Great English Pub Grub and Excellent Service

One typical serving at Burger and Lobster

    This was our first night in London, and my wife suggested we eat the world famous Burger and Lobster, which is famous for, you guessed it, burgers and lobsters. Our orders for a whole lobster and fries cost GBP 20. Take the Tube to Green Park and you're in Mayfair area (rich neighbourhood).  It is located at 29 Clarges Street, just off the main road.

    We were very fortunate, on that night (I recall), was a Monday evening, and the placed, while packed (it normally is, and it was coming close to Christmas), we only waited 10 minutes which was very fortunate for us. Many reviewers of the restaurant said waiting time could take up to 1 hour.The service was extremely good, the wait staff lady was so polite and professional, sitting us down and taking our orders with genuine warmth.

  

     The Brits (Londoners) are regarded as aloof  to strangers, but this most recent trip changed my perception totally.The numerous people I met, dining at ramen restaurants,

simple burger places,this restaurant and a waterfornt dining establishment at the Embankment all had top rated service. Even the front doormen were so professional and courteous I was taken aback by their professionalism and friendliness. You can say London really won me over for its multiculturism and people. The anti-terrorist checks and level of alertness is definately there, police and special weapons teams are patrolling the Tube and making their presence felt by random checking of passersby.  Vagrants idling around the stations  (ours was Earl's court) were first checked for abode, and then encouraged to leave. People who were idling around also were checked. Nothing is left to chance.That is indeed a good thing.   

      The service industry, especially the wait staff, beats Singapore's so-called service hands down. I am sad to say, Singapore is light years away from the good (don't even consider excellent) service of our neighbours in Asia. Japan would be No.1, Australia No. 2, S Korea No. 3. In S.E. Asia, I daresay, Singapore's service for ordinary cafes and family restaurants ranks near the bottom with only Malaysia faring worse. Generally speaking, our service staff are poorly trained, not renumerated well, and have an evasive or bad attitude to customers. Much of the blame lies on the restaurant owners who in their bid for focussing on profit, often hire part-timers and people who are in between jobs, displaced staff, staff poorly or not at all trained in customer service hence the low level.     

Lousy Service and you'll be chucked in the Tower of London ! 

    Coming back to the food at Burger and Lobster. The lobster was tasty and tender, and the portion was big. The fries were crisp and large and portions were served on a plastic wrapper right on the table. I had a dark ale to go with my food. 

      The packed joint at Clarges Street was full of after office people and we fit right in with the crowd. I am hoping they will set up a branch in Singapore sometime soon. So in a nutshell, good food, great service and a cold winter's night sets the stage for a good appetite which was satiated by the evening's end.  

Amata Golf and Country Club - Thailand

The buggies awaiting the golfers

    Some 1 and a half hours from Bangkok, in Amata City in the province of Chonburi, I was fortunate to be invited to have lunch at the Amata Golf and Country Club. What a treat for the eyes. 18 holes of championship golf course awaits the golfer. I have long given up golf, and taken up marathon running in 2000 and have not looked back since. Still, I was most appreciative of the lunch and meeting up with my friend Krid's friend, Khun Thon.  The greens are a welcome sight for a sore bum and I had stepped off the plane after a 2 hour 15 minutes flight, to be taken by Krid by pickup for another hour or so and here I was, in the oasis of greenery. 

Undulating greenery

       Thailand's Chonburi province is the 'Detroit of the South East Asia' with as many as 30 plus car and truck manufacturers setting up huge factories employing tens of thousands of skilled and non-skilled workers. In addition, there are thousands of supporting companies providing the entire supply chain of parts and subassemblies for these car assemblers and manufacturers (the difference between the manufacturer and assembler is that manufacturers have Research and Development divisions and can, in theory, design new models direct from their factory to suit the territory and/or marketplace. 

Beautiful scenery from the clubhouse

The Clubhouse is setback some 0.5 km from the main road, and the transferrable membership stands at 2 million baht (this is expensive than some apartments and condominiums near Bangkok !). The Japanese expatriates who work in and around Chonburi would surely form a big part of the membership. My host, Khun Thon is a business owner dealing in the manufacture of paint for industrial, car and domestic use.     

Lunch 

    I may one day, retire to a less strenuous hobby like golf, and get used to applying the sunscreen on my parched skin, get a golf cap, bag, shorts, a decent pair of clubs (my current scorpion clubs are, in one word, old)  and do what tens of thousands of middle aged folk in business do and socialise and get sunburnt, while working to lower down my handicap. 17 years ago, after I had taken up the game for about 10 years, I had come to the conclusion, I had no talent in golf, and the time factor, the social network, the early mornings and weekend sacrifices would take its toll on the family bonding. I said 'forget it'. And never played a game again since.  

    But then again, I ask myself, why do a stupid thing twice ??   

2017 - same sluggish growth for Singapore ; We better do things for ourselves !!

My Peanuts character 

      The much awaited CFE or report for the Committee for Future Economy helmed by 2 ministers, 30 top brains and 80 meetings later, with 9000 people's feedback garnered has not sprung any new surprises. While it is too early to cast or criticise the proposals, lets just say that as an ordinary small enterprise owner, I was not expecting any handouts from the Government from the word 'go'. The trading world has been in a downward protectionist trend about 2 years, and it has been reflected with last June's Brexit, and the election of the non-partisan Donald Trump into the highest office in USA. As things go, he is enacting very closed door policies and tallking (and tweeting) of trade protection for US made products. The very anti-thesis of the last 25 years of non-stop globalisation. 

    Singapore with its open economy and zero reserves is facing multiple challenges on many fronts, an aging society, painful structural changes in the economy, many jobs are lost forever, and many managers, professionals are in the void with inappopriate skill sets especially in the manufacturing,services, ship building, rig building, oil and gas sectors. In addition, there are new disruptive technologies like Artificial Intelligence which is rapidly making many jobs redundant in the near future (5 years or earlier). Soon, it will be an aging society, looking for jobs which can be easily be replaced by robots, and automation. 

    What jobs will remain plentiful and profitable by, say, 2022 ?? 

   I have a clear and focussed plan for my small business. It will be tough, but we will be bringing the bacon home for the next 5 to 10 years. If we wait for the Government to implement policies, or even pursue Government contracts, it may be too little and too late.

     

Baby - Time Crawls ; Toddler - Time Walks ; Youth and Teenage - Speed Walking ; Young Adult - Run ; Middle Age - Sprint

Outside the Valley of the Kings, Luxor

      This unforgettable holiday in 2009 we took with a tour group to Egypt shows how fast our children have grown. Its been 7 years and you can see the vast difference physically at least. Now, Noel is an adult 22 years of age and serving the National Service in the Civil Defence corp (Fire fighting Unit). Andrew is 19 and finishing his Polytechnic studies in Biomedical Engineering while doing his internship at a local company. Both are maturing and developing their own unique identities and exerting their independence. I am proud to be their Dad. Although many challenges await them, we as a family will always have each other.  

By the Mediterranean Sea, Alexandria

L : Ooi Wing Sun, Ooi Yen Sun, Noel and Andrew

    My wonderful wife of 23 years, May, is the bedrock of the family. She is very capable and manages all the issues of the household with strict discipline and love. Its a blessing that we have this bond throughout the years and hopefully for the years to come. The boys have become men, and will contribute to Singapore or perhaps in the international sphere. The have the whole world and hopefully we have guided them with the right skillsets and emotional resources to move ahead in this disruptive society where the traditional jobs are disappearing and new ones are few and so much harder to attain, yet alone maintain.   

                                                    Outside the Library at Alexandria 
                                    L: Ooi Yen Sun, Andrew, Xavier and Noel


     What will happen to Asia now with a messy Trump administration, a very divided and bipartisan Senate and Lower House of Representatives ?  With the Trans Pacific Partnership gone, the NAFTA under major scrutiny and a White House filled with first timers and people who are masters of the dark arts (read spin witch doctor ala Kelly Conway), a spokesperson who is full of contradictions and a never seen or heard befor pronouncements of 'alternative facts' - that of size of attendees of President Trump's inaugaration to downright half-truths and total mangling of the truth (read Bowling Green massacre which was, in fact, not a massacre, a total non-event).The Trump administration of of cover-ups and lies by the media, lead us ordinary folk all around the world to either cower in fear, or shake our collective heads in dismay at the total comedy being played out daily 

     Somehow, we the billions of people around the world who have access to internet or a smart phone have to tell out children that the world is all right, that we will wake up to a better tomorrow. We are praying for a stable, progressive and peaceful world. 

    Our children and future generations livelihoods hinge on it. 

Port Vell Barcelona - a hidden gem

Duquesa de Cardona - Barcelona

View from the  Open Deck Terrace on 6th Floor ; W Hotel in the distance

       A fantastic value-for-money boutique hotel in Barcelona is the 4* (in my opinion 5*) Duquesa de Cardona hotel. Situated at the far end of the Passeig Colom (Column Street), it is easily accessible from the road and the front staff are 1st class in their service. 

      I requested for a quiet room in the back and we had a huge bedroom with great bathroom / toilet for the price we paid (EUR 151 including taxes). As winter is not the high season, the price was the cheapest amongst all the 3 major cities we stayed in. Plus points for the hotel :

a) Breakfast - fit for a king ; with Balotta Iberico cured ham, plentiful cheeses, salads, eggs

                      done in any style, omelette (with ingredients or not) ,sunny side up, nespresso

                      breads (multigrain,panini,ciabata, croissant the lot). I will remember the 

                      breakfast for a long time !   

Tapas Chicken Salsa and a Vermouth

b) Top Rated Front Service staff - Manuel was the first front desk staff who attended to us ;
     Friendly, polite and so efficient, we were really impressed by his professionalism. He       
    was knowledegable about everything from best tapas, to taxis to sights and an incredible 
    resource.

c) Location , View of Hotel - Overlooking the marina, the view of this hotel is absolutely 
    stunning ! I made the best of my time one early evening while my wife was out shopping 
   and went to  the Terrace Bar on the 6th Floor. You can see the entire Port Vell area, as 
   well as the 'W'  hotel in the distance, and a slight peek into Barcelonetta beach, the 
   sounds of the La Rambla, as well as the human traffic are not there, so its so pleasant. I 
   must say this was THE view of the city, in my opinion.  

                       Night comes early, around 6.30 and the pretty waterside is all lit up

    

d) Room - Huge ; at least 400 square feet, ours was at the back and the window facing     

   was  the courtyard, most preserved buildings have this kind of design.Very modern 

   amenities, and super clean. It was a very pleasant respite from the days walking and 

   exploring. But all in all, very quiet and clean.No residual smoke smell at all which is the 

   worst thing I most experience in hotels in China.

e) Accessibility -  From the airport, take the Metro to Placa de Catalunya, from there its a 
   short taxi ride (EU 10) to the hotel. Turn left and within 10 minutes, you are at Born district,    turn right, in 10 minutes you are at the start of La Rambla and the Metro. So convenient.

   Would I come back and stay here ? Certainly ! Amongst the 3 cities we visited, Barcelona is the most interesting in architecture, food and Mr. Antoni Gaudi's signature works like La Perdrera and Sagrada Familia. 

  

I'll soon be 55.

Visiting the Tower Bridge in Dec 2016  

      This year marks another milestone for me, the 55 year old mark. In the old days people would regard this as the age of retirement and soon to be end of life. In today's age, the 21st century the 3rd Millenium (after Jesus' birth at year 0 according to the Georgian calendar), age 55 is still considered Middle Age, but hardly young. There was an episode on BBC today regarding the end of life and after-life and the presenter mentioned things like cryogenics which basically keep the cells alive, although the body may be brain-dead and heart not pumping. There are literally thousands of dead individuals in cryogenic labs all over US and other places where the bodies are kept in cold storage in saline solution and induced heart and respiratory conditions waiting for technology to revive them maybe in 30 to 50 years time.

Embankment and the river Thames

    The scientists who were interviewed were specialised in the wood-frog species which eat and store foods in the form of sugar and then somehow induce their bodies to below living temperatures and 'hibernate' or decelerate their life support functions (heart, lungs and brain) to such low levels that they appear 'dead'. Their feasting during the summer and autumn months in preparation for winter and spring cold (it can fall to -40 deg C) is indeed fascinating, but we are talking about amphibians which have completely different functioning systems as human beings.

      On a cellular level, the frogs are alive, and after the days get warmer, somehow, the entire body system turns 'on'. 

     I can do without all such elaborate immortal living. I believe God created us for a purpose and for a limited life span so when my time is up, that's it.