The good thing about Singapore.

I need to get this off my chest actually because quite often, I get branded by some people or friends that I hate Singapore.  (Countless time actually) I think the main reasons is that I complaint too much about our gahment's policies or other little aspect of our country.  Moreover, I realise most(actually all of them I guess) of the articles I have written are actually something bad about my mother land.

So let me be frank, I do love my country and I do enjoy certain perks of being a Singaporean.  So this post is actually what I do love and really appreciate when I am back in Singapore.   

1) The diversity of food.  Period.  It may not be the best, but being a cosmopolitan and multi-racial country, we get to have different varieties of food available at our convenience.    The choices we have are really quite astounding.  From Middle Eastern food all the way till South Korean cuisine, you name it, we have it.  Not authentic you might say but at least there is a choice.

2)Our Internet.  Fast and considered reliable.  If you have been staying in Thailand you wouldn't have complain much.  Price point is also consider affordable for that speed.  And most important of all, it's not blocked or filtered like in Thailand. (maybe some porn sites but at least not a 100% block)

3)Our passport.  Practically can go any other countries without applying a VISA.  

4)Efficient gahment services (applying new accounts for utilities, getting married, certified and etc).  Surprising to see I praise this, well... its actually quite efficient when we go by the book.  That means no oddities or special requests.  You can consider it to be way more efficient than the Thais or even Malaysia (try applying for a lost passport in Thailand or Malaysia... tons of hurdles)  But of course when if you are applying something not under the SOP (Standard Operating System)  then prepare yourself for high blood pressure replies and services...

5)Public utilities (electricity,gas and water).  Very very little screw ups.  Way better then Thailand of course and I appreciate that.

6)Clean streets.  Some like it, some don't but I do appreciate the clean environment.  All thanks and kudos to our foreign friends who took the task to keep our place clean.  It's a tough job to keep such a dense city clean and surprisingly we are doing that quite well....

7)Our police and efficient SCDF.  (This is actually a mixture of good and bad....) but I'm leaning to the like side (even though they really screw up big time on certain things)  at least the low ranking cops don't take bribes or abuse their power like they do in Thailand.  Overall, my impression on them are still quite professional.  But they are some silly incidents like CSJ and the Mas Selamat incident.  But overall, I still trust them (so far)if I need help and that is quite essential.

8)Our taxis.  Another surprising entry but actually our taxis are one of the better public transport I would say.  Yes, it's difficult to look and book for one during peak hours but at least if the service is not up to standard you have a means to complain.  And moreover,  you get to hear some very interesting and entertaining conspiracies/rumours from the uncle or auntie.... :P

9)Our CPF.  (another big surprise!) To be frank, it's actually a good system for us to save money for retirements and for purchasing a house.  But I kind of think it's being abused by our current gahment right now.    I still think it's a good vehicle to save our money.  The idea is good, but the implementation wise is a bit errrrr....

10) Our people.  (Older generations in their 60s or older) These are the pioneers who made SG today and most of them are being left out of our gahment's so called progress.  Most of them are kind hearted, down to earth, hardworking people and I really really enjoy talking to them.  Just talk to one of them and you would know how come PAP still wins every election.  It's because they are just so nice.....

and lastly a bonus... hehehe

11)Our exchange rate!  Singapore money more expensive, the merrier I am.  I can buy more things cheaper from the states and I could change more money to spend in Thailand :P

Ok.. I can think of some more but this are the 1st 11 things that came into my mind.  So don't ever say I never say good things about SG hor!

:P

The 'connected' generation.

I was back in Singapore for only a day when I received some bad news via facebook.  My friend's father has passed away and he announced it on his wall and I send my quick condolences to his family.

He was to me, a very good friend, mentor, brother and one of my insurance agent :P.  We got to know each other in Ngee Ann Pugilistic and Lion Dance troupe way back in my Polytechnic days.  We were accompanied by a bunch of good brothers and sisters that I am so happy and fortunate to get to know them thru the years.       

The following night, I called up a few other brothers (about 4 of us in total) and we head down to the wake.  And we got a bit surprised to see even more other brothers from the same troupe who were there and we chatted and had a great short time.  Although the last time we had a gathering for NAAPL was only 2 months ago during CNY 2012.  But this little sad incident brought some of the busiest brothers together.  Some that I have not seen in years....

When I got home after the wake, I suddenly feel that I really missed the days where we get physically together to play, train, talk cock or even go to the movies.  The good thing about social media such as facebook is that I get to "connect" with a lot of long lost friends via the medium.  But it's still in a virtual reality world.  The lack of being physically meeting up with them seems a bit sad to me.  I myself, is part of the blame as I was constantly not in Singapore.  But now I am!  So I plan to meet up personally with some old classmates and friends I have met throughout my 35 years of life.

So for those who do know me, please do not be surprised if you in get a phone call or a message from me!  Let's meet up for old times sake :)

Same place, lots of familiar and new faces.

I'm officially back in Singapore for almost a week.  I flew back last Saturday and signed my contract on Monday.  Just yesterday on the 15th, I started work again.

It's quite surreal actually.  I never thought I would be back in SG and some more, work in the same company and department before I left for Thailand. 

I was actually offered another job opportunity but that job is a daily 9 to 5 job without any shift.  I was holding on as it means it would be difficult for me to return back to Thailand once in a while.  Although the pay is good but its just not my main priorty.  It was a bit god send when I talked to one of my old colleague and she mentioned that she just left and our old company was actively hiring new people.  

I enquired, sent in my resume and that's history.  I'm onboard again.

Lots of familiar face but a lot of new ones too.  I would say more than half of my current team mates are new.  Not a bad thing though, some of the old guards are promoted and really happy that they are now in a better position.  :)

All in all, the new monitoring system was in place (it was still in WIP when I left) which means I need to spend some time getting used to the new system.   Challenging work and hope I could get it asap.  My new boss (and old colleagues) seems to think highly of me... :P  ... stress liao...   

Family updates.

Just had another video conference today.  The 3rd one this week actually.  The 1st was on Sat and it nearly tore me apart as my son was screaming for me to come and fetch him.  Really can't sleep for a few nights after that incident.  Girl girl more or less understand my need to go, so not that bad.  It's lucky my wife's relatives are visiting, my brother-in-law with her new born daughter and my sister-in-law with her 4 year old daughter.  So the last 2 videos they were busy playing and totally ignored me on Skype..... :S  Well, at least ah boy's attention is no longer on me.     

Return of the [Quitter].

I have been having diarrhoea and fever on an off for the past week and its horrible.  I suspected I got the bug from boy boy who had the same symptoms a week prior.   Going to the doctors does not help much as they give the same medication.  Think when I get back to Singapore in March I will go for a full body checkup.

Yes, I'm coming back to Singapore to slave again.  I am running out of funds and starting a business in Thailand is not that cheap actually :P.  The easiest way for me to gain some is to come back to work.  Yes, I could borrow from the banks but I do not want to be in debt and my own investment policy is that  I never will :P.  I rather save some money rather then rush ahead and get myself cash-strapped.  Maybe if we have no kids, we would have taken that path but that's not the case.  So it's a hard decision buy I plan to return to Singapore to work full time for at least another year or 2.

The idea of returning is actually on my mind since last year when I was helping my mum to move.  I still need to spend time researching and sort through my father's Philately collection and sell some of them off.  At first I plan to send all of them back to Thailand but that would involved getting taxed by the customs.  :S  So I need to do it in Singapore.  

Opportunity arises when I talked to one of my old colleagues when she just left our old company.  She mentioned they are still looking for someone and I was a bit interested in getting back in.

Reasons? It's shift work and with a lot of off days.  Which means I can fly back to Thailand once in a while.   This is the major advantage of working there.  Pay is ok.  I would say slightly above average with OT.  

I do have some reservation working there though.  Long hours and certains policies by managment (one of the reasons I quit that time).  In short, it means I am getting shit all over my head again.  It's been more than a year break for me and I guess the kids will miss me this time.  

A great holiday for the kids.

Apologies as I did not take much digital shots nowadays so some of the photos may need to be scanned and posted later.  I have been shooting but was being very selective recently on my shots.  I think the main reason is I am shooting in film medium more rather than digital.  I had also send in my a900 for shutter replacement.  I have not serviced it for more than a year so I send it in to Camera hospital for CLA and replaced the shutter.  It should last me for at least another 3 or more years as I don't shoot with it that often nowadays.

The week to Singapore was much more enjoyable this round as there are more things for the kids to enjoy at my sister's new house.  My mom and sis has moved to a HDB flat while the old house was renovated and prepared to be rented out.

There are some newly furbished playground just below our block and almost every morning we would bring the kids to play.  

We also went swimming at Tampines Swimming Pool.  Kids loved the slides :P

So much so that when we tried to leave the pool, boy boy throw a big tantrum and everyone was staring at us. Luckily I brought along a pre-mixed bottle of milk for him.  Works everytime.

We spent most of the time exploring around our new neighbourhood.  Wife also spent some time off with some new friends from Maesai that we got to know from this humble website :)

Its a bit less hectic than last year and we did not visit any major attraction this year even though the weather was kind to us.  Both of them got a bit darker from the swimming and running around.  All in all good fun.

I would also like to offer an apology to those who miss the opportunity meeting us during this trip.  Another time maybe!  :)