One month before you get a heart attack

Who is making all the money?

The hawkers, coffee shop operators, the provision shop owners and now a medical doctor who is also a clinic owner told me they are not making money from their businesses. How can that be? Who is making all the money then?
I may be wrong but I think the landlords are the people who are making the money. I am not talking about the small timers but big ones like the HDB, URA etc. The business people I spoke to told me the rental of their places kept going up.
Not far from where I am staying, a huge foodcourt has closed down just last month. Business has been poor I was told.
The other issue I was told was the shortage of labour. Getting workers from overseas is expensive. The government would impose heavy levies if one were to import these workers. Plus, not all foreigners could come here and work. The types of businesses I am talking about require unskilled and semi-skilled workers eg: cleaners, cooks, receptionists and clerks etc. Singaporeans are choosy and would not want to be employed in positions that I've mentioned above.

Extra weight due to fruit intake

Eating lots of fruits made me put on weight. Think it is the sugar contents that's to blame. As from today, I am going to eat a normal breakfast instead of just fruits.

So here I am, back to my cheese toasts with home made green vegetable paste (parsley, broccoli & long beans). Kopi is still top of the item for my breaky.

Ah Hoe Mee Pok

This stall is operated by a Japanese (PR) family in Singapore. It is at Block 713, Clementi West Street 2. There was a long Q and one has to wait about 20 minutes to get the noodles. Honestly speaking, the taste was just ok, nothing to rave about because the mee pok near our place is better.

Lunch@ Peperoni Pizzeria and dinner@ home

The restaurant we went to was at Thomson Road, about 100m from Thomson Plaza. The food was a little expensive and not that fantastic. The spaghetti was quite hard although there were quite sufficient shrimps. The pizza was too thin and one eating it won't feel satisfied.
The bill for these 2 items with ++ cost $49.

Home-cooked dinner

Dinner was ma po tofu, nikujaga, broccoli+ sweet peas, miso soup and rice.

The unforgettable kind and gracious Makcik and Auntie

Makcik was a kind Malay woman who lived a few doors away from us. I called her Makcik which means auntie in Malay. She was about 50 years old. Makcik used to sell food in a Malay school tuckshop. The Malay school was next to my English primary school in Geylang. Sometimes, during the recess period, I would sneak into the Malay school tuckshop and get a treat of mee siam or kueh kueh from Makcik.
Another thing I will always remember about Makcik was that whenever my mother canned me, she would come to my rescue. She would place herself between my mother and me so as to prevent my angry mother from continually beating me.
When I moved away from the kampong in the 1960s, Makcik passed away. I was sad and regretted for not being able to say farewell to Makcik.
Another lady who was kind to me was a distant Auntie. She and her husband lived in an old rundown shop house near the Rochor Road area. They shared the house with many families. They were poor people who made their living by washing and ironing clothes for the laundry shops nearby.
Her place was quite near my secondary school and I would drop by her house whenever I needed some pocket money. Auntie always joked that I was her adopted son as she was childless. She never disappoint me as she would empty a small tin containing some coins (usually about 50 cents) into my palm before I left her house.
When I started working, I visited Auntie and by that time her husband had passed away. I felt sad for her as she was also getting old and unable to work. I gave her some money.
Before I could pay her another visit, Auntie passed away suddenly.
RIP Makcik and Auntie and I hope one day by the grace of my loving God, I could meet you again.

Jason Leong

Apollo Banana Leaf Indian Restaurant

Our New Year Eve's lunch was at Apollo Banana Leaf Indian curry restaurant. We ordered a small fish head curry for 2 people ($24)and 2 sets of rice with vegetables ($3.50 each ..free flow). Even at 3pm when we arrived, the place was already full.
The fish head was not fresh as expected and the curry gravy was diluted to the point that I thought we were having assam pedas dish. Definitely a big disappointment for us!

The next time we will visit Muthu's Curry which is a few doors away. We had been to Muthu's a few years ago and the food wasn't as good as Apollo but who knows, judging from the crowd it may have improved. We did try Shakuntala just last year but it was very disappointing.
Apollo was frequented by us more often but I think it is time to move on to other restaurants for their fish head curries.

A dying friend, a source of inspiration

I went to see an ex-chief steward who is dying of cancer. The cancer has spread all over his body. Even when the cancer was first detected, he refused treatment. To me, he is a strong man who is not afraid of dying. Even though he is now in great pain, he told me the whole thing is "God's will". I admire his guts.
I bought him 2 bottles of his favorite drink, beer. He down it within 30 minutes. Next thing he wanted was a can of coke with plenty of ice and I got it for him. We were sitting in a coffee shop near his home.
We talked about the good old times, our flying days. He has retired 13 years ago and now is in his late 60s.
He is the source of encouragement. Whenever I feel down, I always think of what this ex-chief steward said. He is dying and I am still healthy and why shouldn't I feel happy or at least be grateful to God? So, meeting and chatting with this dying friend changes my philosophy of life.
We are entering into a new year, 2017 with good health and lacking in nothing, materially speaking. Therefore, why shouldn't we enjoy life and live to the fullest?

Meals for today

Lunch was roasted duck and dinner was fish head curry,vegetables and rice at Jalan Kayu coffee shop. That was half portion of a duck which was $20. The fish head (half) was $22 and the veggies were $3 from a nasi lemak stall. Rice was 60c per plate. Food as usual good and worthwhile paying for.

Shopping vouchers X'mas gifts

Got the above as Christmas gifts from friends. I welcomed these gifts as I can used them to spend on food and clothing. Thank you very much my kind friends

Christmas eve dinner

My sister-in-law is a great cook. She invited us to Christmas eve dinner at her place. She does it every year and also on Chinese New Year eve. Her cooking is excellent as usual.

Oh oh Carol you are but a .........

It was about 2 months later that I managed to get in touch with Carol. She apologized profusely for disappearing from my sight. Carol then explained to me the reason for her disappearance.
The following was her story:

Carol had a rich elderly boy friend. He was so very rich that he could afford almost anything that Carol wanted, expensive apartment, cars, jewelries, cash etc etc. He loved Carol but could not marry her as he was already married. At the same time, he was an extremely jealous man.
Carol was a beautiful and gorgeous lady and one whom most men would want to love. Carol was, pardon my expression, being kept as a mistress (If she ever read my blog, I hope she will forgive me).
Carol had some feelings for her lover but in my opinion her strongest "feelings" was for his wealth.
Carol told me she avoided me because she was attracted to me and was afraid we might be "involved" with each other. She told me she had "a lot to lose" should her lover find out about us. Therefore, for the love of $$$, Carol told me she would not want to carry on our relationship.
I respected Carol's decision and we bade each other goodbye. We never called each other since that day. Sometimes, I wondered what has happened to her. Is she still with her lover? Is she still as happy as ever with all the $$$ ? Hmmmm....."Oh oh Carol, you are but a ......." so goes the song.

Lunch @ Saizeriya again

We were so satisfied with the food,pricing and service that we returned to Saizeriya again this afternoon. This time, I ordered the Spaghetti Oglio Olio with bacon and broccoli with lots of cheese (bottom pic $7.90). It was yummy as usual. My wife had the Chicken Doria set ($6.90). The salad came with the meals and we also had the hot milo (free flow). Enjoy isn't just the description. In fact, we loved everything about Saizeriya, ambience and all!

Lunch @ Saizeriya

Saizeriya is a chain of pasta and western food restaurants owned by a Japanese. The food is good and prices are affordable. The set lunch my wife and I had was a reasonable $14.80 nett. It also offers free flow of hot beverages and cold drinks for the set lunch plus a plate of chilled fresh salad. It has a ala carte menu as well as student and kids menu. We visited the Saizeriya at Hougang One mall.

Lunch and Marina Bay Sands

Had the Lim's curry yong tau foo for lunch. It is only $5 for 6 pieces + noodles. Without the curry gravy it's $4 for the lot. The YTF + curry is the best. This dish is better than the one I had for dinner at Marina Bay's Caffe B which cost 6x more. Sometimes, hawkers' food can be tastier than those from fanciful restaurants.
After lunch, I ordered the YaKun Kaya toast set ($4.80). The kaya butter toasts are crispy and tasted better than those from Toast Box.

At Marina Bay Sands last night

We were at the MBS last night. The place was very crowded as it was a Sunday night. There were many tourists. I had the opportunity to video the "Waterfall" and took photos of some of the shops selling well known/branded stuff. The basement carpark was fully occupied and had to wait for a couple of minutes to find an empty lot. Hope my readers would like the pictures and the video I've posted.