Week ended 22.2.15

Chinese new year week. 

Jenny and I flew to Perth Australia. I am bringing her to Perth as her birthday and also valentine trip. Of course , my parents will be joining us halfway which is On 18.2.2015.

We reached perth on the 14.2.15. Kevin, Amos and Caren fetched us from the airport and we went straight to caren 's  place.

Day 1  14.2
Catchup with them while waiting for caren 's home cooked dinner. We stayed in caren's place for a few days while wondering perth city.

Day 2. 15.2.15
Caren brought us to meet ed and Emily for breakfast. We then riverside drive to see giants walking along the street.

After that we went to fremantle little creatures a micro brewery famous for its brewed bright ale. After fremantle, we went out for a dinner at a Vietnamese cuisine. Ed paid for all of us.

Day 3- 16.2.15
we went to take our rent car with gps, to reduce unnecessary friction.  We had bad experience without gps in US. So this time, I would rather pay slightly more to buy some harmony and peace along the trip. After getting our car, we drive to a sand dunes and pinnacles. Pinnacles is awesome and mind blowing, it is like a mini canyon. Both of us enjoyed the drive.  After pinnacles, we drove to yanchep national park before we drove back to Perth city for dinner.
Dinner was a Belgium pub.

Day-4 17.2.15
We had a light breakfast in the car and drove to Taylor at swan valley for breakfast. Initially we wanted to catch the farm show at 10am. However,  we decided to have a relaxing morning in swan valley and we decided to catch the later show around 1pm.

After our breakfast at Taylor's , we drove to some vine yard, cheese barrel, honey house.

We then drove to caversham wildlife around 1230 hrs.  Walk around the zoo, and had fun with some of the lamb, sheep and goat in the zoo. The farm show was interesting. I think is worth visiting.

After the farm show, we wonder around swan valley and decided to do some grocery shopping for my parents. After our grocery we then went back home for a rest while waiting for caren coming back from work. She brought us to an Italian dinner and bought us a meal. We were rather tipsy and we chatted at her place till midnight.

Day 5- 18.2.2015
We were checking out from caren's place. We did some housekeeping and laundry before we drove to Hillarys for early brunch. The Quay is beautiful and we had a great fish and chips in one of the restaraunts there. We also had a chance to see all the beautiful houses in Hillarys. Caren was booking a place for us for chinese new year dinner with my parents.

Before 1pm, we quickly drove down the perth city to fetch my parents from the airport. I was over the moon when I saw them coming out from the terminal. I hugged them tightly the moment I met them.

I also met some other kk friends in the airport. Kong hui yee is one of them.

After fetching my parents, I brought them to do some light shopping then drove them up north to Scarborough beach. We had a drink at dome which is behind the hotel and had a quick stroll along the beach while catching up.

We quickly drove around the area  checking some beautiful homes and drove back to Perth city to check in to Mont Claire apartment. After checking in around 7pm. We then drove to our dinner place with caren and Amos. 

The setting of the dinner is very crowded, it is a malaysian chinese cuisine with a lot of malaysian in it. My dad met his friend in the restaurant too. We had a great time.

Day 6
We drove down south to margaret river and had a quick late lunch at Morries. The meal was descent. After our lunch, we then drove all the way down to leeuwin lighthouse. We took the tour and went up the light house. It was a long walk up. The tour was so so, but the sceneries up there was amazing and not to forget the strong wind from the southern ocean. The light house is located between southern ocean and Indian ocean. Very similar to Cape Town. 

After the strong wind and the beautiful sceneries. We drove back to margaret river resort and checked in. We then went back to the town and bought some groceries for dinner. We cooked at home.

Day 7-20.2.2015
After our breakfast, we drove to the nearest beach and look at the surfers on the beach showing off. The waves were rather strong and had a few tiers which was unique.  After watching them we then drove to lakes cave. We overshot lakes cave and reached the tall trees area which we find very interesting. We stopped by and took some pictures of it. We then drive back to lakes cave which is about 60m below the road level. The cave tour is enjoyable and very informative.

After that, we went to vineyard, noughat factory and chocolate factory. Then drive north to busselton jetty, which is 1840m long. The jetty is that long because they wanted to be able to accommodate bigger ship that time. We had fish and chips there which was the best fish and chips I have ever had. After our light meal, we drove down the perth and checked in to verandah apartment. A fairly new apartment in northbridge which is very near to fringe world festival. After checking in, we walked to the festival for a quick meal and then went back our apartment to rest. 

Day 8- 21.2.2015
We had breakfast with caren in the morning, The breakfast was great, and as usual I always overeat when I am with my parents. They always give me half their portion.

After our breakfast, Caren dropped us at the jetty and we boarded on the yatch on 11 30 hrs.  During the ride, there was a training conducted by the Australian navy which tried to board our yacht while we were crusing. They were practising for a few times while my dad and I were taking pictures of them.

When we reach fremantle, we walked to the cappuccino strip and had our lunch at kailis'. The fish and chips were so so. We then wonder around fremantle like a tourist bought some souvenirs. After that, we had our early dinner at an Italian restaurant at cappuccino strip. The pizza was awesome and it was less than $50 for 4. After our scrumptious meal we then walked a little while around Fremantle and headed to the train station. We boarded the train and headed back to City West. Upon reaching city West,  we walked back to our apartment, took a rest and drove to kings park. We then drove to crown hotel for the casino. The casino is crowded with people and a lot of Australian chicks.

After our casino trip, we went back to our apartment and jenny made us supper. We were all hungry.. After our supper we retired to our own room.

Day 9- 22.2.15
We had breakfast together with caren and amos at dragon palace. After our breakfast, we went to our final shopping.We then drove my parents to the airport and bid farewell to them. After sending them back, we drove to kings park and we had picnic there. The view is stunning and the weather is just nice.

After our picnic, we drove back to the airport, returned our car and took our flight back to Singapore around 7pm. We reached Singapore around 0010hrs.

This is my family trip for 2015. It was truly an amazing trip with my family and I am looking forward for more in the future. 

 

Weekended 09.02.15

As usual, 6 days work week.

After work, went to Raffles hotel for a one night stay. We were offered Cathay Suite with a personal butler.Raffles is trying to recreate a positive experience for us and to rebuild their trust. We had simple dinner and chatted for a while. Somehow the hotel managed to create some sort of environment where we can just sit back comfortably and chat for long hours. 

On Sunday morning, we were given complimentary breakfast, joining the high society for breakfast truly opened both our eyes clearly. Basically, the restaurant is filled with people with a lot of taste. I was almost stunned and felt out of place for a second. People in the restaurant looked so calm and relaxed at all times. They are all well dressed up and speak in the best English I could have hear in the entire Singapore. At that particular moment, I don't feel like I am in 2015, it feels like I am back to 1800. It manages to brought us back to time. It was truly an interesting experience. 

After our Raffles experience, the extravaganza feeling wear off the moment we stepped out of the hotel and into the MRT station, where it was crowded with people. We took mrt back home, left our luggages, did some home chores and went to join our Hong Konger pore pore group Chinese New Year Dinner in NTU Alumni. The dinner cost about 70 ++ per person, as it was Raymond's birthday too. So we all treated him as well. 

It was the first time we managed to chat with Kelvin and Julia, both from UK but born in Hong Kong. It is truly amazing to be able to clicked with them as our thoughts are fitted one after another. There are so many similarities between us and we managed to discussed things further more. It was truly a night filled with laughter. 

Next week, will be my family trip to Australia, Perth.

Looking forward to it now. :)  

Weekended 1.2.15

Last week, jenny went to Philippines for business trip. So I have arranged a stream of activities for myself. Especially catching up with my friends, investing group and most importantly my aunt.

So for last week Tuesday, I catch up with Teo, Charles, how wei yang and alvin at wisma atria. It was an impromptu one.

On Wednesday, I met up with Anthony and also Jonathan. We shared about life and catch up while discussing about amway and also insurance with Jonathan. High chance I will be buying insurance from Jonathan. After our talk, I continued with Anthony until midnight near my place with a few rounds of beer. 

Thursday I went to value investing college with Chai ann which is organized by Sean Seah and some of their partners. The best thing is basically the two beer sessions before and after our seminar. We shared about some property investing and how we have been doing at work and also in life.

On Friday, I called my aunt and set a dinner with her at a famous Korean food at Concorde hotel. I enjoyed my meal with her and it is good for me to catch up with her once a while. We discussed about new job. And she told me about her landlady. She then brought me to an espresso branch in takashimaya for a free coffee.. We stood in front of the posh counter and enjoyed our free coffee while chatting. It was truly a great experience to have a relative around in Singapore. 

Saturday, after work, I went to victor's place for a meal. For, then,me,victor and his wife. We are all secondary school mates and grew up together in the same town... We had so much to share and catchup. The week before for went to malacca to meet a guy.  Basically a group of them send for to meet a decent guy in his mid thirties in malacca. Foh is planning to go back Malaysia for good as she felt that her parents are getting older soon and her younger brother is not around with them.

Sunday morning, we went to invest carnival registered with vector vest and then went to a musical play at mbs called cats with crystelle and also Angela.  Crystelle is Jenny's superior and she is from France while Angela is a hongkonger whom is leaving Singapore for good to Australia. After our play, we walked to mbs and had our late meal at satay by the bay. 

I have met up with many of my important friends this week and gained a few kilos.

Week ended 25/1

19.1 Went to ViOS after work and follow up with a trade the day after.

23.1 Had dinner with Tina and his boyfriend. They are both doctors and were both very humble. We shared about our life in Singapore and they shared theirs as a couple in hongkong and UK. We met in Marche Somerset and they liked the place very much. They were very surprise to see me speak fluent Cantonese also.  It was very fruitful to understand more about life in Hong Kong. They were asking jenny to go back Hong Kong.

Tina is doing her PHD in Cambridge in Medicine and is fully sponsored by Hong Kong while her boyfriend is pratising in Hong Kong. Tina is planning to go back to HK immediately after she got her PHD in medicine.

25.1 Catch up meal with my KK friends in crystal jade palace at Taka. The receptionist missed out my booking, I negotiated with her politely and was given a huge room immediately. We were planning for another gathering after cny. Looking forward to it.

Plan and booked my trip in Perth with caren and also jenny. The accommodation there is very expensive. Decided to squeeze one night with my parents at Caren's place. Thanks to caren for offering a place for us to stay. I guess I saved up a lot of money there.

I am going to start my night shift soon.

Mr Tea and my weekly wrap up.

I met an interesting person at work recently. He is Mr tea. He is my colleague in my company and is working in singapore construction industry for almost 7 years.

He is a knowledgeable person with the industry and is rather smart in his field. He did research from top to bottom and also side way.  He collect all the information from mom, linked in, gebiz, ies, developer,  bca, lta before he secure a job or even to apply for an interview. This guy is very familiar with his work and planning for his future. 

He showed me his cpf account around 100k and some of his bonus he has received from his previous employer for a hdb project. 

He also brought me to singapore pool and bought my first soccer betting in singapore. Although I am not a big fan of betting but I guess it is important to keep a topic with him. Some more I get to enjoy a good meal for my lunch in mbs.

As for my week, it was a long one. I have been working from 8 am to 9pm on a daily basis as I am handling my first task on site. Even on my Saturday. 

After work around 9pm, i get jenny to dress up and join me at marina bay station.  We then walked to mbfc and went up to level 33 for a quick drink and some light bite to catch up for the week. It has been a tough week for us as I have been working late everyday.

On Sunday morning, woke up and did my laundry and ironing. I then prepared some light breakfast before we left our place for dimsum with yuyen at East ocean. The companion was good and it was almost 6 months since we last catch up in bugis thai food.

There were some interesting topic brought up to the table, work, proposal, getting married, having a child and things like that.

We chatted for about 3 hours before we then left the place to shop around in orchard, attend a Japanese property seminar in Carlton hotel and world press photo exhibition at raffles hotel.

We then had some snack in MOS burger at city hall for share and then went back to novena for a proper meal.

After our meal, we went back home and swam in our small pool for about 30 mins before we call it a day.

It was a tiring yet interesting week.

Hopefully next week will be less demanding. 

2014 review

Just to wrap up my 2014. 

Extracted my depacted wisdom tooth

Travelled to a few places: Japan,US,Melacca,Penang,Bangkok, Hong Kong x2,kk x3.

Attended a few property seminar.

Invested properties in overseas.

Changed job. 

Joined gym personal trainer. I believe investing in experience and knowledge.

Moved in together with jenny.

Set long term goal and vision with Miss J.  😊

Brought jenny back to kk.

Maintained a close relationship with my parents and brother. Went back 3 times for a year and called them more often on a weekly basis. 

Assisted in my parents business.  Set up an website.

Assisted my brother into stock market.

Planned and booked a trip for my family to Australia. 

Hit my target return around November. It was a good year for my investment.  However not because of my skill but because it was a bull market. Still got a lot to learn in the future. 

Jenny and I tackled some challenging issues this year.  Raffles incident, property research, investment, travel planning,  goal setting and execution. 

Xmas 2014

Miss J left singapore for hong kong on Christmas eve morning and I went to a full day work that day.
After work,  I then went to bernard's  place. I met a few new friends karmen (whom is a guy),  su may  and shinq lei. They are friends' of Bernard Hu.

After saying hellos in his condo. We then went up to the attic where the bbq  pit is.

Karmen started the fire and we then started to chill and wind down. Had a few cans of beer which Bernard bought for us

After a while,  we got anthony and ccy over followed by jianyang  and ken. By then our xmas dinner becomes a full fledge engineering gathering.

It was indeed an awesome night. We went back home about 2 am in the morning.

Although I will be spending me-time on Christmas day but I am very grateful with what I had for my Christmas in 2014.

Merry Christmas everyone.

Short kk trip

I went back kk for a short break and also a quick catch up with my family. Managed to do a few things before leaving kk.

■check the wedding venue
■reopen my may bank account and Internet banking
■fix my wisdom tooth
■update my passport
■have dinners with families
■to bring jenny around kk city,  kundasang, properties and also island in.
■to introduce my childhood playgrounds to jenny.

There are a few things to take note in this trip.

Pre plan my trip and allow buffer in between.
Book in advance for all the major activities.
Bring bugs repellent and sun block while in sabah.
People are happy when they receive presents.
Sometimes even our closest family may overlooked our needs or feelings. Communicate consistently with them.
Focus on our goal and be result orientated. No excuses,  when shit happens, people will find thousands of excuses to get their self out. We are here to make it happen.
Family issues are not as straight forward. We must be clear with our path and where family direction is heading.look 5 years in advance.  In the event that the direction is incorrect. Highlight immediately.
If you are running out of time to deliver good result, please ensure the stakeholders are aware of these. Delivering poor result due to poor time management will not be tolerated. People will perceive you as a person with no qualities.

Changing Job-a major transition. December Goals

Just a quick wrap up with my November from my To do list on November. 

  

1. Health
1. Due to Miss J Skin Irritation, we swim less in our pool. We went to Zumba on Sunday, training session on weekdays. We also mentioned to have all our gym session on weekdays, so that we got more time for ourselves on weekends.
2. We cook more often at home, and eat out less often nowadays. We only eat out when there is a social event or friends from far here. 
3. Went for a badminton session organised by CCY.
4. I need to cut down my protein intake. 

2. Myself
1. Decided to proceed with my PR application. 
2. I tendered my resignation letter in Boustead Project, this will mark an end in my 3 years work in Boustead Projects. It is a great company to work with, especially we got good bosses. 
3. I will be starting my new job with a Japanese Company Tai Sei around 15/12/2014. Start looking forward to it. 
4. We settled our 5 years plan. There are some key details to be listed down and to hang on it.
5. We also need to work on the timeline of getting married and also having kids
6. Book of the Month- Jim Rogers- Street smarts. 
3. Finance/Investment

1. To start monitor properties in Mandaluyong, rental market, bank loans, interest rates and tenures. Miss J will be flying over to Philippines mid-December to see some of the places in Mandaluyong Philippines. At least to get a feel of the area, and who we will be renting to.
2. To start monitoring oil related companies, due to huge drop in oil prices
3. To start monitoring properties in Southbank, Melbourne Australia. Low capital gain, but consistent rental yield. 
4. I have met a relationship manager in Standard Chartered who stayed in Southbank when she was studying in Melbourne. I had a long chat with her about the places and how she thinks about the place. She mentioned that people prefer to live further away from school/university as a place in Southbank is a just nice distance away from Melbourne University.
3. Career

1. Spend 5 minutes to write down to a do list for every day, and priorities them. 
2. I am changing job for better prospect 
4. Relationship

1. Wedding plan
1. Prepare a budget sheet for wedding by end of 2014
2. Work out the timing also. 
3. Planning for a ceremony in Hong Kong. 
4. Constantly discuss with Jenny about the wedding ceremony in Hong Kong.
5. Family

1. To discuss more about moving to somewhere else. So far we got Singapore and Australia on the list. I guess we have already make up our mind to go Australia already. :) 
2. We also discussed about property investment together and also how the business will be handed over soon. 
3. Planning for another trip back to KK to bond with my family and do catch up with some of the outstanding items in KK. I have already drafted a long list to settle before I start my long hours work with a Japanese company on 15/12/2014. 
6. Business

1. To search for Dell laptop at around $249 by end of October. Postponed to end of 2014, as a Christmas Present
2. Went for a meet up session with Anthony and also Bernard Hu
7. Travel

1. I have got parents air-ticket sorted out. This coming New year, we will be going to Perth. As this will be a direct flight from Kota Kinabalu and will be easier for them.
2. We have also started a travel fund together. So both of us will be contributing to the travel fund together. 

Lazy Sunday

Waking up at 9am ++ on a Sunday raining morning. It looks really gloomy and a comfy day just to sleep in and do nothing.

However, dragging ourselves up, we did some of our chores, laundry, housekeeping and making ourselves some tea. After our tea time in the morning, we then went to Zumba together in Novena Square which we have been pumping the number of sessions we go per week lately. I guess because the festive season is coming and probably we will be attending more social events.

The Zumba session is very popular and is always filled with people. It was rather intense and also enjoyable. Although sometimes I get splashed by sweat from the person next to me.  After our Zumba session, we then bought some 4 basket of dim sum from Kopitiam, my all time favourite are cheong fan and lo ma kai.  After that we went to shop around in NTUC to buy our weekly grocery as we are cooking quite often recently.

At home, we then prepared our lunch, heat up some of the dim sum again made some tea and had some tea. We also started to watch UK apprentice, this is to learn the culture in a business world. To learn some of the strategy and also knowledge to manage a whole team and how to excel in our career. At least to learn from others' mistakes.

After our lunch, I then proceed with my reading session while Miss J is working on her work for the rest of the afternoon.

At night, we prepared our own meal, watch another episode of apprentice, prepared our breakfast for Monday and retire to our bed around 11pm.

I can foresee that this will be our lifestyle for the coming future as my work week will be longer in the future soon and Sunday will be a day for me to rejuvenate from a week of fatigue.

Usual updates

As there is no fix structure on how to write my blog, I will do it chronologically to record events and things happened for the past two weeks.

10/11/2014- Had a job interview with a company at Marina,

12/11/2014- Bing is in Singapore, I met them in P&C for a round of drinks together with Shannon and also his GF Zoey. I had some fries and two rounds of Erdinger to celebrate our time together. Shannon footed the bill. I then also meet candy wong and also his larry look alike boyfriend called Jerry. Lisa also joined the meal together with Teo. As usual, we discussed about marriage and kids and things that we are working on it.
We had a meal at city hall Ramen. After our meal, we then went back to P&C for their cheap Erdinger. Time well spent.

14/11/2014- We went to meet Mr Simon, the General Manager of Raffles hotels to further discuss a few outstanding issues with them which I would not like to post it here. How they managed to negotiate with us is an eye opening event. How every single details Mr Simon had plan even before the discussion starts. He waited for us in the lobby at 7pm together with his assistant Mr Christian. He then greeted us with a firm handshake in his jacket and shinning shoes. It really shows how professional he is. After greeting us, he brought us to a lobby cafe. We sat next to a piano with serene settings and pianist playing some relaxing tunes. He also offered us a variety of international teas and coffee which comes with Mediterranean small bites. We were treated like a VIP guest. After our negotiation, he then told us that he will reply with his offer on 21/11/2014 as he will be going to a business trip. He left the table and insisted us to finish our complimentary meal. 

16/11/2014- Wake up early in the morning, had a light breakfast at home before our meal together at sheraton tower hotel dim sum with Kenny, Angela and her parents. Sheraton Tower Hotel is now my favourite restaurant for dim sum. It was a great gathering with all of them over good food and great service. Time flies, My Aunty Josephine from Sabah is here for a weekend. I went to meet her at Sentosa island together with my another Aunty whom is staying and working in Singapore. Together we had a meal in Vivo city. I brought Miss J to meet them also, I can see my aunty likes Miss J quite a lot. After our meal, we had a quick stroll from somerset to orchard road and we then retire to our own place around 10pm. 

17/11/2014- Went for a talk with Chai ann and also JY in City hall about Japanese Economy. As usual, the best thing about the free talk is to meet friends with similar interest and it somehow bond us together closer on the horizon. After our talk, we went for a quick catch up session at P&C nearby Raffles tower. 

18/11/2014- Had severe stomach ache due to some of the food I had at site. Rest at home for half a day, did my laundry and catch up with myself. Couldn't join the dinner session with Kevin Gu from Australia

19/11/201- Had home made dinner with Miss J at home

20/11/2014- Went for a KK gathering at EN Grill. The food was bad, location is nowhere, service was terrible. The best thing about the place is still the companionship. 

21/11/2014- Initially planned a zumba session at night with Miss J. However, due to my work on early Saturday, I need to reach home before 10pm. Therefore, after our meal at a Japanese restaurant we went back home. 

Mr Simon from Raffles replied with a reasonable offer. It seems that we will be accepting it. Thanks to Suzie for helping us this round. Without her effort, sending emails to the hotel manager after midnight. 

Looking forward for another week ahead. 

JY Birthday, Tea time with Kenny and Suzie's Advice

On Friday night, we went to Tony Roma's in Somerset 313 for dinner, we ordered a ribs and another plate of pasta probably to share, Couldn't remember the second dish. After our meal, we then went on for a walk from Somerset to Orchard. Along the orchard road, Christmas decoration has started blooming and lighten up the area. It seems Christmas started earlier this year, to attract more tourists to Singapore and also to boost sales for shop owners. Walking along the street somehow feels like Christmas already. 

On Saturday Morning, we had breakfast at home, after our light breakfast, I followed Jenny to another Dermatologist in Mount Elizabeth called Dr Oon. We waited for about an hour before until our turn. As Jenny is turning hungry, I went to buy some breads from Bread Talk opposite Mount Elizabeth while Jenny is waiting in the clinic. While Dr Oon, is diagnosing her skin conditions,he explained to Jenny about the cause of this skin irritations, history of bed bugs in Singapore and he also shared about other patients with bed bugs infections. 

He prescribed some medicines and wrote a memo for us. Surprisingly, the simple memo which took him about 2 minutes and a deep breath cost us $50 which I think is a complete rip off. However, feeling helpless, we have no choice but to pay him accordingly as he is well known in his field and had 39 years of experience with skin conditions. 

After our diagnosis, we then went for a light meal in Crystal Jade Gold in Paragon. Had 5 basket of dim sum and we then went to buy gifts for Jian Yang's birthday. We chose a French Press from Bodrum for him as he likes coffee. I am responsible to get a birthday cake for him too, I saw this long queue for a Japanese Bakery Chef in Isetan Shaw House, we joined the queue and bought a small cheese cake from them. The name of the bakery is called Chateraise. The price is reasonable and the cheese cake is rich and creamy. Worth all the wait.

After getting our cake, we got a text from JY saying that he will be going to Buono Vista slightly earlier than the time we set. Without any delay, we then left city centre and headed to Buono Vista to check the dinner place and also to meet up with JY. Upon reaching Buono Vista, we found that the restaurant is in NTU alumni club which is located on top of a small hill opposite the MRT station. Despite feeling strange, we continued our walk to the Alumni Club and eventually couldn't find the restaurant. We called the restaurant to confirm our search and also the location of the restaurant. Upon reaching the restaurant, on the 8th floor, the place is filled will families in T-shirts and Slippers and kids playing wii. Without a second thoughts, I called CCY and changed the venue of JY birthday celebration. 

We then walked back to Star vista and CA suggested morganfield's in star vista. I asked Jenny to bring the cake to the restaurant and secure a place while I will be greeting JY in ground floor to tour him around to buy time for the rest of us to reach. I guess for this part, I will need more practice. I somehow couldn't smoke JY smoothly. 

The meal went smoothly and it was a night filled with a lot of laughter. It was great to see that we all enjoyed our night together as a group.After the birthday celebration, we went back home and called it a night.

On Sunday morning, as usual we had breakfast at home, and went to Zumba in California Fitness. It has been a while since our last visit to California Fitness. After our Zumba, we went for grocery shopping, and bought some dimsum from Kopitiam. I called back home to mum to catch up with my mum and also with my Aunt as she will be stopping by Singapore this coming Sunday. I am planning for a dinner or a meal with her together and another of my Aunt here in Singapore. She will be staying in Sentosa Island and will be going to USS. So I will catch her around that time on Sunday.

After our Zumba session, went back home for a quick meal and prepare ourselves for tea time with Kenny. Kenny brought me to Hilton Singapore for their famous Cheese cake. He recommended me a cheaper agent and also told me about how to settle in Australia. We also discussed about our work life and he shared some of his life experience to me.

After my tea time with Kenny, I then meet Suzie, as she is helping out us on the case with Raffles Hotel. I am so grateful to have her going through with us throughout the entire chaos. She stands out and offered her help to us without any hesitate. Good thing about bad time is that we can see who are willing to stand out to offer us assistance. Without her help, we will simply been ignored by Raffles Hotel management.

She also told us that she and her husband are not PR as they don't want their child to go through army in Singapore. However, they cannot afford to have their children to an international school as the fees cost about 20k per year. So they will probably move back to UK before her eldest son turn 7.  She told me that, the moment she got children, all her savings and long term plans are gone. Everything are for her kids now.

In return for her help and also her kindness, Jenny and I offered to take care of their children once in a while as we are now working in West which is very near to her place in Clementi.

We ended our Sunday with some grocery shopping in Novena Square NTUC and also a simple meal by Jenny at home.

November Goals/To do list

Hello November

November is a month, where I will be socializing with my friends, family and stuff. I am posted in a project where is rather far away from town which is at the west part of Singapore. From now onward, travelling time from my home to workplace will take about 1.5 hours one way. So I will be spending about 3 hours a day travelling. Including Saturdays. Having said, I am lucky to say that this project will only last for 6 months only. 

Good thing about long travelling time to work is that, I get to wake up very earlier, and have ted talks on my podcast for the entire journey. Thank you technology. It is as good as reading a book as ideas are shared and could linked me up with people who watches tedtalk also. 

From my previous post, there are a few things had happened in October, it was a month where I had made a few major decisions in my life. I have clarified why I did things and now is back to the how to do it part. Basically, by setting goals and have vision are probably the most important part. However, having the discipline to execute it is another story. So for now I will slowly line up things that I need to follow up closely below: 

1. Health
1. Made healthy breakfast and lunch. Thanks to chai ann for introducing bircher muesli and getting all the ingredients for me from NTUC after our badminton last week. 
2. Stick to my swimming session at least twice a week

2. Myself
1. Apply driving license by end of October 2014. Convert my driving license. Postponed to End of 2014. We need to reconsider of moving to where in the near future. Should I still proceed with PR? 
2. Will work out with Miss J about our 5 year plan. Why we want to move to Australia, how to move and when we would have to move? We have to come out with a timeline. 
3. We also need to work on the timeline of getting married and also having kids
4. To read at least one book a month
1. Book of the month of October- Currency war by Jim Rickards
3. Finance/Investment
1. I have written off US property as it is too far for us to manage. 
2. From today onward, I will do more research into properties in Australia. How to make it to my advantages
3. To check on videos about investment banking, trader, proprietary trading and life as a trader.
4. Career
1. Write down to do list for everyday, and priorities them. 
2. Ask how can I help you.
5. Relationship
1. Wedding plan
1. Prepare a budget sheet for wedding by end of 2014
2. Work out the timing also. 
3. Planning for a ceremony in HK
4. Constantly discuss with Jenny about the wedding ceremony in Hong Kong.
6. Family
1. To discuss more about moving to somewhere else. So far we got Singapore and Australia on the list. I guess we have already make up our mind to go Australia already. :) 
2. We also discussed about property investment together and also how the business will be handed over soon. 
7. Business
1. To search for Dell laptop at around $249 by end of October. Postponed to end of 2014, as a Christmas Present
2. To check into digital nomad, watch videos about their lifestyle and prepare myself to work on the web or from home. 
8. Travel
1. Will have to plan for Jenny's birthday trip for 2015 by October 2014. Delayed

October 2014 review

As usual, time flies as fast as I blinked my eyes.Can't believe October 2014 has ended and now I have to move into November 2014. 

Key miles stone for October 2014:

1. Finally I have got my Singpass settled
2. We went to Bangkok friends and learned life lessons. This is my first proper bangkok trip, the last time was just a short transit to Chiangmai. Although I managed to enjoy myself during the trip, but it is definitely a transformation trip as I took up the duty as a finance controller during the entire trip. I guess I have got another blog post for this so i would not go into too details here. Overall, communication and thinking ahead is definitely key skills to managed a travel group. 
3. Attended Victor's meeting in Kota Kinabalu. That is where I managed to catch up with some my school mates. Meeting up with some old mates, catching up with some of the friends. We got about three tables during the wedding dinner and we were drinking wine like there is no tomorrow with Larry, Ah Seng, Jonathan and others. Generally I am so glad Victor got married. 
4. Went back home Kota Kinabalu and catch up with my family. Timing was a bit off as everyone are busy with their own thing, and they forgot the day I was flying back home. Felt a bit emotional in the first place, and saying my heard how can you guys forgot my arrival date. Sometimes, even the closest people around you would have overlooked the timing. However, I do enjoy my time back home.
5. I also managed to visit 4 properties in KK and found that they are way overpriced for short moment.  
6. I discussed with my parents about my life plan and also my marriage. They seems to have not much critical comments and are happy to go along with my decisions. I still remember vividly how my mum proposed to go for travel wedding. I got one modern mum. 
7. Started my personal training with Domz for about a month already.
8. Went to CCY and also Chai Ann's birthday party in Orchard Central. We had tapas and suckling pig. Thanks to serene for booking the place and the suckling pig. I also managed to met a few new friends in the birthday party. Glad to be able to meet all our friends in Singapore. 
9. I went to a Jewellery festival with Angela, she introduced me a guy called Matthew Leung from continental diamond. He can offer me a good price and would likely to deal with him. Thanks for Angela for helping this part out, with the wedding planning and things to consider and think about it before the execution. I definitely don't want to overspend for my wedding ceremony at the end of the day. 
10. Miss J and I went to a private launch of Australia 108, an iconic property in Melbourne. Price and payment schedules are both attractives
11. I went for a consultation with Madelyn, a migration agent from AIMS Singapore. The total cost for getting an Australia PR is about SGD 12k and one year. The critical path for me now are IELTS 7 and also 3 years experience. 
12. Read through thousands of articles about Melbourne
13. Started to listen to Ted podcast and also UK English. 

Glad to have drafted this blog post within 30 minutes with the help of my planner and also my calendar. 

Looking forward for my work intensive November and also December as my work project is going to peak. 

Hectic short weekend

Last weekend was a short one, ended my work at around 5pm Saturday, had some issues with my site and had to coordinate people around.

Miss J did some home cooking although she had some problems with her arms as she somehow had infections with her joints.We had soup and macaroni for that night.

Sunday Morning, we had breakfast at home, cereals, milk and Eggs. We then went to a Australia property seminar in key point which we were invited by Victor.

This time is about a property in Melbourne called Australia 108. As usual, we spent about 5 hours there and went off around 3pm. We learned about australia taxes, negative gearing and how to invest with other people's money. It is amazing to see a huge crowd of property agents attended the seminar as well.

I then went to Takashimaya to meet up with Angela and Kenny, as she recommended me a jeweller from Hong Kong which could get me a better stones. On the spot, we managed to get around 5% cheaper than those local jeweller could do.

I am so glad to be able to meet up with a well known Jeweller from Hong Kong and could do a proper discount for me.

After that, we went off for a short hong kong style tea break in Imperial Treasure Nan Bei Restaurant. I shared a meal with Jenny for about 16.80. We had French Toast, pork fried rice.

After the high tea in Imperial Treasure, we went to walk around orchard to look for some bargains, we parted with Angela and Kenny, and we tend walk towards somerset to check the new ice cream parlour, Honey Creme next to the taxi stand in  313 Somerset.
We didn't buy the ice cream The queue was too long and we gave up after waiting for about 15minutes.

We went to another place for ice cream in orchard central and after our meal there, we went straight to home. Upon reaching home, we had a swim, volleyball session and some light reading before heading to sleep.

It was indeed a short weekend.

DEBRIEF-Quick trip back home 17/10-19/10/2014

it is the time of the year again where I will be able to go home. Kota Kinabalu. The best place on earth. Although it seems that a two nights and two days trip seems to be too short for list which I need to accomplished by end of the trip. 

• To attend Victor wedding
•  Met up with some of my secondary school mates
• To discuss with my parents about my own wedding plan
• My parents will further discussed among themselves and let me know the outcome.
• My mum told me about travel wedding, and I was rather shock to hear that. 
• Been visualizing how my wedding would be during my trip back to Sabah. 
• Family catch up and updates
• it has been good to spent a few nights with my family and catch up. 
• There are some critical issues which we need to deal with immediately. 
• My aunty is coming to Singapore in November 2014. Will be catching up with here again when she is around. 
• To check Malaysia properties
• We went to check 4 properties. two in api api centre which were rather disappointing and two in university condominium near one Borneo. 
• As long as we can cover the repayment to bank, create positive cashflow it should be alright.
• Credit card payment to collect points
• There are several payments which we could use credit card to pay to collect points and travel into asia miles or krisflyer.

Personal Checklist 20141013

1. Health
1. Diet
2. Myself
1. Apply driving license by end of October 2014. Convert my driving license.
2. To read at least one book a month
1. Book of the month of October- Cashflow Quadrant by Robert. Kiyosaki
3. Finance/Investment
1. Property investment in US. Check three areas mentioned in the magazine. I checked with the property agent about financing. 
2. To check on videos about investment banking, trader, proprietary trading and life as a trader.
4. Career
1. Write down to do list for everyday, and priorities them. 
5. Relationship
1. Wedding plan
1. Prepare a budget sheet for wedding by end of 2014
6. Family
1. To discuss more about moving to somewhere else. So far we got Singapore and Australia on the list. 
2. We also discussed about property investment together and also how the business will be handed over soon. 
7. Business
1. To search for Dell laptop at around $249 by end of October
2. To check into digital nomad, watch videos about their lifestyle and prepare myself to work on the web or from home. 
8. Travel
1. Will have to plan for Jenny's birthday trip for 2015 by October 2014

People are dreaming after a long holiday

We just got back from our long weekend in Thailand, after our one day work, we decided to have a meal together at a Japanese Restaurant in Novena to catch up with each other. We ordered the following:

• Shoyu Ramen, 
• Karaage, 
• Hot pot rice 
• Additional eggs. 

We then got

• Chasu Ramen (which is 3 dollar extra)
• Karaage
• Gyoza 
• Additional Eggs

I know it is just a small issue, but getting 50 % of the order wrong shows that our waitress is dreaming and writing what she wants to eat instead what the customer ordered. 

After our meal, went back home, cleared some of our stuff at home and went to Gym which I have made an appointment with my trainer last week. Upon arrival, he told me he got another client and could not train with me for that night...... 

I guess after a long weekend, people would just go haywire. 

Bangkok Trip 3/10-6/10/2014

There are a few life lessons learned during this trip, and would like to pen it down

1. 30 Baht lesson- It is less than SGD 2.00 and RM 5.00 but because I was managing the money for the entire group and I received the change back from cashier after paying meals without noticing how much I have been returned. When one of my friends asked me about the bills I somehow couldn't answer them.
1.  Lesson learned: Make sure to check the bills with everybody, especially when the bills are written in a different language. 
2. Check the change given back to me and remember how much we have paid the cashier. I am not just a pocket, I am more than a pocket and I need to be vigilant and sensitive with numbers. 
3. People always remember how they felt, as a finance officer for the trip, I need to know and ask for funds when the our fund is insufficient. Instead of not having any sufficient money when I reach the point of paying the bills. It makes people feel embarrassed. 
4. I need to understand my roles (finance officer) and communicate clearly with all my team members during the trip.
2. I dislike to take advantage of others, be thoughtful and I don't like others to take advantages of me.
3. it is not about how much money we earn, it is about the mindset/habit and culture. 
1. Despite they all earn a lot more than I do, but they just don't spend money on unnecessary stuff. 
4. Don't let people to make a fool of you.
1. Clever people they use their mouth and brain, while for those less clever ones, they use actions. 
5. Ask for confirmation and make everyone agree with the schedule and cost.
1. Think the right question and be loud enough is very important. This is to synchronize people's thoughts. 
6. Showing the waiting place to all our travel mates is crucial
1. People may get confused with the location to wait especially when we are all in a new place
7. Learn how to ask critical question to nail the facts
8. Understand a person preference/habit
1. One of my travel mates couldn't decide whether to eat or not to eat until she sees the condition of the meal. 
2. Some couples would have thousands of reasons when they are late
9. We also discussed about friend selection and how it would assist us in our future. we have to target people on the higher floors and learn from their experience. They are there for a reasons and they can guide me there. There are a few criteria to look into when it comes to choosing a friends. Being kind-heart, generous, traveled a lot, keen to share, considerate and loving. 

A long weekend with Miss J post world Trip

It was a weekend after Miss J 2 and half months long world trip. She traveled to Bali, Hong Kong, Singapore, America, Canada, China, Singapore and Australia.

So it is a good time for me to catch up with her for a weekend. Spent almost 6 solid hours looking into a property in Australia with a Australia based company called central equity called Australis. This is not the first time I spent my time there as a potential buyer and would like to look into more opportunities to do more about

I would like to take note all the thoughts that went through us ( Jenny and I) yesterday and we came out with some conclusions

• How much can we afford? 
• Where are we looking at now? Singapore, Malaysia or Australia
• Why do we want to buy one in Australia? For education? Migration or for future

We went to a seminar together about property in Melbourne which is called australis, two bedroom in little lonsdale road in Melbourne which is very near to main train station in Melbourne. The property is about AUD509K and we booked it o

So basically, I had a long chat with my mum about this purchase, and she told me to hold it first before putting my money in Melbourne. It is good to catch up with my mum and also discussed with her about my future plans. I don't want to be a Mama boy but I would like to hear from my parents about my plans.

I spoken with my mum for hours and we discussed a few points about buying property in Melbourne

• High tax in Australia property zone 1
• Generate little cash flow
• People move there to Melbourne for their children's education
• I am not married yet

We will be monitoring a few properties nowadays and work towards it as Miss J like Melbourne a lot. I guess settling down in Singapore seems to not a good one for Miss J. 

Personal Mission Statement

The following points are my personal mission statement for my life from today on wards. These mission statements are to make myself working towards someone I wanted to be in the long run. 

• I will be loving and proactive in building and maintaining my relationships with family and friends. 

• I will always act with integrity and never compromise with honesty, so that it may be said that I am a person who stands for what is just and right. 

• I will look after my health by regularly exercising and eating well. 

• I will treat money as my servant, not as my master. I will seek financial independence over time. My wants will be subject to my needs and means. I will spend less than I earn and regularly save and invest part of my income.

• When times are tough, I will remember there are still countless reasons I have to be thankful. As such, I will give something back to the community, via donation and volunteering, so that those less fortunate receive a helping hand.

Typical work day schedule

0500-0545- Wake up and get ready.

0545-0745- Commute/Read/Email/Text

0745-0830- Breakfast/Strategy (Setting goals, plan for the day/week/month/year)

0830-1000- Work on the most brain consuming task

1000-1200- Meeting/Site walk

1200-1300- Lunch

1300-1500- Meeting and team work

1500-1700- Personal tasks and project

1700-1830- Commute back to Novena

1830-2000- Personal time/dinner

2000-2200- Work on personal project and strategy

2200-2230- Personal development

2230-0500- Sleep

Trip Planning

Pre trip

• Planning and budgeting
• Check air ticket via sky scanner
• Check airbnb for accommodation, or bookings for hotel.
• Check credit card points and air miles
• Plan all activities by creating a spread sheet to capture all the expenses and places to see and things to do. 
• Check youtube video for the places and things to do. ( there are so many vlog nowadays)
• Visa requirement- Check with the embassy
• Leave Application- which is critical 
• Travel insurance- Check if is applicable
• Check passport expiry date
• Power adapter

Pre Flight

• Packing for the trip- http://www.tripresource.com/beforeyougo.htm
• Prepare extra luggage/clothes
• Book transportation to Airport
• Print all confirmation for flight ticket, hotel accommodation
• Map to be printed out
• Download Ulmon, Navigation and Google Map
• Download Trip Advisor city guide
• Download itinerary
• Make sure all address of POI are saved in google map or navigation

During Trip

• Ensure all devices are charged
• Petty cash 

Post Trip

• Photo to be compiled
• Write a journal of what we have learned and seen
• Check our budget and compile the itinerary. 

Personal Trainer at California Fitness at a bargain

After my trip from US, I gained a few kilos and decided to engage a personal trainer to assist me to boost my ever low metabolism rate.

 I managed to get a SGD90++/hour personal trainer at SGD70++ /hour.

On top of that, with my negotiation skills I have learned in the past, I also managed to get one free lesson.

Although this course is expensive, but I hope with proper guidance and training, this would become a lifelong education for me for my health. It will be parked under self improvement and better living cost in my budget.

After a brief analysis of my body conditions, my PT explained to me that I need to improve my metabolism rate which is currently at around 1600++. This is way below the normal men should have and is contributing to my weight gain recently after stop working out for a while.

I will have twice a week training for the coming four months. First 2 months will be body conditioning, meaning to prepare my muscle for the fat burning which will be in the second phase of the training.

My ultimate goal:

1. To burn away 16kg of fats
2. Body fat at around 12%
3. Metabolism rate to reach 2300
4. Lose 10kg of water
5. Hip-waist ratio of 0.86