Sunset Grill & Bar @ Seletar Air Base

Went to Sunset Grill & Bar (at Seletar Air Base) last evening for dinner. The place was well known for its Buffalo wings, whose spiciness levels range from 1 to 10 (officially, on the menu) and unofficially, 11 to 35. While I love spicy food, my stomach isn't really that strong, so I wisely avoided the ridiculous levels. As my friend put it before - my tongue can take it, but my stomach can't.

I was with two friends, and one of them couldn't really take food that was too spicy, so initially we decided to order half-dozen level 2 and another half-dozen level 6. But after I looked at their pricing, I decided to just order one-dozen level 2.

Which brings me to how they price their Buffalo wings. While it is understandable that the higher the spiciness level, the more expensive it is (despite chilli powder being dirt cheap), how they decide on the incremental pricing confounds me. Let's take a look at the prices for half-dozen Buffalo wings in levels of spiciness.

Level 1: $18.70

Level 2: $19.70

Level 3: $21.00

Level 4: $21.00

Level 5: $22.00

Level 6: $22.00

Level 7: $23.00

Level 8: $23.50

Level 9: $24.00

Level 10: $24.60

If we look at the incremental prices, it goes like this:

$1.00 --> $1.30 --> $0.00 --> $1.00 --> $0.00 --> $1.00 --> $0.50 --> $0.50 --> $0.60

which seems like a totally random increment. How did they come up with this, I wonder? With a 6-sided and 7-sided dice?

A dozen Buffalo wings cost significantly less than twice the price of half a dozen. For example, a dozen Buffalo wings (level 2) cost $31.60. This is only 60.4% more than half a dozen. Thus, if we had gone ahead with our initial decision it would have cost us $19.70 + $22.00 = $41.70 instead of $31.60. This also means that we would be paying $10.10 more for just some extra chili powder on six Buffalo wings!

Having said that, they were delicious. They were not too oily, the chicken was fresh and extremely tender, and the skin was slightly crispy. At level 2 it was totally not spicy for me, but they still made a great dish.

By the way, the reason why they are called Buffalo wings is because they originated from Buffalo, New York. The residents there call them "wings" or "chicken wings" rather than "Buffalo wings", though.

You are not answering my question

I have always been quite particular when it comes to making enquiries. Yesterday, I emailed Standard Chartered Bank to ask about their new online stock trading platform. This was what I sent:

"Hi, I am interested in opening an online trading account with Stanchart. Do let me know the procedures. I would prefer to be contacted via email. Thanks."

I wasn't expecting them to get back to me by today (their customer service is not really well known for being efficient) so I was pleasantly surprised to get their reply today. But after reading it, I thought that they might as well don't reply.

"Thank you for your email dated 10th June 2011. Please be informed that you may register via Online. For the online trading demo via online, kindly refer to the link below: 

http://www.standardchartered.com.sg/personal-banking/investment/online-trading/demo/demo.swf

Alternatively, you may walk in to the branch for further assistance. The application forms for Online trading can be obtained from the branches. 

Have a pleasant day."

I found this rather unhelpful. Firstly, I had tried to register online but couldn't find anywhere to do so. Telling me that I can register online but not telling where to do so is pointless. I know that I did not mention that I couldn't find the link, but if you are telling me how to do so, why not just go one step further? Not everyone can navigate through your maze of a website to search for a specific thing.

Secondly, I didn't ask for the demo. While it's thoughtful for them to recommend it, it's ironic that they provided the exact link and information for something I did not ask for, but for my exact enquiry, they gave a very brief and useless reply. 

Finally,  everyone knows that you can walk in to the branch to apply. The reason why I am sending an email is precisely because I do not want to walk in to the branch.

I replied them asking for the exact link. Let's see if they can screw this up as well.

Update as at 13th June 2011: Stanchart called me today, asking if I was an existing customer (which was already indicated in the enquiry form I submitted via their website). Since I was, I just had to log in to my internet banking account and click on the "Online Trading" link. The online instructions after that were pretty straightforward and simple, and since I was already an existing customer, no further information was required. This is definitely a plus for them.


Update as at 26th June 2011: I just read this post again and realised that maybe the customer service personnel meant that I could register via "Online Banking" - but they left out the "Banking" word. This probably explains why the "Online" had a capital "O". 

Facebook and online privacy

Recently, it was reported that Facebook has compromised the online privacy of millions of its users. How? Because it had turned on the facial recognition module without asking for their consent.

I actually find this module quite helpful - after I upload my pictures, this module automatically identifies the people in my photos and tag them at a preview page. If I am okay with the tags, then Facebook 'mass-tags' all my photos. 

How the technology works is that it analyses the faces in the pictures, and then tries to find matches among all the pictures. If it does, it will suggest the tags. 

While I do agree that Facebook should have asked users for their permission before rolling out this feature, I don't really see what the big deal is. This is because this feature is not done retrospectively - Facebook does not go back to all your old photos and tag all your friends without your consent. It is only done on new photos uploaded, and the user still has the final say as to whether to accept the tags or not. Secondly, only your friends are suggested. It's not as if Facebook tags everyone on the photos, friends and strangers alike. 

Self-contradictions

A few days ago, I had dinner at Spageddies (Orchard Central outlet). I had $30 worth of Orchard Central vouchers, and it said "Valid for use with other promotional items."

At the same time, Spageddies was also having an AMEX offer of 15% off the total bill, and the T&Cs include "not valid with other promotions".

So which is correct? According to the OC voucher, I can use it with other promotions, so this should include AMEX. But if I were to use AMEX, the condition is that I cannot use the OC voucher. 

This reminds me of the chinese term '自相矛盾'.  

98% is very high! Wait, is it?

Today, the Straits Times reported that "Singapore's rail network experienced 40 service disruptions lasting more than 10 minutes each in a one-year period between April 2010 and March 2011 - or nearly one per week."

Actually, 40 disruptions in 52 weeks - that's only 0.77 disruptions per week. It's surprising that the Straits Times actually rounded 0.77 to "nearly one", since it is rather misleading. 

Still, both SMRT and SBS Transit were not fined despite the high frequency of disruptions. This was because performance standards were still met, with train services being available "at least 98 per cent of the time".

While 98% sounds like a pretty high minimum standard, this cannot be further from the truth. Let's see what 98% is. Assuming that trains operate for 18 hours a day for 365 days, it means that it is perfectly all right for trains to be unavailable for 131.4 hours, or around 5.5 days in a year. This is, of course, based on operating hours as an assumption. 

So is 98% very high? I think not.

Portfolio repriced

My unit trust buys and switches have been priced, after my recent top-up (in red fonts).

Core portfolio - 69.43%

Asia ex Japan Equity - 11.10%

Asia ex Japan Balanced - 5.12%

Emerging Markets - 9.79%

Europe Equity - 8.24%

Global Bonds - 6.18%

Singapore Equity - 11.77%

Singapore Fixed Income - 9.26%

US Equity - 7.97%

Supplementary portfolio - 30.57%

Commodities - 4.80%

High Yield - 4.07%

Taiwan Equity- 4.44%

Technology - 6.02%

China Equity - 9.81%

Russia Equity - 1.43%

By asset class, this would be 75.36% equity, 5.12% balanced, and 19.51% fixed income.

In terms of profit, my core portfolio has made a 9.92% profit, but my supplementary portfolio is down by 4.96%. The biggest culprit is my Taiwan Equity, which I bought in 2008. It fell significantly even before the crisis, and has never recovered till now. 

Smallville

A very Christopher Reeve-like moment.

I finished watching the season finale of Smallville a few days ago. Looking back, I was pretty amazed that I actually managed to sit through all ten seasons of it (okay, I actually gave up by season 6, and it took me three more years to pick it up again). Many series have their own ups and downs, and Smallville undoubtedly had many more downs than ups, with a generous share of terrible moments. It was never short of lame conversations, lousy acting, and stupid plots, so it was somewhat of a miracle too that it survived ten seasons, while series like Heroes didn't make it past four. (Hell, Flashforward didn't even make it past Season 1.) Perhaps it's because I am a geek for superheroes that I managed to stick through it?

For those who have no idea what Smallville is about, it's basically about how Clark Kent grew up, learnt to control his superpowers, and finally became Superman (Smallville is where he grew up). While he learnt some of his powers quite early in this series - super strength and speed, impenetrable skin, x-ray vision, eye beams, super breath - it took a full ten seasons before he learnt how to fly, something which many people were looking forward to most of all. And because of some contractual issues, he only donned on his trademark red and blue tights on the series finale - and there was no complete view of him in the suit either (damn). Still, considering the producers' restrictions, this was handled pretty well. The finale was also full of references to the original Superman movies acted by Christopher Reeve, which most fans would be delighted with. Finally, it was a nice touch to use the original Superman theme song near the ending.

So it was with much relief that I finished the finale feeling satisfied. After investing so much time in it, I would be really pissed if the finale sucked like most of the series.

Life insurance coverage

Instead of talking about my unit trust portfolio, this time I shall blog about my life insurance coverage.

My limited premium whole life has a coverage of $60,000 for death and TPD, and $50,000 for critical illness. I bought it in 2007 when I was 26 years old, and the monthly premiums are $148.15 for 20 years. I also added a rider that covers me for disability income, with a payout of $2,250 every month if I am not able to work. Premiums are quite affordable, at $17 a month, but this is payable until I am age 60.

I have a regular premium ILP with a monthly contribution of $140, and it covers me for death, TPD and critical illness with a sum assured of $60,000. The policy allows for triple claims - i.e. if the policyholder is down with critical illness, he can still claim for TPD thereafter, and finally death. Usually, life insurance policies lapse once you make any claim. The underlying fund of this ILP is a balanced fund.

My term plan provides me with the bulk of the insurance coverage I need - $300,000 for death, TPD and critical illness. It was purchased in 2007 for $80.24 a month, and will expire in 2037. Term plans are the cheapest way to boost one's coverage, but many people still shun them as they don't have any cash value.

Another term plan has a sum assured of only $100,000 for critical illness, but it is an early payout coverage. Normal critical illness policies only pay when the disease is at a rather advanced stage, but this policy splits the sum assured into several payouts, depending on the severity of the illness. This allows policyholders to use the money earlier to seek treatment, in the hope of preventing the disease from advancing to a further stage. For this amount of coverage, this policy is quite expensive - $68 a month, bought in 2009 - but I still think it is worth it. 

I have two small endowments which I timed to mature on various years nearer to my retirement. The first one matures when I am 55 with a projected maturity amount of around $33,000 with a premium amount of $60.75 per month. The second one would mature when I reach age 58 for around $36,000 with a monthly premium of $53.45.

Finally, I have two hybrid plans - a combination of a whole life and an endowment. The first one covers $50,000 death only, and payable for 5 years, at $181.69 a month. I bought it in 2006, so it will be fully paid up by end of this year. At age 62, it will pay a guaranteed amount of $25,000 (this is like the endowment portion). After that, the death coverage will drop to $25,000 and it will function like a normal whole life policy.

The second one covers for $50,000 death as well, but this is payable until I am 55, at $81.82 monthly. This policy pays the guaranteed amount of $25,000 at age 55 instead of 62, and after that it will behave similar to the first plan.

In summary, this is my current life insurance coverage:

Death = $570,000

TPD = $420,000

Critical illness = $510,000

Disability income = $2,250 per month

Total monthly premiums = $836.05 ($654.36 at end of this year after one hybrid plan has been paid up)

Misleading deals

Today's deal at BigDeal.sg had the following offer:

While the offer doesn't look too special to me (also because I don't eat bak kwa), the claim that you get a 72% discount (below the Buy! button) is a bit misleading. While some may think that yes, they are paying $2 for $7 of discount, you need to factor in the whole purchase for it to be accurate. Put it in another way - if you buy this deal and do not use it, are you getting any discounts?

In actual fact, you are paying $21 ($19 + $2) for $27 of bakkwa, so the discount is only 22.22%, not 72%.   

This reminds me of Citibank's Gourmet Pleasures. They advertised it as a "100% Voucher Rebate", and on the newspapers, they said "100% dining rebates. Your next meal free. Powered by Citi." So they issue vouchers that is worth 100% of your bill - for example, if you spend $100, they will issue you $100 worth of vouchers. 

I fell into their trap in April, when I treated my parents to Mad for Garlic, a restaurant at Suntec. Thinking that it was really a 100% rebate for your next meal, which is effectively a 50% discount if you take both meals into consideration, we went there for dinner. When they gave me the vouchers (in multitudes of $10), I read it carefully and realised that 1) you can only use one voucher with one main course, and 2) you can only use a maximum of two vouchers per meal. While you may argue that yes, it is actually a 100% rebate but spread over several meals, how Citibank advertised it - "Get your next meal free" - is extremely misleading. No matter how you view it, the next meal is not free at all!

Then they put a disclaimer "Voucher terms and conditions apply", which they will obviously rely on if anyone complains.

It is one thing to make a potentially misleading statement and then clarify it in the T&Cs, but it is another thing to make a blatantly false statement and then use the T&Cs as defence. Duh.

Swimming

I have been swimming regularly since 2009, when I was diagnosed with spondylosis and ceased all jogging and high-impact exercises. Although I miss jogging, I found new aspects that I love in swimming.

Exercise-wise, I used to swim breaststroke and freestyle in the ratio 3:1. But the physiotherapist told me not to swim breaststroke at all, because the leg movements may jolt and injure my lower back. It was tough swimming only freestyle at first, but after some time I got used to it. Now I can swim many laps in freestyle without really feeling too tired.

However, what I really discovered was that swimming helps me to relax. As my friends and colleagues know, I am always in a rush - because I know what I am going to do next, and I do not want to waste any time, especially during the traveling process. By traveling, I am not referring to overseas traveling but rather, commuting or just taking a train down to town. I walked so fast that a colleague, who was chasing after me, was actually panting heavily when she reached me. 

But when I am overseas, I slow down significantly, because part of what I intend to do is to enjoy the scenery, the new sights and smells. 

When swimming, my mind settles, and I finally have time to stop and think. While some of these thoughts are admittedly on what stuff I am going to do next, I also think about different things. And the sense of serenity I get is priceless.

Portfolio top up

With the recent market correction, I took the opportunity to top up my unit trust portfolio again. Due to the commodities crash in the past 2 weeks, my unit trust in commodities was down by around 9%, so I topped it up by a small amount.

One of my emerging markets unit trusts was also down by quite a bit, so I took the chance to top it up at a cheaper price.

Invested into Russia for the first time, as the Russia market is now extremely cheap (PB ratio 1.02x as at 26 May 2011), and also topped up into High Yield. My supplementary portfolio is getting bigger!

Bali (May 2011)

Went on a 4D3N trip to Bali last Saturday with my gf. On the whole, it was a pretty low cost trip - around $630 per person, inclusive of everything (flight, accommodation, tours, food, shopping).

Day 1

The flight was uneventful. Got a cab from the airport for 60,000 rupiah (S$8.80). 3 men then brought us to the cab and offered to help us carry our luggage. Thinking that they were part of the cab company, we obliged - and were asked for payment. Just for pulling our 2 little pieces of luggage which we were perfectly capable of doing ourselves for 15 seconds.

There was no point arguing, so we decided to just give them a small tip. While digging through our wallet, they kept on trying to peer into the wallet and said "the blue note! the blue note!", hoping that in our confusion, we will pay them the "wrong" amount. What the hell; that was 50,000 rupiah (S$7.34). I will be damned if I pay that. In the end, I gave them 10,000 rupiah (S$1.47). They looked obviously disappointed and left. 

I know that they don't earn much and that they depend on tourism to earn money, but their behaviour really disgusted me.

Lesson 1: At Bali, don't let anyone carry your luggage. And be wary of locals who offer you help.

The hotel, Harris Riverview Hotel, looked pretty decent. No fanciful facilities, but at least the room was reasonably spacious and clean, albeit a bit dusty. 

The bedroom was well lit, but the sunlight also heated the room up considerably

A small television and a narrow desk

The shower (which has no warm water!)

Took a cab to Discovery Shopping Mall - or rather, what the cab driver thought was Discovery Shopping Mall. I dunno where he dropped us, but it was at some pathetic shopping centre which had practically nothing to shop. 

Lesson 2: Don't assume that the cab drivers know where to go. Bring a map along with you.

We passed by McDonald's and shared a meal just to see if there were any significant differences with Singapore's. Ordered a Double Cheeseburger meal along with a kiwi sundae. The burger was pretty okay, the fries sucked, and the kiwi sundae was something new but tasted a bit artificial. Oh and interestingly, some of their meals come with rice. 

KFC was better - the chicken tasted pretty much like Singapore's. And the meal we shared came with rice too. Both fast food meals cost almost the same as in Singapore.

Day 2

Signed up for a full day tour for Day 2 at US$30 per person. It was pretty worth it, because we had the whole van to ourselves, and lunch was also provided. 

Tohpati

Tohpati was known for their Batik traditional paintings. I wasn't really interested in such stuff, so it didn't leave any impression on me. Besides, we weren't allowed to take any pictures.

Quote from the gf, "Did he just say he was going to bring us to see a dog party?"

Batubulan village

This was to see their traditional Barong and Kris dance, which I found incredibly boring. 

One of the followers of Barong stabs the Rangda! Rawrr! Yawn.

Celuk

Celuk is a smithy for gold and silver, but the tour was only one minute, where they told us how they process the gold and silver (I understood less than half of that as the guide's English was quite incomprehensible). After that, we were led to a shop selling silverware which we had totally no interest in. 

I wish I could use this on monkeys.

House visit

We were then brought for a house visit at a villager's home. It was an eye opener as our guide explained to us several aspects of their lifestyle - where the elders stay, every home has its own shrine, how they cook their food, and so on. It was obvious that they were very poor, and relied on tourists' money from such home visits for most of their income.

They sell coffee powder and tea, and gave us generous samples - Bali coffee (this was good), ginger coffee, cappuccino, ginseng coffee (no ginseng taste at all though), lemon tea (very strong taste of lemon), ginger tea, vanilla coffee, and chocolate coffee (too bland).

They even sell kopi luwak (civet coffee), but we had to pay 20,000 rupiah (S$2.93) just to taste it. This was already considered extremely cheap, but I decided to just buy one small bottle of it. Their asking price was 300,000 rupiah (S$44.02) but I managed to bargain it down to 180,000 rupiah (S$26.41). I could have bargained it down even more, but after seeing how poor they were, I just decided to pay.

The coffee and tea samples

Batuan

Batuan was described on the tour brochure as "the home of painters". Now, this was really an eye-opener. The paintings were incredibly beautiful, vibrant, lush, and rich. We were captivated by many of the paintings, especially one of apples with water droplets - the water droplets looked so real that I studied each drop carefully to see how they achieved that effect. 

We weren't allowed to take pictures here too, but were able to snap some pics of their painters in action.

The picture below was still unfinished; some sand-like mixture was added to make it a beach.

Tegenungan

A village famous for its waterfall. We were a bit disappointed that we were not closer to the waterfall - it was so far that the impact was lost.

Taken after quite a bit of zooming in.

Kintamani Volcano

We had our lunch here on a mountain. The food was nothing special, but the view and fresh air more than made up for it. This is definitely a place to go if you visit Bali.

Kintamani Volcano. Observe the small green 'island' at the bottom right. It was probably left unscathed from the lava due to its height

Lake Batur on the right of the volcano

Tegallalang

We came here for 'the best rice terrace view', but were told that the rice has just been harvested, so.... it was basically a waste of time.

Rice terrace with no rice

Wanara wana Monkey Forest

This was actually a temple, so we had to wear a sarong before we could enter. There was nothing much about this place, even more because it was full of monkeys. I dislike monkeys.

Day 3

Signed up for another tour at US$35 per person. 

Fly fish

This was not included in the package; we purchased it separately at the water sports centre. Fly fish is a relatively new water sport which seemed like a cross between a banana boat and parasailing. At the water sports centre, they quoted us a price of 300,000 rupiah (S$44.02) per person, and assured us that this was the 'local package' - which was cheaper than the 'foreigner package', which charges in USD. This was already ridiculously expensive, and in the end we managed to get it down to half the price. I still found it quite expensive though. 

It was a fun experience, although it ended too soon. The two rounds were over in less than 10 minutes, so it was really easy money for them. Bah.

Snorkeling

This was a complete waste of time. We were simply dropped off somewhere in the ocean for snorkeling but there was absolutely nothing to be seen. I didn't even see a single fish because the water was too murky. After 5 minutes, we decided to stop looking at dirty water and continued with the tour.

Turtle Island

This was the star attraction of the day. Contrary to the name, there were other animals (refer to pictures below). We were allowed to be up close with them and to take pictures, so it was really a great experience!

I dunno what kind of snake this is. Its mouth was tied up, btw

The turtle is heavier than it looks

The iguana's hide feels leathery, like a handbag

The eagle is young but looks proud and majestic nevertheless

Bats aren't as gross or dirty as they look

I wouldn't want to be pecked by those beaks.

Dreamland Beach

The description of this beach as one with "crystal clear sea water" was a gross overstatement. While it was not as filthy as our own beaches, it was nowhere near 'crystal clear' as well. This beach was full of ang mohs, and several of them were surfing.

Dreamland Beach is hardly my kind of dream beach.

We forgot to bring any towels, so to suntan, we had to buy a towel/sarong. The locals there, however, wanted to charge an exorbitant 80,000 rupiah (S$11.74) per towel/sarong. I only managed to bargain it down to 50,000 rupiah (S$7.34), and the damn local refused to go down any further since we had no other choices.

Lesson 3: If you are going to beaches, bring a towel. Or expect to get ripped off.

Uluwatu Temple

Uluwatu Temple perches on the edge of a steep cliff 250 metres above the Indian Ocean, so it offers a wonderful sunset view.

I wish I could toss a monkey down this cliff.

OK, this isn't really a sunset, but it's still a great view

However, this magnificent view comes with monkeys. Our driver warned me to be careful with my spectacles, as the monkeys may steal it. But if I don't wear my specs, how am I going to see a damn thing? So I left it on, and an accursed monkey pounced onto my shoulder, grabbed my specs, and sped off.

A local quickly offered the monkey some fruit in exchange for the specs. A second after I gave him my thanks, he stuck out his hands and demanded for money. When we offered him a small sum, he looked unhappy and kept on saying "两万".

Gar, 20,000 rupiah (S$2.93) just for this? It didn't help that we were running low on cash as well. We insisted that it was enough, but he refused to accept it, so we just walked away. I hurriedly kept my iPhone (I was using it as a camera) into my bag. I was still holding my specs in my hand, and while thinking of where I can store it without crushing it, another damn monkey snatched it away from behind.

My imagination started working in overdrive as I pictured myself grabbing a monkey by its tail, swinging it around a few times and throwing it off the cliff into the sunset. I used to dislike monkeys. Now I loathe them.

Another local (thankfully a different one!) then 'rescued' my spectacles again with a fruit and again, demanded payment of "两万"! This time I offered him more - 14,000 rupiah (S$2.05). He was still unhappy but took it grudgingly and left.

These locals sure know how to exploit opportunities (aka tourists). Maybe they were the ones who encouraged the monkeys to steal from tourists!

Lesson 4: If you are visiting Uluwatu Temple, wear contact lenses. Or secure your spectacles with some rubber bands.

I wonder if the monkeys have seen knives before. I would love to carry a penknife and let a monkey snatch it away from me.

Jimbaran Bay

The last stop of our tour was at Jimbaran Bay for a barbeque seafood dinner by the beach, facing the sunset. The view was still all right, but the food portions were rather small and not fantastic either.

After dinner, we told the driver to drop us at the Bali Galleria, a bigger and newer shopping mall. There wasn't much to shop except for some food and spices at the hypermart.


Day 4

Checked out and went to the real Discovery Shopping Mall. This was also a big shopping mall, and we grabbed a quick bite at A&W. They had run out of curly fries though, damn it!

Chilled out at Black Canyon Coffee until it was time to go to the airport. On the plane, my stomach started churning - no doubt due to the avocado + black coffee + rum drink I had at Black Canyon Coffee. Once we reached Singapore, I went to the toilet and spent a good 20 minutes inside.

A nice way to end a holiday.

Wisdom tooth extraction

During a dental follow-up, I was told that my upper left wisdom tooth had to be removed as well, because it was growing out too much. I guess that without the lower left wisdom tooth as its 'support' too, it will probably get worse. It was only an extraction, not a surgery, so it wasn't a big deal. I went to get it removed it yesterday.

It was over in minutes. The first few jabs stung a bit, but after that I felt nothing and was considerably surprised to find that the tooth was already out. 

Now I know why a wisdom tooth surgery requires 5 days of MC while an extraction only warrants 1 day. Just a few hours later, I was practically eating like normal, unlike the 1-2 weeks of discomfort after the surgery. 

My lower right wisdom tooth is fine, so it is remaining where it is. The upper one is still buried inside my gum, and I hope it stays that way.

Double standards

During the elections, Singaporeans complained that the Government has focused so much on GDP and economic growth, but has done relatively nothing for the poorer people. This is obvious from the meager public assistance monthly handouts to the poor - $260 in 2007, and $400 in 2011. While one may argue that the handouts have increased by more than 50% these 4 years (I can actually imagine Vivian Balakrishnan using this point as defence!), the absolute amount shows the true story.

Recently, a good friend told me that after returning to Singapore from Taiwan for 2 years, she still sees many elderly Singaporeans selling tissue paper at food courts or hawker centers. And she doesn't understand why Singaporeans refuse to help them despite complaining so much that the Government is not doing enough for the poor.

It's strange that we are so averse to helping these elderly people, when as a whole, we donate a significant amount to charity. In 2009, donations to charitable organizations (from individuals only) were S$687 million, up from $381 million in 2001. So why this aversion? These people are not begging - they are selling something. As my friend said rightly, they have pride too.

I must admit that I am one of those who do not buy tissue paper from these people, and I can't explain why either. But what made me guilty was when I lunched with a Vietnamese friend. He saw this old man on the floor selling tissue paper, and without hesitation, gave him $10 and took only 2 packets of tissue.

In this sense, it's so ironic that a foreigner, whom we are generally blaming for stealing our jobs, is more generous than most of us.

iPad 2 is here!

My iPad 2 has arrived! It was a pleasant surprise, considering that I expected it to only arrive on 18th May (that's next Wednesday, or also known as Eternity). 

In a matter of minutes, I have set up my iPad 2 and installed the standard apps - Dropbox, Evernote, Bloomberg, FSM Mobile, and BreezeHD. I also transferred some paid iPad apps in - Dungeon Hunter HD and Star Walk. 

Next is to transfer some photos and videos in, but I think I will wait till tomorrow.

In Memory of an Angel (6 May 2011)

Venue: Esplanade Concert Hall

Conductor: Okko Kamu

Violinist: Viviane Hagner

Programme:

Richard Strauss - Death and Transfiguration, Op.24

Alban Berg - Violin Concerto

Johannes Brahms - Symphony No.1 in C minor, Op.68

It was my first time listening to Death and Transfiguration, and I found it quite enjoyable. My feelings are a big contrast to an ang moh lady sitting beside me though - she frequently sat up and waved her hands with an expression of rapture, as if she was also conducting the orchestra. And I thought to myself, "uhh, is it really that good?" 

The second piece was performed by Munich-born Viviane Hagner. I find that I should comment on this piece in two categories - the music itself, and the violinist's performance. Firstly, the piece.

The first 8 notes dampened my mood considerably - 4 notes ascending in perfect 5th intervals, followed by another 4 notes descending in perfect 5th intervals again. It sounded as if she was tuning her violin, and once I heard it, I knew that this was "one of those pieces" again. Berg composed it in such a way that consonance and dissonance is strong, and this is the kind of music I dislike, though it was nowhere near Yuan Peiying's Through Bifocals for Orchestra in the previous concert I attended. I even checked what era Berg was from; he lived from 1885 to 1935. I half expected him to be still alive, as this kind of music is more frequently from modern composers! Contrast this with Richard Strauss (1864 - 1949). They sounded like they lived at least half a century apart.

According to the concert introduction, Berg composed this piece as a "heart-wrenching response to the death of the 18 year old Manon Gropius, whose mother was his mentor Mahler's widow". Somehow, I can't feel this at all.

Secondly, on Viviane Hagner's performance. I must say that she managed to salvage the piece somewhat - her confidence and control of the violin was astounding. It was a pity that she was performing this piece; if it had been a more 'normal' piece I would have enjoyed it. In fact, she played a piece by Bach for her encore, and it was so much better!

Finally, Brahms Symphony No.1 in C minor. I loved the opening for the first movement, Un poco sostenuto - Allegro, especially the steady beats from the timpani. The strings were impressive, but the woodwind brought them down somewhat as they were occasionally uncoordinated and messy.

For the final movement, Adagio - Piu andante - Allegro non troppo ma con brio - there was a tendency for the strings to rush, but this was always quickly kept under control by Okko. The pizzicatos were impressively neat, but the trombone trio was, more often than out, out of sync with each other. This was especially obvious when they were playing "A E E F ... F G F F E F" (all in the same octave from C). I cringed at the first note as they came in half a second off.

Other than the woodwinds, I must say that overall, this symphony was well performed. While there were minor mistakes, these were kept to a minimum. Most importantly, the mood was there, especially when the symphony reached its powerful conclusion. 

Portfolio rebalanced

My unit trust buys and switches have been priced. This is my current allocation, which is much nearer to my original strategic allocation.

Core portfolio - 71.88%

Asia ex Japan Equity - 11.58%

Asia ex Japan Balanced - 5.35%

Emerging Markets - 9.41%

Europe Equity - 8.83%

Global Bonds - 6.45%

Singapore Equity - 11.94%

Singapore Fixed Income - 9.66%

US Equity - 8.66%

Supplementary portfolio - 28.12%

Commodities - 4.28%

High Yield - 2.16%

Taiwan Equity- 4.68%

Technology - 6.57%

China Equity - 10.43%

This would be around 76.38% equity, 5.35% balanced, and 18.26% fixed income. It is obviously skewed towards the aggressive side.

I have a RSP into Asia ex Japan Equity and Singapore Equity, so I shall leave them as it is. But I am still considering topping up into high yield, but none of the high yield funds my company carries are included under CPFIS-OA or CPFIS-SA (I am feeling a bit cash poor currently). Also, while I am confident that China will still grow in the long term, I wonder if I am over allocating to China, since my Asia ex Japan Equity already includes China (21.3% in China/Hong Kong). But as China increasingly becomes a global market leader, perhaps we should consider China as part of our core portfolio in the sense that, everyone should have at least a bit of China holdings?

iPad 2

The iPad 2 was launched today, and my company hired five temp staff to queue for the iPad 2. Each person could only get two iPads, and we were paying them $8 per hour. 

Upon hearing that, a colleague was visibly outraged and unhappy, thinking that the company is wasting money to hire people just to queue for the iPads. 

However, is it really a waste of money? 

The temp staff are getting paid $50 to get two iPads. Effectively, each iPad 2 costs just $25 more. 

I ordered my iPad 2 online this morning, and to my disgust, it will only be delivered on 18th May. I would be very willing to fork out $25 more - no, even $50 more - to get my iPad 2 now. 

This colleague thinks that the company need not spend this amount of money, and it is all right to wait till around 18th May to get it. But $25 more to get it three weeks earlier - is it really a waste of money? Within these three weeks, our company can start using it to start IT development, for presentations, and to send the message out to clients and partners that we are embracing the adoption of mobile devices. The iPad 2 will make a maximum impression these three weeks while it is still in short supply (the iPad 2 is already out of stock at the iStudio near my office). 

So is $25 really a lot more?

East West line morning peak hours

Two days ago, I had to attend a seminar at Hotel Intercontinental at 830am. Since I stayed along the Circle Line, I decided to take the CL to Paya Lebar and transit to Bugis MRT. It was the first time I took the East West line during morning peak hours. 

Upon reaching Paya Lebar, I boarded the EW line and was pleasantly surprised to find that there was plenty of room in the train. It was only half a minute later that I realised... that I had boarded the east-bound train instead.

I got off at the next stop (Eunos). And then I experienced how bad the rush hour crowd was. There was totally no room for me to squeeze in, and I had to wait for 4 trains before I could squeeze in. In my 3 years taking the south-bound train at Bishan MRT, I have only not managed to board the train twice. 

Conclusion: I am never going to stay along the EW line. 

Of buns and bread

On my way home, I went to the vending machine at the lobby of my condo to buy a bun (for my dog). I inserted the coins in, punched the buttons for my selection, and watched the bread get pushed out and fall down onto the collection tray.

While keeping my coin pouch, I wondered to myself, "What if I forget to collect my bread after I keep my coin pouch?"

Then I inserted my hand into the collection tray and saw my bun - and an extra loaf of bread. Evidently, someone had purchased the bread but forgot to collect it. 

What irks me in the MRT

• People who are fortunate to get a seat and yet cross their legs and stick their leg out, eating into the standing space of passengers (culprits are mostly women)
• People who lean on the support poles, preventing others from holding it for support
• People (inside the train) who start squeezing towards the door when the train hasn't stopped moving
• People who stand in front of the MRT doors (with their noses practically touching the door) waiting to rush in to grab seats. This is very prevalent in Raffles Place MRT in the evening

Why I never order beef steaks

When I go out for meals, I never order steaks. Why? Because to me, they aren't worth it.

Some background first. Beef can be very roughly segregated by their country of origin, for example, US, Australia, New Zealand. Generally, US beef is the best, followed by Australia, then New Zealand. One also has to look at the beef cut - tenderloin, ribeye, striploin, sirloin, rump, just to name a few. The tenderloin is more expensive because it is the most tender, while the rump is cheaper because it is tougher and dries more easily. Personally, I favour the ribeye most. 

How do you cook steaks? It is very easy. With just salt and pepper, you can make a steak taste fantastic. As for how well done you want it to be, it depends on individual preferences. 

1) Season the steaks with salt and black pepper

2) Ensure that the pan is hot before you add a bit of oil

3) After the oil is hot, put the steak in

4) Fry it for around 1.5 to 2 minutes for each side (for medium rare, but also depends on how thick the steak is)

This is just a rough guide and the timing depends on how thick your steak is, but you can play around. And there, you will have a delicious steak. 

If you were to order a steak at a restaurant, it will probably cost more than $20. Let's use Jack's Place as an example.

Jack's Place

NZ Tenderloin = $24.50

NZ Striploin = $19.50

US Sirloin = $24.50

US Striploin = $28.50

US Ribeye = $32.50

Their prices are already considered quite reasonable. Aston's should be cheaper, but I can't find their menu online. 

What if you were to DIY?

From supermarkets, one can get beef steaks at very reasonable prices. For example, I am able to get 250g of US Ribeye for around $12 - $15. And steaks are quite easy to cook, require little preparation, and can be done in a short time. This separates it from other foods, which also have a big price mark-up from their cost value but requires much more time and skill to prepare.

In fact, a few days ago, my family bought some Wagyu ribeye (Grade 4 to 6) from NTUC Fairprice Finest's Culina. It was on offer - $11.70/100g instead of $13 - so a 200g steak would cost around $24-$26. Contrast this to Jack's Place. Personally, I don't think its worth it to pay $32.50 for a US Ribeye while I can fry a Wagyu ribeye steak myself for $24! My estimate is that a Wagyu ribeye steak would cost at least $70 to $100+ outside, depending on its grade.

If more skill and/or time was required in preparing the dish, it would be arguably more justifiable, but as I mentioned, beef steaks are so easy to prepare yourself. So why order outside?

How big are your hands?

I have always known that I have big hands (9.5 inches, or 24 cm), but I also know that Rachmaninov's hands are way bigger than mine. I can stretch from D to F# (10.5 notes) comfortably, while D to G (11 notes) is my limit. Rachmaninov can do 13 (D to B!), and that's like one foot long. Just imagine someone with a handspan of a long ruler!

The website below shows a collection of handspans. According to their data, I would be around the top 6% in terms of handspan size. But interestingly, the biggest handspan collated in their research is only 10.2 inches, which pales considerably in comparison to Rachmaninov's 12 inches.

http://www.steinbuhler.com/html/handsizepage.html

Time to rebalance my unit trust portfolio

Despite having attained my CFA charter last year, today is the first time I sat down and took a long, hard look at my unit trust portfolio. True enough, it required quite a lot of tweaking.

Before I looked at my portfolio, I thought about what my strategic allocation should be so that I would not be influenced by what I have now, and whether each investment had made profits or not. It took me a while, but this was what I came up with.

Core portfolio - 70%

Asia ex Japan Equity - 12%

Asia ex Japan Balanced - 5%

Emerging Markets - 9%

Europe Equity - 9%

Global Bonds - 7%

Singapore Equity - 10%

Singapore Fixed Income - 9%

US Equity - 9%

Supplementary portfolio - 30%

Commodities - 5%

High Yield - 3%

Taiwan - 5%

Technology - 7%

China - 10%

But my actual allocation was:

Core portfolio - 70.09%

Asia ex Japan Equity - 19.63%

Asia ex Japan Balanced - 12.86%

Emerging Markets - 5.52%

Europe Equity - 0%

Global Bonds - 0%

Singapore Equity - 12.77%

Singapore Fixed Income - 19.31%

US Equity - 0%

Supplementary portfolio - 29.91%

China - 11.32%

Commodities - 4.55%

High Yield - 2.31%

Taiwan - 4.87%

Technology - 6.87%

Well, well. Surprisingly, it seems that my supplementary portfolio is pretty much in line, but my core portfolio required some major rebalancing.

So I switched a portion of Asia ex Japan Equity/Balanced and Singapore Fixed Income into Emerging Markets, Europe Equity, and US Equity. I also topped up into Global Bonds. After my switches and purchases get priced, I will update it on another entry.

The recommended core portfolio should be around 80%, but I have a longer time horizon and can take more risk, so I allocated an extra 10% to my supplementary portfolio to 'play around'. 

All Pets go to Heaven, by Sylvia Browne

I chanced upon this book last week at Borders, where it was having a 30% discount clearance sale. I found it intriguing and reassuring, especially in the first half of the book (the second half was a bit stuffy though). Some points to share:

"An animal's loyalty is unfaltering, and a pet doesn't care how you look or what mood you're in; they just love you unconditionally, which we could all really learn from."

"As long as man continues to be a ruthless destroyer of lower living beings he will never know health or peace. For as long as man does needless massacre of animals they will kill each other." - Pythagoras

"Just because God supposedly gave us dominion over all living things (according to the Book of Genesis in the Bible), does that mean we can kill and mistreat them? Could not the world "dominion" also mean a responsibility to care for and ensure the survival of all living things as many think it does?"

On why animals do not need to reincarnate - "We humans are the only ones who have something to learn, whether that is patience, tolerance, how to combat negativity, or one or more of a myriad of lessons that we choose to go through."

"Man has responsibility, not power." - Tuscarora

"We all have an all-loving, magnanimous God. Not a God of humanized, "baser" qualities such as vengeance, jealousy, greed, or anger - just all love. The other God is man-made. Why would He or She ever destroy or neglect these marvelous creatures (animals) that He/She made to be loving companions and aids to humankind?"

This is an interesting quote, because in Christianity, the Old Testament seems to convey that God slaughters humans and animals alike if people go against him. But of course, let's not delve into that.

And finally, "I prefer my pets to some people I've met - the truth is, they are more loving, loyal, compassionate, and, yes, even smarter in some instances." I couldn't agree more.

Two Great Concertos (9 Apr 2011)

This concert was at the Esplanade Concert Hall, with Darrell Ang as the conductor and Sergio Tiempo as the pianist.

The programme:

Yuan Peiying - Through Bifocals for orchestra

Sergei Rachmaninov - Piano Concerto No.3 in D minor, Op.30

Bela Bartok - Concerto for Orchestra

The first piece was by a young Singaporean called Yuan Peiying, who is only 27 this year. As expected from such modern compositions, I dunno wtf this piece is about. Too many clashing sounds, and I totally couldn't get any of the imagery she wanted to convey. 

Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto was the main reason I bought tickets for this concert. I had listened to the same piece performed by Boris Berezovsky in 2009, and it was nothing short of spectacular - there was a standing ovation and I was swept along by his performance from the first to the last second. Compared to that, one could see that Sergio Tiempo was obviously several levels lower than Boris Berezovsky. 

The Straits Times gave rather good reviews for him. "Accuracy and clarity were never a question for Tiempo's prodigious fingers, spitting fire at giddying speeds." I beg to differ. The first and second movements (Allegro ma non tanto, Adagio), while relatively quite free from technical mistakes, were uninspiring, unmoving and had occasional minor clashes with the orchestra. The rush from Adagio to Alla breve was too hasty, with the orchestra trying to catch up. The third movement, Alla breve, was the epitome of chaos. This time, the piano and orchestra were frequently at odds with each other, and I found myself cringing occasionally at particular bad intervals. 

The last piece was the one that sought for redemption for this concert, and got it to some extent. While I have never heard this piece before, it felt somewhat refreshing. There were five movements, and overall this concerto was a light-hearted one that reminded my companion of "Walt Disney music". The second movement was my favourite, which the concert booklet described as being "jesting". Truly an apt description.

PS Cafe @ Dempsey

Went to PS Cafe (Dempsey outlet) for brunch yesterday. They didn't accept reservations, so I figured that business gotta be pretty good. Indeed, when I reached there at 1115am yesterday, it was fully packed with more than 10 entries on the waiting list.

To sum everything up:

Food: Good, but not really fantastic

Ambience: Great if you sit outside and the weather is cool. The inside was a bit too noisy and the chairs were not too comfortable.

Service: Great - despite being very busy, the staff were still friendly and enthusiastic in serving customers

That leaves the last thing - price, or value for money. I ordered a PS Big Bacon & Eggs, which comes with 2 eggs done any way you want, bacon, sausage, roasted tomato, and a slice of toast. It was pretty good, but  at $22, I found it rather overpriced. So a meal for 2, along with a coffee and tea, cost me $65. To think that I used to feel that Canopy (Bishan Park) was a bit overpriced! The items at PS Cafe cost, on average, 60% to 80% more than Canopy's, but the extra satisfaction I get is definitely not proportionally more. 

Wisdom tooth surgery

Today, I went for a surgery to remove my lower left wisdom tooth. It wasn't really giving me any significant problems - in fact, 3 of my wisdom teeth came out without my knowledge, and the last one is still comfortably nestled deep in my gum. But a visit to the dentist 3 months ago made me realise that one offending wisdom tooth was tilted at a 45 degrees angle against its neighbour, effectively creating a small pocket to collect food. While it could be brushed away, some food would inevitably be forced in between the 2 teeth and create a cavity. An X-ray already showed a light shadow at the neighbouring tooth - evidence of a slight cavity.

The surgery went quite well. The dentist rubbed some cream around the tooth to make it a bit numb first, before giving me local anesthetic via several injections. The injection almost didn't hurt at all - just a slight stinging sensation, probably thanks to the cream. My face and hair was then covered, exposing just the mouth for the surgery.

Honestly, I couldn't really tell what the dentist was doing. He used a drill, but I couldn't really feel anything. I only knew that the offending tooth was gone when I felt stitches in my mouth. He then gave me 4 more anti-swelling jabs - this was more painful, but still not unbearable. And I am officially one wisdom tooth less.

My wisdom tooth looked gross. Not the tooth itself, but rather, the pieces of gum around it. Eww.