19 October 2015 Monday

At last it is Monday. It is almost back to normality but not quite. Sure it's less crowded at the malls and other places. The kids are back in schools and parents back at work...that's where they should be and not jamming up the shopping malls, markets,eateries and what have you.
But still it's not 100% or even 50% normal here as the sickening haze is still around and in the unhealthy range (PSI 133 as at 8 am).
This time round the haze will be with us for almost 3 months (Sep till end Nov). It was usually a 1 month affair every year since 1997.
I wonder what will happened if the haze is going to prolong as time goes by? As for most Singaporeans they will have no place to seek refuge. But for me I have a choice of settling down either in Japan or Australia.

Lunch@ IKEA Tampinese & grocery shopping@ Giant

Thinking aloud
I have got so called friends who do not get in touch with me for ages but suddenly out of the blue when they needed me to attend some of their functions would contact me. These people organised functions to further their agendas.
In this day and age, there is no excuse whatsoever not to contact one another once in a while. We have the services of the SMS, WhatApps, Lines etc and most offer free messaging services.
Attendances for those functions aren't for free. Some can cost you $100 to $200.
So to these people I'll show them my middle finger.... lol.

However, there is a guy who is genuine and his name is Edmond. He is working as a Operations Manager in one of the restaurant chains' Limo department. Once in a while, he would invite me to his work place for dinner with some of our other ex-colleagues. In fact I will be meeting him for a meal within the next few days.
He is also a talented guy who is good in drawing cartoons and has in the last 2 weeks sent me these:

18 October 2015 Sunday

Overcrowding malls during weekends

Due to overcrowding on weekends, I would prefer to eat a simple home cooked breakfast. It's crazy with a small island like Singapore to be packed with 5.4 million residents. I have been brought up in a Singapore of less than 2 million people. The new residents are mostly PRC Chinese,Indians and others.
This morning, I cooked my own breakfast. It's Penang prawn noodle (instant) with lots of kang kong or water crest and an egg. Frankly, it tasted better than many other food sold at the eateries.

Wagyu steak for dinner and chestnut candy for dessert

This mouth watering Wagyu steak is imported from Japan as well as the chestnut candy. They both tasted very good and worth spending money on them. I ate them for dinner at home as the haze outside is horrible.

17 October 2015 Saturday

This morning I want to talk a little about the COE or Certificate of Entitlement one must have in order to buy a motor vehicle.

A COE for small car of less than 1600 cc would cost you about $60,000 or US$43,000 (exchange rate is US$1 = S$1.4) and a bigger one $56,000. If you do not own a COE, you are not allowed to buy a motor vehicle in Singapore.
The cost of owning a vehicle is exorbitant. Take a Japanese made car of 1500 cc as an example. It would cost you around $120,000 (total cost).
In Singapore, to own a nice car would mean that you are rich.
Fortunately for me (I can't afford a car), I make use of my company's van for business and family transportation.

Breakfast
I had Yong Tau Foo for breaky. Wanted to have it at Toast Box but the place was so crowded the people were waiting for others to vacate the place. So I went to YTF stall which was quieter.
I didn't use the sauces for my YTF because I realised I am now allergic to them. I used soya sauce instead which is safer.

Dinner at Nex Mall, Serangoon

2 piece KFC set (original please). This is my favourite fast food. Below are Monster Curry, Fish & Co and Koi. Spent the late afternoon at Nex Mall (Serangoon)

16 October 2015 Friday

The Dow, Nasdaq and S& P finished off brilliantly. Dow added 217 to 17141, Nasdaq + 87 to 4870 and S & P + 29 to 2023.  Oil is up 1.03% to $46.86.
It looks like the STI will open higher today when it starts trading at 9 am.

At the same time the air quality is deteriorating again from the PSI reading of around the 80s last night to a high of 114 as at 5 am.

I noticed that I will sleep very well if my dinner is non-oily and void of vegetables. An example was last night's dinner which was sashimi and sushi (90% salmon). No veggie at all and therefore my bladder wasn't irritated to the point that I would've to wake a couple of times to visit the toilet.
In fact I had a pleasant dream of me being a successful and busy businessman. In my dream, I met some of the cabin crew I knew. When they asked me which flight I would be on, I told them I didn't know except that I would be flying to either Perth or Sydney. I think I had an agent who would arrange my flight itinerary. Before my dream could continue, I was woken up by a loud howling noise apparently from my dog. I looked at the clock and it read 5:46 am. After that I tried going back to sleep but without success.



Buns from Ang Moh Kio

These buns with different type of fillings were sold for about $1.30 each at AMK but at the mall nearby each cost an average price of $1.50. I call this outright profiteering.


My dinner: Penang Prawn Noodle

I used the instant Penang Prawn noodles and added 6 big prawns,some kang kong and cooked it for my dinner. The taste turned to be very good. The paste and the seasoning in the packet were excellent. However, the noodle was just ordinary. I expected something special but it wasn't so.
The next time, I will just use the paste and the seasoning and cook it with fresh yellow noodles.

The STI is up today
The STI is + 15 to a high of 3030. Noble is up 1 cent to 0.505, SIA + 2 cents to 11.03, Wilmar is unchanged at 2.95 etc...
There will be no trading tomorrow and the day after as it's a weekend.

15 October 2015 Thursday

The PSI reading has been improving over the last 12 hours. Currently, it is 77 (moderate range) due to the favourable wind which is blowing from the south east. The wind from Sumatra which is south westerly is the one causing the haze. In south Sumatra, the farmers and the companies that own the land would year in year out slashed and burnt their land around the dry season. This is the cheapest method to clear their land in preparation for their new crops. Cheapest but disastrous for the neighbouring countries who have to bear the brunt of it, the hazardous haze!

Yesterday wasn't a good day for the stock market here. The STI declined marginally by 1 point to 2983. SIA was down 0.04 cents to $10.98, Wilmar International also down 0.04 cts to 2.88 etc.

The Dow Jones is currently down 157 to 16924 as at 4 am. Hate to think what's going to happen to the STI later when it opens for trading at 9 am.

China is now a big factor in deciding which way the world's stocks market indexes are heading. There is a turmoil in the Shanghai as well as other Chinese stock markets and it has been leading to
the present crisis. Just 2 decades ago China was considered a nobody but now it is a super economic world power. Lately its economy is slowing down after years of expansion. It is buying lesser of the world's commodities, oil, gas, minerals etc and this has impacted the world's economy.
So much for the stock markets, haze and China......


Lunch in Japan

My wife is having lunch with her parents in Japan and texted me the above photos. The top picture is the sashimi or raw fish and the other picture is the soba set. According to her, it cost S$15 and $8 respectively which is good value.I had almost the same sashimi set in Singapore for $65 which is not as good.

At Giant Supermart (Tampines Branch..free parking)

Spent the afternoon having snacks and bought 3 tee-shirts at Giant. The kopi O was good and cheap (90 cents for a big cup as compared to $1 at a neighbourhood kopi shop) The yam cake cost $1.20 which was also yummy. The big pork pow was tasteless ($1.30). Bought 3 home wear tee shirts at $7 each using my complimentary shopping vouchers.
It's rare in Singapore to have free parking for your cars but here at Giant Tampines it's free. The other Giant at Turf City also has free parking. The one at Alexander does NOT have free parking.

This STI closed 31 pts up to 3015. It's a rewarding trading day as you can see all my stocks went up (image below).

My Dinner

"Feed your inner Samurai" is the newest item on McDonald's menu. I saw it at nearest outlet and was tempted to try it. But then I realised just yesterday I ate the Burger King Double turkey bacon for lunch and so decide to give it a miss.
Instead, I went and had salmon sashimi and salmon sushi (picture below) and was quite satisfied.

14 October 2015 Wednesday

Image credit: backstage.tnp.sg
With the haze in the unhealthy range ( PSI 100 to 200 =  Unhealthy) I saw many people going about without any protection. Worst still many parents and maids would be pushing their babies in strollers along the roadsides,parks etc. Few people realise the harmful effects of breathing in the poisonous particles and gases from the haze. I witnessed many children playing soccer and some adults even jog under such condition.
We have a friend whose 7 year old son was sick from playing soccer in the haze. He had a high fever and was coughing almost non stop. Fortunately, nothing untoward happened to the little boy. He recovered from his illness after medication.
I think those people are either ignorant of the consequences of not protecting themselves and their babies and children or they simply do not care.
Common sense will tell us that we should stay indoors if we are not at work or wear a protective mask if we have go outside. We also need to drink lots of water and eat plenty of fruits and vegetables.
Due to ignorance or the couldn't care less attitude, the medical clinics and polyclinics are doing a roaring business.

Ang Moh Kio Hub shopping mall
9 am : After "work", I will be meeting a friend for lunch at the above place. Will snap some photos and post them here.
5:35 pm: Sorry I did not take any photos of our lunch. The place was overcrowded and was busy chatting till I forgot to snap the photos of the meals and the place. Anyway, it was at Burger King we had our Double Turkey Bacon meals. Fairly tasty I would say but nothing fantastic really.

13 October 2015 Tuesday

I thought this is amusing. Edmond drew it and sent to me. The haze must be bothering not only humans but aeroplanes too.
Edmond Tay is my ex colleague. He is one of the few whom I still keep in touch. He lives about 40 minutes drive from my place but his grown up daughter lives a stone's throw away from my place.
At times when Edmond visits his daughter he will call me for a drink at a coffee shop nearby. Yes I almost forget to mention that he is an artist too.

The haze is still around and at 5 am the PSI reading was in the unhealthy range of 129, much worse than yesterday. Yes, as usual I am up early at 4 am. It's a good thing I have a computer at home so I can spend time on it when I am not asleep. I don't watch TV except the news or some interesting documentary programs.

8:30 am:

The haze is getting worse by the hour. At 8 am the PSI is 144 (unhealthy range). Our purifier is almost red and that means the haze has infiltrated into out apartment overnight. We do not switch on the air-conditioning in the living room (where the purifier is) during the night but in the bedroom.

Hazy day again, shopping and eating at neighbourhood mall

On Mondays and Tuesdays, senior citizens are given a 3% and 2% discount respectively if they shop at NTUC Fair Price. Since today is a Tuesday, you will notice there is a 15 cents discount given to me in the bill (big deal). The eggs that I bought are about the biggest and most expensive (Omega 6 plus vitamin E...don't true or not). Actually I dislike eating small eggs so I will always go for the bigger ones.
As for the grapes (think they're from Ozzland) they are quite sweet and not too expensive.

The haze PSI reading is 153 at 12 noon and so I equipped myself with the N95 mask and a pair of 25 year old sunglasses to protect my eyes ( see below) whenever I leave home (don't want to take chances as many have fallen ill).

For brunch, I had a piece of brown toast with peanut butter spread, 2 soft boiled eggs and a cup of kopi O at Toast Box. Didn't take any picture because many of you would have seen that in my earlier post (eat quite often at Toast Box).

Had this Hainanese curry rice for dinner. Quite tasty at $6

12 October 2015 Monday

Woke up at 5:30 am to a day which promises more haze and poor air quality. Current PSI reading is 109 (unhealthy level). According to the experts, the haze will not go away until end November when the wind direction changes. So for the next one and half month, we'll just have to bear with the situation * sigh *.

Looking forward to stock trading day which will begin at 9 am. The Dow was up 33 points to 17,084.
Will be keeping a close watch on Noble, SIA, Tiger, Genting, Wilmar etc......

To those above 50 years old :
One of the tools, doctors use to test Dementia patients' skills. Good example of a Brain Study:

If you can read this... you have a strong mind. And better than that: Alzheimer's is a long long, way down the road before it ever gets anywhere near you.
7H15 M3554G3 53RV35 7O PR0V3 H0W 0UR M1ND5 C4N D0 4M4Z1NG 7H1NG5! 1MPR3551V3 7H1NG5! 1N 7H3 B3G1NN1NG 17 WA5 H4RD BU7 N0W, 0N 7H15 LIN3 Y0UR M1ND 1S R34D1NG 17 4U70M471C4LLY W17H 0U7 3V3N 7H1NK1NG 4B0U7 17, B3 PROUD! 0NLY C3R741N P30PL3 C4N R3AD 7H15. PL3453 F0RW4RD 1F U C4N R34D 7H15. 

To my 'selected' strange-minded friends: If you can read the following paragraph, forward it on to your friends with 'yes' in the subject line. This is weird, but interesting! If you can read this, you have a strange mind, too. Only 55 people out of 100 can. I cdnuolt blveiee that I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd what I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mtaetr in what oerdr the ltteres in a word are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is that the frsit and last ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can still raed it whotuit a pboerlm. This is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the word as a wlohe. Azanmig huh? Yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt! If you can raed this frowrad it.


Today the STI closed up 33.6 points to 3032. SIA did excellently, up 0.42 cts to $10.98. The other counters of mine performed well too example: Noble is up 0.04c to 0.515, Wilmar International plus
0.04 c to $2.93....

Yakitori and bread/buns from Japan