Sword Art Online The Movie: Ordinal Scale

Synopsis: In 2026, two years since the SAO incident, a new game called "Ordinal Scale," an Augmented-Reality MMO, is becoming popular among the players. But strange things are happening in the game and Kirito and the gang are facing a new danger. [Source: Golden Village]

Just when I thought the SAO series had ended well, from SAO to ALO to GGO, the producers has outdone themselves again with this one-shot movie Ordinal Scale, linking the events after the GGO. With fresh ideas, characters and plot, past history of the SAO came back to haunt the group again, this time, in an AR environment. A movie not to be miss for fans of SAO.

Rate: 9/10

Thailand Day 5 - Artbox Bangkok

03 Feb - With no plans for the day, we went back to Platinum Mall to have our breakfast and continued shopping for clothes. When we are done, we visited Artbox Bangkok, which will be coming to Singapore in April 2017 @ Marina Bay. Link below for more details:

http://danielfooddiary.com/2017/01/25/artboxsingapore/

Artbox is a pop-up flea market where most of the stalls are housed in giant metal shipping containers selling signature Thai food and small items ranging from clothing to earrings to artwork. They are similar to Chatuchak, except that there is a live stage where artists performs while audiences sat on hay stacks or cushions chilling out the night over some food and drinks. Pretty interesting concept.

Thailand Day 4 - Baiyoke Sky Tower, Terminal 21

02 Feb - Since we didn't purchased the breakfast together with the accommodation, we started the day late instead and headed straight for the Baiyoke Sky Restaurant Buffet Lunch which will commence at 11am. From the review, tourist have suggested to go for the first slot as the restaurant will be full as the time approaches lunch and the staffs are not replenishing the food after 1230pm to prepare for the next slot of buffet eaters at 1pm. I am glad that I really chose the 11am slot as by 1130am, the whole restaurant is full with tourists from tour groups which just kept coming one after another. Variety of the food served is good and in my opinion, the Thai section is still the best.

Before we head for lunch, we have some time to explore the Baiyoke Sky Tower and take photos of the Bangkok City view.

Bangkok City view (hazy)

After we are done, we headed to Terminal 21 next to explore the internal decorations of the mall. Interestingly, each level has their own theme and we had some fun taking photos of them.

Golden Gate Bridge

Hollywood

London bus

And last but not the least, Taokaenoi Land. 

Our night was spent meeting up with Ong and Eve over dinner, catching up with one another since we last saw them about 1.5 years ago. =) Thanks Ong and Eve for the dinner treat.

Thailand Day 3 - Bangkok

01 Feb - Spent the morning hanging around while YB visited the Sanctuary Of Truth before we catch our transport back to Bangkok. By the time we checked in and ready to hit the street, it was already 4pm. We immediately set out for the Platinum Mall to shop for cheap clothes. As usual, the roads of Bangkok is full of vehicles.

Bridge going to Platinum Mall

For dinner, we visited the Greyhound Cafe near Siam Paragon and discovered that they served fantastic shrimp soup and meals whose spiciness are on a whole new level.

Thailand Day 2 - Cartoon Network Amazone Waterpark & Tiffany's Show

31 Jan - Woke up to a bright sunny morning with a clear view of the Pattaya city from the balcony of our hotel room on the top floor. Today is definitely a good day for water activities, which we have planned to go to Cartoon Network Amazone Waterpark, which is an iconic attraction for tourist. 

Cartoon Network Amazone Waterpark

Having spent half a day at the park sliding down their slides, we had our dinner there to expense off the remaining credits we had purchase before heading over to the Tiffany's Show Pattaya, a Transvestite Cabaret Show now in its 40th year running. The whole show lasted about an hour with non-stop singing and audiences are treated with a flood of costume extravaganza.

Thailand Day 1 - Pattaya

30 Jan - A short break away from work making use of the long weekend due to Chinese New Year and company shut down. The SIA ticket sale promotion was a great help in pushing for us to make the short relaxing trip to Thailand.

Since there was nothing much for us to do during the Chinese New Year break, we met early to have lunch in T2 and have some time to take photos of the Snorlax camping under the tree. 

By the time we reached Bangkok, it was already evening and we were quickly whisked away for our arranged pickup to our Pattaya hotel, which was a 90 mins drive away. Wasting no time, we quickly have our dinner and visited the famous walking street, which was full of bars, restaurants and touts promoting "Sinful" shows. Definitely not a good choice to bring your kids there.

New Investment Strategy 2017 - Growing Passive Income

I have come a long way since I first started investing in SG equity in 2008. With capital injection, my portfolio has grown to an amount where I think it is time to change strategy to focus on generating passive income. In the past, I am more of a risk taker, investing in companies where I think is under valued and have potential to grow. As of now, I can't really afford the time like I did in the past to study through the company financial report and decide how much capital to put into the company. Hence, starting in 2017, I have decided to adopt a medium risk approach to focus on growing passive income by re-balancing my portfolio as below:

1. 50% Equity, 50% Reits/Trusts
2. Portfolio Yield to be 1.50% in 2017, 2.50% in 2018, 3.75% in 2019.

The ultimate aim is to grow the passive income to a size where the dividend received can partly be re-invested into the portfolio and hence grow more dividend, making the portfolio self sustainable and return back the cash initially injected into the equities.

I have my shares of ups and down. From Noble Group boom in 2009 to JB Food spike because of Sam Goi investment, to Straits Asia Resources privatization, to making a wrong call on Linc Energy which is currently suspended and undergoing liquidation, to NBG being delisted from NYSE due to Greek political issues. Along the way, some hard lessons are also learnt which I think makes me a wiser investor going forward.

At the end of 2016, my portfolio is as below:

Equity consists of 91.76%, while Reits/Trusts consists of 8.24%.

Yield is at a miserable 0.76%.

2016 is not really a good year for me as I took the pain to dispose some of the junk stocks in my portfolio (bought in the earlier years) to raise cash for the rights that are proposed for some of the Reits/Trusts. That leave Linc Energy as the final junk that I will need to deal with later. For STI wise, 2016 ending was flat compared with 2015 ending, seeing not much action while US Dow Jones was reaching record high. Lets hope that SG STI can perform better in 2017. May the Lord also continue guiding me in making wise investment.

I shall update more when I have the time after I had done the re-balancing transactions. Chaos

Wisdom Tooth Removal Part 2

One year has past by since I took out the wisdom tooth on my right side (http://kangaroos-corner.blogspot.sg/2016/01/wisdom-tooth-removal.html). Now, the time has come for the left side removal to prevent future possible decay, infection and pain. This time, I got the same dentist who remove my teeth 1 year ago.

Got to experience the whole drilling sensation again and this is truly horrible. Teeth was broken down into several pieces again with the surgery lasting about 45 minutes. Teeth taken out showed tar tar built up which I am quite sure it will decay some years down the road. Well at least, this will be the final time I will be experiencing teeth drilling in a long long while.

Important Notification on your Citibanking Relationship

Thank you for choosing us as your preferred banking partner. At Citi, we are committed to providing you with the right banking support to help you achieve your goals. 

We recently enhanced our suite of wealth management solutions and realigned our qualifying criteria for each of our offerings. 

From 1 February 2017, we will increase 

1.  the minimum Total Relationship Balance (as defined below) from S$X,000 to S$15,000 and 
2.  the account service fee from S$10 to S$15. 

The account service fee will apply at the end of each month should your Total Relationship Balance fall below S$15,000. 

"Total Relationship Balance" or "TRB" is the sum of: 

1.  the average daily balance of your checking, savings and deposit accounts, 
2.  the average daily value of your investments, and 
3.  all outstanding amount(s) payable on your secured loan accounts as of the date of your last statement. Citi's determination of TRB will be conclusive. 

The revised minimum Total Relationship Balance of S$15,000 and the account service fee of S$15 will be standardized across all of our banking segments, namely, Citibanking, Citi Priority, Citigold and Citigold Private Client. 

Citibank, being so atas, decided to raise the TRU to $15k next year. Well, you have just provided me the final push factor. I shall move on to better deals.

Sing

Synopsis: Buster Moon is a dapper koala who presides over a once-grand theater that has fallen on hard times. Buster is an eternal-some might even say delusional-optimist who loves his theater above all and will do anything to preserve it. Now faced with the crumbling of his life's ambition, he has one final chance to restore his fading jewel to its former glory by producing the world's greatest singing competition. [Source: Golden Village]

A relaxing animated film, at times funny, with a singing competition as its central theme. It is entertaining to see the journey of how a group of common people coming together to put up a singing show for a one shot chance that can change their life. Not a bad film to catch for the day.

Rate: 6.5/10

Taiwan Day 10 - Ximending

24 Nov - As we make our way back to Taipei via the local train, we pass by the same Taichung Station where we took the same route 2 years ago. This time, the old station has been closed and the new station is just opened. Gone are the long queue of people in front of the ticket counter buying tickets, which is now being replaced with contact-less card. 

Old Taichung Station

New Taichung Station

By the time we finished the 3 hours journey from Taichung to Taipei, we are left with half a day to explore the city before we catch our flight home around noon the next day. With no time to lose, we checked into our hotel Marriott Courtyard Taipei located just next to Nangang Station.

We immediately hit the shopping district Ximending and visited the One Piece shop and brought some souvenir home. =)

Taiwan Day 9 - Sail Rock, Eluanbi Lighthouse, Long Pan Park, Rainbow Village

23 Nov - For today, we will focus on exploring Kenting before we embark on our return trip to Taichung. First destination of the day was recommended by our friendly driver which was an iconic rock formation resembling a human face - Sail Rock.

船帆石 (Rock formation resembling a human face)

For anyone visiting Kenting, they will be sure to stop by the iconic white lighthouse - Eluanbi Lighthouse for some photo sessions. Likewise, we follow the trend. =)

鵝鑾鼻燈塔

Since we are at the most southern part of Taiwan, we might as well visit the most southern tip of the island possible.

臺灣最南點碑

Next location brings us to Long Pan Park, where we had an unforgettable experience battling gale force wind. Trust me, standing still is extremely difficult.

龍磐公園

For our last destination, we visited the Rainbow village in Taichung. The story of “Rainbow Village” (彩虹眷村) and its famous creator Mr. Huang Yong-Fu (黃永阜) has become quite well known throughout the country and is a fitting example of how a protest done right can be really effective. Mr. Huang is a military veteran who was born in Hong Kong and fought against the communists in the ROC army. After living in Taiwan for more than 60 years, the city government in Taichung decided it was time for the village he lived in to be torn down. Mr. Huang who people now refer to as the “Rainbow Grandfather” (彩虹爺爺) came up with a way to protest that was quite unique and also gave him something to do to pass his time. Rather than fighting the government - he started to paint. As a self-taught artist, he painted colorful murals all over his home, as well as the gates around it and the walkways. He used very bright colors and painted very random and imaginative figures including plants, animals, monsters, celebrities and traditional cultural heroes. The village that Mr. Huang lives in is next to Ling-Tung University (嶺東科技大學) and when students from the university noticed what he was doing they took pictures of his progress and spread them around online which quickly went viral. The “Rainbow Village” soon became a tourist destination as people from all over started to visit while he was still busy painting. The tourists offered donations and supported the by-then almost 90 year old artist. His peaceful protest fortunately gained enough sympathy from around the country that the email inbox of the mayor of Taichung quickly became so full of complaints that plans to demolish his village were quickly shelved.

彩虹眷村 (Rainbow Village)

Taiwan Day 8 - Water Running Upward, Jialulan Recreation Area, Xiaoyeliu, Lu Yeh Highland, Duoliang Station, Natural Fire

22 Nov - The wet weather system continues today for the whole of east coast, expecting drizzle for the whole day. Nothing much we can do about it but to continue on with what we have planned so far. There will be more travelling today, targeting 6 locations to visit. Before we moved off from our Mingsu, we had some last minute photo taking session with the San Xian Tai 8 arch bridge in the back ground.

Our Minsu overlooking the 8 arch bridge of San Xian Tai

三仙台星辰民宿

No 1-6 Meishan Rd, Chenggong, Taitung, 961, Taiwan

※住宿均附早餐。

Our first stop of the day - Water Running Upward. As the name sounds, it is a geographical "miracle" where water violates gravity and runs slowly uphill along the canals. Seeing is believing!

水往上流

Our next stop is Jialulan Recreation Area (加路蘭風景區). There is a large grass field , a pagoda, a tourist center and a lookout area which offers a great place for a rest while traveling the coast and taking photos. Tourists can enjoy the sound of waves, the ocean breeze and the sun here. Besides the natural beauty, there is also a lot of driftwood art. Every year during summer and fall, a group of artists gather together and present their art in a market exchange which stresses on the presentation of original and natural materials.

加路蘭風景區

After we are done with the photos at 加路蘭風景區, we moved on to our next destination, Xiaoyeliu (小野柳). The place got its name due to the fact that the topography and rock types here looks similar to the north and northeast of Yehliu. It was a pity we cannot explore the whole stretch of the area as 90% of the venue is closed for restoration after Taiwan was hit by 2 major typhoons just 1 month ago.

小野柳

For our next location, it brings us to the Lu Yeh Highland (鹿野高台). The reason why we decided to come here was due to the Hot Air Balloon Festival we saw online which happens every summer and showcases hot air balloons and pilots from around the globe. We hope to catch some hot air balloon in action and take the scenic pictures we always saw on photos against the vast patch of grassland here. Unfortunately, for this time of the year, it was their off season and there was no balloons in sight. There are also paragliding activities here but due to the lack of time, we just took some pictures of the place as a memo and left the site.

鹿野高台

Our next location brings us to the Duoliang Station (多良車站), which is also called the Station with the most beautiful sea view. Overlooking the spectacular landscape of the Pacific Ocean, Duoliang Station officially ceased its railway services in 2006 due to low patronage and currently serves as a tourist spot for both local and international visitors. The viewing platform offers a stunning panoramic view of the Pacific Ocean and the surrounding lush greenery.

多良車站

For our last destination, we arrived at Natural Fire (墾丁出火). At this site, you will see flames coming out from the ground as you walk close. Locals said that the oil company found natural gas while drilling the oil rig. The natural gas leaks out from the mud-stone layer and the company lit the fire and it remains on fire since then. It was an experience to view the fire erupting from the ground and using them to keep yourself warm in a cold and windy night.

For the night, we stayed at the Kenting main street and needless to say, we hit down to their night market to have our dinner together with their signature milk tea! 

Taiwan Day 7 - Liyu Lake, Rareseed Ranch, Shi Ti Ping, San Xian Tai

21 Nov - Weather forecast for today was not favorable for sightseeing as the whole of east coast will be drenched with drizzle due to the weather system. As we have already booked our driver for the next 2 days, guess we will have to make do with what we have. There will be 4 destination for today, which are Liyu Lake, Rareseed Ranch, Shi Ti Ping and San Xian Tai (Chinese translation below the photos).

First stop, the beautiful 鯉魚潭

Liyu Lake (鯉魚潭) is the largest lake in eastern Taiwan. There are various activities you can enjoy in this area, such as a light-boat sailing on the lake or a bicycle tour encircling around the lake. You can also stroll along the lake shore walkway, appreciating the flora and fauna. The Liyu Lake Visitor Center is located at the north shore of the lake, exhibiting many educational materials related to Liyu Lake and East Rift Valley.

鯉魚潭

Second stop - 瑞惠农场

Rareseed Ranch is a working dairy farm with a good place to snap some pictures with the black-and-white cows as main attractions, as well as a pair of ostriches that share the grassland with their bovine sisters. The farm also churns out various milk-based goodies such as ice cream, cheesecake, and bread, all of which are available at the ranch cafe – along with good old-fashioned milk.

The signature black-and-white cows!

Our third stop will be 石梯坪. 石梯坪 is a huge area of coastal terraces. Its landscapes include the developed sea terrain, wave-cut platforms, uplifted coral reefs, sea trenches and cliffs. The unique feature of this attraction is their wave cut platform which looks like steps, hence the name 石梯.

石梯坪 (A pity the photo cannot bring out the 3D effect of the step like structure on the rocks)

For our last stop, we will be visiting 三仙台. 三仙台 is a geological rock that turned out to be a headland. Gradual erosion cut the neck that connected the mainland to the main island, and thus became offshore islands. Tourists who used to visit this place could only reach the island during low tide. In 1987, the government completed the eight cross-sea arch bridge that crosses over to the island. It was designed in the shape of waves, like a prostrate sea dragon and connects 三仙台with Taiwan Island.

三仙台