XTRA Furniture Store at Marina Square

Visited XTRA furniture store recently at Marina Square where you can shop for furnitures by well-known designers like Tom Dixon and Herman Miller chairs. They also have affordable accessories decor like cute MAGIS dog decor.

They have unique and fun furniture designs. Maybe I get one cute furniture for my new home.

 

Breakfast at Shake Shack

Had a quiet breakfast at Gardens by the Bay Shake Shack restaurant which is near the flower dome this Monday morning. I brought the arugula egg and cheese burger and breakfast tots hash brown. The arugula egg and cheese burger is suitable for plant based eater.

人日快乐 Happy Birthday

Today is 7th day of Chinese New Year. For Teochews, we will eat 7 different type of vegetables. 

For today lunch, my mum cooked 7 vegetables that she brought from Prime Supermarket which sells pre-packaged 7 vegetables ( Caixin, Chinese leeks) for about $5 a pack. It is convenient to customers.

Happy Birthday everyone! 人日快乐！

  Today lunch. 

New Blog

Hi everyone, I have a new blog on flowers only. Since I'm quite free now, I'm also learning and creating videos on flowers and post on YouTube. So far the videos I posted are quite short and mostly photos but at least I started to create and share. I will start to take more videos and post on flowers. 

The new blog is here 

Tossing Yusheng With My Friend

Had a sumptuous lunch with my friend at Putien yesterday as I like their fried beehoon, vermicelli which I find it comparable to homecooked beehoon. Also I find the price quite reasonable compared to other Chinese restaurant and there is no additional service charge. We had 2 person set lunch and we got to eat yusheng. We paid about $148 for the set lunch for 2 person and additional cost for drink tea.

The staff was flexible as he allowed us to change two dishes from noodle to fried bee Hoon and sea cucumber dish to scallop broccolis. 

 

Brave Whistleblower: Edward Snowden

I have to say you can learn a lot from Edward Snowden as he gave many insightful views. Depending on who you ask, some like the USA government staff call him a traitor but he contributed to the rest of humanity and the world by revealing the truth about USA government illegal activities like wire tapping and worldwide surveillance back in 2013. American journalists like him. He risked his life and is now living as a naturalized citizen in Russia. Hopefully he can be pardoned and be back to his country. In earlier post, I already shared the greatest enemy of USA is within the USA government. How could they allow people to vote without documentation and allow massive illegal immigrants to enter the country? Really mind-boggling right? Like him or dismiss him, he has the guts to do what is right.  I hope the higher power, Universe, God can protect him and his family. 

Some wisdoms by Edward Snowden in his interview on The Joe Rogan Experience. People are now trusting podcast then mainstream media and the government (I don’t agree with everything Joe Rogan said). Just look at the incompetent Californian governor gavin and what he has done to the once beautiful California.

Like him or hate him, he will go down in history as a Hero to humanity for exposing USA government global surveillance. It’s okay to spy on your enemies but to spy on your allies and your own citizens?

"Patriotism is not about a loyalty to government. Patriotism in fact is not about loyalty to anything. Patriotism is a constant effort to do good for the people of your country"

"Loyalty is good when it's in the service of something good." 

"You can’t awaken someone who is pretending to be asleep”

 "The scandal isn't that they're breaking the law. The scandal is that they don't have to break the law"

"I didn't come forward to be safe. If I wanted to be safe, I'd still be sitting in Hawaii making a hell of a lot of money to spy on all of you."

"But at the end of the day, you have to recognize if you’re trying to eliminate all risks from your life, what you’re actually doing is eliminating all possibility from your life. "

"I was waiting for a hero but there are no hero’s, only heroic decisions”

“I always wondered why, when things went wrong, someone didn’t do something. Then I realised, that someone was me”! 

"When we become fearful, we become vulnerable to anyone who promises to make things better." 

""When you don't tell your story, other people will tell it" 

 

"no warrant is needed to spy on you because it’s not your data, it’s the companies data”

One needs to remember, absolute power corrupts. The 34th USA President, Dwight David Eisenhower warned against the military undue influence in his farewell speech, "In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.".

Awesome AI Deepseek

I just tried the latest AI Deepseek created by China. It's an awesome AI! I just gave one line instruction to create worksheet on a topic and it is able to create a systematic worksheet for different levels of thinking and answers without much prompting immediately. It’s seems to be able to anticipate and provide solution without many promptings as compared to ChatGPT. Some people also shared that it is able to give accurate profile of a well-known person compared to ChatGPT. 

There are some criticisms by some western media regarding responses by Deepseek relating to politics and privacy. Are you sure western companies like ChatGPT and microsoft don’t collect users’ data’s? Hey in United States of America you already have different opinions on politics as evident by news media like CNN and NYT for the democrats and the other news media for the Republicans. This AI is not going to give “politically correct” answers because there is none. You have to think for yourself based on your own experiences and preferences. Period. Sometimes you have to ask yourself if those tech billionaires are overpaying themselves. America tried to stop China progress in AI by restricting their access to advanced chips but China managed to overcome the challenge. Thank you China for the leap in AI performance especially saving energy with the energy efficient AI mechanism.

It’s good to have healthy competition so that consumers can benefit. I do hope there is restriction on dangerous knowledge as recently an American used ChatGPT to help him plan activity that endangered others. There must also be system to track who use AI with the intention to hurt others. Let’s use technology with responsibility and with good intention to help people. Just like you use fork for eating and not to hurt others. 

This person gave a good explanation on why Deepseek stunned US stock market.

Chinese New Year Eve Reunion Dinner 2025

Just had a sumptuous Chinese New Year eve reunion dinner today. It’s definitely my favourite day as I can enjoy my mother’s signature dishes like fried crispy prawns and flavourful soup. We usually have these wide spread of delicious food on the CNY eve and 15th day of CNY.

This year we enjoyed a total of 9 dishes which included 7 home-cooked dishes and 1 platter of meat from the famous Kam Roast meat and yusheng at home. We tossed yusheng which consists of vegetables and fish this year. Let’s take a look at this year dishes!

                 Signature soup

Yusheng

Happy Chinese New Year 2025!

Wishing everyone great health and prosperity this Coming Snake year! Happy Chinese New Year! 

 

Hip Hop News - No Smoke Without Fire

As puff diddy's trial on sex trafficking and racketeering is approaching on 5 May this year, there'll be more shocking revelations of well-known celebrities and perhaps politicians. More than 150 people (including young boys and girls when the offences were committed) are suing puff diddy for sexual assaults!  He is currently in federal custody despite offering $50 million dollars bail but the judge rejected it. Just a few years ago, CNN showed a video of diddy hitting his ex-girlfriend. Also his ex-partner who bore him children and four other acquaintances of diddy died of pneumonia “coincidentally". A bodyguard, Big Homie CC shared that he discovered he was poisoned by cyanide when he went for health check for pneumonia. There is karma and the truth will be revealed. 

Finally the law is catching up with him. May there be justice for the victims. There must be no more human trafficking of women and children. We must protect fellow humans and report to the authorities if aware of it. Others are saying allegedly since you have to be proven guilty before judgement but hey more than 150 people are suing him. Some only knew they were sexually assaulted after police showed them videos of them in compromising positions from diddy's home and Justin Bieber was visibly upset in a recent video when he said he wants to protect young singers in the music industry. I hope Justin is okay. Apparently some were under the influence of illicit drugs (drinks spiked?) at diddy's parties and they didn't know what they were doing.      

As I was watching the news, some people commented that diddy had illegal drugs in his private plane. I hope Singapore authorities check for illicit drugs from private plane passengers. Illicit drugs destroy lives. People should not make money at the expense of others' suffering. There is karma. What goes around comes around so that the they can understand others' suffering.

Eminem, one of the best hip-hop singers had been slamming diddy in his songs insinuating diddy is a rapist for years. There is no smoke without fire.   

As I was watching this hot news, it reminded me of the 90s hip hop great songs by Eminem like Lose yourself. I hope you like this song too.

There will be justice. 

Oppa Bibimbap

I finally found a restaurant that serves piping hot delicious bibimbap which is located at Tampines 1 mall, #02-05. It comes with free soup and kimchi. Price is quite reasonable and this is definitely one of my favourite eateries in Tampines. 

This piping hot bibimbap is priced at $9.80 for non-member and $8.80 for member. You can choose chicken, pork or beef. But if you don't want meat, you can request no meat and have more vegetables or opt for the cheese but there is no egg. 

 

五月天 2025 線上跨年演唱會

Just realised there is free online concert by 五月天 today. Thank you for the free concert.

Happy New Year 2025!

Happy New Year to everyone! Wishing you joy and abundance in the coming new year. Enjoy the moment and be happy! 

阿果绘本Ah Guo Illustration

 

Dedication to My Nice Colleagues and Happy New Year 2025!

Today finally returned the staff pass. To be honest, I have mixed feelings. On one hand, I feel happy to have rest but I also feel sad as I won't be seeing my friends often. I met many kind colleagues who have become my friends, some who are like my family already. My kind colleague and friend Ms Q offered free ride to and from school as we live just a few blocks away. The young and capable leaders whom I have worked closely the past two years are also very kind. Sometimes I can be a very difficult person. Yesterday my department HOD treated us to sumptuous high tea buffet at Orchard road hotel. I do treasure the times we worked together to achieve common goals and the feasts we enjoyed.  

My friend reminded me absence makes the heart grow fonder when I replied her that I feel a bit nostalgic today. 

Never mind, I can still meet up for meal with friends since many of them stay in Tampines. 

In a way, I feel happy that I can use the time to explore some projects and read. I must also lose weight by exercising and eat more plant-based food. Just want to dedicate to my wonderful colleagues and friends this Chapter 8, The Highest Good is Like Water from Tao Te Ching by Laozi as many of them fit the profile of this chapter. Wishing all readers and friends great health and happiness in the coming New Year 2025! 

第八章

上善若水

水善利万物而不争，

处众人之所恶，

故几于道。

居，善地；

心，善渊；与，善仁；

言，善信；

政，善治；

事，善能；

动，善时。

夫唯不争，

故无尤。

From the book Decoding the Tao Te Ching. This chapter reminds me of my wonderful colleagues who are my friends. 

 

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all my wonderful Christians and Catholics friends and relatives! Wishing you all joy and laughter as you celebrate on this special day!

 

Standard Operating Procedure

Last year USA had historical Congress hearing on Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena as former top navy pilots, and intelligence officers came forward to share on Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena, formally known as Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs). The hearing helps to remove the stigma as now more people dare to talk about it. If you think about it, the universe is so vast with billons of stars . It is really arrogant to think that only planet Earth has intelligent beings.

It is not safe to be whistleblowers. After David Grusch testified in congress, someone released information that he suffers from PTSD and he is not in the right frame of mind. Some people even made fun of his autism. As usual, they use the same modus operandi to put down the credibility of whistleblowers (perhaps except navy pilots). I hope David Grusch is okay. 

Modus operandi of the DoD. From Imminent book written by Luis Elizondo. 

Lue Elizondo spoke up for David Grusch.

I hope David Grusch is well. Former National Reconnaissance Officer Representative, Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena Task Force

 

冬至快乐! Happy Dongzhi Festival!

Just prayed to ancestors at home and had some sweet glutinous rice balls filled with peanut paste, red bean or black sesame paste.

Happy Winter Solstic.

Art by Ah Guo.

 

Hong Kong’s Tsz Shan Monastery

Opened in 2019, Hong Kong's Tsz Shan Monastery has a Buddhist art museum where you can see sutras and art sculptures. Maybe next year I travel to Hong Kong to visit the art musuem and pray to Kwan Im and Buddha. In 2017, I travelled solo to Hong Kong to pray to the majestic Big Buddha at Tian Tan. I am thankful to Buddha who spent 49 years teaching the path to end suffering selflessly. Next year, I want to spend more time reading Buddhist books and practise Buddha's teaching. 

Tsz Shan Monastery website Click here https://www.tszshan.org/home/new/en/visit.php

                  Tsz Shan Monastery. Image from Li Ka Shing Foundation here