Bintang

Our favourite beer. Not available in Singapore. Hand carried goodness from Indonesia.

我是个宅男

Meimei has lovingly labeled me a 宅男, "Home Boy".

I like to stay at home. I do like to eat out and groceries shopping but those don't count. To be fair I don't mind going out if there is something to do out there. But there aren't a whole lot of places to sight see nor activities to participate in Singapore. I think the top leisurely activities in Singapore go something like this:

1) Retail therapy

There is just about a mall every 20 kilometres in every direction. The malls are busy on week nights and horribly packed on weekends. You have to shove your way through the crowd to get anywhere. For most Singaporeans, this is the de-facto place to go when you leave the house on a weekend.

2) Food hunt

Singaporeans love their food. We will go out of the way to jump into an hour long queue just to try out a stall critics and reviewers have rave about. Nevermind the wait and arrogant rude hawker, we simply have a "if there is a queue it must be good" mentality that overrides all other logical sense. Personally I'm sometimes guilty of this though I tend to be very specific and more choosy than your average Singaporean on what I would queue for.

3) Catching a movie at the Cineplex

There is a cinema in every neighbourhood in Singapore. Why? Just because that's what people do. Go spend several hours at movies. Top that with the meal and window shopping before and after the show, you have the cluster mess of endless crowds at the malls.

I think this is partly driven by the weather. You are likely to break into oozes of perspiration with every step you take outdoors. It is hot and humid year round and with rising global temperatures, it can only get worst. So people seek out indoor activities where they can enjoy the comforts of air conditioning.

I rather keep away from the crowds. I've never been a people person and having to squeeze through the hordes of people isn't something I look forward to. It's been ages since I've been to a pub or night spot. I think the last time was sometime back 15 years ago?

I much prefer to potter around the house. We spend enough time at work that staying home is a welcomed event. True to my 宅男-ness, I like to clean the house. Some of my favourites are:

1) Vacuum

It's a good workout, not muscle intensive but enough to have me perspire till my whole back is wet. Also the clean floor is something I prize since I don't walk around in a slipper. It just feels wonderful to stroll on the dust free surface. I have my trusty vacuum cleaner to thank for that. It's one of my favourite household equipment.

2) Iron

I iron all my clothes and some of Meimei's. I think this is the most tiring part of laundry but also the most satisfying. A whole row of crisp straight shirts for 2 weeks, nice.

3) Tidying Meimei's table

This is like a mini treasure hunt. You never know what you may find. Sometimes you find little trinkets and scratch your head wondering what they do. Other times you find 'rubbish' hidden in weird corners and crevasses. I try to do this when Meimei is not around and always with a plastic bag in hand to throw the many receipts, empty boxes, cloth tags etc that litter the table.

So with so much to do and only 2 short days in the weekend, we pretty much filled it with TV and simple chores. Not an exciting life but I'm contented.

I Am A Couch Potato

I like lazing in front of the TV. It brings me into another world full of charm, laughter, suspense and intrigue. I would have preferred to sit around the dining table to chat but conversations are not my strength. I tend to listen, and mostly to interesting topics or I fade away. Hence my affinity to the TV where you are bombarded with sights and colours you would never see in the little dot Singapore.

Thanks to the internet subscription package we receive a basic selection of cable channels 'free' and that expanded the entertaining programmes. You can never catch every show you want to watch. There isn't enough time!

I also like to watch movies at home. Until recently I would only buy the ones on sale but as I did some quick calculations the normal priced ones are also affordable. I mean going to the movie theatre would set us back by at least $10 a ticket, add on parking, popcorn, drinks etc and it is more expensive. Plus the stress of getting a good seat, getting there on time, the wait for the show to start, the inflexible show hours and only getting to watch it once, no replay- ability. Watching in the comforts of home wins every factor of consideration. So I have started to purchase latest DVD on release.

And to track the ever-expanding DVD collection, I've setup a new page to outline the title I already own, and add in a touch of pointless feedback to each.

So with TV and DVDs I never have to leave home for entertainment!

Bottling the Seasons

Interesting bottles depicting the 4 seasons. Add appropriate spice to represent each season.

Home Cooked Goodness - Fish Paste Brinjal

Always like Brinjal, love the texture and sweetness. Couple this with a salty fish paste brings out the smoothness of the vegetable.

Fish Paste Brinjal in Oyster Sauce

This was a weekend of cooking as Meimei was sick. It gave me the impetus to finally put on a chef's hat and start my culinary cooking journey.

Yesterday I cooked fish soup, teriyaki gindara and red grouper, and threw together a fresh salad for vege intake. Today I went with one of the favourites in Mama's repertoire. I've been meaning to cook this for the last year.

We bought the brinjal and fish paste a few months ago but wasted it eventually as we didn't get to cooking it. We threw the ingredients after they went bad after a month.

We didn't make the same wasteful attempt this time. Today we made a wonderful batch of fish paste bringjal in oyster sauce. The salty paste eaten together with the sweet and fullness of the brinjal is really something to savour. I have to declare that it was success on the first try.

Vase 303 - 2013 13th Oct

Simple purple elegance. The tiny flowers backdrop give the piece an appealing contrast.

Home Cooked Goodness - Fish Soup

I love Mama's Fish Soup. Wasn't too difficult to prepare. Turns out pretty close to hers, and all so comforting. I think I might start making soup every weekend.

Cooking - Teriyaki Gindara

The first time Meimei cooked this, I discovered that we could do as good as any Japanese restaurant. I'm glad Meimei is ok to have this, she never has fish as she doesn't like the bones. It's such a simple dish to make, yet so satisfying.

I tried doing the same on a red grouper but it wasn't as nice. Grouper is better steamed. I'll try that next time.

Ingredients

Cod Fish - Choose the white ones

Teriyaki Sause

Preparation

Rub cod fish with salt

Pour 2 tablespoon of teriyaki and add a little water

Heat pan and throw in fish

Pour sause onto fish

The Art Of Zombie-ing

Zombie-ing is a difficult art. You try to pass the day simulating work while really doing nothing of significance. The start of the day is easier with the customary prep work. First there is the calendar check to see if you were invited to a meeting. You summon a smile when you find one you might like to attend. There is the influx of miscellaneous fyi emails that fills your inbox. You delight as the unread ticker rise and pray it goes past double digits so you have more to run through. Occasionally you find one of relevance and you take your time to compose a response. The rest you stretch their worth by reading from end to end and then simply discarding whatever morsel of meaningful data from your consciousness. If you are lucky you would have gone past the hour and a half mark by the time you are done.

Next comes the harder part of the day. You have nothing on hand to occupy your time, at least not the official ones. So you fill the screen with multiple spreadsheets, word documents and pdfs., preferably work related ones so it looks authentic. On a good day, you figure you can blog about something … like this post. On other days you drink lots of water and go for potty breaks every half hour just so you can move away from your computer. Thankfully it usually isn’t long before you reach the lunch hour to enjoy the much needed reprieve from the ruse.

Then you return in the afternoon with a full stomach and nagging wants of a soft bed to rest your heavy head. You try to shut out the thoughts of sleep and do more of the same as you did before lunch. But the day seems longer and all energy is sapped from your limp body as you fight away the onset of boredom.

There are times when you try to work on personal assignments, but those require you to look at nice pretty financial reports which draw attention to your screen. So you try to keep an ear on your surroundings and your fingers close to the Alt-Tab keys. It’s tough going as you need to surf the net for research. And surfing is a dangerous thing so you try to keep it to a minimum. Slowly you get some stuff done, though at an unproductive rate. With that you shave off another hour or so from the day.

There are also those days where you simply stone. There is the inane fear of being caught doing nothing yet you can’t seem to summon the energy nor motivation to do anything other than staring blankly at your screen. Typically the rock-mimicking routines span several minutes at a time and with good skills and a dose of luck you take another hour off your shift.

Much effort has been spent to pass the day of eight hours. But even with proficiency you are more tired doing nothing than doing something. You can only look out the window and dream of the near future when you can call it quits and move on to the next adventure. Well at least you comfort yourself with another day clocked towards mastering the art of zombie-ing. And then the same day starts again tomorrow …

~~~~~~~~~

It’s killing me, I’m dying from boredom. It’s tiring playing this cat and mouse game. Sadly I can’t help it, I have to go against my natural instincts to survive. Already they are waiting intently for me to leave the company. I fought against their wishes and cling onto the desk. My natural sense tells me to source for improvement opportunities, ways to streamline processes, upgrade the templates, build continuity, help out the team in their tasks, deliver more.

But I need to keep away from these … the people here do not deserve it, nor will they appreciate it even if I do contribute. So I find myself sitting here honing my undead skills and wait for the opportune time. I wait to go back to a fast pace industry where changes abound and you are constantly on your toes looking to the next challenge.

I’m sure many will say I’m silly to be looking when this job has little pressure and pace is slow. But the problem is that I’m not that sort of person. So again I’m waiting to move to the next challenge. Hopefully I would not bore to death before I find the right opportunity.

P.S. Writing this post took three hours off the day. The three hours include four bio breaks, two trips to make green tea, a trip to the nearby café for coffee and a sandwich. It would be nice if I have another topic to do the same again for tomorrow.

Solving The Mystery Of Din Tai Fung

Never had it even though it's been around for ages. Meimei doesn't seem to fancy it. I like the fried rice and xiao long bao. Will Pokpok get a chance to eat this again?

Learning To Be Selfish

I should learn to keep quiet! Why share your experiences and know-how when the recipients are going to abuse it. They are not going to thank you for it, they will take it for granted and then spit you out. I need to be selfish, to do things for my benefit and not the company’s. Arggghh this is so much against everything I’ve stand for. I would have liked a win-win situation where both the company’s interest and mine are satisfied. There isn’t one here so I have to choose.

Why? Because the company and its minions are going to screw you over anyways. Your boss and colleagues are going to work to their own benefit, so why shouldn’t you? Why be the whipping boy and the one who gets the detrimental results while others enjoy the benefits of their selfishness? Join the bandwagon, you are downright stupid to believe there is any goodness in people.

I likened my circumstances to this. There is a mad woman on the street stabbing people randomly with a HIV laced syringe. Several people in the vicinity have been infected. I struggled with the woman, knocked her down and pinned her to the ground. Then two police officers came by and looked at me nonchalantly. They did not try to understand the nature of the situation, all they see is me on top of a struggling, screaming woman. They went on to reprimand me for hurting the mad woman and issued a summons for my aggression. So I had to let go.

What would you have done? You can’t cure crazy, you are penalized for attempting to subdue the crazy, the only option you have left is to avoid the crazy. So avoid I did.

The whole situation reminds me of a friendly advice given by one of the directors I used to work with several years ago. She called me to her office one day for an impromptu chitchat. Although she was not in the same department, she has been working with my VP for a good twenty odd years. So my VP who was concerned that I was going about things the wrong way had asked her for a favour to guide me on the on-goings.

She said, “Everyone can see you are very dedicated and working long hours. But have you considered that maybe not everyone appreciates what you are doing? Why go against things that the senior management has decided? You see, there are so many people earning double or triple what you earn for doing a quarter of the work you do. These are people in high places and they think they know best, and they don’t like anyone telling them otherwise … Pokpok, just go with the flow. Don’t stick your head out when it is not welcomed. Your VP, myself, and many others would hate to see you suffer for your diligence and integrity.” I never quite understand what she meant until I came to my current job. It now resonates so loudly as something I should practice, for my own good. I suppose it’s never too late to learn and apply good concepts.

It’s going to take awhile for me to get used to this. Not sure if I’ll ever get there. But for my loved ones, I should try. Rewards are enjoyed by my closed family and their enjoyment is good enough a reason for me to think for me, and me alone (only in the work space).