Manchester United 3 (4) Coventry City 3 (2)

 WE ARE IN THE FA CUP FINAL! 

Worst way to qualify ever! Geez what a roller coaster of a game, going 3-0 up and cruising and then letting Coventry come back to draw 3-3 (handball penalty at the last minute!)because of poor subs, complacency and just ill discipline. 

In extra time Coventry scores in the last few minutes and I’m all upset and switch off the tv, only to find out via in-app push that the goal was ruled out offside. Then rush out to turn on the tv again, only to see Casemiro miss the first penalty, but then we come back strong to score the rest, Onana saves one and they sky another, Rasmus wins it for us, and we are now into the FA Cup Final! We win 4-2 on penalties. 

One of the most terrible games to ever watch as a fan really. 

GGMU!!! 

#FACup #manchesterunited #coventrycity

Debate Is DeThing You Catch DeFish With

  My girl managed to get all the way to semi finals of the Primary School Div 2 National Debate Competition.

So proud of her!

Unfortunately they were knocked out in the Semis but they get to challenge once more in the 3/4 placing!

Look at what the school had to say!

Chinese Orchestra Performance

 Went to watch the Ngee Ann Secondary School Chinese Orchestra performance at Our Tampines Hub the other day.

My son was in there playing the Er Hu.

Super proud dad moment.

Love that he’s got such musical acumen.

Cycling TMCR To Changi

 Took this old fella out for a whim spin the other day late morning. 

That whim spin turned into more than 40km on Tamar Merah Coastal Road up to the start of Changi Beach Park and back. 

Ouch my butt. 

Oh and Changi Bay Point looks super pretty and almost exclusively accessible only by cycling.

Anyway it’s great exercise for me.

The BattleBox @ Fort Canning

 There this new place we stumbled upon at Fort Canning just a couple weeks ago.

It is called The BattleBox pretty near to the Fort Canning Visitor Centre.

Basically this was THE REAL bunker used during WW2 by the British forces to plan the defence of Singapore (which ultimately failed).

It is free by they encourage donations.

What an amazing experience for someone like me having served in the military before!

Very interactive too so go check it out.

A Weekend Staycation At W Hotel Sentosa

 The wife was on a trip to Korea with her parents.

Decided we should do something fun on the weekend and ended up booking W Sentosa on a whim.

Thankfully I had tons of Marriott Bonvoy points so I booked the smallest cheapest room I could get not expecting much.

Then on check in, I was upgraded (all my years as Lifetime Gold finally!) to an Away Room Suite with its own jacuzzi pool!!!

WTH!!!

Never been upgraded to a room with pool before!!!

So we really just spent our time hanging by the main W pool which was a favourite pastime since forever (coming here for staycations for more than ten years now), and then going my to our private pool to chill some more after that.

Boy it was really super awesome.

Just me and the two kiddos. What a time to be alive.

Oh and then there was the wonderful W breakfast buffet too!

Bruno Mars In Singapore

 So Bruno Mars came and performed three nights here.

It was such a lovely performance.

Personally I still liked Taylor Swift’s much more, but that not to say his wasn’t good.

Luckily we knew so many of his songs and it was like a karaoke singalong.

The crowd was fantastic too.

Oh and u got to go with my son. So happy and proud.

Coffee Barista

 I have a colleague who’s a lawyer but also a trained coffee barista.

How amazing is that!

Look at our coffee machine in the pantry and what he made me.

Foodie Two Shoes

 Really not that much to post about lately.

Work is crazy busy and taking up all my time.

But here are various foods that have made me happy over the last few weeks :)

 

Mr Market Coming Down

 Aaaaaand the market is coming down.

The NASDAQ has reached 17,000 while flirting with ATH of 18,500 just a week ago.

NVDA was done 10% to $760 last night.

TSLA is at $147 last night too.

And this night just be the start.

Even after the war in the Middle East was deescalated.

War in Ukraine still ongoing. Hope Ukraine can find a way to win and soon.

Tensions in the Taiwan Straits rising. Hope nothing happens there.

But the real reason is this.

Markets are worried inflation is too sticky (I really told you so!).

That means we might NOT even have an interest rate cut this year, when stupid market was pricing in up to six cuts this year! How misaligned is that?!

USD Treasury debt is growing uncontrollably.

At this rate all industries relying on loans will struggle. The leveraged banks. Tech. IT. Property. REITs. BDCs.

Crypto is a conundrum. No one really knows what’s gonna happen after the halving. And that is happening tonight.

Gold is flying through the roof, hitting past $2,400 yesterday.

All I can say is to keep some powder dry and have some cash in hand to seize any good opportunities. It feels like volatility is coming back in quite a big way.

Good luck and stay safe!

Global Worries

Feeling a little worried lately about global developments recently.

Ukraine seems to be losing the war against Russia the aggressor. In the war of attrition, it is already quite a miracle that they’ve held strong on for three years now, but they are beginning to lose ground quickly as more supporting countries turn more right winged.

Israel’s invasion of Gaza over Hamas’ Oct 7th atrocities has turn global moral opinion against them and now seems to be escalating wider with Iran and the US possibly drawn in.

Myanmar civil war where the resistance appears to be gaining ground is a positive thing considering the repressive junta. The junta’s recent law to draft conscripts is so worrying.

Philippines’ South China sea confrontations with China over their nine-dotted line claims appears to be escalating. 

Trump looking more and more likely to win the coming US elections and then he’s going to cause a lot of havoc in global affairs such as stopping support for NATO, escalating trade wars with China and totally neglecting SEA. So worrying.

These current affairs make me think about how and what I need to do to position myself financially, mentally, emotionally and maybe even physically!

Dental Problems

 Just had my dental health check today.

Cracks developing in my molars :(

I need to reduce eating my favourite nuts and chewy meats :(

Luckily no crowning needed, just monitor and reduce the consumption of foods that need harder bite. It’s quite normal as we age into our midlife to have all these issues.

Who’d think getting older would see the onset of so many health issues?

Really need to make a greater effort to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

Sad.

Just Hanging With The Kids

 Got to spend a lot of quality time with the kids for the last eight days.

The wifey went on holiday with her parents to Korea.

Really appreciate this quality time with them.

As teens there is so much to talk about, sometimes it’s just a matter of whether parent and child can connect and this I’m really so blessed and thankful that we have been really good doing that.

Also YOLOed on a very last minute staycation at W Hotel on Sentosa just for a weekend. We spent most of our time chilling by the W pool, then a nice Japanese dinner at Vivocity. I got one of my luckiest upgrades yet, to an Away Room ground floor suite which had its own private jacuzzi pool! Absolutely stunning and we were having so much fun playing there too. Then a crazy long breakfast at the infamous W Breakfast buffet. Glad to see it back after all the Covid years when the buffet changed to order style for awhile.

Today we went to town from 11am and walked from Raffles Place all the way up Fort Canning and then to Dhoby Ghaut and then to Orchard. Yes we walked it all, just talking and yakking about Singapore’s history, our past travels, and my girl’s upcoming debate topic.

There is so much to be grateful for and appreciative of.

Really love them both so much.

And now gonna be off to pickup the wifey from the airport shortly…