Life Sucks

Call me suaku or what. Finally after so long, went to one of the popular Pasta de Waraku outlet for dinner on Saturday night. Have heard about it, read about it and yet to not set foot in it for so long considering its fame is a big sin in gluttoney! Anyway,I ordered 1 Waruku original Chicken Teriyaki with baked cheese Fettucine, M had the curry rice, Alicia had the set meal that comes with a plate of pasta and a small pizza and Alvin had the best of the whole lot - baked lobster pasta. So how was the food? Actually probably more hype than what it was made out to be. Pretty decent portion, food presentation good, service prompt and attentive and taste.... okay not to bad but not something that I will queue up for or die die must eat. (picture coming up - just as soon as can find them to download from the phone camera) Each dish (single portion) is priced at around $12.80 to $18.80 so I supposed we are paying for the ambience as well. But why must the serving staff keep shouting out...

I am shocked! In my 20 years working in this line, I have never seen a bloodbath of this nature. And the blood continues to be shed. This morning, it looks like finally 2 consecutive days of recovery but by mid afternoon, it had again gone south. I pitied the customers that we have been calling almost daily to top up their margin accounts. The pit is almost like bottomless. Can see the pattern. Initially, asked to top up, they respond immediately and sometime paying more than the required amount. Then as the days go by, and the prices continue to drop and our calling continues, u see them running out of steam and molahs and the tap runs dry. From millionaire to paupers? Unfortunataly I can't give the juicy details here or anywhere but believe me, it's scary and probably will happen to many people soon.  So friends out there - don't buy shares now.   Not even if well meaning friends said this or that counter has hit rock bottom - not unless you can afford to lose it. And mos...

That's not the finishing position of a run but the number of people in the house who are down with gastric flu since last Friday. Not together but one at a time - Friday - Alicia, Sun - Mum and Tue - M. Who's next? Following the pattern  - Thu - ????  Sat - ?????  Hope not!

Touched down in Kota Kinabalu on Friday morning. We made all the bookings of air travel and rooms through the internet so didn't know what we were getting ourselves into. Checked into our hotel in the city, the Le Meridien and realised we had unwittingly booked into a five star hotel. Our room was enormous. Even the bathroom was huge. And we even had sea view and city view. And they stilled wanted us to upgrade. Breakfast was a very tasty tom yum noodle at one of the coffee shop behind the hotel. Although we were staying in the city, there wasn't really much to see or shop. We walked along the waterfront pretty much and went to the fish port, the markets, the handicraft centres and practically all the malls near the hotel. Dinner that night was at Seri Selera, a seafood place where there were a few seafood stalls. We had fresh prawns, squid and noodles. Yummy! Other than that, we didn't know what else was good to eat in KK unlike say Penang which is famous for its CKT, l...

Attended the mother of all funeral. I have participated in many funerals sometime as a kin of the deceased and some time as a friend of the deceased's kins but never one this size. This was a traditional Teochew funeral and on  Monday's night, the size of the 'Kong Ter' altar absolutely blow us all away. It was hugh. At least 3 storey high and the High Priest sat on something akin to a second storey. But of course it has to be big since the deceased was the Life Honorary President of the Seu Teck Sang Tong , a chain of traditional charitable monastery in Singapore and Malaysia and the deceased was known at one time as 'The Richest Teochew in Singapore'. That plus the other Sang Tong as in Boon Teck and Thong Teck also turned up made the sending one a gigantic 'party' to use the words loosely. On Tuesday, at the actual funeral, things were a little bit more modest. No stilt walkers, no  dragons but there was a modern chinese orchestra. Modern as in there ...

Tried this hamburger from a stall in Lau Pa Sat. At $5.00 and above for each burger, it was a tad pricey but they have a quite unique varities of burgers. They have one version that comes with the sticko blue cheese. I tried the Cheese Melt which come with turkey, bacon bits and lots of cheese and it was pretty good. I think this is a chain from the Philipines but I can't remember the name of the stall. Worth giving it a try especially those who like cheese. 

Was at the company's booth at the Motorshow on Sunday evening waiting for the contractor to come in and dismantle. We have a pair of game arcade race machine there and these 2 young ladies from a fellow exhibitor came over to play on the machine. They must have been in their early twenties and quite 'lian'. But what shocked me was the language they were cursing in as they maneourve their way through the course. Not for them the usual 4 letters word or the 'wah lau' type of swearing words. Those are too tame for them. Instead, the Hokkien expletives they were using would leave even the most street tough guy in shock! Yah the real hard core type of words....I can't bring myself to repeat it here, but it include the mother, the private parts and everything and all these scream out loud in public. I think if I am their father, I wouldn't have any face left to see my relatives if I have such daughters. 

Did the Serangoon residents really expect the government to back down and agree to their 'demand'. If so, they must think they are living in some western country. Maybe without the rah rah and loud noise, and behind the door negotiation, the residents may have got their wish. Don't they ever learn that in Asia, loud protest doesn't cut any ice with the government. Witness Myammar, China, Malaysia. One thing these government and definitely the Sg government know is - give in to these people and it will set all sort of precedents. Also, this will be seen as a sign of weakness and a loss of face.  So right from the start, it was a foregone conclusion that the dormitory is a case closed.  And I cheered the outcome! Who do those snobs think they are - to pick and choose their neighbours. I say not happy with the decision, sell the place and move somewhere else - may be to Siberia. Sure got no construction workers in their backyard!

21,682 56.8 34.2 1,183 What does all this numbers have in common? These are the most recently announced net profit after tax (in million) for SBS Transit , Comfort Delgro , SMRT and Singapore Power respectively. And what do these organisations have in common? All of them have or had recently announced increase in prices for the services they provided, namely bus and MRT fare, taxi fare and the last one - electricity tariff. Who feel the pinch of these increases? Definitely not the rich - they don't take public transports and if they do, it's taxi and what is a few dollars when what they earn in a month is more than what most men in the street earn in a year? All these organisations are providing a service that is considered a necessity and yet because they are private companies, year in year out they continue to increase their fees even though they are making good profits all for the sake of enriching the shareholders. So what happened to the age old convention wisdom that ...

Thought the supermart had stopped selling made in China luncheon meat so was surprised to see cans and cans of luncheon meat. On closer look, realised that these are not Maling luncheon meat but Mili luncheon meat. Nevertheless and to heck with the China food scare, bought a can just to try out. Out came the bread the next morning but this lookalike was a big disappointment. It tasted a tad too salty and not as fragrance as Maling's. A very poor substitute indeed.