Pathetic Singaporeans

I have always fantasize about retirement. What would life be when I don't have to be awake by my iphone alarm. I don't have to rush through traffic in the morning and evening, worry about bills to pay, etc... The list goes on.

Every human being, to me, the effective or I should say productive lives spans at about 60 years old. When I'm 60, I do not think that I should still achieve greater heights in life. It will be truly nice where I can start enjoying and appreciate the little things happening around me. Gardening, coffee experimenting, reading, fresh air... endless list.

Sweet 60... I hope that I do not suffer from any diseases, rheumatism, etc. Imagine the life when you wake up 6 in the morning, take your favorite breakfast, do your morning exercise, sip your aroma coffee with your best friends. Do the afternoon power nap after lunch and followed by enriching your mind with new knowledge and life philosophy. Complete dinner by 7pm and watch your favorite discovery channel programs with a Heineken in hand. Lights off at 9pm to get ready for the cycle tomorrow. Boring? So you mean work is fun for you now?

Let's do a general analysis of this dream.

I'm in my mid 30s and having a 4 room flat under my belt weighing at $200,000 owe to HDB. Serviced my loan at the rate of $921 from CPF OA account for the pass 2 and half years paying $27,630. The last time I checked HDB website says I still owe them $188,000+. Why is that so? They say most of the payment went to financing the interest rather than the principals. WTH. I hope to have a smooth sailing to complete my loan at 56 years old. By then I should have enough for retirement (provided the minimum sum kept at $165,000 from now to year 2037).

What if my pay grade fall below 5k within these 25 years? I still can manage for a year as I parked a few thousands in OA. If the bad times goes beyond a year, I will be in

The incurable Singapore traffic conditions

Singapore, famous for its morning and evening rush hour jam in many major highway. One may think that Singapore is not that bad comparing to other countries like India, Vietnam, etc. The problem is that the cost we pumped into road building to ease traffic conditions is astronomical and congested traffic is still prevailing.

So exactly what is the problem we are facing?

LONE DRIVERS

I personally opt to ride rather than drive to work. It will take me 1 hour more for 2 ways and twice the petrol required for the same destination. I squeezed through TPE, SLE joining into KJE and finally exit at Jalan Bahar. Be it going to work or returning home, I passes by hundreds of lone driver cars. The whole car is empty only with the driver itself. I dare to say that 90% of the cars jam on the road at peak hours are not carrying passengers. The amount of people that needs to travel through a certain route and time is fixed. There is 2 ways to solve this problem. Keep increasing the size of the road or reduce the space required. Forcing people to take public transport is, to me, an impossible solution.

I need a feeder bus to nearest MRT (15 mins) and a train ride to Outram tranfers to Boon Lay (70 mins). At Jurong Point another feeder bus to workplace (15 mins). A total of 100 mins excluding waiting time for 1 way. How about costing? $2.12 for MRT and about $1.40 for 2 feeders. 2 ways will cost me $7 and 200 mins. Let's look at riding...

2 years ago, I sent my car to Sin Ming LTA and converted it to a weekend plate. Ever since then, I received $1100 every 6 months from LTA and my road tax is slashed by near 70%. Insurance seem to be cheaper too. Before I did this conversion, I went to took up my class 2 lessons. Having a 2A license for a long time, it feel quite funny to join the youngster taking class 2. Nevertheless, I completed my test and obtain my license about 2.5 months later.

Back to riding advantages. It is measured at 34.7km according to google maps from my house carpark to my workplace carpark. The journey took me 35 mins travelling at 90 -100 km/h whenever possible. So let's be fair and look at 2 ways. 70 mins of travelling time a day and covered also at about 70km. Due to big bike (1300cc), I averaged an 19 km/liter. It required about 3.7 liters of petrol per day which is also $7 after discount. Guess what? I further maximize my saving to pump at Malaysia at RM 2.46 which workout to be 95 cents. With a 25 liters petrol tank, I saved about $24 every pump and my cost of travelling per day is only $3.50.

I understand that we should factor in motor parking, maintenance and stuffs. It is just the price of saving 2 hours travelling time per day. If it costed you $200 more a month to maintain a bike, divide it by 26 days will be $7.70 and further calculated to be $3.85 per hour saved. You just merely use $3.85 to buy back your 1 hour time. That is if you are riding a huge bike like mine. If you can accept a 200cc Honda Phantom, that 1 hour saved price will be even lesser than $3.85.

After beating around the bush for so long, what is my point?

1st May 1990 started COE system to control traffic conditions. How the hell did motorcycles caused bad traffic conditions? I can only see that it is a solution to ease bad traffic. With Motorcycle COE priced at $4,312 ,the COE in Singapore alone can buy 3 motorcycles in Thailand. I understand that the COE was bid to this price rather than set at such, but why did the quota set at 319 available for bid? Why is there a quota in the first place?

The legendary Vien Dong Spa

(Guest Post)

If you do not expect the unexpected you will not find it, for it is not to be reached by search or trail. - Heraclitus


Vien Dong, situated in the heart of Ho Chi Minh District 1, Vietnam. A presentable hotel outlook might fool you. Well hidden at level 2 is a heaven for many fun seeking man. It is popular with Japanese and Singaporean customers too.

Upon entering the "health center", you will be greeted by a English speaking Vietnamese man. He will sit you down on the waiting area presented with the menu and serve with ginger tea. You will have different package to choose from, but let's cut the crap and go for the VIP package costing 680, 000 VND. Insist to have that package. If rooms are available, you will be escorted to the VIP room. If not you will be let in to the lounge area where you can ask for a foot massage(by man) which is included in the package price paid. You can just rest in lounge watching TV until your room is ready.

Another Vietnamese bellboy will walk you to your designated room and he will also set up the bath tub and steam bath facilities for you. Just before he walk out of your room, this is a critical moment, bring out your wallet and draw out 50,000 - 100,000 VND tips and be really specific about what you want your masseur to be. You can be specific like small built, big milk, fair skin, long hair, playful, cute, etc... The list goes on and you can bet they have it. There is approximately 60 gals per shift. Yes, no joke... and everyone has its standard. I have not come across watching a gal walk pass me which below average. No... I should say that all are above average in Vien Dong Spa. Walk to any roadside magazine stall and flip any magazine in your hand. What standard you can find inside the magazine you can find it in Vien Dong Spa.

Light a cigarette and wait patiently for your masseur. Be bold and fantasize about how good she will be. Before you can finish your cigarette, she has already enter your room wearing a tight low cut top and a really short mini skirt with towels in her hands. She will first greet you with the brightest smile and guide you to change into shorts. She will be observing you just in case you are not happy with what you get, she will automatically ask if you would like to change a masseur. No hard feeling here, just change it if you deem necessary.

She will then guide you to the steam bath and while you are busy enjoying your steam bath, she will be preparing your treats. After that, she will guide you to the sauna cubicle. When the tub is ready, she will invite you to go for a bath. Stand there like a 3 years old with your arm stretch out. She is going to strip you naked, place you in the tub and wash you from head to toe. Yes... from head to toe. She will be washing your hair and ear, your fingers and between your toes. During these time, you do not even lift a finger. Just lie in the tub and enjoy the jugs jiggling hovering above your head.  

After the bath, you will be guided out carefully from the tub. Stand there and let her dry your hair and body will a familiar smile. You will recall what mommy did for you when you were 3. Get a grip of yourself and move to the massage bed lying face down. At this point you might wonder is the massage up to standard. I would say it is. This brings the point of what I meant earlier by "cut the crap and opt for VIP package". VIP rooms alone hold 60 masseurs and you

Singapore Mookata fever

Recently there is a trend of eating Mookata in Singapore. Mookata is a traditional Thai cuisine which one can find it almost every corner in Thailand. "Moo" means Pig and "kata" means Pan. Why is it called pig on the pan? It is because the traditional Mookata uses pork fats cube on the barbecue side of the pan. In Singapore, most uses butter or vege oil.

Mookata is a eat all you can buffet. What disturb me is that in Singapore, Mookata is typically around $26 per person with a time limit of 90 mins. A typical Singapore Mookata can be found here. I guess it is more like a trendy thing.

Now let's see what Mookata I eat in Chiang Mai.

 

It doesn't have the posh feel and it is non air-conditioned. The food seem clean and fresh to me but I'm the kind of people that can sit on a roadside in Vietnam eating noodles. So our concept of clean food might be a bit different. 

     

The meal is served the same way just that instead of using butter or vege oil to grease the bbq pan, they uses pork fats. Really cubes of fresh concentrated pork fats. Now you might think that you preferred the Singapore butter but that's because you have not try it yet. Health might be a concern over here but what I feel is that if health is really a concern, you should not be eating Mookata in the first place. You see, using the pork fats makes the smell so aromatic! The barbecued food are much tastier. God, I'm not lying! You have to try it. (I caught myself swallowing saliva now).

 


Moreover in Chiang Mai I don't have to keep track on my watch because there is no time limit. Eat all you wish, as long as you wanted. The best of the best part, I ONLY PAY 165 BAHT! Yes, only $6.50 SGD. What have the rental price did to Singapore?

Read more here: http://a.northernthailand.com/chiangmai-restaurants/moo-kata.html

First world country with third world custom

I'm referring to the notorious Woodlands custom. It carries approximately 60,000 vehicles on a typical day and more on holiday festivals (source from wikipedia). I frequent woodlands custom mainly for Malaysia's cheaper petrol alternatives(Yes... call me cheapskate) but I'm just one of the many sacrificing our lunchtime to shoot in for a tank fill.

The difference is I ride rather than drive. Nowadays I try my best to go on a Sunday to avoid jam. Entering woodlands checkpoint via motorcycle is a huge risk on a Sunday. I make sure that I check the traffic camera before setting off. Although I did my homework, I was caught in bad jam during 11am. Was there really such heavy traffic for motorcyclist on Sunday? NO... It just that the custom officers decided to reduce the number of checkpoint counters on Singapore side.

Woodlands checkpoint is rather pleasing to the eyes compared with most of the customs I been to within Asia. It look pretty modern and techie. The problem is

Lifetrons photo lens system

 

Last month I bought the Lifetrons photo lens system. It came in a small box and contain a small pouch that contain all lenses. I was previously excited about the Sony smartphone attachable lens series but after reading some online reviews, I dropped the idea. Lifetrons lens came by accident. I didn't intend to buy it but just happen to bum into it on a plane ride to Chiang Mai. The on board shopping catalog featured this product. I inquired about the product just to learn that there are only 2 sets on board and they are sold. 

On my return trip, even before the plane taking off. I approached the stewards to book it. With a serious look, the air steward ensure me that he will check the balance stock and make sure I get it. Minutes later the plane took off. Just when the seat belt signs is off, he looked my direction from the front of the plane. He gave a thumb up signalling that it is available. Appreciated the effort!

I know most probably nobody is reading this. Nahhhh.... just write a review.

The pouch contain 3 lens namely the wide lens, fish eye and macro lens. Inside has 2 kind of clip for different smartphone. The edge clip sits nicely on a iphone 5s. 

 

The difference in motorcycle maintenance

This is a Scoopy-i

Since I found some extra time (during work :D), why not write another post just to build up the category column.

2 months ago I went to Chiang Mai for the routine visit. There I always rode a mini motorcycle scoopy-i belongs to a special someone. Riding a free bike is a blessing but actually it didn't cost much to rent a bike in Chiang Mai. It cost about 200 baht a day approximately $8 Singapore. I will usually stay for 4 days which cost 600 baht for 3 days rental.

Ok, long story short. With much courtesy, I offered to send the bike for servicing since it is about 3 months away from the last service. I rode to a bike repair shop and converse in broken Thai with the mechanic. I ordered a full check on the machine. According to our endless boxing rounds conversation, I summarize my knowledge into the followings,

• The bike is about 4 years old.
• The battery is old and had not change before (original).
• The brakes is still in serviceable condition (need not change). 

Starting a blog

I never find blogging about myself anything interesting or necessary. There are 40 thousands search for "blog" in google a month and probably hundreds of thousands blog indexed by google. What is the chances people that will read my blog? 0.01% or maybe less. Nobody cares. That's is why I didn't blog about myself all these while.

Why should I start? The problem lies about life events. I didn't have milestones recorded anywhere beside my mind and I know it very well myself that I'm a forgetful person (admit it). I tripled my income in 7 years, climbing the cooperate ladder and changing ship. These events are not recorded and I started to lose track on exactly when, what and how things happened. What was in my mind then and how did I made those decisions?

There are many daily encounters worth jotting note somewhere and it is best here. It is completely free and it will stay for years and years even if you totally forgot about it. I know because I ever wrote on a topic with about 15 pages and forgotten about it. 6 years later, coincidentally I stumbled upon my lost blog ID. A further check surprises me that all content are intact only some images loses its link.