It is March

The year has passed real quick and now almost three months have passed. And you sort of lose concept of time since each day is spent the same in what is almost repetitive. Each week is non-differentiable from the other. You lose track of time and friends. People fade in and out of your life and it is totally out of your control. But I know this year will be a good year alright. And everything will be okay and the family will be alright. But one can never be too certain. Never in my life have I been so busy and yet so isolated and drained.

I spent the Sunday reading some Hemingway and it made me realise how long I have not had time to read. And this was a good reading session because I managed to finish the book. But this was only my second book that I had read in the year. And it is already March. Anyway, I got started on a new book right after I finished one book today and this brought me a great sense of satisfaction.

Well, the fact that I ate some nice steak (a mixture of wagyu, ribeye and striploin) and downed it with some Riesling that had been sitting in my fridge for some time made it an even better Sunday. Not to mention the bread dipped in olive oil and basalmic vinegar. All prepared by me in double quick time for dinner as it was raining today and the roads were all wet and busy from where I had gone in the late afternoon to run some errand.

Financially, all is well. I have enough to live by and the family is happy and healthy. So there is really nothing more that I should be asking for. Some dividends from one of my reit counters was good. I don't know where the stock market is headed to right now and I simply couldn't care less. I wish I cared more and made a little more effort but this is not the time and there are still other things to worry about first. All I need right now is time and space. Time to read my books and be happy. For that is all that I want to do right now.

Goodbye 2015, Hello 2016!

So 2015 has come and gone in almost a blink of an eye. And right now, 2016 is already upon us even as I am writing this post in a comfy cafe sipping on my ice-cold coffee and reflecting on what 2015 has meant to me.

2015 was probably a year of both ups and downs. There are definitely many things to be thankful about. Some of these include good health, advancement in career (and pay), seeing new places, enjoying new experiences, and having a great family (nevermind the occasional quarrels and fights). Indeed, I consider myself blessed. And I am still learning the art of contentment even though it still eludes me from time to time. So 2015 has really been a lot more positives than there has been negatives.

Investment-wise, 2015 probably has not been that good. A couple of my investments are losing money still and this is probably where I ought to spend more time and reflect to learn from my various mistakes. One of these mistakes is probably the blind pursuit of yield in some of my investments and that has proved detrimental since the risk was priced in but all I saw was the high yield. The lesson learnt is not to chase yield blindly especially when picking dividend stocks.

Nevertheless, despite my mediocre stock-picking skills and woeful market timing, I have seen my household networth surpass the $1 million mark. Of course this does not put me anywhere the high networth category since that is still way short of the USD$1 million in investible assets. But I know that goal should be achievable (God-willing).

Some thoughts on this is that my networth is largely tied to property so that is something to be mindful of. Also, most of this is probably not due to my efforts. Besides being a good saver and having a relatively okay salary, the rest probably boils down to being born in the correct family, having opportunities that jumped at me, etc. In fact, after much consideration (and as tempted as I am), I don't think there is any practical advice that I can offer anyone to assure them of reaching this milestone the way I did.

The negatives of 2015 probably boils down again to career decisions that need to be made and what awaits me for the future. I don't think I can say that I jump out of bed each day looking forward to the day. There are some changes that I yearn for in life (e.g. more free time and space, traveling, new experiences, etc) and I know these issues will probably need some confronting in the near future especially since I foresee a busy year ahead at work.

2016 is probably going to be a challenging year ahead. Probably not financially but emotionally. But I trust that God will see me through it.

Don't Write When You Have Nothing To Write About

Well, that's the mentality I have been taking nowadays.  I haven't felt a strong urge to write about anything and that perhaps explains the irregularity in posting any new articles.  I don't feel like there is anything new in terms of knowledge that I can contribute at the moment, and so I stopped writing for a while.

In terms of investments, I haven't made any new investments just yet.  I have been toying around with the idea of investing in CitySpring Infrastructure Trust or one of the industrial REITs but couldn't decide between the both and so am just sitting still right now and not doing anything.  I know that is probably not a good thing to do since I tend to procrastinate for way too long and sometimes, it just seems so much better to act first and then analyse later.

Well, CitySpring Infrastructure Trust seems like a real safe and defensive bet considering that it owns infrastructure that are what I would call "recession proof".  However, I think there was just a rights issue not too long back and I do have some concerns over its ability to grow its distribution.  On the other hand, industrial REITs also provide an equivalent yield and might be likely to make yield accretive acquisitions.  Of course, considering that the economic situation is still not that stable, there might be a likelihood that rental rates might drop.  So that is another risk to consider.  Not too mention that industrial REITs tenant base are also not as diverse as compared to a retail REIT ,etc.

Losing Grip on Time

I feel like I am losing grip on time, and time is just literally, slipping me by.  Every week, I can't help but exclaim, that another week has passed.  It is simply way too amazing for me to fathom.  It seems like one moment I am brushing my teeth, getting ready to go to work.  And then the next moment, I am brushing my teeth, getting ready to go to sleep.  It is something like groundhog's day but totally different.  Rather than time repeating itself over and over, I am sort of losing grip on it and it seems to be slipping faster and faster and faster.  And I can't seem to hit the "Pause" button.  Before I know it, the week is over.  And it scares me..really.

Day by day passes by.  Week after week.  It is so scary sometimes I shiver when I think about the number of days or weeks that have passed since I last ate at a particular restaurant or met up with a friend.  And when I try to recall the last time I did something or visited some place, it scares me to realise that the last time I did that thing or visited the place was maybe one to two years back.  And it just seems like it happened yesterday.

I am not sure my words have really described the feelings that I feel inside.  But I truly feel like I am living in a movie that is on "fast forward" mode, hurtling right to the end.  And I know that there is no way I can hit the "rewind" button and that there is no way I can ever go back in time to smile at my loved ones, to hold them, and to tell them that I love them.  I seem to be trapped in this time tunnel where every thing is moving so fast.  And I am here begging, please slow it down a bit for me God.  Life is too beautiful and it is passing me by just too quickly.

My Day

Personal thoughts.  My day.  Ride the MRT.  Go to work.  Eat lunch.  Work work work.  Eat dinner.  Bath. Surf the net.  Do a bit of reading.  Reflection.  Sleep.

Wow.  Each day of my life passes by so fast.  Simply amazing.

Yeah, this is an entirely lame post =)  But I haven't done such a lame thing for a long long time.  I wonder if I blog like that for the next 3 months, will people still visit this blog and bother to read it..  Maybe i shd give it a try.

Start of a New Year

So it is the start of a new year.  And I haven't had much time to do any reflection on 2011.  There are lots of things that I want to accomplish.  At the same time, I know that there are just too many distractions in life.  Will this year be significantly different from last year?  Or will it be the same?  Why don't you tell me what you think?

Cancelled Cable TV - Woohoo!!

I cancelled my Starhub Cable TV just a few days back and I must say that I have never felt so liberated!  You see, I have not had the time to watch TV at all.  At least, TV is on my lowest priority list and I only manage to squeeze in less than 2 or 3 hours of "incidental" TV viewing per month.  I simply don't have the time for it.  And yet, I have been paying over 30 dollars per month for cable subscription.

Finally found the time to go down to Starhub and cancelled my cable plan.  I don't watch TV so I definitely do not need cable TV.  It was as simple a decision as that.  And just by that simple decision, I have saved myself around 30 dollars a month.  This decision was definitely not motivated by saving money since I have been thinking about cancelling my subscription for the longest time but was just too lazy to do so.

I am glad that I have finally done so.  I have just been procrastinating for too long. Just trying to cut out all the clutter in my life and focus on the real things that I enjoy doing.

My dear reader, what clutter can you removed from your life that you have been procrastinating for way too long?

Weekend is Ending, Great Things to Do, and Back to Office

The weekend is ending. Another restful 2 days is over and I am off to a brand new start to the week. It is almost the end of the year and I am still amazed at how little I have accomplished over the year 2011. It has not been a great year in terms of accomplishments but it has been fantastic nonetheless. After watching Steve Jobs 2005 Speech at Stanford Commencement, I try to look myself in the mirror each day and ask myself the same question: "If this is the last day of my life, will I want to be doing what I am going to do today?".

I have been doing that the past couple of days and I realised that the answer is a vague NO. It isn't a strong NO-NO. But neither is it a resolute YES.

On another totally unrelated topic, I have been thinking of great things to do in Singapore. This is whether be it in terms of killing time, new places to eat, etc. I know there are lots of things to do in Singapore but I just find my weekends kind of dull.

So the weekend ends. And I will be back to work tomorrow. But an exciting idea has just popped into my head and I can feel the adrenaline rushing back into my blood. It was just a simple thought on what I should be doing with my life, and how I ought to really follow my passion and my dreams. And something just struck me that I know I ought to be doing but haven't really been doing much. I am so excited about this new idea and hopefully it will bear some "fruit" in due time.

Have a great week ahead!

Things to do in Singapore - Free Entry into Asian Civilisation Museum (15 and 16 Oct 2011)

There are not many things to do in Singapore except eating, shopping and really just walking around. This weekend (15 to 16 Oct 2011), the Asian Civilisation Museum is having an open house - meaning its free entry for all. So it is a pretty good deal as the exhibition on the Terracota Warriors are on. It is a good chance to visit the museum if you have not done so.

The Asian Civilisation Museum is located just opposite Fullerton Hotel right beside Victoria Concert Hall (which is now undergoing renovation). Not too sure whether parking is currently available there but I parked my car at UOB Plaza which was basically $3.50 per entry. Took a short walk across the bridge and I was inside the museum.

The exhibits are all located at the 2nd floor and it was quite crowded. Not surprising really since it was free admission to all. I have always found ancient antiques/artefacts pretty cool so it is worth the visit if you like to see such stuff too. Of course, took a short stroll down the Singapore River too

Best Breakfast Places in Singapore (Part 2)

I wrote about the best breakfast places in Singapore some time back in Oct 2010. And I always promised myself and some readers that I would expand on the list as it was really an extremely brief post with little details.

Now that it is Oct 2011, I decided that it was time to stop procrastinating and to deliver on my promise to share some of the best breakfast places (at least in my opinion) in Singapore. Well, I am sure everyone has their little corner or own quiet space in Singapore where they truly enjoy eating their breakfasts. But here I go to share my list:

Jones the Grocer @ Dempsey ($$$)

Well, this definitely had to come up in my list. I am really a local food kind of guy so it shows how much I actually like to eat breakfast here. I don't really fancy the food much. The scrambled eggs are good. The best thing I guess is the ambience of this place. Wonderful if you are sitting inside on a hot Saturday morning with its high ceilings. Of course, it is also fun to people watch. Their coffee and mocha is oh so good.....

Ghim Moh Market Thosai ($)

There are lots to eat at Ghim Moh Market which is tuck away in Ghim Moh (of course). Plenty of choices but the Thosai there is good. If I am really hungry, I will go for the chee kui there too which isn't that bad.

Clementi Mall Crystal Jade ($$$)

Clementi Mall is new. But the dim sum served at the Crystal Jade is quite amazing. I like their chee cheong fun which has like sesame sauce and the usual sweet sauce. Really yummy!

Coronation Plaza, My Cosy Corner, Laksa ($)

A totally non-pretentious place that is tucked away in a little corner at Coronation Plaza which is like a really old shopping centre. Their laksa is rich and tasty (not too sure that is how you would describe it). I quite like they kueh pie ti and popiah too. There are limited seats though but usually we don't get any problems with finding the seats.

Holland Village Provence Cafe ($$)

Nice little cafe with fresh bread and coffee. Not much on the breakfast menu except bread, bread and more bread. So if you are not a bread person, you won't enjoy this place much. But it is nice once in a while to sit here, drink coffee and do some people watching. Also count the number of luxury cars that illegal park along the road. If you want something more local, can always go to the market there for their economic beehoon or the Ya Kun that is located near the Bee Cheng Hiang.

Toast Box @ Great World City ($)

I love my coffee. But when it comes to Toast Box, I don't mind their Iced Teh C (which is basically like iced milk tea for those of you who don't originate from Singapore). I love their nasi lemak even though I know it is nothing special. Their half boiled eggs also see larger than the ones that are served in normal coffee shops. Slurp!!

Tiong Bahru Market ($)

This market is famous by itself. After the renovations, I sort of lost track on where all the good stalls went to. But just follow the queues and you will never go wrong.

Casuarina Curry Restaurant Prata ($)

Air-conditioned coffeshop serving prata that doesn't taste too bad. Service is prompt and fast. Place is pretty clean too which is rare for a roti-prata shop. They did a total makeover a couple of years back and business is always good on the weekends.

Olio Dome @ Dempsey ($$)

Another nice place to hang out. If Jones the Grocer is too crowded, just cross the road and head over to this place. Coffee isn't too far off and their breakfast menu is also quite decent. Of course, it isn't as good as Jones the Grocer but if you want a reasonably good breakfast and there is a long queue at Jones, then this place is for you. Of course, you can hop over to PS Cafe which is much more expensive but which I thought wasn't really worth the money.

Hong Kah Market (near Hong Kah West CC) Carrot Cake ($)

Remember the Bukit Timah Market carrot cake that was cooked like in square shape pieces? Heard that this stall was opened by the son of the original owner. I have tasted the original Bukit Timah carrot cake and I dare say that this one isn't that far off. In fact, there are days when I think this one tastes even better!

Casa Verde @ Botanical Gardens ($$)

They sell a mix of western food as well as local dishes. These are usually better with the sets which comes with juice and coffee. A bit expensive though. One also must not mind the crowd unless you go early. There are many pet dogs around too so if you don't like dogs, this is not the place for you.

Okay, I have shared quite a few places already. But I still have a few secret places stored in my pocket that I will perhaps share during the next installment of Best Breakfast Places in Singapore. Hopefully, that posting will come out before Oct 2013. Do share with me your favorite breakfast places too! I would love to hear of new places to go too!

Posts to Read

Dear reader,

You might have just stumbled upon this blog and I thank you for taking time to go through it.  I hope you find lots of interesting articles even as you navigate around this blog.  I thought that I might as well just highlight a few articles which I have grouped according to topics to make it so much easier for you to navigate:  I must be frank that reading through some of these posts, I have entirely forgotten that I actually wrote them.  It almost feels like it was a different person writing some of these articles then.

Personal Thoughts and Reflections

1. A Brutally Honest Post
2. Lessons from Silas Marner
3. Which is Your Best Income Source
4. Conversation with a Millionaire
5. Don't Run the Rat Race

Salary and Personal Finance

1. Salary Discussion
2. Starting Pay for Singapore Graduates
3. Are You Ready to Manage Your Cashflow?
4. Are You Ready to Take Charge of Your Healthcare Costs?
5. 1001 Frugal Things to Do
6. How Much to Get Married (Part 1) (Part 2)

Other Posts of Interests

1. 10 Steps to Financial Freedom

Wide Awake at 12:52AM & Random Thoughts

Why Scrambled Eggs Matter and What They Tell

What a weekend! Was really looking forward to Saturday after a hectic week in the office. (Well, work is always hectic for me in a sense..) Breakfast was nicely done at SimplyBread. Had the delicious ham steak served with scrambled eggs. Felt that the toast was sort of burnt but the scrambled eggs were really good. Anyone who can cook scrambled eggs better than me definitely deserves praise. And there are really not many places in Singapore that serves good scrambled eggs.

I am not really a foodie. But when it comes to discerning good food - especially "Western style" breakfasts, scrambled eggs is the sole criterion by which I judge whether a certain cafe or stuff deserves a second visit. Scrambled eggs is like fried rice. If you can find a good zi char stall that sells good fried rice, its other dishes ought to be pretty good as well. It is really the basic dishes that sets the good apart from the rest. And when it comes to breakfast, it is really the SCRAMBLED EGGS.

You see, I am not much of a cook myself. I hardly step into the kitchen. But one dish that I think I can cook pretty well is scrambled eggs. I am not sure where I picked up the recipe for scrambled eggs but I guess it must be my mum or something. Of course, watching Gordon Ramsay and Jamie Oliver must have added some of its influences on me as well. Of course, eating scrambled eggs at Bill Granger's restaurant in Sydney must really be THE MOMENT for me in realising how a simple dish really tells so much about a place.

And the fact is that scrambled eggs needs to be cooked with butter and of course, "stirred" continously. It should never be cooked like an omelette where you literally fry it (I have witnessed some egg counters in certain hotels/resorts do just that) !! That is a strict No-No for scrambled eggs. It needs to be continously stirred under low heat in the most loving manner. And that is what makes it scrambled if you ask me.

After Breakfast Happenings

Well, that is so much for breakfast. There wasn't really much that I wanted to do afterwards and there wasn't really much to do after a satisfying breakfast. Went to Hort Park for a walk to soak in some nature. It didn't help that the weather was almost scorching hot. In short, it was a bit too hot for my liking. Lunch was at Burger King. Pretty simple fare and I somehow realised that I don't enjoy fastfood as much as I used too in the past. I used to love fastfood - like I thought it was really yummy- even though I know it was unhealthy and stuff. Nowadays, I don't really like it so much anymore. Perhaps it is just changing tastes. I very much prefer my chicken rice or wanton mee than Macs or KFC or Burger King.

Wasn't able to get an afternoon nap as the little one was kind of cranky the whole day. We ended up eating a really really early dinner if you ask me. I wasn't too hungry but ate anyway. End up taking a nap at like 7pm and woke up at around 10pm only to find that I could no longer put myself to sleep...

TV and the Latin Epic Poem

Watched a bit of NatGeo Wild and it was quite silly to spend an entire hour seeing some person try to figure out whether sharks were inhabiting some part of some river in some part of South Africa. It was really quite a waste of time since they could have easily cut the chase and went straight to the findings.. Got a bit irritated just waiting for them to reveal WHICH shark was actually inhabiting the river...

When one is wide awake at this hour, there isn't really much to do. I don't Facebook as often as I used to and I don't really get much time to hang out with friends nowadays. It is really just me and the internet or me and my books. Have been struggling to complete Virgil's The Aeneid. Yes, I have been spending my time on such frivolous readings - books which really just delight me and which I do not really spend to much time to analyse or think about.

After reading the Iliad, I decided that I was really quite fascinated with all these ancient epic poems and stuff. These were definitely books that I would not consider reading in the past but now...I actually enjoy them... it is really weird. Maybe I am growing more "artsy fartsy".. hahah...or maybe it just gives me a sense of accomplishment to read this supposed classics. The wife sniggers at me when she sees me reading them . She thinks that I am reading them because of their cover and their title. Well, she might be correct to a certain extent but the truth is, I actually do quite like the stories (or maybe the translator's story since most of these were written in Greek and Latin so I am probably reading a translator's interpretation of it).

Random Thoughts

Well, lots of random thoughts. I just spent a good hour of my time watching magic on youtube. I never really liked magic. Or perhaps it was my exposure to David Copperfield kind of magic in my early days. I could never quite tell whether it was clever film editing or stuff. Besides, I don't really like the parts where they put their lives on the line to saw their bodies in half.

But lately, I have been quite interested and intrigued with the simpler magic tricks. Those involving the simple cups and balls, cards, coins, rope and stuff. And if one must watch any magician, I recommend Slydini. Wonderful sleight of hand techniques and misdirection. I can't even tell how he does some of his tricks. Ricky Jay is also pretty good with cards (not to say being a very entertaining comedian at the same time). Bebel is quite slick too even though I don't understand French. But I could serioulsy spend hours just watching them perform their tricks over and over again. Even though I know how some parts of it are done, it is really amazing to watch this people perform it in such an artistic manner. The sheer amount of practice required is truly amazing.

Song of the week in my head: Hope of all Hearts by PlanetShakers
Mood : Uncertain about the future

Stop Letting Work Define Who You Are

We often fall into the habit of letting our work define our entire being. And it is difficult to get out of this mindset. Sometimes, I wish I were a little braver.. That I will be able to stop living life the way others have defined it for me, break out of the moulds, get out of the silly rat race, and start truly living life.

But then, there are bills to pay. And someone has to feed the family. So I put off all my wildest dreams of like travelling the world (on a really shoe string budget), or setting off to some far flung place and anchoring myself there for like the rest of eternity...

And i know that slowly the bright spark in me is dying and slowly fading. I am very much less cheerful nowadays. I prefer to be left alone. I desire for something more than this seemingly mundane life. I am not making a living. I am making a "dying" literally.

Don't get me wrong. It is not that I am not happy at my job. But sometimes, I just get the sense that this isn't what I should be doing. Reaching home past seven pm on each weekday is not something that I desire. (Of course, i know there are those of you who reach home much later than I do).

I need to find new inspiration, set new priorities, find my purpose and live my life with passion.

So my dear friend: Please don't let your work define who you are. I am trying hard to do that. We deserve so much more than all these.

How Much To Get Married

A common topic amongst my single friends is the amount of money that they require to get married. Many of them lament that it will cost them a bomb to get married. Big ticket items include paying for the house (cash over valuation), renovation, holding a wedding lunch/dinner @ a hotel, buying the engagement ring and of course other miscellaneous expenses. Some of them reckon that they need as much as $50k and above to get married in Singapore!

Surely there must be a cheaper way to get married in Singapore and still enjoy the perks of all the above. Let's do a rough breakdown of the expenses and perhaps in my next few posts, I can touch on how one might save up on each of the big ticket items.

As mentioned above, the big ticket items are as follows and estimated costs are also shown:

1. Buying a HDB flat (Cash over valuation) = $20-$50k (Rest is usually paid by CPF)
2. Renovation = $20 to $40K
3. Wedding dinner/lunch = $20k to $30k (depends on hotel and no. of tables)
4. Engagement ring = $1k to $10k (depends on the depth of the guy's wallet)
5. Photography + Wedding gown/suit = $1k to $5k
6. Miscellaneous lunches, hongbaos = $1k to $2k
7. Honeymoon = $500 to $10k (depending on where and when you travel)

Anything else to add to the list?

Father's Day Reflections

Wishing all readers (who are fathers) a most happy Father's day.

Being a father, I now understand the pain and unspoken sacrifices that many fathers take. The journey is not always easy so give yourself a big pat on the back. Even though you feel that you might have failed your family in one way or another, don't be too hard on yourself. Being a father is never easy. Being a good father is even harder. We are all fallible human beings. We get tired, make mistakes, and sometimes neglect the more important things in life.

So take a breather.. and just wish yourself a happy father's day. Nobody is perfect. But as a father, we all try to be perfect for our children. Even though we might fail many times.

Happy Father's Day.

A Brutally Honest Post

I have slowly realised what makes a good blog post. It is simply this: Sharing honestly about your thoughts and opinion. And that is what readers truly want to see and read. They want to hear about your honest thoughts about a matter and not some regurgitated facts (which I am sometimes guilty of).

Being brutally honest is necessary for blogging. But it is also relevant our lives in general. I had a flashback of some vacation work that I used to do while I was waiting to enter into the army for my national service. It was at a conference room. And the manager was rebuking his staff for not bringing value to their jobs. He even told them that he often went on job interviews outside to test his market value and encouraged his staff to do so. To which, one of his staff answered: " We are loyal to this company. Why would we do that?"

At that point in time in my life, I thought that manager was seriously one of those bad bosses. His staff would talk behind his back. They clearly did not like him. But today, I recalled the lesson he taught and realised that his staff probably missed the gist of his message. Loyalty to a company is not relevant to the question. The manager was really asking his staff what sort of value were they bringing to the job and why the company should be paying them. His challenge was for them to quit complaining and add value. And the true test of whether you are bringing value to the job is if another company is willing to pay you as much or even more.

Today as I thought about this point, I realised how true it is. For many years in my life now, I have been working and receiving my pay as though someone owed me a living. I shunned extra work and was always jealous of others who got promoted faster than me. I then had to ask myself this question. Do I quit and find another job? Or do I stay on?

But perhaps the more important question is whether do I add value to the job that I am in. How am I performing? Can someone do this job better than me? Where is my value add? Does my boss look at me and think: "This guy is the best person for the job." Or does he simply look elsewhere. This are hard questions that I ask myself each day. And it is particularly difficult because I am introverted in nature and don't get the chance to shine like the extroverts do. Somehow in all my education, I feel that I have somehow neglected my interpersonal skills, communication skills, persuasion skills and stuff. I might be older but I sure ain't wiser than the fresh graduate who comes in.

I have searched hard for an answer and the harder I drill down to the important questions, the more brutally it hurts. The sense of inadequacy, the feeling that I would do better at the job if I were an extrovert nibbles at me. I question whether it was my family upbringing or whether it was just my personality that got in the way. Or perhaps it was because of the faithful decision I made not to study overseas but locally that has driven me to where I am today. But one cannot look back at the past and wonder. Instead, I need to look ahead and hope for the future. But the baggage of the past sometimes weigh me down. Perhaps a better university would have done me some good in my career progression. Perhaps a more outgoing personality. Perhaps being a little taller. Perhaps being a bit more handsome. I don't know. Somehow, it seems like working hard alone is not enough. A certain X factor is required.

I once thought I was clever. But when I started working, I realised that there are much cleverer people around me. Now I no longer think I am clever. In fact, I doubt whether I am even average in intelligence. Surely if I was above average, I wouldn't be where I am today.

This is a brutally honest post. It is about brutal questions I have to ask myself.

Opinions Stinks and Other Facts of Life

Opinions are like assholes, everybody has one, and it stinks. This saying is extremely true not only at work or even just in normal family life. I have come to realise that everyone can have a slightly different opinion about something even when presented with exactly the same facts. This happens very often in my workplace. Same information, but sometimes, very differing views.

And I am pleasantly surprised to note that opinions also vary even at home. Just today my wife was recounting an encounter with a woman who wanted to have a 2nd child and intended to put her 1st child in full day childcare once the 2nd child came along. My wife thought that this was not right as that defeated the whole point of having a 2nd one. And she sort of wanted me to agree with her on this matter.

Instead, I told her that different people have different viewpoints about the same matter. What seems SO WRONG to her might actually seem like the logical and correct thing to do. And the problem with it is that both parties will never be able to accept the viewpoints of the other party wholeheartedly. And that is where all differences arise from. - the lack of an absolute truth, or compass, to guide us on what is the correct behaviour or what should be relegated and stated as merely a lifestyle preference.

My wife berated me when she heard me say this. She said: "But don't you think it is wrong??"

When I replied the same answer about different people having different viewpoints about the same matter and both thinking that they are absolutely right, she got even angrier and said that it was not right to have no opinions about a matter and to simply be like a blank sheet of paper that accepts both sides of the argument without making a stand.

I would like to think that I am able to hold two opposing thoughts in my head and still function like a normal human being.

Other Facts of Life

Life isn't fair. The sooner you realise it, the better. I have always grown up thinking that life was fair and got angry whenever I saw certain unfairness in life. Now I have come to accept it and realise that life isn't fair. It isn't no matter how much you want it to be.

Jim Rogers Sighted at Video Rental Shop

I spotted the legendary Jim Rogers at a video rental shop just yesterday with his 2 daughters. For those who don't know, Jim Rogers co-founded the Quantum Fund and retired at the age of 37. He now lives in Singapore after moving from New York. He studied in Yale and Oxford too.

Anyway, it was great seeing the man in action bargaining at a video rental store in Singapore. Yes, bargaining! He wanted to buy some videos and asked his daughter to bargain the price down by a few dollars actually. And the surprising thing was that he did managed to bargain down the price - through his daughter of course. What is even more amazing was him asking his daughter to bargain down the price using Mandarin!!

I was completely floored. Jim Roger's daughter speaks almost perfect mandarin. If she was speaking on the phone to you, there would almost be no way that you could tell she was a little American girl! She speaks perfect Mandarin!

Another thing that surprised me was that this rich guy who managed to retire at age 37 would actually bother to bargain down a few dollars. I am pretty sure that few dollars meant nothing to him but that he was actually trying to teach his daughters a lesson or two in bargaining. And his daughter actually did it without protesting! Amazing amazing.

Driving away the Monday Blues

I would like to think that I successfully drove away the Monday blues. It did not help that was feeling slightly depressed on Sunday night but a good dose of coffee, reading the various comments on mt previous post and just thinking about the good things that have happened to me in my life thus far made me slightly more thankful and happier today. I wouldn't claim that I am not feeling depressed anymore but I am sure feeling much much better. How did I do it?

Firstly, I spent a good two hours watching lots of mindless standup comedy by Chris rock and Russell peters. Super funny. Chris rock is really vulgar but I guess I am actually immune to swear words and stuff so i am able to take his jokes. I know some people who cannot stand swear words and thus cannot bring themselves to watch it. But the two hours of watching mindless standup comedy really made my Sunday night much bearable. At least it got my mind off the things that were bothering me.

Secondly, I spent some time sharing online my thoughts through this blog. Even though I did not reveal what was causing my sadness, just blogging about it made me feel a little lighter. Just knowing that somebody else knows about my bad mood was comfort by itself. I don't know why this is so really since most of my readers are really strangers to me in a certain sense-I won't recognize them if I saw them on the streets. Yet, they know a part of me and my struggles that even some of my closer friends know nothing about. So I guess I can call these people my Internet buddies. It is almost as if they are on the same journey as I am. Some of them are also much older and are also able to give me a better perspective of things.

Thirdly, I took a new route to work today. Just felt like doing something different today so I took a new route to work today. And I guess with a new route brings new sights and sounds. I might even start using this route for the next few months. Oh well, guess I will just wait and see.

Fourth, I ate something different for breakfast. I usually frequent this stall for breakfast during weekdays but this time, I ate at some fast food for breakfast. And fast food I guess makes one feel happy because of the sugar rush that comes along with it. I sat there quietly and ate my meal slowly. Truly enjoyed every bit of it. Perhaps another reason why I should switch to this new route.

Lastly, I pampered myself and bought a new shirt. It was not expensive or anything but I just felt like I needed some pampering.

And that was what helped me drive away the Monday blues. Like I said, I am still abit moody but as a whole, feeling much better already!

First REIT again?

I have been monitoring First REIT for sometime after exiting it for a tidy profit a while back. First REITs had been consistently giving out good dividends. Its yield was relatively high compared to the other REITs and it also had a very low gearing of 15%. During the recession, the price dipped quite a bit but slowly recovered and I decided to lock in some profits and sold my entire stake in it.

The reasons for exiting it are mainly twofold. While it is a healthcare REIT, it does not really have a parent company to back it up. That is unless u consider Lippo to be its parent. The other thing that weighs heavily on my mind is that majority of its assets are based in Indonesia. There are thus country risks involved. And that is perhaps the reason why it is trading at a seemingly more attractive valuation than the other REITs counters. Personally, I did not want to hold something that was overly exposed and narrowly focused. And that was why I decided to exit it. A stock is cheap for certain reasons and the same applies to First REIT. It reminds me a bit of various s-chip shares I had held over the years because it was cheap when compared to its peers. Remember Unifood and Pfood?

The decision I took then was to start investing in blue chip companies and avoid stocks that were of a higher risk. And that will remain my strategy at least for the time being. I hope to liquidate my small cap stocks slowly and transfer them to bigger and better blue chips. Of course, we are in the midst of an expansion right now so I will perhaps wait a little longer before I start refocusing my efforts.

Though I was tempted to enter into First REiT recently, I shall resist it for the moment.