Role Models

In the course of leadership training session. This topic was discussed.

The typical impression of a role model is one who possesses qualities we admire and would like to emulate.

Some people have role models who have significantly impact and guided their lives. Others have role models that changed their course in life.

For me, I constantly have individuals appearing in my life showing how not to live, how not to behave. I fear making the same mistakes made by these people.that probably has also infused in me the fear of making mistakes.

While I constantly tell myself that mistakes which are not deadly are fine. Learn from the mistake of others and our own. I often fall into the trap of the constant fear of mistakes.

I am not perfect. I see and I learn. We need to recognise and appreciate the rights and the wrongs.

When will I be a soldier again?

Since I left National Service 8yrs ago. I've not been back nor been in touch with what I used to do during my service days. So much so I assume I was forgotten, and I would spend my years without ever being called up for reservist duties.

But I was wrong. I was remembered.

I received a call from the airbase checking if I have completed my studies and whether I'm available for reservist duties.

I'm excited and kinda scared cos its been so long. I need to get new uniforms as my old ones no longer fit. I'm out of shape. And I have no idea how my duties i used to do have evolved over the years.

A long time ago I had made the choice to want to serve the country on a regular basis. Even though that ultimately did not materialise, I'm now still serving the country. Just in another way.

Ah Boys to Men 2

This sequel is not as lame as the first instalment but packed much more laughs. Really entertaining.

Enjoyed the movie thoroughly. It brought back loads of memories. Somehow the setup of the section in the movie resembles my bmt mates so much. Similar wayang characters, siao on characters, super keng characters, and ppl like me. Do well enough to get noticed but not too prominent to hog the attention. Able to talk to people above, below and around.

Nostalgia is something I trust all Singaporean guys will feel when they watch this movie. Throughout the show i was going, "I did this too", "they really used to do that". Missed those days.

Like the end message very much too.
"After NS, not everyone will remain in contact and most may have to go their separate ways. But what's important is that at one stage in life we were once mates and could survive without one another."

Theories from Jellies

All I wanted was to buy the round jellies to try. But I allowed myself to be coerced into buying $50 of jellies.

I have 2 theories why I would allow myself to spend this money.

1. I'm feeling rich at that moment in time and I really have that money in my wallet.

2. I've been overly demanding towards in my course of work, especially to consultants or contractors. So this is kind of a way of getting some balance?

Hahaha.

Thinking through the matter again. It's probably just me feeling rich at that point in time. I don't need that balance. I enjoy being demanding. Muahahaha!!!

Yvonne's Creative

This is going to be a long post about a not so good bridal studio in Singapore.

I've started writing this since I completed photo selection and layout. We still intend to get our actual dresses in one piece therefore we decided not to post until after our actual day.

It started off with us walking through the Tanjong Pager strip looking for a studio for our actual day gown and package. We dropped in a few and the sales person at Yvonne's Creative seemed to catch our interest and attention the best. Why? She was really upfront and confident in her sales and her company. Basically the sales pitch could be summarised with the following

"You will get anything you want and we'll make sure you are happy about it. If you are not, you call me and I'll get it sorted out for you."

That seemed pretty good in terms of commitment.

Before we decided to sign the package, we went online to view some forum reviews about the place. The reviews basically says the designers are very reluctant to make and changes and they always insist their design is best. We thought that sounded like the total opposite of what the sales person told us. It's probably the pride of the designer, cos the designs we saw in store were really quite nice.

So we decided to trust the sales person this time and signed on anyway. The interesting fact here is that soon after we signed on, the sales person got married in a flash and apparently was already pregnant. We have not seen her ever since. As the process went on, we realised the forums are telling the truth. The dress was quite nice in shape and form, but overall is still looks plain, not eye catching enough.

We asked the designer who is also the boss to add more details to enhance the design. Her defence was simply, this is the fashionable look now and it's meant to have this classic look. We ignored her, we wanted it to look nice the way we want it. We had to bug and whine about it several times before she relented. The improvements had to take a few times before it was acceptable to us. It's very tiring to argue abt design. VERY!!

We had to endure through similar processes for evening gown as well. Doubly tired.

Besides the gown, the bridal package also included a photoshoot and album. The photoshoot itself was fine. The photographer is not bad. After experiencing the service of the bridal packages in Taiwan, local studios really pale in comparison. Any way our complaint for this stage is actually during the photo editing part. The touch up artist basically pissed me off from the start.

Firstly, unfriendly attitude. Not sure if he was having a bad day, but he definitely was making my day pretty ugly.

Secondly, when I ask  him to edit the photo in a certain way, he seemed to be unable to make the edit. To cover his lack of capability, he simply said, "we dont do such edits here."

Finally, the last straw, when I told him the photo can be edited with certain functions. He once again said "we dont do such things here", but this time he added "I won't do it, you can do it yourself if you want".

After that, I refused to go through the photos with him anymore. I told him to just copy the softcopy versions to me and I'll arrange for another session after I have gone through the photos myself.

My final conclusion for anyone who may intend to use this bridal studio. If you really like to have their gowns for your wedding. Be prepared to fight them in their decisions. They are a pain and a waste of time.

Difference btwn Sales and Rental

Car sales tells u everything good abt the car. They will tell you how the car will complement u and make u better in every way.

Car rental tells u everything bad about the car and how important it is for u to be able to manage the flaws and not create anymore.

Haha.. Feelings I get while waiting for my bridal car to be wrapped and tied.

Final Countdown!!

It's the final lap and there are still things left to be done.

So tired at work, but work and life will go on. Bite on it.

Happy things Today

1. Boss not around and monkeys rule the office
2. Ate rice for lunch!!
3. Completed local photoshoot photo selection n layout

3 things that made me smile today

1. MCST part is settled for the renovation. Works can start on 16th.
2. Managed to do 2 pull-ups. My limit for the past few years was 1. 
3. I bought oyster sauce for my cooking!

Happy stuff

It's countdown time. exactly a month before the big day. The checklist just seems to get longer by the day.

Ridiculous amount of work in office doesn't exactly help.

But this post is about happy stuff. Gonna accumulate happy stuff from till the big day. Not sure why, but it seems like something fun to do.

So here goes

1. I woke up not feeling angry and crappy.

2. Nice guy directed me to this parking lot so that I can take over the spot. He gave me his coupons as well. Free parking!!

3. No sudden shit at work happening today! I even managed to be relatively nice to a consultant I scolded recently.

The day is approaching

12 12 12. That is the day that everything will change or will it?

At least what's happening now is we are doing so many things in preparation for that 1 big day.

It's going to be the single most important day of our lives thus far. So many things has been done. So many things are underway. So many more things to be done. And the checklist seems to get longer.

I know as time goes by, items will get checked off the list eventually. JIAYOU!!

My wallet has been scammed!!

Within a short duration of 3 weeks, 3 of my more frequently used cards were compromised.

Firstly, my DBS card got 3 transactions from iTunes which I did not authorise. I could pick out that anomaly instant when I browsed through my transaction history simply cos my iTunes was not linked to this card. I made a report to the bank and went down to the branch the next day to get my replacement card.

Yesterday I checked my UOB bill and found another iTunes entry. This time smaller amount but still not my account linked card. So I called UOB as well and cancelled the card.

Just 30mins ago, Citibank called and told me that my card was used at blizzard online store but was unsuccessful. WTH!!! Nevertheless the card was still cancelled and I'll have to wait for a new card.

Seriously, who the F*** is stalking me and stealing my details. Aside from my Citibank card, the rest are not used for any form of online transaction. Therefore I am simply dumbfounded.

On the bright side I get all new cards in my wallet. :p

Embarking on another milestone towards marriage

In a few hours, I'll be on my flight to Taipei. It's going to be a week long trip and the main objective is to get our photoshoot done. Choosing Taiwan was an attempt to be different an also an excuse for a getaway.

I've been so bogged down with work recently that my life basically revolves ard work. Work life balance is a myth for me currently.

Only because I had to leave for a week I managed to get that extra push to clear all my backlog. So much have been cleared and delegated last night.

So tired now.

I dreamt again

Had another dream this morning.

I was on a quest. A quest to look for my beloved fiancee. I had no idea why I was on this quest nor did I know where I was. I was at this place which looked alot like Clarke Quay. Colonial era shop houses lines the streets and it's also like an enormous Bugis junction cos the entire place was enclosed.

I got an sms from dear telling me she waiting for me at Kbox. I was feeling like 'okay, Kbox. where's the Kbox here?' I was still feeling ok as the place now feels semi-familiar and I start moving around to search for the Kbox. I remember passing by this huge candy empire shop, did not go in, but somehow its presence there left a mark in my dream.

After wandering around up and down a few escalators and through a few hallways, I ended up at this location. It was where I'm supposed to find the kbox, but it's not. It's a casino, or maye more like a jackpot place. I changed some tokens. I could clearly recall I exchange a dollar for 5 tokens (so cheap rite?!). I came to this machine and put in my first token, I don't remember what I betted on but I won. I won $3 worth of tokens on my first spin! (WOOHOO?!)

At that moment I got another sms from dear asking me where am I. So I left the casino with my tiny windfall and continue my search for the elusive Kbox.

The next thing I could recall was not being able to find the location. I ended up at a cafe and started up my laptop. I guess I would be trying to google for Kbox. a group of ppl started to gather around me and sat down next to me.

"Why are you taking so long?" they said. They looked kindda familiar so I presume they were sent by dear to look for me or help me? Anyway they prove me somewhat right when they went on say "we can give you a clue but you'll have to finish that"

And the waiter appeared with a huge block of steak, 1kg maybe. I think I was expressionless and went on with the challenge. I finished it somehow and was done with it. The guy next to me just told me, the clue is under my laptop.

I flipped it over and found a post-it...

I can't recall what it says as this is when I woke up.. another one of those frustrating dreams where u have no final answer!! arrgghh...

Nightmare of Bukit Timah Rd

Had a really vivid nightmare this morning.

I was travelling in a double decker bus. I was seated on the upper deck of the bus with my dear.

The bus was travelling along Bukit Timah Rd toward Rochor. I was somewhere around the stretch near HSO. The traffic was very heavy, in fact the roads were congested. I was looking out of the window and there were works going on at the HDB flat near Tekka Market. Not sure what work was is but there some some machine going up the elevator shaft.

As the machine went to the top of the building and started to come down. There were things flying out of the shaft. I was thinking rivets but they were probably nuts and bolts. Basically they had to be stuff which held the shaft to the building because at the next moment, the top half of the shaft began to buckle.

The shaft started bending downwards. At about a 45 degree angle, the shaft snapped and plummet onto the road below. Cars were smashed, horns went off. There was a crater where the broken shaft landed. Everything below it was simply flatten. Somehow it felt like we're the only one in the bus seeing this. Everyone else seemed oblivious to what just happened.

Then the scary part started. The portion of road where the shaft landed began to sink in entirely. The whole road collapsed. All the cars just disappeared from the surface as the road sank. We were 2 junctions away from the site. We did not feel any jerks or vibration, the road ahead just sank. The sinking moved towards our direction. It seemed to be determined to bring us down along with it. Somehow it stopped at the junction ahead of us. The rest of the people in the bus started to realised there was something wrong.

Dear and I ran down the steps of the double decker to the door of the bus and told the driver to let us out. The driver was a pain. He simply repeated that he was not given any instructions, everyone MUST stay in the bus. I believe I whacked the dumbass driver and opened the door myself. We got out of the bus and there was people all around us behaving frantically.

The last thing I remember before waking up was me shouting at everyone "Don't run!! Don't make any large movements!! Move slow away into the side roads."

Next thing I know I was sweating in my sofa. WTH.. Really...

Talking to a Potato

Talking to a potato is a skill that requires extreme patience. Today I've managed to control myself for 2.5hrs, wasting my precious time talking to a potato.

Characteristics of a potato

1. Tries to speak fast
2. Tends to stammer
3. Tends to talk in loops. ie self-repeating cassette
4. Unable to answer simple questions
5. Unable to communicate ideas across
6. Unable to understand simple points even after rephrasing it a dozen times, oh I tried Chinese too!!
7. Strongly resembles talking to a wall.

My personal recommendations, asks few and very simple questions. Don't expect full solutions, figure out alternatives first.

To prevent permanent brain trauma, avoid having conversations longer than 1hr.

Don't JUST Hang in There

Yesterday I woke up feeling tired and droopy.

Today I woke up feeling okay.

I hope tomorrow I'll wake up feeling stronger. I don't want to just hang in there, I want to break through.

There are endless things to do and bottomless to-dos to clear, but i'll have to start somewhere. Logically, I should start with what's important. But it's so hard to find what's important within a mountain of tasks to clear. So I end up clearing what's simpler to boost my own morale first. Then try to double up my speed and just clear everything.

It's just not possible, I can only do what I can now. For those I could not do today, I try to get to them tomorrow, but one thing for sure, I'll leave none unanswered.

Don't hesitate. Just do it!! 












千里之行，始于足下。
一分耕耘，一分收获。
努力不懈，永不言败！
守得云开，见月明。。。 加油！！

My Dream future of Land Transport

Currently, Singapore's roads are often congested by vehicles with single person occupying the car. There's a lot of wasted road capacity due to the number of 3/4 empty cars. My dream for the future of land transport is the development of modular vehicles. 

Modular vehicles will be made of detachable pods consisting of driver pods, passenger pods, storage pods and so on. The combination of required pods can be customised based on usage and change easily so that road space can be effectively used. 

For example, a family of 4 drives a 4 part pod out of their house in the morning. The father will commandeer the driver pod, the other members can each occupy a passenger pod. Each pod is connected to another, perhaps magnetically or even simply physically latched on. 

The combined vehicle will first travel to school to drop off the elder child. This passenger pod can be let off and stored at the school, the pod can also double as the kid's personal storage space. Next to the childcare centre to drop off the youngest child and his pod. Followed by the wife at her workplace along with her pod. Eventually when the father drives to his workplace, he will only have to drive his single pod. 

The wife's pod can also be a driver pod, which allows her to pick up the kids after school. It's basically 2 or more cars at the size of one saloon car now. 

There will also be much more flexibility in terms of usage and much higher fuel efficiency. Making the cars single occupancy reduces the size of the vehicle and opens up possibility to alternative power sources. I can only imagine the efficiency of our roads in this dream on mine. 

Perseverance is TOUGH!!

There's so much to do, so little me and time to go around.

Need to do faster, think faster, grow another pair of hands and brains. I need to clone myself!!

Everything I managed to clear some stuff new ones just seem to piled up even more.

I need to hang on till reinforcements reach.

Prioritise

Key word here is in the title.

Feeling overly tired recently cos there's a lack of priorities.

Gotta remind myself of the following in the coming weeks as things are getting more hectic very soon.

1. First things first
2. Important things firsts
3. Urgent things can often wait
4. 6pm is time to go home. Coming earlier is fine.

Let's see how things work out. :)

I cant help feeling like this

TIRED!!!

Going home already.. :/

On transit train now to KLIA LCCT. We stood outside the train just now like dum dums, cos the train doors were closed. Train was abt to leave in a min. Then this other passenger came and pressed a button on the door and it opened!!

You can't imagine how "smart" that made us felt....

Got free wireless on the train too. Also noticed that trains here have emergency ventilation panels. Why don't we have that?!?!

Had a relaxing time here, simply cos we were tourists. It seems the pace if life here in KL is just as hectic as SG, if not more. The place is flooded with expats as well.

Touch Down @ KLIA LCCT

It's my first time to KLIA, only now I know they have a budget terminal too. And it's name is actually worst than our budget terminal. LCCT, stands for Low Cost Carrier Terminal!! Super LC!!!

But they do have much more stuff here than our budget terminal.

Oh btw, there's Old Town here but the price is not cheap.. So sad. Shldn't it be half of sg price at least??

2012

It's a new year.

It's going to be an exciting one. There will be so much on my to-do list.

First off, I have a daily schedule to follow with regards to exercising. I seriously hope to follow it as closely as I can. If I can pull this off, I'll be the old me in record time. To pull this off, I'll need huge support from me beloved. There's no way and no point for me to do this by myself.

And that first task is my foundation step to achieve the next following

Ippt
Photoshoot
Wedding

12/12/12 will be the biggest date on my calendar, it's so exciting!! It's so scary as well.

This time last year, I was planning for my proposal. This time we're planning for the final leg of journey before entering a new phase. Most things still seem to be order, i hope it all turns out as planned and as arranged.

*FINGERS CROSSED***

New hair - old me

I've been fashioning my new short hair the past week. People have been asking why cut. My answer so far has more or less been just wanting a change in hairstyle.

In retrospect it's probably more of wanting to be the old me. This was my hairdo for many years in the past. This was also Wat I had when I was most physically active. I want to be active again...

Win-Win Situation

I was at the mixed vegetable rice stall yesterday during lunch. There's this guy ahead of me ordering. At first I felt he was quite rude rude and impatient to the auntie serving us.

But when paying for the food, the guy gave the auntie a $10 bill and asked her to keep the $1 change. It's quite surprising to see a Chinese person with that gesture. Anyway, the auntie immediately had a wide smile on her face.

At the same time the guy asked for chopsticks and since the cutlery were closer to me than any of them, I instinctively grabbed two pairs and passed it to the guy. Smiles and "thank you"s went around.

Auntie acknowledged my assistance and started talking to me. She said it had been some time since I visited her stall. I'll be super surprised if she really recognises me. I just nodded anyway.

In the end my food servings for that meal was slightly more generous than usual.

A true Win-Win for all. Heh

Day 2 of Walk n Jog

Covered 5 km from home to Waterloo St in slightly under an hr. Quite relaxing pace. Which means doing this in the morning daily is definitely within means.

It is a Start!! :)

Did not manage to leave house on time, but did manage to get 3km on my mileage and reach office on time.

Better luck (i mean decision making) next week!!

An Awesome Plan Not To Be

The plan was to be up at 5.30, leave by 6. Take a jog or walk to office. Take a shower, start work before 8.

I was up by 5.30, but I gave in to the zzzz monster. I was up again at 6, but the monster won again.

This must not continue. I'm blogging this to serve as my reminder that this will be the last time the monster wins.

Home Ridden

I had do much on my to-do list for the week, but I had to be sick? I chose to stay home instead of going to office. I could if I wanted to, but I'll be coughing everyone's ears off like what I did to myself on Sunday night. I was waking myself up every hour. It was more irritating than uncomfortable.

Went to the doc's and got myself some meds. Doc said he wun be giving antibiotics cos he wants to give my body some time to foggy back on its own. I totally agree that Shld be the way. But I know now that meant more time was needed. That explained my 2nd day at home.

I was already change and prepared to go to work after much painful dragging and forcing myself to get ready. When I was about to get out of the house I realised I was not ready. My entire body was telling me "no" and so I went to extend my mc.

I think I'm feeling much better now. Not sure if I'm ready to face the heaps of work that will be welcoming me jn the morning but I'll do what I can.

Take the first step to a shift in Paradigm

After a 3 days course on 7 habits of highly effective people. I'm telling myself and getting myself to get into a positive change. Over the next few weeks, I'll be getting into a changed mode. I'll be training myself to think differently from the very foundation.

Paradigm shift will be the aim on the 7 weeks.

Physically it's time to make use of my Vibram Shoes
Mentally it's time for more self-discipline
Socially it's time to really listen to the people who mattered
Spiritually it's time to clearly define my personal missions and long term goals

Be Warned!! Change in on the horizon!! :)

Interesting Conversation

Me: You may never find the right chance. You have to create them yourself.

Dear: Go ahead sign off..

Me: Har?

Dear: You just made a quote, sign off..

Me: You may never find the right chance. You have to create them yourself. -Lim Peh, 2011-

Good Day @ Paintball

Had been playing paintball for slightly more than a year. And today I felt like I'm finally getting better. Took a while but yes I think I'm improving. Still quite amateurish, but i'm getting there. It's really quite something for someone with more airforce radio-telephony background than any "chiong-sua" experience.

I think I got like 5 "kills" today. That's like average 1 per game and managed to stay alive more often than not!! Woohoo! hahahaa.

iPhone Newbie

Been spending the past day getting used to my new iPhone 4S. Manually keying my 300 contacts to the new phone. Finding a few apps to download. Getting used to iTunes.

Just tried out Siri, seems likes it works but it's kindda laggy. And I do feel weird talking to the phone, when the phone takes a while to answer.

6hrs to my first IPhone

Due to the demise of my samsung ultra touch, i'm going to convert to an Iphone user pretty soon. it's kindda exciting. hahaa.

My Samsung Ultra Touch S8300

My Ultra Touch has just passed away. Yesterday it showed symptoms of failing. The touch screen became half dead. And today, it went fully dead. It's a sign!!

Hello IPhone! :P

Old and Fragile

You know you are getting older when a day of IPT + a day of volleyball gets you slumping in bed the entire day. And I still can't feel my legs!! :(

Bye Gong Gong & Po Po

About a week ago, I was told my grandfather was admitted to the hospital. He years of smoking in his early life has finally done him in. 


However it still does not change the fact how drastically his health deteriorated from when I met him just a few weeks back. I brought mooncake back for him and also my maternal grandparents. It was the first time I bought mooncake for my grandparents with money I've earned. That was a moment which I felt really proud of myself. 


Looking back now, I suddenly realized how much older everyone around me has become. Suddenly, I'm no longer the kid I was 10yrs back. We are so gradually thrown into new surroundings and adapt to them. That's growing up, but we won't notice it. There's simply no time to take a break and have a good look around us. 


Now grandfather has passed, and I'm at the funeral for the night again. There's time for me to quietly look around me. Look at those relatives I have. Look at all things that have happened in the past. There's no definitely right or wrong in all those past actions and the stories I've been told. It's all a matter of perspective. What's right to one can be very wrong to another. We have to learn to accept our differences. Not condone them, but accept that we are all different. And from a different pair of eyes, the world is a very different place and everyone also appears different to each individual.


I'm fortunate to have spent some part of my life living with him and my grandmother. And now, I want to write down some of the memories I have of them. So that 1 day, I may look back at it again if I forget. 


To me, my grandmother was plump old lady who likes to hug me whenever I arrive or leave for my Yishun home. She cooks and is also a full-time couch potato. She likes to watch TV, sometimes it does seem she doesn't really get the storyline but at least the shows were entertaining back then. Remember those days when SBC was actually entertaining rather than propagating? 


She usually sits at the 3-seat sofa in front of the TV, she would have a pillow behind her back so that she could lean back onto the arm rest and watch TV. She would very often watch TV until she fell asleep. Sometimes I feel she's needs the TV to get asleep. 


She's always concerned about is having enough food, food is always plenty when we are there. During CNY, there's always Shark's Fin Soup. Come to think about it, it's been 10 yrs since I last had it from her. I miss the table full of food during CNY. 


Those were the days when MRT had just begun, she had fears about taking the train, it just seemed too alien for her and she didn't want to walk to the stations. I remember she would sometimes come stay with me at the Yishun house during holidays, she would take a cab. Costed less than $10 to get from Commonwealth to Yishun then. 


Grandfather was a quiet man, thin guy. He doesn't talk much, grandma usually does most of the talking it seems. He was a cook at a hotel, I don't really remember if I've ate anything which he has cooked cos the chef at home is usually grandma. He's a tough man healthy most of his life, smoking and alcohol seems to be his simple pleasures after work. He doesn't talk much and my memories of him are little. I do remember that he always sits in the single seater chair next to the alter, facing the TV.

He seems to like shopping at cold storage, I remember he once brought me to Queenstown, which was pretty much like the town centre back then. We ate something there, can't remember what, but I do remember he bought some frozen fried stuff back. Most probably fish fingers or scallops. Those were among my favourites.

Hearing some of the old stories some of my uncles talk about their time with grandma and grandpa gave me new insights and new perspectives into their personalities. My memories of them are bits and pieces, we see things at face value, not really knowing why they did certain things in particular ways. These stories for others make the image of them as a person, slightly more complete.

In his final days I visited him at the hospital quite often. I was there the night before he left, I felt proud to be the grandson who could still communicate with him in hainanese but it was difficult to find the right thing to say. Each night before I left I told him, "I'm getting married next year, you need to get well because I want you to be at my wedding."  The 1st night I went, he could not respond, I was not even sure if he could see me. On the last night, his eyes were bright and wide and I was very sure he could see me clearly. He responded to us and nodded when I told him he needs to get better to attend my wedding.

I was happy when I left that night, but sadly he left the next morning. I knew he tried to stay.

Midway Oct 2011

2 weeks into October and i'm feeling swarmed. Work is there as always. Somehow there's so many other things on my mind I just cant focus.

No matter how much we can multi-task. We can still only focus at 1 task at one time.

When September Ends

There's this song in the CD which is playing all the time in my car which has this line "when september ends". I seriously can't remember the title suddenly. But that's not important.

It time to look back at the past 30 days and ponder what had been done, what had not and what will be up next!!

F1 is over, I had a fun experience being involved. Perhaps more than I should be, but I always enjoyed being more involved in whatever I get involved in. There were some cockups and I've found a description for JOC (Joint Olways Cockup). Many would agree with me on that.

Much of the month had been spending doing last time preparation and amendments to the plan for F1. In the end, you may wonder why bother cos it will not fail. It will just happen and be over. Well, if we did not scamper around with our tiny modifications and improvements here and there. It may be over for good. Not trying to get big headed, but i think it's true.

Just as I thought there would be time for me to relax after F1, realization came that I'm still being bogged down by daily work. I would like to share with everyone that the daily work load here is HEAVY!! The only way you can clear everything is to give haphazard answers and do a half-F*** job. I try not to do that, which is why my home is now my 2nd home. :P

IPT has begun, had my 1st session on Wednesday. Super lethargic, can't feel my shins for the past 2 days. Let IPT be the beginning of my wonderous task of losing 35kg by June 2012. So lunch khakis, please watch my diet. Friday supper buddies, let's just drink tea. Hahahaa.

Hello October!!!

Fleeting August

I don't want this post to be another one of my "time passes so quickly" posts, but I can't help it!!!

Too little time too much stuff to do. I'm getting myself entangled in a quicksand of work. I need a long break, like weeks long. Unfortunately I can't afford it, cos gotta save up the leave for next year!!

Highlights of August.

1. I stayed late in office for several nights during 7th month, felt nothing, saw nothing.

2. Very disappointed TCB did not win PE.

3. Pre-F1 preparation 90% done.

4. Got a good lesson on expectations of grassroots. They are a very unique breed.

5. Settled on Wedding Bands!!

6. Found a not bad massage near my place

7. Weekends are getting filled with activities!! Paintball/Badminton/Volleyball!!

End July

More than a month have past once again.

Time just seems so insufficient when I start working. I've been working for more than a year it seems. I still feel i'm quite new to the job. There's still passion in me to improve the things around. I still feel there's contribution to be made, efforts to be put in.

It's been so busy the past few weeks, I've probably lack time breathing. Somehow I feel it's just going to get even busier. Prioritizing is really something I need to do more.

LIDO & IMAX

Lido has just completed it's renovation. The whole place went under a huge facelift, but unfortunately the new design simply does not appeal to me. Gone are all the Mac, KFC, Pastamania, LJS, Subway. In their place is a shick white wall laden with Samsung TVs as posters and a box office 3 times it's original size. Now Lido is just a cinema, it's no longer a place to hangout. That was really really sad, considering all the closing speech i've heard on the final day that they are a management who treasures tradition and will want to preserve as much as they can. I think they lost the focus.

HOWEVER

IMAX 3D is a revelation, even Pirates of the Caribbean looked awesome under those screens. It was an overwhelming experience. The screen was humongous and the 3D effects are all "jumping at you" type. This movie experience is really $$ worth spending. It was really an "immerse in the movie" experience. Try it and you'll love it. Choose seats wisely, middle seats will be awesome side seats will make you feel a little distant from the fun, but not much less awed.

Conclusion: LIDO, come for IMAX because there's nothing else left worth coming for. :P

Life after Life

Major changes in my life and the life in Singapore.

I'm engaged and the opposition now controls a GRC! And people who are giving feedback are getting even more aggressive and unreasonable. The authority doesn't owe you a living, you know!!?? And yes we pay just as much taxes as you do. We are not your servants!!

Work is getting more hectic and more cramped, 24hrs is no longer enough for a day.

Loads of work and quite a few projects on hand. I don't feel totally overloaded, but I can't focus for long without getting distracted by something else. Just look at how long it took me to blog about all that I've just said and about to say. hahaa.

Will be needing more breaks, but all the more I cannot afford more breaks.. Conflicting irony. WTH!

The painstakingly long project to convert attach to engaged (Egomaniac Me)

Planning began as early as Dec 2010. It took me a long time to run through my mind what are the processes, who to get involve, where to do it, when to do it, how to do it. It's basically a one man operation to begin with, which ended up as the biggest affair conjured in all my 29 years.

Feb 2011, I started roping in her clique and slowly her sisters get involved as well, then I got her colleagues to be in cahoots with me as well. For a good 3 months, she was living under a huge cover-up which was largely unknown to her. Being able to be the mastermind behind this operation really showed me how much i've known her over the years. Every single little reaction of hers was within calculation in the end. I'm sinisterly glad how good i am at that.

Getting in touch with various cinema providers and blazing through my mind for the movie to play and the meaning behind everything was a gargantuan task. There had to be a meaning behind every detail, from the the movie title, to the proposal clip, to the background music even the certification date on the proposal ring. One would think that ridiculous amount of planning had to go into this. Yes, alot of planning went in, but not everything was planned, many things just simply fell into place. I had to have quite a bit of faith and luck. Fate and chance had a large part to play in many parts. In the end I believe fate has decided we are meant to be together, so don't even think about otherwise. Muahahaa.

12 May 2011, Cineleisure Orchard. There was a movie titled "Surprise" to be shown. Under the disguise of a surprise movie screening, that was how this project was to be executed. In order to camouflage the familiar faces from her, there had to be many others who had to play the part of the smoke screen. Thanks to the help of many of my colleagues, the place was well filled and the setup up to the moment was fantastic.

Honestly, it's painfully difficult to be so exciting about the whole thing for so long and yet withhold all that excitement when I see her everyday. The final moments were the toughest, many times I smiled sheepishly at her. She was always expecting something, but i've already laid a decoy long ago so that she would suspect something else. Although she said she expected a proposal at the end, I don't think so. :P

Thanks to the help of everyone involved, my entire plan was able to play out as well as it did. Although it was not perfect, but I believe the imperfections in the pursuit of perfections will leave just as deep an impression in her, myself and everyone else who has turned up to share this wonderful moment with us.

THANK YOU ALL!!

GE 2011

This year is the first General Election where most Singaporeans are given the opportunity to vote for the party which we feel should be forming the government. For the first time in our 40 odd year history did the opposition parties seriously rise up to give a challenge to the ruling party.

I'm not sure if I've been so indoctrinated by the policies as i grew up or i simply have a very very neutral mind to tell that some opposition candidates are plain jokers. Not to say that I support all the new candidates from the ruling party, there are a few who do not seem to be the best fit for the job.

But I do understand one thing, the flaw in democracy is democracy itself. It makes the assumption that the citizens know best and will choose for the best outcome. The truth is, all the citizens know the end goal, they want a good life, good everything. But not everyone know how to get to the end goal and the government has to be the one leading the citizens in this pursuit.

More difficult here is a "good life and a good everything else" may vary from one to the other. If only we can gather everyone with the same goals and put them in one country. That would make the job of all governments in this world have a much easier time. The down side, peace within countries, but like chaos among countries.

Anyway, back to GE. Results this year is also a turning point in our political history. And from my layman understanding of the results. This is what I see.

Generally Singaporeans are now more educated, voters especially. Before this election, there is a sense that the country is run in a "everything the government says is right" way. Because the government is always right, no one said otherwise until this year, there had been so much opposition voices coming forward. So much so that it brings out all the little unhappiness everyone has about the government and amplifies them. I'm skeptical that singaporeans hate the ruling  party as much as the results shows. But some opposition party did do well to really amplify all those tiny unhappiness and amplify them so big that they mattered.

All in all I still think the government had done a wonderful job bringing us to where we are, and perhaps this change is something we need to bring us even further into the future. Nothing is perfect, development of a government/country especially, don't expect this small in the political scene to make everything perfect miraculously.

*being a civil servant or public servant will never be what it used to be*

Mind Overloaded - Off-loading Time

I've not updated my blog in quite along while. and there has been so many things in my mind which I've been wanting to share. So in order not to have a super long post, which sometimes makes reading tough. I'll be posting a series of short posts to try to cover everything I wanted to share.

What type of person is susceptible to what type of stress?

Why does a person becomes stressed? Or why do I feel stressed?

Well, stressed up is a feeling i get when something matters to me. Stressed up abt work, abt each project, abt each consultation and every feedback I get. I get the feeling from the moment I get a job to until the final instant that the job is closed. Why so stressed? Cos it's my job, to feel stressed about it is to have ownership to it. But sometimes, just too many people asking too many thing at one go, just doesn't help. I'm not avoiding the issue, I just need a refreshed and opened mind to restart the whole thought process.

Well, I get stressed easily, cos there are many things happening other than just work. And nowadays work seems to be getting the bulk of the attention. Several other things like personal life and volleyball have taken a back seat. It's time to balance everything again.

Not to mention election. Although I've already made my decision on it, it's still stressful.

Like I said before, if it matters, it stresses you up. The only way to be stress-free is to not care.

Here i am thinking abt this and that. Jamming my head with this and that.

I learnt another lesson from my storybook again. (Terry Goodkind - The Sword of Truth Series) You can care about everything, one just have to decide when to care about which one. It's a good read, i'm only 2/3 thru the whole series of 12 books. Lots of life lessons to be learnt from this book.

1 year of working

It's probably an irony to be staying home on the day that marks my 1st year into working life. I've been kept awake the entire night!! Not sure why, probably just stressed and pressure. I was in my favourite sleeping position and yet I couldn't fall asleep. And when I think I've fallen asleep (I was no longer aware of my surroundings) I started having a nightmare of sorts. I realised my surroundings when my aircon went off at 6am as it does everyday. It's just super disturbing and irritating. Like I have not slept at all.

It gave me a terrible headache when it's time to go to work. I washed up and ironed my clothes, I was ready to change. I decided otherwise, I just had an indication that my brain is totally going to be switched off today. So I took the day off and rested the day away.

And I'm feeling much better now, still kindda traumatised by the dream though. :P

How not to start a week

Felt giddy on Saturday, skipped paintball :(
Blocked nose and headache on Sunday, screwed up volleyball :(
All the above plus cough on Monday, messed up work schedule :(

Slightly better on Tuesday, managed to survive half alive. :)

Please let Wednesday be better!! :)

The Beginning of a Long Weekend

For the first time I enter a weekend with more than 100 emails still unread in my inbox. uurrggghhh!! That's just besides the point.

Long weekend is here, lots of things to do over the weekend. Watched SOURCE CODE just now. It's a good movie with an interesting plot. It's somewhat like matrix, inception but yet another totally different concept of its own. Nice. Good Watch.

Competitive Volleyball

Have not played at such an intensity for a long long time. My whole body is now aching like hell. I missed the days which I played with a regular team of players week in week out. I wonder if I still have it in me to sustain high intensity training.

Shortest Work Week EVER!!!

I'm so looking forward to this week. Monday to Wednesday on course. Thursday back at work. Friday is GOOD FRIDAY!! Muahahaa!!!

Time for a break

Stayed till super late today, cos i'll be on leave tml and on cse from mon to wed next week. Have so much stuff to clear. I can't believe the amount of issues I had to respond to after dealing with the urgent issue. Then again, after that urgent issue, I just kept getting 1 urgent after another. Not to forget meetings after meetings. Seriously!!   I think there's something wrong with our workflow. Nothing much I can do abt it, not at this stage at least.

I'm so happy there's someone waiting for me with dinner when I work late. Thank you! :)

April's Fool??

While many ppl are happily collecting their bumper bonuses, there are few lucky ones like me who have only to look in envy at the bulge of others' wallets. oh well, facts of life, you don't always get rewarded for what you have worked for. here's a another fact, you can't stop trying harder either.

The next few months is going to be a trial for myself. Taking up the numerous tasks and projects. I'm testing myself, stretching my time. Will I be able to pull them all off? Or will I end up burnt at both ends, only time will tell. I just hope i'll get better with each task and wiser with each hurdle.

Simple goals, arduous journey...

Multitude March

Ever since coming back from Hanoi, March had been pretty eventful. Ups and downs, disappointments and hope. It's this kind of time when it seems nothing seems to be going well, yet it seems there's hope that things will take a turn for the better. Lot's of new things happening around me too.

Got my first bunch of credit cards. Citibank. It's so easy to get them, instant issuance at vivocity branch. Quite cool actually, and I got 3 cards at one go. Aside from the M1 card which I know I'm going to use it to pay bills, I'm still confused when to use the rewards card and when to use the dividend card. Anyone with advice?

I got a new TO this week. There had been quite a few staff who came in after me, but this time I feel like I've been in TM for a while. Perhaps cos he'll be working with me, and suddenly I feel like a senior. Hahaha. Not really sure who to distribute the workload around in future. For now, its me and my buddy going through almost everything together, but 3 guys going thru the same thing together seems redundant. That means i'll need to find a new way to redistribute the workload once his honeymoon period is over.

I believe we had a roadkill today while doing our site check. It was an unfortunate incident involving a very reckless animal. I wanted to go back to take a look, but my buddy avoid the route. I just hope this is not a bad omen, the last time I saw a road kill, I flunk my O'lvls.

Sapa Twist & DBS vs UOB

After spending 8 hours on the train, I've arrived at Sapa. It's nice and cool, the weather is just wonderful.Totally reminds me of the weather back in yellowstone. Cold, foggy, snow-like raindrops. The hotel i'm staying at also reminds me of the hotels in yellowstone. Very wooden but not as classy.

An unfortunate event occur today during the first part of my hike into the native villages. My wallet was stolen, the side pocket where I kept my wallet was open when I was trying to get money to pay for lunch. I was really annoyed with myself then. However I tried to convince myself that it was probably left at the hotel and there was still chance of finding it. Nope!! no such luck, it was not there and the wallet was gone. Luckily this was my holiday wallet, only 2 card and some money inside. Good thing I still have some spare USD to spend, so things were not too bad.

What I really want to comment about was the difference in service level for DBS and UOB. So yah those were the 2 cards that went missing along with the wallet.

First I called DBS, after verifying my IC number, the  service person agreed that the card would be suspended immediately. When she asked me if I wanted to be given a replacement, I said yes. It was a new card, just issued not long ago. She went on to ask several other questions to verify my identity, most of which I couldnt remember at hand. She asked for things like if my account was a salary payable acc, wat were the details of my last transaction, acc no. and even i had any giro arrangements for this acc. But WTH!! I just lost my card, I want a replacement sent to my home address, how much security do you need for that?? The bank records have my address, i'm not going to tell them to send to some 3rd party location.. simply duhzZ.. I told the person I was overseas so I did not have access to all tha tinformation she needs. So I had to solve the situation myself by telling her that i'll call DBS again when I get back to Sg to get a replacement card. The best part was that checked with her if any transaction was made in the past few hrs. She told me she could not reveal anything. she still doesnt believe that i'm who I am! wth!!

In contrast, UOB had much better customer service and verification were so much easier. Just full IC number, credit limit, and when I answered my limit slightly off, she followed abt asking my current employer, which i answered correctly. That was it and they suspended the card and asked me if I needed a card couriered to where I am. How nice? They even informed me that my card has been unused in the past 24hrs so that i could have a piece of mind. The level of service is so very different.

I'm so disappointed with our local homegrown DBS. It's time to relook into useless and pointless procedures.  Thanks to the customer service of DBS, I have struck off 1 bank from my choice of credit card banks to look at for my application.

Still in Hanoi

I'm still here in Hanoi. I'm enjoying it. I'm staying in a hotel with impeccable service. They are so proactive, i felt scared. It's too much for a singaporean. The westerners simply loved it. The amazing thing is that they seem to provide the same level of service even though we are asians who are often known for not being able to reciprocate the same sort gratefulness the westerners are able to provide.

Hanoi is fast-paced, yet there's a zen feeling about it. You can feel that sense when you cross the roads here. Traffic lights basically have no meaning for the people and the motorists here. no one cares cos no one needs them. people cross wherever they want and whenever they want. Here's the zen magic, the pedestrians never ever turn to look at the traffic, and the vehicles will always seem to weave around the pedestrian without even losing a beat. How amazing is that? You will not know the feeling until you try it. There is order in chaos. I have not see any accident between the vehicle and the pedestrian over the past few days and the roads are super super packed.

The food here is great. Lots of veges, lots of mint and basil in everything. That's probably the reason why I don't see any rounded bodies around me. Probably also the fact that the average annual wage is 7-800USD. I'm sure there's also an elite rich class here. It's just that i'm not in the right city to see them, not that I care to see them. The pho (noodles) and the banh xeo (rice paper wraps) are some of the stuff that we liked here. Yummy Yummy.. Food is quite cheap here, but I believe it's still inflated due to the tourist attraction.

Loads of places have internet access, and i'm typing on a hotel provided IBM thinkpad right now!! Another fantastic service from the hotel. hahaa. But somehow, facebook is being blocked here. No way I could load the page. interesting.

I'll be off to another part of Vietnam tml evening. Sapa valley, a place where we are going to meet up with the local tribes and probably live among them for a while. Looking forward to it. :)

Not Enough Rest

It's been a month since my last post. There's been so many instances that I wanted to blog about something so many times there are things happening that i wanna just record down before I forget about it. But you know what? I'm always so tired when I get home, I fall asleep soon after I turn on the com. And I've also forgotten about what I wanted to blog abt.

Few hours ago, I was thinking abt something, I wanted to blog abt it. But by now, it's out of my mind already!!!

Amnesia + Parkinsons + Dementia + Alzheimer

Aargghh!! WTH!!

2011 - A New Beginning

It's been 2 weeks into the new year and things are happening at quite a fast pace. I have experienced for the first time the change in work pace at the turn of the year. Immediately as the holidays ends my inbox gets filled in a pace pumped with steroids. It's quite scary actually, i was getting used to the 2nd gear speed of daily work for the past few months. Suddenly things are happening so much faster.

Luckily I have this knack of getting used to new things/environment quite easily. I think I'm quite up to speed already, but the thing is my schedule is simply packed. Having enrichment courses going on at the same time doesn't really help the situation. Those days while i'm gone, I can only hope that people realize i'm not around and relent a little in their bombardment. Alas, it doesn't work that way.

New year, new experiences. I've have several things on my agenda which i'm trying to push for. I hope I can achieve them and make some good improvements in my area. I'll have to be determine to follow through with what i've started and make progress. I just hope i'm not killing myself by juggling the multiple locations i'm trying to handle. Time to psycho myself. All is WELL!! hahaa

Tried a new dim sum restaurant friday night at location where I used to have my sichuan food. Operated by the same chain, the taste of the sichuan food has changed slightly. I wonder if I could get them to do it the way they used to if I requested. Anyway, the dim sum was not bad. It's a breath of fresh air from the usual place we always hangout on friday nights. The menu had many interesting items as well. Most exciting of all was Durian Muah Chee. The durian was really rich, the skin was relatively thin, so it basically bursts in your mouth. Quite shiok.

Also tried paintball for the first time today. It really felt good pulling the trigger and seeing the pellets fly. But as a first timer, there are many lessons I learnt today. Painful lessons. It was an exhilarating experience. time passes very fast in the few games that we played. The location has pretty good facilities and the equipment were quite well maintained. Definitely would be something I would return for. Down side is simply the price. It's not a cheap past time.

Open mind, Open heart, the year will be good ahead. :)

Mixed Feelings

Dear is back - Happy!


Completed RT- IPPT today, slightly improved on my running time - Happy!


Whole body aching after IPPT - SHAG!!


Had a nice dinner, bah chor mee + satay + rojak - Fulfillment!! Guilty at the same time!!


Managed to clear all my emails yesterday - Happy!!


Just realised while I cleared my work yesterday, I actually missed a wedding dinner of someone impt to me - super super sad and guilty!!


My Short Term Targets: 
To Achieve 75kg by 30 May 2011
Currently 105kg with 160 days left
Lost 4kg and used 50 days

A night before returning to my real world

Having spend almost a week here, i've learnt..... a lot really.. first and foremost i have to say this wasnt what i expected. I had expected much more work to be done, laborious stuff that should be done on missionary trips. But no, this was a family visit in an unfamiliar place. We were well taken care of and we had lots of play time with the nieces.

While we spent most of our time within the house compound and garden, it was easy to realise that we are not in our element. It would have been difficult for us to survive here. The people here don't look like the usually indons we are used to, they were aborigines. They looked more african than asian, and like seeing any race for the first time. They all looked the same!!! It was tough to tell one from the other. We dare not try to talk to anyone either, they had this fierce look in their eyes.

There seemed to be some familiar type of indon faces as well, but those were not the majority. There were also a few chinese. While the general feel is that the place is full of people who are poor and made living of simple crafts and small crops. There also seems to be people are are very rich, huge house on hilltops, large 4-wheel drive all-terrain vehicles.

There are no mega malls here, as far as shopping centres, the largest was one at Jayapura, the main city of the province. It consists of a pizza hut, KFC and a supermarket. Supermarkets always make me feel at home, no matter what country i'm in. Seeing a supermarket always makes me feel i can survive in that place. Much like the same feeling i had when I saw walmart for the first time in US. SHIOK...

Most of the time spent here was within the house, the house was huge by singapore standards but really quite cheap. I had a lot of time reliving my childhood with the kids. Playdoh, make-believe, lego, watching cartoons. The rest of the time I was indulging in my storybook. 900pages of it, and i've just finished it in less than 6 days!! That felt like running through 25 episodes of CSI or something and I just wanna get home and start on my next book. That would have to wait.

Back home, i know what awaits. Work and more work. RT as well. I hope I have rested enough over this trip to be recharged for the final dash of the year. This is supposed to be a lull period for the public sector, but i do have a few need-to-dos on my list.

In Unfamiliar Land

Arrived in West Pupua/Irian Jaya today. It's a different place to me in. culture shock is the word. I have no idea how to communicate with them. It's going to be a tough week ahead if we are to try to explore around here. Our main purpose here is to visit yanli's nieces. They are super excited to see us, even more excited when they see all the new books and gifts they are getting. The stuff we have to lug over is super heavy, but we somehow managed. Phew. 


Thanks to the attacks on the cyber world recently. This blog had actually disappeared for a short while. That kindda got me lost for a while. I have not saved the blogs for this year and it would be super sad if I had lost all those records. This is where I record part of my memories and I would very much like to have them available. So it's time to back up again!! :)


My Short Term Targets:
To Achieve 75kg by 30 May 2011
Currently 105kg with 172 days left
Lost 4kg and used 38 days

Changing Times

Last week had been another one of those busy weeks. But bonus has been announced, it's good, but mine will still be pro-rated. Quite sore about that but it's still better than nothing. That also meant that i'll getting my first bonus ever since starting work. sound cool.. looking forward to it.

Results for HDB balloting was out.. and the results sucks!! my application was beyond the 300% mark for the queue number, thus it was deemed as an unsuccessful application. That really sucked when they kept sending letters in november informing that my results would be out in november. I really liked that place!! AARRGGHH!!! Now we just have to wait again for a suitable BTO to appear or hope that there are leftover flats offered for this location soon...

Watched a few movies this week, cos it's been awhile since I catch up with the movies. I'm still lagging behind. there are still movies i've not watch but at least i'm trying to catch up with the popular ones. Watched "Harry Potter" and "Easy A" over the week. I like this Harry Potter, it's dark and somewhat gloomy and much more adult minded then the earlier versions. After reading the final book, I already knew that this last installment is more about death than anything else. I think that part of the book was very well done in the movie. Super looking forward to the final movie and perhaps a movie marathon just before the end.

Easy A is a well done movie. Funny, lame but really sweet in the end. Well recommended too.

My Remedial Training has begun for this year. Met guoping at the training session. I was quite surprised he has to do RT too.. But at least now there's someone I know to go training with me. We did 1 good thing today, we change our RT schedule to Sunday mornings with Tues evening. That schedule make some of my upcoming events easy to manage, so i'm actually happy about that!! :)


My Short Term Targets: 
To Achieve 75kg by 30 May 2011
Currently 106kg with 184 days left
Lost 3kg and used 26 days

Kaboom!!!

I finally managed to begin washing by bicycle. I made good progress and the bike wash pretty much cleaned. All I needed to do was to fill the tyres and I use it to get back onto the road again. But... 


人算不如天算，命运永远不是掌握在自己手中。乐极生悲，喜极成泣。。。 


my tyre "pong chiek"!! super depressed.... yet it was not unexpected, cos i believe the rubber tubing inside could have already harden by now. so now i'm going to look for spare tubings.. and also some spray paint.. time for extreme makeover.. muahaha!!


自强不息！！:P


My Short Term Targets: 
To Achieve 75kg by 30 May 2011
Currently 106kg with 193 days left
Lost 3kg and used 17 days

Home Hoping

Closing date for application was last week. I've been waiting anxiously for a positive answer since a few weeks back. It's nail biting i tell you. aarrgghhh.. the best part is that they can still send me letters informing me about having to prepare my supporting documents when i get my balloting queue in Nov last week... it's already Nov!! This week they send me another letter telling me i'm in the first applicants group and results of the ballot will be out in Nov! How many times do they have to tell me that results will be out in Nov?? Especially when it's already Nov!! DuhzZ!!


It has been a busy week, somehow my issues seems to be involving higher level people. That's really stressful, and the multi-layer clearance needed to get to that level make my message so distorted by the time it reaches up there. It weird actually. Everyone does things based on a standard, this standard is supposed to be the same standard but yet everyone can have a different understanding and perception of the standard and that leads to very different results. It like the chinese saying "一种米养百种人“. I believe some people can't understand my analogies but that's how i feel. 


My goal for weight loss seems to be hitting a blockade. No volleyball this week. No dosage of exercise. Only maintaining my carbo during lunch only diet. Even though I did take come potato and bee hoon for dinner recently. But the weight is still maintaining. I'll be cleaning up my bike tml. Next week it's time to start using it. Muahahaa.


My Short Term Targets: 
To Achieve 75kg by 30 May 2011
Currently 106kg with 194 days left
Lost 3kg and used 16 days

My other Prongs of Actions

I'm going to wash and clean up my bike soon. Then i'll be able to cycle to work early in the morning and get some workout done. It might not be a everyday thing to start with, cos I think i'll be drained after doing it the first time. It has been ages since I cycled to somewhere.


The 1 meal carbo per day thing seems to be okay, sustainable for now. However its really hard to find stuff to eat for dinner without carbo. 


Today I shocked my office vball mates with my enormous amounts of perspiration. Hah!! I always get that when I start wringing my t-shirt. hahaa. 


My Short Term Targets: 
To Achieve 75kg by 30 May 2011
Currently 105kg with 202 days left
Lost 4kg and used 8 days

Busy week again

"Busy" seems to be the word popping up most often in my blog recently. There just seems to be too much work going on. Somehow i'm not able to clear the backlog every time i get back into office. It may be normal to have stuff piled up in my line of work. But I cant stand it!!! I want it gone!! I want the backlog cleared!!!! Aarrgghh... 


I must find some ways to do things faster, analyse faster and more accurately, reply effectively. THINK FASTER!!!


Perhaps it's being busy at work that some of my weight just suddenly disappeared!! I have no idea how it left but i hope it stays away. haha..


My Short Term Targets:
To Achieve 75kg by 30 May 2011
Currently 106kg with 203 days left
Lost 3kg and used 7 days

A new Beginning....

I have a huge backlog of movie which I should write a review about. But I think i'm going to skip them. From now on, i'll only review movies that are really bad or good and really compel me to do it. Instead i'll be trying to embark on a project on myself to lose weight. I'll also try to update my blog regularly to document this journey i'm embarking on. It's going to be pretty tough. It's going to take a lot of discipline. I'll do good with lots of encouragement along the way.

So i'm soliciting encouragements during this project of mine.

My Short Term Targets:

To Achieve 75kg by 30 May 2011

Currently 109kg with 210 days left

Lost 0kg and used 0 days

Busy Busy!!

I'm so busy recently, i'm always so tired when i get back home. So many things I want to blog about yet no energy to do so. This weekend, i'll try to catch up as much as I can!!! 

Movie Weekend!! Resident Evil - Afterlife (3D) & Grown Ups

I've been waiting for Resident Evil - Afterlife ever since I watched the last installment. I was totally looking forward to an enormous clone war brought forth by the army of Alice clones. Especially if they release their super powers all at once!! The start of the movie was promising as at was like I expected, an army of Alices going up against the Umbrella Corp, somehow the clones are easier to kill compared to the original Alice. They got eliminated. Damn Sad!! Double Sad when Alice lost her powers too. :(

The rest of the movie were more or less typical Resident Evil action minus super powers. There's also a huge hint for a sequel, i hope it gets on screen soon before Milla Jovovich gets old for this. The 3D effects were, not bad but it's also a case of having 3D for the sake of having it only. They don't need to be there.
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I've trying to catch Grown Ups for the past few weeks and for 1 reason or another I kept missing the chance to watch it. Well finally I caught it and I liked it alot! It's Adam Sandler style comedy at it's best. Really funny and apt jokes, although some are just lame and sick. It's really enjoyable and really relaxing movie to watch. And like always there's always a moral of the story included. This time it's simple enough. Just see the quotes below.

Stressed out Singaporeans out there!! Watch it!!

Spikefire ratings:


Resident Evil - Afterlife (3D)
Story & Plot: 6 out of 10
Audio & Visual: 8 out of 10
Overall: 7 out of 10

Grown Ups

Story & Plot: 8 out of 10

Audio & Visual: 7 out of 10

Overall: 7.5 out of 10

Favourite Lines:

Resident Evil - Afterlife
This movie is never about the lines.... hahaaa.

Grown Ups
Coach: Today's game, all of you played your best. Play exactly the way we wanted to and when the buzzer sounded, we were champions. Now, I want you all to live your life like how you played the game today. So when that final buzzer of life sounds.. you have no regrets.
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Salma Hayek: How did you miss that last shot? You never miss that shot.
Adam Sandler: Sometimes Lennys have to learn to lose while others learn to win.
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watch the movie for the jokes.

Resident Evil Official Website

Grown ups Official Website


Pictures

4 Months In

It's been 4 months since i started here. Daily processes are not much of a problem any more, but it seems most of the things i'm getting everyday falls outside the norm and there's also this void in knowledge i need to fill. I'd like to work with all the information and knowledge already present in my head. Yet sometimes I feel my head is filled up with so much information, it takes me forever to dig out the information i wanna use at critical moments. I think that makes me look kindda dum sometimes. 


I personally feel there are flaws in the way some things works, most others have gotten used to it. But here's the question, do i get use to it? or should I shake things up a little? 


How do you differentiate if you are over loaded or being slow in work?? Depends on output ya?? I think I'm producing output all the time,  but somehow things are still piling up. I don't think i'm overloaded, but i do think i need more time. 


But in a nutshell, I think I'm very tired!!


This weekend I'm going RELAX!!!!!!! 

Drained

Been so busy at work, have so little time to rest. So many things to do at home as well. Small things that need to be taken care of daily are just taking up so much time!!

I've watched a few movies since the last post and I still have no time to post about them. BUSY BUSY!!!

Inception

Watched @ Eng Wah Suntec City

It's about dreams. It's actually like matrix. It's like a bridge that makes matrix seems much more realistic and possibly achievable. It's scary and yet so worth looking forward to. Paradox is apparent thru-out the movie. But it's a good show to watch. Make your brains think and think. Even though it's a movie that has a beginning and an end, somehow there's so many part of the movie which allows for speculation. So much areas left for imagination and interpretation.

Just think about it. Look at every detail of the movie from a different angle and you can find that the movie could have been telling a totally different story. I think that's what makes it magnificent!!! You know what's the best part? I only thought about this point NOW!!! almost 6hrs after watching the movie. How interesting is that!?

Spikefire ratings:
Story & Plot: 8 out of 10
Audio & Visual: 8 out of 10
Overall: 8 out of 10

Favourite Lines:


Cobb: What is the most resilient parasite in the world? An idea. Once an idea gets into your head, you can never get rid of it. A single idea from the human mind can build cities. An idea can transform the world and rewrite all rules.

Official Website

Pictures

Chloe

Watched @ The Cathay

It started off at a straight forward movie where wife thinks husband is cheating on her. So she turns to a social escort to get her to test her husband out. Somehow the results turn out unexpected. Interesting twist to the story. Not a mainstream movie for sure. But i'll watch it just for Amanda Seyfried at least. :P

Spikefire ratings:
Story & Plot: 8 out of 10
Audio & Visual: 7 out of 10
Overall: 7.5 out of 10

Favourite Lines:
Catherine Stewart: Did you find that waitress sexy? 
David Stewart: Which one? 
Catherine Stewart: The one you were flirting with. 
David Stewart: Oh come on, I was being friendly. 


Pictures

The Twilight Saga: Eclipse

Watched @ GVmax

3rd installment of the twilight saga. The problem about these sagas and trilogies or what not. It makes watching the movie feel like watch an episode of a serial. It just feels wrong!! I want a start, build up, climax, and conclusions.. but when in comes like this. There's no end to look forward to, cos we know it doesnt end here and u have to look forward to the next episode. AARRGGGhhh!!! We are being led on!! oh well.... that's life...

anyway, the movie's not bad.. met the usual expectations. it's as it was before, jus like a another episode of the series. But I wanna add, I like ALICE more than bella! hahaa..

Spikefire ratings:
Story & Plot: 6 out of 10
Audio & Visual: 8 out of 10
Overall: 7 out of 10


Favourite Lines:
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Charlie Swan: What's going on?
Jacob Black: [pause] I kissed Bella.
[pause]
Jacob Black: And she broke her hand.
[pause]
Jacob Black: Punching my face.
[pause]
Jacob Black: It was a complete misunderstanding.


Official Website


Pictures

Knight and Day

Watched @ Cathay Downtown East

Comedic action thriller which will leave you very lost for the most of the movie. BUT!! this is not the kind of movie you watch for the story line. Watch it for the comedy, watch it to be disgusted how cool tom cruise can still act like. Oh not to mention the camera angles which have to be constantly adjusted to make him look like he's taller than Diaz. Put aside the vague plot and pointless twists, it's actually entertaining!! Muahahaa...

Spikefire ratings:
Story & Plot: 6 out of 10
Audio & Visual: 7 out of 10
Overall: 6.5 out of 10


Favourite Lines:

Milner: [from trailer] Some people are gonna come looking for you now.
June Havens: Why?
Milner: They'll tell you I'm mentally unstable and violent and dangerous and it will all sound very convincing.
June Havens: I'm already convinced.
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June Havens: [from trailer] The pilots are dead!
Milner: Yeah, they've been shot.
June Havens: By who?
Milner: By me. No, actually, I shot the first pilot then he accidentally shot the second pilot. It's just one of those things.




Official Website


Pictures

Blending In

It's been more than a month since I last said something here about me. Work has been busy after the 1st 2 weeks. I think i'm working with a great bunch of people who are very experienced with their work and I'm learning loads from them everyday. I try as much as i could to ask and learn, listen and absorb, but I wonder how long I can last before I get sick of it. Well, at least for now I think i'm doing okay.

I'm still trying to get use to having less time to myself. With work taking up the bulk of time everyday, there's really not much time left to do my own stuff and also keep time to rest. This lack of rest might be slowly building up in me, as everyday i feel a little more tired than the previous.

So far I believe i still made the right choice to be a traffic engineer. I'm putting to use what i've learn in school. That is actually something i'm very happy about. Many people do not use the knowledge they acquired in uni and start everything anew with a different and unrelated job. I'm glad where I am and happy to be able to understand my job better than a usual civil engineer.

Karate Kid

Watched @ The Cathay

Re-make of the old Karate Kid but with many twists. White kids becomes black, karate becomes kung fu, Japan becomes China. Well that just show how much world perception has changed. Japan used to be the up and coming nation with all the high tech stuff and super efficient economy, but my china is the new dragon, everything is about china.

There's quite a bit of chinese propaganda in the movie. The movies seems to put the country in a pretty good light. It's nice to know that US movies are trying to change the image of china being backward and old.

The action sequences in the show are pretty tight. Perhaps that's Jackie Chan's credit. His trade mark funny actions are still there but much less intensity. Age played a pretty big part, his character ages too.

This is a good movie to watch. Entertaining and Yu Rong Guang is always good at being the villian. haha.

Spikefire ratings:
Story & Plot: 7 out of 10
Audio & Visual: 7 out of 10
Overall: 7 out of 10

Favourite Lines:
Dre Parker: You don't know the rules?
Mr. Han: Simple. You hit him, don't let him hit you. 

Official Website

Pictures