Another blog by Boh Tong the ex- SIA cabin crew

Thursday, June 14, 2018

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)


Wednesday, June 13, 2018





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. 

Monday, June 11, 2018




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



Sunday, June 10, 2018

Life in Kitakyushu, Japan

I've been staying here for almost 3 months and I am enjoying it. Life is a little slower as the population is about 900,000. The size of this city is slightly bigger than half the size of SG which has a population of 5.9 million. Therefore, the people are more relaxed and easy going. By and large, the Japanese are courteous and considerate people. They do not litter the streets and nor horn their cars. They take pride in keeping their houses and even the public toilets clean.There are lots of shops, restaurants, supermarkets etc. The quality of the meat,vegetables, rice, eggs etc is excellent. Most of the food items are produced locally.The weather is comfortable except for winter which to me is rather chilly. The winter temperature ranges from 5c in the night to around 15c.
I've a one year visa to live here and it is renewable. I am allowed to work in any part of Japan. It's very difficult to obtain PR let alone citizenship. Recently, the Japanese government has allowed us to participate in the health insurance scheme. I will have to pay 20% of my medical bills. The yearly premium for me and my wife is about S$380 (combined). This is indeed very generous of the government who has compassion for the people.

Friday, June 8, 2018

Cherry tomatoes ready for picking



These are the cherry tomatoes we've successfully grown in our garden. A few are ready for picking. It gives us satisfaction to see the fruits of our labour.

Thursday, June 7, 2018

Almost empty supermarket







This supermarket is almost without customers. It is a huge place and the stuff it is selling are not expensive at all...but why was it empty? First reason is it was a weekday and around 3 pm which is an off peak period, second there are many such places within a 5 km radius...as many as 10. Thirdly, Kitakyushu is a city slightly more than half size of Singapore with a small population of less than a million.
Size of Kitakyushu is 486 sq km and SG is 720 sq km

Tuesday, June 5, 2018

"One Kiss" currently the top song in Fukuoka


Eating our home grown onions




Finally, we managed to eat our home grown onions. The other long dark green stuff is a cucumber given to us by our neighbour. I don't fancy the cucumber and it tasted ordinary to me.The onions tasted sweet and refreshing. They are soft and tender too.

Sunday, June 3, 2018



This is Mojiko or Moji Port where one could take a ferry and cross to Shimonoseki. The ferry ride is about 5 minutes (400 Yen or S$5 one-way). The famous Karato Fish Market is in Shimonoseki. We will visit the fish market in the coming days.