraya. The picture above shows the 2 packets of rice from Hokkaido which were imported by Tawaraya. Each pkt contains 2 kilograms and cost $ 17.50 (discounted as first time buyer). I ordered 2 pkts and together with delivery charge is $40 (delivery is $5).
Since this is my first time ordering the rice, I will cook it later and see how it goes.

Having the new Japanese rice for dinner

The rice is fluffy and tender as well as smooth. The grade of rice I bought today isn't the best or most expensive. The more expensive ones are almost double the price I've paid for.
Above was my dinner for the day.

New cabin crew feels discriminated

Cabin crew who joined from 1 March 2016 will not receive the same amount of incentive flying allowance (ifa) as their colleagues until after 27 months in the service. Each non-ranking cabin crew (stewards and stewardesses) will be paid $12.80 per hour when they are on flying duty and this apply only to those who joined the company before 1 March 2016. Those joined after 1 March 2016 will be paid the old ifa of $9.50 per hour. The whole idea not to pay the newbies is to discourage them from resigning before 27 months in service. Some newbies told me the disparity in payment isn't fair. Most want to make flying their career and may stick around for a fairly long time.
It makes matter worse for the newbies when the flight duty goes beyond 14 hours because they will lose out much more due to the ifa payment of 2 1/2 times more per hour..example for a SIN/LON flight in which the total duty hours is about 15, the newbies would be paid ($9.50 x 2 1/2) $23.75 per hour instead of $32. The difference is $8.25 per hour. Take 8.25 and multiply it by 30 ( SIN/LON/SIN) the answer is $247.50. So you can see that those who joined after 1 March will be paid $247.50 less than their colleagues on just one London trip.
One can understand the company's point of view. They want to keep the young crew as long as they can. In place now is the 18 month bond for the newbies. If they leave before their bond is up, they would be penalised. To some I spoke to, they told me they are being punished "in all front". " It is so demoralising to know that you are being discriminated and paid lesser than your colleagues" a five-month stewardess confided in me.
Perhaps someone would like to comment on this matter?

Trip cancelled and retirement in Malacca

We were planning a short trip to the Malaysian state of Malacca but has since cancelled it due to a possible terrorist attack as reported in the press.
The terrorist attack in Nice, France a few days ago had also made us think twice before travelling overseas. We feel safer at home although there is no certainty that an attack would not happen here.
Our intended itinerary includes the famous Jonker Street, A'Famosa Fort, Christ Church and many others. We planned to stay at one of nice hotels in Jonker Street which happen to be the intended target of the terrorists.
To be honest, I must admit that Malacca is one of the few places that I would want to spend my retirement.
With a population of about 800,000 (S'pore's population is 5.4 million) and an area twice the size of Singapore, Malacca is a good place to retire. The cost of living is half that of Singapore's. Examples are: rental for a 3 bedroom apartment in the city area is about S$300 (RM 1,100) per month and a brand new 1600cc Japanese car cost between S$30,000 and $40,000. In Singapore the same type of car cost about S$110,000.
The pace of life is much slower than here. There are fewer traffic lights and practically no traffic jam. Life will be less stressful in Malacca as compared to Singapore.
One could easily obtain a 10 year retirement visa to live in Malaysia under the "Malaysia My 2nd Home" scheme.
Below is a chart showing the distribution of expenses in Malacca.

Chart courtesy of NUMBEO

Paranoid of her male colleagues

There is a case of a senior stewardess (don't want to mention her rank) who is going around accusing some of her male colleagues of molesting her. She had asked the company to look into the matter.

• The first case was that of a steward who commented that she still looked good even after flying for some years.
• The second case was a steward who lightly touched her on the back of her shoulder to inform her that there was "special meal" in the oven to be given to a special need passenger. She was agitated and complained the steward molested her.
• Another 2 cases were that of her supervisor and a ground staff whom she accused of outraging her modesty when they accidentally touched her.

The company has investigated and found the complaints were frivolous. Thinking she was not mentally stable, it was suggested she goes for counselling. She refused and said she would resign soon.

Breakfast@ Delifrance,afternnon tea@ Coffee Bean

The breakfast from Delifrance was delectable but the 2 pieces of cakes from Coffee Bean were dry and of inferior quality. They were the salted caramel cake($6.50) and the banana cake ($4.50).
I will not recommend anyone having the cakes from Coffee Bean.

A brand new coffee shop at Sengkang

This is a new coffee shop which opened its doors to diners on 12/7/16. There are 5 to 7 food stalls selling drinks,economy rice, roasted meat and noddles, zhi char, satay and bbq chicken wings. There are 2 or 3 empty stalls left for rental. Besides the coffee shop, there is a Sheng Shiong supermart, a medical clinic and a dental clinic. At the moment vehicle parking is not free-of-charge on Sunday or public holidays. The place is at Fernvale's LRT Kupang station or block 473.

We had our porridge brunch at 473. It was our first time there. The porridge was served hot as well as the fish in spicy sauce. We ordered a plate of sambal long beans and a plate of fried tofu skin. All in all the food was quite good and relatively cheap ($8.50)

Hossan is pleased with SIA service

Hossan Leong is a Singaporean stage and screen actor, television host, radio deejay and comedian.

"IFS not at his station", crew seeks clarification

Saved by the bell

Lunch & McCafe cheese cake set

For the afternoon tea, we headed to the nearby McDonald's to have our cheese cake and cappuccino. We have not visited the McDonald's for months but frankly we did not miss the place. Reasons for not visiting are mainly due to the overwhelming crowd and the rowdiness of the kids. 

Home prepared lunch

We are trying to include more fish than meat in our diet. Reasons are obvious and were stated in my earlier post. The above are:

• Grilled salmon
• Kailan (vegtables)
• Miso soup
• Japanese rice.

Growing cherry tomatoes in the garden

Above pictures were taken in Japan and sent to me by my relatives.