Last month, I finally tried the legendary Outram Park Fried Kway Teow Mee located at Singapore Hong Lim Market and Food Centre. I felt thankful that I got to eat this famous fried kway teow (flat rice noodles) by the senior grand master. I heard that this grand master rarely cooks now as his son has taken over the reins.
My mum shared that she loved the fried Kway Teow Mee at Hong Lim Market and Food Centre so I took her there after her medical appointment since it is near to Hong Lim food centre. Luckily we got to eat this tasty fried kway teow by the pioneer shifu. I don't eat cockles and just put it away. It's actually a simple kway teow dish with cockles and egg but so delicious!
We went there at about 10.15 am on weekday and there was already a long queue. The efficient staff took our order and collected cash.
Glad that we managed to eat this scrumptious fried kway teow before the Grand master retirement.
Paid in cash. Long queue already formed at about 10.15 am on weekday.
Happy Deepavali to all Hindus! I am very happy that today is public holiday and I can have extra rest from work!
Last week, I went to Waterloo street to pray at Kwan Im Thong Hood temple and I thought I just prayed outside the Sri Krishnan temple which is just next to Kwan Imm temple. Many years ago, I was surprised that my ex-colleagues prayed outside Sri Krishnan temple after praying to Kwan Imm and they told me they believe in all religions. Perhaps all religions are teaching similar things like kindness, compassion and karma or Cause and effect. .
Let's focus on similarities on religions like Kindness, Compassion and kama like Golden Rule and less on the differences. We must not take religious harmony in Singapore for granted. Once trust is gone, society will be fragmented with distrust and disharmony.
Happy Deepavali to all Hindus. The Light will triumph over darkness and the good prevails! Happy holidays to all!
Had a wonderful vegetarian meal with my friend after work last Friday. We shared two sets of 8-course meal at Element restaurant, one of which is the new Taiwan course set meal. She didn't eat much so I had most of the food, to my delight. Anyway I enjoy delicious food with my friend.
The Taiwan set course will end this month on 31 October this year. If you love Taiwan food, you should come to try.
Finally the last local entertainment magazine is ending with the final edition this weekend. I'm quite pleased that Kym Ng is on the final UWeekly cover as I like her unpretentious and kind vibe.
With the end of local entertainment magazine, it kinda spells the end of local entertainment. Actually how many people are still watching local dramas now with YouTube, Netflix and Disney available? To be honest, after work, I don't watch local dramas with long advertisements (don't think they should advertise those screaming drama scenes and medical adverts). Please be mindful what you show on television.
Now I prefer to watch travel videos from youtube as I can control the speed of video and block advertisements. My relatives also prefer to watch Korean drama online.
Anyway I'm glad that UWeekly persisted for another seven years when both 8Days and Iweekly ended print magazines in 2018. Thank you UWeekly for accompanying me for the past 23 years.
说真的，虽然不舍优1周终于结束，但天下没有不散的宴席。谢谢优1周这23年的相伴。
Glad that Kym Ng is featured on the final UWeekly magazine.
Final IWeekly local Manadarin magazine on 27 September 2018
Final 8Days local English magazine on 27 September 2018
I don't like to go out on weekends especially Sunday as I have to wake up early for work the next day. However, my generous friend gave me a free movie to watch the latest movie, Transformer One which is the CG-animated movie so I went to watch it at my favourite movie theatre at Shaw theatre.
What is gist of the story? Trust your intuition and ignore the noise. Sometimes you just have to take a risk to discover more.
I love the intricate cute lanterns designed by Singapore talented illustrator Ah Guo 阿果 Kow Fong. I love buying Ah Guo designed stationery. The vibrant lanterns lighted up the the lovely Gardens by the Bay. This year theme is Celebrations(同欢). The Mid-Autumn Festival lighting will end on 22 September.
Nearest MRT: Bayfront and Gardens by the Bay MRT stations
Ah Guo is my favourite local artist.
This used to be my playground. I remember there were two dragon playgrounds in Tampines in the 80s. One playground was just next to my old flat at Blk 200s plus and the other was near my late grandparents' flat in Tampines. I had great fun playing with my cousins in 1980s.
I had some traditional mooncake and snowskin mooncake, thanks to my brothers who brought it.
I saw Audi car roadshow at Suntec City today and decided to sit on the driver’s seat. My only experience in car driving so far is only on go-karting ride many decades ago. I’m wondering if I should take driving test but then I’m scared of driving. When I went for luge ride, I chose the dragon trail as there was no one there and I felt better traveling the path alone. In other congested paths, others could be zooming past you and some blur people might hit your car.
It was fun exploring the car on the driver’s seat. I think this Audi car is quite big and comfortable. I prefer lighter colour car like pastel pink or blue.
I finally brought this book Decoding the Tao Te Ching by Sim Pooh Ho, edited and translated by Tekson Teo. Tao Te Ching 道德经 is authored by Laozi, a great enlightened Chinese philosopher about 2500 years ago. I think it would be great if the translator had included the whole chapters in Chinese characters and the English translation side by side. I wanted to see if the translation is accurate and how he interpreted so I copied the Chinese characters from the internet. At the same time, I can also improve my Mandarin.
Even though you can finish reading the entire book which has only 5000 plus Chinese characters in 81 Chapters within a day, the teaching is profound and needs time to digest the essence of Laozi's teaching. I read a few chapters and find some similarities to Buddha's teaching such as Emptiness, Universe law of Cause and effect karma and keep to the middle path. It’s a fair system . If someone steal from your daughter, there should be consequence for the thief to prevent theft from happening again and protect the society. That is why I find Singapore's strict law and enforcement safe for society.
For example, on Emptiness is not nothingness but there is function to it on Chapter 11 and karma on Chapter 30.
The thirty spokes unite in the one nave; but it is on the empty space (for the axle), that the use of the wheel depends. Clay is fashioned into vessels; but it is on their empty hollowness, that their use depends. The door and windows are cut out (from the walls) to form an apartment; but it is on the empty space (within), that its use depends. Therefore, what has a (positive) existence serves for profitable adaptation, and what has not that for (actual) usefulness.
The following are my favourite chapters from Tao Te Ching。
Just read an interesting book, Ami, Child of the Stars written by Chilean author Enrique Barrios. This book was first published in 1986. The author dedicated this book to the "children" of all ages. There are several lessons you can learn from this story. In this book, Ami, an extraterrestrial shared with Jim about the Fundamental law of the Universe, how in his planet, there is no money involved and how to enjoy this precious life on this blue planet Earth that is miraculouslyfloating in this vast Universe. So magical! Be happy and enjoy your time on Earth! Stop polluting the ocean and air. Take care of this precious blue planet Earth.
Earth blue planet, image from discovery.com.
About Worrying
“Don’t live your life imagining problems that haven’t yet arisen and aren’t going to. Enjoy the present. You have to live life to the fullest, always seeking happiness instead of worrying. When a real problem arises, then put your time to good use figuring out how to solve it, instead of worrying when everything is just cool, like now.”
Be Present (Attentive) and Enjoy
“Look how pretty those street lights are... Pretty enough to paint... Check out how the light falls on that vine... And those roofs outlined against the stars... Life is there for you to enjoy fully, Jim. Try to pay attention to all that life offers you... The marvels are there to be found every moment... Try to feel, perceive, instead of thinking. The most profound sense of life is found beyond thinking... You know what, Jim? Life is a fairy tale come true... It’s a beautiful gift that God has given you...because He loves you.”
His words made me see everything from a new point of view. It seemed incredible to me that this was the normal, everyday world that I’d never paid much attention to... Without even having noticed it before, I realized now that I lived in a place that looked like paradise.
About Sharing
“Here we all love one another.”
There are times when understandingsomething produces the interior equivalent of a flash of light in us.
Ami’s explanations had finally gotten through to me. I was suddenly able to understand what he had been trying to tell me. That world was not like mine. It wasn’t a place of competition, fear and distrust of others, rivalries, egotism. No, it wasn’t like that. Humanity in that world was a big family in which everyone loved each other reciprocally. So they shared everything, always seeking happiness for each and every one of them. Now it seemed very simple to me.
Fundamental Law of the Universe
Image from Ami, Child of the Stars.
Wisdom
“Famous, maybe. What does your uncle, the physicist, do?” “He’s developing a new weapon, an ultrasound ray.” “Hmmmm... If he’s not able to understand that human intelligence is a reflection of divine intelligence, if his shortsightedness makes him arrogant and disrespectful to God, and, besides, if he dedicates the talent he received to the manufacture of arms,...then I don’t believe that his level is very high. What do you think?” “What? But he’s a wise man!” I protested. “Once again you’re confusing things. Your uncle has a great deal of information at his disposal and is good at seeing relationships between data, but this doesn’t necessarily mean that he’s an intelligent person, much less a wise one. A computer can have an impressive data bank and undertake incredible operations, but that doesn’t make it intelligent. Do you think a man is intelligent if he’s digging a grave that he himself is in danger of falling into?” “No, but...” “Weapons turn against those who support them.”
What we have here is a problem of terms: on Earth people are called intelligent or wise when they are good at using only one of their brains. But we have two...” “What?! Two brains?!” “Well, it would be better to say two ‘comprehension centers.’ One in the head; that’s the ‘computer,’ the only one that you people know. It processes information related to the things of this world. The other is in the chest. It’s not visible because it’s not material. But it exists. It has to do with the profound things of life, with the eternal, universal truths, like wisdom and love. The balance between the two centers creates the light that you saw in the man’s chest on the screen.” “That’s very interesting, Ami.” “For us, the person who is intelligent or wise is the one who has both centers in harmony. This means that intelligence must serve the heart. But the majority of people who are ‘intelligent’ think that the reverse is true. They do cold cerebral calculations and they can’t see what’s really important.”
“People like that only see the superficial, the money. But they don’t see what’s profound, the suffering that they cause. They have a lack of balance between their head center and their heart center.”
“The relationship between science and love on your planet is very skewed toward the science side. Millions of civilizations like this one have self-destructed for this very reason. Your planet is at a critical point in its evolution. These are delicate
moments, dangerous times.
One good example are the scammers and drug traffickers who earn lots of money but they create lots of suffering to their fellow human beings. Countries selling weapons and supporting wars. Artificial intelligence is using existing data of what humans had created and not up to date. Humans must be mindful not to let AI control their life.
About God
To Ami, God has no form. It is the Source of love energy. It reminds me of Tao or one consciousness when one enters samadhi in meditation for Buddhist practitioners or experienced meditators.
Ami smiled kindly and said, “A drop of sea water cannot say that it’s the sea, even though it’s composed the same. You are made of the same substance as God. You are love, but vibrating at a frequency that’s not very high. Evolution consists of the elevation of our frequency of vibration. That allows us little by little to recognize and regain our true identity: love.”
Ami began to laugh. “God neither punishes nor rewards, but everything that we do comes back to us. If we do good, we receive good in return. If we do evil, we can’t expect to receive anything nice in return.”
Started thinking of this song recently. It reminds me to visit Taiwan again, where there are many talented and creative people. I feel like visiting Taiwan National Palace Museum where I can admire antique treasures from Shang, Han, Tang to Qing dynasty. I just wanna go back to Eslite bookshop to read all day. Wow, what a wonderful trip. By the way, I already visited this beautiful Taiwan island five times since 2009 to 2015 but I still want to visit this lovely island.
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