Token2049 2026

 This was my first Token2049 event in Singapore where we bought early bird tickets at USD399 for both days.

It’s just a massive crypto event and by massive I mean MASSIVE! Basically the whole of MBS Convention Centre all levels kinda massive.

Few things stood out for me.

Crypto and blockchain are slowly but surely making its way into the mainstream. There is no stopping it.

There is TradFi (Traditional Finance) where I’m from. And DeFi (Decentralized Finance), where the new world begins.

On the first day we went from office in office attire and all through the day we could tell that there were people specifically avoiding TradFi. So the next day we dressed in T-shirt and jeans and immediately we got into more conversations!

Tokenization of securities and other assets will become a thing sooner than people think.

Else crypto right now is very murky and we do not know what’s funding all of this but there’s really too much money floating around in this lesser known system and a lot of it is surely illicit and non-compliant.

But here we are.

Crazy F1 Week

 What a crazy work week it has been for me.

5th Oct Monday - High profile client event. Drank with clients and colleagues.

6th Oct Tuesday - Drinks with CPH colleagues.

7th Oct Wednesday - Token2049 @ MBS. Drinks while networking.

8th Oct Thursday - Token2049 @ MBS. Drinks while networking.

9th Oct Friday - F1 Day 1 Practice. Took a breather, one beer with colleagues then dinner with family.

10th Oct Saturday- F1 Day 2 Qualifying. Further breather, no alcohol.

11th Oct Sunday - F1 Day 3 Race Night. Trackside VIP event. Certainly will drink while we watch the race.

Shag.

Evolution Of Steps

 Looking at my iCloud data on daily steps taken.

It’s quite interesting that I’ve got more than 10 years of data now.

Mind you this tracker is just based on how much time I hold my phone while walking as a daily average.

2015 - 5,011 steps

2016 - 5,450 steps

2017 - 7,028 steps

2018 - 6,719 steps

2019 - 7,528 steps

2020 - 4,915 steps 

2021 - 4,809 steps

2022 - 5,923 steps

2023 - 6,863 steps

2024 - 7,773 steps

2025 - 8,387 steps

2026 - 9,013 steps (so far)

Wow, things have picked up not just since Covid but even surpassing pre Covid period.

Here’s to a healthier lifestyle!

Fulham 1 Manchester United 1

 It was almost expected.

We’re started the season so poorly that I cannot expect any easy games even at this early stage of the season.

Fulham are, or were, bottom of the league thus far.

Yet we conceded a stupid own goal.

Thankfully Cunha scored in the 89th minute to save us a point.

We are now five games in with five points. One of our worst ever starts.

Sigh.

Michael Carrick really has his job cut out for him this season.

GGMU.

Weird EPL Weekend

 It’s been a very weird EPL weekend so far.

Brentford 3 Chelsea 0

Brighton 3 Arsenal 0

Nottingham Forest 0 Coventry 1

It might mean that Manchester United has a chance away to Fulham later!

I can only wish.

Fourth HYROX Training

 Wow it just gets tougher.

Today I threw the 6kg medicine ball for Wall Ball and lost my grip catching it and it smashed my face and shoulder.

Shag really cannot think.

I was dazed for quite awhile, and my glasses were bent for a moment.

Luckily I regained composure and could carry on.

At this point we are only doing six stations on rotational reps of 1/4 the race count + 1km run between stations.

And it gets worse each session.

Phew!

First Ever HYROX

 We were on to our second HYROX training even without signing up for the competition.

Then I went to check the website again even though last few times I’ve checked their Mixed Doubles slots were all full.

And lo and behold there were open availabilities for the Thursday slot for Mixed Doubles!

So I signed up for myself and the wifey, costing almost $400!

This November!

That’s really soon and now the ten session package I’ve signed up for is going to be the very thing that will push us over the finish line!

Let’s gooooooo!

Everton 2 Manchester United 2

 Awww man, what a bummer.

We conceded a literal last minute Everton goal, else really could have won it.

What made it more special was being able to watch this with my son.

How much a win that would have meant.

It’s just frustrating that we were quite good up front but still struggling at the back.

Fair play to Everton piling on the pressure at home. 

The only silver lining is that we got the draw instead of a loss, even if we should’ve won.

Sigh.

GGMU!

HYROX Training Locked In

 Was so happy with the training the wifey and I did last Sunday, that I decided to sign on another 10 session package to the same gym and doing those HYROX training sessions.

Even though I didn’t manage to sign up for the mixed doubles for this November leg in Singapore, I’m thinking this still gets our fitness up, while we await to sign up for next April’s edition.

Here’s to a healthier body while I am still able to work out well.

Margin Lending Wheel Strategy

  I’ve come far enough to say that the is year this strategy has worked crazily well for me.

The Wheel strategy is an old plain vanilla strategy and that seems to have paid off really well for me all through the year.

The strategy is simple: pick good solid stocks that I would like to own (though lately I have been a bit more aggressive with some speculative growth stocks), sell Puts at strike prices that I would not mind owning them if the stocks are assigned, then sit and wait. If assigned, I own the stocks at a good price, then I begin selling Calls on them until I get assigned. 

Rinse and repeat.

This strategy has been made even more successful as I have been doing it on my Saxo Margin Lending account which allows me to execute this less aggressive strategy on margin.

Long may the huatness continue!

Happy Birthday To The Wifey

 Today was not a bad day.

Had planned first thing in the morning 7.30am, a HYROX training session for both of us. We have a goal to do HYROX mixed doubles possibly next April, so this was a good teaser at the minimum.

The session turned out almost two hours long, with more than an hour of station training. Quite an eye opener and it’s actually made me more confident to even do solo if needed.

Then around 10am we drove back to pick the kids and went to Springleaf at Siglap to have a small roti prata breakfast. I’ve lived here almost all my life and yet this is the first time I’ve eaten there. It was the boy who’s tried it out with his friends.

By 12pm we came out again for lunch. This time at Tomi Sushi at Katong V. My first time here and we had a REALLY GOOD sushi lunch that was more affordable than I expected. Loved it. Especially Sharon the nice old lady waitress who helped recommend the best sushi offers and dishes and even gave the wifey a birthday yuzu sorbet with candle!

At 2pm we went to PLQ Mall to hang out. The wifey AGAIN got another birthday cake at Paris Baguette. She also got a birthday discount at Don Don Donki! Haha she really knows how to milk all the birthday promos where she can.

6pm we were off to the in-laws place as we do on Sundays. Again we had chocolate cake.

It was an eventful birthday for the wifey I guess.

Work

 I’ve stated that I’m loving my job this period.

Yes it is stressful.

In fact maybe more stressful than the whole of 2024 when I was parked to head a role that I was not strong at AnD didn’t really like.

Now, I have so much of senior leadership local and global trust. I stress over not living up to expectations and ambitions.

I am recognized as one of the best at what I do. I stress over the high standards I set myself so that everyone can look up to me.

I am leading so many things and changes that will make a difference to the business. I stress over not disappointing anyone.

I have a team of high performers who are helping me look even better than I work for, and I stress over having to ensure they get all the credit due to them

I wonder if all this is as healthy for me personally as it seems, but this is where I’ve always wanted to be and this is where I am at my element.

So long may this continue!

Appreciating That Things Are Going Well

 Home is good.

Family is good.

Health is ok. More focus here to eat and exercise well.

Medical issues early in the year are largely in remission or have gone or being managed properly.

Kids doing great.

Work is great.

Wealth is good. Turning into my huatest year.

Just generally feeling cautiously happy daily.

All round things are going well and before anything shitty happens, which I know will certainly come, I want to take a moment to appreciate all that is perfect in my life right now.

I am so blessed.

JB & RTS

 Been going into JB a lot this year.

Something’s drawn me there that I will be going in a little more out of necessity.

What excites me is firstly the latest RTS development, and secondly the SEZ between SG and MY.

I see a lot of potential in these developments that the north of SG will be a lot more integrated with JB.

Hopefully it really gets better and becomes a realistic opening up of more businesses, lower prices and better interconnectivity for us all.

To cheaper purchases!

To retirement in JB!

Spider-Man: Brand New Day

 Not a bad movie.

Lots of superhero appearances.

But it feels like we are getting primed for Doomsday.

The Odyssey was way better in the cinema.

Was nice to be able to watch it together with the whole family.

Futsal At 47

 Maybe a once every 2-3 months event now.

This time when I played (last Saturday) where I really tried to run as much as I could, coupled with being on a consecutive winning team, here are new findings.

Out of breath really quickly.

By game two, I needed to play goalkeeper after five mins burst.

I played goalkeeper a lot.

I couldn’t run after game four. I had to walk to track back.

Still able to do short bursts but at a cost.

The cost was out of breath and at one point I even felt faint on the pitch.

Scored at least three goals. I still have it in me.

One was a screamer from the far right past the halfway line.

One was a header that hit the bar and ricocheted back to me to tap home. 

Knee swelled next two days.

Couldn’t walk much without right knee pain for three days.

Lower back ache for two days. 

Good type of heart pain for one day. Like blood vessels got stretched.

Gout three days later.

Anyway, these are just observations of what it’s like to play futsal at 47.

Minor Gout Inflammation

 Weird.

No alcohol for six days.

Played exhausting futsal on the weekend.

Went for a 5km walk the night before.

Been eating healthy BUT ate a medium bag of SC&O potato chips the night before.

Next morning, gout inflammation on my left toe again.

Sad.

Decided I’d start on Allopurinal finally. 

So now I’m on two meds forever.

Here’s to healthier days ahead.

A Weird Birthday

 I had big plans to go into JB to celebrate my birthday alone for the day.

Then last night after work, my wife’s leg which had three supposedly innocent mosquito bites, started to swell to a point where we felt it might be good she went to the hospital.

What felt like a small issue, ended with us at CGH till 2am waiting and waiting to be diagnosed. And when she finally was, she had to stay the night even. 

Anyway long story short I had to cancel all my birthday plans in order to hang around and be on standby for her. I ended up having some short quality alone time in the afternoon so I went to take a look at the three new MRT stations that completed the Circle Line.

In the evening after my wife had her homecare treatment, we went for a simple Korean BBQ dinner.

Upon reflection, it might have been for the best that today went about like it did, as it should.

And that was it.

My weird 47th birthday.

The Odyssey

 Just watched this three hour epic at Jewel with the teens.

I thought we all thoroughly enjoyed it.

Especially the teens being familiar with Greek mythology and all.

What a movie, highly recommended!

This was a very rare time we went to the cinema again and boy was it worth it.

Next one with probably be either Spider-Man: Brand New Day or Avengers Doomsday 

Spain Vs Argentina

 So this year’s World Cup finals will be played this weekend.

It is Spain vs Argentina.

I’m not really keen on either team but my support goes to Spain.