September Events

We are approaching the month of September. Let's see what's ahead of us. The Mid-Autumn Festival on 12 Sep 2011, Singapore F1 Grand Prix from 23 Sep 2011 to 25 Sep 2011 and not forgetting our Dongbei holidays and 27th Wedding Anniversary.

Yeah, I would like to thank Patrick for the gifts he brought back from his recent trip. Will have a meal with him when I return from mine.

Well, I had my hair trimmed yesterday. For good luck and for looking tidy. I lost more than a hundred dollars on lottery this month. You win some you lose some. I have decided to stop and buy occasionally. Yes, an amateur player.

Greeting to our Muslim friends

Her new semester

A 8-2 humilating defeat for Arsenal at Old Trafford last night. The only thing to be proud of is the fans sang and encouraged the team till the end. Salute!

Now that the Presidential Election is over, what's next? I hope the government don't come up with stupid excuses to raise utility bills, ERP gantry fees, taxi charges, etc. It is abnormal for them to stay still after an election. Let's keep our fingers crossed.

Mooncake income tax for receiving them in Beijing? Yes, I didn't hear wrongly. It was on the TV news. Me and Margaret were puzzled. Talking about good government.

Fyn is adapting well in her hostel. That is the feedback I received from Margaret. Shy to say, I do not know much about her Tulane University in New Orleans. Yeah, her semester starts today and I hope she enjoys her study there. That's all I can write at this moment. Blur daddy!

Send over

The best man won. Yes, Dr Tony Tan is the next President of Singapore. He won by a razor blade thin margin. Who cares? Congratulation!

The last day of Zhong Yuen Jie. We visited Roger this afternoon and saw a packet of praying papers, incense sticks, candles, etc on the table. Reminded him to finish it off by this evening. Come tomorrow, it's a new lunar month and a new day.

We shall return to work tomorrow and the following day is another public holiday, Hari Raya Puasa. I have yet to recieve invitation from my Muslim friends. Come on, send over!

Vote a President

Wake up! It's the Singapore Presidential Election Day. Who to vote? Many told me that it does not matter. I am still wondering who to put a cross on. May the best man win and watch out for the election icon Yam Ah Mee tonight.

Thank goodness. My salary is in. The excitement is I got my promised bonus too. Like what I wrote in my earlier blog, I would be blessed with a little luck during this festival. With 2 more days to go, there's still hope on the 4D this weekend. So greedy but who knows. Huat ah!

Arsenal rock!

Mama mia! Well done! The gunners are through to the group stages of the European Champions League after defeating the Udinese FC 2-1 in the 2nd leg play-off round. Under pressure after Fabregas and Nasri left the club recently, Arsene Wenger the manager is a relieve man now. Yes, for now. Come this weekend, they will face Man U at Old Trafford. Would you bet them to cause an upset? Good luck.

Chit chat

For once, I am at ease and peaceful. Even if there is pressure from my work, I am not going to be bothered by it. Everything seems to be normal at home too. No doubt Fyn is abroad, she is old enough to look after herself. Sometimes I am at a loss of what to do in the evening.
A friend I met recently commented that I have the wealthy look but not the unhealthy look i.e. fat. I hope so. Thanks for the compliment and I need to confess that I am not rich. How then do you define rich? According to a Buddhist master, 'so long as you do not owe anybody money you are rich'. So, I would rather say I am not poor instead.
It's the Presidential Election this Saturday which is declared as a public holiday . How I wish the government would hold more elections like this? Haha.... Anyway, there are 4 Tan candidates and I am sure 3 of them got to Tan (in hokkien it means wait) for the next election. Good luck!

Souvenirs from Fyn

Fyn has sent back a bag of souvenirs through her cousin Jeffrey. A leather pouch for Margaret and a Fossil wallet for me. Since my father-in-law loves it so much, I let him have it. I am sure Fyn would not mind. As a thoughtful sister, she got a T-shirt, beef sticks, etc for her brother. Well, we sincerely wish her well and hopefully come December she successfully complete her semester there.

OMG! Our neighbour at our workplace held a thanksgiving praying session last Saturday after winning the 2nd prize the week before. Guess what? They asked for a new set of 4D and it came out in the consulation prize. A winning streak and there is no stopping. Guess there will be another thanksgiving praying session this weekend. Can they make it 3 in a row? Good luck!

One month

Time flies. Fyn has been in the US for a month and I understand that she will be going to her university soon. Her semester starts on 29 August 2011. Trust she can settle down fast and get ready for her new term. Lectures with ang mo accent, can she understand or not? Let's wait and see.

It's not surprising that Arsenal lost to Liverpool by two goals. Good players are leaving one by one and they are replaced by teenage potentials. Don't expect the club to win anything this season. In fact, it's going to fail miserably. Argh..... the Gunners have lost its fire. Arsenal sucks!

Travel fever

Hooray, hooray! It's a holi.. holiday! My sister Jessie together with church members bring the church elderly to Xiamen on this coming Monday. The following week, my brother Patrick will be on a business trip to Guangzhou. Come early September, my colleague Ong relaxes with his family in Bangkok followed by ours in mid September. Hokkaido welcome Steven (another colleague) and his wife towards the end of September. Bon voyage and hope everyone rocks.

Quote of the day
You have two choices in life:
You can stay single and be miserable,
or get married and wish you were dead.

Traveling

OMG! China again? Double confirm. We will be away for 10 days ( from 12 September 2011 to 21 September 2011) traveling the North East region. Starting from the upper most city with lots of Russian influence Harbin to Mt. Changbai on the border between China and North Korea to Shenyang and Dalian. By then it's Autumn and the weather would be just nice.
Are we not sick of China after all these years? Honestly, a little. Chinese cities we visited since 1990: Beijing, Chengde, Tianjin, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Suzhou, Wuxi, Nanjing, Xiamen, Zhangzhou, Chaozhou, Shantou, Detian, Nanning, Guilin, Yangshuo, Qingdao, Weifeng, Qufu, Jinan, Shenzhen, Macau and Hong Kong. Yes, there are a lot of Chinese cities we have not visited yet. But after this Dongbei trip, we are going to take a break. Definitely no more China. Maybe a once in a lifetime Europe or West America. For shorter holidays, we can consider Burma, Vietnam and the Philipines. Oh yes, Jogjakarta and Java Indonesia. Simply too many places.

Dream dream dream

I wonder why I dreamt every night for the past 2 weeks. Strange. Friends told me that maybe I had over-stressed myself. I won't deny there are one thousand and one things on my mind. But what's the use of worrying when things are beyond my control.

You won't believe that my lap-top just turned off by itself (2 times) while I was updating this blog. Suey! At our workplace, our neighbours strike 4D second prize on Sunday with their Saturday's praying numbers. I understand that their director won S$300 000.

But it's still not that bad for me after all. Outstanding debts owned to me were returned. With 2 more weeks to go for this Zhong Yuen Jie, I am confident there are many more good blessings coming my way. Meantime, something is cooking up for my 2012. Hopefully I can bring you the good news in the coming months.

Wise man says...

'If you don't go to the temple and pray, others will.
But if you don't care about your ancestors, nobody will.'

Those were the words from the elderly Taoist Priest whom I met many years ago. Everything comes from the heart and your ancestors will shower good blessings upon you and your family.

Majulah Singapura

Wishing all Singaporeans 'A Happy National Day'.

Together again?

We are glad that they are reunited. It's been more than half a year since she last visited us. Of course, we were not surprised by her sudden appearance and believe they can only be stronger and more loving. Once again, Happy Reunion!

I dreamt that I went on a holiday but cannot recall where. On Sunday morning, I told Margaret about it. Believe it or not, she told me that she had the same dream and could not recall the location too. Mama mia! It's simply too scary. Whatever, we await our coming Autumn holidays. Cheers!

Red and white

The weekend is here. Time to relax. I am sure that I do not need to work on Sunday and public holiday anymore till I start a new project. Yeah, the annual leave is still outstanding. Looking forward to our autumn holidays. Let's hope everything goes on smoothly.

The financial turmoil in US, Europe and Japan spell trouble for us. Should Singapore goes into a recession, jobs will be lost. I for one do not wish to relive those difficult moments we've been through. Imagine yourself looking for a job and when you open the door, there's a crowd in the office waiting to be interviewed. Worst, the opening is only for one. C'est la vie.

Yes, the National Day is on Tuesday. As a proud citizen, I will wear a red and white stripe T-shirt to work on Monday. OMG! What does the colours on the Singapore flag symbolise? Shy lah. Majulah Singapura! Hehe....

I say 'NO'

I used to be an obliging guy whenever someone asked me to do them a favor. It's not a big deal, I thought. I would help without thinking. A simpleton but often I ended up disadvantaged without knowing.

Recent years I had overcome my shyness and learned to say 'No' to unnecessary request. Thanks to my colleague's encouragement. There are many b@#$%&ds who tried to con us to sign and supervise work outside our scope of duty. What do they get for doing this? Many and I am not going to write about them.

These self centred people are selfish and always think the universe revolves around them. They are the wise men and the rest are idiots. The world is make up of such. Guess everyone got to take care of themselves or else.....................

Dispute

Leave me alone. I do not wish to be involved in your dispute. My age is catching up and my blood pressure would shoot up. Moreover, I wouldn't be able to recall things that happened years ago. Good luck and may God bless you all.

It's confirmed. Presidential Election on 27 August 2011. Who can it be now? There are four Tans and one Kuan. Since the President is ceremonial only, does it matter? Whatever, may the best man win. OMG! Where is Yam Ah Mee???

Pot Luck Praying Session

Praying session at my workplace will be on this coming Thursday@ 7pm. We are having a pot luck celebration that is to say everybody buy and bring their own stuff. Yes, from hell bank notes to can food to roast chicken. Interesting, very interesting. Just like a pot luck party. Haha..

Me and my colleague Vincent went to buy incense stick, candles and those festive burning stuff at noon. Unfortunately, we forgot about the Earth God. Needless to say, have to make another trip.

I am sure this is the last time we are celebrating Zhong Yuen Jie here. Come next year, we will be in another project. We are thankful for the good blessings for the past year though there were hiccups in between. Better luck with big money and good health this year. Huat ahh!!!

Upgrade Yourself

Back to school. Yes, attended a seminar at SMU this evening. An old man like me needs to return to the classroom every now and then. No choice lah, it's compulsary. Like the government always say, 'UPGRADE YOURSELF'. Sadly, at least half the class were so called 'foreign talents'. Where have all the Singaporeans gone?

It's August 2011. We have National Day and Hari Raya Puasa and an additional public holiday on the Presidential Election Day this month. Finally, the holidays are here. Shiok ah!

Thanks to our son Smily for fixing up the internet connections with a new router. All things return to normal. Margaret is enjoying her Korean drama on her lap top and me..... updating my blog on Fyn's. Of course, in our air-con bedroom.