2013 has been yet another crazy year, although much better than 2012. A summary of what I have learnt in 2013: –
Patience is a virtue, especially when driving. (Easier said than done.)
If you ask, you shall receive.
Expectation is a bitch. Expect less and you may be happier.
In order to grow yourself you need to grow those around you.
Regrets are meaningless. Instead take them as lessons learnt and make the best of it.
Money is a tool. Use it to buy more experiences, not things.
Stock markets are dominated by computer bots. Be weary. Do not trust reports from trading firms.
It’s never too early to plan your finances. Track income & expenses in detail. Document your net worth monthly.
Healthy food costs more, unfortunately. If you can afford it, eat healthier instead of getting a $60 haircut. I went to QB house for the entire of 2013.
Was having dinner at Qi Ji Tiong Bahru Plaza when a guy found the empty seat beside us and placed his bag to “chop” the seats.
Mind you it was a table for six. Me and wife were seated across each other at one corner, so there was space for four. That guy placed his bag in the middle seat beside wife.
--Me----**----**--
[XXXX][XXXX][XXXX]
-Wife--Bag----**--
One boy came over and asked if the seat was taken, the man said no YES. (Edit: Sorry, he said YES, meaning the seat was taken.)
Then he went to queue for food and came back. Guess what? Yes, he was alone. But the best part was he sat in the following seat labelled as Ass, leaving two empty unoccupied seats across him.
--Me----**----**--
[XXXX][XXXX][XXXX]
-Wife--Bag---Ass--
Then as he started on his laksa, he didn’t like the chilli, so he scooped it and poured it on the table top, leaving the mess behind so the next guy in line had to either wait for somebody to clean the table or avoid the seat.
Mind you this guy was not some old grouchy uncle you may be thinking. He’s a young man, well dressed, well groomed, wearing that few thousand dollar watch Bvlgari watch.
I was tempted to take a photo of him, but I didn’t. Me and wife decided to clear the place and grab a coffee instead.
Had a picnic with wifey, Francis and girlfriend last Saturday morning. I volunteered to prepare egg mayo (just the filling) since Francis would be getting melons, parma ham and bread.
We arrived together at the Botanical Gardens at 9.30AM, found a spot under a tree and started munching away at the delicious food.
Stan who had initially turned down the picnic decided to tag along rather last minute. He called Francis and offered to bring hotdogs.
And this was how he arrived:
Those were the only hotdogs he brought along.
Anyway while we were halfway through our food, some people with dogs jogged past us and Stan’s dogs started barking.
We turned around and saw two beautifully groomed Pomeranians and their gay owners.
Then when Stan’s dogs jumped up and started running towards the two Pomeranians, Stan held the leash back and made a classic statement…
I must say it was the best trip so far. Sydney (New South Wales) was nice, but Melbourne (Victoria) was really such a beautiful place, and I absolutely enjoyed the scenic drive along the Great Ocean Road. I will certainly return again!
Panoramic view from the Three Sisters at Blue MountansBeautiful Beaches
On our way to the Great Ocean Road, we dropped by Pettavel Winery and Restaurant in Geelong for lunch and the food was awesome (so was the wine). We even saw people fly in via Helicopter so it must be really good. I’d highly recommend anybody going past Geelong to have a meal there. A decent meal with a glass of wine averages around S$40-60 per pax.
Fine Dining at Pettavel
The 2010 Holden Commodore SV6 with a 3.6l V6 engine we rented was also extremely fun to drive and handled really well around the winding coastal/mountain roads.
Apollo Bay Motel and Holden SV6
We also took a 10 minute heli ride in a Robinsons 44 which was worth the experience!
12 Apostles taken from the HeliRobinsons 44 landing
And of course there’s no visiting Australia without coming into contact with Seagulls. Here’s a really fat one.
No, I’m not talking about the flight time. I’m talking about the time at which I bought my plane tickets to the time I actually landed in Tokyo. Yes, this is my first trip out of Singapore without much prior planning – the tickets were bought at about 6pm, and the flight was at 11:50pm the very same night. The wife made a very haphazard booking with a hotel and we’re off on an 8 hour flight to Tokyo.
It wasn’t a good idea really, but the wife had an important certification training that got confirmed quite last minute and due to the school holidays, there weren’t any tickets on the weekend. She refuses to travel alone and so the husband must tag along.
I arrived at Tokyo and it was really cold (slighly below 10 degrees C). I had a fugly green winter jacket that I bought seven years ago when I went to China, but it was way too puffy for this weather, so my first stop at Narita International was to grab a decent winter jacket.
Anyway, fastrack a little bit. Most Japanese can’t speak English(some tokyo escorts can), and that’s my biggest problem here. Things are horribly, horribly expensive as well, e.g. no decent meal below S$10 per person. Nothing you can really buy for less than S$5 except canned drinks and MacDonalds’. My Hotel is miserably small for S$170/night. The entire room including the bathroom is actually about the size of my bedroom w/o the bathroom. Oh, and also, almost every non-living thing here talks by itself – lifts, trains, doors, pedestrian crossings, restruants, escalators, stairs… I’m serious! It warns you to mind your step!
This is the most automated and robotic place I’ve seen. Even people keep talking non stop – I mean the retail staff. You go to a counter and pay for something, the moment they greet you, they go on saying things (I cannot understand) until you get your change and they bid you goodbye. But the people are really polite and I do enjoy being around this place as a visitor. Working here is probably another different thing altogether. I’m about to head out of my hotel to take a photo of the peak hour rush on a Monday morning.
Tokyo Subway Map
If you think Singapore’s MRT/LRT is messy, wait till you see Japan’s JR/Bullet Train/Tokyo Subway maps. The map above is just the Tokyo Subway alone. There’s the JR and Bullet Train not shown here. Bullet Train is quite straightforward though, it has only a few stops as it was designed to go long distance really fast.
On the side note, while I was walking down Roppongi with my wife this evening, two crazy angmohs (Caucasians) came up to me and tried to poke fun of me – maybe they were cracking some racist jokes or something. I told them off (in English, of course) that “I’m not a fucking local.” I guess they were a little surprised when I responded that way. These angmohs had better behave in other peoples’ country, seriously. I don’t know what they were thinking poking fun of Japanese in Japan. Somebody should kick their ass.
P.S. How is it possible for a map not to be north bound?!? The Tokyo tourist map is not north bound! I’m having a hard time reading it with my compass!
Sorry folks if I haven’t been responding to your e-mails/wave/chat promptly and haven’t been doing my homework. I’m super tied down this week with work, plus my mum’s sick and I have to be at the Istana tomorrow. The weather isn’t really very helpful since I’ll be under the damn hot sun.
If any of you need to buzz me, the surest and fastest way is via SMS.
And for those who’ve mailed me on project groupings and/or discussions please hang on a bit and I will get back to you ASAP.
