Long Time No Blog

I had lunch with Dekun today. We went to Crystal Jade in Jurong Point. We shared a bowl of stewed beef noodle (it was a big serving), with side dishes of pan fried tofu cubes, xiaolong bao and chives dumplings. The food was surprisingly good, and the portion was just enough. Then we went to Coffee Bean on the 1st storey for coffee, which I don’t take (first time I set foot in a Coffee Bean shop). I had ice blended pure cocoa instead, and we shared a piece of cheese cake, which was very rich. I was so full, that I didn’t feel hungry even at eight o’clock at night.

It was a good time catching up with him. He’s on study break, and will have his exams after this. Then it will be job hunting for him. We parted at about 1.30 pm when he went off to work at the coffee shop in Jurong West.

I stayed on in Coffee Bean to use the wireless. It was a Starhub wi-fi, to which I didn’t have an account. So I went to MacDonald’s. They had wireless@sg, but the connection was very erratic. I gave up, and went to the Jurong West Library at the Frontier. The wireless@sg there was good, but my laptop ran out of battery. Boo!

I browsed around, looking at the book titles. I was attracted to books about John F Kennedy and his family. Then I chanced upon the business management section with books on leadership. And there I saw this book (Titles is John F Kennedy on Leadership):


I borrowed it to read. I don’t think it was by chance that I came across it. I am supposed to take a session on leadership in the Leadership Development Course for the Boys in November.

I have always been fascinated by John F Kenndy. He was one of the two greatest Presidents of the United States, the other I think was Abraham Lincoln. Here’s an excerpt of his inauguration speech, which he delivered on 20 January 1961.

In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger. I do not shrink from this responsibility -- I welcome it. I do not believe that any of us would exchange places with any other people or any other generation. The energy, the faith, the devotion which we bring to this endeavor will light our country and all who serve it -- and the glow from that fire can truly light the world.

And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you -- ask what you can do for your country.

My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.

Watch the speech here:

Part I -



Part II -



From the library, I went back to Jurong Point, and decided to come back to rest. I slept a while, and in the evening, walked to MacDonald’s in Taman Jurong. I sat there (nice air-con) to read the book. Then I went to Sheng Siong Food Court for dinner, followed by browsing through the stuff in Sheng Siong Supermarket. I was checking the cereal drinks to see if they were made in China.

I went back to MacDonald’s after that, and read the book. Finally, I took the 154 home.

Between last night and just now, I watched 3 movies on cable. Last night, it was one of the American Pie shows – stupid mindless jokes, but good for relaxation. This morning, watched A Perfect Murder (watched it before in the cinema). Quite intriguing, but the ending was really a let down. It could have been much more exciting. Just now I watched Clara’s Heart, starring Whoopi Goldberg as a house-keeper who developed a very close relationship with her employers’ son. She's such a good actress.

It was a relaxing day. Tomorrow morning I have to take the BB cell since Wen Wei and Dennis are at the Pulse Retreat, and Justin messaged to say that he is sick with fever, flu and cough.

Goodnight, everyone.