Singapore weather Vs Japan's summer

Today's weather in SG is quite nice and comfortable compared to Japan's. SG top temperature is 30c whereas Japan's is 34c. The UV is high in Japan but not in SG. The cooler weather in SG is perhaps due to the morning slight downpour.

Exchange of gifts

We bought the watermelon and gave half of it to our neighbors who in return gave us their home grown cucumbers and bitter gourds. In Japan, there is a lot of formalities and I am getting accustomed to it.

Japanese ethics

Our neighbor is doing some small renovation works (1 day only) to his porch. He came to offer apology for the inconvenience and his contractor gave us the above cloth to clean our place should it be dusty. A letter of apology was also given.
I am very impressed by this considerate behavior.

They are law abiding ...

Singhealth hacked: a security risk for me?

This message tells us the risk of divulging where we are, be it travelling, living, working abroad etc.
I feel like closing this blog as I've divulged too many personal informations regarding myself. When they hacked Singhealth, they would have also stole my personal data because I've been to the local hospitals a few times.

Our Japanese friends who have been living for many years in the older estate near our place grow many types of vegetables and fruits. Above are just 2 types of vegetables in their farm. They have peaches which they promised to give us when they are ready before the fall. Last winter, they had a lot of kakis or persimmons.

Spending time in shopping mall

It has been very hot with the temperature topping the 38c mark. We decided to take "shelter" at a shopping mall. It's more comfortable and besides our car has a sheltered car parking lot. Unlike in SG,we do not have to pay for parking and so we could just take our time and window shop.
The toy poodle cost a lot more than in SG. My wife wanted to buy the above toy poodle but it's too dear. She is a cute 2 month old puppy and cost S$4,000. It's out of our budget and besides, we still feel the pain of losing our toy poodle in SG about 2 1/2 years ago. Therefore, we decided not to own another pet.
The mall is a nice place to while away our time. The only problem is there are many irresistible restaurants selling not only Japanese food but KFC and Mister Donut. I managed to resist eating these food as I have just lost 4 kg and do not want to put back the 4 kg that I've lost in the last 2 weeks.

Our Japanese neighbors

Including ours, there are 6 new houses built in the area. The neighbors are nice people and we will always greet each other when we come face to face.
We were the last to move in and so as a practice we presented our neighbors with gifts.
The 2 immediate neighbors are relatively young couples with small children. Most if not all do not speak English. The wives are pretty and young. They are very shy too. I hardly communicate with my neighbors as I do not speak much Japanese.
The place we are in is very quiet and serene. We could hear the birds chirping and the sound of the crickets are common during the warm seasons.

Heat wave in Japan

The ongoing heat wave in Japan has taken 30 lives. Thousands have been hospitalised. Where I live (Kitakyushu) the temperature is around 34c in the afternoon and plunges to 25c in the night. Humidity is about 70%. It is hot but not as humid as in SG so I can tolerate the heat.
We turn on the air-conditioning almost 24 hours a day. The cost of our electricity bill may be about S$300 for this month. It's worth paying for the electricity.

Yakiniku wagyu beef lunch

This was our lunch at a Japanese restaurant in Fukuoka. It was mainly a beef or yakiniku lunch. There were 3 of us and the total bill was about 4,000 Yen which is about S$50.
Must say the wagyu beef was tender and tasty. Will want to visit again soon.

France is the 2018 World Cup winner!

Finally, the world cup is over with France becoming the champion. It has been a long month of watching the football in the middle of the night. I've been sleep deprived! Well now it is over, life will be back to normal again.
The above breakfast was taken in a 24 hour restaurant and the ramen was from a typical Japanese ramen shop. I enjoyed almost all the meals in Japan, be it in the restaurants or cooked at home.

The yummy unagi or grilled eel

We got a packet of unagi (980 Yen or S$12.50) from the supermarket and grilled it. We had it for dinner. It turned out to be scrumptious and thoroughly enjoyed it.The pickled cucumber was from our garden. It goes well with the unagi.

In July last year we had the unagi from a restaurant named
"Man Man" in Singapore (last 2 bottom pics) and this was what I wrote :

We queued for 40 minutes in order to get a seat at Man Man Unagi Restaurant when it opened for dinner at 6 pm. The address is 1, Keong Siak Road. The unagi or charcoal grilled eels were from Japan. The eel was superb. We ordered 2 Hitsumabushi. The large one was $35.80 and the smaller one was $26.80 (quite expensive)
The place was packed and while we were inside eating, there was another long queue of about 30 people waiting for their turn to get into the restaurant. Frankly, I do not like the 40 minutes of waiting in the hot sun outside as well as the crowded small restaurant.

Visiting Munakata, Fukuoka Japan

We drove to the city of Munakata which is in the prefecture of Fukuoka , 26 km away. The population of Munakata is about 97,000 and the area is 14.5 times the size of Toa Payoh, Singapore. Toa Payoh has a population of 125,000.
Shopping is rather expensive and so we did not buy much things from Munakata. We had lunch over there.
On the way we stopped at a stall by the roadside. It was advertising a watermelon was going for about S$6. When got there, we were told the small ones (only 3 left) cost 500 Yen or $6 and the rest cost from 2,000 Yen to 6,000 Yen. Ridiculous, too expensive! and so we left without buying. Could have easily got the big ones at a supermarket for 1,000 Yen ($12).

Our Japanese neighbors

Our Japanese neighbors who has a farm gave us plums, zucchini,cucumber and mint leaves.The best thing about the greens is, it is taken straight from the soil. They are fresh and full of vitaimins and goodness.
We hope we could learn from our neighbors and cultivate our land and grow some of these useful and nutritious vegetables and fruits.

Link between elevated B/P and dementia

My blood pressure taken today is 126/68 and resting pulse rate is 69. I am happy with my BP and cannot ask for a better reading especially at my age.
According to the most recent study, a reading of 130 or more at age 50 (systolic or the above reading which is 126 in my case) may lead to dementia at around age 75.

Read more

2 hours later after a 2 km walk and 30 mins rest I took my BP (below)

The cherry tomatoes do not ripened at the same time. Most are still green and so we have to be patient. The topmost picture is me holding a fully grown cucumber which I've plucked for my lunch. There are more cucumbers but are not fully grown yet.
For a Singaporean who has spent my whole life in an apartment, living in Japan has given me a chance to live in at least a small house with a some spare land to grow vegetables and flowers. 

Hiyashi Chuka was prepared at home (first top pic) and the sandwiches and soup was at a western restaurant. Lovely meals.

This plate of sushi was from a supermart 5 km away..oishi ne