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.  

A wrap up for last weekend

Yes, it was another fruitful week.

Also, I did goal setting with Miss J on Saturday Morning, while setting our goal, we discuss about our life goals, plans, and to see if we would want to stay here in Singapore for good. We were comparing the good and bad of Singapore with other countries. At some point of time, we were thinking to get a consultant to assess our situation, conditions, qualification, quality of life and decide where would be the best for us. Some of the countries we mentioned were Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore, Canada, United Kingdom and Malaysia.

After some thoughts, we then went to Wild Honey at Scott Squares for late lunch. We were sharing one and it was awesome. We stayed for a while in Wild Honey. We then wondered around Far East Plaza to do some shopping and asked around the market price for Iphone 5s. I am planning to sell my Iphone 5s Gold colour now, thinking I could cover some of my loss while converting from Singtel to Starhub. For me to save some money from my telephone bills which could easily fetch about SGD 400 ++ a month. With my new plan, I am looking at around SGD 130. A big savings.



Let's come back to Orchard, after a brief stroll far east plaza, we went to Somerset triple one to join ZC and JY Birthday celebration. It was a key dinner for us to wrap up our Chiang Mai trip dinner too. We shared a lot of laughters, photos, stories and memories at the dinner. I am glad Miss J and I made an effort to join the dinner. We went home straight right after our meal.

Sunday Morning, I was woke up by a call from the gym. Asking if I am interested to go for spinning lesson at 9 am. By the time I cleared my vision and looked at the clock, it shows 817am. I woke up immediately and get myself prepared immediately. Miss J joined me for the session too. It was the same trainer, called Adeline which both Jenny and I liked her quite a lot as she is very motivating and friendly. Although the Sunday morning session is not as fun as the night session on weekdays, but the time spent was worth for all the calories burnt.

After my gym session, I went back home, get changed and go straight to Lisa's place, before we start our goal setting session, we went for a meal. The number of people joined the session was a lot more than I expected. I guess people are interested with this goal setting sessions.

After our meal, we started our goal setting session, it too us about 2 hours to complete the whole training of 8 people. After the session, I took a taxi and went to the affordable art fair to catch Jenny at Formula 1 pit building. We were invited by Cary for the fair. The fair is crowded with art lovers and also art for sell. Art fair is a good place for both Miss J and I to synchronise our thoughts. I guess that is why art has play an important role in our society to keep our thoughts synchronised.

Although I am a complete idiot when it comes to art, but wait, there is always first time. So, I tried to talk to a few exhibitors and try to understand their culture. Some of them travelled all the way from India, UK just to sell their art. I am just wondering what is their lifestyle would be like. These are just not a conventional job we met on a daily basis.

After affordable art fair, we went to Novena and had KFC for dinner. It has been awhile since I had KFC, we order 3 piece chicken and also a Zinger burger meal. Thinking back, I had blew my calories quota for that day.

After our meal, we further our conversation about places we want to go and our future plans. Choosing a place to settle down is not easy. There are so many things that we need to consider before really making a decision. At the same time, we are reminding ourselves time is ticking very fast. In a blink of an eye, I am already 28. I guess I need to choose where I would want to go by the time I am 29 and start another chapter of life.

Now is basically a transition period of my life, what I need to do is to experience life.

1% of people's effort

This would be a simple post about my thoughts recently about thinking process and how we approach matters in life. I guess this topic was brought up in my recent trip to Chiang Mai, Thailand. I guess this system would be very useful for my future therefore I would like to pen it down.

So there is a saying that people would rather use 1 % of 100 people's effort than to do 100% of my own effort to complete the job. E.g. Instead of doing a task myself, I would ask 100 people to help me to complete the task. This would leverage the time I have got and also to complete a larger task. Thinking back, people are highly motivated when the task is something worth doing for, and as a team, we could all achieve something bigger, faster and more efficient. I guess it would be a platform for us to learn a lot of things too during the process.

The question brought up by Jonathan during our Chiang Mai trip was how people would contribute their 1% to you in the first place. There are a few methods which in my humble opinion would somehow get people to contribute their 1% to you.

1) The easiest one would be paying people to work for you, so basically I would have to fork the money out to let people work for me. Although it seems easy, but capital is the resources you need to tackle this.
I guess this would be something I would do when I have a certain amount of capital.Of course, with this method, we could probably get 1% more than we required.

2)Be resourceful- I would say in terms of networking, know the key people who could assist me in achieving my goal. This could only be done through networking. Remember there is a saying that it is not about what you know but is about who you know. Also, apart from networking, we could be resourceful in terms of monetary, funding or knowledge which could add value to the group. There is a tendency people would help people with resources, although they don't exactly expect something in return, but their effort could be more justifiable.

An example I would use for this case is Singapore. Singapore is a country with limited resources, they don't even have sufficient water to sustain themselves. They need to rely on Malaysia for water for years. However, the people here are resourceful, I guess this makes Singapore economically sound.

3)System Barter: This is for beginning stage of a cycle, where resources are limited. I help you, you help me. Although this would be very time consuming but at least things could be done. This would be my last resort, as it is time consuming. I contribute 1 % to you and you contribute 1 % back to me.Sometimes, I may need to contribute 2% for a 1% high value work in return.

4) Be convincing: it is possible to convince/persuade people to contribute the 1% to you for free. This would require skills and practice.

As a conclusion, it is key to be resourceful.

Stock vs Property

So let's do a brief summary or at least something for us to differentiate between these two investment vehicle.

Advantages of Stocks: 

Very Liquid: Especially during critical time, it is easier to liquidate stocks from market to Cash than from property to cash.

Tax-Free: So far, all the earnings from stock market is still consider tax free

Transparent: Most of the information are online, it is accessible and hassle free. There are websites that could do a lot of filtering for me too. As time is rather limited, it is crucial for me to read things I need to read only.

Dividend: They got dividend like a passive income.

Disadvantages of Stocks:

Very Volatile: Due to sentiment, market react really quickly with news and black swan etc. It is crucial for investor to be emotionally stable during crisis.

Advantages of Property:

Tangible Asset:

Passive income: Fetch rental


Disadvantages of investing in property :

Illiquid- it takes longer time to change our property into cash.

These information is what I learned from Ken Chee session.


For conclusion, I think Tax Free and being volatile is rather attractive to me at the moment. So for now, I would concentrate on this vehicle first.

Weekend

So what happened over the weekend

On Friday, right after work, I packed my stuff and went straight to Clark Quay to meet up with Choi Mei, Alvin, Lisa, Foh and Shannon for a meal at The sailors. The meal was normal, but rather over priced. We paid about $40 per head for the meal and it was not air conditioned. Seriously, I don't understand how those people would want to dine al fresco in Singapore. It was either too humid, hot or raining. I am not putting a rant here, but it just doesn't make sense at all to do al fresco dining in Singapore. So my suggestion for those who would want to do a comfortable al fresco dining. It is important to have outdoor air conditioner. 

After our dinner, we went a ice cream parlour nearby called Haato & Co, We ordered White coffee, Pistachio, Hazelnut chocolate and Mango. Basically, they were all too sweet. We quickly moved to SQUE for our 3rd round on the night.

By this time, Low sai joined us for a drink Jenny came alone too. It was a rather a fun night. Shannon left earlier after his pure blondes. We also mentioned about setting up a flexible group so that we all could meet up during working hours. Interesting group. Looking forward for our flexible out during our early weekends. 

After our night out in Clark Quay, we left for a beautiful supper in Swee Choon at Jalan Besar. It was a quick supper and we headed back to Novena.

Saturday Morning, I woke up without any thinking of work. It was great. We headed to IKEA at Queenstown to buy some of the crockery and cutlery for some of the home cooking in the future. Jenny said she would want to cook some soup and dinners in the near future, which I am looking forward to. 

Before we start any shopping at IKEA, we went to queue up for their awesome meatballs at their cafe. Their meals are delicious and value for money. No wonder families love coming to IKEA over the weekend. The place is just filled with loads of laughters. 

We went straight to shopping immediately after our hearty and cheap meal at IKEA restaurant. It took us about 1 hour to walk around the entire IKEA, after checking out, we went for another round of tea at TWG just opposite IKEA. 

Saturday night, Jenny went to her farewell dinner at MBS while I went to meet lowsai for a meal to catch up a little bit. 

We had our dinner at nom nom, it was good to catch up with a secondary good old mate after not meeting up for a long time. I hope time could have let us spend more time talking together. We talked about relationships, future plans ( as usual), ways to make money, to stay healthy etc. We covered about travel as well, how important to know more about the world when we were young. 

On top of that, we also talked about things we regretted in the past, if we could restart our life again, what would we do differently. For myself, I would do a work and travel in US and also travel to northern Europe instead of saving the cash now. I could be so much richer inside than to let inflation eat in all my saving. It is rather expensive to save now, especially when the us is printing 85 billion USD every month. 

After a meal with lowsai, I went back home to do some laundry and also to pack my stuff for my trip to Chiang Mai. It is one of my most anticipated trips this year. I guess travelling with a bunch of good friends is priceless. I regretted twice, so I tell myself not to miss any trip with such an awesome travel buddies I have got. I must say I am blessed to have them around me. I hope we could keep on doing this sustainably and make this an annual thing. 

Sunday, started with abit of drizzling, we went for a unique Australian restaurant at 40 craig road called The Plain, I would not want my blog to be a food blog, but I would like to capture all the moments, either sad or happy of course in this blog. I must reassure my self this is not a food blog. 

I ordered darlings and also humpty dumpy, both dish are reasonably served and priced. I guess I would want to go again in the future. After our meal, we went to travel around in china town to check on the IPHONE 5s gold price. Our strategy is to identify the market price first before selling off online. I feel like I am walking along the street in prontera, ( a city in a online game called Ragnarok Online) 

After that, we went to marina square for another tea session at St Marc. I guess, the place is rather pricey. Their portion is minute too. Since I am on diet, I think their portion fits me well. 

I then went to clementi for my badminton session with Andrew, I met Kelvin, Khai wen, wei ping, and also su rong. I enjoyed the badminton session, despite all the pain at my arms while I am writing this post, I guess I love it. 

By the time I reached home, miss J prepared a hearty soup for me.

It made my day and I feel so blessed. 

Deepavali/Halloween 2013

It was a holiday last Saturday, in the morning, we went to Crystal Jade for Dim Sum, their roast pork is good. Lean and crunchy, of course, their settings and the atmosphere is rather a typical delicate yum cha restaurant in Singapore. At least, it is clean. I guess that is the most important criteria I am looking for.

The dim sum session could last about an hour only. It was rather a rush one. I personally don't like it when time is being constrained. I just could not enjoy my companionship and also my food properly. Somehow I just feel like there is a clock ticking in my head. 

After our beautiful lunch, we went to a Japanese Fusion Coffee Shop called Mayson Kaison. They served yummy tangy orange chicken sandwich and also crusty croissant with hazel nut.

We refilled our English Breakfast, as we were on a tight budget and also to control our calories intake recently for the preparation of my Standard chartered 10km run this coming 1 DEC 2013. Through this, I have met a few friends who ran in this event and hence had broaden my topic of conversation with people. I think I showed interest to people more nowadays.

After that, we went straight back to ION and took the MRT back home to change our Halloween costume for a night out with Yuyen. Upon arriving Yuyen place, we brought some drinks over. We were welcomed by Cary in a scary manners.Their door opened by its own and the room is only lit by dim lights. It was spooky at one moment.

After that, when we walked into their living room, we were welcome with laughters by all theirs mates in the living room. It was a proper Halloween costume and we were all ready to party. After hanging out, partying and chatting for hours at their place, we decided to extend our party time to Boat Quay. We took MRT in our chinese halloween costume and we were trying to be friendly to people around us. On top of that, we were all half drunk as well. People were friendly and nice to us when they see us. It was fun.

When we reached a pub, we felt normal again. Because most of the people there dressed up as well. We started drinking some alcohol, make friends do some moves.

It was a lovely Halloween celebration.

Thanks Yuyen and Cary for organising this party. I enjoyed myself alot that night. 

Conversation with my Boss about settling in Singapore

After working with my company for about 2 years, today is my first time to share a lunch with my adorable construction manager. He asked me out for lunch, sitting down in a smoking area, with ash tray on the table. We started to share our first meal together.

Although seeing my construction manager shouting and banging tables most of the time, he is somehow a rather very helpful person and also a friendly one with us.

I learned a little bit things from him about staying permanently in Singapore. In fact, he welcomes me to stay in Singapore, to continue contribute to the economy and also support company I guess. No matter what is his intention, I guess it is good to listen to what he tells me on how to own a HDB property in Singapore.

1. I can put up a GIRO on a monthly basis to transfer part of my pay to property. This would definitely take out a bit part of my salary for me to save up, which I am thinking whether for me to listen to my boss's advice or someone's else. 
2. Me and my partner would have to be a Singapore PR for at least 3 years before I can own a HDB. 
3. I can only own one HDB.
4. I can't own or upgrade my HDB once my joint income for the past few years exceeds 12k a month Yes I am talking about SGD (Fingers Crossed). So each of us would earn about SGD 6k and we are barred from upgrading our HDB. 

There are so much to learn about settling down in Singapore. I guess the best way to do so is to talk with people who had done so.:) 

Weekend in GuangZhou 2013

Last Friday Night, before the clock strike 1730, I packed my stuff and took the bus to Changi Terminal 2 from my workplace. It was a canton fair trip which initiated by Wilson Tsen. Both of us, Teo and I agreed to join him this Canton Fair.

We met up together at airport, had a quick dinner Macdonalds, I had the samurai burger and we then embarked the plane heading to Guang Zhou. We started to discuss about things which had happened to us for the past years in Singapore. From work, women, family commitment, friends and a gossip. We also mentioned about our similarity as we are both Cancerian, which I think really helped a lot in our conversations. 

The flight was about 4 hours, and we took off around 1020pm. Despite being very tired, I was unable to sleep well on the plane. It was a budget flight, so there will be no meal for this trip. 

We managed to talked a little bit on the plane but Teo decided to rest for awhile as our trip shall be rather intense. 

By the time we reached Guang Zhou Bai Yun new airport, it was about 220am. Most of the shops over there are closed and there were little people around. If I am not mistaken, we were the last flight touching down that airport. 

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Both of us do not have any check-in luggage, and therefore we walked straight into the arrival hall. Upon exiting the hall, we were immediately approached by a few locals and they offered to bring us to our hotel in Tian Ho. Of course, at a tourist rate. RMB350. 

With all the research done by Jenny, I am aware that the normal price is around RMB140. So we hackled all the way and finally managed to get the driver agreed with RMB 140. Although it was rather a disaster to bargain with Chinese. Especially when we are all tourist, but it was all worth it. 

Thinking back, it was rather exciting. 

Upon reaching our hotel, we checked in and went to our hotel room 1805. It was a rather new hotel and the room was clean. It was about RMB880 per night for the three of us. So each of us is about SGD70 per person per night. 

Very quickly, we settled ourselves. Teo was very considerate, he bought a few pair of ear plugs for us as he is afraid that his snoring would wake us up. Having said, I had good sleep. 

Day 2, we were rather disappointed with the hotel breakfast and we decided to have a Macdonalds breakfast, it was around RMB30 for a breakfast meal while we were waiting for Ricky, Teo's HK friend and also Wilson. Both of them are travelling to GZ from HK. 

Upon checking in, 5 of us, including ricky's girlfriend went to the Canton Fair via the MRT. 

Upon reaching the canton fair, we registered and entered, although Wilson had some difficulties registering, but it was sorted out with the help of their polite assistant on desk. I must say, looking at the size of the fair, the fair was rather empty. From hindsight, it was the least visitors ever recorded. I guess our gloomy economy climate has an effect on the fair. 

3 of us walked for hours and hours, share our thoughts, jokes and catch up. It was really amazing to synchronising our thoughts, and things we see during the canton fair. It is like 3 little sea turtle looking for opportunity together in the sea. 

After hours of walked, we decided to sit down for a quick meal, we continue our talk, women, world economy, friends and bla bla bla. The place we had our meal was like our Singapore Food Court, just that their food is rather oily. Must be the cold weather. 

After our lunch, we decided to continue our fair, the fair ends at 6pm. We then walked to the nearest MRT station and head towards GZ City. Upon exiting the mrt station, we can see the magnificent night view of GZ. They got sky scrappers all over the place. I was humbled by the progress GZ has made, I think KL is like 50 years behind GZ now. This might not be the case, just my own two cent. I guess Wilson shared the same thoughts too. We were very angry at our government together for one moment. 

After our awesome dinner, which was recommended by Jenny's friend in GZ. We went straight back to our hotel and then to a nearby massage parlour. The massage session was about 153 per person, according to Wilson, it was the best massage he had ever tried. 

We had massage for about an hour and went back to hotel to sleep. 

On our next day which is also our last day in GZ, we decided to skip breakfast and went to Shang Xia Jiu Bu Street for breakfast, we went to a place for yum cha. It was authentic Chinese Dim Sum, it was nicely decorated and they serve proper Chinese Tea. They got several class even for just one flavour of tea. It was a rather enjoying experience to be able to dine with the locals and absorb some of their culture.

After our dimsum, we went to tour around the old city of GZ, and had tea at a Starbucks nearby. Two drinks cost us about RMB66. I still remember there is this report saying the profit margin in China is the highest for Starbucks, which could fetch about 39 %.

After our quick dinner at food republic at the nearby shopping mall in GZ east train station, the main train station for Wilson and Ricky to go back Hong Kong, they boarded the train around 830, and we went for a quick shopping to buy some souvenirs.

We then went to GZ baiyun airport, checked in and prepare to board our flight back to singapore around 220am.

We reached singapore around 620am and that marks the end of our GZ trip.

 It was amazing.

Thank you Wilson for inviting me,  Seah Hean to book the air tickets, covered some of our daily expenses and Jenny done all the research on where to eat, booked the hotel, taxi, packed my luggage and changed RMB for me, Ricky gave me a free ride in Guang Zhou.

I must say it was an awesome and memorable one. Looking forward for another one soon.

Small little things I have learned this month

Things I have learned recently during my last month:

1. Listen- People speak what is in their mind, of course. Actively listening is important too. There are so many things that we could see and learn while conversing with people. Put more attention into it and absorb. 
2. Weekly Goal-This would make you think and grow and actively work towards your goal. Say for example, there are a few things I would like to achieve this month. and also list down things that I have done for the past week. E.g. Going to the gym 4 times a week, 3 percent return from my assets, travelled to KL to meet friends and Eason's concert. Briefly to highlight things to do this coming week: attend property meetings/seminar, and to go Guang Zhou for canton fair 2013. Hopefully everything would go smoothly or better than that.
3. Focus, I am currently focusing on my stocks/shares investment and research at the moment. Starting everything from scratch will definitely do take a bit of time. But so far, I am experiencing the accomplishment of my investment and research I have done and I expect great things to happen.
4. Think - I need to think more in order for me to be more positive and to make this a better world to live in. I am superior human being with greater understanding.  Imagine getting better and better, I am not just bringing myself but also people around myself to a higher plateau in their health, career and also wealth. I must learn  a model that is duplicable. 
5. Journal-It is important to keep a journal, e.g. gym session, food I have eaten, People I have met, Interesting things I have done, Places I have been, Things I have learned, Positions I have tried ( I am talking about my investment position, when to do entry and when to exit, what are you guys thinking? :) )
6. System- For my learning model, my investment strategy, my time management and also my people management. All these, would require a system/model in order for myself to run efficiently. e.g. to floss before you brush your teeth or vice versa? It will lead to a better life in the long run with a proper system in place. 

Weekend updates

2/10/2013- I met qian hui, a friend I knew since uni time during our badminton session. 

We catch up over a dinner in a Japanese restaurant in Somerset, Orchard Central. She is getting married soon this year and shall be settling soon in KL. After our dinner, we went to a nearby bar called 5 and had a quick drink. 

We talked about relationship, how I dealt with mine and how she dealt with hers. She also shared how her Mr Right proposed to her, which I think is rather useful to learn a little bit about it. Just to eliminate some of the unnecessary embarrassment. 

5/10/2013- I met up with A Lu again, this time, we had scissors cut curry rice near Farrer park, the meal was good, we then went to a awesome coffee place nearby Chye Seng Huat for a coffee. 

There were 5 of us in total, weiyang, Lu, Charles, Ocean and me. I ordered an Iced Coffee and delicious cakes. Although it was rather hot, as we were sitting outside, but it was fun to catch up with them. We talked about rubbish. I guess I am rather slow warming up in a conversation with a large group. I would normally prefer an one to one session for a proper catch up. However, due to Lu's limited time in Singapore to catch with everyone of us. This must be the best way for her. 

Of course, with Charles wit and A lu's humour, everything became a joke. :) 

After enjoying ourselves so much, we decided to send lu to terminal one. We all had a lot to catch up, even for among us who were working in Singapore. It has been a while since we last had a meal and a drink already. 

6/11/2013- I went badminton session with badminton mates, Jenny went along and played with us. I am so glad that she joined me. I have been missing this sport so much, I guess I have stopped playing for at least more than 2 months. Time has been so tough on me, that I couldn't even play my favourite sport for even a session a week for the past few weeks. 

As always, I enjoyed my badminton session with my dear badminton mates. It is more like a catching up session with all my badminton mates. Although I lost a few games, but it was good fun! :) 

12/11/2013- This was the third week saturday that I didn't go to work. I am enjoying myself with a longer weekend. hah! I would say this is the time of my non peak. My peak would be around January next year. So don't be surprise if I couldn't be found during the chinese new year period. I feel awesome for not going to work on Saturday. After a brief calculation yesterday, going to work for a half day on Saturday would be equivalent to work additional 26 days a year. This would mean one whole month! This is painful. Of course, when I decided not to sit inside an office I would have to work over the weekend. Maybe with a proper weekend. I could have a work life balance. 

The 26 days a year is just one part, due to my very limited annual leave. I still need to put in additional annual leave for my Saturday. 

Currently on my wishlist, no more working Saturday for my next job. I need to read. The proper way to calculate my next salary would be calculate the per hour rate instead of looking at the annual remuneration. There is no point to get high salary for selling time, most importantly is to learn how to buy time.

19/11/2013- My fourth week not going to work on a Saturday.Although I am breaching my employment agreement. This is worth it, as I am going to Eason's concert in KL. After my 'work from home' period at 1330. I took the MRT and headed to Changi Terminal one. Took an air asia flight to KL, took a taxi to our hotel in Furama. Met up with Low sai, Mau, Charles, Kai Ting, Howeiyang, Lu and Sze Yun. We took the Monorail from Jalan Imbi to Stadium Merdeka. It was drizzling that night, luckily the concert was a rain or shine event. At least it did not defeat the purpose of flying over the concert. I would be very disappointed if the concert is cancelled. 

There are things that I have noted during this particular trip about concerts in Malaysia. Do bring a rain coat, just in case it rains. Maybe I should check the weather before I go. Secondly, water and food are not allowed to bring into the stadium. Although I brought half a dozen of Krispy Creme in  accidentally. Thirdly, although watching from the cheapest seat would only allow us to see a very small Eason. I rely a lot on the big screen. And with the subtitles below while eason is singing, it feels like a mass karaoke session than a concert. 

All in all, I still enjoy the concert. It was a great one. After our concert, we went to Jalan Alor for a proper supper. It was the longest walk on a highway in KL that I could remember in my life. Walking in a big group on a highway is really something new. If someone drunk really drive into us, we had nothing to say. 

On the other side, it was a good experience to walk together in a big group exploring the heart of KL. 

After a long walk, we reached Jalan Alor, we had wonderful supper, a few rounds of drink and of course a lot of laughters. It was a good time. Thanks to Low Sai for inviting me to this event. I enjoyed myself very much. 

Looking forward to my next trip with Wilson and Teoh in Guangzhou this weekend. This will be my 5th weekend not working. 

 

Succeed in spite of anything

After my great depression in London, I guess I see things very differently. 

At least from some of my peers at my own age as I doubt this is about age and I personally think it is down to what the person had been through and what they want in like. 

Why I think self motivating is important. Self motivating is like self-massaging, although there is some area where I might not be able to reach. But it is good to be able to massage myself once in a while.Well, though it sounded wrong, but I guess we can live with it. The mentality of self motivating is to create positive energy and push ourselves forward to achieve things we want. It could help us to leverage our network, friends, people around us with the same agenda. 

By gathering people with the same agenda, we could move forward as a team and achieve things we want together much more easily. This scenario reminds me of how we work as a team to achieve our goals together when we were playing online computer games when we were young. 

Time to continue my work, will update some of the people I have met recently and conversations we have had. Have a wonderful Tuesday! 

Aza Aza Fighting! 

My great supportive network

I am lucky to have 3 groups of supportive network, from mentors, peers family and friends from my great depression period in my last year in UK and I would like to record it down just to remind how lucky I am .


MENTORS:

Sharon and George Lim ( Chartered Accountant - My relatives)

They are my relatives who supported me during my days when I couldn't get a proper job. Thanks to them, I am able to stay for additional one year in UK to at least try to search for jobs and attend interview. At least, I have got no regrets trying out as hard as I could during that period of time.
George, specifically taught me about people management skills, basic accounting, badminton, blackjack and some business management skills. On top of that, He has been a great role model to me on how to take care of a family, raise kids, take care of friends and relatives.

Despite George's tight schedule, running a few restaurants, accountant, semi-professional gambler, badminton session organiser and also my main host, I must admit he is juggling all his roles professionally. I always tell myself that one day, I wanted to be someone like him.

Cayden Chang and Sean Seah (Value Investing Coach) 

I met Cayden and Sean in December 2012, they are my mentors for Value Investing Academy which I had learned quite a fair bit about stocks this year. They helped me in my investing knowledge which I would probably need a few years to learn. While we were attending this course, we had forged a strong bond amongst our peers about investment, time management, goal setting and helping each other to grow together. The experience I have had during the course is amazing.

Ian Tay  (Founder of Pixaroll) 

One of my best mentors while I am working on pet rangers, I got a lot of help from him regarding people management, presentation, time management and how to be determination. He had personally contributed a lot of his precious time with pet ranger team during our pitch in Hackathon weekend. I guess, he is someone who I would be very grateful to have, I still remember how he helped us in our business value proposition and motivated the whole team while we were in that period of time.


PEERS:

Bona, (Friend) 
I guess bona, Anthony's sister is the first person who started to motivate me personally, She has been supporting me all the time while I am studying in the first two years of my university in Semenyih. She encouraged me to play badminton, she taught me how to think more, helped me in my studies and also my social skills. She is the root of my part of personal development. I must give her all the credit.

She has the same trend as George, my other mentor while I am in UK, they talked about ideas most of the time. Both of them are very observant. Of course, on top of that, she is damn smart! She really added value to my life.
.
Kim Lim (cousin)

Kim is my cute younger cousin, I spent most of my free time while I am in Sutton, London talking to her. Somehow, chatting with someone that is so much younger than I am, I felt that we were growing up together. We discussed about everything.  From our conversation, I had a lot of fun, we some




CLOSE FRIENDS & FAMILY:

Anthony (Friend)

Anthony is my secondary mates although we were in the same primary school, we got close only where we were in secondary school TTSS. It was when we started to play games together, from CS to Ragnarok Online. We built our relationship through having fun. Until today, both of us still talked about creatures that we had killed together. We really enjoy the moment spent together as a team. We were so clicked in all manners.

CCY (Friend)

This is a guy where I grow my financial mindset with him. He is the the 2nd runner up in a stock competition while we were doing the competition together. He is a genius when it comes to stock and money.
He brought me to Value investing, property and supported me during the pet ranger thing.

Chai Ann and Serene 

They are like my travel and life buddies, I shared almost about everything with them. I guess, they were the closest friends I have got in life. It is fun growing up with them together. We play, have fun, work hard and joke around quite a lot. We also discussed about life matters and things we need to do so that our life is smoother.

Family

The most important group of all, they believe and supported me.

Having a supportive group of people around me is important. They keep me on track on things that I want to do and to achieve.

Short Sunday

Sunday, the shortest day in a week. This is what I always feel. The sun seems to rise very quickly in the morning and set really fast before night. In this post, I would like to write down how I spent my shortest day in a week, last week.

I woke up about 8.30am, laze in my bed until 11am. The reason I woke up is because I am hungry and there isn't any food in my place. Without any choice left, I have to brush my teeth, dress up and left my house around 11++

Of course, during the period from 8.30-11, I did some housekeeping, laundry and to catch up some sleep.It was the best thing to do in a Sunday morning.

I went to Arteastiq in Mandarin Gallery for Brunch, I ordered the lawn while Miss J ordered flush.

While I am posting some photos to Instagram, Shannon called me and told me that  he is in 313 Somerset with Yun Sin and friends. I wanted to join them but I need to go Singtel headquarters to sort out some of my mobile stuff before it was too late.

Arteastiq is amazing, I would  recommend to friends to go over for their ambiance and also for their tea. Although the tea is about 11 each, which is about double the price of a Starbucks which I could barely imagine how I would be willing to pay the price for a tea. But for the ambiance, quality and service, I somehow pay it willingly. Please note: Groupon got some promotion for Arteastiq.

Heart to heart talk

Tried to recall all the conversation that we had on a trip to a concrete plant.

J(Myself): I have been planning to settle down in Singapore. What do you think?

K(The Plant Manager): It's good, but just go for PR. don't go for citizen. Unless you are married to another Malaysian, only one of you should go for citizen, the other counterpart should remain as Malaysia citizen. This is to ensure you could reap the benefits from both countries. This is a good idea, as Singapore citizen can get cheaper education for children, accommodation and etc. It is like a native in Malaysia. As for the wife to remain Malaysian, this is for retirement in the future when the couple gets old.

J: "How much do you think a household income is required to sustain a two children family here in Singapore." I think the curiosity in me has pushed me to ask more daring question to a stranger.

K:" It depends on situation, for average, both husband and wife would definitely need to work in order to sustain the lifestyle and also the high standard of living here in Singapore. I would say it ranges from 6k - 15k per household. Let's do a brief calculation on my expenses."

As he continues with a big sigh, "I spent about 2k-3k per month alone on my children, 4k on mortgages, and also 1.5k on my transport.( he is driving a brand new 7-seater Volkswagen which he bought for about 150k). It is about SGD 9k per month in order to sustain the a family with two children here in Singapore."

I was listening to all these at the cost of nearly nothing apart from my working time, which my boss paid me for it. Looking at all the figures, I think there is some thinking needs to be done over the weekend already. I need to see if is worth the effort for me to stay here and work until I am 70++
I was intrigued with his lifestyle and decided to ask further, " How do you manage your role as a plant manager, father of two, husband and also a son?"

K: I work until 6pm on weekday, fetch my children and have dinner with them. By the time we reached home, it is about 7pm already. After taking their shower, they would have dinner with me and by that time, it would have been 8pm. They then would need to do their school assignment and also enrichment's class home work. Over the weekend, I would need to bring them to tuition and also enrichment class. These are necessary as the education in Singapore nowadays require a lot of effort from parents. Normally there are three enrichment classes for them to attend, each will be 2 hours and there will be a short break in between. I would have to wait nearby the tuition class on that day.This is to ensure my kids are well taken care of. It would take me about 6 hours of waiting hours for them. Bear in mind Jason, not just me that is waiting for the kid, there are a lot of parents that are doing the same thing as I did. I am no more special than typical parents in Singapore.

J:I guess, it is not easy for the child to bear all these pressure from the school and also the parents as well. How can they cope with it?

K: Sadly, the education system here is to squeeze and push the children as much as they can.

J: From my opinion, I am sure at some point, your child will be very grateful with what you have given them .

K: "When?" showing a hint of impatient and slightly agitated, he seems.

J: When he is around 18-20 years old. I answered calmly.

K: By that time I am very old already,as my oldest kid is only 8 now.

To avoid prolonged awkward silence while I am sipping my tea kosong from Giant Hawker centre in Tampines. I quickly asked another question: "How is your children enrichment class?" while swallowing my tea.

K: I think it is very important for a child to attend phonic class. It is basic of all language and it helps in the child entire career.


It is amazing how I had a wonderful conversation as this depth with someone I knew for about 20 minutes. I am looking for more of these conversation to know more what is in life in Singapore from people's perspective.

Australia Trip- 2013

I would like to briefly write down about things that happened over the long holiday in August 2013.

5/8/2013- I just arrived Brisbane international airport around 10 am. I was travelling with my parents from Singapore to Brisbane to attend my brother's graduation ceremony. The moment I walked pass the immigration desk, I somehow felt so much relieved, this is because I was held up by the officer last year for bringing in a pork bun from Singapore. So this year, I even checked with the security if tea bags are allowed just to ensure I would not repeat my same mistake again. 

While I was still enjoying the weather in front of Brisbane international airport, My brother showed up in his jumper and also a cheerful smile. I went up to him and hugged him tightly. I guess the last time I saw him is in May. He drove us to the nearest mall and we had a quick meal and some light shopping. After our meal, my brother drove us to an apartment we rented in the city. It was on the 8th floor. After checking in, I decided to sleep in for awhile after all the jet lag due to time difference and also insufficient sleep while we were all on the plane from Singapore to Brisbane. I guess, there were too much entertainment on board. 

After a short nap, we went to a Japanese dinner in Chinatown, the place is cosy and comfortable. Their sushi rolls really worth our bucks. After our quick and value for money dinner, we went to a cafe called La Dolce Vita for desserts and a second round of catch up session. I had pistachio ice cream and a cup of hot tea, my brother had a glass of hot chocolate. Wyn, Shaun's gf had a coffee drink with a few packets of sugar, while my parents shared an espresso. We also ordered a few cakes just for completion sack. Of course, the bills were rather reasonable. After our dinner, I brought my parents to treasury casino and played a few rounds of table games with my dad. After our social session, we went back to our apartment and have a good rest for the graduation ceremony tomorrow. 

6/8/2013- Brisbane, Midtown apartment, I woke up to a beautiful sunny end of winter midday. It is a day I have long for. Perhaps, staying too long in such a hot and humid weather in Singapore somehow drives me nuts a little bit. Cut to the chase, no work and fresh air are all I need. 

We left our rented apartment around 12 o clock and had a Korean cuisine brunch in the city. The meals were delicious and their service were good. Most importantly, it is the people that I am dining with that matters. After our Korean meal, we went to shop around the city and ready for the graduation ceremony at 5 o clock.

We went back home around 3pm just to get changed, I got my suit, shirts pants and leather shoes up. Putting up my best look for my brother's graduation, although to some rumours, people in Brisbane don't really dress up for their graduation. However, I think it would be better just to dress up than to dress down. 

After we were all ready, we all went to Brisbane convention centre together, Shaun went for registration and to collect his robe while my parents and I were wondering around the convention centre for some souvenirs and photo taking sessions. We took a family photos as well, a photo we should have taken long time ago. My mum was thinking that it was long overdue as she felt she is older now. I think I comforted her by telling her that most importantly is we are all gathered together as a family for this special occasion. 

After the graduation ceremony, we went to sunny bank for dinner as it was too late already. We had mixed roasted pork, hokkien mee and some vegetables. We went for a dessert session in sunny bank, a place where they charge the dessert according to weight which I think is interesting. 

7/8/2013- Woke up about 1130 to a beautiful morning in Brisbane, I guess this is the best thing about Brisbane in August, beautiful weather. Went to queen street and met up with Jimmy Ti, we talked about career, interests, life goals and some relationships things. It was good catching up with Jimmy, as I think he is a good listener. He has interest listening to people's thoughts and feelings which I think it is very important to be a great communicator. 

After meeting Jimmy, I went to the park in QUT and decided to lie on the grass and to contemplate about things that we had discussed for awhile. I joined my parents for shopping and eventually we had a tea time in our rented apartment. 

That afternoon, 4 of us were sitting in the balcony of the rented apartment, windy and prepared 4 glasses of tea, some biscuits and some sushi rolls from Top Sushi near starbucks between queen and adelaide street. We then started our family catch up among ourselves. We talked about life, money, gossip and shared some jokes. That is the good old days, I could have miss these precious time if I had spent all my time working in Singapore.

After our proper catch up session until 730pm. Shaun drove us to a famous steak house in Brisbane for some proper western food. Finally, after so many days in Brisbane, we get to try some proper rack. I miss those juicy and scrumptious steak in the west.

8/8/2013
The 2nd last day in Brisbane, again, waking up in a newly furnished single bedroom. We went to a japanese ramen, Hakataya, in sunny bank for brunch. It is located about 20 minutes drive south from Brisbane city. After our lunch, we went for a shopping spree in Harbour town.

At about 6pm, we drove to gold coast, and I met up with Weng Siu, we catch up a little while and went back Brisbane to call it a night. Weng siu is currently studying his PHD in a university near Sydney. He started 2013 and would like to finish the entire course within 3 years time. He also told me that he will be coming over to Singapore around December for monkey's wedding. He will also be the best man for monkey, a friend I met in Nottingham.

After meeting them, I went back to Brisbane city with my brother, and my parents.

9/8/2013

Last day, we didn't do anything- basically just check out the hotel and check in our airport.

This post sums up my Australia trip for 2013. 

How to be a great communicator

Some points I copied from the internet.

1. Be impeccable  with your word
1. Speak with integrity
2. Say only what you mean
3. Avoid using the word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others
4. Use the power of your word in the direction of truth and love
2. Don't take anything personally
1. Nothing others do is because of you
2. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream
3. when you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won't be the victim of needless suffering
3. Don't make assumptions
1. Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want
2. Communicate with others as clearly as you can to avoid misunderstandings, sadness and drama
3. With just this one agreement, you can completely transform your life
4. Always do your best
1. Your best is going to change from moment to moment. It will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick
2. under any circumstance simply do your best, and you will avoid self judgement, self-abuse and regret. 

Hunting property in JB

A text from chai ann asking me to join a property trip in JB last Saturday.

I had breakfast with Miss J at Tan Tock Seng coffee bean that morning, we were sharing about funny stories, and also a little about ourselves over coffee bean tea. We talked about how many people were chasing after miss J during this period of time and how special I am. I was over the moon, I must admit.

However, I must remind myself that, being able to spend time with Miss J is something I would treasure. I guess, it really doesn't matter to me on how many other potential candidates are there.

The breakfast was rather brief one, around 12 o clock, we were holding hands and walked towards UOB bank in novena square to meet Chai Ann.

I am going to JB that day to learn  a little bit about property.

After meeting chai ann, Miss J left chai ann and I and went for her zoo trip with her friend.

Chai ann and I went Cedele for lunch, it was a scrumptious meal. Especially when CEDELE got free baguette for patrons. I ordered earl grey lavender, a salad while chai ann ordered a thins and a glass of latte.
It was a good catch up session with her. I guess it is very important to catch up with friends once in a while as I have been overwhelmed with my work recently.

After our catch up session at CEDELE, we went to sembawang to meet chai ann's friend. His name is called Alan. He picked us up from the station and went straight to JB. I was sleeping in the car while chai ann was catching up with Alan along the way. I somehow joined their conversation while half sleeping all the while.

Upon reaching the season show room, we were  ushered by a very young lady with bracing in her 20's. She got this typical Malaysia ascent, which I could clicked comfortably immediately. She brought us to all the show rooms and explained about the development to us.

While we were looking at the 3rd room, chai ann's cousin came into the show room and looked for us, she is currently working in a architect firm in Singapore and stayed in Johor. I am keen to know about people commuting on a daily basis from Johor to Singapore for work. I wanted to know more about their life style.

Basically, she wakes up about 6am in the morning and car pool to Singapore, she said she would reach Newton MRT station around 830am and take the MRT or bus to work. She would reach office around 9 o clock. In the afternoon, she would leave the office at 530pm sharp. and reach home around 730 or 8 o'clock depends on the condition of the traffic. She said sometimes she would have some food in singapore before travelling back to Johor. I guess in total is about 4 hours of commuting on a daily basis. The good thing about this is that she works 5 days a week. I guess this would leave her a lot of recovering time at home during the weekend.

The expenses in Malaysia is rather different than in Singapore, as she needs a car and a house there, mortgage is about RM3k a month, car loan is about RM1k and other expenses is another RM1k in order to life comfortably in Johor. Perhaps, the commuting time is worth it after all, at least she got her own place in the end.

After our short visit in the show room, she brought us to her condominium in larkin, a place she rented for about RM1.3k for the whole unit and share between 4-5 people in total. The place wasn't fantastic, it was rather old and the maintenance doesn't look awesome too. On top of that, the pool is quite crowded with kids. I was rather shocked when I heard that the condominium is just only 4-5 months old, because from what I can see, it looks like a 10 year old building.

Thinking back to our conversation, if inflation is around 4-5 percent in Singapore, which way higher than our annual increment in Singapore. Eventually, in the next 5 years, I would have to stay further away from the city or in a smaller room. I guess this would not be ideal, really need to think of a way to work things out.

Dessert with Miss J at Bugis

I had a few rounds with my client representative near my work place after work. I had a date tonight with ms J. We are going to Ah Chew Dessert for dessert tonight, I ordered red bean while Miss J ordered her favourite green bean soup, she wanted a cold one.

We then started our conversation for that night. We talked about things like work, boss, friends, life and all sort of stuff. 

I think being able to understand and communicate with each other is really important. At least, I am emotionally comfortable to share my life stories with her and the fun bit is that she is very interested to listen to my stories. 

I am practising my story telling skills whenever I am with miss J recently. This is part of my personal development and one of the key skills I would like to learn and improve. At least, to be more confident in expressing myself and at least to communicate with others. 

From my observation for a period of time, Miss J somehow is a refined and sensitive person, she can read my mind very well. Partly, I am telling her how my mind works, that is why sometimes, I feel I am naked as I couldn't really hide things from miss J

Back to our ah chew dessert shop, the ambiance is comfortable. However, due to the place is rather crowded, staying there for a long time somehow doesn't feel right. 

After we finished our dessert, we walked towards Chijmes and went into a bar with live band called Insomia. I ordered one glass of cranberry juice and one orange juice for us. Miss J doesn't fancy alcohol weekdays. we chatted a little bit until the band is too loud.

We went for a walk, grabbed a taxi and she went home straight. 

Birthday 2013

I know this post has been delayed, my birthday is on 30 June and I only got time to write down them all today. This is because I have been busy with my work in that period.

"I just landed" a text from Miss J.

I was smiling mhyself when I think of Miss J changed her flight ticket just to come back Singapore to celebrate my birthday with me.

" Happy birthday" it was 00:06 when she text me. Again, I was smiling when I was reading the text. But because my phone was dead, I can only read her text on the next morning.

She then called and said "Good morning, in her Cantonese ascent and said Happy birthday to me!"

Before I could even open my eyes completely, I started to smile and replied " Thank You, it is very nice to hear your voice in the morning."

We chatted for a while, and she invited me for an impromptu brunch with her. I didn't hesitate and get changed immediately. I then took the MRT to Novena, and walked to her place.

I was standing in front of her place while she is preparing herself for the day. When we met, we hugged each other and grabbed a taxi from Akyab road to Keppel Bay Prive for brunch. The place is famous for its ambiance, eggs benedicts, brunch at reasonable price.

After our beautiful al fresco brunch at Prive, We then go the nearby vivo city to shop for a pair of shoes. I had been looking for a  pair of Rockport a week before my birthday but would like to bring Miss J to choose for me.She chose a blue colour one for me. Obviously, she likes blue a lot, I guess soon I would have a new spectrum of colour in my wardrobe.

We went to haagen daz for an ice cream, I ordered one ice-cream, flavour we really like, we shared the ice cream together and had load of conversation from then. I think the trick to really make Miss J happy is to bring her to ice cream parlour. I always got chemistry with her when we were in an ice cream parlour.

After our ice cream session, it was about 0610, we then wanted to take the MRT to the catalonya, a restaurant headed by a team who have worked with a 3 Michelin starred chef in Spain, Ferran Adria, whom is famous for its molecular gastronomy. One of the dish I liked particularly is the spherical olives. It was a special one.

After our meal, we went to lantern, a bar on top of one Fullerton, to bask in the beautiful view for the rest of the night.

Saturday with friends

From this post onwards, I am trying to capture most of the conversation I had in real life, to capture moment in this blog. Hope this would be a journal of my writing, speaking, reading and social skills to develop over time.

I guess it is essential for my self to record things I have said, and impact on others. I would like to write down things I have learned while living through my late 20s in Singapore.

I believe, in the beginning, I would miss out quite a lot of things and have difficulties capturing all the conversation. Slowly, I am challenging myself, being able to speak confidently and assertively as I believe this would eventually help me in every aspect of life.

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Started off with a text from Miss J,

'Can I join you for dinner? as I will not be seeing you this weekend'  Miss J Said,

I replied quickly ' why not? the dinner is at 6pm savour'

Immediately, I open up the whatsapp group of mine and started to text 'I have got a special guest will be joining our meal tonight'

' Alright' Chai ann replied quickly. ' I shall book for 5 seats at 6pm Savour'  A cheap French cuisine in far east plaza recommended by Anthony.

' haha welcome!'. chai ann said 'I am at Yakun coffee at the moment' 

Can I join?  I asked

Yeah! please come now Chai ann replied

I put my shoes on and left the house. It was rather hot that night I remember. But I didn't dress down, I put on my new shirt on from a branded shop and went off for the dinner. ]I guess the reason I dress up is because Miss J is showing up that night for dinner with us too.

Reaching Far East Plaza about 15 minutes before 6pm. I searched for Chai Ann for awhile, She was watching street dance competition. As usual, admiring good looking guys dancing is probably her favourite hobby.

Tapping her shoulder, she seems reluctant to move from her watching spot along the rail opposite the stage on the 2nd storey of far east plaza. I told her that I will be going fetch Miss J from ION orchard. as she os not familiar with Far East Plaza.

.Chai Ann looked at the stage standing about 50 metres away from us and squinted . 'ok' was mumbled from her mouth. 

While I was walking from far east plaza to ION orchard, I decided to call Miss J just to ask her to wait  me at a meeting point in front of ION Bobbi Brown retail shop. Miss J said 'Ok! see you there'

After calling her, I guess I walked a bit faster and somehow started to sweat a little bit.

After a few minutes walk, when I reached Bobbi Brown, I couldn't see Miss J. I looked around and called her. Again, she appeared behind me. This is the 2nd time she appeared from my behind.

I gave a light pat on her back and  we walked together towards Far East Plaza.

We had some small talk while walking towards Far east plaza. She was wearing a black skirt, beige top with one huge opening behind, her long hair covering most of the back and also her dotty heels. She is rather sexy that night and wild. She seems to be in party mood that night.

There is one funny moment, when her button from the back got unbuttoned.she seems to have difficulties putting it back. Well, as a gentleman I quickly offered my help to button it up for her.

When we reached the restaurant, Chai ann and ZC have arrived. They were sitting on a long table. Both of us sat down and started to looked at the menu.

The price is reasonable, although some of the dishes were rather too salty from my liking.

After our meal, we went to cedele in wheelock place for dessert.

Ken mentioned about his relationship issues between her sister and his girlfriend in UK. Miss J told ken off by saying that his GF should be more considerate and take care of his younger sister more.

Miss J insisted that Family is more important than girlfriend/boyfriend. Although at first i disagree with her, after listening to her reasons, it somehow make some sense to me. It is true that GF/BF come and go, only family will stay with us forever.

It was quite an interesting night, although it is not the most beautiful settings, but I am enjoying it that miss J offered to join the dinner with my friends. i think it is good to let her know a little bit of my background and my lifestyle.

After our dessert in CEDELE, we parted with the group. I took jenny to Starbucks at Wheelock place for a one to one session with her. Coincidently, we met Shannon there. He came to me, said hi to me and jenny and went off. Shannon was with his friends.

We continued our chatting session until 1045, Miss J then need to catch her friends in club street. I dropped her off club street and went back home.

Midweek romance

After work, I went to Novena for a quick shower.

I got a date with Miss J around 0815. She was like a few minutes earlier and got behind me while I was checking the directory in front of Novena's Burger King. 

She was wechatting with her mum in Hong Kong. I said hello to her and gave her a little pat on her back. 

I guess, I told her that I will be just having a cup of tea around her place and would call it a day. It was a hazy day. NEA announced Pollution Standard Index (PSI) to reach about 300 when she was literally walking towards Novena square from her place to meet up with me. 

She said she wanted to drink a milky tea and immediately she brought me to an old town cafe in Novena which is next to 7-Eleven. It is a place where we would come across in the morning when I go to gym and Miss J rushed to catch a bus. 

The old town was rather crowded and little bit too bright to my liking. Perhaps, I prefer somewhere dimmer and more romantic. 

She ordered an ice-cream and a milk tea while I ordered old town's wholemeal bread kaya toast and a cup of black tea. We were both in our work attire. The setting is rather different from what we normally have. I guess, our interaction in old town is a little bit more formal. Maybe is because of the lighting and ambiance.

I still prefer somewhere more romantic.

Understanding that her love towards Cold Stone creamery. I suggested to go the one we wanted to go last weekend. The one in Somerset, the one with a long queue.

Immediately, we took MRT to Somerset. This would be my first MRT ride with Miss J after going out with her for a few times. I guess, we have yet to go out together for too many times.

Upon reaching Cold stone Creamery, we queued up for awhile in a hazy queue outside. While we were talking about things while queuing. Suddenly, she puts her hands on my neck, and started to speak with me. I think she nailed this move really well. After our conversation, by the time is our turn to order, we ordered cheesecake fantasy, which is Miss J's favourite. Although I am not a big fan of cold stone, but I must admit that cheesecake fantasy is not too bad of a choice. Especially, when they have got fresh Blueberries and Strawberries in it.

After our ice cream session, we walked towards no.5 which is opposite the road. I always enjoy walking with miss J. I think is because that is the time when I can officially hold her hands. (Yes, I am laughing at myself while writing this.)

So I always create opportunities to have a small walk. Not too long as it would be sweaty and tiring. Just a brisk walk would be fun! A little bit of planning would be essential.

After reaching no.5. I ordered Early Grey Martini while she ordered a glass of diet coke. The setting inside no.5 is so much more romantic than cold stone and also old town. I guess this is the setting I am looking for that night. Despite the hazy night. PSI was like 300 ++, We eventually started to talk about personal things.

We played some peanuts game and called it a day around 12 o clock as both of us would need to work the next day.

Dragon boat festival with Miss J at Harrys'

I received a text from Miss J, to confirm with me if I am free for a coffee session in Harry's at Novena Square.

I took MRT from Taiseng, my workplace to Bishan MRT and tried to get a mini dumpling for miss J from junction 8. Thinking to celebrate a mini dragon boat festival with her in Novena. 

I was queuing for the dumpling and what happened was that the last dumpling was bought by the lady in front of me!I can still remember vividly how disappointed I was. 

After I arrived Novena Square, I waited for miss J around Burger King for about a few minutes. She is punctual, a quality I like. 

She appeared with her beige top with black dots, high heels and her beautiful but shy smile walking towards me. She always have a gorgeous entry. Every time we met, it is like there were spot lights shinning on her and fan blowing onto her long curly dyed hair.

We greeted each other and then moved on to Harry's, a place for coffee, beer and a bit of food. In Harry's. we ordered an appetiser, a main, her favourite chicken wing and some dessert for share.  We were rather adventurous when it comes to food. Perhaps, this is something we share in common. Love for food! 

I ordered some beer, as I always believe beer would make myself more personable and charismatic.But only in moderation, anything more than a pint would have a different effect.

After our meal, I walked her back home, I suggested the long route as I told her that I enjoy walking together with her.Our last walk was from Clark Quay Central to Chinatown. Somehow, I believe synchronising our body movement through walking would enhance communication. This is fact. 

Our walking pace, breathing rhythm and eventually laughter were all synchronised in no time. It was a walk to remember. We were also holding hands while I walked her back home. Although, it wasn't the most natural one. But it was a memorable one.  

After reaching her place, we hugged each other, said good bye and I grab a taxi back home with a big smile on my face. 

Sunday with Miss J

I was lifting weight in California Fitness, Novena. A text from miss J brighten up my day. She asked if I would like to join her for lunch at Au Chocolate MBS. Without hesitation, I replied immediately.

"sure! see you in a bit!"

I went straight to get ready and prepare to go MBS from Novena.So the plan of the day would be- a lunch together, shopping, then Gardens by the bay. Looking good!

During our lunch, I ordered a roasted chicken and a salad while Miss J ordered Egg royal. The lunch with miss J is very entertaining. We talked quite a lot of stuff and talked about things like we had know each other for quite awhile.

After our late lunch, I met miss J's friends from Shanghai and Hong Kong, Teddy and Irish. Four of us then went Gardens by the bay together. Prior to our entrance, we stopped by at a ice cream stall to buy some ice cream. Miss J chose the white rose flavour. And...... we end up sharing the same ice cream. It was a bit awkward at first. but after a few rounds. we were very comfortable feeding each other ice cream with the same spoon.

We then moved into the one of the conservatories in gardens by the bay called the flower dome. Although the flower is not as much as I expected. But the atmosphere is very comfortable. Somehow, I feel like I am in somewhere else. we walked around the conservatory and took a few pictures. Also, we talked about things too. It was rather relaxing.

After the flower dome, we then go to the cloud dome. The moment we walked into the entrance, we could see a massive indoor waterfall with rainbow. The view is stunning. We can also feel the mist while standing at the entrance.

During the entire visit, we were walking very closely to each other. We were like somewhere between a couple and good friends.

After our Gardens by the bay, Teddy decided to take a rest at the hotel, while we continued our shopping session in Albert square. Irish would like to get some souvenirs for her future mother in-law, relatives and friends in Shanghai. The good thing about to go out with beautiful ladies is that you get a lot of attentions and benefits.
e.g. we get to jump queue in a taxi line, massive discounts on souvenirs and durians. It was a pleasant experience.

After our shopping session, we went straight to Clark Quay Soon Fa Bak Kut Teh for our dinner. Teddy joined us for dinner as well. It was quite a gloomy one, as teddy just lost 3k while gambled in Casino. Obviously, Irish was not very happy with the fact that teddy lied to her, went to gambled and lost 3k.

After our dinner, we went back to MBS to send Teddy and Irish back to hotel and to collect my gym bag.

After saying good bye to them and before I could collect my back from the luggage counter. Miss J offered me a round of drink at Ku De Ta.

Without hesitation, I said why not!

When we reached KUDETA, I ordered a Mojito for myself and  passion and cream for her. We then continued our session.  It seems that we got a lot to talk about for that night. I am enjoying myself, that is for sure!

Up to a point, when we were very close to each other, I hold her hand. Although I was rather stiff, but it just feel right to hold her hands at that moment.

After a while she placed her hands around my neck too while talking to me. At that time, I nearly lost all my senses and felt incredibly light-headed. I wasn't sure whether I could still hold a conversation.

Half way through, if I still remember correctly. she mentioned that she will be away for a week at the end of this month. Which means she will not be around during my birthday. However, she then moved one step away from me and started to text me.

02/06/2013 22:33:12: Miss J: I think someone will see you on 30th as she will change her flight

02/06/2013 22:33:52: jw: who is that? hmmm

02/06/2013 22:34:04: Miss J: You will see on 30th

02/06/2013 22:34:07: Miss J: Secret

After reading her text, I looked at her and gave her a happy face...... :)

Clubbing at SG with Miss J

All started at MBS tower 3, I walked towards the security with Ken and Fatty near the lifts to Skypark. The security stopped us, and would not let us go. As there is a dress code, for the event tonight. We tried our luck and eventually could not go in a group.

I decided to go on my own as miss J and her friend had been waiting on top for us. I told Ken and Fatty that I will be joining them after a quick drink with Miss J and her friend. When I took the lift, I guess my heart beat somehow quicken a bit. I somehow feel that the lift travelled really quickly, as from 1st storey to 57th storey seems to be too fast. I somehow wasn't ready for it. When the door opens, I walked straight to the toilet. Maybe is because of the pressure up there is slightly different that I need to take a pee the moment I reached 57th floor. 

I was looking for Miss J around Skypark, there are two places on top. One is Kudeta Resturant and another is Club Lounge. They were waiting in the Club Lounge. I was a bit excited the moment I hear the music beats as fast as my heart. I was trying to search for Miss J and eventually saw her with another friend next to her. 

I bought a few drinks and we eventually moved to One Fullerton Over Easy to look for Ken and Fatty. By that time, we were rather tipsy already. I guess the time is around 1 a.m. I guess the night is still young. 

We had some chicken wings and Moet at over easy and also shared some stupid banters all night long. I guess Ken had been a good entertainer. He bought two special drinks for the birthday girl. Miss W and also had a few pictures together. We then set off to Butter Factory. 

Inside butter factory with the influence of alcohol. We danced all night until 5 am in the morning.

It was good fun! 

Dinner with Miss J @ Ma Maison

The date was set at 7.30pm at Ma Maison Central Clark Quay. We set the date about a week in advance. The restaurant is a fusion between French and Japanese cuisine. 

I arrived slightly earlier, about 6.45pm. I went to survey the restaurant and plan my route. As I was told that woman doesn't like the feeling of being lost. Typical egoistic man I am. 

At 715pm, I went to the nearest 7-11 in the MRT station and bought an Aloe Vera drink. Just to calm my self down a bit. I drank the 225 ml fruit juice in a few gulp and  I feel a bit calmer afterwards. 

Then, I started to text her, telling her that I reached MRT station already. She told me that she had also arrived but is waiting at the first storey concourse. Without hesitation, I went up to the concourse and look for her. The moment I walked pass Orchard Central main door I saw her immediately. She was looking at her phone texting me. 

She was wearing a pink colour sweater, a floral blouse underneath, high platform shoes and applied make up on her fair face. The impression is rather different from the first time I met her. Somehow, I think she looks good today. 

The moment we met, she started to speak in her mother tongue, Cantonese with me, I replied in English, and quickly tell her that my Cantonese is not as fluent as before. It would probably take me a while to learn the language back again. she switched to English comfortably. Eventually, we ended up chatting in English, with a tiny bit of mandarin and Cantonese. I guess, I stop worrying about our language barrier in the first 4 minutes we met. 

We moved on to Cheers, to get some Panadol for her, as she mentioned that she was not feeling well in the first place.After getting the pills, we went up to 3rd floor very swiftly according to the route which I had planned previously. Rather Cheeky! I guess these are some of the tactics a man would do during dating. 

During the journey, we talked about travelling, friends and some banters. I remember that she still vividly remember how I commented on her accent previously, as she doesn't reflect any characteristic of a Hongkie. I said, she looks too friendly for one of them. 

When we reached Ma Maison, we were seated at the table by the window, the ambiance is amazing. i.e. cosy warm light, river view, chequered table cloth and most importantly not too crowded. I was rather happy with my selection and probably feel proud about it now. 

I ordered Escargot as entrée,  hamburger steak and squid ink pasta for main, and a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon. We then resume our conversation for the night. It was rather entertaining especially when the food, ambiance and companion are all above average for my standard. Although, I did choke myself with squid ink pasta and wine at some point, but it wasn't too horrible. 

I also ordered a brownies and ice cream dessert for share as to call it a day. The hot brownies melted in my mouth together with ice cream, which I think was sensational. We both liked the dessert. I must say that it was a great night for me.