The cabby is a retired chief steward

I hopped into a cab and before I could tell the cabby my destination, he addressed me by my name. "Hey Lim how have you been?" I asked him. He told me he had retired from flying and is a full time cabby. He said that flying was still the best thing that ever happened to him. He missed the salary, the 5 star hotels and his favourite stations. Lim wished he is still flying for the airline. The airline did not extend his retirement due to mediocre work performance. He was booted out at age 58 and compensated with a $80,000 gratuity. That was a year ago.
We chatted all the way to my destination. On arrival, I gave him $20 and asked him to keep the $3 change.
Below is the new meal and incentive flying allowances Lim gave to me. He got them from a crew. Lim praised the current union people for negotiating the new payment. According to Lim, he was drawing an average salary of around $6,000 whereas as a cabby his income is about $3,000 per month and that's 8 to 10 hours of driving, 6 days a week.


The amount a cabin crew is paid at the stations per day in SGD

IFA or Incentive Flying Allowance per duty hour

Since we like the western food at 472 Sengkang, we went there for lunch this afternoon. On top is the pork chop ($8.50) and below is the sirloin steak ($12.90 or Yen 1,000) we ordered. The place was quiet with few customers as it was about 3pm.
Must say the meat was delicious and well prepared.

Hari Raya Haji/ Baby born to couple in a lorry.

Today is Hari Raya Haji, a Muslim holiday. The Muslims believe that on this day 4,000 years ago Abraham obeyed god's instruction to sacrifice his son Ishmael. It turned out that since Abraham was sincere in obeying god's instruction, god stopped him from taking Ishmael's life and provided a ram instead.
However, according to the Old Testament, the son was Isaac and not Ishmael. Read here
I do not want to dwell on the controversy but want to say that it is a holiday whereby most people of all religions and races are enjoying themselves and not having to go to work.
In fact, we in Singapore are enjoying a long weekend and the September school holidays (12 days).
By tomorrow, most will be back at their work places or schools.

Homeless couple welcomed baby
SINGAPORE - A couple who lived in a lorry for two years because they could not afford to rent a flat have welcomed a newborn son into their lives, a report said. Rice delivery man Ong Poh Hwa and his Vietnamese wife had made the news because they weathered the elements in the lorry Mr Ong drives for work. Read more.

Today's lunch at Chong Pang Village

Our lunch was Hong Kong congee and some roasted meat from a coffee shop stall at Chong Pang today. The food is cooked by HK chefs and it is authentic although a bit expensive ($21) relatively speaking.

Yesterday, I talked about the free tablet which was given to me because of the mouse pad ($5.90) which I've paid in addition to the desktop. The brand of the tablet is Lenova which is manufactured in China. It's definitely a good bargain.

Fruits and tuna/tomato spaghetti today

My desktop is unstable and so I got the above one which is also Acer Desktop for about $1,400 today (23.8 inches).
The old one has been in used for 4 years and it was a very good set. I got a free China made tablet for buying a mouse that cost $6. Hopefully, this pc may last as long as the old set. I am a heavy user, using up to 18 hours a day. It is a good investment.

We had our breakfast at Tampines Ikea just before proceeding to Courts to buy the computer. The restaurant was quite crowded but as crowded as most Saturdays as most people would have left the country for vacations. The school holiday will end this coming Tuesday.
The above dish was the salmon which I felt was not fresh ($9.90). The pasta was so so but the chicken wings were good. Total damage was $23. Believe it or not we had hot dogs at a kiosk before we left for Courts.


Had this ice-cream last night

Got this box of Magnum ice cream from a 7-11 store last night for $11 (box of 6). I ate up 3 of them and truly enjoyed it so much. It was supposed to be a dessert after my dinner of spaghetti.

Union's message to crew regarding delay of SQ 346

Leading stewardess's demanded the hotel..............

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.