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Just had lunch here and the manager informed me that their last day of operation at Ngee Ann would be August 11.

The landlord wants to increase the rent and with the falling demand they have decided that it is no longer financially viable to continue.

They used to have 2 restaurants here in Ngee Ann. One shut down last year because the rental for that unit was also being increased. And now this unit is also going.

I have brought many people to eat here and the food has always been decent. Both the fine dining and the hot pot.

At this rate I wonder what will be left in Singapore. And even if any restaurants in Ngee Ann exist, how much would they need to charge to break even after satisfying the landlord?

I was invited to this event today at the St Francis Seminary at Punggol. This seminary was where the Pope stayed during his Singapore visit last year.

The event was a viewing of an exhibition commemorating the Pope’s visit to Singapore, followed by a dinner.

The event started at 530pm. I arrived there on time and I finished walking through the exhibits in about 10 minutes. The dinner was only scheduled to start at 730pm and so I decided to skip the dinner.

A very simple exhibition comprising about 5 rooms. Each room took up one phase of his visit. So there was one room on the state visit to Parliament House, one on the visit to CJC, one on the mass at the Stadium, one on his visit to St Francis home.

There were just about 3 to 4 photos in each room with a short write up on each of the phases.

That is a pity. They could have done a more extensive exhibition with many more photos and incorporated audio visual elements into the exhibition. The exhibition did seem too simplistic to me.

Today was the birthday lunch for FX. Although his birthday was in April, this was the only date that he could give us to have a meal.

In the end, we had lunch at his own house with very wonderful Indian food cooked by his cook, Pandian. It was really good. The vegetables (2 of them), sambar, chicken and mutton were all yummy.

Topped off with a delicious payasam and pappadam. We arrived there at 1230 and we were chatting till 1630. What a wonderful afternoon!

Last night was once again time for our regular dinner. This time it was hosted by Benson Puah. Our dinner was at Rempapa at Paya Lebar Quarter.

Just the 6 of us this time as Chelva could not make it.

As always, good company and we talked about so many different things. We were talking about whether we should do a short trip to KL. Let’s see if it happens..

The food was alright and I have never been a fan of Pernakan food anyway.

I am the host for the next dinner. Time to start thinking of a venue!

We left KL at 930 this morning. Took a short break at Pagoh and arrived in JB at about 115pm.

We had lunch at Restoran Pekin Sutera. A very classy looking place with lots of live seafood. We had fish maw soup, Peking duck, clay pot fish, wasabi prawn, tofu and vegetables. Very decent quality food and the total bill was RM 320.

There was a durian shop just outside the restaurant. We had one fruit. Supposedly a Tupai King. It was ok but I don’t think it was a genuine Tupai.

We came back via the Causeway. Just a slight jam. Back home by 4pm.

A very good short break. Perhaps too much food!

We did a simple steamboat dinner at this restaurant in Pavilion. It is a nonya steamboat place and they have a dinner buffet set at RM 88.

Unlimited servings of beef, chicken, lamb, prawns, fish and vegetables with your choice of soup. I have been here before and I liked it and so I was happy to recommend them this place. Glad they enjoyed it too.

Thereafter we had some Chinese tea in my favourite tea shop,Yu Yan, in Pavilion. We were lucky that they were serving a 2003 raw puer tea. We drank a few cups of tea and talked about the different varieties of tea and their differences. I bought a 1999 da hong pao tea. I shall try in on Tuesday back in the office.

As part of their collection of photos which showcased the special tea sets they have gifted to dignatories, there was one photo featuring our current PM and Min Faishal. That must be a very old photo as they both looked so young in that picture!

I now think one of the greatest gifts that one can be bestowed with is to be in a position to be able to help others. Not everyone gets this gift but unfortunately not everyone who is given this gift uses this gift wisely.

You have to be blessed with some wealth in order to be able to help out others in financial need. Over the years, through my years doing community work, I have seen so many wonderful people contributing generously to help the poor, the sick, the elderly and students from disadvaged families. Even some of those who are not that well endowed financially, give whatever they can to help out. If they cannot help financially, they give their time to do good work, like keeping elderly people company, bringing them around, distributing food to the needy or cleaning their homes for them. On Thursday evening at our Club 100 dinner, I met a friend who is a contractor. He gave a large sum of money in cash to help the needy but in his capacity as a contractor, he has done many renovation and upgrading works for free for elderly homes. And he asked me to let him know if any such home needed help.

Sometimes we are blessed with talents that can help others. Doctors and lawyers in particular are blessed by virtue of their education and training to be able to help. People will always need medical help. I do know of some doctors who spend time during the weekends doing community work, such as free eye checks for the elderly and answering their questions on health. But I don’t know how many of the wealthy doctors in private practice find the time to help the needy with the skills and training they have been bestowed with.

Lawyers are another such profession. People often need legal advice. Either with a criminal matter or in a civil matter and sometimes all they need is to have someone show them the way. Legal advise can be expensive and many cannot afford such advise. But at least when someone approaches you for help, one should hear them out and give them the best help you can and show them what they need to do without always thinking of everyone as a means to make money. When a lawyer or doctor refuses to offer any help unless he is paid then I think you have completely wasted the gift that was given to you.

As I write this, I remember that in the early 2000s, I used to subscribe to Time magazine and there was this one agent who used to service me. He would talk to me about renewals and the new rates and what free gifts were offered as part of my renewing the subscription. I started traveling quite a bit after 2003 and I remember having stacks of the magazine unread at home. After a few years I stopped subscribing as I felt I was just wasting money subscribing to something that I wasn’t reading.

The financial crisis of 2007 came and people were cutting down their expenses. I remember the agent called me sometime in 2008 asking me to take up my subscription again. I said no. It was a fairly short conversation.

A few years later I called up the company and asked for him. I wanted to take up an Economist subscription. The lady told me he had committed suicide during the years of the financial crisis. I have often wondered if his call to me was one of desperation. Of course I don’t know why he committed suicide. It may not even be related to his financial means but nevertheless it was a lesson. Listen and help if possible. If you cannot help then try and show them a way they can find help.

After durians, the driver brought us to this place for some dim sum. This is at SS22. Actually all we wanted was some Chinese tea to wash down the durians.

It is quite a large local restaurant with not much ambience. It was already packed and there was quite a long queue waiting to get in. It was a bit warm inside the restaurant because they were having some problems with the air-conditioning. But that didn’t deter the crowds.

We ordered puer tea, a large fish porridge and 5 dim sum.

The food was really good. And with an added bonus of a local HK atmosphere.

And for all that we paid just RM 81.

This place was recommended for good durians in KL. It is located at SS 2 and it is open for business by 11am.

They have set up this place so well. Well ventilated, strong fans, free drinking water, coconuts, good and clean seating, spacious and of course lots of durians. It is a pity we do not have many decent places in Singapore where you can order and then sit down comfortably and eat your durians. I can understand why tourists would want to come here in big groups and with their families and eat here.

The place is well patronised by locals and tourists alike, especially the Chinese.

We arrived there at about 11am and already they were many people there eating. Surprisingly I did not find the prices there cheap. It was comparable to the prices in Singapore. But having said that, the quality of the durians was very good.

We had a musang king, black thorn and tracka. To me the tracka was the best, followed by the musang king.

People always say the best durians come to Singapore. But with the demand for these fruits in KL now from the Chinese tourists and with the prices being what they are, soon the best durians may well stay in Malaysia.

Came up to RM 600 for 3 big durians.

Tonight’s dinner was at the Culina. Fish and Chips, spaghetti, crab cakes topped with a fruit dessert.

Again it was quiet for a Saturday night even though they are having lots of promotions at the restaurant. I do think they need to find better ways to promote the place. Such good value for money as our entire dinner cost RM305.

We walked from the Pullman hotel so it was some form of an exercise for today.

No one wanted to walk after dinner so I walked over to Starhill Gallery and spent some time browsing at the book store.