31.10.14

My company organised an annual walking charity event last Friday where I almost participated every year. It was a 5KM walk around town in the early morning at 8am where most of the folks are still scrambling to work. The walk was nice and peaceful, with breezy fresh air around especially when we pass through parks like Fort Canning Parks. However, we didn't pass through Marina Bay Sands and the stretch of Singapore riverside that much this year compared to previous years. Watching the early sun from MBS and the rivermouth was quite a nice experience. Ok, I let the photos do the talking.



Up and below - The Singapore Museum

An old but beautiful  Church at Canning Rise Road.

Singapore Red Cross HQ

Wesley Methodist Church, Singapore

A building near Canning Rise ...can't remember the name ... hahaha

The building for NAS

The heart of the city's Bomba ... 

The place where new couples are created (ROM) and a beautiful park - Fort Canning Park

A glimpse of  the morning city 

More pics ..the traffic is so free

 The junction near Boar Quay

A scene at Clark Quay

Bumble boats lining up at boat quay...not opened yet for business

Another quiet view of the city 

The Ministry of Communications and Information

Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce HQ

The once popular Chijmes , which is being renovated now

And a glimpse of the Singapore Management University at the heart of the city
Basically it was a good 5KM walk last Friday and it did give me some good workout for the day. Have a good weekend.

29.10.14

While I was having my late dinner tonight after my usual workout, I received a sad news via whatsapp from my sister that my favourite aunt has passed away due to illness. She was in her 70s and have been taking care of me since I was a kid. I later message my bro who called my mom to check out on her as she and my aunt are good sisters, and glad my mom is ok and fine.

My aunt, who's Christian faith is like little children, has gone to a better place with the Lord now and she's no longer suffering. I pray that the Lord gave my cousins strength to overcome this difficult period as well as healing for them.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-4 For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance.....


Rest in peace and we shall meet again, 'Tai Yee'.

27.10.14

I always wanted to get education policies for my two kids but due to procrastination, I always seems to delay it until recently where I managed to know one good insurance agent from Kluang. He was introduced by my sis in law where he provided good services to her and friends during their bad times. I did survey some policies in Singapore but didn't really buy it due to the cost and trust of the agent. Anyway, I finally secured two policies for them over the weekend which also includes life insurance, medical card and a savings plan. The policy will due in 15 years where they will start their tertiary education. Well, I thought at least it helps out with their education needs in the future when my income will likely be affected then, as well as stayed protected. There are some other alternatives suggestions from my friends and relatives like investing the sum in some safer trust funds which may yields higher returns but I decided to play safe. 

I found a new kopitiam in Taman Molek on Sunday, which was not that new as I was not aware of its existence but I like their clean and spacious surroundings.


A fried rice for my little princess shared with my wifey

Nasi lemak for my kid

I had a Hailam chicken chop ... their speciality.

And, I must said now, their coffee is the best in JB. Very kao and fragrant.
Have a good week and May the Lord God protect and bless you always!

24.10.14

1. My kid was here in Singapore as he followed his aunt over to stay for a few days. I decided to bring him out shopping yesterday since it was a holiday in Deepavali. It was a nice time spending alone with my kid as all along, we went out in a family together with my wifey and little princess. He had a great time too as there was no restriction for him to buy what he likes. Well, usually the dad is always more generous than the mom...hahaha... I like this precious moment. Brought him for a nice Japanese meal too at Ramen Play , but I didn't take the pixs of the food. Probably, too hungry already during dinner after jalan-jalan the whole day.

2. I have been training for my quarter-marathon but not much progress except a 6KM run on Tuesday and a 4KM run on Sunday. As for the rest of the days, I only ran 3KM on Monday and Thursday which is also due to the air-cond breakdown in my local gym. It was stuffy and I can hardly breathe. Thus, I did a short run after my physical workout.

3. It seems a good week for me as my company converted me position to a permanent one, where I do not need to keep signing contract every 2 or 3 years. It's not easy to get a permanent position nowadays and thank God, I managed to get it. Had a small ceremony where I received my letter from my CEO last Tuesday.

4. I will be doing a a 5KM walk later at 8am for charity, which was organised by my company. This is a yearly event where the company will donate based on the kilometres we have walked where the max is 5KM. I will be enjoying the early nice morning walk in the heart of Singapore, where everybody will be rushing for work.

5. I have finally got a new router (if you referred to my previous post) which runs on the ac standard and supports 5Ghz band.  I managed to get a blazing speed of 100mbs but somehow the signal was not very strong when I am in my room. The signal strength is a bit erratic, somehow. This is considered the cheapest ac router in market from TP-LINK where I got the TP750 model. I may have to pay S$50-S$100 more for better ones. This one costs me S$93.

6. Meanwhile, enjoy a set of my usual bento called Shokaido Wazen after my workout tonight, which consists of tempura, chawanmushi, salmon sashimi, teriyaki chicken and miso soup.


Have a good weekend, folks!

21.10.14

I have been training for the 10KM run lately, either on treadmills and on the roads but mainly on treadmills. I guess I will likely run for 4-5KM initially and then, repeatedly walk and run for the other 5KM while enjoying the sceneries and taking pictures... LOL. However, I noticed one of my legs always felt numb especially the feet and lower calf when I have ran for 30 mins. I was wondering could it due to the knee bands I was wearing which might be too tight. Well,need to do some research. Lina and other runners' blogger - Any advice? :)

I had lots of western food lately where I had one in Hard Rock just few days ago and another one at Swensen. I ordered a Sirloin Steak again which comes with a drink. Their steak is not bad though not the best, but it's good enough for lunch.

A medium well sirloin steak

My colleague have a chilli crab pasta , looks appetising and fragrance!

And, a chicken wing small set to share.

20.10.14

Oh ...I was back in Hard Rock cafe last Thursday for their set lunch in Resort World Sentosa. I always like their lunch set as it came with a nice soup, free-flow drinks, a Haagen Dazz ice-cream as well as the main course, which they have 2 or  3 choices for you to choose. And, my colleague and I were being served by a pretty lass. They always have gorgeous waitresses there.

I chose a vegetable soup over some green leafs salad for appetiser

Free-flow of drinks ... I had Ice lemon tea

My main course - Fish and Chips

And a delicious raspberry ice-cream from Haagen-Dazz
At the same time, I surprise everyone as well as myself for signing for the Standard Chartered Marathon in Singapore, which is to be held in Dec 7. And, great that two of my colleagues joined me but then, one of them is doing the full 42km marathon while my other colleague and I will be doing the mini marathon of 10KM...hehehe... Anyway, don't laugh yet as I usually can run only 5KM, thus, doing double of my 'limit' can considered a feat la... I will try to run 6KM in my trainings. :) It's considered a challenge for me though I always exercise but running long distance is another story.

17.10.14

Well, I upgraded my broadband last Monday and was real busy for the past few evenings, after my workouts. I almost slept at 1am+ every night. I seldom upgrade my broadband package and only did a re-contract each time with cheaper rates. However, at a slow speed of 25mbs and with so many packages out there where some even reaches 1Gbs, I decided to upgrade but still, to the cheapest plan that I can find. It's 100mbs only where compared to my 'speed hungry' friends, its considered quite modest. Anyway, with the new modem cum router device from Starhub, I was only able to hit 10-20mbs on wifi though I managed to get 100mbs by connecting with my notebook via a LAN cable. Thus, I got busy researching on how to improve the speed by checking on the forums and discussing with my friends. I decided to use my three year old router by bypassing the router function in the new device and it seems better, I got 40-50mbs. My old router can support up to 300mbs but still it cannot reached 100mbs. Thus, I learned some tips on fine tuning the speed of the router by downloading an app to analyse the busy channels that my router was running on and then I chose a less crowded channel. It slightly improved the speed but still not good enough. Thus, I guess the best option is to get a new speedier router but before I did that, my kind colleague decided to lend me his 1 year old spare router to try it out. I can buy from him at a half price if its works fine.

Meanwhile, after a long workout tonight, I decided to have a warm Sapporo Miso Tonkotsu Ramen.It's been a while since I had it and it's so nice to eat it again.


Have a good weekend, folks!!

15.10.14

Finally I can eat with the other side of my mouth where the extraction took place last Saturday, though I tried to be careful and grind the food slowly. Thanks for all the well wishes in my previous post as well as sharing your stories on toothaches and fear of dentists. Its indeed therapeutic ! In fact, I noticed I have lost 1.5kg in three days, probably due to the light diet like porridge as well as simple diet like the below. My family and  I was at Teck Sing Restaurant in JB which is famous for their herbal chicken or known locally as 'paper wrap chicken' with the locals. The chicken meat was soft since it was steamed with herbs and it really absorbed all the fragrances of the herbs, which makes it very delicious. This is a must ordered dish whenever we are there. I was also interested in their curry fish head which a lot of folks ordered but I guess I have to leave that for the next trip.

This restaurant has been in JB for a very long time and also very popular with Singaporeans, as it was just a short drive from the Woodlands CIQ, at Taman Sentosa. It's very difficult to find a parking there too!

The herbal or paper wrap chicken

Other than the chicken, we ordered mostly simple and soft food like the below. It's also good for the children to have something easily digestible.

Long beans cooked with meat

I love their bean sprout...yummy

And this is especially for me - Japanese tofu with mushrooms.
My appetite is back but hope I can maintained the weight that I have lost! LOL...

13.10.14

 I travelled to Seremban to celebrate my father in law's birthday last Saturday during the Hari Raya Haji's long weekend, and it seems a good weekend but a breakfast spoilt everything. I was having a simple breakfast with coffee and bun only but somehow, one of my wisdom tooth seems bit on something hard in the bread. There was no pain yet as I finished my breakfast but that side of the tooth gradually beginning to exhibit some sensitive kind of pain and after a little while, it began to pain. Since we needed to go to Seremban, I got myself some pain killers hoping that it will go away and might be gum problems. However, the pain affected me and I asked my wifey to take over the wheels when we were around Yong Peng.

The toothache started showing its menacing side when I reached Seremban at my in law's place. It got more and more painful and I needed to take two Panadol Actifast to control it. It helps for 2 - 3 hours and it came back. I tried Panadol 650 and its also the same. There were no dentists over the long weekend too. I even woke up in the middle of the night due to the excruciating pain and have to take painkillers in the middle of the night.

Back to JB and I quickly called my dentist and oh man ... he was on leave till Nov. Thus, I gotta go to another clinic which always gave me the shivers somehow.  I guess probably it's due to their ambience or something. Consulted the dentist and it was confirmed it's my wisdom tooth which needed to be extracted. However, the dentist refused to extract yet as the tooth was still painful and instead gave me antibiotics, anti-swollen medications and stronger painkillers. It was a tough three days as I was getting more and more nervous waiting for the procedure on last Saturday. It's been a long while since I had my last extraction and I was really nervous about it. And, well its finally done.

Meanwhile, I discovered a newly open Japanese restaurant at Permas Jaya and decided to try it. I didn't note down the restaurant name.

Ebiko Sushi for my kids

Sake Maki - my favourite sushi. 

Miso Ramen for my wife and little princess

Teriyaki Salmon for my kid

And, Shioyaki salmon bento set for me
The food seems good, and I may visit this restaurant again! And, I have to eat my bento and sushi at one side of my mouth!

9.10.14

Courage is more exhilarating than fear
and in the long run it is easier.
We do not have to become heroes overnight.
Just a step at a time, meeting each thing that comes up,
seeing it is not as dreadful as it appeared,
and discovering we have the strength to stare it down.

Eleanor Roosevelt, 1884 - 1962
First Lady of the United States

I received this email from inspiration peak  which I have subscribed for years. After reading the above text , it immediately motivated me as though as I gone through a 'minute of motivation'. How true, just take one step at a time to overcome whatever problems you may be facing, be it a mountain of pressurizing workload, illness, obstacles and etc. After all, we are not made to multi-tasks... even if we multi-tasks, we still do one task at a time. Something to ponder on..... hahaha .. and hope this quote motivates you too!

Oh yeah, I am back with my favourite Shokado Wazen bento which consist of chawanmushi, sashimi, tempura, teriyaki chicken, miso soup and a hot green tea. What a wonderful bento after a workout. :)


7.10.14

Hope you guys have a good long weekend and well, it's back to work on Tuesday. I am on leave today in order to rest from all the travelling over the weekend but will go back to Singapore tonight. I miss exercise and sweating it out, thus, I am planning to go to the gym later for a short workout and a run.

Well, last Wednesday after a badminton session, I was having dinner with my colleague and we talked about folks who work too hard and never exercise. The stress build up over the years with late nights and munching on unhealthy food were deem too bad for the body. My colleague was also very active in physical exercise and we thought folks who suddenly struck with a disease due to stress and inactiveness, are really not worth it. The company can always replaced the person but the family cannot replace the family member. We make it a point to always make time for exercise though of course, it does not guaranteed we will be disease-free but at least, it's better than no exercise. After all, a doctor once told me physical exercise can help prevent certain old-age diseases. Anyway, this is just our opinion.

Had a company gathering in Swensen and I decided to go for their Sirloin Steak and an ice-cream. 
The steak was delicious, done to my requirements which was medium-well, not so raw and not too cooked. It was just nice and dipping into the black pepper sauce was really good!! I am yearning for another steak now...hahaha... afterall, the piece of meat was not so fat, mostly lean meat.
My Medium-Well Sirloin Steak

Dark Chocolate 'sticky' ice-cream 
The ice-cream was nice too but it's a little bit sweet and after finishing it, I really felt the 'fullness' in my stomach. I guess I should order simple ice-cream next time like three scoops or banana splits. Have a good week and workout, folks!

3.10.14

Oh..I was checking on music on my last post and one of my colleagues introduced me a HD lossless digital audio player called Fiio. It's portable and it played good quality digital music unlike the common mp3 player and format. There was an offer at S$159 and it got my attention! Anyway, I need to consider first as well as needed to convert my songs to high quality lossless formats like WAV. OK, more info here.

I realised some of the readers here love Kitaro too, like Twilight Man and Libby. Well, I am a Kitaro fan and have collected almost all his discography except his first few older albums and as well as those albums that repeats back his numbers which were available in older albums. I have been to two of his concerts so far, one in Genting (2009) and another one in Marina Bay Sands (2011). Whenever I am stress or need some soothing music, I will play The Silk Road, Caravansary, Winds blow over the hill, Heaven and Earth, Nageki and etc. You can get the Kitaro : Digital Box Set, if interested. I always look out for his new release and bought it over the Internet from his record company. Anyway, music is for the soul and it do helps to calm us down or makes us feel good, regardless of which artiste. Of course, not all music are good... if you know what i mean. LOL

Instead of bento, I make some changes to my dinner tonight where I had Yakimeshi (Japanese fried rice), chawanmushi and salmon maki. I always find Japanese fried rice are delicious in whichever Japanese restaurant and I have a craving for maki tonight. Howver, the chef didn't prepare the maki well, probably his knife was not sharp enough. hahaha... Anyway, it's still good.

My favourite chawanmushi and a hot green tea to wind down after a workout

Salmon (sake) maki ... delicious but not very presentable

And my main meal - Yakimeshi
I will be travelling slightly up north during the long weekend, and wishing you folks a happy long weekend and Selamat Hari Raya Haji to the Muslims.

1.10.14

I really missed those days where there were lots of music shops around selling various media like CDs and in the older days, cassettes. I especially missed the 90s and the 2000s where you can find lots of CD shops around. In fact, most of my CDs inside my room were bought during those times. When the mp3 players came aboard, I just convert them into that format and bring my devices around to listen. Lately, I got myself a Jabra bluetooth headset and I started listening to the latest songs too, thanks to the new radio channel in SG, Kiss92. I started to look for mp3 songs to buy over the internet but to my surprise, it's not easy to find. I am not an iOS user, thus I don't have a proper iPhone or iPad to download from iTunes. My apple devices were 'confiscated' by my kids and wifey...hhaha... Google music is not available for purchasing of mp3 songs yet in Malaysia and Singapore. Luckily, I manage to get my Kitaro's music fix via his record company.

I had to resort to listening over streaming sites like Spotify and radio channels, as well as some CDs I got from JB where I converted to MP3 in my local device. And, I am not that brave to download free mp3 from some apps for fear it may contains hidden viruses. Well, maybe I should subscribe to Spotify for now which allows offline listening for premium users. Spotify has a really good collection of songs from regional and international. It cost S$9.99 month for the premium member subscription else we can listen for free in a lower quality stream.

Meanwhile, thanks to SK again, I had a bowl of Shio Ramen, in tonkotsu broth. It was really great and I may go back and have another bowl again. 

Shio Tonkotsu Ramen