Manchester United 4 Wigan 0

What a win!

So many subplots, but ultimately the feel-good factor is back.

Schweinsteiger gets his first start ever under Mou, gets an assist, AND a goal via overhead kick. Fantastic.

Timothy Fosu-Mensah gets his first start in a long time. Played ok.

Anthony Martial gets his first start in a long time. Played great!

Sergio Romero gets his start in another cup game. Played well.

Luke Shaw gets his first start in a long time. Played shit. Looked overweight and out of form.

Fellaini scores. Great stuff.

Smalling scores. Great stuff.

Mkhitaryan scores. Great stuff. 

Axel Tuanzebe makes his debut. Future superstar, but looked overawed by the occasion.

Joel Pereira makes his debut. Safe hands, not much to do.

Onwards and upwards!

GGMU!!!

Fatherhood Reflections XXXV - The Shiokness

Shiokness is seeing that your son is behaving just like when you were young and sleeping just about anywhere that you deemed comfortable.

Shiokness is sleeping on the floor, no fan, no wind, just cold hard floor.

Shiokness is also sleeping on the hard wooden bridge between two adjoining beds.

Bliss.

Haven't Been Smelling The Roses

Work has gotten a lot tougher since the turn of the year.

I can't really pinpoint what it is exactly, but my days are longer, busier, and a lot more stressful.

Maybe it is the stellar performance accomplished against much odds last year? Maybe it is the expectation that we are in for a really good haul this year? Maybe people are finally waking up to the fact that the Singapore office is a force to be reckoned with?

Only three weeks in and I can feel myself missing out on the simple things.

Family.

Kids.

Wifey.

Home.

My favourite sports.

Exercise.

My online games.

Other friends.

All neglected to various degrees.

Then I listen to demoralizing stories about peers making ridiculous sums of money doing things that they love. Really ridiculous sums. And I start to look around and wonder if all this materialization of our lives is really worth it. Even if I like a lot of what I do, regardless of the high stress levels.

The money is only enough to get by. Definitely underpaid in the bigger scheme of things.

I need to make a conscious effort to disconnect from work. Even if it means I slack off as a high-level performer.

Otherwise something will give.

Metallica World Wired Tour 2017

So for the second time in four years, I get to see my idol. Who would've thought I'd attend something more epic than 2013.

This time around, our tickets cost $360, and we had the best standing space, Pen A, right upfront of the stage. We were so near the stage that I was maybe five or six bodies from touching the stage floor.

Problem is, this time we were amongst the masses, mosh pits et al.

It was an amazing concert, with new songs from their latest album, Hardwired To Self Destruct, to all the old anthems.

And in the end, the encore was far better than the last, Fight Fire With Fire, Nothing Else Matters, and Enter Sandman.

Epic stuff.

And if they ever came again, I'd go watch them once more in a heartbeat.

I'll try to share some pictures if I can!

Fatherhood Reflections XXXIV - Enriching Enrichment

Just wanted to document how many enrichment classes we send our kids to.

We are indeed kiasu parents after all.

Yet the more we can enrich them and expose them to new skills in our current urban environment, the better isn't it?

Currently the kids go for:

Taekwando classes
Swimming classes
Heguru classes (right brain training)
Piano classes
Ballet classes (for the girl)

Hopefully this will enrich them as much as possible, before the burden of school homework comes into their lives.

Resolutions 2017

This is super late, but I guess it is better late than never!

So Resolutions 2016 didn't go all that well yet again. See review here.

Nonetheless I will stick to some tangible resolutions to keep myself focused for the year ahead. One of the key things I have learnt from the office is to set out SMART goals.

Specific
Measurable
Ambitious
Realistic
Time-factored

Geddit?!

1) Have 6 Month's Pay In Cold, Hard Cash
Here we go. Yet again. And again. This time to further define it, it has to be in Savings, Current or Fixed Deposit accounts.

2) Achieve >20% Return On Key Investment Account
Rather than pursuing the dividend route, this year will be slightly new. I want to achieve at least 20% growth in my key investment account, this one being my Saxo account. It has a performance tracker so that makes things easy to track. I actually managed to achieve a 7.6% return last year after a really topsy turvy trading journey. With more discipline, this I might achieve.

3) Exercise Three Time A Week
This has gone up a notch even though I haven't been able to achieve twice a week for the last two years. I have to be more ambitious now because my health is deteriorating. My cholesterol is too high and I will have to bring it down. Hopefully it can be achieved, by jogging or swimming at least half hour each time.

4) Score At Least One Big Positive Life Achievement
I am keeping this resolution mainly because I failed at doing something significant last year. Once again, one positive life achievement is rather subjective but I hope to do something positively big. Change the world. Achieve something big in my life. It could be making a big difference to someone else's life. It could be a personal achievement like running a marathon, visit a new country or city for the very first time. It could be some big volunteer event. It could be something done together with the family. Anything.

5) Less Online Games, More Time With Family
This is another hard one. And its even harder this year, yet I feel it is doable. I currently maintain one Simpsons Tapped Out account, THREE Clash Of Clans accounts and TWO Pokemon GO accounts. That keeps me busy alright. On one had its a great hobby to have, but I will have to balance things out so that I'm not glued to my electronic devices all the time. It is also good that the wifey plays Pokemon GO like I do.

Ok, hope I can achieve all of them come year end!

Stoke City 1 Manchester United 1

Funny I had a feeling it would end as a draw, but the way it happened, one couldn't have written a better script.

Early conceded goal, then Wayne Rooney pops up at the final minute of the game with a fantastic free kick to tie the game, thereby breaking Sir Bobby Charlton's all time United scoring record.

Not really the result we wanted, but happy all round.

Liverpool lost earlier while Spurs and City drew, so not a lot lost there.

And we're still 6th in the league.

Onwards and upwards!

GGMU!!!

Test Post

Testing this app for the third time before it crashes again.

Test post.

Manchester United 1 Liverpool 1

A deserved result.

Pogba had a nightmare of a game, giving away a penalty, missing good chances, manhandling opponents, wayward passing. You name it.

Ibrahimovic was the saviour, heading in the equalizer after good work from Fellaini who could've scored off the post.

Herrera is still one of the best on the field.

This is 16 games unbeaten, the most of any team in Europe right now.

Long may this continue.

Onwards and upwards!

GGMU!!!

Blogging Is So Hard Now

Without the phone app, it is so difficult to blog anymore.

Funny that this was how it used to be 10 years ago, yet now, without pictures, without large font and easy blog typing, I cannot bring myself to blog more than I should. Maybe it is the age, as well as the inconvenience of squinting at the small font on the phone screen. Oh and we don't have a desktop at home too.

Whatever it is, let's hope the app comes back soon.

Otherwise, expect less posts!

Pokemon GO Super Hunt

Following the discovery that the Blogger app is down, I now have the challenge of blogging without posting pictures. I guess I'm forced to be as descriptive as possible when normally a simple picture would speak a thousand words.

Anyway yesterday after our fantastic crab dinner at Eng Seng Restaurant, we suddenly just decided to go on an impromptu Pokemon hunt!

After a quick check on SG Pokemaps, we found a Chancey (rarest Pokemon right now) in Bedok North spawning for 20mins! So we took a leap of faith and decided to just do our best to drive down to find it. After driving around and beating the Saturday jams in the east, we found Chancey at the carpark almost exactly as per the map!

So happy!

Then we decided to go catch an Abra, which was easy.

Lastly we decided to go back to Marine Parade and suddenly we found a Lickitung!

Then we parked the car at the gramps' place and walked to Siglap and encountered a Grimmer! Which allowed me to evolve it to Muk!

Three rare Pokemons to add into my Pokedex in one day!

Super happy!

Blogger App Is Down

Wow this will surely chase away a lot of bloggers off the Blogger platform.

The Blogger App is down and there are no suitable replacements. The top two replacements I've tested suck big time.

When I searched online, it appears that Google/Blogger has no plans to update or replace the app anymore, so latest iOS updates result in the app being unable to run, or crashing it easily.

Two of the key advantages of the app were:
1) Ease of posting - just open the app and blog and post, so easy! Going through blogger.com just meant trying hard to post something on a clunky small screen
2) Easy to post pictures - without the app, pictures are almost impossible to post

I'll try to make do with blogging with no pictures for a while more while considering making the switch to other platforms.

Sad!

Eng Seng Restaurant - One Of The Best Pepper Crabs In SG

Had a small window of opportunity to go out on a date night with the wifey. So she suggested we eat something that we normally can't when the kids are around, which is crabs!

And what better way than to revisit one of the best pepper crab joints!

Eng Seng Restaurant has been around for more than 30 years now at Still Road. The whole set up is still very old school kopitiam style, which is very nostalgic.

The crabs were fantastic! Standard is still as good as I remembered. But prices have gone up and I guess that is why the crowds have thinned too.

We had two small crabs and a 马来风光, which came up to almost $100.

Pity that the Blogger App is down so I can't post the pictures up.

Manchester United 4 Reading 0

Emphatic win against lesser opponents!

Wayne Rooney ties Sir Bobby Charlton's all time goal scoring record.

Marcus Rashford scored a brace.

Anthony Martial score a beauty.

Ashley Young clocks 150 appearances.

Bastian Schweinsteigger makes a substitute's cameo.

Micheal Carrick my MOTM.

What is not to like about the match?!

We're now into the third round of the FA Cup.

Challenging on all fronts for the League Cup, FA Cup, the league, and the Europa League Cup.

Onwards and upwards!

GGMU!!!

Fatherhood Reflections XXXIII - First Day Of School! First Day Of School!

What a horrendous experience for me.

It started off with sleeping late the night before. The wifey woke me up around 0630am. Now this is the first time in eons that I’ve had to wake up so early, and the start of a supposed routine. I’m all groggy and grumpy while the wifey works hard to get all the stuff ready for the kids, particularly the boy. We load up the car at 0705am.

The school is so near and I’ve almost never seen the slip road in jammed before but boy was I in for a shock. The actual distance in and out would take at most a 2mins drive in smooth traffic. I turn in. Horror. Jammed all the way from start to finish. We queue to go past one secondary school, queue to see the entrance of the boy’s school, can’t stop there nor drop off anyone. Queue to turn into the carpark that houses the side gate. Go through the parking gantry. Queue to turn into the dropoff shelter. Said bye to the boy and wished him all the best for his day at school. Make a quick loop around the small carpark. Queue to get out. Whole thing took 20mins.

We leave the carpark. I head straight for what looked like the shorter queue out. Wrong, it was longer because the road out was longer and we had to go through two traffic lights to get to the main road. Made a U-turn. Joined the shorter queue I earlier intended which had no traffic lights to wait for but was jammed packed all the way out. Took 25mins.

In total we took 45mins to enter and exit a slip ring road that would have taken 2mins under no traffic conditions. Geez.

At lunch, the wifey says she is worried about the boy since we didn’t clearly see him enter the school. Even though the distance between the dropoff and the side gate was a mere 20m. The teacher had sent a picture showing the class working out, but we couldn’t see the boy. The wifey is worried. Told me to call the school. I call. There was a prompt pick up, as though the staff manning the phone lines has been super busy all day inundated by kiasu worried parents. Told her to check if my boy is in school. She says he’s attendance marker shows that he is present. I ask if she could go check if he is physically in class. She accedes to my request. Calls me back in 3mins to tell me that he is. This is a good school, I tell myself. Excellent staff, understanding the plight of worried parents.

School ends. The boy and all the bus mates wait an hour before the bus leaves for their destinations. It’s been 1/2hr and the wifey is worried about whether the boy has reached the student afterschool care centre. The boy is not there. Worried. She calls the bus minder who’s on board the bus. The bus made a wrong turn and it heading to the city! WTF?! Another 20mins later, the bus finally arrives, as confirmed by the afterschool care center. The boy reaches only 2hrs after school ends, even though the center is a mere 10mins away by car. The boy misses nap time. Grumpy.

That was first day of school.

I need a beer now. And not sleep too late.

20 years ago I said goodbye to 12 years of having to wake up at 6am for school everyday.
Today I said hello to waking up at 6am to send my kids to school every day for the next 12 years.
- My latest FB post

Hello 2017, Goodbye 2016!

Another year gone by so quickly. Wow. I can't believe it. It is true that the older you get the faster time flies.

It hasn't been a bad year. And it hasn't been a really good year either. Just so-so I guess.

I seem to have a very bad problem with my memory and it is turning chronic. All I can do is blog more often in the hope that one day when I am old and senile, I can use the contents of my blogs to help me remember my glorious past. How sad and morbid that is.

In any case, in continuing with traditions, let's try to review whether I achieved last year's resolutions.

Here was last year's review.

And here were my 2016 resolutions.

The review:

1) Have 6 Month's Pay In Cold, Hard Cash FAILED
I won't consider this a bad failure, primarily because I managed to amass a far better amount of savings compared to last year, but have poured it into investments instead. Yet it would be nice to have such a warchest in place. Something to consider for the 2017 Resolutions.

2) Achieve $500/mth Dividend Income Stream FAILED
Again another failure. There has been a diversion in my own investment strategies. And passive income is not top of the priority list.

3) Exercise Twice A Week FAILED
This was an utter failure. From the weekend football and one-a-week jogs, it became none at all. Things are now so bad that if I do not manage my high cholesterol levels, I will likely have to go on medication soon. Time to make a serious effort to start exercising.

4) Score One Big Positive Life Achievement FAILED
This one is tougher to guestimate and decide. I honestly didn't achieve any very significant life achievements other than to survive another year. I failed my CAIA Level I exams in March. Then again we got a new car, which hasn't been the smoothest sailing as yet. A lot of little wins here and there, but nothing super significant. Still waiting to run my first marathon. Haha.

5) Less Online Games, More Time With Family FAILED
It's gotten even worse now. I have my Simpsons Tapped Out account, THREE Clash of Clans accounts, and TWO Pokemon GO accounts. Haha. The funny thing is that I think the time spent with family has not diminished. In fact, it has increased! What has given way is the drinking. I really drink a lot less now. So much so that it does not take much to get me drunk anymore.

So.

5/5 failure.

I will either have to try harder with this year's resolutions, or set more realistic goals for myself in the year ahead.

Will come up with something soon!

Manchester United 2 Middlesbrough 1

What a way to end 2016!!!

From going 0-1 down in the 67th minute and comeback to win 2-1. Wow!

Super ecstatic. This is what we're talking about!

Pogba was awesome, Herrera was as usual impeccable. Ibrahimovic is the talisman.

But it is Martial who is MOTM for me. If he can play every game like this, the left wing position is definitely his.

6th win in a row in all competitions, let's head up the table!

On SAF's 75th birthday no less!

Onwards and upwards!

GGMU!!!