A Jobless Millionaire and the Rich Bloggers

So I was thinking that the difference between a millionaire who is jobless and a thousandnaire who is jobless is quite profound. A millionaire who is jobless will never be called a bum.

Anyway, I have never really considered myself jobless. At the very least, I am a blogger! And people do make a living out of their blogs. It is just that I can't make a living out of my blog but that doesn't stop me from being jobless or stuff. I have a good readership and a wonderful community of supporters out here.

So to say that I am out of a job, the correct phrase should be "I am seeking paid employment". My job at this blog is paid peanuts but it gives me great joy. I am the CEO, marketing executive, editor, journalist, corporate comms person all rolled into one.

Talking about blogs, some bloggers are really able to enjoy a good life because of the quality of their blogs and the followership that they have. I would just term it as the Rich blogger and Poor blogger divide that I am trying to cross over to. Rich bloggers are also jobless like me...except that they are earning money from their blogs.

That was lunch for today. I ate only at 3 pm as I wasn't too hungry. Char Mee (instant noodles) home-cooked style. I know it looks real plain but it was super delicious.

Sakuraya - Best Jap Food in Singapore?

I like Japanese food. Perhaps its due to the fact that I did not eat much Japanese food when I was young.

But with my budget tightening, I have cut down on my Jap food intake quite a lot as I tend to be pretty fussy about Jap food and only like to eat them at restaurants.

The one place that I like is Sushi tei. I find that their food is fresh and yummy. Consistency is however sometimes a problem as I went to the one at west coast when it just opened and I found it to be disappointing and not up to standard.

However, I went to Sakuraya yesterday (@ Anchorpoint Level 1 Beside 7-11) and I must say that their sashimi and sushi are of a superb standard too.

The reason why we went there was because we had already collected 20 stamps and this entitled us to a $50 discount voucher that we could redeem.

The wife ordered a sashimi set while I ordered a saba set. We also ordered maguro, salmon and tamago sushi. The bill added up to $51.79 and with the discount voucher, we only had to foot $1.80 for the bill!

It was a wonderful meal. The sashimi and sushi looked so fresh and tasted so good. What's more, it only cost me $1.80 for an unbelievable good meal. I have come to realised that Sakuraya has perhaps better Jap food than Sushi Tei. After being a loyal supporter of Sushi Tei for more than 4 years, I must say that Sakuraya has won my heart yesterday and now takes over the No.1 spot in my heart when it comes to Jap food.

Too bad I don't have any pictures taken from yesterday...

If you had a free $50 voucher to eat at any place you would like, where would it be?

P.S. Answering the above question won't win you a free $50 voucher

Lunch on A Budget

I simply love this packet of charsiew and roast pork rice. It costs me a mere $3.00 but has a generous amount of char siew and roast pork. They are laid out in two straight lines. The charsiew is so-so but the roast pork is pretty good. They also serve a bit of achar on the side which goes really well with the pork! Simply yummy!

You can find this store at Tanglin Halt Road Market. It is located beside the Kway Chap stall.

If you missed my previous posting, you seriously need to read this article here on Blogging to Financial Freedom. In it, I give some tips on my blogging experience.

$2.20 For A Cup of Ribena

I was at a foodcourt just now and ordered a cup of ribena. It is shocking to find out that it actually cost $2.20 just for a small cup of ribena.

Imagine the profit margins that the drink stall is earning!

$2.20 could have bought me a thosai and a cup of coffee for my morning breakfast and I would still have change to spare.

The cost of living in Singapore is definitely going up.

I am pretty certain that many years ago, $2 could have bought one a plate of chicken rice. Now, it won't even get you a cup of Ribena.

I shall keep this entry in here as I would like to look back at this posting maybe in 20 years time and see how "cheap" ribena was then. I could then lament to my children and tell them that things used to cost so cheap then.

One can only imagine what the price of a cup of Ribena will cost in twenty years time.

Anyone dares to make a prediction and we will see who gets the closest price in twenty years time?

Why Hawker Food Tastes better than Food Court Food

I ate a beef don at Thomson Plaza yesterday and I was amazed (or should I say disgusted?) at the food quality. There were like just 6 pieces of beef and the rice was soaked in a gravy that did not really taste japanese or anything. The miso soup was also terrible and tasted nothing like miso soup at all. All this cost me $5.50 and I would most probably never eat that again.

All the years in my life, I have always wondered why hawker food tastes so much better than food in the food courts.

Now, I think I know the answer why.

I used to think that it was the air-con in the food court that somehow affected the quality of the food. I then realised that it was not necessarily the air-con but the people that made all the difference.

I believe that most food court stalls are not actually owned by the people running it. There might be a small exception but I believe most stalls are actually owned and managed by the food court themselves. Many of them are actually hired by the food court themselves to operate the various stalls. These people (usually PRCs) are hired and are not the business owners.

They simply do not care about the quality of the food or the service that they provide. They are just there to make a living without having to bother about profits and customer service. I have seen these PRCs trying to speak Mandarin to Malays and Indians before... totally oblivious to the fact that these people do not understand them!

Compare this to the hawker centre where the stalls are runned by the owners themselves. The owners put in the effort to make sure that they smile at you (okay, some of them do smile) and at least maintain a reasonable standard of the food quality.

Hawker food for me always tastes way better than food court food. I don't know if it is true for you but it certainly is for me.

Not only is hawker food much nicer, it is often much cheaper too!