Lunch was steak and pork/ Zika and dengue cases growing by the day.

Been busy these last 2 days. Today, I went to meet my friends from Europe. They are spending a couple of days here. Besides me, they also have other friends in Singapore and who will entertain them.

My wife and I had our lunch at Block 427, Sengkang heartland. The food was western and for the prices we can't complain.

My wife had the rib eyed steak ($15) and I the pork chop ($8.50). The eatery is in a newly opened coffee shop. Next to the place was the Sheng Shiong supermarket. The place was quite empty and so it was nice eating over there.

I heard on the radio that Zika has infected 275 people in Singapore as of noon yesterday. Dengue has infected 30,000 people to date. So far 7 people have died of Dengue fever this year.

As for the haze, we are luckier this year as it came and went off only for a few days in August. But then we will never know because once the wind direction changes, we may have the haze upon us.

ZIKA update (Singapore)

As of noon yesterday, the number of infected people in Singapore has gone up to 242. The authorities are saying that Zika is not as bad as many think. There are people who were infected but didn't even realized it and could go on their daily activities. It seems the Zika virus may do harm to unborn babies. Even then, it was claimed that not all infected mothers to be would give birth to babies with smaller than usual heads or Microcephaly.
A young couple with a 10 month child is offering a pregnant lady and partner who is currently living in an infected area to stay with them. It is a highrise flat with airconditioning in an unaffected area (Pasir Ris). What a kind couple!

Japanese porridge not too bad. A piece of good news!

My wife cooked the Japanese porridge for lunch. The taste is so so as I much preferred the Chinese porridge. Although I am not in favour of the Japanese porridge, I had a second helping. Hope it will help me lose some weight.

As I was having lunch, the above WhatsApp message from a student of mine added some nice flavour to my porridge. She went for her final round interview with SIA this morning and  managed to secure the job of a stewardess. She was the only one coached personally by me lately and it was a great success. She had previously failed a few times.
Hope she will find flying and working with SIA a joy.

Unmarried and ungrateful daughter , deserves to be .......

My neighbour has an unmarried 50 year old daughter who is living with her. My neighbour complained to me a lot about her daughter (Ann).
She does not depend on her daughter for financial assistance. In fact, it is the other way round because Ann is drawing a salary which is not enough for her own survival. In short, Ann is dependant on her mother.
Ann is a temperamental woman who would scold her mother for the slightest thing. Her mother is her punching bag.
There was a time when Ann was very sick and her mother took care of her by paying for her hospital bills and visiting her. But Ann wasn't grateful. When Ann wanted a new car, her mother helped paid half of the price of her new car. However, when her mother wanted Ann to drive her to the clinic, Ann would refuse to help her aged mother.
I do not want to give any advice as it is a domestic affair. In fact, the lesser my neighbour tells me of her problems, the better. However, I feel sad for the old lady.

Pizza Hut's "Variety Box" a worthwhile order

Having been dissatisfied with the slice of pizza I had yesterday from Pezzo, we ordered the "Variety box" pizza from Pizza Hut. The whole box cost $26 ( $4 for delivery) and as usual it was satisfying.
Although it was a Saturday evening, the food arrived 20 minutes after I have place the order by phone.

Yesterday's meals mostly Italian except for dinner

The spaghetti carbonara was home prepared but the slice of chicken pizza was from Pezzo take-away. A small piece like the one above cost $4.90 and it can't even fill up my stomach. The taste is not great compared to the plate of carbonara which was prepared at home.
Dinner was a little rice and slices of ginger pork....oiishi ne!

By noon S'pore reported a total of 189 Zika cases

Eng's Noodles

Was around Tg Katong area and so we dropped by at Eng's Noodle for our favourite wanton noodles. Eng's is still the best wanton noodles in Singapore. Not expensive considering the portion and the taste ($5.50).

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.

Soba,curry chicken set and ban mian for today.

I had all the above today. The chicken curry was a mistake because what I wanted was Hainanese Chicken Chop rice set from Toast Box. The meal wasn't available at this particular Toast Box. I had been eating curry chicken for my last few meals. It's not that the one served by Toast Box wasn't good but the one that my wife cooked over the weekend was much much better.
The dinner was a simple bowl of ban mian served at Seletar Kopitiam. This one is about one of the best ban mian in Singapore.

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

Sunday's lunch and dinner at home

Due to the hazy condition and being a Sunday we decided to eat-in. Lunch was a bowl of unagi or grilled eel rice. Dinner was chicken curry and rice. In fact, I had 2 serving of the curry rice and guess what? My weight went down by 400 gm. If I were to eat out, my weight would go up even with the same amount. I think the oil, ingredients etc the restaurants and hawkers use in their cooking are not of good qualities.

The dreadful Indonesian haze is back with us again!

This picture was taken from my flat around 11am. It was 70 psi and is rather bad for the health. Year after year, we are being choked with this unhealthy haze which comes from Indonesia. As Singapore is a small country, we can't do anything about the situation. The Indonesians aren't happy if we protest. As the Indonesian VP once said we should thank them for the 11 months of fresh air they have given us and we shoudn't get upset because of the 1 month of haze..click here to read more.
It's unfortunate we have to depend our neighbours for our basic survival. We are depending on Malaysia for drinking water and Indonesia for the air we breathe...*sigh*

Visually handicapped but never give up

To be sick or physically handicapped is a terrible thing. With my backache, I am limited to certain activities only. I wonder how the physically disabled feel about life. It must be miserable.
There is an old guy who would wait at the bus stop in front of my block every weekday to guide his blind son home. This visually handicapped man worked somewhere in AMK and he commutes by bus. He is about 47 years old.
One day, I happened to be at the same bus stop and I befriended the old guy. I asked him about his son and was told that he has been blind since birth. Good grief, I thought to myself how could his son go on living without his sight for so long.
There are many unfortunate people in this world. When compared to them, I think we should be contented with what we have.

My brunch and dinner

Since I've not been leaving the house for the last few days due to backache, I am also eating less especially the hawker food. In a way it's good because my weight will go down.
By 1 pm today, I only ate some fruits and the above French toasts with a bit of whipped cream. Still, I am not feeling hungry....perhaps due to the backache. Will see what's cooking for dinner.....

Yes, this is my dinner comprising of a fried egg, mushrooms and slices of ginger pork and of course a bowl of Japanese rice. Still have not set foot outside of my flat.

Home prepared meals

Had spaghetti carbonara for lunch and grilled salmon + fried omelette and rice for dinner. Still having this nagging backache. Hopefully, I will recover by tomorrow. The arm is fine now.

Arm injured while exercising

Just a day before my back was injured, my left arm was injured too. This injury was due to weight lifting. I didn't do heavy weight lifting but just the usual repetitive light weight type. Still on and off, I have this pain. Looks like I have to stop most of my exercises. I think as one grows older, one has to go slow on exercises.
There were 2 IFS who were super fit. One was a martial art exponent and the other was a marathoner. Both were 11 years younger than me and yet fell into a coma. One is still in a coma while the other one was gone.
My ex colleague who was a super golfer also had a heart attack and died at age 68.
I thank God for the good health which I have taken for granted. I think He is trying to tell me not to go exercising like the way I do.