It’s Weird

The year has started…off.

I do not think I will be having a happy or prosperous year ahead.

I seriously doubt I will achieve much of what I want to achieve this year, notably will not travel much.

Sad.

:’(

God bless us all.

What To Do Right Now Jan 2026

 

What I should do RIGHT NOW

This is key.

1. Shift to DEFENSIVE MODE (6–12 weeks)

• Smaller trades
• Fewer decisions
• Capital preservation mindset

This aligns perfectly with your current pillar.

2. Reintroduce movement before performance

Even 30 mins indoors counts.

For you, movement fixes mood before logic returns.

3. Avoid big irreversible decisions

Not the time for:

• Major portfolio overhauls
• High-leverage bets
• Emotional commitments

Short-term restraint = long-term win.

4. Family duty now is karmically “correct”

Supporting your family is the way to go.

In BaZi logic, it actually:

• Resolves Earth pressure
• Prevents worse manifestations later (health, finances)

The important reassurance

This phase does NOT say:

• You are unlucky
• Your best years are over
• You’ve “lost your edge”

It says:

“Slow the flow, tighten the channel, and you’ll move faster again soon.”

What’s Really Happening :(

What’s really happening (non-mystical explanation)

You’re in a temporary depletion state:

• Sleep disturbed
• Exercise interrupted
• Emotional bandwidth consumed by family concern
• Cognitive load high → impulse control drops

That combination directly correlates with:

• Overtrading / chasing
• Loss of routine
• Pessimistic attribution (“everything goes wrong”)

This is biology + psychology, not cosmic punishment.

A Turn At Home

 2025 suddenly feels like eons ago.

That wonderful Norwegian, Finnish and French holiday feels like years back.

And now day to day realities are hitting too close to home.

This was meant to be a good year for me, or so it seemed.

Now it looks like the opposite.

Wishing good health and prosperity to all.

Cautiously afraid to tread forwards into the year ahead.

Sigh.

First Game Of Futsal In 2026

 So proud of myself.

At 47 I’m still playing.

Here’s to many more years

Resolutions 2026

 Here we go again.

2025 has turned out to be a great year.

Will 2026 be a continuation of the same? Or even better?

In fact this year I came up with 7 resolutions to work towards!

Here are my resolutions for 2026!

• Run further Total Distance than in 2025 (Strava: 446km)
• Lose 3kg (current weight: 86kg)
• Earn $100K from investments
• Exercise at least two times a week an hour each
• Join at least one Hyrox/10km/Half marathon/Full marathon event
• Drink less alcohol (max six pints of beer a week)
• Average 10K steps per day for entire year

Hello 2026, Goodbye 2025

 Wow 2025, what a fantastic year you’ve been.

It didn’t look it at the start but boy did we end with a power upshot, with further momentum to come going into 2026!

Here’s a quick look back on 2025 for me.

January was off the back of a wonderful and affordable Korea trip. It made me fall in love with Kore finally. Attended the girl’s orientation in secondary school, absolutely proud of her stellar achievement, felt like she scored full marks for her PSLE tbh. She’s quite set for life, is my hope. Actually had a short trip to KL for work, but any travel is good for me.

Feb was CNY, nothing super significant. Joker Xue concert at the National Stadium. Oh, financially we paid off our mortgage. Now that was fucking significant. 46yr old with no housing loan. What a baller!

March I visited Copenhagen for work. Was fun and I always love travelling out of Asia.

April 7th was a day of infamy at work, when we had a mega P1 incident, caused by Trump’s tariff announcement. There was the JPM Corporate Challenge. Then I brought the kids to Penang, it was so much fun!

May we went day camping on Sentosa Island. Then two amazing nights of Lady Gage concert for me. Also brought the kids to catch The Phantom Of The Opera.

June we went to Perth. It was so fun. Great break from the challenges and business at work. We also bought our new BYD Atto 3. Was due for delivery only in September because it was the hottest selling car.

July we celebrated many birthdays. Did a staycation at W Hotel on Sentosa Island. It was the best durian season too. I ran the Railway Corridor which was slightly more than a half marathon, on my birthday!

There wasn’t much going on in August. A DHS reunion. Some key changes at work, new org chains etc. oh we did a 3D2N getaway to JB right across the causeway.

September we took delivery of the new car. It’s a great drive. Nothing much else. Lots of work.

October was the busiest month for work I suppose, because nothing much else happened,

Nov it started getting better. Started with a Copenhagen trip again where we dipped in 10°C sea pool. Had a colleague’s son who was a finalist on Masterchef Denmark cook dinner for us. Then partied the night away in Denmark’s J Day, the launch of Christmas beer. Also I caught Singapore beating HK to qualify for the Asian Cup first time ever on merit!

Dec was a trip to HCM with the son to experience more about the Vietnam War. Then the legendary Paris, Tromso, Rovaniemi mega holiday where we were so lucky we saw the northern lights multiple times. Also stayed in a $4K/night Finnish igloo glass cabin for two nights. Some of the most magical moments happened in the middle of the frozen lake at -20°C.

Health was relatively good all year. Have made a conscious decision to cut down my alcohol intake. Could’ve exercised more though.

Family relationships were great. Again need to spend more time with my aging parents. Kids are getting more independent now, can talk back some more.

Personal finances weren’t the best at the start and then April Trump fucked me over for a bit, but by golly the stars seem to be aligning around mid Q4 and it looks to be even better into the new year.

Work was great. Very busy but I spent the whole year in a role that I was in my element. The foundations are set and this year is the year I get to outperform. Cautiously super optimistic about job satisfaction, target outperformance and earnings at work in 2026.

As with traditional, here were last year’s reviews.

And here were my 2025 resolutions.

Below are my 2025 resolutions review.

1) Average 10K Step Per Day Whole Year FAIL

I actually managed to average >10K steps per day for the month of December. Alas this was quite difficult to achieve. Maybe I shall attempt it against this year. In all I achieved an average of 8,387 steps a day in 2025.

2) Lose 3kg (from 85kg) FAIL

I start 2026 at 87kg. Nuff said.

3) Earn 100K From Investments PASS

‘‘Twas a great year for me on the investing front. Down from paying off the mortgage, some key bets took me back to a level as though I still had that mortgage money. Kudos to DRO, EOS and UNH. Two of which I carry into the new year.

4) Buy An EV PASS

You know the initial resolution was to ‘buy a Tesla’? Then Silly Elon Musk did things that didn’t align with my own thoughts so why should I give him my money? He’s already too rich as is. We ended up getting a BYD Atto 3 and I cannot be happier with it. It’s been a great and proud experience so far.

5) Drink Less Alcohol (max 5 pints per week) FAIL

I feel like I’m coming closer and closer to this goal every year. Could 2026 be the year that I finally go sober?

———

Ok so another year with 2/5 Passes.

Some were close, and I would get closer based on my resolve this year. Others might be unattainable so I have to tweak a little.

Here’s to an even stronger 2026 let’s go!

HUAT AH!!!

Venezuela

 Wow.

The US has bombed Venezuela and captured its now deposed leader onto a ship bound for New York!

The US is now basically saying ‘we can do whatever we want, wherever we want, whenever we want.’

Still haven’t made up my mind what the longer term impact of what happened today will be, I do not think there will be a large scaled war.

This appears to be a #杀一儆百 exercise by the US.

Interesting to see how the rest of the world reacts to this.

What a way to start 2026!

#venezuela

Paris, France + Tromso, Norway + Rovaniemi, Finland 2025

Here was our itinerary for the mega trip of the year!

Travel Insurance For Whole Trip

FWD

December 12 Friday

00:15 Departure T3 SQ 336

07:15 Arrival CDG T1 

Check in to accommodation in Paris

INNSiDe Paris CDG Airport

Visit Saxo Banque office

Musée d’Orsay

Scenic walk + transit

December 13 Saturday 

Fly to Stockholm

12:40 Departure T2B SAS SK574 CDG (Paris)

15:10 Arrival T5 ARN (Stockholm)

Fly to Tromso 

16:35 Departure T5 SAS SK1492 ARN (Stockholm)

18:35 Arrival TOS (Tromso)

Check in to accommodation in Tromso

Tromso Lodge & Camping

December 14 Sunday

Tromso Lodge & Camping

City Tour

McDonald’s 

Museum 

Dinner at Bardus 

December 15 Monday

Tromso Lodge & Camping

Best Arctic Husky Safari

(Meet at 11:00 at the reception of Tromsø Lodge & Camping)

December 16 Tuesday

Tromso Lodge & Camping

Arctic Whale Tours

(Meet at 8:00 at Tromso Harbour)

Pack lunch before boarding

December 17 Wednesday

Tromso Lodge & Camping

Fejllheisen Cable Car via GetYourGuide

Aurora hunting

December 18 Thursday

Tromso Lodge & Camping

Check out of accommodation

Fly to Rovaniemi

10:25 Departure TOS Finnair AY542 (Tromso)

12:35 Arrival RVN (Rovaniemi)

Check in to accommodation in Rovaniemi 

Nordica Design Residence Rovaniemi 

City tour

Lordi Square

Koskikatu Street

Kemijoki Riverside

December 19 Friday 

Nordica Design Residence Rovaniemi 

09:00 Santa Claus Village

12:00 Snowman World

13:00 Reindeer Sleigh Ride

DIY aurora spotting

Walk to Kemijoki riverside

Dinner at Restaurant Nest

December 20 Saturday 

Nordica Design Residence Rovaniemi 

Karouma Canyon Frozen Waterfalls

9am at WildAboutLapland Office

December 21 Sunday

Nordica Design Residence Rovaniemi 

Check out of accommodation 

Check in to second accommodation 

Silver Birch Resort Lapland

December 22 Monday

Silver Birch Resort Lapland

Hike to Samosen Kirkko

Ice fishing

Dinner and Northern Lights Tour (6pm at cabin)

December 23 Tuesday

Silver Birch Resort Lapland

Check out of accommodation 

Fly to Copenhagen 

13:10 Departure SAS SK1977 RVN (Rovaniemi)

14:35 Arrival T3 CPH (Copenhagen)

Fly to Paris

17:25 Departure SAS SK559 T3 CPH (Copenhagen)

19:25 Arrival T2B CDG (Paris)

Paris Marriott Opera Ambassador Hotel

December 24 Wednesday

Paris Marriott Opera Ambassador Hotel

10:00 Louvre Priority Access!

15:00 Seine River Cruise

20:30 Christmas dinner reservation at 

Le Grand Cafe Capucines

December 25 Thursday

Paris Marriott Opera Ambassador Hotel

09:00 Walk around Île de la Cité & Latin Quarter

• Notre-Dame Cathedral exterior

– Restoration still ongoing, but Christmas decor + façade views are lovely

• Pont de l’Archevêché viewpoints

– Calm area, great family photos

All walkable from Notre Dame area.

14:00 Head to Trocadero

(Time: 20 mins taxi/Uber)

• Eiffel Tower

– Trocadero viewpoint

– Walk down Champ de Mars

– Under-tower photos

16:00 Short break

Nearby cafe or crepe stands

16:30 Head to Arc de Triomphe 

• Arc de Triomphe 

– Consider going up, buy tickets on the spot

• Walk Champs-Elysees

18:30 Dinner

Since it’s Christmas Day, keep dinner simple and  or near hotel.

Chez André

December 26 Friday

Paris Marriott Opera Ambassador Hotel

Disneyland Paris

Recommended route

1. Walk 5–8 minutes to Auber (RER A)

2. Take RER A → Marne-la-Vallée–Chessy

3. Travel time: ~40 minutes, direct

4. You arrive right at the Disney gates

December 27 Saturday 

10:40 Departure CDG T1 SQ 335

06:15 (Dec 28 Sunday) Arrival T1