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!!!