The Potential to be Friday the 13th

Sat had the potential to be the Friday 13th for me. Really is like pazhi clash so bad cos everything that could go wrong, went wrong. A whole lotta of series of mishap. Its Murphy's Law all over again.

First, had a light breakfast of Bee Hoon. My mom cooked it quite early. So I ate that as breakfast. Wanted to make sure I conserve calories for the heavy dinner. But after eating, suddenly there's a slice of cake put to my face. Huh? Apparently its a slice of the choc cake my sister brought back... So ate it.... bububu my calories.

Then head out for guitar. Took the bus since both buses, managed to hop off on, straight on to the other. Usually I would reach just in time, even earlier cos surprisingly the buses can travel to town quite fast. Unfortunately, this time it didnt. Kena jammed for 10 mins in Holland V area. Also kena jammed at the Orchard stretch. Just when the destination almost in sight, got a bus break down in the bus lane just 1 bus stop from my stop! Grr ended up half hour late. But managed to catch up and then lesson ended earlier. 10mins earlier... So I travelled 1.5hrs just to attend a 20min lesson! OMFG!!!

Fine, decided to eat my Korean tofu soup and coffee at Po Mo. Bought Toto. Those went smoothly. But then after I had 4.5hrs to kill. I seriously suck really bad at killing time. I walked over to the Cathay to check out movie timing. None of the movies appealed to me. Walked over to PS, again its the same listing of the movies. Fine. I went to Daiso and ended up with 2 snacks, 1 nose pore cream, 1 pair of leg warmers (I wanted to get a pair for my legs cos sometimes my legs really cold but today when I tried, it cant fit my thick legs.... so they became my 2nd pair of arm warmers. Man only my slimmer sister could squeeze her legs in but she also say is tight)

After that, I took a bus to Suntec. Walked over to Marina and again no movies I wanted to watch. I didnt want to watch romance nor chinese movies nor horror. I actually forgot that Suntec itself had a theatre... so didnt check it out. So in resignation, I walked over using umbrella to Esplanade. I settled in the library cafe with 2 mags about guitars. Ordered a milkshake and the guy gave me back less $1 change... effectively overcharging me... Signz I give up. Also I wanted to avoid more calories but guess just cant.... Just plock down on the sofa for 2 but I took up the whole thing and just surfed internet with I-phone and stoned. Later I read through the guitar magazines. When I was about finished, got a msg to meet up with Tab.

I walked over back to the Mrt. Went down the wrong escalator to the wrong line, then had to escalate up and go to the right one. Then at the change of trains, I got into the wrong train and managed to get out before the doors closed... Then met Tab, by then I was too tired from one whole day out killing time to go style my hair with the spray, cream and stuff that I put in my bag. Just changed into contacts and ruffled hair a bit. Phew. Made it to Brewerks safely.

It was actually cold there cos the fan plus maybe the aircon vent was just above us. Incentive to order beer. I had a dark lager that is very light tasting. It reminds me of Guiness Draught but even lighter and more flavourful. We decided to order first so each of us got a beer and ordered 2 plates of finger food, fries and tortilla with dips. Then when Krynnder came, we ordered the King burger, buffalo wings and sausages. Happy eating and drinking. Surprisingly not that full after all that, nor drunk. But its really pretty good food and beer.

Quetzal ordered the Black Rabbit, which is surprisingly sweet also and has 2 contrasting taste. At first sip, its light bitter then the aftertaste hits which is completely non-bitter and pleasant. Its really like having something jump in the mouth due to the contrasting flavours. Krynnder's beer is honey fruity. Its a very very sweet beer. Its light and fruity, quite refreshing but the aftertaste is really very sweet. Its good too. All these beer-drinking makes me wanna brew my own beer. It'll be SYL brand I tell ya, so no need to pay huge bucks for YSL. Tempted by the tower of beer but without ZX, the beer powerhouse, just us girls, we just settled for 500ml each. Thanks Candle for the new bottle of Caramel Baileys so that I can make Tiramisu again. My old bottle is past the best date, so can drink myself lor. Will make some 'caramel brown cow' to help me sleep. Not use to make stuff for others.

Nectarie removed the strudels from their menu. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My red wine pear strudels!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! Sob sob it was delicious while it lasted. Settled for waffles that werent too bad but still not comparable to the strudels... Sob sob now have to try to learn how to make my own strudels.... sob sob so much effort to eat something that is so delicious and only cost $6. The last time I ate with Tab, she asked me why I dont experiment how to make one. My reply was that I rather pay $6 to eat such a perfectly delicious one with minimal effort on my part. Signz... maybe that can be my next experimental cooking project. I already have in mind a good wine to use to soak the pears but just thinking of the 'work'...  Haiz I should have eaten more before... So we sat around at Nectarie, ate desserts and drank hot tea. It was very heavy rain and stuff. Got chauffered home. At least the later part of the day was truely enjoyable.

To more good beer and food but gotta watch the calories.

Birthday post

Signs this is the start of more birthdays that mark the aging more and more...

Granted I am surprised I've been alive for so many years already. Surprised by how different yet the same I am. Surprised that the years go by that certain fresh memories still are already several years or even a decade old... Then a thought came to me. How long more of this to go?

This day itself I didn't do anything out of the ordinary. Woke up, went to work. After that, went to gym, came home, watched some cable tv after dinner but my eyes are closing already. Think I will practice guitar on wed instead.

Though I am apprehensive abt growing older and the future at times, I remind myself to live in the present moment. Do things that I wanna do cos I would only be growing older, not younger the more I wait around. It's now or never. Hope to be as positive, energetic and healthy for more years to come.

Ash-based Highlights

I was thinking of high-lighting my hair. Had toyed with the idea of doing it around April. Think the main reason was job wasnt secured until somewhere around then.

But then I reminded myself. A highlight plus hair cut wont be so expensive that it would break the bank. *Mine cost $214.80 (ouch) with treatment* Plus if I waited until April, there's no significant things on the calendar except it would mean a new school year has started.

Plus I've been a rather frugal person with or without job. I had worked extra hrs in assignment to earn extra too which I dilligently save. I dont buy things on a whim or fancy and many stuff dont really catch my whim all the time. And I had hit replenishing back the drain on my $30k personal reserve. So I am on-track financially work-wise at least for my goals in this one year contract which ends in March. So though next school year things are not certain. I think I deserve something. Even if its a pricey hairjob.

Plus my birthday is looming in the near horizon and CNY is around the corner. Fine, I am not so much of a Christmas nor New Year person but at least by bdae held more significance for me. So I've decided to call for an appt and get it done.

It was a lazy Sunday. Absolutely no plans, plus family showed no signs of going anywhere. Also the going out, eating out, walking around, were all done yesterday. Time was passing pretty slowly.

I decided on Ash base colour. Ash with gold, ash with brown. Its something I've been liking but didnt really colour. So far all my highlights all tended towards copper. I dont really like the copper though it does brighten my face.

Hmm think my colour looks quite golden but can see the Ash colour. When the first colour removing job was done, I had very very golden hair. Look so lian. Even took a pic then after the colours applied, not so golden. Think need to see under the sun, for now, under the home white light and orange light, doesnt seem too obvious. I am quite happy with it except for the long 3.5hrs on the chair. Have to wash hair with the special shampoo for the next 4 washes.

Argh plus CNY songs playing all the way. OMFG, its like listening to oldies all over again. And all the tune are the same with various variations of "dong dong chiang". You have "dong dong chiang", "dong chiang, dong chiang", "dong dong dong chiang"... and so on. Get the drift? I felt quite tired through all the waiting... With all the dong dong chiang, also quite hard to just relax. Phew next time I would reconsider getting a hair job so close to CNY though.

A Happy Birthday to Me, though it meant getting older, I dont have to look my age yet.

A well-fed Sat...

It started off like a typical Sat. Woke up abt 8.30am, lazed in bed for an hr. Get up to eat then have to head out for guitar. Then I got an SMS from FH, who wanted to take the chance to eat pancakes. So we agreed to eat pancakes after my guitar lesson. Then I had to eat Mian Xian that my mom cooked for my bdae. I even helped out with part of the cooking cos I asked her how to cook it and she decided it's best I do hands-on. This I agree, it stays in.

So my breakfast was Mian Xian. Lunch was Banana Scotched Pancakes and later Iced coffee. So FH and I talked over the pancakes and coffee. Then he dropped me off at the stairway to heaven cos I had to go to Sport Light to help mom search for something. My family wanted to have dinner with me. So after that, I made my way to Suntec.

My dad's new favorite place is Suntec cos he finally figured out how to drive there. So he wasn't strongly opposed to driving the rest of the family there for dinner. We also 'introd' Marina Square to him, just park at exactly the convention carpark, take a lift up then walk over the bridge. At the Marina Centre Stage, I suggested Mr Curry. Cos Geoky saw it the other time and really tempted to try but we ended up in the food court. Then cos only the Japanese hamburg comes in minced meat patties, which my dad loves too. Mr Curry has minced meat curry as well as hamburg with curry. So there was little dissatisfaction from Dad. He enjoyed his order of minced beef curry with cold green tea. I was still full from pancakes but I finished my non-spicy thinly sliced with curry. They offer to treat me for dinner.

After dinner, we walked around looking at those doll catchers. Then walked back and my sister dabaoed some soy milk, you tiao n mushu gao. The you tiao a bit oiler, could br cos it's evening then. Then we went home. I ate 1 youtiao and a cup soya milk. Think I better go to the gym tomorrow, 3rd time to counter all these eating.

After more than a decade - to the Botanical Gardens

Yesterday I had to follow one of the level out for field trip. So I tagged along to the Botanical Gardens. Its been more than a decade since I've last went there. Ever been there only once or twice. Even once in the last couple of years, only went there once and only stayed at the Visitor Centre for the entire time.

So luckily for me they got a Jap guide and she answered the student's questions, while I tag along to take pics of them 'in action' doing their research and keep an eye on them. Finally there was nice sunny weather suitable for field trips. I had forgotten how well-developed the Botanical Gardens had become and how huge it was. Its really pretty. I enjoyed myself cos I didnt have to do too much explainations and just follow along. But after the 3hr outing, we still had cca. Very stoned and tired after all that. I still had assignment then and was seriously very tired after it all.

Today despite sleeping more, still felt tired. Today like a zombie, going around, half asleep, half wake. Even the caffine from coffee and coke Zero cannot wake me up completely. Still sleepy at this point. Can function but not that effecient nor very inspired with ideas. So see how later.

The issues on mind about work

On our minds this month is whether our contract would be renewed. Because it is an annual contract with no gurantee of renewal. That's the other negative aspect about this job, besides my pay cut. Not that much of job security, year on year.

I dont want to say too much here. But just that one collegue is not going to be renewed due to some official reasons I've heard. Then I helped that collegue to fill out some forms to seek employment locally elsewhere. Now that led me to wonder if I would still have a job in the next year?

Just found out that they are called in one-by-one to offer the renewal. Dunno if you can negotiate pay also??? As the pecking order of things, we are the last layer. So its either wait for our turn or ask for some information, though we were already wondering about it by last term Nov. There was no communication much about this aspect, and we wondered if it was culturally inapproriate to ask too soon. Yet if there was no renewal, we would like to know so that we can make plans but then again CNY is around the corner, so not much openings I guess plus the festive mood so negative things should be left until after. But still wanna know. So think might ask this end of this week if nothing.

Hope to work one more year, at least, so that it is something to put on the resume as well as build up my $50k target for personal reserve. I was on track to hitting back $30k reserve but paying off the annual insurance policies meant it drained it. Ouch. Well there's only 1 month bonus in March. I will use that to top up my reserve. Would feel more secure the nearer I am to that figure. Still got quite a very long way to go. The other plan is to manage my cash Stock portfolio better to see if I can rake it higher returns than last year's $15k so that I can shift some over to top up the personal reserve. Hoping for $20k. Will have to make better buy and sell decisions and be more dilligent monitoring. Trying to do that while juggling work, exercise routines, assignment plus guitar classes. Have to make better use of my time, more efficiently also.

I have been thinking, exactly how long can I stay in this job? If things goes well, can be several years, if my contract is renewed. But on the other side, can this be a career? My PR status will expire in another 5 years, I have to make sure that by the 4th year, I am working still to be able to renew. And many locals complain about foriegn workers. We have our own set of difficulties when working in sg, just that many dont think nor realise. All these made me think about this working for others thingy. Wont it be better if I was working for myself in my own company then. No worries about 'unemployment', yet sustainability is key. No ideas in mind, willl keep it open. Usually biz are based on things known best. There are those who stumble into something too. Really depends. Whichever it is, capital and having sound biz strategies is key.

A Sat with Dad and Sister

At 4pm, after hours of cable tv, Geoky asked dad to drive us out. We drove to Suntec then showed my dad how to walk over a very short distance to Marina Square. He's never been there. Then without much goal, we showed him the parts with lots of restaurants. The basement area, the fast food belt, the main part. Then we ate an early dinner at the foodcourt. It's been a really long while since I've eaten there.

I end up eating the Claypot curry with rice (cos no bread) It taste good except I feel guilty eating. But the cold n wet weather plus really very long didn't eat this stall, so I still ordered. My sister had claypot rice, my dad had pig organ soup. After that we walked around a bit more then made our way back to Suntec.

I remembered the suntec convention foodcourt has this very nice soybean n you Giap. Really felt like having that too. I asked my sis whether she wants warm soymilk. She was agreeable. So I got 3 cups of warm soymilk, 2 youtiao and she wanted green thing, 2. The extra was meant for mom who didn't come.

On the drive back, really enjoyed the still warm soymilk with the super crispy n chewy n flavorful you tiao. I think it even wins the one at Prinsep St. Very satisfying esp since it started raining again. When we got home, my mom tried them and said the you tiao is still really good (soften a bit) and goes very well with the not-so-sweet soymilk. Really nice. I can consider having some whenever I am in the area.

Live and Let Live

Live and let live.

I want to start this coming new year with a clean slate. Not carry baggage nor grudges. Its not easy but those drain positive energy so better get out from the system.

At work where I still have to work with Headless, irregardless whether I like her or not. The reality is that in any workplace, there are always some people you dislike. Its very rare to find that you can get along well with 100% of the collegues if yes, it might be superficial type of 'getting along'. My strategy so far is to avoid most personal communication (which irritates me) and just only for work-related and just try my best to work well whenever I have to go into the class. Thankfully its twice a week only. So far still greet each other for morning and goodbyes as usual. Cordial. Think that is an improvement.

Had a chat also with Tab regarding some misunderstanding. She let me know that I seem irritated with someone and it showed in a couple of recent instances. I have noted and will watch my temper. Its not worth losing good friends just due to some miscom / misunderstanding. I explained to her the background to it and will let it be water under the bridge. Sometimes my irritation gets the better of me. Its another thing about me to work on. Hey, I ain't perfect and still a work-in-progress.

Live and Let Live.

Very very slow at getting into the groove of things

Work has started. Still into my first week. It's been tough. Mainly cos I slept in the wee hours of the morning. Not that I wanted to, but just couldnt fall asleep when the clock neared 12am. Then continued on until by the time I do sleep, seems like a short time before its time to wake. I blame not knowing the time on me not wearing a watch still. Still havent fixed the strap. That was Monday. Last night, I really fell asleep at about 9pm then I caught myself before I do so on the living room floor and went to brush teeth and got ready for bed. Guess what... After that completely awake that I couldnt sleep again. End up channel surfing and watching anime on low volume until I was drowsey enough to fall asleep. Dunno what time that was. I dont have a clock in the room due to the clicking sound produced by the second hand in analogue clocks. I didnt bother to walk a few steps from bed to pick up my hp also.

It meant for 2 consecutive days, kinda sleepy, though I wake up, ate breakfast at home instead of dabao and reach work on time with time to spare. Did drink a cup of coffee with my breakfast of 2 slices of bread with jam and this morning luncheon meat leftover. But think the caffine not enough to wake me fully also. During work hours, I do do work. Finished the timetable, I did prepare the resource for tom's solo lesson and even mass printed already. Now I have free time on hand, am not the only one, cos there are other collegues with free periods. So I did spend some time thinking about next week's lesson but already feeling tired. So I've been reading the online news. I still have 1 lesson to go into in 5mins time. That's why I am conserving 'Jing Sheng' so that I can be alert when inside. That's why havent been doing much but read news, tidy up my stuff, think abt possible ws resource to make.

Today also the start of cca. Urgh... then after that in the evening, I have assignment. Dont really fancy the squeeze in both bus and mrt. Think the govt should do something about the seriously bad transport connection in the NW part. There's only SMRT feeder buses serving. And their only mode of transport elsewhere is mainly if all mrt. Then there are quite big housing estates being built. In fact, its very dense. So imagine numerous people all getting down at certain mrt stops. Everybody trying to get on the sole feeder bus to their estate. Huh? Its more tiring to travel than to teach the assignment.

Think after all these, I would end up sleeping earlier. Would be mentally and bodily tired by the end of it. Usually reach home about 11.30pm then. If salary can increase by next contract more, then I dont have to consider doing this as a sideline. Rather have the time...

Hand gloves

When I went to CitySquare, I saw Soxworld. Then I remembered I wanted to buy a pair of hand gloves. As the weather has been very cold plus the air con in buses and malls even colder. There were many times when seeing how the weather was warm and sunny, I didn't put any jacket when I head out, only for the weather to change and become cold and rainy. Usually it's the exposed arms and fingers are cold.

So when I saw that there was arm gloves, I immediately went in, chose one pair and paid. It's not that expensive, RM$12.90 about Sgd$5.45. Immediately that afternoon, the cold air con plus rainy weather and after a few hours in the mall, I put it on. Then don't feel so cold.

Yesterday Tab and I headed to Daiso to see if they have arm warmers. I didn't want to buy for myself. I was already using mine then. In the end, after discussing with Tab, I bought a pair of leg warmers for my Dad. Cos when he saw my arm warmers, and asked for the price, he nag and nag that it's cheaper in Daiso. How he had a pair but in the car blah blah. It's been cold at home too from the cold wind, so I decided to get one pair for him. Cos of the wider arm size, bought the leg warmers for him instead. Also chose the brown one, less femine. Tab wanted one pair but the colors weren't neutral enough to match her wardrobe. So last night, I passed to my Dad and though he was nagging still, could see he quite like the brown and saw him wearing it. He's been wearing it too today, cos the wind had been very cold. He did insist on paying me $2 for it.

Today I gave my family a lunch treat at BBQ chicken for last year's share investment gains. We ate the set meal and was very full. Bought a slice of cake for other sister who couldn't make it. We came back after and I just watched anime and fell asleep until dinner time. R&R for the coming week of work.

Out-shopped

Once again, I have outshopped my friend. It wad impossible many years ago but definitely possible now.

Tab met me after guitar for a lunch at Strictly pancakes. This time I ordered a savory one, Smoked salmon with dill sauce n herb garlic butter. Tab had a sweet apple cinnamon. There's a long shotglass of maple syrup for my savory order. Even just 3 pancakes was very very filling. Didn't feel hungry until about 8plus.

After I had to run a few errands in PS. We ended up in Daiso. I had nothing in mind yet came out with 6. There was a Bodyshop sale at the atrium and I bought body butter, facial wash, day moisturizer, body cream... With our combined purchase, we got another free gift set. Then the receipt entitled to $20 off at the main shop. So I bought a fragrance for my mom for $12.90 instead of $32.90.

Also ended up with a pair of crocs, after we went to this sale. Then walked around, played lots of 'words with friends' then din er at Waraku. The air conditioning is really cold, ironically not the weather but is the air con that makes us yearn for hot soupy food.

Tonight more ankle DVD, sleep more cos body clock is very messed up, gym and practise guitar.

Back @ Work

Woke up at 7am, by 7.10am, I was already up and awake. That's a departure from the rest of the weekdays. where I woke up to the alarm, switched it off thinking to snooze, only to fell into some sort of light slumber until 2pm, and gradually worked my way back to about 10am. Was worried I would oversleep but didnt. The best thing is I dont need to iron my clothes. Just wear and go, though they were more formal than my usual.

Got all my things, including the pineapple golden pillows for collegues to eat in general. I ate an entire slice of Secret Recipe cake. My mom bought that yesterday in Citysquare. It was really too sweet and drank coffee. Made my way to workplace. A bit blur about time. A couple of times, already read the time wrongly. Partly still not in the routine of things, partly is I am not wearing my watch cos the strap is broken. I blame this lack of time concept thingy that I have been suffering from. About an hour plus more until dismissal. Today is a light day of mainly opening ceremony for the start of the last term. Its 10 weeks. Then the longer holidays of possibly a month esp if I dont have to, especially in the first 2 weeks of April. Possible to head to Japan then and still not miss the sakura?

So now really stoning infront of laptop. I have 1 piece of admin work to do, another is to plan next week's solo lessons. That's it. Quite light, just that I would rather do them later after dismissal and lunch cos now really stoned and not in the work mood. Plus in another 15mins, I have to head to class for some 1hr admin thingy. Dont want to start-stop-start-stop. The plan is to go to the gym straight after work. Dunno what time work is ending. Safe to assume it to be 5pm instead of hopeing for it to end earlier. So I do have quite a number of hours to kill. Think I will use them on the couple of pieces of work then.

Last day of 2nd Term Hols @ CitySquare

Yesterday I got an sms about cancellation of today's assignment. So my plan for today, the last day of the holidays was to practice electric guitar and go gym. Maybe squeeze in time to read the library books. Then after a light breakfast of blueberry yoghurt, my mom was asking whether I would be going to JB. Huh? So I asked my dad if he had any plans to go in. He didnt mind driving in just to shop around. 3 of us headed to Citysquare by 11.30am. It was very smooth journey there. The curved Causeway has been greatly improved. There is a smoother link to the immigration. Surprising.

We ate Kenny Rogers for lunch and walked around. My aim was to go for the animes. Yup I spent RM$200 on about 100+ episodes plus 1st season of Glee. So that I dont have to keep the recordings in the cable tv setup box. That exhausted most of my RM holdings. Had banked in the bulk of what I had exchanged the last trip my mom went in. So left with some, which I spent a hundred plus buying the Pineapple and Pineapple Cranberry tarts. So exhausted my RM for now. Then we were tired from walking around and had tea at this HK style cafe. The drinks were good and I ordered this won ton with a bit of chilli, its very nice. Should go there for lunch if possible. Their prices are cheaper than the restaurants eg Secret Recipe, Nandos, Kenny Rogers, Vivo that we often end up eating at. Too full to consider dabaoing the Malacca chicken and the Portuguese egg tart. Think too much, so 'Ren' and dont buy so wont overeat.

Looking at my passport, I saw the immigration chops for 2008 - Thailand, 2009 - Macau and HK. Nothing in 2010. I was too busy with guitar and assignment plus the different term dates to go anywhere. Nor had I wanted to go anywhere, except JB. Still need a massage. At least I went somewhere this term holiday.

I did practice electric guitar. Yesterday's makeup lesson was quite fun cos we started on a song. Not that I like that Chinese song but we started applying what was learnt and also did the 'slide' which is rather cool. So I dilligently practiced it just now.

I am considering either going tym today or tomorrow. I blame it on the weather. Its so cold now... If not today, then must be tomorrow. At least tomorrow, I can go straight after work. Will bring change and stuff. Then once more on Sunday. At least more manageable. Like the flexibility of moving the days around. That's the advantage of having at least 3 weekdays free and putting one slot on the weekend. Need more discipline and perseverance.

Investing in Gold

I went to the bank to bank in the 'accidental' forced savings of $640 courtesy of good o'le Piggy Bank. Together with the $1k I promised myself if I hit the $15k investment target, they would go towards my Japan trip fund (can also be to other places, dont mind taiwan)

After I was done, I decided to get a number to enquire about investing in gold. I had asked Quetzal and she said that my bank offers physical gold, besides paper gold, gold funds and futures. These are the various forms of gold investment.

For Physical gold, they sell in kilobar; which means a solid 1kg gold bar which they issue gold certificates which are exchangeable anytime for that gold or cash equivalent. 1kg gold at today's price is about $85k. Ouch. Definitely cannot afford. Cos I wanted to use the gold limit available in my cpf.

To use that, I would have to go for Gold Savings A/c which the unit of gold is in grams. A minimum of 5 grams per transaction. The only thing about this is that one has to personally come down to any bank branch and do a trade, be it buy or sell. Also found out that there are 3 timings, 9.30am, 10.30am and 2.30pm where the gold prices change. So depending on what time you go in to trade, the prices are reflected accordingly to the current price at that 3 timing. There is an annual transaction fee of 0.25% of gold holdings. That I can live with.

I opened a CPF Gold Savings A/c and bought some gold. This would be those really long term investment. I dont anticipate building up so fast more cash under the cpf gold limit to do more transactions frequently. Also for gold, I rather it be long-term. Using cpf is my way of forcing myself to do such long term investing cos I've realized that those stocks under cpf, I often hold them way longer than my cash stocks. This I can also try the dollar-cost-averaging-technique because the minimum is 5g gold per transaction. So anytime, I reach enough for 5g, I can consider walking in to buy. Or I can buy after a 3-6mths interval depending on how fast the gold limit builds up. Of course there is also cash but given the fact that it is quite illiquid, because have to go in personally to transact, would just stick to current arrangements until otherwise. Nevermind that current gold prices are rather high at $58.70 per gram but since its long term. See how it goes. Its a sort of diversification strategy for me. At least I wont be monitoring daily, maybe once a week or fortnightly.

Then came home and started updating all the Excel spreadsheet for 2011. Also noted important things in my I-Phone. Downloaded 2 new apps for live gold prices and cpf. Pretty happy with myself. Also bought the jack needed for the amplifier so that I can practice at night with earphones. Still thinking about the headphones. Got the battery replaced for the guitar tuner too.

Going to continue reading some books about investment and Go then go gym then go for assignment. Gearing myself for the start of work soon. Getting into the routine of things and also practicising waking up at usual time. Its easier on weekdays cos I often remind myself the stock market opens at 9am.

The sushi buffet tradition

I can't remember when this started, maybe during NIE days (cos I remember using the cards to get student prices). Ever since we discovered suki sushi, we would go for a buffet during the school holidays. It became a tradition of sort.

It's been a very long while since the last one so yesterday I jio her. Now having different school holidays meant not that easy to find a time for the buffet.

Don't regret the buffet. Our own 'Salmon Miso Nabe' made by combining the Salmon sashimi with the vegetable miso nabe, reminds us of the 2 other hot pots we just had - Nirai Kanai n @Krynnder's place. Delicious but I think I've feasted too much that when I stood on the scales "I am at the pig (peak) of my life" again... They had delicious Salmon mentai also though I didn't get to eat my salmon kama. Until the next time. The chocolate n cream enclairs were so nice, I took 2 servings.

After that I tried to bank in money from my piggy bank. $640 extra in a year, not as high as the years before. But too many people so only banked in the $5 n $10. Still have to go banking tomorrow. Then with the rain, it's time for the fugly pirated hello cat umbrella. We checked out Scape and really walked around every part. Then settled for mini milkshake at Onceuponamilkshake. It's really thick n the maple is good. Sat a bitore then headed to three-one-one and explored the whole place which is still rather small. Then using fugly umbrella, crossed over to three-one-three. Looked at CDs n books. Not really feel pike buying, except for the very cute Salmon sushi shirt. It's on offer 2 for $50 and so Tab but no other nice designs and we left without buying much. Then she had to go for dinner with friends while I went home by mrt.

Bathed, watched cable n online via I-phone. Wanted to continue Go but feeling sleepy. Quite a nice day out except the weather was wet and again more calories from the eating... Oh well my muscles are still sore today from gym. Tomorrow must go for 2nd. 1hr cardio. Got assignment in the evening. Spend some time looking at the market...

Breaking cyles and starting cycles

These couple of nights, I've slept at the insane hours of 3-4am. Cos I was watching cable tv or dvd. Then end up waking at 1-2pm after all the lazing and dozing off. Last night I did glance through one book I borrowed and found it to be crap. Well it was a thick book of crap. So I am still re-reading that book about Financial Dysfunction.

Most of these books about asset allocation and diversification are based on investments available in the US. Though it was highly recommended to get housing settled. But given the ratio they gave was a max of 3.75 times of annual income. Say for a $50,000 income, the max housing amount paid is $200,000. But we all know that $200k cant buy any real estate in Singapore at all. So that measure is out. Another is diversification into bonds and mutual funds. They have very established bonds and mutual fund markets but in Sg, its primitve. Unit trusts are not as liquid and generally carry higher transaction cost and management costs. So that's another strategy out.

But the concept of the Financial Life Cycle is a very interesting concept because it gives you a measure to gague your financial health at. Instead of just keeping up with the Jones, or just looking at the rich and how much they spend, its a clearer measure. There are Formative, Accumulation, Conservation and Largess stages. In each stage, there are three more phases to go through. Its been pretty comprehensive.

Using the measure suggested, I could gauge which stage I am at. In fact, I went and did up a "Nett Worth" excel spreadsheet to compute my net worth. I've never kept track of this. I kept close track of the changes per month and per year. Never had a clear idea of my net worth until now. After knowing which stage I am in, I look at the stage before and after. To think about whether I've really moved past the earlier stage and how to move to the next. Its insightful and now I dont feel the anxiety to keep making up to certain salary figures. Of course, I still want to find ways to earn more on the main job so that I dont have to do extra hours after. Who doesnt? But I feel more assured of myself.

Today I broke the lethargic cycle by making myself go to the gym. Though I did pure weights and abdominal exercises only, it felt pretty good to be exercising again. Will shorten my usual routine to only cardio and weights plus abdominal exercises only. Resolve to go 3 times a week, about an hour only. Its only my first gym after a long break of more than a month. The good thing is now I am feeling sleepy already. Good thing about exercise is that it regulates appetite and sleeping time. Hope to build back my tone look and lose these extra weight and keep them off. I started eating smaller portions for dinner and lighter breakfast instead of hawker food, non fat yoghurt. Hope to keep it up. I do really like yoghurt, got to make sure I keep buying to stock the fridge especially to last the whole week.

Think I shall continue by trying to finish another 2 more investment books borrowed. They are quite thick. Also finish my 2 books on Go. I think I've gotten the basics but not sure how to put it together to play a game properly. Need to practice guitar more and tidy up some more of the room and table. Still on leave until this Thur. Friday I would be starting the last term.