Father's birthday

I just came back from celebrating my father's birthday. As usual, we went out to have a nice dinner. This time we went to Yunnan View Garden restaurant at Fairway Country Club. There is a promotion for their crabs. From 6pm to 9pm, depends on what time you reach there, the crab will be charge at that rate. Like if you are there between 6pm to 7pm, each crab you order costs $6. But it is limited to 4 crabs I think. We ordered 4 crabs and then a set meal. We ate away around $227. Overall, the service and food is quite nice.

Then, we proceed to Chinatown to see the lightings for the lantern festival. We also went to OG to shop a bit cos today is the last day for their sales. Many things are going at quite a good price. In the end, I bought a pair of Lee Cooper shoes for about $57 after a 30% discount. Not bad.

Mooncake

I just came back from Junction 8 to purchase mooncakes which I intend to present them as gifts for my godparents. As many people recommended me Raffles The Plaza Hotel's mooncakes, I decided to give it a try. I heard that they set up a booth at Junction 8. So I decided to go there and buy instead of going to City as it is easier to park car in HDB area. After a 25% discount by Singtel promotion, per box costs around $30. Each box has 8 small mooncakes. So I feel the price is quite ok.

Then, I went to Haagen-Dazs to purchase their ice cream mooncakes. The promotion is that they give away 1 premium ice cream mooncake worth $22 if you purchase a box of classic mooncakes which costs $68. They also give away $10 voucher. So overall, ok lah since once a year.

COE analysis September 2nd round

As I said the September COE result is important as it reflects the trend for the future COE price. This time Cat A increases $99 to $13,102. Cat B down $302 to $14,399. It can be seen that both did not pass the $15k mark. So I feel $15k is the resistance line.

As the previous increase is due to the rumour that COE quota will decrease. However, the truth is not. LTA just announced that more COE, 8,520 to be precised, will be released for this quota year. Market reacts to this news by slashing price. Nissan takes the lead by reducing $1k to $4k off the car price.

Current COE price is considered "quite high" and dealers themselves know that buyers are not coming in. So the increase in quota is indeed a good news as most of them see it as an indicator to keep the COE price down. So with COE price down, car price down, buyers naturally comes in. So I predict the next round COE should be down by around $1k.

Marine Parade

I just came back from shopping at Marine Parade area. I had my dinner at the Marine Parade hawker center. There are so many nice food there! My family and I share hokkien mee, chicken rice and nasi lemak. Although there are some local food that can be found anywhere, they are very nicely done!! This explains the crowd.

Forbidden City: Portrait Of An Empress

I just came back from watching the musical Forbidden City: Portrait Of An Empress at the Esplanade. The lead cast is our local talent Kit Chan. I always like to hear Kit Chan sings live as her vocal power I feel is the best in Singapore. The songs and casts are good. Overall, I quite like it. Throughout the 2 hours 15 mins performance, I don't feel bored. I even bought the program booklet and soundtrack for $22. Heh heh. The only complain I have is that I could not get the best seats I wanted and settle for the 2nd best. Also during the 15mins break, no announcement is made and only has M1 reception in the theatre.

Bowling competition

Yesterday my company organised a bowling competition and the result is out today. I group up with my boss and another guy to form a team. I was thinking maybe can be better than the previous game in terms of ranking. But guess what? We performed badly! In the previous game back in March, we were number 5 out of 21 teams. But this time round, we dropped to number 10 out of 20 teams! In terms of men overall, I came in number 19. A drop of 6 notches! My three games scores are 123, 118 and 111. A drop of 15 points. Must buck up for next competition.

Pulau Ubin

Today I went to Pulau Ubin with my family and relatives. It has been a long time since my last visit there. It changes a lot. Now a new and nice pier is built. There are policeman manning the pier now and with a mama shop and also a restaurant. The bumper boat still stays. Although it is a Sunday, there are no many people. On our way back, we need to pass through a metal detector gate and have our bag x-ray just like at the aiport! I feel it is quite amusing but well, during this period, it pays to be more careful.

Guo Fu steamboat

I just came back from a dinner at Guo Fu. You must be wondering where is this place. It is recommended by a friend from China. He brought us to this place. It is located along a shop house besides China Square Central. It is very chinese style of food. The food is not bad and the sauces are quite nice too. 4 of us ate around $140 which is ok for buffet style. Now very full!

McCafe

I just came back from supper at McCafe off West Coast park. My friend and I happily ordered 2 cups of mocha anc chesse cakes. Guess what? We then realised we are out of cash! No ezylink card too! At that time, we really panic! Lucky I dig into my wallet and found a ang bao containing some money! Or else I think we will die of embarrassment!

COE analysis September 1st round

This round of COE has again rise. But the rising amount has slowed down. Cat A has only up a mere $14 to $13,003. Cat B still further up a bit more to $14,701 by $811. My prediction is that $15k COE price cannot be substained for long. Maybe it will rise to that amount by next round due to quota review uncertainty and new models released. I feel it should down to $10k level by end of this year or early next year.

Mellben Seafood

Today my bro-in-law wants to treat us to a seafood dinner. He recommended a place called Mellben Seafood. It is located at a coffee shop in Ang Mo Kio. When we reached there by around 5.45pm, the queue is really crazy!! Very long! But lucky we made a reservation. But you need to order the food in one shot or else you have to re-queue for the food. We waited around 10 mins before the food is served. So quite ok. Their signature dish is bee hoon crab soup. It is really very tasty. Their chilli crab is also quite nice. Overall, not bad but I feel a bit expensive. I think the meal cost around $260.