So we've been in Phase Two since late June.
More than four weeks on and life is good.
Work has gone back to 50/50 splits on alternate weeks. Because WFH has been so effective and there are still restrictions on mask wearing as long as you are out of your house, WFO is restricted to only T/W/T even on the weeks we are meant to WFO. All in we are productive and effective and business is doing better this year than ever before.
Personal life has been so much better. The wifey cooks with a vengeance but the kids and I love her tasty but simple meals. I've become the default dishwasher, laundry guy (wash, hang, fold). This has really helped bring us closer and things have been better for us now in the last three months that it's been for the last two or three years, which really says a lot and I need to continue doing what I am doing right for this relationship to get even stronger.
Health is a little bit of an unknown although I have slimmed down from the home-cooked food by the wifey. Might go for a checkup next week. Hopefully all is well.
Kids have been great. Staying at home with them has really brought all of us a lot closer to each other. And right now at this stage of their lives, there is no place I would rather be to be honest.
Investment front has been abysmal. Every time I try to get back into the markets, I lose money. It has come to a point where I really need to stop trading/gambling and actually invest better now.
All said and done, life is good and long may this continue.
Monday, July 20, 2020
Sunday, July 12, 2020
Meet The Parents
Because of COVID-19, I haven't see my parents for almost three months.
So it was a very happy affair to see them again and also for them to see their grandkids with the opening of Phase Two.
Things are slowly opening but all the second waves around the world are still putting a dampener to things.
Nonetheless we need to try to appreciate what we have.
Our first meal together was Old Airport Road Food Centre's Hokkien Prawn Mee, grilled chicken wings and pig innards soup.
SUPER DELICIOUS!!!
So it was a very happy affair to see them again and also for them to see their grandkids with the opening of Phase Two.
Things are slowly opening but all the second waves around the world are still putting a dampener to things.
Nonetheless we need to try to appreciate what we have.
Our first meal together was Old Airport Road Food Centre's Hokkien Prawn Mee, grilled chicken wings and pig innards soup.
SUPER DELICIOUS!!!
GE 2020
It was polling day last night.
I felt like I couldn't be lazy until I neglected to post a single mention of the Singapore General Elections.
We had nine days of hustings and yesterday was polling day.
This is a historic elections considering it was done in the midst of a pandemic so there were a lot of format changes, although I guess generally many things were similar to elections gone by.
Anyway the PAP won with about 61% of the popular vote, winning 83 seats. The big winners were the WP who won 2 GRCs and 1 SMC (Aljunied, Sengkang and Hougang) and will be represented with 10 seats. This is historically the highest number of opposition seats won since Singapore's independence.
Marine Parade, which I'm in, ended up being retained 57/43%.
I felt it was a fair elections result which left most people hopeful/satisfied/happy.
The PAP still got the overwhelming majority they wanted, albeit with the lower share of the popular vote, they will have some soul-searching and restrategizing to do.
The WP has won the most seats it ever has so its voters are happy, though they will need to begin proving that they are deserving of this telling victory. Mind you, even in Heng Swee Kiat's presence, they merely lost East Coast GRC 47/53%. Boy what an upset that would be.
Also no looney or rubbish opposition got in, so that was great.
The Singaporean voter of GE2020 is far more discerning and savvy. They want greater transparency, humility and ground work.
All parties will need to understand this better if they want to make gains in GE2025.
I felt like I couldn't be lazy until I neglected to post a single mention of the Singapore General Elections.
We had nine days of hustings and yesterday was polling day.
This is a historic elections considering it was done in the midst of a pandemic so there were a lot of format changes, although I guess generally many things were similar to elections gone by.
Anyway the PAP won with about 61% of the popular vote, winning 83 seats. The big winners were the WP who won 2 GRCs and 1 SMC (Aljunied, Sengkang and Hougang) and will be represented with 10 seats. This is historically the highest number of opposition seats won since Singapore's independence.
Marine Parade, which I'm in, ended up being retained 57/43%.
I felt it was a fair elections result which left most people hopeful/satisfied/happy.
The PAP still got the overwhelming majority they wanted, albeit with the lower share of the popular vote, they will have some soul-searching and restrategizing to do.
The WP has won the most seats it ever has so its voters are happy, though they will need to begin proving that they are deserving of this telling victory. Mind you, even in Heng Swee Kiat's presence, they merely lost East Coast GRC 47/53%. Boy what an upset that would be.
Also no looney or rubbish opposition got in, so that was great.
The Singaporean voter of GE2020 is far more discerning and savvy. They want greater transparency, humility and ground work.
All parties will need to understand this better if they want to make gains in GE2025.
Sunday, June 21, 2020
TikTok
Thanks to CB and Phase One, I grew bored at home and decided to try out a new social app called TikTok.
This is the latest social media app amongst the youth of today, very young crowd
Basically you make short 15s or 60s videos with lots of fancy editing features and post it up on social media.
Quite different from Facebook which now appears to be the social media channel of choice for 30-40 and older, Instagram which is for 20-30 young working adults. Tiktok draws the students up to young working adults crowd, which is quite interesting.
The big draw is the ability to pair the videos with music.
It is quite fun.
Looks like I am a bit addicted.
Trying to post at least one video a day.
Let's see if I become a TikTok star?
This is the latest social media app amongst the youth of today, very young crowd
Basically you make short 15s or 60s videos with lots of fancy editing features and post it up on social media.
Quite different from Facebook which now appears to be the social media channel of choice for 30-40 and older, Instagram which is for 20-30 young working adults. Tiktok draws the students up to young working adults crowd, which is quite interesting.
The big draw is the ability to pair the videos with music.
It is quite fun.
Looks like I am a bit addicted.
Trying to post at least one video a day.
Let's see if I become a TikTok star?
Wong Bok Seven Day Growth Story
So I saw this story on TikTok that you could just cut off the core or stalk of cabbages and then grow them as your own in your little garden.
Should it to the wifey and we decided to try it.
And it worked!
We used Wong Bok cabbaged (also known as Napa cabbage or Chinese cabbage).
Here's the seven say growth sequence.
So cool!
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6
Day 7
Should it to the wifey and we decided to try it.
And it worked!
We used Wong Bok cabbaged (also known as Napa cabbage or Chinese cabbage).
Here's the seven say growth sequence.
So cool!
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6
Day 7
Durian Feast
Even the semi-lockdown cannot stop me from feasting on my favourite durians!
Went out to buy durians for the first time during Phase One.
We hadn't eaten it for more than three months since the Circuit Breaker.
Still the ultra reliable stall at Marine Parade Central is the best!
It is called Parkway Durian.
Went out to buy durians for the first time during Phase One.
We hadn't eaten it for more than three months since the Circuit Breaker.
Still the ultra reliable stall at Marine Parade Central is the best!
It is called Parkway Durian.
Phase One Jog
The beaches are still closed.
That doesn't stop me from having a jog at ECP.
The forest trail outside our place is still open.
A lovely sight when it is totally secluded now.
That doesn't stop me from having a jog at ECP.
The forest trail outside our place is still open.
A lovely sight when it is totally secluded now.
Phase One Food
Eating a lot of home-cooked food throughout Phase One.
The wifey is a really good cook, and still trying to improve.
All we do is eat and give our comments.
We are quite lucky.
The wifey is a really good cook, and still trying to improve.
All we do is eat and give our comments.
We are quite lucky.
Phase One
So after CB, Phase One came along.
More businesses could open, but still it felt like a semi-lockdown.
We were still spending our days at home predominantly.
WFH was still the order of the day for the whole period.
We were still eating at home every day.
Then suddenly, the government announced that Phase Two would start earlier than expected.
On 19th June, we began Phase Two.
Parks were open, businesses were open, people were allowed to come out and congregate in groups of 5, restaurants allowed dine in again.
What a quick change.
So now we are getting used to Phase Two.
More businesses could open, but still it felt like a semi-lockdown.
We were still spending our days at home predominantly.
WFH was still the order of the day for the whole period.
We were still eating at home every day.
Then suddenly, the government announced that Phase Two would start earlier than expected.
On 19th June, we began Phase Two.
Parks were open, businesses were open, people were allowed to come out and congregate in groups of 5, restaurants allowed dine in again.
What a quick change.
So now we are getting used to Phase Two.
Monday, June 01, 2020
Final Day Of CB
The Circuit Breaker is finally ending officially.
We are moving on to Phase One of three phases of gradual reopening.
There are some nice memories for me to take away, having been cooped up at home for so long. And today, it was a beautiful moment when we were having desserts as a family, we shared our key takeaways of what CB meant to each of us.
Some key highlights of what we liked the most about CB:
Playing mobile games
Waking up late
Mummy/Wifey's cooking
Spending so much time together
Spending time with the kids
Papa washing the dishes
Playing board games
Having such a big house with ample space
Being able to WFH
Some key downsides of what we disliked most about CB:
Not being able to go out
Having to wear masks when we went out
Chinese tuition
As you can see, there were a lot more pros than cons.
I do feel like CB has taken a toll on all Singaporeans and each of us will derive some permanent memories of our time spent, be they good or bad.
We will look back and wonder how we passed the time at home at the while.
As my wife did mention the other day, CB feels weird because in the future when we look back and we tried to recall anything significant that we did, we probably won't be able to remember any. What we'd remember more is the routines that we had day in and day out, so much so that we did these things so systematically that we'd forget what day of the week it was.
It truly is an amazing time to be alive and live through this.
I'm sure it has changed people for better or for worse.
Tomorrow we begin Phase One.
We are moving on to Phase One of three phases of gradual reopening.
There are some nice memories for me to take away, having been cooped up at home for so long. And today, it was a beautiful moment when we were having desserts as a family, we shared our key takeaways of what CB meant to each of us.
Some key highlights of what we liked the most about CB:
Playing mobile games
Waking up late
Mummy/Wifey's cooking
Spending so much time together
Spending time with the kids
Papa washing the dishes
Playing board games
Having such a big house with ample space
Being able to WFH
Some key downsides of what we disliked most about CB:
Not being able to go out
Having to wear masks when we went out
Chinese tuition
As you can see, there were a lot more pros than cons.
I do feel like CB has taken a toll on all Singaporeans and each of us will derive some permanent memories of our time spent, be they good or bad.
We will look back and wonder how we passed the time at home at the while.
As my wife did mention the other day, CB feels weird because in the future when we look back and we tried to recall anything significant that we did, we probably won't be able to remember any. What we'd remember more is the routines that we had day in and day out, so much so that we did these things so systematically that we'd forget what day of the week it was.
It truly is an amazing time to be alive and live through this.
I'm sure it has changed people for better or for worse.
Tomorrow we begin Phase One.
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