Days of my life

2012-01-28T21:06:00.003+08:00

I'm Ready!!!

Elva no. 12 album was finally released. I like
her songs a lot. Her previous two albums
were awesome.

I haven't got time to check up 'I'm Ready' but
I think I might be disappointed judging
from some of the songs that I
heard from youtube.

So far the best song from the new album
have to be 'Love phone or Me' aka
'爱不离手‘. The tempo is very
good and it's really catchy.

Some tracks are not really impressive.
I suppose the previous album
has set the bar too high
that disappointment is
inevitable.

Elva's mini drama serial is also out. I caught
a glimpse of the fourth episode, haven't
got time to catch the rest.

____________________________________________

Time really flies. I have been in my job for
almost a month already. The first
week, I realised things will be
very, very different.

During the first week, I was asked to attend
the sales training & meeting in Penang.

The best part of the trip was of course
the free and easy day and going
around with colleagues to
hunt for food.

The first week was really like honeymoon &
the sales meeting was kinda relaxing.

When the honeymoon ends, it was really
back to reality. The first 'end of honeymoon'
week was really hectic. I remembered
going to the same institute almost
every single day.

The first customer I visited was a bit
cold to me. I was actually a bit
taken aback cuz I thought I
can't bit that detestable
right.

But, thereafter, he kinda becomes

more relaxed towards me &
I managed to clinch the deal!

I like the customer interaction part but
I quite detest the paper work that
is part of the process.

Colleagues Wei-qi, Kate and my boss
has taught me quite a lot during
my first few weeks. I think
it is really quite an
eye-opener.

Wei-qi is really quite a good 'teacher'.
She accompanied me to see customers
and then at the end of each visit,
she will give me a debrief,
so really grateful
for that.

Anyway, I think things will get even
more hectic, so let's see how.

____________________________________

The hip-hop lesson has been really great. It
is one of the thing I look forward to
every week.

Instructor Evy is kinda cool and is super
friendly and patient; really very
impressed by her!

My frenz wanted to extend the lesson
to 2 hrs, but Evy said that there
is a lesson after ours. Thank
goodness, I seriously don't
think I have the concentration
for 2 hrs. I doubt Vivian
& the rest can absorb
as well.

I hope to learn this and become
very good at it.

__________________________________

2012-01-16T23:01:00.002+08:00

Quick Post

This will be a fast one. I need to get
into bed early today. I think I have
overworked my engine for the
past 13 days.

Anyway, the turn of the year just
happened too fast.

This yr for the gift exchange, Huiling's
gift was voted top! Minghui got the
votes for the worst gift.

I got one vote for best gift, which is
pretty good. I guess Alex is my
lucky star, we were walking ard
in ion with no target in mind
& he just disappeared into
a shop. I went in and
fished up my gift, all
in the space of half
an hour.

Thank you Alex! Nxt year gift
exchange's format will be
different but it sounds
quite interesting.

On New Year's Eve, we went to
Donna Carmela for dinner. It
is a very fine Italian restaurant.

This is mine third time there. I
was surprised I was the last
to reach & I was only 7
minutes late.

I started work on 3 Jan 2012.
It was and still is a pretty weird
feeling for me, kinda ambivalent.

Although, I am really delighted
to get a job, I really do miss
the freedom I have last
year. Freedom is like
happiness to me, u
can't have enough
of it.

Last year was weird, cuz although
I do not have to go to school
frequently, it feels like
it wasn't really a
vacation.

So it's not really true when a lot
of my frenzs said I have slacked
enough. A lot of the time I was
editing manuscript, preparing
presentation, tuition and
going for therapy. You
don't define tt as
a break right?

On 3 Jan, my group of friends finally
started our hip hop course at the
dance school in Novena.

It in really fun, but hip hop is
really hard. I think the best
analogy is like when u first
started learning how to
drive a manual car.

The car always stalled! The braking
is not smooth. And basically, it
is just difficult for the brain
to coordinate the legs
and arms.

Will update more and write more
in the nxt post! Time for bed!

2011-12-13T22:00:00.009+08:00

The dreaded worst gift

This year Christmas Party was postponed
to Dec 31 because a lot of us were not
around.

So the gift exchange was postponed as well.
It is a big question mark on whose gift
will be voted the worst gift.

I was given this unwelcome tag once, still,
I have always do my shopping at the
last minute.

This year, I want to do it earlier, but now
it seems old habits die hard.

I am thinking of doing online shopping but

the shipping will definitely mean I am
overbudget!

As for Christmas gift, I am not v
ambitious, I won't go for the

best gift. As long, as I am
not voted worst gift
I think it is fine.

E-shopping is really a god sent for the lazy.

The first meaningful result I obtained was the
USB Beverage Chiller/Warmer. This is
not novel, but I think it won't be
voted worst gift.

Practical gift is generally safe, but not always.
I remember I was voted worst gift for
giving a pill case + card holder. I
guess never combined two gifts
into one, the perfect recipe
for disaster.

This is pretty cool, but a risky one. If it is
classified as a soft-toy, there is a chance
it might be voted worst gift. But
then, I have seen this kind
of gift being voted best
gift as well.

Last year was pretty good. At the last
minute, I saw a post on Facebook
from one of my friends who seem
to know a lot of friends who
set up e-shop.

The shop was called funky chargers,
http://www.funkychargers.com/.

That was the first time whereby
I didn't really spend much
time shopping for a
gift.

It is like playing soccer and suddenly
the ball arrives at your feet and
you just to gently tap the ball
into the net. Beautiful!!

This year, I really wondering, whether I
got similar luck.

_________________________________________

This December has been too hectic for
my liking. Ideally, I would love
to have 70% gathering &
30% my own time.

Partly because of my poor planning
& unforeseen circumstances, I have
a lot of backlog in my work
commitment.

I really donno how my supposedly
one month break before I started
work become like ermmm ...
NOTHING!

Now it seem like my 70-30 become
50% work, 50% gathering &
my personal time is totally
gobbled up.

At least the good part is that I have
cleared my thesis defense so at
least I do not have to spend
December worrying abt
it.

I guess nothing is perfect. The best
thing is I have lotsa of company
to celebrate December with,
tt is really the best part.

This year my shopping has been pretty awesome.
The bargain has been very good. There are
massive discounts from G2000 & Library
for office wear. I don't particularly
like G2K, but I can't afford to
buy all 2-ply cotton shirt.

River Island also got pretty interesting sales.
This year, their sales are better. At least for
once, they don't put ONLY crappy
items on sales. The discount is
abt 40%.

Then I got a Ducati from Puma. It has quite
a different cut from most casual shoes cuz
it made for horseriding. I was sitting
on the sofa with Kian Leng & really
browsing the shoes from the
sofa. Tt is the best-placed
sofa in a shop!

A day earlier, I was with Alex &
I manage to get the gift for
the exchange within 1 hr.
Pretty fast, haha!! At nite,
it was dinner with JL &
Raymond at a curry
rice shop in Kitchener
Rd.

Raymond is a regular at the shop.
I also like it tremendously. It
is so addictive that I always
thought about it hours
after I finished eating
it, which is pretty
amazing becuz I
can get bored
quite fast.

______________________________________

2011-11-24T20:09:00.014+08:00

FINALLY!!!

Oct 18 2011 was my thesis defense. After 4.5 years
of hard work, this was the day. There is an
oral presentation followed by a Q & A
with the audience and then another
closed door Q & A with the
examiners.

A month ago, the office staff told me that she was
arranging a date for me for the defense and
I was immediately quite anxious.

Talking for 30 minutes in front of the crowd
require some getting used to.

So much was at stake. I have other plans & I
don't want to fail the defense & be stuck
for the next 6 mths.

I was a bit excited when the staff told me
to keep my Nov 18 for the presentation.
The next 3-4 days, I think I could
feel the anxiety. The funny thing
is it's just didn't last.

As the days get nearer, I was looking
forward to it. After all, if I cleared
it there will lotsa fun time
celebrating with my
frenzs.

Boss asked me to rehearse in front
of my lab colleagues. The delivery
wasn't that smooth although I
was quite pleased because
I didn't really feel much
anxiety while delivering
my presentation.

Boss told me that my examiners specialise
in immunology so I should try to make
sure I equipped myself well to
handle the questions.

The actual defense went very well. I was
really calm and I feel in total control
during the presentation. It is one
of my best 30 min presentation
that I have given.

Years ago, I remembered I was 'suffocated'
by my anxiety, tt time I was criticized by
the examiners of the module. It was
my first long presentation, quite
memorable.

Time really do flies, the 4.5 years of hardship
finally eases away. I am glad to have
very nice colleagues and an understanding
boss who provides the platform for
me to complete my postgraduate.

Boss was very patient during the 4.5 years.
There was a barren period of 2 years when
I have no results. The stress is immense
because I was thinking how I am going
to graduate on time.

_______________________________________

In the past week, I finally went to my first
interview. After submitting more than
10 resumes, I didn't receive any
interview. Justin told me
his company is hiring.

After three rounds of interviews, I got
the job! Thank you, Justin.

It is a sales job. Some pple find it
pretty strange because they
think it is quite a waste.

When Justin broached the idea to me,
I actually quite like it. I don't know whether
I will be a good salesperson but I
guess I am good at certain
aspects of the job.

It will be quite different from research.
The stress is at a different level. Actually,
contrary to what people think, PhD is
actually quite stressful.
In the end, my project almost
failed. It was so close to failure.

I think I 'lost' my life during this 5 years.

Most of my frenzs don't agree and
said I have work-life balance. I
think the residual fear was
slowing sipping away
my energy.

Research is a very unique kind of job. So,
I really have no regrets doing my
postgraduate. If I have it all
over again, I will still do
it.

As for sales, I have no idea how it is going
to be like. It is going to be an adventure.

I do feel a pinch of pain leaving research.
I couldn't forget colleagues like Karen,
Junli & Larry who really give me
a lot of support.

Karen is tough to others but she has always
been a kind advisor. She was my mentor
through my initial stage when I have
close to 0 technical skills.

Junli is generous and always offer her
equipments for me to use. I am
ever grateful for her generosity.
That, we share the same
birthday is also quite
a coincidence.

I remember I always thought that Larry
was rather cold before I actually know
him. I think he really embraces
research. He has been very
nice to me as well & he
gave me valuable
advices when I
needed them
most.

Even though there is plenty of hardship, I
really have fond memories of the people
I met in Paediatrics. I get emotional
when I think about how this 5 years
is going to end.

I also have fond memories of the attendants
which I chat with from time to time.

In these difficult years, I have coached
my students Janelle & Jonathan
from secondary school all the way
to JC. I remember those Fridays
after lab and teaching them till
11pm. Their parents are
very nice. It is amazing
that I coach them
for 7 years
already.

_____________________________________

I was at Avatar on a Saturday night with
Kian Leng & Yijun. The place is quite
big & I think the DJ is not bad.

The cocktail is also good, you can really
taste the vodka. My frenzs actually
complained that the cocktail was
too strong.

For me, I am trained by KK & pals,
so it was ok for me. I am still a
bad drinker and in comparison
to KK, we are miles apart.

KK asked me to be his 'brother' for his
wedding and I told him tt it is bad
being his 'brother' cuz he got
too many 'enemies'.

KK is really a great & fun pal. With the
group, it is always fun.

Anyway, the major pitfall about Avatar
is that it just doesn't have the crowd.
I like the bar beside it, the DJ is
super duper awesome. Though
the place was empty, the music
just made me reluctant to
leave it.

We went back to club Avatar & I saw
a female DJ there. I think
female DJ is generally
v cool!

Anyway, we took a cab & when to
Clarke Quay. We loitered around
& decided not to pay a second
cover charge. In the end
we went for supper.

So, it is quite a weird clubbing night, but
quite oki. for me.

Kian Leng got the clubbing bug &
he wanted to be back before the
year ends.

Yijun also asked abt clubbing on New Year
Eve, I think my friends are gonna kill
me if I 'ditch' them to go clubbing so
I rejected her even though she
said she managed to persuade
a super 'VVVVIP' to go
as well.

_____________________________________

I will be off to Shanghai with Edwin. We will
be joined by his friend over there.

Generally, I prefer beach resort holiday to
sightseeing. I am actually quite
laid back & tt pace of life
suits me perfectly.

But, I only decided on the trip just 2 weeks back,
so it was quite difficult to plan a group
trip to a beach resort.

After the trip, my schedule will be quite packed. So,
I am quite disappointed that I don't have
one full month for myself before
my work starts on Jan 3.

Let's hope Shanghai will be fun!!!

2011-11-14T20:46:00.017+08:00

Master of wasting time!

I am quite good @ wasting time !!!

I was trying to prepare my
presentation slides. The first thing
is I will switch on the web version
of fm 98.7 -- check Yahoo News
-- Check Le Grove -- Finally
open up my ppt slides --
Back to Youtube -- Watch 1-2
video -- Finally starting
to work on the slides.

I think a pure deskbound job would probably not work
for me. But between doing lab work or
sitting at the desk, I will choose the
latter cuz doing things repeatedly
deskbound is better than
actually doing things
repeatedly hand-on.

Lab work has the 'same' procedures
as doing deskbound work.
Prepare all the items and put
in the basket -- Walk to
the hood -- Swipe all
items with alcohol -- Start
the "fan" in the hood -- Wait for
15 minutes -- Start procedure --
Clear everything from the hood --
Swipe with alcohol again -- Put
everything in the basket --
Work completed.

Anyway, I'm the adventure loving type
so I will move from challenges to
challenges.

That is me, I realise. Tutoring is the
only thing I have been doing
the longest in my life.

I used to think this is because the job
pays well and I am good at it. Recently,

then I realise I actually like
to tutor & mentor. It is
something I have always been
doing even during sec
sch in my CCA.

___________________________________

A week ago, I played soccer with a couple of
frenzs. It was the first time in 10 years
since I last touched the ball.

Soccer is still v fun. But I was too enthusiastic
during the first 15-30 mins. I made 2 and
scored 2 and our team was 5-1 up. Then,
I was just so dead tired and I got this
ridiculous thought "I don't want to
die on the court".

Me: "Can I drop out, I really can't tahan"
Team-mate: Never mind, you play defence.
Me: " Errmm, oki lah"

I started to retreat further and further behind
and it seem to work haha, I was doing my
job and regaining a bit of my
strength.

After that, the cramps lasted for weeks. I donno
what is more unbelievable, me panting like
hell or that I can still score and
assist after so long.

I was actually happy when the rain arrived.
I doubt I can last very long in the court if
the rain didn't come.

The rest were very disappointed. In their
face of disappointment, I really have to
hide my delight, haha. I think they
will laugh at my fitness if I express
relief that the rain arrived.

Anyway, we have enough people to form
more than 1 team. I am happy just to be
in reserve and play maybe 1/3
of the match. If I can score
a goal when I am on
the field, it's quite
good for me
already.

___________________________________________

Over the last two weekends I caught
the german films @ the Cathay with
pal KL. This year, we watched a
comedy and a drama. These were
two very good films, I could
give them an 8.

The first was 'Welcome to Germany' which is about
the life of a Turkish Immigrant. It is
a top-notch comedy that is at times
charming and touching. The casting
is also very good and the characters
in the show are so captivating. It is
hard not to fall in love with 'Welcome
to Germany'.

'Nanga Parbat' which is based on a
real-life mountaineering expedition
is also a quality piece of work. The
cinematography and the screenplay
are very good. I think the director
manage to imbue a deep sense of
excitement and poignancy in the
audience.

I have known KL for 12 years ever since
we met in the army. In the army, we
weren't tt close. While in university,
I found tt he attended the film
festival & that was how we
started hanging out.

We are quite different, like day & night.
I can be quite frustrating at times
because I can be quite random
& don't like things to be planned
to the finest details.

When I am in sch my frenzs commented
tt my way of studying is too risky
& they will faint doing things
my way.

There is an exhilaration in spotting questions.
I am quite the confident type, and I seldom
think that I will spot wrongly. My
mantra is "Don't keep thinking
about what if it doesn't come up,
counterproductive heh"

Talking about friendship, I do really miss
my JC pal, Chunkiat. We were really quite
close during JC & army.

I would say tt our friendship is quite special,
something which you cannot easy replicate

with another person.

To me, he is the one who brings the group
together. With him around, there is
always a lot of novelty and
excitement.

I always think about how things might
be different if we have shared more
care and concern for him.

I really treasure the friendship and is
ever regretful for the demise of it.

__________________________________________

2011-11-08T23:02:00.006+08:00

Intuition

Talking about intuition, mine have been in
top form so much so that I think it's
rather scary.

I used to really admire people with really
solid intuition. That time I wonder
whether one day my feeler
will suddenly show
up.

Just a day ago, I suddenly thought of
pal Soon Chye who told me abt
a year ago a girl he met in
Thailand.

The encounter was pretty random, like

taken up from some Thai romance
drama.

That day, perhaps because my mind was
just too bored, I suddenly thought of how
things actually will work up.

The next day, I received an email from him informing
me about his daughter first baby shower.

I was like, dear Intuition, u are getting
better. These was only one of quite
a couple of instances. Quite happy
to welcome my Intuition back home.
Welcome Back!!

Anyway, Soon Chye is someone I admire
quite a lot. He always surprises you when
you least expect it. Surprises are like the
vitamin of life. It prevents your life
from being suck away by the
monotonous beat of routine
life.

June II appears to arrive again. I have 4
wedding invitations and 3 baby
anniversary all in rapid
succession.

I decided I can't go to all of them as
it is very difficult to be genuine and
excited to do all 7.

This year celebrations do definitely hit
double digit. I wonder how old will
my friend's children be when I
actually get married. Quite
an amusing thought to
ponder!

Talking about children, my nephew is
definitely one that will always
amazes and frustrates ANYONE.

He got that mischievous look and sometimes
when it comes to kid you might just
be able to judge a book by
its cover.

He is actually quite (very) mischievous.
He is downright candid sometime:

Me: "Hello, Naughty nautilus"
Him: "Don't call me naughty, ~~please~~ remove
the word in front"
Me: "You are naughty what"
Him: "Just remove it, it doesn't sound nice"
Me: "How about, obedient nautilus"
Him: "I am neither obedient too, just
nautilus will do"

_____________________________________

The other day I was reading a list of Arsene Wenger
quotes and this quote really start me thinking:

" "I believe the target of anything in life should be
to do it so well that it becomes an art.
When you read some books they are fantastic,
the writer touches something in you that
you know you would not have brought out of yourself.
He makes you discover something interesting in
your life. If you are living like an animal, what is
the point of living? What makes daily life interesting
is that we try to transform it to something that is
close to art. And football is like that.
When I watch Barcelona, it is art."

That's a very long quote. It really reminds
me of Oscar Wilde in some of its work.

Oscar Wilde's work is art in its truest form. And his
life is also an artform himself. Although, his life
doesn't have a good ending, his works
live on.

I really enjoy reading 'The Picture of Dorian Gray'.
It was my literature text when I was in secondary
school, after more than 15 years I still
adore the book.

Anyway, I was thinking about this line in the quote :"
If you are living like an animal, what is the point of living? ".
In the past five years, I have slogged
like a bull. I am glad I am reaching the end, the
next year I hope to transform into my
life into something that is closer
to art!
___________________________________________________

Pal KL invites me to a K-pop party at Zouk so I
was there together with another three people.

It was a 2.5 hours of party that was supposed to
publicise the opening of a new channel
on SCV. There were a lot of local
dancers on the stage tt dance
to the tune of the music.

I hardly listen to korean pop so all the moves
were so foreign to me. In the beginning,

I tried dancing to the beat, after tt I was
kinda lazy and just watched the ladies
on the stage dancing.

Anyway, we continuing partying after the event
finished. As it was long weekend, Phuture
was really crowded. We were joined
by another five friends. I don't
know how one can dance
in such a packed dance
floor.

How packed was it? Imagine squeezing into
the morning train. That was how packed
it was that Saturday.

The best club I think is still Butter Factory.
The sound system is better and the
crisp music really stimulates
your senses.

The club should really play more of Dev
& The Cataracs, they make really amazing
music.

Personally, I like one of their more
recent music, 'The Sunrise'. The
music was so awesome, the
stuff of dream! Dev's voice
was a natural fit for the
music. If you are a fan
of electro-pop u will
reckon this is amazing stuff,
the stuff of dream!

Dev is pregnant now, hopefully she
won't be missing for too long, after
all her music career is just
beginning. She has
massive talent
though.

Anyway to digress again, Elva's album
is gonna be out in December. I have
bought her previous two albums.
Those were great stuff!

Elva has been pretty popular in China. In
Singapore, her popularity has dipped.
Yet, ironically, in the last two years,
her music has reached another
level. Some of the tracks
have a western twist
to it which I personally
like a lot.

Looking forward to her album release.

__________________________________________

2011-11-03T21:57:00.008+08:00

Sphero for that dose of fun!!

Experience the toy of the future. Sphero
is a robotic ball that has been launched
just recently.

If I'm not wrong, this fun, exciting &
challenging cutie is retailing at
US $130. It will also be
available at amazon.com.

Sphero is controlled using your smartphone,
whether it's a iPhone or Android.

Sphero is extremely versatile. It's
like a chameleon & you can change
its colour to suit your mood.

There are a few apps in which you can
play with. Sphero Golf, Sphero
Draw & Drive, Sphero Drive
& Sphero Chromo.

It will be loads of fun, playing the balls
with your friends. Imagine playing
it in a dark room, the sight should
be awesome! I hope I get it
as a gift for Christmas. For
those with deep pocket,
this won't go wrong
as a gift!!

More on it at http://www.gosphero.com/apps.

___________________________________________

The smartphone market kept getting strong &
Google kept consolidating its strength.

Personally, Apple is balancing on a tight-rope.
It has to make sure that it got it hardware
& software right for all future version.
If it gets it wrong, it will lose it
leadership position quite
easily.

I love Google because they offers a lot of free
stuff. They derive revenue by 'charging'
businesses which uses their
infrastructure, the consumer
wins! That, I feel is good
business ethics.

The nice wonderful font on my blog is also
free from Google webfont!

Anyway Google just gives Groupon a run for
its $$$ through Google Offers. It works
the same way as Groupon but it
leverages on its android
phone infrastructure.

Pal KG is an avid user of Groupon. You
can really get very good bargain
on Groupon. That time we
have a giant platter for
just under $20.

Pal KG is a master of getting discount. As
a person, he is also quite generous.

However, the platter was full of deep
fried stuff, that we were already
partially full after seeing it.

Deep-fried stuff are always tempting
though. It's just that too much of a
good thing is not necessarily
GOOD!

Anyway, Google Android 4.0 is called
the IceCream Sandwich. Haha! Naming
OS after desserts sounds pretty novel
but equally weird to me.

______________________________________

Today was a rather relaxing day & I have decided
to take a day off from preparing for my
presentation slides.

Sometime taking a break will inspire that
guilt-like feeling. But then, I guess

I seriously need the break!

Went over to beach road for lunch. The chilly
mee there is still one of the best. Yes,
it is called exactly like that. When
u think of it in another dialect,
it sounds like erm, a foul
language.

The ingredients are quite different from the usual fish
ball, minced meat or charsiew.

They have pork ribs, prawns, tau pok &
a generous gravy on top of your noodles.
It is not extremely spicy & I didn't even
gulp any water to go with the noodles.

I think the stall must have made a lot
of $$$. I haven't seem anything like
this elsewhere, guess the chilly
gravy is quite hard to replicate.
After so many years, the standard
is still as good, guess the
dad did a good
coaching job.

I am always the last to take up the camera,
so I don't have the picture of the sumptuous
food.

I guess sometimes my blog is pretty laborious
to read as there are words after words.

As you can see though, I am trying hard!
Three pictures in this blog! Still got
lotsa room for improvement!

2011-10-31T23:11:00.011+08:00

In time!!!

When I saw the poster for the first time, it
instantly catches my attention. I thought
this poster was ultra cool. You can't
make a better one!

I didn't really see the trailer before but the

poster was mesmerising!

After seeing the poster, I reckoned the movie
must be as GOOD as the poster,
so I went to watch it with 2
other frenzs.

At $6 for a weekday ticket, In time is well-worth
the $$$. Even IF the movie is badly scripted,
I would pay double the amount to
watch Amanda Seyfried on screen.
She has awesome screen charisma!!!

I guess she will be one to watch in the future!

The concept is refreshing and the movie is
rather well-constructed. It may not
have the X factor but the plot
and the consideration behind
it is notable.

You might actually think about how it
will be like to actually live in such a
society where your life expectancy is
a form of currency.

I guess the best part about it is that
your look is 'locked' after you hit
25. Imagine not
having to worry about
wrinkles, graying hair
and male-pattern
hair loss.

That will really put a lot of companies
out of business!

But the flick side is, you have to be in good
shape once you hit 25, if not you
have to live with the misery for
the rest of your life.
________________________________________

Talking about hair loss. If you are looking for
a good quality hair-conditioner. Look no
further!

I have always being a fan of DS laboratories
because their cleanser have worked
big time for me. Personally,
I think you don't find a lot
of such product in the
market.

DS laboratories cleanser, hydroviton, is a
miracle for those with v oily
skin. Oily as in moments after you have
washed your face, people will be
wondering why your face
is that oily AGAIN.

I have recently used their conditioner and
I guess this is another top-notch product.

I have been to the hair spa for the past few
months trying to put an end to my
hair loss problems.

The problem with it is that I don't really
enjoy going to the hair spa weekly.
The attendant is very nice & I
think she is a brilliant
communicator. She can talk about
anything under the sun to customers
of all ages. The boss is also very nice
and even tried to help me get a job.

However, I just don't like some of the
treatment procedures. Some of the
items added are rather pungent
and I don't like my hair being
steamed.

Anyway, days after using DS Lab
conditioner I realise the hairs that
dropped are much thicker, they
looked really healthy.

If you are trained in life-science, you
will be impressed with
DS lab website. Their marketing
is first in class. There is a lot
of scientific research backing
their product and the best
things is the way the
active ingredients is
delivered to your
hair.

The product packaging is also very cool.
It is neat and there is usually a
booklet describing all the
studies that have been
performed all the ingredients
used. Pretty impressive stuff,
but I doubt people will bother
reading.

For this quality, it is quite value for $$$.
It is not cheap though. You can't compare
the price with Vidal Sassoon or Organics.
You can't find the same ingredients in
any of the conditioners you get
from NTUC. It is salon grade
although a lot of salon products
are not even in the same
class as DS lab.

Anyway, check up their products, you
might actually find them as essential
as water. If you are in doubt, you
can contact me, haha.

______________________________________

2011 is really gonna end. It has been quite
a year. Hopefully, I can clear my final
exam in November. I have got
loads of butterfly in my
stomach whenever
I thought abt
it.

If I really clear the exam, I will remember
how I celebrate the remaining days of
2011.

Months before I lost my phone, I actually
have a strong feeling that I will lose it.
When I actually lost it, I didn't really
panic. I was just too tired after having
slept 2 hours in two days. I just called
to terminate my line then I went
to sleep.

My intuition has been quite good of
late that it is really, really scary.
But it is a nice feeling to have it
back.

This year, there were other things
that I have tried. Things that
other people will be
rather skeptical
about. I am not ready to spill
the beans about it though, not
until I have tremendous success
from it.

2011-10-20T23:59:00.010+08:00

Two months left in 2011

2011 is a strange year. It has been a good
break from the hectic life of the past
years.

I don't know how it will feel like when
I eventually get a job.

At the moment, I am enjoying every
bits of my freedom. It is liked I have
been squeezed thoroughly for
the past five years.

It was physically and mentally rather
draining. So this year was liked
going from 120 km/h to 75 km/h,
which is really v welcoming.

My body has been battered. After spending
loads of $$$, my troubled back haven't
been completely healed. I see it
as one of my #1 aim this year:
to eradicate the pain forever.
At the moment, I have
not been successful.

I went to a few doctors and the feelings I
get is that most of my body "parts"
are working well, which is
kinda expected, after all
I am still young.

However, a car with one of its wheel spoilt
is rather redundant; that is the problem
with my shoulder and upper back
pain.

I can't run nor swim at a reasonable speed,
though thank goodness my joints are
still as flexible and I can still dance.

I remember telling someone I loved
about my bad patch theory. She
joked and ask me when is my
string of flu going to end.

This year my string of flu has finally
ended. After being forced
to be a flu lover
for the best part of 4 years, I

kinda figure up why the bugs
love me so much.

It's not rocket science. I think it was really
very bad posture that stresses my
upper body. The flu finally left
me after my hiatus from lab.

I hope the hiatus is permanent though.
I would love to try out something
new.

Is bad patch gonna end?

I have a feeling it is going to end. Things
are starting to improve.

_____________________________________

Over the weekend, I was at Junwei's place
to play mahjong and the cardgame
'Three Kingdom'.

I intro the game to a couple of them & they
like it quite a lot.

Teaching them was surprisingly a breeze. I
remembered pal Maggie had a rather
hard time explaining to us. She was
very patient though.

The beauty of the game is that you can
roughly gauge a person personal style
from the way they play the game.

You can tell the brave one, the instinctive
type, the aggressive one and the
shrewd/cunning type just from
the way they play the game.

Playing the game with KK & pals and
Junwei & pals are totally different
kind of experience, but fun
anyway.

I like teaming up with Junwei. He is the brave
type and a man of action, haha. He does his
job, no doubt about that.

I am a difficult person to read in the game
and in real life. But, I am at heart
a team player though my
actions in the game
are nt tt obvious.

I like team sports. The
camaraderie of being together is very
infectious, that I think is the
charm of it.

________________________________________________

Met with university pals TF, GH, KS and YK over
for pizza. It has been a while since we last met.

We used to be rather close while we were in
university. I guess it is inevitable but
I guess everyone hasn't really
change that much.

There are still a lot of laughter and fun being with
them. I guess we have quite different personality
but the chemistry is still very good.

TF told me he has been clubbing very frequently.
So I guess, I have found myself another
clubbing pal. At a bbq, another of
my frenz also told me he wld
love to club before the end
of the year.

I haven't got sick of clubbing primary because
music, bass and energy are my adrenaline.
I also tried not to do it so often. When
something become as routine as a
daily bread, the magic will
definitely be gone.

2011-09-26T23:25:00.007+08:00

Finally time for myself

I finally wrapped up work in
the laboratory. In July, I was
back to lab on most days including
some weekends.

There were a lot of turbulence and
some major disappointments. But
I'm feeling rather great now.

My biggest strength is that after
a huge disappointment, I kinda
forget about it within a couple of days.
I can feel super disappointed during tt instance,
but tt feeling don't usually last.

This year has so far been pretty
peaceful. My income has
shrunk by quite a lot but
my happiness level has
gone the other way; proof
tt $$$ does not bring happiness.
Freedom does and I still can't
get enough of it.

__________________________________

For my birthday this year, I went to Barracks @
Dempsey. I have wanted to dine there for
a long time since my failed attempt
when I was with pals
Kwun-ho and Bryan.

The place is quite nice. It is very laid-back though
not too quiet. However, the food wasn't
really worth the $$$. The quality
was also average.

However, I was really quite surprised when
the staff came up with the birthday cake.
I was signaling to them to come over to my
table to top up the water. Somehow, all of the
waitresses seem to ignore me. The next moment,
a number of them rush over with the cake and
sang the birthday song.

I like to spring surprises so when I am at the
receiving end of it, I find it rather
amusing.

Anyway, I am 31 and there are some
dreams I hope to realise.

The past 5 years was quite strange, it
was like time flies. People always said
tt when you enjoy what you are
doing, time flies. BUT, the past
5 years just wasn't fun.

I wasn't doing something I detest. But,
there was no result and I lurked
from setbacks after setbacks
until I was numbed
to it.

Still, compared to my NS, I would still
prefer living the past 5 years. NS
on hindsight was rather carefree,
but I hate to have my freedom
taken away.

NS was fun when fellow serviceman,
Adrian, was around. He is like
the soul of our group. He is lazy
but he makes life so much
enjoyable. When he left,
things changed.

It is kinda cool though when your
camp is in the now popular
Dempsey area. I always
remember passing by
Orchard after booking up
daily, tt feeling is still one
of the best.

The cookhouse food was terrible.
Sometimes, the kitchen served
some exotic dishes like lychee
chicken. But, I learnt to
realise tt their menu
always sounds very exotic.

The chickens all taste the same even
though they have different names
on different days. Taste just as
bad!
______________________________

The other day, Junwei was teaching me
how to play mahjong. He is quite
a good teacher. Effective and
doesn't put me to sleep.

It was more like a refresher. I remember
getting really confused years ago when
I learnt from Jiajian & pals. Tt time
I found mahjong just too tedious
for my liking.

Still, the greatest kick I had was playing
blackjack with Eugene & co. during the
Chinese New Year. I was just
on an impossible winning streak.
A year ago, I
lost all the $$$ in my wallet.

Lady Luck can indeed love you and ditch
you just like that. Always remember
to enjoy her when she is on your
side. Just smile & be generous.
Lady Luck might like you
& stay longer!

___________________________________

2011-08-18T09:44:00.006+08:00

An age of austerity

Yesterday, I finally have the chance to
fully focus on finding a job.

The first half of the year was about trying
to tie up all the loose ends of my thesis.

Getting my research published is really
a real hassle. To me, the crux of the
issue is that after going through
all this nonsense, you are
not getting a single
cent from it.

To me, it sounds pretty illogical, like ,you
are their slave. That is also partly
the reason why I am leaving
research.

With equity starting to look more
attractive, I thought it would
be advisable to save more &
use the money to invest
when the time is
right.

Bought at the right price, certain stocks
might triple after a few years. In other
words, a dollar save will mean $3
in the near future.

I consider stock investing as a long-term
hobby. It is here to stay.

_______________________________________

Met up with Kwun Ho and Bryan as Kwun Ho
was back in town. It has been years since I last
saw him.

It is always a pleasure dining and drinking
with them. The feeling is always extremely
relaxed.

Kwun Ho wanted me to be one of his 'brothers' for
his wedding in Shanghai. I don't know
because I don't quite have the budget
for it at the moment. So I wasn't
able to agree.

Touring with them should be very fun
since Bryan knows the place very well
& Kwun ho's wife is a native.

Anyway, I will think about it again. At the
moment, I am just enjoying not being
in the lab, not having to prepare
"ingredients" for experiments.

Anyway, I am real determined on
getting rid of my nascent belly. I have
cut down on my diet which include
my favourite coke and supper. I will
stick to just 3 meals a day and nothing
else in between.

30, is I realise not just a landmark number.
My metabolism starts to slow down
precisely at that age. My hair is
also getting lesser. How nice
it will be like if we can age
without appearing to be
old.
___________________________________________

Arsenal season started last week. It has been
a traumatic summer for arsenal fans.

Even the AKB (Arsene Knows Best) fans are probably
deflated by Wenger's relatively inactivity
during the summer.

If Arsene Wenger is a stock, he would probably be
like Li Ning or Sino Environment. Things can
change very fast in real life.

I remember Sino Environment, Jiutian Chemicals
and a lot of S-chips were favour of the months.
The directors were super ambitious & the
stock prices kept going up. But when
it grinds to a stop, things were
really, really sour, just like
a really bad romance!!

Anyway, Arsene Wenger is not the flavour of
the month. He has been at Arsenal for a
long, long time and no matter how
bad things are, he deserved to
be respected.

The four summer signings aren't exactly what
will turn fans on. It's like asking for
Godiva and being given
Hershey.

Although, I am a blind supporter of Arsene Wenger,
I don't have a good feelings about his
summer purchase. It is like being
sold the future again, sometimes
the future just never
arrive.

Ryo Miyachi

Gervinho

Carl Jenkinson

Alex Chamberlain

2011-07-30T21:11:00.009+08:00

2011 is better than 2006-2009 combined

2011 has been great so far. It's definitely not
awesome though. It is great in comparison
to 2006 to 2009 which was emotionally
bad for me.

The best thing is that finally I do not have to work
on Friday this year. Ironically, Friday was
the busiest day of the week in the last
few years.

I lost quite a sum of $$$ in the stock market
back then and had to work harder
to earn the $$$ back.

Sometime we wish that we don't have to
sacrifice a lot to achieve something. The training
in the lab and the stock market for the past
few years were rather painful.

In the past months, I was clubbing with my friends
& I realised my energy is still there. Or rather, it
is back. I was still very much alive at 3 am.
I can't remember the last time I went clubbing, but
clubbing on Friday is awesome.

On one of the Friday night, those people
from the neighbouring tables were
very friendly. Although, I do make
friends with pple while clubbing,
this was the first time in Singapore
that I experience so much interaction.

I think gg to the club is for me a bit like
eating something very exquisite.
Everytime you eat, you seem to
enjoy it more, yet you do
not want to eat it everyday
& ruin the whole
experience.

These days I really feel that my life which
has gone away for the past few years
is coming back. Sometimes, I just
smile at myself & wonder whether
can I also have some of my hair
back.

__________________________________

My job search has not been particularly
fruitful, cuz I have only sent in
three applications.

The need to go back to lab to wrap up
some of my work for publication has
hampered my job search. Hopefully,
by end August, I can truly
focus on my job
search.

Research is probably my last choice. If you
pulled a gun at me, then I will probably
do it. But if I have a choice, nope.

I have too many bad memories of research.
It is said that obstacles help to strengthen
to one soul, but it also takes the gross
away off a lot of things.

Nightmare #1:

When you have 96 wells to add things into, it
can be quite a challenge when you are new
to it. The difficultly is that each well might
be different from the next. So you
have to be extra careful and
not mix things up. For me,
who can't really sit
still, it was quite
a big challenge.

Nightmare #2:

This is the plastic container that everyone
used to grow their cells. I don't know
whether they look cheap, but they
are not cheap. The red liquid
you see in the flask are not
cheap as well. For sure, they
are more expensive than
Gatorade or Red Bull.
I think they are at least
13 times more expensive.

Growing cells is more tedious than
having a pet. The 'food' they eat
is not cheap to begin and they
seriously can't take care of
themselves. When the bacteria
start to grow with them, you
can start crying as you ditch
your cells and your weeks of
nurturing.

Nightmare 3:

This is the equipment that you see whenever
you see a picture of a scientist. They are used
to pick up small volume of reagent, like one
tiny drop of liquid.

When you used it hundreds of time everyday,
you start to detest it even though it brings
you much convenience as compared to the
old days.

Whenever I look at the classified and saw postings for lab
jobs, I will think about all these nightmares
and reckon that the grass is probably greener on
the other side.

But that said, research is seriously not all bad.
A lot of things in life is not about its pros
& cons but rather whether you
can derive meaning or fun from
doing it.

If you can't, then what is the point?

_____________________________________

On July 23, I finally watched a korean movie which
I wanted to watch it so much in the past.

Sometimes when you stop looking & wishing
for something, thing actually happen. This
time round, I finally get to watch it, after
so many years.

Peppermint candy is really a very good
film. It is as good as what I read in
a review, perhaps even better.

Watching it leaves me feeling poignant
and doleful. If someone was to undergo
a mid-life crisis, I reckon he will identify
much with Peppermint candy.

I'm not in one though but I was thinking
about how tragic it was when a mistake
that one commits continue to come
back and haunt oneself.

I think the film will remain with me for a long,
long time. I just hope I won't have the
ending of the male protagonist!

________________________________________

Some of my friends have this craze for travelling.
Back in 2004, I have this super craze as well.
I traveled to loads of countries in Europe
during my exchange & that is how
I got rid of my addiction to travelling.

For me the way to get rid of an addiction is
to do it repeatedly until you are exhausted.

I think this idea of mine is flawed.

If it is this simple, smokers will find it easier
to quit. I don't know for sure, just thinking.

It works for me for most part of my life
except for romance. Romance is
a dangerous pill for me because
the stop button doesn't work
all the time.

When it stops, it hurts terribly. I just
acted as though it doesn't hurt. I
think the one who appears nonchalant
is often the one who is most
concerned.

As for travelling, I only have 2 places that
I am super keen to go. Ibiza and South
America.

The cheapest air tickets to South America
is Qatar Airways which is if I'm not
wrong $1600. That is really a good
deal considering that Qatar Airways
was ranked first in the 2011 SKYTRAX
ranking.

In term of money spent/happiness ratio,
for me clubbing or going to the concert
ranks higher.

I do like travelling though but it is an
extremely expensive hobby or if
you called it, habbit.

As for Ibiza, this is one of the place I wished
to visit in my early 30s.

I think the beach, party and the ambience
will make the long trip to party paradise
worthwhile.

_________________________________________

2011-06-19T21:16:00.003+08:00

2 months away from blogging

Time really flies. I have not blogging for about
2 months. I still blogging but I was busy
with lotsa things for the past 2 months.

If I have the means, I hope time will
slow down. I still feel there is a lot
of things that I wish to do &
always hope that I can more
things in a week.

This year has been pretty good. I no
longer have to work like mad in
the lab & I do not have to
give tuition on Friday
evening.

For me Friday evening is special & I could
prefer to either spend my time dining,
at the movies, pub or disco. But for the
past few years, I wasn't able to do it.

So I have been really enjoying the
first half of 2011. Every month
has a different flavor to it so
for the first time in years
I have never been
bored.

_______________________________________

After a review of my 2 months old blogsite,
I have decided to stop working on it
even though I still have 10 months
of subscription left.

What I have learnt from my postgraduate
& investment days is that sometimes
it is smarter to draw a line and
move on.

It's not a hard and fast rules and persisting
at all cost is sometimes not the best
approach to things.

In 2 months, I have written 27 articles. It took
me 2 years to write 32 articles for my
former korean website. But I feel
that eventually my blogsite will
face the same problem as my
Korean website, so I have
decided to give out
sooner than later.

Making a mistake is pretty normal but
repeating one is not the most
intelligent thing.

At least this will free my time for me to
work on my pet project which I hope
to launch it next year.

_______________________________________

In May I have decided to stop trying
to cure my neck pain the cheap
way.

In May, I started seeing a chiropractor
& in June I recruited a myotherapist
into my 'neck pain troubleshooting
team'.

Chiropractor, Su-yi, is a nice lady.
She might seem cold but she
is actually very friendly.

The effect of spinal adjustment on
my neck pain is rather subtle.
But my whole body has response
very well to the treatment; my
indigestion and bloated stomach
issues have disappeared.

Su-yi also performed soft tissue
therapy on me. Essentially,
it is like pressing hard on the
region of the body that is
very strained. It is rather
painful.

After weeks of treatment, I thought
perhaps I should look for a
therapist that specialises
in soft tissue therapy
to speed up neck
pain.

My first treatment with the myotherapist
was hell. Dr Shu is so good that he
could pinpoint the exact region
when he could trigger pain
by pressing.

Every part that he touched delivered
an intense pain that was just
barely manageable. I thought
to myself "my body is seriously
in need of massive overhaul'.

Myotherapy is much more painful
as compared to vaccination, cupping
or acupuncture. The effects are good
though. After 2 sessions, I really felt
much better; I have this feeling that
my 1.5 years of neck pain is going to
be over.

Every week I spent more than $200 just
to 'overhaul' my body. It sounds like
a lot of $$$, but I have seriously
been 'abusing' my body
for the past 5 years.

The way I have been working during my
postgraudate years is simply not
sustainable. The pain that I have
got is just what I deserved!

Anyway, I'm really glad that I have been
flu-free for 6 months. It sounds pathetic
for me to even highlight this. But for
years, my body was just ill-prone
that I could get a flu every
4 months. When the
weather changes, I knew I'm going
to get the flu again.

Still, whenever I returned back to the lab,
I realise my energy lab could drop automatically.
My frenzs say that they were surprised that I
have so many complaints about lab after all
I am someone who don't complain a lot.

I am also surprised that I have so much
frustrations as well. Things really were not
smooth and I was doing a lot of things
that I don't like. Sometimes I feel
that I have lost my creative
sparks and that I am just
a robot, but a very
poor one.

______________________________________

In June, my Bhutan's frenzs were in town.
Thinlay is my penpal many years ago.

Ever since the internet has invaded our life,
having a penpal sounds like a stone-age
things.

It is really by chance that she manage to
contact me again. I am the not the
most dedicated host but I make
sure they can settle down
pretty fast.

I guess their lifestyle is very much different
from us, so it took me quite a while to
really understand them.

They are extremely laid-back so it is quite
an eye-opener. They are however very
genuine people.

They like spicy stuff and I reckon that
they really can't do without rice.

Thinlay is however very adept at
reading the map. For a girl,
I think she is a genius.

_________________________________

2011-04-24T16:27:00.012+08:00

Has Wenger lost it?

I remember how my love for Arsenal
begin? Back in the early 2000s,
Man Utd was really on form;
in the UK, they won it all.

I was an anti-Man Utd fans because
I find the fans annoying and
arrogant. At that time, I
was always rooting for
the underdogs.

Soon I started supporting Arsenal as it
is the only realistic competitor
to Man Utd. I also think that
it is funny that the manager
of Arsenal has about the
same name as the club.

So, that was how it begins. The beginning
of love is always simple, yet
rather magical, sometimes
you forgotten how it
all begins.

But that said, the beginning of nightmare
is also the same thing. You never know
how one thing can lead to another
and like a rolling ball, the
disaster never seem
to end.

In the early half of 2000s, Arsenal fans
were spoilt. Watching Arsenal at
that time was really an
exhilarating experience.

The players were enjoying themselves and
they have confidence, spades of it.

As Arsenal moves to Ashburton Grove and
Wenger started on his youth policy,
things take a 180 degrees change.

The trophy cabinet has been barren
for years. For me, it's absolutely
fine to be without trophy.

But, it's not alright to not do anything
about it. I feel rather disappointed
that Wenger is hurting his
legacy by being
stubborn.

I feel for him greatly because he gave us
fans so much joy and fun watching
the team played in the past.

Good times might be transient but
deep inside I hope Wenger
will have a happy ending.

The youth project is a failure
because the players don't
feel enough for the
club.

The only redemption I feel is to
cut loss and move on. Some
of the players must go.

When I see Wenger in so much pain,
I also feel terrible about it. He
sacrifices his reputation for
his players . Do they
seriously feel
a thing?

_______________________________________

April is finishing & I think I have a decent
April as far as this month is concerned.

But I really need to slow down, I feel
my engine is being overworked.
But I really hope to get some
of the urgent issues settled.

I feel I really can't live
the sort of life that I have
lived for the past 4-5 years.

On the plus side, I think I have and continue
to have good friends around me. As for
a romantic partner, I believe that
the day will come when I find
someone which I'm compatible
with.

________________________________________

Research has been something I wanted to
do. However, as always I felt it will
not dominate my whole career.

The colleagues I met are very nice indeed and
I appreciate their kindness and
generosity. My boss also has
been kind and he gives me
a lot of freedom to design
my project.

The past 4-5 years have been v painful because
I was very new to research & there
were so many hiccups.

Yesterday, I have my presentation just before the
defense. As a undergrad, I used to be quite
fearful of presenting. But, I usually
"volunteer" because my group
was mostly girls and I felt
obliged to present if they
don't wish to do it.

But presenting for postgraduate is different as
you are expected to give a longer presentation.
On my first presentation in
2007, I was sort of reprimanded by
one of the examiner for giving
a poor presentation.

That time, I was quite sick and my runny
nose was giving me loads of problems.
I have problems speaking out and
halfway through I felt kinda tired.

Yesterday, was different altogether. I think I have
improved by quite a lot as compared to 2007.
I have more stamina and I think I can
deliver a long presentation than back
in 2007. Postgrad was tough, very
tough, I am glad I am close to
the finishing line.

____________________________________________
At the moment, I have plans to start revenue-generating
websites while looking for my job. One will be on
financial investment while the other will
be on wellness.

One of my website has been launched recently,
http://www.health-beautyblog.com. But,
it will take time for the website to
generate revenue. At the
moment, I am focus on
improving the content
of my website & driving
traffic to it.

Doing a website is very fun. This time it takes a much
shorter time for me to launch the new website
as the internet publishing is now more
mature.

Phase 1 of my investment website will also
be launched in 2 weeks time. It will
start with a blog interface.

At the moment, I am also very pleased with my
investment portfolio. It's not that I have made
a lot of money from it. But I feel my choice
of stock picking has improved and
now I am much more calmer in my
decision making.

My investment style is different from my
mum as well as a lot of people. I don't
get a lot of satisfaction from making
20-30% profit within a short
period.

It is counter-intuitive but I prefer to
see my stocks doubled or tripled
after a few year of purchase.

Different people derive satisfaction
from stock investing in different
ways. Most people are interested
in the money that comes with
in. I love more from satisfaction
knowing that you have made a
very good decision.
That to me matter more than
the $$$ itself.

2011-04-06T12:58:00.010+08:00

25% of the year over

Time really flies and the first quarter
of 2011 is less hectic than
2010.

In January, I finally completed my
final draft and a month later
I succeeded in pestering
my boss to finish
reading through it.

Reservist was directly after my
thesis submission. I wouldn't
say it's a welcome break but
at least I don't really
detest my reservist.

Thankfully, 3 weeks of reservist
passed by rather quickly.
Waking up at 5:15 am everyday
need some getting used to.

Ever since, I started postgrad,
time seem to pass by v
fast. I wish things & time
could slow down.

There is still a lot I want to
explore. I hope my body
won't deteriorate as
fast. My hair is
getting lesser by the day,
but thankfully my energy
level is still quite good.

____________________________________

2011 is like a starting on clean slate
for me. If given an opportunity,
I will move away from
academic field.

Academic field doesn't feel like
the perfect fit for me. In the
past few years, research
is more like a learning
process, so it's still
acceptable.

But as a career for the next 10 years,
I fear I might not find it as meaningful.
Research to me is like being
sold the future, u delay
your happiness for

the future. If the
future doesn't arrive, there is a
nagging thought that you have wasted
your past 10 years.

Perhaps I have neither the passion
nor the guts to bet my 10 yrs
of my life in research.

But all careers have its snake pit, it's
just whether you can accept it
or whether it's still worth
it in spite of that.

I have been thinking about it &
I got a feel that I'm very
close to finding the
answer.

The memorable part of postgraduate
years is perhaps the colleagues, without
their support, I don't think I can finish
it.

But postgraduate is very tumultous. I didn't
know the enormous challenge was
part of the package. It was
problems after problems,
uncertainties after
uncertainties.

The best thing I learn though is to focus
on what I can do and to forget thinking
about the uncertainties.

So much has happened in the past 5 years that
I really feel I need a rest of some sort.
My engine can't continue to work
at this intensity.

In my 30s, I aim to be more efficient. I hope
I can earn much more $$$ and has
more personal time at the
same time. The challenge
is to establish the foundation
for this to happen.

____________________________________

Would you rather has an exciting life but with
its share of down or you much prefer
a stable life?

My mentally is naturally geared towards the former.
But, it's not easy living that kind of life.

Sometime when you are down in the dump,
you really desire more peace.

I also think my viewpoint on certain aspects
of thing is flawed and might
not be doing me any good. I
think in the past I complicate
people life especially
those v close
to me.

At least my dealing with people has started to
become more consistent. I'm feeling very
healthy and happy about various
aspects of my life.

_____________________________________

Election is around the corner. The last election
I was starting my postgraduate year.

And in May, KaChing!!! Another round
of cash hand-out. I love cash
hand-out, who doesn't, haha.

My army khaki jokes whether there will
be a day when Singapore Pools allow
pple to place their bets on
election results.

After many years as part of Sembawang GRC,
my area is finally craved out to form
the new Nee Soon GRC.

Doreen always said that I like to gamble. I'm not a
fan of casino although I think Russian roulette
is one of the best invention.

You can lose money very fast playing Russian roulette.
You can also make a lot, if the ball
ended up in the right place. My advise is
with whatever 'investments' always
think about the potential loss.
Don't be blinded by the
returns.

As for me risk-taking does give me the adrenaline.
But I'm not an avid gambler. I like to make
'bets' in which I feel I'm in control. Like
spotting test questions & investments.

Spotting question is very fun. As you obtain
the test paper, you glance at the
questions and in matter
of secs, it's either
ecstasy or misery.

In my first three months in Sweden,
my spotting was as worse as it
gets.

But old habits die hard, I think the
best way to prepare for exam
is to spot question.

_________________________________

I have a lot of seafood in the past few
weeks. Wow!!!
Cockles, Crabs, Prawns,
Squids, Fish, Oyster, I
eat them all.

There's a place in Sembawang,
opposite Sembawang CC. The
salted-egg crab is very good.
The shell is thin & the
chef has got v
good skills.

I think the many meals of seafood
seem detrimental. My heart
was beating fast for
no reason for an
entire week. Wonder, whether
it's the seafood.

Mum said cockles are now more
expensive. Cockles are as
good as prawns.

On Saturday, I introduced an
HongKong dessert place to
Kian Leng. He was so
amazed by the
siew mai. Haha, I have never
met someone who love
siew mai so much.

2011-03-05T16:47:00.013+08:00

The happiness index

I was reflecting on the past 5 years of
my life & I came up with the happiness index

to amuse myself

2007-2009 was a relatively dark period of
my life. It was manageable but not
enjoyable.

I remember having chronic headache for the

first time in my life in 2007. I was a
stock market newbie & the turbulence
worsen my already downcast
personal life .

Happiness in modern life can be sometimes
difficult to sustain. For me my leisure
index can explain part of my
unhappiness.

For the past few years, it was work,
work and more work. It wasn't
that meaningless, but it
was very tiring.

Still, I feel my energy is slowly coming
back & I'm making slow & steady
recovery from my chronic
neck & back pain.

Thesis writing is not a bad thing
after all, it really trains me
to persevere, to forget
all the unknown &
to concentrate on
finishing it.

It's a massive struggle because I don't
have the habit of sitting still. At least,
it's done & after the thesis
defense, I can move
on to another phase of my life. It
will be more exciting & hopefully
more fruitful.

___________________________________________

I might be starting my first profit-based
online site. It will be a lot of work
but I reckon I will be able to
launch it latest by 5 March
2012.

The idea is good & there are few competitors
so I think it worth a try.

Koreanmovie.org was my first website.
It was intended to be non-profit at
that time & I was proud that
eventually it was featured
in the first page of major
search engines.

I couldn't cope with my schedule so I ended
Koreanmovie.org.

It has been years since I last watched
a korean movie. That really shows
how caught up with work I have
been. Finally, my pace of life
has appeared to slow down,
even if it's for a while.

I am generally very laid back & most
of my close friends could probably agree.
But, somehow, my schedule are always
tight. I love my own free time &
always can't get enough of it.

I was chatting with my hairstylist Doreen,
& she told me my great appetite for freedom
in a relationship is not conducive to sustain one.

"Daily reporting is essential, if u don't
like the idea, it's better not
to start one & make
each other suffers"

I am sometimes amazed when I talked
to Doreen because I think she
is fun yet principled.

For me, I am not really sure
what I want from a relationship, so I
haven't been seriously looking for one
since 2007. Freedom to me appears
to be the only thing in life that
I have never been sick of. For me,
it's my elixir.

I think that is my difficulty, at the
moment, it's really hard for
me to surrender my freedom.
But life's unpredictable,
things might change
a lot this year.

__________________________________

2011-02-06T21:44:00.020+08:00

Arsenal 2 Barcelona 1

It's a privilege to be an Arsenal's fan in the
era of Arsene Wenger. Although, it
always seem one has a conscious
choice in the club one chooses to

support, in reality you don't

have much a
choice.

It's the same like in love. In the beginning,
you thought you consciously choose
your partner, but sometimes
when you think deep enough,
a lot of things happen by
coincidence for you to
know each other in the first place.

The fortune of a soccer club is like that of
a corporate company. It is not always
that rosy and that there are
period in a club history
when suddenly the
trophies just dried
out.

Isn't it weird if a dominant club just
keep on winning & winning. As
a supporter, that magical
feeling of winning
just disappears
with this level of consistency.

When u have caviar everyday; the taste
of it will be like drinking water, very
ordinary. I always think
a bit of turbulence is
a good thing.

To Wenger, trophy is not everything. It's
about the style of winning as well. I totally
support it! A trophy is just a piece of
cheap metal, there's no point
spending 100 million
to have the name of
your club
engraved in that metal.

Buying victory is like asking someone
to love you because you have
the means to provide he/her.

When Wenger leaves, Arsenal might
never be the same again. The best
thing to do in life is to always enjoy
the things you have while
it lasts.

When it time
to bid farewell, do it with a smile.

___________________________________

On Thursday 24 Feb, I finally sent my
thesis for printing.

It has been a long, long journey. The printing
& the binding cost me quite a lot. Nonetheless,
I'm glad that I can spend more time
on my other pursuits.

Postgrad has been a good growing-up
period in which I value my health
& my happiness more.

I think I could not imagine doing something
else in the past 5 years. However, it seem
impossible for me to spend another 5 years of
my life doing research work.

The worst part of the writing up is those
moments of doubts that arise occasionally.

With the completion of thesis, I feel
my lethargy, frustration &
unhappiness disappearing.

It has been a good 5 years; I can't wait
to draw a line and move on.

______________________________________

2011-01-09T00:08:00.009+08:00

2011 arrives!!!

Time really flies, it wasn't long
ago when I started postgrad.
Now, it's coming to an end.

Postgrad years seem to run faster
than army years. Not tt I
enjoy it tremendously, but
it's definitely more
comfortable than
NS.

There is less stress in NS, but
you have limited freedom.

On New Year Eve I was in sch
& on New year day, ditto. Seriously,
I don't mind after all I feel I am
so, so, so close to the finishing
line.

Now I don't feel blue about working on weekends,
I worked seven days a week then a day
break and another seven days.

Thinking about finishing out motivates me
like nobody business.

I have mixed feelings about leaving
the lab, not tt I really enjoy lab
work tremendously. The people
at the laboratory block are
really fantastic, without
them I really doubt I will
finish my project. I borrowed
a lot of stuff from other labs
& they were always
generous with their
offer.

My colleagues were also fantastic,
there is no office politics and
pple just do their stuff.

I think I will miss the warmth
and generosity of my colleagues
but I am really happy to move on.

___________________________________

'O' level result was released on the first day
of the second week of January. Finally,
I have coached a student that has
an A1 for Pure Chemistry.

After 3 tries, this was the A1 I really
wanted. It's weird, it's really sounds
like I'm the one taking 'O' level. But, after
3 A2, finally, I have a student
who got an A1!

Overall, last year was fantastic for all the
students I have coached. The
returns for all the subjects
and students that I have taught
were 7A1, 1A2 and 1B4. This
is a very nice finale for me.

The chem A1 was really something I wanted
and the 2 bio A1 were surprised for me
because this was my first time
teaching biology.

I will have lesser assignments for 2011 as I
aim to free up my Friday for leisure
activities. I always think Friday is
a good time to hang up with
great frenzs for dining
& drinks after a week
of work.

But for the past 5 years, things have
been far away from the way I wish
things would be; things
will be different in 2011.

For the past 4 years at least, Friday was
an additional 3 hours of tuition after
work. But, I have little complaint,
tuition really have helped to build
up my savings so that I have
got money for investment.

With 4 years of investing experience, I
think I have an early headstart. Nowadays,
I feel much in control then when I
first started.

Investment is a very interesting 'game',
a bit like chess, but only just a bit.
It is far more challenging &
emotional than playing
chess.

I believe one day when I am able
to win consistently, I might
lose a bit of interest but
I guess I will be in
it for a long time.

________________________________________

The 'Social network' which depicts the
story of Facebook is a well directed
movie.

When Phoenix sent a Facebook invitation
for me in 2007, I thought this
will in time displace
Friendster.

It's didn't disappoint. At that time, I only
have about 50 friends in my Facebook.

But Facebook has evolved a lot since 2007.
The games are much better & the
focus of the site has evolved
to better suit the need of the
users.

Mark Zuckerberg is a genius because he
has managed to freshen things and
take facebook to the next level.
After a couple of years, Facebook
still surprised me as it keeps evolving.

When I bumped into Phoenix a week before
in the canteen, we were like
strangers, not even smiling to
each other.

I believe I am the chief culprit for things to
be so frozen out. Even though, deep down I
have my best wishes for her;
in her presence I can't help
but express scorn towards
her.

I really felt betrayed even though
I might be partly responsible for tt
behavior.

Beside that, I have really good memories

about the time with her. To me that
is really enough, it's better to
be in a short but energetic relationship
rather than in a long relationship with
no real chemistry and excitement.

I really don't know whether it is possible
for me to be in a long relationship as I am
not the type who likes to plan very far.
I always trust my intuition to guide
me in the right path; things are
more beautiful for me this way.

2010-12-17T00:25:00.007+08:00

Goodbye 2010! Hello 2011.

2010 came to an end yesterday. 1 yr
ago, I was at St James celebrating
the arrival of 2010. Yst, I was at
the lab all the way till 8:30pm.

After working consecutively for 6 days,
surprisingly I am not tt tired. I still
have energy for another day of
work.

My morale was also rather high cuz I
think I'm v v close to the finishing
line; I will love to move on,
absolutely love it!!

______________________________________

ESPN soccernet has composed a couple
of memorable quote, for me the
best was tt spoken by the
ever controversial Mario Balotelli:

"I would not do three things if I had my time over. I wouldn't throw the
Inter shirt to the ground, I would never again
bite back at the fans, nor would I spend time
with silly girls who just want to use me for
publicity. I prefer to be alone
than with such brainless people.
Evidently I must be stupid as
well, as I keep on finding these girls..."

The silver will have to be the one from China goalkeeper
Wang Dalei:

"It would be flattery to call you fans. You're just a bunch of dogs. You
bunch of morons are the main reason why Chinese football
can't make progress. You throw in stones after a man
has fallen into a well"

It was painful for most to see Arsenal to
end up another year without trophy.
Maybe I'm in denial, but there's
really no big deal in being
empty handed. The time
will come. Be patient!

______________________________________________

was at Nex shopping last week. The mall
was huge, having a total tenanted area
of 60,000 square metres which
is comparable to that of
Jurong point.

Nowadays,
beside eating, I don't see
pple with plenty of shopping
bags in their hands.

So the mall is just like a park, for
air-conditioned leisure walking.
I'm really not sure, but it
seem like that to me. I
suppose I'm also one of
the leisure-walker, the air-con
is fantastic especially for the new malls.

Singapore now boasts of a lot
of shopping malls. The tenants
are in for a hard time unless they can get good bargain for
their rentals. I reckon internet purchasing has
and will continue to decrease the number of buyers.

Internet has changed the way business
is being done. I done my supplements and cleansers
shopping online and the bargain for supplement
is v good. The site to go for supplement
is www.swansonvitamins.com & for
branded toiletries, this is a good
site sg.StrawberryNet.com. They
will pay for your delivery, no
gimmicks there.

This year, I will probably do part of my wardrobe
shopping on the internet since the deal is
pretty good.

Internet has been one lovely adventure, guess
Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg will totally
agree.

__________________________________

I ask a couple of friends their new year resolution.
One of my former student joked :" My new
resolution will be Genting SP: $5.00". V
creative new year resolution.

For me, I want to start
experiencing a new way of life that is closer to my vision.

On the streets today, I bumped into two frenzs.
First was Melvin & his wife at River Island.
Melvin is still as charismatic as ever;
I commented tt his job suits
him well since his communication skill
is top-notched; his wife laughed.

Then, I bumped into Stella on my way to
Far East. The street was generally
quiet, I think most pple shld
be at home resting & dreading
the end of the super weekend. For me,
I will have a well-deserved break after working
7 days straight.

December has been busy but very
satisfying after completing the writing of the
thesis. Sodagreen concert was one of
the highlight for December; memory of
tt wondrous evening is still v vivid
in my mind. It's one of the few
concerts in which I wld
safely say I will be back
again.

Happy new year to all!!!

__________________________________

2010-12-14T00:32:00.007+08:00

Sodagreen concert was awesome

Few of my frenzs expect me to watch Sodagreen
concert. In fact, I seldom mention Sodagreen.
I was sitting in front of the lab's computer
trying to analyse my results &
listening to the radio program.
Sodagreen was interviewed
by the DJ & then I started
rediscovering my love
for their music.

So it was really a bit by chance tt I
bought the ticket. It's was never
part of the plan. But I like
life to be like that, not
exactly pre-plan.

I'm not the pro-active type, but I think
I'm the type who makes full use of
the opportunity tt arrives at my doorstep.

I was glad I didn't miss the concert. It's strange
but I have attended a couple of concert
in which the performer spoke little
mandarin or english. So this time
was perfect because sodagreen
spoke mandarin & the dialogue
during the concert was
fantastic.

Not only does QingFeng sings well; he
establishes very good rapport with
the crowd. His jokes are sometime
a bit over until it becomes
rather corny. But, it great
stuff, v entertaining.

The live performance is really one
of the best I have witnessed. It's
really studio quality. The
talent tt QingFeng have
is amazing.

So talented yet so humble. I think
tt's wat sodagreen is to me. In
fact, I don't mind that they
only have two sets of costumes
for the whole performance.

With top performance like tt, they
don't need the costumes nor the
dances to cover for the deficiency.
The music was WoW!! I hope
they will be back again soon.

This week Elva Hsiao 'Love Rhapsody'
also makes it to FM 93.3 music chart.
That is the third song from the
album 'Miss Elva' to make it
to the chart. Brilliant performance
when considered that Elva's fans
are probably older & has less tendency
to vote.

'Miss Elva' is an awesome album. If you
like dance pop, it's v solid. V nice
music & when u listens to it on
the earphone, the bass
will rock u if ur earphone
is gud enough.

Elva was criticized for her performance
at Golden Horse 2010. She has to
sing five songs (i think) from
the soundtracks of past

movies. Her reply to the
criticism was solid though :
"Although, the performance might
not be top-notch, the feeling is
nonetheless v authentic"

But it's harsh to comment like that. Firstly,
not every singer can sing songs like
'小情歌' to perfection. QingFeng's
voice is just too unique and he's
too skilled for other to do it
easily. Morever, Elva has to
sing five songs.

A lot of people think singers have it easy.
Having to sing in front of thousands of
pple is not easy. Even someone as
skilled as QingFeng also has
moments of imperfection.

When u listen to QingFeng sings live, u are
amazed by how talented and natural
he is. Tt evening, I really enjoyed
myself.
____________________________________

I am finally onto my last chapter of the
thesis. This five years have not
been easy.

Some people said that the stress doesn't
get into me & my quality of my
life is not tt bad.

I feel my quality of life in my last five
years is lousy but not meaningless.
When you gain experience in lab,
writing, planning and the stock
market plus giving tuition
at the same time, it
is unlikely to
be meaningless.

But in the five years, I never feel
relaxed & composed. I don't
feel in control & I feel like
a servant to work & worry.

I work very hard for my students &
tutoring is a very meaningful job.
It's more fulfiling than investing
because in investing you play
for the future every time.

However, there is always a time to
put a full stop & a time to put
a Capital letter to your life.

Before I start tutoring, I thought I
will be a good tutor. I think I'm
not wrong. The best part of
the job is having the trust
of the students and the parents.
When they are less worried because
you are around, it's quite a good feeling.

Before I start research, I thought I
will struggle. But chronic struggle
is a very painful thing. I have
4 years of undergrad life when
things were perfect & beautiful. I didn't
earn a lot at that time but I was happy.

Still, I never regret, because deep now
I always think research is my first career.
It's part of my career but
not the only part. I hope it
will stay like this.

I hope work on an innovative
project in the near future. I feel
tt will be where I will be
successful & probably
the cream of my career.

________________________________________

So far December has been good. The
first week of December was
cousin's Weina wedding.

It has been ages since I saw some of
my cousins, so the feeling is
pretty good. It's really
nice to meet up after
so long.

The dinner was at Copthorne & the food
were really fantastic. Very delicious
& very good quality. The videos
were also v good. Anyway,
that was my last wedding
dinner for the year.

I am looking at the table calendar
that pal Pingting has made for
our group. There were four
of us in the picture for December.
Very nice picture & a great way
to sign off the year.

I have some very wonderful frenzs, but
I have a very crazy habit of disappearing.
When you never meet someone for quite
a while, there's a lot excitement
joy & things to share when u
finally meet. But, when
u meet up too often, I always feel the
stability & predictability of things
start to eat into the relationship.

Maybe that why I haven't been in
a relationship for a long time. I
don't know what will happen
when the fun stops.

Cheers for the completion of Chapter 7.

Onto the last chapter!!!

______________________________________

2010-12-01T16:57:00.008+08:00

December arrives!!!

was back in school for the first time in 2.5 weeks.

The feeling is pretty strange. But after
been at home for a single day &
really feeling the stress,
yst feels rather
liberating.

Larry popped in at my lab & then we
started chatting abt smartphones. At the
moment, iPhone is clearly ahead.

I prefer the design of iPhone4 as
compared to the earlier versions.
It's impossible to get it at store
now which is due to its
popularity as well as Apple
mantra of needing to control
both the hardware & software
of the phone.

(*The previous line sounds so like I'm writing
my thesis; describing, analysing & accounting.
V bad habit!!)

It is a fatter profit but I think the
strategy really won't work in

the long run. No doubt, Apple
will have a cult following, but
when the advantage of having loads
of applications in the store will slowly
be gone.

I saw cousin Doris, Galaxy S, the other day.
The screen is magnificent & it loks
better than iPhone 4. But I don't
think you buy a phone just for
the screen.

As for me, I'm very pleased with my
phone of low IQ. It's enough for me.
I have particular sentiment for the
asset I own, even if it don't do
its job well.

Luckily I'm not a tech geek, it's an
expensive hobby. My hobby is
looking at beautiful things &
people. Luckily, I don't
have a huge urge to
own them.

Although, it's counterintuitve, owning
thing take the beauty & enjoyment
out of it. When you own a beautiful car,
you watch it degrade & depreciate in
front of your own eyes. You are
concerned about the scratches but
scratches are really
unavoidable.

____________________________________

In the next two days, I will wrap up two
more chapters of my thesis. The best
part is the second hardest portion
of the thesis is going to
be over.

Tt is really a very, very great feeling.
Yippie. The last two portions
are easier to write, I have
the basic concepts in
my mind.

While writing thesis, ppstream remains
my best entertainment device for
those dull moments. It's really
solid.

there is drama, movies ... & even
arthouse movies. It is miles
better than tudou & there
is no peak-hour jam
if you get what I
mean.

ppstream - entertainment all in one!

2010-11-26T22:56:00.007+08:00

Eternal Bull vs Eternal Bear

In the investment world, there are
two very interesting breed of pple.
The eternal bull & the eternal bear.
Both types are disastrous. Take
their words with a pinch of salt.

The eternal bull are the optimist who
believes the market will keep

rising & rising. These are
the pple who thinks
the stock market operates linearly.
It's fine when they are not a professional
cause their words won't have much weight;
but if they are the 'pro' & you believes them,
good luck.

The eternal bear are no better. They are
the one who become famous when
their contrarian approach during
a bear market make them
the WISE ONE. But again,
they see things in a linear relationship,
& their view that things will never better.

So there you have it, a group of pple
who thinks 'Things will get rosier and
roser' vs ' Things will never take a
change for the better'.

Real life is more realistic; it is really like
how most stock behaves. There is
a period of boom; a period
of correction and a
period in which
things don't change much.

I was watching You're Hired the
past week while writing my
thesis. You're Hired is
v entertaining. It has
its twists & its
sentimental moments.

The actors and actress in the show are also
very good. I thought Mandy Cho has very
big attractive eyes & I like her
acting.

Gorgeous Mandy Cho

She has a very impressive start to her
career. Pageant queen & best
newcomer. Couldn't ask
for a better start.

Somehow her career has stalled. In certain
industry, only a selected few can
really make. To make it,
sometime it boils down
to luck or what fortune teller says,
your destiny in life.

The problem is a good start does not
mean much. Just like a stock
with a good debut might
goes bust in the end,
while a 'loser' might end up to be
a golden goose. However, there is
an eternal bull in all of us, when life
is good, we think it will continue to be
good, then when bad days 'suddenly arrive,
it's unbearable and very hard to accept.

Again, in everyone of us, we hope
for a Cinderella, a happy ending.
That is why, hong kong drama,
is quite popular, cuz it's v
dramatic & the ending
is usually sweet. Hopefully, there's
a Cinderella's twist to her career.
It would be nice to see her getting
more solid role.

_________________________________

2010-11-21T22:35:00.007+08:00

Sodagreen concert, Dec 11 2010

After missing Elva Hsiao and Da Mouth's mini
concert, I'm not gg to miss Sodagreen.

I've never attend a band concert before, so it's
quite a novel experience. But, to me
Sodagreen is a lot abt Qing Feng.
He has a wide vocal range
although the tone of his
voice is nt quite masculine. Still,
his voice is very unique
& beautiful.

Just a pity, the guitarist won't be around.

____________________________

I finally have more personal time,
after working hard for the past 2 mths.

September to October was hell.

After working in the lab for 5 years, I hope
things will come to an end soon.
It's pretty weird how I manage
to spend the past 5 years
working in the lab. It has
never been easy.

The worst experience was in
2007 when all my cells were
killed after the fridge was
down again. Tt month was also
bad relationship-wise.

A month later, the stock market
crashed.

Lab is challenging but I don't derive
much happiness from it. In science,
people work very, very hard &
they expect you to do the same (my
boss has been very understanding
though). I don advocate laziness
but working extremely hard is just
a lousy habit.

I learn a lot from lab, but I am the restless type,
so I feel a strong urge to move on.
After I submit my thesis & clear all the
loose ends, its adios (hopefully).

Nxt year, I will probably have ONLY one tuition
session per week. Tt will be awesome &
I guess I will probably have more time
for leisure, to pick up new
hobbies & think abt new venture.

The other day, I was delivering my farewell
'speech' to my student of 6 years. There
is a bit of emotion on the thought
of leaving after 6 years. The
family has treated me very, very well &
that has always left me feeling v touched. I
think there's nothing more you can ask for in
an employer.

In total, I have 15 students and another
4-6 classes in my 12 years of tuition.

When I first started tuition, I didn't know
I will stay so long in it. I also didn't
know that the income can be v
attractive. But I was confident
tt I will be a decent tutor.

My nxt career will be the same, it has to
be sth which I feel I can do a great
job. When the confidence is there, most
of the time u can derive max results
from minimum effort.

________________________________

I have a stiff neck for most of the year. So I
have tired everything I could lay
my hand on to solve the problem.

The best pillow in the market.

or plaster or heat rub.

Nothing seem to be working. Tempur pillow
is good stuff, but it doesn't solve my problem.
The heat rub & plaster only provide temp
relieve.

I went to an acupuncturist as a last resort.
The worst part of the procedures is the
last stage when she used a suction
tool on each of the needle spot. Tt
is very painful.

It relieves the pain for 2 days, & then
the same problem is back again.

Neck pain is a bit like the daily worries one
has. It's tolerable but it's sucks most
of your energy away.

Spending $30 for a two day relief doesn't
make much economic sense, so after
one week, I quit accupuncture.

So I went back to plaster which doesn't
offer much but it's a cheaper alternative.

While getting the plaster, I saw an
interesting device . Denshiban. It's
basically a magnetic disc tt is
supposed to generate the magnetic force
to stimulate blood circulation.

Does this thing really works? I bought
it anyway. I have one of the best
night sleep yesterday, so
this product has pass
test #1.

Rule #1: If something is really cheap, give it
a try. Cheap thing is not necessary bad. The
same for stock!! In the stock market,
always remember this, BUY
LOW, SELL HIGH. BUY
HIGH, SELL HIGHER
works but it's for
more experienced personnel.

If Denshiban really works, I am going to
the shop a week later & buy out
all their Denshiban!!!

__________________________________________

2010-10-15T16:22:00.011+08:00

Elva's still the one

"Ms Elva" the follow up album to "Diamond
Candy" is as good or even better
than its predecessor.

To roll up an album within a year or less
is nt tt impossible; but two
consecutive good albums is
something.

I was a bit concerned whether "Ms Elva"
will be good due to the pace of
album release.

Melo-pop, '错的人' was very
well received. The song has
Kenji Wu rubberstamped all over it;
personally, the music is very well
composed & the lyric very meaningful.
Kenji-Wu and Elva Hsiao is a nice combination,
& in future, he should be asked to compose
the melo-pop for her album.

Listening to the song & hearing Elva commenting
the song, one got a feeling tt Elva believes
in love a lot. Tt resonates in the quality
of some of her romantic songs. Her vocal
range is not extraordinary but what stands
out is that she can express a lot through subtle
modulation of the tone and pitch of her voice.
Anyway, I always feel vocal range is
over-rated, like a retail company
which impressive revenue but
low profit.

The trend for 'Ms Elva' continues from 'Diamond
Candy' with the fusion of dance music
& mando-pop. 'Ms Elva', the lead
song, is however, more
techno-inspired.

There are plenty of high-tempo romantic
songs to carry on from 'Diamond
Candy'. 狂想 . 曲, 抱緊你,
讓愛飛起來 are fantastic
productions. The music
composers are top-notch &
Elva have the voice & energy
to match the tempo.

Then, finally, there is this super cute
track about slimming, '瘦瘦瘦瘦'.
There is a multi-layered feel
to Elva's voice for this song,
just like the mixed bag of
emotions a determined
person to slim down
could have.

越美味越是有罪脂肪找隔壁那位
eat不过七点饿了就喝水
有美食那些节目都当做恐怖片
美丽的曲线太油会毁灭
单身的悲惨世界绝对碰不得甜再饿一点
再淡一点 (美就是晕眩)再忍一点
再苦一点那窈窕已经不远

Overall, this album is top notch.
If you like high tempo Mando-pop, you will find
this an excellent record. Great job, ElvA!!!

________________________________________

October is a busy month. I have 11 consecutive
days of tuition, a record which I hope
will not be broken.

Teaching while you are sick is a bit
tough. At least, busy period
is almost over. Expt is
finishing as well.

Tuition is a very good part-time job.
It is not very tiring, because
there is limited physical
exertion.

Tuition and performing experiments
are like day and night, heaven
and earth.

There are times when you sign out
for something but realises
that the aspect of the job
that you likes only
makes a small component
of your day-to-day routine.

Right now, I am happy thinking
about the prospects of finishing
my thesis at the comfort of
my home.

No more lousy air. No more paying
for routine food. No more
having to spend $$ juz
to squeeze onto
the bus.

I always feel research will always
be my first career. With the completion
of thesis, this might the end of it,
or the beginning of it. As for
tuition, it's also the same.

It's feel strange but graduating
this time really give me the
same joy as in 2001 when
I ORD, although I
have more freedom this time
round.

I want to be brave and see whether
I can crave up another niche.

_________________________________________

2010-09-25T21:53:00.023+08:00

Elva's latest album after 'Diamond Candy'

'Diamond Candy' was a great album, one of
Elva's best. The latest album might
be even better at least from
two of the songs released
on Youtube.

The music video for 'Ms Cool' is easily one
of the most expensive asian MTV. It's
great stuff, the 720 degree view
is awesome. Someone commented
tt there were shadows of Gaga
in the MTV. Perhaps there
is but only a small segment of
the video, which is no big
deal. As a whole, it's
very much a unique
MTV and there has
to be no argument abt it.

'Ms Cool' is a techno-pop. Techno
& Chinese music doesn't usually
go hand in hand. Methinks,
techno is one of the best
music invention & 'Ms
Cool' is a wondrous fusion
of techno & mando-pop.
Love It. The sort of production
tt will make pple go 'Wow'.

Whether pple will accept 'Ms Cool' is
another thing. Mandopop is generally quite
conservative and more gear towards songs tt are sentimental.

When record companies come up with
MTV like the one for '錯的人'; the critics
will start & say that mando MTVs and songs
are predictable & boring.

'錯的人' with music & lyrics by
Kenji Wu is a well-written song. Like a
story, the song guides you through
the emotion in a masterful manner;
very well composed.

'錯的人' is the type of song that
is tailored for Elva. The sensual
quality of her voice expresses
the song v well. The song is quite emotive
and reminds me of
'坦白' in the previous album.

OutKast seems to take forever
to release their album. The wait
for Elva's latest album in contrast, is
surprisingly short; but
perhaps the quality is
not discounted. Can't
wait to get it when
it's out in the store. Great job! Elva.

_______________________________________

It's near September & yet my
thesis completion is still stuck
at 70%.

There was basically no progress
in September. Most of the
time was spent on
doing lab work, another portion
on writing paper & still the remaining
portion on tuition preparation
work.

It's actually quite vexing when
pple start asking me abt
the progress & remarking
why it takes so long. If I can
speed things out, I will
be more than happy.

The two bottlenecks are the experiments
and the papers.

I just hope I can sit down peacefully to
write all my stuff from the last week
of October. Then I will really see
real progress ...

The number of students I have has
suddenly increased in October.
I have one IP student, two 'O' Level
students, one 'A' Level student
and one sec 3 student.

Twelve years of tuition is a long time.
But tuition for me has always
been a part-time job. For me,
it feels really weird to be
teaching full-time cuz
I have not really been
a proper student.

I daydream a lot & don really
do assignments. I get by
most of the time because
I don't want to 'lose'.

___________________________________

The ridiculous weather has continued &
I got my third bout of flu for the
year.

It probably sounds ridiculous but this
has nothing to do with my body
being weak. My respiratory
tract is the only weak link.
Unless I can re-engineer
the tract, guess I have
to live with it.

Talking about re-engineering
I chanced upon renowned hypnotist,
Bruce Goldberg's website the other day. Depending
on whether you are a believer, he has
perform a lot of future progressions
for many individuals & there was
an article documenting how the future
will be like

Pretty interesting stuff. By the 22th century,
AIDs and cancer will finally be cured! At the
end of this century, social behaviour will have
improved & things like racism will no longer
be present. Solar energy will be a norm next
century & in the further future nuclear energy.
There are more interesting stuff but I can't
remember.

This year weather is as weird as it gets.
If it gets any weirder, how about
snowing in Singapore. If tt happens,
winter wear sales will be buzzing.
You will probably see winter
wear shops ballooning like
bubble tea shop.
Some bosses will probably talk
abt listing their winterwear company.
But if this happens, I bet oil
price will rise as well ... certainly
not a gud thing.

I hope there will be a year whereby
I will be illness free ... so far it
hasn't happen; the day it happens
flu will probably be extinct from
this world ... might happen, but
maybe not in my life time.

______________________________________

Arsenal has got off to a very weird
start. Not too bad but
not too good either.

Risking on the future can be a risky
thing because first you don't
know when it's going to arrive. Then
'popular wisdom' also tells you that
you have to stomach all the hardship
meanwhile. BUT, what if
the future never arrive!

The BUT is not a black swan, it
can happen. So, Arsenal Wenger
habit of collecting goalkeeper
is tricky stuff

No.1

No. 2

No. 3

No. 4

4 goalkeepers yet none of them
can be trusted. It makes
more of sense to have
two good ones. Two
is good enough.
4 good or 4 bad doesn't make
any sense.

Someone mention the one with
real potential is the No. 4. But
seriously, does it make
sense to use a cheap lock
for the front door while
saving up to buy the
ultimate lock which the
SALESMAN says is
the best!

I won't do such a deal. It's ok
to blood young player but
goalkeeper is a different
thing altogether. Every
mistake a keeper makes
is magnified.

Still, supporting a team is like
being with a partner. Usually,
you stick with it through thick
& thin. There are fundamental
difference though; your partner
can ditch you but a football
club won't ditch your support.

_______________________________

2010-09-10T17:10:00.004+08:00

Turning 30...

Another decade begins ...
The first decade was about
growing up, learning how
to walk, write and express
onself. Second decade
was like stepping into
muddy plain, carefree,
fun at time but
always murky.

Third decade for me was
about maturing &
seeing things
take shape ... but life
has never been tt
hectic!

The best thing about the third
decade was knowing some
very good friends, friends
that I can really click with.

the fourth decade, it
will be fun to predict. I
hope I will still keep
my hairs; still
remaining
optimistic &
to be become more
of what I wish to be.
_______________________________

KK & pals organise a birthday
celebration for me on Sep 4.
This yr was different from
last yr ... I was "sabotaged"
even before the bbq begun.

I was always confident tt
they will not caught me
offguard but they
have surprised
me yet again.

First item of the gathering
was the horror movie "Haunted
Changi". I must admit, it garners
the worst rating i have given
for a movie. 0.2/10

It's not horrifying. There is
no plot. The whole movie
was just about the 15 mins
ending. And the ending
is nt fantastic also. Honestly,
the proper genre for the movie
is "Amateur works".

KK & me were hoping to
scare some of our friends. But there
was nothing fearful in the movie.

The bbq was very good. The kitchen
staff was:
Maggie - Supervisor
KK - Fire specialist
Yvonne - Trainee
HL - Senior BBQ Specialist (SBS)
Me - Butter & Margarine Worker (BMW)

The fire was too strong in the beginning. My

drenched clothes were dried soon after.

The SBS did a great job; loads of experience haha.
Then I started to be creative, & put beer on
the wings ... tried it, it's good!!

There were a lot of "wrestling" soon after
led by chief wrestler, Eric. I guessed
he enjoyed throwing pple into
water. At least I got my
revenge. with the
help of KK.

Part 3 was alcohol game. Blowing
card is my weakness but lucky
charm was simply on my side!

Birthday cake was from Pine Garden.
V nice. Thk u organiser!!!

_______________________________________

finally was back at East Coast for BLADEING.
The weather was good for the first 2 hrs.
It has been almost a year since I last
went.

ECP is about the same except for
the new skate park. The skate
park is v gud but more
for stunners. I would nvr
dream of trying anything
there. There were a number
of young caucasian kids, they
look so natural with their skates
& bikes.

I realise I really miss skating a lot.
The difference between cycling & skating is
like the difference between driving
& motorcycling on the
road.

The former is relatively more passive
but safer. But the later, it's
mabbe for fun.

And the difference between skating
& doing lab work is like
light years away.

Lab work is like a lot of things
we do in life, just for the future.
Sometimes, the future never
really arrives. I have vowed

to live more for the present!

___________________________________

2010-08-20T13:04:00.012+08:00

Work, Work, Work ...

This is crunch time. Hopefully,
in 3 mths, everything will
finish.

At least for the tuition side,
I will take a break after
November when
their exam is
over.

New student, Bryan, is rather
smart. I expect to see
improvement soon.
Bryan might be
my swansong
for tuition unless
I decide to switch
to full time tuition.

My thesis writing has not
progress as much. At the
moment it's 70% done. There
are still a lot of other stuff
that I need to do. Experimental
work, paper writing and preparation
for PQE took quite a big chump
of my time.

Experimental work, I hope I can
wrap up in 3 weeks time. I think
its achievable this time round.

1.5 month of pure writing should finish
things up. Tt work up to be 1.33 page/day.
I think it achievable. However, tt need
to be shared with paper writing.

_______________________________

was out shopping with Kian Leng last Sat.
The retail industry is doing rather badly.

Clothes are better buy than 2 years ago.
The local designer I reckon is
still not strong enough to
compete. They lose

in terms of pricing &
their design is
still nt quite there.

With the internet, retail is no longer
as attractive. It's doesn't make much
sense tt with internet getting a
share of the pie, rental is
still as expensive or rather
has gone up.

_______________________________

read that a pomeranian was beaten
to death by a 'mad man'
http://sg.yfittopostblog.com/2010/08/20/dog-brutally-beaten-to-death-in-sengkang/

a very pitiful end to the dog. Pomeranian
is so lovable that it is v hard
to be evil to it.

Among the small dogs, I think
Pomeranian and Papillion are
among the cutest.

If I could keep two dogs I
will keep a papillion and
rottweiller. Can papillion live
happily with a rottweiller ... guess not

Papillion vs rottweiller...
I think it quite obvious
who will emerge victorious.

But I think dogs are out of my
reach at the moment. Most pple
close to me think
tt eventually I will
ditch the dog to my mum!
Such faith in a frenz!
I think I won't ditch a dog
& I believe I have some
of the quality of being a good dog
owner, chief among them
playfulness!

____________________________

Watched "Air doll" at the Japanese film
festival with Kian Leng last Sat.
The movie is very good. A primary
school essay title for the movie
would be "An autobiography
of an air doll"

As a child, I enjoy
autobiography
essay although the ending
is always the same.

Air doll is aesthetically very pleasing.
Midway through the movie, I wonder
how the story is going to end. The
ending is definitely nt gg to
be good, this I was
somewhat certain.

The final scene of the air doll deflating and
slowly losing life is rather poetic
yet heart-wrenching at the
same time. Love &
life can be
v fleeting, such
is the story of
the air doll.

___________________________________________

Smartphone is the future of mobile.
In the past ten years, IT has
made massive progress. 10
years ago, we have Alta Vista
& non-colour phone.

10 years is all it takes for Apple
to re-write the script, for
Google to be a serious
threat to Microsoft.

Google Android is expanding at
a fast pace. I think Blackberry
will yield to Android pretty soon.

As for Apple, is it deja vu again?
They tried to be exclusive
during the early PC era.
They are trying to be
exclusive again. iPhone
is an interesting device
but the ongoing competition
between the super giants
is even more interesting.
The winners are the consumers!

Personally, I think a Blackberry
phone is too expensive. Iphone
with contract is manageable
but the future will
be cheaper, just
like how internet
connection gets cheaper
with better infrastructure
& healthy competition.

2010-08-10T23:45:00.004+08:00

开始倒数，开始忘记

spent the weekend over in
Malaysia & was back
on Sunday evening
as boss was planning
to call me.

on Friday morning,
I thot I was getting
the flu bug so I when
to the doc ... luckily
it wasn't, it's v tough
to give a presentation
with blocked nose

didn't do too much for the trip
as compared to the last time.
The incredible thing is
tt there were a couple of
badminton sessions during
the trip ... gg JB to play
badminton ... my colleagues
found it v v amusing ...

But karaoke was v cheap
in JB & the quality is good
or even better than the one
in Singapore. The TV looks
newer & the song selection
is better. At 20 RMB for
Sat evening, I think it's a
bargain.

On one particular evening,
we played a chinese
card game. It's a
strategy-like game. But
I think as with most game,
your strategy is dependent
on you getting the right
card.

__________________________________

Tuesday was finally my PQE.
It has taken me 4 years
to go for the PQE. Tt's
very long.

There were a lot of hiccups
during my postgrad. I'm
not a perfectionist but
sometimes I feel
that is a need
to do things
the right way.

Sometimes by doing the right way,
you can feel immense stress.

Prof Lee was the chairman
for the my oral presentation.
4-5 years ago, he was my
examiner as well & marked
my thesis.

I have always think tt he
is a ultra-cool lecturer; v few
lecturer amazes me. He appears
laid back but is extremely
clear in his lecture, inspires
calmness and is very authentic.
I really like his lecturing
style & I think he's one of the best.

He came in 10 mins before the scheduled
presentation and we chatted. He told
me not to worry ... The presentation
went smoothly and I passed.

Now I'm nt far from the finishing line ...
I hope to finish latest by the end of the year.
The best phrase to describe what I was thinking
is "开始倒数，开始忘记"

This 4 years has been v hectic and v
tough. The learning experience
is gud but I think it's
wiser to reshape my
life & not let
the next 4 years be a reflection
of the past 4 years.

I no longer wish to be sold
the future anymore. Sometimes,
the future never really arrive. You delay
your happiness but the prob is life can be v
unpredictable. Can one predict that one can
live to a ripe old age? If not then it doesn't make
sense to keep looking towards the future.

2010-08-06T15:52:00.006+08:00

Arsenal season kicking off soon!

Aug/Sep will be exciting month. The EPL
kicks off. Elva is having her
concert in Sept & then
Coco Lee in Oct.

The last concert I went to was Seoul Out,
an outdoor concert. The biggest
miss was to miss out
on Da Mouth Party. Spent $150
& a pair of ticket is yours. For me, I think
it was difficult to go partying
when I'm struggling
with my work so I missed out
on tt one.

As Arsenal season begins in
Sep, I hope to end mind hopefully
in October. Honestly, I have
been waiting for that day
for a long, long time.

Going into research was a childhood 'vision'.
I never regret joining research.
I guess I would regret if
I never try.

JC pal, Kwun Ho, is coming back
for a holiday at long last. We can
have a drink together with
Bryan. I have great affinity
with my JC frenzs Chun Kiat
& Kwun Ho. Of course,
sometimes I really hope I can
spend more time with my frenzs
& also do the things I like a lot
like bladeing, swimming and
clubbing. But the latter is too expensive
to be a hobby.

________________________________________

Ex-student Marcus reckons tt the economy
will take another dip. He doesn't has
any outstanding positions.

Then there is some astrology reports
which seem to back the
double-dip theory.

My experience is don't bet
against it. But also don't
put your money in
first.

But logically, I don't think the economy is
tt rosy. Like Marcus, I have
been waiting. Stock market
is usually not about
buying the best stock.

The best stock don't really necessarily
let you earn money. The
best timing, do, unfortunately.

Grasping the best timing is
like trying to understand
what a girl is thinking.

You thought you get it sometimes
& when you get into that
ultra-confident mood, reality
crashes on you.

Still, although I think it's hard
to get the timing right, I believe
things happen in cycle & then
usually with experience you
can smell trouble brewing. With
experience, the pattern is
there. If you see a person in
a foul mood, you stay away. With
stock it's the opposite, if pple
are v optimistic, stay away. If
people are overly pessimistic,
take your baskets and load
it with eggs. Remember the
more baskets you have, the
safer it is; just remember
don't put all your eggs in
one basket!

Anyway, I think the stock market
is as interesting as research. It
is like a challenge to me; when
I master it, maybe I won't
invest so much.

____________________________________

Have been losing hair for the last 4 years, I
have tried a lot but the best I have
done is to decrease the rate the
hair is coming off.

The pill for hair loss helps contain the problem
but doesn't erradicate it completely.
A month supply put you close
to $90 poorer. Multiply
it by 12 and that is
$1K.

After 4 years, I'm not close to eliminating
this problem. I am effectively
only buying time.

If it's fated, I hope to come out with
a product tt really helps. For tt,
we shall see.

A lot of the staff at Jeric has advised
me to try their scalp treatment. I
doubt it works. The remarkable
thing is my own hair-stylist never

even mention a word 'scalp'
to me. She is the cool but
fun type; the most consistent
hairstylist I have.

I used to think that those people
working in hair salon
with their amazing
hairstyles, are quite
different from us.

At one moment, I even feel
they appear quite intimidating. Things
have changed. I think some
of them are very simple people.
They just do their job. In a way,
I admire such simplicity. After

4 years of living a hectic &
'complicated' life, I miss the
simplicity of my undergrad days.

______________________________

I'm gg off to Malaysia now for a day
or two. Tata.

2010-07-23T17:34:00.006+08:00

Gloomy weather

Today weather is pretty uninspiring.
The weather is as freakish as one
can imagine. Even if the weather
is good, it's doesn't make a diff,

I will still be at home writing
thesis anyway

went to CK's wedding on Sat. I
was surprised he slimmed down a lot.
I have never see him so slim and
so happy before. It was a great
chance to meet up with sec sch
frenzs; I havent seen Andy
for like more than 10 years,
same for Susan.

Susan said she couldn't recognise
me after so long. Tt's the
wonder of contact lens. I have
a very bookish image during
sec school & JC.

I wasn't as hardworking
as my classmates think during
JC, it's just the image.

Pal christabel said I got a poker face.
I think she is probably right, I
always have a lot of devilish ideas.
In the end, I mean no harm ...
just a lot of fun

Anyway, a number of my sec
sch frenzs are getting
married; some are
having children or
in the process

I see some of them around &
I can feel they are happy. Most
of my frenzs in a steady
relationship are happier
than without it.
tt's pretty good, so the
many studies reported
were right!

I don have a satisfying answer
when my frenzs ask me
question abt relationship.
I guess it's a matter of
both the right person &
the right moment.

My life has been rather turbulent
since 2007, a bad time
to meet anyone. Conditions
are improving though; the most
impt thing is to complete the
thesis ...

I think I will nvr study again ...
nt for MBA or CFA or
any other thing.

______________________________________

went for Jap Buffet @ Miramar hotel with
KK, HL, Max, Vivian, Yvonne, Eric, PT,
DL and Maggie. The sashmi
was v gud & so was the
tempura.

Then we order lotsa of shishamo ... I think
at least 50 of the pregnant fish. The
best way to eat it is to
dig out the eggs ... it's
super chewy ! Eric was
digging out the eggs for all of us...
But I think it's super unhealthy
to eat so many shishamo ...

We went for movies after tt. It has
been ages since I went to the
cinema.

The group is v fun. I think
i'm the laziest among all of them.
I have only organised one
get together this year.

____________________________________

went to a floral exhibition with Kian Leng
last week. This year exhibition
is average; but to be surrounded
by beauty is a still a very
good experience.

Then I mention to Kian Leng about
my ambition to be a farmer. I have
lotsa ambitions when I was small including
cab driver, lawyer, pilot & research
scientist.

#1 Cab driver is still attainable; but
I think it's not really suitable
for me. I am too hyper to
enjoy being trapped in
the car for so long.
I always have very interesting
chat with cab drivers though unless
I am very tired. Some of them
are incredibly entertaining &
there was one cab driver with
very crisp voice, I told him
he got a voice of a singer. But,
still, Cab driver, hmmm, quite funny
when I think of it

#2 Lawyer. Pal christabel is
gg to law sch. I think it suits
her much better than med sch. She
said that I am always so 'evil'
to her but I always make her
laugh, tt's the point. My only
attribute that is suitable to
being a lawyer is that I think
fast & rebut fast. Tt it ...
so mabbe nt in this life.

#3 Pilot. Quite unattainable cuz I got V bad
eyesight !

#4 Research scientist. This is
sort of what I have been
doing till now, so basically it's cleared. I
have always think tt this will
be one part of my career but nt
the whole of it.

#5 Farmer. Kian Leng was
very excited abt the idea. If I were
to be a farmer, he's the best
partner. We can be
part of a team, heaven &
earth. We are quite different
but I consider it complementary.
He's the conscientious type while
I'm always thinking of doing things
differently. Actually, farmer
should be like a retirement job ...
a perfect retirement job. You
have food & you exercise ...

____________________________________

The first half of August will be
v impt. If everything goes well,
then I have a very good chance of
submitting my thesis in
October.

Keeping my finger crossed!

______________________________________

2010-07-12T01:50:00.007+08:00

First half of 2010 just flew away

Half of 2010 is now over. This is
as fast as 2009.

Time has been so precious during
my 4 years postgrad. It's like

you just need to make your
project works.

This year, the weather has been
pretty very freakish ... lotsa

rain & in may the sun
& the rain occupies

half a shift each
day

Hopefully, the silly weather is
over soon. The second
half is crucial, I want
to put a full-stop
to my postgrad.

___________________________________

Now I'm at Page 125 of my thesis
& the last experiment. The
groundwork has been
completed, hopefully
there will be no major
hiccups ...

Then ... THEN I will need
to get all my students thru
their 'A' & 'O'.

It will be merry time after tt...
at least for a while.

Teaching 'A' was a new experience
for me ... it was really out of
my comfort zone, but at
tt time I really couldn't
refuse the parents' request
because I enjoy
teaching Jonathan a lot

He's a nice chap, very courteous,
diligent, intelligent & very
respectful.

________________________________

This World Cup I have watched a couple
of 2:30 am matches ... it has been
ages since I do tt ...

The matches are not really tt
exciting ... but its the non-footballing
issues tt really spice things up.

#1 has to be Octopus Paul. Are pple
getting more superstitious? First there
was octopus, then there was the
bird, den after tt there was
another octopus 'cousin'?

#2 Luis Suarez handball save. The second
edition of Maradona's hand of God. He
wasn't wrong. Pple tries to argue
about the morality of his
act, I think they
really got nothing better
to do.

#3 Maradona "tactical discipline". He
is still the best entertainer of the game.
I told a lot of frenzs, you can't sack
him. "How can you sack someone
who has given so much to Argentina?"

_______________________________

haven't been to wedding dinner for quite
a while ... will have two this weekends ...
well, things always seem to come
tog ...

I wonder how the wedding lunch
will be like ? this is my first wedding
lunch .

quite looking forward to chee keong's
wedding. I haven't seem him for
quite a while.
there are also other sec sch frenzs to
catch up ... Nice ...

It's the year of tiger ... I actually thought
pple don't really prefer to get
married during this year... so
I was wrong as I got dinner
#3 coming up this yr also

_________________________________________

Watch the final with Youyi, his gf & cousin
weepin. Youyi made a bet on Holland
winning the trophy for the first time.

My bet was even simpler - Spain
to score first ...

Alas ... Spain bloody hell scored during
extra time ... so this World Cup
my record is 0-5.

Octopus has a far better record
than me ... & he doesn't
even understand
the game

So does it applies to investment
as well ... even if you know
the game, you still
might not profit
from it ...

Lotsa of pple gamble ... many lose ...
but gambling is still so
tempting ... things
tt are nt gud

for us always
seem to be more seductive!

Anyway, EPL season is gg to begin.
I still think the best place
to watch soccer is with
pals at Arsenal fan club. The atmosphere
is really great & the food is fantastic!!!

____________________________________

I was writing & writing until I really
couldn't write anymore ... so
I suddenly thought of
Pedro Almodovar, the
Spanish film director

He averages a movie once every 3 years

I admire such directors a lot. I think
it takes inspiration to be creative
but a lot of courage & belief
to carry it through

<1999> All about my mother
<2002> Talk to Her
<2004> Bad Education
<2006> Volver
<2009> Broken Embraces

I watched "All about my mother" and
"Broken Embraces" in the past 2 days

People classified Almodovar's work
as melodrama. It does have
the attributes of the genre.
But if you follows his work,
you might think tt
classification is contentious

There are certainly doleful or tragic
moments in his films, but
everyone of it has a surprisingly
beautiful ending.

The real charm of his films are
their ability to surprise. You
never know what to expect &
his storytelling technique
is fantastic. You don't usually try
to predict the ending because you will be
mesmerized by the movie throughout.

"Broken embraces" is less dramatic
then "All about my mother" but
it's still a wonderful piece of
work

"All about my mother" is
more of a feminine movie. I think
ladies will emphatise more with
the characters in the movie. The
dialogs, expressions & the
transverstites are colourful
enough to watch!

2010-06-28T21:51:00.005+08:00

Germany 4 England 1

Yesterday was my first time
supporting England &
it all end in disaster.

If not for the betting ticket,
I will never imagine
supporting England.

Spain was another losing ticket,
but I still got two more.

I don have a lot of eggs but
I do have a lot of basket
to put them. Maybe
the adage 'Don't put
all your eggs in one
basket" really
does make
sense.

Before learning & paying
sch fees in stock market ...
I never believe in the adage.
In fact, I did the contrary.

England just could not handle
Germany's pace. I was really
surprised tt England defence
was so poor.

Their play lacks coherence. I
guess they really choked on
the big stage.

The South American teams
are different though. They
seem to peak at the
World Cup.

Even doom during the qualification
doesn't matter to Maradona
& Argentina. They are cruising
into the q-Final.

Maradona just have a lot
of guts. Loads of that. He
has an incredible life. A
few years ago, he was
so close to not
living.

As for Capello, he has such
a wonderful track record.
Before Mourinho, he
was the next manager
tt could guarantee
a trophy.

I thought miracle will happen
because I believe in
miracles.

Believing in miracles usually
bring loads of heartache. But
on occasion, it's worth it.

__________________________________

Saturday was mum's birthday. She really
enjoy going to the buffet, so I brought
her to the concorde for
seafood buffet.

I browsed through the website
& the menu wasn't fantastic ...
but then there were crabs
& I was running out
of options.

Cousin Fam & her parents also
came along.

The spread was expectedly not
a lot ... but the crabs were
fresh & v good! Both
the chilli, black pepper
& soft shell crabs
were delicious enough
for me to re-order

Unlike other buffets, the crabs
are per request ... but it's
better this way ... all the
claws are in place &
they are hot!

They also serve half a lobster
for every person but I
guess I will prefer
crab to lobster on anyday

I'm always v amuse why crabs
taste so good even when
they live in crap environment
& feed on crap ? No one has
ever gives me a satisfactory answer ...

____________________________________

2010-06-17T23:42:00.016+08:00

Opening a can of worms

I have never used this phrase before
& I will never imagine that I will use it.
If you have nothing to eat & you saw a can of "food".
It's the only can! Will u open it??

Tt's a bit of re-invention of the phrase but the point
is I think I self-sabotage because I am
desperate. I thought of doing the
microarray experiment for
my thesis so that my research will be more complete.

Basically for non bio-geeks, microarray allow you to
monitor ALL the genetic changes in the cells
during your experiment. The idea is
good. But it's like if I were to you one
million dollar and put you on a barren
island ... do you think the million dollar
is tt useful? Now I'm trying to
make my 50MB of data useful.
It's like finding food on a barren
island, a bit tough.

Now I'm almost done with the tidying out of the data.
It took much longer than I expected.
I'm left with the last part of the
experiment then its adieus
to lab work ... for now, or forever?

Boss had a chat with me and he asked me
about the future ... He told me not to be
overly concern with getting the right
career the first time ... I donno
whether he was surprised tt I
told him I wanted to move out of
research. Some people was surprised.
But I'm not surprised at all ...
I think I will be more surprised
if I stay in research long term!

I donno where exactly I will be heading,
but I wish to join an innovative
company.

_______________________________________

Last Friday evening my tuition ended early,
so I took the opportunity to watch midnight
soccer with Dick ... The Mac place tt we went
to were filled with Eng supporters.

We are anti-England fans ... & when everyone
was in agony when England spurned a chance ...
we were silently delighted (not exactly silent) .

Algeria does seem to have better ball handling
skill than England. England has one
of the most successful league in the
world but they are still miserable in
terms of technical skill

Dick has a method of betting in the world cup.
The method seem to work ... but then you have
to play most games for the unexpected to
even out. Singapore pools have evolved
a lot ... you can bet so much stuff
then in 2002 when I last bet.

There is top goal scorer, winning continent,
the rounds of knock-out, under or above
2.5 goals & a lot of creative options.

I don't treat soccer betting as a form
of investment. Tt wat most gamblers
believe in. AN INVESTMENT. I
treat in as an entertainment
device. So I only use
the equivalent of a
good dinner as
the budget for
my betting this
World Cup.

The feeling is quite fantastic for example, if you
bet for England to win the World Cup

& pple say you are nuts. Then you
show them the winning ticket
after the FINAL. And for
$5, the entertainment
value you get is quite
worth it.

So I was bargin hunting

I don't go for the sure-win ... becuz you are adequately
rewarded for your risk & it's quite boring
right? My Bets: Golden Boot: Luis Fabiano
Spain: Knock out first round Winning
Continent: S. America

Luis Fabiano is a goal machine!!! The odds is $5.
The third lowest odds but good enough. The

With a bit of luck, I might strike all 3 ...

2010-06-11T00:17:00.010+08:00

Passion & Addiction

I was thinking abt addiction &
den I thought abt passion ...
they are quite different thing but
the similarity lies in the
desire that is present in
both instances are extremely
strong

One can work in a job without having
any passion in it but one have less
control over addiction

I think if I were to smoke, I will probably
have bad breadth, spoke a
box a day & wishing to stop but can't

The worst addiction though is gambling.
My hairstylist & her husband lost $4k in
just one day at resort world. She was relating it to me

She:"we were actually thinking about where to eat
with our winnings ... den after tt
we just kept losing"

Me: "so where do u all eat after the massive loss?"

She: "at the coffeeshop downstairs"

She is not addicted to it though. But some pple
gamble for the adrenaline I don't get the kick
from gambling ... there was once I
made $2k from stock in one day,
but I was just happy nt really
ecstatic ... intra-day trading is not quite my
thing...

_____________________________

This deserves to be one of the rare
picture on my blog. The
magical hydroviton.

It works like miracle. Everything
comes with a price though.
This costs ard $40 SGD
& will last you for a
month.

If you have oily skin, the type
whereby it get oily within
30 minutes of washing
your face ... this
will work
like magic for u !

It has the usual expensive stuff
you find in top-notch cleanser,
like the fruit acids. But probably the
killer stuff is liposome used to deliver the active
ingredients; the liposomes are able to
penetrate through your
outer skin. Sounds v nice huh!

My acne has been kept
under good control! I
think it works better than accutane.
Long term, this cleanser is more

expensive than accutane, but
u really won't want to
take accutane long term.

Divine skin, the company that
sells the product also
have products for hair loss.
The great thing about the company
is that they seem to constantly
fine-tune their product now and
then to make it even
better & after fine-tuning
it, they never try to sell
it at a "new" but more
expensive product.

The company is a class act. But
I will stop here heh

_________________________________

The World Cup started but
my passion for world
cup football has
decreased with the years

2002 was amazing for South Korea,
I remember following it v closely ...

I don't remember much of 2006 except
tt I was glad Jens Lehmann save
the penalty against Argentina.
Jens is a legend, one of Wenger
greatest buy.

He's fiery, but he got great, great
belief. At that time, no one
thought he can displace
Oliver Kahn. The rest
was history, really.

I still support Arsenal a lot. In fact,
it is like an addiction. The first
thing I check in the morning
is Arsenal-related news.

My interest grow gradually until
one day I realise it has became
part of my life.

Some of my female friends said
tt guys are more loyal to
the club they support
than to their partners

My retort was this "If you
only have a pair of shoes &
it's unbearably painful on
your feet & this pain
doesn't seem to go away
with prolong wear, do
u still want to wear it?

Being loyal to a club is like
going to the theatre. Sometimes
you watch crap show & you
think tt it's a waste of money, but
eventually u go back again, becuz
u think the next time things will be
different.

If the club loses & u feel really painful,
then you just don't read the news
& prolong the pain. But if
a relationship brings u lotsa
anguish ... u can't really
switch off unless u
end it permanently.

___________________________________

Played badminton with a couple of
friends on Sat. The badminton
gang is expanding!

I am still not as good in badminton.
My motor skill is defnitely not
as gud as some of my friends
like KK & Junwei.

Junwei got v v good motor skills,
he can blade much better
than me even when he
is injured. Then of course, he can't

be my teacher for nothing.

It must have been a year since
I was in East Coast Park.

After I completed my thesis, I will
really want to take a break. By end of this
year my students will all graduate with
their 'O' and 'A'. I have coached 2 of
them for 6 years. Ever since, I
graduated, this was like a part
of my job.

When you watch your students mature
over the years, it's a very
gratifying experience.

Then you watch them become
more emotionally stable &
motivated to do well. Tt is
very deeply satisfying.

Just this morning, through the
recommendation
of a friend, I manage to secure
a new assignment. Tt will start
in August. The rate is ok &
the father sounds very nice. The
conversation was funny & mabbe
consider a tad embarassing for
some ... I'm ok with it though ...

Me: "Hi, May I know who called me just now?"

Yihao: "Hi, I called, I'm Yihao"

Then I thought this guy really sounds like
my friend Soon Chye ... & he used to
call me last time & impersonates ...
plus he seem to have multiple number
so I say

Me: "Don't bluff lah, I know you
are Soon Chye"

Yihao: "No, no. I'm not bluffing. I'm calling
you regarding the tuition ....."

Me: "Don bluff lah." ...

I apologise soon after. It sounds pretty
rude right?

Still v happy to have got the assignment,
this will help to balance the book until
I find a new job.

__________________________________________

I can't wait to graduate. Although, research
was something I like to try. This
few years feel very strange
for me.

Still, I am very optimistic & very
hopeful that good times will come.
Things always happen together,
the good stuff and the bad
stuff.

I have some business ideas so
maybe I will think of how to
implement it. If I can
be a success entrepreneur for
a part of my life, I will be
quite contented to retire
& be a permanent
tutor.

_____________________________________

2010-05-30T20:53:00.005+08:00

It's End of May

Just return from a 3 day 2 nite
trip to JB!

JB can actually be v fun

KK turns 30 on May 28 so
we decided to do the
celebrate in JB

There were 10 of us. Every
meal is like a feast; though
at the end of the trip
everyone have bruises
all over all becuz of paintball

It's v rare to find pple
without bruises ... & the more
u examine ur body ... u
seem to find more bruises

Paintball in JB is 1/3 the price
as that in Singapore but u
got much more
bullets ... not a gud
thing though becuz

of those trigger happy
pple in the group! Ouch!

Day 1 Dinner was our birthday treat
for KK ... it was at a
famous CHinese restaurant
& the servings were HUGE!!
The 'Cold Plate' comes in a 4 plate format
& easily filled up 3/4 of the table ... den
there was the soup which took hours
to prepare & I reckon it was enough
to serve 22 persons ... Incredible ...
the PORK RIBS was awesome !!!
INCREDIBLE DINNER!!!

Day2 breakfast was like a megaFeast ... Eric's mum commented
tt we just booked out from army ... we had some pratas,
9 servings of chicken, 5 servings of mutton, 2 plates of maggi
goreng & other ... the long table we were sitting at was
so full of food ... Vivian commented tt that was the
first time she had pratas in which the meat was much more
than the prata ... total cost RM90 ... FREAKING
CHEAP & Delicious!!!

Day 2 itinerary was Go-Kart,
Shopping, Durians, Massage
& Supper. Supper was nt

v gud as anticipated as most
of the stalls at the market were
closed by the time we reached
there. The satays and the
chilli sotong were gud though!

Overall, I think the trip was great!
& it feel great to finally recover
from flu. I was right though,
my flu will only recover
when the weather improves

________________________________

It's quite a torture to write the
thesis when you are
really sick ...

The result is gud though, I have
started writing the most
difficult portion of the
thesis - the Literature
Review

I'm about 40% thru the
thesis ... still way to go ...
but the 50% mark will
be a big morale boaster ...

I actually have v bad concentration
span ... but no choice just
have to force myself
to sit down n write!

I think I will be very ecstatic
when I'm done with the thesis.
No more studying!

As for what I will do later, I'm not
quite sure yet. I have some
idea but haven't thought
of how to turn it into reality

The below para is from Black Swan, one
of my favourite book, the
author is v intelligent & the book
is awesome. His writting
is like a piece of art, very elegant.
Simple at a glance but v sosphisticated
when u think about it.

"Quitting a high-paying position, if it
is your decision, will seen a better
payoff than the utility of the money involved.
This is the first step toward the stoic's
throwing a four-letter word at fate.
You have far more control over your
life if you decide on your criterion
by yourself"

"Mother Nature has given us some defense
mechanisms: as in Aesop's fable, one
of these is our ability to consider that the
grapes we cannot reach are sour. But an
aggressively stoic prior disdain and
rejection of the grapes is even more rewarding.
Be aggressive; be the one to resign if you
have the guts."

"It is more difficult to be a loser in a
game you set up yourself."

_________________________________

2010-05-01T15:10:00.009+08:00

Andrey Arshavin is a humorous man

A few days ago, Arsenal's superstar,
Andrey Arshavin made a comment
& pple made a meal out of it... It
goes like this "Playing for Barcelona
will be the pinnacle of my career"

I like that statement because I love
the word pinnacle.

He has since came out n say
tt it was mis-translated &
he never said anything
like tt

Being honest is really not a bad
thing, so I don condemn
Arshavin for it ... even
if he said he was
mistranslated, I bet
he might really hope
to play for barcelona one day,
after all who don't want
to play for Barcelona right now?

The problem is really not his honesty
but the PROBLEM
that results from his honesty.
Let say your girl told u that
being with a certain guy
will be like the pinnacle
of her love life

U probably might think that
she is not totally wrong ...
but den there are two
problems (1) the guy
might not really fancy her &
tt is why she is stuck with
u & (2) how the else
are u gg to response
to her statement?

If u say "Well, you are probably right" ...
den she would think tt u have
an esteem issue but if u argue
with her den it's pretty silly
because it is really juz a
harmless comment &
to make an issue
out of it makes one v SMALL

Tt I think it's the whole problem ...
I think tt nothing wrong with making
the statement but how
the hell is the club gg
to response with such
a statement ... HOW???

But act like this is v thought-provoking ...
v interesting n definitely more
interesting than a typical
gud guy remarks ... except it's
a bit problematic ...

By the way, his website
is really a laugh riot. His replies
to some of the fans questions are
entertaining stuff ... very
entertaining ... here are samples
of it...

Dear Andrey, I have an unusual question for you.
I want to marry a football player in the future
(they have great legs), I am a boxer.
Do you think we’ll manage to find common language?
Arshavin: This will be a dangerous mix.
I think that your son will become be a kickboxer.

From I Love You FrodoAndrey, hello!
My name is Olga and I'm almost 14 years old.
I love you and I don’t know what to do! Well, what
would you say to this?
Arshavin: Olga, have you already done your homework :)))

From arshaniHello! I'm a big fan of yours!
I do not know why but I’m only your fan and nobody else’s!
Please help me, tell me why I love you so much.....
Arshavin: Many girls like fat-assed guys with ruddy cheeks ;)

Andrey, tell me, what shampoo do you use? What about Julia?
Arshavin: Julia uses some expensive shampoo.
As for me I use those that are given in the hotels ;)

Very funny right, this guy is gifted with
lotsa football flair & humor ... the best I like
is "As for me I use those that are given
in the hotels" ... v matter of fact
but I bet u will at least smile ... but
I think he steals his wife's expensive
shampoo!

______________________________________

Starhub-Singtel finally lands the bid
for the World Cup. Honestly, we
could have played hard ball
with them & juz not
agree to their
exorbitant asking price ...

All this started because Starhub &
Singtel bid ridiculously for
the EPL boardcasting right ...
as fans honestly in the first
place, we should really
not subscribe to Starhub
expensive soccer package ... tt
will teach them a great lesson not to
bid ridiculously!!! v irresponsible !!!

When I signed up for my
scholarship in 2006, I thought
tt by the World Cup 2010 I will
already have written up
much of my thesis &
enjoying the June's warmth ...
tt mental image was v vivid ...

Of cuz the mental image need
revising NOW!!! I think I will
be slogging v hard, but my
aim is still to complete my thesis
by August ... a very tall
order, but will try!

__________________________________

was at a travel fair last Sat with Kian Leng...
it was a mini-one, I think mainly
for those tour agency

Kian Leng asked me whether I am
still keen on Japan ... Japan
to me is a fabulous place, but
v v expensive...

I never really thought about any future
trip ... to me the most impt thing
is to be happy, v happy & I feel
happier & more
satisfied than perhaps last
yr or 2 yrs ago ...

Some pple actually think I'm
addicted to traveling ... tt is v
wrong ... I think traveling
deliver the same quality of joy
I have from occasional clubbing ...
but clubbing is much, much
cheaper (i mean if u compare it to
traveling)... techno & dance
music are really my thing ...

Mandopop answer to techno & dance
will have to be Da Mouth. As
a group, they have evolved a lot.
Their recent MTVs are solid stuff ...
v creative, v entertaining

wondering whether they will be
back for F1 this year ...
outdoor concert is actually not
quite my thing ... I think
concert is still best indoor ...
the sound quality is much
more better

______________________________

Sat was spent not doing work
for the first time in mths ...

the feeling was great !!

KK organised the first badminton
session for the year ... my
racket has been sitting
in his boot for a long, long

time ...

Huiling offered me a ride
to Sengkang for the badminton
if I can give her
direction on how to reach there ...

I luv the feeling of giving
direction on the road ...
really reminds me
of those days during NS
... I hardly know
the road at tt age, so
it was a bit stressful in the
beginning giving directions
to the driver who can overspeed
& get me into trouble

Playing badminton after so long
is a pleasant feeling ... I'm the
restless type so the most
torturing things is really
to be at my desk
writing a paper
or thesis

In the evening, we were all
down at St James celebrating
Eric's birthday

It is the first time I went to a disco
pub with so many pple ... I think
there were 20 of us ... but I don't
know a couple of his frenzs present ...

We talked a bit ... den afterwards it
was really juz alcohol & dancing ...

Clubbing is fun but rather
expensive to do it every week. I think
if I do it weekly I might
even begin to detest it

2010-04-25T13:09:00.002+08:00

Absolutely Tired!!!

carrying a flu & still working
non-stop. Tt's basically what
I have been doing for the past
2 weeks...

Today is my Day 14 of
travelling to sch without
a rest day .... this is
really seriously worst
then studying for exam!

Studying for exam is juz a bit
boring ... & a bit tense
but nvr physically
tiring ...

After having tuition on Friday
& Saturday plus a
gathering last night
which ended at 2am ...
I think my battery
level is really close to 0 ...

Tomorrow is the last day of OT ...
so it's sth I'm looking forward to

Hopefully tomorrow is the last
day I have to culture my
cells... Culturing cells
is fun for a newbie ...
but as with a lot of
things, once the
novelty is gone ...
the struggle begins

4 years of work ... & slowly things
are finishing ... THINGS are FINISHING ...
FINISHING is really, really
a fantastic word ... one day
I wish to pen the
line "I finally finish_ _ my
postgrad project:

Can't wait for the day to arrive !!

_______________________________________

2010-04-14T11:53:00.007+08:00

Rotten Dream

Have u ever woke up & really cursed
the dream that you had?

Tt's wat happened to me days ago.

I was in this weird place ... like not

in Singapore & realised I was
in army uniform ... den
I met my former army superior
& we had some chat ...

The army camp seemed to be in
some rural place & then we
went to this ultra-big
food centre for lunch ... before
I know it all my frenzs
just disappeared ... den
I was alone ...

Somehow I managed to reach
back to the barracks ... running
along the expressway ... really
really, cursing *#&!@# ...
totally bollocks right ?

How rubbish can a dream be? this
should rank top, seriously.

________________________________

On one of the Saturday's night, we went
to a frenz's plc for karaoke. The
subscription for starhub's karaoke is
abt $8/mth.

However, the songs were rather limited.
A lot of new and old songs weren't
there ...

We played monopoly card game after tt.
The game is more fun
than the boardgame, as you
can sabotage each other. &
the card is much cheaper than
the boardgame.

__________________________________

Yesterday, I woke up &
realised I have a very, very bad
cough. By afternoon, I was having
fever and headache. I think
I have never felt so
sick for a long time.

But in a way, I'm kinda relieved
tt I'm finally sick ... my
schedule have been so tight
tt I knew I need
a break ... so at least
now I have a deserved break!

Anyway, research is v tiring. I think

everyday, I'm becoming less
& less of a research
person.

It's not that I don't like research,
but somehow you realised tt
the part you like about research
only form a small component
of the day to day activities;
then u really feel like
a manual worker

At least a manual worker just
need to keep working,
but as a research staff, you
need to think almost everyday
when your experiment fails
, you need to do
the actual experiment, you need to
purchase your own stuff
& then u need to justify for the
purchases

So I'm counting down towards
graduation.

Really looking forward to it, although
I really don have the time
to apply for a job yet.

My boss at work is ok, but I think
our approach towards mentoring
students is v different. I like
to 'spoon-feed' my students,
make things easier for them &
teach them how to attain maximum
results with minimal efforts.

For me a lot of things one do is about

the FUN element as well as
personal growth, if the

FUN disappears, den the
thing is not worth doing
anymore.

____________________________________

2010-03-07T12:12:00.007+08:00

Happy Belated CNY

this is really a belated CNY wish.
although it's fun, I think I'm
really worn out.

Pai-nian plus working every day
all of CNY is quite tiring ...

In the end, it's quite worth it,
the few days of work ...
now I'm a bit more
relieved tt I got
some stuff to
report ...

My ultimate wish is to graduate
ON-TIME ... & tt is Aug
2010

Graduation will be like a dream
for me ... like finally disposing
a heavy baggage ... tt kind
of feeling is probably
v exhilarating

I have written about 30% of my
thesis ... not a lot
in other pple's
opinion ... but I think
it can be done ...

In honour year, I churn out
70pg in one week ...
tt was v tiring ...
but as with last min
work, there is anxiety,
excitement n pain ...

Graduation have been sth
I have been working towards.
In a way, these 4 years really
isn't fun ... it's nth like
undergrad as in
u don really have so
much control over a
lot of things ...

but of cuz I don really have
any serious regrets ... I
will make the same
decision again if
I got to choose
one more time

continuing with post-doc
is another thing, I
will probably say no

Doing research is sometime
like being a chef ... u have
to prepare a lot of
ingredients just
to get a dish done ...
except for research
sometimes u don
even know whether
the ingredients are good ...

______________________________

juz before CNY, I attended
a korean orchestra concert
with Kian Leng

the conductor was korean
so it's was pretty
tough trying to
establish rapport with
the crowd using his
limited English

I think he's irritated KianLeng
quite a lot with his corny
attempts to stir up
some noise from the
stand

To be fair, it was really v v
corny to the core

These are excerpts :

"My next piece is Paradise" ...
"U know Paradise" "Yes"
"Singapore is Paradise"

then he kept saying "I
love Singapore"

there are a lot but it has been
a month & I can't remember
then ... but the real fun
is to hear the joke
& notice Kian Leng's
expression ... tt is
the real deal

Brown Eye Girls were also
in Singapore a couple of weeks
later & den "Da Mouth" was
in Singapore, the deal was
to spend $150 at Puma
to get a pair of tickets

Honestly, it's quite a good deal
& I like "Da Mouth" music
a lot ... with them you either
enjoy it or u find their
music really off for u...
I find them v innovative
& really a breath
of fresh air

Their new album is pretty good ...
but comparing "万凸三" and
"砖石糖", I will chose the latter.
"砖石糖" is really v good, the
album got lotsa good songs,
& the relatively faster tracks
are very good ... the composers
did a very gud job, absolutely
top notch stuff ... listening
to such music makes one
feel v alive

It's pretty strange to mention it,
but elva's singing style has
a masculine feel to it ... not
as masculine as Lady Gaga ...
but masculine enough to stand
out from the rest

I hope "砖石糖" will not
be the last of her works.

__________________________________

2010-02-01T22:51:00.004+08:00

23.5% completed

I have stayed at home over

the last 3 Sats to write
my thesis

That's really a record ...
better to get it
over n done
with

I'm reaching the 25% mark
pretty soon ... so it's
nt tt bad ... 4 more mths
to complete the
remaining 75%

Jan was really all abt
work ... the fun part
is really nt tt much,
I could probably
count them
using one hand

there's still a couple of probs ...
but tt's nothing new, it
has always been
like tt ... so
kinda get used to
it, though it's still
irritating

______________________________

Coming Tuesday, I will be
attending a korean
concert with Kian Leng

I'm nt overly enthusiastic in
foreign language music
as Kian Leng as well
as some of my
friends

Personally, if I know nuts abt
the lyrics, the feel
& emotions tt
the song stir
within me is
less intense ...

Listening to songs
tt I don really
comprehend juz
lack the punch for me

A couple of singers will
be staging their concert
soon.

Sammi is coming too! Her
live performance is
v gud but I guess it's mostly
in cantonese, so I will
give it a miss this time

this year, I am more
interested in Elva's
concert as well
as Da Mouth

Da Mouth is quite a
revelation ... the MTV
for "Rock It" &
'Na qu" is really
awesome!

All of them are very talented;
there not so much
a passenger in
the group

the rapper is pure class!! &
the DJ is v cool ... I hope
they will stay
together for a long, long
time

Fellow colleague said that I'm
always v bias toward the
things I like ...

Being bias is gud!! if you
are neutral towards
everything, you
don't quite have
a personality right

But being bias towards pple is
a different issue ... I nvr
practise tt cuz
it's nt

gud to treat pple the
way u don wanna
be treated

came across Elva's blog
sometime back ... beside
being a great dancer
& a singer,
she writes pretty well ...
v simple
stuff but really
pleasant to read

the death of a mum must
have been v painful
to her ...

things haven't been v smooth
for her the past couple of years,
but she has huge determination
& is v talented; hopefully
things will get
better for her!!

_______________________________

2010-01-12T22:28:00.003+08:00

Week 2 Started with a Success!!

It was v late tt I decided to defer
my reservist. I thot boss's
response was strange
when I told him
abt my intention

The response was neutral, when
I thot was juz not wat I
expected. He told
me tt the chance
for deferment
was nt v high

The unit told me my application was
v really, mindef told me
it takes 14 working
days ...

I was calculating how much
time I have for my proj
& I think the smartest
thing to do was to defer

On 11 Jan, I reported to camp, it
was nice to meet up with
Clinton, Jeff and David.
A couple of pals have
deferred

When it was time to sign the
attendance, my name wasn't
there ... BinGo ... I can
go back to work nxt
day

_______________________________

Week 1 was really nothing much ...
nt much social activity
except for organising
HL's birthday

& watching Avatar

Avatar is technically v gud ...
but the storyline is
not really fantastic

but the 3D is awesome ...
at first I thot the
spec is for us
to keep which
will end up
in the dustbin anyway

wearing the 3D spect for 2 hr
45 minutes is actually
quite tiring ... me &
vian took it off
a couple of times thru
the show ...

tt Sat evening, after HL's
birthday celebration
we were thinking
of catching Hugh Grant's
comedy

haven't watch a comedy for so
long ... but in the end
we just chatted n
discussed who is to
organise the crab dining
gathering

______________________________

Anyway, this year I will be
finishing my work & leaving
after 8 years of NUS

the thot of it made
me feel a tinge of
sadness ... but
I'm really
happy to leave

a lot had happened which
make me think
abt my life in
general

my colleagues have been
really v fantastic, but
maybe they din
see the fun, crazy side
of me; it's hard
because at work I
am too focus to
be efficient so tt
I have more time
for leisure

2010-01-04T23:25:00.003+08:00

Happy 2010 to all!!!

2009 finished just lidat.

I'm a bit reluctant to say goodbye to 2009;
I have never worked so hard. Now
I believe actualli I can
work this hard.

My frenzs & colleagues said
my definition of hard
work is diff frm them ...
for me my hard work
is their normal work ...

Went over to St James for
the countdown. There
were 8 of us, so it was
much less than the
Christmas Party...

But the countdown was more
fun den the Christmas Party ...
I'm bias though cuz
put me in a disco &
I will really, really
enjoy it

the live band & performance
was gud & one of singer
was gorgeous; she
got great voice & she
danced well

we were discussing on the new
year resolution ... & Dengli
said her resolution
was to lie low for the new
year ... tt is realli
the most crappiest
resolution I heard ...

for me, my resolution is simple.
To finish up my thesis. Tt
will be a very, very sweet
dream come true ...

Throughout this 4 years, I
nvr realli see the light
at the end of the tunnel;
after a while u don
care whether there's light,
u just walk & walk &
walk, knowing tt
is the best way

the rest of them, I din manage
to ask them abt their
resolution, maybe I
will ask them this
Sat

it was impossible to call
a cab; at 2:30 the lines
were all busy ...
Dengli "begged" one of the
cab driver who was changing
shift to ferry us to Lavender
for supper

Overall it was fun, but I think
it will be even more fun
with KK ard, but I nvr
party with him
before

the evening was captured
using Pingting's new Sony
camera; seem to work
v well at nite ...
will post the pic once
I got it from her

__________________________________

was online & then I came across
a website discussing on
oral irrigation system ...

I was wondering what is there
& I found myself at http://www.waterpik.com/oral-health/

I was hopeless @ flossing teeth ...
it's difficult to control the thread
& den I hurt my gum
at the end of it

the Waterpik is a surrogate
for flossing ... I thot it
was interesting so I bought
it soon after

_________________________________

2009-12-30T23:35:00.004+08:00

Hell of a year

2009 is rather a rough year ...
I guess I never work so
HARD before

100% effort --> 40-60% results

tt probably sum up my frustration ...
after 4 years, I'm still so
so surprise tt my
boss hardly loses
patience with
me

I haven been lazy but mabbe I
was overly merticulous ... &
then I have a habit
not to plan for the worst
scenario

Strangely, a lot of times, the worst scenario
always happen

the best thing is, maybe
the boss still believe in
me & I believe in
myself.

_______________________________

This year Christmas party was quite
weird. It was at a frenz's frenz hse
& when I reached there, there
were 3 groups of pple in separate
areas of the bungalow

& this 3 groups hardly know each
other

The ribs were really v huge ...
u will salivate if u see it

when the clock strikes 12, it
was Christmas Exchange Time ...

The thing which everyone
wants to avoid was to
be nominated for
worst gift

When Pingting saw my gift,
she "complain" abt it and so
was her bf ...

I was confident this time round,
but sometimes u really
can't be too sure

I DEFENDED my gift ... NO
WORST GIFT award for
me this year !

the best gift was really the
personalised desktop
calendar tt Pingting made
for us ... here glimpse
of it ...

We were all so surprised ...
I think tt is 10 marks for
the effort & 10 marks
for the idea

I hope 2010 will be great for
everyone. For me,
I will like to complete my
thesis. 4 years flies
just like tt

The best part was tt, it
was really nt v easy
but the end is
nt tt far away!

This year saw the end
of my "msn exile" or whatever
u call it. Nxt yr, I hope
to be more 'visible'. I"M BACK!

2009-12-08T22:07:00.008+08:00

Temporary Skin

This is the temporary skin for my blog
for now. I haven't been successful
in my hunting for a new skin
as most of the skin
seem to have alignment prob
when I import them

This year I haven't been writing
us, partly becuz I was really
v bz with work & tuition.

When I have sometime, I just
can't be able to write & the
words just don't flow

Over the weekend, I ran with
Keith for the Stand Chart Marathon

It was one of my mini experiment; can
I complete the marathon without
stopping & with not much trg for it

By the 22 km, the experiment was a failure,
I have cramps in my legs & I just have
to stop. In the end, we walked for
the last 10 km to the finishing point.

At least, I manage to complete it & this
with at most only 10 running sessions
this year wasn't too bad.

Next time, I really need to prepare for it,
but I doubt I will run a full
marathon next year. 21 km
is more fun becuz u still can
accelerate & everything happen
at a faster rate, so it's more
exciting.

This is my second full marathon & one
of the few times my mini experiment
fails, still I think it was loads of fun;
a good end to a frustrating year.

__________________________________

It's December but it's still work,
work & more work for me.

Schoolwork doesn't stop & so is my
tuition.

I have been teaching for the whole
year so the income is gud
to compensate for
the loss I make in my
stock investment

Stock investment is v interesting ...
When I started out 2 years, I really
think I will make it. I really
thought it was as easy
as spotting question.

Tt time I was really naive. So I believed
a lot & I lost $$$.

Spotting question is like analysing
things in a simple world. Stock
investment is different; by not
being a skeptics, things can
become v risky.

It's also a very psychological thing.
Sometimes, you rush into it
becuz you don want to
miss up a money taking
opportunities. After you
make the choice, sometimes
you regret because you think
there is a flaw in your decision making.

So my perspective abt investment
have changed. In this close to 3 years,
my thinking has sort of matured. It's still
a fun challenge for me; I tell myself
one day, I will become a winner
but I will be careful and
patient now.

2009-12-06T21:14:00.004+08:00

2009 is busy but not so efficient

Overall 2009 seems like putting
the brick for the future ...
a lot of effort but little
results

Tt wat 2009 it is for me.

Still, it's not all negative, there are
years like tt I suppose

Went to Hongkong with DL, Vivian,
Huiling & Max. A pity tt KK
couldn't join us. So in
the end, we have
to plan
our itinerary ourselves.

My third time in Hongkong & I
still like the place. Hongkong
is good for the food & the
shopping but shopping isn't cheap!

Then the weather in Hongkong is superb ...
aircon weather ... not too cold
& not too warm ...

The best food in Hongkong is the
dim sum, egg tart, the
tang yuan & the sweetie delicious
mango pomelo saga & durian
soup. I luv sweet stuff
so all the desserts are really good.

As for goose, the difference between
goose meat & duck meat is v
subtle ... if you put them side
by side you can perhaps tell the difference

We went to see award winning restaurant
to eat roasted goose ... it was
a dinner treat so we din
have to pay ... the whole dinner
could have cost a bomb especially
when the host ordered a big
steamed fish for dinner ... tt is
really v fresh.

Lam Kwai Fung is also v happening ...
a lot, a lot of caucasians.

As for shopping, I think the staff
there are more diligent & more
polite ... there was this
salesgirl at tough jeans who personally
'pick' jeans and clothes for me
who she think suits me. I was lazy
to try but in the end, I guess
she got great taste; I end
spending quite a lot in that shop.

The view from the PEAK is quite
breathtaking & wind is really
v cold.

________________________________

After many months of lousy music,
suddenly a lot of good singers begin
releasing their album. There
was Eason, Elva and then
Yoga. Personally, Elva's album is
really v guud ... if you like emotive songs,
there was a couple of v gud songs tt
belong to this category. If you prefer
all her higher tempo songs, there are
at least two which I think is gud.

There was a lot of collaboration for Elva's album,
the music is really v gud. I like
倒数 a lot. It's an emotive but v
powerful song, the beat is v gud and
so is the lyrics and the MTV as
well.

萧亚轩 - 倒数
作词：葛大为作曲：Kim Seok Jin

怎麽我会说太晚了你不用送其实我想说可不可以不要走
唱一段歌尾奏已经结束
突然我们都沉默你不敢看我

讨厌这样我们都有话藏着不说
你总是那麽处处在意我
越害怕伤害我我感觉越难受
你不懂我没你想像脆弱

热情结束以後冷静开始以後时间开始怂恿
劝深爱的人放弃
我不想倒数还能爱多久
不爱我请离开我

勇敢祝福以前找到幸福以前
我会耐心等候并重新适应寂寞
开始倒数开始忘记
值得你的爱我确定不是我

下一个周末会不会就各自过
渐渐少联络这样算不算分手
我会想念你亲吻你拥抱
但我不想欺骗我真实的感受

讨厌这样爱变质後
谁都不认得
情人终究不一定变朋友
越相互关心着越加速疏远了
别触碰我在深秋的笑容

是不是从前我们太懒惰

任性往相反方向移动
直到看不清楚
说出那一句谢谢你
眼泪突然夺眶而出快要不能自己难
很困难再见要说的多困难

I think people who have been
in a relationship will can emphatise and
find solace in this song

__________________________________

2009-10-24T23:23:00.002+08:00

19% done

V v happy that I have finally
started writing my thesis
again...

My target at the beginning of the
year is to complete 40% by end
of the year... Oct target
is to reach 21% ..
Nov 28% n finally
Dec 40% ...

I think it can be done... writing
is easier than doing
expt ... n just
need to
have the will power...

Sitting down writing is
not my cup of the tea...
becuz I'm hyperactive
& can't really sit
still ... but
if I don't write I will
be stuck ...tt's how
I motivate myself

There are still a lot of hiccups
but after 4 years, I really
looking to a new beginning,
a new life ...

My future might lie away
from the academic
field ... the word
is MIGHT ...

_____________________________

Elva's new album was released
this month ... I think
she is the complete
artiste ... she got her
own unique style, great dance
move & her makeup &
styling artist are
top-notch.

Haven't finish the album yet, but
a couple of songs is the album
is great ... the first
song released in the media
is "Diamond Candy"

As the "lead song" in the album,
I think "Diamond" is
simply an Elva song ... great tempo
& very energetic ... the MTV
is v cute ... gals will
say she is acting cute
but she is CUTE ... HEY!!!

the lyrics go like this:
萧亚轩 - 钻石糖

恋爱就像选糖别再眼盲睁大眼光
别轻易投降好看的包装不一定高尚
打开再欣赏有没有中奖

别担心勇敢去尝每一颗都有希望
没有人不会受伤选对糖让你闪闪发亮
闪亮钻石糖是甜蜜的梦想我们都在想像
快乐的配方闪亮钻石糖有幸福的光芒
当对的人出场会散发那道光

他有没有肩膀会不会是软糖
热情是否够长温暖着心房
赏味期等待保存期收藏
爱的理想对象掌握在自己手上
幸福掌握在你手上

失恋就像苦糖试吃没保障
酸甜苦辣敢试就要坚强
热恋像蜜糖钻漾的光芒
谁都别想抢要风靡全场

我不想生活总好像被寂寞搞得绝望
我期待遇到那真爱带我旅行四方爱的一个秘方
就要勇敢去爱

the words are simple ... but
I like songs like tt ...
fun but meaningful ...
I think life shld be like tt
too ... fun that makes perfect
sense

Do u believe 恋爱就像选糖??
nvr thot abt it, an interesting
analogy ... wonder wat elva thot
abt it ... haha

Some pple compare Elva
with other diva like Ah-Mei or
Fish Leong ... I think
Elva's style is not really
abt power or about vocal
precision ...her song has
its own style & I can always
sense the emotions tt
she is trying to infuse
into the songs ... tt is what
I get from listening to her music

2009-10-12T22:37:00.002+08:00

1.5 mths to Stand Chart Marathon & Macau/HK

This year I really spent a lot on
traveling ... but I guess it's worth
the $$$

the Hokkaido trip was FABULOUS ...
& the coming HK trip should
be gud fun too

I'm just thinking how I am going
to rush some results out ...
if not I donno whether

my boss will frown at
me when I applied
for leave

This will be my third time
gg to HK ... basically I've
always enjoyed when
I'm on a trip

But I guess I'm happy everywhere
most of the time ... even if I'm
in Singapore ... I only
wish I really don
have to work
tt hard

Tt's a hard enuff wish
at the moment ... time
is running out & I need
to hand in my
thesis next Aug

The best thing is after 4 years ...
I really feel I'm gg to
graduate ...

Postgrad life is tough ... but
I feel tt it's really the
real thing ... learning
how to work ard problem
every single day

____________________________

On Oct 4, Jw's gf asked me to be her
'accomplice' in her surprise celebration
for Jw... so I agree to blade
with him on Sunday evening
as part of the plan

Bladeing on sunday evening is
good ... v v cooling &
the atmosphere is
really relaxing

Jw thot me sth new & he was
happy tt I picked up it
v soon after he taught me

From the beginning, Jw was
my instructor all the way
till now ... it's like 3 years now ...

The best thing abt bladeing
is feeling the motion &
remembering how
u struggle trying to
move on it the
first time u picked it up

I think Jw din really know
tt we were planning
sth ... the secret is
when u are doing sth sneaky
u just make sure tt u
r not so conscious abt it,
den pple won't really
feel a thing

_____________________________

it's 40 days to Stand Chart marathon
... but I haven't really train
for it ...

Signing for the 42 km is quite
a madness ... a spur of
the moment ...

last year, I was testing whether
I can complete the 21 km run
without training ... SUCCESS!!!

it sounds stupid to experiment
the same thing on a 42 km ... cuz
walking 42 km is no fun ... I have
a frenz with me so it's nt
tt bad ...

After the run, I really want to relax
& not do so much ... perhaps take
a break from a work ... from
everything ... not surfing net,
not reading financial reports,
not doing experiments ... juz gg out
like I used to do years ago ...
& experience the good old life
for a while

2009-10-07T23:25:00.003+08:00

2009 should be one of the busiest year of my life

have a been long, long time away
from blogging

September was busy ... with
presentations & stuff ...
I'm onto my last
module for
my postgrad

Postgrad module isn't
like undergrad mod ... THE ...
but still find it v
v unenjoyable ...

I really, really enjoy undergrad
life ... with lotsa frenzs &
free-time & the
exchange ... it was
heavenly

But postgrad life was
everything undergrad
life wasn't ...

I reckon in this four year I
really have learnt a lot ...
mabbe many years down
the road, if I look back
I will appreciate
this 4 years

For now, it's still about trying
to graduate on time despite
a lot of hiccups

______________________________

A couple of days before my birthday,
KK & pals organise a
bbq

The bbq was v gud ... but it was
hard work carrying on
the stuff to the bbq pit ...

KK remarked tt he had
nvr saw me sweat tt much ...
& Vian & DL were
also struggling carrying
all the food stuff

bbq with ice-cold beer is v
gud but only me & KK
drank ... he told me
after tt he wanted to make
me a bit drowsy so
I won't retaliate during the
birthday cake cutting

in the end, no one get to
eat the cake & my
t-shirt is still smelly after
a couple of wash ...
but quite touched tt
my frenzs spent the time
to organise the bbq
to celebrate my bdae ...
I think it's really a lot
of work

bdae is gud ... got a lot
of free dinner!!! haha ...

___________________________

I guess I have been busified tt
I can't recall a lot of
events in the past weeks
& months ... will write
more soon!!!

2009-08-08T16:31:00.002+08:00

July flies

2009 happens so fast ...
we are more than half way thru
2009

2009 is a roller-coaster ride
as far as the economics
is concerned ...

as for my work, there is some
progress ... things are
moving although
nt at the rate
tt I wished ... but
it's ok my expectations
are sometimes
unattainable

there are new colleagues
at the workplace which
is v v gud ... becuz
it only means that
i'm only gg to
graduate soon

the past 4 years have
been v v hectic ... I got
a taste of what research
is like ... as for
whether I will stay in it
I really DON't KNOW

______________________________

the Hokkaido trip was excellent ...
something I really enjoy

before the trip I was thinking
whether driving in Hokkaido
is too ambitious after
all my driving skill
is so rusty

the GPS system in Japan
is excellent so
we wasn't really lost at all ...
of cuz much has to do
with my frenz's Jap skill

It is v hard to get your way through
in Hokkaido without
speaking even some

broken Jap

my Jap vocab is of cuz horrendous ...
i think i only know of
'arigatou' & 'oishi' ... tt it ...
haha ...

when i was in tokyo I only know
'arigatou' so ... tt an improvement

I think for a long while I have
really forgotten the joy
of eating ... as a child
I really love to eat ...
but den ur tastebud
get insensitive to the
same old food

every meal was quite different...
but the best was the crabs ...
I think I could eat it everyday ...
the crabs make the sashimi
seem so ordinary

we were at the northen part of
Hokkaido & we went
to the market there just
to have some sashimi bowl

Then I walked by a crab store
n started looking at the crabs ...
the owner was v nice ...
she let me sample &
gave me a good discount

the first mouthful was
fantastic ... straight away
I knew it was worth eating ...
then she told us to come
again the next day ...

The next day was even better ...
she gave us more discount n
we tried the hairy crab
n another crab which I can't rmb
the name

the discount was really fantastic ...
I think u can't get tt price elsewhere

the hairy crab was HEAVENLY ...
n the best part was the owner
help us deshelve ... so basically
we just need to scrape the flesh up

we took a pic with the owner ...
she is really v v nice ... the nicest
person I met on the trip

but she told us to keep quiet abt
the discount ... haha

the next best thing was the sashimi ...
the MEGURO ... the colour was
so fresh n so nice ...

the #3 best thing was the Hokkaido
cheese cake ... so rich ... now
i know how cheese cake really
tastes like

In the northern part, we stayed in
this triple room which was
v new but quite cheap as well

I think the best part of Hokkaido
is tt ur taste bud will
really get rejuveinated ... n the
scenery in central Hokkaido
is really v beautiful ...

Overall, the trip is good for everyone
except our pocket ... after sponsoring part
of my mum's expenses n taking
into account my first half stocks' losses, my first
half yr expense is WHOA!!!

_____________________________________

finally after two years of running 21 km
marathon, I'm running the full
marathon with Keith this year

but of course I haven't train
for it

I donno whether I got time
to train for it ... at most
I will just walk ... haha

I can be quite competitive but
I can be v slack as well ...
the only thing is tt I'm always
at one of the extreme
n seldom in the middle ...
moderation is really not
my cup of tea

_______________________________

the EPL season is finally
starting ... I have
always told Phillips that
I will join him to watch
Arsenal at the fan club ...
but I think haha it nvr
materialise

Arsenal will definitely have
a great season ... the basis
of being a gud supporter
is to always believe in
the club u support ... if
nt y bother right?

but speaking abt Arsenal ... it can
quite irritating when they
take ages to sign a player ...
is it really worth the while
to bargain for 1 million?
1 million is a big amount to
layman ... but in football
it not a v sizable amount ...

at the v least, the club should
not mention that they wish to
wrap up signing in July (if I don rmb
wrong) ... hello this is August already!

_________________________________

2009-06-30T21:47:00.003+08:00

A long break away from blogging/
2 weeks to Hokkaido

It has been like many weeks since I blog
... never really lose the feel
to write except tt I
haven really been at my desk ...
& the weekends were packed

I guess I still enjoy writing, but
I always have a problem
sitting still ... the max

I can is one hour or much less

mum said I couldn't sit still when
I was very young ... actually
nothing much has changed except
tt I learnt to "conceal" by not
doing the things tt rqd
me to sit still

Honestly, I haven't do a lot
of reading for my Hokkaido
but I'm really looking forward
to it ... the scenery,
the food, I think it will
a great sensual experience

A week ago, I rented a Toyota
Vios to test out how rusty
is my driving ... I haven't really
park a car without using pole
since I passed my exam in 2007

Eugene was my "instructor" in
the afternoon ... & in the evening
a couple of frenzs were in
my car commenting on my
driving

After dropping Eugene off, it was
my first time driving alone, n Eugene's
home was a long distance away
from where my frenzs were
meeting me ...

Overall, I think my driving wasn't
a disaster but it wasn't comfortable
enough to be in my car

but I guess it's safe enough

On tt day, I saw a papillion on
the street of Singapore for the first time.
It's still a puppy, but the way it
walks is so graceful ... I was
remarking to myself "I love papillion"

I still have about 2 weeks to improve
my parking skills ... colleague Larry
has offered his car for me to learn
and so has Yihao

_________________________________

celebrated mum's birthday with cousin
fam @ the buffet cafe at
Ritz Carlton ...

heard tt the place was good ...
but I wasn't tt impress
tt with the food ... the sashimi
was quite disappointing ... the oyster
was fresh but not big enough ...
the dessert was however very
good, so I think it sort of make
up for it ... sweet stuff
is after all still the
best ... I wonder
y some pple can't stand sweet stuff ...
to me, they are a gift to the world

the Japanese Fish mart @ Pasir Panjang
served v gud food though ... Pingting
introduced me to the place &
I went with my colleagues for a
second time ... the sashimi
is v cheap & v good & the saba

is v fat & v cheap & the
shishamo is ultra-pregnant, so
much eggs, so nutritious!!!

_______________________________

Many months ago, I was at borders
& I saw a book titled "The Black Swan" ...
I was wondering what was tt ... but
I din check up the book ... months
later, I bought the book

One day after buying the book, I
thought tt this book might
end up collecting dust ...

"The Black Swan" is an
amazing read IF u can
finish it ...

"Black Swan" is about
risk management but
the writer is a
masterful storyteller ...
I luv the ending of the book ...
something I quite believe in

"I am sometimes taken aback by
how people can have a miserable
day or get angry because they feel
cheated by a bad meal, cold coffee,
a social rebuff, or a rude reception.
Recall my discussion in Chapter 8
on the difficulty in seeing the true
odds of the events that run your
own life. We qre quick to forget that
just being alive is an extraordinary
piece of good luck, a remote event,
a chance occurrence of monstrous
proportions.

Imagine a speck of dust next to a planet
a billion times the size of the earth. The
speck of dust represents the odds in favor
of your being born; the huge planet would
be the odds against it. So stop sweating the
small stuff. Don't be like the ingrate who
got a castle as a present and worried
about the mildew in the bathroom. Stop
looking the gift horse in the mouth -
remember that you are a Black Swan.
And thank you for reading my book."

2009-05-05T22:41:00.003+08:00

Growing cobwebs ...

This is my first blog for
the month ...

with the hectic schedule, I just can't
gather the momentum to write

mabble I'm too optimistic or too naive ...
tt is why I always expect
my project to be on schedule ...
but I have been off schedule
months after months ... to me
it's quite unbelievable

other than tt, my life is now
much more balance ...
my social life is quite gud ...
of cuz I wish tt I can
have more Fridays off ...

my plan is to gradually
cut down on my tuition ...
but tt cld only be possible
by end 2010 ...

when I was offered the chance
to continue teaching
Jonathan for 'A' levels, I find
it hard to reject becuz
I think Jon is a v
nice chap ...
a very smart n considerate
boy

On Friday, my honour yr
student told me she
got v gud grade for
her project. I am
not naturally the hardworking
type, so I always
make sure tt my
students can
gain the most with
minimal efforts ... I think
my students won't detest me ..heh!!

______________________________________

Kian Leng came to my hse to
discuss abt the Hokkaido
trip ...

I think it will be a lot of fun ...
except tt I haven't been
driving ... so really
I need to start
driving soon

Driving is v fun ... but
when I started my
driving instructor
said "Sitting on your car
is very 'exciting' " ... den
I thot, pls lor, juz concentrate
on teaching me lah

On the second test, I was
surprisingly v v calm ...
mabbe it's the Chicken
Essence ... Chicken Essence
really never fails me ...
it got me a couple of As in
University ... den I started
telling my students
& I think they
sometimes treat it like
it's caffeine ... expensive
caffeine lor

Hokkaido is like made
for the poster ... so I think
I will enjoy the place ...
If I am to ask KK he will probably
said " hmm ... Hokkaido is an
ok place to bring ur mum" ... ya,
u bet

For sure, if I bring my mum
to Tokyo it won't be
v suitable ... &
I can't go clubbing

Tokyo is also my kinda of city ...
u are treated like a king
there ... n the streets
r so vibrant ...
the food is nice ...
& there are just so many
babes ...

tt time, KL & me went clubbing
& we spent the most part
of Sat afternoon sleeping
after tt ...

_____________________________

the past few days I was putting
wallpapers of dogs on my
comp & I think mum
knows tt one day
I want to have
a dog

so she started like hinting to me
tt having a doggie is not good ...
haha ... so funny ... I enjoy
seeing how pple respond
to things ... but
I do really like dog ...
if I have a choice
I want to keep more than one

My frenzs are v skeptical though ...
I think they are dead wrong ...
I luv the personality of dog ...
playful n loyal ... the quality
I've always admire ...

I will have a pair of papillions and
a pair of Golden Retriever ... but
I think I do need a bungalow
to house them ... haha

2009-04-16T22:04:00.005+08:00

Time really flies

2009 is like 1/3 over ... & it's
like it's won't be too long
before I need to hand
in my thesis ... slightly more
than a year to be exact

the first 1-2 year of postgrad
was quite painful ... cuz a lot
of my frenzs were no longer
studying ...

den postgrad was very
different from studying ...
a lot of things can
screw up ... & u
just have to accept it

so counting the years ...
I think a lot have happened ...
no regret taking
postgrad becuz there a lot
of thing tt I've learnt which
can't possibly taught ... like
how to handle the unknown ...

When Phoenix left for Australia,
I seriously felt quite gutted ...
but I am by nature optimistic,
so I learn to live with tt

I hope to finish a substantial
part of my project n
den move on

Moving out of NUS will be a dream ...
after being at a place
for so long, no matter
how blissful the place is, there is
always a desire to see
what else life has to offer

______________________________________

In July, I will be off to Hokkaido
with mum and Kian Leng ...

Hokkaido should be beautiful
at tt time of the year

I havent plan much though ...
actually the more I live
life, the more I realise
I'm not so much of a
planner

Sometimes, I don quite
have a plan, but I always
have a vision & I think
vision and belief is as
important as having
a plan

den at the end of the year,
I might be gg Hongkong
with KK & pals ...
I luv Hongkong a lot ...
the delicious Dim Sum &
the ultra vibrant street ...

KK wanna try the bungee-jump
in Macau & I know he has given
up persuading me ...

It will be a lot of fun, but I don
even want to think abt it ...
cuz I'm only half-way thru my
PhD project & I need
to graduate next year

Now, I have so much drive
tt I find it hard to believe ...
maybe desperation can really
drive a person!!! haha

_____________________________

The day after Good Friday ...
I brought Vivian, KK, DL & Maggie
to the karaoke at Bugis

KK & I have always wanted to
sing "圣诞节" so I recommend
the place since KBox and
Party World doesn't seem
to have the song

there is a song I wanted to try out ,
an old song by 林俊杰 ...
the English title should be sth
like "Shakespeare's Talent" ...
but somehow the feel just
wasn't there tt night

I think they were kinda disappointed
abt the place & den all the
comments started ... haha ... but
I don felt a thing
abt their remarks

Karaoke is fun but I think
clubbing is one level up ...
but somehow a lot
of frenzs prefer pubbing
to clubbing

Former colleage, Christabel,
was flying off to Canada, so
we met for dinner &
thereafter we went
to New Asia Bar ... pretty
nice place but the
drink is quite ex ... but
the ambience make up
for it ...

The view from the 71 storey
is good, u can see a lot
of Singapore

Christabel suggested gg to
Butterfactory after tt ... I was
like, I also want to go

2009-03-26T21:31:00.002+08:00

Needing a break

Working pass 9pm on consecutive days
is not my thing ... but
I have been doing
tt precisely

My colleagues were like making
remarks tt all of a sudden
tt I'm so hardworking

I don't have a choice ... but
den it's easier to work longer
hour than when I first
started ... so things
can change

Seriously, I really need a break ...
Ever since 2009 begin,
I have work harder, more
tuition assignment n more
gatherings than the same
period 2008 ... so a good
break is v welcome ...
but I don't quite know when

My honours yr student has completed
a proj; she is probably my
last attachment student ... I'm
looking forward to graduating
next year ...

Pingting asked me what plan I have
after graduation. I should
have replied "My plan is to have
no plan" n note her response.
On a serious note, I haven't quite
decided yet, it might be something
nt v mainstream, becuz I have
nvr see myself as a mainstream
person, n sticking with
the ordinary don't always make
me happy

My RJ attachment students returned
back to lab with a big cake
& a card for me ... I think
they really caught me by surprise ...
kinda touching

___________________________________

Over the weekend, I went to karaoke
with two frenzs n four gals
tt I never met before

I din wish to go but din have
much of a choice

the ktv was at bugis & the mic
was much better than a few
places I went ... the sound
quality was also better

The gals sang v well ...
but the atmosphere
was v different compare to
singing with kk & pals or
bryan & pals or other frenzs ...

the best person I sang with
was Alan ... his voice
was quite electric ... we
both like Kenji & Eason so
we have to sing half each ...
but Alan was like
streets ahead of me ...
he's a serious singer

Saturday was a hectic one,
three gathering in one day ...
one of the best part
was morning walk with KK
& pals ... v v funny
group of pple ... outsiders
will find us v noisy

________________________________

listening to 大嘴巴 is v refreshing.
The second album is v gud ...

But I told my colleague, 大嘴巴's music
is not for everyone ... u either
really hate it or u truly
enjoy it, I belong
to the latter camp

It's feel like the first time I heard
OutKast, I thot they were the
real deal ... now Chinese pop
has always been v mainstream ...
the lyrics are usually
v gud but they don so much
"play" with music and experiment
with a different beat ...

So 大嘴巴 is gud for a change ...
I thot Aisha has improved a lot,
for a non-native speaker a rap
is really v v gud ... I can't
figure up how she improve so fast ...

hearing "愛的宣言" gives me the
feel about how love should be like.
v light, v fun and v natural

other than tt, this year release
has been rather gud ...I wonder
whether 大嘴巴 will launch
a third album this year, really
love their music

_____________________________

2009-03-05T23:18:00.003+08:00

Marley & Me / A Massive Relief /
Arshavin - The Missing Link

Finally, got to watch Marley & Me

I was really surprise that it din get
a Valentine Day release ... it could
be the perfect movie for V day

I remembered Mingyan use
to carry the book in
a bag & I bought
the book for Siangyong
for his birthday present

A lot of pple are in love

with the book & I was
especially looking
forward to the movie partly
becuz I couldn't bring
myself to reading the book

The online review did really
a lousy job; the movie
appears to be v disappointing
for the reviewer

colleague, Junli, told me the book
is better. It's expected
but den comparing a book
to a movie is like
comparing orange to apple

'Marley & Me' is enjoyable for me, pal
Stella loves it too ...

"Maybe the moral of the story is
not to plan too much", tt wat
Stella said & I tend to agree

I like to take things as they
come ... planning sometime
take the fun away out of
things

Sometimes, it essential, but
with a lot of things, it's always
don overDO things ...
______________________________

At work, I got a huge, huge relief ...

Since August, I have been
working on the downstream
study of one part of my proj

It's pretty risky, becuz the
"ingredient" for the study takes
at least months to prepare

My lab didn't quite specialise
in such stuff ... so it wasn't
easy ...

Last week, i did a trial of my
ingredient and it works fine ...

Now I can expect the Phase 3 of my
project to be completed more
smoothly hopefully by the
mid of this year ...

Postgrad has been tougher
than I thought ... at first,
I am disturbed by
the things tt I can't control ...
it's only during the later
phase tt I know how to
manage my risk ...

Still I think when I eventually
leave the lab, I will have
wonderful memories
of the place... but I will
love to move on &
I hope I don need to work
in the western part of Singapore

_________________________________

After some failed negotiation, Arsenal
finally signed Arshavin

A lot of pple were slagging the team

I especially hated it when people
started to overly criticise the
team & demanding
wholesale changes

Even site like ANR has been writing
loads of rubbish ... it seem
like the writer is more
excited abt being
proved correct about
the downfall of the team ...

Absolutely delighted it seemed

If u enjoy slagging the team,
stop supporting the team

In Spring 2005, the team played
pretty good stuff ... those good moments are
sth tt lives inside my mind for a
long time

It's ok to endure
a couple of torrid seasons ...
misery don't last forever...
it's about loyalty n the
belief in the team u
support

2009-02-24T22:40:00.002+08:00

Jan - Feb Struggling

At work, Jan - Feb has proven
to be rather frustrating ...
a lot of hiccups ... a lot
of unexpected
problems ...

Overall, I am quite behind
schedule but I have
did my best ... &
things just din
work up

A lot of things that shldn't
go wrong has gone
wrong ... but
den I really
looking forward to
completing my project
and nothing shall
crush my spirit

A lot of frenzs ask me
what I plan to do after
graduation ... I have
been thinking abt it
occasionally but I reckon
my future does not like
in the academic field

As for what career I will
pursue ... I am not absolutely
sure yet ... I have some
idea but it's not absolute ...
for me it's impt tt I don
have to slog my whole life

Some people really love working ...
I don belong to tt group ...
I value other things as more
impt ...

______________________________

watch "Slumdog millionaire" with Kian Leng
last week ...

I was thinking "do you believe
in such a love story?"

I like the movie but I don
really find
the love scenario v
romantic

In fact, I think the love story
was really more like
a backdrop rather than
the main theme

Still, I enjoy the movie
because it is sth
I nvr caught it on
the big screen

I was thinking whether
it's because the movie
I watched recently were
all so good tt I hardly
drifted away or
is it becuz my
concentration span has
increased

My concentration span has
always been tt bad ...
I can't sit still
unless there is really
sth entertaining tt
keep me captivated ...

On Thursday, I finally
got to catch "The curious
case of Benjamin Button"

I read the synopsis & I really
like the whole idea of
the movie but
I nvr thought it
was going to be so

heart-wrenching

& gosh the whole movie was 166 mins ...
& 166 mins in a Lido
theatre is not really
an entertaining prospect

I find "Benjamin Button" better than
"Forrest Gump" ... save for
the fact the protagonist actually
lived life in reverse ... the whole
story is more believable ... &
the romance tt develops between
the couple is more real

The most gutting part of the show
is to see the Benjamin slowly deteriorating
& losing his memory of the long
love relationship he had with his wife
& his wife still by his side taking
care of him as a toddler and
as a baby ...

"Benjamin" is a like a melodrama
but not quite ... I think it avoided
some of the emotional excesses associated with
the genre

It was filmed with a lot of care and
depicted with a lot of grace ... love
it tremendously

__________________________________

Feb is a weird month ... the days
just flew away & surprisingly
I have managed to keep a
fine balance between
work & play ...

It hasn't always being like tt ...
undergraduate days were
more of the latter ...
while postgraduate days was
like so tedious until I
was really tire out

My badminton is still not as
good as though people which
I play with ... some of
them are really gud &
they are efficient
with their stroke

My stroke is incomparable
but sometimes I
do spring a few
occasional supply ...
Comparatively, badminton
is easier to pick
up than bladeing

Bladeing was quite hard in the
beginning ... Braking was
especially hard, for a
while, I was thinking
whether I can master
braking perfectly ...

I wanted to pick up tennis,
pal KK also said he was
keen ... but time is
especially tight, so we shall see

__________________________________

2009-02-04T22:08:00.002+08:00

Arshavin, Arshavin, Arshavin

Arshavin has finally signed for Arsenal ...
it has one month soap opera ...
& a lot of ups & downs ...
at times, it seem like
the deal was off

Anyway, tt's history ... the best
part is Arshavin playing
for Arsenal is a
reality...

It will be v mouth-watering to
watch Arshavin play ...

I think he will make a good
team great !!! He
will be the catalyst
for this youthful thing

When I was Sweden, life was gud
so I was frequently at
the pub to watch
the premier league soccer
with hostel buddy or frenzs ...

At tt time, Arsenal was like
unbeatable ... & they were
really unbeatable in the
league for the whole season ...

Wins were taken for granted ...
& Arsenal fans were having
a rosy time ...

Arsenal is wobbling right now but
those bad sequence of results
won't last ...

Arsenal is better off than loads of club...
the blueprint for success is there
& it's only a matter
of time before we see it
on the field

Enough of Arsenal ... I admit
it's just nothing to non-Arsenal
supporter

__________________________________

went to movie marathon with KK & pals
over the weekend ... watched
Underworld & Inkheart

Underworld is good while
inkheart is decent lah

there will be more good movies coming
up, since now is ard
the Oscar Season ...
I think 'The Curious case of Benjamin ..." is
v interesting ... v v long
title huh

______________________________

was checking up the Chinese music
chart & whoa 国王皇后has shot up
the chart ... it's No.5 now ...

it took a little for 大嘴巴lastest hits
to move up the chart ... but No.5 on
the 93.3 chart & No. 2 all their Asian
chart is credible performance...

国王皇后is gud !!! but
it's not for everybody ... if
u like wacky stuff, u
might just like it

I luv Rainie Yang's '太烦恼', it's
doesn't bear resemblance
to her new style ...
but it sounds like '庆祝' No. II ...
v cheerful music ... n
not easily forgotten ... one
part of the lyrics particularly
stand out:

别让昨天变围墙要拿今天当翅膀
可以失恋不能失去了对幸福的渴望
暗恋最好撑把伞小雨大雪都会下
爱就像高跟鞋越美的越容易拐一下
难免受伤重要的是不要留下疤
没有阴影才不害怕
为了梦想痛着成长

'可以失恋不能失去了对幸福的渴望'
loves this line a lot ... I
think no matter what
happen I will
nvr give
up on my vision of
love ... it's not
easy ... but i think
it can be done

2009-01-27T23:59:00.002+08:00

Happy Chinese New Year to all!!!

Hope everyone has a wonderful new year
... 4 days of holiday ... I even forgotten
which day of the week it is

It's quite an enjoyable new year for
me... not wild party but quite
simple ... the best part is
I spend quality time
with my family &
close frenzs

& the next best part was unlike
last year, I din fall sick on CNY ...
just a few days ago ... I was having
sore throat that last thru
the night but I was ok
in the day ... so I
was apprehensive as it's pretty
sucky to be sick on CNY

come to think abt it ... it has been
since May last year tt
I have a bad bout of flu ... so
things are shapeing up
quite well ...

On the eve of CNY, cousin Huateck
rented a car & we went to Marina Barrage ...
there was an open field on the
second floor & we picnic there ...
the view is quite beautiful ...
not so accessible for couples
but I think it's more ideal
for gathering

On new year day itself, my family
& relatives watched the
HK festive season movie, can't remember
the title ... it's v funny ... but it
doesn't have much plot ...
but everyone enjoys it ... I met
pals Yuansong + Sinwah for dinner
at Yuansong's place, karaoke was
expensive so we settled for pool
after dinner ...

It must have been since I played pool ...
everyone was pretty rusty ... I din play
so much before also but for the
first half an hour, I wasn't
sure what I was playing

On the second day of new year ... my relatives
were all at my place ... it was pretty
crowded ... wasn't as wild
as the Christmas Party
that I went before with KK + pals but
the feeling is quite good

there's a lot of beer at my place ...so
I asked my frenzs to take some back...
I don't particularly like
Tiger Beer a lot ... German Beer is much
beta ...

I remembered me & 3 others frenz
once ordered a tower at Brewerk ...
they were trying to improve my
drinking skills while I kept
saying tt such things cannot
really be improved on ... those were
fun time in a very difficult year ...

I have a lot of new year wishes ...
to complete on my project
on time ... to continue having
excellent relationship with
pple I'm close to ... to have excellent
health ... to complete my middle-term
plan (my middle-term plan is
secret, when I completed all aspect of
it, I will write it down)

Happy CNY!!!

2009-01-21T22:28:00.005+08:00

Busy, Busy, Busy ...

Jan was a completely opposite
month to Dec ... have to
try to work harder
so tt I can
graduate on time

sometimes in research there
are lotsa unforeseen cirumstances ...
& training pple on the job
is oso nt easy

It's really weird becuz over
the years I have like
4 attachment students for me
& I nvr tt it was gg
to happen

Sometimes i can have

high expectations but I try
to tamper my expectations
& try to encourage
the students when things
are not right although
I am equally frustrated
myself

In short, Jan was like v busy
but things are like nt quite
moving at the pace
tt I want

________________________________

this year CNY is just 1 mth after
Christmas ... so it's really v fast ...
can't remember a time
when it's tt close

din do too much shopping becuz
post Christmas sales were
quite disappointing

I just got a sore throat so I'm
keeping my finger crossed
tt I will be well
before CNY ... but
for sure I will control
my consumption of
bak kwa and cuttlefish ...
cuttlefish is so nice especially
the sugar-coated one

other than tt I still don
quite have the mood for new
year ... yihao said it's too
near, I totally agreed!!!

KK told me tt Monkey

will have a great year ahead ...
tt will be great, a good
lucky patch tt
will see me complete all
my stuff on hand

for me I'm all geared up trying
to complete my PhD
project ... it's has
been a struggle but
I have finally started
writing my thesis ... haha ...
TODAY!!!

tt a lot of other "projects" tt
I have undertaken since 2008 ...
by end 2009 I hope to
conclude all of those n
usher in a slower but
more productive phase of my life

_____________________________

in January I went urban
skateing with Junwei + a few pple
Junwei met on the forum

they were all so pro so I was
really struggling try to keep
pace with them ... it was like
the blades were part of them ...

in the end, I blade with them
from Queenstown all the way to Kallang

they were really 高手!!! must try
to reach their level

__________________________

I have finally completed the
refurbishment of my room ...
back in October, my room
was in a total mess
& unmanageable

I have taken a before & after fotos ...
will post it up one day
which I hope is soon

with all the new furniture,
all my mess is easily
managed ... becuz I can just
dump them into all the close door
drawers & no one can
see a thing ...

other than tt, I will be
starting another JC tuition ...
din ever think I will
take it ... but I think
I really enjoy teaching Jonathan
& I think he has great personality
so when his dad approached me
& asked me to continue, I think
I just couldn't refuse...

the family have treated me very
well ... in fact I am seldom
ill-treated by pple n frenzs
... but den
sometimes I take
pple for granted ...
this is sth I always
think I shld change ...

___________________________________

2009-01-12T23:39:00.008+08:00

Self-interview

wanted to write this in December,
but din quite have the time.
So this
is it, just for some fun!!!

Are you serious abt dogs?

I always find it hard to comprehend
when pple doubt my
interest in dogs. Dogs are
fun-loving, loyal and passionate;
values that I appreciate deeply.

Phoenix once said perhaps half
jokingly tt she wishes to have lotsa
dogs nxt time ... actually I
do share those vision too,
except tt a lot of pple
cannot see tt
side of me ...

I have always been so busy
but gradually I hope my pace of
life will slow down

How has things been relationship wise?

Nothing much has happened, so it's a pretty
boring reply. Bascially, I have always
been laid back with whatever I do.
I believe tt to have a beautiful
life, one must let nature
takes its course. When
the time is right, a lot
of things will miraculously
click.

What is the best thing of 2008?

I love 2008 tremendously. Things
have improved a lot, but
I'm glad that I have been
illness free for more than 6
mths. MY will be glad to
hear tt; I have
always believe tt the regularity
in which I caught flu was just
a bad patch so I feel
vindicated.

Are there things that make you
feel doleful?

I finally made the decision to
shut down my korean
movie website. It has
been a good 4 years.

The first year there wasn't much traffic
but suddenly in 2006, the website
was indexed in the first
page of major search engines
and traffic shoot up. It was a
great feeling then! But
somehow, I just couldn't
manage the time to update
the content.

Sometime you can work very
hard to get to a destination
and then you realise that
it is the journey that
you are really after.

Do you think Arsenal will
have a terrible season?

My pals kept broadcasting
that Arsenal will finish
outside top 4. Honestly,
I don believe
any of this crap; if
Arsenal finishes outside
top 4 who can substitute
them ... no other team right?

Football is about 2 halves &
the EPL is 38
matches ... 19 matches
of mediocre results
doesn't mean the team is doom

Supporting a team is like
doing the team you love ...
sometimes things
are not rosy but
somehow u just persist ...

2008-12-29T23:26:00.006+08:00

王元口力口

This is 大嘴巴second album ...
haven got to listen to
the whole album but
专辑主打国王皇后 is
v good!!!

still think they are one
of the more creative pop
group around

国王皇后 is like
the type of song I will always
like ... it has got good rhythm; the dJ
did a great job

still, I reckon tt 大嘴巴's music
is not v mainstream ... I
sent the song to KK
& as expected
he said the song was v
off

On Sat, I went karaoke
with a couple of frenzs...
my frenz said songbird Alan
is joining us

I think Alan had got to
be the guy who sung
the best with pple
I been karaoke to ... & he
said tt 90% of the songs
are emo ... & Vivien
remarked tt next time
I will run out of songs
to sing given that Alan
like to sing wu ke qun
& Eason's song ... both are
my fav

it has been a long time
since we last met up
& sing ... so I thot
it was pretty gd!!!

KK also just returned frm
London so we sang
the duet, qiang mei gui, Vivian
said it's a sadist song ...
checked up the lyrics
n mabbe u will know
what she means

___________________________________

A few days after Jan 1, 2009, I skated
with Junwei from Queenstown
all the way to Bugis

Enroute, we skated on the F1 track...
the F1 track surface is indeed
diff, gd for car ... but nt
so gd for bladers ...

I think the route from Queenstown --> Bugis
is pretty blader-friendly ... & reaching
Singapore River on the early
Saturday afternoon
is quite a
pleasant experience

Urban skateing is fun but can
be a bit embarassing when
u struggle at the traffic
junction ... muz improve
on tt!!!

___________________________________

December came n went ...
there were lotsa of gathering
so I din rest too much ...
but it's nice to meet
up with frenzs tt I haven
been for quite a while

also watched a couple of
movies ... din have
much to criticise ...
but in particular, I enjoy
YesMan

"Marley & Me" will only
be out in Feb 2008 ... heard
tt they "cast" a lot of
dogs in the movies ..
I'm quite looking forward
to the movie ... nt
sure whether it's
slated for Valentine Day

I dread the end of December though,
as it's time to work hard yet
again ... but 2008 has been
great!!!

_______________________________

2008-12-13T13:50:00.006+08:00

Stand Chart Marathon 2008

this year marathon has more
participants than last year

unlike last year, I din
train much for the 21 km
run

partly I was nursing a injury ...
but I was also keen
to test whether
I can still keep within
the same time as last
year without
trg

so it was an experimental
run ...

the best part is to bump
into a couple of frenzs
during & after the
run

I started rather late
becuz I was waiting
for Wenfu & I just
couldn't seem to find him

I have quite painful muscle
cramp the night after the
marathon but
surprisingly it heals within
a day

So the experiment was a success

Nxt year, I gonna run
the 4 X 10 km run ... running
is quite an individualist sport
& a lot of pple are obessed
abt the timing ... I'm
more obessed abt
having fun ... the camaraderie
tt a team event nurtured
is more meaningful to me

____________________________

December is cool cuz I really
got to relax & I don
really have to
work ultra-hard

the weather so far has been
excellent ... there is both
good & bad weather
in a single day

my frenzs were late for
dinner last Friday so
I wandered ard frm
Paragon to HMV

there was this choc booth
at HMV & the lady
was asking me
to sample the choc ...

the first mouthful
was a surprise ... it was
v good !!! like I was

transported back to Brugges

she told me ... the shop
was a JV between her
boss and a belgian
chef ...

I think it's v good ... so
I bought
250 gm

Nowadays, I don get so
excited abt food ...
but on days whereby
my tastebuds sense
sth unique ... I
still get as excited ... though
such days are rare

Enjoying chocolate is a sensual
experience worth
living for

__________________________________

I nvr thot Dec will be so busy ...
but it turns up to be exactly so

on one of the Sat, Junwei brought
me and Vivian to urban skate ...
urban skate is v fun, but
it's v difficult especially
the stretch from ECP to Bedok

den at the traffic junction, it's
always tricky because
all the small holes juz
at the edge of the pavement ...

I have been away for bladeing
for so long, but I guess
I still have passion for it ...
it's still v fun ... becuz there's
always sth new to learn ... sth
to improve

I'm v grateful though tt
Junwei is there to teach me ...
if not for his passion, i think
I will still be there
not picking up the sport

I think I will continue bladeing
for a long time

________________________________

met up with uni pals, Leo & Vivien,
a few days prior to Christmas.

Incredibly, we haven met for at least a year.

Still, it's like there still
a lot of laughter, a lot
of fun, like we were still
schooling.

The evening just passed away v
quickly ... guess we should
meet up more often

_______________________________

I asked Shuting what she felt
abt the Christmas deco this yr
& she said tt the atmosphere
somehow is dampened by
the economic crisis

I think this year Christmas deco is
good ... it's v simple but
I think it's beautiful enuff

This year I din spend Christmas Eve
with the usual gp ... but
for the past 4 years
it has been fun

As for me, I'm surprised to receive
Christmas presents this year!!!
Thank you!!! appreciate it a lot.

Overall Dec is good ... it doesnt
rain tt much ... & I got
to meet lotsa frenzs &
even got chance to
blade ... 2008 really
really has been great although
it has been really tough ...
I think 2009 will be even
better!!!!

2008-12-07T23:21:00.003+08:00

A good year for 吴克群

I think this year 吴克群 has
written and sung some
rather good songs ...

it's just a pity tt he is still so
under-rated but good
to know that "为你写诗" was
top I think for two weeks
in the Singapore chart

I think I share his vision
of love in some of his
songs

Love has tt ability to excite
you and suffocate you
with its abundance
but when it stops
the vacuum that it
leaves behind is so painfully
felt; I guess tt what
the impression that “爱太痛”left
me with after watching the MTV

吃不能吃睡不能睡
没有了你全都不对
我都学不会把爱敷衍
用笑容来把眼泪催眠

笑不能笑哭不敢哭
人不像人鬼不像鬼
朋友都说这不过失恋
但我却连呼吸都胆怯

能不能不爱了因为爱太痛了
我痛得快死了却无法把你忘了
能不能不爱了爱情它太痛了
我痛得快死了却无法把爱割舍
我不能睡

吃不能吃睡不能睡
没有了你全都不对
我都学不会把爱敷衍
用笑容来把眼泪催眠

能不能不爱了因为爱太痛了
我痛得快死了却无法把你忘了
能不能不爱了爱情它太痛了
我不能够不能够不爱了

能不能不爱了因为爱太痛了
我痛得快死了却无法把你忘了
能不能不爱了爱情它太痛了
我不能够不能够不爱了

吃不能吃睡不能睡

_________________________

2008-11-30T19:13:00.002+08:00

"The Good, The Bad, The Weird"

Finally got to catch the movie ...

I donno what to make of the movie ...
it's good in part ... but u
will really enjoy it
when you try not to make
much sense abt it

I did ... partly becuz I am
a Song Kang Ho fan. Korean cinema
is full of accomplished actor ...
but Song Kang Ho ranks among the
top ... He is just
behind my all time favourite,
Choi Min Sik

as we exited cineleisure, we
were in the lift with
some gals who apparently were
commenting abt the movie
" ... it's a lot of bang-bang,
but certain scenes were pretty cool..."
I think tt pretty sum
up the movie

________________________________

Last Friday was our lab retreat ...
heard tt the retreat thing costs
the department $5K

It was lunch follows
by some team building activity

Some of my colleagues
were really reluctant to go ...
but den no choice ...
for me I think
it's something diff for a change...
& change always turn
up to be good

I'm actually glad tt I din
miss the retreat ...

I'm glad to be grouped with one
of Phoenix's colleague for
one of the team activity

Previously there has been some
misunderstanding but
I was neither arrogant nor
unfriendly towards her although
it appears to be so ...

Phoenix's frenz is my frenz too ...
tt has always been
my dominant thot

Honestly, as a yearly thing the retreat
will not be able to achieve its
target but it's fun anyway

___________________________

was in Orchard with a couple
of my frenzs mid-week ...

I think this year Christmas
Deco is excellent ... it's
is simple but
there is innocent beauty abt
it ... I think Christmas
should probably the feeling
of innocence bliss

Orchard ion is slated to open
second half of 2008 and
the beautiful Illuma is close
to completion at least for
the opening

Personally, I think Illuma is
really beautiful ... I luv
building with distinctive design
& I think it takes a lot
of belief to turn vision
into reality

2008-11-17T23:16:00.005+08:00

"The best way to get rid of a problem is not to make
a problem out of it"

Met up with Stella & Yihao
for lunch the other day &
I told them I'm finally
restoring
my normal sleep pattern

They asked me what was the solution
& I said tt I decided
not to get so desperate
abt solving it & den the problem
just dissipate

I tried countless methods
but nothing works ... a
second GP prescribed me
sleeping pill but
I only took one & my
boss suggested something
which sounds like "don't
make a problem out of it"

I think it works !!! pretty
good advice

___________________________

For the whole year, I have
been thinking abt an issue
& I have finally reached
a resolution

Acutally, I can't believe
tt I can think abt
sth for a year ... it's
not really me ... but
den I am different
when it comes to certain things

I don want to elaborate things
over here ... but
I have decided to be
brave and den
if things happen I will
overwrite my fear and
do my best to make things
work

____________________________

I haven bladeing much ... so
my bladeing khakis think
that I have lost
interest

I luv the outdoors a lot ...
it's just tt I am in
the midst of clearing up
my tuition commitements
& tt it has been longer den
expected

I hope to be back at ECP soon ...

A lot of my friends have the impression
tt my interest span is v short ...
I think if I have passion for
sth it will always be there ...
sometimes I want to inject
some variety into my
life & I just
do other stuff

I still enjoy doing things tt I like
for many years ... like
watching korean movies,
running, gg to the karaoke
& gg to the disco ...

_________________________________

The Stand Chart Marathon is only a
few weeks away & I haven
been training

I am recovering from a strained
tendon & I will be in
pretty good condition for
the run

The other day I saw a group of pple

running abt in NUS ... used to do
tt with Sinwah and a couple
of time with Phoenix

Time really flies isn't it ... although
other aspects of my life have
progressed, my love life
has stagnated

A lot of thing is a matter
of personal choice
& letting my love life
stagnate is one of
those

It's hard to force oneself
to love and equally
hard to try
to forget someone

I have a vision of love &
I still believe it & I don
think I need to shortchange
myself

_______________________________

Next year, I will be gg
to Hokkaido... yoohoo !!! Hope
to drive there but I haven't
been driving for ages

At the moment, it's four persons
for the trip ... my frenz
has started looking
at guidebk

"Don't be too upset if I
start reading up on
it v much later"

"He just smile and acknowledge" ...

Some people misunderstood me but
I am the laid back type & I
will always be so

The way I invest in stocks is
quite similar ... I don
check the stock price everyday ...
at most once a week ...

I'm neither a speculator
nor a trader to be
too concern abt daily fluctuation

I love growth stock becuz I'm
a visionary & I like
to see vision become reality ...
$$$ is a side product

I do things really, really slowly
but ultimately it's abt
getting things done

_________________________________

2008-11-17T00:16:00.003+08:00

"The Good, the bad, & the weird"

The movie is now out in Singapore.
I am a big fan of Song Kang-ho
and Lee Byeong-heon. Pal Benghwee
enjoys watching Byeong-heon
so I jio him for the movie
as well with
Kian leng

Overall, I'm looking forward to this one.
There was a time when I was
very addicted to korean
movie. They have
a good movie industry, no doubt
abt tt.

I have cancelled the hosting
for my koreanmovie portal. Some people
said tt it's a pity.

There's a bit of sadness in seeing
it go. Starting the website
is like sowing a seed; it
takes a while to germinate
and when the roots appear
you can really feel
the excitement.

But there comes a point whereby
you don't have time to water
it and then you see it
wilt.

When the visitorship for koreanmovie.org
went up and when the site
was indexed on the first page
of major search engines, I was
really very glad.

Early this year, I was very close
to getting an external
programmer to redesign
the webpage so that it's
easier for me to manage.

In the end, I have decided to let
go of it for a while. I think
the passion and memories
will always be there ...

_________________________________

2008-11-05T23:49:00.003+08:00

Obama as President offers interesting
time ahead

When the first time, I read of
Barack Obama in the
newspapers ... I thot
he was there to make
the number in
the primary

Does he has any chance against
Hilary Clinton?

Nobody believes it during the early
stage, nobody believes in pre-Iowa.

But slowly, the unbelievable becomes
the believable and the
undeniable fact

When the primary is over,
the presidential race was like over

Hearing Obama speaks is plain
pleasure. He speak with
controlled power and
a deep sense of belief
and conviction.

There is charm in his voice
and magic in his move.

He presses all the right button
and that is why he
is the president-elect.

He is sauve, but without
his intelligence, he will
not have a successful
campaign

Obama will bring a different administration
to the US. It will take time
for the world to get used to. But, hopefully
it is a change for the better.

________________________

On Wednesday, I watched a
German film 'Chiko' with Kian Leng

'Chiko' is definitely not the usual
genre my friend will catch; as
for me I am quite flexible
& I enjoy variety in
my life

'Chiko' is quite a dark film ...
but I think the meaning
is not lost ... it's actually
v sad becuz the
protagonist has to
sacrifice his charmed
life becuz of his loyalty
he has for his friend

I haven watch such violent
film for quite a while
so there were scenes
of the film in my dream

Anyway I haven been watching
much movie for the past 2 mths; I
actually prefer Asian movies nt
quite becuz of the production quality
but becuz it feels more authentic ...

It's like watching something tt feels
so close to u

__________________________________

Boss had a meeting with me the other day; I
guess he was concerned as it
was like a long, long time since our
last meeting

I am definitely behind time but
unlike a year ago, I am confident
of finishing my postgrad

I am quite laid back becuz
I always believe that one has to
be patient and when
the time is ripe everything
will just click together

2007 is a disaster but it's history

____________________________

I was on my way to badminton
when me and my frenz started
to talk abt bimbo

When the term was first coined
in English, it was used
to describe stupid men

Of cuz, nowadays no one use it
on guy

Some gals just appear to be bimbo
but honestly a lot of
them are smarter than they
appear to be; most
of them are manipulative and
now do u think
manipulative = stupid?

Modern love is more complicated ...
& complicated stuff is
not beautiful

Some pple treats love
as a commodity, that can
be easily traded off ; I
disdain such pple

Such pple really suxs
big time!!!

____________________

2008-10-27T09:49:00.002+08:00

Insommia

I haven been sleeping well
for the past 3 mths

I donno wat's wrong ...

There's not much stress ...
in fact, things are
progressing well ...
everything's gud ...
but I still can't sleep tt well

Nowadays, I get about 4 hrs
of undisturbed sleep
den I suddenly woke up

Wat's wrong ?? Beats me

Like I told a couple of pple ard me,
I will do everything within
my means to restore
my sleep back to normal, at the
moment, I haven't found
the key yet

___________________________

Despite the financial market turmoil,
my frenz who has "appointed" me
to help him invest his $$$
in stocks is as calm as ever.

I'm glad tt he has got so much
confidence in me. For me,
although my own account
is in the red, I have
no doubts tt
I will taste success
a few years down
the road

______________________________

Next year, I will have my tuition hours
slash again ... I will only
be teaching
6 hrs per week

Jonathan's dad asked me
whether I can teach
his son for the 'A' levels

I have always said no to
JC ... this time
I said yes

I really enjoy teaching
Jonathan becuz he
has maturity
beyond his age

I was thinking & I thot
I sort of miss JC's stuff
so y not I accept the offer ...

Anyway, it has been close to
4 solid years
since I started teaching
Jonathan ...

________________

Between 2005 to now ... there
was a lot of change ...
the best part was knowing
tt IT IS POSSIBLE

TO FIND SOMEONE WHO
CAN MAKE YOU FEEL

VERY EXCITED

being in a constant state of
excitement is part of
my definition of happiness

__________________________

Last Sunday, I played badminton
with KK & pals for the second
time in my life

They don't believe tt I was
an absolute newbie ...
& they were all
much beta den me

Still, it's v fun & I'm looking
forward to the nxt session

Next year, I'm going to pick up
tennis. I think it will
be a sport tt I will like.
I like sports that are based
on speed and power.

Concentration is not my kind
of thing ... so I don
really sustain well
when I play bowling

During tuition, after a while
I start to stand around ... but
nonetheless, I get things
done

The best things abt sport

is the competition.
I am actually quite
a bad loser but I learn to be
gracious over time

2008-10-15T22:44:00.007+08:00

10 weeks to the end of the year

Time really flies! 3 weeks of reservist
is over!

I haven't enjoy the reservist
as much as my other
course mates

For them, it is a piece of cake. For
me, I have been struggling for
a large part of the course.

But I really enjoy the company.
Everyone is so friendly &
cooperative ... it was
like we have
worked together as a
team before

My course "neighbour", Clinton,
was very helpful ... without
him, I would have
struggled a lot more

Still, everyone think I am smart.
Although, I don agree with
them at all. I think everyone
is smart in their own way.

On one of the Friday
evening, Yihao and Teclise
and me celebrated Junwei
birthday at Mai Maison

The first time I was at Mai Maison
was several years back with
Chunkiat & pals. Mai Maison
is really a nice place ... it's like
a place where you want
to dine together with ur good
friends on a Friday evening.

Anyway, we talked about
whether each of us
is a team person or
more individualistic

I guess I have a bit of both ...
I admire the spirit of
togetherness in a team
as well as a chance
to showcase one creativitiy
individually

Then we went to Rongzhang's cafe
which he opened with a few
friends ... I nvr frequent
tt street but it's actually
quite accessible
from Bugis Juntion

I ordered a beer for Junwei
since he said he hadn't
drink for ages

Ever since, I knew KK &
pals, I have drank
much more than before ...
still, I'm not
an alcoholics since
I don have the gene for it

_________________________________

I have only been running
once this whole year ...
so last Sunday, I started
running with Sinwah
to prepare for the Dec
Stand Chart run

din really do much cardio for
this year as I have been
trying v hard to increase
my muscular mass

things are ok and
next year I think I will
be making solid progress

I have turned my bedroom
into my bedshift gym but I
have stopped training for now
until my acne condition is under
ctl

A full marathon is v different
from running a half marathon ...
although I enjoyed myself
the previous time I ran one,
thought of running again

still make me think twice

I foresee I will take part

in the Stand Chart marathon
so long as I can together
with my frenzs

next year, KK and gang was
suggesting tt we go
trekking. I still have
fond memories of climbing
Mt Ophir so I second the idea

_______________________________

Uncle asked me to help him
draft a letter. He lost quite
a sum of $$$ by investing
in minibonds

There is a lot of anger out
there. It is oki if
you lost $$$ investing in
stocks becuz u know
tt it is more risky ...
but bonds can be worst
than stock? tt is virtually
unheard of

Those bright sparks who
invent the CDO must
be enjoying their wealth
somewhere. I hope
they donate some of their
gains for a better cause

It's quite painful to lose
so much $$$ especially $$$
tt u have saved for a long,
long time ... hope they
get some $$$ back

As for stock investment,
I told my frenzs who are interested
in investing to take their
time and buy in batches

This crisis is gg to take
time to resolve and so
there's plenty of buying
opportunities ... just keep
your cool and u might
make some $$$ in the next few years

My view is "Don't be afraid, the
market will not die. Trust
your instinct and be patient"

____________________________________

In another two weeks, my students
will have finished their 'O'. This year
I have worked very hard for them,
so I'm glad tt I can rest
for the next two months.

It has been 4 years so I'm really glad
tt I have in a way help them
in their work. They have
made tremendous progress
so I couldn't ask for more.

I will stop teaching one day when
my other source of income start to
mature

2008-09-29T22:29:00.003+08:00

Like Everyone else

My life is like a lot of pple,
full of ups and downs

A lot of people I have
encountered seem to think
tt things are rosy for me

Tt is well far away from the
truth ... like most of pple
I have my own
shares of ups and downs

After struggling for the first
4 months with a long bouts
of flu, I am finally closing
to 5 mths of good health

Then in Sep, I have quite
a bad acne breakup, it has been
several years since I got one
so I went back to see
Dr Jasmine.

At work, things are progressing
but I have my own
share of problems which crop
up every so often

So it's like that, I guess
everyone has their
deficiencies, their struggles,
their unhappiness ... & I think
it's normal

_________________________________

More than half of my reservist
is over ...

It's v different from what I have
been doing before

Though I don have a
natural flair for it, I just try
to adapt though it can be stressful
sometime

I'm happy to see past my first
high-key reservist ... tt is v
gratifying becuz I can
almost smell my holiday season

My students are finishing exams next
mth, so I can really rest. This will
be my last year
teaching my 2 'O' Levels students.

I have taught them 4 years so
I do feel a sense of attachment, as
well as an inner satisfaction tt arises
from having guided them
through their secondary years.

For me, I din know tt I'm a
"people" person until very recently.

As a toddler, I don have a lot
of company so I learn
to cope with loneliness.

Dealing with pple is much better
than dealing with things
tt don talk. People are
complicated but if
you try to understand
them they can be understood

I have told my frenzs tt
I will progressively cut down
on my tuition hours. In fact,
I have been planning for
the future so tt I can
have more time for the
pple tt I care abt

I always do feel that in
the past I have neglected
Phoenix a lot. Sometimes, I
commited the cardinal
mistake of being secretive
& tt caused a lot
of anxiety and uncertainity.

I do think abt the deterioriation
of our relationship and I do
feel that next time
I must do better

She has been good to me and
I have always liked her
tremendously but a lot of times
I overlooked her needs

___________________________

My frenz msg me the other days
& asked me whether
I'm coping fine with the recent
plunge in the stock market

No one enjoy seeing their stock
drop but I don get
depressed over tt

A stock daily profile is like
a person's daily performance. There
are good days and bad days and
there are periods of stagnation
and depression. It's natural and should
really
be greeted with more
composure and less grief.

On a longer term, you will always
get a clearer picture and
you will not be shortchanged
if you make the right initial decision.
A lot of things are really not tt
complicated

_____________________________

Offhand, I can think of at least
five friends with birthday
in October

On Hari Raya, KK and me
celebrated Vivian's bdae. The
moment she stepped into the
car, she said tt 伯乐 is a great
song. Of course, I said.

The MTV is not great and the acting
is a tad amaterish but the ending
is really poignant for me.

Some of my frenzs asked me
whether I'm keen on
the Halloween event organised
by the Night Safari ...

I donno it just feels weird to celebrate
Halloween

_____________________________

The other day, I just find myself
recalling Dido's white flag
and so I will end my blog
with the song's lyrics.

I know you think that I shouldn't still love you,
I'll tell you that.
But if I didn't say it,
well I'd still have felt it
where's the sense in that?

I promise I'm not trying to make your life harder
Or return to where we were

Well I will go down with this ship
And I won't put my hands up and surrender
There will be no white flag above my door
I'm in love and always will be

I know I left too much mess and
destruction to come back again
And I caused but nothing but trouble
I understand if you can't talk to me again
And if you live by the rules of "it's over"
then I'm sure that that makes sense

Well I will go down with this ship
And I won't put my hands up and surrender
There will be no white flag above my door
I'm in love and always will be
And when we meet
Which I'm sure we will
All that was then
Will be there still
I'll let it pass
And hold my tongue
And you will think
That I've moved on....
Well I will go down with this ship
And I won't put my hands up and surrender
There will be no white flag above my door
I'm in love and always will be

Well I will go down with this ship
And I won't put my hands up and surrender
There will be no white flag above my door
I'm in love and always will be

I will go down with this ship
And I won't put my hands up and surrender
There will be no white flag above my door
I'm in love and always will be

2008-09-14T12:37:00.002+08:00

Happy Birthday

A couple of my frenzs
treated me for my bdae

Abt one week before my bdae,
Kian Leng treated me to
Jap steamboat ... the
setmeal was so
big but it was

nice so I ended up
finishing it ...

On the eve of my birthday, KK
& pals treated me to
dinner and drinks @ Iguana ...
Iguana is really a $$$ making
machine ... more profitable
than Brewerks ... the table
turnover rate at Iguana
is definitely faster

It has been ages since we
have our drinking sessions ...
so the feeling is really good
becuz at one time our
group was experiencing
some trouble

University friend, Dick treated
me to Jap food on Wed. I was
a bit embarassed becuz
it's the first time in
years since I forgotten
his birthday

Anyway ever since I realised
I have neglected some of my
closer frenzs, I have
progressively shaved down
on the times that I spent
with acquaintances

I thot that I better get
my priorities right and looking
from a year back I'm happy
with the way things have
been shaping up

__________________________

I have been busy at work
for the past couples of week

I was wrapping up a substantial part
of my thesis while
starting on another section

Actually I'm quite relieved to have
finally started on the next
section.

It's like when you have to start
from scratch ... the feeling can
be quite lousy ....

Everyday you know you have to
start, but you procrsatinate a
bit

So I'm glad to have started becuz I
feel like I'm pass
the middle of my project

The two years of postgraduate
was difficult ... there were
a lot of uncertainities ...
still, I have no regrets becuz
I like the proj I'm doing

But I have been struggling for
a while, becuz everything
is so new to me ...

Contrary to what most pple think
of me, I take quite a while
to adapt to sth new

I like changes but I'm slow
to adapt

Now I can safely say, I have adapted ... v long huh
____________________________

MISIA concert was on Sep 13 at the Expo.

Kianleng asked me whether I was keen
to go and I agreed immediately

The stage and spotlights were magnificient
& MISIA's energy was infectious ...

It was like what the concert was titled
"Discotheque Asia" ... attending
the concert feels like stepping
into a disco ... & the
fans were up to it

Overall, I gave the concert the thumb up.
The fans were more participating;
everyone was having fun, tt's
wat a concert shld be like

___________________________

Elva Hsiao was on FM 93.3 Top 20
Countdown show the other day ...

I love to hear singers talk about
their opinions about things, their
songs and their vision of life. Some
singers have more passion than
others and some r v cerebral

Hearing Elva on air, I think
she is very good with her words.
Her words were concise and piece
together beautifully as though
they have been rehearsed

I din quite remember the
whole "interview" but it
was v interesting to
hear the diva speaks; her
concert is next year, it should
be another dance party!

2008-08-27T17:26:00.006+08:00

3 weeks away from reservist

I am weeks away from reservist, so
I'm rushing to kickstart my
next phase of my
research project before
I left for reservist

It seem a struggle initially
trying to start the next
phase of my project; I feel
like a greenhorn n there
were a lot of things I donno

So there was a very
strong pull factor. But,
the push factor was v
strong as well ...

I can imagine the long
December vacation &
the perks of graduating
on time

At the moment, I have just
started on my next phase
of my proj

Actually, I'm glad that
I have a solid group
of colleagues ard
me who are always willingly
to help

Anyway, this will be the final phase of
my project ... although this
final phase will be a
long one. Still, I'm
v happy to reach
this stage after
a long period of uncertainity

___________________________

the other day I was with a group
of friends and soon we
were talking about
the cost of an
engagement ring

Life should be v simple, but
modern life makes it
more complicated
than it should be ... first,
I think the value of
an engagement ring
is not equivalent
to the value of a relationship

A true love relationship
is invaluable and
irreplacable ... so I think
it becomes rather
ridiculous when pple
start comparing about the
actual cost of the ring

____________________________

2008-08-17T12:50:00.005+08:00

伯乐

I was looking thru the top 20
Chinese pop on FM 93.3 website,
when I saw the title "伯乐"

First impression on hearing the
song was that it has sth
to do with love

I asked my colleague Karen
and we did a google

It took a while for me to
get the meaning right;
den I realised
how beautiful the song
was written

"伯乐" is originally used to
describe someone who has
an aptitude for
identify good horsebreed;
someone who cares a lot
about the horses and bring
out the best in them.

In the context song, I could
think "伯乐" refers
to finding one's soulmate

其实，我想每个人都在寻找
自己爱情中的伯乐。路途
可能是坎坷的，但是，只要深信，
并有一天会遇到。

here are the lyrics of the song:

爱你的那一个　
伤你的那一个
谁才是你爱情中的伯乐
放弃了这一个　
然後等待着下一个
最後哪一个最让你舍不得

感谢不能让别人来说
你给过我的
他们是做不到的
那时候的幸福是真的
虽然过去了　
我们也都经历了

释怀教育着仇恨
　和平劝着天下人
故事发生了便住下了　
不管好的坏的
你让我成长了　
就算是痛得值得

爱你的那一个
　伤你的那一个
谁才是你爱情中的伯乐
放弃了这一个
　然後等待着下一个
一个个过客过得快不快乐

爱你的那一个　
伤你的那一个谁才是你爱情中的伯乐
放弃了这一个　然後等待着下一个
别太多过客祝你早日快乐

离开时别忘了　
看看眼前的人
流泪记住了　
还是微笑祝福着