2015 full year income from non-REITs.

Before I reveal the numbers, let me talk to myself about what I did in 4Q 2015, investments wise.

I re-initiated a long position in ARA as I felt that its stock price declined to a reasonably attractive level. 

ARA's rights issue which followed not long after was unexpected but I took up my entitlement and applied for excess rights as I looked at it as an opportunity to buy more on the cheap. I will probably buy more if the stock declines further in price.

Of course, those who follow my blog will also remember another rights issue and that was by Croesus Retail Trust. I too participated fully in that rights issue.

A back of the envelope calculation shows that Croesus Retail Trust is now trading at a 10% distribution yield. 

Croesus Retail Trust has rather high gearing level but if we were to take that away, Croesus Retail Trust is actually still generating more than a 5% distribution yield (i.e. non-leveraged yield) which I think is very attractive for a portfolio of mostly freehold retail properties in Japan. 

As the Trust's unit price declined, I added to my position again in the middle of December at 78c a unit.

I also increased my investment in Accordia Golf Trust as its stock price declined. The last time I did this was in mid-December at 51c a unit.

Investing in Accordia Golf Trust, we must realise that weather plays an important part in its performance. So, we have to expect its revenue to fluctuate quite a bit seasonally, much like investing in hospitality REITs.

With sentiments pretty negative, if Mr. Market were to offer me meaningfully lower prices, I would probably be buying more.

I also did a bit of trading in 4Q 2015. I reduced my long positions in Wilmar and ST Engineering as their stock prices recovered. That gave me some trading gains for the quarter.

I don't trade very much anymore as it requires a bit more work. Now, I might not even look at the stock market for several days in a row.

I added to my long position again in ST Engineering as its stock price declined by more than 10% from my recent selling price. 


ST Engineering is still one investment for income and growth. I definitely want to buy more if Mr. Market goes into a depression.

For those who do not follow my comments section, I initiated a smallish long position in DBS. Some know that I have been thinking of buying into the three local banks for a while and have been waiting for their stock prices to become cheaper.

I chose DBS first because it was trading at the smallest premium to NAV compared to OCBC and UOB. There is also consensus that DBS would be the biggest beneficiary of rising interest rates.

I also added to my investment in SingTel as its stock price declined. We invest in SingTel, Starhub and M1 because they are defensive income generators but with SingTel, there is also a nice element of growth.

Finally, I added to my long position in APTT this month after having left it alone since its inception. The rapid plunge in APTT's unit price up till middle of December seemed excessive to me even though I have mentioned before that a DPU of 8c a year is unsustainable in the longer run.


A much lower DPU of between 4c to 5c would probably be more sustainable for APTT. So, adding to my long position at 63c a unit, I am expecting a more realistic distribution yield of 6.3% to 7.9%.


A more recent development was an expression of interest by a party to acquire Ascendas Hospitality Trust which I included in my income portfolio in 3Q 2014. I have added to my investment on a few occasions since then, as and when its unit price declined.

The last time I increased exposure to Ascendas Hospitality Trust was on 24 August 2015 at 58.5c a unit. With an estimated annual DPU of 5.5c, I was looking at a distribution yield of almost 10%.

Although I hope that the offer is going to be at a fairly attractive premium to valuation, I am aware that if the Trust should be taken private, my income from non-REITs next year would take a hit.

Very safe to show hand like this.

Including my first income distribution from Religare Health Trust (RHT), dividends from my investments in non-REITs in Q4 brings my income in 2015 from them to a grand total of S$76,804.69.

This works out to be about S$6,400.00 a month.

Including the distributions from S-REITs this year, I am pretty satisfied with the total income generated by my investment portfolio.


Related post:
1. ARA: Re-initiating long position.
2. Croesus Retail Trust: Rights.
3. Trading ST Engineering.
4. Religare Health Trust: Entered at 88c.
5. 9M 2015 income from non-REITs.

2015 full year income from S-REITs.

I did not do anything substantial to my investments in S-REITs in 4Q 2015. I just collected dividends, mostly.

However, it seems that I would be receiving less income from S-REITs in the not too distant future as Saizen REIT looks likely to be delisted as a firm offer of $1.17 per unit was received from a potential buyer.

Saizen REIT is currently one of my top three investments in S-REITs. Off the top of my head, it contributes to around 20% of my passive income from S-REITs.

So, losing Saizen REIT will greatly impact my income level in future, for sure.

Readers who have been following my blog since its inception in 2009 will remember that I was, back then, already a strong proponent of investing in Saizen REIT for income (and for its very cheap valuation).

Needless to say, I ate quite a bit of my own pudding.

So, I have grown somewhat attached to Saizen REIT after so many years. It is like having a good son who has been giving me regular and meaningful pocket money.

Now, this good son is going to give me a lump sum payment which is not a bad thing either but on the condition that there will be no more pocket money in future.

I just have to make sure that I remain financially prudent, I guess. Of course, there is no guarantee of this. Stress...

15A Changi Business Park Central 1.

Did I do anything at all in the S-REIT space?

I did increase my exposure to Soilbuild REIT by about 15%, taking advantage of the weakness in its unit price. I was waiting to see if Mr. Market would sell to me at an even lower price than 73c a unit but it didn't happen. Not for me, anyway.

However, 73c a unit was a fairly good deal and it is still lower price than the additional investment I made in the REIT back in August when stock prices plunged badly. That was 75c, if I remember correctly.

Including Q4's income distributions from my investments in S-REITs, my 2015 full year income from S-REITs is: S$90,344.81

This works out to be about S$7,528.00 a month.

I will be blogging about my investments in non-REITs next week. If you are interested, look out for it.


Related posts:
1. Saizen REIT: A firm offer.
2. Soilbuild REIT: A nibble.
3. 9M 2015 income from S-REITs.

Christmas, ASSI turns 6, financial freedom and charity.

Has it really been 6 years since I started blogging?


Pinched myself and, yes, I am not dreaming.


Quite recently, I shared some thoughts and feelings on the matter. 

So, I am not going to repeat myself which is something I have become prone to doing as I age.


Yes, I used to laugh at my mom. 

Now, I am like that too.


In case you have missed it or might want to read that blog post again, here it is: Don't thank AK but thank yourself in future.





So, which blog post in ASSI was the most read in 2015? 

I guess I should not be surprised by the answer.

It was: How did AK create a 6 digits annual passive income?





We will most probably have challenges in life but, in spite of all the challenges, we can achieve financial security and, over time, a measure of financial freedom if we do the right things now and in the future.


On our journey, there will be times when we feel depressed. 

When having a particularly difficult day or going through a particularly difficult period, take a moment to meditate on how fortunate we are to have what we have. 






Remind ourselves that we are moving in the right direction and that things will be better.


Lastly, as we do better in life, remember to provide assistance to those who need help most.

Always be charitable if we can afford to be.

Always try to make the world a happier place for everyone, especially the less fortunate.

Merry Christmas from AK's planter!

Related post:
A message from AK as ASSI turns 5.

New money habits led to saving $100K in 18 months.

In quite a few emails I have received, I found that some married couples have been inspired by my blog to improve their financial health.

I find this very heartening because it is not always the case that both parties are on the same page when it comes to money matters.





One person might want to make changes while there could be resistance from the other person and I have heard many such stories before. It could even lead to arguments and disharmony at home.

However, here is a positive example which I find even more heartening because the couple's money habits were very different before reading my blog.

Hi AK,

This blog (7 pertinent questions to help build our wealth) has really come in as a timely reminder to me. Especially now it's towards the end of the year when im doing a wrap up of my finances for 2015.

Although i dont leave comments on your blog often, i check your blog every day. I started reading your blog since JUL 2014 and since then i have never regretted spending my time on it.

Trust me, your posts are really informative and its also the time where me and my hubby bond our time together reading new updates, sitting down together discussing how can we improve our finances. =)

Like your most recent blog on food, we have also started doing our own salads and bringing it to work now. We started packing home cook lunch to work in 2014. 

When we first started this, all my colleagues were saying that this routine wont last because it is too much of a hassle. Haha, but i had proved them wrong.

Me and my hubby seldom eat out now unless its a weekend. Even if we eat out, its at hawker centre. Dining at a restaurant is almost NIL in a month except if we are going out with friends for gathering. Even then, it was always ME who choose the location so that i can control the cost indirectly. Haha

Also in 2015, both of us started contributing to our SRS account and topping up our CPF. The only regret is we started this late (I am 32 this year and my husband is 35). If we had started to transfer all our OA account to SA before the purchase of our HDB flat, i think we could have reached the MS sum quite pretty soon.

We live in a nice cozy 4 room HDB flat and are left with about $50K loan for the house. We do have some funds now to fully pay up this 50K but we were thinking if we should do so. If we do so, it will definitely dip into our emergency funds.

We have about 100K of emergency funds and we were thinking of paying the remaining loan via cash instead of CPF now because i feel that CPF earns more interest than the cash sitting in the ocbc bank.

My husband and I save about 4K per month into our emergency funds (thanks to your blog post that we started this). Prior to 2014, our savings were almost negligible. Now that we are towards the end of 2015, looking back, sometimes I find it amazing how far we have come.

Although there are still a lot of areas for improvement, I am happy that we took our first step on our journey and I wish that you will continue to inspire us through your posts. Thank you AK!

Regards,

Happy Doggy

AK's reply:

Hi HD,

Emails like yours really cheer me up. It makes me feel that talking to myself in cyberspace is the best thing I have ever done in my life. ;)

I would like to talk to myself about whether I would dip into my emergency fund to pay the remaining $50K in my HDB home loan.

First point, an emergency fund is for emergencies. Is paying the rest of my home loan an emergency? ;)





Second point, savings in OCBC 360 could pay me 2.2% per annum (if I do not invest or insure with them). This is slightly lower than the 2.6% per annum in interest which a HDB home loan charges.

Of course, OCBC 360's higher interest applies only to the first $60K. If I had $100K in emergency fund, I would split the money into two OCBC 360 accounts, one under my name and one under my spouse's name to possibly maximise the benefits.

I could also consider setting up a UOB ONE account as the second account. The UOB ONE VISA credit card has a 3.3% rebate for a minimum spending of $500 a month too. If I had $50K parked in UOB ONE account, I could get paid 2.43% per annum in interest for my emergency fund.

Holding cash could be costly but it is important to have liquidity. As long as we can lower the cost of holding cash, it is good enough for me.

You are doing a good job and I am sure your story will inspire many other married couples. :)

Best wishes,
AK





It is never easy to change our habits. It takes a lot of determination. To change habits as a couple could be even more challenging for some.

The journey towards financial security and, ultimately, financial freedom is made much easier if both parties are on the same page, definitely.

Remind ourselves that others have done it, so can we.

It can be done.

PART TWO: HERE.

Related posts:
1. UOB ONE VS OCBC 360 accounts.
2. How big should be the emergency fund?
3. Do CPF OA to SA transfer before buying flat?

7 pertinent questions to help build our wealth.

28 November 2016:
If you have read this article before and if you fell short, have you made any progress? If this is your first time reading this article and if you fall short, there is no better time to take action than now!






--------------------------
We might want to ask ourselves a few questions:

1. Do we pay ourselves first each month?

2. Do we dine at restaurants frequently?

3. Do we delay gratification?

4. Do we have the right insurance?

5. Do we maximise benefits from the CPF?

6. Do we have an adequate emergency fund?

7. Do we keep an eye on credit card debt?

Increasing our earned income is but one step in our quest to become wealthier. We must also be prudent when it comes to spending money.

We absolutely should have proper measures in place to guard against involuntary wealth destruction.

Finally, we have to recognise legal and ethical opportunities to build wealth and capitalise on them.





Here is an inspiring email from a reader:

Dear AK,

I was smiling when I was reading this post (I'm not mad) but was delighted to find out someone had benefited from your blog like me. (AK says see related post #2 at the end of this blog post.)

I wrote to you in Aug and four months have past..

(AK says read the blog post: here.)

I hope you don't mind me updating you. 

Salary Management - Now, growing wealth and management have been a common topic between my husband and I. So first salary management, for the two months at home as a "free-loader" cum housewife, I decided to make myself useful and forced myself to write down all the fixed monthly recurring payments and worked out some strategy with my husband. 

Strategy: For the first joint account, we credited our salaries and that will be the spending account. A second joint account is created for savings/travel. Once the $10k is reached, we will transfer that sum to the 3rd joint account as emergency funds. Every month, we will save minimum $2500, of which, $2000 will go to the second joint acct and $500 will go to the 3rd account. 

We hardly eat at restaurants. We don't see a point in celebrating any events by going to expensive restaurants. If we want to pamper ourselves, we would buy good salmon and beef from the wet market, and cook at home. 

A good part of the motivation was achieve financial independence. A small part,it may not sound that nice.   

Delayed Gratification - This probably took some mental muscles. My husband and I are active in sports. We run 10k and half marathons. Now the cycling bug has bitten us. We are the sort where we would pay for quality goods so that the goods can last longer. We set our sight on a $4000 road bike each because eventually we would want to do an Ironman in our lifetime. 

AK is also thinking of buying a bicycle. This costs $138. Hmmm.

Every time, we talked about it, we would feel guilty and sometimes your words would cross our minds. (See! You are that influential!). In the past, once we have saved that budget, then we would spend or use 0% interest free installment. Although we have set that budget, both of us agreed that we should delay the purchase until next year June and save aggressively now till it's way above the bikes' cost. Then decide again.  

Insurance - Two insurance agents I spoke to, asked if I want to be a part-time agent. My husband always laughed when I challenged the agents. We are fixed on buying term insurance. 

CPF - We have transferred part of the amount from OA to SA. The painful part was, I should have read your blog before letting HDB wiped out my OA. That's $38k which could have earned 5% in my SA. Ah... 

Investments - Like what you have recommended when I first wrote to you, we have to make sure that our safety nets are secured and now the priority is to grow our emergency funds and get adequate insurance. Yup, so we would be delaying investments until the first two are settled. 

Credit Cards - We are starting to make it a habit to check the credit card usage at least once every week and not wait until the day our salaries come in. This would prevent overspending. We tried those expenses app where you enter every purchase, that has not gone down too well. To start small, we will check our credit card balance regularly. 

Sorry for the long post and I can see why blogging can also be "talking to myself". Halfway through the email, I also felt like talking to myself. 

Thank you AK,

Impressed? I know I am. Well done!

Remember, for anyone, the best time to start on the journey towards financial freedom is now.

Related posts:
1. 2 questions that build wealth.
2. 7 things a reader did after visiting ASSI.
(Read related posts.)

STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS. (SPOILER ALERT!)

It has been a while since I blogged about a movie although I have watched quite a few since the last time I blogged about one.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens. 

In one word, epic!

C3PO and R2D2, move over!
BB8 is the new star of the show!

I watched my first Star Wars movie in Capitol Theatre when I was in Primary 3, if I remember correctly. I have watched every single Star Wars movie since. 

Yes, I am a big fan.

If you are a fan like I am and if you are a male in your 40s, you should be and you would want to watch this latest episode. 

I enjoyed the movie partly because it was like a family reunion with all the original cast although all much older now. Yes, I know. Sentimentality is a sign of old age.

Although I suspected that it would happen, it was still very sad when Hans Solo died at the hands of his own son (whom he fathered with Princess Leia). Their son who called Darth Vader his maternal grandfather went to the Dark Side, in case you are wondering.

I will miss Hans Solo.

OK, on to a delightful find. The Millenium Falcon! Yes, older and dirtier but it still packed a punch! I dreamt of flying in the Millenium Falcon when I was a boy.

Luke Skywalker had the easiest job in the movie, appearing only at the end, standing on top of a mountain, looking contemplative. 

We don't have to contemplate too much. We know to look out for the next episode.

I am not going to say very much else except to thank my broker for the treat. 

May the Force be with you!



My last blog post about a movie:
Exodus: Gods and Kings.

7 things a reader did after visiting ASSI.

It is always very heart warming to receive thoughtfully written emails from readers and I would like to share another one here.

Hi AK, 

My name is C and I am Pig too (younger batch though).  :P  

I was introduced to your blog 2 months ago by a friend who is a avid stock trader/investor, a month before my birthday, hence I see it as a God-given birthday gift because it really is.  

I initially suspected his intention of pestering me to invest in shares since he has lost quite a sum of money in stock market (due to Ezra).  "Why would he pull me down the muddy water" I thought to myself before, as I have always been frugal and risk-averse (which means I am those kind that sitting on cash).   However I started to appreciate his intention after reading your blog posts and others (Tan Kin Lian and some of your guest bloggers).

 
These are what happened to me after reading your blogs:     

1) I realised that I have double cover for H&S (Aviva My Shield Plus and AIA HealthShield Gold Prestige) from 2 different insurance agents.  Excess payment of $1400.  I am cancelling AIA one. 

2) Liquidated unit trusts which I placed through my insurance agent, paying 5% front-load fee and other charges which I ended up suffering capital loss of $2xx.  Plus $2k loss of CPF-OA 2.5% compounded interests, not to mention the future compounded interests on this interest lost.  *heartache* 

3) Open OCBC 360 account to maximise idle cash while waiting for opportunities 

4) Open CIMB trading account and nibbled on OCBC counter at $8.70.  Thinking of nibbling on FCT and Ascendas REITS. 

5) Contemplating of cashing out Tokio Marine life insurance which I bought 5 years ago and buy term life instead.  $2k annual premium for 25 years for $200k sum assured upon death/TPD/CI seems insufficient.  Guaranteed return is low at 1.5% IRR while non-guaranteed is between 2.5% to 4% upon 67 years old, while the benefits illustration stated 3.75% to 5.25%  *roll eyes*

6) Thinking of transferring some money from CPF-OA to SA and leave the rest for my first property at age 35.  May consider MS top up of $7k to benefit from tax relief.  But CPF website is down, couldn't do bank transfer for the time being.  Duh -__- 

7)  Your blog posts on property investment broke the old beliefs I had.  Used to think that house is an investment even if it is owner-occupied and I used to want a big house.  Now, I feel blessed renting than buying, as the rental cost $600 p.m. is cheaper than the monthly mortgage instalment.  Not sure if property market will revert to 2009-2010 pricing in near future, but it changed my mindset when comes to house-hunting in the near term. 

 
Although you always say that blogging is a hobby and you are just talking to yourself, your knowledge and experience sharing undoubtedly serves a higher purpose- helping those financially-illiterate folks like myself to seriously look into own finances and make full use of the limited cash to achieve financial independence and better, financial freedom.  After-all, aren't we all striving for a better life and money is a mean to get to that?  

I guess it is fated that it is a year of massive change for me - not only that I was introduced your blogs and I diligently reading it, I have just joined a new company few months ago, and there are female colleagues that are also into stock/ppty investment and one of them even threw a question on why I paid so much for my whole life insurance for that sum assured!?!?!?

All these events are like a nudge for me to review my own finances and make good of what was lacking, and then seriously put money to work, to benefit from the beauty of compounding interest and probably the deep correction in stock market, if it ever happen.  

Not to mention that I feel ashamed for making so many mistakes in personal financial management, especially so that I am a Chartered Accountant.  Like my sister said: "Accountant also lost money? that's a mission impossible."  

Anyway, I have come to term that I made silly mistakes and I still could make things right.  I am writing just to let you know that PLEASE keep on blogging, you wouldn't know how many ppls you have helped indirectly along the way.  Thank you, AK!    

Keep in touch, 

~ C

I could talk to myself until the cows come home but we must want to make changes to be better off financially.

To everyone who has taken the first step, soldier on and you will thank yourself in future.

Related posts:
1. Get the most out of ASSI.
2. Beef up and attain financial freedom.
3. Don't thank AK but yourself.
4. UOB ONE or OCBC 360 Account?
5. Free ILP or Term Life Policies?
6. Free medical insurance in our old age?
7. A lot of money in my CPF-SA...
8. Buying an apartment: Considerations.

Questions on Hong Fok and Cordlife.

A recent email exchange:

Good Evening AK! 

I have been following your blog for quite a while now! I would first like to thank you for setting up a blog like that! It has helped me gained much knowledge in the world of investing! We actually have met twice so far! Once in your Talk with AK and once at InvestXCongress (I was the guy who told you I fell asleep for the first half and post lunch half >< )

Anyway! If it is possible, I would like to share some analysis with you and see if it is actually sound (and hopefully learn more from you (:  )

1) Recently, Hong Fok's two charimen have been buying back huge amounts of their shares.. Attached herewith is an excel sheet (3rd page) with the details i tabulated from their website and also some layman analysis (page 1 and 2) that I have done. I intend to buy in as a short term trade but potentially holding on till End Feb as that is about when they release their FY reports.

2) Attached herewith is a Cordlife image. Normally, after a dividend, one would expect the share price to drop however, it seems not to be the case for Cordlife. I intend to have my TP at 1.65.

Sorry that the two questions I have are mainly about short term investments. I am trying to build up some more capital to increase my warchest. (Teacher pay not enough >< )

Hope to hear from you soon!

J

Hi J,

Ah, I think I remember you. :)

1. Hong Fok. I happen to know the family quite well. I wouldn't buy Hong Fok's stock unless I am thinking of possibly having the value unlocked one day through privatisation. It could take forever.

2. Stock prices don't have to fall on XD. It just so happens that they often do. Prices are a function of sentiments in the short run.

If you would like to increase your capital in the stock market in the short run, you might be better off learning Technical Analysis and becoming more of a trader.

I have always been an income investor but I did quite a bit of trading in my earlier years too.

Get the right tools to achieve your goals. :)

Best wishes,
AK

Related posts:
1. Books on Technical Analysis.
2. Don't thank AK, thank yourself in future.

Being fallible in dieting and investing.

Added (15 Dec 2016)
I made lunch.

Egg and cheese prata. 
Pan fried with butter.
Lots of black pepper.

Now, read the rest of the blog.

One year ago in December 2015:

Regular readers probably know that AK is on a special diet by now and has enjoyed some early success.

Dieting, like many things in life such as being frugal, requires discipline. Often, people give up after a while because they get too extreme and feel deprived. This applies to both dieting and being frugal. 

What do I mean by feeling deprived? 

It is like meeting a Dementor (as in the fantasy creature from Harry Potter) and having all the happiness sucked out of us because we were denied all the food that made us happy. 

Dieting shouldn't be like that. 

Dieting should be a happy process of discovering ourselves with a healthier body weight.

I shared in an earlier blog post that I find it hard to have zero carbs and zero sugar in my diet. It is especially hard because I have a sweet tooth. 

So, I go for as little carbs and sugar as possible. That is the best I could do.

My weight loss process might be a little slower, as a result, but I am still losing weight. Dieting is not a race. 

Of course, it would be good to be able to lose weight faster but if I must become unhappy to do so, then, the diet can go where the sun never shines.

After several weeks, today, I cheated big time on my diet:

Hot chocolate, cakes and cookies.

It was a real treat! It was also free of charge and that made me feel less guilty about cheating. LOL.

If we are following a diet, being too extreme is not a good idea. A gradual weight loss is better than a drastic one. 

We shouldn't have to be too concerned with being right with what we eat all the time.

This brings to mind what Peter Lynch said about how being right 6 times out of 10 times would make us better than most investors. 

We cannot be right all the time as investors and dieters. We should just aim to be right most of the time and that should make us quite happy.

-----------
Added on 24 April 2016:
I find this a pretty good compromise for my diet:

Just another egg omelette with coconut oil and olive oil?

It is filled with curry potato and cheese!

Protein, good fats and good carbohydrates. Yummy too!

----------------------
Added 17 Jan 17:

Related posts:
1. My food bill grew in size.
2. Life is about many things.
3. Is it bad to sit on cash?

My food bill grew in size but my weight reduced.

Not too long ago, I blogged about being on a new diet. So, have I noticed any changes since starting on this diet?

The thing to hit me quite quickly is the increase in expenses when it comes to food!


Salad is very expensive and it takes more to fill me up too. $4 for a bowl of salad in the food court compared to $2.30 for economic rice, for example. 

Salad is cheaper in the supermarket but it is still rather pricey. Animal protein also costs more than carbohydrate.

Got this at a food court. $4.00.

I think that my food bill must have at least tripled or, maybe, even quadrupled in size. I don't know exactly how much because I no longer keep track of my expenses. Has been the case for a few years. So, this is just a feeling.

$5.00 from NTUC Fairprice.

Pan fried in butter. Powdered with black pepper.
Romaine lettuce on the side drenched in salsa sauce.
The tangy salsa sauce goes well with the salmon too.

When I talked to a friend who is a doctor, he said that the diet does make sense. Cut down on carbohydrates and sugar and we will probably be healthier.

Many overweight people are overweight because they take too much carbohydrates and sugar which are what comfort food is packed with.

Roasted chicken on lettuce. About $4.00.

Pan fried Batang and ginger. About $4.00 too.

Being on this diet, I do miss ice cream which is one of my two biggest weaknesses in the world of food. As for chocolate, the other weakness, I am allowed dark chocolate but not too much.

I also miss fish ball mee pok dry, char kway teow and chye tow kway. I also miss eating sandwiches which I used to make frequently and, definitely, my daily bowl of oatmeal.

Greek yogurt, banana slices and lettuce.

Pan fried Batang steak in garlic salt and turmeric powder.

Well, I do look a bit trimmer without having increased my level of physical activity. In case you are wondering, I do plan on doing something about this.






In fact, I lost more than 3 kgs in almost 4 weeks. I also seem to have less gas (if you know what I mean).

I will continue with this diet and see if I manage to gradually lose more weight over the next month or so. I would be quite happy to be another 3 kgs lighter by then.

Added (6 Jan 17):

Antioxidants attack!

Added (5 Sep 17):

Added (10 Sep 17):

Added (12 Sep 17):

Added (10 Oct 17):

Related post:
Something AK wants to lose.