Last Working Day of 2017

Nope, I didn't work today, I cleared my leave today so yesterday was my last working day of 2017.  So what I did today was to go to one of the oldest temples (https://shuanglin.sg/en/home/) in Singapore to pray, giving thanks that I have finally (almost) cleared 2017, for all the blessings, the happy moments, the sad moments and well.. I don't know what else to say... 

I really love going to Lian Shan Shuang Lin (莲山双林) monastery.  The monastery has 3 temples inside with a very beautiful garden.  Even Lincoln loves looking at the court which according to him makes him feel peaceful.  Likewise, just sitting and looking at the garden gives me a feeling of peace and some serenity, an escape from the hectic happenings in daily life.

Main court in the second temple

Tri The Boxer

When I looked through my blog for this year, almost all of my entries start with a photo of an aeroplane.  Which is reminiscent of the time where most of my blog entries were mostly about Gardens by The Bay.  So this time I'll write something different.

Since August this year I've been enrolled in a boxing club.  It was part of my attempt to get fitter.  I also thought that boxing would complement my karate training.  I always prefer straight punches rather than kicking and in close range, boxing seem to have better defensive techniques as compared to karate.

One of those classes....

November Bangkok Escape

After all those business trips to Bangkok, who would've thought that I'd go back to Bangkok for holiday?  Apparently I did just that.  Went with my wife only for a short holiday, I had originally asked her Bali or Bangkok and she chose Bangkok.  Good choice too as Bali was affected by Mount Agung eruption which caused airport closures and such.  For this trip I went light again with the RX100 Mark III.

Finally, going on a real holiday

November Purwokerto Trip

After I was done with all the business travel in October, it was time for a visit to Purwokerto in November to attend my BIL's wedding.  No fancy airliner, just flying no frills on Jetstar.  Travelled light too so I just had my RX100 Mk 3.

Waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting......

A Small Batam Project

Earlier in October I went to Batam for a private project.  I hadn't been to Batam in a very long time so this short visit was quite refreshing.  Things in Batam change at quite a fast pace nowadays, no doubt tourism is still going strong despite the factories and shipyards having gone out of business.  Harbourbay itself is changing as Marriott is shaping up quite nicely.  This complex is looking more and more..... complex....   I had my X-T2 and the XF10-24mm F4 R OIS for this short project.

Sunset in Harbourbay

The Last Bangkok Biz Trip 2017 - ลาก่อนกรุงเทพฯ

Two days after I returned home from the Tokyo biz trip I went off to Bangkok for a final Country Super User Training.  This time there were 50 users from 17 countries to train.  Same venue at Pullman G in Silom.  I was really excited because after this there will be no more training, no more creating exercises, no more data preparation (especially of such a large scale).  October was crazy... I spent 16 days abroad just for work.. This time I went light with just the RX100 Mk3.

The customary departing plane shot

Tokyo Biz Trip October 2017

In October I had a chance to visit Tokyo to attend training with my company's vendor.  It was a great 7 days trip to Tokyo after 8 years.  Yes, that's how long it had been since I last visited Japan.  This time I flew by ANA and took a day time flight to Haneda which is much nearer than Narita.

For this trip I went with my Fujifilm X-T2 + XF10-24mm F4R OIS.  I bought that XF10-24 from a friend who wants to upgrade to the XF16-55, not sure if he got it already or not...  Anyway, that 10-24 was a great buy which I really loved from the moment I got it.  I really missed shooting at such a wide angle!

ANA for a change from the usual SIA

Dear 公公

Dear 公公, now that the dusts have somewhat settled, and I myself rather calm and collected, I thought I'll write something....

Kung2 & Pho2 in the 80s

First Time to Shanghai - For Work....

Back in August I had a chance to visit Shanghai for work again - as in to "work" again, not "to Shanghai again".  The last time I went to China was more than 20 years ago so I thought it was an interesting opportunity to see how China has changed.

It was another morning flight, I wanted to avoid arriving late at night as I was travelling to an unfamiliar place.  

Waiting to board the plane again - RX100 Mk3

Surabaya Trip 2017

Just came back from a short trip to Surabaya to attend my brother in-law's engagement party.  This time around I only went as far as Tunjungan Plaza and did not venture further due to the function and limited time that we had to spare for the engagement party's preparations.

My parents' house, still looks just like how I left Surabaya more than 20 years ago.  This house is a time machine.

Bangkok Biz Trip 2017 - Part 2

The 2nd part of the entry will be about my visit to Wat Pho which is about 40 minutes away from Pullman G.

Wat Pho is a sprawling temple complex.  This temple is where the Reclining Buddha is located.  There's an entrance fee of 100 Baht which includes a free bottle of drinking water.  There's also a guided tour option which I strongly recommend if you're visiting Wat Pho for the first time.  

I spent a good 90 minutes or so in Wat Pho just going around, taking photos, admiring the stupas and Buddhist statues.  

The Giant Reclining Buddha statue in Wat Pho

Bangkok Biz Trip 2017 - Part 1

For the next phase of the project, I had to travel to Bangkok.  This time it was an 8 days trip including another weekend stay.  But at least I'm very familiar with Bangkok so I didn't find it as boring as it was in Ho Chi Minh.

This time my gears are my back-up Fujifilm X-A10 + XF14mm F2.8R WR.

The trip started with the usual shot of the plane I'd be flying in.  

Usual shot of the plane on the tarmac

Another HCM Biz Trip - June 2017

2 weeks in Ho Chi Minh...  For training..  I left Singapore with a heavy heart as it was my son's school holiday and I had to go away for work instead of spending some time with him.

Departed on a Sunday late afternoon - which means I had to miss karate class again...  

Ready to go!  Déjà vu???

Ho Chi Minh Biz Trip - May 2017

Soo.... There's a first time for everything, such as a trip to Ho Chi Minh, VietNam.  Never in my wildest dreams had I ever thought of going to Ho Chi Minh, but since work dictated me to do so, off I went.  For this trip I brought my trusty RX100 Mark III again as I wanted to travel light.

Ready to go after a brief shower

It Has Been Quite Sometime...

Since I last posted here.  6 weeks or so...  My schedule had been quite packed and a lot had transpired up to this point.

To start with, I finally sat for my GMAT exam, got quite a good score to get me an interview for admission to NTU's part-time MBA programme which I'm still waiting for the application's outcome right now.

Lincoln and I went for our karate grading, he's now 8th kyu yellow belt while I got another double promotion, 4th kyu blue belt.  He didn't execute his Heian Shodan (平安初段) correctly but still completed the Kata.  The examining Sensei generously granted him a pass to 8th Kyu.

Hong Kong Trip 2017 - Day 5

Day 5 was the day we returned to sunny and humid Singapore to resume our normal lives again.  After we had some light breakfast which consisted of cookies and tea, we just walked around the hotel to explore.

The lovable Mickey & Minnie mouse - LG G5

Hong Kong Trip 2017 - Day 4

On day 4 of our trip, we started with a buffet breakfast at the Disneyland Hotel's Enchanted Garden.  It was a character breakfast where various Disney characters will walk around and take photos with us.

The buffet spread was amazing; lots of variety and cutely decorated Disney character food.  Need I say more?

Just look at all that food!  Too many choices! - X-T2 + XF16mm F1.4R

Hong Kong Trip 2017 - Day 3

Day 3 was when the excitement started as it was the day we moved to Disneyland, the happiest place on earth!  We took the train to Disneyland because we wanted to experience riding the special Mickey Mouse trains from Sunny Bay to Disneyland.

The Disneyland train from Sunny Bay - LG G5

Hong Kong Trip 2017 - Day 2

Day 2 started at 9 in the morning.  We planned to visit Citygate Outlets (https://www.citygateoutlets.com.hk/)  at Tung Chung which is approximately 45 minutes away from Tsim Sha Tsui.  However prior to that we made a quick visit to Jenny's Bakery to buy all the cookies my wife wanted so that we could settle the packing later on that night.

Jenny's Bakery Tsim Sha Tsui - LG G5

Hong Kong Trip 2017 - Day 1

During the March school term break we took a 5 day trip to Hong Kong.  It was the first time the kids went to some place other than Indonesia.  The weather was very nice too, at a cooling 17-21 degrees Celsius.

It was very exciting from the very beginning, we couldn't wait for the plane to take off once we were on board.

Waiting for other passengers to board - LG G5

Lindsay's 4th Birthday

Just a few weeks back we celebrated Lindsay's 4th birthday.  My wife had arranged for a celebration in her school earlier which I did not attend.  So I only celebrated with her at home in the evening.

It was a small and intimate celebration for Lindsay.  My little girl is a year older now, naughtier for sure....  but lovely as always.

Happy birthday my little lovely angel...

~ Photos taken with Sony RX100 Mk 3~

Seoul Biz Trip Feb 2017 - 안녕하세요

Last week I just came back from a business trip to Seoul.  It was the first time in my life I had ever been to South Korea as I had never thought of or imagined travelling here. It was definitely an eye opening trip for me.

The Singapore to Seoul flight was at 2:45 a.m. in the morning, I really hate night flights because I have trouble sleeping in aeroplanes, and true enough I could only manage 1 hour of sleep in that 6 hours flight.  I was in the same flight as my boss by the way, but we had different seating.

That's the plane to Seoul - RX100Mk3

Home Made Cold Brew (みずだし)

So a colleague in office told me that he likes cold brew coffee.  I had tried one in Starbucks but was not really impressed by it so I dismissed it as some hipster brewing method for people with too much time.  However, I also know this colleague of mine to have quite a distinguished palate - at least for coffee.  So if he said cold brew is good, then it must be good.  Perhaps the one in Starbucks had not been up to my standard, so I thought I'll try to brew one myself.

The brewing instrument I use this time is a Hario Mizudashi pot.  I bought this pot in Batam 6 years ago and used it to brew tea instead....  Well, now I use it to brew coffee.  

As for the coffee itself, I used 100% Java Arabica at 100 grams.  The ground has to be medium coarse.  A good reason for a medium coarse ground is so that the water can pass through the ground coffee and then through the filter when you pour it in.  Coffee connoisseurs might say that it is for better taste and less grimy final solution (whether coarse or fine you'll still see some sludge deposit at the bottom of the container).  Well, I'll just say use medium coarse ground and let it stay at that.  

100 grams of Java Arabica from Excelso

Chinese New Year 2017

This year we celebrated Chinese New Year in Jakarta.  It was a quick 4 days and 3 nights trip and again, I decided to stay in Pullman Central Park for its convenient location.

The flight was delayed by slightly over an hour in Singapore but the kids were in good spirit as always, if not, too loud at times.  

We were already waiting, but the plane still wasn't there yet - X-T2 + XF16mm F1.4R WR

The First 3 Weeks of 2017

By now, Lincoln had finished 3 weeks of Primary 1.  It has been a trying period for him, I & my wife.  There's no change in the time he has to wake up every morning, but his new routine (which is not well controlled) is causing quite a bit of problem.  Fortunately Lindsay has been adapting well in her new child care, Mandarin and reading class, I just regret that I have been neglecting her studies as I'm too preoccupied with Lincoln.

Lincoln's problems:

1. he doesn't want to take naps after school and since both I and my wife are working, nobody can force him to - this means that by the time I get home and guide him to do his homework he'll be too sleepy to pay attention.  I end up having to blow my top every weeknights just to guide him with schoolwork.

2. he doesn't jot down his homework details so I don't know whether he's doing enough or less or more... But after the 1st parent teacher meeting yesterday, I can safely say he's not doing enough..

3. his Mandarin is..... hopeless I guess.... he just can't remember the letters and he can't get his 笔画right. With weekly 听写on every Tuesday, that's also giving me a lot of pressure..

4. Due to 1 to 3 above, Lincoln has been showing his rebellious side more prominently as of late, partly because I limit his TV time to weekends only now.  No tablets and phones either.

The teachers will list down the homework there, but Lincoln just won't write them down in his communication book - took that photo during parent teacher meeting yesterday

So It's 2017 Now

New year was uneventful.  We just stayed home and slept.  Not that I'm complaining, I'm not into those countdown parties and such.

Usually this is a time to reflect on what had happened so far, be grateful for the blessings we received and the good things that happened while trying to learn from the bad experiences we had.  

Just a day before new year I also learnt of a sad news about a boy from Batam who had been fighting cancer and eventually lost the battle.  I first knew of his plight just slightly more than 3 years back when I was still in Batam; gave a small donation for his chemotherapy treatment in Singapore after reading his mother's heartfelt plea for help through Facebook.  After several sessions of chemotherapy in Singapore he seemed to have recovered and I thought things were going well.  So it was quite a shock when I learnt of his passing from a common friend in Batam.  Hopefully his family will find strength to overcome this difficult period.  

As for me, my company is expected to release further update of the merger after Chinese New Year.  While I look forward to it in order to get some understanding of my fate I also worry about the kind of card that will be dealt to me.  In a nutshell, shipping does not look good, especially with the TPP unraveling.  China on the other hand is making her presence felt in the region with some major projects that may impact Singapore's shipping industry as well.  Overall, 2017 does not look very promising for shipping although I strongly hope that I will be proven wrong.

It's at times like this when I really wish I had a Nanyang MBA...

And oh yeah... I have some things to fix too which will cost quite a bit.  That really turn me off....

With China Town New Year light up coming this Saturday, I might have something to distract me a bit.

On a brighter note...  today is the first day Lincoln started primary 1 while Lindsay also moved to a new child care.  Lincoln adapted very well to the new environment, he seemed to enjoy school; came back with all smiles today trying to describe what he did.  Lindsay was predictably difficult with eating.  The teachers advised that she ate very little for lunch, otherwise she was mingling very well with the other kids and had no problem adapting too.

When I watched Lincoln walk back to his class after recess, it suddenly dawned upon me that I need my children more than they need me.  Despite them giving me a hard time (yelling at them, going through lessons with them, getting frustrated at them, etc.), they also give me a lot of happy moments and a sense of achievement when I see them reach a certain stage in their life.  They really are a blessing in this otherwise bland and perhaps self-centred life.  

Here's a closing shot for this rambling entry - I have a lot to get off my chest!

The Dark Knight - Fairy Style

~ Photo taken with Nikon D750 + Sigma 24mm F/1.4 DG HSM (A) ~