Shelter from the Storm - Bob Dylan ; the man himself

Classic song with awesome lyrics. One of my favourite Dylan songs performed by the man himself.

Happy Father's Day ; 17th June

Each year, we remember the people who have given so much to us, in particular my parents.

I wish to remember my father, Geoffrey Abishgegananden who  was such a good man, helping many people pro-bono (without charge) in his legal firm as well as all the clubs and societies he was in charge of. A devout man of God, he would faithfully attend St. Andrew's Cathedral every Sunday and sing and worship at the 11.00 am Church Service. His magnificent spirit, humility, and generosity has my admiration till this day. Happy Father's Day Papa. You must be happy in heaven with all your brothers and sister. Your son, Love, Mark



Payphone Maroon 5

Great song, but really a meaningless video. Watch it and see for yourself

Coldplay - Hurts like Heaven

Excellent live performance by Coldplay again, from their latest album Paradise. 

Thoughts from a humid weekend in Singapore

       This weekend has been a one of much reflection for me, particularly the horrible accident which has been hogging the main papers this last week. You see, there was this accident along Victoria Street going towards Lavender Street and Rochor Road, which involved a Ferarri, a Comfort taxi, and a motorcycle. The Ferrari was driven by a Mr. Ma Chi, a 'financial investor' from Xiamen China. He was apparently driving at 200 km/hr and must have beaten several red lights. No matter, at 4.13 am on the morning of 12th May, he crashed, no hurtled into the taxi driven by a Mr. Cheng Teck Hock which had the right of way. To date, Ma, Mr. Cheng and the taxi driver's occupant, Miss. Shigemi Ito have died. The barrage of nasty comments aimed at the Ma family (they were from China, apparently very wealthy) in the wake of the accident has once again highlighted the rich - poor divide that has been festering in Singapore. 

       My absolute sympathies to the Cheng, Ito and even Ma families. Through the thoughtlessness of one person, Ma Chi, so may people have to be brought together to grieve. Many suggestions have been thrown up, such as ensuring that all supercar drivers undego additional defensive driving training, providing the 'Provisional driver' template and other suggestions. But in essence, the main issue is this. Drink driving. Initial reports suggest that the driver was smelling of alcohol when he was pulled out of the vehicle.  

      

      My suggestion for this is, to prevent  or at least minimise all future tragedies, for all entertainment establishments, KTV lounges, enforce and employ alcohol checkers say after 12 midnight. Mandate it, put it into law. Every one who leaves the establishment will be given a special breath check by the guy at the counter. If discos and entertainment establishments can have lines for checking people who reenter the place, they can do the same for everyone who leaves, say after a certain time. Midnight is my suggested witching hour.

      Draconian ? Loss of privacy ?  Well yes. however, this is a small price to pay compared to the innocent people who lost their lives, and worst still the innocent dependent families of the taxi driver, the unborn child and the family of the Japanese lady working here.   

      

Muthu's Lunch Date 14th May

Our feast 

          14th May was another interesting meet up with friends, whom I have made the last 4 years. Roland is my friend from Karate dojo KSK, whom I first met in 2008. Retired from active work these last 4 years, he has taken up directorships in several Government owned banks overseas. He is also the President of our Karate club, and offering advice in the Credit Counselling Bureau, which is meant for helping people who have issues with their money (or lack of) and curbing bad spending habits.  Eddie, also has retired from active work, and is managing his own business from Jakarta, where he was based for a number of years. Both were ex-bankers in very senior positions, and I am grateful to share their life experiences, as well as friendship. 

         They both impart to me the message, Life is Short, use your time wisely and meaningfully. Money is not the be all and end all of life. We all face death one day, so lets not have regrets of not doing the things we wanted, wished or should have done when we had the health and means to do it. 

        Carpe Diem.   

Mother's Day 2012 ; Sat 12 th May

Outdoor dining at Vivocity on a balmy Saturday evening

Mother's Day this year was a Spanish affair. I decided to try the restaurant Serenity at Vivicoty, which has been around since 2008. So I made the booking and we headed for the place at 7.10pm hoping that traffic was managable. We were wrong, it took us almost 45 minutes to head across town in bumper to bumper traffic which on a normal day would take no more than 20 minutes. Anyway, I had the presence of mind to book for the Roast Suckling Pig (1/2) which was slow cooked in the oven normally for 16 hours. It was certainly the highlight of the meal. For starters, we had the Tapas (or small snacks) of boiled cuttlefish with sweet sauce as well as the cod fish cakes. Excellent choice. 

      Seafood  Paella (pronouced Pay -eya)  

We ordered drinks, Sangria for me, which was Spanish wine with some cocktail mixture. The 2 boys had their milkshakes and Cokes, while May had plain water. The main courses was of course the Suckling Pig  and the Paella. The Paella was excellent in taste, the rice is sticky to the pan, and flavour of the fresh mussels, prawns and snow peas was something I would gladly try again. Finally the Piece de Resistance, the Suckling Pig. Slow roasted for  close to 1 day, the meat was sweet, flesh practically dripping from the bone and the skin, crispy. Perfect.

May and elder son, Noel.

The 4 piece band played a lot of Latin favourites while Sentosa's Universal Studios had some fireworks in the background. The only minor grouse was the service which, to be honest, was a little slow, but given that this was Mother's Day weekend, and they had a Full House, was the only blemish to an otherwise 1st rate meal coupled with the festive ambience. 

Happy Mother's Day to my wife May and my Mum, Anna. Much love from your husband and son.