Football is the Opiate for the Masses.

Watching my Goldfish merrily swim around has the same effect as watching my football team from England. 

What a strange linkage, but that is my assertion. Watching the team calms my nerves when they do very well and for some unexplained reason, the wins create some sense of fulfillment which only religion can match.  

After following one season of my football team, Wolves, I can declare that football is the new opiate for the masses, where the players are held in almost religious esteem,they can do no wrong,something akin to the Saints of old and the managers are like the Pope. 

The folks in many parts of England are so football mad that they will christen their kids after their favourite footballer and even want the hymns in their funerals to incorporate the football chants of their boyhood till old age hood idols to the afterlife. 

I find the adulation and idol worship rather unbelievable and very amusing and as a new supporter coming back to the game, I am fully mindful that at the end of the day, it is only a game, which requires the support of the fans, and most importantly the financial revenue from the ticketing and merchandise from these said fans so that can the club show profit.

Winning promotion to the Premier League guarantees them quite a bit of money in terms of TV viewership fees from the TV stations and to be in the top 6, the teams easily earn over 120 million pounds in TV revenue from the main stations, EPL and Sky which in turn sell the rights over to Singapore whose main service provider is Singtel and I have it cross-carriaged to my StarHub channels. 

The dues are almost $70 just for the Premier League, there is separate fees for Champions League and Europa League, so its a money spinner for the teams just to make it to the English Premier League.

Back to the football teams and their fans. It is good that every week (at least for 10 months of the year at least), the people can 'pray' and wish for a good result from their idols, something akin to having their simple wishes fulfilled and they will be happy as the reflected glory from winning top Cups and Titles from their favourite teams makes them clamour for more of their next season's merchandise, and sometimes many a dream of a fan is to go to the Old Trafford, Anfield and Emirates Stadium to make a 'pilgrimage' just to walk the hallowed grounds of the almost holy. 

To me, my boyhood team was the stuff of my boyhood dreams. My current Wolves team gives me joy similar to my goldfish when they swim (play well) in the water feature outside my house.

Watching them is similar to watching my goldfish, strange though it may sound. The players will be admired from afar and they lead far different lives from us, as they are living in a different ecosystem altogether.

Remembering my Mum on this Mother's Day - Love Her so much

Our family with the 2 'sam mun zhai' 1969   

On this Mother's Day, I would like to spend some time reflecting on my wonderful mother, Anna, who during her lifetime helped so many people in their times of need. She was a wonderful mother, always wielding the rod when necessary (I was the painful recipient of it all the time but it worked in keeping the 2 mischievious boys under control) and buying us our favourite dry Beef Hor Fun from the same stall every Sunday after her swim and badminton game at the Singapore Swimming Club.   

Her financial acumen was superb, making great returns in property, shares and overseas property. Ever the matriach, as she was the eldest sister of 4 sisters and 2  brothers, she literally brought up the family with Por Por when they came to Singapore dirt poor in the 1950s. She was there when we were sick, giving us love, emotional support and arranging for the best medical care and service to attend to our (thankfully) minor ailments.

She gave us the best there was to give sacrificing her year end bonus for John and I to go for overseas holidays in our University days, these holidays while they were so enjoyable, opened our eyes and gave me a perspective of our country, its short history and its progress since it gained Independence in 1965. 

She was the doting grandmother to Noel, Andrew and Hannah and in her later years, she was such a great provider to many people in their times of need, providing financial, emotional, advice as an aunt, and so many more things. 

Mum, you are greatly missed 

I made time with her at the occasional lunches at Cricket Club, had several visits overseas to Malacca, Kuala Lumpur, Penang and Bangkok, she doing her shopping and spa and generally having a great time.

She really took care of Papa, Johnny and me. Mum, I want to say the biggest THANK YOU for you gave me so many life lessons, like picking myself up when I fall, staying the course and always be pleasant to everyone around me, whether they are CEOs or the poorest vagrants. People have their human dignity to uphold.

Love you always, your Son. 

English Premier League Title to be Decided next week Sunday 12th evening 10pm

This is the penultimate match for the top 2 teams. Liverpool are 2nd in the league and they face off with Wolves, while the current Champions, Man City will be away at Brighton.

Both are high stakes, though Wolves will have nothing to prove having established 7th place and can only wait till the FA Cup final to see if Man City does beat Watford. If they do, then Wolves qualify for the Europa League which is the 2nd tied competition while the top 4 places compete in the Champions League. 

The top 4 are likely to be Man City, Liverpool, Tottenham and Chelsea.

5 and 6 are likely to be Man Utd and Arsenal 

My prediction ? Wolves to stun Liverpool 2 : 1 at Anfield.

Lets see. 

The proud Wolves who last won the League Cup in 1980, almost 40 years ago with next to nothing to show for it. 

GO AND SHOW THE WORLD WHAT YOU ARE MADE OF !!!!!! 

KAMOSHITA 2nd post with more pictures

Boiled Egg with Green Tea Flavouring 

This is the second post as promised earlier. The Oden is really light in flavour meaning, the food is pretty 'clean' and healthy. There is very little oils, and added flavouring hence people who are health conscious will find this a big plus. The ambience is very Japanese and the food generally is in relatively small portions.

The boiled egg above has the right texture in it, meaning, it is not overly boiled and quite soft to the touch. The green tean shavings gives the perfect nuance to the somewhat ammonia type flavour one gets when eating boiled egg.

Baby Corn 

The baby corn was crunchy and with a slice of lemon on top, it was in my opinion rather bland and nothing out of the ordinary.

We aim to to try the claypot with pork and other ingredients inside during our next visit. 

Sake - one of many in house

Their sake selection is very wide and though I am not an sake afficiando, I believe many sake lovers converge there just to engage in their favourite tipple and then move off to their next location.

There is None so Blind as those who would not See

Victims of our own 'intelligence'

Einstein being a scientific genius is attributed to this statement above. He was a below average student but somewhere during his work days, he had time for himself and wrote the Theory of Relativity and the rest they say is history.

I would like on focus on one's stupidity. We are by nature, an egoistic species. But that very ego, that worship of self, often leads to one's downfall. For example in a fight, flight or fright situation, only the truly stupid or confident in their own abilities will stand their ground when presented with this scenario if confronted by the threat before them.

So, do carefully consider where you are in your station of life. Many times, only when the decision is made, time determines whether you were right all along or you had committed an act of utter stupidity.

Oden - Japanese Broth Clean Food - KAMOSHITA Review 27 April 2019

Boiled Pork with Small Clams Oden 

Oden is a type of Japanese comfort food, so my wife and I decided to try 2 outlets over the last 2 weeks and I am happy to report that the first one we went on 27th April 2019 (Sat) was up to expectations. Basically the broth is kept in a large copper like tub with lots of ingredients and boiled for easily 4 hours. Here is the review from KAMOSHITA located at 5 Neil Road, in a small unobtrusive shophouse with seating of 25 and 5 serving cum cooking staff. 

Straight to the main dish, to get the oden taste absolutely correct, the chef needs to taste a little each portion he serves and adds additional condiments to the ingredients before serving to the customers.

Our favourites are as shown in the pictures above and below. The boiled pork with clams, chopped spring onions, tomatoes and some secret ingredients was really tasty. The pork was slightly fatty and so tender, testament to the long hours in the oden pot.The clams were small and 'al dente' or chewy to the first bite, just as I like it.

Melt in your Mouth FishCake 

The fishcake had the texture of boiled carrot cake, for those who know what carrot cake is like, it is so soft and tasty, full of flavour and very nice. The bowl was kind of like a throwback to the bowls in my childhood days in St Andrew's primary school ; they are 'aged' in appearence to give that earthy and well used look. Top marks for taste, although the presentation is very subjective. 

Radish with mint spice 

The radish was firm and good to the bite. On top of it, there were some Japanese condiments like seaweed and mint which was quite novel. The broth was heavenly to say the least.

I will save the other photos for the next post.

Name : KAMOSHITA 

Location : 5 Neil Road, Singapore, 088806  

(diaganally opposite Maxwell road Hawker Center shophouses along the main road)

Food :   4.5 / 5  

Really good and authentic Japanese Oden with Japanese proprietors and staff. They had a massive selection of Japanese sake in huge bottles.

Ambience : 4.5 / 5  

Spacing was ample and they only could do 1 'turn' for the night, not too many diners packed inside the shophouse restaurant which was minimally furnished.

Service     : 3.5 / 5  

Very shorthanded ; only 4 serving and cooking staff in total, including the boss. The pacing of the food was very long drawn due to the lack of kitchen staff. The lady server was Japanese and tried very hard to please but they had too much intricate small tasks to do with too few people behind the counter 

Price       :  $$$$   

$166 for 2 pax (with a premium cold sake). No GST which was a surprise. 

Total        : 12 . 5 / 15 or 4.2 over 5 stars 

Will we go back again : Yes. For the food ; We hope they can survive the cutthroat Food and Beverage Business in Singapore which has numerous top quality food at short distances from one another and with sky high rents for central locations, very adverse hiring conditions (very difficult to hire foreigners and only Singaporeans and possibly the business owners who are Japanese or must can work), it is a tough call for them to survive let alone thrive.

  

My Once in a Lifetime Moonshot - Paris Marathon 2020

My Moonshot has been postponed for the last 3 years.

I wish to put on record that I am a procrastinator when it comes to achieving my dream goals.One of these is to run the famous Paris Marathon. I have been putting it off for the last 2 years at least since 2017 and it is already May 2019 and I have STILL NOT done it.

I will be 57 end of this year and I had better make the necessary arrangments to 

1. Get fit and with still strong stamina  (4 hours 30 is mt target)

2. Get my family's blessing that I can be away for 5 days

3. Arrange for my stand-in for my business during my absence.

I mean to achieve this Moonshot by hook or by crook, so watch this blog for more updates !

CARPE DIEM - MY FOOT !