Fishing

My friend Mr T (ha ha…not A Team’s Mr T) loves long weekends where he can get out on his boat to go fishing.

Mr T is a serious fishing person and I marvel at his catch yesterday. Absolutely jealous I told him when I saw the photo he what’s apped me.

He catches enough for his family and his buddies on board the fishing trip

Photo Taken By Mr T

I saw his catch….wow!! Mackerels and other South China Sea fishes. Great for curries and I am sure he and his Chef friend will have a “wok” day with this!

My own catches are never as great as his as I stand and fish off a jetty usually.

My Own Prize Catch - Bream Larger Than A Dinner Knife Taken In 2012, Adelaide

Meanwhile my brother does his fishing in HK and his prize catch is below.

My Brother's Catch Of The Day - Size Of Dinner Serving Plate

Fishing is about patience and fishing enough to eat and not over fish 🙂

Advertisement

Courage Is Fear

What an oxymoron for a title of this post right?

Wait….let me explain my rationale…

I fear a list of things.

Besides the creepy crawlies, I would be fearful of the dark or things that go bump in the night! Who wouldn’t unless one is skilled in mixed martial arts I guess.

Blame it on the boogey man tales and things under the bed…ha ha…Grimms has to take the rap for that! 😀

But I also believe that from fear, I develop courage to overcome.

I fear the unknown but I have the courage to research or ask pertinent questions to better understand any given situation so as to best manage it.

Courage stems from confronting my fear.

Each time my doctor gives me a foreboding diagnosis by assigning percentages to any outcome of surgery – I am literally scared out of my wits.

A 70% chance failure…..or 90% paralysis or 10% survival…I suck at math and the question of probabilities is to me…”probablities of recorded incidents of morbidities” and it points to my outcome.

I play “Russian Roulette” with my doctors each time. Yes I may have beaten the odds but I suffer side effects which is what I have to live on….better than the worst case scenarios I guess 🙂

Courage is to me accepting these stats and researching as to what components make this set of stats and who the surgeons were of “botched” or “successful” outcomes. Hence, research as who is outstanding in the market and I don’t mean the fella below! LOL!

Courage is conquering my fears and full acceptance of what is commonly ” the worst case scenario versus the best case scenario”

After my spinal surgeries, I feared overhead bridges of 70 or more steps up and 70 or more steps down per side.

Last week, I gave it a shot – not a wise choice as my surgeons do not adovocate stair climbing…so vertical marathons are off my bucket list ha ha!

My legs wobbled and I could feel my unsteady gait. My mind was steely but my legs were another.

As I clung onto the hand rails, I made it up each step and finally on reaching my intended destination, I heaved a giant sigh of relief.

It was a tough escalation and descent but I made it!

I have also learnt that courage in speaking up for others or standing up against wrongs felt by others is a challenge in society.

People tend not to see or “go with the flow” to avoid issues of confrontation or tacit diplomacy.

In such a given situation, after speaking my piece and if my piece is not accepted, I usually vote with my feet. Thereafter if rules of laws are broken, I eagerly await the long arm of the law to grab these morons by the neck so that they will eventually learn.

Collectively if we pay for a service but if the service provider chooses to collect a fee but not provide the service, then the office bearers must do something to ensure that the service provider is taken to task to be accountable.

Failure to do so by the office bearers is their shortcomings to the entity and they too must be liable as they condone the actions of the service provider they paid on behalf of a community for service.

Courage is having the ability to speak up, right a wrong and not be fearful of the outcome.

In fact the fear of an unjust outcome must be the root cause of a burgeoning courage to stand firm and not perpetuate a wrong.

I don’t know if this makes sense to you but I often see group behaviour as hiding and riding on the coat tails of others. This cannot do as each individual is an individual and let’s not forget that 😉

It’s Sunday folks and……

Happy Sunday folks 😀

When Hunger Strikes….

When hunger strikes for me, the simplest of meal is always the most delicious!

I usually eat my only meal at 4.40pm not exceeding 5.30pm latest (possible when I am off work schedule).

Today I am ravenous by 4.30pm as I did a long walk from my car park to the event hall I was to attend an event today.

I had wanted to doggie back my “dinner” from the hawker stalls or make shift eating center on my way back.

The usual one is undergoing major renovations to enable a new wet market for produce and an eating center

But by the time I reached the center of this make shift area, 90% of the stores were closed and 10% of what was left opened, sold food that was unappealing to my palate 😉

On reaching home, I rummaged my trusty fridge and found my left overs (actually extra portion) of brown rice, 2 slabs of fish cake and my egg omelette panfried with tomatoes and veggies.

Exactly what my stomach needed as I got the stove going for steaming all this and my Campbell’s cup of soup 😉

In 10 minutes my meal was ready and boy oh boy, it was a feast to me..Yummy to the last morsel as I ate up every grain of rice and slurped my instant soup!

Yup! When hunger pangs hit, I appreciate my food even more. At this point, I am reminded of the less fortunate; Nepal quake victims and Rohingya migrants.

Whilst I have a choice of meals and the ability to eat as extravagantly or as simple like today, they have none – other than what they can get their hands on or rations donated by Mercy Relief.

I  am blessed. My simple meal tasted 5 stars and I am grateful for affording it 😀

Hot! Hot! Hot!

The heat is relentless today and I can feel the heat radiating from the roads.

Still, we are no where near the 45 degrees celcius of India when I read this morning papers over my cuppa ying yang concoction of tea and coffee in one mug!

It is sad hearing of the Indians arriving dead at the hospitals from heat stroke.

Anderson Road is closed to heavy traffic as 26 defence world leaders are congregating at our gorgeous lush and cool area of the Shangri La Hotel.

Shangri-La has one of the best Japanese Restaurant “Nadaman” and one can easily part with more than $1,000 per head for very elegant pretty Japanese plated cuisine.

I was once a guest there of a head honcho and ate a simple bowl of unagi eel and rice with ochar.

The piquant rice and flavorful ochar was elaborately served and I enjoyed the experience more than the food. Ha! Ha! Rubber mouth me as everything tasted great.

I am writing whilst waiting for the event I am attending to start and could not help but overhear everyone in the room complaining how hot it was outside and how grateful they were for the great air conditioning in the hall ha ha!!

Community Gardens

What a treat for my eyes as I trudged from my car park to the event hall to meet with the Duke of Yore.

Photo I Took Of The Papaya Tree Or Paw Paw

Unidentifiable Perhaps Cherry Tree(?)

Unsure If This Is The Bakalong Long Fruit Tree

Herbs & Roots Such As Lemon Grass, Ginger & Thyme

Curry Leaf Tree Great For Added Zest To Dishes

I hardly see these local trees anymore and was happily clicking photos away to share.

A community garden is taken care of by residents within a housing development area or we call HDB.

Much care has been taken at this garden and it is nicely kept.

Fruits and veggies are usually shared.

😎

My Little Red Dot At Night

Night Scene In Singapore

I love the night city scape in my little red dot.

All alit….aglow with clouds above as the lighted windows peek out creating this pretty scene 🙂

I took this photo and decided to post and show you.

Hope you will like it! 🙂

A New Phrase I Learnt Today

I bumped into a familiar face today and as usual, we do what loads of people do….”shoot the breeze” which means we yakked about just everything under the sun! 😉

Familiar Face then spoke of a mutual aquaintance we both knew from business connectivity.

Though we both disliked the character and characteristics of this mutual aquaintance, we both agreed on his ability to wheel and deal. No wonder he can make millions whilst I make chop change! LOL!

Familiar Face said that this mutual aquaintance “perfumes the pig” well!

“Perfumes the pigs”??!! My eyes perked up. New phrase….but I knew exactly what he meant!!

Mutual Aquaintance was indeed great at taking something rotten or smelly but selling it as something in good shape after perfuming it!

We both admitted that Mutual Aquaintance did a great job at convincing a 3rd party to buy a business for an exotic obscene amount only to have the 3rd party see red ink for couple of years!

Like a maverick, the perfumer of pigs is back to offer to purchase the business for a song and a dance or maybe for less than a bottle of drinking water and probably re-perfume and re sell it to another person who “bought” the “fragrance”

We both laughed! Only the Perfumer of Pigs can do it and we both tipped our hats to his invisible presence.

Scruples? Ethics? Moral standards? Naahhh!! It is indeed a doggie eat dog world out there!

Caveat emptor!!

Nutty Grocery Shopping

I must be nuts!! I truly must be nuts!

I did my usual grocery shopping and ended up buying 4 packets of 2.5kg of Top detergent for laundry.

I have 2 packets of 2.5kg, 5 kg packet of Spin, 3 kg of Fab x 2 packets and 5 kg of Persil.

Mad right?! All this for me, myself and I to do laundry…ha ha!

31 kg of soap powder and I feel so achieved!! I use soap powder like crazy as everything must smell good but I admit, I went overboard.

I guess I am also liking a buffet syndrome even for soap powders 😉

Meanwhile my car has gone for servicing and though I am given a replacement car to use, I feel it is not mine and not quite comfy to drive though it is same make and model. It is all in the mind they say….and I agree 🙂

Well tomorrow I cannot be nutty or exhibit any sense of nutty syndrome as I have to be with the Duke of Yore.

I must can my zany loony laughter and not talk to Garfield as if he is real! *Though the Duke of Yore knows I love my inanimate fur ball ha ha!

Enjoy your evening and a lovely weekend ahead folks 😉

Asian Cooking Ala Jamie Oliver Style

I have been enjoying my days off work, doing stuff I could not do whilst at work.

Man!! This is the life of the decadent or we say “Tai Tai” lifestyle – meaning not working but having some financial means. I could get used to this ha ha!!

Watching Jamie Oliver at noon is a fun thing to do. He is great in front of a camera and truly animated and at ease.

I find him really enthusiastic in Asian cooking and his rendition of our Laksa dish is very different.

I guess he makes it to suit the caucasian palate and not for native eaters like me 😉

His usage of red chillis for every dish and his ability to stomach chilli is amazing! Makes me wonder if he is asianised in a way ha ha!

I love the way his 15 minute meals come about as he blends, slices or dices veggies, adding heaps of garlic, ginger, bell peppers and herbs to literally every dish he presents.

I feel as if I can taste his meals as he dishes them out and plates it without fanfare using the chopping board or a serving tray.

A rustic and practical way of plating not using fanciful  flatware or chafers but simple stuff that is handy in our homes.

Though I may not agree with every dish as most things I do not eat…I heartily enjoy his showmanship and way of imparting culinary skills.

I like watching Jamie and once my self imposed holiday ends, I will miss him on my goggle box at noon! Sigh…..all good things must come to an end ha ha!!

Love – 爱

爱是一个非常好的感受。

没有爱, 我们没有今天。

我们要爱自己才能爱别人。

除了爱父母 – 我认为是最伟大的爱, 我也好爱读书和我哪个加啡猫哈哈! 不是真正的猫,是抱着的玩具!

爱也可以害我。

如果我爱上个不好的男人, 我肯定是完蛋!

我觉得那首歌”爱上一个不回家的男人” 好悲哀。

在唱k的时候听到这首歌我会想到我那个瓜! 😦

爱到底是一个幻想吗?

Love gives us a good feeling most times and we must be able to love ourselves inorder to love others.

Apart from parental love, which is the highest order of love to me, I love studying and of course my Garfield, the inanimate fur ball. Ha ha! These are examples of love in simplest forms.

Love can also hurt us.

If one falls in love with a wrong man, we are finished! *in my books 😉

There is a song that I often hear in Karaoke lounges titled, “loving a man who never goes home” – it is a sad song and whenever someone sings it, I feel the pain of the singer.

It also invokes the unpleasant encounters of love that I have been through.

(**my first attempt at a bilingual post to see if I returned my Chinese to my teacher ha ha! )

My apologies to my Chinese readers if this is poorly written 🙂

Love is an illusion….a feel good moment that does not last really….cynical me of course….ha ha