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My first Indian meal of the year was at Erode Amman Mess, together with Harish, Kim Beng and Kelvin Poon.

I know Harish eats well but Kim Beng and Kelvin can give Harish a very good fight. We ordered 4 set meals together with a chicken, mutton and fish order. They tried and ate everything, including the yogurt, gulken, rasam and ghee. Much better than me. I didn’t have any of these extras. And they enjoyed the food very much. We rounded off the meal with a coconut payasam. Fitting end to the meal.

Pity that’s it’s not a place where one can chat after a meal. Also they don’t serve coffee or tea. I suspect they do that because they want you to eat and leave fast.

The lunch buddies met last night, courtesy of San, at this restaurant. This was arranged at very short notice as he said he would be away in Saudi for a month and wanted to eat Chinese food before he left.

I know I have been here a long time ago, although I cannot remember the food or the occasion then. This restaurant is in a teochew club and it serves traditional teochew food ie the color of the food was mostly brown and fried and with lots of organ parts. Not really my cup of tea but it was great to catch up with friends at the start of the year. Notwithstanding my own views, the restaurant was packed and not a single private room was available.

The food arrived very fast and we were done eating in about 45 minutes. Efficient and maybe that’s because they want to clear the table for another round.

Learnt more about Saudi and the business environment there from San. The other topics of conversation were about cars and watches, national day awards and getting Phds.

What a pleasant surprise yesterday afternoon! I was at the Tangs basement food court for lunch. I ordered my food and I noticed a familiar looking face at the next table. I thought it might be Tang Wee Loke but I wasn’t sure as I haven’t seen him in many years and I didn’t think that he would be having lunch there on a Sunday with his wife.

But it was indeed him. I first saw him in 1997 or 1998. He was running UOB Kay Hian and I was introduced to him and a broker, KG Loh. They were doing a placement for a client of mine, Advanced Systems Automation, and the boss Jimmy Chew called me that afternoon to go over to Allen and Gledhill’s office to vet the placement agreement. I still remember the commission fee of 3% for Kay Hian.

Thereafter KG Loh became a good friend and I have caught up with Wee Loke many times over the years.

Still a very nice start to the year to meet up with someone from a long time back and still be able to talk and reminisce. He looks good for his age. I told him that I only wished that I could be as fit and healthy as him when I am 79.

Yesterday afternoon the news everywhere was that that US had sent its forces into Venezuela, a independent sovereign country, bombed cities there and arrested the President and his wife to stand trial in the US. This after a period of blockading their ports and confiscating their oil from tankers and bombing shipping vessels on the grounds that they were involved in smuggling drugs into the US.

By all accounts this is shocking. The ostensible reason given was that he was involved in drugs and arms dealing but that surely is lame. How can a country justify invading another country unless it is in self defence? How different is this from the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which the US then condemned? What moral ground does the US now have to make any comments about what other countries do when this is the standard they have set for themselves?

This must be in recent memory one of the most egregious things the US has done. This is far more egregious than their interventions in Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq, none of which ended well for the US.

It has been condemned by many countries so far, and rightly so. Singapore has not said anything yet but will surely have to take a stand soon. One cannot have big powerful countries using their military might on flimsy excuses to invade another smaller country.

And the US says it will run the country in the interim. Even more shocking. Was it for the oil or some other self interest? What justification can one have to invade another country and then run it?

Another new low for the US. I wonder where this country’s standing and reputation will end up after this.

The working year started off with an early morning launch event at Punggol 21 CC. Once again it was the launch of the latest tranche of CDC vouchers.

Surprisingly it was a pleasant drive to Punggol CC. No traffic on the roads and a highway that brought me straight there and with ample parking to boot.

They launched these vouchers during Covid with the best of intentions. One to help Singaporean households with some form of financial assistance. Two to help the heartland stores where these vouchers are spent by boosting their sales. Three to speed up digitalization as the vouchers are now in a digital format. But now that Covid is over, I sometimes wonder if this is still needed. I suppose people are now used to the vouchers and look forward to it. So it is difficult taking away something that people now expect. I know my mother does. Also it is still a way to boost sales at heartland stores, otherwise they may collapse. Especially with the Singapore JB link looming ever closer.

A short event lasting under an hour, but it was a good opportunity to meet friends and the GOH and Mayors to wish them a happy new year. And just as well it ended early as I had a lunch at 12pm at Great World City.

My first community event of the year.

A fitting end to 2025. Lunch today was at Li Bai restaurant at Sheraton Hotel with Mr Liang Eng Hwa.

I have known him since 2002, when I first met him at Buona Vista. We were both young then and volunteers there and Lim Swee Say was the MP. Since then, Mr Liang has done well. He became a five term MP this year and has done much for his residents. And he speaks up in Parliament quite a bit in his capacity as GPC chair of Finance.

Over lunch, we spoke of many things; the economy, cost of living, state of the world, employment situation, US China tensions. A rather sobering discussion. Closer to home we talked about how we can help the fresh graduates get their first job. With the advent of AI and a slowing economy, companies are cutting back hiring and also trimming their workforce. This has made finding jobs for them difficult. We also talked about how we can help special needs residents to find some form of meaningful employment. Lets see if these ideas can be put into motion in 2026.

The food was good. The restaurant is a bit out of the way but this restaurant has it’s own set of regulars. I remember our first ever meeting to discuss starting Club 100 was at this restaurant sometime in 2008.

At the next table was SMS Janil Puthucheary, who was lunching with his wife and son. Wished them a happy new year as well!

By chance, on my last day in Bangkok, I decided to try a Chinese restaurant in Bangkok, just to check out the quality of the Chinese food here and I am glad I did.

This newly opened restaurant in Central Park is huge and beautifully done up.

A very extensive menu, with whole day dim sums, seafood, duck and other regular Chinese food items.

They are open the whole day from 1130. I went there at about 4pm and so there wasn’t that much of a crowd. But such good food and at reasonable prices.

I do worry for Singapore. What does it have to offer? Poor choices, expensive prices and sub standard quality of food and service. Here I had so many choices of great coffee, different varieties of food, good service and all at decent prices. I can understand why so many people, especially Europeans, choose to retire here.

Another new shopping that opened just recently in Bangkok. I visited this place yesterday and it is a huge mall right next to the river.

The impressive thing they have done is to mimick the street markets and food stalls, so characteristically Bangkok, on the ground floor. So you get the feeling of being in a outdoor narrow street market when you are actually in an air-conditioned mall. And thiswith lots of sitting areas, which is a bonus.

The shop decors, especially those on the first floor, are impressive. Gentle Monster and its sister company that does perfumes, Tamburins, have hugely impressive shops there. They attracts lots of people who just stand there and take pictures, just like I did too!

This mall has lots of branded shops, Michelin starred restaurants, local food and local products.

Well worth a visit, if nothing else, just to appreciate the effort in putting up such a well planned mall.

I visited Central World on Thursday. A huge shopping center but I found it a bit messy and too much for me. Lots of food but in terms of quality, I found the food at Siam Paragon to be better.

Yesterday I went by to the Jewellery Trade Center. Surprisingly rather quiet and then I found out that most of the shops were closed for the upcoming year end holidays. Pity. It is 5 floors of shops and a huge 55 floor office complex, almost entirely comprising jewelry showrooms and their offices. Still I managed to get an Indian Alexandrite ring about 1 carat in size for a surprisingly good price.

Thereafter it was off to the nearby Central Park, a newly opened shopping complex. Not a big one but as always lots of cafes and restaurants.

I find it amazing how many good cafes and restaurants they have in each shopping complex. All with comfortable seating and good service. No wonder so many tourists pick Bangkok as one of their choice destinations.

I didn’t think I would be here for Christmas, but here I am.

I haven’t been to Bangkok in ages. I must last have come here at least 8 or 9 years ago. I think it was with my colleagues, either a firm or department trip. I remember staying at the Pullman then on that last trip.

There was a time when because of a matter, I was coming here once a month for several months. On those trips, I stayed at the Hyatt Erawan. I don’t know why I stopped coming to Bangkok but now I cannot imagine why I would have stopped coming here.

Yesterday I went to Siam Paragon by train. Very convenient. The place is huge and even after about 6 hours there, I don’t think I covered even half the place. It is huge, open spaced with so many different products you never see in Singapore.

But the highlight of Bangkok must be the food. The food halls and restaurants are fantastic and so well priced. Multiple classy cafes, lots of desserts and great Japanese food.

I came across a pizzeria which is really great! Supposed to be one of the top pizza joints in the world. I ordered the marinara and it was good! They only have one size and it’s large. Cost me $17.

A very good day indeed. Since I am now here, am looking to go to a different mall every day.