Couples photo

AHHHH... i did a big boo boo... someone was rushing me tonight to go for dinner and i type Lee lian instead of Vivien.... ... Kag Sang would be stress... hahah..... ( so here is the edit )


COUPLES PHOTO FROM THE DINNER



Hendry & Lydia




Keith & Caroline





Allen & Kelly





Kah Sang & Vivien.... ( this time correct spelling)



Me and Esther



Selvi and ???? Mystery ???

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So the Bankwest train has halted. I got my loan from Bankwest, wonder if they will have system glitch and my loan becomes $1, well it was just an afterthought. But, with these acquisition, it does means that alot of people might loss their job due to the restructuring. Hopefully they can jump shop to Commonwealth Bank sooner than later.

Commonwealth Bank to buy BankWest

Article from: AAP

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October 08, 2008 09:41am

COMMONWEALTH Bank of Australia is to acquire the Bank of Western Australia (BankWest) and St Andrew's Australia from their UK based parent HBOS for $2.1 billion.

The nation's biggest mortgage lender said the purchase was conditional on all necessary competition, regulatory and government approvals.

The Commonwealth Bank said it would maintain and grow the BankWest brand after the takeover, and customers could make transactions at either's ATMs without penalty.

Commonwealth said it would fund the acquisition through a $2 billion accelerated institutional placement.

It said the method of funding the acquisition would allow it to maintain APRA Tier 1 capital at 7.6 per cent and Tier 1 capital under UK FSA rules at 10.1 per cent.

The Commonwealth said ratings agencies Standard & Poor's, Moodys and Fitch all had confirmed the group's credit ratings with stable outlook following the acquisition.

The Commonwealth Bank said, even with the acquisition, it was determined to continue to carry substantial surplus capital due to the current volatile market conditions.

Commonwealth Bank chief executive Ralph Norris said the purchase from the troubled UK banker, HBOS, offered rare value.

"The Commonwealth Bank regularly reviews acquisition opportunities but rarely have we seen a quality asset such as BankWest become available on such attractive terms to us," Mr Norris said.

"The strength of our current capital and funding position combined with the strategic value of this transaction makes this an attractive opportunity for the group and its shareholders."

Mr Norris said the acquisition of BankWest provided a significant opportunity to further develop the group's business in the WA market.

"It complements our existing operations and will deliver additional growth opportunities in key market segments, as well as enhanced product and service delivery opportunities for customers."

He said the Commonwealth Bank intends to maintain and grow the BankWest brand and that Commonwealth Bank and BankWest branches will not be closing as a consequence of the acquisition.

Both Commonwealth Bank and BankWest customers would be able to use each others ATM's without paying additional fees, he said.

St Andrew's is HBOS Australia's wealth management business, providing life insurance and wealth management products.

"Its range of products is complementary to the group's existing wealth management business," Mr Norris said.

Commonwealth Bank said the purchase did not extend to HBOS's other Australian businesses, Capital Finance Australia, BOS International (Australia) and HBOS's Australian Treasury operations.

Commonwealth also confirmed that it had conducted "high level, exploratory discussions" with Queensland-based banker-insurer Suncorp-Metway.

If the acquisition is successful, it will create a bigger bank than a combined Westpac-St George and would give the Commonwealth Bank the biggest market share in WA, which has amongst the highest growth rates in the country because of the mining boom.

Credit Suisse has served as exclusive financial adviser to the group on the transaction.

BankWest and St Andrew's owner, HBOS, is in the process of being taken over in the UK by rival bank Lloyds TSB Group, in a deal worth £12 billion ($29.65 billion).

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Sous-Vide

Sous-vide (pronounced /su ˈvid/),^[1] French for "under vacuum",^[1] is a method of cooking that is intended to maintain the integrity of ingredients by heating them for an extended period of time at relatively low temperatures. Food is cooked for a long time, sometimes well over 24 hours. Unlike cooking in a slow cooker, sous-vide cooking uses airtight plastic bags placed in hot water well below boiling point (usually around 60°C or 140°F).

The method was developed by Georges Pralus in the mid-1970s for the Restaurant Troisgros (of Pierre and Michel Troigros) in Roanne, France. He discovered that when cooking foie gras in this manner it kept its original appearance, did not lose excess amounts of fat and had better texture.^[2] Another pioneer in the science of sous-vide is Bruno Goussault, who further researched the effects of temperature on various foods and became well-known for training top chefs in the method. As Chief Scientist of Cuisine Solutions, Goussault thoroughly developed the parameters of cooking times and temperatures for different foods.^[3] The sous-vide method is used in several gourmet restaurants under Thomas Keller, Jesse Mallgren, Paul Bocuse, Joël Robuchon, Charlie Trotter, and other chefs. Amtrak has used this method of cooking in the dining cars of its long-distance trains, and recently began using the method on its Acela Express trains. Non-professional cooks are also beginning to use vacuum cooking.

Clostridium botulinum bacteria can grow in food in the absence of oxygen and produce the deadly botulinum toxin, so sous-vide cooking must be performed under carefully controlled conditions to avoid botulism poisoning.^[4] To help with food safety and taste, relatively expensive water-bath machines (thermal immersion circulators) are used to circulate precisely heated water. Differences of even one degree can affect the finished product.

In the USA and other English speaking countries, the technique of vacuum packaging may be known as Cryovacking^[5]

I am contemplating buying a vacuum packing machine and use it to cook some dishes in the Sous vide method. There are just so many different method and style of cooking that i think i would take a lifetime to actually master some of these technique.

2 of my wish list in my cooking utensils will be pasta maker and a vacuum pack machine and a water bath machine. I can't wait to do some great tasting food using scientific technique

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Hope Singapore Audio Sermon

HALLELUJAH !!! Finally Hope Singapore have online sermon you can listen to. I have been catching up with sermon series from Ps Jeff all week. Great teacher and preacher of the Word of God.

They now have an audio library, which you can listen to sermon online. If you are in Singapore, you can visit Hope Singapore right in the heart of Orchard Road

http://www.hopesingapore.org.sg/audio.php

You can say i have been truly blessed to have learned so much in my formative christian life under Ps Jeff.

There are also other notable online sermons i can recommend

1. Ps Wayne Corderio ( New Hope - Hawaii )
2. Ps Kong Hee ( City Harvest Church )
3. Ps Greg Laurie ( Harvest - USA)

These are the 4 teachers and preacher of the world i will carry on my iphone, which i comes highly recommend if you like to listen to sermons.

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The Housing Market overview - Australia

Tuesday Reserve bank will probably cut the official interest rate by 0.5 basis pt. And you will hear many agents trying to hard sell the property and say that the boom is here soon. Having been to so many display homes and open houses. One of my pet peeve is agents telling me that the market is picking up and the property market have bottom out and prices will start rising soon.

9 out of 10, the agents don't really know what they are saying and 10 out of 10 it is because they are just out to make some commissions. The truth is no one can predict how low the market will sink. But there are some data which might prove useful in the long run. The worse thing an agent can do it to try and convince me about their economic data.

One of the craziest newspaper report i read, i think in the West Australian or The Australian where someone wrote that share market tumble will send house price soaring because people will take their money from share and park their cash in brick and mortar. What the so-called journalist don't realize that if you already invest heavily in shares, then its pure insanity to withdraw the money... a paper loss is only a paper loss until you sell your share. And if you invest $100K and now your share is worth less, would you hold or sell it for less and invest in housing or keep in the bank ? I wonder what will you choose.

If you want to play shares, learn from Mr Warren Buffet, the "bill gates" of the share market world. We buy stocks to keep long term. The only losers are those people who speculate in the short term.

So will house price rise or fall ??? Actually it will all depends. Common sense will dictate that its about real income. If Australia job market worsens then probably we will face big problem. What i will do is look at both the pro and cons. Work out which has more.

Looking at housing affordability compared to real income will give us an indication of the market. There are also the economic state of different states, the key reason besides interest. Finally select some key indicators. Of course i can't tell much, so at least if my data analysis is correct. I can be the first to benefit. If it works i will share it in the future.

Well if you are house hunting - Good luck and be bold try your luck its a buyers market. Just throw in a figure you like and see what happens. Lets just say my colleague bought a house for 400K whose asking price was 549K . A whopping 150K from the asking price. Hey ! there is no harm to keep prices low. You never know you might find a bargain

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Special Dinner night

Since i discovered Mondo butcher, life has never been the same. In case people in perth do not know. There is a premium butcher shop in Beaufort St, which sells premium meat from Angus beef, Wagyu Beef, Grain-fed chicken,etc. Its a fresh meat paradise, which is absolutely ideal for people who loves to try expensive food at reasonable price.

Many people i talked to told me that Wagyu beef is nothing special, but i think maybe they have been conned by the so called restaurant. Its important to find out what grade of meat are they serving. If you start eating Wagyu, you can tell a grade 1 and Grade 9 beef with beautiful marbling in the meat

I bought 2 different grade to give it a try, to see what is the main difference




Grade 5-6, Wagyu - as you can see the meat is redder and less marbling. The price is $90/KG. Its not bad but... below is the VIP Wagyu Grade 9




Grade 9 VIP - As you can see the marbling is absolutely fabulous. Apparently the fat is an Omega 3 fat like that of the salmon. The meat is alos tastier and more flavoursome. This one cost $175/KG

Wagyu Beef recipe - I tried using 3 sauce - One was the Japanese Mayo with Cayenne Pepper, Garlic and Light Soy with Wasabi and lastly the Chinese BBQ flavour sauce with Spring onion, hoinsin, oyster and also garlic.

Of all the 3, my fav is still the light soy with Wasabi. I reason it is an absolute waste to make a strong sauce. The aim to eat Wagyu is to sample the meat, so the lightewr the sauce the better.


My Benito Wild Mushroom Fried rice - Super simple to cook I used Sushi rice, 5 different mushroom, Truffle oil, Benito flavour spice, spring onion, onion, garlic, Corriander, salt, egg and pepper.




Simple steamed Veg.




Once the Wagyu is done my next dinner night will be Seafood night or Lamb. I would like the opportunity to sample some of the worlds best meat at wholesale price. I reason no point paying premium dollar at restaurant when you can cook at home

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The purpose of Money

The purpose of money

Having heard so many teachings from different pastors from different church. I finally come to the conclusion. That walking the middle road is the most balance form of christian living. Some pastor only preach prosperity gospel, while some preach poverty gospel, each have their own point but often negating the other. The problem is that by only focusing on one we often cannot be balance in our views. God has never condemn money, in fact

Deuteronomy 8:18 tells us to “Remember the Lord they God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he swore unto thy fathers.”


God always wants us to be the head not tail. Above not beneath. When God created the earth, guess what God did - Well he directed adam to where there was gold and precious stones

GEn 2:10-12 :10And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads.11The name of the first is Pison: that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold; 12And the gold of that land is good: there is beryllium and the onyx stone.

If God had hated wealth, he would have not ask Solomon to build the temple made of pure gold. instead he would be asking solomon to build the cheapest temple with the cheapest resource he could find. Though I have to qualify that wealth is not a measure of spirituality and being in lack is not a sign of godliness as well.

The key to understanding the purpose of money, is to understand God our father and how he measures wealth. Here are a couple of truth


1. Money has no morals.

It is a medium used in this world to buy goods. Therefore as servants of God. When God blesses us he do it for 2 purpose - so that we can use it to buy food to eat, to build his house ( church), to bless others who are less fortunate and who God wants to touch. But when we start to live only for money and money alone, then Money becomes our God. When God prosper the people in the bible like Solomon, Issac and Abaraham he did so so that they could be an influence to the society

2. Money is used to build our character and skill.

An often overlook area about money is that God often uses it to refine our skill. One key area is is the area of stewardship and management of money. In fact, when a christian only knows how to spend but do not know how to save and is often in lack or have to borrow from people. Would it be surprising then that he or she becomes a bad testimony to the other non-christian. Guess how the term " as poor as a church mouse" comes from. If we understand God, he only gives more when we are proven to be a good steward. I am a believer that we should learn to have a rainy day fund, and have enough to make sure that i can take care of my family, to bless God's work and also bless people
1 Timothy 3: 1Here is a trustworthy saying: If anyone sets his heart on being an overseer,^[a] he desires a noble task. 2Now the overseer must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, 3not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. 4He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him with proper respect. 5(If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God's church?

So may we live out life's as a great testimony, be a good steward of God's wealth, use it wisely, manage it well and be a blessing to people around you.

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Ninniku Experience

This is one of the restaurant a group of us decided to try as it was in the entertainment book and really near all of us. Situated along Vic park and opposite of Ten Ten, we have previously been to this place to eat a couple of times. And well its pretty close to authentic korean food as it will ever be. The place was pretty nice, good atmosphere and good service. We had like a sort of hello and farewell dinner for Keith and Hendry.

.


We were waiting eagerly for the food...



The killer sizzles... we ordered the supposedly very spicy Octopus. I think the chef was trying to make a point. The sizzle filled the whole restaurant, everyone including our table started to cough... me ? Well i just continued eating.... the portion was quite generous....



You can see the impact of the food.... smoky ......!! That is what i call Killer sizzle...

Overall the food was great, tasty and spicy like the way i like it. Best of all the entertainment card gave us a huge discount... which in a way was great ! We had $70 off from the original receipt !!! Can u believe ! Almost 40% discount !!


Give it a shot if you are adventurous

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