Last week of 2013

Between these two celebrations, it has been a relaxing and fruitful week.

I met up with Chairman Mau on Thursday, for a meal at Kovan Thai Restaurant called Norkhon. Both Ocean and also Seah Hean were there too. Although this would be a rare gathering for us as Mau came all the way from KL and met up with some of his friends from KL who have been working in Singapore for quite awhile. Also, worth mentioned would be Kevin, a litigation lawyer from Penang working in KL at the moment. They shared some interesting stories about their clubbing experience in Singapore during the festive season, of course one being how the lawyer kissed an air stewardess in a club in Clarke Quay. Mau showed me the picture too just to proved that he wasn't joking. Of course, we also talked about our relationships and also things that have been happening around us. 

After our meal, Tony, a project manager and also a QS, asked if we would like to go for drink in New Asia, level 70  at Raffles City. We went for a drink, ordered a bottle and our catch up continues. With the rate of they drink, I can see that they are seasoned drinkers. I went back home around 1230, as I got work on the next morning. 

I skipped Friday Morning, as it was a usual work day, apart from meeting up Miss J at Little India,and went for a supper at Swee Choon at Jalan Besar. 

On Saturday morning, I woke up at around 7 O clock, rather late for my normal wake up time which is around 6 am. I then put on my clothes and somehow looked forward to go to work on a Saturday morning. I believe for this time around, attendance is very much appreciated. After work, I went to library to just borrow a book and then went to Mount Elizabeth Hospital at Orchard to visit Miss J whom had just undergone endoscopic therapy for her recent pain in the stomach.

We then went for a meal at Paragon Crystal Jade Golden Palace for a late lunch. This is to celebrate that nothing major were found in the stomach, at least for that moment. After our meal, we walked along Orchard Road and talked about things. The weather is rather windy and also a little bit gloomy that day. I ended my Saturday earlier and decided to go back home for a good rest. 

On Sunday Night, I spent time on planning my next Osaka Trip in February 2014.

On a side note, 

There are a few things, which I have been contemplating recently I have listed down below: 

• It is so much easier to try things out when we are young compare to when we have got commitments after marriage. At least, when we failed, it is only me that is affected. 
• Life has been very fragile, there are things that we can only prepare that much, and the rest of it would have to leave it to our fate. Of course, staying healthy, lean and happy are key too. 
• I put more thoughts about investment, on how to protect my wealth in this complicated world nowadays. Surprisingly, I decided to talk less about it, not because the economy is going burst, but it seems that this would make friends, social circle or Christmas dinner a lot more comfortable. I just need to learn to pick the right time to talk about it. 
• Mentor is important, a man without a mentor would probably take a longer route to achieve more things. 
• Busy is a another form of laziness: lazy to think is the critical one. Spend more time on thinking. Establish a set of thinking process in order for me to execute critical activities in Life which could lead to a life which I always wanted. 

Christmas 2013

It was my 2nd year of Christmas in Singapore. This year I am celebrating with someone special, someone I met in 2013 March, a lady who spent most of her time in Singapore with me and she had treated me well for all the while. 

Both of us enjoyed food and 'moments', but living in Singapore can be a major hassle. Especially going out to dine on special occasion like Christmas. We need to pre-book one month in advance. For this year, I have booked a place in Bukit Pasoh called The Clan. It offers a modern European dining experience with a fusion twist of Japanese cuisine. Although it was rather rushed in the beginning, but after slowing down the chef and also the servers, we somehow managed to get into our own world during the two hours of dining session. I understand that wasn't the best Singapore has to offer, but it was a great experience for myself. 

After meal at The Clan, I took MRT to Somerset and decided to walk along Orchard Road to soak some of the Christmas Fun together with People in Singapore. 

Orchard Road is basically filled with people and is too crowded to walk. Undeniable, the lightings and decorations in Orchard is impressive! Every year, Orchard road managed to get people flooded into this road just for their decorations & lightings. I still remember how I used to fly in to Singapore for Orchard road when I was young. I think the magic seems to wear off when we got a lot of sweaty tourists and overcrowded streets. The noise of the chipping birds at Orchard Road seems to be masked completely. 

After roaming with the crowd for a while, the pairing house wine hitting my head hard. I have drank a mixture of wines for the house pairing with my 6-course meal at The Clan. I felt dizziness as I couldn't catch my breath while walking with the crowd. I decided to take a cab back home and called it a day. I went straight to bed the moment I reached home. It was the best sleep ever. 

Merry Christmas Everyone. 

Joy of doing nothing

Apart from Jon's birthday celebration in Hard Rock Cafe at Sentosa Island, it was a weekend where I didn't plan for anything.

As for Jon's birthday, I was the probably the only one that reaches the place on time in order to fetch our Birthday Boy. I understand everyone has a tight schedule, but I still don't understand why people tend to over commit nowadays. 

I would rather suggest people to just set a dinner around 8pm so that everyone could reach the place on time. It wasn't a rant, but dealing with people who are constantly late tend to get into my nerves. Somehow, I am learning how to suppressed the feelings inside me and just deal it with a smile. Although people tend to waste your precious resources with a silly excuse. 

However, apart from the rant above, I did enjoy myself that night, we had awesome meals, laughters, cupcakes, birthday songs, beer and some hawker centre food. Surrounding myself with a bunch of awesome friends is a blessing for me. 

Sunday morning, it was a morning with hangover and body aches, it was a Sunday without any plans. I guess no plan is good plan. I went for a brunch at Artichoke and went back home to catch some housework and sleep. I also went for a Movie at AMK hub. It was a animation called Frozen, the movie was simple and exciting. Surprisingly, I enjoyed myself very much for the movie. 

I then went for shopping at NTUC and call it a night. 

Weekend with Jenny's Sister

Jenny's sister caty came to Singapore to visit her sister for a weekend. We went out for dinner at Clark Quay, Song Fa Bak Kut Teh, there were many tourists there for their infamous dragon bone pork ribs Bak Kut Teh. We ordered quite a lot for just only the three of us. The interaction between me and her sister isn't that much. Probably because she was tired.

We then went to have a walk at Clark Quay, took some pictures of the scenic view of riverside point and also some people watching. We also walked towards the bridge and climbed up to the side of the bridge while resumed our people watching session. It was a very comfortable just sitting by the river and let the wind unwind all the stress. Of course, we also shared some laughters over time. Especially how Jenny managed to get on the parapet wall at the side of the bridge while wearing skirt and also heels. It makes us laughed.

After Clark Quay, we then went to Somerset for Cold Stone Creamery. This is Jenny's favourite place for Ice Cream. Unfortunately, by the time we reached there, the queue was very long and it seems impossible to get an ice cream for the next 1 hour. 

We then decided to go home and sleep. 

On Saturday, I went to Wild Honey at Mandarin Gallery to book a reservation for them at 11 O' clock. They reached the place around 1130 afternoon, and we proceeded with our order for our brunch. I order the England special and also the New York. 3 of us shared two meal, this is part of our money and calories saving plan. Eat less and save more. 

After our meal at wild honey, we then shop around at Orchard and also Somerset. We bumped into Stella and also Vincent, friend of Jenny at Lacoste. It was such a coincidence that we met up in the afternoon as we had planned to have dinner together at night. World is just too small. 

After exchanging a few words, we then continued our shopping session. I left Jenny and her Sister at Somerset shopping mall, and went to Nicole Highway to collect tickets for our Legoland tour on Sunday. Although I wasn't very keen with the trip at first, but after thinking for a while I guess the sun-soaked fun and outdoor activities with them together in Legoland in Malaysia should be good. 

After collecting the ticket from Nicole Highway, I went to meet up with my Aunty, which would regularly patronise Toast Box at Suntec on weekends. That is like her hangout place with her friends over the weekend. I joined her for some toasted bread, coffee and some drinks for my Saturday late afternoon. 

She bought me a external charger from Hong Kong as a souvenir and helped me to charged my phone immediately when I saw her in Toast Box. We had a solid 2-3 hours catch up and discussed about life matters which I somehow could hardly imagine about the topics we had discussed. It must be I am contemplating about how to move ahead in life recently. 

After our coffee session, I went to Bugis to catch Jenny and her sister again. They were shopping around at Bugis + when I reached there. Before I could find them at Uniqlo, I bumped into Sin, my kindergarten friend. She just joined Prudential and worked around Bugis area that day. We did a very quick conversation and I have to moved on afterwards, as I got a meal with Stella, her boyfriend, Yuyen and Cary at East Coast Park around 730. 

Although there is abit of Hoo Ha when Yuyen called and told us that Stella and her boyfriend Vincent, would like to shop for awhile at Bugis and postponed the meal to 815pm. However, we took a taxi and manage to reach East Coast Park Food Village on time and waited for them there. 

After our meal, we went to Mount Fabre and had some drinks at Fabre Bistro. The night view was good while we continued our discussions about our life plans. It was a good catch up session. 

On Sunday, we started our trip with a MRT trip to Nicole Highway, that is where our bus to Legoland is waiting. We boarded the bus at 915 and reached Legoland about 1130. Upon arriving Legoland, Kids in the bus were very excited and shouting. It makes us, adults excited as well. 

Although it rained for a while, but I enjoyed the trip, especially spending time with Jenny and also her Sister in Legoland Malaysia. 

Stranger than stranger

Last Sunday, it was William Chua and Irene's wedding at Amara Sanctuary Resort Sentosa. I went there on my own.

Until today, I am still contemplating whether if attending the wedding would be a wise choice as most of the friends I am going to meet there are related to Miss E.

Upon arriving at the awesome Amara Sanctuary Resort, I went to the reception, filled in my name and dropped the red packet in a box. I then walked towards the bar near the reception for a drink. While waiting at the lobby for the banquet to start. I started to saw Miss E. She was wearing a black gown and had her a different hairstyle set.

Without hesitation, I walked towards her to say hello to her, however, while I was walking towards her, my heart beats faster and faster with no reason and the entire feeling is just getting a little bit awkward and confused. Every steps I took towards her, It seems that there is a gentle slope, and is making my knees weaker. By the time I get really close to behind her, where she could hear me. She took her camera phone out and started taking pictures of the cupcakes in front of the reception desk near the main door. For one moment, I didn't how to address her which would be more appropriate or how and where I should put my hands. I was in Timbuktu.

'Hi (her name)' I finally uttered it out and in as formal as possible while she is facing the table full of cakes and awesome mini macarons while still holding her camera phone snapping photos.

'Hi' She replied me

'When did you arrive?' I asked while looking at the table of cakes as well.

'Just only'  She replied and raising her camera phone snapping some more pictures.

My conversation with her has just ended prematurely when an aunty walked into us and started to comment on the cakes and decorations.

She then walked off to the reception and say hello to her friends.

From that moment onwards, we became stranger than stranger.

Little things about Singapore

I have been discussing with people around me about little things in Singapore. Basically, I have asked/survey and done a bit of research for the past one month. So it is time for me to pen down some of my thoughts currently about Singapore.

Of course, I would try to list down the pros and also cons to start off first. Just a note to all my readers, these are just the opinions I gathered from my friends, subcontractors, people with experience about things in Singapore. This post does not reflect what I think about Singapore entirely.

I would like to start from the pros about our Singapore.

1. International exposure: Basically, it is a lot more accessible to the international market here in Singapore. Even for start up companies around here, there are so many international incubators around supporting the entrepreneurs. After being through a project with some good friends, I believe the exposure I managed to get here is a lot more than what I can get in other countries.  
2. Politically stable: Despite the little India riot, Singapore has been a relatively stable country with different ethnicities living together in such a small space. 
3. Street is safe: Yes it is very safe here, at least we can walk around the island at 3 am in the morning alone.
4. Disaster free: Earthquake and typhoon free. 
5. Near Home: Home is where my family is, and currently they are now in KK.
6. Strong currency: Relatively stronger than neighbouring countries. 
7. Clean city: Enough said. 
8. Cuisines of Singapore: A world of flavours, basically you can get almost everything here. With its rich multicultural heritage, Singapore serves up a true melting pot of flavours and foods. This would probably get me started another post. 
9. Good public transport: MRT, Taxi and Bus. They have been serving me well for my stay in Singapore for the past 2 years. I can imagine myself without a car for the next 10 years.
10. Convenient: Everything in near our door step.
11. Education: World leading education system. 
12. Savings: Able to save a portion if we just live modestly. 
13. Good friends: I am blessed to have such a good friends around in Singapore. They have been really supportive at all time and have brought me up to be a better person. 
14. Clean Toilet: I must give Singapore credit for this. I just met Jack Sim (Toilet Man). He is the guy who founded world toilet organisation. He has something to learn from and of course has contributed a lot to the toilet standard in Singapore. Did you know? Not flushing your toilet in Singapore is a criminal offence. 
15. Easier to blend in the Singapore Culture : As a Malaysian Chinese, it is easier for us to blend in to the culture than any other ethnicities.

After I have listed down so many pros, it is time for me to list down a bit of the cons now. 

1. Rat Race: I would be running the rat race for the rest of my life. It is very difficult for me to start a business from scratch. Without capital and solid network, it is difficult for me to be an entrepreneur. 
2. Long working hours: I worked for about 70 hours a week. That is equivalent to 12 hours a day for 6 days a week. Time is my essence and it is a limited resource.
3. Expensive rent: The rent here is painfully expensive. 
4. Cars are costly: We need to pay COE here, and this COE is just a certificate which would cost us easily up to $50k-70k. 
5. Pricey networking: It is important to network here, but the price of going out is not cheap. Building network from scratch.
6. Expensive healthcare: 
7. Expensive school fees: 
8. Expensive place to retire: By the time I reach 65, I would need to look for another place to retire. By doing a quick Math, I doubt I could retire comfortably here in Singapore. They got minimum sum too, which would restrict people from drawing all their money out once they reach 65. 
9. Singlish: There is no way to avoid this if I am going to stay here. Thinking of how my children would talk to me in Singlish really turns me off. 
10. Concrete jungle: This is common in a big city, breathing dirty air, noise pollution, air pollution etc. 
11. Kiasu: Singaporean are very competitive.