Up next it was Shanghai and I packed really Singaporishly to 8 degree nights.

Darn.

I had a great host and his best buddy (Tao & Jia) who stuffed me with the best Shanghai had to offer. I had the best hotpot thrice in a week, and dined at many restaurants that served yummy Shanghainese dishes which is one of my favorite cuisines at the moment. I also managed to meet several interesting figures who are very well positioned to take advantage of any Poker boom (should it happen) in China and may have several projects with them in months to come.

The partying in Shanghai is nothing short of great. Although I think what brings out the good looking and the rich is their love of flaunting their wealth excessively. My hosts and neighboring tables would go into champagne wars buying 18, 36, 60 or 80 bottles of champagne. Of course this reminds me of the Phil Ivey Champange story but trust me, the Chinese are disgustingly rich. This is the place to be to make money and I wil be back!

I really enjoyed my stay with Tao because we discussed a lot of poker. I learnt a lot from him with regards to preflop game and I think that made me feel "alive" again. Sometimes I play too much and feel like a robot that I need such people to simulate me. Since I haven't coached in a while, this trip actually simulated my poker mind and I enjoyed it greatly. The other thing that changed while I was here is my waistline!

Of course ending the week with a several thousand usd profit is great and I am looking forward to visiting Tao again in May to play the SCOOP out. Of course owning him in drinking games, Xbox racing games and Winning Eleven provides such satisfaction I find it hard to describe.

I think my profession allows me to work from anywhere, and each time I visit a full time grinder and fall into their routine I just feel a zen to the day in day out grind and feel so focused versus my in and out of live events which can be slow and disappointing at times not to mention the irregularity.

Boomz and off to the Macau Millions!

Last year I qualified on my first attempt and finished the day as chip leader. This year I came close 4 out of the 5 times that I played coming in 24th, 26th 29th and 31st where the top 15-19 will qualify for day 2. Each day there would be approximately 200-250 players playing so I actually finished in the top 12% each time and yet I "bubbled".

Most times I ran bad and the other times I was forced to gamble given the quick structures. Despite having a bad structure the Macau Millions smashed all records by having more than 1,300 entries and over 700 unique players. Wow wow wow.

In the end a good player who has been a regular in the Pokerstars Macau Poker room at Grand Lisboa won it. "shaq" hung sheng lin has now sky rocketed to the top of the APOY leaderboard. I hope to somehow catch him!

The deepstack event was disappointing as well as I came 27th where 19th cashed. I was slightly affected mentality after that and busted the 1,000 rebuy really quickly. Thankfully I have Summer and my Dad with me in Macau and nothing is better after a bad beat on the felt to see what great things I have in life near me.

Right now I'm HK international airport waiting for my flight to Sydney. Man its a long long trip ahead and I've some "homework" from Pokerstars. To make micro limit poker videos. I hope I find some time in Sydney to do it but other then that I'm looking for some good meals with the people there and hopefully finally hit some balls with Danny. I hope the lucky bath kit my mom had Summer bring to me works! I'll update you guys and I'm sure you'll hear it on Twitter and Facebook! =)

I really need to lose weight and I hope to get back into a routine when I get back to Singapore after Sydney. Untill next weeeek!

Perth was a really really quick in and out. And I've been travelling for a bit prior to Perth so I already felt lethargic. Matt Kirk was really nice and received me and Nat at the airport but upon learning that he was not going anywhere near the casino I decided to join Nat and live at Jovan's place.

I must say the highlight of the Perth trip was hanging out at Jovan's place, playing table tennis with his kids and going for meals with his family and friends. Weiyi joined us in perth for a day and we had a great meal at Rockpool. I think it was my 2nd time ever having dry aged beef but I am no officially hooked.

Dry aged beef is apparently expensive because only a good piece of beef can be "aged". One that has enough fats to "age" and its left in a controlled room and that aging gives the beef that kind of siap siap taste. Like MSG but different. Hmmmm I'm not good at describing so go try it!

The tournament didn't go well and I ultimately put it in with Qd Jd on a Ad Qs 9d board and it was a 4 bet all in on the flop, really deep and I got called by Q 9. I was surprised there because I thought the minimum calling had there would be A Q or a set (if called) but I can not be anymore happier after seeing his hand. I bricked and that was that.

I was really happy that Grant Levy won it. I personally do not know him well but from what I hear he is a great family man with an all rounded lifestyle. I really look up to people who are in the poker playing industry and yet maintain a happy family and lead an all round lifestyle. I aspire to be like this too. Congrats Grant!

I decided to fly back to Singapore as soon as I could to see Summer for 24 hours before flying again to Shanghai. I brought my tennis racket only to be told by Danny he was busy. I think my diet was going well until I arrived in Perth and the great hospitality by Jovan and Jordana was to stuff me and Nat full with many delights. That diet just only got worse where I was heading to next.... Shanghai.

Pictures to be added!

Update Perth

Update Shanghai

Update Macau Millions

Update Singapore and the tennis bets mmmm

Okay it was a pretty bad Macau March Special.

In the 5k I had bottom set and played it to maximize value but I shoved on the river into a flush. I could have bet more on the turn thats why I was pretty unhappy about the way I played as I chose to inflate the pot more to induce the river call. Of course my opponent played it well (or had no idea what he was doing) when he hit the flush on the river and checked to me. I chose to bet my set for value by shoving and he tanked called with his T high flush. Oh well...... Bad decision because on hindsight my opponent was a very tight local regular and I thought he can never just call with one pair. But I did inflate the pot on the turn to shove the river... Bleah.

As for the Deepstack I shoved 18k over a 3k raise with As Qc and a mainland potato head uncle tank called with Ks Qs. Flop comes Q and he runner runner flushes me. Its fine although i've been running bad the last few weeks but I just hate it when people disrespect you by throwing their winning hand at the dealer in celebration and refusing to acknowledge a "nice hand, good luck" and table knock. At least thats a minority here.

Oh yeah that guy looks exactly like the guy on the left, found it quite funny it reminded me of the Lao Fu Zi comic :


Tried getting a flight back to Singapore but it was too late. Will be meeting Lincoln for dinner in a bit, I hope our favorite Korean Restaurant has reopened.

One good thing about travelling is that when I leave Summer, I miss her plenty. So far married life has been great and this sounds mushy but waking up to see her next to me just starts my day perfectly. Of course unless I get awaken by the knocking of the upgrading works happening in my neighborhood.

Heading to Singapore and then Perth. Until then!

Doing an update from Macau as I'm here now for the Macau March Special. http://tinyurl.com/MacauMarchSpecial



Didn't did too well for the KnockOut Bounty yesterday, the event I won in January. Had As Tc shove over a donk bet on a 8s 6s 5s board and he called with Qc 9s. Turn 7c and no spades on the river. GG.

Other then that I haven't been coping too well with the 100bb changes on stars. I think I've been losing plenty on the 100bb tables because I continued playing 16 tables as if they were 50bb tables. 50bb tables makes for a lot more easier decisions given the slightly shallow stacks but 100bb tables require more thinking and I've only realized that after dropping plenty of buy ins.

Already began playing 8-12 tables of 100bb but volume has gone down plenty as I've been playing a lot of tennis (for money of course) but breaking even with the side bets that goes along with it. Either way, health and fitness for the win!

This Monday will be heading to Singapore for a night to be with Summer, which reminds me its Tennis night! So we'll see how that goes.

Tuesday morning will be heading to Perth for the ANZPT Perth. Will be staying with Matt (kirk) and looking forward to see how much he has changed (or not) from degen poker genius to super degen poker genius or a clear headed poker genius. LoL. Will be fun as Weiyi and possibly Nat might be coming along and I hope to meet Jovan's two kids as well as Nat has described them to be awfully cute.



As far as home is concerned I really enjoy being in Singapore and I've lost a solid 6 Kilos before my pro bet was cancelled due to the pleas and progress of Fat Boon. The only thing I'm not too happy about is the lift upgrading works happening which is causing a lot of noise, really not great for me since I sleep from 6am to 2pm. Even if I woke up at 6am and slept early, my grind sessions will be affected by the pounding and knocking so its a lose lose for me either way.

Enjoying good food and company here in Macau. Nothing's change.

2011 Spring Championship of Online Poker schedule

Sunday, 8 May 2011

13:00 ET, Ev 01-L*: $22 NL Hold'em [6-Max], $300,000 Guaranteed
13:00 ET, Ev 01-M*: $215 NL Hold'em [6-Max], $750,000 Guaranteed
13:00 ET, Ev 01-H*: $2,100 NL Hold'em [6-Max], $1,000,000 Guaranteed

17:00 ET, Ev 02-L*: $22 NL Hold'em, $300,000 Guaranteed
17:00 ET, Ev 02-M*: $215 NL Hold'em, $1,500,000 Guaranteed
17:00 ET, Ev 02-H*: $2,100 NL Hold'em, $1,500,000 Guaranteed

Monday, 9 May 2011

14:00 ET, Ev 03-L*: $5.50+R NL Hold'em (6-Max), $250,000 Guaranteed
14:00 ET, Ev 03-M*: $55+R NL Hold'em (6-Max), $500,000 Guaranteed
14:00 ET, Ev 03-H*: $530+R NL Hold'em (6-Max), $750,000 Guaranteed

17:00 ET, Ev 04-L: $16.50 FL Badugi, $25,000 Guaranteed
17:00 ET, Ev 04-M: $162 FL Badugi, $25,000 Guaranteed
17:00 ET, Ev 04-H: $1,575 FL Badugi, $50,000 Guaranteed

20:00 ET, Ev 05-L: $11 PL Omaha (Turbo, 1R1A), $75,000 Guaranteed
20:00 ET, Ev 05-M: $109 PL Omaha (Turbo, 1R1A), $200,000 Guaranteed
20:00 ET, Ev 05-H: $1,050 PL Omaha (Turbo, 1R1A), $350,000 Guaranteed

Tuesday, 10 May 2011

14:00 ET, Ev 06-L: $11 PL 5-Card Draw, $25,000 Guaranteed
14:00 ET, Ev 06-M: $109 PL 5-Card Draw, $50,000 Guaranteed
14:00 ET, Ev 06-H: $1,050 PL 5-Card Draw, $75,000 Guaranteed

17:00 ET, Ev 07-L: $16.50 NL Hold'em (Heads-Up Match Play), $100,000 Guaranteed
17:00 ET, Ev 07-M: $162 NL Hold'em (Heads-Up Match Play), $200,000 Guaranteed
17:00 ET, Ev 07-H: $1,575 NL Hold'em (Heads-Up Match Play), $400,000 Guaranteed

20:00 ET, Ev 08-L*: $11 NL Hold'em, $100,000 Guaranteed
20:00 ET, Ev 08-M*: $109 NL Hold'em, $300,000 Guaranteed
20:00 ET, Ev 08-H*: $1,050 NL Hold'em, $600,000 Guaranteed

Wednesday, 11 May 2011

14:00 ET, Ev 09-L: $22 Mixed Hold'em (6-Max), $75,000 Guaranteed
14:00 ET, Ev 09-M: $215 Mixed Hold'em (6-Max), $150,000 Guaranteed
14:00 ET, Ev 09-H: $2,100 Mixed Hold'em (6-Max), $250,000 Guaranteed

17:00 ET, Ev 10-L: $33 7-Card Stud High, $25,000 Guaranteed
17:00 ET, Ev 10-M: $320 7-Card Stud High, $50,000 Guaranteed
17:00 ET, Ev 10-H: $3,150 7-Card Stud High, $100,000 Guaranteed

Thursday, 12 May 2011

14:00 ET, Ev 11-L: $22 PL Omaha (Heads-Up Match Play), $50,000 Guaranteed
14:00 ET, Ev 11-M: $215 PL Omaha (Heads-Up Match Play), $100,000 Guaranteed
14:00 ET, Ev 11-H: $2,100 PL Omaha (Heads-Up Match Play), $200,000 Guaranteed

17:00 ET, Ev 12-L*: $27 NL Hold'em (Knockout), $200,000 Guaranteed
17:00 ET, Ev 12-M*: $265 NL Hold'em (Knockout), $400,000 Guaranteed
17:00 ET, Ev 12-H*: $2,600 NL Hold'em (Knockout), $600,000 Guaranteed

Friday, 13 May 2011

14:00 ET, Ev 13-L*: $16.50 NL Hold'em (Ante Up), $100,000 Guaranteed
14:00 ET, Ev 13-M*: $162 NL Hold'em (Ante Up), $200,000 Guaranteed
14:00 ET, Ev 13-H*: $1,575 NL Hold'em (Ante Up), $300,000 Guaranteed

17:00 ET, Ev 14-L: $55 FL Omaha Hi/Lo, $75,000 Guaranteed
17:00 ET, Ev 14-M: $530 FL Omaha Hi/Lo, $125,000 Guaranteed
17:00 ET, Ev 14-H: $5,200 FL Omaha Hi/Lo, $225,000 Guaranteed

20:00 ET, Ev 15-L: $16.50 NL Hold'em (2X Chance, Turbo), $150,000 Guaranteed
20:00 ET, Ev 15-M: $162 NL Hold'em (2X Chance, Turbo), $400,000 Guaranteed
20:00 ET, Ev 15-H: $1,575 NL Hold'em (2X Chance, Turbo), $750,000 Guaranteed

Saturday, 14 May 2011

14:00 ET, Ev 16-L: $22 NL Hold'em - Quadruple Shootout (10-Max), $125,000 Guaranteed
14:00 ET, Ev 16-M: $215 NL Hold'em - Triple Shootout (10-Max), $150,000 Guaranteed
14:00 ET, Ev 16-H: $2,100 NL Hold'em - Double Shootout (10-Max), $150,000 Guaranteed

17:00 ET, Ev 17-L: $16.50+R PL Omaha (6-Max), $100,000 Guaranteed
17:00 ET, Ev 17-M: $162+R PL Omaha (6-Max), $250,000 Guaranteed
17:00 ET, Ev 17-H: $1,575+R PL Omaha (6-Max), $400,000 Guaranteed

20:00 ET, Ev 18-L: $22 Triple Stud (Turbo), $25,000 Guaranteed
20:00 ET, Ev 18-M: $215 Triple Stud (Turbo), $50,000 Guaranteed
20:00 ET, Ev 18-H: $2,100 Triple Stud (Turbo), $75,000 Guaranteed

Sunday, 15 May 2011

13:00 ET, Ev 19-L*: $22 NL Hold'em, $300,000 Guaranteed
13:00 ET, Ev 19-M*: $215 NL Hold'em, $1,000,000 Guaranteed
13:00 ET, Ev 19-H*: $2,100 NL Hold'em, $1,000,000 Guaranteed

17:00 ET, Ev 20-L*: $22 NL Hold'em, $350,000 Guaranteed
17:00 ET, Ev 20-M*: $215 NL Hold'em, $2,000,000 Guaranteed
17:00 ET, Ev 20-H*: $2,100 NL Hold'em, $2,000,000 Guaranteed

Monday, 16 May 2011

14:00 ET, Ev 21-L: $16.50 NL Hold'em / PL Omaha, $75,000 Guaranteed
14:00 ET, Ev 21-M: $162 NL Hold'em / PL Omaha, $150,000 Guaranteed
14:00 ET, Ev 21-H: $1,575 NL Hold'em / PL Omaha, $300,000 Guaranteed

17:00 ET, Ev 22-L: $33 NL Hold'em (4-Max), $100,000 Guaranteed
17:00 ET, Ev 22-M: $320 NL Hold'em (4-Max), $300,000 Guaranteed
17:00 ET, Ev 22-H: $3,150 NL Hold'em (4-Max), $500,000 Guaranteed

20:00 ET, Ev 23-L: $11+R NL Hold'em (Turbo), $250,000 Guaranteed
20:00 ET, Ev 23-M: $109+R NL Hold'em (Turbo), $500,000 Guaranteed
20:00 ET, Ev 23-H: $1,050+R NL Hold'em (Turbo), $1,000,000 Guaranteed

Tuesday, 17 May 2011

14:00 ET, Ev 24-L: $11 Triple Draw 2-7, $25,000 Guaranteed
14:00 ET, Ev 24-M: $109 Triple Draw 2-7, $50,000 Guaranteed
14:00 ET, Ev 24-H: $1,050 Triple Draw 2-7, $75,000 Guaranteed

17:00 ET, Ev 25-L: $22 7-Card Stud Hi/Lo, $25,000 Guaranteed
17:00 ET, Ev 25-M: $215 7-Card Stud Hi/Lo, $75,000 Guaranteed
17:00 ET, Ev 25-H: $2,100 7-Card Stud Hi/Lo, $150,000 Guaranteed

20:00 ET, Ev 26-L*: $11 NL Hold'em, $100,000 Guaranteed
20:00 ET, Ev 26-M*: $109 NL Hold'em, $300,000 Guaranteed
20:00 ET, Ev 26-H*: $1,050 NL Hold'em, $600,000 Guaranteed

Wednesday, 18 May 2011

14:00 ET, Ev 27-L: $22 Razz, $25,000 Guaranteed
14:00 ET, Ev 27-M: $215 Razz, $75,000 Guaranteed
14:00 ET, Ev 27-H: $2,100 Razz, $150,000 Guaranteed

17:00 ET, Ev 28-L*: $11+R NL Hold'em (Big Antes), $200,000 Guaranteed
17:00 ET, Ev 28-M*: $109+R NL Hold'em (Big Antes), $400,000 Guaranteed
17:00 ET, Ev 28-H*: $1,050+R NL Hold'em (Big Antes), $600,000 Guaranteed

Thursday, 19 May 2011

14:00 ET, Ev 29-L: $33 8-Game, $50,000 Guaranteed
14:00 ET, Ev 29-M: $320 8-Game, $100,000 Guaranteed
14:00 ET, Ev 29-H: $3,150 8-Game, $250,000 Guaranteed

17:00 ET, Ev 30-L: $11 PL Omaha Hi/Lo, $50,000 Guaranteed
17:00 ET, Ev 30-M: $109 PL Omaha Hi/Lo, $125,000 Guaranteed
17:00 ET, Ev 30-H*: $1,050 PL Omaha Hi/Lo, $250,000 Guaranteed

Friday, 20 May 2011

14:00 ET, Ev 31-L: $22 NL Hold'em (1R1A), $300,000 Guaranteed
14:00 ET, Ev 31-M: $215 NL Hold'em (1R1A), $500,000 Guaranteed
14:00 ET, Ev 31-H: $2,100 NL Hold'em (1R1A), $800,000 Guaranteed

17:00 ET, Ev 32-L: $55 FL Hold'em (6-Max), $75,000 Guaranteed
17:00 ET, Ev 32-M: $530 FL Hold'em (6-Max), $150,000 Guaranteed
17:00 ET, Ev 32-H: $5,200 FL Hold'em (6-Max), $250,000 Guaranteed

20:00 ET, Ev 33-L: $22 NL Omaha Hi/Lo (Turbo), $50,000 Guaranteed
20:00 ET, Ev 33-M: $215 NL Omaha Hi/Lo (Turbo), $100,000 Guaranteed
20:00 ET, Ev 33-H: $2,100 NL Omaha Hi/Lo (Turbo), $150,000 Guaranteed

Saturday, 21 May 2011

14:00 ET, Ev 34-L: $55 PL Omaha [6-Max], $100,000 Guaranteed
14:00 ET, Ev 34-M: $530 PL Omaha [6-Max], $300,000 Guaranteed
14:00 ET, Ev 34-H: $5,200 PL Omaha [6-Max], $500,000 Guaranteed

15:30 ET, Ev 35-L*: $270 NL Hold'em [Heads-Up Match Play], $300,000 Guaranteed
15:30 ET, Ev 35-M*: $2,600 NL Hold'em [Heads-Up Match Play], $450,000 Guaranteed
15:30 ET, Ev 35-H*: $25,500 NL Hold'em [Heads-Up Match Play], $600,000 Guaranteed

17:00 ET, Ev 36-L: $22 HORSE, $50,000 Guaranteed
17:00 ET, Ev 36-M: $215 HORSE, $100,000 Guaranteed
17:00 ET, Ev 36-H: $2,100 HORSE, $150,000 Guaranteed

Sunday, 22 May 2011

13:00 ET, Ev 37-L*: $22 NL Hold'em (6-Max), $300,000 Guaranteed
13:00 ET, Ev 37-M*: $215 NL Hold'em (6-Max), $1,000,000 Guaranteed
13:00 ET, Ev 37-H*: $2,100 NL Hold'em (6-Max), $1,000,000 Guaranteed

17:00 ET, Ev 38-L*: $109 NLHE Main Event - L, $1,000,000 Guaranteed
17:00 ET, Ev 38-M*: $1,050 NLHE Main Event - M, $3,000,000 Guaranteed
17:00 ET, Ev 38-H*: $10,300 NLHE Main Event - H, $5,000,000 Guaranteed

So first things first. I hear Baller Magazine is filing for bankruptcy.

It was doing well until I heard the owner fucked things up. I cannot confirm these rumors and they are being called rumors for a good reason. Bottom line is that magazine will cease to exist. Was a great time working with Ben Lee, Ben Wilson and the rest of the team. I hope things go well.

As for the Macau Poker Cup, I had a great start to it coming 2nd in the Charity event. However I stayed up late daily catching up with friends old and new over drinks.

The party lifestyle caught up to me and I must agree I made some marginally bad decisions.

In the KO Bounty I went for a flip when usually I avoid these things early. But the need and desire to gamble (as a result of lack of sleep and some wine [read: alcohol] in the system) prompted me to reason it as :
i.) dead money in the pot
ii.) Bounty for busting someone
iii.) Get chips now!

So I called a shove with A Q. Yes of course my read was right he had J J but that was not about the read and the above reasons which definitely made for a right "call". It was how I got to that spot where I usually avoided even getting to that spot, by raise folding or just outright laying it down given action prior to that.

The same thing happened in the $3,000 event after doubling my stack. I played a hand well against David Steike but he played it well too by reshoving over my cold-call 3bet shove of a short stack with J J. At that spot for a 100 BB I could fold, but my read said JJ QQ TT given the way the hand played out. And yes I was right, but that is NOT the point. It's about giving myself reasons to call when I could do so much more with the stack.

So I go into the main event, amass chips and stack off with A Q. I played it well etc etc etc, but I could choose to just avoid these spots. Today I played the $5,000 event bad too, calling the flop with A K high and binking the K on the turn. Of course he has AA and my gut was spelling it out loud and clear, but my desire to just "get it in and pray" said : "yeah he could have QQ JJ TT as well since it was a 4 4 8 board....".

I hope to get a good break in Singapore, play less poker and lose weight. I am heavy now and although I managed to get pass the first weigh in at 97.5KG I am back to 99kg now. The next weigh in is at 95kg+ I believe. Either way I have to get there and I'm sure the exercise lifestyle will help clear my mind. Been under a lot of pressure to perform and the "zen" state I had is kinda fading away.

I want it back.

So i arrived and had super bad sleep on the 6hr flight. FLight departed at 12am Sg time and arrivedat 630am sg time (930am) Adelaide time.

FIrst time ever I go through customs smoothly. Hmmm. Run good?

SO I get in, buy the coolest wifi anywhere gadget at Telstra and get back to the Casino to play in the $265 PLO/NLHE rotation. Turns out it was PLHE pre and NLHE post. Whatever my PLO isn't great anyway.

Was quite a bad turnout imo 26 players. Had tonnes of chips and spewed (not really) and ended 9th. Was a good warm up. Was sleeping throughout the tourny as well though so I came back to the room to shower.

Turns our the Airconditioning is faulty and that is not "cool" in the 42deg c weather of Adelaide. So I asked for housekeeping to take a look. She comes and says "yes it is faulty please ask reception to send someone".

Reception : "We do not have anyone to come take a look at the moment. Would you like to have us change your room?"

Me : "yes"

Reception : "We do not have anyone to bring the keys up for you or move your bags for you could you please come down and collect the keys and move your own luggage?"

Me : "Yes" (And I already unpacked somewhat argh).

So I get to reception and see 3 guys and 1 lady (staff) chatting away. Its alright.

I finally moved to my new room and the hot tub saved my life. I dozed off there a couple of times. Before I knew it was way past the 4pm registration. Going down to take a look now but I'm not that keen on playing since my brain is really tired at the moment.

Hope to have a good dinner and some wine and sleep well since it's a 11am start tomorrow. Might play cash for fun.

Run good! And I miss my wife!

While having a good and prosperous time in Singapore it's quite scary to be reading the newspaper sometimes.

Just a few years ago I landed in Moscow's Domodedovo Airport for the Russian Poker tour. At first glance I felt it was somewhat messy and I found my way out of the airport via a cramp exit which I remembered had a stench and plenty of locals squeezing through security manned by 1 officer. Maybe it was peak hour I do not know but I was surprised by that scene for such a large city's airport - communist or not.

Recently the bomb attacks there killed 35 people. To be honest I think stepping up security to the level of the USA has stepped it up to can of course lower the risk of future or such attacks but it is almost impossible imo to stop the same kind of attacks and casualties. The only thing it does is protect it's image to other nationalities. Attacks on foreigners and international passengers/tourists does probably 100 times more damage.



In the newspapers also today i read about a bomb in Manila that has killed four and wounded 14. These kind of attacks targeting locals usually imo leaves its impact on the international scene only for short periods. Compare that to the Hong Kong Tour Bust hostage situation. I can still remember the scene clearly from my Manila hotel room as BBC and CNN repeatedly played those images over and over. These things happen all the time in many countries but only those with greater international repercussions stay in the news long enough to make us take note and long enough for the government to take greater measures than if was a local thing.

Bleah how fortunate am I to be living in Singapore. Which reminds me of the conversation I had with Nat, Lincoln and Yingzhe in Macau over cigars and brandy about how much I appreciate Singapore. Although they had their reservations about my pro "PAP"ness I'm pretty sure I made my point that Singapore is really a great place to live in. Its safety is unparalleled.

Word on the street is that people are just waiting for MM Lee to "go" and there will be big and good changes for Singapore. Well... I do not know about changes but I am just super appreciative of MM Lee. I really don't care if he is a ruthless politician or not but I do know that he made Singapore a place with affordable housing (yes despite rising sky rocketing prices it is affordable with the convenience and safety etc), a robust economy (look around us) and the most importantly a fair education system which allows anyone to make it here if they study & work hard and make something of themselves.

Heh I seldom do a morning rant like this. Really not trying to make a point just being appreciative of life here. Moving back has been great so far (other than the lift upgrading works which have been really noisy/dusty). Had a long long session yesterday and ended the day with Still Road Pepper crabs with Alex, Summer, Boon, Nat, Mabel, Sam, Josh and Joyce before heading for drinks at Chamber 82 where CS, Mark and Kenneth joined us.

We played a game for drinks which I feel will definitely be one of our main games from now on and I love it although I was really bad at it last night. (thanks Kenneth!)

Basically 4 random cards are drawn from the deck and put face up.
A number is called eg. 24.
Using adding, subtracting, dividing and multiplying everyone must come up with a way to come up with the number 24. Eg if the cards are J 2 6 3 in your head you figure out its (J=10 - 2) x (6-3) = 24. You tap the table.



The last person or last 2 persons who do not tap the table has to drink one shot each. However they can pick anyone who has previously tapped the table to give their answers. Some players pretend to know the answers and tap the table and those caught will be penalized with double shots.
It gets pretty fun when everyone drinks a little and some (like me) who got sick of drinking just tapped away pretending to know the answer and ended up getting caught and drinking more. Back to school I guess.

Time to hit the tables! This must be such a bad piece but it's my first time writing a blog right after 4 hours of sleep with bak kut teh and brandy still in my stomach!

I believe I had the best meal of my life yesterday. Basically me, nat, yingzhe and lincoln headed for the Kitchen at the Grand Lisboa for dinner.

Sorry no pictures taken I really wanted to enjoy the moment and the pictures I found most of the replacement pics off the internet just couldn't do the food at the Kitchen any justice.

- Started with salad which had crab roe dressing, vegetables, eggplant, sweetest cherry tomatoes, parma ham, smoked salmon, olives, duck breast with avocados, pineapples etc. Seriously best salad spread I've ever had. 1 serving only please.

- Lobster bisque with large chunks of lobster

- Hokkaido Scallops with Lemonade fruit and Yuzu Sauce. Never had such fresh and yummy scallops with such a firm texture and the sauce accompanying it is really fantastic.

- Yellowtail Sashimi with Grapefruit and Ginger Vinaigrette. Really reminded me of the dishes at Nobu.

- Prime Blue Fin Fatty Tuna (O-Toro). I don;t know why there were gold flakes on this but it was heavenly, the toro not the flakes. Worth it at 180HKD for two pieces!

- Salmon Belly.

- Main event : A5 Kagoshima beef. 200g medium. We all had it and eyes were rolling. It was the best wagyu we ever had.

- Dessert : Almond cake

- Wine : Henschke Hill of Grace Shiraz 02. Heavenly.




Anyway what a happy man I was. We headed to the poker room for the $250,000 Guarantee $5,000 NLH event and I doubled up my starting stack immediately to about 14,000+. Then UTG raised to 275 (blinds 50/100) and I 3bet to 725 with Q Q. Player who overplays any pair on button shoves for 16,000+. UTG folds and I tank because he is always having any pair there or A K. Well maybe I tanked just not to look bad in case he has AA or KK there and usually for these tournaments and the way the hand played out, its a snap call. However I had a look around for Nat whom I had a 4 shots last longer prop bet with.

I ended up calling, he flipped over A K and he won the race. GG me. 4 shots of cordon bleu. Off to the bar to enjoy my Cohiba Robusto and Lincoln, Matthew and myself with a few other visitors from the poker room now and then finished 3 bottles of Cordon bleu.


What a decadent day it was and it was really sweet because I've been working super super hard since Jan 01. It feels good to enjoy life like this after a good few weeks of hard work rather then doing it every few days (excessively) thus losing appreciation and hard work required for these finer things. So blessed!

Christine and Jianing are on their way to Macau from Zhuhai so I'll try to take them for lunch or dinner, apparently the queue at Zhuhai Gongbei customs is so long stretching into the square. That sounds sick. I have the 1,500NLH event at 2.10pm so I hope they get to my place (to leave their luggage since their flight is only at 2am later) in time so I can go for my event.

Until then its Singapore tomorrow and I'll blog again if something fun happens today or else its a chillax day!