www.Go To The Mountain - Musings of a Potential Guru

When I once lived in Toa Payoh, the old man at the corner coffee shop at Blk 66 fried probably the best "Char Kway Teow" of all time. Some fried kway teow (flat rice noodle) are done too wet and others too dry so you have different people with varying taste buds saying I like this but not that. One man's meat is another man's poison. One day, this old man's stall was closed permanently. Later, I learned that he passed away after an illness. Life was never the same again. A cousin who used to live at North Boat Quay introduced me to his char kway teow push cart man on the street below here he lived. It was good but never the same. Well, at least the houses at Boat Quay and the smell from the go-downs below and the Singapore River were interesting. Okay, the river smell then was actually bad. The luxury of our time was a few friends and I would venture to Capitol Theatre for movies once in a while. Most English movies were screened at Capitol, Cathay, Lido

I never really like buffet. I saw people filling their plates without consideration for others like they were just released during the 7th month and at this age, if I were only to have breakfast, I may not really need lunch. So the best way was to skip breakfast and over the long weekend and Sunday being a special day in the family, we decided to go for a Japanese buffet. I skipped breakfast not so that I could eat more but once I have it I may not need to eat. So we hopped over to Himawari for a change and hope to be surprised. They have an interesting counter. We were led to a table for four. And previewed their menu. The difference here is that other than the buffet, they price included a choice of either Shabu Shabu, Sukiyaki or Teppan-Yaki. As the music and song of Kyu Sakamoto's Sukiyaki filled my ears, I ordered Sukiyaki. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IK9CXWKwAn8  (Kyu) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W86T1aA7_6M This is the same sauce I use at

Alan Hudson recently commented that Fernando Torres plays like former Chelsea legend Peter Osgood. Now Osgood died of a heart attack at age 59 some years ago. Hudson himself once played for Chelsea, Arsenal and Stoke City and in his prime was called the new Alfredo Di Stefano. Alan Hudson was the epitome of elegance when he graced the soccer pitch way before Trevor Brooking or Glen Hoddle made their fame. Tribute to Osgood: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsxtaUuN7co http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22Q9Gsfhojs&NR=1&feature=endscreen Unfortunately, in the late 90s, Hudson was hit by a car on the streets of London in an accident and has since been disabled. In his prime when Alan Hudson lined up for England versus West Germany, he controlled the match so well they started comparing him with Di Stefano. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAEPModTkvA Why am I telling you all these things? Well, that life is fragile and unpredictable just like soccer matches. Last week, I man

Ego. What is ego? To be e goistic is to be one devoted to one's own interest and advancement, an egocentric person, an egotist. Egoism is an excessive or exaggerated sense of self importance as oppose to a ltruism which is the selfless concern for the welfare of others. To another extreme, the art of cunning would be  Machiavellianism which is a tendency to deceive and manipulate others for personal gain while an alter ego is another side of oneself, a second self or personality. I think the highest form of self deception is  Suitheism - the belief in self as a deity. That is you think you are God. Perhaps this includes those people who think they are God among the lowly humans? Let me share some wise quotes on ego: Whenever I climb, I am followed by a dog called ego - Friedrich Nietzsche. Any time there is a struggle between doing what is actually right and doing what seems right, then your ego is interfering with your decision - Darren L. Johnson. One may understand t

Golfers are some of the most suffered lot in human misery. It is basically a game for people who do not have enough frustrations in life or at work. It is a joy or a killjoy depending on which day.  Golfers also suffer from poor food choices, food that does not taste too good and are heavily over-priced. Sometimes too much good food can also be a bad thing. I do not need shark's fin or abalone everyday, give me some good old mee siam will do. We have stop dining at restaurants for a while so once in awhile to come back is not a bad thing too. We went to Jumbo after a round. An old favourite is the Green Island 绿 岛, a concoction of vegetables like "chye sim" and pineapple. Very refreshing! When you are tired of all other vegetables or you don't know what else to order, just go for the kang kong belacan. You can't go wrong here. Oily cod fish is not only good for the heart but this item you see here is not on the menu and is extremely delicious.

EPL continues to win fans because of the passion of the fans of each club and the players and its competitiveness. Just look at the frenetic pace the games are being played and those crunching tackles. Last week I managed only 5 correct prediction in WxDxL including one perfect score between Sunderland and Newcastle. What will Game Week 9 be like? Let us try some crystal ball gazing if you have one. Game Week 9 Villa v Norwich - Just when you thought the Canaries were bad our former S-League striker Holt threw a spanner in the works when he helped Norwich to gun down the Gunners with an unlikely but superlative soak and strike performance. Villa has been toiling without much result and have not won for a long time but this time at least they are at home. Villa was once a great club but now they are struggling.  1-1 . Arsenal v QPR - Based on the way they play, Arsenal should win often but they do not and seemed to lack confidence. They could not even overcome the Canarie

What constitute a good putter? The one that puts the ball in the hole most frequently. Drive for show and putt for dough they say. If your $50 putter does the trick more than a $500 one then that is the best stick for you. I started with mallets and half mallets and eventually to blades and I got fascinated with milled putters so I got one which has been to this day my favourite. That is the Scotty Cameron (Studio Select) Newport 2 once used by Tiger Woods. I didn't buy it because Tiger used it. I did so because it is a CNC milled putter by the legendary Scotty Cameron (by Titleist). The Newport 2 I have is one with a full shaft offset which provides good lag when putting. Till this day, it is the softest feeling putter one could find made for finesse putting, period!  Then I have one by Odyssey, the #1 Metal X released not so long ago which came with a head that is all black. It will not reflect sunlight that can hit your eyes when lining up a putt and it gives a very nic